In the grandeur of the brightly lit castle, a spacious room accommodated a lone figure eagerly anticipating the arrival of the individual who had valiantly saved his people. Seated upon the seat just for him and him alone, the king's face beamed with delight as Maple forcefully pushed open the door to his majestic throne room. She appeared different now, devoid of her customary wings and halo, while her once golden tresses had transformed into a striking ebony hue. Nevertheless, the king's discerning eyes immediately recognized her as the one that peaked in just before. Such trifling changes mattered little, as he surmised that she had likely employed illusionary magic to conceal her divine appearance.
Surely, such a sight is too much for mortal eyes to behold for too long.
He would know, given how his heart skipped like a young boy when he saw her first.
A hearty ugh escaped the king's lips, signifying the overwhelming sense of relief he felt as he remembered again. The Great Massacre. With such power walking around, the threat to his kingdom can be considered vanquished, and now he could rest easy.
Have a problem? Pray to God, and he'll send you a solution.
He's a changed man now, maybe religion isn't so bad.
"Ah, dear savior, you have returned triumphant!" he excimed, still cherishing his seat of power. All his attendants in the room comprehended what was expected of them as they swiftly departed to arrange a grand feast in celebration, respectfully bowing their heads as they passed by Maple.
However, Maple scratched her head in slight dismay. "But I need to go..."
Upon witnessing her intention to leave, the king's grip on the chalice in his hand grew loose, causing it to slip from his grasp and fall to the floor with successive clinks and clunks, the sound resonating repeatedly as it descended the steps, ending its graceful fall on the throne room's floor, spilling good wine everywhere.
"What?! Where are you going?!" the king excimed, rising abruptly from his throne. He could not permit their savior, the beacon of light and their source of hope to leave, not now. Not after everything.
"To complete my next quest," Maple responded.
"A-quest?!" the king gasped, taken aback by her statement. A quest from God. After all, who else can give the being in front of him task, if not the All Mighty himself. Or whatever God is out there. He, She, Killian isn't well versed in theology as one can guess.
"Yes!" Maple affirmed, raising three fingers as she enumerated her forthcoming endeavors. "Uhh...dragon, Demon Lord, and Fallen Angel."
She proceeded to outline the details of her quest as dictated by the system in her own ways.
The king fell into a momentary stunned silence, his mind processing her words. Eventually, another resounding ughter like earlier erupted from him.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" he boomed.
Confused by the king's sudden outburst, Maple turned to the knight who had just entered the room.
"You heard her," ordered the king, who had already resumed his consumption of food and indulgence of wine, timely handed to him by the maid from earlier.
What a professional.
"Prepare an adventurers guild card for her."
"Uh, yes, Your Majesty?" responded the perplexed knight.
It had unquestionably been a day filled with intricate complexities for all involved. But the king has his reasons.
Why send the knights with her, when they would be mere decorations? Let her go on her own, and he'll wait for the good news, all comfy in his castle.
What a wonderful world.
??
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh," a woman draped in a flowing robe pondered the missteps of her life. Her humble origins as a commoner's daughter had left her unsure of what y ahead. She had devoted herself to relentless studying, hoping to secure a promising future.
Would she become a merchant, perhaps? Or a maid serving a nobleman? Maybe even find employment within the castle walls? Her aspirations were grand, fueled by her hunger for success.
Yet, despite her dreams, reality is often disappointing. The harsh truth of power, wealth, and influential connections became painfully clear. She cked the funds to establish her own merchant business, and her so-called "close" friend had seized the opportunity to secure a maidservant position within a noble household, only to mysteriously find herself pregnant and abruptly dismissed. Eventually, she met a tragic end alone in a dingy alley behind a tavern, a victim of an unexpined assassination. Everyone knew, but no one has the power for "justice". Such is the world they live in.
Securing a job at the castle proved unattainable as well, as she required a recommendation from a high-ranking noble. After all, the royal family wouldn't simply pluck a commoner from the bustling streets to serve them tea and cakes now would they?
In the end, she reluctantly settled for a role as a recipient at the adventurer's guild, armed with nothing more than her hard-earned ability to count and read letters. A rarity in this forsaken nd.
But even that was not without its perils.
Her day took a turn for the worse when she inadvertently insulted a noble, prompting her to flee for her life. Who would have expected an aristocrat to frequent the adventurer's guild to sell their merchandise?
No one.
Desperate to escape her pursuer, she stumbled upon a low-level trader preparing to journey to Aquaris, the sole fortified town between the capital and the demon kingdom, only vilges with wooden walls are left after it. Can't exactly be called fortified. While her decision exposed her to the looming threat of a demon invasion, she believed it was still preferable to being sold on the bck market, vanishing without a trace. With great caution, she guarded her true identity, ensuring she used a nickname.
New name. New life.
And yet...
"Why...?"
She gazed at the bronze pendant dangling from “her” neck, an identity of an adventurer through its distinct emblem.
'HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE VERY PERSON I'M TRYING TO ELUDE IS SITTING BESIDE ME IN THIS WAGON?' she silently screamed.
"Eh? Did you say something?" Maple inquired, her eyes locked onto the guild receptionist, whose face remained hidden beneath her robe.
"Heyyyyyy I'm talking to you. Heyyy." she tried to initiate a conversation with the NPC, who she considers as her “wagon-buddy”.
