"Campanella the Fool...?", Emma uttered the name of the boy who had just arrived. He arrived in a similar fashion to how witches move around, so that left Emma even more confused. As for Campanella, he bowed at all of us.
"It is a pleasure to meet you all. As well as you, members of Zephyr. I am sure this will not be the last time we meet. If your interests coincide with His Highness's interests, that is.", Campanella said, introducing himself to us. As he did, his eyes fell back onto me.
"Ya know this guy, Your Highness?", Rutger asked with curiosity.
"Unfortunately, yes. Though we haven't met in person before this.", I said, keeping it vague. And yet, before we could do anything else, I heard Vita raise her voice. She sounded...angry? That's a surprise, coming from someone like her.
"You...", Vita began to say, and actually started walking toward Campanella. "Didn't I tell you that, under no circumstance, were you to show yourself, Campanella!?", Vita exclaimed, still angry. Even Roselia looked at Vita.
"Oopsie. Guess the cat is out of the bag.", Campanella retorted, shrugging his shoulders.
"Vita?", Emma asked, also confused to see Vita do this. Hearing this, Campanella grinned at Emma and Roselia.
"Hahaha! Didn't think your little disciple would be acquainted with someone like me now, did you?", Campanella continued to say with a grin. Even Roselia started to get angry.
"What is the meaning of this, Vita?", Roselia tried to ask.
"That...", Vita responded, only to dodge her eyes, and didn't immediately respond.
"This ain't gonna turn into some family drama now, is it?", Rutger asked.
"Oh absolutely not. I will gladly refrain from that happening. If only a certain someone didn't stick their nose into my business, you wouldn't even see me right now.", Campanella retorted, not wanting to let that happen. For the rest of our group, they just became confused. Roselia simply scoffed, but didn't press further.
"Is anyone else able to follow along with what is happening here? Who is this dude?", Van tried to ask. To him, I'm sure the situation is getting out of hand. Seriously, what is a member of Ouroboros even doing in a place like this? Unless...
"I would like to know that too.", Tio said.
"Haven't a clue.", Lechter said, shrugging his shoulders. "Doesn't feel like a bad guy though."
"Hmm. Do I need to add one more to our guest list?", Rufus asked, unsure. Hearing that, anger appeared in Sherryl's eyes.
"That's the first thing that popped into your head!?", Sherryl retorted. Hearing that, a round of laughter was shared. Still, this was heading nowhere fast. Another event looks like it's beginning to take place. Let alone Zephyr meeting the rescued children from the DG Cult, many of these guys aren't even supposed to meet Ouroboros right now. I don't know if this is good or bad. We'll see how things develop from here.
There was one thing to point out, however.
Some turbulence will strike once Roselia learns the moment Vita joins Ouroboros. It has yet to happen officially, but unlike before, Roselia already knows about this matter. She has seen my memories after all. We quickly exchanged glances at each other, and I shook my head. Roselia raised her eyes. I bet she didn't expect such a response from me. I was suggesting to her that this didn't take place inside the games, so I'm hoping that message got across. I'm sure it did.
Either way, I couldn't help but feel a little angered by Campanella's sudden arrival. My eyes twitched while I approached him.
"Naoto...", Emma uttered again, seeing me approach a person she didn't know. I ignored Emma, and spoke into Campanella's ear.
"What the hell are you even doing here, Campanella?", I whispered to him. And yet, he smiled back at me.
"I told you, didn't I, Your Highness? I am but an observer here. But I suppose it is only proper to tell you. It may not have been long since your group arrived, but we also had a group here in secret. We have already unraveled the mystery behind this island. Surely you must have known that.", Campanella said, whispering back at me.
My eyes turned serious hearing that. Ouroboros is here!?
My eyes turned serious hearing that.
"You mean Paradise?", I whispered back.
"Bingo. We got a strike team ready. Interested in joining us, Your Highness? You seem to have quite an interest in this place. I wonder~", Campanella replied, smiling back at me.
"How could I not be interested? But this won't do. It's too early.", I replied. Campanella raised his eyes at me as he saw me shake my head.
"Oh?", Campanella asked, wondering what I was referring to.
"Is it possible to inform Ouroboros to not strike Paradise for another three to six months? That is why I have such a large gap of time blocked off. That is, if you want to see an interesting encounter.", I answered.
You see, there was a reason I came here early. It is the end of S1195. The character who I want to meet, who goes by the name of Renny Hayworth, won't actually show up here in Paradise until some time in S1196. It didn't give an exact time frame, which is why I suggested Campanella and Ouroboros to hold off for three to six months. I'm sure by then, Renny will be taken here.
