Chapter 93 : Yggdrasill (Part 3)

[Named] Monsters.

A monster born with a name that was bestowed by someone or a higher being. It can be God or someone who created them, but they were born naturally just like others, regardless whether they are [Normal] or [Unique] kind of monsters.

But compared to them...[Named] Monsters are very different.

'[Named]?' Rei repeated the new term that he just heard.

'Right, I haven't explained to you about the [Named] monsters. [Unique] monsters are different from normal monsters because they grow differently, from skills, unique style of fighting and adaptation and they evolve into a new type of monster that bends nature itself.' Ray began to explain.

'Meanwhile, [Named] monster's body remained the same. For example a Wolf with the name [Adolf].'

'There will be no changes on their body, but what makes them different is their behavior, personality, has stronger instincts than others, and they are more intelligent than [Unique] ones.'

'And the way their thought is...more like a human or any other living being who can talk and think.'

'Although [Named] monsters are relatively weak and rare because they don't change much and they die quick because the curiosity they had when they were born is more than expected that could lead death.'

'But that's what makes them dangerous because their strange behavior that we do not know, they can be kind or ferocious, and if they were able to survive...they will be the most dangerous monsters that we will ever face.'

'That's why one needs to be careful against them.' Ray explained.

'So they're still the same monster but the differences are the way they think?'

'Correct.' Ray answered.

'Then doesn't that mean we are facing something much more dangerous since they're...[Unique Named Boss Monsters]?'

Ray went quiet at first then he answered, 'Correct…the difficulty is much higher than everything you ever faced, we can say it's a natural disaster that we cannot control or avoid.'

'Just like what Ifrit said.'

'Yes...that's why [The Spider Queen, Arachne] was deemed to be the rarest of all monsters for having [Unique], [Named] and [Boss] type at the same time.' Ray explained.

'When you explain it...you make it sound so easy.'

'Well it is a new experience since we might face these monsters earlier than we expected and of course...'

'High-risk and high-reward, am I right?' Rei continued.

'Yeah.' Ray nodded.

'Do you already know about this before we even trained? Why are you telling me all this just now??" Rei asked him.

'Uhhhh umm…ANYWAYY moving on!!' Ray quickly dodged the question, laughing awkwardly.

Rei sighed as he went back to reality again, facing the Elf Queen who's sitting on her throne while waiting for Iris to answer.

Erna, the Elf Queen sighed at her offer to defeat these two monsters that have been causing trouble in her Kingdom.

Of course, it's a great deal for them since someone is brave enough to want to challenge such a beast. But Erna was different from those cold-blooded rulers, she had a heart.

She looked concerned and it's more than likely that she could not bear to sacrifice someone for her own, especially a little girl who was an envoy that was sent from the human kingdom.

'This is ridiculous...how can she be so brazen to throw such a one-sided deal.' Erna thought

'[For the peace of our Kingdom]...what a pack of lies.' Erna could see right through what Iris just said before.

'I don't know why she would lie...when it's a deal that could kill her, does she have some sort of plan? I wonder...' Erna sighed as she couldn't comprehend Iris' intentions, then again her eyes shifted to look at Rei who knelt behind her.

Erna smiled and rubbed her chin, as if she had something in her mind.

"Well then, I agree to your term and create a quest to [Subjugate the Monsters of the West and East]." Erna finally announced.

Iris who was about to celebrate internally, paused to look at Erna who stood up from her seat.

"...on one condition." Erna added, making Iris confused.

"Ummm...what kind of condition?"

Her question made Erna smile, as if she just fell into her trap.

"I want...him..." Erna slowly lifted her hand and pointed out her finger, "...to stay with me for tonight." at Rei–Crimson.

The guards within this room, Eindride the Prince and Ruru who was the princess, even the team and Iris herself shifted their wide eyes at Rei in shock.

"W-WHATTTT?!!"

Rei who is still kneeling is as confused and shocked as all of them at what just happened the moment he came back to reality from talking to Ray.

Inside of his mind, Ray had his mouth and eyes wide open in shock as well.

"Huh??" Behind his helmet, his expression changed over the time, confused, suspicious and yeah finding it all to be very strange.

Iris looked far more surprised than any of them upon hearing that, "M-my Queen, was that supposed to be a j-joke?"

"Y-yes! Certainly that is a joke right Erna!" Eindride demanded, Ruru nodded in agreement beside her.

Erna smiled at them, "Of course I'm not joking! I want to spend a night with that man~" she spoke while staring directly at Rei.

Rei couldn't comprehend what just happened although the words of [spending a night] is something that cannot be taken lightly.

Iris was an 8 year old girl, but mentally she's a young teenager who understood the implications of what this Elf woman is saying.

Her cheeks heated up at that thought, "M-my Queen, c-can we change the condition for a bit???"

