Giliath is still recounting his loss from the war but he still demands your power stones! It's a new week so let's get over 500!
*
Two full years have passed since the destruction caused by the Hundred Days War shook the foundation of Liberl to the core.
Many things have started to change since then. One being the reconstruction of Liberl's cities. Not only did Erebonia give Liberl an official apology, Giliath Osborne had to pay Liberl a hefty fine for its reconstruction costs.
But that money came directly out of the nobles' pockets. To be specific, the nobles that were behind this entire war.
Every single one of them were caught red-handed, and were put on a secret court-martial, led by none other than His Majesty Eugent III. It was a swift trial, which resulted in a capital punishment.
Many heads were rolled that day and not a single noble was spared. With their deaths, Erebonia could finally put the Hamel Tragedy behind them.
However, among these heads included Lechter Arundel's father. With his loss, Lechter became one without a father. But at the same time, it brought Lechter to meet Giliath Osborne for the very first time...
While the concept of the Ironbloods had yet to exist at this time, Giliath was quick to realize Lechter was special, admiring both his quick wit and intellect...
To account the Hundred Days War, a certain blind reporter made a full report of it to the Crossbell News Service, winning the Fulitzer prize of that year.
Another report Tamamo gave me, which came from Vita as she was still in contact with Ouroboros, was that a silver haired boy gave custody of an amber eyed black haired boy to the Faceless. To which the silver haired boy officially joined Ouroboros. While we had yet to meet, I learned that he rose to the second seat of the Enforcers, known as Leonhardt the Bladelord.
At the same time Ouroboros gained a new ally while retreating into the shadows once again, my father made an unexpected declaration. Giliath Osborne had officially stepped down from the Erebonian military, retiring his rank of brigadier general, which was one of the highest ranks one could achieve.
This brought a big surprise to not only the Emperor himself, but to all of Erebonia. Many of the upper echelons did know what he wanted to do by retiring from the military.
From this point onward, Giliath Osborne stepped forth into office of the Erebonian Government, rising all the way up to become the Chancellor of Erebonia, one who would oversee all of Erebonia's governmental affairs. Essentially the Emperor's right hand man. That's right, he had donned the moniker, the Blood and Iron Chancellor.
All the while Erebonia was surprised at this sudden shift, Liberl went through its own shift.
The leading commander who brought the Hundred Days War to a swift end, Cassius Bright, officially stepped down from his post of Colonel from the military. This brought the Queen surprise as well, but it was understandable, due to the amount of stress and pressure he received during the whole operation.
And in turn, Cassius Bright decided to spend more time with his remaining family, his daughter, who was none other than Estelle Bright. He joined the Bracer Guild to help secure peace during the reconstruction period.
During these major shifts, Giliath did not waste his time idling away in his newfound office in the heart of the capital, Heimdallr. The first major business he had was creating a new division within the government.
The Intelligence Division.
The very first person Giliath invited to be part of the Intelligence Division was Lechter Arundel...
Meanwhile, the pro-war nobles did not enjoy the complete defeat they received. It was as if they received a huge slap in the face, especially after Giliath assumed office.
Surprisingly, among the pro-war nobles this time was one of the Five Great Houses, and its leader no less. Duke Albarea, who had given me praise back during my visit in Heimdallr, spearheaded an operation to try and assassinate my father. This caused its hired jaegers to be mostly wiped out. All but one person had perished.
Duke Albarea made it appear he was behind this attack, but in secret, it was none other than Rufus Albarea who had initiated it. This prompted Rufus to come into contact with Giliath for the first time as well.
As a result, the Ironbloods were born. Rufus joined first while Lechter shortly followed as second...
I also heard that father started to eye the autonomous state of Jurai.
Besides that, as I continued to reside in this cell, the first person to come into contact with me was Sheryll Sky, sister of Jillian Sky. It wasn't long until Ennea came along the road. She seemed to be an assassin of sorts as well before getting chained here along with Sherryl and I.
Excluding all the happenings between Erebonia and Liberl, there was one more piece of information that Tamamo gave me which was pleasant to hear.
Ouroboros received not one but two more members after Loewe joined.
Kreuger, the Severing Chains, Enforcer IX.
Joshua Astray, The Black Fang, Enforcer XIII.
