Chapter 148: Siesta's Awakening ; Return to Albion

"Bet?" Gaston asks.

"You surely weren't hoping to duel with my servant without making a bet upon your loss, were you?"

"O-o-of course, not!" he says as beads of sweat begin appearing on his forehead.

I'm sure that this has made him lose face just by hoping to duel someone else without a bet.

Huh, I'm beginning to understand the thinking pattern of 'nobles'.

"So, what are you going to bet?" I ask with a friendly smile on my face.

Gaston has an expression of deliberation on his face as he places his finger against his chin.

After a while, he raises his head and glances at Guiche who has mostly recovered before turning to face me and saying,

"I will offer my family's Grimoire of Loss."

As the students all around me begin to whisper among themselves the 'worth' of the Grimoire he mentioned, I think of this matter more carefully.

Another Grimoire? Are these things truly worth so much as these nobles make them out to be? If so, why are these nobles handing them out so easily? I reckon that they would have done their best to keep it.

Unless... they're unable to make use of it?

That's highly likely if I take their willingness to bet using such an object.

"Fine," I say after a few seconds, "Now, I need to swear in your family's name."

In hopes of not wasting much time, I ignore his words and directly gift Siesta the abilities that I deem necessary for this battle.

Gift:

-Insight

-Immortality

-Elemental Magic

Getting no error response from AI, I reckon that Siesta has successfully gained the abilities that I just gifted.

It seems like Elemental Magic can be granted, after all. I suspected that since it was more of a systematic type of power, it couldn't be gifted.

However, now that I know it can be done, there is a lot of things to uncover.

Now, I just need to watch the show unfold and hope that Siesta knows how to take care of herself by making use of what I granted her.

Of course, I can't let Siesta duel without any proper weapon, so I step forward and create an ordinary sword for her.

Before I can hand it to her, however, Gaston points his finger at me and says loudly,

"Hey! Why are you giving her a sword?"

Finding his words ridiculous, the crowd gives him a pointed look. Same goes for me, as I look at the prideful figure with a deadpanned expression.

The fuck is he on about? Does he just think that I will Siesta fight him using her bare hands?

Probably realizing his idiocy, a look of realization appears on Gaston's face before he hastily shakes his head and says nervously,

"Don't misunderstand! What I'm trying to say is that the sword could be an abnormal one!"

Seriously? I don't even know what to make of him anymore.

Perhaps, he is deliberately acting like an idiot to obtain information from me and those around me?

Judging from how over-the-top his idiocy has been, I believe that's highly likely to be the truth of the matter.

But, who would benefit from this?

My current suspects would be Jean and Osmond.

I'll think of that later. For now, I should focus on the issue at hand.

"So, are you suggesting that she should fight you using nothing other than her hands?"

"No! Just have her wield a weapon that isn't from you."

As I'm about to ask where should we get one, I notice rose fall onto the ground before a red magic circle appears.

The next moment, a sword begins to float out of the magic circle.

Grabbing the sword, Guiche walks toward Siesta and hands it to her before saying in a serious tone,

"Don't let your master down."

Oh? This guy… he seems to be not that bad of a guy. Perhaps, he's the kind of guy that no one suspects to be intelligent due to their behavior but shows their true colors when getting serious.

If that's the case, he could be extremely useful if guided properly…

He already has a body that's created by me, so there is some worth to keeping him around and guiding him to a path of servitude.

As if sensing my gaze, Guiche looks toward me before beaming a polite smile and moving back to where he was.

Shifting my focus onto Siesta, I find her playing around with the sword.

From the looks of it, the weight of the sword is just right for her to be able to swing it around with such ease.

If this was calculated instead of done by some magic, the notion of Guiche being a useful subject is even more plausible.

"I will be the judge of this battle," I proclaim, "The rules are as follows."

"Killing is allowed."

The moment the words leave my mouth, the crowd present gasps as dozens of eyes lock onto me.

Out of everyone present, the one that is the most shocked by the words is none other than Siesta.

To make sure that she doesn't get the wrong idea, I look at her in the eyes before winking once.

Taking this as an encouragement, Siesta adopts a serious look as she gazes at the sword in her hands before looking back at me and nodding her head once.

Then, Siesta turns around to face Gaston who is still in a stupor.

As idiotic as he may be, Gaston should realize that something is off if I'm willing to introduce such a rule.

I can sense the rate of his heartbeats increase as he swallows his spit before turning to face Siesta.

"Forfeiture is not an option!" I continue, shocking the crowd even more.

However, this time, Siesta remains unaffected.

"Magic is allowed!"

This seems to be the last straw as the crowd immediately begins to fall into a discussion regarding my actions.

Siesta suddenly seems to understand the meaning behind my words as a thoughtful look appears on her complexion before a smile appears on her face.

Good. From what I know of Insight so far, it allows the user to master their abilities and powers as long as the slightest notion of its existence is in their mind.

"Are you ready?" I inquire a little loudly.

The moment both Siesta and Gaston give their confirmation, I exclaim,

"Duel, start!"

Immediately after the words leave my mouth, Gaston pulls out his wand and points it at the ground in front of Siesta before casting a spell of 'explosion'.

The next moment, a bright light steals everyone's vision away as a mild explosion occurs.

Once everyone has regained their vision, they wait for the dust and smoke formed to clear up in order to see the result.

Gaston a bright smile on his face while students are looking at where Siesta was with anticipation.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blows all the smoke and dust away, revealing Siesta who has a confident expression on her face.

