Reborn: I’m a Dragon Girl With An OP System Book 7

In the end, since I was all mellowed out from my book, I let everyone have the night off and called Diablo to talk with me about demons. "You called, Master?"

"Yes, Diablo, please sit." In the living area of my room, I had Annie prepare some tea and snacks. Grace was also here since Adel screamed all kinds of things about me being alone with a man, a demon at that, in my room. Grace had part of my demonic blood in her now as well, which caused her to look partially the way she does, so although Adel wanted to be here, I told her to go rest. But I must say her puppy dog eyes when she tried to plead with me to let her stay was almost hard to resist.

"So the reason I called you here is to find out more about demons. As you know, I also have demon blood in me. To be exact, my bloodline is a mix of dragon and demon called the dragonic. I have an ancient will deep inside me that will come out every so often and makes me go kind of crazy. I will not hesitate to kill anyone. It has come out multiple times, and to be honest, it scares me as it feels like my body is being taken over. It mostly comes out when something happens or threatens those close to me." I explained. While it did not come out during the times that I was in the dungeon and fighting the goblins, but I think this was the same as when I was commanding the soldiers during the Norian invasion. Because my mind was preoccupied, it suppressed my ancient will enough to keep it from coming out.

"Hmmm… I am not sure about this world's demons. But there are also many different kinds of demons as well. Demons come in all shapes and sizes, just like you humans and demi humans do. To actually put it simply, to us demons humans and demi humans are one and the same, just different features. Although, Master seems to fall under a whole different category.

"As a dragon, you are of a breed of your own. You are not a demi human nor a human. You are a dragon, which sets you apart from the rest. As for demons, as I said, we come in different varieties, just like humans. We have ones that are more civil and those who are very violent and want to destroy everything. There is even a single demon king who is like this. But he is kept in check by the others. While it might seem strange to you, the demon world is not much different from this world.

"We have our cities and our own law systems along with kingdoms, and as you may have guessed, there are seven altogether. While there are some kingdoms that seem more lawless, there is actually a kind of balance in the demon world. Demons, by instinct, seek destruction and chaos. We were born from it, to begin with. We can be said to be a byproduct of the humans' hate and desires. The same goes for the angel race. They were born from humans' love and care. Lady Grace falls under the category of a mix of both. My guess is that at some point in this world, a human and an angel mated, giving birth to a half breed that then, over the years, passed on to each new generation.

"And in your case. A dragon and a demon mated, giving birth to the dragonic. It is just that this demon seems to be part of the violent faction and may very well be King Hades himself. He did not have a tendency to spread his seed long ago." Diablo paused as he took a sip of his tea. But his words left me thinking. What exactly are demons and angels to begin with? To be honest, Diablo's explanation had many loopholes as well.

"I know what you are thinking." Diablo interrupted my train of thought. "What I just said is based on the demon realm I am from. I do not know if more exist. This world could very well have had demons and angels living on it at some point. Your blood is familiar to me. The scent that comes from it. And I mean from the both of you. But I could be wrong. It could come from another race altogether similar to my kind."

"No, I know for a fact that the blood of a dragonic is a mix of demon and dragon blood. My system is different from others. I have the ability to evolve using something called an evolution stone. Well, the first evolution was a single evolution stone, while my next one requires six more." The final boss also dropped a few evolution stones, bringing me that much closer to my next evolution.

"I see… Evolution…. Do you know what your next evolution will bring?" Diablo asked.

"I am not sure. I only know its name, Dragonic Princess. I will not know more until after I evolve, sadly. At least I hope...." It was kind of annoying how the information for the next tier was blocked. I could only hope that it would give more information after my evolution. While I was kind of nervous about evolving, I still planned to do it anyway. The stronger I can get, the better with how this world seems to be slowly moving towards war.

"Hmm… Dragonic Princess. I wonder… Are you sure this is a race from this world?" Diablo asked. And he had good reason to. I even had my doubts as well but then the thing with Grace happened.

"I thought this as well but then Grace…." I looked over at Grace causing Diablo to nod.

"Yes, this does throw that idea out the window." Diablo contemplated for a few moments before leaning back in his seat. "If the dragonic of this world indeed descended from my demon world then I think we would need to speak with Hades."

Chapter2 Talking With Diablo Part 2

"Do you think that is wise? You did say he was violent, after all. If we brought him here…." I was hesitant to call any demon that might cause harm to those around me.

"Yes, I know. That is why I will do the summoning. But we will only leave that as a last resort, and even then, it might not come to any kind of new information. For all I know, this world could have had more ancient demons than myself at some point and time.

"Master, you must understand that in this universe, nothing is absolute. Everything can change on a whim. The rise and fall of civilizations can be decided with the flip of a coin. One wrong mistake can wipe everyone out. This is just how things work. Even we demons are no exception which is why we keep a kind of balance in the demon world, or war would break out at any time. We do not cross our boundaries, and everyone has an equal share of land. This is to keep ourselves from destroying one another." Diablo's words made a lot of sense. But I still did not understand how this had anything to do with my ancient will.

"To put it plainly, this dragonic race of yours may very well be a real race of this world, but the will itself originates from someplace else entirely. Like I said, nothing is absolute. Your system, which is different from everyone else's, may even be something from an even higher power. After all, your world did not have dungeons until just recently, right?" Diablo asked, causing me to nod my head.

"If that is the case, then why did dungeons suddenly start showing up now? The man we met with the strange lines on his body, where did he come from? This world may be under some kind of new rule, and you did not even know because to them, you are nothing more than ignorant ants that don't deserve their attention. The man we saw could even be the weakest of the weak compared to the ones above him." Diablo's words made sense. Everything may be different when dealing with the system. And not to mention Azengrade and his power to be able to control parts of the dungeons themselves.

It was a lot to take in, but one thing's for sure, I got nowhere in finding out about my ancient will. All this conversation did was bring more questions to the table than we had answers for. But I am glad I had it because these questions were things that needed to be asked to begin with.

"Thank you for your time Diablo." I finally said after being lost in thought for a while. I had much more to think about than I had expected to.

"Master, you do not need to thank me. You are my Master and can ask anything of me. This is what the contracts we have with each are for." Diablo stated as he stood up. But I did not feel that way.

"Even if we have a contract, Diablo. You are still your own person. While it may seem strange because I may ask things of you knowing that you can not say no, I am not doing it to order you around but asking you as a friend. It would be no different from asking the same thing of Adel or even Steven." I said with a smile. I did not think of Diablo as a tool. While I may contradict myself in some of my actions, I still felt Diablo was someone I could rely on as a friend and not a servant.

"This is why I am willing to serve you loyally. You have a pure heart, Master. While strong, you care for those around you and wish to help who you can. In the short while that I have known you, I have seen these things clearly with my own eyes. You give off a feeling that I can not find in the demon world." Diablo's words made me chuckle.

"Diablo, wasn;t it my mana what made you want to serve me?" I asked teasingly. He laughed and nodded his head. "This I can not deny! Haha!"

"Well, at any rate, I am glad to have you on my side." I was truly grateful to have someone as strong as Diablo next to me at this time. Because of him, I have room to breathe. And I think he was the reason why we were able to leave the dungeon alive anyways. Even if we did beat the dungeon boss on our own, that man…. He might have killed us all.

"And I am the same as you. But Master, before I dare call Hades here, you will need to grow much stronger. So when the time comes, you will need to have the strength to fend off any attacks he might throw at you. You will need to be able to protect yourself." Diablo added before bowing and leaving the room.

I sat back in my seat and looked up at the ceiling. It was then that a hand landed on my head and stroked it gently. "Grace?"

"Master looked as if you had a headache, so I was trying to help soothe it." Grace answered, causing me to close my eyes. She was right, I did have one. "Thanks Grace."

"It is my duty." Grace mumbled but I decided to ignore it.

"Grace, have you spoken to your family?" I asked. We still had to deal with her family. After all, the daughter of a marquess becoming a servant of a demi human was unheard of. It could make both the person involved and the family name lose all face.

I opened my eyes to see Grace making a strange face which was obviously a no. "I think we should invite your parents over. What you do is up to you. I will follow your decision. But you should at least talk with them."

"Then I will do as Master says…."

Chapter3 Early Morning Trouble

The next morning Grace did send a message to her parents. I was unsure of how this meeting was going to go, but it was necessary. Only when we meet will we know how it goes.

Currently I was out in the garden, which had now changed into a training ground. Well, for running anyways. I was having Frank, Jessica, Becky, Johan, and even Instructor Telive run a few lamps to begin really working on their stamina. I wanted to make sure everyone was at a standard stamina level before doing much of anything else. I, of course, was running alongside them as I needed to exercise as well. After running, I did some basic exercises before letting them go clean up and eat. We still had to go to the academy after all.

I was once again escorted to the academy in cuffs which brought a lot of attention to me. Not that I cared because this was all for show anyway. So the murmurs of those around me did not bother me in the slightest.

After entering the academy, I was to head off to my knight classes. "Alright, I will see you all later."

"Faith…." Adel called out to me. I turned to look at her. She had the most pitiful face on. "Don't forget about me…."

"Adel, go to class!" I yelled before turning around and walking off. That silly girl, why is she being so dramatic!? She was acting as if we would never see each other again.

As I walked alongside Sei, Sophie, and Sally, I heard another set of footsteps behind me. I turned to see Grace standing there with her hands folded in front of her. "Grace?"

"Yes, Master?" Grace answered per her usual response.

"Why are you following me?" I asked.

"Because I am Master's servant?" She replied while tilting her head to the side as if what I had just asked was a silly question.

"You are in the mage courses, though! Grace, you need to stay by Adel's side in case something happens to her! We talked about it earlier!" I held my head. I had already told Grace this early this morning. She repeatedly nodded her head. But it seemed my words went in one ear and out the other!

"Oh! You were talking to me about that! I thought you were talking to Sei." Grace immediately placed the blame on someone else, causing me to sigh.

"Just go to the mage classes. We will see each other later. I will be there for the afternoon classes." I really had to hand it to her to lie with such a straight face. Sei was still sleeping when I talked to her this morning! This girl….

"As you command Master. But…." Grace turned to look at Sei, Sophie, and Sally. "If Master comes under any harm while under your watchful eyes, I will destroy this kingdom and everything in it."

"Oi! Stop saying such things and get out of here!" I yelled. Grace bowed her head to me before giving the other three a meaningful glance and walking away. "She can just be…."

"Grace is as over the top as usual," Sei said with a chuckle.

"I don't think she was joking, though." Sally shook her head as she added.

"Then we will just have to keep our Queen Faith from getting even the tiniest of scratches on her!" Sophie teased as she poked me in the side. I pursed my lips and walked forward faster. I heard all three of them giggling away as I hurried along. They all know about what happened with the King because Adel thought it was an amusing story and blabbed about it to everyone. So now they have been calling me queen here and there to tease me.

"Boss! You are here!" I heard a familiar voice. Steven came running up along with a few of the others from my team. But I also felt many hateful gazes piercing into me as well, which was quite annoying. I brushed Steven aside and walked to the front of the classroom. "Boss? What are you?"

The instructor had not shown up yet, so I figured I would take this time to deal with the issues at hand. I can not learn in a hostile environment, especially if people are going to be staring at me in such a way.

I cleared my throat and looked everyone over. "I will say this now. I do not care which noble family you come from. I do not care what your noble rank is. If any one of you keeps staring at me with killing intent or malicious thoughts, I do not mind dealing with you. But I know most of you are egged on by your families as they are inturned egged on by a certain individual. Whether you hate me or not, I do not care but keep it to yourselves and stop staring at me, or I will punch each one of you until you learn how to be respectful of those around you."

"You! You dare!?" A young woman yelled out. I do wonder why these young noble girls, who have never seen the world, feel like they have to act all high and mighty. It makes no sense to me. But since she asked me if I dared…. I took a step forward only to have Sei pull me back. I turned and looked at her to see her shaking her head. "Leave that to me. I am not of your house, so if I beat them up and they can't do anything about it. Plus, my standing as a black night is higher than theirs.

"You are also currently under house arrest, so if you do beat them up, it will work against you at your trial. You need to watch how you act for the time being. So all the dirty work can fall to my hands or Adel's. We will be more than happy to take out such trash." Sei's words made a lot of sense. If I did make a move at this time, it would be causing me more bad than good, even if the fact of beating up these rich noble kids who wish to cause me trouble would feel good. I could only step back and motioned for Sei to take the floor.

Chapter4 Sei’s Red Bottom Technique

Sei smiled and stepped forward as she cracked her knuckles and looked at the young noble girl. "Now then… Do you want an over the clothes spanking or a bare bottom spanking? I have recently learned a technique called Red Bottom. It is quite good at putting naughty children in their place."

I tilted my head to the side. I could swear I had heard that name before…. Wait… She won't, will she? She really won't do it, would she!? A few nights ago, in the dungeon, we were all talking about our pasts before the academy and embarrassing things. I had spoken about my mother's red bottom technique. I never thought Sei would actually remember it.

"A red what!? Do you know who I am!?" The girl yelled out one of the most cliche lines any rich noble kid could yell. But I guess with their pride as a noble, they would use their noble names to scare the person in front of them so that they would not have to fight but sadly… I watched as Sei grinned and then disappeared…..

Not even a second later, a scream was heard, and a fresh white butt was exposed to the air for all to see. The girl had been draped over Sei's knee before most could even blink. Sei raised her hand and, with an evil grin, slammed it down onto the white cheeks of the poor girl. "Ouch! What are yo…. Ouch! Stop it! Ouch!"

I held my head. Why does it seem that I was seeing a shadow of my mother in Sei's image? This was just too much….

"Uhhhh….. Did I come at a bad time?" A male voice came from behind me. I turned around to see a familiar person standing there with a strange expression on his face.

"Good morning, Instructor Reliks," I said respectfully as I bowed my head.

"Yes, good morning, Faith, now please explain to me why I see a white… well, a now red butt being spanked in the middle of my classroom?" Instructor Reliks, full name Bill Reliks, the battle manic instructor who I fought during the entrance exam. His expression said a lot as he looked at the scene before him.

I must say the red bottom technique that Sei was using was quite good. Makes me wonder if she had practiced it. This kind of punishment also seemed to be effective because the other boys and girls that had been giving me hostile gazes earlier all had gazes of fear at this point. After all, such a punishment was unheard of to a normal noble. They would probably never be hit their entire lives. But to have your pants or dress pulled down to expose your white bum and then spanked on top of that was a huge blow to one's pride and reputation.

"Ah, Sei is just teaching kids that respecting your fellow classmates is the way to go no matter what their parents have told them," I replied with a smile. It seemed Bill was not a complete idiot as he nodded his head to my explanation.

"I see… but how long is this going to last?" Bill asked. He did not seem to care to stop it at all. Not like he could stop Sei anyway.

"Ah…" I looked up to see that Sei seemed to have a bright smile on her face as if she was having fun. I do wonder if a new window to a certain kind of world that starts with a capital S has opened for Sei.

"Sei!" I yelled out. Sei looked up at me with her hand frozen mid air. Her face quickly turned red as she lowered her hand and pulled the skirt back up on the girl. "Ahem… Now you know to behave yourself…."

The noble girl's face was full of tears and snot. Now that she was released from Sei's grasp, she quickly hurried out of the classroom. Of course, she made sure to glare at me as if I was the one who hit her but whatever. Since the show was over, I made my way to an empty seat and sat down. The room was designed with a podium at the front of the class and then stadium seating. There were long rows of wooden tables in front of the bench seating set up on four different levels and split into three sections.

Sei walked over and sat down next to me on my left while Sophie sat on my right and Sally to Sophie's right. The other seats quickly filled with the rest of my teammates. Bill, who was still in a daze as to what he had walked into, took a moment to snap out of it. He seemed to want to forget about what had happened.

"Ahem… To start off, I would like to congratulate you all on becoming students of the Royal Magic Academy. Being a knight is not all about fighting. It is also not all about training physically either. A knight must have the correct knowledge to go about their daily tasks. This includes law." Bill is the instructor for the knight practical class. And what he just said is one of the reasons I took this class. Knight practical allowed me to learn the law of this kingdom's law, and right now, I needed as much information as possible on the subject of law for my upcoming trial. It never hurts to be ready for anything.

"The laws of the kingdom are to be upheld by the civilians, including nobles. And a knight's job is to enforce these laws. Being caught being corrupt while being a knight can result in many different punishments. First, you could lose your position as a knight. Second, if you are a noble, you could lose your noble title. Third, and the worst punishment of them all, is death. Not for only you but your entire family. So think carefully before you act."

Chapter5 [Weekly Bonus chapter]Two Sets Of Laws

"Let me make this clear. In my classroom, leave your grudges and political family crap at home. I do not care what you do outside my classroom, but if I even sense that you are not listening to my teachings and are plotting something else instead, I will be the one to initiate the red bottom technique" Hearing Bill's words caused me to lower my head. So he WAS listening in on what was going on! He is even looking at me, grinning. I really feel like punching him in the face….

It was fine for Sei to do it because she was a girl, but if he did it, he would just look like some pervert. But I guess in a sense, this will really drive home the whole keep it out of the classroom rule he just told everyone. I sighed and decided to forget what had just been said.

Bill looked around the room before nodding. "Alright. Since I now got everyone's attention, let's go over the basics of law.

"What most do not know is that there are two different law systems. One for commoners, those without status, and one for nobles, those with status. The laws themselves are fundamentally the same with additions on both sides, but the punishments are different." Bill eyed everyone there. I looked around myself and saw that there were a few crumpled faces. This was the first I had heard of two sets of law systems.

"First is the normal system which is for your everyday person a commoner. They are the fruit of any kingdom, and no kingdom could survive if not for a commoner." Bill was really trying to drive this home. I actually respected that he was doing this with all these nobles here. Of course, many scoffed at his words, but they were one hundred percent true. A kingdom could not be made up of nobles and royalty only. The common folk were what drove a kingdom's economy and allowed them to survive and grow as a single entity.

"You may think I am just saying this to make you be nicer to commoners, but I am not! I am saying this because it is the truth. If you think a kingdom is able to flourish without commoners, then you are just a plain idiot and should leave this academy now!" Bill glanced at everyone before asking: "So which one of you think this is not true? Raise your hand! I will write up your expulsion papers now."

Bill's face held a mocking smirk. All the nobles in the room that thought they were better than everyone else lowered their heads. I could even see a few gritting their teeth and clenching their fists. This just showed that no matter how much they hated it, they hated that they had to agree with what Bill was saying. It was a nasty little trick he used, but it was a good one. "I see… So you are all nobles who love the commoners good, good.

"Now then, to get back on topic. Commoners have a set of laws that they must follow, and these laws include respecting nobles. Any disrespect can put them in jail. But it also includes crimes such as theft, murder, abuse, kidnapping, human trafficking, and many others that I won't name as they are not suited for children your age. It is something you will learn when you reach the higher levels." The higher levels he was talking about were basically like grades back on Earth. It started off at level 0 when I was at now and then went up from there. After each year in the academy, you would rise a level. While you would not be held back, the points you gain per year added up and what job opportunities and merits you will gain in the end are all based on your performance throughout the years.

"Now then… As for nobles, you all have basically the same laws. But you have a few more that are supposed to be followed strictly, or it will cause you to lose your noble title, and the main one is that you must never discriminate against commoners. Nobles of high status gain taxes from the people. They live off the taxes of those who work hard every day. This law is not really remembered because nobles will always do as they please, but it is a law that if a commoner knew about it, they could take you and your family to court." Bill's words cause a few snickers here and there, but sadly I can not say anything about it because even if a commoner took a noble to court, the court would side with the noble. Hence such a law would never be enforced no matter what. It was a sad reality that while the law was supposed to be there to protect the commoners from nobles who held power, one word from a noble, a single kickback of a pouch of gold, could make the courts side with that noble in an instant.

But I did have a question, so I raised my hand. "Yes, Faith?"