It looks like Ouroboros was still continuing to grow. Still no signs of McBurn showing up again though.
Concluding that, I heard a soft whisper reach my ears.
"Big brother, I hate it here. It's too dark and stuffy. Each day hurts...", a pained voice said, not wanting to recall the days she has spent here. This voice came from the lilac haired girl who appeared curled up, slightly shivering.
There was no bedding, no pillows, just a dark stone cold floor. No food or water was present either. The only time we would actually get "fed" was during the experiments, to where they would feed the minimum required nutrients to us to stay alive. At the same time, they would administer the Gnosis drug.
The main goal of using that drug on their test subjects was to see if a person would experience a rise in adaptability. Various side effects would occur during it. Sherryl hadn't seen much of a reaction to it but Ennea on the other hand had started to see an increase in her perception and depth of field.
And as for me...
Shortly after receiving my first dose of it, the Gamer System did its magic and created a Resistance stat for me. Sure enough, my body adapted to the drug quite quickly, making it appear as if it did nothing to me. This has been ongoing for two years now, and a shorter time for Sherryl and Ennea.
The hooded scientists became more battled at my progress which didn't seem to advance an inch since the day I arrived. I seemed perfectly healthy in their eyes, while other test subjects would experience side effects, or just perish from the stimulus.
The one thing the Gnosis drug did accomplish though was that it started to provide a boost in my Gamer stats, with a diminishing effect over time. It did not touch my experience points one bit.
As their suspicions rose, I decided it was finally time to act.
Enabling the Gamer System, my eyes turned from its normal golden color, back into a crimson blood red, which caused my pupils to become two long slits. At the same time, I revealed a grin.
"It is a rather stuffy place, isn't it, Sherryl? Why don't we move to a different place?", I said, teasing Sherryl a bit.
".. Really? But I don't have much energy to move right now...", Sherryl complained as she slowly looked up at me. She blinked at me, seeing my eyes now red. "Big brother? Did you always have those red eyes?", Sherryl asked, confused.
"...Eyes?", A third voice said, who belonged to a blue-indigo haired girl who appeared crouched like I was. She had a dead look in her eyes as she tilted her head my way.
"Hmm-hmm,", I hummed a bit. "Do you want to see a magic trick, Sherryl?", I asked while humming. Thus caused Sherryl to blink at me.
"A magic trick?", Sherryl asked.
Hearing that, I turned quiet, inly to raise my finger.
[Blood Magic Activated]
A quick notification sounded off in my mind.
After it did, I raised my finger. Letting my mana circulate, a pretty blood-red ball began to form over my finger, which surprised Sherryl.
"What is that?", Sherryl asked. I had yet to show magic to the two before this so she had no idea what magic was. Ennea just watched on in silence.
"Didn't I tell you? A magic trick.", I simply answered.
After activating my Blood Magic, I let it sink into the cold floor beneath us. It began to travel, which drew the two's eyes. All the way past our locked cell to the stationed hooded figures not to far away. They saw the trail of blood seep into the two, which caused them to halt and become motionless.
"Hey you two, come over here.", I asked the two.
"Yes...", the two DG Cult guards answered. They slowly made our way over here which surprised Sherryl and Ennea. No matter what they did the two wouldn't budge. Once they arrived the look in their eyes could currently be seen dim. I was interested in trying this out on the Head Priest as well, but knowing that was Joachim, it was possible this spell may get detected, unlike using it on a couple low level guards like these two.
Still, it was about time to leave this place. There were still two other lodges I needed to visit two, which one of the two was a much more sensitive lodge.
"You will take us out of here and transfer us three to the lodge in Altair, Calvard." I commanded the two while being under my control. One of the perks of using the True Dhampir class.
"As you command...", the two DG Cult guards said in a mechanical tone. They did their duty by cuffing us again so we wouldn't seem suspicious after taking us out of the cell. Under the eyes of many, we slowly left as they dragged us. We heard pained cries along the way, which caused Sherryl and Ennea to shiver.
After signing us off, we blacked out and blindfolded, losing our sight and sense of smell.
Just like that they took us out of the main DG Cult base, causing an unknown time to pass. Like this another full year passed as we got situated in Altair...
*
Time to meet a Tio-Tot.