《Magic Zero》 Chapter 01: Summoning A room was brightened by the light seeping through the white curtain swaying slightly by the soft wind. The strong light coming from the window of this room indicates the current time was noon. Even though weakened, the brightness was enough to bring out the colours of the objects in this room. There were many bookshelves but there weren¡¯t many books in them, instead some of the bookshelves are filled with objects of various forms. The books that were supposed to be in the shelves were in stacks on a large table while some stranded ones were lying all over the room. Along with the books on the floor, there were pieces of paper with drawings on them and many other objects like tools and materials littered around the room. One wouldn¡¯t think that this messy room is one of the royal chambers of the human kingdom, Yuvian. ¡°...¡± Surrounded by the mess a small girl laid her head, wrapped around her arms, on top of the table. Her name is Nia, the fourth princess of Yuvian, and the light blue colour of her shoulder length hair shows the trait of her being a direct descendant of the King of this kingdom. *Kon kon kon* ¡°...Mn?¡± Slowly awakened by the soft knocks on the door, Nia stares blankly at the small device in front of her trying to grasp the current situation she¡¯s in. She recalled the device she made was used as a substitute for a candle and it was used while she was doing her research. Looks like the magic orb was depleted while I was asleep... Nia slowly stretched her arms out as she yawned and turned her view to the window. She narrowed her eyes at the curtain and sighed after grasping the time of the day. She was prepared to do an all-nighter again last night but didn¡¯t think that she would accidently fell asleep until noon. She scratched her head to clear the hazy feeling she has and she looked around the room lazily until another set of soft knocks came from the door again. ¡°Mn... Ah! You may enter, Ul.¡± The door immediately opens at Nia¡¯s response and a black haired man in black suit enters the room along with a tea set on a trolley. ¡°Good afternoon, Your Highness.¡± The man lowered his head with his right hand, in white glove, placed on the left side of his chest. The man was called Ul and he was the only person serving Nia as a butler. This is the reason why Nia immediately knew who was behind the door as he was the only person who would knock on it. ¡°I hope you had an enjoyable dream last night.¡± It has always been a mystery among the servants about how this monocle man was able to see through his squinty eyes. But it was a normal thing to Nia as it¡¯s something she¡¯s gotten used to. ¡°Dream, huh... Nope, I can¡¯t recall it...¡± Nia placed her palm in front of her face and shook her head slowly. Ul smiled upon the sight and gently poured a cup of tea for Nia. The fragrance of the tea put a smile of satisfaction on Nia¡¯s face and she took a sip before she placed the cup on the table. ¡°Well, more importantly, I have managed to complete it.¡± She gave a glance, with a satisfying look, at the circular object on the table. ¡°Your Highness... Don¡¯t tell me...¡± ¡°Yep, the development of the Hero Summoning Device was a success!¡± ¡°Congratulation, Your Highness. No, more like, as expected of Your Highness.¡± ¡°Of course! You are talking to the person who could turn anything into great development!¡± Nia emphasised her words by puffing up her chest. ¡°Huhuhu, even though it seems to be something that¡¯s still underdeveloped.¡± ¡°Ahn, did you say something?¡± ¡°No, I didn¡¯t say anything.¡± Having noticed the displeased expression Nia made, Ul tries to change the topic. ¡°But isn¡¯t it great that Your Highness will be able to summon a Hero?¡± ¡°Ah, of course! With my perfect calculations and skills this device will successfully summon a Hero... ...maybe...¡± ¡°How wonderful.¡± Ul nodded in delight but after giving some thoughts about Nia¡¯s words a confused expression was shown on his face. ¡°But did I perhaps hear something contradicting to your words?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just your imagination...¡± ¡°Huhuhu, that¡¯s very unthinkable. As a professional butler, I cannot miss any words Your Highness has said so that last part-¡± ¡°Like~ I~ said~, it¡¯s just your imagination.¡± ¡°Of course, just as Your Highness has said, it¡¯s definitely my imagination.¡± Ul corrected himself the moment he saw the most beautiful smile yet made by Nia... or rather the dark aura emitted behind her. ¡°Haa... Thanks to you I¡¯m quite exhausted now, even though I¡¯ve just woken up.¡± Nia sighed as she picked up the cup and took a sip of the tea. Even though she may have said that but the tea was able to bring a smile across her face. Seeing that gave Ul a feeling of satisfaction and he did a slight bow before responding to Nia¡¯s statement. ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me, besides I¡¯m only doing my job as Your Highness¡¯ butler.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not exactly thanking you for that.¡± ¡°Hm, you are not?¡± ¡°Of course not. Why would I thank someone who¡¯s causing trouble for me?¡± ¡°How complicated...¡± ¡°*Ahem* Anyway, the key component to summon the Hero is done but what about the other preparations?¡± Scared that their conversation will go off tangent again, Nia decided to bring the main topic up and the reason for the circular device she made. The Summoning of the Hero. In the history of Yuvian, only the direct descendants of the King can perform the ritual to summon the Hero and the said ritual can only be done once in their lifetime after reaching adulthood. Nia¡¯s elder sisters have already summoned their Heroes which makes her the last of the royal family to be without one. Nia has reached 14 this year and is qualified to summon her own Hero. But before a Hero can be summoned, preparations for the ritual must first be made and the said preparations were handled by Ul. When questioned by Nia about the matter, Ul smiled and slightly bowed before answering her. ¡°As of now, the palace is ready for Your Highness to perform the ritual. And because the preparations were easily done so this allowed me to pour more effort into additional preparations such as this.¡± Ul, with a satisfied look, neatly pulled out 2 objects. ¡°That¡¯s good to hear, as expect of my personal butl- PFFT!¡± When Nia was about to praise Ul while taking a sip of her tea, she suddenly spat them all over Ul when she saw the 2 objects in his hands. Nia didn¡¯t bother asking about why he thanked her but instead she was more concerned about the objects. ¡°J-J-J-Just why would you bring those out?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not those, they are undergarments.¡± ¡°No, I can totally s-s-see that! I¡¯m asking why would you put your effort on worthless things like un-un-underGarments!¡± ¡°They are not worthless; I prepared these so Your Highness will use it to make a move on the Hero tonight and held his heart captive.¡± ¡°You mean...¡± Ul smiled the moment he noticed Nia taking interest in the topic. ¡°Yes, Your Highness will make him yours tonight.¡± Even though I have no proof but I have a gut feeling that it¡¯s going to be a he, Ul thought. ¡°To-To-Tonight?! I-I don¡¯t think my h-h-heart is ready for this sort of thi-thing...¡± ¡°The early succubus gets a man, Your Highness. I¡¯ve even chose black so it will make Your Highness feel more mature and enhance your appeal as a woman.¡± ¡°B-Black... *Gulp* ...That¡¯s so bold...¡± ¡°Huhuhu, with this no man will be able to direct their eyes off Your Highness!¡± Hearing that, Nia¡¯s face begins to flush red. ¡°I-I-I see! Then I...¡± ¡°Furthermore, to fit your chest perfectly I chose size A-¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need it.¡± ¡°Eh?! Wait, Your Highness. What happened?! What made you changed your mind?¡± ¡°Changed my mind? Heh, there¡¯s no ways I would need something like undergarments.¡± Until a moment ago, Ul was able to catch Nia¡¯s interest in seducing the Hero-to-be-summoned but he was confused at the sudden change in her heart. Clearly Nia is in a bad mood and after giving some thought Ul was able to come up with a conclusion. ¡°Your Highness, don¡¯t tell me that...¡± ¡°Hm, what¡¯s gotten into you?¡± Nia didn¡¯t know what to do when Ul suddenly grabbed onto her shoulders and showed her a surprised face. ¡°Your Highness wanted a size B!¡± ¡°Just how did you even come up with that conclusion?! And why are you so surprised about it?!¡± Ul took a step back and regain his majestic composure as a butler. He placed his hand below chin and a grin formed on his face. ¡°Huhuhu, ¡®why¡¯ you ask...¡± His eyes suddenly opened up as he declares... ¡°Because until yesterday Your Highness¡¯ size was still A so there¡¯s no ways it could become B today!¡± ¡°That¡¯s definitely the worst line to say even with that serious face! And wait, how do you even know about my size?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m a butler, that¡¯s why.¡± ¡°No, you are just a pervert.¡± ¡°By the way, I prefer size A.¡± ¡°Nobody asked for your opinion!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure the Hero-to-be-summoned prefers size A as well.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t just go and decide his preference on your own! And how would you know what he likes?!¡± Ul, once again, opened his eyes. ¡°Size A is the way of LIFE!¡± ¡°Shut up, you pervert!¡± *Bam* Ul flew out of the door from the impact between his face and Nia¡¯s fist. For a second, Nia thought she heard Ul thanking her but she didn¡¯t pay much attention to that. That¡¯s because she picked up an important point in their conversation. ¡°In the first place, why do I have to seduce the Hero I¡¯ve summoned? Can¡¯t I just acquire his loyalty through the normal method?¡± ¡°Huhuhu. You are too na?ve, Your Highness. That¡¯s not the main point of these black undergarments.¡± ¡°There¡¯s another purpose for those?¡± ¡°Yes, precisely.¡± Ul stood up, after dusting his black suit, and bowed slightly in order to properly respond to Nia. ¡°My real intention was to use ¡®Seduce the Hero¡¯ plan to get Your Highness interested in the undergarments which will lead her to try them on first thus I can burn the erotic image of Your Highness deep into my memor-¡± The door was violently shut. *********** According to the recorded history of Yuvian, the summoning of Hero has always been a sacred ritual and the summoner must dress up appropriately to show respect to the Hero summoned. Nia has changed her attire into a white dress even though she would prefer the clothes she normally wears when she busied herself in making magic devices. Unlike enchanted magic items, a magic device requires the use of embedded magic orb to perform a specific function, and is aimed to be used by people who can¡¯t use magic. Nia approached the table and stretched her arm towards the latest magic device she has made. The Hero Summoning Device. But instead of taking it, she allowed the tip of her fingers to gently slide around the smooth surface of this circular object. There was a sign of sadness in her expression. ¡°... Sorry...¡±
The capital city of human kingdom Yuvian is called Miastary. The people of Miastary have always been protected by the walls surrounding the city and they live within the three out of the five sectors of the city without any threat from the monsters. The sectors are market area, residential area and adventurers area in which are, respectively, located south, east and west of Miastary. The city can only be entered through the south gate and following the road will lead people towards the middle sector, the town hall area. The town hall is a large building standing in the middle of the sector. On top of the building, one can see a bell within its own tower. The purpose of the bell is to inform the residents the time of the day. This sector serves as the gathering area and will inform the residents if there are any notices from the King who stays in the castle located in the north sector. The castle is surrounded by walls that are shorter than the ones surrounding the city and the area can only be accessed through the gate by the middle sector. Upon entering the entrance to the castle, there will be a foyer which is big enough to fit more than 500 people without any trouble with movement space. And now, Nia is standing in the foyer with an unpleasant face. Nia was on her way to the Sacred Palace, for the Ritual of Hero Summoning, which can only be accessed by going through the corridor in the foyer of the castle. But there happened to be a group of people she didn¡¯t want to meet in the foyer. ¡°Oh my, isn¡¯t it Nia?!¡± ¡°What is it, Sherri? I believe that we are not that close to even start a conversation.¡± Sherri separated herself from her group and came to talk to Nia. ¡°Oh, please. What¡¯s wrong with talking with my little sister?¡± ¡°I have not considered you to be my sister. After-all, we are born from a different mother.¡± ¡°Aw, but it¡¯s such a rare occasion to see you out of your room.¡± Sherri, the second princess of Yuvian, asked with a smirk as she brushed her long blue hair over her shoulders. Nia sighed when she noticed the sign of mockery in Sherri¡¯s tone. It¡¯s been like this since eight years ago when she first returned to the castle. Nia has always been looked down upon by other people, especially the royal families and other nobles, because she was so much different from them. This leads to her disliking them and she decided to shut herself in her room. ¡°Yes, yes. I, the shut-in, can¡¯t be like you who are constantly out completing quests with your beloved Hero.¡± ¡°Ahaha, you can tell? Oh my, oh my! I pity you on missing out the heroic act of Shinji in clearing out a nest of goblins! Did you know that it was an S-ranked quest? An S-ranked! And he-¡± Just like always, huh. Nia realized that she just stepped on a landmine. Whenever the topic was about Kazehaya Shinji, the Hero summoned by Sherri three years ago, Sherri will not stop bragging about his achievement as if it was her own. Nia looked around the place trying to find anything to interrupt Sherri¡¯s boring talk and that¡¯s when Nia saw Shinji smiling in her direction. ¡°Hey, Sherri. Is it alright for that said Hero flirting with the other women in your party?¡± ¡°-at that cave, Shinji also... Wait, did you just say flirting? Ahaha, there¡¯s no ways Shinji would...¡± ¡°But look at him. He¡¯s making that weird smile when surrounded by the women in your group.¡± ¡°What? KAZEHAYA SHINJI!¡± Nia sighed in relief after Sherri went back to scold Shinji while pushing away the women gathering around him. ¡°Woah, no wonder Princess Sherri was ranked second in ¡®Miastary Woman Not To Marry¡¯ ranking among the servants.¡± Ul, who was accompanying Nia, made a remark. ¡°Now I understand why Mr. Kazehaya would prefer flirtin- I mean, talking with other women.¡± ¡°Second, huh... I was expecting her to rank first.¡± It seemed like the topic perked Nia¡¯s interest. ¡°I wonder who is ranked first.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Hm? Why the sudden silence? Is there something wrong, Ul?¡± ¡°Err... Ah! I just remembered something.¡± ¡°Remembered... what? Anyway, I¡¯m still interested in who ranked firs-¡± ¡°The Hero! Your Highness still needs to summon the Hero in the Sacred Palace!¡± ¡°Oh, oh! I totally forgot the reason why we are here. But still, about the woman who ranke-¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s move to the Sacred Palace.¡± After Ul has successfully changed Nia¡¯s mind, they proceeded to the corridor to the Sacred Palace and then- ¡°Wait, you two! Stop where you are!¡± They were called out by Sherri behind them. ¡°I heard what you two talked about just now! What do you mean you are going to summon a Hero? Explain yourself, Nia!¡± ¡°It means what it means.¡± ¡°Huh?!¡± ¡°Haa... In simple words, I am going to summon a Hero.¡± Hearing that, Sherri showed a surprised face. ¡°You, summoning a Hero?!¡± ¡°Yes, of course. And what¡¯s up with that idiotic expression?¡± ¡°I-idiotic?! How dare you insult me?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m only calling you that because you couldn¡¯t even understand simple words.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s impossible! There¡¯s no ways you can do something like summoning a hero!¡± ¡°What, have you forgotten the fact that I¡¯m also a princess of Yuvian? You should know that as long as I am a direct descendent of the King then I can summon a Hero.¡± ¡°Hoh, it seems like you are the one who has forgotten something.¡± Sherri smirked. The sudden change in her attitude surprised Nia ¡°Eh?¡± Nia¡¯s voice escaped her mouth when she felt cold sweat sliding down her back. She has a bad feeling about what¡¯s about to come next. ¡°Haha, look at what face you are making. Do you want me to remind you, that badly? Did you seriously forget why you are forbidden from leaving the castle?¡± Of course Nia didn¡¯t forget. No, she cannot forget. They were the words which has implanted themselves deep into Nia¡¯s heart since 8 years ago. The words which she didn¡¯t want to hear... ¡°You are a Magic Zero, remember? How are you supposed to call out an magic circle?¡± Sherri declared in a loud voice. Even though the voice was not loud enough for everyone in the foyer to hear, but it was enough to make Nia¡¯s legs shake. The words, Magic Zero, are a label bestowed upon her because her affiliation with magic is none. In other words, she cannot use magic. Because Yuvian is a human kingdom which highly values magic abilities, so Nia was seen as a disgrace to the royal family. Every time she hears the words, she was reminded of her painful childhood when she was found unable to use magic. The disgusted looks from the nobles. The mockery words for her peers. And low expectation from the King. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.Nia was forbidden from leaving the castle as the king had thought it would be too shameful to let her, a princess who can¡¯t use magic, to roam freely in public. In the end, Nia decided to stay in her room and lock herself away from any contact with the nobles. But that¡¯s not the only reason she kept herself in her room all this time... ¡°Hm? What is this?¡± Sherri asked when Nia held a round object in front of her. ¡°Thi- This is...¡± NIa took a small breath. She placed her left hand on her chest to stop her trembling heart. Then, as if to take a step away from the past, she declared loudly. ¡°This is the Hero Summoning Device! And I, 4th Princess of Yuvian, will be using this to summon a Hero today!¡± ¡°Summon a Hero...? With that?!¡± ¡°Of course!¡± This was another reason why Nia had spent most of her days in her room. She has been researching on ways to use magic even if a person¡¯s affiliation with magic is none. And the result was magic devices. Just like how a person use magic, the magic device will pour mana, from the embedded magic orb, into the inscribed magic circle and magic will be outputted depending on the magic circle used. ¡°Even though the power level may be subpar compared to magic done by a person but it¡¯s still does its part!¡± ¡°Rejected!¡± ¡°Huh, why?¡± Nia was surprised when Sherri denied the use of the device but after calming herself down she noticed that there¡¯s no need for her to panic. ¡°And why should I even bother getting your permission to let me use the device to summon the Hero?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you forget that summoning a Hero is a sacred ritual. You think the Archbishop will permit the use of such untraditional method in the Sacred Palace?¡± ¡°Aha, about that... I¡¯ve already got Ul to do all the preparations, right?¡± Nia, with one eye closed, gave Ul a signal to speak. Ul gave a slight bow and gave a response to Sherri. ¡°Just as Her Highness has said, I have performed all the necessary preparation for this ritual.¡± ¡°Even the Archbishop¡¯s permission...?¡± ¡°Yes, including the permission from the Archbishop.¡± ¡°Hee hee. There you have it.¡± Satisfied with Ul¡¯s work, Nia gave Sherri a grin with her arms crossed. ¡°There¡¯s no ways that¡¯s possible! The Archbishop! Let me speak to the Archbishop!¡± ¡°Please wait, Princess Sherri.¡± ¡°What is it? And you should know that a servant like you is not in position to step in my way.¡± Sherri showed an irritated expression when Ul blocked her way to the corridor leading to the Sacred Palace. ¡°I understand my position as a butler, but I¡¯m doing this because I don¡¯t want Princess Sherri to waste her energy.¡± Ul slight lowered his head with his right hand on his chest. ¡°After-all, the Archbishop is not in the Sacred Palace.¡± ¡°¡±He¡¯s not here?!¡±¡± Both Sherri and Nia shouted at the same time in surprise. ¡°Hey, Nia! The Archbishop should always be in standby in the Sacred Palace for the ritual. So where is he if he¡¯s not in the Sacred Palace?¡± ¡°Why are you asking me?¡± ¡°Ah, yes. The Archbishop is currently sleeping.¡± Ul politely answered Sherri¡¯s question when Nia sent him a ¡®what¡¯s going on¡¯ glance. ¡°Sleeping?! Hey, Nia. What is the Archbishop thinking sleeping on a day when you are going to summon a Hero?¡± ¡°Like I know! Do I look like the Archbishop to you?¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t misunderstand the Archbishop. It was me who put him to sleep.¡± ¡°¡±?!¡±¡± Wait, what did this idiot just say? ¡°Hey, Nia. What is going on?¡± ¡°Wait, I...¡± ¡°Allow me to answer this for Her Highness.¡± This time Ul volunteered to do the answering. ¡°I was told by Her Highness about the requirements for the summoning of a Hero and it can be concluded that the supervision of the Archbishop is not necessary for the ritual.¡± Nia¡¯s face turned blue. And without realizing this, Ul continued. ¡°Because the Old Far- my apologies... I meant the Archbishop refused to give permission the permission therefore I forced him to agree to allow Her Highness to summon the Hero and to prevent him from interrupting the ritual I made him sleep in a place which makes it apparent when he wakes up.¡± ¡°Wait! Is- Isn¡¯t this...¡± Sherri showed an expression as if something unbelievable happened. She was astonished. ¡°An abduction? What you two thinkin-¡± *Gong Go~ng G-Gong Gon-gggg* ¡°WHAT NOW?!¡± Sherri shouted on top of her lungs as her mental state was being challenged when experiencing one unexpected event after another. This time it was the sound of the large bell from the town hall which interrupted her. But it¡¯s strange for the bell to be ringed at this time. Shinji, his group of female followers and everyone else in the foyer turned their attention towards to the town hall sector because they noticed the irregular pattern the bell was being ringed. Everyone was puzzled... ¡°*Tsk*¡± Except for Ul who clicked his tongue. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the Old Fart would wake up this early...¡± ¡°?!¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t glare at me like that, Princess Sherri. Don¡¯t worry, I didn¡¯t tie the Archbishop directly on the bell but on its rope instead so there¡¯s no chance he will become deaf.¡± ¡°The Archbishop! You ladies, go save the Archbishop!¡± All the members, and also the guards, in Sherri¡¯s ran out of the entrance in panic leaving only her and Shinji in the foyer. ¡°Nia! What¡¯s the meaning of thi- Hey?! Wait! Stop where you are!¡± Before Sherri has noticed, Nia was already running down the corridor to the Sacred Palace. ¡°Shinji, stop her! She¡¯s going to try to summon a Hero during this chaos! We need to stop her from defiling the Sacred Palace!¡± ¡°Alright, as a Hero I also need to stop Nia-chan from making any more mistakes!¡± ¡°Please watch your steps.¡± ¡°¡±?!¡±¡± Suddenly, spikes came out from the tiles in front of Sherri and Shinji when they were about to enter the corridor after Nia. ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this, you lowly servant?¡± ¡°Even if you are Nia-chan¡¯s butler, I won¡¯t spare you if you planned to get in our way.¡± Both Sherri and Shinji glared angrily at Ul who was standing in the corridor. ¡°Getting in your way? That¡¯s unthinkable. I am merely doing my job as a butler and as instructed by Her Highness I made all sort preparations for the ritual.¡± Ul bowed with his right hand on his chest. ¡°Including the traps set in this corridor.¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°Nia! Just what sort of preparation did you tell your servant to do?¡± Sherri shouted into the corridor and it seems like Nia shouted back ''I also liked to know'' from the other end. ¡°That¡¯s the same thing as getting in our way!¡± ¡°Huhuhu, that¡¯s wrong.¡± Shinji shouted with his katana drawn out in his hand but he only got a calm reply from Ul. ¡°The traps were prepared to prevent anyone who tries to enter the corridor and interrupt Her Highness. So unless...¡± Ul opened his right eye. ¡°You are going to interrupt Her Highness, the traps won¡¯t activate at all.¡± Sherri stepped forward. ¡°Fool! Who do you think you are standing in the way of a princess?¡± ¡°My apologies, Princess Sherri, I cannot stand down from here because the interest of Her Highness has the priority.¡± ¡°Wh- What did you just say?!¡± ¡°Sherri, it¡¯s no use talking to him.¡± Shinji pointed his katana at Ul. ¡°We are going to breakthrough!¡± ¡°I see... Huhuhu.¡± Ul returned to his usual expression and smiled at Shinji¡¯s challenge. He stretched out both his arms wide. ¡°Then get ready to feast your eyes upon Her Highness¡¯ creation!¡± Mechanical sounds resonated throughout the corridor. And traps of all sorts began appearing behind Ul.
¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me.¡± Nia placed the Hero Summoning Device on the centre of the circular platform in the Sacred Palace. ¡°There¡¯s no ways I¡¯m going to miss this chance!¡± Nia realized that this was the last time she can try summoning a Hero due to the mess caused by Ul. If she was stopped by Sherri and Shinji, she won¡¯t get another chance because the Archbishop would never allow it. ¡°Huu, huu... I need to calm down first.¡± Nia took some small breath. ¡°I need to make sure I don¡¯t mess up now.¡± She knows that she could make a mistake if she tried to hurry the process so she decided to do the ritual carefully. But she can¡¯t be too slow as she doesn¡¯t know how much time Ul can buy for her. ¡°Huu, huu.¡± Nia placed her palm on her chest and took another set of breaths to calm her racing heart. Then she clenched her fist. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡± With a determined resolve, Nia reached out towards the device and tapped the part with the inscribed royal crest. Blue light was emitted from the device. Then a magic circle of the same colour expanded from the slits of the device. The illumination of the magic circle made the surrounding of the room darker. ¡°The pattern is...¡± Nia began observing the pattern of the rotating, in anti-clockwise direction, magic circle. She may have checked in her room but she still needs to be cautious. The pattern was drawn by her after studying the previous samples of the magic circles used to summon the Heroes. From the results of her research, she found out that there are at least five important points to a Hero summoning magic circle. The points were occupation, age, location, blessing and the contractor. And out of all the points only the location can be changed by Nia. The occupation in the pattern stated that it¡¯s the Hero being summoned from a different world and the gender is at random but the age of the Heroes ranged from 16 to 25. The Heroes summoned are from a country called Japan in their world and their distinctive trait was their black hair. Nia learnt the magic pattern for 3 cities of Japan and she decided to call the Hero from a city called Tokyo. Upon arrival, the Hero will receive the Hero¡¯s Blessing which will boost their stats and makes them much stronger than the knights of the same level. And finally, to summon a Hero a contractor is needed which in this case it¡¯s Nia. ¡°Good, looks like there¡¯s no mistake in the pattern.¡± Satisfied with the magic circle Nia continued by making a small cut at the tip of her index finger with a knife. ¡°Then, forming a contract with the Hero.¡± Nia stretched her hand over the device and she waits for the blood to accumulate. She needs to take her time to transfer her thought to the summoning magic circle. One of the conclusions from her research stated that a stronger thought will increase the chance of success as it is the desire of the summoner that calls forth the Hero. Normally, such desire is transferred the moment the summoner activated the magic circle. But Nia had used the device to conjure up the magic circle so she needs to transfer her thought differently. The idea of transferring her thought through her blood came from a set of black and white picture books she read which have people biting their thumbs to summon up beasts from a different realm. ¡°Please come...¡± The Hero summoning magic was the only conjuring magic Nia knows that requires the summoner¡¯s thought. Therefore, this method has never been mentioned before in any other books she had read. An uncertainty is present to this method... ¡°This can¡¯t fail... I can¡¯t let my only chance fail like this!¡± Her voice was shaking. She panicked the moment she began to imagine herself when the summon fails. Nia will have to live like she always has the past 8 years. Being laughed at and being looked down upon, Being pointed at and being called a Magic Zero, And being kept in this castle until her life¡¯s end... A life of being treated less than a beast. ¡°That¡¯s too cruel...¡± It was a dry voice. ¡°Even I wanted to be like them...¡± That was her feeling. The jealousy builds up every time she sees her sisters and their Heroes walked out of the castle to do quests. ¡°I also want to leave this place...¡± If she is able to summon a Hero then she can also be like them. ¡°So please...¡± She grabbed onto her chest. ¡°Please come forth...¡± It was a plea from the bottom of her heart. ¡°Please free me from this bird cage!¡± *Drip* The moment when Nia¡¯s blood dropped on the inscribed royal crest, the light from the Hero Summoning Device brightens. The light of the magic circle became stronger and the rotation became faster. Energy was overflowing from the magic circle and they were in the form of electric sparks. A portal was formed above the magic circle. ¡°This is...¡± Nia was surprised. ¡°It... It¡¯s a success?!¡± She wasn¡¯t able to hide how delighted she was at that moment. ¡°The ritual succeeded!¡± But that happiness did not last... ¡°This is as far as your prank can go, Nia!¡± ¡°Wha- Aah!¡± Before Nia noticed, Sherri came up from behind and pinned her down onto the floor. ¡°Shinji, go stop that weird object!¡± ¡°Leave it to me!¡± Shinji ran towards the middle of the platform. ¡°Wait, what are you planning to do with my device?¡± ¡°Watch me, Nia-chan. I¡¯m going to destroy this thing for your own good.¡± ¡°Wait, stop!¡± ¡°Ha!¡± ¡°Noooooo!¡± *Baki* The Hero summoning device was split in half by Shinji¡¯s katana. The portal collapsed. Both the magic circle and the light from it disappeared. The Sacred Palace returned original state as if everything that happened just now was a lie. ¡°Alright, mission complete!¡± ¡°Kyaa! Just as expected from Shinji.¡± Sherri clasped her as she praised her Hero. ¡°*Hic* Why¡­? *Hic* Why are you two doing this?¡± Nia lay weakly on the ground even after she was released. ¡°Ahn? Don¡¯t you know we did this so you don¡¯t make any mistake?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Sherri. Nia-chan will understand us one day.¡± ¡°But Shinji...¡± Shinji interrupted her by giving her a smile and shook his head gently. It¡¯s was an indication to her not to continue with this matter. Ah... Shinji, just how kind are you... Sherri¡¯s face flushed red and she placed both her hands on her chest to try to suppress her violently beating heart. Then... ¡°Understand...? You two are the ones who don¡¯t understand anything at all!¡± Her time for admiration was interrupted by Nia. ¡°Do you know how important that device was to me?¡± ¡°Haa... Alright, alright. Let¡¯s get up and clean up your junk so we can...?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not jun...!¡± Both Sherri and Nia suddenly became quiet. Shinji noticed their strange behaviour and followed their gaze to the remains of the Hero Summoning Device on the ground. It was emitting red light. ¡°What the... Wah?!¡± Suddenly, an invisible force knocked Shinji away as a blood red magic circle expanded rapidly. The air within the room moved violently towards the centre of the magic circle and a large amount of energy started to accumulate right above the broken device in a form of a dark red orb. Then, the concentrated energy was released. A red pillar of magical energy shot its way through the ceiling. The ground shakes each time the pillar breaks through another ceiling of the room above. *Crack Crack Crack* ¡°¡°Kyaaa!¡±¡± The princesses lowered and covered their head when the pieces of the cracked ceiling began to fall. But the trembling only lasted until the pillar of red light completely disappeared. When they looked back up again, they saw the same dark silent room but this time it seems like it¡¯s a ruin after receiving some terrible magic attacks. The rubbles from the ceiling were scattered around the room and the dust floating in the room made the visibility worse. ¡°Err...¡± ¡°Shinji!¡± Sherri quickly got up and ran to Shinji who laid his back against the wall he crashed into when there was that magic explosion. ¡°Is this... for real...?¡± Unlike Sherri, Nia stayed in the same position and her lips trembled. Rather she couldn¡¯t move because she was too surprised by the thing in front of her. There was a figure among the cloud of dust standing on the middle of the cracked platform... It was a figure of a person. ¡°Awawaw... What¡¯s this? While I was sitting on a bench in a local park and considering my future, and then I was teleported here?¡± It was a voice of a young man. ¡°No, if I think about this then isn¡¯t it that? Those popular settings in light novels which normal people like me are summoned to a fantasy world as a Hero?¡± After walking out of the dust, Nia was able to see a man, in his 17, wearing a black coat. ¡°So I assume you are the princess who summoned me?¡± The white-haired man stared down at Nia with his red right eye while the other was covered by a white square eye patch. ¡°Ahaha! Just what crap am I sprouting out? There¡¯s no ways something this amazing can happen to me. Well, anyway, before a supposed Hero I am a gentleman.¡± He then knelt down and held out his right hand, which was covered in white bandages, to Nia. ¡°So first, do you need a hand to get up?¡± There was no doubt that Nia¡¯s Hero was summoned to this world.