In front of her, there is a broken wall of soil.

"What?" Gaston utters with a stupefied expression.

Siesta seems to know that this is a good opportunity to attack as she immediately begins to run toward him.

With her speed being average, it doesn't matter much in this battle, but it's more than enough to bring down an opponent who's in a stupor.

As if just regaining his clarity, Gaston exclaims,

"You cheated! There is no way a commoner like you could-"

Before he can finish what he has to say, a baseball-sized fireball slams into his face, resulting in his clothes and hair to catch on fire.

Gaston begins to scream and wail in agony as he holds his face with one hand while using his other hand to blow the flames out.

Surprisingly, Siesta is not discomforted by the scene and scent of burning flesh as she slams her foot into the ground.

As I'm wondering why she would do that, I sense a burst of energy leave her foot and move into the ground.

The next moment, bits of soil begin to float into the air forming a huge cluster of dirt.

Siesta then reaches her arm out in front of herself before muttering,

"Smash."

Her actions result in the floating soil to abruptly launch toward Gaston and ultimately strike him down, while conveniently extinguishing the flames.

A wide smile spreads across Siesta's face as she looks my way with sparkles in her eyes.

All of a sudden, her expression shifts to that of pain as she holds her head and screams at the top of her lungs.

In response to this, I quickly dash to her side and examine her body.

Seeing that nothing is wrong, I place my hand on her head and make use of my Healing Factor.

A short while later, Siesta loses her consciousness and falls into my embrace.

While holding her Siesta, I glance at Gaston's charred body once before exclaiming,

"The winner of this duel is Siesta!"

Then, I carry Siesta like a princess before scanning the crowd with my eyes and asking a slightly forceful tone,

"Any objections?"

Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be any more idiots in the crowd as they all unanimously agree with my decision.

Heh, these guys are more than likely to think of Siesta's current predicament as nothing more than a backlash for attempting to use magic as a commoner.

Of course, I'm sure that some would see beyond that. Nevertheless, they wouldn't dare try anything against me, as, if they are smart enough to see past through this, they would be smart enough to know who to not antagonize.

And thus, I guide Yuno, Krul, Gabriel, Aruru, and Saturnus along as I head toward a secluded area.

Once we are in our destination, I waste no time in creating a gateway to Albion and walk with rough it while still carrying Siesta in my arms.

As soon as I pass through the gateway, I find myself in the castle's lounging area.

To my surprise, Lizette is currently present along with two maids.

The three of them have a shocked look on their faces as they observe me and the girls emerging from the gateway.

"No time to explain," I say while acting nervous, "I'm going to be busy with something. Don't disturb me, at all costs."

Not waiting for a response, I head out of the room straight away and make my way to the most luxurious looking bedroom in this castle.

--

After laying Siesta down on the bed, I begin examining her body and see that there still is nothing wrong with her.

Irene, tell me what's going on.

{Affirmative. The entity identified as Siesta is currently undergoing a Core formation.}

What's that?

{Upon obtaining the qualifications required to unseal a Code's functions, the body will undergo a complete renewal process, restoring it to its prime.}

I see. Is there anything else that I need to know?

{Once a Core has been formed, the being essentially gains immortality.}

Hold on, what? I don't recall you ever mentioning something of such importance.

As I begin to think of what her words mean, realization dawns upon me on what she could mean by 'immortality'.

Oh… Irene, you aren't referring to physical immortality, are you?

{It's as Father suspects. The immortality applies to the soul only and not the body. It prevents the soul from dissipating and granting the opportunity for reincarnation.}

Immortality, huh? There is a high chance that I've gone through something like this in the past. Heck, Yuno mentioned something along those lines during our battle against each other.

Speaking of which, what becomes of the souls of non-Code beings?

{The soul of the beings in the Platforms simply dissipates into the Playground and further enforces the barrier between the Platforms and the Rift}

Also known as the Mete, right. Why the souls in Platforms, though? What about those in the Rift?

{There is not enough data to provide Father a proper response.}

Not enough data? Didn't I kill plenty of feeble beings over there? Did you get nothing from their souls?

{Negative. That's not enough.}

Great… Alright, leaving that matter aside, are you able to tell what's Siesta's Code?

{The entity is currently undergoing Core formation, so data for analysis is unavailable.}

So, I just have to wait for her to be done.

--

After what seems like an eternity, I feel a burst of energy escape from Siesta's body as an overwhelming feeling of 'emptiness' spreads through my whole body.

My brain begins to feel a little fuzzy as I lose most of my senses, with the only two remaining unaffected being my sense of hearing and vision.

In response to this, my Code directly begins purging any foreign forces within my body, resulting in me slowly regaining my senses.

After a few minutes, I've completely recovered.

Taking in a deep breath, I examine Siesta who's lying on the bed from head to toe.

Right after I do so, I sense that something inside her has changed.

I feel an abrupt jolt of pain in my head as my eyes suddenly begin to itch.

A few seconds later, my vision begins to warp as I begin seeing a white glow at the center of Siesta's chest, reminding me of the time I first arrived in the Rift.

Back then, I saw three different-colored lights in my chest. Then, right after that, I saw a vision where everyone had a 'light' of their own.

What I find strange is that something similar to that vision occurred in the Rift back then when I first angelified Raynare, Kalawarner, and Mittelt.

However, that doesn't seem to be exactly what I saw in the vision…

Suddenly, AI's voice resounds within my head, interrupting my thoughts.

{Code Detected: Seraphiel.}