Ascension Rebirth - Countermeasure

CHAPTER XVIII

PART ONE

[Eternum Calendar Year 496]

"You'll be back won't you?"

After spending a few more days recuperating in the village of Cherm it was time for us to leave.

Seeing that, Royce came up to me to see me off. I've really gotten to bond with him over the past few days. He's become like a younger brother. I mean, I guess Leon is also like a younger brother, that's actually older than me, physically.

Argh. Anyway, I think I've made a small friend, is what I'm saying.

"Of course, when you get older you can come visit me in the west capital. I'll be waiting for you."

"Alright. I'll promise that once I get older I'll come."

I gently pat his head.

Could this be a flag for a future boyfriend?

Just kidding, he's far too young for me, he needs to be 30 years older, at least in mentality.

As I gave a moment to remember the soldiers that died in the events that unfolded it was time for us to leave.

Back to the West Capital!

PART TWO

The Western Ariadyne Capital. Home.

It had been 3 weeks since we returned from that long and excruciating journey. Lyssa resumed her daily schedule of training with the soldiers around the castle and studies. She was to be attending school from next year so that was to be expected.

Soumee was being Soumee and stuck close to me.

As for me I started experiment on my newfound alchemic powers!

The era of my mad science will come to fruition! Muahaha!

Now that that's out of my system let me give you a more in depths report of how I've progressed regarding it.

That's to [Alchemist's wisdom] I've been able to develop a few new skills.

The first thing I started working on was a method of developing [health potions]. If this were a game there would be NPC vendors that sell those kinds of things but this was reality.

Health potions, mana potions or stamina potions. They actually didn't exist in this world as shocking as that was.

Which was why when that [New skill developed: Alchemic potion creation] UI popped up I was practically jumping with joy.

I guess I should first explain how this works.

My UI ability doesn't actually tell me my HP/MP or STAMINA levels like in normal games. In fact the entire concept of that doesn't even exist.

Health potions or rather it would be more apt to call them [Regeneration potions] are just that. They regenerate my wounds at a steady rate. The higher my [Alchemic potion creation] skill was the better the regeneration rate.

Same goes for Mana. In this world it seems like MP and STAMINA are basically the same thing. So it would be more apt to call it fatigue level more than anything else. If you're tired the magic you produce will be weaker, and the more magic you use the more tired you get.

Basically Magicians in this world were the heavy/quick burst type. Strong early game but as the battle drags on they get weaker and weaker. I mean, isn't that a fair trade for godly powers over nature?

There are some magicians that train their body so they can endure more fatigue, but those are rare. Following two professions take a considerable amount of time and effort so most short lived races like humans or elves can only really focus on one job.

Although as for me, due to my UI skill, my skill progression is relatively fast.

Anyway! Back on topic. I have actually been able to create a sort of [relaxation potion] that calms your nerves and helps you relax, obviously it's works the same way as the regeneration potion as in it takes time for the effects to fully be realized.

However this potion actually has a negative effect as well. Repeated use will interfere with the user's cognitive ability and in the worst case will faint the user, in other words this potion is more of a drug than an actual medicine.

Since my [alchemic potion creation] skill is low it is a terrible idea to make those [relaxation potions]. For the ratio between benefit and drawback was terrible. You could only really drink one or two before you pass out.

The [regeneration potion] doesn't really have a side effect. I thought it would considering that accelerating the repair protocols in the body would be a terrible idea, but it didn't seem to have any negative drawbacks.

For now my [alchemic potion creation] was at level 3. It's also a passive ability, if you were wondering.

Another alchemy based skill that I managed to create was on called [Magic Crystallization].

Pretty straight forward right?

Right, it was a skill to create [Magic stones] with pre-casted magic on them.

I got that all the way up to level 8 since it was arguably fairly important.

For now I was only able to create magic stones with basic spells like [Fire bullet], [lightning bullet] and [ice bullet]. Also since I don't have any points within the [intelligent] stat these magic stones only did their base damage, which wasn't bad but nothing too spectacular.

I didn't really mind all that much as long as it did the job.

Then there's skills like [Metal Conversion] and [Material Synthesis]. They're like the staple of alchemy skills in pop culture.

[Metal conversion] is just what it sounds like. I can transform one type of metal into another. For example I can change iron into gold.

You may be thinking, 'Wow you can be super rich!'

1. I am already super rich, let's face it I'm basically a princess of a country.

2. Doing that will ruin the subtle economic systems in place in this world.

3. I have some self-control.

Of course there are clear limits, for example I can't just change mercury into titanium. Although it might be possible at higher ranks for now I'm stuck with very limited options.

As for [Material Synthesis] it allows me to mix and match various properties of two or more materials. For example I can synthesise sandpaper and iron to make a material that has the roughness of sandpaper and the hardness of iron.

Not entirely sure what use this will be, perhaps I'll find something for it in the future.

It does seem that most alchemy skills are passive. It's not a bad thing, I did choose this class for its utility rather than power.

As for other areas, I've managed to level up three more times to get my level up to 15.

[Instincts of the Assassin] is now level 8

[Shadow Dash] is now level 6

[Shadow Cloak] is now level 10

[Assassinate] is now level 9

[Blink] is now level 6

[Night Vision] is now level 4

[Back Stab] is now level 5

[Keen Mind] is now level 3

[Alchemist's Wisdom] is now level 4

I'm pretty pleased with the way I've been progressing. It's a little bit eerie knowing that I'm still only in the body of a four year old, soon to be 5 now I guess, but I'm as strong as an average fully-grown adult soldier/adventurer.

As I was happily walking through the corridors of the castle all smug at my own achievements I was stopped by a certain high-pitched female voice.

"You're back, Liliana!"

Hearing that voice I was stunned in place; unable to move due to the sheer horror of what awaited me.

Let me just get this out there but I hate children. Okay, maybe it isn't to that degree, but children and I just don't get along you know?

There was a time when I tried. I really did, that was to get along with the owner of this voice.

But in the end, I just can't stand children, they're annoying, selfish and constantly expects to be treated as some sort of princess. I would use more harsher adjectives but I'll refrain from doing to keep the purity of my heart.

The voice belonged to another four year old, just like me.

I turned to confirm if it was indeed who I thought it was.

Yes. Yes it was. Why did I turn around? I should've just avoided eye contact and kept walking.

There was a certain pink haired, blue eyed, doll like child in a fancy blue dress waiting for me to respond.

She had her arms by her waist and had a devilish grin on her face.

I gulped at the mere thought of what she would expect from me this time.

Ah, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, I guess I should introduce her first.

She's my cousin, as in my uncle's child. She isn't part of the Tetrarch's family but part of the Zeph dukedom.

[Lucina Zeph].

"H, Hi Lucina, how nice to see you."

I'm an adult, I can do this! Go me!