Chapter 02: His Status Light shines through the opening of the ceiling and glitters float in the air as light was reflected by the dust particles. Dust particles continued to circle around the Sacred Palace even though the chaos from the summoning has already died down. The summoning of the Hero was a success. There were two figures in the middle of the platform. Nia and the summoned Hero. "..." Nia didn''t move and only stared at his hand extended to her. She was too surprised to even think what she should do. The white-haired Hero smiled awkwardly and began retracting his hand. "Oops, seems like my hand was not needed..." "Eh?!" "Just as I thought, you-" And it seems like he has reached some sort of conclusion about her. "Wait, don''t misunderstand!" Scared that he thinks she''s a weird woman, Nia quickly grabbed his hand to get up. "Hm, misunderstand?" "Yes, whatever you are thinking now is totally wrong." "Oh, I see." "*Phew*" Nia was relieved because the white-haired Hero was an understanding person. "Here I thought you were just an unfortunate girl who tried to teleport me here but was pinned down by your sister and because she still failed to stop the teleportation so I am here which leads to the current situation where you are too surprised to move an inch." "Hu-Huh?!" "Since that was my misunderstanding then, in the end, you are just a weird girl with that sort of fetish." "Wait, just how amazing is your imagination? I don''t even know whether to compliment you or to call myself stupid." Then Nia made a forced smile while one of her eye brows was twitching. "But I must hear what sort of fetish did you think I have?" Not noticing her angry tone, the white-haired Hero answered her calmly. "A floor fetish." "A floor fetish?" It was an unexpected answer. "A person who loves the floor so much that when the person gets on the floor he will go ''Haa, haa. Floor my waifu.'' and do some other dangerous things." ¡°There¡¯s no way such ridiculous person could possibly exist!¡± And I didn¡¯t even do anything weird to the floor! Having heard Nia¡¯s response, the white-haired Hero shook his head. "Don''t underestimate this vast world. There are many different kinds of people in this world and we could get many different kinds of perverts in this world." "Just what are you saying?" "I meant to say that I wouldn''t be surprised to see one or two perverts panting on the floor as I walk through the street." "I will be totally surprised and will not hesitate to call the guards to arrest anyone panting the floor." "Hey, don''t be like that. People have the rights to enjoy what they enjoy." "First think about the law before that!" "Law exist to be broken" "Guards, arrest this lawbreaker!" "Wait, I haven''t done anything!" "Your intention was clear enough." "What, you saw through what I was thinking this whole time?" The white-haired Hero was surprised just like someone has seen through his thought. "Things like ¡®because this is the different world from mine so I could go into a brothel without any legal issues¡¯ or ¡®because this is a different world then it¡¯s very common to find big-breasted women walking on the street¡¯!" "Guards, take this thing to the cage it belongs to!" "Wait, am I being treated like an animal? Hey, am I seeing it wrong? Your eyes look totally serious." By this time the Sacred Palace has become clearer as the dust was mostly dispersed. Nia saw there were many onlookers gathering at the entrance. The guards and the servants came to see for themselves the cause that opened up a hole in the castle. They were surprised to see the fourth princess of Yuvian standing with a man in strange clothing underneath the said hole and Princess Sherri was shaking the shoulders of the unconscious Hero, Kazehaya Shinji, by the side. Nia realized she needs to get to the point with her Hero otherwise the onlookers will misread the situation. "I am running out of time so let''s stop this pointless discussion." "Don''t call it pointless... Hm? Hoh, I see what you mean." The white-haired Hero gave a quick look at the entrance and was able to grasp the current situation. This made things easier for Nia. "I''m glad you understand. Now I let me tell you who you are-¡± "Hey, there''s no need for someone else to tell me who I am. I don''t have amnesia." "Wait, that''s not what I mean!" Scared the white-haired Hero might misunderstand her again, Nia decided to get straight to the point. "You are a Hero summoned by me and your power is needed to save our world!" "Oh, that I already know." "Eeeeehhhhhhh?!" It was yet another unexpected response. "Why are you so surprised?¡± The white-haired Hero also did not expect Nia¡¯s surprised expression. ¡°I thought you already know I''m a Hero of the past." "But according to the records none of the Heroes should know... Hm, ''of the past'' ?" Nia picked up something weird in his words. The white-haired Hero¡¯s mood became even better because she noticed the key points in his words. He laughed. "Hahaha, that''s right! I''m a great Hero in my past life!" He declared as loud as he could and he swung opened his black coat with his bandage covered right arm in an exaggerating manner. "Behold the reincarnation of the mighty Hero, ''Dark Ice Master''!¡± All the onlookers, who were confused at first, were dumbfounded by the terrifying name. But the white-haired Hero did not stop at this point. ¡°After regaining my memory, I have remembered I once fought in a world dominated by dragons." He looked up as if staring over a distance and began recalling the incident. "Brave warriors fell one after another as they challenged the mighty creatures and the human race was on the verge of extinction." He clenched his fist. "Because of my enormous magic power, I have promised my loved one not to fight as many deaths will result. But I decided to break the oath and join the battle to aid the humans." He then placed his left hand over his eye-patch covered eye. "The battle was tough and I wouldn''t have won if I wasn''t chosen to be the master of ¡®The Eye of the Wicked'' which holds most of my magic power. Even though it¡¯s strange but I am still chosen to be its owner even after I was reincarnated to the current world..." ¡°¡°"..."¡±¡±¡± Everyone quietly listened to his story and were all amazed to see a living legend right before their eyes. A man who challenged dragons. A man with enormous magic power. A savior! Under normal circumstances, the onlookers would not have bought his story. Their strong impression of him came from his appearance after the large red pillar that not only pierced the ceiling of the Sacred Palace but the sky. His story was further made believable with the famous Hero of Yuvian, Kazehaya Shinji, lying unconscious next the unknown man. Though, there was one person with a different view on this white-haired Hero. Nia did quietly listened to his story like the rest of the onlookers. She totally understands what he was talking about and the reason he brought it up. She once has picked this knowledge up from the records about the Heroes from the country called Japan. ¡°¡­*Stares*¡­¡± The white-haired Hero continued to talk about his amazing powers and achievements but he failed to realize the dead stare from Nia. "...Unfortunately my current body cannot control the power of the Eye so I sealed it with this sacred artifact tha- H-Hey, wait, stop pulling my eye-patch! I won''t be able to control this power without my eye-patch!" "You just called it an eye-patch did you not? So it is not an artifact but just a normal eye-patch! Hurry up and take it off so we can stop your out of control delusion!" "Watch your manners when you talk to this mighty Hero ¡®Chaos Night Knight¡®! My carefully thought setting isn''t just a delusion!" "At least be consistent with your setting! And wait, you just admit that all of those stories were just your setting! So you are just like those chuunibyous who always drown themselves in their childish fantasies!" "Chuuni-what? And wait, I don''t want to be called childish by some brat like you!" ¡°W-What?! A-a BRAT?!¡± Nia was shocked to be called a brat. Then her face quickly turned red in anger. "You dare call me a brat! I will have you know that I have already turned fourteen!" She proudly placed her hand on her chest and declared, "Now, as a full grown adult, I am blooming with features of a fine woman." "No, before you call yourself a woman don''t you think you are still lacking in some departments? Like your flat ches- Toh!!" A fist landed heavily on his stomach. The impact forced the white-haired Hero to collapse on his knee. As a natural response, he wrapped his abdomen with his arm. Meanwhile, Nia¡­ "Oh, my. I think my hand just slipped. Please forgive my clumsiness, Teh Hee." ¡­stuck her tongue out with a cute expression while she swung her left hand up and down. The white-haired Hero, slowly, looked up at her with a weak smile. "Before I make a comment about your punch, there are some things I wanted to ask." "Hmph, go on." "Why is my vision covered in blood red stains?" "H-Huh?!" Nia was shocked. ¡°Does it not mean¡­¡± ¡®Your HP is critically low?¡¯ was what she was about to say. But before she could finish the sentence, the white-haired Hero says something even more shocking: "Why am I also seeing my grandfather waving his hand on the other side of a river?" "Hey, don''t fall asleep! Wake up!" Nia, also got on her knees, grabbed his collar and raised her left hand high up in the air. *Pachi* *Pachi*
MESSAGE
Slap deals 2 damage Slap deals 1 damage
"Oh, no! I totally forgot our level difference!" "Aaah, even grandmother is also there... Okay, I will be right there..." "Wait, don''t follow them!" Nia doesn''t know what to do anymore and wrapped her arms around his head to support him. Tears began to flow down her cheeks. "A healer! A priest! Someone please help him!" "So I''m going to die soon... Haa, dying in the arms of a young girl... I have no regrets..." The white-haired Hero rests his head in between Nia''s breasts. "Tsk, only if this brat''s bewbs are bigg-" "!!"
MESSAGE
Criticalhit! Fist of the Judgement deals 24 damage! The Unforgivable Pervert was defeated. Gain 30 Exp. Gain 0 Gold.
The white-haired Hero collapsed on the ground. Nia placed her right foot on the white-haired Hero¡¯s head and raised her left fist high up in the air. It was her victory pose.
¡°Please refrain from doing such things again, Princess Nia.¡± ¡°I apologize for my actions, Arch-Bishop. There won''t be next time.¡± ¡°Then please stay in your room and wait until the King is ready to have an audience with you.¡± The Arch-Bishop left leaving those words behind. Nia let out a big sigh. Nia had made a big ruckus in the castle to summon a Hero. The Arch-Bishop was ¡®kidnapped¡¯ and tied up by Ul. The corridor to the Sacred Palace was remodeled by Ul to contain traps to prevent other people to disturb the summoning. Then, the summoning created a large red pillar with enough force to punch a hole through the ceiling of the Sacred Palace and knock Kazehaya Shinji out. In the end, both Shinji and Ul were injured. The Arch-Bishop was freed by the other women in Shinji¡¯s and Sherri¡¯s party. Even though the Arch-Bishop has forgave the trouble I have caused but I can sense more trouble coming from the King. She then looked at the door to her room. The unconscious white-haired Hero was in her room resting on her bed. Nia really do mind to have a strange man sleeping on her bed but she was at fault to hit him until his HP ran out so she feel she has the obligation to take care of him. Aa~aah, now I have done it... And she also regretted to have knocked him out. He probably hate me for hitting him. It will be a big problem if the white-haired Hero does not offer his service as a Hero under her. What should I really do now? Nia sighed once again and opened the door. ¡°Yo, Princess, welcome back.¡± ¡°H-Huh?¡± The moment Nia entered the room, she was greeted by the white-haired Hero in a care-free manner. Nia was dumbfounded. She did not expect to see the white-haired Hero to regain consciousness this quickly and she, also, did not expect to see the said person to be flipping through books on her table. The white-haired Hero noticed her expression and closed the book in his hand. ¡°Hey, what''s up with that stupid face of yours?¡± He asked with his head tilted. ¡°Did you eat something that upsets your stomach?¡± I feel so stupid to even care about him. Nia was irritated by the white-haired Hero by causally saying rude things. But he does not seem to be angry at Nia. It was as if the fuss this noon between him and her did not happen. Did I over-think things? Nia was not able to make a conclusion yet. She still does not understand how this man thinks. I know being a chuunibyou he will say strange things. But his actions are really out of hand! Nia was really irritated with the white-haired Hero digging through her belongings. He¡¯s a man and he was in Nia¡¯s room. A woman¡¯s room. Shouldn¡¯t he at least show some delicacy? Nia could not help but ask: ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Reading the books lying around of course. What else do you think I''m doing?¡± ¡°That is why I am asking you ¡®what you are doing¡¯. Do you not know it is rude to scratch through other people¡¯s belongs?¡± ¡°Fufufu. Now that you have asked then I shall answer your curiosity.¡± The white-haired Hero grinned. No, I did not ask you out of curiosity. Even though Nia kept her retort in her mind, her cold stare was very apparent. But did not stop the white-haired Hero to flip open his black coat in an over-exaggerating manner. ¡°I am the possessor of ''The Eye of Madness'' and nothing can stop me from my pursuit for knowledge.¡± He declared in an arrogant tone with and placed his left hand over his left eye. ¡°Haa¡­¡± Nia let out a big sigh as she took a seat opposite him. ¡°You can stop your inconsistent setting, you know. I already took off your eye-patch and that red lens from your right eye.¡± Nia has done some research about chuunibyou''s and she knew they will get embarrassed when they were pointed out for being stupid. Well, not that she has actually seen one but she has seen this type of situation in many black-and-white picture books. But, ¡°Oh, is that so?¡± Unexpectedly, the white-haired Hero was rather calm. ¡°*Phew* I can finally drop this tiring act.¡± ¡°If you think it is tiring then do not even start it... Hey, wait! Why are you putting them back on?¡± The white-haired Hero grinned after putting on a red lens and eye-patch over his left eye. ¡°Ha! Don''t get me wrong, little Princess.¡± He said after he placed his bandage covered right hand over his left eye. ¡°The eye-patch and the red lens are both new spares I kept in my pocket.¡± ¡°I did not ask you where they came from!¡± Suddenly, the door was swung opened and a man covered in bandages, from head-to-toe, quickly rushed into the room. ¡°Your Highness! There''s something I need to tell you!¡± ¡°W-What is going on?!¡± Nia was startled by the unknown intruder. ¡°Wait, this voice. I-is that you, Ul?¡± From the voice, Nia recognized this mummy was Ul. Ul was panting really hard, it seemed like he had ran as fast as he could to get to Nia¡¯s room. Nia knew Ul was injured when he was holding back Shinji and Sherri from disrupting Nia¡¯s summoning of a Hero. But, judging from the amount of bandages used, Nia did not know he was this badly injured. Ul even had his whole face covered in bandages, maybe his heavy panting could partially be caused by suffocation¡­ Still, Ul should be in the infirmary to recover his wounds which was located far from Nia¡¯s room. For an injured person to go through all that running means¡­ There¡¯s an emergency! ¡°Are you here to report something serious?¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness! The thing I am reporting in is a serious business.¡± Ul took his monocle out of his pocket and put it on his right eye. ¡°I need to tell you that a person needs his character trait at all time.¡± He placed his right hand over his monocle in a similar manner as the white-haired Hero. ¡°Just like my monocle.¡± ¡°That''s something I don''t need to hear! It¡¯s nothing serious at all!¡± ¡°H-How could you say that, Your Highness? Even though I immediately ran from the infirmary the moment you asked the Hero about his red lens and eye-patch.¡± ¡°Wait, you heard us talking about it? Just how good is your hearing?!¡± Looking at them, the white-haired Hero shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. ¡°This can''t do, you two. There''s something very important to discuss so you two can''t just fool around.¡± ¡°You are the last person I wanted to hear that from!¡± Nia quickly turned her anger towards the white-haired Hero. ¡°You are the one who is fooling around the most!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get it, do you?¡± The white-haired Hero pointed at Ul. ¡°The situation has changed the moment Sebastian came in.¡± ¡°It''s Ul.¡± Ul immediately corrected his mistake. ¡°I am sure Her Highness did mention it not too long ago.¡± "Oh, okay..." ¡°¡±¡­¡±¡± There was a moment of awkward silence before the white-haired Hero made a soft cough. He proceeded by patting the top of a stack of books on the table. ¡°After skimming through all the documents and books in this room, I have one important question to ask and I think it''s the perfect time to do so since all three of us are present.¡± Having heard that, the other two people agreed to hear what the white-haired Hero has to ask. ¡°Me, the Hero summoned to this world; Little Princess, the princess who summoned me; and Ul, the butler who serves the princess.¡± "It is not Little Princess, my name is Nia." Nia did not hesitate to correct him. ¡°I am sure I have wrote my names on the cover of the books.¡± "Oh, okay..." Wait, even though this is a fantasy world but this girl writes her name on her books?! What is she, an elementary school kid? Another moment of silent stares occurred in the room. The white-haired Hero coughed awkwardly after being corrected by Nia and continued as if nothing has happened: ¡°Now, since all the actors are present¡­¡± He¡¯s tone became serious. ¡°I will ask my important question.¡± Suddenly, the atmosphere around the room became tense. Nia gulped at his instant change between his moods. She''s someone who can read the atmosphere after all. Then, the white-haired Hero pointed at Ul again and asked: ¡°Why is he also wearing bandages? I mean that''s totally overlapping with my character trait! Especially he''s got more than I have!¡± ¡°Which part of your question is important?! All the build-ups till this point have all gone to waste because of your stupid question! And there¡¯s no way you could come up with a question like that from the books either!¡± Nia snapped. ¡°And wait, did you just say ''skimming through''? Why are you acting as if you knew the world? You didn''t even take your time to read the books in the first place!¡± Nia began picking up the objects near her and throwing them at the white-haired Hero. The white-haired Hero dodged them with ease. "Don''t worry, with my ''Eye of Eternity'' I can remember all the things I have seen...¡± And with a small voice, he added: ¡°¡­maybe..." "Again with this?! And I heard that! Even if you muttered that I definitely heard you saying ''maybe''!" ¡°Huhuhu!¡± Ul laughed. ¡°Don''t get me wrong, white-haired Hero. I did not wear the bandages to compete with your character trait.¡± He opened his eyes. ¡°I AM ONLY WEARING THEM BECAUSE I AM HURT!¡± ¡°There''s no need to get serious when you say something stupid!¡± ¡°You were hurt? How?¡± Nia and the white-haired Hero asked him almost simultaneously. ¡°White-haired Hero, do not get jealous when you hear the cause.¡± Ul placed his right hand over his monocle, exaggeratedly swung his left arm outwards and declared proudly: ¡°I was hurt because I got caught by the traps I set!¡± ¡°That¡¯s not something to be brag about!¡± Immediately, Nia retorted. And on the other hand¡­ ¡°Uwah, this butler is weird...¡± The white-haired Hero gave Ul a look of disgust. ¡°Do you even have the right to say that?!¡± Suddenly, right after Nia¡¯s last retort, a transparent window appeared before her.
MESSAGE
Nia has gained the title ''Master of Retorts''. It''s all thanks to your countless efforts to make this world better. This title grants you 20% increase towards your retort.
¡°Just what kind of title is this?! What does the effect even do?¡± It seems her retort does not discriminate (due to the 20% increase). The two other two clapped in delight. ¡°Looks like you have earned yourself a title. Hm, how should I put it...? Well, good job, Princess.¡± ¡°Congratulation in getting a new title, Your Highness!¡± ¡°I don''t need a title like this!¡± Nia threw the message board down and began stepping on it. The white-haired Hero laughed as he witnessed the scene. ¡°Haha, you really don''t have the atmosphere of a princess.¡± ¡°More like, Her Highness acts like a spoiled child.¡± ¡°SH-SHUT UP!¡± She picked up the cracked message board and was about to throw it on them. The white-haired Hero quickly made a gesture to try to calm her down. ¡°Hey, it was all a joke. Please calm down and put that thing with sharp edges down. I really do have questions that could only be answered by you.¡± ¡°Can I really believe you on this?¡± Nia find it difficult to trust this Hero''s words because he only say stupid things. The white-haired Hero noticed this so he gave her a nod with a very serious expression. Nia sighed from tiredness and put the message board down. ¡°Haa...Finally we can move on with our important discussions. So what are your questions after all?¡± ¡°Ah, it''s about the disappointing size of your breas-¡± The cracked message board was thrown at him. *********** Hero. A being summoned from Japan, located in a different world, to save this world in the time of crisis. This world has been thrown into chaos by the Demon King. Therefore the goal of Heroes are to kill him and stop his evil plans. ¡°And this is why I was summoned?¡± ¡°Yes, we need your power to save the world.¡± With a determined face, Nia answered the white-haired Hero¡¯s question. After calming themselves down, the two finally sat down to explain the purpose of Heroes while Ul serves them tea. The white-haired Hero sighed: ¡°I can''t really get motivated for such a clich¨¦ reason.¡± ¡°Huh, what do you mean?¡± ¡°Look, the setting of ¡®Oh no, the Demon King is going to destroy the world! Please save us!¡¯ setting has been overused by many people already. I mean, can¡¯t we go with something more exciting? Like the Demon Queen asks me ¡®Hero be mine!¡¯ and I will say ¡®Alright!¡¯, and we take on the world by climbing over a hill.¡± ¡°Just what are you talking about?¡± ¡°No, it''s just me talking to myself. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± The white-haired Hero waved his hand to indicate that he wanted to move on with the topic. ¡°There''s another question I would like to ask.¡± He pushed towards Nia a book with black and white pictures. ¡°Can you read what''s written on this?¡± ¡°Of course I can read a manga.¡± Nia proudly puffed up her modest chest. ¡°I took my time to learn Japanese after all.¡± ¡°Oh, I see...¡± The white-haired Hero nodded with his hand under his chin. Manga, huh? Comic books from Japan. And another thing I noticed is¡­ ¡°The auto-translation for written languages doesn''t work backwards.¡± ¡°That''s not entirely true. It''s all because of the blessing bestowed upon you. Just like every other Hero summoned to Yuvian.¡± ¡°Hm, is that so¡­?¡± The white-haired Hero doesn''t seemed to understand. Then, Nia explained the concept of the language blessing every Hero possess. There is only one language being used in this world. The advantage of this was that everyone will be able to understand each other even if there were racial and cultural differences. Heroes are beings from a different world. They acquire a blessing when they are summoned that allow them and this world''s residents to communicate verbally, or so-called auto-translation, for both beings. But the flaw to this blessing was the Heroes being able read the written languages of this world but does not work for the residents if they were to read the languages of the Hero. Therefore the residents will need to learn Japanese if they wants to read something like a manga or anything from Japan. ¡°And that''s about it.¡± Nia took a sip of her tea as she ended the explanation. ¡°I think I saw this somewhere.¡± ¡°Yes, it was written in one of my notes.¡± Nia pouted in disappointment. ¡°But you just skimmed through a person''s hard work.¡± ¡°Don''t worry, Princess.¡± The white-haired Hero grinned as he placed his hand over his left eye. ¡°I won''t forget anything I see with this eye unless I''m not interested in it.¡± ¡°I thought we agreed to stop that cheap act.¡± ¡°*Tsk*¡± The white-haired Hero clicked his tongue when he was coldly brushed off by Nia. But he does stop his 3rd rate acting. ¡°But now I have another question for you, Princess.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It''s about the Status Plate.¡± ¡°Is there anything else you want to know about the Status Plate other than it being able to display a person''s personal details and parameters?¡± ¡°No, not really. I just wanted to know how people other than you were able to read the names of the Hero?¡± According to Nia''s paper, the white-haired Hero understands that a Status Plate was the identity card of this world. Once activated, by dripping a drop of blood on the unused plate, the Status Plate will only display the details of the owner. The name of the owner will remain in its original form which it came from. So it''s Japanese in the case of the Heroes. ¡°Don''t worry, the Status Plate has an effect to let other people understand its content even if its contents were displayed in a different language.¡± ¡°That''s very vague.¡± The white-haired Hero frowned as he was not convinced with such abstracted explanation. ¡°Well, it is magic after all.¡± ¡°Is it really all right to use that as a reason?¡± I know this is the world of magic but to use it to explain things like that is a bit¡­ Even though the white-haired Hero questioned Nia, she gave him an unexpected response: ¡°Since we are on this topic, why not show me your Status Plate?¡± ¡°Ah, you are avoiding my question!¡± But the white-haired Hero did not buy that. ¡°This means you don''t know how this magical-like thing works!¡± ¡°S-Shut up!¡± *Pon* *Pon* Nia bang on the table twice to hide her embarrassment. Her face was red and her actions proved the white-haired Hero was spot on. ¡°It''s not adult-like to nitpick on every small thing!¡± ¡°I don''t want to hear this from some brat with no manners!¡± ¡°S-Some brat... with no manners?!¡± Nia slowly raised up from her chair with a shocked expression. She could not believe her ears. *Bam* Then she became angry and slammed the table once again. ¡°Who are you calling a brat with no manners?!¡± Her hair was standing up like a cat with its tail stepped on. ¡°Which princess slams the table like a spoiled brat except for you?¡± The white-haired Hero pointed a finger at Nia¡¯s nose. *SNAP* ¡°Uwoooo! It''s bent! It''s bended in the wrong direction!¡± He was shocked after Nia twisted his index finger. ¡°What were you thinking, you damned brat? Don''t you know it hurts?¡± ¡°Hmph!¡± Nia turned away and ignored his insults. ¡°Ignoring me now, huh? I see. So not only are your bewbs small but you are also small-minded.¡± ¡°H-Hey, leave my chest out of this!¡± Nia¡¯s face became red. She wrapped her hands around her chest and tried to avoid the white-haired Hero''s gaze. ¡°And they are not small you pervert! T-Th-They are still developing!¡± ¡°Y-Your Highness!¡± Ul panickedly called out to her. Not even waiting for a response from either of the two, Ul quickly fit himself between Nia and the white-haired Hero. With a determined expression, he loudly declared: ¡°I will be troubled if your chest develops any further!¡± *Bam* Nia¡¯s fist slammed into Ul¡¯s face and sent him flying. She did not hear him thanking her because her anger has already reached the point where her small body could not handle. ¡°You¡­! You two! ...Waaaah!¡± And she began to cry. ¡°Ah, aah¡­Her Highness is crying¡­¡± Ul looked at the white-haired Hero with a¡®shame on you¡¯expression.¡°Look at what you have done.¡± ¡°Me? Why are you looking me? You were the one who finished her off!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get it do you?¡± ¡°Huh, what do you mean by that?¡± The white-haired Hero cocked his head. Ul sighed after seeing his clueless face and shrugged his shoulders. ¡°The person who dealt the most damage were the one who made Her Highness cry.¡± ¡°And that person is you!¡± Immediately, the white-haired Hero answered. ¡°Now, you have the responsibility to cheer her up.¡± ¡°¡¯Objection¡¯! That¡¯s very unreasonable!¡± ¡°Stop yapping and get on with it.¡± Ul pushed the white-haired Hero forward. But he only has a confused expression on his face. The white-haired Hero looked back at Ul: ¡°Even if you say so but what am I supposed to do at this point? I don¡¯t know how to stop a br-, a girl from crying.¡± ¡°Worry not, you will receive support from my experience.¡± Ul said softly so Nia does not hear him. ¡°At this moment, you should give her what she wanted to see.¡± Really? If you know that then why aren¡¯t you the one doing it? And even if you told me that, I still don¡¯t know what this brat wants! The white-haired Hero showed that he has no previous experience with such situation before so he does not know what to do. Noticing that, Ul used his hands and drew a rectangular shape object in the air. That was the biggest hint Ul could give. The white-haired Hero was not an idiot and immediately understood Ul¡¯s hint. ¡°I see, the thing she wanted the most...¡± The white-haired Hero closed his eyes to recall his previous conversations with Nia. And the most possible answer popped up in his mind. ¡®Since we are on this topic, why not show me your Status Plate?¡¯ The white-haired Hero opened his eyes with an expression like an adventurer who found a treasure in a ruin. That¡¯s right! That¡¯s what she wanted! It¡¯s that simple! Satisfied with the answer he found, he grinned and praised himself a few times for his cleverness. Then he held out an object with his left hand. And that object was another spare eye-patch from his pocket. *CRACK* ¡°Uwoooo! My arm! I heard it crack!¡± The cracking sound came from his bone when Ul hit his arm. Ul gave a smile to the white-haired Hero who was in pain. ¡°Oh, my. What were you thinking?¡± ¡°No, what were you thinking?! Breaking someone''s arm so casually!!¡± ¡°Please do not get so worked up, I only wanted to return this to you.¡± Ul gave the white-haired Hero a Status Plate. ¡°Hey, I''m sure this was supposed to be in my pocket! You thie-¡± ¡°I was sure there should be an unused Status Plate stored on the shelf but now it''s gone missing... Should I call the guards?¡± ¡°Y-Yes¡­I totally remembered that I haven''t introduced myself! Ahaha, I''m such a klutz!¡± After laughing it off, the white-haired Hero hurried to Nia and do what Ul wanted him to do. ¡°Hey, Princess. Will you stop crying if I show you my Status Plate?¡± He lowered his head and asked her in a sincerely tone so she won''t feel offended. ¡°Hmph!¡± She turned her head away. This brat!! Being turned away has made him angry... even if it was expected. That''s right, the white-haired Hero expected this to happen and he already have something prepared. ¡°Not interested? Is that really so? Aw~ what a pity... even though I was going to show you something great.¡± ¡°...¡± Nia said nothing and she showed no interest at all. But the white-haired Hero does not stop there. ¡°Oh, I think using the word ''great'' is not enough to fully describe this. I mean the stats on my Status Plate is totally amazing.¡± ¡°!!¡± He couldn''t see her expression with her face turned away but the small tremble of her shoulders betrayed her. Ha, she took the bait! ¡°Ah~ aah. Too bad our Princess doesn''t want to see this.¡± ¡°Ah...¡± Nia, who has her attention caught, wanted to say something but then stopped by her conflicting thoughts. After witnessing this, the white-haired Hero laughed a few times in his mind and continued to wear a poker face and pressed on further. ¡°Well, I guess I will just keep this AMAZING Status Plate a secret so people won''t get too AMAZED after looking at it and become too JEALOUS of it.¡± ¡°...e see it...¡± Nia finally said it! The moment she saw the white-haired Hero putting his Status Plate into his black coat she decided to swallow her pride, lowered her head and squeezed those words out of her mouth. But of course, he wouldn''t show her so easily after witnessing her action. This looks fun. ¡°Eh, did you say something? Sorry, I really didn''t hear that.¡± ¡°Uuu...¡± Nia''s face became a little red and her head lowered a bit further. It''s not like the white-haired Hero asked that on purpose, he really did not hear what she mumbled even though he already knew what she was trying to say. But seeing how this little girl was behaving he couldn''t help but to want to bully her more. ¡°... me see it...¡± ¡°Mn... you spoke too softly... Can you please repeat that?¡± ¡°Uuu...¡± Her voice became even softer and to hear her the white-haired Hero, exaggeratedly, lower his body to get his left ear closer to her. ¡°...Please... can you let me see it...¡± Nia said it with a teary expression because her embarrassment level was over the maximum. But she still managed to muster her courage and said it loud enough so the white-haired Hero could hear. That''s right, he definitely heard everything she said clearly because he was very close to her. There was no way he could deny it even if he wanted to press further after looking at Nia''s expression. So¡­ ¡°Of course, Princess...¡± The white-haired Hero has no choice but to answer her. ¡°You can''t!¡± *********** ¡°Wow, this is really amazing!¡± Nia praised the white-haired Hero after she has taken a look at his Status Plate in her hand. Standing beside her was the white-haired Hero with a swollen face. He grinned and rubbed his hands continuously. ¡°I am glad you like it. Hueheh... Ouch...¡± Though the pain from his face really was not laughable. His tone has become more polite after taking a beating from Nia. The way he showed Nia his Status Plate was like a salesman presenting an item to his potential client. ¡°Of course I would like this! Your parameters are way higher than Shinji''s when he first started!¡± Nia looked down at his Status Plate once again to experience the joyful feeling as if she has hit the jackpot.