"I was wondering. If a commoner is able to take a noble to court and has substantial evidence against the noble, but the court still sides with the noble, what can a commoner do then? They would be basically tortured by the nobles who knew they could get away with it. I mean, I see it all the time. Nobles abusing the commoners around them, but no one stops them, not even the knights. So tell me, what good are these laws if the knights of the kingdom are unwilling to enforce them? What can a commoner do then?" My question would anger many, but I do not care. This question was something I truly wanted to know. The kingdom as is, is already corrupt to the point that laws do not seem to matter to nobles.

"That is a good question. And the answer is simple. If all else fails, kill the noble."

Chapter6 Classes Part 1

"That is blasphemy! " A noble yelled out, causing me to smile. This idiot was just wanting to leap out there and call out Bill, who was already a person who could care less for noble status.

"Oh? So are you saying a commoner should just sit there and be harassed by nobles!?" Bill yelled back, causing the young man who had yelled out to slowly sit down.

The young man cleared his throat as he replied: "I am just saying. Why should a commoner have the right to kill a noble?"

"Hmmm. Let's have Faith answer your question. Faith, why would a commoner want to kill a noble?" I do not know why this man was trying to involve me, but I personally did not care.

I stood up and turned to the young man. "It's simple. From what I have seen from the perspective of someone who used to be a commoner, nobles do as they please. They see a commoner girl, and they will force them to their bed, use them and then toss them away. Sometimes even kill them to keep them silent. Now before you go and start yelling, that is not true...." I paused as I saw the young man's face grow red with anger. I smiled and then continued: "Not every noble is as such. There are actually quite a few good nobles out there who adhere to their duties as nobles and try to assist the commoners. I will not deny this. But…. A good portion of nobles have it in their heads that commoners are just tools of amusement.

"Let me ask you this, and please give an honest answer." I cut the young man off before he could rebuke me. "If let's say A noble of higher standing came into your house and ripped your sister out of her bedroom or came to your home and began taking your things. Your wealth, your money, everything, and then when you tried to take them to court, and the courts sided with them even though you have so much evidence, what do you think would happen after?"

"This…." The young man was at a loss for words. I could see it in his eyes that he never thought of imagining it while in the other's shoes. "The noble would probably cause issues for the person who took them to court…." He was reluctant to answer, but it seemed he was a person who was honest.

"Exactly. And since the court was unwilling to do anything on your behalf and now that you are being harassed non stop what would be your only option left? You have already lost everything. You have nothing else to lose, so what would be your final option? Because even if you tried to move, you would need to move out of the kingdom itself to find peace, but what then? The sister who was taken is now suffering in your place. The family members who might have been jailed for no reason out of the noble's revenge are rotting away being abused in jail. But you ran to escape it all. What else do you have now?

"If you can still live with the guilt of leaving everyone behind, then that is fine, but most people would not. They would stay and try to help their loved ones, but when all else fails, what option would you have left when the whole world is against you?" I asked, my eyes staring at the young man. His eyes fixated on me, and after a few moments of us staring at each other, he slouched his shoulders and bowed his head. "Instructor Bill, I apologize for my outburst."

"Haha! No worries, but now I am wondering if I should even be teaching." Bill turned and looked at me. I pursed my lips and looked the other way. I heard him chuckle before he continued: "At any rate, what Faith said is correct. While what I said is wrong, and I hope it never comes to that, the fact of the matter remains. In such situations where it is noble or commoner, it is all the same. Because I know of some nobles, who have suffered as well in the same manner."

"Alright, let's continue." Bill then began going over what it means to be a knight. He talked about chivalry and how a knight does not work for the kingdom but for the people within the kingdom and other things of this manner.

After Bill's class, there was a thirty minute break. I split from the others, and only Sally, Sei, and Sophie were at my side. I walked out to the yard next to the building I was in to take a seat under the still mild suns. But just as I closed my eyes to relax, a voice came from my side. "Ummm…."

I opened my eyes to see the young man I was one sidedly debating with earlier standing there with red cheeks. "Yes?" I asked while tilting my head to the side.

"I umm… I want to apologize." The young man suddenly bowed his head. "Earlier, when you walked into the classroom, I was gazing at you the same way as the other nobles. My father had instructed me to give you a hard time, but I can not do that now that I have had my eyes opened up a little. The things you said earlier, I could not denounce a single thing. Everything you said is right, and when I thought about my own behavior up until this point, I began to feel ashamed of my own actions because I was acting just like you said myself. While I have yet to cross the line as to do anything drastic as described, I have treated commoners in a way that made me look down on them as if they were bugs. But now I have seen that I was acting more like a villain than anything else."

"I see. Well, I am glad you understand it is wrong now. So in the future, just treat others the way you wish to be treated." I answered with a smile. But for some reason, the young man blushed even more. I tilted my head in confusion, not understanding his reaction.

"Mmm, I will do as you say. I need to go now. I do hope we can talk again soon!" The young man said before leaving but stopped when he only got a couple of feet. "Oh yeah, my name is Riley, Riley Thromson."

Chapter7 Classes Part 2

"Huh? Yes, have a good day…." I tilted my head in the other direction. For some reason, I felt something was off with how he smiled and waved at me.

"Ahhh… Faith is now sinking her teeth into the male population." Sophie's voice came from my side.

"That she is. To think she can sway both men and women to be by her side. Then again, Steven is also a lost cause as well." Sei replied to Sophie.

"What are you talking about?" I could not follow their conversation. But when I asked my question, they both just shook their heads and sighed. Well, whatever. I think I get the gist of what they are talking about, but I will just ignore it as I do not really care too much.

I went to my next class, which was battlefield theory. It was all about tactics on the battlefield and how to implement them. I do not think I even blinked during class as I tried to soak up all the information I could. The thing I liked about this class was that it seemed that no one was looking at me in hostile ways. While some did take a peek at me, it was only a peek. It seemed everyone in this class was here to learn, which made things go smoothly, which was good because in this class, it was just me. Sei and Sophie went to one of the other knight courses to learn more techniques.

It was only in my third knight class, battle practice, that I met up with the others. The instructor of this class was Sir Olbert. He was an older gentleman with a stern expression and an oppressive aura about him. Just standing near him makes a person shrink back. Even when he smiled, it was kind of scary. "I am glad to see so many youthful people here willing to take this class."

"To start things off, I need to know everyone's abilities. There are quite a few of you here, so we will have you all pair up, and we will see just how good you are. There will be no magic. This is physical strength and sword only. And do not think just because I am old that I will not detect any magic. I can detect even the faintest of magic coming from someone. So if anyone uses magic, I will not allow you to attend my class again, and I am sure you understand what happens if one is kicked from a class here in the academy." Sir Olbert was truly strict. He did not look down on anyone either. He was just blunt and upfront. And by saying he would kick you from the class, it was the same as saying you would be expelled. Because any student kicked from a class in the academy would instantly be expelled.

"Alright, quickly team up. If you do not find your partners in ten minutes, I will decide for you!" Sir Olbert yelled out.

Now, this was a bit of a predicament because I had quite a few sets of eyes staring at me. "Umm… Sally will be my opponent!" I decided instantly on Sally because she was strong enough to take my hits. Her innate strength only doubled after leveling up a lot which makes her perfect to be my opponent. While I do wish to fight Sophie, that is only when she is able to use her phase skill. Otherwise, even with her amazing swordsmanship, I would still overpower her. Although this sounds conceited, we have already tested it. My strength and natural defenses will always prevail.

The class was nothing but sparing from start to finish. In the end, because Sir Olbert wanted to see our weak points as well as our strengths, he made us switch up partners every ten minutes. This meant I went against quite a few people and also seemed to have gained a few admirers, which I found strange.

But now it was time for me to take my mage courses. Adel managed to work her schedule so that we would attend the same classes while she attended the other mage course classes in the morning. In all, each division had six classes you could take that were not exactly fully related to the course you were taking, like runic inscription, alchemy, and mana manipulation. These were the three other classes you can take for mage courses, while the knight side had weapon specializations and formation practice.

And since I took my knight courses in the morning since that was when I would be the most awake to do physical activity, Adel decided to follow my schedule so we could meet up since I was not taking any of the other three mage courses.

"Faith!" Adel came running over and tackle hugged me. She then began rubbing her cheek against mine. "I need my Faith recharged!"

I sighed and put my hand between our faces. "Okay, enough."

Adel smiled cheekily as she looked as if she had been fully refreshed. "So, how were the morning classes?" I asked.

"Not bad. I did learn the benefits of magic in alchemy. I never thought just infusing a potion with magic would really do so much." Adel answered. "What about you? How was it?"

"She almost killed all the nobles." Sei chimed in before I could answer.

"Who was it that spanked the noble girl with a brilliant smile on her face!?" I asked while giving Sei a teasing grin. She blushed and lowered her head. "I just kind of lost myself in the moment!"

"Seems like you had an eventful morning." Adel said as she pursed her lips. I guess she felt like she was left out.

"Now, now, don't be sad, we'll be spending the next three classes together. I am sure something fun will happen." I said, trying to make Adel feel better. I guess it worked because she soon smiled and hooked her arm with mine. "Then let's go! Let's see what we can stir up!"

Chapter8 Classes Part 3

The first class for my mage courses was magic theory. The teacher from this class was much older than any of the other teachers so far, but I can say one thing. No one made a peep in the class. The instructor had a strict, stern expression on her face the entire time. Something you would see in the old schoolmarms back on Earth. She even had a rod in her hand as she taught. And for some reason kept slapping the palm of her hand with it.

But I must say magic theory was quite boring. It didn't really dive deep into anything. It was just the basics of magic and nothing more. Maybe it would get better as you rise in levels in school, but that didn't matter. What mattered was I could have taken a more useful class. But I still sat there and listened like a good girl. Just in case there was something worth listening to.

My next class was very interesting, though. Magic creation. A class based solely on creating new kinds of magic. And the one in charge of this class was Instructor Jasmine. As soon as I walked into the classroom, Instructor Jasmine called out to me. "Ah, good. I did pick the right class to teach. It is good that you are here."

"Oh? Is there something you need of me, Instructor Jasmine?" I asked. I was feeling a bit confused as to why she was happy I was here.

"Yes, after all, it is worth teaching someone magic creation if they have already created their own spells, miss spinning barrier. No matter how much I tried, I could not alter the spell at all to make it possible to spin the way you did!" Instructor Jasmine looked quite upset. I do not think she was mad at me but more upset that she could not alter the spell.

"Hmmm, it was quite simple though, look." I raised my hand and drew out the magic circle. Instructor Jasmine stared at the magic circle with a feverish gaze.

She stood there and studied the magic circle for a few minutes before throwing her hands up into the air. "It was that simple!? You just added in a rotational value to the runic equation like it was nothing! What the hell!?"

"It's not about trying to adjust anything in the spell but just layering an extra command over the top of it. If you add the spin to the target point you are casting it at, then you can make it spin around the target point. So all you are doing is adding in the rotational value to the runic equation." I explained.

"This is just… Fine, you teach class today!" Instructor Jasmine yelled out. I could only stare at her in disbelief. I mean, I came to this class to learn, not to teach! "What is that stupid look on your face for? I am being serious! You are much better at crafting spells than I am!"

"Faith, she has a point. I mean, you made a bunch of spells for everyone in the dungeon…." Adel, who was standing at my side, added. I, of course, pursed my lips.

"Let me make it worth your time. You will gain extra merits for teaching. Also, I will add in my referral to the dean if you are able to help these kids win the inter academy competition in a year's time." Instructor Jasmine's words of extra merits were not too bad but I did not understand what she meant by inter academy competition.

"Inter academy competition?" I asked.

"Were you not listening during the opening cer… never mind, you didn't even pay attention when you were called up to the stage. Alright, I will explain. The first year students will have a competition between the classes. Each class will face its counterparts. As each class is held by different teachers at different times. So I hope you can make this class lead the way in the magic creation part of the competition." Instructor Jasmine explained.

Hearing all of this, I thought for a moment and nodded my head. "I do not mind. If it is just teaching people how to create spells, that is fine, but the problem lies with how to responsibly do such a thing. If I teach and they make a spell that will kill us all, I do not want to be held responsible for it."

"I am not asking you to teach them how to create some of the crazy spells, you know, just some basic stuff." Instructor Jasmine flicked my forehead as she sighed at me.

"Alright then, let's get to it then…." I really don't care. I mean, if someone did try to do such a thing, I could just use dispel at some point as long as their magic power is not higher than mine.

And so now I was standing in front of the class while Instructor Jasmine sat in my seat. I guess she also wanted to learn from me. And right away was I getting hostile stares from all the noble kids. Which I figured would happen when they saw that they were going to be taught by me of all people.

"What is this!? Why is this demi standing at the podium!? Instructor Jasmine, I came here to learn not to listen to some demi human!"

"Yeah! Why is she even up there!? Does she even know how to create any spells!? I thought the academy was a place of learning, not messing around!"

Instructor Jasmine slowly got up and turned around, and looked at the few students who had yelled out just now. "Are you questioning my decisions!? I will tell you this now if anyone is more qualified to teach this class, it is her. She can change and create spells in a matter of minutes. But you say she is not qualified? And what do you mean by demi human? Let me remind you that there is no difference between humans and demi humans in this academy. If I hear you call someone a demi human or anything derogatory towards any beastkin I will expel you immediately!"

Chapter9 Classes Part 4

I watched as the nobles once more lowered their heads. I have to give it to this academy. They really did keep to their ideals and rules. Well, most of the instructors did anyways. I looked up at everyone in front of me. They still had a bit of a hostile gaze, but I could care less. I cleared my throat and began.

"Magic creation is not as complicated as it might seem. One only needs a high understanding of how runic equations work. For instance…." I made a basic fireball magic circle that was big enough for everyone there to see the runes within it. I then made another one at my side so I could use it to point out the sections I was talking about.

"If you look here in this equation, the fireball is formed and given shape in this portion here of the equation. The shape is determined here in this portion. Now let's say we wished for our fireball to take the shape of an arrow. We would just elongate the shape so that it can take on the same aspects as the spell fire arrow. And if we upped the mana consumption here, we can turn up the amount of damage it can do by a lot. So, in essence, we just rewrote the fire arrow spell using a fireball magic circle." I looked up to see everyone staring at me strangely. I tilted my head to the side and asked: "What?"

"You…. You just simplified the fire arrow spell in an instant…." Someone muttered. But I felt confused, although the runic equation was different and maybe a bit shorter, fire arrow itself was a beginner's spell.

"Hmm? No one has figured this out before?" I asked. All I got was a whole class shaking their heads. Only Adel looked at me with a bit of pride in her expression, as if she was the one who did it. Even Instructor Jasmine was shaking her head. But this did not seem right. I mean, it was all right there…. "Are you all telling me no one has ever changed the fundamental aspects of a beginner spell to make them easier and more mana efficient?"

In reply to my question, I was met with more heads shaking back and forth. "Ummm!" A girl, well, one of the nobles who had yelled out in discontent earlier, raised her hand. "Yes?"

"I want to apologize for my earlier outburst. You are more than qualified to teach us, so please, teach us how to create magic like you." The noble girl bowed her head to me. This was a surprise with how haughty she was acting earlier. The difference in attitude was like night and day.

"It's fine. I do not hold any discontent towards you. In fact, I think you have every right to speak out when you see a student standing where the teacher should be. I just did not say anything back as it would have caused more of an argument." I replied with a smile.

"I would also like to apologize!" The young man next to the noble girl spoke up after. He was the other one who had spoken out. "Anyone who can simply alter a spell and turn it into another spell so easily is worthy of teaching us all."

"As I said before, it is fine," I replied with a smile. The young noble boy blushed and sat down. Why do all the boys I talk to lately seem to blush when I do? Why is Adel glaring at him as if she wants to kill him? I can only sigh. I just want this class to end smoothly.

"Alright, we will do things like this for the time being. Taking a normal waterball magic circle, I want you all to adjust it to make it look like, and have the same power output as water arrow." I decided it would be best to have them try it themselves as it was not an easy thing to do at the start.

Everyone quickly got excited as they began drawing magic circles in the air. I chose waterball because if something happened, it would not be lethal and could easily be healed. It actually did not matter which spell someone cast as the principles would all be the same. I was just keeping it to low level magic as it was easier to understand for beginners and would allow people to get a better grasp on altering current spells. As they learned how to alter spells, they would slowly be able to write new spells of their own.

"Miss Cyrilia!" Someone called out, making me almost trip over my tail with how they called me. I turned to see the noble boy from earlier raising his hand. "Yes?" I asked as I walked over to him.

"This portion here. I am not sure if I did it correctly." The noble boy asked. I leaned over and began reading the equation. While it was a bit choppy in certain parts, as he seemed to have lost track of how the spell was supposed to be written, it was still functional in a sense.

"Here, here and here, need to be rewritten. This portion here was moved to the wrong area. You need to keep the same structure as waterball. While this spell may work, it is still unable to do much of anything except maybe water your plants. But for a first try of trying to reorganize the spell, it is not bad as it will still cast like this but never try to reinvent the wheel. The basic structure is already there, so there is no need to rewrite it unless you are trying to create a brand new spell altogether." I explained. When I turned to look at him to see if he was paying attention, his whole face was bright red. "You okay?"

"Ah!? Yeah… Sorry!" The noble boy's voice squeaked. I do wonder if something is wrong with him because he won't even look me in the eye.

"Miss Cyrilia, it's because you are so pretty." The noble girl from earlier said with a chuckle. But this made me understand why he was acting this way. I guess I leaned in too close. "I see…"

"Anyway, make sure you do not try to rewrite what does not need to be rewritten, we are just altering the spells, not creating a brand new one from scratch!"

Chapter10 Classes Part 5

"Seems like time is up. That will be all for today." I said as the bell rang outside. While the class was much different from what I had imagined it to be since I was talked into teaching it. All in all, it went quite smoothly.

"Um!" A voice came from my side. "Todd, is something the matter?" I asked. Todd is the boy who was acting strange any time I got near him to answer his questions.

"Ummm! I still do not understand a part that you went over, so c-c-c-c-c-c-c-could we talk about it over a cup of teaAA!?" Todd's spectacular stutter and screech, made me almost laugh out loud. In a way, he was cute. But sadly… "Sorry, I do not have time after classes. I am doing many other things as soon as I leave here."

On top of classes and training, I only had a few hours to spare, and to be honest, I kinda wish to spend them alone and in a quiet place. And the best place for that is none other than the library itself. I felt bad turning him down. That sad puppy dog eyes that looked as if the world had come crashing down were enough to make any girl squeal. He was indeed good looking, but I am not someone he should be chasing after.

As I watched him walk away, Instructor Jasmine walked up to me and placed her hand on my head. "He is a marquess' son, you know."

"It doesn't matter. I never came to this academy to fall in love with someone or find a man with a higher status. I came here to learn and better myself. While I may be good in some aspects, I lack in others which is why I am taking knight courses. I am aiming to be a magic knight, but I would also settle with working from the ground up until I reach my goal of having my own men and women under my command." I explained.

"You are a peculiar one, that is for sure. But I guess that makes sense with how you do things. You are someone who doesn't work just for others but for yourself as well. Anyway, I will leave these kids to you this term. I am also learning a lot, so I will also be in your care. My pay for this class will be split with you as well to show my thanks. I have things to prepare for my next class, so I will see you tomorrow." Instructor Jasmine patted my head once more before walking away.

"Sooooo~ Miss Cyrilia, how was your first day of teaching?" I looked up to see Adel giving me a cheeky grin.

I smiled back at her as I answered: "Miss Gravos, I hate to tell you, but due to your lack of performance this year, you will fail."

"Humph! Like I could fail!" Adel replied with a snort. We looked at each other for a few seconds before we both burst out laughing. I have no idea why it was so funny but it was.

"We still have one more class for today. After that, I will be heading to the library for a few hours." I announced. I wanted to have some me time after this.

"I will be heading back to the house. I want a bath and take a nap." Adel said with a yawn. I guess classes were draining for her.

"Then I will leave your safety to Sophie, Sei, and Sally," I replied. I knew even if I asked Grace to go with them, she would still follow me.

"Alright then," Adel said as she turned to look at Grace. "Make sure you protect Faith no matter what."

"I would have done so even without your meddling. After all, I am Master's servant. It is only right for me to stand in front of her and shield her from everything." Grace's words seemed to hit some kind of cord within Adel because she looked like she was about to explode.

