Chapter 117 : Ceremonial Reward

They finally went back to their room, they couldn't sleep since they're thinking about what just happened that day.

Rei who kept wondering about the clue that Salamander talked about.

Iris who had her soul switched with herself from the future.

And the Elf Queen—Erna who's thinking deeply while lying on her bed.

She was thinking about what Iris said to her before and she couldn't help but feel curious about what kind of entity Iris was.

'She said...she came from multiple futures at once, which means she had experienced all kinds of futures in this world.' Erna thought as she closed her eyes.

'It is scary to hear that and…at the same time, it is pitiful to know there's a human who had such a fate.'

After pondering about that for a while, Erna fell asleep.

******

The next day, at the Throne Hallroom, Erna sat on her throne with her sister Ruru and Eindride sitting on her sides.

They wore such a beautiful white dress and outfit that befitting Today's ceremony. The room was filled with many Noble elves and soldiers who were gonna witness the award ceremony given by their queen to the outsiders who just saved this Kingdom.

*CREAK*

As the door to the hallway was opened, the guest and the main characters of this very day had arrived.

Iris and Rei walked side by side.

Rei wore his armor still, despite the armor on his right arm had been destroyed, he still wore it and covered it with his red worn out cape.

Iris wore a formal outfit, a dress with a bit of a twist. She still wore her armor on top of the dress and her rapier on her waist.

Following behind them were a group of people, Iris' servants and her brother, along with Rei's teams.

As they stood before the throne, they immediately knelt down with one leg.

Silence washed over them like a wave when Erna began to stand up from her throne.

"Today, we are here to congratulate our Saviours who saved our Kingdom, they fought bravely against two hideous monsters that threatened our World Tree."

"They might be young, but they have proven themselves by offering themselves to defeat these monsters without our help."

The crowd who saw this were amazed to see the two as they spoke louder to themselves.

"So young..."

"That man had a scary aura!"

"Woah....amazing."

Compliments and awe, is the only thing they could utter upon seeing them.

Erna of course smiled in joy, "Not only that, I would like to express my gratitude to this young Adventurers team who helped the Kingdom from danger."

"If not for them, I, the Queen, would lose myself to the invaders." Erna explained while extending her hand towards the Adventurers team who stayed behind them.

They too, knelt the same way as their leader the moment they received similar stares and compliments from the crowd.

Rei shifted his eyes to them, smiling to himself upon seeing such a scene.

Fang and Andrew, along with the others, were stunned when she announced their achievements.

Fang smiled, his face brightened up. Wise was breaking cold sweat, feeling extremely nervous, and Kagura was trembling as she feared that she might pass out.

Andrew was trying his best to not cry, along with Erika almost who did the same. Dahlia was having this weird expression as she couldn't contain her excitement, while Lena almost stumbled down from how shocked she was.

They all have different and weird reactions, but Rei couldn't help but continue to smile, 'I'm proud of you all.' with such thought, he nodded his head.

Erna saw their reaction, a giggle escaped her lips, "So I shall express my whole gratitude to these Adventurers, and along with our young lady's servants here and her brother who joined to help."

"I, the Queen, Erna Liv Viorgrand on behalf of the elves, is thanking all of you for saving this Kingdom." Erna slightly bowed her head, followed by Ruru, Eindride, and her citizens.

It stunned them all, even Rei who had never been thanked like this was flustered. If not for his helmet that he wore all the time, people could see just how red his face was after receiving this kind of treatment.

Even Iris, this is her first time getting such heartfelt gratitude from these people despite it wasn't her who did most of the work, but the one who slept within her now.

She felt ashamed, so she looked down, hiding her red cheeks.

After that, they all stopped bowing their heads.

"Now then, shall we proceed to the reward ceremony for these heroes!"

"The first one will be Crimson, please come forward." Erna spoke.

Rei stood up and slowly approached her.

"You, who contributed to stop a monster called [The Serpent World, Jormungand] that evolved into a Dragon, fought bravely and sacrificed himself to stop the disaster that will be brought to our Kingdom."

"I shall reward you with free access to our Kingdom and we welcome you here as long you have this token with you." Erna spoke while giving him a small piece of green gem with some sort of leaf marking within it.

Rei stretched out his hands to receive the gem. 'How pretty.'

"This is a token only the Royalties could have, and it is proof that you are one of us now." Erna explained.