"Hmph, if you've returned you should have come to me right away! Why didn't you?"

You know I'm the Tetrarch's daughter right?

I mean, technically I outrank her in terms of nobility. So why was I being treated like some servant?

Heck, I'm the real princess here!

"S, Sorry, I was a bit busy with my training with Soumee that I lost track of the time. Please forgive me."

"Hmph, very well, as your elder I will forgive you this once but not next time!"

She was born a month or two before me if memories serves.

At this point you might be wondering, 'what, she's just a precious child, since you're the adult you should comply.' Right?

Well, if you put it that way, then I don't really have anything to say but hanging out with her just ends up as a babysitting job. The adults don't really do anything about her treatment of me since she's a child, they all think it's just how children play with each other.

"I'm grateful for your kindness."

"Then, shall we go?"

"Go? Go where?"

"Didn't you say you'll come with me to the town when you get back?"

Did I make such a promise? Honestly I don't know, whenever I hang out with her my memory always becomes a blur of screaming, shouting, crying and tantrums.

It'd be surprised if anyone remembered anything through all that.

"I, I see. I suppose I have no choice."

"Good! We'll meet by the castle gate in half an hour from now."

"Ehh~"

"Is there a problem?"

"N, no. I'll be there."

I suppose it's more that I'm a pushover, in my previous life I've never had any younger siblings so when I first met her I just kind of spoiled her.

I mean, I sometimes act like that in front of my family, but only for appearances sake, never once did I actually mean any of that. I've never act like that in front of strangers either.

Is this karma?

PART THREE

Lucina and I were now touring through the town without any sort of guards.

Of course something like would never ever happen.

Soumee was extremely adamant in coming along, I told her that going out with a guard would probably increase my chances of getting attacked.

It's kind of like if you were a thief wouldn't you want to rob someone with a Lamborghini rather than a Honda?

Having Soumee around was like going around just telegraphing everyone that I was an important figure. Now Soumee being Soumee wouldn't agree to let me out without some sort of guard, I told her to follow us in secret.

Pure genius if I do say so myself.

I told Soumee not to intervene under any circumstances unless Lucina's or my life was in absolute danger.

The only downside to this is that I get to listen to Lucina talk for a few hours. This must be what it feels like to have a proper office job where your boss isn't really a boss but a loudspeaker that attempts to periodically deafen you.

Lucina had an extremely cheerful smile while she was running down the various merchant shops and looking at the myriads of items on sale.

I guess I can't really fault her on that since I had the exact same expression my first time walking around in the city. I mean, it's an exact replica of what comes out in RPGs! How could I not?!

"Oh~ missy want to buy something?"

In my brief moment of nostalgia Lucina had run off to a weapons merchant.

She shook her head.

"I don't have any money with me."

"Oh."

Instantly the man's expression turned from. 'Oh a cute customer' to 'Oh, a window shopper'.

"Look! Look! Liliana! Swords!"

"If you're not going to buy anything do you mind leaving? You're scaring the other customers away."

Indeed. Her constant screaming of names of dangerous weapons were putting off some of the customers.

"But- Mmph!"

I quickly covered her mouth before she could say anything more stupid to make matters worse.

"Sorry, we'll be leaving now."

I should just say before you get confused. No one really knows who we are even in the capital.

I was a shut in for the past 3 or so years so that should be obvious and Lucina was pretty sheltered as well.

Thus we were free to roam around without garnering too much attention. Though I do admit that having two four year olds walking in the streets unsupervised may have attracted some curious gazes.

Still, it wasn't anything too bad.

Anyway Lucina was about to say something to me about the situation from before but was cut off but someone else.

"Please stop! Help."

From a fairly close distance we could hear a cute cry for help.

"Haha! You idiot!"

"No one's going to come!"

Following the voice we came across two boys bullying a smaller girl. The boys were about 5 or so and the girl was the same as us; 4.

The girl was small and cute. Purple hair and red eyes.

Actually, she seemed rather familiar, yet not at the same time.

For a brief moment I froze up upon seeing that scene. I was taken back to my previous life's similar experience.

Because of that I couldn't move and my hands were shaking.

I tried to avert my gaze. I knew I should help. I wanted to help but I couldn't move.

I was scared.

"Stop that!"

Without even thinking Lucina ran into the fray to stop the bullying.

However thanks to that I was snapped out of my trauma.

"Heh, what's this midget doing?"

The boys were pretty rough looking. Sons of commoners no doubt.

They looked down on Lucina who had suddenly appeared in front of them.

"Grandpa said you can't bully the weak!"

'Grandpa'.

She's referring to [Duke Owen Zeph] which is incidentally also my grandfather from my mother's side.

He was a man who prided himself with tradition and valour. A perfect candidate for father's partner no?

Anyway before I even realized Lucina and the boys' argument descended into a fist fight.

"Ah! No! stop! Stop!"

I broke up their fight. Since I had much higher base stats I was able to easily pull this off.

"Lucina, too. Did grandfather ever tell you to get into a fight?"

"N, no but-"

"That's right, no buts."

"Tch, this is boring, let's get out of here."

"Yeah."

The two boys easily gave up and left the scene.

When I confirmed that they were actually gone with my [Keen Mind] I turned to the bullied girl to check for any injuries.

"Are you okay?"

There were small cuts but other than that there was nothing that would be too worrisome.

I took out a small bottle from my [inventory], without anyone watching of course, and handed it over to the girl.

It was a [lesser regeneration potion] that I managed to concoct with my meagre alchemy skills, though it should be enough to cure minor injuries.

"T, Thank you."

"No problem."

I felt a little bit guilty because I was actually using her as a guinea pig since I've never actually taken those potions before as well. I mean, it's probably not poisonous.

Probably.

As she drank the potions I could see her cuts start to disappear.

"Oh~ amazing the cuts disappeared!"

As if to narrate my thoughts, Lucina verbalized them.

With this I can confirm that the potions work. I should stock up on them since there isn't actually any limit to the number of potions I can store in my [inventory].

"Thank you."

Once again she expressed her gratitude.

"Um, if you don't mind, could you tell us your name? She's Lucina and I'm Liliana."

"Ummm, I'm Echo."

"Echo, huh. That's a nice name."

"T, Thank you."

"Echo! Do you want to hang out with us?"

Lucina butt in and offered her a place amongst us.

"A, are you sure? Those boys might come back again."

"We can leave that for when they come! Let's play together!"

Lucina was an oddball as well. She liked to proclaim her position as the granddaughter of a duke to everyone but she didn't really put much emphasis on it after that.

She didn't discriminate against nobility or commoners. Though in her case rather than being mindful of class division she probably just didn't care about that.

That time too, she jumped in without thinking about her own safety for the sake of a stranger, a commoner at that too. I felt a little defeated since I wasn't able to do that due to my trauma.

