25 Chapter 25: Reward?

A bit of Sharon Kreuger's backstory:

Best maid does not become best maid until S1196.

Franz manifests fully in S1195. Isola Millstein vs Franz Reinford occurs.

Manifested Franz Reinford vs Sharon Kreuger - S1196. Wounded Sharon becomes Irina's maid as a result.

If you want to see these two battles later on let me know!

UwU

Fun fact: S1195 is also the same year Tio gets abducted into the DG Cult. As for Renne it didn't state the exact year but I believe its around the same.

Don't forget to drop those power stones!

*

Unbeknownst to me, a certain assassin had already started her long stretch to where she would one day confront one of the Reinford family's leading figure, Franz Reinford.

And well, as for me, I enjoyed a nice rest for the remainder of yesterday. Father cancelled the weapon training that was to be held later in the afternoon and the night studies which would follow as a result of that sudden monster swarm and Cryptid.

Currently, my training went as followed. Speed/endurance training in the morning. Weapon training after lunch to early afternoon. History and politics in the evening. Despite being just a three year old child now, father is really strict in this regard. He dumped this whole schedule on me instead of his second son, Rean.

I am not saying I am angry at this though. I personally wanted a heavy schedule like this. Father is one of the best there is, and I need to take advantage of these next three years as much as I can, as that may be all that I have for a while. In three years or so, that's when shit is going to get real. Real fast.

To put it bluntly a few key events will occur then that is out of my grasp, which will lead to the start of the Hundred Days War between Erebonia and Liberl. I could forewarn Grandmother, but knowing her capabilities, it's possible she is already starting to predict a war is coming her way.

And well, I will take advantage of this confusion my own way. That's right, I plan to get "abducted" into the DG Cult during that war. I must, in order to meet a couple of key individuals.

Renny Hayworth, aka Renne Bright.

And Tio Plato.

Both of them do get split up into different DG Cult lodges, and hopefully I will end up in one of those two. Do I feel compelled to save them? Considering I will only be five or six at the time, that is highly unlikely. I mostly want to be by their side, hopefully to alleviate part of what they will deal with there.

As for what the DG Cult actually is, in all of Zemuria they are probably one of the worst cults out there in existence. They reject the idea that the goddess Aidios exists and instead, worship demons and devils. Multiple planes of existence is actually a thing here. An example of this are Cryptids that "return home" after being defeated. Similar to Cryptids, these cultists believe that demons and devils exist.

To add one more concept to that, in sky the third, Kevin's squad often came across the 77 devils of hell during their fights as they worked their way down in the various strata of Phantasma. And well, if one were to put this concept into modern day, the DG Cult was equivalent to a person being a Satanist, rejecting the belief of Jesus Christ, and believing in the devil Satan instead.

That meant they practiced pretty dark stuff, sacrifices, rituals, all for the better belief of what they believe in. They also perform inhumane experiments that push science to the extreme. Ever wonder where Renne's intellect came from? It was heightened by them to the point where she could hack devices and such in the future with ease.

As for Tio's situation, it was pretty similar to Renne's. Except the experiments were different for her. She ended up getting sharper senses than most people, and better cognitive abilities, being able to predict movement and such. Her path led her to the Epstein Foundation and eventually as a main member of the SSS, while Renny denounced her name and became Renne, eventually joining Ouroboros.

And well, I wanted to be there for them. What can I say? These two were very tragic compared to other characters. And knowing what is to come, there is a good chance to achieve that.

Either way, there is still over three years until that plan will come to fruition. For now, I am just a little year old kid enjoying spending time with his family, studying and training.

Concluding that, thought, I felt the suns' rays shine upon our window. Every so often I would end up sleeping with father and mother in their room, but for the most part, I now have my own room. Except for one thing...

Waking up to start the day, I stretched my body a bit, feeling refreshed after yesterday. However, it didn't take long for me to feel something moving beside me, as a smaller figure appeared inside my bed. Rolling off the covers, I saw a child even smaller than me, sleeping peacefully. It was a little boy, whose hair was matching my mother's, Kasia.

"Rean...", I uttered softly, seeing this little child next to me, enjoying a peaceful sleep. I couldn't help but utter a low sigh as well. "I fear our time to be apart is coming up faster than I want it to be, knowing what's to come...", I continued to say.

This boy was of course Rean, who was now two years old, compared to me being three years of age.

The very same Rean we all know and love to where he will have his own shine later. But for now, he is just my little brother.

I saw his body stir a bit before his eyelids opened. Seeing me look at him, a smile ln Rean's face, suddenly deciding to cling onto my arm.

"Brother!", Rean responded happily.

Seeing this, I shook my head a bit before raising my free arm. Extending one of my fingers, I slowly touched Rean's forehead a bit with it, causing Rean to bounce back.

"How many times do I have to tell you to sleep in Mom's room, Rean?", I asked him with a light grin. And yet, question only caused Rean to puff his cheeks a bit and pouted.

"But it's better when I sleep in yours, Brother!", Rean answered, pouting.

"Hah...", I replied, letting out a low groan. "You know I wake up early by now, don't you? Even if I let you sleep here, I may not be here at times to see you wake up, Rean.", I retorted back at him.

"I don't care.", Rean simply answered.

