System Error
As the sun dipped lower in the sky and the daylight drained away, giving way to the dark of the night, the birds returned to their nest and the crickets started to sing in the swaying grasses. A cool breeze replaced the heat of the day.
After an exhausting day, I returned to my room and let myself fall on the bed. So many things happened today. Overwhelmed by all the events, I didn't really take the time to think about all this rationally, and put things into perspective.
I'm leaving. I'm only starting to realize this now. I spent my whole life here, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little apprehensive of the future. Ever since I arrived here, I've never left this place. It's going to be the first time that I'm left on my own, without any supervision. Even in my past life I was never once left alone. It should be fine. Besides, I'm going to meet Aoban.
Now that I think about it, is he aware that I'm coming? Uncle Jack warned mother, but did he think of warning brother? If not, I could surprise him. I wonder if he'll be happy to see me? I hope so. I hope he's not going to ignore me. In my past life, I was an only child, but I've heard that usually, siblings ignore each other at school. I don't think Aoban would do that, though. He's way too kind and protective. With such a gentle personality, he must be pretty popular. Maybe he already has a girlfriend? He's already at that age after all. I don't really want to share my brother, but I can't be too selfish either, so I guess I'll support him –probably.
Still, even if it's only for a few months, I'm finally returning school. How long has it been? If it wasn't for my uncle's scheme, I would be really happy about this. Attending a magic school with brother and meeting new friends, all what I've been asking for. Yet, I can't really enjoy the situation. I mustn't let my guard down.
As I kept thinking about what was going to happen from now on, a wave of fatigue swept through my body and I let myself sink off to sleep.
The next days went by in a flash. I enjoyed the rest of my time here together with mother. Making her leave the residence was impossible, so we stayed in the courtyard, enjoying the nice weather. We talked about everything and nothing, but she mostly told me not to worry about anything, listen to the teachers well, do my best and enjoy school life with brother. Basically, a mother talk. Sometimes, she looked even more excited about this than me. Well, I guess sending off a child to a renowned school would be exciting for any parents, even if it means separation.
As always, Yoko and Harri were here too. I figured out that it'd be a good idea for all of them to spend as much time as possible together before I left, and I was right. At first, the atmosphere was just as awkward as before. However, it didn't last long as Yoko and Harri started quarrelling over nothing again, forgetting about the etiquette and relaxing the atmosphere. Seeing that they weren't bad people, mother started to open herself and is no longer intimidated by their presence. I guess they grew on her. She even called them 'amusing'.
The servants also adapted pretty fast to the situation. My Aunt's behavior made it obvious that she was being cautious of me. The servants weren't blind, and soon noticed that. It was actually the main reason why they started to approach me, disregarding the fact that I was a half -only after that, they started to genuinely care for me. So, when they were informed of my departure, most of the servants became alarmed, knowing that no one would be protecting them from Aunt Nora's mood swings anymore. Well, with Yoko and Harri around, I doubt she will find the time to bully the servants.
And before I noticed it, the day of my departure already arrived.
I only had one bag. I only took clothes with me. No books, no personal effect –besides mother's ring, which was hanging down my neck, as always. The school would provide most of the supplies needed.
"Alright, everything is ready," Ivy said, as she was done loading my luggage in the carriage. "So you're really leaving…"
"Yeah, take care of my mom, ok?" I winked at her.
"Of course." She responded. "You too, young mistress, take care of yourself and the young master. And have a lot of fun!"
I turned to mother. As I smiled at her, she stepped forward and gave me an affectionate hug. I felt a little embarrassed since everyone was watching, but tried not to pay any attention to it returned her hug. We stayed glued to each other for a while before she drew back, displaying a gentle smile.
"Take care. And say hello to your brother for me, will you?" She said.
"I will."
She was smiling, but I could see a hint of sadness in her eyes.
