Detour Route.

"Ehh!? You're the princess of the Steppe Imps!??"

I couldn't hold in my surprise that this entire time I've been ogli- I mean, visually, and respectfully revering actual royalty.

"Yes, Milord. I am Levii, 34th Princess of the Steppe Imps." She gave me a kind of gracious dogeza bow to me as we had moved from the meal-table and are sitting on a comfortable carpet that spans the middle of the room.

As she rose her head, she gave a kind of cute, flustered look as she knit her eyes apologetically to me.

"Milord... if I could ask, even though we've reached this point of conversation... what is your name?"

Is that blushing that I spy? Ah, my heart- be still~ If I were in my old body right now, I would've evaporated on the spot at such a sight. But in this body, at most I felt a slight tinglyness in my chest, very, very slight.

I sat silently as she waited for me to spill my name, but in all truth- I couldn't really decide on what to go with.

But, oh wait... I'm an amnesiac, curse this useful yet restricting trope! I can't just tell her my name, or she'll start suspecting something amiss.

Wait a minute, why is she asking me my name if she knows I have amnesia?

Is Levii perhaps... an airhead?

"Uhhh, well... as I told you I don't really remember anything past that night we met." Yes yes! shift my eyes, scratch my neck, downcast my head in a sullen manner- the perfect gallant-hero-who-has-amnesia look is complete!

Her face turned a bright tomato red from the embarrassment of forgetting such an important detail so soon.

"A-A-Apologies Milord!"

"Fo-Forgive me for not remembering your circumstance, perhaps I am still tired from that battle, even thought it was seven moons ago ahah, hahah...haaa"

My ears perked up from the bombshell casually dropped in her self-pity.

"Seven moons ago? I've been under for that long!?"

"Please tell me, what happened after I had fallen asleep?"

"Well Milord.... when you were exterminating the filthy paladins ruthlessly, I was forced into unconsciousness by the sheer magnitude of the mana being contorted in the air when the High-Paladin began his Devastation Spell." She pointed to her eyes.

"Thankfully however, I fear if I were awake during that spell's release, I most likely would've been blinded by its sheer power- a small blessing from the loss of consciousness."

"But before I did completely fall unconscious, I did manage see a little bit of the aftermath of what had happened."

"You were standing there, with your back facing I and my fallen brothers, as you had protected us from the spell that would've turned the steppe into a desert in its entirety."

"But other than that, I fell asleep soon after- only awaking in day-break, then finding myself as how you see me now." She motioned over her body, it was really hard not focusing on two points of interest as she did so, *cough*.

"Mm I see, I see" I stared at her face, it looked pretty much like how she did before- but as I said, just healthier looking. And well, y'know, everything else about her body being a given total difference.

The gray display reappeared again as I sat studying Levii. It was a lot more expansive this time than the previous displays.

// [Name: Levii] [Race: Steppe Imp --> Wind-Deity Imp]

[Class: Lancer --> True Lancer]

[Skills:

Lesser Evasion lvl 7

Lesser Strength lvl 9

Greater Stamina lvl 1

Speechcraft lvl 2

Leadership lvl 6

Seed of Chaos lvl 1

Wind-Diety's Dance lvl 1

Wind-Diety's Grace lvl 1]

[Traits:

Survivor

Enduring Princess

Pure Maiden

Battle Maniac

Rural Beauty

Misfortune Magnet]

---

[Relationship: Highly Favorable]

[Servant: <Bounded by Fate>]

Expend Mana to Upgrade Unit? [Yes] or [No] //

Uwaaa, I couldn't believe my eyes. This looks just like how my unit info screen looked like in Epoch. Minus all of this high fantasy junk though, it's kind of embarrassing seeing a skill called Seed of Chaos but I won't let that change my opinion on Levii.

But seeing it now, I think I somewhat get the gist of what happened.

"Levii." I spoke- the display went away as I did. But I think I spent a little too long mindlessly gazing at her as she had somewhat of an embarrassed expression.

"When you woke up, did you feel any kind of strange connection to me?" Way to go jackass, this kind of question doesn't at all sound creepy or anything.

But to my surprise, Levii gave a deeply pensive look instead of the disgust that I was expecting.

"Hmm, now that you say that Milord- I did feel like something was tugging me towards you, as if I felt more invigorated around you when I had awoken and found you unconscious." She placed her hand over her chest, right where her heart was (I'd think so anyway, it's a guess with demon biology).

"When I held you up to carry you into here those few moons ago, it felt like all of my fatigue was fading away- as if you yourself were a source of power." She closed her eyes.

"I think I might be the reason for your sudden change."

"Eh? How do you mean Milord?" her face perked up at me, time to give a thorough explanation.

From what I've seen so far, and how things are going- I've reached to a solid theory.

I've been reincarnated with a system similar to that of Epoch.

I know, I know, seems like a stretch.

Why would a fantasy land have game elements? That would make zero sense.

But hear me out.

The way how I've had information given to me with these displays are exactly like those that I would see in the game.

It all clicked when I had gotten that final display, with the information on Levii.