"Ara~ why is that?~"

"I-i mean, Crimson-san is a guy...and...my Queen is...is a...woman, s-so I think it's highly unreasonable especially a woman of your standing and status, a Queen!" Iris' face turned bright red just like a ripe tomato now, she couldn't even look at anyone right now because of how embarrassing this whole situation is.

Erna slowly smiled at her, "Hmm I beg to differ because even though I am a Queen, I'm also a woman~ it's not that unreasonable for someone to have wants and needs, no?" Erna spoke while she directed her intense gaze towards Rei who pointedly looked away.

"B-but my Queen, I am the one who hired him...isn't it reasonable to have his consent as well?"

Erna smiled, "Hmmm, that is true~ but I don't think that's the problem, because the one who wanted to make a deal is you, I am simply giving you my own term~"

'Oh no, this isn't good…she really knew how to throw away our balance...I thought I had this conversation under control!!'

'But for her to make that kind of thing…!' Iris glanced at Rei. 'To him, of all people! The dots are connected now...the Elf Queen–Erna Liv Viorgrand, is interested in Crimson.'

'But the reason is...why? They never met before and he is not known by many people around, but for the Queen herself to be interested in him...there must be something more to this.'

'But...in this situation, if we refuse, the deal might be off...I mean we invaded their territory and tried to fight the monsters that have been killing and occupying their places.'

'But...if we accept...Crimson-san's chastity! Is in danger!' That was the thing that she was worried about the most.

Then suddenly Rei raised his hand, "Ummm...may I have a word for a minute."

Rei's voice made everyone focus on him.

"Sure, what is it, Crimson." Erna gave her permission to speak.

"I know...you are offering to spend a night with me, and I have a lot of thoughts about it...and...

.

.

.

.

I accept." Rei spoke towards her.

Iris widened her eyes, "C-crimson-san! This is an international issue, and for you to volunteer…it's…it's against your rights! !"

"I know about that...but we don't have much time with this especially if we delay things even more. Our enemies will become stronger the more time passes." Rei calmly replied to her. To him, it's simply the correct way to handle this situation right now.

Iris was surprised by his words and his ability to stay calm, "T-that's true...but for you to spend a night with the Queen, are you gonna be alright?"

"I don't know what she is thinking about...but I don't think she has any intention of having a night activity with me." Rei replied.

"N-night a-activity?!–" Iris stuttered

"And I am just an Adventurer that you hired, I told you I am willing to do anything to protect my client and that includes the promise I had with your brother and companions right?"

"U-ummm..." Iris was stuck in a dilemma right this moment, a decision to choose between sending Rei away to fulfill the queen's term or refusing it–which would result in the termination of the deal.

Iris looked at Silvi, Harson and Albert, all her companions who were willing to join her in this journey; she mustn't back away now.

Although the Adventurers looked somewhat in a mess right now, torn whether to feel bad for sacrificing their leader–or praise him for getting a chance to spend a night with a beautiful elf queen.

Rei looked at them, he could see that they were surprised, or looking at him in wonder and also a bit of anger and fear from certain girls.

"Wow…i never thought you would get a chance to spend a night with an Elf Queen, I-i..i am so proud of you!" Fang would slap his back multiple times if he could right now.

'Who's proud of who.' Rei commented internally.

"W-woah...Crimson-san amazing!" Andrew spoke as well.

'...there's nothing amazing about being able to spend a night with a woman who I never met before' Rei commented again.

"Umu...a man among men." Wise nodded.

'I'm not.' Rei sighed

"N-no...Crimson-san is gonna be taken…" Lena mumbled while looking down in despair.

"I-is it because I am small..." Together with Kagura who's currently looking at her own hands.

"????" Rei was confused when he saw them like that.

'Maybe I shouldn't bother them.' Rei mumbled, after he checked most of his team's condition, it seemed he had nothing to worry about.

Although...

"Grrrr...."

"Lucky guy."

"Who the hell is he?!"

"How dare he hog our Queen!"

The glare coming from the guards around them are focused on Rei right now and he somehow could tell what they said to him through their heated envious glare alone.

'Uwahh...they're definitely not subtle with that killing intent' Rei thought of it while looking at Erna who was smiling at him.

'I wonder...what is she planning?'

******

The deal was accepted with the term that the Elf Queen–Erna gave them. Now Erna and Rei are having a walk together in the hall of the castle while the others went to their designated rooms.

An awkward silence struck them like a wave when they were walking together without guards or escorts.

Rei glanced at Erna, "So...where are we going now?"

Erna didn't even look at him as she replied, "Hmm? Oh, we are just on our way to my room."

"T-to your room?? Wait, I thought you had something to talk about with me?!"

"Ohh, so you did notice my intention. Well who cares~ I mean we can still talk in my room~" Erna spoke while slowly swaying her head side to side a bit.

