"I knew you would be stupid enough to try and sneak inside without me, I just never would have imagined little fox would be your accomplice." Remy laughed as the girls explored the room. There was literally nothing but dressers..
Remy made a pointed face at Colette, looking as if he was going to say more directly to her, when his eyes flitted over to Stella, who had been about to open a drawer to start her search.
"STOP!" He called out. It was one of the first times Remy looked anything near scared. He was a child after all. "All of these are locked with magic except 5. If you touch them carelessly, it will alert the manager immediately." He walked over to Stella, looking at the runes on the dresser she had been about to mess with.
"Can you read these weird symbols?" Stella questioned, tilting her head. Colette ignored the pair and walked near the windows.
The way to pass this test was simple.
Choose one of the five dressers that had an X rune, and the bottom drawer of whatever dresser that was. The rune meant gift, and it was the safest one to open. Anything else would not only alert the Manager, but would possibly harm you even if you did get away. No matter what- the only useful things for a player at this stage were in the gift drawers. The one Stella was eyeing next had a rune belonging to the world serpent.
"That one might have snakes in it, Stella. I'd get away." Colette said as she found what she was looking for. She didn't hesitate and opened the bottom drawer, making the other children flinch. She immediately froze.
There were two items inside.
Colette's face grew pale as her eyes flickered left and right. This couldn't be right. There was always just one item per drawer. Unless….
Maybe she had opened the drawer just as the items were rotating, as they magically changed positions every 2 minutes.
"Fox girl? Did you find something good??" Stella asked, moving like she was about to step closer from across the room. Colette needed to think quickly. She didn't like taking a gamble on things, but she couldn't let the chance slip by either.
Inside the drawer was a deck of cards in a black mesh pouch, and a tiny black velvet pouch. She knew what both were. Quickly and seamlessly, she scooped both into her hand and dropped the tiny pouch into her dress pocket without the other children noticing.
"Yes. I found a deck of cards." She turned around, red braid falling off her shoulder. She held up the mesh pouch for them to see. Both Remy and Stall breathed a sigh of relief.
[Remy is relieved. He intends to steal the cards later as payment for his assistance. He also knows Colette found 2 items.]
[Stella is relieved but jealous. She intends to mimic Colette's confidence herself and find something better than a plain deck of playing cards.]
If Colette could curse the both of them, she would have. But before she could even fully register what Stella's intentions were, the brown haired child was already opening another drawer- this one, was not a gift drawer. Colette wished she were faster, thought harder, had good reflexes- but she didn't.
Time seemed to slow down, with Colette looking at the door, and Remy lunging for the red haired girl himself, eyes locked onto something specific. He had a plan. Was he going to steal the cards now? At this moment? Was it really the time to do that? Colette never should have agreed to come to the room this late. They never would have run into Remy and Lizabeth. She would have never been caught this way.
All these thoughts ran through her mind even as a great black smoke emitted from the drawer Stella opened. It engulfed the girl slowly, tendrils crawling up her neck as she froze in terror, mouth opened and eyes wide in shock and pain. Her soft green dress was soaked in black, dripping tar the longer the smoke strangled her.
They were running out of time even though it had been merely 5 seconds. Think. Colette needed to think of a way out of this. In another 5 seconds, Stella may or may not be dead- and they were next, and Sister Anya would be in this very room in less than 10. But Colette couldn't think. Her fear paralyzed her limbs, until she felt it.
In the blink of an eye, Remy's touch made Colette make eye contact as he reached into her pocket.
Ah- he knew what he was doing.
With it being too late to try and read his intentions, Colette had no choice but to trust and hold her breath as Remy took the crystal ring from its pouch and wrapped his other arm around her waist.
"Raidhoh"
.....
…..
...
"I accept."
Manon blinked rapidly, her body glowing a similar white gold as when Anya had healed her just hours prior. Was it some sort of Holy power? And how did the system have it? She felt air fill her lungs and the burning sensation in her wrists ease. Her knees felt stronger and the dull aching of the stretching she had forcefully imposed finally left.
[As a gesture of kindness, we have strengthened areas prone to injury.]
