To understand how things led to me disappearing from St. Ursula in the middle of the night to begin my next adventure, let's rewind time a bit. At the time, I did not know that a few pieces had begun to move that coincided with my actions. Now, it was the night I had departed Leiston Fortress, only to leave Hearts in the care of the Royal Army. I successfully managed to cast Teleportation for the first time, and it was added to my Spellbook.
The scene had changed. And to my surprise, a beautiful white-haired woman accompanied me back to Grancel Castle. A woman who calls herself Jayna Storm. An ex-member of the Northern Jaegers. One of their Vice-Commanders no less. Or was. Now, she calls herself a simple woman trying to find a new home. Honestly, I don't know if this will lead to something, but having a Secretary will help me down the line. Regardless of what business matter it is, it will be passed through Jayna. Hilda takes care of what happens around Grancel Castle, but if I end up receiving dignitaries into Liberl in the future, that would be more up Jayna's alley. She will have a long road ahead.
Before long, an identical magic circle suddenly appeared at Grancel Castle, all the way in the back. Not at the side veranda where Ouroboros likes to use to declare their arrival. That one was more personal. This veranda was the very same one Queen Alicia likes to use to gaze out onto Valleria Lake. This veranda is also the very same one you clash against Lorence, aka Leonhardt the Bladelord, near the end of SKy's first chapter. This view allows a full look of the lake. It's a nice place when one wants to reflect, or ponder about something. I didn't have to do that when I came here.
Honestly, I wasn't sure if I would make it all the way here in one go. Leiston Fortress to Grancel Castle was quite the distance. But since I had EP in the six digit range, it was plenty. I even had plenty left over after the Spell was cast. I could probably go from country to country like this. The downside, I would be lacking lots of EP if I want to engage in combat, which would cause me to use Lunar Pulse. Unless I have plenty of EP to spare, I probably won't use Teleportation like that.
Regardless, I felt pretty drained. This was the first time I used the Spell. Mostly mental, though. My Regeneration didn't kick in since that healed external wounds. Man, if I got an EP Regeneration Skill, that would seriously be broken...
I took a mental note of the large sword scar that was inflicted on my chest. While Regeneration did heal the wound and I was no longer in danger, it still left a large mark on my body. I don't know if it will heal the scar directly. That will need time. That doesn't ignore the fact I've experienced the life of a Jaeger, even if it was for a year or two at most. They carry their battle scars with pride. It is proof of their battle's outcome. Even Randy had several scars laced across his body that he accrued over time. I'm leaning toward keeping it. For now, at least. I'm not saying I will have as many as Randy has, but it is one worth keeping. Besides, Rean has that puncture scar over his chest. I didn't think I would end up in a similar fashion to him, haha!
Oh the irony.
And with it being nighttime, I was greeted with a cold breeze. It was still summer so it wasn't a rigid cold, but it felt enjoyable. My thoughts didn't last long. It looks like we weren't the only ones who arrived on this veranda. I saw a bluish, indigo-haired woman leaning over the railing, gazing out into the moonlight. She was breathtaking. Just as beautiful as the woman beside me. Sunrise would begin soon, but it looks like this woman hadn't fallen asleep yet.
It was Ennea of course. She turned around, and smiled at me.
"You finally made it back, Master.", Ennea said, and calmly walked up to me. I didn't even do anything before I saw Ennea lean her head forward, and planted her lips on mine, then quickly parted ways. Jayna raised her eyes at Ennea doing this. Bet she didn't expect that, did she? "And who is this lovely guest you brought? A new member of the Royal Harem, perhaps?"
"Haha.", I said with a laugh, enjoying the heartfelt moment. "Sadly, I will not be meeting your expectations tonight Ennea. Jayna will hardly be a member of it. From here on, Miss Jayna here will be working at the castle.", I continued. "Miss Jayna, this is Ennea. A servant, but also part of the Royal Harem. Please get along with her alright?"
I introduced Ennea to Jayna.
"So the rumor talk of Your Royal Highness forming a Royal Harem wasn't baseless...", Jayna uttered, showing a surprised look in her eyes. Since she heard that, Jayna did a second take, and observed Ennea. She was similarly breathtaking to her own appearance. Jayna didn't think she'd come across a beauty like this. She quickly shook that thought aside, and smiled. "Ennea, is it? I am Jayna Storm. At the request of the Royal Army, I have been assigned a post here at Grancel Castle. Starting tomorrow, I will join in handling administrative affairs. If you require something to be scheduled, please pass it to me."
