《Trilight (Discontinued)》


 Prologue - From the darkness

    [Please read the description, it''s also part of the prologue.]


    Well, since we¡¯re stuck with each other, I¡¯ll just proceed to give monologues about myself and the current time. But since we¡¯ll be sharing senses, I¡¯ll be outlining a few rules first.


    First, I¡¯m too lazy to narrate my very extensive past. I¡¯ll properly explain stuff as they come up, so don¡¯t worry too much. If you have questions, I¡¯ll be answering them on the next chapter if I feel like answering them. Why does the story contain so much meta on the prologue? Well, I¡¯m lazy.


    Second, I want some privacy at times. You know, for ¡®those¡¯ stuff. So I¡¯ll be cutting off all your senses and consciousness, so when you reconnect the story would have advanced already. Eh? You want to view ¡®those¡¯ stuff when they happen? Not happening! I don¡¯t have exhibitionistic tendencies. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll still tell you if something DID happen; just that I¡¯ll be omitting ¡®details¡¯ about it.


    Third, it seems that whichever god sent you here gave you some limited ability to connect to other people around me. Except that you can¡¯t converse with them, and they probably won¡¯t notice you even if they are high-class gods like me. My ability to give you a ¡®time skip¡¯ is also absolute within 2 meter radius in all directions. Also, my authority over you only works within a 2 meter radius, but someone in a box or something won¡¯t count under that. So if you do manage to find a peeping tom in a closet, then you¡¯re in luck. What you don¡¯t know won¡¯t hurt you, is the saying I remember, I hope you just stay quiet about it. Don¡¯t worry, not even the God of Assassins himself can sneak up to me at that range undetected. I forgot to mention, but there would also be times that you¡¯ll travel back in time in a sort of flashback monologue from time to time. It¡¯s part of the package, so just enjoy the ride.


    Lastly, if I remember to add anything to our terms and conditions, I¡¯ll be informing you first. Now that that¡¯s out of the way, let me introduce myself.


    I am Servo Aetas Sceleris(Paradise of Sin''s Guardian), or at least that¡¯s what I call myself. You should know by now that every time a person is born, they¡¯re usually given a name. I got used to it after reincarnating a few times, but recently I¡¯ve been able to consistently name myself as Servo, one way or another. Hmm? You¡¯re asking if I¡¯m about to become a God? Oh that. Yeah, I¡¯m technically a god already, but I¡¯ve found a way to stop my body from becoming immortal.


    Why go through all the trouble of repeatedly reincarnating? Well, a few lives ago I was still in the body I became a god, until I got bored and went into depression. A great war of gods happened, which I wasn¡¯t a part of. The newly formed government of gods suggested that those undergoing depression to go reincarnate. There were many reincarnation options available, and I chose to seal my divinity and keep my memories intact for each life. Well, the seal could release at will or when you die. The seal release is more dramatic when you die; so when find myself in need of godly powers, I just need to jump in the line of fire and scare the hell out of the impertinent mortals afterwards. Sadly, that need hasn¡¯t come yet. The government did ask everyone to take it easy on the mortals though. Well, I am incarnating with a mortal body, so I guess that counts as taking it easy on the mortals, right?


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    Hmm, more about me you say? The times I lived as a mortal is pretty much obscured already, but I remember taking various paths and occupations in my many lives. Like most gods, I pretty much know all mortal knowledge across many worlds. After a few loops, you¡¯d notice that all worlds follow the laws of physics, and other ¡®science¡¯ laws. The effect of magic just makes it a bit different between worlds of those with and those without. As for my godly self, I am the God of Time, Space, and Causality.


    You¡¯re asking why someone with a title that sounds like the final unbeatable hidden cheat boss of some game didn¡¯t participate in the war of the Gods. Simple, I¡¯m a very lazy person¡­ at least to stuff I take no interest in.


    As for my last life I died from, I was a powerful royal wizard, and was a companion of the ¡®hero¡¯ of that era, in that world. Though I said royal wizard, I was also the sword, magic, and studies instructor of the ¡®hero¡¯¡­ it came with the teacher package, since I was also known as a sword master at that time. It was the typical plot where the wizard sacrifices himself to buy time for the ¡®hero¡¯ to go stab the demon king. Well, the only thing peculiar about that loops was that the ¡®hero¡¯ was actually a ¡®heroine¡¯, and a ¡®loli bishoujo heroine¡¯ at that.


    The ending was quite tear-jerking; both of us having mortal wounds beyond the power of healing magic and technology, her hugging me in tears confessing her love to me in the middle of a crowd of knights, magicians, priests, etc. all watching us in tears. I couldn¡¯t help getting emotional myself at that time, and used some of my divine powers to give her the ability to reincarnate with memories while replying ¡°Then, when we meet again, let us spend eternity with each other.¡± I shoved a French kiss at her until I blacked out. Don¡¯t ask for any more spoilers ok? After that I ended up here with you, so there¡¯s not much continuation to that.


    Hmm? It seems that this prologue in the darkness is coming to an end. If I¡¯m correct, I¡¯m about to born again. Well, another life, another adventure. I wonder what I should do in this life?

 Chapter 1 - Beginnings and Introductions

    Author notes: If you spot any mistakes, just drop a comment.


    If you have violent reactions, please be civil enough while posting. Thank you~


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    Chapter 1 - Beginnings and Introductions


    -Date unknown-


    If you¡¯ve read multiple stories of reincarnation, you should be familiar to how being birthed is described. In my perspective, being birthed isn¡¯t too bad except for the tight squeeze and the slightly uncomfortable feeling on my skin. I¡¯ve experience more¡­ painful¡­ situations, but since I am a newly born baby, I guess I¡¯ll try crying a bit.


    ¡°Waaah, waaaaah.¡± I tried shouting. Sigh, I sound like a baby. Oh right, I am a baby¡­ My eyes are going to take some time to get used to vision, so I guess I¡¯ll just see where this is going.


    ¡°Sir, Ma¡¯am, it¡¯s a boy!¡± A middle aged female person said. I guess I¡¯ll assume her to be the midwife or doctor. I can feel the midwife/doctor hand me to a person lying down on a bed. I¡¯ll assume that I¡¯ve been handed to my mother.


    ¡°Ah, our first child.¡± A middle aged male person said from the side. I¡¯ll assume this voice belongs to my father.


    ¡°My¡­ son¡­¡± A young female voice near me said. So she¡¯s my mother¡­ She sounds like a middle school girl¡­


    ¡°Ma¡¯am, I¡¯ll cast a healing spell on you and the child to make sure nothing is wrong.¡± The midwife said before chanting a familiar aria of healing. My mother just responds with an ¡°N~¡±.


    The language they are speaking seems to be in common Elvish tongue, while the spell is in English a language simply called ¡®Ancient Text¡¯, or so I think I remember. I¡¯m really grateful that I don¡¯t have to painstakingly learn a new language that probably isn¡¯t used anywhere else in the multiverse. The healing spell helps my sight stabilize.


    What I see are my father who looks like a medium build adult male wearing a tunic usually worn by minor nobles from those medieval era worlds with auburn hair and eyes; the midwife who¡¯s wearing an English maid uniform, probably a maid instead of a midwife; and my mother wearing white clothes that I assume to be a one piece dress along with azure blonde hair and azure eyes. All of them seem to be from the common human race found all over the multiverse. Well, I¡¯m just glad that I¡¯m not in a race worse off than goblins, which doesn¡¯t really appeal to my sense of aesthetics. While I was trying to figure out what I should do next, the three people around me restarts their conversation after the healing spell dissipates.


    ¡°Sir, Ma¡¯am, what would the child¡¯s name be?¡± The midwife speaks, starting the conversation.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Well¡­¡± My father replies with hesitation. He looks at my mother with a troubled look. Hmm, were they expecting a girl instead? I¡¯m glad fate didn¡¯t screw up this time.


    My mother stares back at my father, complete with a confused look and slight tilt of her head. Hmm, now that I noticed it, it seems that my mother is kinda¡­ small¡­ compared to your average female. Good job father, you have earned points from this lolicon god. I guess I¡¯m now slightly motivated to give my parents a good life this time.


    ¡­ Ok, both of them have been silent while I was doing my monologue. I guess it¡¯s time to show how to secretly coerce your new parents to give you your name of choice without freaking them out with a talking baby.


    ¡®Name the child Servo¡¯ I said as I used telepathy in my Godly voice. Yep, the trick is to give a fake prophetic revelation when someone asks what your name is going to be. If someone insists on a name that you don¡¯t really like, keep convincing them that a Godly being, not you the baby, is giving a prophecy or something. You get the idea right? Just remember to place proxies in case you¡¯re born in a family of spell casters. I¡¯ve been through a few lives with my parents knowing I have previous memories, and I find them less interesting than those lives I¡¯ve pretended to be a normal baby. Time to look at my parent¡¯s reactions then¡­ and they¡¯re just amazed with a hint of understanding. That¡¯s odd, where¡¯s the shock and panic?


    ¡°That¡¯s rare, a god giving a name for a child. Servo, was it?¡± The maid said while nonchalantly cleaning up the room.


    ¡°Well, the name sounds good. My son shall be named Servo Eonia. Though I did not expected something like that.¡± My father said after recollecting himself. My mother just nods and continues to cuddle me.


    I later found out that this world had proper knowledge about the gods, though only a few actually settled in this world. I guess I¡¯ll drop by on one of the local gods and ask later in this life.


    ================================================================


    Forterra Era 254, 4th month


    A few years have passed, and I¡¯m now 7 years old, turning 8 in a 3 months. My childhood in this world was quite¡­ normal¡­ at least on the surface. I placed the date above after finding out the current calendar state. The months are only named with numbers, with 12 months per year, 37 days on even and 38 on odd months, with the second month gaining a day every 6 year cycle. By the way, the Forterra era started at year 1, on the first year of the 6 year leap year cycle. I was born on the 20th day of the 7th month of F.E. 247. I guess it¡¯s time to explain what I¡¯ve been doing.


    Firstly, I found out that my parents, and effectively me, are minor nobles in a kingdom with moderate magical and technological advancements called the Kingdom of Forterra. My father is a knighted military officer of the kingdom¡¯s small but elite knight army. Apparently, this small kingdom is also respected for its military might despite its size. Lead by the royalty that believes in both magic and technology, the kingdom has experienced overall peace, most of the time. From time to time, an impertinent country would occasionally wage war on Forterra, only to be humiliatingly defeated. But even after victories, the kingdom never expands its borders, and only takes spoils of war that nobody would raise objections to. Rumors have it that the king, and the government as a whole, agrees that managing more land is just troublesome.


    My father, Sven Eonia, after coming back from war one time, said that he once fought side by side with the crown prince. He quoted the crown prince who said ¡°So troublesome, and here we just want to mind our own business¡± before he ordered the counterattack on the invading army from a neighboring country. Incidentally, there were 4 minor wars that occurred during my 7 year childhood, each lasting only 1-2 months, involving 3 countries excluding ours. Nobody really knows why they attack, but there are rumors that in the Kingdom of Pertuvia, one of the aggressive countries, the king over there wants the crown prince¡¯s sister. Well, the bastard is a fat perverted pig (from rumors, but I have to admit that he is one after seeing his picture on television) and everyone doesn¡¯t really want to give up their princess to a fat bastard.


    Incidentally, the princess was recently released from royal duties after she married one of the knight commander whom (from rumors too) she fell in love with. Official statements say to let them live their married life in peace. There are also rumors that a very distant royal relative was in the same situation in the past, and they took that as an example to solve that issue. I don¡¯t know why but the news headline outlined that the royal relative (female) was genetically distant enough that there wouldn¡¯t be incest issues should her descendants get engaged to the current royal family. That news specific channel tended to give extra true information that leaves people wondering why they would add those.


    The other two countries are just some extremist country greedy for, well, everything. I just don¡¯t understand why people still desire much after already having too much of what they could use in their entire lives. Hey, when I was still a normal reincarnating mortal, I couldn¡¯t really bring anything except my knowledge and memories to my next life and spent most of my lives studying, training, and exploring. You can¡¯t blame me when I had countless lives grinding my materialistic urges away. Even as a god, I only store up important or sentimental items on my personal realm¡­ and dangerous stuff too, on apocalyptic danger levels. I can¡¯t just let mortals run around with a stick that can literally destroy their world now can I?


    Stolen story; please report.


    My mother, Euphemia Eonia, on the other hand¡­ how do I put it? She¡¯s a mage, and a loli. I almost had a heart attack when I saw my mother wear something resembling a magical girl¡¯s outfit, and waving a stick of magical destruction during the second war in my childhood. I was four years old at that time. At that time, the enemy decided that a meteor bombardment would be a good idea. And the answer is a big fat NO. I still couldn¡¯t believe that they decided to do something that could literally exterminate all life on the planet, including themselves. Apparently, my mother is a strategic-class magician, and she blew away the meteors like baseball. The event was just so¡­ surreal¡­ a legal loli magical girl playing baseball with her magical stick and meteors. And the worst part is; only me, father, and the few employees of our house know of my mother¡¯s identity. Nope, I¡¯m already tired of retorting to the wonders of magical girls in my previous lives. I¡¯ll just pretend it never happened. But still, I wonder how my father landed such a big fish. I guess I¡¯ll find that out in the future. If you¡¯re wondering how I saw that, then the answer is television.


    After finding out my parents¡¯ career, I finally understood why a godly prophecy wasn¡¯t too shocking for them. Even the employees (my mother insists that we call them maids, but¡­) are trained special forces. I¡¯m starting to doubt my status as a minor noble, but I¡¯m not curious enough to do so. Let lying dogs sleep, was the saying if I remember correctly.


    As for myself, I didn¡¯t exactly spend my childhood like a child. Not that anyone can retort on that. I spend most of my time from birth till now improving my magical capacities. The genes of my magical mother certain make things easier. At first I decided to hide my magical training, but after that magical girl incident I decided to consult my mother with magic. Well, at least I could freely wield non-apocalyptic magic that doesn¡¯t violate the magical laws of this world after that. I could sense a great amount of pride from my mother after I started spewing magic in front of her. I would still stick with non-overly complicated magic in her presence, but I think she knows that I could do very advanced magic after I reflexively absorbed and diffused one of her stronger spells after her clumsy misfire during our training session. A normally aloof but occasionally clumsy loli magical girl¡­ now I¡¯m more curious who my parents truly are; especially to my father, who managed to marry a world-flipping talent like my mother.