Now, like I have already mentioned before, I cannot really describe all what happens here. It is that inhumane. These cultists are rotten to their core. Instead, there is one topic that I can bring up without going into all of that detail. It is one of the experiments they attempt here at Paradise called "Thought Transference". It is the reason why Renny ends up with multiple personality disorder. All for the reason of giving the cultists a perfect vessel to allow their fake god to descend onto reality.
There's a reason why this place is called Paradise you know. The surface is just half of the reason.
I want to save Renny before the worst comes to happen. We're here early, so everything is still on schedule to do so. I just didn't think I would see someone from Ouroboros arrive!
I heard Campanella speak back to me with more interest in his eyes.
"A more interesting encounter, is it?", Campanella asked. "I most certainly can relay that to the Grandmaster. It is not like we're in a rush or anything, but don't get your hopes up. It is possible the Grandmaster might not approve it."
"Heh. Just knowing that is enough for me. You saved me some time, actually. Once we got all settled down and everything, I was going to try and seek you out. But here you are, coming to me instead.", I said.
"It sounds like you will be staying on this island for quite some time then, Your Highness. Do you have anything else for me?", Campanella asked with interest.
With me being here, I want to make sure Renne's story progresses to a certain point. After that, I plan to save Emma's mother, just like how I had Roselia save Kasia's soul.
Apart from these two events that I have interest in, there is one more key point to take note of.
The DG Cult Extermination. This was also on my mind. It isn't set to happen for another couple of years, but it was still necessary to prompt this life of mine in that direction, along with a certain pole staff wielder that I had interest in too. He was the one in charge of the entire operation regarding the DG Cult Extermination after all. Cassius Bright!
"There is. It is time for The Faceless to pay what he is owed. He promised me a favor, and it is time to use it.", I said, whispering at him with a smile. Even Campanella smiled back at me, acting like he had understood what I was referring to. I mean, he was there back in Hamel. The Faceless swore me a favor, and now, it was time to use it.
"Haha! I did not think you would use this favor of yours so quickly, Your Highness. I can certainly relay this information to him. The Faceless isn't amongst the strike team we formed here. Unfortunately, he is still occupied with the Gospel Project.", Campanella explained.
"Very well, we can meet up later to discuss it.", I said, and returned to normal. We ended our conversation for now. Seeing me raise my head up, I saw Vita approach me, unable to take it any longer. Campanella and I kept our voices low enough so the rest couldn't hear us.
"Just what in Aidios's name are you two whispering about?", Vita decided to ask.
"Hahaha! All will be revealed in due time, Vita. Unfortunately, it looks like my time is up for now. It was nice to meet you all. Ta-ta!", Campanella suddenly said, calling out to the rest of us. He snapped his fingers after jumping back a bit. His figure became illusory once again, and began to fade in and out of existence, just like an illusion. It took a moment, but Vita's eyes turned wide in shock seeing Campanella do this.
"H-Hey! You can't just vanish like that when I still have---!?", Vita tried to say. Sadly, she couldn't even finish her sentence before Campanella vanished from sight, leaving us to our own devices. It did ponder the question though, did Campanella truly leave? Or did he vanish back into the shadows? He's good at doing that. It's very possible he's continuing to observe us from somewhere. I do have Vermillion Eyes turned off. Sadly, my EP is still drained, so I would have to spend some time to recover first. I'm sure I could spot him along with any other interesting areas here on Nemeth Island.
After all, the island was still ripe for exploring. Even if Ouroboros scoped out Paradise already, there were still many dangerous monsters lurking around. I'm sure I can use this time to create an Instance Dungeon or two. I haven't truly experienced a dungeon crawler yet, and Nemeth Island is more than enough to satisfy that. Most of it is blocked off to the public due to how dangerous it is!
Seeing Campanella now gone, Vita collapsed onto her knees, which parted some sand aside. As much as I wanted to laugh seeing this play out before me, I turned my head, and spotted a serious-looking Roselia. She began to release this hidden pressure. Those who were weaker than Roselia began to shudder out of fear. Rutger raised his eyes feeling it.
"Oh?", Rutger asked, seeing Roselia do this. She ignored the Jaeger King, of course. Instead, I saw Roselia walk toward Vita with slow, calculated steps. Vita felt the strands of her hair shoot up.
"G-Grandmother?", Vita asked, and gulped. It was rare for her to see Roselia so serious like this.
"You unruly brat. It seems you stepped out of your comfort zone while I was looking the other way. Well, two can play that game.", Roselia stated, looking directly at Vita.