"I see...", Ennea said. I saw a hint of disappointment in her eyes. Oi, what are you thinking of!? It's not like every girl I bring here will join the Royal Harem! Only cringe fantasy stories do that!
I will keep that thought to myself. All I saw Ennea do next was look back at me. "Anyway, seeing this woman arrive, I take it the talks with those officers went well."
"They sure did. Miss Jayna here, as she has pointed out, will be working as a Secretary inside Grancel Castle. I plan to have Hilda show her the ropes.", I answered, and looked at Jayna. "I just don't know how your housing situation will go."
"Didn't the Captain inform you, Your Royal Highness? He had already approved of my transfer before you arrived at Leiston. It wouldn't have gone through should you have rejected me, but you accepted~", Jayna said in a teasing voice.
"What's this about accepting~?", Ennea also asked with a playful smile. "Oh dear me, what will Lady Angelica and Her Highness think of you bringing another woman into Master's private quarters? You could have chosen a better location."
I mean...you aren't wrong. But really? Captain Cid already filed the paperwork without my prior knowledge? Seriously, how competent is that guy? He was even complaining about sorting through more papers earlier in the evening, haha!
"Lady Angelica?", Jayna mused, coming across another name she hadn't come across. Hearing that, I sighed.
"Don't lead people the wrong way, Ennea.", I retorted. "Anyway, Angie is the first girl who joined the Royal Harem. Her disposition...is special. You'll meet her in due time. And enough of that formality. Your Royal Highness is too informal. If you must address me by title, Your Highness is sufficient."
"Very well, Your Highness.", Jayna nodded. "I am not sure what you did exactly a few moments ago, but to shift from one place to another at such a large distance...You best use that ability sparingly. If someone catches a whiff of you having this, you don't know what could happen.", Jayna continued, warning me. Jayna isn't wrong. Many people covet a Skill like Teleportation. It isn't exactly unknown to those residing here in Zemuria. Ouroboros has their own way of moving from place to place, as do others. It's not non-existent.
I saw Ennea's eyes light up the moment Jayna said that, and became excited.
"You mean, you successfully teleported, Master!?", Ennea happily asked.
"I did. That's how we came here. You had your back facing us so you couldn't see it exactly. We probably should take Jayna's warning to heart. Thank you.", I said with a nod.
"It is no problem, Your Highness. I will be acting as your Secretary for the foreseeable future. If you feel uncertain about any course of action you want to take, I will be here to lend an ear.", Jayna said, nodding back. "And while that is fine and all, it is quite late into the night. Shall I wait for one of your personnel to guide me to the post I was given?"
"Hmm...", I wondered. It wouldn't exactly bode well if I suddenly brought Jayna into the bedroom where Angelica and Kloe are, and potentially sleeping. Thankfully, I heard someone answer that before I could make a decision.
"Oh you needn't go that far, Naoto. Please leave the matters of Miss Jayna to me. I will have Hilda escort you to your assigned room.", A dignified voice said, which caused the three to turn our heads toward the entrance to this veranda. It was beyond midnight now, but she walked forward gracefully. "And I will turn a blind eye to what you did earlier. If you do have to sneak out, just try not to make a scene, alright?"
It was none other than Her Majesty the Queen who arrived.
"Grandmother...", I uttered, smiling at her. I saw Jayna's body stiffen, not suddenly expecting to see Liberl's one and only Queen Alicia. Even Ennea became polite and bowed. Jayna quickly recovered, and gave Queen Alicia a salute.
"It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty. I shall work my new post to the best of my ability.", Jayna said, keeping her tone polite.
"I expect nonetheless from you, considering you were personally approved by Naoto. Hilda will give you a good rundown of your duties. Naoto has quite a discerning eye, you see.", Queen Alicia said with a wry smile.
Nothing gets past Grandmother now, does it? Still, a hint of worry appeared in my eyes.
"It is quite late, Grandmother. Should you really be out like this?", I asked, wanting to be sure.
"Oh please, this is nothing. I just came to meet our new guest. Besides, Hilda is ready.", Queen Alicia said. "If you would."
Queen Alicia then turned, and sure enough, I saw an aged woman appear beside her, nodding her head along the way.
"It is as Her Majesty says. The process has already been signed off by General Morgan. We've just received notice ourselves.", Hilda said, explaining the situation to us. Sheesh, the Royal Army sure moves quick. It's only been a few moments since I teleported here. Thankfully Grandmother and Hilda didn't see that. Or at least, I don't think they did. "Please follow me, Miss Jayna. You will be taken to your room."