    Around age 5, my father decided to train me. I guess I shocked him when I managed to counter his sudden ambush. What can I say, even without a matured body, I could instinctively apply ¡®chi¡¯ or ¡®aura¡¯ or whatever you like to call that body strengthening technique. And a few thousand lifetimes involving sword-fighting, things just come instinctively to you. Well, our spars end up with me running out of steam. Even with innate skills, you just can¡¯t beat someone who doesn¡¯t seem to run out of stamina with a barely trained and 5 year old body. To console my bitterness, I can feel that my body steadily improves with each day. And no, it¡¯s just not fun if I use my divine powers or bring magic to a purely martial fight sparring match.


    Though one day, father asked me to use magic while fighting him. His expression afterwards was that he probably wasn¡¯t expecting him to thoroughly trash him without offensive spells. What can I say; I¡¯m a God of Time, Space, and Causality. Space magic spells are just plain cheating, while Time and Causality spells are just hacks. So when using magic to a fight, I just usually only use buffs from other magic systems that I¡¯ve learned in my past lives, along with time magic¡¯s ¡®Light Speed Perception¡¯ and space magic¡¯s ¡®Space Severing¡¯. But since using Space Severing for offense (absolute sharpness against anything that doesn¡¯t have dense magical defense or super-dense gravity sources) and defense (absolute defense against non-space severing attacks) would look suspicious, so I only went with buffs and perception. Well, using those is enough for me to win most fights with a 5 year old body if you include my superior battle experience.


    Ending the summarized flashback, I am now seven years old and will start attending elementary tomorrow. My features include platinum blond hair and azure blue eyes. My mother mentioned that my facial features probably came from her side. Side effects from my spars with father include toned muscles and a well built body; but due to my age I just look like a young training athlete. Not that I mind, since I¡¯m opposed to bulky muscles anyways. What can I say, I like this life. Maybe I¡¯ll keep it for a few thousand years before going back to reincarnation loops.


    As for my school life, I¡¯ll be spending it in the only school in the country, Forterra Academy. Like I said, the country is quite small, encompassing only six cities including the capital. The five cities surround the capital and are connected to each other with highways stretching between each city, forming a pentagram. Also, one train subway system connects all five cities in a circle, while separate train subway systems connect each to the capital. Rumors have it, or not since any kind of mage can see it, that the highway and subways double and a large defensive magic circle. Oddly enough, the kingdom has never had the need to use that massive magic circle for defensive purposes.


    Anyways, all the country¡¯s cities are connected with rapid transport systems that can get you take you from border to border in under 8 hours. Additionally, the academy encompasses half the land size of the capital and provides dorms you could compare to three-star hotels. In short, while directing the massive extra revenues the country makes (even after spending most of it on magical, technological, military, structural, etc purposes) to education, the country¡¯s education has been concentrated on a single Academy. When I asked father where the heck the kingdom is getting all its money from, my father replied something vague with a voice that seems to have given up. Seriously, where does the kingdom get all its money from? There¡¯s not much tax to pay and both my parents receive generous pays.


    *beep beep* Oh. Eh? Ah¡­ Fine. I got a call from the god that threw you here. He says that I should just make a whole side story about the money thing after the story has advanced far enough. Don¡¯t ask too much why, thinking of incomprehensible things just gives you stress.


    Ah where was I? Oh right, education. Basically everyone studies in the same school. I hear that discrimination between social classes and races doesn¡¯t exist on this country, and is outlawed greatly. Hmm, that¡¯s probably why we have cat demi-human neighbors across the street. Whoever managed to make this country, and those who manage it, deserves some praise. I wonder if a god is involved. If this is paradise, then I am now more motivated to stay in this world for an extended period of time.


    Now that all vital explanations are out of the way, time to start my school life.

 Chapter 2 - Start and End of a normal school life

    Chapter 2 - Start and End of a normal school life


    Forterra Era 254, 7th day of the 4th month


    Morning of the First day of school. Since I live in the capital, there was no need to board in the dorms. Dedicated school buses are available, so my every weekday morning routine has turned into riding buses. It¡¯s not that bad, since all buses in this country are all new and well-equipped. It reminds me of a certain academic city, but instead we also have magic out in the public. At first I was troubled about security, but it¡¯s kinda assuring that there¡¯s countless surveillance cameras everywhere that¡¯s a public place, complete with cameras watching other cameras in a circular fashion, and patrolling policemen that has the atmosphere of a former soldier. Well, this is a small country that¡¯s constantly repelling would-be invaders¡­ everyone has served the military at least once, heck even the bus driver seem to be a war veteran.


    After getting off the bus, I proceed to walk on the paved path towards the elementary school building. Due to security reasons, or I assume it is, all school buildings are at least 2 kilometers away from the outer walls, and no traffic is allowed near the buildings. To compensate for that, the school operates an internal train system. The school brochure I¡¯m reading right now says that the internal trains could accommodate twice the school population without much issue, so I¡¯m going to assume that it should still be comfortable to ride even during bad weather. But it¡¯s such a perfect spring morning, I decided to leisurely walk towards the school building. Well, since it¡¯s a kilometer walk, and the assembly time is still an hour away, I¡¯ll just keep reading the brochure while walking leisurely.


    The map on the brochure shows that only a small portion of the land is dedicated to compulsory education. Not that it matters, since each campus grounds for the three compulsory education tiers are larger than a standard university. Most of the grounds are dedicated to the research and development of the university side of the academy. If we draw conclusions here, we can see how dedicated the country is on RnD.


    As for the compulsory educations, their buildings and respective facilities are all grouped up a bit of a distance away from the university site. I can imagine why. They all seem not to be divided by any kind of fence or wall, but you can definitely see that each tier have their own facilities, with the elementary division obviously more on the size factor.


    Oddly enough, the brochure also includes my syllabus. Well, I can only see very standard educational topics for a first grader, nothing I should worry about. Hey, when you¡¯re as old as I am, you would probably have went through enough education that you could just waltz into a university classroom and teach a unique subject nobody has the qualification to teach but you. Not that I¡¯m planning to do that, since I would rather enjoy the school life.


    As for the uniforms of this academy, everyone is wearing a common beige blazer, with differing necktie/bows(optional for females) colors and arm bands to differentiate year levels. Black pants for males and skirts for females. But it says here that both genders can apply to their respective principals to wear the opposite gender¡¯s lower garments, which is subject to approval¡­ Ok, now I¡¯ve never been so thankful for my master in my previous life, for teaching me the absolute method of telling apart traps from real lolis. Sorry, it¡¯s a divine technique, I can¡¯t carelessly teach anyone about it¡­


    Ok, since the walk isn¡¯t exactly that long, I¡¯ve made it to the elementary campus. Not a lot of people are here yet. Since its spring I guess I¡¯ll spend the extra time on nature gazing. I¡¯m glad this world has something similar to cherry blossom trees, except that they¡¯re a bit whiter than I remember. The path beside the auditorium (where the assembly would take place) seems to be a good place to pass the time. I guess I¡¯ll just sit down on this bench and start nature gazing on the raining cherry blossoms. Ah, this sight really brings back memories from my last life.


    ========================================


    Since I¡¯m in the mood, it¡¯s now time for a flashback. In my last life, the hero is typically chosen by pulling out a certain holy sword from a stone. It¡¯s a clich¨¦, I know, but it works. The day I¡¯m remembering was a week after she managed to pull out the sword, I was lazing around enjoying the spring breeze from an overlooking hill covered with short grass. You get the scene right? I found her coming up the hill with the holy sword at hand while deeply thinking about something, and didn¡¯t notice me. She stopped and plopped herself on a bench just a few meters away above me. I didn¡¯t mind her much until she muttered out ¡°Why did this sword choose me?¡± and stare at the sky, seemingly trying to ask god. Well, I guess I have my moments where I get motivated to do some godly stuff, and answering her seemed to be one of them. I got up and slowly approached her while speaking.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think too much about it. Even a holy sword or some prophecy can¡¯t tell you what you want to do. The Sword of Calistros probably sensed something in you that would end up saving this world if you become its wielder. At least, that¡¯s how most prophetic sentient holy swords work. Hey sword, stop being silent and cheer up your master.¡± I said while making myself up to her bench. I plopped down on the bench myself when I started talking to the holy sword.


    ¡°My apologies, divine one. She¡¯s the first one I deemed worthy of wielding me, and I haven¡¯t talked to anyone for the last hundred years after my creator died.¡± A female disembodied voice resounded, complete with light effects from the jewel and runes on the sword.


    ¡°You can tell, huh? Well, both of you are new to this. If you have problems, talk to each other. After all, the both of you would be spending your time together till death. Even beyond that if you¡¯re lucky.¡± I said while breaking into a wry smile. The girl just keeps shifting her sight between me and the holy sword.


    ¡°That¡¯s it for today. I think it¡¯s about time the king summoned me. I look forward to teaching you, heroine.¡± I said while standing up, passed by the girl, tapped her on the shoulder, and jumped down the steeper side of the hill platform.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Ah memories. Now that I think about it, that event was probably what started it all on my last life. I better remember to be more careful when consoling downhearted females.


    A loud but calming electronic tune resounded. I guess I should head inside for the assembly.


    ==============================


    In front of me right now are 1200+ students, comfortably inside the seated auditorium. One would expect more students for being the only school in the country, but since this is a small country with a long life expectancy even after being in constant war with our greedy neighbors, most adults are working. I¡¯m not too sure on that though, since I can hear my parents ¡®working¡¯ in their bedroom every night.


    Moving on¡­ Hmm, there are labeling for each year level. I guess I¡¯ll just head over to the first grader¡¯s area. Along the way, I spot a signage saying ¡°For the first day of classes, sit wherever you like in your respective grade area.¡±


    ¡­ Wow, how convenient. I guess they also anticipated those wondering where to seat. If I wasn¡¯t so sure that my mind isn¡¯t being read right now, I would have thought that whoever placed this sign here did. Oh there¡¯s an additional note under the sign. Let¡¯s see¡­ ¡°P.S. No, we¡¯re not reading your mind.¡±


    ¡­ Okay, that¡¯s creepy. But I guess someone must have been fed up with people asking every start of the school year, and made this sign. Yes, I will believe with all my might that nobody is reading my mind to a degree that even I, a supreme god, can¡¯t even detect.


    Moving on, I arrived at the area assigned to first graders. There are a few groups of kids already talking to each other, seating near each other. I guess I¡¯ll assume that they already know each other. Surprisingly, nobody is being too rowdy. As for me, I¡¯ll just take a seat near the edge of the area. Sadly for me, I¡¯ve spent most of my time working on my physical and magical capacities. And to top it all off, I couldn¡¯t interact much with kids my (physical) age due to my father¡¯s work and mother¡¯s secret identity. Not that I mind, since it¡¯s very exhausting trying to pretend that you¡¯re a kid when you¡¯ve lived longer than eternity.


    The school assembly and the school life following after that were pretty¡­ normal. I know you¡¯re disappointed that I¡¯m fast forwarding, but there¡¯s nothing much to say. I made a typical buddy named Tajima Tadashi. If I had to describe him, then he would be the popular blonde and refreshing class pretty boy. Not that I¡¯m jealous since I¡¯ve already lived a few lives as one in the past. As for me, I¡¯m mostly viewed as the cool and calm person. I made it like that so most people wouldn¡¯t have any purpose of talking to me except when asking for advice. It¡¯s really convenient when you have someone else take all the attention for you.


    I spent most of my time in the background keeping quiet with a faint smile until someone decides to join me into the conversations. While nobody is looking; I also helped out the loners group together, and while at the attention of others; mediated between groups. Well, fights rarely broke out, as this country¡¯s convenience made it so that even children don¡¯t shamelessly discriminate. With the situation like that, time went by until eighth grade. The start of eighth grade also started some events that I am most likely compelled to enumerate to you.


    First up is this one. Here in this Kingdom of Forterra, its common knowledge that all citizens are all reserve soldiers, mostly due to the small size of the country compared to our neighbors. At the age of 14, or eighth grade, everyone is expected to undergo basic military training, provided by the academy. Basic training only includes memorizing military terms and codes, with basic magic and combat training. The purpose of this early training, or at least formally stated in the introduction of the course, is to find out a child¡¯s latent talents so they could be given proper training and roles. Additionally, formal military training only starts at high school.


    The second important event is that the First Princess, daughter of the crown prince,  will finally join us in school. According to the princess¡¯ public data, she¡¯s around our age. According to the same source, the princess did not attend school until now due to the fact that she was undergoing specialized education for royalty until now. Well, I won¡¯t poke around much about that, since I¡¯m not currently interested in that.


    More data about her says quotes that she is ¡®Unmatched in her beauty and a genius with the sword¡¯. Apparently, she¡¯s good enough with a sword that she would be an assistant instructor in combat training for our batch. Well, I guess we¡¯ll find out more about that later.


    As for the third and last important issue, it¡¯s more of a personal family event. My parents have decided to adopt a little sister. Almost a year younger than me, she was found, or rather rescued, by father during one of his missions outside the country. Apparently, her parents were murdered and herself taken as a slave due to her latent magical talents. I must say, if she has a proper mentor and training, she would probably be able to rival mother. Well, I wonder what would happen now, since the person in question, my mother, would be the one to actually mentor her. She was introduced to me around the end of my seventh grade. It was decided that she would enroll in the academy as my classmate to guide her around. I heard that my mother has quite the influence over the middle school principal.


    Well, let¡¯s end this monologue and proceed with the story¡­ after the commercials.


    Author notes: The next two chapters will be short stories will be about the kingdom¡¯s economy and the little sister introduction. After that would be the continuation of the main story. I don¡¯t really know how long the two chapters will be, as I might enjoy myself too much on writing them. Oh and I call them short stories but they¡¯re basically plot material in another character¡¯s perspective.

 Chapter 2A – Secrets of the Kingdom(Part 1), A Fathers Curiosity(Part 1)

    Chapter 2A ¨C Secrets of the Kingdom(Part 1), A Father''s Curiosity(Part 1)


    I am Bartfaust Grast Forterra, 36 years old, and currently the crown prince of the Kingdom of Forterra. I don¡¯t know why but I feel like suddenly talking to myself and introducing my family and such in my own inner monologue.


