Chapter 48: A Witch's Disciple!

All of a sudden, we were ejected out of my mindscape. A big blue-reddish glow swirled around Testa-Rossa, unleashing some Mana. It was powerful enough to shatter that space, and the depths of my mind ceased. My vision changed, only to see myself brought back into my room. Roselia was directly in front of me, but I quickly saw her face distort into anger.

"Grr...", Roselia growled, obviously angry. "How dare a mere Divine Knight kick me out of my own incantation!", Roselia complained.

"Come on now, Rose. I didn't expect that to happen either.", I said, now looking at Roselia before me. I could only shrug my shoulders after Testa-Rossa forcibly kicked us out and Roselia's Astral Form out of my mind. I didn't even know that was a possibility. I knew Divine Knights are experts at utilizing Mana, so I should have seen this coming. Perhaps they're better than the Witches of the Hexen Clan. The only thing they require is to be synced with their Awakener to fully utilize their abilities.

"Hmph, no matter. I am almost done with what I came here for. That wasn't it, however. I still have one or two matters to bring to the table.", Roselia said, proceeding to jump off the bed. She acted as if casting this forbidden incantation was nothing to her. But now, she knows everything. All about me, that is. She even knows the Gamer System, but I bet after reviewing all of that, it's a bunch of mumbo-jumbo to her. I couldn't help but grow curious as to what Roselia wanted to talk about now.

"Is that right? What would that be?"

"Even if it was just briefly, I didn't think I'd be shown the death of my own daughter. To think that particular bastard of the Gnomes would go so far...", Roselia uttered back, still carrying anger in her eyes.

"Your daughter huh? That should be Isola Millstein, right? The Witch that assisted Father to slay Agnagarn."

"Umu, the very one. I haven't really properly introduced myself, have I? You've shown me so much, so it is proper to return the favor. You know me already thanks to those scenes you showed me, but I go by Roselia Millstein now. Those that I'm close with call me Rose for short. Isola is indeed my daughter.", Roselia answered, introducing herself to me.

"And you allowed me to call you Rose. Either way, it is very nice to meet you. Since we're doing it like this, I'm Naoto Osborne. A couple years have passed since I was brought into Zemuria, but I've mostly settled with my past life.", I said, introducing myself to Roselia.

"Acceptance is good. Sometimes, it can be difficult, depending on what happens.", Roselia replied, nodding her head. "But s for me? I refuse to accept Isola dying in such a manner. That slippery bastard...", Roselia uttered, grumbling again.

Is Roselia complaining about what she wanted to discuss? She's likely referring to the fateful battle between Isola Millstein and Black Alberich. This guy is the true leader of the Gnomes, which was a clan that actively opposed the Hexen clan, due to conflicting ideals. They were in charge of protecting one of Aidios's seven treasures, Lost Zem the Sept-Terrion of Earth. I recall that these two often had feuds.

Black Alberich shouldn't come into being until a few more years after the Hundred Days War comes. Yet at the time, I didn't know that he had already manifested and was starting to consider Franz Reinford as a potential new host. He is quote, immortal, but not how someone would become an Immortal by becoming a Divine Knight's Awakener. Black Alberich has the ability to transfer both his mind and soul into a vessel. And guess what that vessel is? A suitable human. As long as said humans offered themselves willingly to Black Alberich, he takes over their body, and thus becomes Immortal. I don't think there's a limit to how many times he can do it, either. It's possible he might even be as old as the Crimson Roselia is. And that's saying something.

And Isola Millstein, Emma's mother, will end up getting caught in the fray during Black Alberich's next possession, eventually finding her own life forfeit...

Now that would be a battle to witness. Yet it looks like Roselia is not wanting to accept the outcome of Isola dying. I sighed seeing Roselia like this.

"Some things are just fated to happen. You should know that better than anyone, Rose. You've been alive for over a millennium.", I said to Roselia.

"I know. And I've already done my due diligence as the Burning Sphinx. I now no longer serve that role, so I am free to do what I want. Can't a mother be worried about her own daughter? I can give a nudge if I need to. You've shown me a lot of outcomes. As to whether they will still happen, that part, I am not sure. After all, you are here now, boy. Your existence itself is an oddity.", Roselia responded back to me.

Roselia does make a good point there.

"What you say does prove a point, Rose. My existence could potentially lead to changes we're not aware of. Certain scenes may or may not happen. Back in my previous life, we called this the "Butterfly Effect". I do not know what will happen in the future.", I said.

"The Butterfly Effect, is it? I think here we have a similar phrase. What was it again? What goes around comes around?", Roselia spoke, tilting her head. One of my eyes twitched a bit hearing that.

"That's a real simple way of putting it..."< I retorted. Seeing me do this, Roselia chuckled.

"Umu. Surely I jest. I know this is a matter to take to heart. From your perspective, you may be entering a busy period. Whenever that war starts. Three years or so?", Roselia asked, trying to recall all the information she was presented with. She must be referring to the Hundred Days War.

"That sounds about right. Afterward, I may be cut off from communications for a while.", I stated, causing Roselia to pause.

"What in Aidios's name are you planning to do?"

"Nothing special.", I simply answered, revealing a playful grin. I wasn't playing around though. It's probably better not to bring this up to Roselia that I plan to enter the DG Cult. No one in their right mind would want to head in there willingly. If it wasn't for my knowledge of what is to come and the characters to interact with, I wouldn't even consider this plan. Renne and Tio play too big of pivotal roles to simply ignore.

"Bah. Whatever. I do not care what you will do during that. I need to start my own planning. And even then, there's only a couple years.

"Whatever. I don't care what you'll be doing during that. I need to start my own planning. But even then, we still have a couple years.", Roselia responded. I raised my eyes when I heard that.

"Are you implying that you do want to change something, Rose?", I asked.

All of a sudden, I saw Roselia turn around while I was still seated on the bed. Her eyes became vertical slits, just like how a cat's eyes are. It was rare to see Roselia this serious.

"You should be grateful, Naoto. I am willing to take you in as my disciple.", Roselia declared, causing me to turn wide in shock. Did she just give me an offer to start studying Magic!?

"Heh, and here I thought you wouldn't extend your hand. Why the sudden change of heart?", I asked with a chuckle. To be honest, I didn't think she would be so direct to ask me to become a disciple of others. Let alone Isola or any other Witch, Roselia herself is taking up the role to become my Master. Or Sensei, Teacher? I am not sure what you'd address this as. I am not against it either. With Testa-Rossa now coming into the picture, I should learn as much as I can. That being Magic or not.

I still plan to wield the Rapier as my go to weapon, but how cool would it be if I could wield Magic as a sub weapon of sorts? It'd be that popular trope, the Magic Knight! I know it's widely used in various isekai stories, and some even cringe at it seeing it so widely used. But as Father had mentioned before, the more diverse I can be during battle, the better. I plan to learn all the weapons and martial arts styles I can get my hands on. Even Magic can supplement that.

After all, there's one cool thing about Testa-Rossa that sets this Divine Knight apart from others.

It is said that Testa-Rossa can wield hundreds, if not thousands of weapons!

And the more weapons or styles I can learn, that will drastically improve my overall proficiency when battling my opponents. I can already start seeing my damage soar through the roof!