《The Shard Legacy》Chapter 19: Planning
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"You enjoying the food?" Raevin asked, as he, Iosi, and Aer sat in a fancy noble resteraunt eating delicious food. The smell of the steak especially filled his nostrils. With every bite Aer had, the meat just melted in his mouth. Even Saphri, who was able to eat with them since they chose an outside table, was enjoying the meal.
"Very much so, thank you".
Aer managed to reply between bites.
"Well, its the least I can do for a classmate".
"I am not sure if I should say its been a long week or two, or if its been a long thirteen years".
"Yeah, that is a bit confusing".
It was a nice and pleasant atmosphere, and everyone treated them respectfully. Of course, that was guarenteed since a Margrave was with them, or the son of one anyways.
"So, I suppose we should also get down to business. Aer, how would you like to join me? I am rather concerned about the survivability rate of Otherworlders. Apparently, after a year or two, with very few exceptions they tend to be picked off".
"Yeah, I heard that as well. Although, there is one exception coming to the castle soon, a man named Darius. Apparently, he has a lot of influence and power as well".
"Yeah, but I dont know him as well...as for you...which student were you again? We cant remember names so its hard to figure this all out".
"Ah. Honestly, compared to other people in our class, I was kind of average, so its hard to say. I sat in the middle of the classroom, if that helps. You are the top student, right? Your manner of speaking, it sounds like his".
"Yeah. And I think I remember...you did the book report with the class president".
When that was said, Aer remembered her and twitched a bit.
"...more like she pushed me into it, and I got jealous looks from other students because she was one of the prettiest students in our school".
"Well, thats fair" Raevin chuckled.
"By the way, I think I know who she is".
The moment he heard that, he was a bit shocked as his attention was drawn.
"You know who that absurd, pushy person is?"
"I said I think I know...and I think, its probably one of two female warriors I heard about. Apparently, in a town a bit away, a monster attack led by a Demon Lord occured. Two girls our age, with the help of a younger boy, fought them off. One apparently was using a Holy Sword....and the other was using a twin sword style and a relic box of some sort".
"....did you say two swords? As expected of the capital, I didn't hear that yet. But you know that can only be one person, right?"
"Yeah, its probably her. The leader of the Kendo Club, and the Inheritor of the Mystic Flower Sword Style, that person".
"Great, two of the most absurd people in our class have met up together....that is just fantastic. I dont suppose you have any other leads?"
Aer sighed. "Not a good one. Supposedly, ever since we reincarnated, in a far away city called Dwatro, there was a chain of violent crimes committed there".
Hearing that, Raevin instantly knew. He couldn't be sure, but he knew. He knew it had to be that student from their class. He remembered seeing it, day after day. In truth, he had been collecting evidence, not just to take to the school board, but the cops. Video, photos, the like. After all, the teacher was always so soft with her students, even though she would sometimes impose her ideals on them. And the Class President, at least back then, was more bark then bite, and all you had to say was "I am sorry I wont do it again" to make her stop.
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Both of them were far too lenient. And as such, students, especially one in particular, suffered.
"That guy...if he got cheat like powers, or even just powers like our own, and he catches us off guard..."
"Yeah. So I do think temaing up would be a good idea, but...I am only a Cadet right now. Until I become a Squire rank or higher, I cant have an independent posting under a noble. So we would need to somehow manipulate things so that I can get promoted, which will be difficult since I need three of my seniors signatures, as well as the merit to go with it. And they tend to hate me, since I became a Cadet at age twelve, and come from a commoner family".
"Sounds rough, but I am a Margrave. I can see if I can use my family's influence to do something. After all, if we have the power, we might as well put it to use".
"I still have not met your father. When we tried to meet him before, he was too busy" Iosi pouted.
"Well, apparently he is dealing with some guests at the castle" Raevin mentioned. However, hearing that, Aer perked up a bit.
"Actually, I heard some of them were thirteen like us. I was thinking of trying to see if they could be other reincarnators, at least so I knew if I was alone or not. However, I am only a Cadet, and the guard is tight. That, and I really dont want to deal with Jezre".
"Jezre?"
"He is an aid to the king. He is very dilligent, efficient, and excels at his job. He never raises a fuss to cause the king stress...but, behind the scenes, he abuses and treats commoners like shit, and will use any and every excuse to make them feel lesser, belittle them, embarass them, and so on. I heard he even gave an order to the maids to beat them if they did anything wrong that could be disrespectful to the king's hospitality....even though they are the king's guests".
"Well, I am a noble so that should give me the edge. So leaving aside that, and the issue of getting you out of that barracks which I will work on, anything else?"
"Actually, I have something to mention. Also, hi, my name is Iosi, my grandmother was an Otherworlder and I am his...servant".
"He is technically my maid since the Cromley family always has at least one personal maid per member".
"Please dont say it like that!"
Iosi seemed rather embarrassed.
