Back in the luxurious hotel found in the business district of the city of Anfang, chaos still enveloped the streets as the personnel of the security bureau were scattered all over the area. The perpetrator, on the other hand, was back in her room, sitting on a chair while reading a book with the general information on Spectrum.
It was an intriguing book for Alastair.
Soteria stood beside Alastair, brewing a tea she had recently bought from the market. She had an emotionless expression plastered on her face as she turned her gaze towards Alastair. She had already read such a book before Alastair even thought of touching it. After all, ever since their arrival. The only thing Soteria had done was gather information.
The general information she recently received during her birth became much more profound. The pieces of information, which lacked logic and didn't make sense, had finally revealed their reason. And those which Soteria had considered as rumors have been deepened that she could theorize the possibilities within her head.
'The Realm of Spectrum, a vast world divided into 13 continents and seven seas. With thousands of countries, empires, and kingdoms. It makes the city of Anfang a speck of dust in a vast and boundless forest. But I know this is the starting point for Lady Alastair's dominion.'
'I must be patient and become a better maid.'
With this thought in mind, Soteria simply smiled and continued brewing tea. While Soteria had a thinking spree within her head, Alastair had stopped reading and sighed as the general information about this realm was bigger than what she had expected. It was a lot, and Spectrum was a thousand times bigger than her old world.
It makes her wonder if she could even achieve this dream of hers. But now that she had thought about it, there was no use trying to conquer the entire world. The only thing she needed to do was create an empire and protect it. Nothing more, nothing less. That was the dream she wanted to fulfill.
"I'm looking at my dream from a perspective of a conqueror."
"Not a ruler."
"Bad habits tend to stick..." Alastair lastly uttered as she fell in silence. Even though she wanted to change, Alastair was nothing more than a conqueror, just like before. If she really wanted to change, she must slightly change her views fundamentally and adapt, or else, everything would fail.
'This is a new realm and new life. There is no need to stick with my past like a monkey on a tree. It's time to tread all over the forest. After all, I have an ability to do so.' Alastair thought to herself as a smile emerged from her face. It was as if she had gained wisdom from her own thoughts.
Self-enlightenment was what they called it.
Soteria finished brewing the tea and placed a teacup full of it beside Alastair. Alastair, without any hesitation, drank it and froze. It was relatively good, which made her question where Soteria bought it from. "Where did you buy this tea, Soteria?" She was rather curious about how such a tea tasted this good.
"Hmm... I bought the ingredients from the market. I made the recipe myself with the intention of Lady Alastair in mind. It took a lot of testing as I trained myself to make you feel pleasure through your taste buds. I thought that it needed more refining. However, it appears that it worked."
Soteria explained with a calm voice while having an emotionless expression. She was training on cooking, cleaning, and etiquette while gathering information. That was so that she would be a better maid for her master. She didn't regret the hard work she had done and was even proud of it.
Hearing the words of Soteria, Alastair lowered her head as she thought that Soteria's fighting training should be applied later. After all, Alastair realized that she herself wasn't the only one doing hard work. Her maid was also training herself to become a better maid. Alastair respected that and wanted to see the result of such training.
"I see... Well, ain't that good. So what did you learn from your etiquette training, Soteria?" Alastair questioned with her soothing tone. She wondered where Soteria got etiquette training from and was curious if the etiquette comes from the realm of Spectrum. If it does, it would be bound to become more intriguing.
Soteria thought about it for a short while and answered with a smile. "Hmm... Let us see... Of all the things I had read in that book. There was one thing that brought me my utmost curiosity. That was the etiquette of servitude." Alastair raised an eyebrow and questioned. "Servitude?"
Soteria nodded and continued. "Yes, according to that book. A maid or a servant must ready one's body to be in use for the master. Either for pleasure or all else. They need to suit their master's needs. Sexual deprivation is extremely dangerous, according to that book."
Alastair furrowed her eyebrows and said with a confused tone. "What the Inferno are you reading? Though, in a sense, it does make sense. But even then, why?" Alastair was genuinely confused at this one. She thought that she would be able to hear something good.
"As the book had said that sexual deprivation is a dangerous thing. May I ask what type of lady you want, Lady Alastair? Do you want a cute one? Serious one? Cold one? Fun one? Sadistic one? Machostic one?" Soteria had numerous questions escaping from her mouth.
Alastair shook her head with a wry smile plastered on her face as she answered. "Let's not answer the question and change the subject. We are treading dangerous territory here." Hearing the words of her master, Soteria tilted her head as a question emerged from her mind.
"Are you a virgin, Lady Alastair? Do you not have any experience?"
"You bastard, Soteria. You are going too far! You just can't shame me because I can't find a man. What can I do when almost everyone thinks of me as a monster." Alastair gritted her teeth as it appeared that Soteria had managed to hit a severe weakness.
