Chapter 343 Delving Within Oneself

Chapter 343 Delving Within Oneself　　━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 

Sam tapped her chin in thought as she stared at Crystal skeptically. "So... can you guess what I'm thinking right now?"

The blonde girl could only rub her nose in embarrassment. "Um, like I said, I cannot exactly read minds. Just peek a little into your thoughts and intentions, and... it's not that accurate."

The older girl grinned. "Still… why don't you give it a try?"

Given that all she was getting from her ability was 'doubt', 'funny', and 'stuuupid' when she focused on Sam, Crystal had no idea whether she was trying to make her laugh or really testing whether she could hear her thoughts. 

Thankfully, Emilia interrupted their conversation with a cough, saving the heroine from her dilemma. "You girls continue that discussion later, but Michelle seems to be about to doze off, and I'd really like to clear up some misunderstandings first."

Michelle blinked in surprise as she looked up, her eyes still a little foggy from confusion as she tried to digest the fact that Crystal could, to some extent, peer into her thoughts. 'I-It's not like I have a-anything to worry about, r-right!'

Emilia patted the girl's head with a smile. "Actually, Michelle, this one is more for you than the others. Remember what I told you before about me being a vampire?"

Seeing the girl nod absently, the crimson-haired girl chuckled. "It was just something I made up to convince you at the time that I can get things done."

Michelle blinked at her, dumbfounded. "B-But what about the fangs and stuff? I-I…"

Emilia ruffled the girl's short hair affectionately. "Well, although I'm not a vampire, I am someone from another world, and I also have a few abilities of my own."

Michelle gulped. "O-Oh… t-then… you don't need blood to survive…?"

Emilia chuckled in amusement. "That's right."

With her current state, Michelle found it a little difficult to accept how everything she had been assuming before was false, but considering it came from her princess directly, there was nothing she could do but force herself to believe it.

Of course, regardless of the origin of her abilities, the fact that Emilia saved her remained the same, so the turmoil in her heart wasn't actually that great.

But the emotional ups and downs still took their toll on her, and the short-haired girl soon drifted off to sleep with her head still on Emilia's lap as the discussion on the table continued.

Other than Michelle, the other three were already aware of Emilia's true origin, though they all had their own 'version' of beliefs in their mind. 

"So the source of Crystal's ability… is your… blood?"

Emilia coughed. "N-No, I believe this is her own ability. If anything, my blood must have strengthened it a little, but that's it."

Sam could only nod thoughtfully. "But then, where does it really come from?"

The crimson-haired girl shrugged. "She must have already had it from the start."

Not to mention Sam, even Dixie couldn't help but gasp in shock. "Y-You mean to say that Crystal was a superwoman all along?!"

Their shock wasn't unjustified considering that they considered Crystal to be the same as themselves before, and only thought her abilities must have come from Emilia somehow, so the crimson-haired girl could only smile helplessly. "Well, it wouldn't be wrong to call her a heroine, but it's not like she's the only person in the world to have abilities."

Sam and Dixie turned to stare at each other before the older girl coughed. "W-What do you mean?"

Emilia could only shrug and proceed to give them the same lecture as she had given Crystal, but surprisingly, neither Sam nor Dixie seemed to be as 'surprised' as she had expected.

Samantha sighed. "Although it makes some sense, I honestly haven't seen anything quite like what Crystal seems to have in my life."

Dixie nodded. "Mhm… I did think it was a bit strange when grandfather told me to never participate in a competition that would be able to quantify my strength too accurately, but I always passed it off as being cautious and never revealing our true strength."

The older girl tapped her chin in thought. "Aside from the Brown family in our country and the fabled Nightingale clan in the Carmen country, I really haven't heard of any 'exceptional' stuff like this… O-Of course, not to say I doubt it!"

Given that it was coming from their beloved little princess, and Crystal had already shown them some proof, it was already enough for both Dixie and Sam to believe that what they were being told was true. The only thing they didn't understand was why it would be hidden so well.

Unfortunately, Emilia didn't have any concrete answers for them either.

When the topic moved on to Dixie's ability, the girl could only cough in embarrassment. "I-I did get a lot stronger after we d-did it, b-but I haven't noticed anything new that I can do now that I couldn't before…"

In the end, Sam just sighed in defeat. "Alright… I guess it really is so. Then… there's no chance that I would be able to awaken some ability just because I had some of your magic juice before, right, Emilia?"

