A small pressure was slowly being built inside Charlotte's tavern, only being prevented from growing by the sound of Lorei's voice stuttering in the air. The tone of her voice, growing louder and louder so as to not allow a fight to happen.
"I'll return, okay? I'll return. Lower your weapons!"
No, she did not want to return. But what else could she do? She knew how stubborn frost giants could be. Add that to his father's natural-born stubbornness, it was a recipe for disaster. And as soon as her words of surrender reached her father's ears, he quickly sheathed his weapon back, also signaling his men to do the same.
"...Are you sure?"
"I am sure, please don't kill them!" Lorei said as she completely blocked her father from Van's view.
"..." Van, who heard Lorei's words, could not help but blink a couple of times in disbelief. Why did she think he was going to kill them? He wasn't some heartless murderer that just killed people.
"I am sorry, High Human Van," Lorei then kneeled on the ground, "I am afraid this is where our journey together ends. Although I truly want to see where your journey ends, but I guess knowing that I was a part of it is still enough. Truly, thank you for allowing me to stand beside you."
"It's been fun as well," Van nodded his head before letting out a sigh. Without Lorei, Charlotte's tavern would fall into pieces. They came here for her food-- without that, then there would no longer be any customers, "I guess we'll just close this place for now."
"That..." Hearing Van's words, Lorei's lips could not help but tremble. And soon, tears fell from her eyes as she suddenly lifted Van in the air, hugging him as she bawled her eyes out; her tears, turning into ice as soon as they leave her face. She had been with Van for more than 2 months now, and although they didn't talk much, there was a dynamic between them that really worked-- she thought.
And when Charlotte died, she saw how it affected Van; how he drowned himself in continuing Charlotte's tavern even though he had no idea how to manage it in the first place-- he saw how human he really was. If only the Branch could have left earlier, then their journey together wouldn't have had to be cut short.
"..." Although Van did not expect to be lifted in the air like a child, the only thing he did was let out a long and deep sigh as he patted Lorei a couple times. It took a full 30 minutes before Lorei calmed down and dropped Van on the floor. Her father and his men had already stepped out of the tavern to give the two the chance to say goodbye.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Still, to think you were a princess," Van muttered as he straightened out his clothes.
"Princess?" Lorei blinked a couple of times, before letting out a small hum and shaking her head, "You misunderstood, my father isn't the king-- he's a part of the Kingsguard."
"...Oh."
"I am also part of the Kingsguard, and it's actually my sworn duty to protect the Princess once I come of age… which is in a few years from now."
"...How old are you?"
"I am turning 57… How about you, High Human Van?"
"17."
"Aren't you basically a baby!? Is that why you're so small compared to most High Humans!?"
"..."
The two continued to chat for a few more minutes, before saying their farewells to each other. Lorei's father also respectfully bid his farewells towards Van, even kneeling with his men to ask for apologies for the way they treated Van earlier.
However, Van just waved his hands as he told them to be careful on their journey back.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"..." Van then looked around the tavern, which was now even more empty than it was before. Without Charlotte, without Lorei, this tavern really had no way of staying alive. The extent of Van's cooking knowledge, sadly, was limited to grilling and burning meat.
Van once again let out a long and deep sigh. He had everything he needed here, he just had to wait for the Branch to start moving. Is… the only thing he could really do now was just to wait?
"!!!"
As soon as the thought came into his mind, Van could not help but slightly lean back as a set of floating words he did not expect appeared in front of him.
[New Objective: Meet the Frost Giant's princess - Reward: 960,000 EXP.
Failure Penalty: -1,920,000 EXP]
Van blinked his eyes a couple of times in disbelief as he stared at the window. This was the first time his System did something like this. An objective? So was he actually really inside an extremely large Portal then?
No, if that was the case, then Charlotte would have said something. This was completely different. His own System would even reward him an EXP? That was something unheard of.
But even though 960,000 EXP might seem a lot, with his current Lv., it wasn't even enough to make him level up; the penalty, however, was enough to make him lose a level. Absorbing Charlotte's soul made his level jump in an extreme number. But still, for his System to do something like this…
...was it Evangeline's doing? The System came from Seraph Azrael's wings, so it makes sense that she would be able to manipulate the System like this as her human equivalent. Does that mean… she was alive somewhere?