[When you are ready to receive the reward for your mission, turn to your right]
Manon took a moment to breathe in peace, without stress or pain eating away at her. When she was done, her eyes opened and her head turned to the right as directed, black hair moving with her.
There was another blue light. She thought the system was awfully lazy for forcing her to retrieve her reward rather than just handing it to her- but she didn't say anything.
The glow was coming from a filing cabinet, the bottom drawer. Manon slowly approached, the glow becoming stronger as she walked. Her steps echoed in the room as if it were empty though it was far from it.
[Quickly.]
Manon flinched, reaching the filing cabinet as the system rushed her. She was about to snap back, but she heard footsteps from outside the room. So she listened.
The drawer of the filing cabinet slid open smoothly without much sound which was odd and uncomfortable, like she was in a silent film. The blue light illuminated her features as she retrieved the file she was meant to take.
It was blue again, covered in intricate gold leaf. She didn't have time to examine it fully, so her eyes eagerly scanned the page swiftly.
.....
Sister Anya,
It seems they may think we have that cursed child. They may try to break into the house sooner than later. After the safe scheduled adoption wraps up successfully, we will need to do that. If you succeed, we will have you moved to a much more…appropriate post.
Manon Aubert cannot be found.
Sincerely,
Reverend Cornelius
.....
As soon as she was done reading, Manon's eyes rolled back like she had been hit in the head.
But instead of the ground, she landed on her bed, hanging upside down just as she had been before the last time she left the room, the white eye patch covering up her blue eye once more. She gasped for two reasons.
One, because whatever teleportation the system used to get her back here within seconds had her dizzy out of her mind.
And two, because as soon as the first gasp came in, Remy and Colette appeared with a flash of light and what could only be described as several red light rings encasing them.
.....
…..
The wind from the light rings made Remy and Colette's hair fly upwards. Remy had this devilish grin as the violent breeze finally settled, with Colette nearly fainting on his arm.
"Haha- little fox, thanks for letting me borrow your gift." the boy laughed as Colette yanked herself out of his grasp and fell to the ground. He had the red crystal ring still in his hand.
"Give….give it back- Remington." Colette breathed, standing to her feet. Manon had sat up as soon as the wind subsided, now seated on the bed absolutely bewildered and lost.
"Oh come on….how about this. Let me have my fun with this…until the end of the adoption. Then I'll give it back."
[Remy has no intention of giving the ring back]
The ring in question was called a travel ring. It was carved of dwarf ruby and infused with magic. It could teleport up to 3 people anywhere within a 2km radius as long as at least one person had a clear picture in their head of where they wanted to go. The person with the strongest mental prowess would succeed, not necessarily the wearer. Which is why it was more common for solo travel or travel with a child.
At least Colette knew one thing: She was mentally stronger than Remy of all people.
Remy looked at Manon for the first time since their arrival, one eyebrow raised.
"Ah, Mammoth….why don't you be useful and convince your fox friend?" He grinned so wide his dimples appeared. Colette wanted to know how many APs he had for her now…"Come to think of it- the only time I heard you speak was when you called Colette something strange…" He tapped his chin thoughtfully.
Colette saw a pink screen begin to form in front of Manon unbeknownst to Remy. He was anticipating a reply. She needed to get him out of here.
"Remy- I will give you the ring right before I leave. I'm the one who's going to get adopted anyways. It'll be payment for all of your…assistance up to this point…" Colette took his attention away, and Colette and Manon both sighed internally as the pink window disappeared. This was a good opportunity to settle the score with him so he wouldn't ask for more favors down the line. Remy seemed amused but pleased all the same.
[Remy is taken aback by Colette's confidence. He does not dislike it. He intends to hold her to her promise.]
"Is that so?" He laughed, eyes crinkling as he dusted off his attire. She flicked the ring at Manon, hoping to hit the girl in the head. But Manon caught it one handed with a swiftness that made him pause momentarily, his dark grey eyes calculating and piercing. "....I look forward to seeing if that's true."
With that, he turned to walk out of the door, expression suddenly grim.
"It's best you stay here until the Manager gets you for dinner. Stella….well, I'll let you know what I find out." He gave Colette a curt nod, one more suspicious glance to Manon, and left the room, the door shutting with a dull snap.