'Then this thing is too important!' Rei looked at her.

"Of course that's not all, the item that you wore last time will be forever yours, and added with the monster's corpse which have been dismantled, will be given to you!" Erna added more reward.

Rei celebrated within his mind, 'Yosh! A material for new equipment get!'

Ray chuckled, 'Don't forget that you get to keep [Aegis Necklace], it was too bad that [Bracelet of Prayers] is gone to cure your arm, but this will suffice.'

'I know, I know! But the material that came from a Dragon!!! Isn't that more amazing!' Rei couldn't contain his excitement within his mind but he could hide his smile with that helmet of his.

"Thank you my Queen, I shall use them to the fullest." Rei spoke honorably as he bowed his head to her.

Erna somehow could tell how he felt about it without even using her eyes so she flashed him a gentle smile, "you may come back."

Rei nodded and went back to where he was standing before.

"Now then, come forward Iris May Welford~" Erna called her name.

Iris then stood up and stepped forwards to her.

"You, who are a Noble child from the Human Kingdom, Luxion. I cannot forget this gratitude for as long as I live. You shall be rewarded based on your contributions for giving out the information and dealing with [The Spider Queen, Arachne] that evolved into a Demon alone."

"I shall reward you the same as Crimson, which will be free access to our Kingdom without restriction." Erna gave out the same green gem to her.

"Of course, there are more than that. You can keep those items and equipment that you wore last time, along with one treasure of your liking in our Treasure room." Erna spoke.

Iris widened her eyes, 'The Treasure room of the elf Kingdom? Isn't that an amazing offer?!' Iris' eyes were beaming with joy.

'This could improve my strength.' Iris nodded to herself.

"Since Arachne's body couldn't be found, that's the only gift that I could give to you, I'm sorry." Erna spoke to her with a hint of regret in her voice.

"No, you don't have to be sorry." Iris felt guilty a bit, 'Though I'm supposed to be the one who said sorry.'

"Regardless, this only just the reward ceremony session, the main thing haven't been announced yet." Erna whispered at her.

Iris was surprised to hear that until suddenly Erna grabbed her right hand.

"I declared that the Alliance between us [The Elf Kingdom, Viorgrand] and [The Human Kingdom, Luxion] will happen starting from today onwards!"

Erna announced while showing her hand that was holding Iris' smaller one to the crowd that erupted with joyful shouts and cheers, celebrating the declaration of the Alliance between their Kingdom and the Human Kingdom.

They all have a bright smile plastered on their face as they clap their hands together. Rei joined the crowd by clapping his hand along with his team, Iris' servants, Harson and Silvi even Albert did the same.

Finally, the ceremony had come to an end.

******

Afterwards, Erna proceeded to lead Iris to the treasure room, no one else but them were in the hallway since Iris decided to follow her without her servants so Erna did the same.

As they walked together in silence.

"You're leading me without any guards, do you have something to talk with me? Your Majesty~" Iris asked as she took this chance to break the silence.

Erna glanced at her while smiling, "How sharp~ I won't deny that I have many things to ask about your identity."

"But there's one thing that I should say to you before you go." Erna then turned around and bowed her head.

"Once again, thank you for saving this Kingdom from danger, if it weren't for you...the Viorgrand Kingdom would have disappeared without a trace." Erna spoke.

Iris didn't expect this, she thought she might have to fight her again, "You don't have to thank me, you should be thanking her and her outrageous ideas instead."

"But if you aren't here, you wouldn't be able to bring such a force that could defeat a Dragon right?" Erna spoke as she lifted her head and smiled at her.

Iris giggled, "Heh, like I said, you should be thanking her, since she was the one who brought such a crazy guy here, even I never expected that man could defeat a Dragon by himself."

Erna nodded her head, "Yeah, she brought forth such a precious gift indeed."

They continued to walk.

"Either way, that man is very mysterious, you know."

"Mysterious? Why is that?"

"You do remember what I told you, that I am a Regressor who comes from multiple futures right?" Iris suddenly spoke about that.

"Yeah, I do remember...it cost me a whole night without proper sleep while thinking about what you told me."

"Even the Soul Eyes tells me that you are not lying, but to think multiple futures? Is that even possible?" Erna wondered.

"Well, if you want proof, I am right here."

"Then do you remember having a conversation with me?"

"Oh of course we do."

"We do?" Erna was surprised to hear it.