If that was the case, then she should know where Artemis is. With that thought arriving in Van's mind, his eyes quickly lit up as a trail of golden lightning filled the entire tavern. He made sure to secure it, locking each of the rooms tight before leaving to chase Lorei.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Evangeline might have left a trail for him to follow. If it was any other instance, he wouldn't have followed it. But this time, he was seeking answers; and if the only way to do that is to once again follow her… if this really was her doing in the first place.
Plus, there was also the EXP reduction. With his level, who knows how hard it was to accumulate another level up-- he would need another soul at the same level as Charlotte if he wanted a significant boost in level.
"Wait."
"H… high Human Van!?"
Lorei's father and his men quickly unsheathed their weapons as soon as Van suddenly appeared in front of them.
"I thought we had left things peacefully, High Human!"
The tremble in Grunt's voice was clear to be heard, but still, the hands that held his weapon stood strong as he stepped in front of his men, leading them to attack at any second as soon as Van showed even a single sign of hostility.
"Relax," Van raised both his hands as he signaled Lorei to tell her father to put their weapons down. Grunt and his men, however, did not follow as they kept their weapons pointed at him.
"You said you are a part of the Kingsguard?" Van did not really mind this aggression, as it was his fault for suddenly appearing out of nowhere, "I wish to meet with the royal family."
"Meet… why?" Lorei once again stepped in between Van and her father to avoid any massacres from happening.
"I…"
What was Van supposed to say in this situation? That his System told him to do so?
"...just want to."
Van then shrugged his shoulders as he lowered his hands, "Can't I?"
"That's…" Hearing the nonchalant reason for it, Lorei and her father could only look at each other. But after a few seconds of this awkward silence lingering in the air, Lorei opened her mouth.
"If High Human Van wanted to hurt the Royal Family, then he would have just silently followed us," Lorei reasoned, "I am sure he has a good reason for it, father."
"Do… you trust him that much?"
"I don't know why, father… but I do."
Grunt had never seen this kind of look in his daughter before. She had always been lazy in her duties, only doing the bare minimum. Never once had she shown initiative. It would seem that being with a higher being had changed her for the better.
And so, with that thought, Grunt finally lowered his weapon, "But I thought you are leaving for the next Realm?"
"I can just run back to the Branch before it takes off. It's fine."
"He's extremely fast, father. It's true," Lorei added, "You should see how fast he hunts the ingredients for our meals. He could have the meat of a boar ready before the oil begins to heat up."
Hearing this, the only thing Grunt could really do was nod and sigh, "Then we are at your care, High Human Van. With you on our side, no beast would dare approach us."
"Same, same," Van said as he waved his hand. Lorei, on the other hand, could not hide the happiness on her face. And so, Van's journey with the frost giants started... and ended without any troubles.
It took a week, but they arrived in the castle without even a beast or a group of bandits blocking their path. Van could not help but feel even smaller as they arrived in the Frost Giant's castle, as every piece of furniture and every door inside the castle was too huge for him to use normally.
Even the candles they were using were almost half his size, some even bigger than him. One advantage it held, though, was that the bed was as big as a small room.
With the extra strength he got from receiving Charlotte's gift, there weren't any problems when he was asked to wait inside a room while Lorei and his father ask for an audience on his behalf.
Van then dragged a chair towards a nearby window, leaping onto it to see what was happening outside. He was still unaware of the politics in each realm, but it would seem the Frost Giant's were the prominent race in this Realm, seeing as they held the monarchy.
Van then reopened his System Window, wanting to check the Objective that the System gave him. But before he could do so, his eyes landed on a frost giant that was leisurely running outside, carrying a wide smile on her face.
"W… what?"
Seeing the face of the Frost Giant, Van immediately closed his System Window; not even hesitating as he jumped from the castle. And as soon as he landed on the ground, he left a trail of lightning as he rushed towards the female frost giant.
He knew it couldn't be her, but the similarity in their faces left Van almost speechless.
"A… Artemis?"
[Objective: Meet with the Frost Giant Princess -- Completed!]