"Anyways, its just something that was bugging me...but, are you saying that you really think your whole class reincarnated at least?"
"Well, yeah. So far it seems highly likely. I wasn't sure till recently, but I am now".
"But...how did you all die?"
"We were in a bus, on a school trip, when there was an accident. We crashed and all died".
"A bus...mom once told me about grandmother's stories from her world...they were the giant metal vehicles that could carry lots of people right?"
Raevin and Aer both nodded, although, there was something nagging them about this.
"Well, then...are they unsafe, that everyone on the bus died?"
"Well, no. They have seatbelts and such...so...they are..."
Upon trying to answer the question, Raevin found himself shaking, as he remembered facts and details. The busses their school used were not old. They were well designed, and very safe. And although he could not say they were all wearing seatbelts, he did remember seating positions. He sat near the back, next to him was the boy who loved dogs and had a dog. Across the aile, was the girl who seemed to always sneak about and know everything, and her best friend, the short boy in their class who was getting bullied by the brute.
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As for Aer, he was somewhere in the middle of the bus. And the Class President and the Kendo Club President was near the front.
They were all in different places on the bus. They all died.
But, that shouldn't be possible. It was a car accident, they didn't drive off a cliff. They didn't drive right into a gas tanker. But, he knew he was reincarnated, he knew Aer was reincarnated, and now he knew those two were likely reincarnated.
If not more.
"...there is no way. There is absolutely no way we should have all died in that bus crash. But we did...what the hell happened that day?"
"Oh shit...wait, hold on. Are you saying the bus was attacked?"
"...maybe. But then, why dont we remember what happened clearly. Aer, what do you remember?"
"I just...I remember we were driving, on a trip...I remember suddenly something went wrong, and then we crashed...and then we died, I think".
"Its just black right? RIght after the crash happened?"
"Yeah...I cant recall anything after that. Hold on, but we died. I remember going through the Reincarnation process in that weird place".
"Me too...and these are new bodies. We definently got reincarnated".
"Then, what the hell happened there?"
Thanks to Iosi, they had discovered something of incredible irregularity. The circumstances behind their deaths, behind their reincarnations, had become particularly suspicious.
And yet, there was already someone investigating exactly that...
Back in the modern Earth...
"So based on the reports, this was the scene of the crash...still though, how troubling".
Aruu said that, as he checked the magical frequencies of this world.
Normally, for every one day on Earth, over a year passes on Shara. The speed of the frequencies shows how the time flow is different. And yet, the frequency has changed now. It appears that for a week now, the timelines have started to syncronize, stabilize. Now, every day here, only about two days pass on Shara.
It was only a rough estimate though. But to put it simply, only two weeks had passed in this world since they were reincarnated, while thirteen years had passed on Shara.
Naturally, this was a main road, so it was already cleaned up to an extent. And yet, he could see them. A few detectives, looking around, investigating the scene still. They were suspicious, and wary.
But Aruu was not someone who could be held back like that. He was a far superior lifeform with magic, after all. He quickly cast a magic spell, a spell that was of the time and space attribute, which allowed him and only him as a magical being to see the original crime scene, being rebuilt right in front of him.
"Realm".
Suddenly, he cast a magic, as the space around him darkened a bit. All the people disappeared, as well as the traffic and such. In front of him, only the original crime scene existed, recreated perfectly. He stepped forward, and began to investigate. He reset the scene to before the crime, and let the crime play out in front of him.
The bus came forward, normally. Then, there was a flash, something flashed and hit the engine or such, and it caused the bus to malfunction and crash into a large truck.
At first glance, it looked like an accident. However...
"...what was that?"
"More like, who are you?"
Aruu heard a voice, and turned around. In front of him, he saw a girl wearing a red dress, black pants, a red umbrella, and she had red eyes and snow white hair. Her umbrella was pointed at him, and she seemed wary.
"Who are you...what are you, and why are you creating a personal realm here? Why are you investigating the Academy Bus case?"
"I am just a small boy...I suddenly found myself..."
"Oh shut up, I am not stupid".
At those wirds, Aruu had to sigh.
"Sorry, was worth a shot. In any case, who are you? I may have been gone for awhile, but last time I checked, this world had no magic users, no system, not even a natural magic, just latent unused mana that builds up".
"This world? You are an Otherworlder? Investingating this case...could it be...in that case, how the hell did you travel between worlds?!"
She is suddenly interested in my ability to travel between worlds? Well, it is true that except for gods, people cant usually do that.
"I am investigating something based on a request...well, two requests now. Both of which are from assholes I can barely tolerate, even if they both insist they are my friend. A large group of Otherworlders were brought to the world I live in by a shitty god, Taktos, and I am investigating the origins of the Otherworlders. I didn't realize the case was this big though".
"This case...what do you mean? Show me".
"Hold on, first of all, lets exchange names first. My name is Aruu".
