Lucien sat behind his desk, flipping through the documents of the man he was set to meet in a few minutes. His mind raced with possibilities, trying to connect the man to any known group or faction. Finding none, he allowed himself a small, satisfied smile. Just then, a knock came at the door. "Think of the d—Never mind," he muttered and called out, "Come in."
An older man entered, dignified and composed. Wearing a sharp black coat and crisp white shirt, he looked like the blueprint of a perfect butler. He bowed low and said, "You called for me, young master."
"Yes, Lloyd. I did. I have a quick question about some of your recent work. Care to explain?" Lucien said, scribbling something onto a piece of paper before handing it to him. Lloyd looked mildly alarmed as he took the note and read: 'I have something important to discuss with you. Write on the paper to communicate—just say something sensible to mislead the spies. The walls have ears. This information could be a real opportunity.'
His posture relaxed as he read, then spoke aloud while scribbling a reply: "Wh—may I ask what you are referring to?" The note he passed back read: 'What is the information that could be such an opportunity?'
"Well, there is some missing money in the account here and there," Lucien said. I passed the note. (AN: I am just going to show the conversation with the note.) 'While traveling, I passed the Marque region and found unprocessed gold. I believe there is a hidden mine. I want to buy that land immediately.'
Lloyd's eyes lit up with understanding. "Are you telling the truth?" Lucien gave a firm nod. "I will see to acquiring that land at once, my lord," Lloyd corrected himself mid-sentence.
'From young master to my lord, huh? Like going from noob to pro in the old man's eyes,' Lucien mused. 'He may not look it, but he's loyal. Even after the original's death, he upheld the family. The empire's economy didn't crumble because of him. That loyalty was never to me but to the family. He even helped protect the princess from repercussions after Father's death because the last thing Father told him was to protect the business.' Lucien thought this while going over various document of basically bullshit that has nothing to do with him and by extension his family, and the people of his territory.
"Is anyone there?" Lucien said that after finishing his paperwork, a maid came into the room and said, "Tell everyone to don't disturb me until Lloyd come back." The maid nodded before exiting the door as Lucien closed it before sitting on the floor indian style, removing every article of clothing and starting to meditate. 'This is how you enter your mind according to the novel description anyway since there has only been one mention of a soul path user in the entire novel.'
{A week later}
"My lord, we have completed the transfer agreement. It was recognized by the royal court. From now on, that land is ours!" Lloyd burst into the room, his voice triumphant—only to stop cold. Lucien was completely naked, meditating. "M-my Lord..." Lucien stirred, but his weak body collapsed before he could stand. He opened his eyes again—into a void. A dark, endless space stretched in every direction, with a single point of light shining in the distance.
"I have succeeded!" He yelled from joy as he tried to move around, only to realize that he too was just a soul. "Now, how do I get to the origin? All I know assisted me in getting here since the protagonist also tried to do it but he failed." He said, realizing he knew nothing about what to do now. Just deciding to trust his gut, he acted like he was going towards the light. What happened next wasn't something he was expecting. He was it with a ton of mental persuures as he was propled through the field.
Like being flung through reality itself, mental pressure crashed down on him, an avalanche of agony. 'This…Hurts…Too…much.' He collapsed, barely having moved centimeters from his starting point. "No fucking way" that was the last thing he said before opening his eyes in the 3rd dimension.
He saw the gold-painted ceiling of his room as he woke up to look around his usual room. "I have succeeded but what the fuck?" Lucien cursed not only the pain he felt but also how his entire world perspective shifted. He sat up and looked around. Everything looked sharper, clearer. It was like seeing the world through perfect vision after a lifetime of blurriness. He could see a speck of dust by the fireplace ten meters away. More than that, he could feel every inch of his body. The blood flowing in his veins. The movement of cells. The digestion of his last meal.
With a thought, he could control it. All of it. He could enhance his strength to the peak of human capacity: improve memory, regenerate, harden his skin and muscles into weapons—swords, whips, whatever he desired. Just then, Lloyd came into the room and asked worriedly, "Why did you do that, my lord? Do you know how worried I was?"
'Worried about me... or my value?' Lucien thought grimly, but he just smiled and said, "Don't worry on that, Lloyd. Tell me, was it successful?" Lloyd looked like he wanted to argue with him, but a look from Lucien shut him up as he answered
"We got the 200 million genshin," Lloyd said, 'Genshin is what they use in this world, and 1 killometer is equal to 10 genshin' Lucien thought as he nodded at the information.
"Get the top mining team, we are starting to dig immediately." He said.