Lilliana was running down the hall, as she was scared of what transpired in the basement. Luckily, she managed to get on Wit. "Watch out!"
She yells out as she makes them both fall on the ground, and roll around. This makes Wit land down in a very… Compromising position, pushing his hands against her tits. "Oh my, your highness…" She instantly blushes as she makes a smirk, making him blush as he jumps out.
"The fuck, what scared you!? I thought you handled paperwork!" Wit said as he looked at her.
"Right right… Did you know, your sister is a fucking POWERHOUSE!? I mean it… Her mana supply is way too intense! To a point…. Well.. Would you believe that Veles himself showed up to contain that?" Lilliana asked as she made the crowd talk and whisper around.
"Wait, Martha? Veles intervened?" One of the guys asked as the gossip started to be spread.
"Wait wait wait, not possible that Veles is around." Wit said as literally behind him, Veles stood.
"Well… He is behind you." Students kneeled before him, making the prince turn around and kneel.
"No worries, I am here privately calm down, everyone. Chill." Veles said as he facepalmed his bullhead, and turned his head around back to the wolf one. "Oh, sweet heavens. Wit… I would like to take you for a moment…"
Whispers and gossip immediately started to be whispered again. "Wait, why he needs him?"
"Sure." Wit says as he is scared, obviously. A god that they worship is here, personally, in flesh and blood. It is an honor for them to see him in a temple, let alone for him to come in personally. It is definitely a morale booster or fearbringer for some.
"What is it." Wit asks as they went out from the synthesis room as Veles noticed the jacket.
"So the house of light, Wit?" Veles asks as he looks at him.
"Yes. Turns out I do not follow the tradition… My guardian is weird… Very weird." Wit said as he had a small flashback to the way his guardian behaved. Like a combination of a childish girl and a slut at the same time.
"Hehe… You are lucky.. Trust me, you could have worse. Listen." Veles said as he decided to explain something to him. "Look. There happened several high-profile robberies of various artifacts…. Shrine of Ascension…"
"Is a myth." Wit said as he looked at him. "Or so people say." Wit said as he wanted to correct himself on that one.
"It exists. I know its location, but these thieves conduct heists after heists, breaking through, assembling something. I know the perpetrator. Lord Thomas Komarov." He said as Wit opens his eyes.
"Wait wait.. Uncle Komarov?! Are you serious? This is a high-profile accusation right now, my lord." He said as he was a bit surprised.
"Yes I am serious, and I have evidence to support it. As well as the Imperial Security Bureau." Wit stood here. Does the uncle know about the shrine of ascension's location? Does he know how to enter? Why he wants to get in. "Look… Also… He is Ignis C'araboth. Confirmed. I also have evidence on that."
"Wait wait wait. Anton Komarov, my uncle, a dark lord, from House C'araboth!?" Wit asks as he looks at him surprised. "But it was 250 years ago!" He objects. "It is not possible to live for so long unless…"
"Age expanding potions. There are a rare breed of plants, whose extract that is prepared well, drank once every 10 years, keeps you basically immortal unless you are going to be stabbed or killed with a gun. You can die, yes. But you cannot die of natural causes." Veles explained. "Keep your eyes open on closest surroundings, Wit. And take care of your sister. She may be able to defend herself, but in the coming days, you have to keep the safety of your family in mind as a priority."
"I understand." Wit said as he bowed before him.
"Go to your friends, wit. Oh." Veles said as he looked on Martha, who came in and was definitely late.
"Hey… Ceremony for guardian syncing starts?" Martha asks as she looks at Wit and Veles, being careless, treating that like Tuesday.
"Yes. They already started. I broke it off for a moment hehe." Veles commented as he looked at the crowd that is now going through the guardian reveal ceremony.
"Good. I hope I get something good." Martha says as she went to the hall and waited in line.
After 30 minutes, and return of Wit to the hall, as he still wanted to discover his guardian, like all others, turned out his sister, due to earlier stay in the line, was first to get the examination. And there are a lot more students to go to.
"All right, my dear. Come in forward." An older lady, in her 50s, said as she came to the magical ring in the middle of the room. "I shall examine your soul now."
"Okay…?" Martha says with a question, as she noticed the fear of the unknown from the princess as the examiner noticed.