Soteria had a serious expression emerging on her face as she replied with a confident tone. "Lady Alastair, you underestimate men. Even if people think of you as a monster, some might even chase you because of it. The inhabitants of this reality are unique and diverse in their own right. You can always find someone that suits your taste while you yourself suit their taste."
Alastair was frozen as she couldn't produce any counter against Soteria's argument. She then sighed and questioned. "Where did you learn such things, Soteria?" Soteria smirked upon hearing the words of her master and answered while taking a book out of nowhere.
"This is a book known as Psyche. It gives you a good perspective about a lot of things."
After Soteria placed the book on the table, Alastair took it without any hesitation and began reading it. Looking through every word, it seemed that the book delved into the minds of everything and everyone. What they want, what they view, and what they hate.
It was pretty helpful as there were many cultures of other species within Spectrum being presented. Alastair might be able to use it with her future plans. As she continued reading through the book, a smirk emerged from Alastair's face as she wanted to meet the author of this book.
"This book is hinting at conquering something without any violence. By controlling the results in a way that suits one's needs. By controlling the information, emotion, and logic. One can control the crown and conquer all from within." Alastair uttered with a calm voice.
"I see... No wonder there is a strange aura of deceptiveness plastered on that book. I got that book tattered at the back of a bookstore. I wondered what it was and bought it due to its interesting name." Soteria said with a calm voice as she cleaned the entire room.
"It seems that we got a small treasure here..." Alastair smiled as she placed the book on the table as began stretching her body. While cleaning the room, Soteria had a wonder of thought within her mind. It was about Alastair's body, specifically her wings.
"Lady Alastair, can you fly?" Soteria questioned with an emotionless tone with an expression of curiosity and wonder. The crow-like wings behind Alastair's waist were good and were probably enough to lift her up in the air. But the problem was one thing, Alastair didn't know how to use it.
Alastair was like a flightless bird who didn't know how to fly.
Alastair raised an eyebrow upon hearing the words of Soteria as she also asked herself that question not too long ago. Could she fly? And if Alastair was able to fly? What could she do with it? She can use it to escape, she can use it to attack, and she can use it to defend.
There were many things she could do with flight, but none of them mattered if she had no reasonable control over her wings. With this thought, Alastair replied with a calm voice. "I don't know. I can't control my wings like how I control my limbs. I would like to train myself in flight."
"But unfortunately, time itself is not on our side."
Alastair turned her gaze towards the balcony with a serious expression plastered on her face. The news about one serious thing had been scattered all over the city of Anfang. It was the rumor about the empress of the spirit empire entering Anfang. No one knows the reason for such a visit, but Alastair and Soteria understood it upon hearing the rumor.
"The empress of the spirit empire... I heard rumors about her sinking entirety of islands and flattening mountains with a wave of her hand. Before becoming an empress, she conquered nations on her own before her father's death. She was the most eligible ruler in the entire spirit empire."
"Even those who had the chance didn't dare to stand against her."
Soteria said with an emotionless tone and a cold expression plastered on her face. That empress was after her master, and Soteria wasn't letting her master go without a fight. Thinking about fighting the empress, an idea about training emerges within Soteria's mind.
'It appears that I should train myself to aid my master in her future fights.' This thought spread throughout her mind as it became her most important mission at the moment. While Soteria was trying to create a plan regarding her training, Alastair was covered in silence.
She was thinking about the empress of the spirit empire. If she wants to create an empire, she must fight against the empress. In the current state, even she herself wouldn't be able to handle the officials. So fighting the empress was out of her league at the moment.
"Let's continue growing. The political state of this empire isn't my problem." Alastair shook her head and decided to give her complete focus to the soul deal. Soteria then got out of her trance and gazed upon her master with an expression of determination.
"Lady Alastair, can I help you in your next soul deal?" Soteria wanted to train herself in the most practical way possible. To get the full experience of a battle, Soteria must be within it. The first soul deal was a massacre, but the second deal might be a full-on battle. If needed, Soteria wanted to help her master.
"You can do that?" Alastair was confused about what Soteria was trying to say. "Well, I am Lady Alastair's servant. A vassal of a Krieger can help the Krieger. That is something Shai didn't tell you as those who told me that was none other than the three beings of judgment."
"I see... I don't have any reason to disagree, and it might be a good way to teach you." Alastair knew that it was the best way for Soteria to grow. It would be extremely hard for the maid, but Alastair knew that Soteria was not to be underestimated. She trusted her maid without any denial.
Seconds later, a dark silver light then enveloped the two of them. Alastair raised an eyebrow as a smile emerged on Soteria's face. The second soul deal was about to begin for the two of them. They needed to ready themselves.
After all...
This soul deal was bound to be messier than the last.