I clapped my hands, getting the two to look at me. "We need to head to the next class, so let's leave that stuff for later."

The next class was magic practice which I was excited about until I got part way through the class and realized that my level for this class was a bit too high…. I should have expected this after watching the entrance tests, but the skills of those around my age were much lower than I thought. In the end, it was an uneventful class as I was not allowed to do anything except cast a basic fireball all class.

I stretched my arms and let out a yawn as the class came to an end. "Adel, I am off to the library. Make sure to meet up with the others."

"I will. Have fun!" Adel waved goodbye to me as I walked towards the library.

I walked to the library with Grace in tow. She was silent the entire way, which I was still getting used to. She seemed to be a whole different person now, but I will still not treat her any differently.

When I walked in, the young woman from before was sitting there reading her book. But this time, she actually looked up at me when she saw me. "Oh, you are back?"

"Mmm.. this is the best place to relax quietly," I answered with a smile.

"You are right." The young woman replied with a nod. "By the way, I never got a chance to introduce myself. My name is Jennifer Rineferd. I am nothing more than a baron's daughter, so no need to think of me as some big nobility. So just call me Jen."

I was quite surprised to hear her first name. It reminded me of my past life's best friend. Jen was what you could call my one and only true friend in that life. "Pleasure to officially meet you. My name is Faith Cyrilia."

Chapter11 The Girl In The Library

"Is something the matter?" I asked when I saw her stunned face.

"Huh? Ah no, sorry, I was just thinking about something." Jen's eyes flashed with a strange light as she shook her head back and forth.

"I will only be here for a few hours today," I said as I signed the ledger. Grace quickly followed up after me.

"I see… Umm…." Jen paused her words before shaking her head. "Never mind."

I tilted my head in confusion. I could tell she wanted to ask me something, but since she did not continue, I was not going to push her either.

My daily life continued like this, much at ease. My classes went off without a hitch, and many of the nobles in the class began to throw out their ideas of being hostile toward me. There were still a few but nothing for me to really worry about. After classes, I went to the library. There I would speak with Jen, who seemed happy to talk with me. She was getting more and more chatty with each visit, but this was only when I was at the desk to sign in or sign out.

Today I was by myself. Grace was preparing for the weekend as her parents would be stopping by to discuss their daughter's current situation. So I was alone today, which was kind of nice in a way.

I walked up to the desk, where Jen immediately put her book down and smiled at me. "Alone today?"

"Mmm… Grace had a few things to do today. So I came to relax by myself." I replied with a smile. The more I got to know Jen, the more comfortable I felt around her. She gave off a familiar feeling.

"Mind if I join you today?" Jen asked, which was surprising since she had never left her desk before.

"Sure." I saw no reason to reject her, so I signed the book, and the two of us walked up the stairs to the fantasy section. I was normally reading law books the past few days, but since I figured I would end up chatting with Jen more than actually reading, I figured I would go with fantasy.

"It's been a while since I have done something like this," Jen muttered.

"Oh? You don't talk with the other visitors?" I asked.

"No, I am normally held up at home or here in the library, and even then, I would not speak to others so much. But you are different. You remind me of an old friend from a long time ago. So I kinda felt a small connection with you." Jen explained.

"Yeah, I get that same feeling," I replied with a smile. I was telling the truth. I was not sure if it was the name or just how we interacted, but it all felt similar to my time with my friend Jen in my past life. However, the Jen of my past life was not a bookworm.

We walked to the midsection of the fantasy area, where we sat quietly by a fountain. We did not get books. We just sat there in silence for a while before Jen finally spoke up. "You ever wonder if it's possible to go to different worlds? This library is filled with stories of other worlds, but I wonder, is that even possible? Like we have many where people die and are transported to another world."

"There has to be some truth to every story, no? Whether it is the way things are interpreted or the reason on how they got there. Some truths can come from the imagination." I replied. Well, it was true after all. I was a living example!

"I guess so… I guess I can only believe that to be true." Jen seemed to be depressed about something. I am not sure why but something must be eating at her.

"Well, we will never know what actually happens until we die. But we shouldn't talk about such gloomy things. We should think happy thoughts and enjoy what life we have left." I was trying to change the mood. Luckily it seemed to work as Jen smiled and nodded at me. But to my surprise, she leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder. I was stunned not because of her actions but because this was something Jen used to do all the time. When she was feeling depressed about something or just tired, she would always use my shoulder as her pillow.

This all had to be a coincidence, right? I looked down at the girl who now had her eyes closed and realized she had dark shadows under her eyes. She even fell asleep. I couldn't help but stare at her as she slept because I was seeing images of Jen from my past life overlapping with the Jen of this life. And it made me think. It was a crazy idea, but it was not totally out of the question. But if it was true, wouldn't this be a kind of fate?

I couldn't even stop the hand that went to fix her hair as I leaned my head against hers. If this was truly what I was thinking, then I would need to confirm it when the time is right. But the atmosphere was a bit too relaxing with the fountain behind us. My eyes slowly grew heavy.

I do not think I slept long, but I was awoken by the sounds of sobbing. I looked down at Jen, who was still leaning against me, to see tears rolling down her cheek and her brow furrowed. I do not know what she was dreaming about, but it seemed to be very sad. I reached up and wiped away her tears before holding her hand and petting her head. She seemed to have calmed down a bit after that.

About twenty minutes passed when Jen finally woke up she seemed quite embarrassed because she jerked up with red cheeks. "I'm so sorry."

I shook my head and smiled. "It's fine. You must have been very tired."

Chapter12 Jen Part 1

"I… I do not know why but you remind me of someone I cherished from my past." Jen replied softly.

Hearing these words, I couldn't take it anymore. Although I might end up sounding crazy, I still have to know what has been eating me this entire time. There were just too many similarities between this Jen and the Jen of my past life.

I took a deep breath as I suddenly shouted: "Jennifer Parker, your panties are showing, and they have a cute teddy bear on them!"

"Faith, you damn perv….." Jen's eyes grew big while my eyes began to water up with tears. I used to tease Jen all the time about her cute underwear. It was one of the things I knew most would be different from this world. Something that she would react to instantly, just as she always has. The wide eyes she had slowly began to tear up as she tossed her arms around me and hugged me tightly. "You! You! I had a feeling, but…."

Jen sobbed into my chest as I hugged her back as tightly as I could. We both had been reborn. And funnily enough, we were brought back together due to books. The one thing I loved in my past and the one thing that Jen seemed to treasure now.

I have no idea how long we cried for, but when we finally parted, Jen's lips curled up into a blooming smile. "To think we could meet again."

"Mmm… I would never have thought you would turn into me." I said with a slight chuckle. But Jen's face showed a sad expression.

"After you died, I fell into depression. My life from then was not something I could really deal with. I even thought about dying just to make amends for your death. I kept thinking it should have been me. I should have been the one to die. But…. It was then that I saw one of your books lying on my desk. I picked it up and wondered to myself why you loved these stupid things so much, and that was when I fell into a trance. I basically became you. Or maybe I was just trying to replace you. I still went to school. I did what I needed to do to graduate, but my day was nothing but just that. School and then reading at home. Shut off from the world.

"Faith, you were like a shining light in my world whether you believe it or not. I mean, I was an outgoing person, but you were always doing what you loved most without a care. You never even cared about what other people thought about you. You talked about what interested you and ignored those who thought you were a weirdo. I looked up to you and thought maybe if I tried to work a bit harder, I could one day reach my goals.

"But that day changed everything. You risked your entire being to save me. I promised myself if I ever got to see you again, I would do everything I could to make sure you could reach your dreams. But now, after twenty two years, the best friend I thought I would never see again is now sitting in front of me. Although much cuter than before."

"Hey!" I fake punched Jen on the shoulder as we both laughed. She had tears in her eyes, and so did I, but I knew one thing, Jen, my best friend, was here in front of me. "So? How did you end up in the library of all places?"

"I am under watch. My magic is different from others. I have what is called curse magic. It is the only thing I can cast. The king did not wish to kill me, so he stuck me in the academy to watch over me. As long as I played the good girl and stayed here watching over the library, they would not see me as a threat. You see…. Curse magic can not be blocked. It is a form of dark magic, but only very few people can actually cast it. Plus, being here reminds me of you. Books have become my only solace. I owe them for keeping me from taking my own life on that day. They kept me moving forward as they reminded me of the times you whined about going to school due to it taking away your reading time, yet you still did your best in school. It made me feel like if I could only grasp a portion of that kind of thinking, I could at least stay somewhat sane.

"But sadly, my life still ended short. I do not know what I died from, but I only remember falling asleep one night when I was twenty five. And then I woke up in this world, and in this body when it was only two years old. Although I was in an orphanage at the time." Jen explained.

I had no words. I mean, Jen's life was a complete mess. I have no idea how I should even respond or say to any of this. I could only hug her and rub her back gently. But all I got back in return was a chuckle.

"It's fine. I did not tell you all that to make you feel bad. I just wanted to let you know that It was you who kept me alive even after your death." Jen said softly, while hugging me back. I had my questions, but I knew this was not the place to talk. That was when I came to a decision.

"I will speak with the Dean and King! You will come live with me from now on!" I stated firmly as I stood up and grabbed Jen's hand.

"What!? Huh? There is no way they will…." Jen had a look of helplessness in her eyes, but I only smiled back at her as I said: "I am much more dangerous to this kingdom than you are."

Chapter13 Jen Part 2

"Wait, what are you talking about!?" Jen asked. I guess she did not pay much attention to the outside world.

I smiled as I pulled her along and answered: "While you may be able to curse a person or two, I can destroy the entire kingdom in one go if I so wish. So in words to best explain it, I could become the demon queen of this world if I wanted to."

"You can what!?" Jen still seemed quite confused. I walked straight to the sign out book and signed out in order to not cause Jen any trouble before walking to the door when Jen suddenly pulled hard on my arm.

I turned to look at her in confusion, but Jen stepped back. "I can't leave. There is a barrier placed on this door to keep me in…."

"Hmmm?" I turned and looked at the door before waving my hand. "There, it's gone," I said with a smile before grabbing the dumbfounded friend of mine's hand and pulling her right through the door.

"What how!?" Jen was completely stunned. She looked at me in disbelief as she passed through the door with ease.

"Faith Cyrilia! You better explain yourself!" A roar came from the sky. I looked up to see the Dean standing in the sky with a furrowed brow.

"What? I am taking a new member into my team. Any questions?" I asked coldly.

"Faith, don't do this! I will just stay here. Why get yourself in trouble!?" Jen was still trying to pull away from me, but I held her wrist tightly.

"You will no longer be alone!" I shouted. I then turned back to the Dean and said: "Jen will now be a Cyrilia and be under my name. Have her sign a blood seal contract with me. Plus, if anyone should have been locked up, it should have been me, right? But look at me. I am free and walking around even though I could destroy this entire kingdom. Just because she has curse magic means nothing. Curses can be removed. I know since I have removed them myself. But I will say this now, and I will even say it to the king himself. If you wish to keep Jen locked up as you have been, then I will break her out and leave this kingdom behind."

I was not joking. Jen had suffered because of me. I would not let her suffer anymore. She was my best friend in my past life and still will be in this life. Although I would feel bad for Adel and the others, but Jen was someone I spent my childhood all the way to the day I died with in my past life. I could never abandon her. This world revolved around power. I had the power to defy those in high positions whether they liked it or not.

"I can not make that decision." The Dean seemed to be put into a tight spot.

"Then we will go to the castle then. All three of us." I said as I grabbed Jen by her waist and flapped my wings. "I don't have time to walk, so let's fly there."

"No, we can just use the teleporter. Come follow me." The Dean replied. I nodded and followed after him.

Jen, who was in my arms, was in a daze. I can understand why. Things were happening quickly, but this was just who I was. We arrived at the Dean's office, where we were led to a secret room behind a bookcase. Inside was a teleporter. But this one could only be activated if you had the same mana signature as the one who created it. In seconds we were inside the palace.

Jen looked around in awe as I pulled her along. The Dean kept sighing with each step he took. When we walked into the throne room, a meeting was going on. "Why are you…." The King looked at me, then at Jen, who had her head lowered and let out a long sigh before rubbing the spot between his eyes. "Meeting postponed for an hour. Everyone should leave."

The room quickly cleared out, and King Gravos's eyes fell onto me. "I can guess why you are here." After saying this, he looked at the Dean, who nodded his head before looking back at me. "I can not allow…."

"I object!" I cut him off. Causing Jen's mouth to drop and The Dean to look the other way. "Your Majesty, who is more dangerous, her or me?"

"Ahem…. I guess… That would be you." The king replied. Well, he couldn't really say otherwise.

"Then it's settled, Jen will come live with me, and we can be dangerous together. Any questions? Good. I will go back to being under house arrest. Dean, can you send me back to the academy?" I said as I went to turn around and walk away.

"Faith! You brat! You are worse than my daughter! I don't mind if she is under your care, but she must sign a blood seal contract! I can't have her being controlled by another kingdom. You are a different story as you have high magic power and can't be controlled. But she doesn't have such a thing. She is unable to resist mind control effects. We have tested her many times." The king explained. I turned to Jen, who nodded her head. I now understood why they kept her locked up. Not just to keep her from harming others but to keep her safe as well.

"Then why did you not do it before?" I asked.

"I refused…. I would have rather have stayed in the library anyway. It was the only place I felt at ease. I had no reason to leave but now…. I will sign whatever contract I need. I now have a reason to leave the library and maybe see a new side of life." Jen held my hand. I could tell she wanted to go back to the old times when we spent so much time together talking about this and that.

"Ummm… Just to ask…. Are you two lovers?" The King had a bit of a troubled face on as he asked this.

"Huh? Jen is my best friend. I can't explain it in a way that you would understand, but, we are just friends. You can say we are childhood friends." I could tell by the confused expression on both the King's and Dean's faces that they still did not understand but I did not care. I did not feel like explaining anything more.

Chapter14 My Past

--AN: Another chapter will be coming out later today. I had some things going on this morning which took up more time than expected. I apologize for the late release of the second chapter.--

"Childhood friends? I am sorry to tell you, Faith, but that excuse will not work for me. I need a clear explanation." King Gravos's words made me sigh because I knew that he saw through my words. Although it made me seem like I was lying, I had to at least try. I mean, I did not want to go explaining things because it does sound crazy, but there was not much I could say or do about it at this point. And now, even after I told myself that I wouldn't go explaining things, I had no choice but to explain.

"Can we change rooms? It will take a long time to explain, I think." I answered as I looked King Gravos in the eye. He nodded and stood up. "Follow me."

I nodded back and took the bewildered Jen by the hand, and pulled her along with me. When we entered the room, King Gravos and the Dean both sat down on a blue velvet couch while Jen and I sat across from them on a similar couch. In between, us was a small wooden coffee table. There was no tea or snacks, just the four of us in this room. "Now, please explain yourself. If I did not know your full history, Faith, and hers, I would have bought the whole childhood friend thing. But sadly, I knew you both too well. No friends at all during your childhood!"

Guh! He had to hit a sore point on my life. Yes, I had no friends, so what!? "Well, when I say Jen is my childhood friend, I mean it. Just not in this life…."

"What do you mean not in this life?" The Dean asked.

"Let me put it in a different perspective. And this might seem far fetched, but we both have memories of our past life. And we can remember them vividly. We lived on a planet called Earth. It was a place where technology ran rampant, and there were no monsters or anything like magic. There I was only sixteen when I died. But I was just a normal girl. I woke up, went to school, hung out with Jen, and went home and got lost in reading novels and books.

"I was nothing special. My one and only friend in that world was Jen, and she was as close to me as any sister. In fact, the reason I died was saving her, and even now, I do not regret it. Although it had a great impact on her life." I paused when Jen gripped my hand. I could feel her trembling. I guess just thinking about it caused her great pain. I patted her hand and continued.

"Jen, from that point on, was no longer the same. She had become closer to how I was than her original self. And she lived her life like that until she died at the age of twenty five. How she died, I do not know, nor does she. But she woke up in this world in someone else's body. The body of a two year old orphan." I paused to see the complex looks on the faces of the king and the dean.

"I know this all might seem fantasy like to you all, but the stories people write that can be found in the library are not too far off. Even my world had stories as such, but those stories talked about a world of magic instead. I know this very well as I have read many of those books myself. How you take it from here is another story. But I did not lie.

"Jen is one hundred percent, my childhood friend, just from another life, time, and place." I could only watch as the two men in front of me wrinkled their brows. I have no ideas how things will turn out from here, but hopefully, they will just take things at face value.

"I see…." The king said as he leaned forward. "How many know of this?"

"As of now, the four of us. But I would probably need to explain it to Adel." I answered. I could already see Adel's reaction, and I did not wish to hide things from her as she was one of my best friends. I did not want to keep her in the dark forever.

"Don't tell anyone else, not even Adel." King Gravos's tone was stern, which startled me a little. This was the first time I had ever seen him like this.

"I am confused. Why can I not even tell Adel?" I did not understand why I would need to keep something like this from Adel. It made no sense.

"Because you two are not the first. And there seems to be more and more people crossing over into this world from another." King Gravos replied. "People with powers greater than our own. Ever since the appearance of the dungeons, we have been hearing reports of people who were on their deathbeds, have suddenly regained consciousness, and are feeling perfectly fine but acting strangely. Not in this kingdom but in others. These are reports from our spies. Some are even said to wield amazing powers and are heavily cared for by their kingdoms. We seem to be entering a new age, and that new age might be something we can not handle easily."

While I was surprised by the sudden information of a lot of people suddenly appearing in this world from another, I couldn't help but worry. It made me wonder if the dungeons had something to do with this as well or if that man had something to do with all of this. "I understand now…." I now understood why he wanted me to keep it a secret. After all, if word got out, we might be targeted by other kingdoms' spies and assassins.

"So please, do not let anyone know of this truth. It will never leave these walls. And don't worry, this room is special compared to the others as it has a twenty layer sound barrier on it." King Gravos was someone who thought ahead it seemed.

"We won't. I will just make something up." I replied. I do not know what I will say but I will try to come up with some kind of excuse to pacify Adel. Because I know she will freak out when she sees how Jen and I interact.

Chapter15 When The Old And The New Meet

--AN: It's late but here you go!--

After signing the blood contract, Jen was now allowed to move in with me. She had been staying at the library in a room that was hidden from others' view. We packed her things which surprisingly were no more than a few pairs of clothes and a pile of books. I had to apologize to Sir David once more since he had been waiting for me this entire time.

But now it was time for the truly difficult task I had to deal with. I just know Adel will freak out when she sees how close me and Jen are. While I know I shouldn't let it affect me personally, I still understand that she has some feelings for me that are more than just being friends. I also did not wish to hurt her feelings either, so I hope she will get used to Jen being around.

When we arrived at my home, Jen stared at the huge gates in disbelief. "This is where you live!? Are you some kind of noble?"

"Ah? Now that I think about it, I am. I was granted the title of baroness." I replied. I had forgotten that I had been given a title.

"Now that you think about it!? Did you really forget!?" Jen gave me a strange look. I just shrugged. Not like I cared for the title to anything.

The carriage pulled up to the house, and as I got off, I turned and held out my hand. Jen chuckled as she said: "You are like a knight helping his princess."

"Then, Princess, if you will…." I said teasingly. Jen smiled and took my hand. In my past life, Jen and I held hands a lot, so I did not think much of it as I walked through the door hand and hand with her to see Adel standing there frozen solid with a cookie in her hand raised to her lips. She stared at me, then at my hands, and then at Jen.

"Who…. Who is this!?" Adel yelled out. She tossed the cookie in her hand down and marched right over to us, grabbed my hand, and pulled me to the side. "You! You are the library girl, right!? What are you doing ho-ho-ho-holding hands with my Faith for!? No, wait, what are you even doing here!?"

"Adel, stop!" I yelled, flicking her forehead, causing her to turn and look at me while pouting and holding her forehead.

"But…." She whined. But I just tapped her head. "Adel, Jen is my friend, so do not treat her badly. I can not explain it to you just yet because I was told not to by two certain people, but just know that Jen is actually my childhood friend. She is as dear to me as you are. Okay?"