"O, okay. But isn't your guard with you?"

"Guard?"

"Ah, sorry was I mistaken? Because you look like nobles, and I thought all nobles had guards."

Echo asked meekly.

Ah, certainly most nobles do have guards.

"She's here but she's also not. She's looking out for us from afar, since we'd stand out if we make her tag along with us in broad daylight."

"I see. Okay then, I'll come with you!"

After that we enjoyed a few hours of running around the town and looking at things that piqued our interest.

I honestly did rather enjoy the experience.

I had the thought that if I ever had kids in my previous life then they may have ended up like Lucina and Echo.

I never had a significant other so I guess that's impossible.

I could only smile wryly at the scene where the two of them were running around and laughing.

PART FOUR

-SOUMEE'S SIDE-

I was called out to the Tetrarch's study.

It was very dusty.

Full of books and old documents.

The one standing in front of me was the acting Tetrarch [Duke Owen Zeph]. He had called me out alone to discuss something with me.

"You're here Soumee."

In response I give him a nod.

"I see you're as unsociable as always. Well that's fine, the reason I called you here today was because I have something I want you to do."

"?"

"I'm sure you've already heard from Isaac but remote villages have become under attack. Aidus has gone to the north capital to discuss about this issue but with the North Tetrarch but that will take a long time. For now I want to do as much as we can to reduce the number of attacks."

"…"

I stared back at him waiting for his suggestion.

"There are few things that are hindering us from taking making too big a move."

"?"

"First is that the attacks are directed at border villages. It simply takes too long to coordinate a rescue or defense for those villages. That's why I want to create a small countermeasure group with you at the center to deal with those problems."

"Me?"

"Right, I'm very well aware at how powerful you are and I would like you to spearhead a countermeasure group. A small group at your command should be able to move swiftly through border villages and deter most attacks."

"…"

"I've also had a look at the reports you gave me after Cherm village. Something about an odd yellow crystal that was affecting the corpse of the monsters and humans. Which brings me to my second point. I believe that the attacks on the border villages are caused by these crystals you're talking about."

"?!"

"Of course I don't have any proof about this, call it a gut feeling, but if I am right then the only one capable of destroying these crystals are someone as powerful as you."

"I am sworn to Lady Liliana's protection, so even if it is milord's order I cannot simply obey."

"Hmm, I thought you might say that. Though I don't really like doing this but how about if I allow Liliana to join you?"

"You would send Lady Liliana to the front lines?"

"No, of course not, for the most part she will support you from behind. I've been observing that girl for a while now and I can say with certainty that she is a lot smarter than she gives off. Thus I think it may work out. Of course you'll need more than just the two of you for this."

"…"

"Don't give me that face. I've sent Isaac to look into it more specifically, so when he comes back I'll have a proper talk with that girl."

"I understand."

PART FIVE

Ever since that day we met Echo, Lucina has been coming over to my place in order to drag me out to the town again. I had to comply every time.

We always met in the middle of the town sine that was the easiest place to meet up.

She's also been asking more and more about Soumee. Is she worried about being watched by a force she couldn't see?

"Actually Soumee isn't here today. She was called out by grandfather about something."

"I see."

Echo had a rather relieved face.

I didn't know she was that weary of Soumee. Certainly I'd feel crept out if someone I didn't know was watching from afar.

Anyway, that was the truth. Grandfather, currently the acting Tetrarch had asked to borrow her for a while. I hope that old geezer is doing anything perverted to my Soumee or I will kick him. Even if he's an old man I'll kick him.

Though he had a fairly serious expression so it might be related to the incident that happened near Cherm.

Breaking my train of thought was Lucina who suddenly spoke up.

"Where shall we go today?"

Lucina asked. Recently we've been around to quite a lot of places so there really wasn't anywhere else that were left to explore.

"U, um, I know a really good place with a nice view."

"Oh, then shall we go there?"

I went along with that since it would definitely be better than whatever Lucina would suggest.

"Okay! Follow me please."

…

…

I didn't even know how to describe this scene.

We were slightly outside of the capital now, on top of a cliff looking down at the vast expanses of land beneath.

I could see thick forests and animals running around.

The cool wind brushed past my face making my hair flutter as well.

It was almost as though I was flying.

It was both an exhilarating and free feeling.

"This is a nice place."

I muttered to myself.

"Yes, I hope you enjoy it."

Echo replied with a smile.

I'm glad I came here, though for some reason I'm feeling rather tired.

Eh? Odd, I know I slept early yesterday knowing that Lucina was going to barge into my room and drag me out.

I turned to my side and saw it wasn't just me. Lucina and Echo were both on the floor, unconscious.

Wait, what?

I looked around but there was nothing there.

Then a UI popped up warning me of something.

[Hypnosis debuff is in effect].

Hypnosis?!

I see, so it was in the air. My [keen mind] didn't pick up on it thought, how come?

How…

Come…

Not good, I'm losing consciousness as well.

PART SIX

When I came to I felt my body become extremely stiff. I couldn't even move properly.

My vision was hazy, I couldn't really hear noise, not to mention I didn't even know where I was.

Well, I could somewhat feel that my arms and legs were bound. And that I was on the stone floor.

Pretty obvious what this all points to right?

Yep, I was kidnapped.

Oh man, I thought these kinds of things would only happen in pop fiction and rich people.

Oh wait, I think I technically qualify for both.

Crap.

After letting my eyes adjust I looked around. To my side I found Lucina, still unconscious, however Echo was nowhere to be seen.

I'm certain that she was also affected by the hypnosis.

I guess I should worry about that later, for now I need to do something about these ropes.

Now, how to make this work.

After racking up my brain for answers based on pop culture and movies I couldn't come to an decision. I mean, they make it look so easy in those movies but that's complete bull, I couldn't even touch the ropes on wrist much less slither my way out of them.

[New skill developed: [escape!]].

Oh.

Oh, okay that makes things much easier, but why does this skill have an exclamation mark at the end?

Whatever.

Good thing that these are ropes and nothing harder, doubt I could go through something like say, steel handcuffs.

After getting out the ropes I walked around to see where I was.

I say that, but in the end it was just a stone room. Nothing but stone walls everywhere with only a small barred window high up where I couldn't reach. Curses! If only I had my original body.

They must've planned this, how dastardly!

So there was only a single door steel door in front of me and we were now trapped.

I do have a plan of escape but I'm not entirely sure how well it'd work out. Dammit, out of all days for Soumee to be gone.

I scrolled through my inventory to see if there was anything useful.

Unfortunately all I had were magic stones and potions. Against someone who could use hypnosis through the air I don't think I have the upper hand.

Then there's Lucina who's bound to be a liability if an actual fight breaks loose. If it were just myself I could perhaps do something about the guards, but if I fight while trying to protect Lucina I'll probably lose.