With a 3rd party gone, Manon could finally breathe without worry.
"What happened…you did not say you were meeting that twerp." She immediately questioned Colette on her activities, but handed her the ring, not sure she wanted to deal with such a contraption if Remy desired it.
Colette took the ring and held it up for Manon to see.
"Don't worry- this thing is harmless unless you say the rune name needed to activate the magic." She pocketed the ring and pursed her lips. "Like the mission stated, I found tea and snacks in a secret door. It's kind of like an alternate dimension with endless plains and blue skies. If we have time I should show you later…" She trailed off. Manon looked about 50% interested, but Colette knew she was searching for what actually just happened, not the cute stuff.
So she explained. She told Manon how Stella wanted to break in and how careless she was. She described what had happened to the girl and that she was either dead or about to be if caught by the manager. It was pure luck that Remy had been there and pure luck that the ring was one of the items found beforehand.
"I think we seriously need to talk about details in this world." Manon had said once she finished. She was not particularly beaten up about Stella, but it made her scared. Truly. This world was not simple nor kind, and with one slip up, you could die stupidly like that. "I have no idea what's going on and what will happen after leaving. You said this is the tutorial, right? I do not want to have no idea what is happening until you decide to tell me- no offense."
Colette sat beside her friend, patting her knee. The action made Manon flinch before she remembered it had been healed. This didn't go unnoticed- but Colette did not comment on it.
"I know…we don't have time for me to explain absolutely everything. But I'll describe the main plot of the game storyline and some things and people you should know." She walked over to one of the desks in the room against the wall, taking a piece of parchment and a quill before gesturing to Manon to sit with her. The girl pulled up a chair and sat beside the redhead.
"This is the Aetherion Empire. The most powerful and wealthy empire in this world, ruled by King Dragomir Orléan. The player, who is me- is adopted into a noble family and attends the academy at the age of 18. It's kind of like a university after honing your skills for years at home."
Manon nodded as Colette wrote down everything she said. She…couldn't mention her mission to Colette- but if she was meant to get adopted, it made sense as she recalled the letter she saw in the red door office stating a nobleman knight was coming to adopt a child. But what she really wanted were more names. She needed to know anyone with the last name Aubert. She would have to wait until the end of Colette's explanation- so she didn't interrupt yet.
"The player basically has to gain affection points with all male leads- but specifically the one whose route she chooses. If affection falls below 1, various deathly situations transpire until you are ultimately killed. It's nearly impossible to regain any points once you've hit 0 with a male love interest in particular, because you don't live long enough to try. Love interests are ruthless…" She paused "And Remy is one of them. So it's good you don't make him angry. Avoid him at all costs." Manon made a face at the knowledge that Remy was an interest. She could see how he was a handsome boy that would only get more beautiful with age, but his attitude was….
Well….familiar, actually.
"So, Colette finds her true power at the academy which is usually something you can choose once enrolled. She must win over as many male leads as possible and have her route's interest propose to her before the end of the year. After graduation triggers the final battle in which a dormant dragon is awakened and tries to destroy the empire. If we don't have enough interests on our side, we fail and we die. That's pretty much it."
"So there's a battle scene?" Manon asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. Colette could have laughed.
"Well, yes? But usually the men battle. I'm not good at that so I always pick a support power when I enroll at the academy- it makes things easy and there's no game consequences or perks for choosing a different class." She explained. Manon nodded in understanding.
But she wondered if it would be the same for her. She was an existence that shouldn't even be there? One that was supposed to be an NPC. She had more questions, like how they'd get her out of the orphanage. She opened her mouth to inquire but….nothing came out.
[Please don't ask things that may lead to breaking our deal.]
Manon's brown eye went wide. She agreed to one thing, and now was being restricted further. She couldn't even talk near the subject.
Manon Aubert, that was who she was. But why were people looking for her? And what had Sister Anya been told to do?
[Congratulations for completing the mission: Explore the noble orphanage]
[Your rewards will be delivered at midnight]
Colette smiled softly as the window appeared, but Manon's eyes narrowed. She didn't like this.. Not even a little bit.