1 Lady in the Lake (1)

Alarms rang ceaselessly as several people in white coats ran between stations pressing various buttons. One of the older men quickly ran up the stairs and reported the situation.

"Not good, number 3, 5, and 9 have begun to overload and go unstable. The magic circle won't hold much longer!"

Donned in a dashing white military uniform, Priscilla nodded to the man and closed her eyes to do calculations in her head. When she opened them again her sharp blue eyes shifted to a gold color as she surveyed the structure of the large magical construct being maintained in the center of the frame.

"Redirect all power to junction C and cut off magical energy to numbers 1 and 7."

"But that would cause three more nodes to overload… Which will balance the magical equation and stabilize the circle!" He ran back down with fervor in his eyes and began directing the tasks. In his heart, their empress had all the qualities of the perfect ruler: intelligent, beautiful, fair and honest.

As the warning lights began shutting off one by one, everyone heaved a sigh of relief. The large steel doors behind Priscilla opened as a contingent of guards in black and red uniform formed up behind her. This room was quite large, as it had several tall pylons filled with magical energy and even more miniature reactors emitting electricity to the consoles supporting a large frame in the center.

"Long live the empress!" The guards shouted in unison.

"Your Majesty, we have an urgent report. Someone matching the description under the classified files has just been spotted killing horned rabbits in the Serenity Forest. Shall we proceed to capture?"

Priscilla stared at the frame in the center as the magical construct began to finalize and a water like substance began to fill each of the spaces between the frame. Once the water stopped rippling, different scenes appeared on the other side: a town square, a rampart, second floor of a wooden building, and a dark stone room. Once completed, Priscilla turned around, her eyes slowly turning back to blue and nodded to the captain.

"Proceed with caution, the Goddess of Fertility has been overly active this quarter. Be sure to ensure who is sponsoring him before confining him. Should he be blessed by Goddess Mira, I'll deal with him personally."

...

Camelot Adventures Guild.

"I am sorry mister, but we dare not accept game from unregistered hunters. The law punishes poachers and accomplices equally."

"What if I apply to be an adventurer? My background is clean, I guarantee you won't find anything."

The young man who was wearing a polyester suit had a smug look on his face, certain he would be safe since he didn't exist in this world prior to a few hours ago. The receptionist didn't like trouble so she pulled out a crystal tablet and began to input information into it. She then lifted it, and a clear stone in the back flashed with a light.

"iPad…?" the man mumbled. "No, it must be a magic device with similar features."

The receptionist didn't hear his muttering since she saw on the screen something that almost made her faint. On the results, there was no information on his name, however, with the picture, a popup with the royal Pendragon seal came up and a warning was issued directly to her device.

<Subject may be dangerous. Do not alarm them. The royal guards are on their way.>

"I…it s-seems like y-y-you are f-fine p-p-please put your h-hand on the glass to r-r-register." The receptionist couldn't help but start stuttering due to her fear of this young man. A royal warning only appeared for extremely classified commissions. She heard from the older girls that many people died on these commissions. However, the young man didn't seem to notice her suspicious behavior as he was fascinated by the level of magic-technology.

"So this is a high-tech magic world, I wonder if there are Gundam's here…" He mumbled to himself. However, before his registration was complete, a rhythmic clamoring of footsteps came in from outside. A troop of guards entered the building and blocked the entrance. The captain approached the counter and cleared his throat.

"Young man, I am the captain of Her Majesty's royal guard. You have been seen hunting in the protected Serenity Forest. Please come with us to the nearest guard station."

"Protected forest? Forgive me, I did not know! Please don't arrest me!" The young man panicked and bowed 90 degrees. His eyes glistening, on the verge of tears. He cursed his bad luck to appear in a protected forest, what nonsense was this? Environmental protection in a medieval style world?

"We only wish to question you, if you comply, you will get off with a small fine for damages."

The young man nodded and looked up as if he were looking at his savior, not the person arresting him. They quickly arrived to the nearest guard station; the building was made with quarried stone similar to the walls of the city. The young man was taken into a small room and sat down. In the corner was a glass ball that seemed to have a faint light in the center of it, and one of the walls was made completely of a glass like material.

"Why does this look so modern, so weird, maybe I'm not the first one here?" Just as he began speaking to himself the door opened and the captain carrying a file folder. He to the opposite end of the table and sat down across from the young man. He took out a sheet and began reading off of it.

"Before I begin, you have the right to not answer any questions. If you do choose to answer, you will be subjected to truth magic, which will alert me to the validity of the words. If you incriminate yourself of a different crime, the recording will not be used against you in the future hearing, unless investigation determines the same result, understood?"

"I… yes?"

"Firstly, what is your name and place of birth."

"My name is Takano Jakuchu and I do not wish to disclose my place of birth."

"Which goddess do you support?"

"I… do not support any particular goddess."

As he finished his sentence the captain looked up in silence. Suddenly, a buzzing sound came from the glass ball hanging on the ceiling. The captain shook his head and was about to continue writing until the man began to explain himself.

"I'm just not particularly religious, but I favor Goddess Miranna the most!"

Takano was flustered, he didn't particularly care for the goddesses, but technically, Goddess Miranna had saved him from death and brought him to this fantasy world. 'This truth magic is really tricky!' he thought. On the other side of the table, the captain continued filling out sections on the paper. He had checked off many boxes already, as it was in the format of a questionnaire.

This particular test was developed by the Empress herself, titled 'Other World Invader Assessment.' Priscilla had already dealt with several of these invaders in her days before and during her rule. After a few more questions, it was confirmed that this young man was in fact an invader. He would normally be executed, but the captain inadvertently discovered something at the end.

"Final question, do you have any particular skills, knowledge or unique abilities?"

"Unique abilities? I suppose I can't be killed easily. It is Goddess Miranna's blessing." The young man said said nonchalantly as if it were normal.

...

Castle Throne Room

"So, he has the Goddess of Death's blessing? This is difficult indeed."

"I have invited him to have an audience with Her Majesty."

"Very good Sir Percival, bring him in then."

The captain looked up in adoration as he reminisced on the past. He smiled at the young empress.

"Your parents would be proud. Long Live the Empress."

Percival said the first bit in a quiet voice before standing up straight and saluting with his fist over his heart. Although quiet, Priscilla naturally heard his words due to her keen senses. However, she didn't say anything and only smiled at the knight who had served her family for a long time.

The young man was ushered in and his presence broke Priscilla out of her daydreaming. She did not have any impression of this boy, but he seemed to have become immediately infatuated. It was not incorrect to say Priscilla was one of, if not the most, beautiful lady in the kingdom. However, only the ignorant would look upon her as a maiden. Anyone with battle sense would detect the dangerous aura around her.

"L-long live the Empress!"

"We see, indeed a blessing holder. Tell Us your requests."

"I… I just wish to become an adventurer and visit many places."

"Silence! We shall offer you one chance. Our kingdom only has one whom is capable to open a space passage. Decide now."

Priscilla was annoyed by his tone and immediately gave him an ultimatum. Her golden eyes glowed and saw right through him. She recognized the blessing as low-grade and even if he were killed, the goddess wouldn't care about the small toy. In fact, she may have sent him here specifically to die, as is the goddess's personality.

"Y-you knew? Does that mean I am not the first? I can go home?"

"Have you decided?"

"I… wish to stay!"

As he finished his sentence his head was already spinning. The strike was so quick that his body hadn't even registered what happened and he perceived the ceiling and floor as his head rolled onto the ground. His body stayed standing for a few seconds before falling over. A few guards had already filled into the room to dispose of the corpse, while maid's followed behind them prepared to clean up the mess.