Maybe if I had a smoke bomb I could somehow get past them.

Oh wait, ch'yeah, User Interface! RPG commands!

I slapped myself in the face.

I could just create a skill under the assassin class.

You know, sometimes I feel like this is a bit too easy. Creating skills and all.

Imagination really does solve all your problems.

[New skill developed: [Smokescreen]].

I guess I do have the upper hand when it comes to imagination because I could simply just try to remember the things from my previous life. Modern scientific knowledge plus magic ability equals all problems solved.

I suppose that's offset by the fact that using these abilities are much harder than it looks. I mean, try [blinking] and [shadow dashing] in first person view. It looks cool if you're watching it but it's a whole different story when I'm the one doing it.

Well, since I've decided on my plan of escape I should prepare.

I then heard footsteps coming closer to our room. There were only two pairs.

I think that's an amount I can take care of.

I took out a [magic stone] containing [fire bullet] and hid it in my mouth.

Let me tell you this now, but the taste is awful, don't try this at home.

This is just a countermeasure for if they try to hypnotise me again. If I bit on down on it, it should cause a small explosion in my mouth to get me to wake up.

Isn't it dangerous? No, of course not. I'm a highly trained professional. Besides, I got the weakest one I could find so it's okay. Probably.

I placed my arms behind me and pretended that I was still bound.

I leaned up against the wall so they couldn't immediately tell.

Lucina was still unconscious so that's good.

Slowly the steel doors opened. With it the creaking sound of metal scratching against a stone floor pierced my ears. I winced at the sound.

"Oh, looks like one's awake. Saves us some time."

"Yeah, let's just get this over with, I don't like hurting children too much."

They were wearing red suits of armour and an equally red helmet with a + shaped slit for the eyes and mouth and whatnot, so I couldn't make out any of their faces.

[Henry. Level 14, soldier]

[Berzan. Level 14, soldier]

At least they're at a lower level than me.

"Now then missy, do you know who were are?"

I would answer that if not for the magic stone in my mouth. I simply glared back at them.

"Oh, scary, scary. Well anyway I just wanted you to know your own predicament here. We're going to make you disappear for the sake of disrupting the Tetrarch's movements."

Disrupting the Tetrarch's movements?

So they're planning something? But what?

I couldn't ask. Literally, since I had a magic stone in my mouth.

Again, I only glared back.

"Well don't worry too much we don't plan on killing to right this moment. Unless the commander changes his mind."

Most likely the moment I didn't report back to the castle Soumee would have noticed and was searching for me.

I could just wait until Soumee arrives but I was a little worried about where Echo was so I decided to act.

And by 'act' I really mean spit the magic stone in my mouth onto the soldier's face. It was pretty easy too since he was staring right at me from close.

"Argh! Shit! What?!"

On impact there was a large explosion, not enough to kill but I suspect he may be temporarily blinded.

That explosion was a lot bigger than I had anticipated. I am so glad I didn't decide to detonate that inside my mouth.

Taking this opportunity I used my newly developed skill, [smokescreen] to do exactly that.

The other soldier was briefly confused at what was happening and because the smoke was obstructing his vision he couldn't do much.

I grabbed Lucina and dashed out of the room.

Idiots.

When making contact with a prisoner, always such the door.

They'll learn this the hard way.

I closed the door behind me, sealing the two men in.

Upon exist I was immediately faced with a forking corridor.

While at the same time my [keen mind] was going off alerting me to potential dangers.

Following my instinct I managed to avoid all the enemies within the building and make it outside.

There were around 4 more soldiers. Much less than I had expected but it would've still turned out bad if I were caught.

Upon exiting the building I was…

I, um.

Huh…

Well, we're not in the city anymore. There was a large 15 meter wall just before me.

They were the walls to the city. Incidentally all of Ariadyne's major cities had large walls surrounding their city. For defensive purposes obviously.

Behind me were vast expansions of land. Farms and such.

There were a few houses but they looked slightly abandoned, so it wasn't like I could just call for help. I guess the kidnappers took liberty to make sure that in case we escape we can't go directly for help.

At least we didn't end up far.

I set Lucina down near a haystack.

"Mmg?"

She was starting to wake up. Her pink here was dishevelled and actually rather cute but I won't admit that out aloud.

"Liliana? Where are we?"

"We were kidnapped by bad men. I don't really know the details myself but stay here. I'm going to go find Echo, and I mean it! Stay here. Don't move a muscle."

"O, okay."

Perhaps it's because of the hypnosis from before she became unconscious but she was listening to me.

Thus I decided to re-enter the den of lions.

The inside of the complex of the kidnappers were like a maze. Seriously, who designs a building like this? And for what purpose?

I was searching the place with [shadow cloak] so it was unlikely for me to get caught.

I managed to get to an open area of the maze like building.

In the middle was Echo tied to a chair and two men who were speaking to her.

Even though I wanted to just leap in and save her I decided to take things a little more rationally and scout things out a bit.

I found a suitable spot and hid myself since [shadow cloak] doesn't last indefinitely.

"Why?! Where's the captain? Why did you capture me too?"

"The captain isn't here. That man is really troublesome. We need to tie up all loose ends and that includes you as well. Even if you are the sibling of one of our own."

?!

I decided to listen further.

"You promised me that you'll let me kill Liliana after you're done with her!"

That. What?

I didn't just mishear that right?

"Yeah, yeah getting revenge on your sister? Look kid, I don't really care about any of that. We wasted enough time as is on this stupid mission we need to get going or else we'll be the laughing stock of the [Red knights]."

"Liar! You lied to me!"

"That's just how adults are kid. It's just bad luck for you. Anyway the other two should be back any moment now."

They were referring to the two men who I looked up in the prison.

So, was I betrayed?

No, before that, what did they mean revenge? I don't remember killing anyone.

Perhaps… could it be?

Those purple hair and red eyes. It, it couldn't be could it?

"Still, I don't like killing children."

Ignore Echo was still tied to the chair the two men started talking to each other.

"Yeah, I guess we could just set fire to the place and get it over with after we get a response from the castle."

I still don't really understand their plan. Are they just amateurs? Sending a letter to the castle would really only prompt them to send some praetorian knights here.

Or could it be that their plan was is to be a distraction of some sort?

"Let me go right now! At least let me kill her before you kill me!"

"Shut up you little brat!"

The soldiers kicked Echo's chair in resulting in her violently falling down. Tears were running down her face. I felt a little sympathetic towards her.

Revenge, huh.

Her features match the one I fought in the forest. Noel the illusionist.

I suppose it would be a lie to say that I wasn't involved in her death.

Suddenly four men burst into the room in a panic.

They were all wearing suits of armour and helmet. In red of course.