    My father, the king, Portemus Freyt Forterra, is 51 this year. He¡¯s healthy enough that I would probably be dead before he¡¯s old enough to pass the crown to someone else. A notion I have no issues with, since I find becoming a king more tiresome than my current job. With that in mind, I¡¯m raising my only son, Leon Trey Forterra; 17 years old, to become the next king. I¡¯m very thankful that Leon is at least willing to take the job. When he turns 21, I would definitely pass the heir¡¯s crown to him. I will definitely not let him die before I do, or I will definitely be stuck as king¡­ if my wife doesn¡¯t kill me first. As for other relatives, sadly cousins don¡¯t exist due to a few generations of our family only bearing a single child, miraculously male too. My grandparents, as well as my wife¡¯s, are all peacefully resting in the afterlife, if there is one.


    Moving on; there¡¯s my wife Marthas Trey Forterra, my mother the queen; Daine Grast Forterra, my eldest daughter Alicia Trey Forterra, and youngest daughter Elisa Trey Forterra. In the royal family, it has been *painfully* drilled to the male members that mentioning the ages of our female family members are strictly forbidden. Well, thanks to that, I earned my wife¡¯s attention, but that¡¯s a story for another time. I am talking to myself right? Anyways, I¡¯ve always wondered if I was the odd one out in our long line of male family members. My mother, in simple terms, could be described as tall (in a female standard) and well endowed; and so were the previous queens and wives of the family. Yet my lovely wife, though I do not really mind, could only be described as¡­ vertically challenged and petite¡­


    Hold on¡­ wait for it¡­ phew, she didn¡¯t notice anything. Add to that, we have more than one child, and two of them are female; a fact which is unprecedented to our family¡¯s long history. Heck, even my son¡¯s girlfriend is tall and well endowed. Lately, I have been debating whether I truly am different from my ancestors, or did I unlock a hidden family trait? I have no idea. This issue has bothered me since my good friend Sven pointed it out. But enough of my worry rants, I have a job to do.


    Currently, I am in front of our kingdom¡¯s ultimate money maker. Predecessors of this installment were built by our ancestors a few centuries back in the golden era, and recently the latest update has been made by me and my crack team of researchers and crafters. Also serving as our kingdom¡¯s first and last line of defense, as well as strategic and tactical information gathering device, this; the ¡®Eye of Providence¡¯.


    Most of our citizens don¡¯t thoroughly understand where the royal treasury finds the money to support the convenient lifestyle of our kingdom, but this thing is really our ace in the hole. It¡¯s complete with holographic projections world-wide satellite imaging, information gathering and sorting to the smallest detail that doesn¡¯t invade privacy, accurate predictions of various information networks like weather, geographic, economic, etc.; and more nifty functions. With my crack team of consultants and staff officers, the Eye of Providence has allowed us to micro-manage the kingdom by constantly adapting to local and international situations. I totally did not use the EoP(abbreviated) to stalk my waifu before I got her attention.


    As for my (<del>government</del>)staffs that manage the EoP, they are divided into departments that handle different sectors. Basically, even if I¡¯m not the king, I still run everything in this country except public diplomacy and military. Like I said earlier, not that I mind, since public diplomacy is practically the hardest thing to do in this country, due to our greedy neighbors. Oh, how I wish we bordered with that eastern island nation or that democratic country in the western continent; at least they¡¯re less violent and more amiable than most of the countries here. I¡¯ve been tempted multiple times already not to push that red button with the skull and cross bones and wipe out our greedy neighbors. I¡¯m really glad that I don¡¯t have to deal with them in public¡­


    Since the EoP is the most tightly guarded secret of our kingdom, I have to offer my apologies to all the economists of our country who find out that all the government¡¯s money come from (almost) honest trading and very intricate micromanagement. Well, enough of my inner monologue ranting, I should get back to work.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    As I turn my attention back to reality, I just can¡¯t help but notice my subordinate¡¯s concentration on their respective holographic work stations. ¡®They¡¯re working hard as always¡¯ I thought in my head as I try to find an excuse to give them bonus salary for doing this hard work with not much complaint. I turn my sight to the central holographic platform in front of me, showing a convoy heading towards Forterra Academy. I wonder what ¡®he¡¯ has that caught Alicia¡¯s attention.


    I think it was two days ago. I was discussing the newest middle school trainees with my father due to the ¡®The Witch of Serenity¡¯s son being included in this year¡¯s recruits. Ah, that embarrassing past where my wife and five others including ¡®The Witch of Serenity¡¯ were running around the country in colorful frilly outfits while blowing invaders up. Now that I think about it, only my wife doesn¡¯t want to remember that past.


    While father and I talk about the past over tea, Alicia drops by and hears our conversation. I handed over the recruitment list to her while explaining that we were just talking about. I¡¯ll take this time to explain to her about engagements and stuff while I¡¯m at it. For some reason, I also automatically placed the boy¡¯s file under the list.


    ¡°Ah, Alicia, good timing. Your grandfather and I were just remembering about some events in the past.  You see that boy¡¯s name underlined in red ink? He¡¯s the son of one of your mother¡¯s colleagues back in her youth.¡± I said while thinking how to include the other topic.


    ¡°Colleague from mother¡¯s youth? You mean, ¡®that¡¯?¡± Alicia says while slightly tilting her head sideways.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ ¡®that¡¯¡­ Ah, you mother was very cute at that time. Anyways, we were thinking if we should have Servo Eonian join the royal guards. According to his data, he¡¯s a genius with both the sword and magic, while having a mature personality. Oddly enough, none of his peers know his combat and magical prowess, almost to a degree that I would have sent the Shinobi unit to investigate him if he wasn¡¯t a dear friend¡¯s child.¡±


    ¡°Well, don¡¯t be so uptight, Bart. The child is still in middle school. Besides, his parents are properly reporting his progress after you asked them, right?¡± Father chimed in.


    ¡°Right¡­ Ah, Alicia. I know it¡¯s a family rule that everyone can marry whoever they want as long as the person is respectable and is of the opposite gender, but at least let me give out candidates for you. That person is one of them¡­ or rather, the only candidate we can scrounge up that you could probably see as an equal. Oh right, I just remembered; we will be sending military instructors to accommodate the newest batch of recruits. Why don¡¯t you take this opportunity to get to know him?¡± I said, then take a sip of tea afterwards to dampen my throat.


    ¡°Eh? Alicia? What¡¯s wrong?¡± I said after noticing that Alicia is staring very intently at Servo Eonia¡¯s profile. Alicia quickly snaps her gaze to me and replies.


    ¡°Honorable father, when do I go?¡± Alicia said with conviction, surprising me with her sudden polite speech. Unable to respond properly, I look at father for help. He¡¯s as surprised as me, but he manages to speak out.


    ¡°Ah, the day after tomorrow. You already have full officer competency, so we¡¯ll just attach you to your instructor¡¯s unit as an assistant instructor then send them in for the job.¡± Father replies after a brief thought.


    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll look forward to that.¡± Alicia says, and then hurriedly leaves the room with the profile still with her. I don¡¯t really mind since there are two more copies here.


    ¡°Bart, what¡¯s with my granddaughter? This is the first time I¡¯ve seen her so¡­ excited.¡± My grandfather says after breaking out of the surprised atmosphere.


    ¡°Beats me¡­ I still don¡¯t fully understand women myself.¡± I said before sipping my tea again.


    ¡°Right you are my son¡­ Right you are¡­¡± Father says then proceeds to sip his tea too and resume our discussion.


    Author¡¯s notes: The first person to point out the obvious gets a cookie. Also, "Secrets of the Kingdom" and "A Father''s Curiosity" are two different side story series. The former just happened to lead to the latter. Other side story series may attach to other series in the future. Part 1 of both series make up Chapter 2A. Don''t even ask me to split them, since I keep my chapter standards to 2.5k+ words. Any less and I''ll compile them to a single chapter with multiple parts like so.


    P.S. If you spot errors, don''t hesitate to tell me.

 Chapter 2B – An Intelligence Officer’s Field Work (Part 1)

    Chapter 2B ¨C An Intelligence Officer¡¯s Field Work (Part 1)


    ¡°Forterra Era 260, 12th day of the 7th month, Forterra Royal Intelligence Agency (FRIA) Special Field Agent Sven Eonia, record system start.¡± I mutter in my thoughts to start the recording device placed under my shirt¡¯s collar. I don¡¯t know why but I feel like reminding myself of a few facts. It might be due to the fact that I¡¯m losing confidence with my combat expertise against my own son. Damn, I still can¡¯t believe that I and Eu-chan lost spectacularly to Servo even after teaming up against him and going all out (without destroying our backyard dojo). If I didn¡¯t personally train him from the start, I would have doubted if his natural combat instincts were unparalleled combat experience instead.


    After our defeat in training, seeing Servo out of the front door, and Eu-chan ¡®consoling¡¯ me after noticing my wavering confidence (Agent transcribing the voice log: ¡°Riajuu, go explode!¡±), I cleaned myself up, wore my fresh corporate suit, and went to work with a clear mind and renewed confidence after kissing my waifu. (Agent transcribing the voice log: ¡°Guh! Someone switch with me before I explode in jealousy!¡±) I went my merry way to the train station, went in to a secret platform, and boarded the train dedicated to FRIA. I then went back to my thoughts after I sat down and saw the startled reactions from some of the newer, still innocent Transcribing agents.


    I¡¯ve raised the issue to my boss before, but having your inner monologue recorded is a slightly disturbing issue. Sadly, this is the most effective method of preventing Intelligence Officers, especially us Field Agents, from being mind controlled. It¡¯s a good thing that all Transcribing officers are all female, sworn to secrecy, and closely watched by his highness, the Crown Prince, himself. Well, it¡¯s an amusing to see the Transcribing agent¡¯s reactions when they see me, especially after having some ¡®fun¡¯ with my waifu.


    Ha¡­ Hahaha¡­ this is bad, I can¡¯t stop the grin on my face after remembering their reactions after having done some ¡®abnormal plays¡¯ with my waifu last month. Ah, but the Servo had an obviously disturbed expression on the day after that. (Agent transcribing the voice log: ¡°Ha! Obviously he knows!¡±)


    Before Servo left for school saying, he said ¡°If you plan to have some fun, especially with the abnormal plays, can you guys not do it when I¡¯m around? Rather, please tell me to leave when you want to do it here¡± with a fed-up tone and sighs while alternating between me with my uncontrollable smirk and Eu-chan¡¯s out-of-place refreshed expression. And after remembering that spine-chilling statement by our son, I was finally able to drop the smirk on my face. (Agent transcribing the voice log: ¡°Serves you right, you damned riajuu!¡±)


    Hmm, the train still has a bit more to travel, so I have decided that I will go annoy the transcribing agents and recount information most if not all people in our line of work knows. FRIA is directly under the authority of the crown prince, as mandated by the Kingdom of Forterra¡¯s constitution. Most of FRIA¡¯s job consists of gathering or retrieving information for the government, managing the ¡®Eye of Providence¡¯, and anything else the Forterra Police Force or the military can¡¯t handle.


    The general populace is happy, the economy is stable, everything is cheap (mostly, but lately there¡¯s been a rise in the demand and price for condoms, but that isn¡¯t my field of work) and everyone is paid properly. It¡¯s all thanks to the management of EoP: needs of the people and the nation are predicted, assumed, optimized, and prepared before it becomes an issue. With the help of EoP, wasted resources became a thing of the past. And being the closest thing to predicting the future, it perfectly fulfills the old saying ¡°If you can see the future, you can achieve anything¡±.  Basically our job is to keep it that way. (Agent transcribing the voice log: ¡°When will you stop stating the obvious already?")


    As for a Field Agent¡¯s job, we either do the information hunting part or the odd jobs. And when I said odd jobs, I really meant odd. From infiltrating foreign merchant organizations, rescuing princesses in distress, being bodyguards for ambassadors going to foreign countries, to adopting war orphans, the list goes on and on to the jobs assigned to us. A lot of our agents, both old and young, are from the adoption program too.  (Agent transcribing the voice log: ¡°Including me! I''m quite thankful for the better life, that''s why I''m doing this thing!")


    Ah, I remember Altina-chan from my last mission. Her parents were both arch-mages from the Republic of Contraf, a few cities east of the north-eastern Forterran city of Milyato. Investigations has revealed that the two died on the the strategic strike on their capital, with while Altina-chan was inside a protective barrier that those two setup just before they died. My unit along with three others were sent in as an advance scout force to perform ground-level assessments. Contraf only consisted of a single city, so the aftermath was complete devastation. Except for Altina, who was protected by two arch-mage-class barriers, nobody else was alive. If we weren¡¯t used to such a scene, we would have sworn vengeance for those who died right there and then. The barrier broke easily when we arrived, only to find her broken and crying in front of her parents¡¯ charred bodies. (Agent transcribing the voice log: ¡°Just when will we finally get the order to kill that dictator?")


    We immediately took her with us and evacuated after an invasion force was spotted. We arrived here the day before yesterday, and were given leave yesterday. I guess today, we¡¯ll be informed on what happens to her, and briefed about our next mission.


    When the train stopped into what seemed to be another platform solely for FRIA, I got off and made my way quietly to the office, inside FRIA¡¯s headquarters from underground. By the way, FRIA headquarters is inside a tower complex. The tower complex looks like a normal building, while the interior FRIA headquarters is only accessible through this route, or through the disguised rooftop. The rooftop is basically impregnable, while the underground route is heavily guarded, so I guess we¡¯re safe here. The whole thing looks like a pointlessly giant support column from the outside if you strip the fake exterior. (Agent transcribing the voice log: ¡°The exterior is also a FRIA facility. They''re just not aware that headquarters are just beyond these meteor-proof walls")


    I made my way to the elevator lobby, where I spot some of my colleagues. They welcome me, and the casual chattering begins. By the way, all of us look like salary men and women, which is a part of our protocol.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°Sven, did you see the latest bulletin? Weilchist dropped another one, this time on Legnister.¡± A brown-hair colleague of mine said in greeting.


    ¡°Peter, are you serious? Weren¡¯t they allies in last year¡¯s war? Are they stupid?¡± I said in reply.


    ¡°Yeah, the idiots actually did it. The Triton alliance couldn¡¯t stay silent anymore and declared war on Weilchist.¡± A gray haired muscled senpai colleague of mine said. For information, Weilchist is a dictatorship country ruled by Leibon Weilchist. Legnister is a parliamentary country that borders the the countries Gaston, Nibuel, and Procteor, the three countries that make up the Triton Alliance. Legnister is sandwiched between the Triton alliance and Weilchist, while each Triton alliance country share our eastern border; northern, middle, and southern borders in respective order. A soft electronic tune rang out and another colleague pulled out a smart phone. He grimaced and joined the conversation.