NameGuilty Sin Rekaerbwal
TitleBearer of Another Eye
OccupationHeroRaceHuman
Level1HP|MP1/66 | 99/99
Strength68Intelligent57
Vitality102Wisdom96
Agility84Luck10
¡°Now I can''t wait to see Sherri''s face when I show her your Status Plate.¡± Shinji''s parameters were all in the fifties when he first arrived. ¡°But...¡± Nia''s sudden pause caught the other two men¡¯s attention. They noticed she wore a difficult expression. ¡°Ah, sorry. I just find it embarrassing to be unable to pronounce my Hero''s name.¡± ¡°It can''t be helped, Your Highness.¡± Ul, who has taken off his bandages, gave his comment. ¡°Languages from the other world are very different from our own.¡± ¡°I know that. But it is incredible to summon a Hero like him so as a princess who summoned him...¡± Nia looked back to the Status Plate again at the name section. ¡°At least, I need to know how to say his name.¡± And she began to read what''s written in that panel. ¡°Guilty Sin Reka... Rekae... Rekaebral...¡± But it seem like she failed at doing so. Seeing her like that ''Rekaerbwal'' decided to give her some help. ¡°Princess, it¡¯s pronounced like this. Guilty Sin Rekaerbwal.¡± ¡°Even if made it sound easy. I still do not know how I say it¡­¡± Nia sighed. ¡°I know Japan has weird naming sense but your name is really weird.¡± ¡°Oh, seems like you can also see the charm of my name.¡± ¡°No, I only think your name is hard to pronounce.¡± ¡°The double sins in my name enhances the rebellious meaning of my name,¡± Ignoring Nia¡¯s retort, ¡®Rekaerbwal¡¯ started to explain the meaning behind his name. ¡°And putting the last word in the wrong way makes this name even more chaotic.¡± ¡°Huh? Rebellious...? Chaotic...? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Hmph, you know what I''m talking about.¡± ''Rekaerbwal'' smirked while looking at Nia as if looking at a comrade. After a moment of silent treatment, he suddenly blushed and gave her awkward side glances. ¡°D-Don''t make me say such embarrassing things twice.¡± ¡°If you feel embarrassed talking about it then don''t even start it! And stop wiggling like that! What kind of maiden in love are you...? Wait... the last word of your name...¡± Nia suddenly froze for a second as she came to a realization. He said he put it in the wrong way¡­ as if it¡¯s wrong way around?! That means!! The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Doesn''t that mean your name is just ''Guilty Sin LawBreaker''?!¡± ¡°You got it!! Congratulation, Princess!¡± ¡®Lawbreaker¡¯ clapped his hands. ¡°Looks like you have potential to come to my side.¡± Nia does not know what he meant by his side. Though she really does felt stupid for trying so hard in pronouncing his name that was spelt backwards. ¡°Just what kind of parent would name their son something like that?¡± Nia asked. ¡°It¡¯s cool, isn¡¯t it? It''s a name I thought up for my fantasy setting.¡± ¡°What?! So it was you who came up with that ridiculous name! Why are you introducing yourself with a fake name! And wait, how is it possible that the Status Plate was displaying your fake name?¡± ¡°Oh, I found out that the name panel is editable so I decided to change it.¡± ''Rekaerbwal'' scratched the back of his head embarrassingly but a faint smile of joy can be seen on his face. ¡°That''s why I wanted to show it to you.¡± ¡°That is truly amazing!¡± Nia was shocked in awe. This was the first time she ever seen the name on the Status Plate was changed. Nobody has ever done something like that! With this discovery alone, Nia was sure this Hero will become famous. The Hero noticed Nia¡¯s admiring eyes, he became delighted. ¡°So you also think it¡¯s amazing.¡± The Hero smiled. ¡°My name that is.¡± ¡°No, I was not referring to your name at all. But talking about it, I do want you to do something about that fake name of yours.¡± Nia gave a smile equivalent to his. ¡°Please, change it back.¡± ¡°Eeeehhh?!¡± ¡°I said change it back!¡± ¡°You can''t just do that!¡± The Hero was desperate, it almost felt like he was begging for his life. ¡°You can¡¯t do that to my five minutes of hardship to come up with a name that legit!¡± ¡°It really does not sound like you put any effort into that name at all! And even if it''s five hours of your hardship, I will still make you to change it.¡± Nia gave the white-haired Hero''s Status Plate back to him. ¡°Or else that name will remain a laughingstock in our history for at least a century and you will die from embarrassment even if you are living your afterlife.¡± ¡°It sounds weird the way you say it but I think I get your point.¡± The white-haired Hero operated on his Status Plate and, in no time, he handed it to Nia. ¡°There, Princess. I''ve changed it back just as you have requested.¡± ¡°Thank you. I''m glad you understand...¡± Feeling relieved, Nia looked at the change at the name panel.
NameThe World Ender, Armageddon
TitleBearer of Another Eye
OccupationHeroRaceHuman
Level1HP|MP999/999 | 999/999
Strength999Intelligent999
Vitality999Wisdom999
Agility999Luck666
*Slam* Nia angrily threw the Status Plate on the table. ¡°Did you really understand what I just told you?!¡± ¡°Of course I do.¡± ''Armageddon'' picked up his Status Plate and returned it to Nia. ¡°I changed it back like you told me to do.¡± ¡°Then tell me why is the name panel displaying another ridiculous name on the same level as Guilty Sin Lawbreaker?¡± ¡°It''s Guilty Sin Rekaerbwal.¡± ¡°Like I care!¡± ¡°Well, you see, ''Armageddon'' was the first name I came up with before ''Rekaerbwal''.¡± ¡°Are you kidding me¡­¡± Nia felt like she was about to faint. ¡°At least come up with a normal name!¡± Nia gave another glance at the Status Plate. She was even more shocked to have found something even more ridiculous than the fake name. ¡°Why did the parameters change as well? Just how are you doing this? This is ridiculous!¡± The change in name displayed on the Status Plate was already shocking enough and now even the parameters displayed also changed. And of course only one person in the room knows the reason for that. ¡°Huh, what''s ridiculous about that?¡± ''Armageddon'' gave her a look as if such ridiculous thing was a common occurrence. ¡°Doesn''t the parameters change to fit the name of the person?¡± ¡°There''s no such convenient thing in this world!¡± ¡°What, there isn''t?!¡± ''Armageddon'' drooped his shoulders in disappointment. ¡°And here I thought there was a mistake so I filled it in myself.¡± ¡°I know that it''s everyone''s dream to have an overpowered status but...¡± She threw the Status Plate at ''Armageddon''. ¡°At least show some humbleness for being a Level 1! What¡¯s with the incredibly high parameters?¡± ¡°Hey, there''s nothing wrong with Armageddon being a little rule-breaking. Right?¡± ¡°Parameters of 999 is a little rule-breaking?! That''s a lot more rule-breaking than Lawbreaker!¡± ¡°Hey, did you notice only my luck is not 999?¡± ''Armageddon'' became excited at this topic. ¡°Want to know the reason why my luck is at 666?" "No!!" ¡°I see...¡± He was depressed to be immediately shot down by Nia. ¡°Lets go back to the topic. Armageddon is someone who can destroy the world.¡± ¡°No, this is not the topic we should go back to. And plus, by coming up with a name does not grant you the ability to destroy the world.¡± "Haa, you don''t get it do you?" He sighed as he shook his head. "Well, I don''t expect a small girl like you to understand the romance of teenage boys going through puberty." "Say what?!" Nia was irritated by his impolite tone and raised her fist. Afraid to once again experience the near death situation, ''Armageddon'' lift both his hands up to stop her from delivering that deadly physical attack (fist). "Okay, okay! I-I get it! I just need to change the Status Plate back to the original, right?" He quickly operated on the Status Plate and gave it to Nia. "Now, there shouldn''t be any problem with my Status Plate." He said with a confident smile. The Status Plate with his real stats were:
NameMyst
TitleBearer of Another Eye
OccupationHeroRaceHuman
Level1HP|MP#$%^&^%$#@
Strength@%#%&%$Intelligent+=*^%##@
Vitality&%$&$#==Wisdom@#$@$^&$
Agility+_%#$%##Luck#$%^&^$$^#&*
"Who are you kidding?!" Nia snapped. ¡°There¡¯s nothing but problems on this!¡± "Wa-Wait!" ''Myst'' held out his hand to prevent Nia from executing her deadly punishment. "I''m sure the Status Plate is displaying my real name so why are you still angry?" ¡°If that is really is so,¡± Nia closed in on him. ¡°Then where is your family name?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true that my given name is Myst!¡± Myst answered wholeheartedly. ¡°I hid my last name just for some privacy.¡± ¡°I see, I can overlook that.¡± Nia dropped her fist. ¡°And what about the other things?¡± "The other things?" "The parameters! I''m talking about the parameters!" Nia pointed at the fields on the Status Plate that does not seemed normal. "What are you planning to do with a Status Plate if we can''t even see its parameters?" "Ah, don''t worry. It''s not like the Status Plate is broken." Myst took out from his pocket a pen filled with black ink. He spun the pen with his left hand as he explains. "The parameter areas are just badly smeared with this one''s ink. So it will be fine once we wiped the ink off the Status Plate." "Then why did you not do it in the first place?" "Ahaha! I would''ve done that if I could. ¡°Huh, what do you mean?" Seeing the confused face of Nia, Myst decided to do more practical explanation. He took the Status Plate from her, pulled out the lid of the pen and scribbled on the Status Plate. ¡°Well, we call this pen a permanent marker in our world. By permanent marker we mean...¡± He wiped the surface of the plate and showed Nia the result. ¡°I can''t wipe off things written with this pen.¡± ¡°Then stop adding more to the Status Plate!¡± *Bam* A fist landed on Myst''s face! The impact shot him flying into a wall and the only thing left behind was his Status Plate. His head landed the floor, stream of blood was gushing out like a fountain. Nia was not worried about Myst but rather the Status Plate lying on the floor. ¡°Just what are you doing to the important artifact of this world?!¡± Nia shouted angrily at Myst while wiping the surface of the Status Plate with the sleeve of her white dress. It seems like she really cared for the Status Plate as she paid no mind to the black stains appearing on her sleeve. Then a voice came from behind her. ¡°If I may, Your Highness.¡± Looking back, Nia saw the owner of the voice was Ul. Ul, who was quiet this whole time, offered to clean the Status Plate. ¡°I have spoken to the other Heroes before, thus I know a way to deal with this type of situation.¡± Ul gave an assuring smile. Nia decided to hand the Status Plate over to Ul after seeing that smile of his. He may be a fool all the time but at times like this he does show his capability as my butler. ¡°Your Highness. I am done.¡± ¡°That was fast!¡± Nia was surprised at the unexpected speed at which Ul was able to complete his task. Taking that as a compliment, Ul gave a smile of satisfaction in return. ¡°It is only natural as a butler to achieve the best result in the shortest time.¡± Ul gave a slight bow as he handed the Status Plate to Nia.
PantyPanty
PantyPanty
PantyPantyPantyPanty
PantyPantyPantyPanty
PantyPantyPantyPanty
PantyPantyPantyPanty
PantyPantyPantyPanty
¡°Just what sort of result are you trying to achieve?!¡± *Bam* A fist in the stomach sent Ul crashing into the wall and landed next to Myst. Even though Ul thanked her but Nia did not hear it because she was distracted by the content Status Plate. ¡°What is this I''m seeing?! A ritual for conjuring? Just what are you trying to conjure?!¡± ¡°Huh? That was strange.¡± Ul, up on one knee, held a permanent marker in his shaking hand. ¡°I thought the problem would be fixed if I write something more noticeable than the mess.¡± ¡°What you must fix is the mess in your thinking! And don''t join the other idiot in scribbling on the Status Plate!¡± ¡°It seems like I was the curse from this permanent marker.¡± ¡°That''s not a good enough reason to write another curse on the Status Plate!¡± ¡°No, you are wrong about that Your Highness. What I have written was not a curse but...¡± Ul opened both his eyes as he declares. ¡°My regret for being able to retrieve Your Highness¡¯s freshly-washed panty that was carried by the wind today!!¡± ¡°Don''t shout something like that aloud!¡± A foot was driven into Ul''s face to shut him up. When Ul was thanking Nia for the special treatment, she was called by the other man lying on the floor. ¡°Hey, Nia.¡± Myst turned his head to see her. ¡°I suggest I activate another Status Plate since the current one is beyond fixable. ¡± ¡°It''s all thanks to you two idiots!¡± Nia glare daggers at Myst who proposed an alternative solution. Myst felt chills coming down from his spine. He even jumped up, literally, from her stares. ¡°Woah, calm down. We can''t go anywhere if we keep circling around same problem.¡± Nia paused a bit because she also think Myst was correct. They have been on the same problem for a while now and nothing could be done because the other two idiots were just fooling around. Then, after a sigh, Nia decided to accept Myst''s suggestion. ¡°Even though it is a bit of a waste but I guess it cannot be helped.¡± ¡°Then please wait a moment.¡± Myst found another empty Status Plate and placed it on his forehead. The Status Plate was then activated by absorbing the blood running down his forehead. After the activation process was completed, Myst handed the new Status Plate to Nia. ¡°Here, it''s all done.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Something wrong?¡± ¡°No¡­¡± Did you not find it weird to casually use your blood from your bleeding forehead? ¡°It''s nothing, don''t worry about it.¡± Ignoring the confused Myst, Nia looked down at the new Status Plate. ¡°E-Eh?¡± And a surprised sound escaped her mouth¡­
In the throne room. ¡°I see, so he is also a Magic Zero.¡± King Victor Maginus spoke with an indifferent tone. He yawned and laid back on his throne. In front of him were five people summoned to have audience with him. They were Princess Sherri, Hero Kazehaya Shinji, Princess Nia, Myst and Noble Thomas. They were gathered in the throne room to discuss an unexpected occurrence that happened in the same afternoon. The summoning of a new Hero, Myst. Both Ul and the Arch-Bishop were not present, even though they were directly involved in this matter. Arch-Bishop has excused himself as he was needed to be present for the repairs of Sacred Palace. So Thomas was summoned in order to hear the matter in his place. Servants were not allowed to be in the throne room, so Ul was not present and Nia was fully responsible for his actions. ¡°Not only is he a Magic Zero,¡± The King adds. ¡°His parameters are also...¡± He once again looked down at the Status Plate in his hand.
NameMyst
TitleBearer of Another Eye
OccupationHeroRaceHuman
Level1/1HP|MP66/66 | 0/0
Strength3Intelligent0
Vitality4Wisdom0
Agility4Luck0
¡°Also near the very bottom.¡± At first, the King was excited to hear the phenomenon that occurred when Myst was summoned. But he became skeptical about it when he heard Myst was knocked unconscious by Nia. Now, having confirmed the truth about Myst with his Status Plate, the King was very disappointed with Nia. ¡°...¡± Nia had remained silent for a long time since the start of the meeting. She was the first one to find out about Myst¡¯s stats. Nia couldn''t find any words to respond to the King and kept her head down unable to face him. Nobody could see the expression on her face but one can see both of her trembling hands gripping tightly on her white dress. She felt the atmosphere in the silent throne room was heavier than usual.'' Think! What should I do next? Earlier, Nia did mention Myst¡¯s finding of editable name field on the Status Plate. But the King was more concerned about Myst¡¯s stats. Then the silent was broken by a laughter. ¡°Hahaha! A Magic Zero summoning a Magic Zero?¡± Sherri laughed. ¡°Don''t you think it makes a lot of sense, Nia?¡± ¡°...¡± Nia didn''t respond to Sherri''s laughter but only lowered her head further. Not expecting a reply from Nia, Sherri continued. ¡°But what surprised me the most was his level.¡± On the Status Plate, Myst''s level was displayed as 1/1. This has never happened in Yuvian history. But since it was displayed in the same format as HP and MP then only one conclusion can be made. ¡°Doesn''t that mean he cannot level up any further? So Nia, what are you going to do about a weak Hero who cannot even get stronger? ¡± None of Myst''s stats were above 4 and it was recorded in Yuvian history that the average stats of a person should be at least 10. This makes Myst not only the weakest Hero ever summoned but he became the weakest human among all the residents in Yuvian. ¡°I believe your Hero will even struggle to complete an F-ranked quest. But compare that with our Shinji here...¡± Sherri placed her hand on Shinji''s shoulder and leaned a bit closer to him. ¡°Was able to complete an S-ranked quest with ease!¡± ¡°Please don''t say that Sherri. It was all thanks to the help with the other girls.¡± ¡°Again with your humbleness. Don''t forget who was the one standing at the front protecting all of us.¡± ¡°Well, because it''s a man''s duty to protect girls.¡± Shinji scratched the back of his head as he became a little embarrassed from Sherri''s praise and also his manly declaration. Upon hearing this topic, the King''s expression brightened up and quickly leaned forward on his throne. "I have heard about this from the representative of the Guild Hall.¡± The King said. ¡°I was told not only did you manage to clear a mine infested with goblins but also secured new resources for our Kingdom." The King nodded a few times, he was delighted for the achievement of the Hero serving his Kingdom. Completing an S-ranked quest was not an easy feat even for experienced adventurers. For this quest, the mine Shinji came across was infested with goblins numbered in hundreds, almost to a thousand! It would have taken a troop of soldiers or adventurers to clear the infestation. But Shinji, along with Sherri and his party, cleared the mine without any additional help. Nobody has ever achieved that. The star amongst the Heroes was no doubt Kazehaya Shinji. "To show my appreciation for your effort for completing an S-ranked quest I would like to grant you a treasured sword of mine." "Thank you for your reward, King Maginus. But I cannot accept such treasure." Shinji politely refused the King''s offer. The King was surprised to have his offer turned down. "Oh, is there something you want instead?" The King asked. "No, that''s not what I meant. I am just doing my duty as a Hero to clear any threat that could harm anyone in Yuvian." He then gave a childish smile. "And plus I already got the reward from the Guild Hall." His words moved both the hearts of the King and Sherri. "Shinji..." Sherri gave Shinji a look filled with admiration. "Gahahaha! That is what a Hero should be like. So if it''s you, I wouldn''t mind marrying my daughter to you." "W-Wait, Father! T-This joke isn''t funny!" "Ahaha..." Shinji laughed embarrassingly. Because of the King''s joke, Sherri blushed and her face was bright red. The King laughed at the reaction Sherri made and Shinji continued to scratch the back of his head out of embarrassment. Looking at this scene, Myst sighed. Geez¡­ What is this, a family meeting? Shouldn¡¯t you guys be doing this when I¡¯m not around? Then he took a quick glance at Nia. He could not see her face directly but he did notice her biting her lip. Hoh... "Talking about marriage, I have something to announce." The King turned to Nia. "I have agreed with the King of Faramel to marry you to his prince." "What?!" Nia lifted her head in surprise. But she wasn''t the only who was surprised. Shinji, Sherri and Thomas were all surprised. "Ha, haha. Isn''t this nice, Nia? Even though you are a Magic Zero but there is still someone willing to marry you!" Sherri was the first one to react and placed her hand on Nia''s shoulder as she laughed. And that irritated Nia. "DON''T BE RIDICULUS!!!" Nia slapped Sherri''s hand away and this gave Sherri another surprise. Then Nia glared at the King furiously. "Father! That''s not what we agreed on!" "Oh?" The King narrowed his eyes. "Did you not agreed to let me go on my own adventure if I was able to summon a Hero?" "Yes, I did." "Even though I did not use the traditional method but I did summon Myst here to our world through the Ritual of Hero Summoning!" "But because you did not summon him using the traditional method so I don''t recognize him as a Hero." "What?! You can''t just do that!" Nia was angry at the King''s unreasonable statement. The King sighed and decided to give a proper explanation to justify his statement. "I have heard you did a lot of research about summoning a Hero. Then you should know Heroes are given Hero''s Blessings and their parameters will be higher than our knights of the same level." Nia nodded. The King proceeded by holding Myst''s Status Plate in her line of sight. "The Status Plate does not lie so tell me... Which parameters of his are higher than our most untrained knight?" "Ah..." Nia''s face turned pale. ¡°If his parameters are not higher than our knights then it can only mean he did not receive the Hero¡¯s Blessing.¡± The King added. ¡°Thus the person, Myst, is not a Hero. And since Myst is not a Hero then you have not meet the condition for me to fulfil-" "BUT THAT¡¯S NOT RIGHT!!" Nia shouted and interrupted the King. Nia was desperate. She grabbed her dress by her chest to ease her trembling body and shouted with all she had. "I studied everything I could about Hero summoning! I did what should do for the ritual! There shouldn''t be any mistake! i-I- " "Enough!!" The King shouted. *BAM* The King angrily slammed the handle of his throne. "If that''s all you have to say then stay quiet! You are a princess who will be married to the prince of Faramel so behave yourself!" "Kuh...!" Tears flowed down Nia''s cheek. Pain and sadness in her heart overcame her when she realized her years of hard work were for null. She lowered her head once again as an indication that she gave up. Shinji could not stand from what he was seeing and decided to say something but was stopped by a tug on his sleeve. He turned to the source and saw Sherri shaking her head which tells him that he should not interfere. "Is there something wrong, Hero Shinji?" The King noticed his strange behaviour so he asked "It''s ab- I mean, it''s nothing." Shinji decided to not say anything. "Is that so?" The King nodded and looked at rest of the people. "Is there anything anyone wished to report?" No body responded to the King''s question. Ah, aah... It''s over. Even after all the hard work I still ended up marrying someone I don''t know. Becoming property of someone I''ve never seen before... Becoming a sacrifice for political purposes. Nia took a glance at Sherri and Shinji. In the end I can''t be like them. To adventure around the world and see what many things I have only seen in books... To experience what you have talked about... She closed eyes and an image of a long-haired woman came up in her mind. That woman had a gentle smile. Mother... But all she could do now is wait for the final sentence from the King. "If there are nothing to report then let''s conclude today''s-" "Please wait. Dear Brot- I mean, King Maginus." An unexpected interruption was done by the man who was quiet the whole time. "What is it, Thomas?" The man who interrupted the King from concluding the discussion was no other than the man called Thomas; the little brother of the King. Thomas was a middle-aged man who wears his noble uniform very neatly. His composure fits his title as a noble and his expression gives off a calm and dependable aura. "Before we end I would like to ask if a certain someone would like to add anything?" Thomas said. "A certain someone?" The King questioned. "That''s right. This person seems to have a lot in his mind during our discussion." Thomas then turned to Myst. "Isn''t that right, our guest from another world?" Other people, including Nia, turned their attention to him. How did I forget? I still have him! Nia show a small hope of ray that she could grab on. But in the eyes of other people, they did not see what Thomas has seen. Myst does not look like he was thinking about anything during their discussion and they expected him to wear a confused expression. He has an intelligence of zero after all. But unexpectedly, he grinned. ¡°Ah, that''s right. Of course I have something to say.¡± Ignoring other people''s surprised face Myst looked at the King. ¡°Isn''t it mean to just conclude this meeting without considering what I should do from now on?¡± And he asked a very selfish question. I was an idiot to depend on him... In the end, he''s just like the others. Not noticing Nia who had lowered her head once again, the King responded to Myst''s question: "Ah. I''m sorry, Myst. I forgot to compensate you for Nia''s foolishness in bringing you here to our world." The King said in a tone as if he was scolding Nia. ¡°Of course you have to compensate me for your sorry ass! I am really pissed after-all!¡± Myst said rudely. ¡°Be sure to give me something good because I know the magic to return me to my world cannot be used if the Demon King is not defeated. So my precious time I could have spent in my world are all wasted here.¡± ¡°Y-Yes, of course.¡± The King frowned. Even though the King''s tone was calm but having seen his forced smile one can conclude he was irritated. He was definitely not pleased by Myst''s tone of voice and attitude in asking for something. It''s not just the King who was irritated but also Shinji and Sherri as well. Because in their eyes, it seems to them Myst was a thug trying to knock off from the King as much as possible. The King also noticed that but he still needs to make an offer: ¡°How about this? I will let you choose any object from my treasure room and also give you enough gold for you to buy a house.¡± ¡°Ahn?¡± Myst made an annoying sound. ¡°What are you talking about? I don''t want things like that!¡± ¡°What? Is it not enough? Then how about double the amount I just said?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get it, do you? Do I look like some greedy thug in your eyes?¡± Myst shook his head in disappointment. ¡°What I want is fairly simple.¡± In the next moment, Myst grabbed Nia''s hand and held it high. ¡°All I¡¯m asking for is a hand in marriage with your daughter, Nia!¡± ¡°¡°WHAT?!¡±¡± Everyone present in the throne room shouted in surprise. And Nia who was on the verge of despair was forcefully knocked back to reality by Myst''s statement. H-Huh, what did he just say? Did he just asked for a m-m-marriage?! With me?! And wait, his hand! Let go! Nia was the first one to break out of their dumbfounded state and tried to swing off Myst¡¯s hand. But she found out that his grip was really tight and she could not get his hand off. Seeing this, Myst was about to burst out laughing but endured it and kept a poker face to continue: ¡°Actually, I was in love with Nia the moment I saw her.¡± He said with a blush. He shyly placed his right hand on his chest. Then he stole a few glance at Nia repeatedly. What kind of maiden in love are you?! Please stop! It''s disgusting! STOP! One of the King''s eye brows twitched and he tried to keep his calm as much as possible. ¡°I am sorry, Myst. But perhaps have you not understood what we discussed earlier?¡± ¡°That''s very rude. Of course I know what you guys were talking earlier. It''s marriage, right? I heard you were talking about someone wanting to marry someone so I think I should also tell you my true feeling.¡± Okay, this idiot definitely did not understand what we discussed. I wouldn''t even be surprised if he wasn''t even listening. Then, with a voice filled with passion, Myst shouted: ¡°Please allow me to marry Nia, King Maginus!¡± ¡°As a proud noble, there''s no ways I will allow that!¡± But it was an angry Thomas who responded. That''s right. This person is like that. Though not many, Nia had met with the Noble Thomas in the past. To her, Thomas was a strict person who cares a lot about keeping the rules among the royal family and image of the nobles. Therefore Thomas will not allow the marriage of a royal blood with someone who was not even a Hero. Thomas, with veins popping out of his forehead, pointed at Myst. ¡°You fool! Do you think you can just marry the princess like that?¡± He then pointed at the King. ¡°At least call him Father-in-Law!¡± *Pakin* That was the sound of the image of Thomas in Nia''s mind shattering. Eh? Did I hear it wrong? ¡°I understand.¡± Myst nodded. Wait, what did you mean you understand? What did you understand? Myst looked at the King with a serious face. ¡°Please, Father-in-Law! Let me marry Nia!¡± Stop proposing that with a serious expression! It''s embarrassing! ¡°That''s how I like it. I, as a Proud Noble, permits this marriage!¡± This person is also hopeless! And why are you the one answering? ¡°Thomas, you should know I will not allow such marriage.¡± The King shook his head. ¡°Marriage between a royal blood and a commoner will cause a lot of trouble...¡± The King politely disagrees with what Thomas has said. But that did not stop Myst from pressing on. "Then how about this, Father-in-Law? Just lend us your back gate, and let me and Nia elope together. I''m sure it won''t be too much of a trouble just by doing that." No, you are causing enough trouble just by doing that. And that''s not something you should be asking your Father-in-Law! "Fool! Do you think I, as a proud noble, will permit that?¡± Thomas roared. ¡°None of the nobles and royal bloods should take actions that are unseemly to the public!" Isn''t it? Even for you eloping is a bit too much. Thomas became even more eager and stood between the King and Myst. "We nobles do things proudly so if you want to elope then do it through the front gate!" You are focusing on the wrong problem! "Father-law! Please lend me your front gate!" Whether it''s the back gate or the front gate, eloping is a no! "I, as a proud noble, allow you to use my estate''s front gate." He¡¯s not even asking you! And what''s the point of using the front gate of your estate? "Alright, thank you very much." Eh, you are going to use it? Just what are you using it for? "Enough with this foolishness!!" *Bam* The King slammed the handles of his throne. His voice filled the throne room which stopped the chaos Myst and Thomas were making. It also made Shinji and Sherri snap out of their dumbfounded state. Seeing that he was also at fault, Thomas lowered his head as an apology and went back to his previous position. When everything has calmed down the atmosphere in the throne room became heavy again. The King was the one who broke this silence. "Thomas, because of your position as a noble I would like to not act like that again." "Yes, certainly." The King then turned to Myst. "Judging from your foolish action just a moment ago, it''s safe to conclude that you really have nothing to say. I am correct?" "Of course." The King sighed and pressed his hand against his forehead to ease his headache. But... "I only have a question to ask." ¡°W-What?¡± He was surprised by Myst''s sudden add-on. "I-is that so? Then please ask away." This time the King did not try to put on a smile and his tone made it apparent that he was irritated. His bad mood was made even worse when he saw the grin on Myst''s face. "Then please excuse my bad manners." Suddenly, the Status Plate in the King''s hand disappeared and then it re-appeared in Myst''s hand. Everyone in the throne room was surprised and their eyes were widened for a moment. The disappearing and appearing Status Plate was a magic of the Status Plate. Even though it was not well-understood at the current time but its basic principle was to allow its owner to retrieve the Status Plate even when it''s not in the view of the owner. For storage purposes, the Status Plate also have the magic to make it disappear into nothing and re-appear if the owner wish to do so. Therefore, even a Magic Zero using this magic was possible because the magic was provided by the Status Plate itself. What surprised the other people was not Myst using the magic but instead he was able to use it without trouble. Myst only came to this world for not even more than half a day and being able to master such magic seemed impossible. Ignoring the doubtful looks everyone was giving him, Myst proceeded with his question with the King: "If I recalled correctly, you said I''m not a Hero and you also added that the Status Plate doesn''t lie." He then approached the throne and placed his foot on the throne. ¡°¡±!!!¡±¡± This unexpected action further surprised everyone and their eyes widened even further. Myst, using that same foot as support, lean his body forward and looked down at the King with his only available red eye; he brought his Status Plate closer to the King and pointed at the occupation field. "How would you explain this?" It was a simple question. Even though it was a simple question but the King was not able to answer it. Also, the King could not answer him because his mind was filled with fury towards Myst. There were many actions that Myst has taken were beyond bad manners. Nia''s face became blue, Thomas'' eyes were just wide open in surprise, and both Sherri and Shinji became angry. Shinji was the one who expressed his anger first. "What do you think you are doing? Take your foot off the throne! Show some respect to King Maginus!" "Don''t bother wasting your time on this, Shinji. His action is an assault towards Father and I will call the guards to arrest him!" "Wait, Sherri. I wouldn''t like to see a fellow Japanese ending up in the prison on his first day in this world." Shinji placed his hand on Sherri''s shoulder and gave her his charming smile. "Can you let me talk to him first?" "Shinji... Mn, I understand." Sherri nodded. Shinji then proceeded by grabbing Myst''s left hand. "If you still think yourself as a Japanese man then stop being disrespectful. You are embarrassing yourself!" "Embarrassing myself, huh?¡± Myst repeated what Shinji told him then, ¡°Pfft... Ahahaha!!" Myst burst out laughing. Shinji was surprised by him. "What''s so funny?" "I was just wondering why you are so upset over this." Myst put his leg down. ¡°I¡¯m sure I was not doing anything that should make you mad.¡± "You think you are not doing anything wrong? Think carefully what you have done! So far, all you have been doing is being rude to King Maginus! Show some respect!" "Nonono, I think you¡¯ve misunderstood this whole situation here. I am showing respect to this old man over here." Myst smirked. ¡°I¡¯m treating this old man like how he treats me.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that?! King Maginus is treating you with kindness! He is even giving you gold and treasure as compensation for Nia-chan¡¯s mistake!¡± "You think giving me money and a place to stay while sitting up there, acting all high and mighty, is showing kindness then I don¡¯t know what ¡®kindness¡¯ means anymore. Plus the time I waste in this world cannot even be bought back with the money he gives!" Myst spat. ¡°Furthermore, if it was the mistake Nia made then shouldn¡¯t she be the one compensating m- UWAH!¡± Suddenly, Shinji grabbed the collar of Myst''s black coat. ¡°You have taken this joke of yours too far!!¡± Shinji shouted angrily. "Don''t you know there things that shouldn''t be taken lightly? Like you putting your foot on King Maginus'' throne and the thing about Nia-chan''s marriage!" Even though Shinji was angry already but Myst only has a relaxed smile on his face which pissed Shinji off even more. "Calm down, calm down. The question I asked the King wasn''t a joke you know. Hey, King Maginus." "What is it?" The King said without hiding his anger. "Are you ready to give an answer to my question?" "About that, huh.¡± The King sighed. ¡°I believe I have said it clear enough that your parameters are not up to the standards of a Hero." "Not up to the standards? You mean being stronger than a knight of the same level?" "That is correct." "Then that''s easy to solve. I just need to challenge a knight to a duel." "What?!" "You said it didn''t you? If I can prove I''m stronger than a knight of the same level then it means I''m a Hero, right? If that''s not enough then you can even bring out the Knight Leader, I wouldn''t mind fighting someone strong." "N-No, we cannot allow that. It''s good that you are confident about your ability but our knights have duties of their own. So I would like it if you do not waste their time." "I see... pretty straight forward aren''t you?" The King sighed in relief when Myst accepted his objection on Myst''s idea. But that relief only lasted a short while. "Then..." Myst looked at Shinji as he pushes Shinji''s hand away from his collar. "How about me fighting him?" "Can you stop overestimating yourself?" It was Sherri who replied instead. "Just from looking at your stats there''s no way you can defeat a knight and let alone challenging Shinji to a duel. Shinji, just ignore this imbecile and his stupid games. He is not worth your time!" "Of course he isn¡¯t." Shinji smiled. He seemed as if he agreed at Sherri¡¯s suggestion. Myst shook his head and sighed. ¡°Really, do I really have wager something to let you accept my challenge?¡± Myst said. ¡°Then how about this? If Shinji ends up being the victor in our duel then I will admit my rudeness to this old man and publically apologize to him. I will also leave the city without taking anything from him.¡± ¡°That sounds like a great idea.¡± The King said, agreeing to Myst¡¯s condition. He turned to Shinji. ¡°Why not accept his offer, Hero Kazehaya?¡± ¡°This¡­¡± Shinji was still hesitating. ¡°I see, still not going to accept my challenge then¡­¡± Myst shrugged his shoulders. ¡°I guess I will just ask Nia for compensation from her side.¡± He grinned and looked at Nia with perverted eyes. ¡°I will be sure to get my compensation. Hee Hee Hee.¡± Hearing that, anger grew inside Shinji. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!!¡± Shinji shouted. "Fine, I will accept your challenge!"