"I…." Adel looked at me as if she wanted to cry and then at Jen and lowered her head. I felt bad because I could see her emotions running wild. I reached up and patted her head, causing her to relax slightly. "Fine… but no hand holding!"

"That might still happen," I replied. "It's a habit from before."

"But… Ah! Fine!" Adel cried out, then hugged my arm and lifted her chin as she looked at Jen. "Just so you know, Faith is mine!"

"I belong to no one!" I said while flicking her forehead once more, causing her to push her face into my shoulder. I let out a long sigh. "As you can see, Adel is kind of attached to me."

"I can see that." Jen looked as if she did not know what to make of the situation. I can't blame her since I do not know what to make of it either. "Anyway. My name is Jen. I hope we can get along, Your Highness."

Adel finally raised her head to look at Jen and let go of my arm. "Just Adel is fine. In this house, the one with the highest status is Faith. Not I think the one with the highest status in the kingdom is Faith."

"Pardon?" Jen asked, seemingly confused.

"Adel, your father, is the king," I reminded, causing Adel to shake her head.

"Faith, in this kingdom or any kingdom, those with the strongest power have the highest authority. It is already proven that with Diablo alone, you are the strongest person in this kingdom." Adel explained, which I did understand but still.

"No matter how strong I am, it is your father who is king and always will be as long as I can help it." I did not wish to be a leader. I would only exert my power position if it came to those I cared about, like how I did with Jen.

"I know! I am just saying but still. Jen is your friend, so formalities would just be stupid since I will always be around. Anyway, let me make one thing clear. Faith is my mi…. Ouch! Faith!" I once again flicked her forehead.

"You keep saying I am yours to everyone who talks to me in the slightest. Do you even know what that means?" I asked.

Adel looked at me in confusion as she thought about it but still did not seem to understand as she raised her head and answered: "We are best friends?" She even tilted her head to the side as she looked at me with a puzzled look.

I could only sigh. I guess she still has a long way to go. "As she said, just call her Adel. She may act like this, but Adel is a very good person. She cares deeply for all her friends. You can say I am a special case as I was her first true friend."

Jen nodded to my explanation as she reached her hand out this time to Adel and said: "Then let's be friends as well from now on."

"Ah? Yes…. Same to you." Adel reached out and shook Jen's hand and shook it and then watched as Jen walked over and hugged my other arm and smiled at her as she said: "But just so you know, I am also Faith's best friend as well and have known her much longer!"

"You!"

Chapter16 Telling Her Anyway

"You, what? Faith is my oldest and bestest friend. No one can say anything against that! So me hugging her arm is only natural." Jen's smile was very pretty, but the look in her eyes was not inviting.

"I am also Faith's best friend, so I can hug her arm as well!" Adel shot back while staring daggers at Jen. But I wonder…. Do these two not realize that they have yet to ask me my opinion on this? I do feel that even if I did, I would just be yelled at.

Jen smiled, seemingly ignoring Adel's retort, and looked at me as she said: "We should probably continue our conversation from earlier. I still have a lot to tell you."

I knew this would probably cause a scene, but I had many things to ask Jen about as well. "Mm… Adel, I got something I need to speak with Jen about."

"What?" Adel looked at Jen and then at me. When she saw me nod my head, she understood my meaning as she lowered hers and let go of my arm. She seemed sad, which made me feel bad, but what could I do? The king told me not to let her know that I was reborn. But to be honest, this was leaving a sour taste in my mouth. As Adel began walking around with her shoulders slumped down, I grabbed her hand and pulled her back. She turned and looked up at me with a confused expression.

"I may have been told not to tell you anything, but that doesn't mean I will be able to hide it from you much longer. Come with us, I will explain everything, but you have to keep what I tell you a secret and act as if I have never said a word to you about it, okay?" I said this, looking directly into her eyes to show her how serious of a matter it was. I just did not wish her to take things in the wrong way or think I had come to hate her. Adel may not seem it, but she is a delicate person. Her emotions sway in many different ways, and I do not want her to think she was losing me as her friend.

"I swear never to speak a word," Adel replied.

"Then come on. Let's go to my room." I said as I walked forward.

A few minutes later, we are all sitting in the sitting area with some tea and snacks. Adel sat across from me as I explained many things to her. Her expression changed many times from sad to shocked to sad again and then repeated over and over until I was done. "The reason your father asked me not to tell you is that he does not want the information to spread, and knowing will ultimately make you a target. So never speak a word of any of this to anyone."

Adel nodded her head as if she was a baby chick. "I won't speak a word of it. But now things make more sense. Seeing you so close with Jen so quickly had made me confused, but now I understand." Adel took a deep breath and looked at Jen while bowing her head. "I apologize for my rudeness. I thought you were just trying to get close to Faith. She is like an angel and will treat everyone she meets with kindness."

Jen chuckled and glanced at me before looking back at Adel. "It's fine. Faith has always been this way ever since she was a young kid. I will tell you some stories later about her childhood."

"Hey! I can hear you!" I knew Jen would talk about all kinds of embarrassing things. But to be honest, I really don't care.

"I would like that very much!" Adel replied with a smile before adding. "But she is still mine."

I held my head. Did she really need to add the last part? "Anyway. Jen, I want to know how my family fared after I passed….."

It was time for some doom and gloom on my part. I wanted to know if my family fared well and kept living their lives. I was nervous. I have no idea if I was even ready for any of this, but I had to know. I had to know how they lived after my passing. I took a few deep breaths and prepared myself for what I was about to learn.

"Your parents were devastated when you died. They hated me. I guess they kind of blamed me for your death. Like if not for her, my Faith would not have died. So I stayed away from them. But even though I could not ask them directly or go see them on my own, I still inquired about them. Your father and mother continued their lives. Going to work and then going home. The last I heard was that they moved from the house they lived in, and from there, I lost track of them. Sorry I do not have much more information than that."

"I see… As long as they were able to continue their lives…." Truth be told, I did not know how I felt about all of this. I am sure my parents hurt a lot inside. Death, to me, is a scary thing. While I may have been reborn this time, what about next time or the time after that? When would eternal darkness finally take me over? These kinds of thoughts have spurred up from time to time, not just in this life but in my past one as well.

It is one of those things no one really wants to think about but have to. The reminder of death is always sitting there in front of our faces. Everywhere you turn, there is death. Whether it is human or demi human, dragon or demon, even the bugs that crawl on the ground, death is everywhere.

Before I knew it, as I was lost in my thoughts, I was embraced on both sides. I guess my mood must have been felt by these two. I smiled and patted both their arms as I said: "I'm fine thank you."

Chapter17 Trial Part 1

That night, both Adel and Jen stayed in my room. I am not sure what happened, but at some point after dinner, the two walked off to talk on their own. And when they came back, they were much friendlier with each other. Not that I am complaining. I would prefer them to be best of friends more than anything else.

I did not try to ask what they talked about. I did not wish to be too nosy. Although I guess I can not say I am not curious as to what they spoke about, but I will just leave it at that. My days continued as they were. Most of the hostile gazes I was getting in the academy have disappeared. I have even been confessed to quite a few times now. However, I do wonder what they see in someone who still looks like a child, basically.

Well, I guess I should say I have grown a bit. A quarter of an inch, to be exact! But most importantly, I will be turning thirteen soon. I will officially be a teenager! Anyway, currently, I am getting dressed up. Today was the day of my trial, and I must say that I am a bit nervous. I already have plenty of evidence that shows that things were an accident, but my main concern was not my conviction but the nobles we were trying to bait. All of the nobles who speak out today would fall under suspicion and allow the king to investigate them fully.

Up until now, even Diablo shadow has not reported anything back that can be used against the Prime Minister, so hopefully, after losing many nobles who are at his side, he will begin to move once more. I have no idea if he is just lying low after the dungeon incident or not, but we need him to make only one mistake to close the net around him.

I walked out of the house and into the carriage surrounded by guards. Jen, Adel, and the rest would be attending the trial on their own. As I am the one on trial, I need to show up in the proper manner. Although I am not sure if showing up in a fancy carriage surrounded by guards is something a supposed criminal should be doing, but since I was only confined to my home and the academy, so I guess it is okay.

The court was situated inside the palace grounds but far away from the palace itself. When I arrived, many nobles were slowly making their way in. I, of course, garnered many curious gazes as well as ones filled with malice. I do wonder if they know that my senses are much more heightened than their own.

I was not brought through the main entrance but around back to the entrance to the dungeon below the court. I would have to spend my time in a cell for the first time in my two lives, waiting for when it was my turn to enter the court. Sir David took it upon himself to stand guard at my cell as it was needed since I was not in a cell that restricted magic.

Surprisingly compared to the dungeon entrance and dampness of the hall outside my cell, the cell itself was quite dry. I couldn't detect any kind of magic circle, so I wonder if it is something to do with the construction of the dungeon itself. Although it still smelled musty but I could get over that.

"So, are you ready for this?" Sir David asked. It has been an hour since I have arrived. In the dungeon now.

"To face all the nobles? I am sure most want me hung right now." I replied with a chuckle.

"The entire court is packed. I never thought a trial of a young girl would gain so much attention, but every seat in the court, which can hold three thousand, is now filled, and some are even standing. It's not just noble house heads but even students and others as well. You may not hear it, but there is even a huge crowd outside waiting for the verdict." Sir David replied.

"Hmmm…. Did someone publicize the trial? How could so many people come into the palace grounds?" I asked. I thought it would be hard to enter the palace.

"His Majesty made sure to allow anyone who wished to enter to enter after spreading word in the lower city that you were being charged for a crime. Faith, you may not know it, but your company has blossomed and changed the lives of many. A Chunk of the slums in a month's time has turned into a normal city. Thurul has been spreading your name like wildfire too. Your popularity has really grown." Sir David explained.

My guess is many commoners who are fed up with some of the nobles are also within the group and just looking for a reason to voice their complaints. But it was nice to know things are going smoothly with the company. Annie and Thurul have been doing most of the work since I have been so busy. "As long as no one tries to stir up trouble, it is fine."

"Don't worry, this is the palace grounds. They are all ushered to a certain point. No one is allowed to pass the line of guards." Sir David answered. It seemed the king had things well thought out.

"Then let's just hope everything works out how we planned," I said with a sigh. I have no idea how things will end, but I do hope it will work out in the end.

I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes. The court session should soon start, and when it does, it will finally be show time. I guess my acting skill will come in handy today. I have done everything I can to prepare for this moment, even reading those boring law books. So hopefully, it will all work out.

Chapter18 Trial Part 2

"It's time." Sir David's voice caused me to open my eyes.

I stood up, stretched my arms, and let out a yawn as I said: "Already? And I was just getting comfortable too. This place is not half bad. Dry floors, quiet, and songbirds that sing beyond the barred windows. If you can get used to the smell, it is not such a bad place to be."

"What are you going on about?" Sir David asked as he gave me a strange look.

I shrugged and said: "Just giving you my review on the court's dungeons. Maybe next time, I will give you one on the castle dungeons."

"Stop fooling around. You need to get into your role and put these bastards in their place!" Sir David let out an exhausted sigh. It looked to me that he was more worried about the outcome of the trial than I was.

Even if the courts decided I was guilty, I was not going to go to jail. King Gravos and I had already come to an agreement last night, thanks to Diablo doing me a favor and sending a shadow to the castle with a message. The king gave his reply and agreed to my idea if things went south.

I walked handcuffed up the stairs to the courtroom that was connected to the dungeon I was locked up in. These handcuffs were not made for people like me, so if I really wanted to, I could easily break out of them at any time.

When I reached the top of the stairs, I was met with a large hall. I did not realize it on my way here, but the royal court was huge, and I mean huge. But this was also the place where nobles or high ranking officials from other countries were put on trial for their crimes in the kingdom. I guess it was a source of entertainment for some nobles.

But I can say this about this place. It was split. Two different factions. It was easy to tell. One side was staring daggers into me while the other did not. Even the four judges seemed to be split. No, maybe it was a three to one ratio. Three of them seemed to be on friendly terms, and the other sat there with his eyes closed. But of the three, one was looking at me as if he was going to eat me.

I was brought to the center of the room onto a platform where my handcuffs were removed and replaced with metal shackles on my ankles and wrists. Chains attached to these new shackles were anchored to the platform, making it hard for me to take even five steps forward. But even as I stood there with the shackles, I kept smiling away as if this whole thing had nothing to do with me.

A great many conversations could be heard throughout the hall, making it quite noisy. So as soon as I was chained up, one of the judges finally yelled out: "Order! Order! Order in the court!"

The hall went silent. The judge, who seemed to be taking the lead, looked around before looking at me as he began speaking: "Today's court is on the murder of many noble children within a dungeon. Faith Cyrilia, how do you plead?"

"Not guilty," I answered firmly.

"Not guilty!? You killed my son!"

"What about my daughter!? She is dead now because of you! You are nothing but a demi human. Lay down and accept your fate!"

I raised an eyebrow and looked up at a lady that was very much overweight staring at me with bloodshot eyes. I smiled as I looked at her and said: "Are you sure you want to allow your hate for demi humans to affect your judgment?"

"You! You killed my daughter! Of course, I will dislike demi humans!" The woman yelled back. I just shrugged as I looked at the judges who were letting this go on.

"Is this how you handle court? You let others talk out of line?" I asked, my smile never disappearing. I was not here for the trial but to rile these people up and make them act out. The angrier they get, the more likely they will slip up, just like the woman just now.

"Silence! You have no right to tell us how to handle our courtrooms!" The judge on the left yelled out. It was the judge that sat next to him who was in charge, yet he still yelled out. Mistake number two. His actions alone proved he was condoning the actions of the nobles.

"Then do your job, please. I do not have all day. After this, I need to check on a few things in the academy library. I also need to clip my toenails as well." I spat out, causing the judge's face to grow red with anger.

"Order!" The judge in the lead finally yelled out. "Enough! The court is already in session. Everyone should stay quiet unless spoken to by the judges or be kicked from the courtroom."

The whole room finally quieted down, but I only yawned at the horrible acting this man had. If he was really bothered by the fact that they were yelling, he would have stopped it before things had gotten this far. "Faith Cyrilia, you say you plead not guilty is this correct?"

"Yes, it is." I nodded. I could still hear people grumbling from the audience.

"Then the plaintiff can begin his questioning." The lead judge said, finally getting the trial underway. A man with slick back blonde hair wearing a fancy suit with many golden rings on his fingers stepped forward and bowed to the judges before turning to me.

"Faith Cyrilia, you pleaded not guilty, but there are many witnesses who saw you put a barrier up around the nobles' sons and daughters, keeping them from being able to receive any food or even be rescued while you dived deep into the dungeon. Are you saying that you did not do this? Do you even know the meaning behind the words 'not guilty?"

Chapter19 Trial Part 3

"I am not saying I did not do that. What I am saying is that you need to look at the circumstances at hand. As you well know, not only were there a great number of noble children killed by dungeon monsters but even the ones I was able to save were trapped along with me until I cleared the dungeon alongside other noble children. Did you even ask why I trapped them in the barrier beforehand? When I say I am not guilty, I mean it. I am not guilty of the crime of accidental death. But I think that them dying was much better for this kingdom than keeping them alive as they were tyrants following after their parents." I stated loudly and clearly.

"You! My Little Momo was an angel! How dare you call her a tyrant!" A noble woman yelled out as she stood up, looking as if she was about to attack me, before being pulled back into her seat by her husband.

"An angel? An angel would go and beat up a marquess's daughter!? Would she target innocent people under your orders? Your Little Momo sure was an angel, using her fists instead of words when people told her she was wrong or stood in her way of bullying. You call this being an angel? I am sorry I guess I must misunderstand the meaning of an angel…. Woe is me. It seems I must have misunderstood that the bruises she left on my friend's face and body were just angelic love taps." I made an expression as if I had really misunderstood the situation. But made sure that my words dug deep into that woman's heart.

"You dare sully my daughter's name!? She is already dead!" The woman yelled out.

"She died because of her own actions. I had to protect myself and my team. I put them under a barrier with the idea that we would be in and out of the dungeon on the same day. Who the hell would have thought that some person would go and say a dungeon is safe for kids to enter, only for it to be a nightmare for many where many had died? At least your daughter died an easier death than those poor souls who were tormented until their last dying breath. And You know what I am talking about." My eyes turned cold as I stared at the lady. My words must have struck a cord because she instantly quieted down.

"I saved more lives than those that I accidentally killed. I did my best to keep those who survived the monster attack and were still locked in on the first floor alive. Many of which come from the side of your noble community that doesn't like me. So do not give me your shit about how good your daughter was because at least she wasn't toyed with by those disgusting beasts.

"To be honest, I would have rather died starving and thirsty than die as many of the others had. You sit in your fancy houses and feed off the common people taking in their tax money to make that stomach of yours as fat as it is today. And to top it off, you act all high and mighty, thinking you are better than everyone else. But if it wasn't for your status, could you have that fancy dress? Could you have that shiny jewelry? Could you have that greasy, oily skin that oozes with the fat that is trying to escape your body!?

"You people think you are so great. But ninety percent of you are inherited nobles. Meaning you did not earn your titles!" I yelled out as I looked around the hall. "You are inheritors of the hard work, the sweat, and blood of your ancestors. But now you walk around as if you own the place when you have no glory of your own!"

"Order!" The lead judge finally yelled out. His expression was not good. But I could care less. "Enough outburst! The next one to interrupt the trial will be hauled off to the dungeons!"

The room quickly fell quiet. I just shrugged and turned back to the man that was asking me questions. "Did my answer satisfy your question?"

"You! So you admit that you did kill them?" The man asked as he tried to compose himself.

"Their death was due to my barrier, yes, but as I said, unforeseen circumstances made it so that I could not remove the barrier. The dungeon, as you know, is not something we fully understand yet. When the first boss was defeated, and we tried to leave the dungeon, the entrance was sealed, and no magic could get in or out, so my link to my spell was cut off. As you know, barrier magic is an activation type spell. Once it is activated the caster has to cancel it or it has to be broken for it to go away. With my link cut I was unable to remove the spell which I did try to do when I found out that we were sealed in. so accidental death is the right word for this situation as the circumstances did not allow me to remove my barrier." I explained.

"But it all comes down to you casting the barrier int he first place!" The man yelled out trying to drive home is point.

"I casted it to keep those with bad thoughts from causing harm to my team. Let me ask you something. Would a noble daughter of high standing be standing here if she did the same thing? Would they be put on trial for their crimes?" I asked while tilting my head.

"Of course they would be!" The man yelled. But I could only chuckle in response.

"So you are saying the Little Momo as her mother called her should have been put on trial for the deaths of many commoner girls just because they were prettier than her?" I asked this question causing even the judges to knit their brow. "You speak righteously but why did she not get convicted of murder when such things were brought to this very courts attention when the evidence was against this Little Momo? You talk big but your honeyed words are just that honeyed words to make yourselves look as if you are in the right about every action you do!"

Chapter20 [Weekly bonus chapter] Trial Part 4

"Lies!"Little Momo's mother yelled out as she stood up. "My daughter never did such things!"

I turned and looked up at her and sneered: "She never did!? Why try to cover it up? I have more witnesses and people you threatened to back up my claim than you have as alibis. You wish to cover up everything, but you forget the paper trails, and the lips of those around you are easily pried open with a bit of coin. I may be young, but I am actually quite wealthy. All I needed was to give a bit of money for testimony and promise the safety of them and their family. Which I can do."

"You! What can words from so long ago prove!? As long as the verdict has already passed, nothing can be done about it!" The woman was so flustered that she had already spilled the beans. I sighed at her stupidity as I watched her husband stand up and slap her. "Stupid woman!"

"You hit me!? You actually hit me!?" The woman yelled out, only to be slapped once more.

I sneered and turned back to the judge and asked: "So what now? She has already basically confessed that the daughter she calls Little Momo had killed others. What does it matter if she also died now? Isn't this Karma?"

"We can not take your words as truth! So it will not be added to your defense. The fact of the matter is that you have already confessed to killing the noble children, so you have no defense left." The lead judge spat out.