    ¡°This just in guys, Triton has formed a coalition force against Weilchist. King Portemus has given an official statement: Forterra supports the coalition force, but since Triton doesn¡¯t want military help, we¡¯ll be sending in humanitarian relief to Legnister.¡± The newly joining colleague, a demotivated brown-haired person, said.


    ¡°Humanitarian relief eh? I bet that¡¯s us¡­ but since our Alpha unit did the last mission, and Bravo unit is out there somewhere, its Charlie¡¯s turn now?¡± The first brown-haird colleague of mine, Peter, who was in the same as me said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say it! It¡¯ll just depress us even further!¡± The black-haired senpai said with a sigh. A third of the people waiting on the elevator lobby became visibly depressed along with him.


    All but the reserved elevator unit opened up, and everyone in the lobby entered the elevators. During the elevator ride, some people were depressed while everyone else was wearing the ¡®Do your best!¡± face as naturally as they could. The ride ends with your usual elevator bell sound, and everyone exits like a wave. Soon after, the floor; or rather the FRIA command center, breaks into what looks like chaos. Actually, on what looks like chaos are just people running around doing their respective jobs. I on the other hand join my field unit. Alpha unit (we just got lazy naming it properly) along with Beta and Charlie are all-around field intelligence units directly under the command of the Crown Prince. We¡¯re basically his henchmen. And I¡¯m the one leading the Alpha unit, although it was a unanimous decision without my consent.


    Our official stand-by area is a low-partitioned conference room with a large table, chairs, and a holo-screen projector fixed on the ceiling above the table in the center of the room. As for our equipment, a separate locker room is provided for all field units on a separate floor. On the similar neighboring room, the Crown Prince is briefing Charlie unit of their next mission. Also, Bravo unit¡¯s room doesn¡¯t have people in it since they¡¯re out in the field somewhere.


    With the current state of affairs, everyone in my unit doesn¡¯t have much motivation to chat. Most are either browsing the net or reading the internal announcements. I am, on the other hand, listening to Charlie unit¡¯s briefing.


    Half an hour passes, and everyone in the Charlie unit exits out towards the direction of the locker rooms. The Crown Prince passes by and pokes his head into our area.


    ¡°Sven, follow me. The rest of you are to follow Code Tetra-02. I want those refugees filtered and wanting to become our citizens before the end of the month! Peter, you¡¯re in charge. Dismissed!¡± The Crown Prince said, gave me a look briefly, and walked towards his personal office.


    ¡°You heard him. Peter, happy hunting.¡± I said with a sigh and followed after the Crown Prince. I can feel my men offering me silent prayers. When the Crown Prince asks for me personally, the situation usually becomes something like those spy-action thriller movies¡­ (Agent transcribing the voice log: ¡°Your adventures deserve to be written in a book! Wait, if I change names here and there, I think the Crown Prince will let me publish it! BRB!")


    I enter the Crown Prince¡¯s office, and spot his highness seated on his chair behind his desk, with Dr. Haileen Retaina and Altina-chan on the guest sofas at the middle of the room. Dr. Retaina is the manager of the adoption program for orphaned but talented children. Oh damn, I can definitely see where this is going. I can already see Eu-chan hugging Altina like a stuffed toy larger than herself. By the way, my waifu is 146cm tall, while Altina-chan is 154cm. As for their figure and potential, I refuse to comment. I walk up in front of the Crown Prince¡¯s desk and stands at attention. The Crown Prince wore a look that says he understood what I understood his intentions. He gestured for me to speak.


    ¡°¡­ Your highness, are you sure you¡¯re fine leaving a future asset to me and my family?¡± I said with a concerned look. Even if my waifu is one of the strongest magicians in the country, leaving a child with a lot of potential requires more than that.


    ¡°Well, your family is the only place that fulfills her requests. Here are the papers, have them signed by you and your wife and send it back tomorrow.¡± Dr. Retaina says lazily. She gives me the papers and leaves the room while saying ¡°I leave it to you¡± complete with her back turned to me and a back-handed waving gesture.


    ¡°Yep. We leave it to you.¡± The Crown Prince stands up, walks to me, pats me on the shoulder while saying that, and leaves with the same back-turned back-handed waving gesture like Dr. Retaina had. Something fishy is going on here! I can definitely sense that those two are leaving something very troublesome to me!


    ¡°Nice to meet you, Uncle Sven. It may have been selfish of me, but please take care of me¡± Altina says to me politely while half-bowing to me.


    ¡°Ah, uh, yeah. Nice meeting you again, Altina-chan.¡± I said as I give up and throw caution to the wind.


    ''Forterra Era 260, 12th day of the 7th month, 1021H. Sven Eonia, signing out. Not like I can even turn this monologue logging device off. Now, how do I explain this to my waifu and son.'' (Agent transcribing the voice log: ¡°I remember the time I was adopted... Ah, memories.")


    ==========================


    Author notes: Sorry for the delay. I got too motivated, and went all out. The promised imouto part will come in a few hours. I would really like to have people proof reading my stuff, since it''s kinda hard to re-read the entire thing when I have to keep typing, attend school, work on my thesis, or play Valkyrie Crusade and Million Arthur(SEA)

 Chapter 2C – Imouto the Insert Phase

    Chapter 2C ¨C Imouto, the Insert Phase


    My name is Altina Heinfray, 12 years old. Right now, while using the spell ¡®Mind Clarity¡¯ that mama ¡®taught¡¯ me, I am being introduced to my new foster family. I said ¡®taught¡¯ it was actually more of that I was forcefully given my parents¡¯ knowledge and experience. From birth, I was taught how to expand my mana pool. The training as the only daughter of two of the country¡¯s top arch-mages was grueling, yet due to my innocence I blindly followed my parents¡¯ orders.


    At age 7, they performed the magic ritual ¡®Mental Heirloom¡¯ which forcibly writes knowledge and memories of the casters into the target¡¯s mind. The ritual is limited to direct descendants and an overwhelming trust between the casters and the target, which were easily fulfilled between me and my parents. Before that point, I only took my parents¡¯ orders for granted; but after receiving my parents¡¯ knowledge and memories, I finally understood it. My parents¡¯ worries, their guilt as parents, their responsibilities to the country, and their love for me¡­ all of them I understood, including why they would forcibly give everything to me. They were worried, nay; they knew perfectly that they could not protect me completely from the looming disaster within the next five years. That night, I spent it with both of them with tears, and an undying bitterness at being unable to help my beloved parents escape their fate.


    Then, five years after that, which was four days ago, it happened. That accursed dictator feared that our country would become a threat to his regime. Bullshit, I tell you! Our country was weary from the constant wars that they kept throwing at us. All we ever wanted was for them to leave us alone. Yet! They didn¡¯t hesitate! I will never forget that bastard¡¯s face on that pirated broadcast, boldly condemning us to death like pigs when we never did anything wrong to them!


    ¡­ My parents secretly made a barrier room strong enough to withstand apocalypse-class disasters. Yet to power that room, mana and life force of two arch-mages were needed. They wasted no time and placed me inside, and unhesitatingly used their own bodies as compensation for the barrier device. Something within me told me to burn their final moments into my eyes and memories, and watched them without blinking.  Thinking back about it, I guess it was my father¡¯s straight forward personality that caused that. And with my mother¡¯s, I simply accepted my fate because I didn¡¯t want their efforts to be wasted. I watched it all, from beginning to end.


    With the forced information in my mind, I simply stood there because I also knew that my parents have arranged a rescue party from the Kingdom of Forterra. They used this incident to completely remove my presence from that bastard dictator¡¯s sight. From that day forth, I swore to live my life devoted on vengeance.


    Three days ago, the promised rescue party came just as scheduled. A corporate suit wearing uncle with a veteran soldier¡¯s atmosphere found me. The uncle, who found me, according to my parent¡¯s memories, was Sven Eonia; a direct subordinate of Forterra¡¯s Crown Prince, Barfaust Forterra; who was a good friend to my parents. At that moment, I then concluded that I must go to Forterra and bide my time there for my vengeance.


    Upon arriving on the royal capital of Forterra, I was handed over to Dr. Haileen Retaina who heads the Rescued Orphans Adoption committee. After a few bouts of introductions and pleasantries, she asked me what I wanted to do, and what kind of family I wanted to be adopted. Curious that I get a choice on who to get adopted by, I asked why.


    ¡°I get to choose who adopts me?¡± I said, tilting my head slightly to the side, staring directly at Dr. Retaina.


    ¡°We are here to ensure that kids like you can live comfortable lives until you¡¯re able to become independent. You seem pretty smart, so I¡¯ll get to the point. In the future, we want you to stay as a loyal citizen.¡± She said while lazily slouching on her office chair. I unintentionally made a face of dissatisfaction on the notion that I wouldn¡¯t be able to leave the country to exact my vengeance.


    ¡°Oh, so you desire revenge huh. Don¡¯t be so uptight, there are plenty of paths here that you can take that will allow you to get that revenge. Come on, say what you want clearly.¡± She said as if reading my mind, and followed up quickly after raising my guard up. I considered what she said, since I had nothing left to lose.


    ¡°I want vengeance on Leibon Weilchist, and I want a family that would grant both opportunity and ability to do so!¡± I said with all my conviction after mustering my courage. Dr. Retaina briefly went silent to think, before a telephone tune rang out from a holo screen beside Dr. Retaina. She gestured at the holo screen and the text ¡®Sound only¡¯ was displayed in a gray background.


    ¡°Hahaha, I heard that. Interesting!¡± the voice of an old battle-hardened war veteran¡¯s voice rang out. ¡°Go send the lass to Eonia. Bartfaust will take care of the complicated stuff.¡± The voice continued.


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re Majesty.¡± Dr. Retaina said attentively, but she still slouched lazily. I just sat there confused on what was happening.


    ¡°Lass, I have expectations from you.¡± The voice said, and the communication ended. A few seconds of silence later, Dr. Retaina pulled out a few documents from her desk, and handed them to me.


    ¡°Fill this up with your information, do it in triplicate. This one is the basic manual for Forterran citizens. That one is the key card to your room for the night. It also functions as your temporary purse. Go visit your room first, and then go buy some clothes in the mall across the street as well as something to eat for lunch and dinner. I¡¯ll pick you up around 7 tomorrow morning to meet your foster family¡­ is what I usually say but you¡¯re a special case. Well, we¡¯ll figure it out tomorrow. If you need anything else, ask the guards after showing the key card. Don¡¯t lose it since it¡¯s troublesome for me.¡±  She said while shoving me out the door. The door closed as soon as she finished talking.


    Surprised and confused with the lack of strictness, I obediently looked for a guard to ask advices on what to do. I remembered that Dr. Retaina placed a lot of emphasis on the key card so I wore it with the necklace strap that came with it. Shortly after walking down the hallway, I found a female guard on patrol. I immediately ran up to her and asked.


    ¡°Umm, excuse me¡­ but I need some help.¡± I said as politely as I could.


    ¡°What¡¯s up young lady? Wait, ohh. A new one eh? Welcome to Forterra. If you¡¯re walking alone, then you got assigned to Dr. Retaina huh. The dorms are on the 6th floor, while we¡¯re currently on the 4th floor. Just ask the dorm keeper for more information on the dorms. You can take the elevator as needed. There¡¯s a sky bridge on the 3rd floor that connects to the mall. If you want to explore around, you¡¯ll just have to settle with the sky view at the roof top on the 27th floor. The 9th to 25th floors are restricted areas, so keep that in mind. There should be some portable terminals you can borrow from the dorm keeper, so just ask her for anything else.¡± The female guard said after seeing the card hanging on my neck.


    ¡°Ah, thank you very much.¡± I said while bowing. The female guard smiled and waved back, then went back to her patrolling. With nothing else to do, I rode the nearest elevator and got off the 6th floor.


    There was a reception desk on the edge of the elevator lobby, so I made my way there and inquired. The reception desk was manned by a female receptionist.


    ¡°Um, excuse me.¡± I said as when I reached the reception desk.


    ¡°Hmm? Oh, a new immigrant? Welcome to Forterra. Dr. Retaina must be your handler huh. Can I borrow your key card?¡± the receptionist said. I¡¯m not going anywhere so I obediently gave it to her. She placed the card itself on a device on the desk, while the still attached strap was left on my hand. Hmm, I guess electronic purses are valued highly in Forterra.


    ¡°Wait a minute¡­ The room assigned to you is room 8 on the west wing. Do you want to borrow an info terminal?¡± The receptionist professionally asked. I reply with a nod. She took out a small device that I recognize, and handed both the card and the device to me.


    ¡°Just hit the factory reset and leave the terminal in your room when you leave. Have a nice time staying in FRIA.¡± She said to me. I nodded and followed the directions she said. I can see that all the rooms had an electronic lock. I entered room 8, locked the door, noticed that there wasn¡¯t anyone else in the room, and dived on the bed.  Due to various types of stress and fatigue, I immediately fell asleep.


    When I woke up refreshed, it was already late afternoon. Since I had nothing else to do at the moment, I followed the female guard¡¯s advice and went to the mall. I realized, while buying food and a change of clothes that I think I¡¯ll be keeping, that life in Forterra is very convenient, unlike back in what was formerly Contraf. The info terminal lent to me also served as a way to check the balance on the keycard/electronic purse after a kind food stall clerk noticed that I was a foreigner and taught me how to check the balance. The purse only contained enough as a child¡¯s pocket money, or so I think it did.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    My late mother insisted that I wear skirts or dresses and keep my hair waist long, so I bought clothes and other necessities for the night. That¡¯s when it occurred to me, the prices here are at least 1/10th in Contraf! I¡¯m starting to think that their way of giving us pocket money when the prices are this cheap is some sort of propaganda¡­ ok maybe I¡¯m just paranoid. Having knowledge and memories stuffed in your head has some serious side effects, especially for a 12-year-old girl like me.


    I went back to my temporary room, ate the take-out dinner I bought, took a bath (Seriously? A bath tub? Is this a hotel?), wore the night clothes I bought (nothing too fancy), read the manual (this manual is very comprehensive) while filling out the documents which seem to be a civil registration form, and browsed the internet (free fast internet¡­ Kuh, I will /try/ not to forget my goal!). I fell asleep deeply until the terminal alarmed at the time I set. I wore the appropriate clothes I bought yesterday and packed everything else I ¡®owned¡¯ in a shopping bag. After a few minutes of browsing the internet with the terminal, a knock was heard from the door and Dr. Retaine¡¯s voice could be heard.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming in.¡± Dr. Retaine said as she opened the door. She then informed me that we would be meeting my foster parent shortly. I tensed up but she just patted my head, and led me to an elevator. The elevator went down a few floors down the basement that I couldn¡¯t count exactly. Exiting the elevator, we walked down the hallway, and used another elevator, this time much higher than the floors we came in from.