"Uhhh...but I don't think that is an appropriate place to talk."

"Ara~ are you shy~?"

"I am not...shy, but for a guy and woman to stay the night together is not appropriate. Especially, with someone you barely know." Rei spoke.

"Hmmm~ that is true...but we can certainly learn to know each other later right?~ and besides~" Erna turned around to look at him with a smile.

"I wouldn't mind if it's someone like you, Crimson~" Erna spoke while slowly leaning closely.

"Why me?" Rei asked her and didn't move an inch when she did that.

"Hmmm~ i say...you are a very special being."

"A special being?"

"Yep, blessed by the Gods and managed to overcome so many hurdles alone without anyone's help."

Rei widened his eyes, "What...did you say?"

"Ara~ was my words hit the mark~?"

"What do you mean by that." Rei became wary when she said something like that.

"There's no meaning to it...but I have a question."

"What is it."

"Why did you hide the fact that you had an 8 years old body...with a soul of an adult inside~"

*SWOOSH* *CLINK*

Rei quickly jumped back to distance himself from her and pulled out his sword from his [Inventory].

"You...how did you know."

Erna turned her back to him and smiled, "Now you are interested~?" She said as they arrived in front of the door leading to her room.

Rei gulped and put his sword back into his inventory before he followed her.

Erna opened the door and revealed her majestic room. It was big and wide, with a king sized bed in the middle and some closet lined up against the wall beside the bed and a table with a mirror which is probably for cosmetics.

Erna walked to the windows which led to a veranda with two chairs and a round table that had been prepared along with a teapot and two cups.

Rei could only follow her and sat down on one of the chairs provided for them.

Erna smiled as the two of them were staring at each other for a long time. The cold breeze brushed against them but their gaze remained locked to each other.

"Now then...shall we exchange some questions~" Erna spoke.

"Sure, because I have so many piled up here." Rei replied.

"Me too~ I have so many questions to ask you Crimson~" Erna spoke.

"Then you can go first." Rei nodded

"Ara~ how kind~" Erna replied while smiling and staring straight into his eyes.

"Now then...the first question is, tell me who you are?" Erna asked her with her smile that remained the same, "No, rather...what are you?~"

"....." Rei of course remained silent on that question, he wanted to answer her but he is not sure how to. This might be the first time he would share his secret to someone, but since this someone knew what he was...he couldn't refute it.

So... he decided to be honest, "My name is...Ray Houston, that's the name of this body, my real name is Kiritsuka Rei...from another world."

Erna who heard him revealed his identity, didn't change much of her expression, she only smiled upon him for being honest.

"And the soul who is residing within you?"

"The soul belongs to Ray Houston, although it is complicated to explain...but this person came from the future."

"Ara~ from the future I see~" Erna didn't show much reaction again towards his words.

"????" Rei looked confused when she just replied to him so casually, "You're really strange." He said bluntly.

Erna giggled, "How dare you insult me the Queen~"

"No, but seriously…people would be shocked or in disbelief after hearing that."

"Hmm should I react like that?"

"No please."

Erna giggled, changing the mood around them from tense into something more light hearted.

"Is that enough?" Rei asked just to make sure whether she is satisfied with that answer or not.

"Mhm~ Now your turn~" Erna gave him the permission to ask this time.

"Right..." Rei didn't ask right away, he thought of it at first.

"Tell me...what kind of skill did you use to be able to know my secret." Instead of "how" he asked what kind of skill she's using instead.

Because none of this ever happened to him, like when someone tried to use Appraisal skill on him the result was this [??????].

Erna didn't know about his real identity but she knew what he was hiding within him, which is something that is quite impossible for someone to do so...unless.

'She might have some sort of innate skill that came from birth.' Rei guessed.

Erna smiled at him, "Instead of [how], you ask [what] kind of skill I had~ You do know revealing one skill is the same to reveal your own weaknesses~"

"I know I may sound rude, but knowing that my identity has been exposed despite how hard I tried to hide it...I need to think about the countermeasures, that's why I need to know... what kind of skill do you have, my Queen." Rei explained it in a calm way while his eyes were looking straight towards her.

Erna widened her eyes a bit, "I see...how mature you are, I do know humans and elves have a wide gap in age, but to think you were able to think something like that is amazing."

"But sadly...I cannot tell you." Erna spoke while looking serious at him.

Rei could tell that she meant it, she couldn't talk about it, "I see–" So he gave up instead of pushing it.

Erna smiled once more, "If you called me Erna and considered me as a person instead of a queen, I wouldn't mind telling you~"

Rei widened his eyes a bit after hearing those words, "Is that okay? I mean...I don't want to be rude especially to someone who has a higher status like you."