"Oh? Is that so? Then let's do this. Since you are going to convict me anyway with that indifference of yours and inability to care about what actual justice is. Why don't I take justice into my own hands? You will not listen to a word I have to say and will always side with those you have made dealing with." I said with a smile, but before I could do anything, the lead judge's face went red with anger.

"You dare sully my name now!? This is the court of law! Everything we say and do is just!" The lead judge yelled out.

I ignored him, grabbed the metal chains binding me, and ripped the metal cuffs off my wrist and ankles, to everyone's surprise. I stood there and rubbed my wrists as I looked up at the judges. His expression showed just how surprised he truly was. I guess he never believed I was strong enough to do this. But I could care less about his thoughts at this moment: "Diablo, seal the room!"

"Yes, master!" Diablo's voice echoed in the hall before he even appeared.

A heavy pressure suddenly fell over the court. At the same time, Bell used my call as her cue to come out of her space and sit on top of my head with her chin raised high. "In this world, the stronger you are, the more say you have in the world. In This courtroom right now, I am the strongest here. So let me ask you something. How corrupt are you?"

As I asked this question, I used a new technique I learned from Diablo that it seems only dragons can do. It's called Dragon Speak. Basically, I infuse mana into my voice, and it sends a suggestive signal to the target, and it will cause them to answer or do anything I say to them. To be honest, it was quite overpowered. But I was able to make Lance dress and dance like a girl out in the garden while I was practicing it. But now, for some reason, he refuses to speak with me.

The judge's expression went blank. His eyes lost all life as he stared at me. "I have convicted over three thousand one hundred innocent people for crimes they never committed after receiving payments from high ranking nobles. I have snatched girls of age from their homes and made them give birth to many children. I have protected nobles for the same reasons as well as covered up other various crimes such as murder and human trafficking."

The judge kept saying all his crimes out loud for all to hear, causing people's eyes to open wide. He was even naming the people he was involved with, causing them to stand up and shout out that he was lying and saying he was trying to take them down with him. While this was going on, the other two judges next to the lead judge kept trying to stop him, but there was nothing they could do. He was under the effects of my dragon speak. The only judge not caring about what was going on sat at the end with his eyes closed as if none of this had anything to do with him. He went on for almost thirty minutes before he finally went quiet.

"I see! I see!" I suddenly yelled out. The lead judge's eyes soon gained their life back, and he stared at me in horror. I looked at him with my lips curled up as I said: "A corrupted judges panel is not something this kingdom needs. All the people you named today are nobles this kingdom does not need. As of this moment, every noble named by him is now no longer a noble. Your house, your land will be reclaimed by this kingdom."

"You! What right do you have!?" A marquess yelled out as I turned and looked up at him while narrowing my eyes. "What, right? My right is the fact that I have the power. Do you not see the man standing next to me, making you sweat under his pressure? Do you not see my cute Little Bell on top of my head? As of this moment, my words are law. And soon, you will also spit out all your dirty deeds. Diablo, each noble on that list, make them say out their name and then secure them."

"Yes, Master!" I could see Diablo's lips curl up into a devilish grin.It seemed he was happy to finally get to do something demon like for once.

"To all in the audience right now, let me tell you that this trial was a lie. Even if I was convicted of a crime, it would never even do anything to me because there is no one in this kingdom who can keep me here. But I do not wish to leave this kingdom because I love it. I was born here and raised here. And I will be damned if I will allow anyone here to ruin such a great kingdom."

"Well said!"

Chapter21 For The Love Of My Kingdom

I gave a faint smile as I and everyone else turned to look at the man who had just spoken out. It was the judge who had been sitting idle this entire time with his eyes closed. He got up out of his seat and walked over to me, putting his hand on my shoulder. It was now his turn to take the stage. "What Baroness Cyrilia said just now is what a noble of this kingdom should be saying in such a situation. Hiding behind your titles, doing nothing to contribute to this kingdom. What use are you if you are not even going to commit to your duties and follow the laws of this kingdom!?"

"Who are you to speak about laws!? You have the same status as us judges!" The lead judge yelled out.

"Because I am the law!" The old man's body suddenly began to flicker as if he was a broken tv set. In an instant, the whole court went silent. What stood before them was the king himself under the influence of my illusion magic. King Gravos, the king of this kingdom, turned his eyes on the judges. "You three have been doing as you pleased while taking kickbacks from the nobles. You are no longer fit for your duties and are no longer fit to be a noble. Your noble titles are hereby revoked, and you will be imprisoned to work the mines from this moment on until the day you die! This same punishment goes for every noble in his courtroom who has ties to dirty dealings!"

"You dare!? You are nothing without us! We nobles are the backbone of this kingdom! Right now, we outnumber you! What good is a king who is unable to see past his own ideals!? You want to abandon us? Haha! Do you even have the ability to!? Now is the time to stand up and reform this kingdom to the ideals we nobles have so longed for! Brothers and sisters, take up arms!" The lead judge suddenly yelled out. I watched as half the hall stood up, ready to fight, and chuckled.

"Hehe…. Hahahahahahaha!" My laughter overpowered the yells of revolution that was about to occur. They all looked at me in confusion. I could understand. They were probably expecting me to quiver in fear. But these nobles…. They were just so stupid…..

"What's so funny!?" The lead judge finally asked.

"What is funny? You dare threaten the people I care about? You want to usurp the throne? That means killing those I care about, does it not?" I asked with a crazed smile on my face. It was happening again. No matter how much I tried to suppress it, it was still rising its ugly head. My ancient will. The will that was chanting for me to kill every noble here that dares to harm what I cherish.

"For change, those who hold the top must topple!" The lead judge replied without hesitation.

"Hehe…. Haha…. Then so be it. Those who stand up will no longer have a head." My eyes lit up, and a sword made of flames appeared in my hand. I took a step forward, unable to contain my bloodlust. "Wind Rush, Acceleration…."

The lead judge had no chance to even react before his head flew through the air. I turned and looked at the other two judges, my eyes bloodshot as I swung my sword once more. "Hahahaha! This day! This kingdom! Will soon be reformed under His Majesty's rule! Diablo! Every noble here who has stood up is an enemy. Kill without restraint!"

"Faith, wait!" I heard King Gravos yell out as I turned and looked at him. My expression, I am sure, was in a crazed state. But his yell caused both me and Diablo to stop and look at him. "There is no need to kill everyone. We can just sentence them to do hard labor for the rest of their lives."

"Why?" I asked while tilting my head to the side, my eyes wide. "Why would you even let such scum take up more of the people's taxes? Their meals all come from the taxpayers, the same people they have been abusing this entire time. This doesn't seem like a good solution. If I kill them… they will all be sent to hell where they can be tortured for all eternity."

"But if you kill them, you are no better than them, are you not?" King Gravos replied to me in a calm voice, but I still did not understand.

"These people wish to kill you, but you want to show them mercy? They wish to harm those I care about, but you want to let them live? Your Majesty, there are times when people should be kind, and there are times when people should become a demon. I will be the demon this time. I will make sure this kingdom no longer has to worry about an uprising again! For the love of my kingdom, I will turn into a demon." I truly loved this kingdom. But it was filled with filth. We now had the chance to fully clean this filth out. I may be in a crazed state, but I still had some of my rationale.

King Gravos looked at me and was about to say something when multiple figures suddenly arrived in front of him. They all knelt not to him but to me. "We will assist you." This was Sally, Sophie, Grace, and everyone else in my team. Even Sei was kneeling to me and not him.

"Adel you!?" King Gravos called out as he looked at his daughter down on one knee.

"Father…." Adel called out without raising her head. "We shall clean this kingdom up in your stead so you can give the people of this nation a brighter future. You may not realize it because it is not clearly seen, but many are suffering. The reforms that should be passed are blocked at every turn by corrupt nobles who wish to keep the status quo and line their pockets with the taxes they take from the people they should be helping. I can no longer allow this to happen. We now have a chance we can not pass up. Because we never know what will happen in the future. They could easily break out of the confinement camps and take up arms. This I can not allow."

Chapter22 The Great Change

Adel rose to her feet and turned to look at the last judge with cold eyes, and pointed her finger at him. "Fast forward."

"Ahh!? What are you doing to me!?" The old judge's body began to shrivel up, and in a matter of seconds, his body turned into a pile of dust on the floor.

Adel's cold eyes softened when she turned back and looked at her father. "Father, I will carry part of your burden so you can still be considered a good king."

"You! Adel this…" King Gravos's words got caught in his throat. Seconds later, another figure suddenly landed in front of him and stood at his side.

"Father, we shall sit this out." Lance placed his hand on his father's shoulder and spoke in a soft voice. King Gravos looked at his son and then at his daughter.

"I never wanted it to end like this. But what was said just now is right. These nobles have amassed their own people under them. But I can not allow my daughter to shoulder the burden of this massacre alone…." King Gravos took a deep breath as he waved his hand, causing a golden magic circle to appear in the air. "By my name King William Gravos, I hereby declare all nobles appearing before you as traitors to this king and hereby announce that they and their families will be purged from this kingdom! No survivors!"

King Gravos's voice echoed through the hall, causing every noble there that had decided to stand up and revolt faces to pale. I don't know what the magic circle was for, but I can only guess the king had some secret force besides the black and white knights.

With these words, the purge began. On the day of my thirteen birthday, the streets of the capital of the Kingdom of Gravos flowed with blood. I wonder if this would have happened if they had not threatened those close to me. But they had to try to start an uprising. With Diablo's help, each noble that was corrupt was slain. No innocent noble or their families were hurt during this purge.

This day would become known as The Great Change. A day when the kingdom of Gravos officially became a kingdom that worked for its people….

Six months have passed since that day. During this time, I did not stop going to the academy. After all, I was still very green when it came to many things. So I was trying to learn everything possible from my classes and the books in the library. But on this particular day, I had been summoned to the castle. "Faith, are you ready?" A voice called out to me as the door to my room opened.

"That dress looks good on you!" Adel's cheerful voice filled my ear. But I couldn't help but frown. Dresses were just so airy!

"I still prefer my armor…." I couldn't hide the discomfort in my voice.

"Just put up with it for now. You are to be honored today for your part in the fall of the corrupt nobles." Adel said as she hugged my arm. She really does not change. I still wonder what choice I would have made if my ancient will had not taken over. But I guess even though the meaning of purge still leaves a sour taste in my mouth, the outcome seems to have allowed the kingdom to become a much better place. Luckily when the purge happened, anyone who was under the age of twenty that had not committed crimes had their memories erased and were allowed to live. They had to have their memories erased in order to keep them from taking revenge. When I found this out, I immediately offered my company to take them in. So that they could live a reformed and new life. Now, some of the mothers who worked for me were acting as teachers to help them relearn everything.

"Let's go."

I was not the only one going to the castle today. Everyone in my team was going. They all stood out and were willing to stain their hands in blood in order to make this kingdom a place people could all live happily. While I am sure down the road, more people would end up becoming corrupt, the number of people allowed to become nobles has dropped, and they are not allowed to handle the finances of the kingdom. It is all done by a heavily guarded new government office. To become a noble, even if your father has a noble title, you now had to work hard to have enough merits to take over the title. If you did not have the merits and your father passed away, you would be automatically demoted to commoner.

This new system was put into place in order to keep the younger generation from turning corrupt due to thinking they were better than others because they could inherit their titles. They now had to work hard just like everyone else.

From what I know, the school reform is also being put into place. Schools were now being built all over the kingdom, and nobles who had minor offenses but confessed to their crimes after the purge were now going to be used as teachers as punishment. From what I understand, each month, an investigator would also arrive and test all the students to make sure that the noble was doing their job. These investigators were also going to be under a strict blood seal contract that made it impossible to be bought out.

When we arrived at the castle, I stepped out of the carriage. My white dress swayed in the breeze. It was a formal dress for occasions like this that Adel had specially made for me. Pure white with a dash of light blue on the trim. The dress at least stopped at my ankles, allowing me to still walk. However, dress shoes are still hard to walk in.

With Adel hanging from my arm I walked forward one step at a time towards the throne room of the castle.

Chapter23 Reward

As I entered the throne room, all the nobles that were standing in the room lowered their heads, not daring to make eye contact with me. I do not know if this was out of fear or respect. All I know is that this was much better than them staring daggers into my back.

When I stood before the King, Adel let go of my arm and walked to her father's side. She now had to take on the role of a princess of the kingdom. King Gravos smiled at me warmly as he gazed upon me. Only one person in this room was having a hard time keeping his emotions in check. And that was the Prime Minister. I could see the anger in his eyes which made me inwardly chuckle. Sadly we have yet to find any kind of evidence against him, so we can not do anything to him directly just yet.

A few seconds later, I was joined by everyone in my team, minus Adel, who was standing with the King. Her role in everything was to be expected as she was the princess. But I am sure she will also have a reward of some kind coming to her.

"Baroness Cyrilia!" The king's voice brought me back from my inner thoughts. I looked at him as he gazed back at me. "On this day, myself and this entire kingdom must thank you and the people who follow you for your role in wiping out those who wished to rebel. Your actions have been able to bring a new change to this kingdom. A change that will benefit the kingdom as a whole. Not just the nobility but the commoners who are the backbone of our nation.

"Because you were willing to stain your hands in the blood of those who wished evil upon this kingdom, I will say now from the bottom of my heart thank you." At this, not only did King Gravos bow but Adel and every noble in the room did as well.

When he lifted his head once more, he closed his eyes for a second before opening them once more and looked at me and the others next to me before locking back on to me. "Faith Cyrilia, your actions from this date super exceed anyone of this kingdom. From helping those struggling to survive in the slums, helping those in a dungeon even though they might have seen you as an enemy, even in the face of an army of thousands, you never faltered in helping this kingdom. And now, with this new event, I am not even sure how I am supposed to reward you. While I know you ask for little, I guess I can only offer one thing."

I watched as the king stepped forward and placed his big hand on my head. "As of this moment, Faith Cyrilia will be known as Princess Cryilia, third in line to the throne!"

"Oi!" I yelled out, smacking the damn man's hand away, only to see the scheming smile on the king's face! This bastard! I told him many times that I did not want the damn crown! "Adel, do something about your stupid old man!"

"Huh? But I think the title princess suits you well!" Adel, you traitor! I cried out in my mind. I looked up at the King, who was smiling away. Then I looked at Adel, who was covering her mouth to hide her laughter. The damn girl really found this amusing. I then looked at Lance, who was not even looking at me. Why the hell is he looking at the ceiling whistling!? But what got me the most was when I looked at the nobles at the side, they were all smiling away. This meant they were all in agreeance with this stupid old man! I could have looked at the Prime Minister, but I did not want his help.

I hung my head. Why didn't I just go to another kingdom? Why did I stay in this kingdom only to be given things I don't want? I looked back up to the king, who was standing here teetering back and forth on his heels with a very complicated expression. "Can I give this reward back for a shiny rock?"

"NO!" The king replied flatly! At least think about it!

Actually, now that I think about it. I am probably the only one in this kingdom who would trade the title of princess for a shiny rock. I sighed and looked at the damn man in front of me and asked: "So what do I do with this new title?"

"Nothing. If Lance or Adel give up their rights to the throne, you would take the crown." The king replied, causing me to sigh.

"What about your other kids!?" I asked. I mean, come on man, you got more than one son here!

"Those idiots!? They gave up their titles a few weeks ago and are now living in the countryside." His answer stumped me. They gave up their titles!? I guess the look on my face said it all because the king continued: "They both came to me and said: We want to be free from the political drama, so we denounce our rights to the throne. Give us an allowance to live off of and a plot of land."

"Those bastards!" I yelled out. "Why are they doing this to me!? I never even met them, and I want to punch them!"

"Faith, you are speaking your mind very loudly!" The king reprimanded. But all he got from me was a humph as I turned and ignored him. But he still continued: "Even if they did not give up their rights, I still would have made you third in line. Faith, you are a treasure any kingdom would want to keep tied to them. But for me, I just want you to have the right to take control if something were to happen to Lance or Adel. I am entrusting my kingdom to you in case something we did not plan for happens."

I took a deep breath before letting out a long, drawn out sigh. "Fine. But I will be damned if they just give up the throne because they don't want it." I narrowed my eyes as I looked at Adel and Lance as I said: "Lance, Adel, if either of you says I quit, I will kill you!"

Chapter24 Meeting With Grace’s Parents Part 1

I stared at the passing blue sky as the carriage I was in slowly made its way back to my estate. My drawn out sighs could not be blocked as I watched the clouds floating aimlessly by. "I wish I was a cloud…." I muttered to myself, causing a certain Princess at my side to chuckle.

"Is it really that bad?" Adel asked.

"Well… I am not so sure, to be honest. I just don't like the idea of being forced into it. Everyone else got land and boosts in their titles, but I was basically told: hey, you are now a royal!" I answered as I sat back in my seat. Adel leaned her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes.

"I am glad you got the title. It is well deserved. You have done so much for this kingdom and can be considered the strongest person in it. You are worthy of the title of queen, and my father would be happy to give up the crown, but since he knows you would not want that, he has decided to give you the title princess. He also knows you wish to work your way up through the ranks of knighthood as well, which is why he did not give you such a title." Adel replied, her voice going soft. She seemed overly tired. I guess she had been busy as well lately.

Adel fell asleep on my shoulder. Her beautiful face was close to mine. I could see the dark circles that had been forming under her eyes. She tried to hide it with a bit of light makeup, but up close, you could see it. I guess with this new title, I can now at least share more of her burden and help this friend of mine when she needs it the most.

When we arrived at the estate, I did not wake Adel. I picked her up and carried her into the house and up to her room, where I then laid her on the bed with her feet hanging over the edge. Only when I got her shoes off did I put the covers over her and leave the room.

"You seem tired." A voice came from my side. I turned to see Jen standing there, smiling at me.

"You can say that. That damn old man made me a princess." I replied with a sour face. Jen chuckled and shook her head at me.

"Only you would whine about such a thing," Jen replied.

"Where is Grace?" I asked.

"Grace is still very busy. Because of everything that had happened, she had to put off her parent's meeting. Now she is in full swing again. They are expected to be here in two days."

"Yeah, they had to cancel before due to an incident with one of their companies. Let's hope we can finally get this situation handled once and for all." I still had no idea how Grace's parents would react to their daughter's new look. Grace had not met them at all since her change. She seemed reluctant or maybe nervous. She still loved her parents, after all.

---

Two days passed by quickly, and right now I was standing waiting for the Dollen's to arrive. Grace was not to meet them until we arrived in the room we had prepared to receive them in. I wanted them to be sitting down and at least have some calming tea in case they end up having a stroke. The last thing I need is to have one of the few marquesses that the kingdom has left dying in my house.

Surprisingly the carriage pulled ten minutes earlier than the said arrival time. I guess maybe they were in a hurry to meet Grace. I guess this could be considered a good sign? The two people who got out were a middle aged man and a woman who looked to be in her late twenties. This was normal for nobles as most older men married younger women.

"My name is Niel Dollen, and this is my wife, Frera Dollen. It is our pleasure to meet the newly appointed Princess Cyrilia." Grace's father bowed his head and following after him, as did his wife.

"Please raise your head. In my house, status matters not. We are all one big family here. Whether it be commoner, noble, or royal." I answered with a smile. Grace's father looked up at me. He was a man with a squarish face and short black hair. He looked refined, and his eyes seemed to hold deep wisdom.

"I see.." He only answered with these two words. It was hard to tell what he was thinking as he remained expressionless. And his wife seemed to be tight lipped. Or maybe she was afraid to speak?

We walked into the room that Grace set up for her parents so they could be seated comfortably. When we walked in, I saw a slight twitch in the expressionless man's expression. I am not sure if it was bad or good, but since no complaints were uttered, we will just go with good.

"Please have a seat. Annie, serve us some tea, please." I called out to Annie, my ten star maid. Annie nodded and quickly went to work brewing tea. I then turned to Grace's parents and looked them directly in the eye. "Before I call Grace here, I would like you to drink the tea. It will help you relax a little. I must say, please be ready." While Grace was with me at the castle, her parents were not there. And the king forbade anyone to talk about her appearance. I made him do so as her parents had not seen her yet as she was. Although I am not sure, they even recognized her at the trial. It was hard to tell with how they were not talking much.