"What will I do with you?", I responded, shaking my head. "Still, since you are awake now, why don't you go see if breakfast will be ready soon?", I asked him, which caused Rean to tilt his head a bit.

"You aren't going to come with me, Brother?", Rean asked back at me.

"Nah. If you see Mom and Dad go tell them I'll be there in a few minutes, okay?", I said, retracting my finger from his forehead.

"Okay!", Rean responded happily, not caring about my concern just now. Well, there is no point to mulling over it, since I should spend more time with Rean as I can right now. He won't know what is coming in the next few years, but I know well..

Soon enough, I saw Rean struggle to get out of bed, but was able to make his way out of the room. I was now left alone, and a smile crept on my lips. Knowing the gamer that I was in my past life, that's right, it was now time to reap the rewards I achieved from that Emergency Quest! While I did not actively partake in the slaying of Agnagarn, it still prompted a completion notification.

To which I closed my eyes and focused on my Gamer System, only to hear the notifications that sounded off from yesterday. I was too tired to check it out then after the battle was over, and besides enjoying Vita's lap a bit, I took a day off, granted by father. Now a day later, I'm taking the time now to look at what I got.

And to my surprise, more notifications sounded off than I had expected.

[Ding! Player Naoto has successfully completed Emergency Quest [Slay the Flaming Beast, Agnagarn 1/1]]

+5 Levels

+15 to all stats

Choose one of three rewards: Beginner Taito Style Breathing Technique, Beginner Eight Leaves One Blade Third Form Style: Karmic Blade, Lost Quartz x1 (Random)]

[Ding! Player Naoto unlocked hidden criteria:

-Ensure Isola Millstein's safety 1/1]

Reward: Weapon Box x3 (Random) +30 Favorability Isola Millstein & Emma Millstein.

[Ding! Player Naoto unlocked hidden criteria:

-Friendship developed with a witch of the Hexen Clan 1/1]

Reward: Favorability +20 Vita Clotilde, title: [A Witch's Friend]

[Ding! Player Naoto has failed to meet hidden criteria:

-Deliver the final blow to Agnagarn]

Seeing this Emergency Quest completed, especially since it looked like there were a couple of hidden conditions met as well, I tried to let out another smile.

However, before I could do anything else, more notifications kept coming, which drew my attention to them.

[Ding! The Crimson Roselia has set her eyes on you.]

[Ding! The Crimson Roselia has set her eyes on you. Due to the difference in power, Vermillion Eyes has failed to remove this presence.]

[Ding! Vermillion Eyes has failed to remove Crimson Roselia's presence.]

[Ding! Vermillion Eyes has failed to remove Crimson Roselia's presence.]

[Ding! Vermillion Eyes has failed to remove Crimson Roselia's presence.]

[Ding!...]

Seeing the Player System start spamming the same notification in my head just moments after I saw what I earned, I couldn't even claim them before my eyes turned wide a bit.

And before I could claim them, in the next moment, I suddenly felt a strong pain strike against the insides of my head, causing me to let out a scream.

"Ahhh!", I suddenly yelled out, feeling an intense pain strike against my head. My voice carried through the room, quickly reaching the other rooms of our villa. As it did, Rean could be seen just reaching Kasia as they suddenly heard this scream. Kasia was still in the middle of cooking breakfast.

"Naoto!", Kasia yelled out in worry, wanting to place her knife down.

"Brother!", Rean also responded in worry, despite just arriving in the kitchen.

As for Giliath, he was drinking coffee today, and he slowly placed his cup down back on the table. Standing up, he had one look toward the stairs that lead to the bedrooms. After he did, he walked over, and spoke out to the two.

"Rean, Kasia, stay here.", Giliath said to the two.

"But...", Kasia tried to respond back, only for Giliath to look at her.

"I fear this may not be so simple, so I will personally go meet our guest.", Giliath responded to her, trying to calm the two down.

"...Guest? But Naoto is yelling out in pain, isn't he?", Kasia asked, still worried.

However, after she said that, the scream they heard started to quiet down. Giliath smiled hearing this.

"See? But fret not, I will go check on Naoto's condition as well. He was quite exhausted after the course of yesterday.", Giliath responded to Kasia.

"Thank you, Giliath.", Kasia answered with a smile. She then looked down at Rean who still had a worried look. "Rean, stay here, okay? Father is going to go have a look.", Kasia explained.

"Okay...", Rean answered, a bit reluctantly. He then held onto Kasia's pants, only to see Giliath walk up, vanishing from sight.

As he made his way to my room, however, he soon was interrupted by a voice echoing in the hallway.

"Now now, we can't have the cat have some fun already, can we?", A female voice suddenly spoke out to Giliath as he was not far from my room. As for me, the pain was now receding. And yet, I only saw father look my way for a brief moment before we heard this female voice speak out again. I was able to hear her as well.

"Claude Ostium", The female voice said, letting out a sudden chant. After she did, we immediately saw the door leading to my room forcibly shut itself, leaving Giliath stranded in the hallway...

And as for me, I quieted it down after feeling that pain strike against my head. I saw the door slam shut, leaving me alone in my room. After it slammed shut, I suddenly saw a magic circle appear on the floor not so far away...

*

o.o