"Trouble! Those brats escaped!"

"Huh? What are you talking about? How's that possible?!"

"S, Sorry it was my miss."

"Argh, this day just won't go my way will it?"

"Everyone spread out and search! Now! Go!"

After shouting commands the soldiers dispersed back into the mole maze that was this building. Soon after cursing around for a bit the commander like soldier also ran after to try searching for us.

Echo was now alone in the room quietly sobbing.

Taking this chance I quietly moved closer to her in my [shadow cloak] and only undid it when I was near her.

"Liliana?!"

"Shh, quiet, they'll hear you."

"But you're supposed to be…"

She trailed off.

As soon as I undid the ropes binding her hands and legs she jumped on me and pressed her hands on my throat. It was a sad scene.

"You. You killed my sister!"

I only silently looked up at her as she was on top of me. Trying to strangle me.

Her eyes were filled with malice and anger.

Unfortunately that wasn't enough to kill me. Simply put, my stats were superior to hers in every way.

I could easily over power her.

Tears dropped down onto me as she was breathing heavily.

"You're right, I did."

Not saying anything more I simply admitted to it.

As I did I could feel her grasps getting tighter and tighter. She grinded her teeth and tried to drain away my breath.

"I wish things could have turned out differently as well. Sorry."

"You. You think a sorry will make this better?! You took away everything! Everything!"

"I, I don't-"

"Well, well. Look who decided to come back."

The men came back into the large room. Most likely because they heard Echo's voice.

Still Echo didn't pay much attention and only kept trying to kill me.

"We can't have you kill her now, so why don't you get off?"

One of the armoured knights walked up slowly and kicked Echo off me violently.

She flew a few short meters before crashing into the wall. She started coughing up blood.

Her body was still that of a child after all.

"Now then, aren't you a crafty one?"

The commander-soldier grabbed me up by my hair.

I tried to ignore the pain and glared back at him.

I wasn't able to escape.

Incidentally, if I'm grabbed or snared I can't use any sort of movement based skills.

Is it to balance out the UI system?

Why?! Such a needless restriction.

Instead of escaping I applied [assassinate] into my hands and jabbed his arms.

"Argh!"

It wasn't that strong a blow but he was bleeding and let go.

Taking the initiative I [blinked] away from his grasp and behind him. Without even a delay I executed [assassinate], bare handed.

A large hole was ripped in his armour as blood spurred from the wounds.

That actually did a lot more damage than I had originally anticipated. I then remembered that [back stab] was also applied to my attack.

The other soldiers reacted timely and charged at me once they saw their leader was attacked.

The first strike came from a man who's helmet was slightly burnt. He must've been pretty angry since his strikes were heavy but predictable.

Anger dulls the blade, as they say.

Carefully timing my steps I managed to create a few steps worth of distance between us.

He was audibly breathing heavily due to expending so much energy on those amateurish swings.

Seeing that his partner came to take over the attack but I managed to slip past him with [shadow dash] and straight for the tired soldier.

Without thinking much I copied a move that I remember seeing in an anime from my previous life. It was a kind of palm thrust straight to the sole plexus.

[New skill developed: [Paralysing blow]]

The man crouched down trying to grasp for air before passing out from the sheer force of that attack. Even though I was only level 15 and that was a level 1 skill, the impact was great.

I was never that great with hand-eye coordination in my previous life.

The reason why I was doing great now was most likely because of my [dexterity] stat.

4 more soldiers remained.

Two of them looked at each other and gave a consensual nod.

Were they going to attack together?

Well, that's fine. With my base stats and skills I should be able to easily handle both of them at the same time. My levels and numbers were greater than theirs after all.

The [assassin] class especially was great at 1v1 fights but another thing that they excelled at were kiting enemies around.

Kiting refers to the act of constantly damaging and avoiding their attacks while moving back. That sort of reactionary style suited me most after all.

However they did not move in a manner that I was anticipating.

Only one of them leapt at me while the other stayed behind.

The front soldier dashed using some sort of acceleration skill, which caught me off guard. I had forgotten that I wasn't the only one that was able to use special skills in this world.

He managed to get a perfect unguarded strike on me, sending me back a few meters.

Unlike Echo, I didn't start bleeding.

My looks are fairly deceptive when paired up against my actual base stats.

I was probably sturdier than an average adult. So this amount of punishment was acceptable.

It must have caught the soldier off guard since I was able to recover so quickly. I [shadow dashed] to his location. He was wide open for a strike.

However before I could attack I was stopped by a familiar feeling.

My mind was starting to become drowsy.

I looked around and saw the soldier behind him was spraying some sort of dust in our general direction. I realized then that it was probably the thing that was responsible for causing the hypnosis effect.

Learning that I tried to [shadow dash] or [blink] away but neither of those skills worked.

I started panicking.

Why wasn't it working?

I realized that it was because of the hypnosis effect that was disturbing my concentration.

Ugh, I didn't know such a counter to my abilities existed.

Gradually I started to feel my body getting heavier. The soldier in front of me was already out cold. So that's what they were agreeing on.

He was to be the distraction while the other guy prepares that hypnosis spell.

Damn, they really got me.

Slowly giving into sleep I closed my eyes.

Then a large explosion shook me up.

I was completely awake now.

When I came to I noticed the soldier applying the hypnosis spell on the floor.

"What are you doing, Liliana?!"

That familiar voice.

It was Lucina, but how?

Actually it had completely slipped my mind but I didn't actually check her stats.

[Lucina Zeph. Level 8, Apprentice Magician]

!

[Apprentice Magician]?

That skill she used was most likely [fire bullet] but it was stronger than mine that was used through the magic stones.

No, now isn't the time to worry about that.

"What are you doing here? I told you to stay put!"

"Hmph, you think I'll let you go by yourself? Grandpa said to always help your friends!"

While we were distracted one of the soldiers sneaked up and grabbed Lucina by the neck.

"What is this?! Let me go!"

"You damned brats. You'll pay for everything!"

"You heard her let go."

I whispered into the soldier's ears through his helmet. From pure shock he let go of Lucina. He was confused as to how I positioned myself so extremely close to him.

[Blink] of course.

Followed by a [paralysing blow] that soldier fell too, is what I thought but it was slightly off the mark and he was only pushed back a few centimeters. I see, so if it's not applied in a vulnerable area [paralysing blow] doesn't really do much damage.

Because I hadn't known that before the soldier reacted timely and managed to grab me by the neck. It was far different from when Echo tried to strangle me.

The power of an adult was a little effective.

I was also unable to move and struggling to breath I wasn't able to concentrate on using my skills either.

Not good.

"Die, scum."

Before I realized it there was a sword sticking through the soldier's back and into his heart.

He looked down and started to panic at his own predicament.

He let go of me.