"I wouldn't mind, for at least that you let me be a normal person for a moment~" Erna smiled once again, Rei could tell there was sadness in that comforting smile.

Rei sighed, "Seriously....why are women in this world really good at talking" Rei mumbled.

Erna giggled, "Fufufu~"

"Okay okay...stop teasing me and tell me about it...Erna." Rei decided to call her that.

Erna smiled happily as her long ears twitched a bit when she heard her name.

"Then~ I shall tell you. the skill that I had is an Innate Skill called [Soul Eyes]."

"[Soul Eyes]?"

"Mhm~ [Soul Eyes], it's a skill that allows you to see the nature of soul within a person or a monster, unlike [Magic Eyes], they don't have any specific attack skill but only allows you to discern the truth or lies by reading their souls." Erna explained.

"A skill that allows you to see and read someone's soul?"

"Yes, this is a skill that was also passed down by my mother who is the former Queen, and among the three us siblings, I was the one who inherited this skill first." Erna explained.

"I see, it seems you are burdened with a heavy responsibility?"

"That is correct...since I am a Royalty, in early age, I was thought to be a Queen who could lead our people and make decisions for our kingdom." Erna told him of her story.

Rei looked at her, "This skill...is it a Curse or a Blessing?"

"Huh?"

"I want to know...what do you think of it." Rei spoke.

"I don't know what you mean."

"This skill makes you able to see the nature of someone's soul by reading them and discern whether they are telling the truth or lies."

"Which means...when you are young, have you seen something so horrible with those eyes of yours that makes you think...that this skill is a Curse."

Rei explained it thoroughly, he knew what he's talking about. He read a lot of fantasy stories before and this one has a similar case. A person who had some sort of skill like that, usually would think that this skill is a curse cause they don't know how to control it.

Erna blinked her eyes for a moment, "I am amazed by how you deduced my past just by knowing what skill I had."

Rei looked at her, "Well I am just curious about it...that's why I ask, because usually someone who has that skill, tends to break easily."

"Because someone's nature can be so evil, so disgusting that you cannot comprehend how to save or change this person." Rei explained.

Erna smiled, "I see, but to answer your question, I must say this skill is a Curse and also a Blessing for me."

"Hmmm...a neutral answer huh."

"Yes, when I was young, I was scared to use it because I have seen someone who had such bad intentions...when I read that person's soul, it was as if that person was trying to suffocate me to death."

"But fortunately, the more older I became, I realized that I can use this skill for good...I know this might sound a hypocrite from me but there's no such thing as evil things–"

"It just depends on how people use those things whether it's for evil or good." Rei continued her words.

Erna nodded, "Correct, so for me...this skill is a Blessing since I am able to save my Kingdom many times, and I would keep using it for good."

Rei smiled behind his helmet, "That is a good answer."

Erna giggled, "Did you forget that I am still older than you."

"I know I know." Rei sighed.

"Well then, since I answered your question, let me ask you one thing."

"Sure."

"What is your purpose for coming here?" Erna changed the way she spoke once more and this time she became more serious.

"What do you–I mean isn't that obvious to save–"

"No, what I mean is your purpose to come into this world." Erna asked.

"My...purpose?" Rei repeated it then he smiled at her, "Is that all?"

"What do you mean is that all...this is a very serious question." Erna frowned.

Rei could tell what her intentions were, 'She is testing me.' Then he smiled.

"Why are you being so serious...my only purpose for coming into this world, is so that I would become the strongest Knight in the world." Rei answered her question.

Erna knitted her brows in confusion, not expecting that answer, "A Knight? Not a Hero?"

"Yes, a Knight." Rei nodded firmly.

Erna who used her skill [Soul Eyes] unconsciously to check whether he is telling the truth, was surprised after she saw an unchanged will coming from his soul.

From her eyes, she could see that Rei's soul was red like fire that continued to light up and grew stronger. When he answered her question, the fire remained the same.

When Erna stared into his soul now, she felt some kind of warmth coming from him.

Erna smiled at him, "Just as I thought...your soul is very different from others, like a raging fire that won't die instead burning everything down...it's like getting embraced by that warmth."

Rei looked at her and chuckled, "You are exaggerating things."

Suddenly Erna stood up from her seat and walked around the veranda and back to her room.

Rei looked upon her in confusion when she did that until…

*DROP*

The white dress that she was wearing before, dropped down to the floor. Rei widened his eyes and stood up from his seat.

"W-wait! W-what are you doing!"

"Ara~ such a cute reaction, but just as I thought I couldn't help but wanting to feel your warmth so badly~ Kiritsuka Rei~"

"S-stop joking around! I can't lay my hand on you! We still have some international matters to solve!" Rei glanced away to not look directly at her.

"That's why, we are going to sleep together tonight~"

"Huh?"

"The night is long, so let's continue the conversation...inside~"

To be continue...