"Yeah, as an enemy."

Then Erna slowly stepped away from Iris.

"Oh come on~ it's in another future~ besides we have come on friendly terms now, me being here is simply a coincidence." Iris explained while trying to calm her down that she wasn't her enemy now.

Erna sighed, "Right..." She replied, still unsure about it.

"But I am curious..."

"Hm?" Iris glanced at her.

"Since you said you're from multiple futures, why do you think Crimson is someone mysterious? I thought you had meet him before, knowing that she was the one who hired him before you showed up." Erna explained.

"That's what I wanna ask, from all the futures I have seen...I never met this guy Crimson in any of them." Iris explained.

'Never? I know that Crimson...no, Kiritsuka Rei is from another world, and Ray Houston, the real name of that body he possessed, is from the future as well.'

'Does that mean this whole thing is a new timeline that she has never experienced before?' Erna concluded.

"I see." Erna replied just to hide the fact that she knew about his identity.

"But what I am more curious about is...why is it that…both of our feelings always reacted when we talked with this Crimson." Iris mumbled.

"Huh?? What do you mean?" Erna asked since she could hear her words.

Iris slowly touched her chest, "I...cannot say that we're close enough for me to comfortably talk about this to you since you are still a stranger to me."

"But...knowing you have the Soul Eyes, I think I can trust you."

"Uhhh...right? Then what is it?"

"It's just...everytime I meet and talk with this Crimson, my heart...starts to beat faster." Iris spoke.

"Hmm??" Erna blinked her eyes.

"Yeah...not only that, it hurts sometimes and I feel…shy, despite the fact that I have been training my poker face my whole life." Iris explained.

"Hmm?????" Erna was even more confused to hear it.

"Yeah! It's just…sometimes I feel my cheeks heated up, and I keep thinking about him! I felt curious about the identity that he hides from us...and on top of all that, he felt familiar to not only me, but her as well." Iris explained even more.

"H-hmm..." Erna began to feel flustered as her cheeks grew red, 'Why do I feel like i'm hearing a woman who just had experienced love at first sight...' Erna thought.

"Wait...you said familiar right?"

"Huh?? Yes?" Iris asked her.

Then Erna touched her chin, "It's just my guess...seeing the two of you reacted the same as the person who always hides his face with his helmet."

"I think the two of you have had some sort of relation or connection with him in the past." Erna explained.

"Relation? But I don't think I have ever met him before. I don't have a complete memory of her, so I don't know who she was with."

"Then what do you know about her?"

"Hmmm...what I know is that she doesn't come from our world." Iris replied.

Erna widened her eyes, 'Indeed...that girl isn't from this world since the first time I saw her, but from the looks of it...she seems to have a relation with Kiritsuka Rei without knowing his hidden identity.'

'But I think I shouldn't say that...since I promised him to not tell anybody.' Erna thought

"I see."

Iris went quiet after hearing her reply, 'I guess she knows that the girl doesn't come from our world...her eyes are really something else.'

After that they arrived at the Treasure room, right in front of a big tall door.

"Now we're arrived~" Erna spoke to her.

There were two guards at this treasure room, the moment they saw them, they bowed their heads. Iris noticed them and she was somewhat surprised with what she saw.

'They are...strong.' Iris thought as she assessed them with her [Status Appraisal] skill.

"We have been waiting for your arrival, my Queen." One of the guards spoke.

"Open the door." Erna ordered, they nodded as they walked towards the door and pulled out some sort of black keys with a unique shape

'Keys?'

One of them inserted it into the door.

*CLICK*

A second passed and the door was unlocked. The guards pushed it open for them.

*CREAK*

Erna turned her head to Iris as she walked towards the opened door.

"Welcome to our Treasure room~" Erna spoke, showing her to her kingdom's treasury.

Iris, who followed her lead, widened her eyes when she saw the room.

The room was wide and large, and decorated with a golden interior, there were multiple glassware that were filled with treasure inside.

But to Iris' eyes, rather than treasure, they were items of high grade.

'No way...is this all the items within this Kingdom? Amazing...' Iris gulped when she saw the items that were kept on display.

'To think that I could be here, in the Treasure Room of the Viorgrand Kingdom.' Iris thought.

"It seems it is your first time coming here~ despite having seen many futures~" Erna said when she noticed her reaction.

"How—"

"Did you forget? My eyes see things more than you think." Erna replied immediately.

