Free Web NovelChapter 66: The System’s Return
Mika slowly opened his eyes.
"..."
He was, again, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling.
The place, where he was, was dark.
He lifted his head up a little and turned his head to the left and then to the right.
No one was there in the tidy and elegant bedroom, which was the same size as his own dorm room for two persons.
To his right side were windows taking up the entire space of a wall.
With them being tilted, a fresh night breeze entered the room causing the slightly transparent curtains to flutter gently.
"..."
Attracted by the moon, which was the room’s main source of light, Mika got up from the bed and opened the windows.
There was a small balcony connected to the room.
"Amazing..." Mika muttered in astonishment.
From his balcony, which was on the fourth floor, he got a rough overview of the place he was staying at.
It was an enormous mansion, having the same square-like structure as a fortress. The mansion was six stories high and possessed in the middle of it a beautiful and colorful flower garden with a few small fountains. There was also one big fountain with a stone sculpture of a young woman, who was holding up a sword triumphantly, on top of it.
Mika enjoyed the night view until he suddenly got a chill.
He instinctively hugged himself and looked down.
"Why the heck am I naked?!" he whispered surprised as he rushed inside.
On a small table in the corner of the room, there was a pile of clothes folded.
"Is that my uniform?"
In the naked, he pondered for a while.
Smiling faintly, he decided to change into them.
He wore his black pants, laced his black boots and buttoned his grey shirt, which he always wore beneath his black jacket.
Leaving his jacket and sword behind, he slowly opened the door causing it to creak.
Mika put only his head out of the room to see if someone was on the floor. But no one was there.
Thus, he took a small walk inside the mansion. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
The floors were wide enough so that even roughly eight people could walk side by side. They had big windows at the corners, allowing light to shine through. The ground was softened by the carpet on it and the walls were surprisingly not decorated with paintings as one would have expected from a mansion as royal-looking as this.
[Should you already be moving so much?]
"!"
Mika flinched for a moment as he did not expect the system to speak so suddenly.
"Are you back?" he whispered.
He may have heard the system’s voice back then when he fought against Yater, but he obviously had no opportunity yet to talk normally with it.
[Yes.]
"What exactly were you doing? I was in deep trouble, you know?" he pouted a bit as he put his hands behind his back.
Considering that it was nighttime and that everyone was most likely sleeping, he kept his tone as low as possible.
[I know. I still observed you.]
"Then why didn’t you say anything?"
[It is complicated.]
Mika tilted his head.
[I was ordered to stand by this time.]
"But why?"
[It was to test you. They wanted to see how you would handle the situation without me.]
"Wait... Does this mean that you already knew what was going to happen?"
[I cannot comment on that yet. However, you passed the test the moment you decided to face the demon.]
"..."
Mika felt a mix of frustration and shock.
He was shocked that the system could possibly see into the future.
He was frustrated that the system did not help sooner to prevent fewer casualties.
"And about that third installment... What exactly are those installments? What were the two previous installments?"
[It is easier for you to understand if you interpret them as unlocked powers. The first was Excalibur, the second the Holy Spear and the third installment refers to a percentage power from the Autopilot mode. You must have also realized, but your current unsealed form is a lot weaker than when you are using Autopilot. Therefore, there were no dangerous consequences for you this time.]
"I see, powers, huh...? But wasn’t I supposed to get the third installment, power or whatever it is, only after I win against the Maystra brothers during the tournament?"
[At the beginning, this was indeed the plan. However, I changed it because I deemed you as worthy of receiving the third installment when I watched you fight in the fortress.]
"Worthy? What do you mean?"
Mika found some stairs leading to the upper floor and went up carefully.
[This was the third of six installments. I cannot unlock them all at once for you as you have to prove yourself. Your mind and body are not ready yet. The powers you have received and will receive come with a responsibility.]
"Can you make it easier for me to understand?"
Mika felt like a child for asking that.
[What I- No, what we are doing is nurturing you into becoming someone strong. It is like training a young child to be a strong soldier. We cannot just simply hand it a dangerous weapon from the get-go. The child has to mature, learn, train and become worthy of the weapon.]
"So I’m basically still a chil-"
[Yes.]
The system replied instantly even though Mika did not finish.
Deep down, Mika felt somewhat offended.
"You just said that your goal was to turn me into a strong man. But why?"
[...]
Mika kept on walking, but the system did not respond.
"Hello...?"
[Everything is for reaching the Promised Future.]
"What the heck is that again?"
[I sincerely apologize, but I am not allowed to disclose this particular information for now.]
"..."
He let out a sigh.
"Fine, whatever..."
As Mika continued to inspect the mansion, he soon noticed a small light emitting from a room.
"?"
Stealthily, he approached the door.
There was a small gap.
[What are you doing?]
"..."
Mika knew that he should not do it, however, his curiosity killed him.
It was faint, but one could hear from the floor that the person inside the room was writing something.
With an eye, he cautiously peeked inside.
"..."
The room, which was not bigger than the current room Mika was staying at, was full of bookshelves. In the center of that room was a small table with piles of papers on both sides.
Only a candle illuminated the space and the person sitting there.
Mika squinted his eyes as he noticed something suspiciously familiar about the person.
It was a long purple-haired woman in her white elegant and attractive nightgown, who checked the papers. Her yellow sharp eyes carried a certain kind of dignity in them as she began writing something down.
Not only was Mika attracted by her womanly charms, but he also noticed the mole under her pink lips.
"Rather than staring, how about you enter?" she suggested parenthetically without distracting herself from her work.
"!"
He flinched.
He took a few steps back.
Instead of entering, he would rather run away, hoping that she did not know who he was.
"Sorry, let me correct my choice of words."
She cleared her throat.
"Enter. Now."
Her tone was now more commanding and her eyes were staring holes into the door.
"..."
He broke into a cold sweat.
There was no way for him to run away anymore.
"Excuse me..." he said sheepishly while he slowly opened the door.
Mika entered the room and presented himself.
His eyes averted her and his hands were behind his back fidgeting around nervously.
Meanwhile, with her hands folded in front of her face with her elbows on the table, she checked him out.
She smirked smugly.
"You’re the boy from Loogam, right? What led you to me this late in the night?" she asked in a teasing tone.
"I-I apologize! I-I was just curious about this room...!" he confessed loud and clear like a soldier with his head facing the ceiling.
Mika’s body stiffened up.
"Hm? So you didn’t come to see me?"
"..."
His words were stuck in his throat.
"T-to be honest, when I saw you, you reminded me of someone I know!"
"Oh, really? Is there someone out there as elegant and beautiful as me?"
"..."
The amount of sweat increased on Mika’s body.
"I-it’s my teacher, who came with me...! Her name is Ophelia Ross!"
Then, her smirk vanished.
For a moment, she looked flabbergasted with big eyes and an open mouth.
She rested her forehead on her folded hands.
"Hehehe... Hahaha!" she burst into laughter.
"I see, so it’s her, huh? Hahaha! Brat, you have some good eyes!"
She did not stop laughing.
"Hahaha..."
Feeling awkward, he just laughed nervously with her.
"It’s our first time meeting, right?"
She wiped the tears, which were caused by laughing, away with her finger.
"Yes, I think so..."
"Well, then I should introduce myself properly, I guess."
After that, she stood up. Her hands were on her hips and her smug expression returned on her face.
"I’m Olivia Rostanta. The current queen of Rostanta."
"Wha-"
"And I am..."
Olivia pointed at her chest with her thumb.
"...Ophelia’s older sister!"