A clear set of data, and a term that acted as the final peace of the puzzle: the [Servant] tag.

In Epoch, as assistant to the king, you're given the ability to hire people to work under you.

But unlike a King's charisma or any sort, your relationship and how you acquire these servants depend entirely on the players ability to support and develop these people.

To help a player begin their game attempt in Epoch, once every run, they're given a free servant who is "fatefully" bound to you due to "mystical" circumstances.

This was roughly the only form of fantasy element that Epoch practiced, a small rub in the otherwise realistic game setting.

And now, for the other half of my theory-

"During the battle, when I was attacked by that what's-it, that Devastation Spell as you called it, I believe that I absorbed the majority of the magical energy that came from its release."

Levii's eyes widened at my revelation, her irises sharpened paper thin; but she continued to remain silent and listened.

"I don't know how (lie), but I did absorb it. But not all of it, which is why you would've seen the landscape in front of where I stood- the destroyed steppe in an outwards cone."

I placed a hand over the scar on my chest, the then strange tingling of it felt oddly calming now.

"But after absorbing much of the spell, I believe that my body could only do so much- it needed a way to distribute the mana that I had absorbed or otherwise- well, think of the worst case scenario possible."

"Perhaps to alleviate this mana surplus, I might have leaked out magical energy to my surroundings- of which you were present."

I extended an arm outward to Levii.

"This is only a theory however, a good guess. But I believe my mana changed you, and that is why you look as you are now."

Aaaand, scene.

That was tiring, I tried my best to not reveal too much- I can't tell her yet that I'm able to see her information.

I'm playing the amnesiac trope for the moment; I can't play my hand too soon. Truthfully, I kind of regret doing so, but you can't unbreak glass, can you?

She looked at herself, her arms and toned body glistening from sweat from the kitchen heat.

So far from what I could tell, I don't sweat.

"Milord... if it is as you say, then I will believe you." She rises from her sitting posture and kneels towards me, a knightly kind of kneel.

"I do not know how you were able to absorb such magic, magic akin to the Goddess' own grace upon the world- but seeing what I see now, I cannot deny that you did manage such a feat."

"When I had found you, I saw the wasted Steppe in front of you- that destruction that appeared to reflect from your own person."

"And the sense of power I feel even now, being in your very presence-"

She raises her head, her eyes shining with gallantry.

Ahhh, I feel terrible about this. I'm not lying, but I'm not being honest either- it twists my trashy little heart seeing someone so honest like this being so forthcoming with me.

I stifle my guilty squirming as she continues her speech.

"My people, the Steppe Imps, are now a lost clan."

"I, their last surviving member- there is not much else for me to do."

"And to be quite honest Milord, even if it were not for that massacre- the survival of the Steppe Imps was already doomed."

"A clan left out in the harsh Steppe; a land that has lost its bounty due to Human encroachment."

"There were only ten members left, the writing was already on the wall at that point."

She stopped for a moment; her voice cracked.

I sat still, waiting for her to regain her composure.

"Back to the point at head Milord." Her face hardened with newfound conviction.

"As you are the savior of the Steppe Imps Final Princess, and the source of my own newfound strength- under the blessing of Ahriman, I will follow you to the ends of the world as your dutiful companion."

She bowed her head; I could feel my own shoulders sag with the room's heavy mood.

Dutiful companion? Ah crap, I don't want this nice girl wasting away her life to a loser like me-

"Look look, I don't know if it's a strange force that is compelling you to do this, but you don't need to follow me like that- you can just live your own life freely."

I tried to convince her, but to my own shock once she lifted head again to me, tears were streaming from her face.

"I... I see, Milord does not want a weak Imp such as I to accompany him? I do not blame him, Imps are the weakest of Demon-kind, I would simply be a burden..."

Is she hiccupping? Oh god, she's hiccupping. Critical hit, CRITICAL HIT!

"No no no nononono, I didn't say that! You're like, amazing! Your soup was wonderful, and your muscles look super strong! Imps are cool, COOOOL!!" I think I have to remind you all that I am not used to walking to women, if it were not apparent by now.

The gray display reappeared again (I really have to figure out how this thing is activated later).

// [Moon God's Charisma] Skill Used.// //Toggle Automatic Use [On] or [Off]?//

Wait, WHAT!? OFF! OFFOFFOFF!!!

// [Moon God's Charisma] Skill Automatic Use [Off].// // To Use, Activate [Moon God's Charisma] Manually or Toggle Automatic Use [On].//

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS SKILL!?

The gray display disappeared with my outburst of Off's, but as I re-averted my attention back to Levii... well the scene in front of me could practically be considered the final route of an Ero-game's H-scene.

"Imps are strong? They are 'Cool'? Heehee, if you say so Milord... no, my King... heehee."

Levii was on all fours, her body sweating excessively- her eyes were muddled in a weird kind of trance. She was slowly crawling towards me, her rags hanging on for dear life on her body. Above her head, a small display hovered over.

// [Charmed] Time until deactivation, 5 Minutes.]

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

"My King, if you could... let us save the Imp race, heehee..."

New Mission: SURVIVE.

///