"..."
"Hey misssssss." Maple kept trying to get her attention. The king had not send anyone with her, as a guide. After all, they would probably just drag her down. That's why he just gave her money, loads of them.
Coins. Usable coins.
Maple have a lot of gold currency, but it would be a hassle to keep finding pawnshops to trade it for real money. Just as the king himself expined when Maple materialized a hill of gold in his throne room, much to his delight.
She was also given a fake identity....as a new adventurer.
But the king had a hunch she would end up standing out anyway. Who could have guessed?
"Missssssss. Can't you hear meeeeeeeeeee?"
It was a long ride for one of them.
??
She watched the w enforcement officer who had just concluded their interview with her depart in their patrol car. With a heavy heart, she silently colpsed onto her bed, drained of both physical and mental energy.
But why? What had happened?
Well....
Her dear friend, Kaeda, had vanished into thin air. Yes, you read that correctly—literally vanished. And to make matters even more perplexing, it happened right in the midst of 3rd period at school, while everyone is in css, including her. Her cssmate is all around her, with Risa just behind. Yet....
Earlier in the day, within the confines of the school walls...
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Sally, Sally!" Kaeda urgently whispered, using her in-game nickname, desperate to capture her attention. Perhaps she had stumbled upon a new discovery reted to the game they had been engrossed in. Fortunately, the teacher was running te, giving them a moment to converse.
Turning back in her seat to face Kaeda, who sat infront of her (she was chatting with the cssmate behind her), Sally interrupted with a hint of resignation in her voice. "Let me guess. You got another broken skill, haven't you?"
A mischievous grin spread across Kaeda's face as she nodded eagerly. "I've stumbled upon a hidden quest!"
Sally, becoming somewhat accustomed to these consistent surprises, let out a weary sigh. It seemed as though this had become a regur occurrence. "And, what's it called?"
"It's called 'Invitation To ??????????????????'," she excimed, her eyes suddenly moving to Sally's forehead, seeing something. "Eh? What's this Risa?" And in that very moment, her hand extended, reaching out to touch whatever that had caught her attention on Risa's forehead.
"Huh? Invitation to wh-"
BOOOM!
An abrupt explosion reverberated through the air, stunning Sally and cutting off her question mid-sentence.
The shockwave hurled Sally backward, its accompanying intense light temporarily blinding her.
Around their table, the other students were strewn about in a circur pattern, disoriented and bewildered. Amidst the chaos, Sally's distress was magnified by one gring fact—Kaeda was nowhere to be found.
Unlike the others, Kaeda's table and chair remained undisturbed, and Kaeda's school uniform y neatly folded on her seat. Everything she had were on the table, meticulously arranged, as if there was a silent kidnapper who had paid a curiously polite visit.
"KAEDAAA!" Sally's voice screamed through the room as she desperately sought answers, scouring every nook and cranny for her missing friend.
She checked under the table, inside the table (?), outside the windows, and even up on the ceiling (???), frantically searching for any trace of Kaeda.
Despite the presence of circur bck lines surrounding her table, there was no sensation of heat or warmth.
"Where is Kaeda?" Sally cried out, her voice filled with anguish, addressing her bewildered cssmates in a desperate plea for information, her mind starting to fear the worst.
As the commotion settled and the chaotic voices subsided, the teacher finally arrived, drawn by the uproar that filled the cssroom. Curiosity ignited within the room as everyone turned their attention to their teacher, eager to share their versions of what they just witnessed.
Some whispered rumors of a neighboring school pulling a prank, while others specuted that Kaede had mysteriously been transported to another world, a phenomenon known as Isekai. What an Otaku. Whispers grew louder, of a tale of Kaede being vaporized by an unexpected lightning storm, yet anyone foolish enough to utter such nonsense was promptly silenced by a resounding sp from Risa.
In the aftermath, authorities and the higher echelons of the school were summoned, seeking resolution to this peculiar situation, resulting in an early dismissal for all. As the other students dispersed, Risa remained, wracked with worry and unanswered questions. She tirelessly attempted to contact Kaede through messages and phone calls, but only her parents answered, as Kaeda, being the good student she is, never had the thought of bringing her phone to school.
Both side echoed the same desperate inquiry: Where is Kaede?
That night, sleep eluded Risa, pgued by a restless mind and a troubling sense of guilt. Perhaps it was a combination of the hollow pit in her stomach and the weight of self-reproach that kept her wide awake. After all, the haunting memory of Kaede's st words..... was her name.
"Risa."
Reality eventually overtook Risa's dream-den state as the morning sunlight pierced through her bedroom window, abruptly pulling her from her slumber. Drenched in a cold sweat, she jolted upright, her mind still trapped in yesterday's vivid nightmare. "Explosion!" she excimed, but quickly corrected herself, realizing the absence of heat and destruction that would typically accompany such an event. Confusion filled her troubled mind as she grappled with the fragments of her distressing dream.
Just what happened?
"Bright...light?" Risa pondered aloud, her voice hanging in the air as she searched for understanding, but unable to reach none.
With tears flowing freely down her cheeks, she csped her knees tightly, seeking soce in the darkness brought by her eyelids. The silence in her room only broken by her own sniffle.
"Where are you...?"
".... you idiot."