The duel between Hero Shinji and Myst was planned to be held in the Coliseum built inside the castle in 7 days¡¯ time. This event will be in collaboration with the Mask Festival being held on the same day. Mask Festival of Yuvian was already well-known among the other Human Kingdoms and with a newly added event it will be even livelier than any other Mask Festival in the past. Hero Kazehaya Shinji was already well-known among the Human Kingdoms in the past 3 years and many people, who admire his skills, from different ranks in their society would like to see him in action. Everyone who knows of this event expects one-sided beating of Myst by Shinji. "Why did you do something this stupid?" While walking back to his newly allocated room in the castle, Nia shouted angrily at Myst. "Don''t you know Shinji has been in this world for 3 years? Not only is he a veteran in swordplay and magic but he also achieved a high level of 99!" Myst just casually shrugged his shoulders and looked back at Nia with a bored face. "So what?" "''So what¡¯?! Why are you acting as if it does not concern you? You will be dueling a person who is more than a hundred times stronger than you!" "Wow, that''s totally scary." Myst replied in monotone as he turned his face to the front. "Hey, at least be serious about this! I have never seen Shinji being this serious before and it was all thanks to you purposely provoking him!" "You are welcome." "I''m not exactly thanking you here! And you will be seriously injured if you take this lightly! It''s a Hero you are going to fight! You are just a normal person!" That¡¯s right, Myst was summoned from a different world and without getting the Hero¡¯s Blessing he was just the same normal person from his old world. Myst stopped and without turning back, he asked Nia in a serious tone. "What was your true reason for summoning me here?" "H-Huh? W-What do you mean?" "You summon me not because of the threat of the Demon King, right?" "*Gasp*" Nia remembered she became desperate in the meeting just now and sprout out her true intention when she was talking to the King. ''Didn''t you agreed to let me go on my own adventure if I was able to summon a Hero?'' It was not a grand mission like slaying the Demon King and saving the world but, rather, it was a selfish reason for Nia to leave Miastary. She knew that there was no way for Myst to return back to Japan once he was summoned. Nia became afraid that Myst will hate her for her selfishness. Myst sighed when Nia froze up on the spot for a short while. "Even if you don''t tell me, I already know about it from reading your diary." "Wait, you read my diary?!" Nia surprised and broke out of her frozen state. "I did say I have read all the books I can possibly find in your room, right?" "Respect other people''s privacy, you stupid!¡± Nia, blushed in embarrassment, shouted. ¡°Forget it! Forget what you have read! You pervert!" "Can''t do. Because of my ''Eye of Demon King'' so I won''t be able to forget what I''ve seen." "Again with that?! Still making those weird excuses?! This is unforgivable!" Nia ran at Myst to throw her punch. Then, before her fist could reach, Myst turned around and gave a pat on Nia''s head with his left hand. Nia stopped and looked up at Myst to meet with his right eye. "Even if I''m not a Hero but I''m the normal person who has responded to your summon. And because of that it''s fine to rely a little on me." A gentle smile formed on his face. "I am not a mind reader so I won''t be able to answer your help if you don''t say anything." "..." Nia was frozen again as she does not know how to respond to him. Seeing that, Myst turned around and continued his walk back to his room while waving his bandage covered right hand. "Don''t worry about me. Even if I am not a Hero like those in fairy tales but I will still be faithful to my duty as a normal person." And that is to trouble the Heroes.
On the 7th day since the day Myst was summoned, there were already people on the street of Miastary even before the sun showed itself. They were the vendors who are getting ready to set up their stores for the Mask Festival. The vendors were too busy organizing their good that they did not notice a dim red light from the highest peak of the castle. Maybe it was just too far for them to see. Of course it was not a natural thing, the red light came from a person who was staring down at the busy street of Miastary. It was a person wearing a red coat. "Oh, they are doing it. They are doing it." The man in red coat said it twice because he was excited. Though, his expression can only be determined from the shape of his mouth due to the fact that half his face was covered by the red hood attached to his coat. His hair style and colour was also concealed. "W-Woah. That was close..." The man in red coat almost fell from the roof because he leaned a bit too forward. He then used both his hands that was covered in black leather gloves to stabilize his balance by holding on the tiles. Finally, the sun peek out from behind the mountains far away from the city. "Finally the Mask Festival, huh..." The man in red coat stood up as the sun began to raise. He then proceeded to stretch his body and revealed that his top to boots were all in black. Inhaled some of the morning fresh air and exhaled the same amount. The man in red coat completed his attire by putting on a white mask covering his whole face. The mask was pure white. There was only one hole on it allowing the man to see through his left eye. The hole was shaped in an upside-down crescent, making him look like he was smiling. "Alright, let''s the festival begin!" A red light came from the hole.
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Chapter 03: Her Choice The Mask Festival was today! Among the streets of the Market Area, south of Miastary, various open-air stands were lined up on both sides of the pavements. Big signs were set up on top of each stand to show everyone what they have to offer. Ranging from food, handicrafts, equipment and clothing, fun and games, and strange things that only attract people with special taste. Planned by the City Management Guild, the stands were allocated areas within the many streets depending what their specialty was. This way the streets of the Market Area were divided into different areas with each area dedicated to one of the categories of the stands. Thus, if someone wanted to grab something to eat, then that person could just head to the streets where only food stands were located. If someone wish to buy some rare items, then that person could browse through the streets where the vendors sell their handicrafts or strange things they traded from traveling merchants. No way would there be a stand selling clothing in the street dedicated to food and, also, no one would see a vendor preparing frozen slime with ice magic in the middle of the item street. All this was planned and put to action so people from outside Miastary would not have a hard time finding the place where they wanted to be. Also, the City Management Guild distributes brochures with the layout of the city and the details of each store. A lot of thought have been poured into this festival to make it great because the Mask Festival was one of the biggest festival held by the Yuvian Kingdom in its capital city. The festival was so famous that not only did it attracted people from other cities but also the people from other Human Kingdoms! One reason for this festival being so well known was because this festival was originally started by one of the Heroes who was summoned with Ritual of Hero Summoning. Though it was long in the history of Yuvian but, due to its great success, the festival continued to be held. With each time, the festival became more and more grand, more and more well-known. Thus the Mask Festival became the face and pride of Yuvian. One condition to participate in the festival was that the participant has to wear a mask. To make the festival fun and exciting, people wore strange masks when coming to Miastary. The stranger the mask the better. Adding more to the fun, people also turned their attention to their clothing. Green, red, yellow and many bright colored attires of various designs were worn by people moving in the streets of the city. Thanks to that, the people-filled-streets became even more colourful and livelier. Since this was a grand festival, it would not make sense if the Market Area was the only lively place in the city. The liveliness in Adventurer Area, west of Miastary, could compete with the liveliness of the current Market Area. With the Guild Hall, various guilds and taverns being located there, the Adventurer Area serves as a natural gathering place for the adventurers based in this city. Which was why this area has almost been the noisiest area in the city. Now to live up to the Mask Festival ¨C many guild masters, tavern owners and adventurers also do their own things to keep everyone excited. These ''things'' were mainly competitions among the competitors. Because of the nature of the adventurers, nothing else would suit them better than having competitions. Contestants could enter various eating competitions and drinking competitions hosted by tavern owners. The theme of the competitions varies from tavern to tavern. In one tavern, contestants would have to compete to be the fastest eater of a delicious dish whereas in another tavern the contestants competes to be the fastest drinker of a slimy drink that smells like animal droppings! It all depend on the tavern owners'' idea of having fun. A lot of guilds also hosted many contests of different themes. For instnace, the fighter''s guilds and hunter''s guilds mostly host competitions which test the strength and speed of the contestants. The mage guilds would focus on the contests that involves the contestants'' mind. These contests ranged from brain twisting quizzes to the test that challenges the contestants'' control of their magic in making artistic sculptures. The Guild Hall and the merchant guilds collaborated to host lottery events which allow the participants to win something in a draw-a-number system. There were various different lottery tickets released which allow the holders to enter different type of lottery events which all have different prizes to be won. Like the rewards of one of the lottery events were rare objects adventurers found in dungeons and the rewards of some other lottery events focused on secret dishes of various taverns in the Adventurer Area. Ways of obtaining the lottery tickets were different as well. Some tickets can be bought from the Guild Hall and some merchant guilds, some could be obtained from buying merchandises from merchant guilds or buying promotion items from the guilds in the Adventurer Area, and other tickets could be obtained from participating the competitions hosted by various guilds and taverns. *Pang* *Pang* That was the sound from small explosive item to signal the start of a racing competition. The onlookers cheered as the contestants all rushed off from the starting line. Among them were adventurers from different guilds, they compete against one another for the fame of their own guilds. The competitors were not just the adventurers from Miastary but also the adventurers from other cities and even other kingdoms. Mixed in the battle of the guilds, some contestants were adventurers not affiliated with any guild but just wanted to participate for the fame of their adventuring party and some contestants were not even adventurers but participated just to join the fun. *Bimbo* *Bimbo* That was the finishing sound of the quiz held by a mage guild at a different corner of the Adventurer Area. The crowd roared and cheered for the winning team of the quiz battle and they watched the representative of the winning team walked up a platform to receive the reward. Various competitions were still on-going in the Adventurer Area and more will be held throughout the day to keep the crowd excited. In contrast to the heated atmosphere in the Market Area and Adventurer Area, the Residential Area was a lot quieter. The Residential Area, as its name suggests, was an area dedicated for lodging and housing of the residents in Miastary. Large portion of the area were average houses for people in the average working class. The other small portion of the area contain large, fancy houses specially made for people of higher standard of living or higher rank in political standing. Since this area was for resting so it was normal for this area to be much quieter than the other two areas. However, this does not mean the Residential Area was not part of the festival at all. The streets of the area were decorated by colourful banners and the trees on the pavements have various ornaments hanging down from their branches. The focus of the area in the festival was more relaxing. Among the houses and lodgings, there were also restaurants and tea houses with different vibes. Some of them were indoors, some of them set up their tables outside on the street and some allowed their customers to sit on the balcony. All depends on what the customers want the atmosphere to be like and what specialties they would want to eat for their meal. To celebrate the Mask Festival, the restaurants and tea houses have their own way of doing so. Some restaurants decorated their interior with a particular theme relating to the festival, like ''Heroes VS Demon Army'' and ''Strange Masks from around the world''. Some tea houses put their thoughts into their desserts and drinks, either they change the look of a shortcake to look like a mask or made a time limited tea only for this festival. All to grab the customers'' attentions and have the customers to dine with them. Even though the Residential Area was more relaxing than the other two areas, but in a way, the competitions among the restaurants and tea houses were as heated as the other two areas. Everyone was having fun in this Mask Festival. Except for one person. ¡°They are late!¡± Nia stomped the tiled floor repeatedly. Nia was in her room, glaring at her door angrily as if she wanted to punch a hole through it. She was waiting for Ul to bring back Myst who has went missing since this morning. Earlier in the morning, Nia and Ul went to the guest room where Myst sleeps in only to find it empty. They went around the castle, asking the guards and the servants if any of them has seen Myst. With everyone responding with a no, the two concluded that Myst has gone out of the castle and possibly went to the Mask Festival. Having known the person for a week, Nia knew Myst could not resist his excitement for such grand festival. But today was not the day which he could casually stroll the streets of Miastary. They still have a duel this noon that they have to prepare for. A duel with the Strongest Hero of Yuvian, Shinji! This was not something they could take on lightly. Also, Nia''s freedom has been waged into this duel! They cannot afford to lose, even if the probability of winning was slim. Nia has not given up. If she was given a chance, and even if it was slim to succeed, Nia would still go all out! Ul had volunteered himself to find the missing person but¡­ That was 4 hours ago. The current time was noon, which was almost the time for the duel. Nia had already changed to her white dress, ready to head to the place where the duel would take place. But the main person in concern has yet to arrive. If Ul does not return with Myst any time soon, and if Myst does not show himself by the time of the duel, then they will be disqualified and lose by default. Which was something Nia could not allow to happen. The duel was a grand event in this grand festival. One of the biggest highlights of this year''s Mask Festival was the duel between Myst and Shinji. Nia knew the importance of this duel was to her and to The King. This news have been announced to all four human kingdoms, this was the reason why this year''s Mask Festival was even livelier than previous years. Even if Shinji''s victory was certain against the no-name opponent, people still came just to see the ''Famous Hero'' they heard of in action and The King of Yuvian definitely wanted to show Shinji off. The King definitely does not want anything to go wrong in this duel. So if Myst failed to show up for the duel, it would be embarrassing to The King. Nia was afraid to think about what would happen to her if that was the case. Well, only if that is the case. Even though Myst has gone missing but Nia was sure he will be back. Myst was the Hero who answered to her plead after-all. Also, even if the level difference between Myst and Shinji was so high that beating him was almost impossible but Nia will not give up. Nia used the days before the duel to train Myst in fighting better with the weapon of his choice. At first Nia thought Myst would choose a katana as it was what Summoned Heroes usually choose according to what she has read. But there were some exceptions and Myst happened to be one of them. Myst chose to use a broadsword that he found in the armory and used that to fight monsters outside the city just to get used to this world. All because he thought that katana still need to be customly forged by the blacksmith. He thought doing so would be too troublesome so he chose the standard broadsword as his weapon. Luckily, Myst seemed to be familiar with handling and fighting with a sword so he was able to kill monsters very efficiently... It was what Ul told Nia as she could not leave the castle to witness the scene. However, that was enough to let Nia know that Myst must have been a practitioner of kendo or some sort back in his world, otherwise it would not make sense for someone from that peaceful country to handle a sword. Though, Nia never asked to check Myst''s status card, rather she does not need to. No matter how many monsters he defeated, he would never be able to reach Lv99 in just a week. However, even if the level difference between Myst and Shinji was huge, but thatwill not stop Nia from coming up with a plan to beat him. In the past week, Nia have been making magic devices to aid Myst in the duel. Myst also participated in giving Nia ideas and asked her to make specific magic devices. The magic devices he asked for were ones that could spread powders and ones that could circulate the powders in a specific area. He also asked Nia ifthere were status-afflicting powders in the castle and if she would show him where they were in the castle. From that, Nia was able to conclude that Myst was thinking of giving Shinji debuffs in the duel. This was a sign that Myst also has not given up and would even try to take victory from such formidable opponent. If the Hero she summoned has not given up, then it was even more reason for Nia not give up. That was why, Nia firmly believed, Myst will definitely come back. *Knock* *Knock* The knocking sounds came from the door. Knowing someone was behind the door, Nia quickly rushed to the door and opened it. "You guys are late! Don¡¯t you know what time it is?!" Nia answered the door because she thought the people behind were Myst and Ul. But she was wrong... "Oh hoh, were you expecting me?" A blond male smirked. "S-Simon?" Nia muttered. The male with neat short blond hair was Simon. Or rather, his family name was Simon, a big noble family with big influence within Yuvian, and the Simon in front of Nia was the sole child of the current head of the Simon family. Ever since she returned to the castle, Simon was one of the biggest bullies who discriminated against her, because she was the detested ''Magic Zero''. Nia has resented this small Simon even till this day. Nia was surprised at first when small Simon showed up by her door, then the feeling of disgust replaced it.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "I apologize for mistaking you for someone." Nia made a quick nod. "I was expecting someone else." Nia immediately closes the door. "Hey, wait! I''m not done with you!" Simon reaches his hand out. "Arghh! It hurts! Stop trying to close the door! You are breaking my hand!" The small Simon who tried stop the door from closing got his hand caught in between the door. Nia knew small Simon would try to stop her from closing the door but she did not expect the result. But even if small Simon''s hand got caught by the door, it did not stop Nia from attempting to close the door... more-like she even pushed with more force. "Arrgghhh! This Wench, she''s pushing even harder!" Small Simon screamed. "You two! Quit staring at me! Help me!" The two nobles small Simon brought with quickly came to help, they managed to stop Nia from closing the door and they pushed it open. Once the door was opened, the three men entered Nia''s room at her displease. "As usual, what a mess your room is." Small Simon said while rubbing his painful hand. "What do you want? State your business and leave immediately!" Nia exclaimed. It was against the law of Yuvian for anyone other than the royal family to enter a princess'' room without her permission, but Nia did ask how small Simon and his two follower nobles got here. This was because she knew small Simon must have used his family''s name to get past the guards. Also, this wasn''t the first time small Simon have forced his way into Nia''s room, he has been doing so since they were young. Even if Nia raised a complaint about this but nobody were willing to take action for this, including The King. This was why Nia can only endure to get by this situation. "Why are you so cold, Nia? Don''t you remember that our relationship goes way back?" Small Simon said as he tried to wrap Nia around his arm. "Keep your hands to yourself!" Nia slapped small Simon''s hand away and glared at him. "I do not remember that we are in any kind of relationship. More-like, I detest you! If you have nothing else to say then leave now!" Straight forward, Nia expressed her feeling to small Simon. In response to that, small Simon smirked. "Are you sure about that? Even though I''m here to offer you my kind suggestion." Small Simon said. "Kind, Suggestion?" Nia muttered in disbelief. "That''s correct! I heard King Magnus has already arranged a marriage for you and the prince of Faramal. So this is my suggestion." Small Simon opened his arms wide. "Why don''t you let me marry you instead? Even if you have a marriage arranged for you but with my father''s influence we can quickly sort this out!" Small Simon squeezed a gentle smile. "It''s better to marry someone you know than getting married off to someone you don''t just for political reason, right? See? I am trying to save you from your bitter fate of a princess!" Hearing that, Nia scoffed: "Rather than you are suggesting this to me, I am sure it was your father who came up with this suggestion and let you talk to me into agreement. Look, I can see from your expression that you do not have any feelings for me. The only reason why he would want you to marry me is so the Simon family would have a direct connection with the royal family." Nia sighed. "Seriously, such a transparent and shameless plan." "You dare speak ill of my father!" Small Simon grabbed Nia¡¯s collar. "Resorting to violence already? Just because I said your father''s plan was shameless?" Nia responded coldly, she knew small Simon does not have the gut to hurt her. Nia pointed at the door. "I will not comply with your father''s plan, if you have nothing else then leave." Then, Nia gave an sharp glare at small Simon causing him let go of his grip on Nia''s collar. For a moment, Simon was surprised that a woman two-third of his size could give such threatening stare. Then, after he was reminded that Nia was just a little girl who only turned 14 a week ago and has no magic capabilities, he quickly regained his posture. "Hmph, you can stay on your high-horse as much as you like!" Small Simon said. "I know after this day, you will be begging me on all fours just so I could allow you to accept the kindness I offered you today!" "Me, on all fours?! How laughable." Nia chuckled. "What made you think I would do that?" "Still pretending to be tough? Do you really think that weak Hero you summoned a week ago would really have a chance against Shinji? Such foolishness!" "That is none of your business. Whether Myst can beat Shinji or not, we will show you in the duel today!" "Drop the act already, you ''Magic Zero''!" Small Simon roared angrily. "Did you really think I don''t know that Hero of yours went missing this morning?! I am sure he ran away with a tail between his legs when he realized he stands no chance against Hero Shinji!" "E-Eh¡­?" Nia was astonished, her tough posture immediately crumbled. First, being called Magic Zero reminded her of her helpless childhood in this castle. Then small Simon called out on her that he knew of Myst''s absence... A series of question immediately came into her mind: How does he know? Does anyone else know about this? Did he tell anyone about this? Does The King know? What will happen if he knew about it? What will happen to her? What should she do? What can she do? The feeling of nervousness swelled up inside her, cold sweat broke out on her back. With no way to ease this nervousness, Nia tightly gripped onto her dress. Nia was lost for words. Seeing Nia''s reaction, small Simon smirked. "Looks like I was right on the money." Small Simon said as he shook his head. "I was told that your servant was running around town looking for someone so I assumed that Hero of yours has had enough with you and ran away from you. Well, that''s expected, who would want to be with a ''Magic Zero''!" "No..." Nia responded weakly. "He... Myst will be back... I-I am sure...!¡± "Quit lying to yourself, ''Magic Zero''! You think you can convince me with your words if you weren''t even sure of it yourself?! How laughable!" Small Simon actually began to laugh, and his two follower nobles were also laughing with him. They were laughing at the woman who had just reached adulthood a week ago and still having the thought process of a little girl. It was obvious to anyone that Hero of hers had fled for his life already. Challenging Kazehaya Shinji? The strongest Hero of Yuvian? Nobody in Yuvian would even thought of that, let alone actually doing it. But that foolish man, that Hero of hers who happpened to also be a ''Magic Zero'', actually went and challenged Shinji to a duel. Even if he was also a Hero who has received the Hero''s Blessing but their difference was too much. Shinji at Lv99 and a Hero who was just summoned a week ago. The result of the duel was clear as day, and maybe if Shinji was not careful he might even kill that foolish Hero. Thinking about it made small Simon felt like laughing some more but after seeing Nia who has become unresponsive made him lose interest in doing so. He thought Nia might have become more stubborn with her belief after she successfully summoned a Hero and would be fun to slowly break her down. But he did not think she would break so easily from just mere words. "Such a boring woman." Small Simon spat and stepped out of Nia''s room. "I can''t believe father actually told me to marry her." He left leaving these words and his follower Nobles hurried after him. It was only Nia left standing in her room now. Only after a short while did Nia noticed that. She slowly dragged her numbed body towards the door and finally shut it closed. But she did not move away from door, instead she leaned forward and rest her forehead on it. For a while she stood there just like that. ¡­ "What the... Princess? What are you doing, trying to remember the smell of your door before leaving?" A familiar voice came from behind Nia. Nia was surprised, she turned around and saw a white-haired man in black. Many mixed feelings swelled up from inside her. "Woah, what''s this?" Myst was surprised to see Nia''s expression. "Are you about to cry? Ah, I see, you missed me that much that you wanted to cry, huh... Alright, Com''on!" He opened his arms wide and invited Nia. "Feel free to come into my embrace and cry to your heart''s content!" "..." Nia did not say anything. She knew there was no need to say anything and understood what Myst''s invitation meant. She knew what she wanted to do. Nia walked towards Myst''s embrace and... *Pah!