    ¡°Umm, if I guessed correctly, isn¡¯t this place supposed to be¡­ top secret, or something?¡± I said with curious caution.


    ¡°It only means that you¡¯re going to be scouted here when you get to the right age. Your ¡®wish¡¯ is like that after all. Also, keep this place a secret from anyone outside your family or anyone unrelated to this place, ok?¡± Dr. Retaine said with a hint of mysterious understanding.


    ¡°This place¡­ will help me get what I want?¡± I said, now with more curiosity than caution.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll understand when we arrive there. Look, we¡¯re here¡± She said back in reply.


    The place that revealed itself behind the elevator doors were¡­ astounding. This place looks similar to some kind headquarters for a secret intelligence agency that dad used to watch.  The place is filled with soldier-looking uncles in black corporate suits, mysterious aunties also in black corporate suits, holo-screens and tables displaying varied information, and¡­ is that an extra-terrestrial life form?


    Dr. Retaine lead me to a large office, and there sitting on the desk was Forterra¡¯s Crown Prince. Dr. Ratine only briefly lowered her head, then immediately plopped down on the office¡¯s guest sofa. I stayed with my head bowed as I was used to be doing so while royalty passed by on Contraf. The Crown Prince broke into a wry smile and spoke.


    ¡°Raise you head and have a seat, Altina Heinfray. No, I guess it will be Altina Eonia later on. Anyways, here in Forterra, a quick bow is enough for greeting royalty. We don¡¯t really like pointless embellishments.¡± The Crown Prince said.


    Dr. Retaine gestured for me to sit beside here, and asked for the documents from yesterday and the key card. She then took out a portable terminal and started typing while looking back and forth between the holo screen and the documents. With nothing else to do, I faced the Crown Prince and spoke as politely as I could.


    ¡°¡­ Thank you for fulfilling my parent¡¯s request. I owe my life, as well as my parent¡¯s will, to you.¡± I said as I slightly lowered my head towards the Crown Prince.


    ¡°Ah, well, that¡¯s fine. I think Haileen has already told you, but after you graduate from Forterra Academy, we will be scouting you here in FRIA. For your interesting wish, we just ask you to cooperate with us instead of going solo. Take the condition as compensation for your life, if you must. Don¡¯t worry, we expect that troublesome fellow to wage war on us around the time you finish your training here. Until then, I ask you to live a proper child¡¯s life. I know it will be hard on you after absorbing all that knowledge, memories, and power; but that is also a request both from your parents, and mine who saved your life.¡± The Crown Prince said in a sympathetic speech tone. Noticing my pondering look, the Crown Prince continued.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you won¡¯t be spending your time idling. Here in Forterra, military training starts at 8th grade. Due to your special case, you¡¯ll be skipping grades and will start at 8th grade along with your soon-to-be brother. Oh excuse me; I have a meeting to attend. I¡¯ll be back with your foster father when I return.¡± The Crown Prince said, and then left out of the door.


    Time passed by easily with Dr. Retaine in company. The Crown Prince came back with the uncle who found me in the ruins, Sven Eonia. We were introduced while uncle had a look of being used to unreasonable requests. He called someone on the phone, and then took me to my new home, explaining that luckily my foster mother and brother are at home today. I said that I think it wasn¡¯t a coincidence, and he told me that I would get used to the coincidences. I took the hint that a ¡®coincidence¡¯ is a highly used excuse here.


    When we arrived at a comfortable-looking house that you would definitely like to retire into, though as we rode the secret trains, and walked around the neighborhood, it¡¯s as if the whole city had the atmosphere where you would definitely love to retire into. We were greeted by who I assume to be my new elder brother, and new elder (?) sister (?). We proceeded to what looks like the living room, and the discussion about me started.


    ¡­


    ¡°And that¡¯s all.¡± Uncle Sven concluded the explanation of my situation to my elder brother and sister (?). Elder (?) sister (?) was hugging and patting me while we were seated on the sofa.


    ¡°Nee-sama, that tickles¡­¡± I said as she increased the rate of rubbing my head. The atmosphere changes dramatically, where elder (?) sister (?) suddenly broke into an elated smile in contrast to her previous partial poker face, elder brother broke into an evil grin that sent shivers down my spine, and uncle who was wearing the ¡®no way!¡¯ face.


    ¡°Father, pay up.¡± Sven-niisama said  to uncle.


    ¡°Dammit! I was so sure that Altina-chan would mistake Eu-chan as a little sister instead!¡± uncle shouted in defiance while taking out a card from his wallet.


    ¡°Ah, mother. You can stop acting now.¡± Sven-niisama said to nee-sama(?). Wait, what?


    ¡°Acting, not needed. Altina, address me as nee-sama from today onwards.¡± Nee-sama (?) said while continuing to rub my head. Due to the comedy shock, my psychological guard crumbled to dust.


    ¡°Altina, my name is Servo. You can address me whatever you like as long as it isn¡¯t too cute, embarrassing, or disrespectful. Oh and you really should keep addressing father as uncle, and mother as ¡®nee-sama¡¯, so you can both open up to us while not forgetting your goal.¡± Servo-niisama said, now with a wry, but understanding, smile. I could only mutter with ¡°Ah, yes¡­ Eh?¡± as my thinking got scrambled.


    ¡°Look, the side effects are already showing. Using ¡®Mind Clarity¡¯ to keep the inserted stuff at bay is correct, but you shouldn¡¯t force it when you¡¯re emotionally unstable. You can already feel that this house is definitely safe for you right? Let it all out, you¡¯ll feel better. After that, let¡¯s get to know each other more, ok?¡± Servo-niisama said. I felt like a tensioned string loosening after understanding his words. Eu-neesama just kept rubbing my head as if she already knows what was coming next.


    Without noticing that Servo-niisama understood that I had inserted knowledge and memories, which even Uncle Sven didn¡¯t have a clue about.


    Without noticing that Servo-niisama and Eu-neesama understood that I was maintaining the strongest ¡®Mind Clarity¡¯ I could muster.


    Without noticing that tears have already started flowing down without me noticing.


    With understanding that I was definitely safe with these people¡­


    On that day; I finally understood how a real family is like, and the overflowing tears I kept bottled up inside¡­


    =======================


    Author notes:


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>Congratulations if you¡¯ve noticed that Altina-chan¡¯s ¡®first person¡¯ narration style kept changing throughout the chapter. If you can figure out why, I¡¯ll give you a cookie.


    Also, I implied that Crown Prince-san didn''t tell Sven about her ''condition'', so don''t go asking me why. And Crown Prince-san knew the Heinfray couple from the past. I''ll insert that into one of Crown Prince-san''s monologues as passing in the future.


    Yep, I got carried away making the side stories. Don''t worry, chapter 3 will be even longer, so I''ll chop them up once a part is ready and doesn''t need revisions anymore.

 Chapter 3 – A Duel of Reunion (Part 1)

    Chapter 3 ¨C A Duel of Reunion


    Part 1 - Cats and Imouto


    Forterra Era 261, 7th day of the 4th month, 0530H


    I woke up the usual time to start my early jog. Before six months ago, I would either be alone in my morning jog or my parents would join me when it¡¯s a holiday or they¡¯re not busy doing rabbit business. It all changed, when the imouto nation attacked.


    On that day six months ago, Father called us that we were chosen to adopt someone who had a special case. While adopting orphaned child refugees was something common here in Forterra, it seems that adoptees that have special cases are given to families that could handle them. Due to remembering a few memories similar to this in my past lives, I proposed that I and father make a bet if Altina would mistake mother as either a little sister or elder sister to help break the ice. Father immediately betted on the little sister side, while I willingly took the opposite side. We agreed to ad-lib the ice breaker if she doesn¡¯t get it wrong.


    When they arrived, I immediately understood why she was given to us; she had three of the most troublesome traits when combined that I know, inserted memories; a deep, cold and unending hatred; and a large magical potential you could only label as a magical ¡®genius¡¯. If I don¡¯t do something about it, a Demon Queen would be born from her in the near future. Even if I don¡¯t do anything, I¡¯m sure this world¡¯s inhabitants can handle it by themselves. But what comes next is something even worse, something us gods have unanimously decided to halt at all cost, the birth of an Evil Demon God.


    Don¡¯t get me wrong, I have a few Demon God friends myself, but they¡¯re just gods with a demon¡¯s body; Evil Demon Gods on the other hand hate all living beings, their purpose brings nothing but death. To make one, just give a Demon King/Queen with infinite negative emotions the ability to reincarnate. They¡¯ll keep reincarnating into Demon King/Queens until they reach godhood, and presto, your home made Evil Demon God. The only way to kill them is to wipe their minds and keep their souls in the void for a few eternities to make sure that it won¡¯t revive into an Evil God anymore. Mind you, Evil Demon Gods are stronger than your average god; some of them even required multiple Supreme-class Gods like me to take down.


    With that, we all agreed to ¡®save¡¯ every Demon King/Queen, potential or already done, and report all Evil Demon God that anyone finds; before things gets worse. Mind you, Demon Kings/Queens isn¡¯t evil on a god¡¯s perspective. We also need people who actively keep the cycle of life and death going; just that you need to make sure they stay sane. So our method of ¡®saving¡¯ only involves fixing their minds enough that they don¡¯t mindlessly kill stuff. So in case you find a Demon King/Queen with their loved one dying, make sure you know soul magic, has a vessel with you, and catch that person¡¯s soul and give it back to the Demon King/Queen. For me, I would end that by saying ¡°If you¡¯re ready to reincarnate [that person], break the crystal and guide the soul to a suitable body. Best do it soon¡± then turn around acting cool and leave like a boss. I¡¯ve had a few Demon Gods worshipping me because of that though¡­


    Going back to topic, for my soon-to-be little sister, since she¡¯s still quite young, and has lots of potential, I think that becoming a ¡®dark hero¡¯ would suit her. She already has a deep and cold hatred, so the next step would be to give her a loving and caring family. By the way, I was doing my monologue while father was explaining what her ¡®official¡¯ situation is like. Now, I just need her to drop that ¡®Mind Clarity¡¯ spell that¡¯s breaking her slowly. I guess I have no choice but to speak to her directly.


    ¡­


    After that heart-warming scenario, Altina and mother became very close on the aftermath. The next day, mother started teaching her magic while treating me as target practice for the non-debilitating spells. At night, father suggested that Altina joins me on my early morning jogs, giving the excuse that she could use that time to get to know me better. On that first morning with Altina, I outright said it to her that father only used that reasoning as an excuse to do rabbit business with mother as an icebreaker. She doubted it first, but after teaching her how to remove her presence and suggesting that she see for herself, she now devotedly joins me on my early morning jogs.


    Ending the flashback, we¡¯re now in our early morning jog. Although I said ¡®jog¡¯, what I really meant was running on rooftops while only using physical boost magic for jumping and landing; everything else was pure physical effort. She was doubtful at first. But after explaining that a mage shouldn¡¯t entirely rely on magic for everything, especially with mobility, along with the previous incident, she didn¡¯t dare question me further and quietly joined my ¡®jogs¡¯.


    During our everyday exercise, she would ask me various stuffs, from magic theory and application, combat scenarios, neighborhood rumors, and other miscellaneous stuff. And on such a Monday morning, Altina started a conversation with a reasonable topic.


    ¡°Nii-sama, today is the first day of school right?¡± Altina said with partial excitement and partial nervousness.


    ¡°Yeah. You didn¡¯t have time to regularly attend school due to your immigrant adjustment studies, but this time you¡¯ll be with people around your age¡­ maybe not exactly, but it¡¯s similar.¡± I said as we kept jumping and running on rooftops.


    ¡°¡­ Nii-sama, got any advice for me?¡± She said in a pleading reply.


    ¡°Hmm. I think mother pulled on grandfather¡¯s sleeve and had us placed in the same class¡­ going by that, being stuck with Tadashi is very likely so¡­ I think we¡¯ll be meeting up with usual classmates before the school assembly starts. Just introduce yourself in the most comfortable way. You¡¯ll eventually find friends you can hang out with¡­¡± I said while pondering about my little sister¡¯s serious request.


    ¡°Nii-sama, how vague as usual¡± she said with a protesting point.


    ¡°Give me a break, this time you¡¯ll have to learn how to socialize on your own. Don¡¯t worry, there aren¡¯t dangerous delinquents or perverts to watch out for¡­ ok maybe there is one.¡± I said as I started scanning my eyes on my little sister¡¯s figure.  Black long hair, which she usually kept in a ponytail, beautiful golden cat eyes that suggest a hint of cat demi-human descent, a beautiful face carved like a French doll, short stature with modest proportions, and a soft-spoken and aloof personality (disregarding the cold anger inside her). If she had cat ears and tail/s, she would definitely pass as a cat person¡­ but that¡¯s not important at the moment.


    ¡°Nii-sama, that¡¯s rude.¡± She said as she noticed my staring.


    ¡°Oh sorry. If a tall girl named Talia Veinhaus suddenly hugs you from behind and whispers something along the lines of ¡°Would you be my imouto?¡±, immediately reply that you¡¯re already my imouto, and could only be friends with her. If you don¡¯t¡­¡± I said as we kept ¡®jogging¡¯ on the rooftops.


    ¡°If I don¡¯t?¡± Altina said, tilting her head slightly to the side. We landed on a park near our house.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be sent to a paradise of lilies.¡± I said with the grimmest face I could muster.


    ¡°¡­ Nyaaa!¡± Altina embarrassingly cried out with delay, as it took time to figure out the meaning behind my words with her inserted knowledge. Hmm, I have to build up her resistance to ero.


    The meaning behind my words had extra meanings to it, but I haven¡¯t had the opportunity to narrate it yet¡­ maybe in one of the future side stories. Wait, cat? Am I forgetting something?


    ¡­


    After we got back, took a shower (there are two bathrooms in the house. Sorry everyone, the romance there starts way later in the story), and changed clothes, I am now pondering on the events that will take place later while packing my equipment up in a black box/suit case. By the way, our jog only lasts for 1.5 hours, travelling to school takes less than 15 minutes, and school starts at 0900H, so I have plenty of time to reminisce.