Beside mother and Ivy, Yoko, Harri and all the other domestics came here too to send me off. My uncle and my aunt were here too, but it was just on formalities. Taking my time to look at everyone, I showed them my brightest smile, not to worry them, before politely giving a polite bow.
"Well then, I'll be going now. Thanks for everything."
I turned my gaze on Yoko and Harri. Without uttering a word, I simply gave them a meaningful look.
"Don't worry," Yoko said. "Do what you have to do, we will do our part."
"Thanks. I'm counting on you."
Giving one last smile to everyone, I got in the carriage.
"We can go now," I said to the driver, who was waiting for me.
Once he made sure I was comfortably seated, the driver ordered the horse to move forward, as we finally set out. If everything went fine, the journey would last two weeks. Normally, it would have last longer, but since it was only me, it was a small carriage and moved faster than the one who took several students at once.
In one instant, we left the city. As the scenery of buildings changed to a scenery of trees and endless meadows, and the city slowly disappeared behind us, I suddenly felt a feeling of adventure growing into my chest. Leaving the place where I grew, I was out for the outside world. Forgetting about all my apprehensions, I leaned on the window, enjoying this new feeling of excitement.
[Nora POV]
She's gone. Finally. I won't have to be careful of my every move anymore. Can you believe it? Being cautious in my own house, what a joke. Having to tolerate this little demon and her mother without doing anything… It was suffocating.
However, it's over now. She's gone and she won't be coming back. But I'm not sure it's a good thing.
After all the troubles we had to get Azariah back, letting her go now would be stupid. But her children are in the way. Aoban shouldn't have survived, and the girl should've never been born. We only needed the damn elf, yet it didn't go as planned. Stuck in a situation where we had to use the kids as a mean of pressure on Azariah, Jack changed his plans.
He found a way to get rid of Aoban without killing him. It was going to take several years, however, without anyone suspecting anything, the boy would eventually lose his position as the heir and we would gain power. The girl was useless, so Jack planned to marry her off to whoever wanted her, but like this, he would get rid of the children and isolate Azariah again. His plan was good. There was just a little problem: he didn't know the girl wasn't normal.
He found out about it just a few days ago. But after all this time, he wasn't going to drop anything. The plan didn't change. However, instead of just sending off Aoban, he would also send off the girl. He would get her the same treatment as her brother. Jack didn't lie. After the tournament, we won't have anything to do with them anymore. Whatever they do after that, it won't be our problem. But there is still Azariah's issue. If she leaves, everything is over. What is he thinking?
Besides, the girl is dangerous. I don't think Jack understand that. I know that he wanted to get rid of her without angering her, but that's not enough. She will eventually understand. We need her gone. Definitely gone.
As the carriage disappeared in the horizon, the servants started to go back to their work, avoiding meeting my eyes. Jack already returned to his office. I need to return too, I can't cross my arms and wait. I have to do something.
However, as I headed back inside, I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"What?!" I yelled out, turning around.
Then I saw her, stupidly smiling at me. That's right, the beastwoman. The lowly bitch who was going to stay her for the next months. Tolerating her presence is already hard enough as it is, now, what does she want?
"What is it?" I grunted, not hiding my irritation.
Still, completely oblivious to my mood, the bitch kept smiling like an idiot.
"Hello there~!" She happily exclaimed.
"If you have nothing to say, then don't talk to me."
"Don't be so cold! We're going to be roomies for the next months, right? Let's get along!"
"What do you want?" I asked, clicking my tongue, as I slowly lost patience.
"I told you already, didn't I? I just wanted us to spend some time together so that we can get to know each other. So how about a little game?"
What? What is this bitch thinking? No, wait. This situation feels very familiar. The last time somebody came to me, smiling like an idiot and asked to play, it ended up very badly for me. Recalling that one time, an unsettling chill made my skin crawl. I have a bad feeling about this.
[Lynett POV]
It's been quite a long time since I left. I'm not sure how many days have passed exactly, I lost the count, but I was hoping that we would arrive soon. As I thought, being separated from my family from the first time was quite depressing. I can't wait to meet brother.