"Princess… You do not need to worry about us. We already know about our daughter's new appearance." Grace's father suddenly spoke up.

"I see… Then this will make things easier. There is a lot to explain as well. So I will have Grace come in now."

Chapter25 Meeting With Grace’s Parents Part 2

"Grace!" I called out, and the door opened. Grace slowly walked in, her head lowered as if she was waiting to be yelled out. She walked over and stood behind the couch, diagonally to me. I sighed as I said: "Grace, at least sit down, please."

"Yes, Master…." Grace replied as she walked around the couch and sat down.

A long sigh came from in front of me as I looked up to see Grace's father holding his head. "To think this would happen…."

"Marquess Dollien, while I know this seems strange but please do not get mad at Grace." I started, but Grace's father raised his hand to stop me.

"I am not going to chastise her at all. I said that because I was surprised that the stories I was told by my own grandfather were true. You see, our bloodline is unique to others. Our bloodline will only awaken under a certain condition, and that is to come in contact with someone of the dragonic bloodline, and it must lose to that bloodline…." Grace's father explained as he leaned back.

My ears perked up as I asked in surprise: "You know about the dragonic!?"

"No… sadly, I do not. All knowledge of the race disappeared many, many years ago. I only know the name of our rightful masters. I only know it was an ancient race that stood above all the other races and that the angelic race was its subordinate. Beyond that, I only know a little bit about the angelic race and how our bloodline works. But in Grace's case, it seems your bloodline took a larger effect." Grace's father explained, causing my hopes to die down.

"I see…" I couldn't hide my disappointment since I did not know anything about the dragonic. I wanted to know about their history. I wanted to know everything about them. Any clues that would help me keep my sanity were clues I would grasp at.

I took a deep breath as I looked at Grace's father and asked: "So how should we go from here? Grace does not want to leave my side. If I tried to tell her that she doesn't need to do these things, she would try to take her own life. I, for one, do not want Grace to lose her life. She is my friend, after all."

"Master!" Grace lifted her head with a bright smile as she called out to me. I sighed and patted her head, which caused her smile to brighten even more.

"Ahem…" Grace's father coughed. "The angelic race is and always will be subordinates of the dragonic. The stories I heard say that they were absolutely obedient to the dragonic. I guess these stories are very much true. And from the look on Grace's face, I can tell she is truly happy. I love my daughter, and I know with this new change that, she will not be able to turn back now. I can only leave her in your care. And to be honest, I am grateful that you were the one who had the bloodline, or else Grace would suffer with no will to resist."

"I would never let Grace suffer. As I said, Grace is my friend. She has become part of my small family that seems to be slowly growing here." I replied. Grace was important to me just as much as Jen and Adel. I would never let her suffer any unfair treatment.

"I know. You did what you did because of my daughter, which caused the trial. But it seems that this was used as a ploy to rid this kingdom of the corrupt nobles. When I saw the people who have gathered around you willing to kneel to you, I was quite surprised. Each one of them held the determination to follow you no matter what. I could see it in their eyes. And what really surprised me the most is how you are no less influential in this kingdom now than the king himself. You may not know because you were busy at the time, but the people outside the court were all praying for your freedom. They cared more about their savior than the king. You have a place amongst the commoners of the capital that can not be moved any time soon.

"I had people mingle into the crowd, and the words being said by those in the crowd talked about what you have been doing. Reforming the east side slums. Making it a place no different than the rest of the capital. People have even begun to look at it as a place of investment, even among the other nobles. I am sure many proposals have been sent to your assistant Thurul there." Grace's father explained with a faint smile. His stoic face had finally cracked, and he had a small smile on his lips.

"Now that you mention it…. I guess I have had Annie mention this a few times. I just have not had time to look them over. I will be sure to take a look today." I had a stack of papers on my desk but have yet to go through them. I really need to get myself together and work harder! I looked at the parents that were gazing at their daughter and smiled softly. "Since I have work to do, I will leave you in the care of Grace. Please do excuse me. And…." I looked at Grace's father and continued: "Take your time. Feel free to even steal her for the day or two or three."

"Master!" Grace cried out, but I could see she was not antsy or angry. She was looking at me with a look that showed how grateful she was.

"Grace, have fun. Your parents love you deeply. Whether you have them stay here for a while or you go with them for a while. You should spend more time with them." I said before turning to leave,

"Princess Cyrilia" Grace's mother suddenly called out to me causing me to pause my steps. I turned to see the beautiful woman looking at me with tears in her eyes but smiling. "Thank you!"

"You do not need to thank me. Grace is my friend and family. I will never let anything bad happen to her or keep her from those she holds dear and hold her dear. Enjoy your time together. Grace, take your time. There is no need to hurry."

Chapter26 Annie

When I left the room, I walked toward my office. I had not dealt with the company things for a while, and Annie had been making most of the decisions on my behalf. She had become less of a maid and more of a CEO of my company. She was genuinely good at it. It was as if it was a natural born talent.

When I walked into the office, Annie was sitting at my desk looking over the papers. When she heard me, she looked up and smiled. "Young Miss."

"Annie. You have been working way too hard. Your eyes have bags." I said as I walked over. She had been doing both maid duties and company duties, and it was my fault that she was being overworked. "Go rest. From now on, you will only do company things. I do not want you to be overworked. This way, you can enjoy some free time to yourself."

"This… Young Miss, if I did that, then who would be the head maid? There are many new maids we just took in to take care of the increase of people living here. They still need to be trained. If I don't train the…."

"Stop!" I yelled out. "Annie." I walked over to stand behind her and covered her eyes with my hand. "You do not need to worry about such things anymore. From this moment on, you only need to worry about the company. Rina and Brooke both know how to do the same things as you. I will also be lightening your load a bit as well. So for today, give me a rundown on what is going on so I can get caught up. I apologize for slacking on this."

"But…" Annie tried to speak, but I cut her off again.

"No buts! I forgot to tell you, but you are no longer contracted with the royal family but under me now. What I say goes. Give me a run down, and then go get some much needed rest. You are no longer a servant. You are my employee now. You are no longer bound by contracts." I replied. Although working for a company is really no different from a maid job. She was just switching carriers with more time off and higher pay.

"Young miss…" Annie started at me in confusion. I can understand why. She had been raised to be a servant, so to have suddenly freedom to do as she pleased must be a strange concept for her.

"No more young miss, I am your boss now. Of course, if you wish to quit and do something else, you can, but I do hope you don't. I need you!" My last words were said in a more begging manner because I really did need Annie.

"I would never quit! Young-Boss, you have treated me and the others as family since we arrived. You gave us higher wages. Forced us to take time off. And never once treated us like actual servants outside our working hours. We are truly grateful." Annie replied.

I smiled and slipped my arms around her, and hugged her from behind. "As long as those around me live fulfilling lives, then I am happy. Of course, I will also try to be happy as well. But having friends and family with me is also something that makes me happy."

"Although, Boss…. I will say this. I still plan to manage the house. I can not leave it to others." Annie replied with a voice of determination.

I was caught by surprise at her insistence. "Huh? But I can just…."

"No! Do you even know how long it took me to rearrange everything in this house to meet my standards!? I will not allow those without enough attention to detail to take over. Rina and Brooke are good girls, but they are nowhere near ready for such things!" I stared at Annie's wrinkled brow and sighed. "Fine, I give up! I will just pay you extra. But you are not a servant. Remember this. You are now my aid. I will be relying on you to handle things when I am not around."

"Mmm! Leave it to me. And Boss." Annie called out and placed her hand on mine. "Thank you. Thank you for treating me and the others as people and not animals."

Hearing her sincere thanks, I hugged her tighter and nodded my head. "Of course, I would. After all, we are all one and the same. Just different body parts here and there."

"Mmm…. But I do wonder one thing…" Annie said as she held onto my arm tighter and stared off towards the door. "If I were to give you a peck on the cheek right now, would the one standing on the other side of the door lose it completely?"

"Huh?" I was confused when I suddenly heard a loud yell from the other side of the office door.

"You dare!?" Only then did I understand what Annie meant. She was teasing Adel.

"Adel, you know, eavesdropping and stalking is unbefitting a princess," I said with a chuckle.

"Then I will give up my title as pr…."

"You sure as hell will not! That would mean my position in line for the throne would be moved up! If you do that, I will stop talking to you!" I said in a huff, but my words seemed to prickle at Adel. She pursed her lips and stopped talking.

"Anyway. Why are you acting like someone who just had their wife stolen? I keep telling you to reel it in. You can't act like a jealous girlfriend when we are friends." I scolded.

"I am just…. That is not it!" Adel stammered.

"Then what is it?" I asked. I know I was being kind of mean right now but I was only doing this so that Adel would not end up doing something else out of jealous rage that she would regret. She needed to realize her own actions were wrong even if she had those sorts of feelings for me.

"I don't know! I just get aggravated when any man or girl is near you! I feel like I might lose you." Adel replied, her voice going softer. But she raised her head and continued: "I had a dream where you went far away!"

Chapter27 Realization

--AN) Second daily chapter will be late. Had to run to the vet this morning.--

Adel's eyes began to fill with tears. Just seeing her like this made me feel bad for her. "When did you have this dream?"

"A while ago…. I do not remember when but since then, I have been afraid that the first true friend I have ever had will disappear from my life." Adel answered.

"I see…." I pondered for a moment before taking a deep breath and asking. "Adel, are you in love with me?"

Not only did Adel's eyes grow wide in surprise at my question, but even Annie's eyes also shot open. I know I was being very forward about this, but I had to ask this question as it seemed Adel would still be in limbo forever with her possessiveness of me growing stronger and stronger. The last thing I want is a yandere moment where she is killing me in my sleep due to her jealousy. The idea was quite scary, after all. Although I think the knife would break before it could stab into me.

But from the way Adel was opening and closing her mouth and how her cheeks were turning bright red, I think she finally realized her issue. "I…. I'm sorry!" Adel suddenly yelled out as she turned and ran away.

I stared at her retreating back with a helpless smile. "Boss, are you not going to chase after her?"

"No. This is something she needs to think over herself. I mean. At this time, I can not really return her feelings. But, I will never think any less of her. Adel is a friend I cherish from the bottom of my heart. Even if she does come to the conclusion that she is in love with me, I will accept it just as that but not treat her any differently. Adel is Adel. And always will be. Maybe in the future, when I come to terms with my own issues, I can come to love someone, but at this time, I can not. Sadly." I replied. Love was something I could not handle at this time. I liked Adel and thought she was very cute and loveable, but I could not see her, or anyone else for that matter, in the way of love. Now that I think about it, I think I have always been this way. But well, what can I do? Changing one's self is not as easy as one would think.

"So you will keep going as you are?" Annie asked.

"I guess? I am not sure how I should handle it. All I know is Adel is one of my best friends. And that will never change. I do not think I have been leading her on, have I?" I asked. I do not think I have shown that kind of interest at all.

"Not that I have seen. Although you do allow her to hang all over you, but you also reprimand her when she is acting too out of line, as you did now. But… You should comfort her about the issue of her dream. She looked quite scared and sad at the same time when she spoke about it." Annie answered.

"I guess you are right. I will talk to her soon. For now, I think it is best to let her figure her own thoughts out." I said with a sigh. It was then a knock came at the door. I turned to see Jen standing there.

"Faith, what happened to Adel? Her entire face is bright red, and a look of shock was on her face as she ran down the hall." Jen asked as she walked into the room.

"It's nothing. Let her be for now." I replied as I took my seat behind the desk. "Time to dig in!"

I rolled up my sleeves, pulled one of the documents off the pile, and began reading it. I also need to get my mind off things. I could also hear Annie and Jen talking. "What is up with her?"

"Let's just say Boss needs to keep herself occupied for the time being," Annie replied.

"Oh… By the way, why Boss?" Jen asked.

"Ah, Boss has now changed my job description. While I will still be managing the house, my main duties are with the company." Annie replied. I could see Jen nodding her head.

"You do, do a lot for the company. I wish I could help out in some way, but I am not too good at asserting myself, so people would just walk all over me. That and I still have my library duties." The two girls chatted away for a while before Jen said goodbye and ran off. Annie stayed in the room and prepared tea for me as normal. I wanted to say she didn't have to, but I bit my tongue.

She placed the tea cup on my desk and sat down on the edge of it, sipping a cup of her own. "You shouldn't let it get to you too much."

I raised my head and looked at Annie. I let out a sigh and nodded my head. "I will talk to her later tonight. I just want to give her time to think things through."

*Bang!*

The door suddenly slammed open, causing Annie and me to jump. Adel came marching into the room and around my desk. She then reached out and grabbed my face, and before I knew it, Adel's lips were on mine. It was only for a second, a very split second, before she pulled back and stood in front of me with wide eyes…. "I guess it is love…." Was what slipped from her mouth as she stared at me with rosy cheeks.

It was now my turn to be frozen in place. My mind was blank. I knew what had happened, but my brain was just not registering it. I just had my first ever kiss with someone else stolen! "Adel you…."

"Hehe! I finally understand! I feel so much better! So the feeling that was pulling at my heart this entire time was because I loved you."

Chapter28 The Way It Should Be

I watched as Adel wiped the imaginary sweat from her brow. Her face seemed to be more relaxed than ever, with a blooming smile plastered right on it. But now I wonder what she will do from here. She just confessed to me, and to be honest, I do not want to turn her down because I know it will hurt her, but I can not lie to her when I do not feel anything at this time that goes so far as to say that I love her.

"Ah!" Adel's voice broke my train of thought, causing me to look right at her. "While I now know I love you, I am well aware that you have no plans for a relationship. I know this because I have been watching you this entire time. You reject any notion of love that is beyond friendship. But that does not mean I will give up easily. One day I will make you look my way. Until then, I will continue to love you as I have. Although I will do my best not to act like I have…."

Adel paused as she leaned down and hugged me. "But please never forget that my love for you is real." With that, and without me being able to answer her, she turned and left the office, leaving me behind to sit there in a mix of my own emotions.

"She is like a whirlwind." Annie's voice entered my ear, but I was still in a daze. "Boss? Your face is red…. Don't tell me you…."

"No! I am just… I mean, she kissed me! That was my first kiss!" I cried out as I held my head in my hands. So embarrassing!

"Hehe, to think Boss was a maiden at heart," Annie said teasingly.

"Annie, no pay for a month…." I mumbled

"What!? So mean!" Annie cried out, causing me to smile. I looked at her and stuck out my tongue.

"Go take a break. I will continue here." I said with a smile. Annie always works hard, so she deserves a break. "Oh! I heard there was a new cake shop in the center. Take a carriage and go check it out."

"Cake!? Hehe… It only takes one taste, and I will figure out the ingredients! I will be off. Boss, don't work too hard!" I chuckled as I watched Annie rush out the door. She did not love cooking. What she loved was stealing other people's recipes and making them her own. She has a bad habit of going to fancy restaurants and eating all their expensive meals and then remembering the taste.

I sat back in my chair and closed my eyes. I wonder if Adel will change now. Or if she will still be the same. If anything, I do hope her jealous rampages will end now. I yawned as I leaned back in my chair. I closed my eyes to rest them for a few seconds….

"Faith! What do you think!?" Adel's voice entered my ears. I opened my eyes to see Adel smiling at me as she pointed at the room in front of her. "Well? I redid it for us!"

"Hmmm? But…. Why?" I was confused. Why would she redo a bedroom for us….

"What do you mean why!? We are getting @^#%# in a few days. It only took you %^@%# *#&@# to come around." Adel's smiling face seemed to brighten up the already bright room. Her more mature face and dazzling smile was enough to make anyone who gazed upon it smile back. But some of her words phased out and sounded jumbled. I couldn't understand what she was saying. But It was good to see her smiling face. "Faith?"

"Hmmm?" I asked. I was feeling very tired.

"Faith!? Faith!" I heard Adel's voice yell out, but I felt like I couldn't move. Everything was going dark. I looked up at the panicked expression on Adel's face and wondered why she was crying. I did my best to smile as I softly said: "Don't cry. Crying ruins your beautiful face…."

Light slowly penetrated the darkness as I opened my eyes. I looked around the room to see I was sitting in my office. I have no idea what that dream was about, but it was very much different than any dream I have ever had thus far. But the sad look in Adel's eyes as things grew dark worries me…. "Is she okay?"

This thought made me rise up from my seat and leave my office. I walked down the hall to Adel's room, where I knocked on the door and called out to her as I opened it. "Adel?"

"Gehehehe…." Ermmm? I seemed to have walked in on something strange. "Adel?"

"Huh? Faith!?" Adel yelled out while throwing the pillow she was just hugging over the couch she was on, sat straight up, and tried to fix her clothing. "Wha-What brings you here?"

Is she really going to try to ignore the fact she was just hugging and kissing a pillow while making strange noises!? I guess this is one of those times where it's better to forget than to try to find out what I had just witnessed. Taking a deep breath I said: "I just came to find out if you were okay. But it seems you are okay, so have fun… Sorry for disturbing you."

"Huh? Ah! Faith! It's not what you think!" Adel's cry fell on deaf ears as I blankly walked out of the room. "Yes… .I will wipe this day from my memory."

"Faith!" Adel yelled out from behind me. I turned to see her standing there staring at me as if she was going to eat me up. "Don't misunderstand! Wait, why are you running!?"

"Because I don't want to turn into a pillow! Gehehehhe!" I let out a mimicked laugh causing Adel to scream from behind me: "You! Forget that!"

We ran by many of the people in the house. Me running away just fast enough for Adel to not be able to catch up, and Adel, doing her best to catch up to me. This is how we should be for the time being. Two friends who are like sisters who care for one another. This is the kind of relationship I want for the time being. Until the day I can toss aside my worries about the future, I can only stay like this for her. Just out of reach but close enough for her to know that I am not going anywhere. Whether I end up with her or some man, I have yet to meet, I do not know, but the future was something that should never be set in stone.

Chapter29 You Were Born

Six more months have passed. I am currently fourteen. My daily life has not changed much. However, I have been more involved in my company now. The first prototype flying carriage is going to be fully developed within the next year. I am quite excited about this.

Adel now confesses her love to me at least once a day. She has actually calmed down quite a bit. She no longer freaks out if people talk to me. Even when someone else confessed to me, she did not go crazy and try to cling to me. In fact, she even gloated about how I never outright rejected her as if it was some kind of amazing thing. While it was true that I never told her I did not wish to date out right, she knew I was not into such things at this time. So our days were basically the same. Adel and I were the same as always.

As the days passed, I went to the academy and worked on learning as much as I could. I still have four years to go, and I am learning new things every day. I am standing at the top of my class. But only barely there are a few smart people who do very well on the tests. I am lucky if I can even beat them by five points, but that is only on written exams. For practical exams, I am way above the rest.

But currently, my team and I are now standing in the Dean's office. "Dean, you called us?"

"Yes… I called you here specifically because a dungeon has appeared at the base of the cliff where your village is located." The Dean replied, causing my eyes to narrow.

"Has anyone investigated it yet?" I asked. I had a bad feeling something was not right.

"Your father…. And… From the reports we got from your brother, he has not returned." These words made my face go pale. If anything has happened to my father, I swear I would... I felt my ancient will start to wake up, but it was quickly quieted when I felt both my hands grabbed. I turned to see both Adel and Jen holding my hands. I really owe these two.

"Then I will set off immediately. Please notify my instructors." I replied as I turned. I did not wish to wait a second longer. Every second counted, especially in a dungeon.

"Wait! You need to know what kind of monsters are inside." The Dean yelled after me.

"It doesn't matter what kind they are. They will all die." I said in a low voice, trying to hide my rage. "As I am now, unless they are all boss monsters, nothing will stop me from finding my father. I must go."

Preparation was key at this time. I had to rush back as soon as possible. I had many things I needed to deal with before I left, and I had to do it all within the next few hours. I planned to leave today.

"Faith, go. I will tell Annie to deal with the company. We will meet you at your village. Just do not enter the dungeon by yourself." Adel squeezed my hand. I turned and looked at her. Seeing her serious expression, I nodded and took off, only leaving behind a few words. "Thank you, Adel. I will see you all soon!"