"Ohhh..."

"That was a lie~ your expression tells them all." Erna continued while smiling at her.

"Uhhh...well I can't deny, this is my first time seeing this many items with such high grades in one place." Iris sighed.

"But those keys...it has such a unique shape."

"I bet you are more curious about those keys~"

"Yeah, since I tried to barge into this place once...but it was locked and protected with a strong barrier that even I couldn't pierce it in my prime." Iris explained.

Erna looked at her weirdly, "You sure are quite bold saying that right in my face."

"Hey~ you know my secret~ so it's fine now since we made an alliance~" Iris smiled at her.

"Uhuh...well it doesn't matter anyway, if you tried to steal them, it's useless."

"Why is that?"

"Because those keys are made with special material that came from the spirit realm that have been passed down for many centuries."

"Special material?"

"Mhm, but I won't say it to someone who had tried to break in~" Erna spoke mischievously and that made Iris feel bad.

"Ahaha..."

Then they began to venture deeper inside the Treasure Room to search for a suitable item for her. Iris looked around using her appraisal to see many items hidden in here.

But...none of it fit her.

'Since my original affinity element is Darkness, I suppose you won't find those kinds of items that would increase the Darkness Element in an Elf Kingdom that is surrounded with nature.' Iris thought, as she still looked around.

'I guess...I won't be coming back home with any of these items here—' she said until she stumbled upon a glassware with something in it.

A ring, with a white gem and with such a unique shape. There were two different sides, on the right side it was shaped like a small wing and on the left side it was shaped like a half skull with an opened mouth, as if it was going to devour this gem.

And that was the moment her eyes glowed to use her [Appraisal] skill.

'[Appraisal].'

=======================================

[?????????]

Grade: ??????

Type: Accessories

INTELLIGENCE: +100

VITALITY: +100

Durability: 100%

??????????

Skill:

[???????]

=======================================

'This is…? Even my maxed out [Appraisal] skill cannot even appraise an item like this?...what kind of ring is this?' Iris continued to stare at the ring until Erna noticed her stopping by this particular item.

"Ahh~ this item? Does it piqued your interest?" Erna asked her.

"My [Appraisal] skill doesn't seem to be working on this item."

"Hmmm, it is true...this item does not have any description to it even with our best Appraisal."

"Where did you find this ring?"

"We actually don't know, since this item's age was more than thousands of years." Erna explained.

"We don't have any information about this ring and we don't know how to use it." Erna continued.

"If you want, you can take another item other than this...since this item looks pretty mysterious and we don't know what it does."

"Is it from the design?" Iris asked as she pointed to the ring where the design had a skull design.

"Yes, a skeleton design is a sign of Death or you could say Cursed one."

'But it also has a wing-like design.' Iris pointed to the other side. 'Which is a sign of the Holy one.' Iris thought.

"Hmmm...I shall choose this." Iris pointed her finger towards it.

"Hmm? Are you sure? Because you can choose any of all the items here." Erna suggested.

But Iris shook her head, "I want this~" Iris continued to persistently point to the ring again.

Erna sighed, "I don't know what you are thinking but since it's your decision…who am I to stop you? Just to be clear though...I won't take responsibility if it's a Cursed item." Erna warned.

"I know~ it's just that I felt attracted to it."

Erna sighed once again, "You and Crimson are really something else. Both of you attract something weird to our Kingdom." Erna commented.

"Ara~ thank you~"

"It's not a compliment." Erna shook her head before she brought her hand towards the glassware.

*SHINGG*

After that, a magic circle appeared from her hand that touched the glassware and it slowly disappeared. Erna took the ring and presented it to her.

"Here you go, you can wear it now if you like." Erna spoke as Iris took the ring and put it on her middle right finger.

Iris observed the ring closely and she smiled, "Hmmm~" somehow, the ring shined for a moment and she giggled.

"Well since you have taken your reward, we should go back. We have prepared a Banquet for you and your companion." Erna spoke as she walked towards the door.

"Huh?? Didn't we have a celebration last night?" Iris followed her.

"That was the celebration for our victory~ but this one is a celebration for our alliance and your reward~" Erna spoke, flashing a mischievous smile her way as she left the room.

Iris looked at her weirdly, "Ughh...you Elves sound more and more like a Dwarf who loves to party." Iris grumbled as she too, followed her out of the room.

To be continued…