* She slapped him. "...?!..." Myst held onto to his cheek and looked at Nia with an unbelievable expression. He did not expect Nia would slap him for showing her his kindness. Just when Myst was about to say something, *Pachi* Another slap connected with his other cheek. Right before Nia executed another slap, Myst quickly responded and grabbed onto Nia''s shoulders. "No, wait! What are you doing?" Myst shook Nia to try to get some sense in her. "Why are you slapping me out of the blue? This isn''t like you..." Then Myst paused when he made a sudden realization. "No, actually this is like you, but still, why are you slapping me when I''m showing my kindness and warmth?! Is this the custom of this world to say ''thank you''?" "ShutUpShutUp SHUT UP!" Nia freed herself out of his grip and started punching his chest. "What kindness?! What Warmth?! Suddenly disappearing without saying anything...!" She grabbed onto his coat. "Do you know how scared I was when I thought you ran away? Do you know how scared I was when I was left alone?!" She buried her face into his chest. "I was scared! I was so scared!! UWAaaaahh!" Nia began crying... Myst lagged a little bit behind when he listened to Nia''s rant. It was sudden but he knew that it was his fault for this to happen. Ah, ah. This time I have done it... Myst scratched his head. Right now, there was nothing he could do but sit there on the floor with Nia as she cry to her heart''s content. ***** Finally, Nia have cried out all the feelings swelled up inside her. Not much of the actual time have past but to Nia it felt as if an hour or two had passed. Nia stood up and turned her back to Myst. She does not want to face him. Nia was a prideful princess who have endured all the discriminations and unfairness that have came at her during her childhood. She does not know what came to her but this was the first time she cried so much in the presence of someone else. After calming her mind, she realized she has displayed an unsightly side of her. It was a bit too awkward for her to show her face to him right now. When Nia was organizing her feeling and a good reason to turn around, Myst broke the silence: "You done crying? You got everything out of your system?" Myst stood up as well. "If not, then feel free to use me again. I am always open for you." He opened his arms and invites Nia. "Here, com''on Princess! COM''ON!" Nia did a half-roundhouse slap instead. "No, when I said ''feel free to use me'' I don''t mean it this way." Myst rubbed his cheek. "I''m not like your pervert butler who likes being beaten by you." "You... You always... even at this time..." Nia glared at Myst and breathed the words out. Then after a short while, "P-Pfft, Bwahaha!" She began laughing. "Hahahaha...!" From the bottom of her heart, Nia was laughing. She does not know why and what was funny, but she wanted to laugh. Nia was surprised she was able to express so much emotions in just one week''s time. Maybe it was because of him? Myst, the Hero she summoned, was not like any other Heroes she has heard or seen. He was a carefree man, whose actions was not Hero-like, and even though weak but still have strong confidence in his strength. Also, Myst was surprisingly reliable. Like the time when he answered Nia''s plead during the Hero Summoning Ritual, the time when she was arguing with The King, and now. Even though the latter two were all his fault, but he still changed the threatening atmosphere with his attitude. Now, Myst was back. He did not run away from Shinji''s duel. He was willing to give a shot at this almost impossible-to-win duel, all for Nia''s freedom from this castle. Even if Myst was the weakest Hero ever summoned to Yuvian and does strange things, Nia was glad Myst was the Hero she summoned. "Are you ready to leave?" Nia asked Myst just before they take off to duel Shinji. "Hah! You asking me that now when I''m in your room already?" Myst laughed. "The reason why I''m here is because everything is ready. I can leave anytime! Instead," He then made a mischievous smile. "Shouldn''t you be asking yourself that?" "Foolish question." Nia held up one side of her dress and spun around in a full-circle once. "I am more than ready." "Alright, then!" Myst nodded. "Let''s leave." "Yes." Nia lift her dress up and bowed slightly. "Let'' us take our leave." Then they turned around and walked towards the entrance in front of them. With Nia walking to the door and Myst walking to the window... Huh?! "wait, wait, WAIT!" Nia grabbed onto Myst. "Just where are you going?" "No, I should be asking you the same thing, Princess. Why are you walking towards the door?" "Because it is only natural to leave the room using the only entrance installed in this room! A door! Do you even know what a door is?" "Aren''t you rude, Princess? Of course I do know what a door is and how to even use it." Myst lifted his index finger. "But there''s one thing I have to correct you." "Correct me?" "That''s right." Myst nodded. "You are wrong to say that the only entrance in this room was the door." Then he pointed at the window. "That is also an entrance in a sense!" "Y-Yes, I agree with you a window may be used as an entrance but..." Nia face-palmed. "We are 30 meters above the ground! We will become a pile of meat puddle if we jumped out of this window!" "But look, here I am without using the door. So this means the door wasn''t the only entrance! And if you are worried about landing then," Myst took out a magic device out of his pocket. "You made this for something like this right? It was mentioned in your notes that this will create vortex of air to brake any deadly fall!" "Why are you taking my stuff without my permission?" Nia snatched the magic device from his hand. She held the device in her embrace while glaring at Myst as if she was scared Myst might steal it again. "This is still a prototype. I have not even tested it yet!" "Then isn''t this the perfect time to test it?" Myst ran behind Nia. "Come, let''s get to the window and let''s have you jump down from it!" "I have never seen a Hero so motivated in telling someone to jump off a castle! H-Hey! Can you stop pushing me to the window? Wait, S-Stop!" "Why are you resisting so much? Wasn''t it written in your diary that you wish to be free one day and fly like a bird in the sky?" "I mean it figuratively! Can you not take what people have written word-for-word?!" Nia turned around and buried her face in Myst''s chest to hide her red face. "Also,can you not just say the lines from someone''s diary out loud? It is embarrassing! Do you not have any delicacy at all?" "Delicacy? Hah, that''s something I''ve thrown out the window a long time ago." Myst grinned. "And I am about to do the same to you." "Hyaa?!" Nia let out a squeak when Myst lifted her up and let her sit on the window sill. From her position, she can see the same view of Miastary she has always seen from inside her room. The difference this time was Nia could not feel the reliable support from ground at her feet. This definitely was not the time for Nia to be enjoying the view. "Why are you so insisted to use the window?" Nia could not help but ask. "Can we not just use the door if we are leaving?" "Well," Myst made a difficult expression. "The things we are about to do won''t allow us to leave via the door. We might be stopped by the guards if they see us." "What do you mean by that? Are we not leaving for the duel with Shinji? Why would the guards stop us if we are moving to the built-in Colisseum?" "Eh?" "Eh?" Myst suddenly made a surprised face, and in turn, Nia was surprised to see Myst was surprised by her question. W-What is the meaning of this? "Princess..." Myst looked at Nia with an unbelievalbe expression. "Did... Did none of us tell you about it?" "T-Tell me about what? What are you talking about? And who is this ''us''?" "By ''us'' I meant me and Ul." Myst lift up two of his fingers. "We have planned to screw the rules and escape the city to freedom with you." "H-HUH...?!" Nia was so astonished that she almost fell off the window sill, luckily Myst had supported her so she could regain her balance. However, her face has not recovered from her state of shock. "You guys are planning to... What? ESCAPE?! Why did none of you tell me about this?!" "So Ul didn''t tell you about this, huh..." Myst clicked his tongue. "Well, it''s expected, since I only told him about it some hours ago and he left to do some preparation." "So it was basically you who came up with this plan all on your own!! Why are you deciding things on your own? My freedom is at stake here! This is really a big deal!" "Your freedom is at stake is precisely why I came up with an escape plan." Myst said in a serious tone. The sudden change in Myst''s atmosphere surprised Nia, she was not able to respond to Myst immediately and before she could, Myst continued: "I spent the past week coming with this plan. Comparing my plan with the possible outcomes with the duel against Shinji, I highly believe my plan has a higher chance of granting you the freedom you always wanted. I would like to explain the whole plan to you right now but..." He looked back at the closed door. "Unfortunately, there''s an old man coming our way so we don''t have much time..." An old man? Must be because we have yet shown ourselves in the Colisseum so The King sent someone to take us there. "Whether to go along with my plan or to let me duel Shinji..." Myst asked. "Your choice, Princess. What''s it going to be?" Suddenly, Nia was asked to immediately make a choice. It was her freedom at stake but there were no time left for her to think of the possible outcomes and risks in taking any of the two choices. Nia can only rely on her instinct to make the choice for her. Even though she wanted to complain to Myst that he has yet caused another trouble for her but now it was not the time for that. Thus, Nia made a choice. "Fine!" Nia gave Myst her answer with a determined look. "I will go with your plan!" "Off you go then." Myst casually pushed Nia off the window. "e-Eh...?" Nia was shocked. Without any warning, she was pushed off. There were no time for her to react and she was already falling down towards the ground. "I-I-IDIOTTTTTttttttt...!!!" Nia shouted as she activated the prototype magic device in her hand. ***** After pushing Nia off the window, Myst was the only one left in her room. It was his turn to jump out of the window. When he got a legon top of the window sill, he stopped. He turned his head and took a look at the messy room. He smirked. Then, he jumped out of the window as well. ***** *Knock Knock Knock* An old man in butler''s suit knocked on Nia''s door for the third time already and yet he still received no response from within. "Princess Nia." He called. "By the order of The King, I am here to escort you and your Hero to the Colisseum." Still no response. Strange, from what he heard from the guards he passed along the way Nia hasnotleft her room the whole morning. So she should still be inside her room. "There is no use in hiding, I know you are inside!" Nia''s room was located at the top of a tower connected to the castle. The room only has one entrance and there was no other way for Nia to leave the room other than this only entrance. So it was only logical to conclude that Nia was trying to hide herself inside her room. Only now did she know she made a mistake, huh... The old man sighed. He believed Nia must have finally regretted to let her Hero challenge Hero Shinji to a duel. The old man expected this to happen, he knew Nia was a troublesome princess and she has a stubborn personality. She will always go against the masses even though she was just a ''Magic Zero''. Now, she''s also making it troublesome for him as well. Having been ignored for this long, the old man was at his limit. "Fine, if you are not planning come out then...!" He grabbed the handle. "I will go in myself!" He twisted the handle and opened the door. "h...Huh?" But he was shocked when he entered the room. "W-What happened here...?" The room was empty. There was no one in this room, no furniture in this room... nothing! The room that was once messy now has nothing in it. Except for the tiny pieces of black paper scattered on the tiled floor.
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Chapter 04: Mask Festival In the throne room of the castle. A number of people were gathered to discuss a certain incident. The disappearance of the fourth princess, Nia. "That troublesome princess dared to run away from such an important event in today''s festival!" A very round middle-aged man raised his voice. "We should just have everyone in the city to look for her!" This round man was the current head of the great Simon family. The Simon family has made large contributions towards the royal family throughout the history of Yuvian. Their continuous support has earned trust from the royal family and they were rewarded for their effort. Titles, fame and rich. Many forms of reward were given to the Simon family fortheir contribution in making Yuvian a better Human Kingdom. Eventually, the Simon family has finally earn enough trust in the royal family and they were given a seat in deciding the future takes of the kingdom. This was how Simon family became one of the greatest nobles of Yuvian. A lot of small nobles wanted to have connection with such a great family so they bribed them with the best gifts they could get their hands on. From rarest jewel to strong magic items, fromland to people of different genders and age... Anything that suits their taste, the Simon family would not reject. Thus, the Simon family have went down its way of corruption. The current head of the Simon family, followed his late father''s example, continued to accept bribes and will take anything he likes from the villagers of his land. This round Simon have all the things he wanted; power, money and women. But there was one thing that he was not satisfied with. That thing was his title as a Noble. No matter how great the influence the current Simon family have in the kingdom but he was still tied to the title of a mere Noble. The round Simon wanted a more powerful title... he wanted a seat in the royal family of Yuvian. This was why he made a plan. A plan which he will use the fourth princess so he could be accepted as one of the royal family. He planned to dissaude The King from marrying the fourth princess away to a different kingdom using the excuse of her hated title as a ''Magic Zero'' and will let his son marry the princess out of his kindness. Such plan would have worked if the Hero the fourth princess summoned embarasses himself in front of the audience in the duel with Shinji today. Everything would have gone in the order of his plan... But he did not think the fourth princess would have taken the action of running away. Now, the round Simon wanted to get Nia back to the castle. No matter what! "The fourth princess has disgraced the royal family by running away from the duel she promised!" The round Simon said. "She will continue to embarass the royal family if we were to let her roam freely outside the castle! We cannot afford that! We must get her back as soon as possible!" Then a voice of objection followed after him: "Unfortunately that is something we cannot allow as well." Thomas said. "It may be true that we cannot let the fouth princess run wild on her own. However, we cannot let the people know the fourth princess has ran away from the castle. Not in the middle of Mask Festival." "Hoh?" The round Simon glanced at Thomas. "Why is that?" "Do not forget we have many outsiders from other kingdoms participating in the Mask Festival today." Thomas replied. "It may be embarassing that the fourth princess and her Hero decided not to show up in the duel against Hero Kazehaya but..." He paused and walked to the centre of the throne room. Then he raised his voice. "It will be even more embarassing to let the people know that while we were all focused on the duel today the fourth princess used this time to slip pass the guards and ran out of the castle. Forget about what our people will think about us, I do not want to know what the other kingdoms would think of us if they know the royal family could not discipline our own princess." "Then this is even more reason why we need to get that troublesome princess back!" The round Simon said. "I have heard reports that the gate guards have yet to see the fourth princess or any of her men passing through the main gate. She should still be in Miastary! We need to immediately search for her while she is still in Miastary!" "Even if we are to search for the runaway princess, we cannot possibly do it so recklessly. The streets are filled with people enjoying the festival. I recommend we send in small teams of guards to do the search without interrupting the on-going festival." "That will not do. Small teams? How long will that take? A whole day will not even be enough to find that troublesome princess!" "I apologize for interrupting but I wish to voice my opinion about this." A third voice said. The two nobles stopped their argument and turned to the young man who stepped up from among the other people. This young man was the Hero summoned by Sherri, Hero Kazehaya Shinji. "Since the beginning, you have been calling Nia-chan a runaway princess. I have to disagree with you." Shinji said. "I believe Nia-chan isn''t a girl who''d run off from a challenge, let alone running away from the castle. There has to be some other reason that has caused her diappearance." Hearing that, round Simon shook his head. "Hero Kazehaya, the kind and gentle young man." The round Simon patted on Shinji''s shoulder. "It is good that you have such good heart within you but unfortunately this is not how the world work. Sometimes you have to look at what reality has presented to us. "If you think that troublesome princess did not runaway then why was her room empty? Is it not more logical to conclude that she have long planned to runaway from the castle and took everything of hers with her?" "That''s what is strange about the whole runaway thing!" The moment when Shinji said that, the small number of people in the throne room were surprised. They were confused by his statement because they find nothing strange in the conclusion the round Simon made. The disappearance of the princess and an empty room. If the princess was miraculously kidnapped from the heavily guarded castle, then it will not make sense to take her belongings along. It will be a huge burden to the kidnappers and they would stand out if they were to carry furnitures with them. That was why, no matter how they think about it, it made more sense that the princess had ran away with all her belongings. But this thought was called strange by the star of Yuvian, Kazehaya Shinji. "Think about it." Shinji questioning. "If Nia-chan wanted to runaway then it would make even less sense if she were to take all her belongings with her. Even more, to take everything from her room and run away with it without alerting any guards is also strange." "That was why I said she must have planned this all along." Round Simon sighed. "She must have used the days before the duel to make what she called ''magic device'' that could either teleport things away or make things small in order to transport all her belongings." "Nia-chan''s magic device are made by translating existing magic into the items she created. This means she won''t be able to make a magic device based on magic that doesn''t exist. Magic that makes objects smaller does not exist therefore Nia-chan has no way take all belongings with her, even if we were to count in Ul and Myst who mostwould likely help her carry." "Then this leaves the only option to teleportation, correct?" "Unfortunately that wouldn''t make sense as well." "What?!" "Teleportation isn''t really an easy magic to learn and use. From what I know, no one in any four of the Human Kingdoms can use it. So it''s impossible for Nia-chan to make a magic device that could cast Teleport. And if she DOES make a magic device that could teleport, then she wouldn''t even be in Miastary anymore." "Kuh..." The round Simon gritted his teeth when Shinji rebuked his deduction. This reminded him how too obsessed he was with searching for the fourth princess that his reasoning was way too off. What was Teleportation magic? A high-level magic that could transport anything from one position to another. This magic can be used for convienence in transporting resources without using too much time and avoid the dangers that could be encountered in the wilderness. In combat, one could gain almost infinite advantages by teleporting away from danger and into enemy''s blindspot. A dreamed magic any magic users would like to obtain. Unfortunately, no human at this time and age was able to use such high level spell. Even the Heroes who received the Hero''s Blessing could not use such magic. Of course such magic still exist in the form of magic circles located in the innermost of various dungeons. These magic circles may be small but it could teleport a party of 10 people to other existing magic circles. Veteran adventurers would use these magic circles to travel to places that would take them days or months to get to. Of course, they would not use this frequently as dungeons have their own dangers. Thus, in the end, it was shallow for a great magic user like the round Simon to speak of teleportation so lowly. If the fourth princess, a ''Magic Zero'', could make a toy that could cast Teleport then what does it make him? Because he was a great noble and a great magic user, he cannot afford to look bad in front of the people gathered in the throne room. "That was why I said the teleportation magic she used could only teleport her belongings out of her room." Round Simon said. "And maybe there are actually a lot more limits to it as well." There was a known fact that teleportation magic has different limits to it. Distance, number of objects, size of the object, time to cast, mana to cast and the quality of object. Of course the most ideal Teleport one would want to use is ''being able to teleport anything to anywhere in the world with the least mana and time to cast it''. More limits there are to a teleportation magic the easier to use, but the less convenient it is. That was what the round Simon could say in order to support his earlier words. "But even with all the possible limits, not a single person can use it, right?" Shinji asked. "Ah..." The round Simon was shocked. He did not believe that he''d forget about the simple truth that no one in the any of the four Human Kingdoms can use any sort of teleportation. The round Simon was lost for words. Not minding about Simon, Shinji continued: "There is a reason why I am against all the conclusions made about Nia-chan''s disappearance from her room. I have evidence on it. Right, Thomas-san?" He looked at Thomas. Thomas immediately understood what he meant. "There was no trace of magic used in the fourth princess'' room." Thomas said. "I went with my people to investigate the scene and that was the result." These words shocked the people. Even the round Simon was showing an unbelievable expression. "That''s right. I went to the scene as well and I did not sense any trace of mana disturbance." Shinji followed up. "And without using magic, it''s even more unbelievable for Nia-chan and her two men to transport all her belongings out of her room without even being seen." Then Shinji glared at the round Simon. "Also, I have met with Simon-san''s son who happened to be the last person to see Nia-chan by trespassing her room." Hearing that, the round Simon''s heart skipped a beat. At the same time the throne room entered a moment of awkward silence. Truth was, many people who were currently in the throne room knew about howthe fourth princesshas been treated in the castle. But no one would do anything about it because of her status as a ''Magic Zero''. No one would want to spend time and energy on someone like that. This was the first time someone have brought up this subject in front of so many people. Also, this someone was not anyone else but the Hero Kazehaya Shinji. Everyone in the throne room knew how just Shinji was and he will not turn a blind eye to something he found unjust. Even if the person was only a ''Magic Zero''. "...uuu..." The round Simon began sweating. Being stared at by Shinji has made the round Simon nervous. Even if he was a pride noble of a great influence, he was afraid to be on the wrong side of the Strongest Hero. Another reason why the round Simon was nervous was because there was a different pair of eyes focused on him. The owner of the eyes was Noble Thomas. Even if Thomas was a noble just like him, but the round Simon knew that Thomas was originally one of the royal family but relinquished his position for some unknown reason. Thomas was someone who took upkeeping the image of nobles and royalties to a serious level, he will not overlook anyone that violates the rules within the royalites. At that time, the round Simon cursed his son for not doing his job properly and the fourth princess for causing so much trouble to him. Shinji shifted his stare away from the round Simon. He decided to leave this matter for another time, because there was something else more important to discuss. "From what I have been told, when Nia-chan was still in her room there were no signs of anything being moved out of her room." Shinji said. "Shortly after that, Nia-chan was reported missing." "And her room was also empty, huh?" Thomas began thining. Then he made an expression of sudden realization. "Impossible! To empty a whole room without any use of magic in such a short time is impossible!" "That''s right." Shinji nodded. "This is what''s so strange about this incident." Hearing that, all the people in the throne room made an expression of realization. That''s right, they were wrong to think this case was just a simple runaway. It was definitely has more to it. "Well, saying Nia-chan''s room was empty when she disappeared is wrong as well." Shinji held out a tiny piece of black paper. "I found many of the same thing scattered on the floor in Nia-chan''s room." When Shinji held out the tiny piece of paper, everyone was surprised. Nobody would think this tiny paper was anything significant, but seeing how serious Shinji was the people began to doubt their thought. "What could that be?" One of the people could not help but ask. "This?" Shinji looked at the paper in his hand, he scoffed. "To be honest, I don''t know what this is. However, what I do know is these tiny piece of papers are related to the disappearance of Nia-chan and her belongings in her room." Everyone was shocked again. But before they were able to respond, Shinji continued: "If you would to look closely, you will see that the paper was not naturally black but it was burnt black from the inside. This means these paper had a purpose and they will become burnt after they were used. If their purpose was to do with the disappearance with Nia-chan and her belongings then it would make sense why there were so many left on the floor. "From all the strange points I conclude," Shinji tightly gripped the piece of paper in his fist. "Someone with an unknown ability kidnapped Nia-chan. The culprit chose this day to do the kidnapping and left so many of his marks behind is as if he is mocking the security guarding the royalites!" Shinji looked at The King. "King Maginus, we need to quickly act upon this! " "Do not be too hasty, Hero Kazehaya." Thomas said. "While I believe you the disappearance of the fourth princess'' belongings was the work of someone with unknown power but we have too little evidence to conclude that the fourth princess was kidnapped." He sighed. "To be honest with you, I still believe it was the fourth princess who managed to contact that person to aid her with her runaway. We should not make conclusion and act so hastily, we still need more information." "What?!" Shinji was surprised. "We don''t have the time to be standing here and talking leisurely! At this time Nia-chan''s life may be in danger!" "Please calm down, Hero Kazehaya. I have a plan of action already thought up." Thomas walked to the throne and bowed. "King Maginus, care to listen to my proposal?" "...?" The Kingwho had been in a thinking posture since the beginning of the meeting has finally reacted. He took his hand that was covering his mouth away and responded: "Ah, yes, Thomas. What do you propose to do in this situation?" "There are two people who I believe are also related to this incident as well. They are Ul, the fourth princess'' butler, and Myst, the Hero fourth princess summoned. They too, were no where to be seen since the disappearance of the fourth princess. "I have yet heard any report of these two people leaving the city so I believe if we want more information we should send our people search and find these two people as well." Thomas then looked at Shinji. "While we search for the other two, I would like Hero Kazehaya to search for the fourth princess and the person with strange ability." "Really?!" Shinji wasdelighted to hear that. "Indeed, I trust you are better than any of our people to find the person with strange power." Thomas pointed at Shinji''s fist. "You have shown how capable you are to notice connection the tiny piece of paper have with this incident. So if we wish to find this person then I believe it would be you who could find that person. Surely, finding that person will definitely lead us to the whereabout of the fourth princess." "Yes, certainly." Shinji bowed slightly. "Please entrust the task in finding the culprit and Nia-chan to me and my team." Thomas nodded in response. He then turned to The King and asked: "What do you think of my proposal, King Maginus?" "I believe it is the most optimal option we have." The King replied. "And? If we entrust Hero Shinji in finding the whereabout of that person responsible to this disappearance incident then who are we going to entrust in searching for the other two missing person? Do you have any recommendation, Thomas?" "Yes, King Maginus." Thomas bowed politely. "There is someone in my mind who I believe is suited for this task."
Lynn, the vice commander of the guards in charge of Miastary. She was given a task to find two people who were involved in the disappearance of the fourth princess. The disappearance of the fourth princess was something that should not be widespread, thus, only her and a few search teams were entrusted for this task. Currently, Lynn was walking down a spiral stairwell down towards her destination. Floating above her palm was a orb of light she summoned. There were no light in this stairwell so Lynn used the light orb to guide her. The light orb revealed the steps made of rocks, leading down to a room. A secret room not known by many. *clang* *clang* Sounds of metal armor on her blue dress rubbing each other echoed in the dim and silent stairwell, along with the sound of her greave hitting the steps everytime she took a step down. Soon, a wooden door appeared before her. Lynn placed her gauntleted hand on the handle and opened the door. ***** "Salutation to the Vice Commander!" An armored man exclaimed when Lynn entered the room. The armored man led the other two guards and they saluted to Lynn. Lynn nodded in response to their salutation. "So what is the situation?" Lynn asked as she looked over to the center of the room. At the center of the room, there was a transparent imagery floating above the ground and emitting purple light. The imagery was a smaller model of Miastary. Among the streets of this transparent model of the city were some helmet icons moving on their own. This was yet another pride of Yuvian as an advance Magic Kingdom, the Core Defense System. "As you can see, Vice Commander." The armored man also looked at the Core Defense System. "Everything is working as expected." "I see... So everything is working as expected, huh..." Lynn walked to a table at the corner of the room, and then... "That is not what I am asking!!!" Lynn shouted as she kicked the table. "W-Why?!" The armored man was surprised. "When I am asking you about the situation, I meant if you have any lead to the two people we are looking for and not about the Core Defense System." "Then please be more specific when you ask us a question! The way you asked us was too ambiguous!" The armored man retorted. "Also, was there any need to kick the table?" The armored man called the other two guards, waking them from their shock, and ordered them to fixed the table its correct position. "Fool, we have a very important task at hand." Lynn said. "Did you forget what we came down here for?" "Of course we did not forget, Vice Commander." The armored man replied. "We were tasked to find two people who were responsible to a certain ''incident'' that have occured in the castle." "Wrong!" Lynn kicked the table. "Why?!" "Do you call yourself a professional? Even if you left out important information about our task from your speech but it still contains the goal of our task! Do not forget our task is to be kept a secret at all time!" "!!!" The armored man was shocked when he heard Lynn''s speech. He lowered his head and gritted his teeth. "T-To think I have made such blunder in my duty... I-I have failed my duty as a knight..." Seeing the armored man''s regretful reaction, Lynn smiled. "As long as you reflect upon your action then you are forgiven." Lynn said. "Remember not to make the same mistake next time." "V-Vice Commander!!" Hearing Lynn''s kind words, the armored man was almost about to cry. "Yes, certainly! I will make sure to never make the same mistake!" "That is good. Your determination is the quality you need as a knight." Lynn said. "Now you just need to remember that this secret task was entrusted to us by Noble Thomas where we have to find the fourth princess'' summoned Hero and butler whom were believed to be involved in the disappearance of the fourth princess. This incident matters with the face and pride of the royalties so it must be kept a secret from the locals. We do not know if there are any hidden ears anywhere so we professionals need to make sure that not a word related to the task come out of our mouth at all time!"Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "No, you are definitely doing the opposite of what we are supposed to do! You totally described our whole task as detail as it can be loud and clear! This is pretty much a mission fail if there was a hidden ear somewhere!" "Come everyone!" Lynn put on a helmet. "Let us gather around the Core Defense System and use it to achieve our targets!" "Are you ignoring me on purpose? You are ignoring me for pointing out your mistake, right?" Lynn walked towards the transparent imagery at the middle of the room. Then she noticed from the corner of her eyes, the table she kicked over just now was again put to the correct position by the other two guards. She walked back and kicked it. """WHY?!"""