"M-Magic juice?!" Although she had already been prepared for this discussion, Emilia still couldn't help but blush in embarrassment when facing all of their heated gazes. "W-Well, t-that… I-I believe that there is a possibility that everyone has some talent within themselves that they can awaken, b-but… it's not always so easy to notice what you have…"

Listening to her little sister's explanation, Sam more or less knew that it was somewhat unlikely for her to obtain any ability, and even if she did, it was even more unlikely that she would be able to discover it.

After all, if she had some strange ability that only worked under very specific circumstances, the only way she would ever be able to discover it was through sheer luck.

Emilia couldn't bear to see her sister's disheartened look, so she gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. In the future, if I discover any way to check these things, I'll naturally help you. Of course, even if we never find out, big sister should still be proud of your current talents."

Sam sighed. "What talents? Being able to inherit properly?"

Emilia shook her head in denial. "No, how can you sell yourself so short? I know big sister not only works hard, but also has a lot of talent when it comes to managing the corporation properly. Even Noelle can't help but boast about you to me from time to time, you know?"

"What? Noelle… boasted about… me?!"

Sam's shock wasn't unwarranted, since from their usual interactions, it was already good enough if Noelle didn't lament about her boss being a moron all the time.

Emilia chuckled. "Well, she did say it was impossible to admit it in front of you…"

"Why?!"

The crimson-haired girl shrugged helplessly. "… because you'll react like this?"

Sam could only cough in embarrassment. "W-Well..."

Emilia chuckled. "And she said that you have a lot of potential for growth, so it was better not to say such things and give you a big head, ruining your potential from conceit."

The older girl blushed as she looked away. "O-Oh… w-why did you tell me, then?"

Emilia smiled, her gentle gaze almost directly melting Sam's heart into a puddle. "Of course, I want big sister to be confident. As for Noelle… well, I'll take care of her matter later."

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Given that Sam had started to nod off, and Michelle had long since fallen asleep, their discussion was naturally unable to continue much longer. 

Dixie and Crystal looked like they had things to talk about, so after bidding them goodnight, Emilia simply carried Michelle back to the girl's bed before taking Sam to her own room. As for what the two of them were going to discuss... Emilia assumed it must be about Crystal's ability, so she wasn't very curious.

After assisting Sam in rinsing her mouth and changing into comfortable sleepwear, it didn't take long for the older girl to snuggle into her embrace and drift off to sleep as well, making it much harder for Emilia to change into her own nightie.

Of course, Emilia didn't really mind all that much, as her mind was already elsewhere. The older girl seemed satisfied once she was able to bury her face in the now-docile girl's soft little pillows, drifting off to sleep. 

The crimson-haired girl simply held her older sister close as she focused within herself, delving deep into her own mind while channeling her energy internally. Had Cynthia not gone into isolation long ago, at this moment... she would have been dumbfounded in shock.

After all, the ease with which Emilia was manipulating energy didn't just exceed the level she should have, but approached the realm of what she considered to be impossible.

Of course, to Emilia, her rapid improvement seemed to be a matter of course. After all, ever since she gained the plentiful energy from completing her mission, she had been practicing diligently in her free time.

Shortly after she started channeling her energy, a gentle glow appeared around Emilia's body as Sam's grip unconsciously tightened, but neither of them noticed.

Emilia's 'soul form' had already entered what she thought of as her own inner realm. 

It was a vast emptiness not much different from the endless void she had initially met Cynthia in, except there were a few things floating around here and there, ranging from figures of people to some curious little objects.

Emilia fully intended to explore everything later, but for now, the two biggest objects not far from her floating form were what she had to focus on first.

The first was a huge crimson orb, dozens of times larger than the floating crimson-haired girl in the white dress. 

Had it not been for the familiarity of the energy it contained, Emilia would have thought of it as something sinister. But of course, the intimate connection between them prevented her from seeing it as anything but an adorable little child that followed all her commands.

Approaching the crimson orb, the floating form of Emilia smiled as she placed her palm on its surface, and a few tendrils of energy automatically extended out to caress her as if in adoration. "I finally see you for myself, huh… what a naughty little baby…"

Emilia knew that not only was this the source of all her abilities, it was also the very same energy that she had to harvest from the 'world will'. Of course, it no longer contained any of the thoughts or ambitions of the 'world will', or Emilia wouldn't treat it like this.

That is not to say it had no thoughts of its own, however. And the reason Emilia treated it like this also stemmed from the source of these thoughts.

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