The runic gems started to levitate, as they started to synthesize a form out of pure light as the holographic projector would. The form looks androgynous, and it only presents the lines of the body as it starts to take shape. Many already went through, but many decided to watch how the guardian forms. Curiosity overtook an interest in handling other paperwork that is required for free roam over the city with all the privileges a citizen could get without being a citizen. A permanent resident status.
As the runes continued to slowly print out the necessary elements of the body, it began to take a feminine shape, in reflection of Martha's own body, however, something seems to be wrong. As in usual cases, the runes redirect their attention to Martha's body as they shoot out a set of three beams of pure mana on her, making her go into a trans-like state, as the examiner approaches the princess. Like in any other case, the examiner places her hand on Princess's forehead and fuses with her.
Suddenly, the older lady appeared in the mind of the girl, or what appears to be a room. A room filled with clucking noises and beeps of a server room, with plenty of hard drives, controls, and most importantly, light projectors.
Then, she noticed a handsome, yet older male, in his 50s, with just a towel as a cover, as he does not seem to notice her. Then the scene where he is informed about the Tokamak explosion happens, he takes out the AI's DataCore and then the whole thing stops, making a yellow marking on the data card, which the examiner takes and looks at it, when at the same time, the AI's consciousness is transferred to this world, fully ensuring that Arin lives in this world.
As this stopped, the crowd is kind of stunned at the view of a female with a rather modest dress, simple jeans, simple shirt but her body is full of blue-black stripes like if these were wirings.
"Oh? Where am I~?" She asks as she looks around, and looks at her hands, then looks at Martha. She instantly recognized her as the Guardian synthesis process was finished. Together with an examiner.
"A…. Arin?" Martha asks as she looks at her construct, which she thought she will never see again.
"Doc!" This made people question the reaction to a guardian seeing the one they were meant to protect, as Arin jumps on her, cuddling hard, pressing her head against Martha's chest. "I am so happy to see you, doc! I thought that reactor would mess up with anything… Waitlist a minute." Arin got herself oriented in the situation quite quickly as she blushed, apparently, and jumped out. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THE PROFESSOR!?"
"Huh~?" Martha is quite surprised by her reaction. "Arin. It's me… Can we talk about this later? Let's not make a scene."
"I WILL MAKE A SCENE, DUMBASS!" Arin yelled out as she started shaking her by grabbing her shoulder and moving her violently forward and backward, making Wit who stood there as well, question everything.
"Why are you calling my sister, a doctor, guardian~?" Wit asks as he looks at the quite nice lady. "I have to say you are quite hot."
"Umm thanks, young man~?" She says as she got blushed and returned to venting out her frustration and anger on Martha. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO DOCTOR ISHIKAWA!?"
"But I told you it's me, Arin! Something's wrong with your memory code or something!?" Martha yells at her as she slaps her head's back, making her calm down. "Stop the scene."
"Wheel of reincarnation I presume. This would explain the reaction of your guardian." She said as she smirked. "I have to say I miss that view on that six-pack of yours.."
This text made the people whisper and ask questions, as the teacher shamelessly admired Martha's past body.
"Teach, that is not something we will talk about here.." Martha said as she looked at her with a threatening gaze. "That's an order." Martha finally starts using her position as a princess.
"Fine, your highness.. But tragic death…. Like yours… Is something I did not expect to witness…" Examiner said as she looked at Arin's projection. "This artificial construct gained sentience. And somehow was given a soul… Use her wisely. Guardians are projections of your subconscious ego. Everything you do with guardian magic, or spiritual magic, is affected mainly by your scientific knowledge, and willpower. Some will get insane later down the line, but I do not see much future for you. I see you as somebody with potential, my princess." The teacher said as she clapped her hands three times. "Now people, move along, nothing to see here. OTHERWISE, I WILL USE AMNESTIC SPELLS AND THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE!"
After a threat with anamnestic spell, she noticed how quickly a huge crowd went out of the room and made space for just Wit and Martha.
"Care to explain, why the guardian called you Doctor Ishikawa?" Wit asks as he pushes her against the floor, making her blush.
"Emmm, you see… The wheel of reincarnation is an answer… It's not my first life rodeo." Martha said with a blush on her face as she turned her head around to not look at him directly.
"Please, leave my creator alone!" Arin yelled out as she grabbed his shoulders and tried to pull him out of Martha.