In the midst of a street in Market Area. "Haa, I can''t believe it..." A guard sighed as he dropped his hand down from his helmet. "It''s already a busy day and yet we are still getting a troublesome job..." A sudden slap to his back surprised him. He turned to his colleague next to him. "Just get over it." His colleague said who also looked irritated. "The sooner we get the job done the sooner we get to relax. Look at this on the bright side, we only need to search for two people." "Shhh,we are not supposed to say anything related to our ''work''!" The guard tried to keep his colleague''s mouth shut. "Don''t forget why we were the only ones who knew of this." "It''s fine isn''t it?" His colleague smacked his hand away from her mouth. "It''s not like there would be people listening to two random guards talking to one another so there''s no need to be that uptight." "Yea... I think you are right." The guard sighed. "It''s more absurd to think to someone would be listening to us at all time." "Right? Let''s us relax ourselves and patrol around the area. Also, we could even browse through the stores to relieve some of our stresses." "You just wanted to play don''t you?!" "Well, it''s our priviledge as the ones working on the field. I mean, it will help to keep us motivated to find those two people!" "Two people you say..." The guard looked at the large crowd in front of him. "Just how are we suppose to find two people with so many people here?! It''s the Mask Festival today! One of the busiest days we could get in a year! This isn''t a job that could be done with just motivation alone!" "We can just spot them among the crowd through their distinctive traits." His colleague placed a hand on the helmet. "Remember, through the CDS, we were given portraits of the people we are supposed to find. Also, since they are runaways, they will try to hide from us and so we just need to spot the suspicious ones among the crowd." "Of course, genius! We just need to find those who look suspicious." The guard face-palmed. "But we are in the middle of Mask Festival right now! It''s a Massive Custume Party that''s happening in this city right now! Everyone looks equally suspicious!" Not paying any attention to the angry guard, his colleague grabbed his hand and began walking towards the crowd. "Standing here and complaining won''t get the job done." His colleague said. "Let''s get moving." "Yes, yes..." The guard answered weakly as he was dragged deep into the crowd. Then, Myst peeked out from behind the curtain of a stand next to the place the two guards were standing a moment ago.He stared at the figures of the guards until their figures finally disappeared among the crowd of people. "Interesting." Myst placed a hand by his chin. "So that''s the Core Defense System you were talking about." "That''s right!" said Nia who stood behind him. Currently she has lost her white dress and wore a weird-looking yellow dress that would help her blend with the crowd. She also wore a green coloured wig to hide her light blue hair and on top of it she wore a hat that was ridiculously decorated. "The Core Defense System was yet another great invention that made Miastary the most advance magic city in Yuvian!" Nia puffed up her chest as she boast about the magic. "Its magic circle was carefully designed with the layout of the streets of the city. Which means the whole of Miastary is the magic circle itself! This magic has made long-distance communication possible! As long as you wear a specially made helmet, you can communicate with the other people with the same helmet within the circle! "And that''s not all!" Nia said excitedly. "Images of documents and portraits can be transferred to and viewed in the specially made helmet! This was why the Core Defense System is the most effective method in tracking down wanted criminals! What do you think, is it not amazing?" "Wow, it''s so amazing..." Myst said monotonically. "Ah, I think missed my timing to clap. Hey, Princess, when is the best time to clap?" "If you are not interested in this then just say so!" Nia said angrily. "No, sorry, I mean even if you praise it that much but to me it isn''t as amazing as it sound. You should know from reading all those Japan-made Manga that something like long distance communication is very common in my world. How would I be amazed over something that just worked slightly better than walkie-talkie toys in my world?" "The pride of Yuvian... To be compared to mere toys..." Nia almost fainted when she heard Myst''s comparison. Ignoring Nia who went into shocked state, Myst began analyzing the words he heard from two guards. "Looks like the royalties already took action for our escape." Myst murmured. "Though, I don''t know why they were looking for two people instead of three but everything else seemed to be as expected. From the conversation between the two guards earlier, it''s safe to say they will have a hard time finding us even with the aid of the Walkie-Talkie magic." "Core Defense System!" Nia corrected him. "Well, whatever the name is, the magic won''t help them identify us if we were to dress up like the other clowns walking in the street." "Hey, it is rude to call people trying to enjoy the festival clowns! And wait, are you saying I am also dressed up like a clown? Now this reminds me, why am I the only one dressed up like this to disguise? Why are you still in your usual outfit?" Unlike Nia, Myst was still in his black coat that he had on since the very first day when he arrived to her world. Thinking back, Nia only dressed up in a ridiculous outfit because Myst told her to disguise and blend with the crowd until the time the plan was to be executed. But it does not make sense if only she has to disguise in a ridiculous dress when both of them were in the same boat. Nia pouted. "Wo-Woah, Princess?!" Myst was surprised when Nia was pulling at his coat. "I know you are happy that I am helping you to escape and you can''t wait to offer your body to me as a token of thanks but can we not do that here? At least let us first get out of this city first and then we can take our time to get know each other on a bed." "W-W-W-Who would be thinking about that right now!!! You idiot!!!" Nia''s face was flushed red. She quickly let go off Myst''s coat. "I-I am just upset that I am the only one wearing this ridiculous outfit! Why are you still in your usual outfit? This is unfair!" "Ah, this?" Myst opened his arm wide and looked down at his coat. "I''m wearing this because there''s no better diguise than this." "What do you mean?" "Don''t believe me? Fine, let me show it to you then." Myst smirked. "Look carefully or else you will miss the show." Nia knew the expression Myst was wearing. It was an expression where one was confident for something he''s about to show off. After hearing his words, Nia did not move her eyes away from Myst. A little bit of expectation and a little bit of excitement, she waitedfor what Myst has to show her. "Behold, my ultimate disguise!" Myst put his hood on. "There! Disguise Complete!" "......" Nia raised her fist. "Any last words?" "Wait, that was a joke just now! Why are you resorting to violence so quickly? Is it that? The thing people call Sexual Frustration?" "You dare say that again!!!" "No, I-I''m sorry, I was just kidding... ...! You don''t have sexual frustration! You don''t have SEXUAL FRUSTRATION!" "Can stop shouting those words!" Nia''s face became even redder. "What if other people misunderstood and think I am a lewd woman!" "And you totally didn''t think twice when you were trying to pull off my coat. Wow, Princess, you closet perv." "S-Shut up! I was dissatisfied that you were not-" "You were dissatisfied? Hmm, lewd." "..." "No, I''m sorry, I swear I will never interrupt again." "..." For a moment, Nia just stared at Myst. And then she made a big sigh. "...Haaa..." Niaface-palmed. "I was a fool to believe you for a moment. Now should you not put on a disguise already? What if we were found because you are wearing the only black outfit on the street." "What black outfit, Princess? I thought I told you my disguise was complete." "Enough with that joke! How is putting on a hoo-" Nia froze on the spot. She was shocked when she returned her gaze upon Myst. Myst''s coat that should be black was now yellow. What is th... Nia thought it was something wrong with her eyes. She closed her eyes and rubbed them softly. Then, the moment she opened them, Nia was astonished once again. This time, Myst''s coat was green. "?!!" "What''s wrong, Princess?" Mysttilted head. "It''s like you just saw a ghost." While Myst was showing concern to Nia''s reaction, but deep down, Myst knew full well that he was the reason why Nia was reacting like that. It was hard for him to keep his poker face on because hewanted to laugh. Myst decided to act quickly before he couldn''t hold it in anymore. "Oh, is it this?" Myst looked down on his coat. "You are surprised about something like this?" Then, Myst wavedhis hand in front of Nia''s eyes. When Myst''s hand blocked her view, Nia woke up from her shocked state. She wanted to ask Myst what was happening, but she stopped when Myst''s hand left her view and the coat was once again back in her view. The coat was in a different colour again. This time coat was mixed with different colour. "Surprised?" Myst smirked. "I did tell you that there''s no better disguise than this, right?" "How? What is going on?" Nia cannot help but ask. "It''s science." Myst answered. "This coat of mine was specially made so I could blend into any environment in less than a second. Well, it has some other functions as well but the colour changing definitely is the most useful function at this moment. What do you think, amazing isn''t it?" "This is more than amazing!" Nia said excitedly. "So Japan already advanced their technology so far that making such clothing is possible! I remembered hearing from Shinji once that when he came to this world, Japan didn''t have something so advanced! To think Japan has made so much improvement in such a short time is trutly amazing!" Then Nia tilted her head as she thought of something. "Wait, it might be wrong if I think the time here and the time in Japan works the same way. Maybe the time there by Japan may be faster than the time over here in this world...?" "That... may be the case..." Myst answered with a wry smile. Truthfully, he does not know. Even though he knew how obsessed Nia was with informationaboutthe different world but he did not expect to see Nia being this excited. She even asked him some really difficult question! Myst decided to quickly move on from the topic or else he''d had to face more difficult questions. "Well, since I have showed my coat can easily blend with the crowd so there''s no need for me to change into any other outfit." "Yes, indeed." "Also,since we have plenty of time before we execute our planshall we take some rounds around the festival?" "Wait, there are pursuers after us and yet you still have the mood to play?" "Why not? This is once-in-a-year festival so it''d be a waste for us not to use the opportunity to enjoy ourselves. Wasn''t it written in your diary that you wanted to walk around a Mask Festival?" "Did I not say you should not say anything from my diary out loud! Where is your delicacy? Actually you should forget it! Forget everything you saw in my diary!" "And if you are worried about the pursuers then we can just wear a mask." "Hey, did you just ignored me? Are you ignoring me? Stop pretending, I am sure you are ignorin-" Just before Nia throws a fit at him, Myst quickly put a mask on Nia. He looked at the dumbfounded Nia and nodded. "Mhm! Now your disguise is complete." Myst said. "With this there''s no need to be afraid of our pursuers. Even if Core Defense System is the most effective magic to track down criminals but in the end it still needs people searching on the field. "So as long as we are in the festival, wearing masks to conceal our identity is not suspicious at all! It seem unlikely that the guards would go to each person on the street and ask them to take off their mask. Therefore, it should make more sense if we were to act like a couple and enjoy ourselves in this festival like other people. The art of disguise!" Myst smiled. "What do you think?" "I think you are just making an excuse so you could play in this festival... but," Nia''s voice softened. "That is something I do not dislike as well." "Way to go, Princess!" "Then," Nia extended her hand. "Care to lead the way? I afraid to say but this is my first time to be in such festival." "I accept my duty as a man to guide you through the Mask Festival." Myst put a knee on the ground, lowered his head and accepted Nia''s hand. "I will make sure this would be the best Mask Festival you''d ever enjoy!" He lift his head up with a mask already on. It was a plain white mask with only one opening for his left eye. "Now, let''s get the fun started." ***** A middle-aged man had just witnessed a strange young couple leaving his mask store. The middle-aged man has seen many people throughout his life but never before had he seen a couple this strange. They were strange because the two had fantasize themselves as a knight and a princess to enjoy themselves further in this festival. They went so far into their imaginationthat they even made a plot for it. From their conversation, the middle-aged man could thought up a possible scenario the young couple was playing at: It was about the romance between a low-class knight and the most unfortunate princess. The knight has heard the crying princess'' pain to be married off for political reason and had eloped with her to let her escape from the unfortunate fate. Now, in order to escape the city, they are avoiding the guards and running away from their pursuers. To the middle-aged man, the young couple was wild with their love to role-play something like that. Maybe the couple may be even wilder than he was when he was in his younger days. Especially the younger woman. Even though she may be small in size, but from their conversation just now, he knew the woman can get sexually frustrated easily and even going so far as trying to strip her male partner right in front of him! They were way too wild in their romance! "Youngsters these days..." A manly tear flowed down his cheek as he was reminded of his age. "They grow up so fast..."
In the Core Defense System room, Lynn was staring at the transparent model of Miastary. Quite some time has passed since the Lynn and her men have initiated the task in finding Myst and Ul. Unfortunately, in the past time, there were not a single report about sightings of the two people. Lynn''s patient was being grinded against the time that went by. She was entrusted this important task by a man she has always admired since she was small. Even though she knew this task would be difficult to complete on such day but she still promised she''d complete it no matter what. It was because she thought this was an opportunity. An opportunity to make that man proud of her. This was why she must not fail in finding the two men. Suddenly, a sharp alerting sound came from the Miastary model and one of the helmet icons in the Market Area was flashing. This means the guard at that location in the city has something to report. Lynn immediately tapped the flashing icon and a voice came from the Miastary model. [Vice Commander! This is the 5th seat of the fourteenth team reporting in!] It was a man''s voice. "Yes, I am listening." Lynn responded. "What is it that you wanted to report?" [I-I have finally find those two people!] "What?!" Lynn exclaimed joyously. Finally! Finally there was a report that came in! Even more, it was a direct sighting! Lynn was overjoyed to receive such good news. The armored man standing beside her and the other two guards were also delighted to hear the report. Lynn cleared her throat and calmed herself down. "I will send the other guards to your location." Lynn ordered. "In the mean time, follow them and do not lose sight of them!" [Certainly, Vice Commander. I have already decided to follow them when my eyes landed on that damned loving couple once again!] "Good. That is the spirit a guard sho- ...hm?!" Lynn realized something. "Wait a minute. Can you repeat what you just said?" [''Once again''?] "Yes, repeat it." [Once again.] "No!" Lynn face-palmed. "I am telling you to repeat what you have said before!" [But ''once again'' was something I have said before! ...!!! O-Oooh!! You mean ''I have already decided to follow those damned loving couple'' part?] "Yes, that! What do you mean by loving couple? Are you saying the two man we have been searching for were in that kind of relationship?" [What are you talking about, Vice Commander? What men? The ones that I am following was a couple that consist of a small woman dressed in yellow and the damned man dressed in a verycolourful outfit. Seeing that damned man in that strange outfit has given my a strange urge that I wanted to punch him.] "..." [Earlier, I saw the couple walked out of a mask store in a lovey-dovey fashion. At first, I did not pay much attention to them but later I realized I could not forget about them. As I continued my patrol, I have began to think how it was unfair for me to still be a single and yet someone wearing that strange outfit could get a partner. This is too suspicious! This has made me regret to let them off the hook earlier! But now it''s different! I have finally found them again eating cotten candy together!] "..." [Vice Commander! Aid me! Help me putthis suspicious man into custody for his indecent act!] "The one who needs to be put into custody is you!" Lynn retorted. "You should be ashamed to be using the power of authorityjust because you were jealous of a random person on the street! I order you not to take any action towards that man and..." Lynn took a short breath. Then with all her anger, "CONCENTRATE ON YOUR TASK!" she shouted. Immediately, Lynn cancelled the voice connection between her and the guard who was reporting in. Then she went to the corner of the room and took a seat by the table. She held her head in her hands. "Unbelievable!" Lynn exclaimed. Lynn could not believe that the first report she received turned out to be pointless. Were the search team chosen not because they are professionals? Why was there someone like that?! The armored man and the other two guards knew of her distress but they did not try to approach her because of her strange behaviour. Not long after the first, a second alerting sound came from the Miastary model. Lynn jumped out of the chair and came to the Miastary model. She quickly tapped the flashing helmet icon and waited excitedly for the upcoming report. [Vice Commander! This is the 12th seat of the fourteenth team reporting in!] A man''s voice came from the model. "This is Vice Commander Lynn, I am listening." [I-I have finally found them!] "..." Lynn hesitated. Even though those were the exact words she was hopingto hear but she hesitated to respond to it. For some odd reason, she had a strong feeling of deja vu when she heard those words. But that feeling was quickly put at ease when she had reasoned herself that the search team were composed of the professionals. Sure, there may be some odd balls within them but she believed the rest of them were not like the one she encountered earlier. Thus, she made a response: "Wait at your location! I will send the other men to aid you seize them!" But betraying her expectation, she received the following response: [You going- WHAT?! No, don''t send anyone over!] "W-What are you talking about? How else are you going to capture our targets alone?" [I alone would be more than enough! After-all, I alone can get the top prize of a shooting booth! The figurine set of ''Magical Heroine Luliruka''!] "Wait, what? A figurine set?! Why are you going after a figure set? What about your task?" [You don''t know, Vice Commander? It''s any father''s task to seize the target that his daughter likes!] "..." [Aah, a young couple wearing a yellow dress and some strange outfit is also targeting it!! Vice Commander, I need support! Send all the help that you can get to my location! Help me get the figurine set of ''Magical Heroine Luliruka''!] "What you need to do is GET BACK TO WORK!!!" Lynn closed the communication link between her and the guard reporting in. This is even more unbelievable!! First it was a guard hating on a couple, next it was a guard skipping out on his task! Forget about them causing unnecessary trouble in the task, Lynn was very confused at how these people even got into the professional team of guards in the first place! Then before Lynn could even take some time to digest the strange things that have happened, another alerting sound came from the Miastary model. [Vice Commander. This is the Captain of the fourteenth team reporting in.] A deep voice of a man came from the model after Lynn tapped the flashing helmet icon. From the fourteenth team again? Having the previous experience, Lynn had became doubtful with the guards from the same team. "Let me cut straight to the point." Lynn replied. "Does your report have any relation to our task?" [No.] Lynn''s intuition was spot-on. "I see, then I will close the co-" [Wait, Vice Commander! Don''t cut the communication link that fast! Even though this case I''m reporting in may not be related the task given to me but this is similarly important!] "Similarly important?" [Indeed. This is a case of a lost child.A couple wearing a yellow dress and a strange outfit brought me a lost child. But ever since after they left, the little girl began crying! How should I deal with this situation?] "You also have the duty as a guard, right? Deal with it yourself and get back to your task!" Lynn cut off the communication link between her and the guard. She was shocked to consecutively get three reports that has no relation to her task. But before she could get over her shock, more alerting sounds came from the Miastary model. The reports became more and more frequent! But to Lynn''s dismay, they were all in a similar fashion as their predecessors: [This is the 16th seat of fourteenth team. I have just found a lost wallet, I will put it in the lost and found counter.] "Good for you! And I hope you can do the same for your task!" [This is the 7th seat of fourteenth team. I''ve heard from a reliable source that there seemed to be a rare pink-goldfish at the scooping-goldfish booth. I will go check it out and maybe get that rare fish as my pet.] "What are you trying to do? You are searching for the wrong thing!" [This is the 23rd seat of fourteenth team. Someone told me there is a man in the street whose left eye can glow red.] "And? What about it?" [This is the 3rd seat of fourteeth team.There''s a bunch of little girls playing on the playground. This is paradise!] "Someone! Put this man into custody!" [This is the 30th seat of fourteeth team. I am not like the other pervy guys of my team who happened to be disgusting lolicon, I am a shotacon.] "Why are you telling me this?" [This is the 19th seat of fourteenth team. I need help! I can''t find my wallet to pay for the grilled pink-goldfish!] "I really do not know how to comment on this! There seemed to be connected to many reports I have heard throughout the day!" [This is the 2nd seat of fourteenth team. I have found a criminal wearing a guard outfit trying to give candies to a lone crying girl!] [This is the Captain of the fourteenth team. Someone wearing our guard outfit is trying to arm-lock me! I think he''s a spy!] [T-This criminal scum is trying to resist! Vice Commander, sent me help!] "Do you two not know each other?! Both of you are even from the same team! Are you two doing this on purpose?!" Thus, Lynn continued to receive similar reports from the same team throughout the afternoon and nothing she found relevant to the task in finding the two people. In the end, she had enough and put all the guards from Team Fourteen in prison and will release them after Lynn have completed her task. ***** Finally, some time after relieving herself from the troublesome Fourteenth Team, Lynn gotten a report that was related to her task. [A certain cart merchant have told me he sold a lot of his carts to a person who wore a butler suit. By confirming with the merchant, I can safely conclude that person is one of the two people we are searching for, Ul.] "When did he make the purchase?'' [This morning. But the gate guards said they have yet seen Ul leaving the city even till now.] "This means Ul is still hiding in the city, huh?" [From what the merchat said, Ul have bought enough carts to transport a whole room worth of furnitures. I don''t know how he managed to hide in the city with all of those carts but leaving the city with that many carts without being noticed is impossible. Fortunately, the cart merchant is a strange man who decorate all his carts in a very flashy fashion. So if Ul ever makes a move with those carts, we will immediately find him.] "Good. Relay the same message to the rest of the guards and tell them tokeep an eye outfor the carts that fit the description." [Certainly.] The communication link was discontinued. The flashing of a helmet icon stopped and became dimmed. After receiving such report, Lynn was delighted. This report was good news to her. Lynn has heard the fourth princess have made a run-away along with all her belongings in her room. In order to transport that many things; horse-carriages, carts or other transportations were needed. From the report, it seemed the fourth princess has made the decision to take her belongings no matter what and have ordered her butler to do the purchase of the carts. The reason why the fourth princess would take all her belongings with her despite the risk of being found was beyond Lynn. But why complain if the decision of the fourth princess would make her task easier? A smirk was formed on Lynn''s face. She could see the result of this case. There was only one gate out of Miastary and it will be impossible to miss if any of the two people they were searching for tries to get across the gate with all those specailly decorated carts. Thus, if any of the two was to get caught by the guards then finding the fourth princess would be easy. This task may have became much more easier than expected. Lynn could not wait for the time she complete the task and make the person she admired proud. Father, please just wait for some time. I will show you that I am a daughter you can be proud of! Thinking of that, the happy Lynn walked to the table at the corner of the room. She kicked it over. "Wait! So you would still kick it even if you are not angry?!"
Night, it''s the time when the moon hung itself high up in the sky. The night sky was clear. There was nothing blocking the round figure of the full moon. Countless stars sparkled together, forming rivers of light in this night sky. But they were not the only ones illuminating in the darkness. Fireworks. *Dooon* *Dooon* Following after the sound of explosions, many flowers of light bloomed in the dark. Adding all sort of different colours to this night sky. This was the moment everyone was looking forward to. The climax of the Mask Festival. *Dooon* *Dooon* At the end of the festival, countless fireworks were released to the sky. Everyone who participated in the Mask Festival have already taken a seat in a place they thoughthad the best viewing spot to watch the fireworks. Looking up to witness the last moment of this grand festival. "They''re beautiful..." Nia said with her eyes fixed at the sky. Even though they were simple words but they were the only words Nia could come up with at the moment. Myst, who was opposite her, laughed when he heard her. "Haha. You looked like this is your first time seeing fireworks." "Well, this is my first time to watch fireworks sitting here." Nia and Myst were seated at a table on the balcony of a restaurant in the Residential Area. *Doon* *Doon* *Doon* The pacing of the fireworks have began to pick up, indicating the show was reaching its climax. Soon, the fireworks has reached the end of their rhythm. There were no longer fireworks exploding in the sky leaving the sky clear and open. Just when Nia thought this was the end of the show... *Hyysssssssshhhhh* A loud whistle sounds echoed in the empty sky. It was created by a large object that was flying to the sky, leaving a long trail of white smoke behind. When the object reached its peak in the sky, it exploded. *BANG* An explosion much louder, much bigger and brighter than the other fireworks in the show. This was the climax and finale of the firework show. This also marked the end of the Mask Festival. Nia watched last firework until it completely disappeared. Myst caught a glimpse of sadness in Nia''s expression. "You are not happy?" Myst asked. "No, I am happy." She shook her head. "I really enjoyed this day. Everything I saw and every moment of it..." She cast her eyes down and continued with a disappointed tone. "This is the end of it, isn''t it?" "That''s right. The festival is almost over." "Haha, it was so quick! I did not even realize it." Nia laughed weakly. "There was a saying that the time you had fun will feel like it only lasted a moment." She looked up. "Just like the fireworks I see. I enjoy watching them. They are really beautiful. But in an instant they disappear, leaving only the unpleasant smell of explosive powder." "You are pretty pessimistic." "I speak the truth!" There was a time when Nia was not in the castle. It was a small period of time when she was living with her mother in the woods. That time, Nia doesn''t even know she was a princess of Yuvian nor the situation of the world. She was just an innocent girl who likes reading the books her mother have, making small things her mother taught her and listening to her mother''s stories of her adventure. Nia was really happy during that time. But, as she has mentioned, the time she could enjoy was short. The moment when she turned 6, she was taken to the castle before she even realized. And that small world Nia lived with her mother disappeared completely... "Hey!" "Kyaaa!" Nia squeaked when Myst flicked her forehead. "What was that for?!" Nia looked at Myst angrily. "That''s for you looking at things way too negatively." Myst waved his left hand trying to ease its pain. "You are only fourteen years old, you should act more like a girl of that age." "But being fourteen means I am an adult already. I should not act like a kid anymore." "To my world''s standard, and to me especially, you are just a mere kid. You have read all those manga from Japan didn''t you? So you should know how my world is like." "..." Nia did not answer. "Laugh when you want to, cry when you need to. Be happy or be angry when you feel like to, there''s no reason to hold back for someone your age." Myst tightened his fist. "You said the time you had fun feels short, right? Let us carry out my plan and get you out of this bird cage. I will assure you, you will have many more fun when you could travel around the world and do things you have always wanted to do. Even if fun may feel short to you but you can have many of them to compensate for it. Quantity-over-quality!" "...Why are you willing to do this for me?" Nia asked. "You should have known from reading my diary that I summoned you because of my selfishness. I have risked you being stuck in my world forever in exchange for my freedom. Also, because of my mistake, you have also became a ''Magic Zero'' who everybody in this kingdom shun upon. If you were to help me to get out of this place, you would be wanted by the whole of Yuvian..." Nia paused a bit. She took a small breath before she continued: "For someone so selfish... why are you willing to help me?" "Why, you asked?" Myst winked. "Because I am your Hero. The Hero who have answered to Haibara Nia''s plea when she asked for it." "..." After Myst made that declaration, Nia was dumbfounded. There seemed to be many emotions and feelings being flowing through her mind. After a short while, Nia burst out laughing. "Hahaha! Trying to act cool to impress a selfish girl really doesnot suit someone like you who always do stupid things!" "Hey, at least give me some credits for acting a like a Hero." "You are right, I apologize for laughing at you." Nia stood up, held her dress up and bowed slightly. "And thank you for willing to help me till the end." "It''s too early for you to thank me." Myst also stood up. "At least wait until I get you out. Even if I don''t have any magical power like the other Heroes summoned to this world but my plan will definitely get you out." "Then I will be in your care then." Nia smiled. "Yea, leave it to me!" Myst gave her a thumbs-up. The words Nia said were simple, but from it Myst could tell that Nia have placed her trust on him. Having witness this, Myst definitely does not want to betray Nia''s expectation. The expectation of an innocent yet unfortunate little girl who has a simple but a grand dream to achieve. Myst turned around and stared at the large castle. "Earlier, you said the festival was a bit too short, right?" The pupil of his left eye emitted red light.. "I think it''s about time we ask for a little extension."
Side Story: A Time with Zero In the midst a forest, there was a small wooden cottage. Its windows were opened to allow the warm sunlight to enter the house. There were also birds gatheredon the window sill and chirping happily as they listened to the humming coming from within the cottage. The humming came from a young woman in long white dress sitting on a rocking chair. Her hands danced fluidly to finish knitting a near complete garment resting on her lap. On the carpet right next the chair was a wolf taking a nap. Its size was as big as the woman and its long black-and-white fur made it look even more bigger. The woman''s bedroom was simple. Just a bed, a shelf and a chair were all the furnitures she had. Thanks to the simpleness of her room, the woman was able to keep the room tidy at all time. Small thin books with long and colourful titles were neatly placed on the shelf sorted in the numbering underneath their names. The shelf was mostly packed with those books and the different titles on the books indicate the massive variety of books she has. Other than the books there were some round objects with unknown function on the shelf as well. At one corner of the shelf, a space was left out for a glass container. The glass container was nothing special but the objects inside it does have special values. The objects were various editions of figurines of Magical Heroine Luliruka. What made them even more special was that all of them were Limited Edition products from a certain famous sculptor. Be it Swimsuit edition, Private Clothing editionorPajamas edition - all of them which the woman managed to get her hands on were kept inside the glass container to prevent them from collecting dust. Of course the shelf was not the only furniture to keep her belongings. Her bed was specially made so that it has a hidden compartment to store her additional belongings. However, whatever were inside were not important. "I''ve finished it!" The woman exclaimed. The wolf next to her was startled at first, then it realized this was a normal occurrence so the wolf sighed. It look towards the woman and the object she held high in the air. It was a beanie. The beanie hasa pattern of black and white that seemed similar to the wolf''s fur pattern. Additionally, the woman have attached two pointy ears on the beanie which the wolf immediately understood what inspired her to make such beanie. "Look over here, Ulric!" She put the beanie over her long silver hair. "Do I look cute?" "..." The wolf turned its head away and went back to napping. "What''s this? If it''s not cute then just say so! It''s rude to ignore someone like that!" The woman pouted and sat back on her rocking chair. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.She has decided to ignore the wolf''s dinner tonight. Then soft footsteps came from the room outside. "Mother!" A little girl with light blue hair came running into the woman''s room. Her eyes were only focused on the woman that she forgot there was a wolf on the floor. She did not notice she have stepped on the wolf''s face and used it to aid her jump into the woman''s embrace. "Mother!" The little girl hugged the woman and rubbed her face against the woman''s chest. "Geez, Dear... Aren''t you a little spoiled girl." The woman gently stroked the little girl''s head. Seeing this warm scene, even the birds stopped chirping and they felt like they were about to melt from the warmth. The wolf, however, was not too happy to be stepped on the face. But having seen the smiles of the two ladies, the wolf just sighed and left the room. "So what made you so excited today?" The woman asked as she put the little girl on her lap. The little girl''s smile bloomed when she heard the woman asked, the little girl held up a book with a colourful cover. "This! This book that I read!" "Oh, this... the one about five high schoolers from Japan were transported to a different world to become Heroes of the world." "Yes! This one was really interesting!" The little girl flipped through the pages to several illustrations in it. "The main character was caught in by the summoning magic by mistake so he was transported to the different world without the blessing to be a Hero. But unknown to all the other people, the main character actually had a unique power only he has and he later became the key person to unite and save the world!" "Mn, looks like you read quite far into the series." The woman smiled. "Did you enjoyed it that much?" "Yes, of course! I really enjoyed this one a lot! Especially the main character was someone who I really admire! He can do..." The little girl began mentioning the main character''s power and accomplishments in the series. There seemed to be stars in the little girl''s eyes as she talked about the main character from the book she read. After the little girl was done, she asked: "Does Mother think I can also summon a Hero?" "You want to summon a Hero?" "Yes!" The little girl answered with a bright smile. "I want to summon a Hero so powerful that he will protect both of us from harm and beat up any bad guys!" "I see..." The woman gently stroked the little girl''s head once agian. "If it''s you, Dear, I''m sure you can do it. You definitely can summon a Hero who will also come to your aid and help you overcome situations you found impossible to get through." "Really?! I am so happy!" The little girl hugged the woman tightly. Then, suddenly, the little girl made a sudden realization. "Ah, I forgot! There was a question I wanted to ask Mother!" She turned the book to the back side. "While I can read what were written inside the books but somehow I am struggling with the words written over here." "Oh, these! No wonder you can''t read them, I was the one who wrote these after-all." The woman scratched cheek embarrassingly. "Since my handwriting is bad so this usually becomes a case. Don''t worry about it Dear, there''s no need for you to try so hard to learn these words." "But they are also written in Mother''s language, right?" "Yes, they are written in Japanese." "Then I want to learn them! Does not matter what they look like, as long as they are Mother''s language then I want to learn them!" "Oh, I see. Then it can''t be helped." The woman pointed at the words. "Then follow me as I read them, okay?" "Okay!" The woman smile. "Ready? Here goes..." "Haibara Rei."