"I am Cecilia Ravencroth, of the Magical Investigation Division. I was sent here to investigate...well, this case".
The two of them looked back at the re-created crimescene.
"Timespace magic? That is rare...especially on this scale. You are quite good".
"Despite how I look and act, I am actually over a thousand...I think. Honestly, at a point, you just stop counting".
"Ah. I also am older then I look".
The two nodded at each other, and then continued investigating.
"The engine just suddenly malfunctioned. It was just checked out before the trip though, but then suddenly it seems natural to do so".
Suddenly, Aruu had the front of the bus fly outwards, and then the brought out the innards. The engine was also brought out.
And then, playing through the motions, a light suddenly struck it, and then it and other things malfunctioned or broke down.
"We detected no trace of magic, at least directly used on it...but the case was so weird, we decided to investigate it and keep investigating it. Even the normal police are still investigating..."
"I saw...but this is not magic. Its Divine Power".
"Wait, as in Gods divine? But, Earth is a neutral zone, after the Ragnarok incident. Its maintained by itself, and by the Magician Association...well, we do know that gods have interfered, and we have set up forces and wardstones to deal with it, but it should be minimal. They shouldn't be able to do this".
Aruu heard so many strange things about his original world just now he wanted to ask about and remark on, but he would have to leave that for another time.
"It appears the vehicle was sabotaged using Divine Power...however, for a god of another world to exert this level of power in another world....that shouldn't be possible. And what is more..."
He let the time continue, watching the crash in real time.
"At that moment, there was an extremely unnatural accelerated. The bus in that last second when ten times as fast as it should have been going. I know vehicles can accelerate quickly, but...ten times?"
"Thats not possible naturally. Look, more of the divine power around the wheels" Cecila pointed out.
"Yeah, this was manipulated too. But that is not all, just to be absolutely safe...something came and ripped out the remaining souls, and collected the souls of all who died in this scene".
"...but why a bus full of high schoolers?"
"Hmmm...wait a second, hold on".
Seeing something odd, he moved his hands and caused the bus to flip over. Frankly speaking, it was like he was manipulating a holographic display. As they looked what was under the bus with its mechanics and all, they saw it. Right at the moment of the crash, a magic circle suddenly glowed, from a power that was not mana, but divine.
"Loot at this, its faint, and drawn in divine power secretly to not be seen, but its a Soul Corridor Spell".
"Hold on, hold on....this would have had to be set up in advance..."
"Yeah, it would have...that means, not only did a god manipulate events to cause a crash, but it was heavily premeditated. This reincarnation...this mass reincarnation, was forced, and not just forced but they set it up so they could easily collect all the souls".
"What for?"
"To make them easier to manipulate probably...but why? Why would he need to harvest tis many souls at...wait, hold on. The chrono-frequencies!"
"...the what?"
"Each world has its own Chrono Frequency. Shara, which is where all the souls went, as a much faster one then Earth. Normally, years pass by there while very little time comes here. Honestly, It was a bit convienent that was the case, since normally Otherworlders dont get summoned en mass like this. Since I saw it coming, I actually traveled between here a few times and popularized an isekai genre, so people would stop freaking out and react better".
"Hold on, that was intentional?! Also, that was you?!"
"Ah, yeah...people kept freaking out, so a bunch of human empires, and a god, asked me to do that".
The Second Oldest Demon Lord got around. In several worlds.
Either way, this was more then enough of a confirmation that a god had been involved. As such, Aruu returned them to normal space. They were suddenly back on the sidewalk, as if nothing had changed.
"You know, Aruu, there is a serious problem right?"
"Ah, yeah. I noticed it too, the moment I saw the Soul Corridor I realized that was the case too"
"Good, so you realize the enemy has probably monitored this whole thing, knows we know, and has sent an assassination team to deal with it".
The two looked at each other, nodded, and then immediately broke into a run, heading into a nearby alley.
As they did though, arrows made of holy light rained down behind them.
"They sure didn't waste their time getting here!"
"What are they? Angels?"
"Basically, although really they are Angelic Spirits....probably the personal wetwork team for Tektos himself!"
As he said that, they suddenly reached an isolated location.
"Realm!"
And in that instant, Aruu isolated the region of timespace they were in from the rest of the world.
"Demon Lord Aruu, for the crimes of heresy and working against the Supreme God, you shall now be executed".
The leader, a female angel who appeared like a fifteen year old girl, said that as she aimed her bow at them.
"Cecilia, you know how to fight right?" Aruu asked, but he felt it was needless when he turned and looked at her. Flames and embers, a color of red he had never seen before, swirled around the girl.
"What a foolish question. Lets beat these things down now, shall we? You need to get back to your world, and drag that shitty god back here for questioning and sentencing. I guarentee you he will be found guilty".
"Sounds good to me".
And so, the battle between Demon Lord Aruu and Witch Cecilia Ravencroft vs the Angelic Assassination Squad began.
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