    The first day of 8th grade also doubles as the evaluation test for everyone. I think it was something about preparing us for formal training or something. In my case, with my *very* extensive military experience, I can take a battalion of inexperienced brats and take over some country in a few months¡­ but I don¡¯t feel like doing so this time.


    As far as equipment goes, anyone can bring their own equipment, but anything too dangerous can¡¯t be used in training if you aren¡¯t experience enough. For me, I brought my own equipment I built from scratch¡­ sort of. This country is convenient enough that I can find mithril threads, high-quality leather rolls, and other non-ultra rare fantasy crafting materials in your local crafting stores. The prices for them are kinda higher than your ordinary items though. I found out about the local sources after strolling around the neighborhood a few months back.


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    Since ready-made items didn¡¯t exactly fit my personal preferences, nor could I just summon items from my dimensional vault (mostly because they¡¯re too dangerous for mortal hands), I used my *very* extensive crafting skill and experience to make my own equipment. For tools, father let me use his tailoring and carving tools. I just couldn¡¯t ask him why he would have such things after seeing his *very* extensive collection of colorful frilly outfits and magical staves, that I saw mother walking around wearing some of them, in the work room. But as expected, you just can¡¯t find a forging smith in a non-blacksmithing house.


    The results of my endeavors are as follows: a black combat greatcoat that came with an inner leather harness and multiple inner pockets aside from the two outer pockets for hand rests, and a wooden sword made from black ironwood which seems to be present in all fantasy worlds. The greatcoat was heavily enchanted with defensive properties that make it fire, water, and acid proof; while being slash-resistant and bullet proof. Anything more than that would be too eye-catching. The pockets also doubled as dimensional pockets if needed, while the multi-purpose harness fit around my torso, waist, and thighs which primarily anchored down the greatcoat to my body.


    As for the wooden sword, the solid black ironwood was enchanted with multiple force reflection spells so that it wouldn¡¯t break easily in case I had to go deflecting tank rounds. The wooden sword also served as a swordstaff, with a red magic stone embedded on the hilt, in case I needed to actually cast legitimate spells. It came with a holster that attaches to either side of the waist area of the harness. Thankfully, even if I walk around wearing the two, along with a pair of combat pants and boots, I wouldn¡¯t look too out-of-placed as you can see other people running around in mage robes or exo-skeleton suits.


    My little sister requested some personal equipment too after she saw me maintaining my own equipment. Father, at that time, presented to her a frilly combat short-skirted dress with black and gold color scheme, with a matching magic staff with impressive properties. As expected of father, it really suited her; it¡¯s even complete with the invulnerable skirt enchantment. Secretly, Altina asked me to make something that could go over the outfit, in order to reduce the embarrassing factors. I gave her an ankle-length black cloak with linings and trimmings that complemented the frilly suit; with defensive enchantments comparable to mine, and the additional invulnerable skirt enchantment (cloak version). Fumu, this just confirms it more that better at modifying things, rather than making stuff from scratch.


    The overall set gives an elegant and dignified young mage. Father pestered me to teach my insights on (magical girl) clothes after seeing and praising the improvements of a single cloak. After a deliberate deliberation of Altina¡¯s outfit (consisting of father suggesting questionable matters with me retorting in place of the confused Altina) the final version had additional black cat-ears headband that perfectly blended to her hair color. By the way, collaboration between me and father made it so that the cat-ears headband moves by reacting to the user¡¯s thoughts. The actually useful functions of increased hearing sense and passive radar were completely forgotten on the ensuing commotion. Forgotten? Hmm, I feel like I totally forgot something important. The tail on the other hand is still under development.


    ¡­


    The above monologue finished narrating while I and Altina were travelling to school. Altina kept fidgeting in nervousness while we travelled, so I kept her distracted with magical theories. I think I can teach her the advanced non-dangerous stuff and pass it off as magical studies outside the academic curriculum. On a side note, we¡¯re carrying our equipment inside our bags, with our weapons in their own carrying case. Even if it¡¯s a technological magic fantasy world, walking around in uncommon clothes for legitimate reason is weird.


    The notice boards just beyond the school gate had a scene different than usual, where clumps of students are reading some information posted on the board. I find Tadashi and our usual circle of friends on the side and join them with Altina in tow. Tadashi notices me and greets me.


    ¡°Morning, Servo. Is she the rumored imouto of the ¡°Advising Sage¡±?¡± Tadashi said with refreshing, albeit annoying, smile. The title he¡¯s calling me with was earned after countless advices to these kids. Well, a position where normally hard to convince kids actually listen to you is a good thing, especially in a society where there¡¯s a slight shortage of the male population. In the day after tomorrow, we¡¯ll be having a meeting related to the issue so I¡¯ll explain there. The short version is that the male female population ratio is at 2:3, and various issues arise from that. My role, which has an official position in each class for 7th grade and above, is to mediate those issues.


    Going back to the matter at hand, I gesture for Altina to introduce herself as the variety of friends await in caution, curiosity, amusement, excitement, feigned disinterest, troubled disposition, and more of the human emotions you could probably expect from a civilized person.


    ¡°Ah, right. I am Altina Eonia. I¡¯ll be troubling you but please take care of me!¡± She said while half bowing to hide her fluster. The one who was in the state of excitement, Talia Veinhaus, gets a visible raise in her anticipation, while everyone else except the cautious person gets into a friendly disposition. The cautious person on the other hand, Ishihara Shiina, is still in the cautious state. Breaking out in a sigh after remembering what I forgot about, I open up a compartment in Altina¡¯s bag while excusing myself; then took out what was contained in it and promptly affixed it on her head. Yes, it¡¯s one of my creations in joint with father, the enchanted cat-ears headband!


    Another one of the reasons I prepared such a device (other than filling my personal sense of aesthetics) is due to the anticipation of Shiina-san¡¯s personality. Due to her competitions (which has been partially solved, their circumstances will be explained later) for Tadashi, she has developed a slight paranoia against any female that gets close to Tadashi. On the other hand, she has an incurable obsession with cats that surpasses all of her personality quirks. Additionally, I am in the process of making another pair of cat ears and a matching tail (that attaches to the end of the spine, the kinky kind will have to wait until they¡¯re older) after Tadashi consulted me with ways to control his hard to control childhood friend. How he¡¯ll use it is up to him.


    ¡°Nyatt are you dyouing, Nyii-syama!¡± Altina protested as I affixed the cat-ears. By the way, using my very extensive magical expertise, I placed a mild curse on the cat-ears which forces the wearer to stutter in a cat-ish manner. I forgot to inform her of that function though¡­ but if she ever asks, the excuse of ¡°compensation for the hearing enchantment¡± is prepared.


    ¡°Altina-chan, please become my imou ¡°Please be my pet cat!¡± eh?!¡± Talia-san tried to say as she crept closer to Altina, but Shiina-san appeared between instantly and interrupted Talia-san. Shiina tried to jump at Altina, but on trained reflex (results of my efforts) Altina teleported behind me before she could even process her fright. Shiina ended up hugging air and fell down the paved road.


    It took a few moments before everyone could process the scene. But when they did, they all increased their distance from Shiina by 3 meters, except Tadashi and 2 other girls who already knew Shiina¡¯s obsessions and are making a fed up face; and me who had Altina clinging behind me in fear after she was finished understanding what just happened.


    As for the ensuing chaos, it ended after Shiina-san had a meltdown when I forcefully placed Tadashi on her line of sight.


    ============================================================================


    Author notes: I¡¯m having a dilemma on the naming scheme. Right now eastern names are kept at FN GN, while western ones are GN FN. I¡¯ll start Part 2 after I finish naming the other friends. I''m now off to get some inspiration. I''ll give anyone who helps me name them a kouki.

 Chapter 3 – A Duel of Reunion (Part 2)

    Part 2 ¨C Premonition, Start


    After the small commotion, two more people (a male and female pair) show up and complete our circle of friends. They were late due to Asahina Shiroko¡¯s (female of the late pair) equipment needed to be placed on the arena grounds beforehand. Our group divides into male and female divisions, where we discuss the situation while the females do what they usually do when welcoming new people.


    ¡°I see¡± I mutter after listening to Tadashi, Kuromine Asuta (the one with a troubled expression), and Alistair Lancaster (male of the late pair). They have just finished explaining to me what the notice board commotion was about.


    As for the girls, they are¡­ frolicking (?) among themselves nearby. By the way, there are 11 of us, including me and Altina, who are forming the group. Five of us (Me, Altina, Tadashi, and a male and female pair) weren¡¯t assigned a reaction adjective previously because of various reasons, while the pair arrived after the cat commotion.


    Additionally, Altina is still wearing the cat-ears with a distressed look, Shiina-san petting her like a cat, Talia-san trying to keep Shiina from going overboard, and the four others; Tenjou Suzume (the curious), Veronica Briel (the amused), Akemi Kirika (the one who feigned disinterest), and Asahina Shiroko were discussing the cat ears with serious (except Suzume-san) expressions.


    As for the explanations they needed to give, it seems that some important VIP¡¯s are coming to observe the assessment tests. I¡¯m not really sure what they want to see from greenhorns, but I¡¯ve grown tired of questioning the political agenda of mortals. The mechanics seems to be the same from last year, the instructor vs recruit scenario. Well, I guess I¡¯ll take this opportunity to observe my comrade¡¯s abilities. Oh and I¡¯ve started calling them comrades because it seems that we¡¯ll be stuck with each other until our mandatory military service is over.


    ¡°Ah right, Alistair. Are you getting an exemption?¡± Asuta asked the quiet assassin type. As the smart academic achiever, it seems that he¡¯s compelled to supplement information wherever appropriate. With his inborn magical capacity, he¡¯s well on his way on the path of a mage. He¡¯s not the class president though, since it seems that most if not all our classmates look up to me like some walking advice machine. Really, they¡¯ve forced me to take both the class president and the match maker positions. Not that I can refuse since they earnestly asked. There¡¯s some kind of persuasion power mortals have when they have sincere, beneficial, and morally (on my standard) sound wishes.


    ¡°As long as¡­ I hold back¡­ its fine, they said.¡± Alistair said. The quiet assassin is well known for being the elite bodyguard for the industrial princess, Asahina Shiroko. I have a hunch that he¡¯s blessed by the God of Assassins that seem to dwell in this realm. On the brighter side, it seems that there are negotiations between their families for their engagement. A rich noble lady and her assassin bodyguard¡­ I think I¡¯ve heard this story before, but theirs¡¯ seem to be less tragic.


    ¡°I just hope¡­ that nothing bad happens.¡± Tadashi muttered as we watch the girls acquaint themselves. He¡¯s a peace and quiet loving person, but I can sense that he¡¯s not a dense protagonist that refuses to kill his enemies and doesn¡¯t blindly believe in justice. Fumu, my 7 years of effort didn¡¯t go to waste on cultivating this knight apprentice. By the way, he comes from a long line of knights that came all the way from this world¡¯s equivalent of the medieval ages. I wonder how they got convinced on using cyber age exo-skeleton armors and weaponry. More mysteries for me to solve later!


    ¡­


    The assessment tests weren¡¯t very special, as we were only tried for potential talents. The tests lasted for two days, which on the first day only consisted with a light spar with the knight instructors or target practice for magic users; with the natural consent that anyone who isn¡¯t capable of combat skipping that part, and a free-for-all obstacle course for everyone. I don¡¯t have any preferences to holding back, but using my divinity to exceed mortal limits doesn¡¯t sound nice on a middle school basic testing activity¡­ so I just went with the results of my endeavors on my mortal body.


    As for our group of achievers, everyone went through the first test after chatting and deciding to take the obstacle course together on the next day. First up on the melee test were Tadashi and harem, whose members were Ishihara Shiina, Tenjou Suzume, and Veronica Briel. As a Knight-Apprentice hailing from a family of knights, he had the typical long sword and shield combat style. He lasted for a bit of a while before the instructor sent his shield flying, prompting him to surrender.


    Shiina-san, on the other hand, could be described as a female samurai that relies on speed. We were expecting a flashy fight, but due to the Knight-Instructor¡¯s battle experience, she was disarmed at her fourth dash attack. Still, her cool demeanor in normal situations and battle is a complete 180 from her cat-lover mode¡­ can¡¯t blame Tadashi for being unable to resist her. Gap-moe, banzai!


    Suzume-san was a Cleric-Apprentice, so she went in the melee test with the typical mace and a few active self-buffs. A good choice I must say, since I have proven countless times that you need a blunt force to be effective against the undead, especially skeletons which is the standard undead minion. Holy weapons and secondary elemental weaknesses not included of course¡­ but using fire inside underground caves where undead usually lurks is very stupid, so I implore you that you go undead bashing with a mace or a hammer instead of a flaming sword or fireballs. As for her actual test; at first, her first time swinging a mace wasn¡¯t very impressive as she ran to the Knight with tears in her eyes. The Knight-Instructor had a complicated expression while he was dodging the mace she swung down while she tripped. The disbelief of everyone (including me) and the fear on the Knight-Instructor immediately showed on our face as the mace made contact with the ground and produced a small crater and a loud booming sound. The Knight-Instructor immediately tried to suppress his fear and disarmed her before any more damage was done.


    Veronica-san was a bit flashier with her spirit summons and barriers¡­ until the Knight-Instructor walked while breaker her barriers and sending the summoned creatures back where they came from. The test finished when she surrendered after the Knight-Instructor reached her. The Knight-Instructor had an expression of ¡®he just realized that he accidentally bullied a child and that he has to do it a few more times today¡¯.


    Next up were the Asuta and harem, with members Talia Veinhaus and Akemi Kirika. Asuta, with his natural affinity for magic, rained down spells of varied elements on the Knight-Instructor. He didn¡¯t have the fire power to break through the Knight-Instructor¡¯s shield and armor, but he did at least keep him at bay until he ran out of mana. He did make it quite flashy at the end with melded magics ¡®Steam Explosion¡¯ and ¡®Lightning Showers¡¯. The Knight-Instructor was still unscathed though.


    Talia Veinhaus is from a family of rangers (the archer kind). The fight was quite ok with her speed and accuracy, but eventually she ran out of arrows and went for a knifing attack¡­ but trying to attack an armored knight with a knife isn¡¯t the brightest of ideas. She was promptly disarmed and lectured why someone shouldn¡¯t attack a knight with a knife from the front.