Haibara Rei? Yes, Dear. The words are read as Haibara Rei. Many people from my country have a habit of writing their names on their possession. Just like this light novel, I bought it so I wrote my name at the back of it. Oooh! So Mother''s name is Haibara Rei!! Yes, Dear. Also this is why your name is... Haibara Nia
Side Story: A Time with Zero Ends Chapter 05: Trickster Mystery Late at night. Some time after the firework show, the street was empty except for the guards and the adventurers patrolling the street. The main gate of Miastary was closed shut and the city was quiet. But everyone who was out there on the street was all tensed up. No one dared to open their mouth. They put all their attention to their surroundings, looking out for anything suspicious. Their concentration was to the max as they search hard for the ones who challenged the security of the capital of Yuvian and made themselves an enemy to not only Yuvian but also the other 3 human kingdoms. The greatest offense done by the suspicious ones was ruining the Mask Festival. ***** Earlier, right after the end of the firework show. In the Core Defense Room. "Seat 7 from the thrid team, please report your situation!" Lynn shouted. From the transparent Miastary model, a male voice came out: [Vice Commander! The situation here is the same as other areas in the city! It''s total chaos! Please give us your ord-] Suddenly, the communication link to the guard was disconnected. ''"Seat 7?! Can you hear me? Seat 7!!!" There was no reply. No matter how many times Lynn tapped the helmet icon, the communication link would not connect. This was an indication that something must have happened by the guard''s side that he was forced to cut off the communication link. Or even worse, something may have happened to him. Lynn just stood there staring at the Miastary model. A drop of sweat flowed down her cheek. Shewas dumbstruck. She could not believe what was actually happening in the city. Right when the firework show ended, a strange fog emerged and covered the whole city. Most of the people in the open collapsed when they were exposed to the strange fog. The mere scene of people collapsing was already shocking to the ones left standing, then there was a widespread of the words ''terrorist attck'' among the crowd and have spread panic among the people. Many of those left standing were overtaken by fear and began running straight for shelter that could keep them away from the strange fog and possible dangers that could occur. No one ever suspected the security of Miastary, especially during Mask Festival, so when disaster does fall upon the unexpecting people the situation would become chaotic. The guards, with the aid of adventurers, tried to calm the panicking people while trying help the collapsed people to safety. But everything was too sudden, the guards were not able to group up and effectively control the situation. Even Lynn was at loss when she heard the report about the chaos throughout the city. Unknown fog, people collapsing and the chaos that followed. It was the worst possible scenario to happen on such an important day. While she wanted to sooth the situation as soon as possible, but the disconnections to her communication link with the guards have made it difficult for her to grasp the situation and give orders to the guards in each area. Just when Lynn''s anxiety level was about to reach the max, an alert sound came from the Miastary model and the helmet icon of the guard she spoke to earlier was flashing. Lynn quickly tapped the icon. [Vice Commander, I apologize for the sudden disconnection.] It was the voice of the guard Lynn spoke to previously. Lynn was relief to get in contact with him again. [Just now my team had to help the normal people to an inn to shelter them from further harm. Our Captain had made this decision and we also have the people''s help to carry many injured with us.] "Good job. It was a good decision that your Captain made."Lynn praised the guard. "So what is the current situation in the city?" [It is still chaotic in the Residential Area. The panicking people were dangerous to the other people so our Captain led us into the inns across street to prevent further injuries. Now there are only three of us guards left in this inn to treat the injured while the Captain has led the rest of the team to control the situation in the city. This is all I have to report from the third team.] "I see, then continue your treatment to the injured and report to me if there are any new findings." [Certainly.] The communication link between Lynn and the guard ended. Having received that report, Lynn have calmed down a bit. This report was an indication that at least some of the guards were still functional and the situation was not beyond her control. She managed to recollect her thoughts and realized she should not lose calm. The guards were trained to protect the order of the city and safty of the people. So Lynn should put more trust in their abilities and give them appropriate orders to effectively maximize their abilities. Suddenly, another helmet icon was flashing and Lynn tapped it without any hesitation. [Vice Commander, this is 10th seat of Team Eight reporting in. Our team have worked together with the other teams to take people off the streets and took them to shelters in all areas within the city. The Captain of each team have the help from the adventurers and they went back to the streets to calm the panicking people. I am currently in a tavern in Adventurers Area with the task to report to you our findings.] "Your findings?" [Indeed. We have found the mass panic among people was due to the confusion status inflicted by the strange fog.] "Confusion status from the strange fog?" Lynn was surprised. She had already suspected fog was the reason for people collapsing but she did not expect the panic among people was due to status affliction. With this message, Lynn could cement her deduction that the strange fog was indeed made up of various status inflicting powder. [What we found was the people collapsed were inflicted with either paralysis, sleep or weakness status. Some of them were even inflicted with multiple status. [This explains why not all the people collapsed when they were exposed to the fog, after-all, each of them have differences in their resistance to status. But most of those left standing were inflicted with confusion status and they panicked when there was a widespread of the words ''terrorist attack''. [While we can use potions and recovering magic to cure the injured and collapsed people indoor, but the panicking people cannot be cured with magic as long as they are exposed to the fog. It''s unrealistic for us to bring everyone to shelter in this chaotic situation and there are still collapsed people out on the streets, so the Captains are trying their best to minimize injuries to the collapsed and the panicking people. But the fog seemed to be circulating within the city, it will be dangerous for them to be exposed in the fog for too long and we still don''t know what the culprits behind this will do next! [Vice Commander, we need your command! What should we do?] Lynn was glad to hear that the guards have kept the people away from harm. Indeed, it was Lynn''s and the guards'' duty to protect the safety of Miastary''s people and maintain the peace of the city. It was unfortunate to hear the guards were not able to take everyone off the street to shelters but Lynn do know the guards have done their best. However, this was not the time for Lynn to be relieved. The guards were requesting for her help and she will need to act upon it. Fortunately, Lynn was able to come up with a solution after knowingthe true identity of the strange fog. "Relay this to all the guards! Use water-element magic and sprinkle water down the city! The identity of the strange fog is powder that inflicts status affliction so we will force them down to the ground with water! Request help from the adventurers if needed! "The others who cannot use water magic should concentrate in keeping the people on the street from harm, be them normal people, adventurers or guards. After the fog is dissolved, we will be able to use recovery magic on those inflicted with bad status and move them to shelter! We do not know what the culprits behind this may do next so keep an eye open!" [Yes! Certainly!] The guard gave a stern reply and cut off the communication link. After Lynn''s commands have been passed down among the guards, they were able put her solution to action and quickly dissolved the strange fog. With the strange fog gone, the guards were able to cure the masses of their confusion and the people could be taken to shelther for further treatments. In that chaotic situation, many people have been injured, but fortunately there was not any life-threatening injuries. Thus, Lynn and the guards could consider their operation to overcome the strange fog incident a success. Even though this was something Lynn should be glad about, but there was something in her mind that gnawed at her. During the chaotic situation, from start till end, she heard no reports regarding the further activities of the terrorists behind the fog powder. Lynn was confident with the guards, they were well-trained so it would be unlikely for them to miss anything suspicious even in such chaotic situation. Also, she firmly believed the terrorists must be a large group of people in order to pull off something like covering the whole city and maintaining the status-inflicting fog. The fourth princess'' disappearance and the fog incident was definitely not a coincident. If what Lynn have heard was true about the fourth princess having contacted a group of people to aid her escape the city then everything would make sense. The fourth princess must be working with the terrorists and the fog incident was created in order to help her escape. But what does not make sense to Lynn wasthat she heardnothing about people approaching the main gate and tried to get out of the city. At first she thought the disconnection in her connection with the guards werepart of the terrorists'' moves but this was scrapped after the guards explained they were simply disturbed by the masses. In the end, it was true that neither did the fourth princess and her helper made a move during the chaotic situation. Was the situation not the best time to make a move? This question continued to pop up in her mind whenever she thought back about the incident. While this was an opportunity for her to complete her task in finding the two people and ultimately find the fourth princess but... Lynn was uneasy for the culprit''s next move.
A while after the fog incident, the city was quiet. Lynn have ordered to let everyone stay indoors while the guards and adventurers patrol the city to search for anyone suspicious. Even though it was the grand Mask Festival in the same day but no one could keep a happy smile after what they have been through earlier. In fact, the guards and the adventurers have put all their focus in finding the terrorists behind the strange fog. It was because they were angry at the terrorists for ruining the day that they were supposed to have fun. Though, this was not the only reason. Many nobles and adventurers from different kingdoms have came to participate in the Mask Festival. The terrorists have made enemies to all 4 human kingdoms by exposing the nobles to possible dangers. Also,the act of releasing the fog powder in a city when there werelarge groups of adventurers of different guilds was a sign of mockery to the security of the city. Not only the guards, but also the adventurers wanted to make the terrorists pay for their stupidity to challenge them maliciously. While they were searching furiously around the city, a person in red coat was stargazing at the highest peak of the castle. This person was Myst. Myst got on his feet, looked down at the empty wet streets and smiled. "Finally, the obstacles are out of the way." He stretched his arms, getting his body ready for work. "Let''s get on the move then." He took off his eye-patch and put on his plain white mask with his bandage right hand. He looked in the direction of the main gatein the Market Area. Then, he disppeared... ...leaving only one tiny black paper in his place.
*Goro* *Paka* *Goro* Sounds of horse footsteps mixed with the wooden wheel sound hitting against the cobblestone road have alerted the guards at the main gate. The empty and quiet street have made the noise sound much louder than normal, which has also caught the attention of other guards and adventurers. Their eyes were fixed on a lone carriage being driven towards the main. It was hard to not pay attention to this carriage. Not only because it was the only one carriage on the street but also because it was heavily decorated. The carriage have multiple layers of colourful banners covering its sides. On each of the corners were laterns that illuminated the reflective objects placed at the top to create some shining effects. Sticking out at its roof was a figure of knight with reflective plating that also reflects lights off the laterns. The carriage was so fancy that it seemed it wanted people to look at it. However, it appeared to the others that the decoration was there to divert people''s attention away from what was inside the carriage. In other words, the carriage was impossibly suspicious! By the Lynn''s command, everyone except the guards and the adventurers should be indoors. None of the guards and adventurers would patrol with such a fancy and noisy carriage. The carriage was driven by a lone person in red coat with his face hidden under his hood. It was obvious the person was trying to hide his face from public. So there was only one possibility - the carriage was being driven by someone related to the terrorists. But no one made a move on the carriage. While they may suspect the carriage, but would not attack a carriage out of a sudden without making sure of who was on the carriage. Also, the main gate was closed shut so the carriage will not be able to make run out of the city even if it wanted to. Therefore, there was no need for the guards and adventurers to act hastily. They will wait and see how the person reacts when carriage gets to the gate. "Halt!" Shouted a gate guard with his hand rised. The carriage stopped in front of the gate guards. A guard approached the carriage. "Identify yourself and state your business!" The guard ordered. "..." The person on the carriage did not answer. "You should know by the orders of Vice Commander everyone shouldstay indoor to ensure your own safety. You will need to state your business to approach the main gate at this time!" "..." The person was still silent. "You better stop ignoring me or else you will regret your action!" "..." The person continued to ignore the guard. This silent treatment has proved to the guards that the person in red was suspicious enough, they decided to surround the carriage to prevent the person from running away. But before they were able to act, the person in red lashed at horses and pulled the rein in one direction. The carriage dashed into the street to the right. "That person is running away!" "After the carriage!!" The guards alerted the nearby guards and adventurers, they began chasing after the fancy carriage. Two adventurers jumpedout of their cover and blocked the road ahead of the carriage. "Stop your carriage right now!" One of adventurers exclaimed. "You will pay for what you did, you damned terrorists!" Said the other adventurer. The carriage showed no sign of stopping so the two adventurers shot out their long ranged attacks in an attempt to stop the horses pulling the carriage. The person in red pulled the rein and the horses were made to turn left into an alleyway avoiding the flying weapons thrown at them. *Don* *Don* The thrown weaponhit the carriage instead as it was driven into the alleyway. "Damn it! We missed!" One of the two adventurers cursed. "You continue after them!" The other adventurer said as he pointed his palm towards the sky. "I will alert the others!" A magic circle appeared below the adventurer. As he chanted, mana from the magic circle began flowing up his body and gathered at his palm. In the next second, the adventurer shouted: "!" A ball of flame shot up towards the night sky. After traveling a small distance, the ball of flame exploded in the sky. Even though it was not big, the light and the sound of the explosion has managed to catch the attention of the guards and adventurers in different parts of the city. That''s right, it was a message of ''we have found them''! Meanwhile, the carriage has just exited the alley and returned to the street. Immediately, the person in red sped up the carriage with the attempt to lose the pursuers. But the person could not shake off the pursuers whose speed were increased with magic, furthermore, more adventurers and guards came onto the road ahead all looking towards the carraige with murderous intent. The person in red noticed people in front had prepared their long-ranged attacks and the pursuers chasing behind were moving to the sides. Not going to wait for what will happen, the person in red drove the carriage into another alleyway and then into another street. The person in red may have escaped a barrage of projectiles, however, the person could not escape from the eyes of the pursuers. The guards and adventurers have magic to aid them to keep up with the speed of the carriage as well as methods to inform the others of the location of the carriage. The pursuers capable of long-ranged attacks will try to slow down the carriage and the others with large weapons, capable of immobilizing the carriage, will use the opportunity to get close to the carriage. Because the projectiles shot at the carriage were not coordinated, they were easily dodged. While dodging the long-ranged attacks, the person in red also made sure not to enterthe strike zones of the people carrying big dangerous-looking weapons. With the person''s incredible maneuver skill, the carriage have ran past many guards and adventurers over a long distance. Also, whenever the situation becomes bad, the person will just drive the carriage into an alleyway then to another street and continue running away. Thus, the chase have continued over a long time in same fashion. The pursers were surprised. Not all the alleyways lead to another street, having seen that being done quite a few times even the pursuers were surprised that the person has yet ran into any of the dead-ends. With them on pursuit, there was no time for the person in red to look into the alleyway and decide to turn if the alleyway does not lead to a dead-end. In order to avoid being hit by their concentrated attacks, the person in red has to already made a decision to turn before even reaching the alleyway. At first they thought it was just luck but when done a couple of times, they began too feel creepy at the person they were chasing after. It was as if the person knew when and where to turn. Something like this can only be possible if the person have memorize every corner of the streets in Market Area! Is this even possible? Even the veteran adventurers who had stayed in city for 10 years could not do that. Remebering the name and location of the street, and also the shops on that same street was normal for them. But no one would even bother to pay attention to any alleyway, let alone remembering it, unless the person was up to no good. Thus, a question have popped up in their mind. Just who is this person? Many of them have names of infamous outlaws in their mind. However, none of the outlaws they knew have the power or guts to directly make a move on Miastary. Making a moveat this scale in this time wasthe sameas declaring a war to all four Human Kingdoms! Itwas outrageous! Unable to come up with an answer by themselves, the guards and adventurers could only comprehend the person in red in order to expose his identity! While the person in red had driven away from countless attempts of them stopping carriage, the adventurers and guards were not fools. They have long noticed that person''s runaway pattern and have continuously reporting the position of the carriage to others stationed in the Market Area. The number of people pursuing the carriage continued to increase and the others not on pursuit have formed a circle enclosing the carriage in a specific area. Slowly, they will move in closer, decreasing the size of the circle. While this may be a slow process but ultimatelythe person in red will no longer be able to escape and get caught. The person in red had realized what he was about to face, however, the person could not do anything about it. Charging head on to break out of the encirclement was out of the question so the person will have think of something else. Something else to escape this desperate situation. As the encirclement became smaller, the less placethere was to run to and pursuers'' attacks became even more fiercer. It took all of the person''s concentration just to avoid the attacks so there was not any time left for the person to think of other things. All the person could do was struggle, struggle to find an escape route. Unfortunately, luck was not by this person''s side... Just as when the carriage made a turn onto the street, the wheels triggered a magic trap! A purple magic circle emerged from the surface of the ground, dark-coloured chains were summoned from within the circle! *Squee...!* *Squee...!* *Squee...!* The chains locked the wheels of the carriage preventing it from moving any further. The adventurers and the guards cheered when they successfully stopped and caught the suspicious carriage. Finally, the long chase was over! ***** The fancy carriagewas surrounded by the adventurers and the guards. A middle-aged man wearing an adventurer''s outfit stepped out of the crowd. His tall and muscular figure gives him an intimidating appearance. The scars on his body shown countless death-battles he has overcame and he was the founder of the famous fighter''s guild, ''UnEnding Tale'', which he continued to add more stories to his adventures. Being a veteran adventurer and a guildmaster of a famous guild, he naturally can be the representative of the crowd. "You have been surrounded!"The veteran adventurer exclaimed with a strong deep voice. "Surrender now or else you will regret fighting back!" Myst, who was the target of the aggression, stood up on the driver''s seat of the fancy carriage. He looked around the carriage. Not only the carriage was heavily surrounded but there were also magic users and archers readied with their magic chanted and bows fully strung. Forget about getting the carriage out of the crowd, he would become a beehive if he was to try anything. Myst sighed and put up his hands. Then he kicked up the lock and let horses run free. This was an indicationshowing he has given up in any idea of resistance. The adventurers and the guards did not immediately tie up Myst, there was no need for that as of now. There may be mana presence inside the carriage but they did not sense any mana being used from either Myst or from within inside the carriage. Also, Myst does not appear to be carrying a weapon so the adventurers and0 guards believed Myst does not have any will to fight back. If the person has no intention to fight back then they could take the process slowly. Also, because the chase were dragged on for too long, many of the adventurers and guards were whittled down of their stamina so they would also like some time to take a breather. "Remove your mask and identify yourself!" The veteran adventurer commanded with yet another intimidating voice. "Your buddies are in the carriage as well, right? Get them out of the carriage and tell uswhat your aim is to do such terrible thing to the people of Miastary!" "Um... Excuse me but I''d like to ask a question..." Myst said with a frightened voice. "What''s the occasion for this many people to be around?" "HUH?! You are trying to play dumb even at this time?!" The veteran adventurer made an unbelievable expression. "Fine, I shall spell out your crime loud and clearly so that you have no way to deny it!" He pointed at Myst. "You...!" Then he moved his finger to the carriage enclosure. "And your buddies have commited a serious crime in attacking the city and harming its people byspreading large amount of status inflicting powder in the air!" He said as he expressed his anger with his voice. "Youterroristshave declared yourselves enemies of the four Human Kingdoms! There''s no getting away from this crime! Now, get off the carriage and accept the punishment for your foolishness!" To support him and further intimidate Myst, the other adventurers and guards also released their killing intent towards the carriage. The pressure from atmosphere was so heavy that it could even kill someone who does not have the heart for it. But in response to this, Myst tilted his head: "Huh?" A word slipped out of his mouth, "Terrorists? Us?" He then scold them in an angry tone. "How dare you morons accuse us for terrorism! Don''t you know who''s in this carriage?" The sudden change in Myst''s attitude caught the adventurers and guards by surprise. They did not expect someone in this situation would act the way he does. For someone to have a backbone to scold them could mean the person in the carriage was a bigshot in the society. "Pardon rudeness earlier." The veteran adventurer softened his voice. "May I ask who could it be in the carriage?" As expected of a veteran adventurer, not only has he been through countless death battles but also surviving in his participation in parties held by nobles. He was not a person of high upbringing, however, as a renowned adventurer and a guildmaster of a famous guild, the veteran adventurer has the obligation to take part in such high standard parties. Having learnt from his past mistakes and years of experiencewhen dealing with troublesome nobles, he knew he must not be careless in this situation. If the person inside the carriage was indeed a noble then he or she must be a high ranking noble for even a coachman to act so highly. Even if the person was not a noble then he or she could be someone famous for contributing greatly to humankind. However, the person in red has yet provided any concrete proof. Everyone has their doubt that this person could just be bluffing and looking for a mean to escape. So the best move for this type of situation was to withdraw their killing intent and confirm the identity of the people inside the carriage. "Hmph, I see you peasants still have some sense intact even after that chaotic incident." Myst reached inside his coat. "The person riding in the carriage is Madam Eveningsong! My Madam was invited by the Great Noble Simon as an important guest!" He tossed a scroll to the veteran adventurer. "Check it yourself!" The veteran adventurer caught the scroll. At first he was dumbstruck, then he quickly regained his conscious and opened the scroll made of high quality paper. The veteran adventurer was even more astonished. Seeing the veteran adventurer''s reaction, afemale adventurer walked to his side. "What''s wrong Guildmaster?" She asked with a confused expression. The female adventurer was the Vice Guildmaster of UnEnding Tale. Even though she was onlymid-twenty in agebut her contribution in her intelligence and skills have helped to develop the guild greatly. Thus, she earned the trust of everyone in the guild and became the second-in-command of the guild. Being at her position, naturally she''s the closest person to her Guildmaster. This was her first time to see her guildmaster being this shaken. "T-This is true." The veteran adventurer said. "This indeed is the letter written by the Great Noble Simon!" "You recognize his handwriting?" Asked the female adventurer. "No, I don''t. However..." He showed her the scroll. "I do recognize his stamp and the ink exclusively used by him." The female adventurer''s eyes widened. The ink is glittering with gold! What was that man thinking?! He''s literally writing with money! The veteran adventurer could tell what his vice was thinking from looking at her reaction. The female adventurerwas a quick thinker and often kept her opinion to herself while wearing a poker face so a lot of time he had trouble guessing what''s on her mind. At least this time, he could clearly tell that she was shocked. "However, this isn''t the thing that shocked me the most." The veteran adventurer said. "Look over here, the name of guest invited by Simon." "MadamEveningsong...Is this person that great for the Great Noble Simon to refer to her with honorific?" Before her guildmaster could respond to her, the answer to her question already presented itself from the crowd''s reaction: "S-So the letter of invitation is genuine? This means the person sitting inside the carriage is Eveningsong?!" "E-Eveningsong?! Eh? That Eveningsong?!" "The Great Sage Eveningsong is here!!" The crowd had became excited as if an idol their admired for a long time have finally came. It seemed to the female adventurer that the other adventurers and guards have forgotten what they were doing a moment ago. W-What''s this?! Why is everyone acting like this? Is it also because of this Eveningsong person? Why am I the only one who''s still clueless about her? When the female adventurer was troubled, her guildmaster patted on her shoulder. "I see, so you really didn''tknow who Eveningsong was, huh?" The veteran adventurer nodded with his eyes closed. "That is to be expected, since you put our guild above anything else and spent all of your time managing it. It can''t be helped that you don''t know about stories of the Great Sage, Eveningsong." The female adventurer could not deny it. She may be intelligent from her educated background, but she was a realistic-thinking person. Rather than listening to stories and accomplishments of other people, she''d rather use her time and knowledge to improve her beloved guild. From living-standards to quests, strategies for different parties and public relationship with other guilds and locals. The only thing in her mind was the guild she belongs in. "Fine, leave it to me, your Guildmaster, to tell you everything you need to know about Eveningsong!" The female adventurer nodded in response. "Alright, first what you need to know is..." The veteran adventurer cleared his throat before he excitedly explain. "Eveningsong is the Sage among Sage! She wields a lot magic that could do this and that! Furthermone she can even cast different kinds of ancient magic that does this and that! There was one time that some city was under crisis and Eveningsong did this and that and that city was saved! Also, her contribution to the humankind was not just that, she offered this and that to the Human Kingdoms to help them advance! And plus...!" Why does he keep replacing important information about this Eveningsong with ''this and that''? Does he really know about this Eveningsong? "Anyway, Eveningsong is amazing!" With his hands on his waist and made a satisfied expression. "Do you understand now?" No, I don''t understand! What''s amazing is you actually thought you have done a great job in your explanation! "Oh? I get the feeling you are not convinced that Eveningsong is amazing. Worry not, this Guildmaster will tell you even more amazing things about Eveningsong!" Wait, is this going to continue? I seriously think you should stop, Guildmaster! If you are bad at explanation then don''t push yourself! "The other thing that makes Eveningsong amazing is of course her voluptuous body!" "..." Not realizing the female adventurer was giving him a cold stare, the veteran adventurer continued: "She has straight long silver hair that shines in daylight and she has ancharming face that could make any man fall head-over-hills for her! She also has a pair of beautiful breasts that are big enough to hold in countless men''s dream and hope! Her thin waist compliments well with her hip! Finally herlong and slenderlegs makes it look as if black stocking were specially made for her!" Why is this part so unnecessary detailed yet he knows almost nothing about her achievements?! Could he be some kind of a stalker instead?!The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Then, the veteran adventurer let out a sigh. "To be honest with you, I have not seen Eveningsong with my own eyes. However...!" Then his eyes widened. "My eyes were opened after seeing a portrait of her! I have never seen such beautiful woman in my life! Thus, I became curious about her and have researched upon her! The more I researched the more I realized how amazing her body is!" And the more I listen to you, the more creepy you sound to me! "Now this Eveningsong is in the carriage in front of me! Finally...! Finally I''m able to meet her! This is definitely my lucky day!" He looked at his trembling hands. "W-What should I do?What if she starts to give us handshakes?If she does that then I won''t be able to wash my hands anymore!" He then turned to the female adventurer. "What should I do?" LIKE HECK I''D KNOW?!I''m not an Eveningsong fanatic like you! More-like you shouldn''t even do anything! I can''t even began to imagine what you might even do to her if you actually see her! Suddenly! *Clap* *Clap* *Clap* A series of clapping sound made everyone turned their attention to Myst. "Bravo!" Myst exclaimed happily. Nobody know why he''d be happy in this situation. Myst reached underneath his mask and continued: "To think there is still someone who knew so much about the friendless Madam Eveningsong... I''m so happy that I''m crying over it!" He then looked to the veteran adventurer. "You Sir deserve a praise." "I-It''s my honor to receive such compliment!" No, the things he knew about Eveningsong are pretty much her body! He clearly knew nothing else about her! And Guildmaster,is this the time to be happy to be praised? Don''t we have something we needed to do? The female adventurerfailedto grasp the flow of the event. Shehave realizeda weird change in the atmosphere around them. Earlier, all the guards and adventurers were all tensed up and brimming with killing intent. But now, their atmosphere changed to a less serious one when it was proven that this Eveningsong person was in the carriage. It was just the female adventurer who felt different, the change all happened too fast that the female adventurer could not accept. It may be unreasonable to doubt the Eveningsong person who had a personal letter from Great Noble Simon but the coachman does feel a bit off. There were some things that did not make sense to her. It does not seem wise to force the Eveningsong person out of the carriage so the female adventurer decided to direct her questions to the coachman and hopefully smack some senses back to the others in the process. Thus, she stepped forward and looked at Myst. "I apologize for my rudeness but may I ask you a few questions?" The female adventurer raised her voice."Please understand this is a standard procedure for us to clear our doubts we have about you and Eveningsong." "A few doubts, huh?" Myst chuckled. "Not a problem. Since it came to this it''d be more strange if nobody has a few things to ask." "Thank you very much!" The female adventurer took out a notebook and a sharpened charcoal. She began her questioning: "First, why did you run away from the guards at the gate? If you have the letter from Noble Simon then you could have just shown them that and avoided all that trouble." That''s right, the first thing that did not make sense to her was that the coachman decided to make a run for it when they have the letter of invitation in their possession. What hedid was definitely not logical and it was even more suspicious that he only produced the letter when the carriage was surrounded. In response to the female adventurer, Myst says: "''Why'', you asked...?" Myst flipped his hands outwards. "Isn''t it because it was more logical to run away in that situation?" "Huh?!" The female adventurer froze on the spot, she did not expect aresponse like that. What she considered as illogical through her common sense happened to be logical in someone else''s point of view. She knew some people may have a different view from the masses however she does not think it was an acceptable answer to her question. Seeing her expression, Myst decided to do some explanation: "I am Madam Eveningsong''spersonal guard, protecting her is my duty. So when I felt so many killing intentions coming towards us by the gate, it was logical for me to make a run for it as my top prioriy is Madam Eveningsong''s safety." He then looked around the crowd. "I know you guys probably thought we were culprits behind the fog incident so it''s only natural to direct so much killing intentions towards us before we revealed ourselves. But if you were in our shoes, you would also think the people giving us killing intents were the terrorists in disguise, after-all to make such a big move does require a large group and I''m sure such group won''t be shy to target the life of my Madam." Ah, that''s right! Why didn''t I think that through! The female adventurer made an expression of sudden realization. Having heard Myst''s explanation, she realized it was indeed logical for them to run away in that situation and the fault actually lies with the adventurers and guards. Then Myst made a big sigh: "Haaaa... It was really bad when you guys threw those dangerous weapons and magic at us." He said in a complaining tone. "If it wasn''t for my maneuver skills then someone would have gotten hurt, you know?" "I-I apologize... Because your carriage was the only one on the street so we thought..." "Huh?! You think an apology would be enough for suspecting and chasing after us?! It would be horrible if Madam Eveningsong became angry and startedbaeting you people down and destroying half the city in the process, you know?" Wait, the people who would get hurt is us?! Even more, half the city would get destroyed?! Just how scary is this Eveningsong person? A cold sweat ran down her cheek. "Ah, wait a moment please..." Suddenly, Myst leaned down and put his head next to the entrance of the carriage. He nods his head occasionally as if he was listening to the person inside the carriage. Then he turned to the crowd. The crowd were surprised to have witness the scene. Myst''s action could only mean one thing. Eveningsong has finally spoken! While it will benot directly from her but the crowd was still excited to hear Eveningsong''s words to them. Though, some of them were anxious that she may be angry at them for accusing and chasing her. The female adventurer was one of those who was worried... "Alright, this is the message from Madam Eveningsong so listen well!" Myst coughed to clear his throat. Then he continued, "Madam Eveningsong said, ''Ithink some bacon and eggs for breakfast would be nice''!" Wait,what is she thinking about in a situation like this?! Is this even the time to be requesting for breakfast!! Then the surprised female adventurer felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned her guildmaster who was scratching his head as he asked: "Where could we get such breakfast?" And there is someone here who is serious in taking up that ridiculous request!!Get back to your senses already, nobody would be selling breakfast this late at night!! Especially not after what happened earlier!!!! However, the veteran adventurer was not the only one who wanted to take up the request. The crowd began their discussion in fulfilling such ridiculous request, some of them even took out a map to locate the nearest village. Just what was up with all these people?! The female adventurer could not believe how the crowd was easily distracted by Eveningsong''s words. It was very unsightly and she felt really awkward to be mixed with them. She could not afford to let this continue so she quickly moved on to the next question. "Let''s move on to my next question!" She coughed once before she continued. "Why were you guys trying to leave the city? You should have heardthe orders from Vice