"Oh shut up you bitch!" Wit yells out as he struggles to resist the guardian's effort which one of them requires to protect their owners from threats. "I MUST KNOW!"
"LEAVE DOCTOR ALONE!" Martha starts to get angry. Exposed to a much higher state of mana control briefly, because of her ritual, she lets out a strong scream.
"ENOUGH!!" Martha yells out as the scream makes them fly to the walls, near instantly. "Wit, I will talk about that later, or ask the Examiner. Arin, come back to the inner realm of mine. We will talk about that later."
"Fine, fine," Arin said as she vanished. "Just remember it would be the only moment when we could truly do something… Physical with that body of yours, Youji." Arin smirked as she made her blush.
"Pervert."
"I still remember how much porn you had on these hard drives, singed as sensitive research notes." Arin chuckles, making Martha blush.
"Do not remind me of how much of a degenerate I was," Martha said as she turned around.
"Now, you have to wait for the next session like this," Arin said as she fully vanished and remained within Martha's psyche. A ring appeared as with everyone who went through the ceremony of merging and awakening their guardians, however, Martha's case is different. When the others got a ring with a square placement section and with a gem, on the left or right hand, depending on how they write, Martha got both, with another one with a carved symbol that represents the wheel of reincarnation.
"Seems like you have quite the past, milady," Examiner said as she smiled. "It is indeed the most curious of guardians. Artificial construct?"
"Sentient artificial construct. Made out of a simple processor. To oversimplify the technology that was put, into making Arin." She said as she explained to the curious examiner who decided to have a small chat.
"I see. I have to say it is rare for me to witness a person who is reincarnated. If I may ask, how did that happen you are not reincarnated as a male?" Examiner asked as she looked at the princess.
"I simply asked Veles for it. To his disgust, he agreed." Martha said as she looked around. "But shut up about it when talking with anyone except maybe the school director. Got it?"
"Of course, as you wish your highness," Examiner said as she bowed out of respect. "You are free to go to do your own stuff. The ceremony of opening – the proper one, will happen in December. This means we still have time for exams, and training sessions to make sure that the applicants can handle the mental stress of training this type of magic."
"I see. Wait DECEMBER!?" Martha yells out as she is surprised. "When it's snowy and cold!?"
"Yes. The best time to open a new year at school is to celebrate a start of a new year with the ceremony. It is a tradition here." Examiner said as she laughed. "Seriously, you have a lot of time, before the entrance exams and physical and mental evaluations happened. Use that time wisely."
Martha nodded as she looked around to see how things look around. People mostly returned to what they do by occasionally giving a suspicious look, at the whole situation with Martha and Arin, her guardian.
"E… Entrance exams!?" Martha asks as she is confused.
"Yup. Entrance exams." Wit said it with a carefree attitude in his voice. "However since our academy is paid by the state, we as royal family members, are exempt, from participating."
"Uff. I hate exams." Martha said as she looks at him.
"Related to the previous life?" Wit asks as he looks at her.
"Yup," Martha said as she smirked. "I know I will pass these exams, knowing how much I know from a previous life but… I still hate it."
"Stress. Correct?" Wit asks as he wants to know fully.
"Yes. Sadly stress." Martha confirmed.
"No worries. You can still try taking the mock test, though, if you feel like you are not up for the task for a real job, professor." Wit decided to mock her for that lack of initiative in the test-taking. Despite being relieved of taking the test.
"Fine. I will try my shot on this one." Martha said as she looked at him with a different look. Look of someone who is overturned of himself.
At the same time, the examiner went out of the room, instantly moving to her room on the back of the room. Drawing the runes in specific shapes, that resembled a part of a greater communication rune ring. After this, she pulled out something from a hidden pocket in her sleeve, that was a small ritual knife, which she used to cut a bit of her finger to let go of the blood and let it drop on the runes which started to glow, and then, it opened a communication channel with visuals for Lord Komarov. Or to be more specific, Ignis C'araboth.
"Ah, Emma. It is nice to see you. How are the lessons?" Caraboth asks as he looks at her menacingly.
"Fuck, you did not tell me, that Veles will intervene personally~!" Emma yelled out as she displayed visible anger on her face.
"Oh." He said like if he did not care but he put out the cup of wine he had in his hand on the table, and stood, concerned. "That complicates things."
"A lot." She said as she looked at the hall, through a one-sided mirror that fools others by pretending to be a bookshelf. "Especially concerning is her majesty, Martha Wolfe.."