After coughing for a bit I looked back up to see who it was.

"Soumee!"

"You're safe, lady Liliana!"

I looked behind her and the other soldier was also dead.

"How did you know we were here?"

"I guessed."

As if I'll buy that, but I didn't have time to ask right now.

I ran over to Echo who was sulking in the corner.

"Soumee, the knights that are alive, could you take them back to the castle for interrogation?"

"But I can't leave you here now that I know that there was danger."

"It's fine isn't it? There aren't any more enemies after all."

"…"

"Please?"

"… I understand."

"Thanks."

With that she carried the remaining four unconscious knights back to the castle.

The only ones remaining were Echo, Lucina and myself.

"Echo?"

I called out to her but she averted her gaze.

I crouched down and met her on eye level.

"For what happened to your sister, I am truly sorry. I won't make any excuses so you don't have to forgive me. If it makes you feel better then here."

I took out a small knife from my [inventory] and handed it over to her.

She looked at me as though I were crazy. I probably was at this point.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't know. Trying to correct wrongs, I suppose. But let me warn you that if you decide to take this path then there is no turning back."

With a final warning I close my eyes.

"Stop. Please stop. I don't want this anymore."

She started crying.

I hugged her and stroke her hair.

She didn't seem oppose to it, in fact clung onto me while crying.

"It'll be all okay now."

It'll be all okay.

PART SEVEN

"Remote villages are being attacked."

After a few more weeks of resting and playing around with Lucina and Echo I felt myself slowly getting more and more lazy.

Like magic a certain someone came into give me a report to awaken my usual hardworking self.

Thanks Isaac, you're the best.

This pretty boy in his mid twenties with brown hair and slick glasses was one of the [Praetorian Knights] that work under our family.

Isaac Sven. His specialty to reconnaissance and intelligence gathering.

Basically he's like this world's equivalent of a spy.

Wait, I might be getting ahead of myself.

Let me summarise what happened afterwards from a few weeks ago.

In the end I didn't report any of that day's incident to the authority or my family. Soumee seemed to have noticed a bit but she didn't pursue it any further either.

We only told them that suspicious individuals in red armour kidnapped us. They were brought into the castle and closely interrogated.

Though they might speak about the incident today I'll try my best to make sure that information doesn't leak into the adult's ears.

In regards to Lucina, I've really come to like her these past few days. She was pretty bold when she confronted those soldiers too. I think we might get along a little better now that my opinion of her has improved. Hopefully.

As for Echo.

Lucina forgave her, as for me I never held any enmity towards her.

Echo also forgave me.

Of course punishments still had to be done for endangering Lucina's and my life.

As a result she became one of my personal pet maid. A cute. Purple haired. Pet. I mean maid. I started drooling at the thought of being able to play dress up with a cute loli.

What? I'm starting to sound dangerous you say?

But I can't help it!

And neither can you! This girl was beyond cute!

Ehem, anyway that's how things ended up. Echo lives in the castle as a live in maid and Lucina constantly visits to play around.

Such is my life.

I think it was an overall happy end.

Echo didn't actually know what her sister was getting into so she only knew that her sister was dead.

In fact the whole situation was rather weird when I thought about it more objectively.

Some men that she knew through her sister came to her tell her that her sister had died and that I was the one responsible for it. They planned a trap from the very start using Echo as bait and had tried to kill me.

The question is why and who.

Why me? I wasn't that important of a person within the Tetrarch.

Who were those men clad in red?

I get the feeling that this rabbit hole is far deeper than what I can imagine.

Well whatever, I guess I'll leave the thinking to Isaac.

Speaking of Isaac, he started reading some sort of report.

Now of course he didn't try to give his report to a four year old child. Naturally that report was directed at my older sister, Lyssa who has shown great aptitude for being a military leader.

Just like how Soumee was my [Praetorian Guard]. Isaac also served as Lyssa's [Praetorian Guard], albeit his method of protecting her was a little different. He preferred to support her from behind, sending troops, scouting before her and managing information.

In that regards he was more her aide than a guard.

Pushing up his glasses with his index and middle finger he continues his report.

"And it doesn't just appear to be happening in only west Ariadyne, we've received similar reports of such events occurring in north Ariadyne."

My sister turned towards me who was also listening in at the report.

It seems that in her mind she's placed my thoughts above her own, likely due to the most recent event near Cherm village.

Well, I don't mind putting in some input in this discussion.

"Doesn't that mean the country is under attack?"

He turns to me with a interested expression.

"Indeed, but since the attacks have only been targeted towards rural areas, most of the people in the capitals don't seem to think much of them. Not to mention any scouts I've sent to research those areas have also gone missing, so we don't even know who or what attacked them."

Informational development was extremely limited in this world. At best it's letters or verbal communication. Due to this it can take up to several weeks to get an accurate report on the situation in far off villages.

Even that trip to Cherm village took about 4 days to make.

If the scouts have been captured or killed then we can only guess at what was happening until we actually go out ourselves to see.

"Then were there anything in those reports about a yellow crystal? Or strange monsters that appeared?"

Once more Isaac flips through the documents but shakes his head.

"No, from the looks of it the only information we have is that all communications to the affected area are practically gone. We don't know who or even how they did it."

"I see. Then if you find any information relating to yellow crystals please forward them to me."

"I understand."

That yellow crystal was most likely responsible for giving me the ability to dual class but at the same time it was a highly dangerous object.

'Crystalline curse'. Was it? This is turning more and more into a bad zombie story.

"What about those soldiers we brought in the other day? Those soldiers clad in red armour."

It was only a guess but I had a feeling they might have something to do with the yellow crystals.

Specifically speaking their armour were the same shade of red as Noel's red robe. That kind of thing couldn't really be coincidence right?

I think Noel was also part of the group calling themselves [Red Knights]. I'm only basing that off her red clothing though.

"Unfortunately they died."

"Died? How?"

"Suicide. Or at least we presume. After interrogating them for a bit we left them alone for the night but by the next morning they were already dead."

"…"

I see.

While in the midst of thinking about that, my sister finally decided to join the conversation.

"What about father? Has he said or done anything to counteract this?"

"The Tetrarch has decided to take this up with the Northern Tetrarch and has left the west capital for the north capital. AS such he is currently not here."

"I see."

"Then mother is in charge?"

A valid question. Typically when the Tetrarch is gone from his post someone else takes over temporarily. In this case the one with the second highest power is mother, since she's sort of like a Queen.

"Due to her illness, Lady Lorna was unable to take up the post. The current acting Tetrarch is [Duke Owen Zeph]."

[Duke Owen Zeph] was my grandfather in this world. In other words my mother's father.

Out of every other noble house, father trusts the Zeph family the most.

It was through grandfather's help that father was able to almost rid the corrupt nobles in West Ariadyne.