    Akemi Kirika¡¯s round was awe-inspiring for the hot-blooded warrior-types as she, also a Knight-Apprentice, exchanged heavy blows with the Knight-Instructor. While the Knight-Instructor was conflicted between awe for her endurance, and complicated emotions for attacking a child whose likely half his age, I could definitely see something terribly wrong with Kirika-san¡¯s expressions. It may be the result of how she was brought up, but each blow she receives are met on an angle that reduces damage either by distributing the impact force or glancing it off with her armor. But I can definitely see it with each blow that lands on her, her expression briefly changes to that of ecstasy! The hitting match ends when she collapses after fatigue (orgasm). The medics promptly brought her out of the arena, while the Knight-Instructor had the thoughts of ¡®what have I done?!¡¯ plastered all over his face¡­ Though without a doubt, I know that he misunderstood something.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Asahina Shiroko was next, riding her 1.5m tall exo-suit, or in layman¡¯s terms a piloted robot, with a long rifle and side arm for equipment. She put up a good fight due to her piloting experience from her family background, but eventually lost because of the Knight-Instructor¡¯s much more extensive battle experience. It¡¯s really hard to bring a gun to a sword fight when you¡¯re not experienced enough.


    Alistair¡¯s fight didn¡¯t last long, as he promptly disappeared in a black puff of smoke when the match began, and reappeared instantly at the Knight-Instructor¡¯s side with a practice knife pointed on his throat. For some reason I¡¯m not entirely sure about, but I sense a bit of a will for revenge somewhere on his face.


    As for Altina, I noticed that the instructor was more serious than the previous rounds during their bout. Altina¡¯s style revolved mostly on spamming the most basic magic spell, ¡®Mana Arrow¡¯ (spin + varied elements version), due to my efforts to my (divine) intervention. Sure it¡¯s good to have a variation of spells in a magic fight, but you need to get your basics straight. It¡¯s faster and more cost effective (mana and mental fatigue wise) to just spam ¡®Ice arrows¡¯ than cast something like ¡®Hail Storm¡¯ due to the complexity of the larger spells. It¡¯s not like Altina can¡¯t spam larger spells¡­ but against a single human-sized enemy, I don¡¯t think you should be spam-casting something like ¡®Meteor Fall¡¯ in the middle of civilization just for something like that. So with that reasoning in mind, I had her train with magical arrows on top of her mobility training during one of our consultation sessions.


    As for the assessment test, well¡­ everything went better than expected? The Knight-Instructor managed to shrug off the countless magical arrows by tanking them, but he got sent flying when she teleported behind him and unleashed ¡®Shockwave¡¯, an air-fire synthesized spell that detonates a fire ball in a pure, highly pressurized oxygen sphere. The Knight-Instructor probably anticipated her retreat, instead of a teleport behind him. He was fine, but due to Altina¡¯s over-the-top ¡®Shockwave¡¯, his armor was falling apart and his shield had a huge dent on it.


    Lastly, it was my turn to go into the fight¡­ but we had to wait as the Knight-Instructor needed to have a spare armor to be delivered to him, since all other Knight-Instructors are busy with the other classes. As we were quietly waiting for the Knight-Instructor¡¯s new set of armor to arrive, someone came walking out of the VIP stands, heading towards us. Her knee-length layered golden blonde hair, with a pair thin rabbit-styled twin tails at the sides, swaying and fluttering with the wind as she walks. Her beautiful unblemished face wearing a mysterious smile that hints of purpose but with a dash of sensuality. A figure of a girl of my physical age; comparable to that of a finely crafted doll, adorned with a majestic black and white dress armor, which achieves balance between risqu¨¦ and conservative. Her beautiful crystal-like emerald eyes, staring directly at me¡­ which probably looks like fierce and focused eyes that inspires awe to most others, but to me they look like she¡¯s thinking something like ¡®Finally, it¡¯s my turn!¡¯¡­


    As she walks with grace, all eyes are focused on her. There, I noticed that a familiar sword is sheathed at her waist, the ¡®Sword of Calistros¡¯. Nostalgia comes to me as I remember memories of her from the previous lives¡­ I hope she doesn¡¯t find that that it¡¯s definitely my fault that she¡¯ll eternally end up as a loli after I tampered with her soul a few lives back¡­


    Yes, it wasn¡¯t just from the last life. I¡¯ve been watching her for a number of her lives already. I¡¯m not purposely stalking her, mind you! It¡¯s all part of my Hikaru Genji project, God version. Sure there are more than a billion gods out there in the multiverse, but none of them fits my preferences¡­ Somewhere along my infinite life, I found her, fitting all my preferences; and decided to embark on this journey to grow my own wife goddess. It was depressing on the first few lives as I had to meet her ¡®for the first time¡¯ quite a number of times.


    It was during that time that I tried to modify her soul, and found out that a soul must naturally strengthen itself before a god could grant the ability to reincarnate. It was a breakthrough, since we gods didn¡¯t know the exact requirements on artificially granting the ability to reincarnate. At that time, we only knew that reincarnation occurred naturally and artificial reincarnation sometimes failed due to not knowing the specific requirements for reincarnation. On a side note, after the multiverse started to progress again, a community of gods dedicated to researching magic granted me an award for the discovery of the specific requirements for reincarnation. It was the last life that fulfilled the conditions that let me grant her actual reincarnation, and then fast forward until now. Anyways, I now must wonder how and why did the ¡®Sword of Calistros¡¯ follow her here even after death. I think I should analyze her again later after this ¡®event¡¯.


    For my method of ¡®finding¡¯ her, I¡¯ve set my soul so that it would follow her to the next world automatically, then appear before her as a mysterious person when I¡¯ve raised my mortal self enough¡­ or at least, that¡¯s how I¡¯ve done it until now. Now that I think about it, I¡¯ve been using the name ¡®Servo¡¯ to refer to myself these past few lives. Does it mean that her true reincarnation was a success? *sigh* Too many questions to answer. Time for the ¡®let¡¯s wait and see¡¯ strategy that has worked most of the time. But really, coming out of the VIP stands¡­ I sense something ominous, and the dreaded comedic kind at that.


    ¡®She¡¯ stops near the Knight-Instructor, and assumes a commanding pose while still staring intently at me. I could only wear a wry smile and see what happens next.


    ¡°Knight-Commander Pegasus, I request to assume my position as assistant Instructor and conduct the test for this man.¡± ¡®She¡¯ said in a formal and commanding tone. Wait, why is a Knight-Commander conducting the test for a bunch of middle school kids? Aren¡¯t they supposed to be training¡­ you know¡­ elite troops instead?


    ¡°As willful as always eh, Princess Alicia. Very well. As your highness commands, I, Knight-Commander Pegasus, hands over the conducting authority of the assessment test for this batch of recruits to Assistant Knight-Instructor Alicia Forterra¡­ it¡¯s the last one though.¡± The Knight-Commander states, while switching between casual and formal speech.


    So she ended up as Princess Alicia Forterra huh. I¡¯m not surprised, with all that positive karma she owned with her sufferings as a ¡®Hero¡¯ and that final deed. Still, she was named ¡®Alicia¡¯ this time too¡­ how fitting for her. That name, which was also her name from the first time I ¡®met¡¯ her, definitely suits her.


    ¡°Good¡­¡± Princess Alicia smirks, and launches a surprise energy slash at me. I promptly deflected it with a horizontal drawing slash without flinching. Hmm, now that I remember it, I think she said something like ¡°I¡¯ll definitely defeat you on our next duel!¡± to me a few days before we went to defeat the Demon Lord from the previous life. Is she still angry at me for not letting her win with our training spars?


    ¡°This time, I definitely will defeat you!¡± She shouted out as she dashed towards me, with parts of her dress armor lighting up like golden neon strips. Is her armor a miniaturized exo-suit? I parried her strike and warded her off with my counter-slash. She jumped back while her sword was glowing brightly with a golden light. Oh man, this is bad.


    ¡°Ex-!¡± She shouted as she gathered colossal amounts of mana on her sword for the finishing move.


    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s plagiarism!¡± I retorted loudly, with all my emotional effort.


    ¡°Not exactly! ¨CCalistro!¡± She replied and executed the finishing move while shouting the skill name. I sighed inwardly with all my might, as I prepare to teach this reckless person some manners.


    ¡­


    =====================================


    Author Notes: Please consult Hasegawa Kobato-chan¡¯s hairstyle if you are kind of short on the properly descriptive terms on hairstyles, like me. If you have questions about the plot, please wait for the next 2 parts of Chapter 3, as they¡¯ll most likely be answered. Also, something was mentioned but not mentioned until now. Whoever notices it before I release Part 3 gets a cookie instead of a kouki.

 Chapter 3 – A Duel of Reunion (Part 3, 4, and 5)

    Part 3 ¨C Standby, Ready


    In my past life, I had no name. No, that¡¯s not exactly correct¡­ I ¡®had¡¯ a name up until that day, when the king¡¯s men and the clergymen came to me, gave me the holy sword, stripped me of my ¡®Name¡¯, and forced me to become the ¡®Hero¡¯ and save human kind. At that time, I couldn¡¯t understand why they would tell a commoner like me to save a civilization that treats us like servants. During my first days as a ¡®Hero¡¯, I was harassed and discriminated, even though I was the ¡®Hero¡¯ who would save them. They even forcefully engaged me to marry that disgusting fat pig of a prince after I defeat the invading Demon Lord. Demoralized and unsupported, I was ready to quit and flee the country when he came.


    He was the Royal Court Mage, Servo Sceleris, who was away on a journey when I was forced to be a ¡®Hero¡¯, a mysterious man who comes and goes as he pleases¡­ yet he feels strangely familiar to me. He helped me, educated me, trained me, guided me, consoled me, and gave me confidence to face my fate. Our varied adventures transformed me into a better person. I saved lot of lives, averted disasters¡­ yet the number of comrades I could trust never increased. Confident of our victory over the Demon Lord, yet I was not freed of my fate when we return¡­ It was one of the usual nights that I consulted Servo that he proposed something that I tried doing once in the past.


    ¡°Hmm, you don¡¯t want to marry the fat bastard eh¡­ can¡¯t blame you on that one. Then, run away? Ah, but that wouldn¡¯t work in the eyes of those royalists¡­¡± Servo said to me while pondering. I waited patiently while seated on the bed in the room. Suddenly, I could feel a swirl of magic in the room unlike those I¡¯ve felt before. It felt absolute, impregnable, and otherworldly, and our surroundings faded in grey.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit early, but I can offer a way out of your situation. It involves your death. Will you trust me?¡± He said in a serious and cold tone much more intense than I¡¯ve ever seen him with before. My heart wavered, but quickly made my resolution after noticing the confidence on Servo¡¯s face.


    ¡°If it¡¯s to leave this world¡­ then it is better than being bounded like a slave.¡± I squeezed out of my mouth as a reply.


    ¡°Good. Then, on the last battle on morrow¡¯s eve, use everything you have on the final attack. I will do the rest, including the post-mortem stuff. Nobody will be able to use anything for necromancy or soul magic. In advance, have a nice trip.¡± He said in reply with a smile, which I¡¯ve never seen him do until now.


    Then, on that final battle, I ¡®died¡¯, while contemplating his last words after my desperate confession of love, and why did he have to join me to the grave. It was then, while in the darkness, a blinding light swallowed me made me realize¡­ that I became a baby. I was born into the royal family of the Kingdom of Forterra, on another world far different from that filth. I was allowed to be happy, on a world where the people who look up to me does not scorn me nor do they desperately need me. With my memories and experiences from my past life and Calistros who managed to summon herself to me in this world, I learned and enjoyed my life for thirteen years as a princess of this county, exempted from everything but royal and military duties¡­ even that dreaded education was not needed after I proved myself capable. Yet three days ago, I saw it. The name of my savior¡­ it was then that I realized what he meant by his last words. If I could reincarnate, why couldn¡¯t he?


    From the time I left my father¡¯s office, until this time, I¡¯ve desperately suppressed the mixed emotions inside of me, ready to burst out. Regret for involving him, uncertainty of the fate I escaped from, happiness and excitement that I might see him again, embarrassment from the last bit of memory from the past, nervousness from meeting him again after thirteen years¡­ yet that know-it-all smile, that expression that casually says ¡®Hello, it¡¯s been a while¡¯ at me, plastered all over his face! How can he be so casual after our first meeting in a long time!


    Now, due to various reasons, I will beat him up with everything I got! This sword who became more than a companion to me, this mechanized exo-suit armor given to me by grandfather, and the various things I¡¯ve learned from Servo and this this world; I didn¡¯t spend 13 years as the first Princess on this country nicknamed ¡®Paradise amidst the War¡¯ for nothing!


    ¡°Ex-!¡° I shouted as I jumped back and prepared the strongest finishing move I have, capable of destroying even an Aegis-class Mobile Warship head on with its shields on maximum power.


    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s plagiarism!¡± He shouted back at me as I saw him prepare to receive my attack. Did he find out that I named this new move similar to that game I played a few months back? Ei, never mind!


    ¡°Not exactly! ¨CCalistros!¡± I shouted while unleashing the devastating finisher move straight at him.


    ========================================================


    Part 4 ¨C Knights and the News


    I am Knight-Commander Bradley Pegasus, 34 years old, married, with a 9 year-old daughter and a 3 year-old son. Currently, I¡¯m on my tri-annual instructor shift, as part of the military personnel mental health rehabilitation law. That law states that all military personnel, except for administration ranks, are to take a 1 year occupation shift every 2 service years, on top of the 1 month annual vacation. The jobs you can do while under occupational shift cannot be directly related to the battlefield. For us Knights, the most popular job we take in this program would be being Knight-Instructors¡­ although the guys I¡¯m usually with are still my own battalion. The only real difference is that we¡¯d be teaching teenagers instead of defending our country.


    6 years ago, I was assigned to be Princess Alicia¡¯s Knight-Instructor for the duration of my occupational shift. I was considered an elite veteran knight at that point after participating on 3 small wars already, but on the first sparring we had, I was sure that her swordsmanship is definitely leagues better than mine will ever be. It didn¡¯t take long before I was teaching her other things related to knight duties instead of swordsmanship. What can I say; the Princess likes to learn all sorts of things. While I was assigned to her, I learned that the sword she was using, named the ¡®Sword of Calistros¡¯, appeared before her on the day she was born. I also heard that she already passed the mandatory education exemption test, so she¡¯s doing whatever she likes already. The other kids might envy her with that, but I think she¡¯s missing the joy of ¡®being at school¡¯.


