Chapter 40 : Aftermath

[By defeating a dragon that someone of your level *shouldn't* be able to defeat, the host will get rewards.]

{Wow, that lizard was easy prey. What do you mean someone of my level? I just forgot to blast him from the inside.}

[Anyway, your rewards will be 1 x <Random Armor Ticket>, 1 x <Random Troop Summon Ticket> and 1 x <Random Summon Ticket>]

{Well, those are a lot for this small fry lizard.}

[…]

{Anyway, use the <Random Armor Ticket>}

[Using 1 x <Random Armor Ticket>]

[Congratulation, host. You got <Makai Armor Iko> from <Random Armor Ticket>]

I stared at the reward I have gotten from the gacha and I must admit that I kept rubbing my eyes in disbelief. Okay, Urien, take a deep breath. This is not a time to go fanboying over the armor yet.

[Host, do you wish to accept the armor?]

{Yes! Million times YES!}

Yeah. I just cannot control my thoughts of fanboying over the armor. Even though I have not heard about the name <Iko>, just by seeing the <Makai Armor> in front of the name, I am sure as hell that I am getting a badass armor.

[Host got the new title, Iko the Glittering Silver Knight]

{Wait, I got a title? How come I did not have a title before?}

[Because none of those are mentionable. This armor is specially made for you, host. You are the first wielder of Iko]

{So, you are telling me that this <Makai Armor> was specially made for me to use.}

[That is correct, host]

{How?}

[One of the higher-ups had a connection with that universe. Or more specifically, he knew how to make one of those <Makai Armors>. He searched for the proper Soul Metal to make this armor and the name was also given by him.]

{Wow… please remind me to give my thanks to that person}

Yes, like a proper gentleman, I need to thank him once. Just this once I am going to thank him like a gentleman.

{So, System. Does this armor have a time limit like the armors from the Original Universe?}

[No, host. This is from Ryūga-verse]

That means I will not be getting a nice little pony of my own. I am glad that there will not be any time limit for wearing the armor but not getting a pony destroys that happiness.

{System, can I use the sword I am currently using instead of a Makai Blade to call out my armor?}

[Yes, host. You can.]

{Then, I am good.}

No way in hell I am letting go of my <White Pride>. Do not judge my naming sense! It's not like I name it <White Pride> because the sword is white, and it is my pride and joy. No, just kill me. I will never admit the truth.

I look at the corpse of the lizard in front of me.

{System, is that corpse safe to eat?}

[…]

[Yes, host]

With the confirmation from the System, I store that corpse away in the <Inventory>.

Gurguit returns to me after telling his troop to take a rest.

"Sir Gurguit, let us take a tour toward the place where the lizard came," I told Gurguit.

And like a good boy, he went back to grab the two horses and return to my side. They came to this place with their horses. Only I freed the little guy. I wonder where those horses are staying when the battle took place. Well, it is not my place to think.

I remembered the place where that lizard came so, I am currently riding my horse to that place together with Gurguit. When we got to the place, the place is already in ruin.

I used <Wind Magic> to make the rocks float and throw them to another place. And after throwing some rocks, the two of us found the entrance.

"Are you sure about this, my lord?" Gurguit asked me from the side.

"I am alright, Sir Gurguit. A little low on Mana but I can manage it," I replied.

The entrance is nothing like some eerie place I thought before. It is just a cave. Yes, just a cave. There are no skulls and bonfires like I had thought. Well, that thing is not a dragon, it is just a lizard after all.

The two of us walk into the cave without fear. Well, it might just be me who walked in without fear. I saw Gurguit is already having his hand on the hilt of the sword. Ha! Weak!

I pull out a pack of cookies from my <Inventory>. They are chocolate chip cookies I had gotten from the mother of Jotaro, aka Holy after coming back from Egypt with the gang. Well, I came back alone because they thought I was already dead.

I kept walking while nibbling the cookie. I need to eat it carefully because it is rare. As we kept on walking into the cave, I saw lots, I mean lots of golds and jewelry piling up at the center of the hall. Some rocks are covering some parts of the area. When we look up, it is the sky that we saw, not some kind of cave ceiling.

The hall is large, if I need to measure it, it would be around 5 times the soccer field. Hmm… pretty large for the lizard's lair.

As I look around, I arrived at the place where the lizard sleep. How do I know where that lizard sleeps? Well, you can see his shape on that pile of gold. By looking at the shape, his head is always facing north.

I walked toward the place where his head is facing. There must be a good treasure for him to keep on looking at the place.

Then, I saw what he was looking at. It was a book. Some kind of book written in the gibberish language which I cannot understand. When I ask the System, he won't reply.

Well, I cannot understand what is written in the book so, off you go into the <Inventory>. I found nothing in the area so, I keep looking around.

And for some reason, I walked over a golden cup and fell on my face. And my cookie flew over the air and dropped into a golden cylinder.

"Ouch! That hurts!" I rub my nose and walk toward the cylinder where my cookie dropped. And when I got there, the cookie was nowhere to be found. I pick up the cylinder and shake it.

"What the hell? Give me back my cookie!" I keep on shaking and was too busy to know that something fell off from the other side of the cylinder.