After a few hours, I grew tired of watching the scenery and the driver didn't talk much either. He just wanted to get his job done as soon as possible and had no interest in conversing with the young girl I was. So the journey quickly became boring. There were no longer any feelings of adventure or excitement left, just boredom and loneliness. I was hoping for something to happen. And as if to answer my wish, something did happen.
One night, as I fell asleep watching the shimmering stars illuminating the dark night, a sudden notification sound from the [World System] woke me up. Can't even sleep in peace, now the [System] is even interrupting my sleep…
Letting out a lazy yawn, I stretched before rubbing my eyes, inspecting the message that appeared in front of me.
System error
A general system error occurred.
Modification of the system code or a critical data structure was detected: external error.
Failed to retrieve updates from server.
Error 11. Server 5 has been corrupted.
Antivirus software activated.
…
…Huh? What the heck? Everything was fine, then suddenly, a system error report? It never happened before. Is it serious? I've already seen that kind of screen in my past life. They would appear whenever a file was corrupted or a virus took over the computer, just before machine crashed. However, right now, there is no computer, just the [World System]. But it just got infected by a virus? In that case, isn't it really bad?
As an unsettling feeling started to grow in my chest, a second window popped up.
Error report
*** STOP: 0x000000012 { 0x0000000000, 0xCF00EF00F, 0xEFFFE45, 0xC00000000 }
BAD_POOL_HEADER
(vmod.fault.SystemError)
*** dxgmm.sys – Address 0xf80ff453dc32 base at 0xffff36ffd87 DataStamp 0x6ue655d
SYSTEM_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
SERVER 8xf00056 failure
Fc557900 31ecb0ca7 80ff4009e – Fs_Rec.Sys
fec1478c8 0973e678 80144000 – Serv_DD.Sys
(multi-platform.driver.revision : 00alpha2)
r00-15 FIREWALL_SWITCH_ENABLED
*Collecting data…
*Initializing server….
**
*Contacting system admin…
*Get the authenticated user (Aileen)
* @param string Aileen
Public function authUser (Aileen = null)
**
*Check if the user is authenticated as admin.
*@param string permission
Public function adminCheck ()
English, please. I don't understand any of this. I may have touched computers or played some video-games before, but I've never been a technophile. Unlike the people of my generation, I've never really been comfortable with all the technologies we had. I don't even know how to use a Bluetooth connection, so how am I supposed to understand this gibberish?
An unidentified object has been detected. BSE process corresponding to the threat: Unknown
Would you like to shut down the system to prevent any damages?
<Yes >
<No >
Well, that's already more understandable. The correct answer should be 'Yes'. I may not be very bright when it comes to computer, but I know enough to know that a computer with a corrupted server needs to be restarted. However, the [World System] can't be considered like a normal computer. Even if it's only for a few seconds, I'm pretty sure that shutting it down is a bad idea. The [World System] is what is running the entire world. Wouldn't restarting it means to also restart the World? So I can't shut it down.
Normally, when your computer crashed and the problem couldn't be resolved by restarting it, you would need to contact the system admin or the technical support group. Little problem: there is no technical support group, and I am the system admin, meaning I am absolutely on my own, here.
Well, in all cases, 'Yes' is not an option. So I guess I'll just go with 'No'.
System report
NO_SELECTED
System control: recovery option disabled.
*Beginning the threat prevention.
*Modifying the parameters…
*Privileges analyzing authUser (Aileen = 1)
**
*@Param restrictions lvl 1 removed.
Your privileges have been raised.
Administrator skills level 2 unlocked. The Administration control panel is now available.
Eh… What?
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Note From Ozen_Ice: Damn, So Even Fantasy Systems Can Sometimes Malfunctions ⟵(๑¯◡¯๑), we have approached the end of volume one, and after a few side stories in the next chapters we will enter volume two.