Chương 279: The Heist

The little unscheduled event led to a slight panic amongst some of the people in charge. Universal System Fundamentalists were usually lying low, but it really wasn't surprising that they would pop following the summoning of three Unwanted Presences… Otherworlders were well-known for being granted system-related powers and abilities. It is not surprising that the guys who worship the Universal System like a god would have an interest in them. …

In short, those people getting themselves involved is far from surprising, and could have been predicted even before the three were summoned here. What's surprising is that they were able to put together a big team to try something. As big a deal as they might be in reality, they aren't known for such actions… This operation ended up with most of them dead, and a few captured to be experimented upon by me…

This operation was a lot unlike them, but in my mind, it had made no doubt that they had indeed been System Fundamentalists from the very beginning. Even before I pulled intel from my captive, it had seemed obvious. From the looks of things, while I was taking a nap in the backroom of Harvey's Diner, the System Fundamentalists had grown a fair bit in size and numbers, though they remained somewhat unknown and unimportant overall.

Apparently, their main thing was to try and find a way to summon more otherworlders, so as to bolster their ranks with people who have high chances of having special systems, or being otherwise 'system-blessed'. I personally believe that they are a bunch of delusional idiots, but it seems that for one reason or another, they have become greatly interested in my three students–It could be explained off as those three being the first Unwanted Presences summoned in a long time, but something didn't seem right.

My gut instinct turned out to be correct, as I was currently standing in my own private quarters in the royal palace, looking down upon the corpse of an intruder who had been using some sort of crystal allowing him to phase through solid objects. Of course, doing that thing with all of my ghostly little sisters got him spotted within minutes, but more importantly, he hadn't arrived by going through walls. This fucker came from below…

He wouldn't have gotten far, even with his nifty little item, had he just walked in. The only reason he managed to evade detection was that he was technically only intruding for a few measly minutes before the poor bastard got the crap beaten out of him by my little sisters. I suppose he didn't expect to run into ghosts fully capable of breaking his knees, even whilst he was normally untouchable.

He had resisted, but they had led him to me, and the fool eventually cancelled the ability of the item, thinking that my sisters wouldn't be able to get him. Only allowing me to snatch his item and proceed to beat answers to my questions out of him. Apparently, the System Fundamentalists had a seer who predicted that one of the three otherworlders had the potential to develop an ability to manually grant people full access to the Universal System, and even guarantee the ability to acquire 'special' system skills.

This certainly provided a partial explanation as to why they had put together such a rushed operation… But after snapping a few of his fingers like celery sticks, he had provided me with a bit more information. Namely, that there were several 'factions' amongst the System Fundamentalists, and they were all competing for the retrieval of the otherworlders so as to gain points with their leader. How messy.

I had concluded the interrogation by twisting his neck one hundred and eighty degrees, and then erasing his presence from the royal palace by feasting on his remains. Those lunatics don't know when to stop. They'll keep on trying no matter how much they lose in the process. I might have to abduct the otherworlders ahead of schedule… What a shame, I was quite enjoying the benefits I was getting by being their instructor here, but… I can make them vanish without necessarily ruining my reputation here.

In particular, I had a very good relationship with Tanaya. I was even calling her by her first name, though she would be Tanya Aestherblood now, instead of Uolip. The former prime minister turned queen was quite fond of me for eliminating the previous guy in charge, and I felt like I should do my best to preserve this relationship in case I needed help in the future with something. … My plan was actually very simple, but that was a good thing about it.

The more complex, the more moving parts a plan has, the more likely it is to simply crumble to pieces. When possible, simplicity was to be favoured, in my opinion. I began preparing to put things into motion…

"Ah, Maya! It's good seeing you. Is everything alright? As always, you can tell me about anything, and I'll do my best to help" Tanaya definitely looked way less stressed out ever since the republic had fallen and she had become queen. She was still doing a lot of work since she had a bunch of experience, but it was nonetheless much less than before. Besides, she was actively encouraged by everyone to avoid troubling herself with any kind of work.

For the very noticeable reason that was causing her stomach to be bloated and swollen. Huh… I didn't realise that I had been here for so long. It looks like she's going to burst. Tanaya was as pregnant as one could get. I was worried that the first heir could just start being born while I was talking to her, to be honest. Stolen story; please report. She had talked to me about perhaps teaching this child, but I had to complete my mission and leave eventually. If not for that, I would have accepted.

There are few positions more cushy than this, but alas, I couldn't go for it. I am alright, but I discovered an intruder that was using a special item to phase through solid matter, and he seemed to be going from below. As such, I fear that there are tunnels below the royal palace that the System Fundamentalists are using to try to get to my students.

"Oh… I swear, the security of the royal palace really needs to be cranked up, but we are lacking in array specialists…" Technically, they could just ask for help from their allies, but this was an especially sensitive matter. The security of the royal palace couldn't be left to people loyal to other nations, even if allies. It simply wasn't right. This, unfortunately, left the royal court in a bad position for a time. There were a bunch of blind spots in the security.