"Thank you.", Jayna said, and nodded. Jayna bid us farewell, and walked along Hilda, and vanished from sight. As they departed, I received an unexpected Gamer Notification.
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has displayed a particular set of Skills that Jayna Storm had not come across before. Due to her increasing interest, Jayna has become interested in Gamer Naoto.]
[Ding! Favorability has been unlocked with Jayna Storm. Current Favorability: 0%.]
'It really was that...', I thought to myself, welcoming the Gamer Notifications. I wonder, with Jayna's status as an ex-Jaeger, what reward would I receive if increase her Favorability all the way? I'm quite interested to find out.
Seeing me turn quiet, Queen Alicia spoke out.
"It is quite late into the night as you said, Naoto. I will retire soon. If you want to enjoy a moment still, I'll leave it to you two.", Queen Alicia said, and dismissed herself.
Before long, it was just Ennea and I enjoying the night breeze.
"I do wonder, what did Her Majesty mean by that~?", Ennea asked, grinning at me.
"Hahaha...", I replied with a dry laugh. To my surprise, I saw Ennea approach me, and I felt two large mounds suddenly press against my back. She hugged me from behind. It was a very soft feeling, and I enjoyed every second of it.
"You aren't going anywhere this time are you, Master?", Ennea decided to ask.
About that..
I didn't immediately answer. I still had thoughts of visiting a hospital due to what took place and all. I was injured, and it's been a while since I had gotten a checkup. And hospitals had experts there. I was no doctor. While I might have the Gamer System on my side, it isn't omnipotent. I was considering visiting St. Ursula.
"I could say the same to you, Ennea. Are you really set on staying here? What about the Stahlritter?", I decided to ask, not bringing up my interest yet.
"I really am grateful to My Lord, but I will say it time and time again. I serve you, Master, and no one else. My place is here.", Ennea said, and tightened her hug. Squeeze.
"Ennea...", I uttered, feeling happy. She really is willing to stay by my side instead of the Steel Maiden. Hopefully we won't end up in a situation where we have to clash. Apart from the Rivalries. Perhaps it will be that moment that will cause Ennea to see what side she remains on. It is still several years until then, so I'm not that worried. Like this, we shared a moment in silence, before she ended her hug. "Thank you. Knowing that means a lot. And thanks to that, I think it's enough for me to make a decision. With that battle, it gave me some things to think about.", I continued, explaining.
"A decision, huh? As long as it doesn't have to happen right this minute, can we talk about it in the morning? You have that reward box to open too, right? Something about a Master Quartz?", Ennea asked.
That is right. The reward from the Emergency Quest. It gave me a Selectable Master Quartz box! I had tasked Erika to develop an Enigma II prototype with the blueprints I had given her. I want to upgrade my Generation III Combat Orbment to an Enigma II! Once that happens I'll be able to use Master Quartz. I don't necessarily have to wait for its completion. I totally could use the box now.
"Yeah. I won't go into the details, but my ability and the scope of what it can do is quite big. If I do a particular task, I get rewarded for it. It can strengthen me, or give me tangible rewards, just like the reward box you mentioned.", I explained. "I was thinking of waiting for Professor Russal to finish upgrading my Combat Orbment first, but it's not like we have to wait."
"You really have some interesting abilities, Master. Seeing you have something else you want to discuss that will wait till the morning, we can open this box at the same time. I'm sure Her Highness and Lady Angelica will be interested in watching it, as much as I am.", Ennea suggested.
That might be for the best, so I nodded my head in agreement. That night, I had resolved myself. It might cause another wave of surprise to some, but it will be the start of my next adventure. I plan to set out again, in hopes to further train my foundations so I can be ready for whatever the Vermillion Trials will throw at me. I'm not too far away from meeting its last requirement.
Thinking that the two of us enjoyed the cool breeze outside before heading inside the tower situated in the back of Grancel Castle. Queen Alicia dismissed herself already, and with Hilda and Jayna gone, we could retire for the night. We soon headed back into our private quarters. It really was a long day. It was still the same day since I had that fight with Ace. A wave of tiredness hit me.
I know the RMP was currently handling the aftermath of the Gardens' attack, but I do not know what will happen afterward. I had vanished from the scene before Claire could confirm her doubts about me. I do feel guilty about doing that, but hopefully she'll understand my angle. The only thing I did to make her not worry was confirm that no harm came of me. Hopefully that will be enough to satisfy Father.