Gurguit came to my side and pick up the thing that was dropped from the other side.

"My lord, this is the Mana Stone," he shows me the blue crystal. Specifically, the cookie-shaped Mana Stone.

I now understand what kind of artifact this cylinder is. This is something that can turn everything into the Mana Stone. How did I know it can turn everything? Well, I added all kinds of things I can find around me. I put in the rocks, the coin, the sword, and a book. But the thing is, things that are turned into the Mana Stones cannot be turned back into their original object. I should be happy that I found this kind of artifact. I should be happy, but I am still sulking because of my cookie.

After adding all the things, I had found in the hall into the <Inventory>, the two of us left the cave to return to our town.

When we got back into the town, we are greeted with the festival for our safe return. Not gonna lie, I want to rest now. Even when I need to do paper works, I want to sleep right now. Yosh! I am going to avoid doing paperwork until Luna and the others come back.

It was already 6 days since I had fought with the lizard and I am bored as hell right now. I have nothing to do except watching anime and sleeping. Well, I like doing those but doing nothing but those also made me bored.

"Master, we are back," I heard the sweet voice of Luna coming from the side. I am not ashamed to admit that I jumped out of my bed just to hug her.

"Luna, you are back! How was your holiday?" I asked.

"It was wonderful, Master. I was able to recruit two new maids," Luna smiles and hugs me back.

"Is that so? They must be wonderful if you recruit them yourself," I break off the hug and walk toward my study room. Now that Luna came back, I will need to return my duty as a lord of the territory.

"Yes, Master. One of them can make the desserts you like and the other one is her sister," Luna replied while following behind me.

"Is that so? Tell them that I want to meet them," I kind of want to meet someone who got approval from Luna. Getting approval from Luna is hard.

"I will inform them, Master," Luna blinked away and appear near me after I got into my study room.

Just when I was about to touch the pen, the door blasts open, and the blue-haired girl with the same age as I walk in.

"Urien! I came here for a visit!" the girl said with an energetic smile.

"It is nice to meet you again, Yubel. It has been a while since the two of us met," I smile at her as I keep drinking the tea that Luna prepared for me.

"Uh-huh," she nods her head. "I came here because I heard you had successfully defended your territory from the monsters," she told me while grabbing a piece of cake from the table.

"Oh yeah, do you want to take the dragon meat with you? I have plenty!" I asked her.

"Sure, I would love –," she replied like normal but midway, she spits out all the tea inside her mouth.

"What do you mean!" she asked no, demanded.

"Well, a lizard is coming with the stampede so, I killed it?"

*knock* *knock*

"My lord, it is Deirdre," I heard the sound coming from the other side of the door.

"Excuse me, Yubel," I smile at her.

"You can come in," I replied back.

The door opens and the two maids come in. And one of the maids was stunned after seeing me and Yubel. What? Is there something on my face?

3rd POV

Nerezza heard the sound of the Oaks' suffering through the corridor. But in her mind, the old butler is more important. "Why would someone like him comes to this territory?" she bit her thumb nail.

Just as she was lost in her thought, the maid that talked with her sister comes out of the room together with the butler and the general.

"It is nice to meet you again, Miss Deirdre," the silver-haired maid greeted her sister.

"It is nice to meet you too, Miss Luna. Do you need something from me?" her sister asked with a voice with some fear laced in it.

"Yes, Miss Deirdre. I would like to ask if you would like to come and work in our lord's mansion."

"In Lord Gregorios' mansion? Gladly! Ah… if possible, can I also take my sister with me?"

Nerezza stiffened as the silver-haired maid, Luna as her sister referred to her looks at her. The eyes of the maid look up and down as if she is looking into her soul. She is not afraid to admit that the gazes made her felt scared.

"I see. I could accept that. I can just train her to be a better maid if she does not live to the standard," the silver hair maid nodded.

And then the maid touches her sister's cheek and the bruises her sister suffered from the hand of Tango Oak disappeared.

"Prepare your belongings. We will be moving out next hour," the maid told them.

"I don't have many things to pack because I am a slave," her sister told Luna timidly.

"Ah, right. You don't know what is happening right now, correct?" Luna asked and the two of them replied with a nod.

"The Gregorios had taken over the territory of the Oaks," Luna dropped a bomb on them. It was specifically for Nerezza.

"What? This did not happen in my previous time! And who is Gregorios?! I had heard about them but they are not important so, I forgot," Nerezza thought.

"And as per the order of my Master, there is no slavery in the territory. Meaning, you are no longer a slave because you are living in my Master's territory," Luna said it like it is nothing worth mentioning.

Just like that, the two of them arrived at the Gregorios territory. The day after arriving, they are informed by Luna that the lord of the territory wants to meet them.

Of course, she was bombed by another change in the history she knew of by seeing the lord.

"Urien?! How come he is acting as a lord? Wait… he did say that he was a former noble. But he never gave us his family name," she stopped walking after seeing her friend's face.

"And that was… Yubel Zestina? How come she is here? Don't tell me… she was here because Urien was never stripped of his nobility?"

After seeing the two, her friend and the one who bullied her friend, there is only one thought in her mind.

"Is it too late to stay dead?"