The conversation eventually moved away from this, however, and instead pivoted to her baby. They didn't know whether it was a boy or a girl yet. They hadn't bothered to have it checked, as it didn't really change anything, but Tanaya insisted that I touch her stomach to feel the baby kicking. … What in damnation is she carrying? A future kick expert or something? That little fellow is striking in succession with each of its feet, absolutely beating the crap out of its mother's stomach.

"... Quite energetic, right?" I just looked at her. Does it not bother her at all? I suppose she doesn't care since it means that her child is in good health, with how active and energetic it constantly is. Seeing how happy she is to talk about this yet-to-be-born heir, it almost made me feel bad about using her as an alibi. Almost. With impeccable timing, a guard came running up to the two of us.

"M-Miss Maya! The Unwanted Presences have vanished!"

"What?" Watch over the queen. There might be intruders still. I'll go check it out. I ran off as though I was actually worried, checking each of their empty rooms, but I came up empty-handed. Of course I did. Me, Mari, and Xlown had each placed ourselves in areas for a lengthy period of time to have a clear and obvious alibi. Meanwhile, the Unwanted Presences were actually abducted by my ghostly little sisters using trinkets to drag them into the Gravescape.

Once it was confirmed that they had gotten all three, I recalled them to make sure they wouldn't be discovered, and then spent the next few days pretending to do my best to find out the whereabouts of the missing otherworlders. In truth, they were locked away in a room of the Gravescape with plenty of food that I had stolen over time. I stayed for a while after this so as not to arouse suspicions, but once it became clear that the otherworlders wouldn't be found, I finally bid farewell to Aesther.

Well, after getting to meet Hirard Aestherblood, First-Born Prince of Aesther. I promised Tanaya that I would eventually come back, and after leaving the royal palace, once no one was watching. I placed Mari and Xlown into the Gravescape as well, and then warped right back to Leou's tower. Ah, it's good being back! To think that I was always just a thought away from being back here… This warp ability really is nice. My room at the tower hadn't accumulated dust.

It seemed like Leou actually had the place consistently cleaned, waiting for my return, how c- … I leaned over my bed, discovering white fur. Oh… She… She's been sleeping in my bed because she missed me? This is- Shh. No comment yet, Nara. I took on my 'Base Form' and put back my typical attire before stepping out of the room quietly. Right now, it was the middle of the day, so Leou should be working in her office, but I didn't find her here, but I did hear her voice through the open window.

"-She matches the description perfectly, Miss Palf! And you want to make me buy that there is no chance in hell that you sent her to kill my nephew? Even if I am utterly incorrect on this point, she is still a dangerous monster that needs to be put down immediately" The snow leopard growled. She actually growled at Lunovis Boorizar, and not in a restrained manner either. It seemed like my description had gone around, providing him a good excuse to come right back here.

The owlfolk was actually taken aback by the growl.

"Listen, Mister Lunovis… My bodyguard, Maya, is not the monster you are talking about. How many times will you come to interrupt my day before you finally drill the information into your thick skull? You are interfering with my work… Should I remind you that you aren't the head of the Boorizar family? You do not have the influence that you think you have" The noble narrowed his eyes, seemingly uncertain what to say. It seemed like Leou was fed up, and even he didn't know how to handle the angered snow leopard.

"She has the abnormal purple eyes, matches the description, and appeared out of nowhere to be your bodyguard. This at least warrants a meeting with this woman""Does she have the abnormal purple eyes? I think you are hallucinating, Mister Lunovis. Perhaps you should lay off the bottle?"

"You are beginning to annoy me, Miss Palf. I have the authority to request what I am asking for, and you do not have the right to deny it, so tell your guard to stand out of the way, and-" The bastard annoyed me as well, so I jumped out of the window, landing upon the ground with a loud boom. Thankfully, the ground here was solid enough to only crack a little under the impact.

"You want to speak with me, Owl Man? Take a good look at my ey–eyes. What colour do you see?"

"... White. They are white""Precisely. Take the dreams you've had while dead drunk away from here–here and do not show your face again. You might be a high noble or whatever, but I am Leou's bodyguard, and I will rip your spine out of your body if you keep annoying her, un–understood?" The owlfolk looked at me, seemingly realising that I had grown in height and strength since our last meeting.

"Very well. It would seem that I was… Mistaken. Have a good day" He didn't buy it for a second, of course, he didn't. He had seen it with his own two eyes that my dots used to be an unknown purple, but the fact was that they were now white and that unless he had anything other than witnesses, he couldn't prove that they weren't always white. I had made sure to conceal my eyes in front of the Heldinotian king, as well. In any case, I turned to Leou.

"I am b–back"