I've only ever met grandfather once but he has an incredible aura. A man boasting with charisma and stature, even though he was a 60 year old man he looked as though he could lead on the front lines with ease.

To be fair, grandfather actually does have a long history of military service as well, an extremely rare trait amongst high nobles.

If grandfather was left in charge then I can relax a bit.

As for mother she had been ill ever since I left for Cherm village. It was a little frustrating. I didn't know what illness it was or how she was even being affected.

I've visited her quarters quite often these days but the only thing I managed to understand was that she was sick. Her skin complexion was pale and her voice didn't carry any sort of strength.

She would remain bedridden for days at a time.

I decided to visit her once more.

…

…

Mother's room was located at the heart of the castle.

To get to her, any invaders would need to go through at least 25 layers of defense.

I'm kind of jealous of how much she's treasured by father. They hardly show it but they're pretty lovey-dovey.

"Mother, are you alright?"

I entered a darkened room with Soumee after giving a few knocks in advance. It was a large dome like room; rather than a bedroom this place was more like a tomb, of course I didn't say that out aloud.

"Mmg? Liliana? You're back. Sorry to show myself in such a state."

She tried to get up but I stopped her.

"No, mother. Please lie down. If something ever happens to you father will get angry."

"Fufu, I see. Sorry Liliana."

Her voice held almost no power and her skin was a pale white. Even her base muscles seem nonexistent.

I clenched my fists. It was a painful sight.

Usually she has a lot more power and charisma but for the past few months she has become so weak. I gently stroke her silky hair.

"Sorry."

Apologizing one last time she went back to sleep.

I don't know how long I stood there just silently gazing at her. It felt like a split second but it also felt like hours had past.

I was thinking back to my own parents in my previous life.

At this point I don't even remember their faces or even their voice.

They weren't there, but it was undeniable that I am where I am today because they gave birth to me. All my struggles and success was thanks to them.

I let a wry smile escape my face. Soumee seemed to have caught a glimpse but she didn't say anything.

"How is mother's condition?"

As if to pull me back to reality the voice of a young boy called out to me, asking about mother.

It was my older brother of this world: Leon Crow Xix Ariadyne.

He was only two years older than I was but he was also considerably smart knew how to take care of people. That soft and caring attitude of his made him an overall pleasant person to be around.

As such he was very well received by the servants and inhabitants of the west capital city.

For the future Tetrarch he had a good foundation.

Standing next to him were two figures. One woman and one man.

They both wore a black military-esque uniform complete with those golden shoulder pad things that high ranking generals have in my previous world.

They were Leon's [Praetorian Guards]. Their overall age seemed to be only about 16~17 but they were already serving as [Praetorian Guards]. They must've had quite a bit of skill to be assigned as the guards to the future Tetrarch.

The man had a rather easy-going aura about him. Dishevelled brown hair and a relaxed smile. It was almost as though if you stared directly at him for too long your heart will become lazy.

He had no immediate weaponry ready but I had heard he was a master of a technique called [unarmed combat].

The woman or young girl, I suppose, she had a lot more serious aura around her. Her silky brown hair dropped down past her waist. She had a icy glare that could even stun the most hardened war veterans.

To her waist was a long orient sword. I'd describe it as a Japanese style katana. An odd thing to find in this world to be honest. Most soldiers use the standard double edged steel swords.

Hmm, if I remember right, their names were- wait what am I doing, I could just check.

[Eins. Level 37, Swordswoman]

[Zwei. Level 38, Brawler].

So as in 1 and 2?

Bravo, bravo.

I have to commend their parents to name them so perfectly, especially when the German language doesn't even exist in this world. Heck, I don't even think they're related which make it even more amazing.

Ah, I'm sidetracking again.

They gave me a small bow as they saw me.

Back to the topic of mother.

"Aside from her pale complexion she doesn't seem to be in any sort of pain or in immediate danger. At least I can tell that there is no direct threat to her life."

"I see, that's fine then. Sorry I couldn't come see you right away after something so traumatic happened the other day."

He was talking about my kidnapping.

"It's okay, things are hectic right now with father gone."

"Yeah. Just what is going on within Ariadyne?"

"I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things progress from here on."

"Yeah. Then I'll be going now. You take care of yourself Liliana."

I gave a small affirmative nod.

"You too Leon."

He replied with a refreshing smile that almost made me doubt if he really was just a five year old.

Leon, Eins and Zwei left without saying more. I decided to look after mother a bit more before leaving as well.

I lost my parents at the age of four in my previous life. I did not wish for that to happen once more.

"Soumee, will you stay with me?"

"Lady Liliana?"

I shook my head as I wiped the little tears I had.

"It's nothing. Then shall we go do what we can?"

"Of course."

PART EIGHT

Two weeks later, we were called to the Tetrarch's study.

For your information, it was the place that the Tetrarch does all his paper work. You know, the boring place filled with books.

It was a large library-esque room filled from top to bottom with books. The smell of paper and dust filled the air.

Book lovers eat your heart out. Admittedly there weren't that many works of fiction here, most of these books were just historical records and official paperwork.

Thinking about it now, I guess I should've spent more time here researching about the background history of this world. I don't know why I haven't done that yet. It's a tad too late now since everything is going to be a lot more busier and I won't have the time for that anymore.

Anyway, I was sidetracking, like always.

Now then, the reason we were called her was because- actually I have no clue. Why were he called in here?

Sitting in front of us at a large wooden desk filled with paperwork was an intimidating man. His muscle structure and jaw line screamed 'Alpha male'.

That being said, the small whites in his hair betrayed his looks. Though you have to admit that for a 60 year old man he was very fit.

Actually a stark contrast to his daughter, sometimes I just want to split their health and distribute it equally.

If you haven't already guessed, he's my grandfather.

Acting Tetrarch: Duke Owen Zeph.

Incidentally, standing next to me were my sister and her guard Isaac.

"Grandfather?"

I tried to break the awkward silence but all I got in return was a sharp glare. You know how they say, 'if looks can kill'.

If looks can kill, then I'd be murdered on the spot.

"Sorry, I mean, 'Milord'! You have summoned us?"

I give a noble bow as I correct my earlier statement.

If I had to describe grandfather it would be that he was 'strict'. He cared about honor and tradition like a madman. It didn't matter who you were, noble or peasant, if you broke the rules he'd physically assault you in order to correct you.

Of course I haven't actually seen him assault anyone, and it may have just been exaggerated rumors but let's just say that it was 100% real because it was a lot more amusing that way.

To the side Isaac was watching everything unfold. He had a nasty, bemused grin to his face. This fellow had a bad hobby of finding other people's misfortune as 'entertaining'.

Note to self: avoid Isaac at all costs.

He gave me a smile so clearly filled with ulterior motives. I don't mean that in any sexual manner, I meant that in a 'Isn't this fun?' kind of way.