    For this year¡¯s occupational shift, my battalion was assigned to train this year¡¯s recruits. Our battalion¡¯s Knight- Commander was recently promoted, so with me as next in line, this year would become my first time training recruits as a Knight-Commander. As I was preparing myself and the battalion for the assignment, top-priority mission was given to us: to escort Princess Alicia while she observes the assessment test of this year¡¯s recruits. I was already familiar with Princess Alicia¡¯s willfulness, so I just quietly accepted the mission and briefed my men. It was decided that we¡¯ll have the management group double as the bodyguard unit.


    The first day of training for the middle school recruits consists of an assessment test, for obvious reasons. The batch of 11 kids assigned to me looks promising, as I took them on 1v1. The Knight-Apprentice is my 2nd cousin¡¯s kid, so I already knew his training progress. The samurai girl was fast, but she needs more battle experience. The priestess girl was pretty clumsy; I could definitely understand why she¡¯s a priestess¡­ until she tripped! That was damn scary! At least I can rest assure that her competency as a priestess is as good as she is strong. The shaman girl needs to work on her summon contracts, but the wards can at least stop a magazine¡¯s worth of bullets. The mage boy needs to learn how to properly use magic in combat; spamming advanced magic on a single target is definitely a beginner¡¯s mistake. The ranger girl, oh damn; her archery is good for her age, but nobody tries to stab an armored knight with a knife, especially from the front! I spend a few minutes lecturing her about it. The Knight-Apprentice girl was quite good for her age¡­ but I feel bad about knocking her out just to end the battle. That sniper exo-suit pilot girl was good, considering that it¡¯s already over once you engage her kind in melee. I was already informed about that boy from the Lancaster family, but I didn¡¯t really expect that even I couldn¡¯t feel his presence when he¡¯s serious. After taking a short water break, my duties continued.


    The magical girl was different from the rest, like that Lancaster boy. Her accuracy and finesse with magic, as well as her battle awareness is very exceptional. If I was a deployment certification officer, which I was 3 years ago, I would have given her the battle rank of A at this point. Her assessed ranking rose to S when she did a surprise attack with a high-powered ¡®Shockwave¡¯. That lag-less teleport and instant cast made me realize that she¡¯s still holding back. Seriously, who¡¯s teaching her? My shield is dented and my armor is in tatters! My armory sergeant will kill me¡­


    While I was waiting for replacement equipment (and inevitable death by my sergeant¡¯s hands), Princess Alicia came out of the VIP stands. When she volunteered to replace me, I just gave up and gave her the ok after considering her personality. What came next was a total surprise for me¡­ she just ambushed that black trench coat wearing boy! Then the boy just deflected the energy slash like he was expecting it. I was too shocked and just watched the boy and the Princess exchange blows, and forgot to stop her when she used that finishing move. The fight that came after that also made me forget about the media reporters that came here after hearing that the princess would be here. When the boy deflected that ship-killing beam with that weird wooden sword and the princess took out that rail-gun (that comes with her custom exo-suit), I just made everyone evacuate to the spectator stands and quietly watched their high-level battle.


    ¡­


    ¡°On  the next news: today, First Princess Alicia Forterra is visiting Forterra Academy, who¡¯s holding its Annual Recruit Assessment Test. Details from our reporter, Jack Turner. Come in Jack.¡± The news anchor said, as I watch the news with my son.


    ¡°Ah, thanks Percy. This is Jack Turner reporting for FMC. Live, today, future talents of the country are taking their Assessment Test to determine their specializations for future study and training. As for the Princess, she¡¯s currently with the Instructor Knight¡¯s command center at this arena¡¯s VIP stand, watching the fights and the assessments the Instructors give. It seems that *loud glass breaking and metal crumpling sound*¡± the reporter talks while the show on the wide holo screen continues.


    ¡°Jack, what was that loud sound just now?¡± The news anchor asked, while fulfilling his role as the anchor.


    ¡°*kssh*¡­ There! Ah, Percy. Just now, a student defeated an Instructor with a display of magical finesse. Playback of the match should be playing right now, courtesy of the Knight-Instructors.¡± The reporter replied after a brief static.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.A video shows Altina Eonia wearing a cloaked frilly outfit, presumably the work of Serenity¡¯s husband, systematically rains down innumerable amounts of magic arrows on Knight-Commander Pegasus, then she suddenly disappears and appears behind the Knight-Commander already discharging the compressed ¡®Shockwave¡¯ spell. Pegasus beaten up by a middle school magical girl¡­ even if it was Altina Eonia, I just can''t laugh that off. What the heck is my 3rd Knight Battalion doing¡­ ah right, it was their turn for the occupational shift.


    ¡°Here is Knight-Instructor Drake for some explanation.¡± The reporter shifts the attention to someone I recognize as the Vice-Commander of the 3rd Knight Battalion.


    ¡°Yeah! Give the spare set to the commander! Hurry up!¡± The Knight-Instructor is shouts at the background.


    ¡°Ah, yes, sorry about that. What you saw just now was the student using the most basic offense spell magic has to offer, ¡®Mana Arrow¡¯ in a very expert manner. She used numerous arrows to disrupt Knight-Commander Pegasus¡¯ movements while distracting him. What she did next was something that¡¯s beyond outstanding, even for us guys that just came from the battlefield; a lag-less teleport and instant casting. A normal teleport consists of gathering mana into a magic formation until the magic activates, but it leaves magical residues and is quite slow when you¡¯re not used to it. To perform lag-less teleport, you either need a large burst of mana which leaves an even larger magical residue, or something else. Our analysis has failed to pick up any magical residues of the teleportation spell, so we plan to ask her later. Please don¡¯t make that face; even we veterans don¡¯t know everything.¡± Drake says to the camera. Really, that young man really loves his explanations.


    ¡°Ah, sorry. Then, what about the instant casting you mentioned?¡± The reporter asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure everyone knows that casting speed depends on the caster¡¯s mental processing speed, the complexity of the spell used, and the spell¡¯s natural speed. What the lass used just now was ¡®Shockwave¡¯, an advanced melded explosion magic of air and fire. Our analysis... *loud resounding sound, then a pillar of golden light shoots up from the background*¡± Drake continued his explanation before something that resembles my granddaughter¡¯s finishing move shoots upward in the background. The news then display Drake a report for someone I also recognize as one of his subordinates.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m needed elsewhere. Please stay here if you want to keep filming. You should be able to ¡®it¡¯ from here quite easily.¡± The Knight-Instructor says, and then shouts ¡°Code 4-24! Raise the audience barrier after evacuating everyone!¡± at the other knights. Code 4-24, a fight between SS-class people huh. I know that my granddaughter was recently given the SS rank after accidentally sinking a fully shielded Aegis ship but... who is she fighting and what the hell is going on down there?


    The news video shifts to an ongoing fight between my granddaughter in full exo-suit that I gave her as a present for her 12th birthday, and a boy wearing a black trench coat. No matter what anyone says, my granddaughter is clearly attacking someone! And that boy being attacked by my granddaughter¡­ is Servo Eonia! As I think of a reason why would she start attacking her fianc¨¦ candidate, my son Bartfaust spits his coffee like a fountain as he reads something on his smaller holo screen. He struggles as he coughs and wheezes on his daughter¡¯s surprise deed.


    We quietly watch the news while exchanging our impression on the fight. The fight ends and a long silent pause present itself while we stare at the end scene. After a few seconds, as if he¡¯s thought of something, my son starts laughing like an evil scientist (he usually does it from time to time) then coughs again as his spit gets caught in his throat. He clears his throat then starts speaking to me.


    ¡°Father, please head over to the scene to calm things down. If the media asks why the princess would attack a civilian, tell them that it was a test for her husband-to-be.¡± He states formally, but he¡¯s trying hard to hold back from breaking into laughter as his mouth twitches into a suppressed smile.


    ¡°¡­ Fine. I¡¯ll depend on you for the additional cover-ups. And don¡¯t touch that spy, since I¡¯d love to see Weilchist¡¯s face when he sees my granddaughter and grandson-in-law¡¯s performance.¡± I said as I anticipate that bastard¡¯s paranoia acting up.


    ¡°Oh, was it decided already? Alicia¡¯s engagement that is¡­¡± My son asked after magnificently ignoring my joy of Weilchist¡¯s paranoia, and noticing the implied meaning of how I addressed my grandson-in-law. I grabbed the wide holo screen, turned on the replay function, and pause it on the end of the fight. I zoomed it in to get a close up on my granddaughter¡¯s face. I walk out of our common office and prepare for my press conference.


    ¡°Ah, I see.¡± My son says after he hits his left palm with the side of his right fist.


    =========================================================================


    Part 5 ¨C Break, Release


    There are two ways to survive a beam of light streaking at you. First option is the most obvious thing in the multiverse, and that is dodging it. Second option is when you can¡¯t dodge it, and that is to meet it head on. I¡¯m sure the arena barrier behind can dissipate this giant beam of golden light, but just barely. Left with no other real choice but to deflect it myself somehow, I prepare myself by using my swordstaff to cast one of my most abused spell in my repertoire, ¡®Spatial Gate¡¯. Since it would be too flashy to just absorb this beam, I placed the ¡®entrance¡¯ on a sloping angle while posing with the swordstaff like I¡¯m using it to deflect the beam, and the ¡®exit¡¯ is located just above the ¡®entrance¡¯ pointed upwards. I keep it up until the beam attack is over, then goes back to my loosely standing stance.


    When my gaze fell on the Princess, her expression was that as if she¡¯s mad at me for some reason. Why is she mad at me? Didn¡¯t I greet her normally? The Knight-Commander behind her just retreats to the audience stands along with everyone else. Hmm, I never noticed but in this country, they just let the strong people duke it out in the arena without much complains huh. I can feel the arena¡¯s audience shielding barrier strengthen while we were having a stare-off. So I¡¯m guessing I have no choice but to pacify this haughty princess. I put on a cold stare and start walking towards her.


    The princess deploys a long rifle from her left side that was part of the exo-suit she was wearing. That ominous-looking rifle had its barrel extend out and parts in the center, then electrical sparks run down the parted barrel. Wait, WAIT! Magical and Technological civilization + long rifle with electric sparks¡­ I know that concept! That¡¯s a freaking rail-gun! Are you seriously trying to kill me, huh, princess?! As much as I¡¯d like to paper dodge, but rail-guns generate too much excess force for that. The sparks generated increase rapidly, and a flash of light bursts from the barrel. As impossible as it gets, I swatted the streaking orange round with my black swordstaff and reflected it using the same ¡®Space Gate¡¯ spell, and then dissipating it in a purple wave of energy from the point of ¡®impact¡¯. The streaking orange round pierces the rail gun. The princess abandons the broken rail gun and rushes in with the holy sword.


    The princess diagonally slashes down while lunging while I dodge her sword and body sideways in paper-thin margins. She then lands on her left foot, uses it as an axel to turn clockwise, then lashes out a horizontal slash while I stepped away from her range. She attempts to use the side arm installed on her exo-suit¡¯s left hand, but I enchant my sword staff with ¡®Space Breaker¡¯ which cuts space itself and hacks the armament off her left arm. By the way, you can resist ¡®Space Breaker¡¯ either by creating a dimensional barrier or using gravity to distort space itself. I recommend the former, even if ¡®Space Cutter¡¯ can still cut it apart if it can overpower the barrier, since distorting space with gravity usually results in very dangerous scenarios unless you know what you¡¯re doing.


    ¡°Break¡± I muttered out while cutting away the side armament.


    Realizing that cheap tricks won¡¯t do any good, she engages me in a sword fight as she stepped back and executed a counter-clockwise roundhouse slash using her left foot as an axel. I jumped up and performed a helm splitter while she completed a 360 degree turn, braced herself on her right leg, and received the helm splitter attack with the holy sword. She slid back slightly while she struggled to maintain her stance, while I landed a few distance while facing her. Too bad I didn¡¯t have a gun, since I would have shot her twice at this situation while knowing she¡¯d just swat the bullets away with her sword.


    After I landed, I performed one of the tricks I taught to Altina, official name ¡®Space Shift¡¯ which swaps the contents of two spatial coordinates. Normal teleportation is cumbersome because you¡¯re transporting an object from one coordinate to another by creating a 1-way worm hole, which creates ripples in the target space while creating a deficiency on the source space. ¡®Space Shift¡¯ on the other hand, swaps the contents in a two-way cycle manner, which doesn¡¯t disturb other coordinates by conforming with the space-time fabric; thus allowing teleportation to become smoother, faster, and more mana-efficient. She performed a clockwise half-turn back kick, while I step away from her right foot¡¯s range by stepping back with my left foot. Using her exo-suit¡¯s inhuman power, she performed an overhead slash by kicking the ground with her left foot.


    ¡°Release¡± I mutter as I momentarily strengthened myself and the swordstaff, with magic and diagonally swung my swordstaff from the lower left to parry her swing. A loud metallic hitting sound blared out, and her holy sword was flung away after losing the momentary contest of strength. I caught her with open arms as she landed on me. The holy sword stabbed the ground a few meters away, giving of short metallic sound. Silence from both of us the entire crowd resound, as the short duel ends with my victory.


    Author notes: If you need a comparison to the exo-suits, please refer to Infinite $!@!*$, only they¡¯re a lot more smaller and actually looks like a futuristic suit of armor.


    Please look out for any grammatical errors as I¡¯ve had lesser proof reading at part 3. Also, please be aware that missing information may also reflect the speaker¡¯s lack of knowledge. Also, the fight isn''t really supposed to be very long, since it''s still early in the story. I won''t throw the arc boss in front of Servo only to be slaughtered mercilessly just yet.


    <hr />


    Additional notes:


    POV''s:


    Part 3 - Alicia


    Part 4 - Pegasus, then Portemus


    Part 5 - Servo

 Notice of Reboot/Discontinuation

    I''ll be remaking the entire thing from scratch... well, not exactly scratch since I''m keeping most of the story elements I already made. I''ll also be posting it in my wordpress page... ok, maybe I''ll post a new fiction for it here.


    I won''t take down what''s currently posted here though, but I feel that I''ve made various mistakes everywhere to make up for the potential I was hoping for. The new one will still come in the same title, but the story will be slightly different... or maybe entirely different.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    And I''m not doing this because someone dissed me or anything. I''m just very unsatisfied with how it became.