Chapter 283 Traitor?



After reuniting with Elysia and Clara, I requested that we lay down for a bit before I explained anything. They were quick to notice the clothes, but I didn't have the brain power to go into detail as I only wanted some snuggles to recharge. They, of course, didn't reject me, and we got into bed, letting me enjoy the moment.

Elysia, in her typical horny fashion, suggested we have a bit of fun, but I bonked her on the head since I wasn't really in the right mood.

Eventually, I drifted off to sleep in the comfortable embrace of Elysia and Clara. My nap wouldn't last long, though, as I woke up after an hour of resting. I don't know why, but it worked in my favour, as I felt ready to explain the situation.

Shaking the two of them awake, we sat up in a circle with the two of them eagerly awaiting what I had to say.

"I guess I'll explain what I went through first..."

***

Giving a rundown of the whole soul-merging process and the things I gained from it. Elysia and Clara were just as shocked as I was. I showed them my stats as well as the message I got from Akrone.

"Wait, so you are technically tier 10, but you are not?" Elysia scratched her head, trying to make sense of the situation. I was in clothes that were only meant to be gained once hitting tier 10, yet I wore them without being tier 10.

"I think so? As far as I know, I'm still tier 7, only now I'm just slowly unlocking my power rather than levelling up." It was the best answer I could give with all the information I had.

"Interesting, have you found out what it means to be an administrator of the system? You might have new options available to you regarding our own systems since you gave them to us to begin with." Clara was quick to understand and was curious about what kind of potential privileges I had.

"Speaking of the system, to think Rea might not be who we think she is. That is if we trust Akrone, but seeing how much power she's given you, I'd say it's safe to assume for now that Akrone is on our side." Elysia looked disappointed at the fact that Rea was most likely a traitor who only pretended to share our goals, but there wasn't much more we could find out.

"It's not like we have a choice anyway." There was no room to negotiate in the first place, as we may very well all be dancing in the palm of akrone's hand.

"Anyway, I'm not too sure what I can do now; there isn't a tutorial or any kind of guidance." I looked through my system, trying to see if there were any settings I could access.

"Oh, I think I found something." Scrolling to the bottom of my status page, there was a cog, which I could only assume was the settings. Clicking on it would prove me right, as I would be greeted with a whole list of options.

Some were greyed out and impossible to read, which I found odd since it sounded like I should have full access, but it might be like the conduit where I will slowly unlock more features as I get stronger.

"So far, I can just change how the system looks; there is nothing here that suggests I can control it like Rea could." It was a shame, but then there was one feature I remembered that will come in handy.

[Hey] I went and wrote down a message. In the past we had to send those through Rea, but now I could just think of it and it would appear. The same message then appeared right in front of Elysia and Clara instantly.

"Oh, nice, you can still do that." Elysia was a bit surprised to see the random message, which was fair as they rarely used that feature, but it was still nice to have.

"But we can't seem to send one back; are you able to manage our systems at all?" Clara tried to send one back but seemingly failed.

"Let me scroll some more." Going through a bunch more blank options, I finally came across a setting called Manage Systems. Clicking on it presented a list of everyone to whom I gave a system. It was a good start, so I went ahead and clicked on Elysia to see the kind of things I could tamper with.

Like the rest of the system, there wasn't much I could do considering most options were greyed out, but there were some I could turn on.

"Oooo, it looks like I can share my power and give you the same privilege I do." Without even hesitating, I instantly gave Elysia and Clara the same privileges I had. As for Silver and Elanor, I allowed them to send messages, but for the time being there was no need for them to also have privileges.

"Sweet, I can play around with it for you then." Clara offered to spend some time messing with the system, which I appreciated.

"Please do. it will definitely take a load off my mind not having to figure out this new system." I gave Clara a smile, which made her blush. On the downside, I also made Elysia pout since she wanted to be useful too.

"Don't worry, Elysia, you can keep me comfortable while I look through some memories. As Akrone's message said, some of our perceived allies may not be on our side, and my newly inherited memories have the answers." There wasn't much I could offer Elysia to do, but I knew giving me a lap pillow would be enough for her.

"H-hmph sure." Elysia knew how pathetic it was to be so easily satisfied, but she couldn't complain.

"Thank you, darling." Seeing Elysia already in position, I put my head on her lap and shut my eyes.

"Now, I will most likely enter a deep sleep of some kind while I look through these memories, so I'll be seeing you later." I gave them a heads-up just in case they wanted to ask any more questions before I fell asleep.

"We'll be waiting." Clara sat on the other side of me, holding my hand while scrolling through the system with the other.

"Don't take too long." Elysia patted my head and gave me some behind-the-ear scratches, which helped me relax.

*

'Alright, let's see who we've got.' Trying to think of our current allies, the first person that came to mind was Freja. I highly doubted she would be against us, but she definitely felt like the kind of person to hide some dirty secrets.

'She also has a system, so if I can't trust my assistant, there is no telling if Freja is actually conspiring with hers.' The more I thought about it, the more I doubted her.n0veLuSb.c0M

'Ah, here we go.' Having finally gotten some memories of Freja to pop up, I noticed they seemed to be from the time just before my other self was transported away from home.

***

<Sometime in the past

"Sweetie, make sure you stay in your room. Freja is coming to visit, and I have some important things to talk to her about." Cecilia's voice echoed out in my room carrying her warning, and I gave her a nod as I didn't plan to leave my room. However, this was the first time that my mother told me to stay when Freja came over.

"Okayyy." I agreed to stay, but I could already feel my curiosity get the better of me.

'I know how to sneak around without getting detected now, so surely I can eavesdrop a little bit.' Waiting patiently for my mother to be long gone, I walked up to my window and climbed out of it. No doubt there was a butler or maid waiting outside my door, so I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Easily climbing down the palace wall, which I swear was meant to be climbed, I made sure to use no mana and suppress any kind of magic I could be exerting.

Hugging the wall of the palace, I got close to the window where my mother usually holds her meetings with Freja.

"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!!!" A desk slam, along with the cracking of wood echoed out of the room.

"I know it's crazy, but it has to be done."

Already there seemed to be an argument, which wasn't too odd, but this time my mother seemed genuinely mad.

'Seeing as I can hear them, I will stay here. No point trying to get a peek.' I knew if I broke concentration on suppressing my mana, they would instantly find out I was listening.

"Who has the authority to allow this?! The world hardly knows of Shaman's existence, yet some goldy existence wants her? I absolutely refuse. You never told me about any of this system crap, yet you say you've had it ever since our days in the magical academy? Get real, I thought we were friends, Freja." It was a shock to hear, and I didn't quite understand the whole thing, but it didn't sound good.

"Tsk, I knew this would happen."

"Just leave and never come back. I can't believe you dared to ask me to offer up my own daughter. I can withstand all the crazy shit you do, but this is too far."

"You'll see soon enough."

"Yeah, I'd like to see you try; I know you can't beat me." The argument was beginning to escalate, but then I heard someone sit up from the couch, which I assumed meant Freja was leaving.

"Farewell... old friend."