I flew nonstop towards my house. But even with my speed, it will still take me at least a week to reach my house, and I was already using all the body buffs that increase speed. While it was much faster than a normal journey, I still wished it was faster.

A week of no sleep was nothing to me. But when I reached the entrance of Cyirlia village, I felt something was very much off. The whole town seemed to be surrounded by some kind of fortified wall. I could hear cries and yells as smoke plumes rose into the sky. "What is going on here!?" My voice roared through the sky.

I flew over to where what looked like a battle was taking place and shot my body down in the middle of it, and landed on the ground creating a crater a few feet wide. My sudden presence on the battlefield shocked everyone there. They had swords, pitchforks, and many other tools that would not normally be a weapon. I scanned the crowd to see many familiar figures, but one stood out the most. The village elder. His face was now pale as a ghost.

My body flashed as I came to instantly stand before the village elder and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt, lifting him off the ground. "What the hell do you think you are doing!?"

"Why are you here!? Why are you not in the capital!?" The village chief's voice seemed to be filled with panic as well as anger.

"Are you an idiot!? Did you think I would not hear about my father's disappearance!? What did I say when I left this village? What did I tell you!?" I slammed the old man's body to the ground. My eyes were bloodshot with anger. I was just about to end the old man's life when someone tried to stab me with a pitchfork.

"Because of your father, we are all starving! Because of a damn demi human like you, we have to suffer!" The man yelled out as he tried to shove his pitchfork into me, only for a shattering sound to be heard as the pitchfork itself broke into many pieces.

"You blame me!? Who was it who tried to lynch me!? What the hell did I ever do to you people!?" I roared. I did not understand why they did not repent on their own mistakes. They all decided to try to lynch me, and even when we let them all live, they still did not see the error of their ways.

But what I heard next was the last straw. "You were born!"

Chapter30 More Important Matters

"Hehe…. Hahahahaha! Fine! I was born!? Then fine! I will show you what it means to attack the things I cherish!" This new life has taught me many things. And the most important part of those things is the fact that I learned to protect what I cared about most, no matter the cost.

With a sword in my hand, the village elder's head flew through the air. I had already warned him once, yet he was still trying to take advantage of my father's absence to try to take over my village. They were starving? Why should it be of any concern to Cyrilia Village? They were the ones who shunned my family and me. They despised me for no reason. Now they were getting what they deserved.

I turned to look at the rest of the people who were frozen in place. Their face's were all sunken to the point that they looked almost like skeletons. They may have been desperate, but there was still plenty of land for them to farm. Why did they not try to grow wheat?

"You! You killed the village elder! You demon!" One man yelled, but I could care less for what he called me. I mean, he was technically half right.

"I ask. If you are all so hungry, why did you not farm the land that has yet to be cultivated!? You had almost two years. Two whole years and what do you have to show for it!?" I yelled, causing some of them to look down at the ground.

"Heh, easy for you to say. Your family took all the good farmland! We tried to cultivate the land, but it would not grow anything!" A man yelled out, but I knew he was lying. Because I had already swept the side of the village that had plenty of land to farm on it with detection magic, if they cultivated it, it would have at least fed these villagers without issues. I turned to look at the village elder, who still looked quite healthy except for the fact that he was now dead. His cheeks were not as sunken in as the rest. This meant that the stores of grain that the main village had were used for himself and himself only. He was starving his villagers to death because they were too lazy to even cultivate the land on their side of the cliff.

"You really tried to cultivate the land!? Why lie!? None of the land that should have been cultivated has been touched! You people seem to think that some god will rain down their protection on you and give you free handouts. What the hell have you been doing these past two years!? Why did you not ask the village elder for his food stock? Besides the fact he is missing a head now, he looks quite healthy! You all want to act all well and good but not a single one of you wants to take responsibility for yourselves.

"You have all lived off the kindness of my family and the other hard working villagers of Cyrilia Village in the past, but now you have to take matters into your own hands, you can't even handle feeding yourselves! What good are you!?" I just did not understand these people's train of thought. Did they think they were rich noblemen who could just sit back and let others do the work for them? Did they think, oh my neighbor will cultivate the fields on their own? No. I can tell just by looking at them that not a single one even thought to put in a bit of extra work.

"What do you know!? You have no idea how hard it has been for us! We can't even feed our young. My son and daughter both died!" Another man yelled out. But this angered me even more.

"Then why the hell did you not go out and try to supply them with food!? Why did you not go out and till the field!? Why did you not go out and try to hunt some monsters, eat the damn bark off the tree if you had to? Why did you sit around and act like you had to do nothing!? Are you all stupid!?" I yelled back. This time they were all quiet. I sneered at their silence. "You all had a chance to better your own lives, but you decided to be lazy. You have no one to blame but yourselves! And now you will all lose your worthless lives. You should never have attacked a place that I protect!" I raised my hand and was about to burn them all alive when I yell came from behind me. "Faith!"

I turned to see my brother and a large group of villagers from Cyrilia Village guarding him as he pushed through the other villagers. It seems the other village had lost all will to fight. "Brother!" My brother has become much more handsome since I have been gone.

"Don't dirty your hands with these people. We will take care of them. More importantly, I need you to go speak with Mother. She is currently locked up in the house with Rachel guarding the door. She wants to head to that dungeon place and try to find Father." My brother explained.

"Hmmm… no need to worry about killing anyone…. Diablo!" I called out.

"Yes, Master?" Diablo appeared next to me.

"One of my brother's people will tell you who the enemy is. You can dispose of them as you see fit. Just do not harm anyone from Cyrilia village." I ordered, which Diablo licked his lips and nodded in response. I then turned to my brother. "As I said, have one of your people assist Diablo. The people of Cyrilia village do not need to fight a battle that can easily be won. Brother, we will go see mother together."

"You have grown up quite a bit since I last saw you…." My brother said with a warm smile.

"We can catch up later. For now, calming Mother and finding Father are my biggest concerns. I promise, dead or alive. I will bring Father back." I hated to say it, but I know how hard the dungeons are. There may be a chance that he has already fallen. I hated this thought but I had to realize this now. But I will not give up hope just like that. So whether all I find is his bones or I find him alive and well I will bring him back.

Chapter31 Son In Law!?

When I reached the familiar house with the familiar front lawn that I grew up on, I heard a loud yell from inside. "Eric, you better let me out this instant, or I will blow this entire house up!"

"Mother, please think of your grandson!" I heard Rachel yell out. Using her own son as a means to quiet my mother down was a smart move. Sorry, Leo, but you are being sacrificed for the greater good.

Eric held his head in his hands as he shook it back and forth. "She has been threatening this for a few days now. I have almost resorted to tying her up. For now, I was able to seal her in the house."

"I will deal with it. But to be on the safe side, you, Rachel, and Leo should wait outside." I had no idea what my mother would do once I opened the door, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Alright…." Eric's face said it all. He was hoping the house wouldn't be destroyed because he would be the one to have to rebuild it.

"I will put up a barrier," I said softly. Only then did his mood brighten as he rubbed my head.

"You have gotten bigger," Eric said with a smile.

"Well, it has been about two years. I at least now look closer to my age." I did grow a bit taller over the past two years, although my chest was nothing to speak about. But if my dreams are truly real in some aspects, then I will eventually fill out. How many hundreds of years that will take, I do not know.

"That you do. You have grown even prettier than I saw you last. I am sure many people have confessed to you." Eric spoke as if he was a proud father. I couldn't help but chuckle. But he was also not wrong. I have had over thirty confessions in the past two years. And that is not counting Adel's daily confession.

I walked into the house with Eric, who did not waste time getting Rachel and Leo out of the house. I didn't even get to say hi to Rachel before she was whisked away. I guess Eric was really worried that Mother would go crazy and blow the house up. "Damn it! Eric, let me out now!"

"Mother, you need to calm down first," I spoke through the door. The whole house suddenly went quiet.

"Faith?" My mother asked softly.

"Mmmmm… It's me." I replied just as softly, but who would have thought the next words out of her mouth would make the little reunion moment we were just about to share get ruined just as quickly as it came?

"Tell that bastard brother of yours to let me out of this room right now! Your father… Your father might be in trouble!" My mother yelled at the top of her lungs.

I sighed and waved my hand, removing the barrier on the door. My mother burst through the door and was about to run out of the house, but I quickly grabbed her wrist. "Mother. No."

"Faith…. You!" My mother turned and looked at me. Her eyes were brimming with tears. I yanked on her arm and pulled her into a hug. "Don't worry. I have my team on the way. I will bring back Father whether dead or alive, I promise."

"Faith… Faith!" My mother hugged me tightly as she began crying. She must have been losing her mind with worry. I gently rubbed her back as her tears fell. My brother poked his head into the house and looked around. When he saw me holding Mother as she cried, he seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

"Master…." Diablo suddenly appeared in front of me.

"All taken care of?" I asked.

"I made sure that they were all taken care of. The soldiers of this village are currently inspecting the village below. And giving aid to the women and children who need it." Diablo replied.

"I figured they would. Thanks, Diablo. Your next task is to keep my mother in the house and protect it for the time being. I do not want anything unexpected to happen while I search for my father. I plan to enter the dungeon to take a peek at what kind of monsters are inside. Once I know this, I will be able to come up with a plan for when the others get here." I had to know what I was up against before I took a group into the dungeon blindly. It was never good to jump in without knowledge of what to expect.

"As you command Master," Diablo replied while bowing.

"Faith this is?" My mother asked as she looked at Diablo curiously. "My son in law!? Faith, you have not done badly for yourself! Look how good looking he is!"

"Mother, that is the first thing you jump to when you see a handsome man at my side!?" I yelled out. I could feel my cheeks heating up. Yes, Diablo was very handsome and would make any girl want to swoon over him, but he was a demon! A literal one!

"Why are you being shy? Come son in law, let me make you a snack. You have to tell me about faith's time in the capital." I could only stand there and watch as my mother dragged a very confused Diablo off to the other room.

My brother walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Don't mind. You know mother likes handsome men."

"That doesn't mean she can just go and name any man my fiance! I don't even have a boyfriend! Diablo is a summon!" I yelled out, only to have my brother give me a sympathetic gaze. Why do I feel like the corner of his lips are twitching as if he is trying to hide his smile? This bastard is making fun of me in his head!

Chapter32 The Graveyard Part 1

"Hohoho? So my little Faith is that popular." My mother was having a grand old time fawning all over Diablo.

"Mother, I think that is enough. Diablo doesn't know what to do." I finally spoke up. Diablo was sitting there with a blank expression. I think he has already left this world for another.

"What do you mean!? It is only right for a mother to get to know the man that will soon be part of the family. So tell me, when is my grandbaby d….?"

"Mother!" I yelled out while spraying her with water magic. "Diablo is not my boyfriend! How many times do I have to say it!?"

"Faith, why are you being shy!? How could such a handsome man who is willing to devote himself to you not be my future son in law!?" My mother yelled back while drying herself off with magic.

"So any handsome man I bring into this house is my fiance!? So the ones coming here soon will also be my fiance!? I will have a damn harem!?" I shouted.

"My!? My, my! We will need to build a bigger house. I never thought my daughter was able to bring home so many handsome men. I expect many grandbabies soon! I must go make plans!" I suddenly feel like I want to cry….

"Why won't she just listen!?" I cried out as I fell back into my seat.

"Ummm…. Master, what should I do?" Diablo asked.

"I'm sorry, Diablo, but just deal with her for now. She is probably using this to keep her mind off my father." I can only think that that was the case because she was talking very strangely.

"When are the others arriving?" My brother asked as he set a cup of tea on the table for me.

"In a few days. Well, if they are not here in a few days, they will be forced to run back and forth from here to the capital and back one hundred times until they can get here quicker. After everything is settled, of course." I really meant it when I said I would make them run back and forth until they could get here in a decent amount of time. They can all use the same spells I can for speed boosting, so it should not take them too long.

"You are…. Alright. I do not know what you have been up to, but I guess it is probably something crazy." To my brother's words, I just smiled.

"I will be off. I want to check the entrance of the dungeon and take a peek inside. If I do not come out, then tell my team not to enter." If I enter and something happens like I am locked in. It would be best to keep the others outside, just in case.

"Alright. I will let them know. Is Diablo staying at the house?" My brother looked over at Diablo, who seemed to have a headache. He was sitting there holding his head in his hands.

"Yeah. He will be the first to know if something happens to me." After I answered my brother, I looked at Diablo. "Protect them for me, please."

"As you wish, Master. But is there anything you can do about your mother? While you are a very beautiful girl, I am a demon, and you are my Master…." Diablo looked desperate, but I was unsure how I felt about his quick dismissal of me. I mean, he made it sound like he was praising me, but the end sounded more like he was disgusted with the thought.

I humphed and answered: "Put up with it." I then got up and walked off. I could hear Diablo behind me ask my brother: "Did I say something wrong?"

And then answering: "Never try to understand a woman's mind."

I rolled my eyes as I stepped outside to see Rachel playing with Leo in the yard. "Rachel!" I called out. She looked up at me and smiled brightly. She picked up Leo and rushed over to me.

"You have grown prettier! I missed you so much! I have no one to tease your brother with anymore and pull pranks on him." Rachel's tone was filled with dejection, but her smile was radiant.

"I will be sure to help you with a few before I return back to the capital. For now, I must go to the dungeon. Keep an eye on things. If you have issues, tell my brother or Diablo. No one is allowed to bully you or my little nephew!" I said while pursing my lips. Rachel smiled and nodded. "I will be sure to do just that. So is it true? Is Diablo your…"

"Not you too!?" I cried out, causing Both Rachel and Leo to laugh. I sighed and stomped off. Everyone is bullying me today!

I rushed down the cliffside to where the entrance to the dungeon was. The whole array seemed gloomy and eerie. It made me feel like I was walking in a graveyard. I guess I shouldn't say it's like a graveyard as it actually was one. It had sprouted up with the dungeon. "That must be the dungeon entrance." I looked at the tall tomb with a large door on it and sighed as I walked over to it. "These things are just…. At least the outside area is safe. But to think they didn't even post guards ...."

"They did." A voice came from my side, causing me to jump high into the air. I turned to see a young man standing there with a sword at his side.

"Where did you come from!?" I cried out while holding my chest. He scared the death out of me!

"I have been standing here the entire time…." The young man lowered his head. I guess this must happen a lot to him.

"Alright, well…. It's my fault for not paying attention to my surroundings. Can you explain to me what is going on here? How long has the dungeon been up for? And how many people have actually entered." These were all questions I should have asked at the house, but I needed to escape before my mother tried to set me and Diablo up in a bedroom somewhere to make her grandbabies. With her current state of mind, I wouldn't put it past her.

Chapter33 Undead Dungeon Part 1

"I am not sure. Your father only told me to stand guard here, so I do not know what is going on inside. As for how long this dungeon has been up, I would say for about a month. But it was only a few days ago that your father entered." The young man replied.

I couldn't help but purse my lips. My father had entered a few days ago, so either he kept trying to dive deeper into the dungeon, or he had run into trouble…. And the worst case scenario is that he has already passed. As for this young man, I do vaguely remember someone like him from before I moved. I think he is one of my father's friend's sons. Not that it matters. But it does explain why he knows me.

"Alright. I will take a look inside. I need to know what kind of monsters are inside." I took a deep breath and was about to push the door open when the young man grabbed my arm.

"Please don't! If you go in and can't get out. Your father will kill me." The young man's face was pale.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "It's fine. In this kingdom, no one is stronger than I am." I said with a smile as I pushed the door open with one hand and pulled away from the young man.

"Wait!" The young man cried out, but I ignored him.

I entered the dungeon to find the same kind of entrance as the previous dungeon. It was a safe zone. I looked around for any signs of my father but nothing. Not even footprints. Well, it was to be expected as this area was basically dust free. "Why didn't you wait!?" A voice came from behind me. I saw the young man standing there.

"Why did you enter!?" I yelled.

"If I were to let the village elder's daughter enter the dungeon alone, your father would have my head!" The young man cried out as if he was being wronged.

"Go back!" I said flatly. I was not going to risk this young man dying on me. "You need to go back and go back now! If something happens and you die on me, then how am I supposed to live with that? If you do not go back, I will control your mind and force you out of the dungeon. Choose now! Either leave on your own, and I will force you out."

"I…" The young man stood there frozen. He seemed unsure of what to choose. But I had no time to wait either.

"Leave now!" My voice was filled with magic as I used dragon speak to control the young man. His eyes dulled, and he slowly turned around and walked out of the dungeon. With him now gone, I could finally do what I needed to do. I did not plan to go very far. I just needed a better idea of the kinds of monsters I would be running into and to do a quick test on the kind of damage I am able to do to them.

I did not enter the hallway right away. I first put up a barrier that led down the hall to keep anything from closing in on me. If my barrier is in the way, no other barrier should be able to close around it, which will allow me an escape route. After the incident in the last dungeon, this was the only countermeasure I could think up that would probably keep anyone from being locked in again.

I walked down the hallway to the end but did not extend out past the threshold into what looked to be a large area with dense fog. I could see gravestones here and there and what looked to be wet, damp ground. "An undead dungeon?" I pursed my lips as I added ten more thin layers to my barrier just in case. I also used a bit of earth magic to make a tether made of stone to wrap around my body. I wanted to make sure I did not get lost in this place. Just to be sure of no mistakes, I also formed a barrier around it that would expand along with it as I moved into the fog. This would also allow me to retract my entire body back to the entrance.

With things secured, I moved deeper into the fog, where more and more gravestones and even larger tombs with open entrances began to appear. "Hmmm? This is a strange dungeon. The tombs alone are like a dungeon within a dungeon."

I still had yet to see any enemies, but this only lasted until I reached an area with a bunch of run down abandoned houses. They were run down and falling apart. I decided to start my investigation here as I made my way into one of the houses. I kindly made sure the door broke off its hinges to make sure nothing could stop me from exiting.

Luckily I did because I only got two steps inside when I saw a figure in front of me. Semi transparent in color and a ghostly white. It turned and looked over at me. Well, I guess it was looking at me since it had no face but a large wide, bloodied, looking mouth with some black ooze dripping from its mouth. Its mouth opened as it turned and crouched down slightly before suddenly letting out a horrific screech!

"SKEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!"

My eyes lit up as I quickly cast multiple fireballs at it, but to my dismay, they went right through the ghostly body. It then extended its arm straight at me, stabbing me in the shoulder with its knife like fingers causing me to cry out in pain: "Ahh!"

"Appraisal!" I had no choice but to retreat, but I had to at least get a bit of information on the monster that had just attacked me. This was what I came in here for in the first place. I tried to use my sword in my escape, only to have it pass right through the ghostly arm as it retracted back to its body.

[Wraith]

[Level]: 300

[Health]: 1203746/1203746

[Mana]: 0/0

Chapter34 Undead Dungeon Part 2

"What is up with that health? And on top of that, I can't even hurt it!" I cried out as I quickly used my tether to pull me back to the entrance of the hallway. I held my shoulder, which was now bleeding quite badly. "High heal!"

As I reached the entrance of the hallway, I quickly ran back to the entrance of the dungeon and passed through the door. Only when I got outside did I sit on the ground and try to attend to my wound.

"Young miss!" The young man who I sent out earlier cried out. He looked at my shoulder in horror.

"I'm fine. I just got careless. And to be honest, it was good you stayed out here after I sent you out. You might have died." I said as I took some bandages out of my inventory and wrapped up my shoulder. Healing magic was not working, so I had to figure out why. "I am heading back to the village. You can head back as well because I am setting up a barrier around the entrance. The only one who will be able to pass through it is my father." '

"Yes, ma'am!" I have no idea why this young man is suddenly being so polite to me but whatever.

After I sent him off, I set up the barrier and then flew up to the village. Blood was still pouring out of my wound at a steady pace which was really worrying.

[HP] 76500/101500

My health was also steadily dropping as well. I guess bleeding this badly would cause such a thing. To be honest, I think this is the first time I have been hurt so badly without being able to quickly take care of the wound. "I will need Diablo to take a look at it. There seems to be something wrong with where I got stabbed."