With us heading back inside our private quarters, I could hear some peaceful snoring. I saw Angelica and Kloe happily snoozing away in their respective areas of the large, circular bed, and Tamamo sleeping with them. Looks like they had already clocked out for the night. But what surprised me was a constant clatter of what appeared...to be typing?
I couldn't even catch my breath before I heard a rather familiar voice speak out to me.
"Hmph. You sure took your sweet time, Big Brother. Congrats on completing Campanella's mission, by the way.", The voice said. "I was getting so bored that I went ahead and upgraded your security system now that you have the orbal network installed on your laptop. It's quite the barrier if I do say so myself."
Turning around, I saw a petite figure in a frilly white and purple dress currently sitting at my orbal network setup, the very same one with the few monitors attached to the vermillion-colored laptop. Despite the funny-looking appearance, my eyes turned wide seeing this person. I saw the girl continue to speak.
"Oh, and it looks like you have the beta version of Pom, so I went ahead and added my account info while I was at it. You can thank me later~", The girl continued. The moment I heard that, my cheek twitched.
"So to put it bluntly, you hacked me.", I responded.
"I barely did anything. You lack computational skills, Big Brother. But then again, it might be me who is the oddity. I am quite skilled in that area. I even met a new online friend not too long ago. Their skill in diving into the orbal network isn't half-bad either. It's comparable to what I can do.", The girl said, smiling at me.
"Heh.", I replied with a laugh. "I think I can guess who it is you are referring to. Still, it looks like you finally decided to make your way here. It is nice to see you again, Renne. I take it that your training is complete."
"Yep!", The girl happily replied. She was, of course, Renne. I had tasked her with becoming the Enforcer No. XV, the Angel of Slaughter, so that part of the story doesn't deviate too much. I know I am taking some events out of context, but there are some that still need to happen. I just didn't think Renne would make it all the way here to Grancel Castle. "I managed to become Enforcer No. XV not too long ago. It sounds like you've accepted the position too. Enforcer IV, as I recall?"
"Only on paper. It's more an informal way of collaborating with Ouroboros. Not to the point you received.", I answered.
"It doesn't matter. It means we'll be able to take on missions together in the future!", Renne happily said. "And well, with me becoming an Enforcer, I completed the task you gave me. From now on, we'll be able to spend more time together."
"True. I won't go back on my words. You're welcome to stay here in Grancel as long as you want, Renne.", I said.
"Heehee, thank you, Big Brother. And I'm not that ignorant. I know you created that Royal Harem. I didn't think you'd sink those fangs of yours into one of the Stahlritter no less.", Renne said, glancing at Ennea. Hearing Renne say that, I scratched my head.
"So you found out.", I responded.
"I don't think it will matter too much to Lady Renne, Master.", Ennea simply replied.
"Yeah, what Ennea said. I won't butt in at all with what you want to do regarding that Royal Harem. I'll stick out of your hair. The head maid already gave me my own room anyway. I won't be staying in this room.", Renne said, explaining her end. I sighed in relief hearing that.
"Is that right?", I asked.
"See?", Ennea said, assuring me things were fine. "I wanted to surprise you, Master. Lady Renne made her way here shortly before you finished the Fool's mission."
After Ennea said that, I saw Renne close the laptop. It looks like she was done meddling with it. "And speaking of which, I am quite tired myself. You sure have a lot of interesting data in that laptop of yours, Big Brother. We can chat more in the morning."
"I'd like that. I'm quite beat myself, I'm ready to hit the bed.", I said, and yawned.
Just like that, Renne dismissed herself with a curtsy of her dress. I didn't think Renne would make it all the way here, but that's another plus one added to Grancel Castle. First Jayna, now Renne. Things are looking lively now, aren't they?
"Anyway, why don't we go wash up and get ready for the night, Ennea?", I suggested.
"After you, Master. I'll go prepare the water and wash your back.", Ennea responded, and smiled.
From there, Ennea and I spent some quality time before resting for the evening, which was well past midnight. Ennea brought me into her bosom, and I quickly fell fast asleep, entering dreamland. Tomorrow, or I guess today, I will open my Master Quartz box, and talk about heading to St. Ursula for a checkup to Angelica and Kloe. And speaking of which, is that crazy head priest lurking around there after what he did to me several years back?