"How a princess is threatening to our plan, Emma? There is no possible way she would." Ignis said as he decided to dismiss her warning but she continued anyway to explain.
"Veles seems to be friends with the princess. Attempt on annihilating her, her family, or close relatives, in general, is not possible… Khanton, Veles's aide, protects them all." Emma said as she got definitely annoyed if not angered by the weird development of efforts. "Your revolution might have resistance from heavenly sources."
"Goddamnit~!" He yelled out as he threw the cup into the floor, breaking it, letting the rest of the wine go. "Verify if she is going to go through any kind of test. Seek more information, weaknesses, we can exploit, ways we can manipulate her."
"I am afraid she is too old for manipulation. I can confirm… Her soul is old."
"Wheel of Reincarnation?" Ignis asks concerned.
"Yes," Emma confirms as he smirks.
"Huh. So something does happen to us after death. Good to know." Ignis said as he looked at her directly. "Please inform me about the progress of affairs… And keep a close eye on the girl. Especially on the girl."
"Of course, my lord." She said as she cleared out the rune ring and cut off communication, clearing up the floor later.
In the same time, Ignis's hand is shaking as he looks at himself. "Damnit, it complicates things."
Cecil enters the room in nothing but a nightgown with a maid, that is right now dressed in nothing but a bra and panties. "Hi there, brother. Something happened?"
"Yes. And you are always with the girls huh? Your lust knows no bounds." Ignis chuckled as he smirked, taunting his brother.
"Oh please. You need to have some fun with the girls too…. Otherwise, you will go mad."
"Right," Ignis said as he nodded. "We got problems… Veles is personally attending the world's affairs."
"Wait… Seriously?" Cecil asks as he makes the maid go out. "This will make the revolution harder to pull off."
"I know," Ignis said as he approached the window of his mansion. "I think of using the Paycheck crew for a next heist."
"Where?" Cecil asks as he looks at the same window, where the autumn is definitely seen. Yellowish and red-ish leaves covered the trees outside the mansion, with some falling down.
"I know the keys are inside the academy. All 8. But Academy is full of mages. Clever. I will move for one in Makira. This is an interesting piece of the puzzle." Ignis explained. "An artifact that is shaped like a square. Seems to be a part of a bigger whole."
"Another part of the key to the shrine of ascension?" Cecil asks as he looks at him.
"Yes. But this one is located in Voogan Federation… This would risk war if we are to take it." Ignis explained as he looked at his brother.
"If I may suggest…" Cecil asked.
"Sure, Cecil, go ahead." Is approved as he waited for his ideas.
"Simple.. Wait until somebody strong enough is approved for entry to the shrine, then break through the gates and ascend yourself."
"Hmmm… But we still need these pieces as plan B."
"Agreed." Cecil nodded. "Shall I make moves for setting up the heist in Voogan lands?"
"Yes, of course. We are moving in. But I am afraid that we can cause war with this."
"We will not. I have the support of several high-ranking people in there. Some owe me favors. "Cecil said as he smirked. "Same with every country outside of the Imperial sphere of influence."
"Glad I have you by my side," Ignis said as he smiled.
"What would have you done, without me, brother?" Cecil asks as he pulls out a cigarette from a drawer, and lights it.
"I have to make a few calls," Ignis said as he walked out of the room. Unknowing to both, they are recorded 24/7 by listening rune that was planted by the Paycheck gang member.
In the police office, Emperor Robert was listening to the whole transmission as he was sitting in the office with the Centurion who manages the affairs.
"Hahaha…. So that plan with letting them take the key, worked?" Robert asks as he looks at Centurion.
"Yes, my king. It worked. Seems like we have to warn the President of Voogan Federation and Federal Police there about this heist." Emperor said as he got up.
"Sir.. Since we are making a switch to firearms… Will we get a new set of armor? Or new clothes entirely?" Centurion asked as he was making sure they will get the new gear.
"You will get new gear. I will send you the concept graphics later as chief of the Military Police." Emperor said as he patted his shoulder. "No worries, I know times change. But keep in mind we are so big as a country, it is not possible to do it in a year."
"Right. I always forget about how big our empire is. I lose the sense of scale." Centurion said as he smiled.
"I will send to you the people who work on that new gear," Emperor said as he left the room and closed the doors behind himself.