Commander of the Guards to stay indoors. "Even at this moment, the whereabouts of the terrorists are still unknown. It may be even more dangerous for you to leave the city." "No, I disagree." Myst shook his head. "If the terrorists are still within the city then it''s even more reason for us leave the city. I heard the Vice Commander of the Guards is just a little girl at the age of 18, right?" "18...? A little girl?!" "Since she''s just a little girl then it''s more logical for me to not trust her judgement to handle the situation becuaseI believe she lacksthe experience to deal with such situation. I''m sure my Madam thinks that to, right?" Myst bent down to the entrance of the carriage. After a series of nodding, he stood back up. "Madam Eveningsong said ''I think coffee would go well with my breakfast''. As expected of my Madam, even I could not comprehend what she''s thinking." Of course you couldn''t, she''s totally thinking of something else!More-like she''s thinking nothing but her breakfast! Just how obsessed is she with her breakfast?! Then the female adventurer felt another tap. She turned, and again, saw her guildmaster scratching his head. He asked: "Do we still have any coffee powder left? I wonder if our commoner coffee powder will suit her taste..." Oh,good Heavens!Sometimes I just could not comprehend what my guildmaster is thinking as well! "This can''t do..." Myst shook his head. "If you really want to find theterrorists then you can''t be this slow with your questioning. Fortunately, Ihave read the pattern of your questions and I will answer the question you wanted to ask the most." Why is the suspect getting on with the interrogation all on his own? But if he know that I wanted to ask ''Why Eveningsong did not help in the fog incident earlier'' then it will indeed save me some trouble and time. One of the biggest reason why the female adventurer was still suspecting Myst and Eveningsong was because she did not appear during the chaotic situation that happened earlier. If Eveningsong was indeed from what her guildmaster told her then it was strange for Eveningsong not to help at all. Furthermore, Eveningsong seemed to be leaving the city instead of helping to find the terrorists. If Eveningsong was indeed someone who helps humankind in the time of crisis then it was more reasonable for her to stay and help. The female adventurer decided to listen in to what Mysthas to say to explain this strangeness. "The answer to the question you wanted to ask the most is..." Myst declares. "Because Madam Eveningsong wanted to use the toilet!" ... Everyone was shocked. The female adventurer was shocked once again to see the other people was capable of being shocked. Myst tilted his head. "What''s with the reactions?" Myst asked. "Did I not answer the right question?" Of course it wasn''t! More-like what kind of question leads to the answer of that Eveningsong person wanting to use the toilet?! "Aaah, this sucks..."He scratched his head. "And here I thought you wanted to ask ''Why Madam Eveningsong did not help in the fog incident earlier''." I''m surprised at how accurate you were able to guess my question! But what is up with the answer?! How do you expect me to accept that?! "Haa... It can''t be helped then."He sighed. "Just make that reasoning of mine as the answer to any of the question you wanted to ask." Just how demotivated are you to just casually say that?! You are putting no effort at all in thinking about your answer! How is that answer going to respond to my next question in ''why you guys wanting to leave the city''... wait, it does work?! I can''t believe it! While it does work as an answer to my next question but it doesn''t make any se- "...SENSE!"The veteran adventurer suddenly exclaimed! Without giving any warning, he leaped forward and swung his large hammer down at Myst. ***** *BOOM* The carriage was turned to pieces, its contents rolled to the ground. Those were round objects with its own mana source, they seemed to be some kind of magic item. Not a single person was inside the carriage. The veteran adventurer picked up one of the round objects. "Just as I thought..." He looked at the person in redwho, just at the right time, dived off the carriage. "You used these to fake the presence of a person in the carriage while you continue to fool us with your banter." "Ahaha..."The person in red laughed weakly as he dust himself off. "And here I thought everything was going so well... Guess my lies have been busted." "So you admit being one of the terrorists?" "For releasing status-inflicting powder in the city? Yes, I am."The person in redlift up his right index finger. "Just to add for some surprising factor, I''m the ringleader of this ''terrorist group'' you guys are searching for." Everyone else in the crowd gasped in surprise when they heard his words. They did not expect the person would admit such carefree attitude, it was as if the terrible thing he has done to the city was just a prank he pulled just for fun. The adventurers and guardsdisliked his attitude and began directly their killing intentions towards him. Unlike the others, the female adventurer was the only one who wasn''t able to grasp the flow of the events. "Gulidmaster, how were you able to tell?" She asked. "There was enough mana presence in the carriage for us to mistaken it for a person and you even confirmed his letter was not fake! So how were you able to tell that Eveningsong person was not in there?" "What, are you perhaps worried about Eveningsong? Or perhaps..." The veteran adventurer smiledembarrassingly. "Are you actually worried about my well-being because there might be a magic trap setup in the carriage?" "No." She blantantly denies. "You swung your hammer without warning got me worried that you may end up killing the person inside the carriage and it will be bad forour guild if they were proven innocent." "I see, if I was put to prison then it will be bad for our guild if its leader was absent, huh?" "No, I don''t care if you were put to prison or not. I''m more worried about our guild''s name, if you do anything stupid then it will make the fame of our guild drop to the bottom." "Is that the only thing you worried about?! Isn''t this mean?! I''m your guildmaster, right? At least worry about me a little!" "Fortunately, your deduction was correct. There was no one in the carriage." "Aren''t you underestimating your guildmaster?Of course, something like was easy an experience adventurer like me." The veteran adventurer made a bright smiled. "If you were paying more attention to what that man said earlier then even you would be able tocome to the same conclusion." "What do you mean by that?" The female adventurer tilted her head. "That man may be great with his banters, even I was charmed by his words that caused me to act strangely..." "No, more-like, that''s your true self right? I can assure you, by listening to your words, I can deduct that you are an Eveningsong fanatic from head-to-toe." "But that man was careless enough to mention something he shouldn''t..." The veteran adventurer shook his head. "He mentioned that Eveningsong wanted use the toilet? What nonsense!! Doesn''t he know the abusolute rule about Eveningsong?" Then the veteran adventurer took in a large breathe before he declared: "OUR IDOL, EVENINGSONG, DOESN''T NEED TO USE THE TOILET!" "..." "I knew he was lying the moment he talked about Eveningsong with a filty word in the same sentence! That''s right, there''s no way our idol will need to do something as disgusting as peeing or poopin- Wait, why are you looking at me as if you are looking at something disgusting?" "So from that deduction of yours... you don''t know whether or not there was a person inside the carriage and still slammed your hammer at it without confirming it?" "All I confirmed was Eveningsong was not inside the carriage. Nothing else is more important than Eveningso- Hey, wait, why are you looking at me as if you are seeing more importance in worthless filth than me?" Hearing the two adventurers'' conversation, the person in redlaughed while holding his abdomen. His loud laughter immediately attracted their attention. "What''s so funny?" The veteran adventurer asked. "No, I really didn''t expect you to see through my act because ofa stupid reason." "It''s not stupid, it''s just a common fac- ARgh!!" A kick to the back of his head dropped the veteran adventurer to the ground. "Can you please shut up for 1 minute, Guildmaster." The female adventurer said as she fixed her attire. "Pfft, you adventurers are really interesting."The person in red chuckled. "Is this how every other adventurers is like?" "Please don''t use our Guildmaster as a standard for adventurers, he''s an odd one. Also..." She crossed her arms and stared at Myst coldly. "You are oddly carefree in this situation. Are you not aware that you are surrounded by the top adventurers and guards of this city?" "And?"He shrugged his shoulders. "What should I do about it?" "You should accept the arrest, tell the guards everything about your doings and your partners in crime! Give up any thought of struggle, there''s nothing you can do alone in this situation!" "Uhm, you are right. You are absolutely correct." He folded his arms and nodded. "Then I guess I shall do as you said and tell you the whereabouts of my accomplices." The tone of his voice was unchanged throughout the exchange. This was not a situation one could laugh at, uneasiness was what the female adventurer felt when she noticed his strange behaviour. Before she could figure out the reason behind his behaviour, the incident that unfolded answered her uneasiness. *BANG* A fire-bolt spell exploded in the sky, it was fired from a different section of the Market Area. Just when the female adventurer was surprised, another fire-bolt spell at another section of the area exploded in the sky. Following after that, more fire spells were released all over the sky one after the other. *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* Just like the firework show earlier, explosions of unending fire-bolts illuminated the night sky. However, the female adventurer and everyone in the crowd were not in the mood to enjoy that. The weak fire spell used this way was toalert the others that something was going on in that section. With so many released in such a short time, it could only mean trouble. A few guards lowered their head and pressed their hand on their helmet. They listened to the voice coming from the other side and were surprised by what their heard. They immediately shouted out the cause of this event: "There are carriages on streets! Countless!" Before the crowd could even react to the declarion, they heard squeal of horses and the wooden sound of the carriages they were pulling. One carriage emerged from an alleyway not far from the crowd and it ran off in the opposite direction from the crowd. Another one came running down the street and turned into an alleyway. The next one made a small bump with the other carriage as they passed each other, both carriages were fine so the horses continued to pull them to unknown destination. The sounds from different carriages all over the Market Area resonated with one another, making loud noises in the quiet streets. "Why are you guys so surprised?" The words from the person in red woke the crowd from their dumbfounded state. "Weren''t you guys asking for the whereabouts of my accomplices?"He raised his hand as if he was presenting something. "Well, there they are. What are you guys going to do?" "..." The female adventurer was speechless, she was not expecting this turn of event. Then a guard jumped out of the crowd. "By the order of the Vice Commander, we will stop and capture all of the terrorists!" He exclaimed. "We will first comprehend the ringleader and then aid the others in catching the rest of the terrorists!" "Oh, catch me? That''s interesting."The person in red laughed. "Then before you do that, let me give this clever girl a present for suspecting me since the beginning." He threw a cloth-wrapped object to the female adventurer. The moment she caught the object everone tensed up, some magic users almost released their magic to kill the person in red. The person in redquickly raised his hands to prevent any of them to attack him. "Woah, woah! Relax! The thing I gave her was nothing dangerous. Instead..." He pointed with his finger and directed the crowds attention to the leftover of his carriage. "You guys should be more worried about those magic devices scattered there." At the end of his words, the magic devices activated and white magic circles expanded from each. """...!!!""" Before anyone have the chance to respond, bright light exploded from each of the magic devices. The sudden blinding light forced the crowd to shut their eyes. After a few seconds, the light died down and the crowd opened their eyes as soon as they could. Butthe person in red was no longer there. ***** The adventurers and the guards cursed that they allowed the ringleader of the terrorists to slip away. Many of them searched around the area to track him down while some others went to help out in stopping the carriages and capturing the terrorists. Only the female adventure was standing on the same spot, staring at wrapped up object given to her. She was not able to grasp the events that have unfolded before her. One happened after the other, without much time for her to adapt. When she finally realized what had just happened,the person in red had long disappeared and the crowd was dispersed to tend to the current situation. The female adventurer unwrapped the object and saw it was a ''Spy Lense'' item. A magic item that could be used to display a target''s details and it be bought cheaply at any item store. Why would he give me something like that? The female adventurer recalled whatthe ringleader said to her when giving her this item. ''...let me give this clever girl a present for suspecting me since the beginning.'' Putting that together with his and her interactions, she realized what the hidden message behind this object was. "He-He''s mocking me!!!!" A vein mark popped up on her forehead. Instead of going through the trouble in questioning the ringleaderwhen she was suspecting him, she could have use a cheap magic item like this and avoided all that. What made her even more angry was the fact that the ringleader''s unfazed attitude was because he had an escape plan all along. He even went as far as playing along with her and keeping the crowd in the same place for a long period of time. While he may have called her clever but, by giving her an cheap Spy Lense, it was as if he was implying the opposite. "I...I''ll not forgive him for this humiliation!!!!"
"!" A guard summoned a blade made of wind and fired it at a carriage he was chasing on a certain street west of Market Area. The blade made a clean miss when the carriage took a sharp turn to the right and it slowly disappeared into thin air. "Damn it! I missed!" The guard cursed. "How about we change our approach?" An adventurer next to him suggested. "We will buff your speed and jumping capabilities so you use that to stop that carriage." "Sounds like it will work." The guard nodded. "Okay, let''s do it!" The adventurer and his friends began chanting while not stopping their legs. The magic circles they summoned followed beneath them as they kept chasing after the carriage. Then... "!" "!" "!" The magic circles turned into soft white fog, flew towards the guard and surrounded him. In the next moment, the fog made a short flash and disappeared immediately after. "!!" The guard felt his body was lighter, his steps have became wider and faster. "Alright! With this...!" He applied more strength to his legs. *Ta**Ta**Ta* In a few steps, he managed to get close enough to the carriage. The guard bent his knees, gather his energy in that area and he sprung up. He leaped over the carriage and landed on the coachman''s seat. He sliced the holdback, disconnecting the horses from the carriage. The horses ran free and the carriage slowed down to a halt. "Now..." The guard rested his sword on the coachman''s shoulder. "Don''t try anything funny unless you don''t care if you lose your head!" "..." The coachman in red cape was silent. Not only did the coachman not respond to the guard but also the coachman did not even react to the guards intimidation. The coachman remained facing forward and his hands was still gripped at the reins. The guard noticed the strangeness, he immediately reached for the plain mask and pulled it off. "Wha-" The guard was surprised. "What is this?!" "What''s the matter?" The guard''s colleagues caught up and gathered around the carriage. "This!" The guard kicked the coachman off the seat. Everyone else was surprised to see the identity of the motionless coachman who landed on the ground. The coachman was just a dummy made of wood. "What''s the meaning of this? Was this the thing that was driving the carriage?" "But I don''t feel any mana within it nor did I see any trace of magic being used to control it... Could the horses just be running wild on its own?" "Are you saying we were chasing after a decoy?" "Wait, I sense mana disturbance from within the carriage!" Immediately the guard and his colleagues jumped back to a safe distance. With the coachman being a woodern dummy, itwas only natural to think the carriage was sent off as a decoy and possibly a trap was set inside it. But nothing happened, even after the mana they senesed died out. What was that about? However, there will be no answer to that if they just stand still. "Buff me." The guard requested his colleagues. "I will check it out." His colleagues wasted no time in casting protective spell on the guard. They also casted barrier enclosing the area to prevent any damage to the houses around if the carriage has an explposive trap. After the speed buff was applied to the guard, he made his move. He walked slowly towards the carriage and, once he got there, climbed up to the driver''s seat. Then he grabbed the cloth at the entrance and slowly pulled it opened while being ready to dash away if anything were to go wrong. Finally, the guard stuck his head into the carriage. There was not a single soul inside the carriage. In fact, the reason why he was willing to put his head into the carriage was because he had already noticed there was no living being nor undead inside the carriage. But he was curious of the mana disturbance from earlier so he took a closer look. What he found inside the carriage were magic items that have been depleted of their mana. He immediately knew the magic items were the source of the mana disturbance they felt, since themagic items did nothing so heconcluded the magic items were used for keeping up mana presence. Which means, this carriage was indeed a decoy used to separate their numbers. To be fooled by such a simple trick. He sighed as he pulled his head out of the carriage. "There''s no one in the carriage but just magic items." He said. "Looks like this was just a dec-" Just as he was telling the others his conclusion, he froze when he witness the scene outside the carriage. All of his colleagues have collapsed on the ground. What surprised him even further was the wooden dummy that should be the one lying on the ground was now standing. No, the one in red was no longer a dummy... "Oh, you are pretty late to the party." A man''s voice came from beneath the plain white mask. "Why don''t you come down and join your friends?" That''s right, the one standing was a living person. "Who are you?" The guard jumped down with his sword drawn and pointed it at the masked man. "What did you do to them?" He asked another question. In actual fact, the guard was scared. The person in front of him was capable in falling all of his colleagues in the short time when he stuck his head inside the carriage, even more scarier was the person was able to do it without alerting him. The guard was dead sure he stood no chance against such person so he was wondering if he should just run and call for help instead of fighting a losing battle. But his sense of responsibility as a guard stopped him from doing that, he cannot bring himself to abandon his colleagues who he have bonded with over a long time. They may still be alive after-all! Heneeds to think of other ways to alert the others for help. But just as he began brainstorming, the masked man suddenly appeared in front of him! Before the guard could even react, his view was covered by a bandaged hand. "Sleep." That was the last thing the guard heard before his view became completely black. ***** [That was how that team of guards and adventurers were done in.] The report reached Lynn''s ears via theCore DefenseSystem. [That team has fallen victim to sleep powders, it was only after a while when they were discovered and woken up by us. Having traded information with them, there was a new discovery.] "What discovery?" [Few of the people in the team has reported to have high sleep resistance therefore sleep powders should not have affected them. Thus, we have concluded that their have received resistance debuff and the source must be from the strange looking magic items in the carriage they stopped.] "I see... so this time it''s Resistance Debuff trap, huh..." [Vice Commander, with people being ambushed by theterrorists in red becoming more frequent I am afraid we will require more aid from the guards and adventurers stationed in the other Areas.] "I understand, I will give you permission to request aid from the areas." [Thank you very much! Then I shall be on my way to help other teams and find those terrorist!] "Alright, be careful out there." The communication link connected a field captain was cut off. Lynn look over at the Miastary model and then sighed. Another difficult situation has fallen upon the Market Area. A sudden outbreak of rampaging carriages have definitely surprised her. Listening to the reports, those were same the carriages that Ul has bought. Lynn did not expect the carriages she thought would be used for transporting fourth princess'' possessions were used to create massive chaos at the south of Miastary. All the guards and adventurers who were stationed in the Market Area immediately gave chase to stop those carriages. To her further surprises, the carriages that were successfully stopped were the ones that have traps to hinder or restrain the movements of the people who stopped it. There seemed to be different traps indifferent carriages that triggers when they were stopped, like a large web created by sticky thread and magic that slowed the movements of the people nearby. All were traps that will prevent the victims to continue their chase on other carriages until they managed to get out of their sticky situation. Occasionally, Lynn will also receive reports of the teams being ambushed by a masked person in red coat. Judging from the location and time of the ambushes, there seemed to be a large number of people wearing white mask and red coat. Possibly, that was the characteristics of the terrorist group. It was fortunate that the ambushed teams did not sustain any severe injury but all of them were incapacitated in some way. Just like the report from earlier, a team was made to sleep by the person in red and only woken upwhenanother team come across them by chance. If a whole team gets ambushed like that then Lynn will not be able to know. This was why small teams of people, with inclusion of guards connected to the Core Defense System, were formed to find those incapacitated teams. Doing this was very inefficient. There were still many carriages running out there, not knowing which of those was carrying the fourth princess and her two personnel. The terrorists were still in the shadows, not knowing where and when they might ambush her men. But even in this situation... "Heh." Lynn was able to make a smirk. "In the end they are gathered in Market Area, huh? Your intention is clear as day." The current terrorist group''s activities all occurred within the Market Area, the area where the main gate was located in the city. While they may have used underhanded methods to create chaos in order to hide the fourth princess and possibly trying to get her out of the city. However, there was one mistake theymiscalculated. Since the main gate was the only gate that led to wilderness so Lynn had made sure it was heavily guarded. The ones guarding the gate was no other than Hero Kazehaya Shinji and his high level team. With them standing guard, the gate has became impenetrable. "We have made sure theterrorists are locked inside the Market Area."Lynn said. "Now we just need to wait for the men from other two areas. Once they join up with the men in Market Area then they can do a thorough search in the area." "This way the terrorists will definitely be exposed!" The armored man nodded. "As expected the Vice Commander to think of such plan! Doing this we can also find the two people we were tasked to find as well!" "A-Ah, that is correct." I just remembered, the news of the fourth princess escaping has yet gone public yet. The royal family has a public image to protect, which was the reason she heard when she received her task. The mission to find the fourth princess was secretly given to Hero Kazehaya Shinji and this was why he easily agreed to help in securing the gate. This means the fourth princess'' escape will be known by the public if my plan works. She feared for the consequences if that was the result. But Lynn have made a resolve, she will not hold back her plan. She has a responsibility to maintain peace in the city, the chaos in the city was brought upon by the fourth princess for contacting the terrorist group. Therefore, Lynn will definitely uphold her duty as the vice commander of the guards and comprehend the runaway princess along with the terrorists aiding her escape. She will make the fourth princess notice her selfishness and reflect upon it! Then an alert came from the Miastary model, it was the flashing helmet icon of the field captain from earlier. [Reporting to Vice Commander, the men who were stationed in the Adventurer''s Area has came to our aid.] "Good." Lynn smirked. "What about the men at Residential Area?" [That is exactly the reason I am reporting to you. I can''t get in contact with them, the guards I sent to the Residential Area has yet to report back to me!] "What?!" Lynn immediately looked at the Residential Area of the Miastary model. She was further surprised to see the helmet icons were stationary and tapping any of them does not give her any response. "W-What is going on?!" [Something must have happened to them! This is strange, the men from Adventurer Area has reported nothing strange when they went past the Town Hall Area! I will lead my team and check upon the area, please wait for my report!] The communication link was terminated. Lynn quickly tapped one of the wall guards stationed nearest to the Residential Area. The response she received was: [Vice Commander, the wall tower leading to the Residential Area is locked! I can''t access it!] The doors of the wall towers were made from special materials that were highly resistant to magic. Thus, the wall guard cannot get past it even if Lynn wants him to force his way through. While, the materials were also resistant to physical impact but it was not as high as their resistance to magic. However, this will need many people using a battering ram to force the door open. Unfortunately, the rams were stored in the armoury and taking it up the walls will take some time. It would be faster to wait for the field captain to report in. Then an alert went off and his helmet icon in the Town Hall Area was flashing. [Vice commander, this is not good! There is a large boulder in the gate that prevents us from entering the Residential Area!] "A BOULDER?!" A boulder was something that should not existed inside a well-developed city. But not only did it appear, it was moved to blocked the gate in the short time after the men from Adventurer Area went past the Town Hall Area. There was nothing but strangeness in this case. "Where did they get the boulder from and how did they hide it in the city without anyone noticing?! Wait, they are blocking everyone from entering the Residential Area? Could this mean we have been thinking wrong this whole time?" That was the moment when a sudden realization struck Lynn''s mind. What if the whole chaos created in the Market Area was a diversion to turn their attention away from the other areas? There was no mistake that the intention of the terrorist group was to help the princess to make a runaway out of the city. However, it was not through the only main gate in the Market Area. "Report this to all the guards and adventurers...!" Lynn broadcasted her message to all the guards connected to the Core Defense System. The terrorist group has planned to make their own escape route!
At a section of the wall in the quiet Residential Area, Myst stoodbyit playing with a round magic device in his hand. In front of him was a large pile of magic devices laid against the wall. He pressed the button of the magic device in his hand and tossed it into the pile. The activated magic device summoned a large white magic circle. All the other magic devices within its area began activating as well. Having seen this unfolding before him, Myst turned around and walked away into the dark street. He does not want to be caught up in what was about to happen. ***** A loud explosive noise came from the wall of the Residential Area. The ground trembled a bit and the sky above the area was brightened by the light produced along with the sound. It happened all of the sudden and it disappeared in just about the same duration. Only leaving a long trail of black smoke extending to the night sky.
The guards and adventurers gathered in the Town Hall Area just before the gate to enter the Residential Area. Just as have been reported, blocking their way was a large boulder inside the gate. "Shit, is the battering ram still not here yet?" "It''s on its way!" "That will be too slow, we should just blast this boulder with magic!" Then a veteran adventurer carrying a large hammer stepped out of the crowd. "If it''s destroying the boulder then let me do it." """G-Guildmaster!!""" That''s right, the veteran adventurer was the guildmaster of the famous guild, UnEnding Tale. The man who has made his name through his long journeys and with a strength to survive countless dangers. "Guildmaster!" A female adventurer called out to him. "Please becareful and don''t over do it!" "Ah, you worried about me?" The veteran adventurer was a little happy when his vice showed her concern. "Don''t worry, destroying a boulder or two will be a piece of cake for me!" "No, I''m not worried about you." She coldly replied. "I''m worried you might cause unnecessary damage to the walls and our guild will be charged for its repairs." "At least in this situation share some of that concern to me! I''m your guildmaster, right?" The veteran adventurer almost cried. Even when he was poured cold water he did not lose track of what he must do. This was a serious situation, he worried for the residents who could be possibly injured from that large explosion in the Residential Area. He chanted, and almost immediately, multiple tiny magic circles appeared along the handle of his large hammer. In the next moment, the hammer became five times its size. Everyone in the crowd were amazed to witness the scene but the veteran adventurer felt the opposite when looking at his hammer. If only there''s no need to concern myself with the walls then there''s no need to hold back. He may be disappointed in the size of his hammer but he knew it was just enough to break the boulder blocking in their way. The veteran adventurer raised his hammer with both his hand. But before he slammed it down on the boulder, something fell from the sky that caught his attention. "This is..." He was surprised when he caught it with his hand. "Just a piece of paper?" While he was surprised to see a red coloured paper that fell from the sky but he does have a strong sense of familiarity with this paper. He wondered where he has seen such paper. After that piece of paper, another came hovering down the sky and many more followed. Red, blue, yellow and white colour paperspoured down in the area where the guards and adventurers were. The people immediately recognized these papers were used for celebration purposes, like for the Mask Festival throughout the day. So this means someone was treating the current situation like some kind of festival worth of celebrating? This joke was not funny to any of the guards and adventurers, this was an indirect message to mock them. The one who could possibly do something like this immediately crossed their minds. All of the guards and adventurers became furious. They looked up at tall places to find the accursed red figures. But they were unable to find anything. Even after the papers discountinued to pour down in the area, they failed to find the people responsible for this. Then, the moment when they returned their view to the ground, they were shocked to witness the scene in front of them. The guildmaster of UnEnding Tale was now lying on the ground and his favourite hammer was in the hands of the person next to him. The masked person in red coat. ***** "Heh, surprised to see me?" Myst said in a mocking tone. "I thought you all were eager to look for me." Myst''s tone immediately brought the rage back to the guards and adventurers. They all have readied their weapons and spells but none of them took immediate action. It was because Myst has a hostage next to him. Myst knew this so he continued on with his carefree attitude: "So what do you guys think?" He asked the crowd. "The shows I have prepared for you all? I thought it was a fine job that I did in extending your beloved Mask Festival!" Shows?! This person referred to all the horrible things he has done as shows?! The guards and adventurers were surprised to hear Myst''s words and they became even more furious when they realized Myst referred to his terrorism as something that was supposed to be fun. None of them will forgive him for not only harming the people within the city but also ruining the grand festival they all enjoyed. The female adventurer stepped out. "What did you do to him?" She asked pointing at her guildmaster. From the way Myst speak, the female adventurer recognized him as the same person she talked to in the Market Area. The ringleader of the terrorist group. "Him? I just made him breathe in all the paralysis powder I have." Myst replied. "Of course, that''s after lowering his resistance when I distracted him with my colourful paper show." Hearing his words, the guards and adventurers quickly summoned and checked their Status Plate. Myst laughed after witnessing the scene. "Ahaha, don''t worry guys. I didn''t do anything to all of you, there just wasn''t enough time for that and I don''t even have that much of powder for all of you." "Enough with the banter already! Do you seriously think you are in the position for that?" The female adventurer pointed her weapon at Myst. "What are you after? Do not lie to us, depending on your answer we may make your death much painless!" "Wow, you have guts to threaten me even when I have a hostage?" "You think you can get out of this alive?" The female adventurer glared at Myst with killing intention. "I don''t know about that." Myst shrugged his shoulders. "But there''s one thing I do know, and that''s you got your priorities in the wrong order." "Wrong order...?" The female adventurer did not expect a reply like that. "What do you mean by that?" "I am really disappointed that you seemed really uninterested..." Myst drooped his shoulders. "Even though I went through all that trouble to prepare for this climax." "Climax?! Shows?! Just what are you on about?" The female adventurer said in rage. "You talk nothing but shows you have prepared for us but all you have done was disturbing the peace of the city! Did you really think anyone would have fun with your terrorism? Is hurting people so much of an enjoyment to you? Just what are you thinking when you did such horrible things to the people?!" "Indeed what I did to those normal people was horrible." Myst shook his head in disappointment. "It''s unfortunate to say that they don''t have the qualification to stand on the stage and perform with the main characters." "Perform with the main characters... Is performance the only thing you think of?!" The female adventurer exclaimed. "You!! Just what are you trying to achieve with all this? Just what is your aim? Who in the world are you?!" "Now a series of questions, huh... It''s troublesome to answer them one by one but I guess it''s partly my fault for not introducing myself properly since the beginning." Myst then made a sudden realization. "You do remember me giving you that present, right? That lens thing that could let you see a person''s stat!" He made a ring with his fingers trying to imitate the shape of the lens. "Why don''t you use it now? It may save you some trouble." "..." "Don''t worry, I won''t do anything to you until the show starts. As a host of this performance I can at least assure that." Hearing his words, the female adventurer took out the Spy Lens. For some odd reason, the female adventurer felt she could trust his words... she did not expect she would be convinced so easily by a mere terrorist. But part of her does feel curious about the identity of the evil man in front of her. To do a grand scale of terrorism and still have the guts to face many top guards and adventurers all alone. This person may be more dangerous than she thought so it would be wise to check his stat beforehand instead of rushing recklessly on him. The female adventurer used the Spy Lens on Myst. A transparent window appeared in front of her displaying his stats. Immediately, the female adventurer was shocked. "Mys...tery? Mystery?! Your name is ''Mystery''?!" The female adventurer read out what she saw on the name field. "Something is wrong with the display! Why is your name being hidden? Did the Spy Lens fail? It can''t be, it''s a magic item so it can''t fail!" She then glared at Myst. "Did you do something to this Spy Lens?" "I didn''t do anything to it. It''s the same thing that you can buy from stores. If you don''t believe me then why don''t use your own one?" The female adventurer took out her own Spy Lens and used it. She was surprised that she got the same result. Looking at his stat display more carefully she could not believe her eyes. There were even more strangeness to than just his name being a mystery:
NmAe MystEry
TtLiE TsegnorsDemialcorpEht
OuPcOtCaIn Retskcirt RcAe Namuh
RnAk 1/1 Wut(LOL) N/A
N/A 3 N/A 0
N/A 4 N/A 0
N/A 5 N/A 0
The female adventurerwas even more surprised that she could not read any other things on the display other than the ''Mystery'' on the name field. She was lost for words to witness something she has never seen before. Never had she seen a Spy Lens fail and even to the extent which she cannot even get a single piece of information from this mysterious person. Just who is this man?! Myst noticed the female adventurer''s confused look towards him. "I didn''t think using that to read my stats would cause even more confusion... this is definitely a miss..." Myst made a sigh. Then, immediately, he livened up his mood. "Fine then, I will just introduce myself on my own. Since I originally planned to do so anyway, otherwise we can''t get on with our show." He waved his left hand towards his abdomen as he slowly bowed. The opening he always say right before he starts the climax of his ''show'': "I go by the name of Mystery. Gimmicks are my ploy and fools are my prey." "I am but a normal Trickster." "Worry not forI assure you a ''show'' you shall never forget." Myst finished his introduction. However, the crowd did not react. They just do not know how to react to his words. None of them fully understood what Myst has just said. But Myst will not wait for them because... "The time for the climax has began!"