"I heard you were kidnapped the other day. Why did you not take any other guards when Soumee was unavailable? It's because you lack precaution that these things happened."

"I have no excuses."

I dropped my head; he was right, I should've taken more precautions.

But I can argue that I've gotten a cute little maid out of that enter experience.

Speaking of which, I didn't say it before but that fight + some training with Soumee gave me 3 more levels, bringing me up to 18!

Yay! All applause. Clap, clap, clap

"Why are you clapping?"

"Eh?"

Ah whoops, did I really start clapping?

Everyone in the room was giving me a strange look of pity.

"…" x4

"Sorry. Please continue."

"And you Lyssa, why did you not pay attention when your younger sister was doing something so dangerous? You should have known as the oldest of your siblings."

"I have no excuses. Please forgive me Milord, Liliana."

"Ah, no it's fine. Everything turned out fine right?"

Grandfather glared at Lyssa. I could easily see droplets of swear running down the side of her face as she was being chewed out.

It's not as though I don't understand grandfather's worries. When it comes to it, it's really a mixed bag with this body.

On one hand I can usually get the upper hand in combat through surprise tactics. I mean, no one would expect me to be that great of a fighter right?

Which is exactly the point.

In other people's minds I was just a small noble girl. I shouldn't be out doing dangerous reconnaissance missions or anything fun like that. I should really be at home studying, is probably what grandfather was thinking.

His thought process was as archaic as the fossils in his body, I mean bones- bones in his body.

"In any case. The reason why I gathered you here was for a different reason. You may have all heard but remote villages are being attacked. I have also been informed that there were 'yellow crystals' sighted in the aftermath of those attacks."

I glared at Isaac. That bastard didn't report to me!

I'll kick him!

"So then those crystals were used to attack the towns?"

"We cannot make a conclusive summary on that but I think it may be safe to assume that they were somehow involved with the recent destruction of the towns. However we did find something odd."

Isaac was the one to answer my question.

"Odd?"

I parrot his words.

"Initially we were unable confirm anything since the first batch of scouts disappeared but when I sent a second batch much later we were able to get a more solid picture."

"So what did you find?"

"The attacked villages were void of people. Not even a corpse remained, only rubbles of former houses and destruction of the land."

"Wait, what?"

"We were able to confirm sights of struggle in the ruins, most of the scenes depict that some large scale fight did occur which leaves us with the mystery of where the bodies disappeared to."

"You're not telling me the corpses just got up and walked awa-."

Oh.

Oh shit, that's probably exactly what happened.

This is bad!

My face instantly pale, to which grandfather takes a notice of and asks.

"Did that remind you of something?"

"The corpses must've been afflicted with the 'Crystalline Curse'."

"Crystalline curse? What is this?"

"Anything that dies within the vicinity of those yellow crystals mutate into crystalline monsters. In that state they become neigh invulnerable to physical attacks. It was what happened to the monsters around Cherm village."

"Hmm, back in Cherm village you mentioned Soumee had to blow them up with magic. So only magic affects them?"

"No, it was because Soumee blew them up beyond repair that it worked, normal magicians probably won't even stand a chance against such a monster. The crystalline curse makes the afflicted individual much stronger than normal. They're faster and hit harder."

"But for what purpose? Why are the corpses disappearing?"

Isaac was pretty resourceful but he could be dense at times.

"Isn't it obvious? They're collecting the villagers who turned into those crystalline monsters and building an army!"

"?!"

There was a brief moment of silence in the room. Everyone's expression stiffened as they were finally realizing the weight and threat of the situation. It wasn't as though they weren't taking it seriously before but it was on a whole new level now.

Grandfather spoke once more.

"If what you say is true then we need to quickly find a way to deal with this problem before it becomes any bigger."

I concur.

Grandfather continued.

"Very well then. I didn't want to particularly do this but I'll be creating a special task force with the four of you at the center to counteract these attacks. Now of course I won't have Liliana or Lyssa go to the front lines but I want you to help come up with countermeasures to fight against those yellow crystals."

Right, grandfather was this type of person.

The 'my country all the way' kind of guy. It didn't matter if you were man, woman or child. If you have talents that can be of use to the country, then it was duty to make it so.

If you were of use to the country then he'll use the crap out of you.

That goes for me too, even though I'm a four year old?

Well, I didn't mind too much since I was also curious about those crystals and if I'm in this group then I'll have information funnelled down to me.

Soumee turned to see my answer. I think if I refused this offer then Soumee would as well.

So I gave her a thumbs up.

"I understand, we will do as milord says and create this special task force."

I answered for the group. I'm sure sister won't mind.

And I'm PRETTY SURE ISAAC WON'T MIND. No, of course not.

"Good, then I'll also be adding some regular troops and talented individuals to this task force. We can't do much if there are only four of you after all."

So my life has turned from RPG genre to the RTS(Real Time Strategy) genre huh.

With that my path for the near future had been decided. I can already tell that the next few years of my life will become a lot more hectic.

I could only wryly smile as I thought back to my previous life. I wasn't nearly as proactive or involved as I am now. I've come a long way, let's continue on with that tradition.

END REPORT

[Status Menu]

Liliana Crow Xix Ariadyne. Level 18

ASSASSIN/ALCHEMIST

Strength: 19

Dexterity: 77

Intelligence: 5

Insight: 19

[Status point: 0]

[Skill menu]

(PASSIVE) [Alchemist's wisdom]: Level 4

(PASSIVE) [Instincts of the Assassin]: Level 8

(ACTIVE) [Shadow Dash]: Level 6

(ACTIVE) [Shadow Cloak]: Level 10

(ACTIVE) [Assassinate]: Level 9

(ACTIVE) [Blink]: Level 6

(PASSIVE) [Night Vision]: Level 4

(PASSIVE) [Back Stab]: Level 5

(PASSIVE) [Keen Mind]: Level 3

(PASSIVE) [Alchemic Potion Creation]: Level 3

(PASSIVE) [Magic Crystallization]: Level 8

(PASSIVE) [Material Synthesis]: Level 1

(PASSIVE) [Metal Conversion]: Level 1

(PASSIVE) [Escape!]: Level 1

(ACTIVE) [Smokescreen]: Level 1

(ACTIVE) [Paralysing blow]: Level 1

(Just a little heads up. This will be the final chapter in regards to Liliana's arc. I will come back to her in the future but for now it's finished. I will start focusing my story on how Morgant has been doing these past few months, yay~. Hope you all enjoyed this character and continue to do so. Basically think of her as a secondary protagonist.) :P

Err guys, there is actually an intermission chapter between this and the next which I forgot to add https://ascensionnovel.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/ascension-rebirth-the-forests-calamity-prologue-2/ read this before continuing.)