"...", Vita tried to say, but didn't have a comeback for Roselia's question. She didn't deny her either. She just stayed silent. To my surprise, I saw Roselia reach her hand out, and latched onto Vita's hair. Before we could even react, Vita started to get dragged away from us. Her eyes were now wide in shock. "H-Hey. Not the hair, Grandmother!"
Hearing that, Roselia disregarded Vita's complaint, and continued dragging her away, and created some space from us. She then shifted her eyes and looked our way.
"It looks like this brat needs to go through some more remedial lessons. I'll take Vita off your hands for now, Naoto. As for you, Emma.", Roselia asked, looking back at Emma. Likewise, Emma was equally as shocked as Vita seeing Roselia drag her away so casually like that.
"Y-Yes, Grandmother?", Emma asked, after regaining her composure.
"Be a dear and start watching over Naoto, alright? Isn't this what you wanted?", Roselia asked, smiling at her. Oi. She's switching Vita out for Emma without even asking me!?
"Y-Yes!", Emma happily said, realizing what Roselia was asking of her. She smiled.
"Haha. Leaving so soon, Master?", I asked with a shrug of my shoulders. It's not like I can stop Roselia from doing this. As for Vita, I looked at her again. "You know, it was you who brought this upon yourself. You should have seen this coming."
"Naoto, you traitor!", Vita exclaimed at me. I didn't feel ill will from her, so maybe she didn't really mean that. At the same time, Roselia chanted an incantation, and a crimson red magic circle appeared beneath their feet. Vita realized what was going on. "W-Wait, we just can't---!?"
"Oh shut it, Vita. It's as the boy said. You brought this upon yourself. You will be getting a harsh lesson from this.", Roselia said. Using her spare hand, she swung her Crimson staff. "For now, I will bid you all farewell. Good luck in accomplishing with what you want to do here, Naoto.", Roselia continued, only to give me one last look.
"Thank you.", I said, nodding my head in agreement.
"Kyuu!", Tamamo suddenly said, and suddenly jumped toward the two before the incantation finished.
Guess Tamamo wants to go back with Roselia, huh? Not that I mind. She likely has to experience another growth spurt from those Gamer Notifications earlier. I think she's ready to experience another evolution. Tamamo acted like a human would, and waved her paws at us.
Just like that, Roselia, Vita, and Tamamo returned to Eryn Village. Emma was now left with me. Everything around us mostly returned to normal, apart from the bloody spots on the beach, which was slowly draining away of its color thanks to the water crashing against it.
I turned toward Emma, and smiled at her.
"It looks like I will be in your care for the time being, Emma.", I said, smiling at her.
"Looks like it. All of this was quite exhausting. I'm tired...", Emma said, and revealed a tired look in her eyes.
"Haha, I think we can say that for the rest of us.", Rutger said, calling out to us from nearby. "That sure was somethin', wasn't it?"
"Guess it's back to drinking for me.", Killing Bear said.
"I might go join you on that. If you'll allow me, of course.", Rufus said, smiling. Can he even drink like that? I'm sure it will be non-alcoholic. I think he still has a year or two left before he can get that taste. Rufus should be eighteen right now.
"Oh? Where'd that come from, Rufus? I didn't take you as that kind of person.", Lechter mused.
"You seem a tad young to enjoy a good drink, so we'll have to adjust the menu. I misjudged you. Didn't think I'd find a noble like yourself.", Killing Bear said, revealing a rare smile. Hearing this, Firebird sighed.
"Boys will be boys I guess...", Firebird said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"I don't mind going for one myself, seein' as we wrapped up business and all here. Ya are more then welcome to join us and have a good meal. Ya are payin' and all.", Rutger said, smiling at us and invited our group to a meal. I mean, I was paying for it yes, but having more people join makes it so much livelier. Our group was well over ten people now. I'm surprised it grew this much!
"I don't mind having all of us join Zephyr for a good meal. Everyone's earned it. We are, at the end of the day, still on vacation, even if we have some other business here to take care of. I just have one slight matter to talk about first.", I suddenly said. Rutger now had his full attention on me.
This was one last topic I wanted to bring up. With Zephyr, in particular. It was good these guys showed up when they did. Otherwise, I probably would have sought them out myself!
See where I'm going with this?
"Oh? Got a request or somethin', Your Highness?", Rutger asked with interest.
"Haha. I won't beat around the bush. Jaeger King. I, Naoto von Auslese, am hereby requesting to join Zephyr.", I declared.
The moment I stated that request, everyone's eyes turned wide in shock.