"Diablo!" I yelled out as I entered the house. Diablo quickly appeared in front of me.

"Master! This!?" Diablo's look of concern was a bit unexpected. I knew he wanted to stay in his world for my mana, but he had genuine concern in his eyes.

"I need you to take a look at it, come to my room," I said as I did my best to keep the blood from dripping onto the floor. I was trying to make it to my room before my mother saw me, but I guess I was a bit too late for that.

"Faith, what happened!?" My mother cried out.

"It's nothing. There is something wrong with the wound where healing magic doesn't work. Diablo will look at it for me." I explained and quickly made my way to my room. I wasn't going to stop my mother from following me, though. She would cause a fuss if I did.

When I entered my room, I removed my chest plate and, with red cheeks, pulled up my undershirt so that Diablo could get a better look at my shoulder. It was embarrassing since a man would be seeing me with my shirt off, but I had no choice in this matter. My armor and undershirt obstructed the view of the wound. I, of course, made sure to cover my chest with my arm as I turned around and faced him. Trying to hide my embarrassment, I asked: "Can you look at the wound and see if there is anything strange about it?"

"Yes, one second." Diablo did not seem phased at all to see me topless, which was kind of a dig at my womanly pride but well, whatever. This made things less embarrassing. But one thing was for sure it hurt like hell when he touched the wound. "Master, this will probably hurt a lot, but there seems to be something in the wound that is causing it to bleed more than it should and is probably what is keeping healing magic from healing the wound."

"Alright…" I took a metal rod from my inventory and used it to bite down on, as I said in a muffled tone. "Do it."

Diablo nodded and, with his slender fingers, reached into my wound that was the size of a fist and dug deep into it. "Argh!" It hurt. It hurt a lot. I could see my mother tearing up, but she still stayed quiet. Although it was only a few seconds that went by before Diablo pulled his fingers out of my wound, but it felt like an eternity. The pain of having someone dig through your wound like that was really bad.

"Got it…." Diablo held a strange black worm looking thing between his fingers. "This is?"

"A wraith worm. Where did you run into a wraith?" Diablo asked as he looked at me in shock.

"Inside the dungeon. I ran into it while trying to see what kind of monsters were there." I explained as I began healing my wound. This time it was finally healing. "Diablo, can you turn around for a second?" I asked. It was hard to heal and cover myself up with only one arm.

"Ah yes…." Diablo did as I asked as I also turned around and continued to heal myself. With high heal, it only took a few seconds. Only then did I grab a shirt and put it on.

"Thanks. Now explain to me why this thing can block healing magic. And how can a wraith that I can't hit with weapons or magic stab me in the arm and even implant such a thing inside me?" I was bombarding him with questions, but I needed to know as much as I could. I had never run into a monster like this wraith before. It would be different if I could attack it, but all my attempts failed, and at the same time, I was attacked in return without being able to even guard myself. It stabbed through my armor and even my natural dragon defenses. I would not be able to find my father if I could not kill these things. But for all I know, he might have fallen to such a monster himself. And this thought scared me.

Chapter35 [Weekly Bonus 1/2] Iena

"Wraiths are even feared by us demons. They are a strange form of undead and are almost impossible to kill except by way of soul magic. Wraiths are able to make any part of their body corporeal at any given time. This means even the fingertips can be corporeal while the rest of the body is untouchable. They are a more evolved form of ghosts that can not physically harm you, but they can drain your energy. If you get into a group with both and do not know how to kill them, then you are basically asking to die." Diablo explained.

"I see…." I frowned slightly, hearing this. If my team and I were to dive into this dungeon and we got surrounded, we would quickly be defeated. "Then what are these worm things?"

"They are part of the wraith's body that embeds into you. It will allow them to control your soul once you die. They are vicious because if you are in battle, they can make you attack your own comrades." Diablo's answer made my heart sink. If this happened to my father…. Would I even be able to attack? Would I be able to destroy his soul?

"Umm…." My mother's voice came from behind me. I turned to see her standing there with a pale face. I suddenly realized the conversation between Diablo and me was not something she should be listening to.

I quickly walked over to her and hugged her. "It will be fine. Father is a fighter. He will not give up easily. I was just careless, is all."

"Mmm…" My mother hugged me tightly, her body shivering. I knew she was very scared right now. I rubbed her back. I wanted to say comforting words but nothing was coming to mind. There was nothing I could really say that could comfort her at this time.

"Diablo, can you teach me soul magic?" I asked.

"I can, but the magic is not easy. Since you need to channel your mana through your soul and write the magic circles with your soul to cast any of the spells." Diablo answered. Whether it was hard or not, I had no choice but to learn it as quickly as possible. So did everyone else in my team.

"Then please teach me. I will need to learn it in order to search for my father. Everyone who is about to arrive here will also need to be taught this magic." I wanted to get this training over and done with quickly. If even a few of them can learn it then it would be worth it.

"Ahem…." Diablo scratched his head. "You know, by exposing your soul to me, it is the same as a person standing there naked. Souls do not have clothes after all."

I blushed at Diablo's words, but it was a necessity. I had to learn it no matter what. I took a deep breath and nodded my head. "You teach me, and then I will teach the other girls while you teach the boys. The two of us are connected anyway, so I will deal with it."

Embarrassing as it was, I had no choice. Diablo sighed before asking: "We can summon a female demon. Iena is one of my top generals and knows how to use soul magic as well. She can teach you how to do it, so you do not need to expose your soul to me."

I was not sure, but I think I saw a tinge of red on Diablo's cheek, but I did like his suggestion better. It would be hard to concentrate on casting magic with Diablo there if my soul was, as he said, in the nude. "Then let's do that."

"Then I will mix my mana with yours, so she will know I am calling her. This will allow you to form a contract with her. I will then do a full submission contract between you and her. This way, if things like earlier happen, it won't be as uncomfortable for you." Diablo explained. So he is worried about me.

I smiled and nodded my head. "Let's do that then. Thank you, Diablo."

"It's nothing…." Diablo replied before continuing: "I will need you to use the same summoning spell you used before. I will add my magic to it to make sure we call Iena. You can begin when you are ready."

"Alright." I closed my eyes and stretched out my hand. "Enslave Demon!"

A large magic circle formed in front of me on the floor. Diablo began pouring his magic into the magic circle. At the same time a black fog began to appear and slowly began to take shape. Seconds later, a young woman wearing a half metal chest plate that exposed her midriff and a pair of short leather shorts that only covered up to her mid thigh appeared. On her back was a bow and a quiver full of arrows. Her long purple hair fluttered in the air due to the energy the magic circle was giving off.

She slowly opened her eyes to expose two purple eyes that glittered like gems. She looked around the room until she spotted Diablo. Her lips curled up into a big smile, but before she could say a word, she looked down at the new magic circle that was forming under her feet. Her eyes grew big as she looked up at me and the magic circle that had formed under my own feet. "What are you doing!?"

"Iena, calm down, Master is not doing the forced contract, I am. I can't risk you harming her." Diablo's voice cut in before I could even speak up. Iena turned and looked at Diablo in shock and confusion.

"Why!? Why are you forcing me to become a servant of a lower being!?" Iena had tears in her eyes as if she had been completely betrayed. But Diablo's expression did not change in the slightest as the contract formed between the two of us. By her reaction, I do believe Iena is in love with Diablo.

Chapter36 [Weekly Bonus 2/2] Ancient Will Emerges Part 1

"This lower being, as you called her, is also my Master! So watch your tongue!" Diablo yelled. He was actually legitimately angry.

"I…." Iena looked as if she was going to cry. I sighed and stepped forward. Iena, at this time, couldn't harm me even if she wanted to. So I was not worried about her lashing out at me.

I reached out and grabbed her hands, causing her to look at me. I leaned close to her and whispered: "By staying here with me, you can be closer to him. I think this works out well for you, does it not?"

I watched as Iena's eyes went wide, and she nodded her head. And suddenly wrapped her arms around me. "Master is smart!"

Okay, I understand you are happy, but please let me go. Your boobs are crushing my face! Damn demon! I'm not jealous! "Okay, please calm down. The reason Diablo helped me call you here is because I need to learn soul magic. There will also be more girls coming as well. Since Diablo is a man, it is not best for him to teach girls this, so he will be teaching the boys."

Hearing my explanation, Iena nodded her head. "I understand." She then turned to Diablo and said: "Please leave the room. Girls only!"

Diablo nodded and went to leave before pausing: "Make sure you teach her well. Our lives are also connected to hers. I will know if you try anything funny."

"I would never harm her!" Iena snorted as she took my hand. "I already know we will be the best of friends!"

"Humph! Just don't overdo it." Diablo replied before leaving the room. This left me, Iena, and my mother standing in my room.

"So…." My mother spoke up. "Diablo is not son in law?"

"I have been saying that since the start!" I yelled out. Why was she still concerned about this!?

"Then you need to work harder!" My mother yelled back. "Hmph! I will go see what he thinks!" And with that, my mother was off like lightning following after Diablo.

"That is your mother?" Iena asked. She didn't seem to mind what we talked about just now, which was good. It seemed she was not the possessive type that would go crazy over every girl who talked about the man she liked.

"Yeah, sorry. Let's get this over with." I answered.

"I see. Her heart is in turmoil. I guess why you need to learn soul magic is due to this?" Iena seemed to be someone who was sensitive to other people's emotions, or it could just be an innate skill she has.

"Yeah, my father disappeared in the dungeon that popped up, and it has wraiths in it," I explained. I then told her what happened in the dungeon.

"Yes, then soul magic is the way to go. Surprisingly, his highness is being so gentle. If it was any of those under him, he would have just invaded our souls and told us what to do without a care for our privacy." Iena gave a wry smile. I guess she experienced this firsthand. "And the worst part is he never even reacted!"

"Well, now you have plenty of time to try to make him notice you," I said with a smile, trying to make her feel better. She seemed to have gone into a gloomy mood after remembering that.

"Hehe, that is thanks to you, my new Master!" Iena smiled and hugged me tightly, pushing my face into the two meat bags that hung off her chest. I swear I am not jealous!

"Okay, on a more serious note, let's get down to business. Master, you will need to open your body and soul to me in order for me to enter your sea of consciousness. Only there can I begin teaching you how to use soul magic." Iena's words were a bit confusing. I had no idea what my sea of consciousness even was.

"Ummm… I am not sure…." I began, but Iena stopped me.

"Don't worry. You will feel it once I try to enter it. Normally no one in these mortal plans would ever attempt to enter their sea of consciousness as it is a domain most do not even know exists within them." Iena explained.

"I see. Then I am ready whenever you are." I said.

"Then sit on the bed. We will need to press our foreheads together. From there, just enter a state of meditation and try to feel the inner workings of your body. Once you feel a slight pain, focus on it. I will then begin teaching you how to open your sea to me." With Iena's instructions, I sat on the bed cross legged, Iena did the same. Then we leaned forward and pressed our foreheads together. Once we were in position, I closed my eyes and began trying to do as I was told.

I had never really meditated before, so this was new to me. I tried to focus on things inside my body, mainly my heartbeat. I allowed the sound to get louder and louder, draining out any sounds around me. It was only when I felt a sharp pinch in my forehead did I change my focus. But as I did, the darkness that I was experiencing with my eyes closed turned bright as I entered a white room like area. I looked down and could see my body which was semi-transparent in nature. But as I was told, I had no clothes on.

"Not bad." A voice entered my mind. "Now, picture a door. A door that will allow me to enter where you are."

I closed my eyes and pictured a door. I pictured a door that Iena and only Iena could enter. When I opened my eyes again, a door appeared before me. Just an ordinary door. Wood planked with a metal handle.

"This might be easier than we thought." Iena's voice entered my mind once more as the door began to open, but as it did, the white area around me began to turn from white to dark, blood red. An ominous feeling began to take over me, causing me to cry out: 'Wait! Iena don't enter!"

Chapter37 Ancient Will Emerges Part 2

It was already too late. As soon as Iena entered, a figure rushed towards her. I flashed and stood in front of her blocking the figure from harming Iena. "You! Why did you stop me!? If you consume her here and now, you will gain all her strength!"

"And? What then? I consumed a friend to gain power? How does that make sense?" I was calm, a little too calm. While I was white and transparent, the me in front of me was blood red and full of malevolence. I even answered the other me back as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"What is the point of a tool if you can not use it!? You want to grow stronger. I am just trying to help you out. Shed the blood of the few to get the highest gains. Is this thought not right? It's the same as if you were on the battlefield. Sometimes you must sacrifice a small number of people to save the majority. Although I would just kill them all to save the hassle, hehe…." The other me replied.

I shook my head. "Iena is not some tool to be used to gain power. She is a friend who is here to help. Why would I go through the trouble of summoning her to use her to gain strength that is not my own? Your way of thinking is wrong. Not to mention that in this situation, it would not even help."

"You are weak! How can someone like you be the one in control? If it were me, I would have just killed all my enemies, burned them all, and taken what I needed to grow stronger. This whole kingdom would have already been fully under my control. And from there….. I would expand until this whole world is mine. And I know you want the same!" The other me yelled out.

"What you want to become is nothing more than a tyrant. No one would follow a tyrant willingly. But let me ask. Why do you act as if you know me and what I want? I am not you. You are nothing more than a will that was implanted into me when I evolved." I did not understand why this ancient will thought I would want the same as it. I don't even want power. I just want to accomplish the dreams I have had since young. What is wrong with that?

"Implanted into you? Hahahaha! I never heard such a funny joke. Let me make this clear so you can get it into your stupid head of yours. I am you. I am the real you. The one you have been suppressing for so very long. The true you that wishes for bloodshed and wants to bathe in the blood of our enemies. We are the same. You just wish to suppress your true nature. The true nature that you have been trying to reject for so, so long. It was thanks to you deciding to evolve that allowed me to slip out.

"That allowed me to break off part of the shackles you placed on me. Do you know what it is like to want to come out and play and not be able to? Do you know what it is like to be stuck in a dark abyss with nothing to do but my own thoughts to keep me company? The me in front of you is the true genuine you, but you will not allow me to raise my head. Until lately, when things get too exciting for your feeble mind to handle, I am able to come out and play.

"Do you remember when I beat that group of kids up in the dungeon? Do you remember the thrill of their bones crushing under your fists? The excitement that came with the blood that splattered on your face? The smile and laughter you let out as you allowed your true self to come out? What about the war? When you could cut a man's head off without a care. The spray of blood that fell onto our body, making us quiver in excitement. That is the true you! The true you that you have suppressed for so long. So let me destroy this woman's soul, and we can consume it together and grow even more powerful than before. Hahaha!" The other me's eyes were feverish as if the thought of blood was like pure ecstasy to her.

"Are you stupid?" I asked. I still remained calm. None of her words affected my mindset at all.

"What?" The other me seemed shocked at my sudden comment.

"Do you think that just by saying some words like this that I would change my mind? Even if you are originally a part of me, the me of now is the true me. You are just an artifact of a bygone time. But from how I see it, you are nothing more than a part of the new bloodline I gained. You are just trying to get me to submit to your way of thinking so you can take over my body." I spoke slowly as I answered, making sure the other me heard each word.

"You still do not understand! Since you do not want to listen to what I am saying, let's just deal with this in another way. I will consume you now and take over. This way, you can return to who you truly are!" The other me suddenly charged at me. But I did not flinch in the slightest. I waved my hand, and a ghostly flame sword appeared in my hand, causing the other me to suddenly stop in her tracks.

"You! How do you know how to use soul magic!?" The other me yelled. But even I thought her question was rather on point. I did not know soul magic at all, so why was I able to use it so easily?

This was something I would have to figure out later. For now, I had to deal with the matter at hand. "Sorry to say, but I can not tell you since even I do not know. So let's just end things here. I will get rid of you once and for all!" I replied before charging towards the other me. But as my sword swung down, the other me disappeared. The room I was in returned to its white state leaving only me and Iena here.

"You will one day return to who you are truly meant to be! Don't think you can escape your true origins!"

Chapter38 Ticking Time Bomb

With those last words, the other me went silent once again. I turned to look at Iena, who was staring at me with a bit of fear in her eyes. "Iena? Are you okay?"

"Huh? Wait…. What the hell are you keeping in your body!? What was that!?" Iena looked frightened beyond belief. I do not know what scared her, but I do know I did not have much time to waste as I had already wasted enough of it on the other me.

"It's just an ancient will that tries to come out every so often. Anyway, is this true soul magic?" I asked, raising the flame sword in my hand.

"Yes…. yes it is…. It seems you already knew it or more like instinctively knew it." Iena answered. To be honest, I was quite surprised by this myself. I just knew how to use soul magic. I didn't even think when I saw the other me charging at me, I just waved my hand, creating this ghostly flame sword.

"I guess this is a good thing. We just need you to be able to use it outside your body now. I really do not wish to stay here any longer if that ancient will, as you called it, shows up again." Iena seemed to have calmed down a bit but was still scared of the ancient will. To be honest, a lot of the other me's words seemed cryptic in nature and seemed to have another meaning. Like what did she mean by she was always there even before the system? Was this part of my bloodline of this world my original one? Or was this something I have had since my previous life? I really do not know. Maybe I am the reincarnation of some demon lord or something. Actually, this thought kinda makes me wonder if it is true or not.

I mean, the way she talked was very demonlordish. All the talk about taking over the world and whatnot. Killing as I saw fit just because it was pleasurable. But what really shook me was the realization that came to me that some of her words were correct, and now I can not tell if it was the ancient will that made me feel satisfied after I killed or beat someone or if it was myself that truly enjoyed it.

I shook my head and slapped my cheeks. "Don't let her words get to you, Faith. You are you!"

"Huh?" Iena seemed confused at my sudden outburst, but I needed to do that to straighten my mind out.

When I exited my sea of consciousness, Iena sat back and wiped the sweat from her brow. I was kind of shocked to see that her entire body was soaked in sweat. I guess she was truly frightened more than I thought. "Are you okay?"

"Yes… I just… Master, tell me, what was that? That thing that is in you is scarier than any of the demon kings I have ever met. The blood lust, the killing intent, and the power that resided in it that seemed to be suppressed was enough to make my entire core shake with fear. That thing inside you is not something I would even dare go near but you…. How are you fine!? How are you able to keep that thing inside you!?" Iena was bombarding me with many questions, but even I could not answer her.

"Ummm… I don't know?" I answered while tilting my head. I felt none of what she felt. Is this because it was part of me? Or for another reason…. Like I was used to it in the first place. I shook my head. Such a thought of being used what Iena described just did not match up because I was never subjected to anything she had talked about before. Or maybe there was a part of me that I did not know about?

I had many questions and no way to answer them. But for now, I had more important matters at hand. "So, how do I go about casting soul magic outside the body?"

Iena took a deep breath and wiped the sweat on her forehead. "Basically, you just need to imagine that you are casting it but project that casting to the real world from your sea of consciousness. It may be hard to imagine, but if you keep trying, you will….. Never mind…."

Iena looked at the ghostly flaming sword in my hand that I quickly waved away and then made a ghostly fireball. A ghostly spear of ice and many more different elements. "I must ask. Is it possible to harm people with these spells?"

"Soul magic is magic that is nasty in its own way. While it does not leave visible marks as normal magic would, it can damage a person's soul to the point that they will die, leaving a soulless corpse. It is also impossible to use any magic residue to figure out who the culprit is. Although this world might not know how to use magic residue to track a person." Iena's words caught my interest because it was a fact that this world had no way of using magic to tell who did what.

"I will have you explain this magic residue thing to me later as it will help with criminal investigations in this world. But for now, I can cast soul magic with ease. With this, I can teach the others with your guidance if you do not mind." I was not sure about teaching the others myself, but I figured it would be best if they had someone they knew well entering the sea of consciousness.

"I do not think you should be entering anyone's sea of consciousness. Master, you might not realize it, but that other you inside you is like a ticking time bomb. If you ever lost control over it. And to be honest, I have no idea how you are able to suppress it, but if you do lose control over it, it will spell doom for this world. You should be mindful of your actions from this time forward. I will do what I can to assist, but we should also talk to his highness about this as well."

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Reborn: I’m a Dragon Girl With An OP System Book 7

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