Lex's POV:
12 Years old
*The Bitter Taste of 'Arrangement'*
The air in the manor's study was thick with unspoken tension. The lady of the house had returned, yes Zola had Returned
I stood beside Leon, our newly graduated status was now feeling more like shackles than a symbol of achievement as that was just a way for her to raise our price .
Our stepmother, Zola, a woman whose smile never quite reached her eyes, was explaining our 'future'.
"The Academy requires a significant financial investment, boys," Zola said, her voice smooth but edged with steel.
"An investment our barony cannot afford for two more spare sons."she said forgetting that most of our profits went into paying for her estate at the Capital.
She leaned forward, her eyes gleaming with what she clearly thought was a solution. "However, I have secured suitable arrangements. Two very distinguished Countesses, slightly older, of course, are willing to take you on as husbands. Their dowries will cover the family's debts and allow Nicks to flourish without financial burden."
Older? They were over forty—women our father's age, maybe older, plus they have been married over 8 times, and all their husbands died in battle.
Marriage in this world was often transactional for second and third sons, but this felt like being sold into indentured servitude,
Me, being the one who enjoyed the feeling of freedom, managed a polite, tight smile. "That is... generous, Lady Zola. But we have already decided we shall pursue the life of adventurers."
Zola's eyes narrowed. "An adventurer's life is unstable, boy. This is security, status, and wealth. You will accept the offer." she said, not noticing that she just dissed the Kingdom's history.
"We will not," I replied firmly, my own temper rising. "We are C-Rank soldiers. We can make our own way."
Zola stood up, her polite mask dropping entirely. "This is not a request, you useless spare! It is a family decision. You will marry them or you will be disowned and exiled with nothing but the clothes on your back!"
Leon's POV: A Glimmer of Hope
Zola was pushing her luck. The mention of exile didn't scare me; what scared me was being trapped in this life, unable to protect my family when poverty was on our doorstep.
The Otome Game. My mind raced through the useless data I remembered my sister raving about and what I remembered playing it.
The protagonist eventually finds a powerful AI companion, a "cheat item" that opens up the world. I remembered vague details about a specific dungeon near the edge of the Kingdom's influence.
When Zola stormed out of the room, promising us a week to reconsider the "generous offer," I turned to Lex.
"We are not marrying those old hags," I said, my voice low and serious. "We are going on that adventure you mentioned."
Lex was surprised by my sudden enthusiasm. "I was mostly being dramatic, but I'm with you brother always. Where are we going?"
"The Northern Dungeons," I whispered, pulling up a map of the kingdom I'd "borrowed" from Nicks' study. "There's a relic there, something powerful. It's our way out."the trust he had in me was enormous because he didn't even ask me how I knew that.
Leon POV
The Nine-Month Journey
We departed under the cover of night a few days later. Balcus was both disappointed and proud that we refused the easy way out but he understood that we had our pride.
We took nine months, to find the dungeon.
The adventure was grueling. We fought pirates, battled both low and high-rank monsters, and navigated treacherous floating sea routes. Our military training saved our hides more times than I could count.
Six months into our journey, we reached the coordinates I remembered: a massive, fog-shrouded, dilapidated ruin floating above a churning vortex.
Inside, the air hummed with dormant power. It took 9 months to get through the mazes.
We fought automatons and solved rudimentary puzzles using our Graces,.
In the deepest chamber, we found them: two massive sleek and futuristic ships of advanced making.
'why they are two I don't know, but it's better this way, Lex took the one with golden and silver accents'
I had to fight our way through more advanced, and stronger designs than I remembered, but I was also way stronger.
Lex POV
After fighting through the ships defenses,
'This is way stronger than what Leon Described.
After gaining access to the ship because, I have old human traits or something, I was now then face to orb, with a silver orb and a golden eye
"Greetings, sir," a synthesized, British-accented male voice echoed from the metal sphere I was now face to orb with. "AI unit Jarvis , at your service."
"Designation Jarvis, rebooting all systems ," the voice announced from the whole shil.
Exiting the ship I saw Leon arguing with his orb
Leon POV
The AI units were everything I remembered from the game lore, and more (except they were two) .
Luxion was dry, sarcastic, and homicidal (I mean he has threatened to kill of all new humans at least five times in the short time I've known 'that's been 1 hr' years ago and incredibly powerful (but you wouldn't catch me saying that to his face 'orb') , he and Jarvis immediately began analyzing our Graces and the world's flawed system.
Jarvis was more analytical and seemed particularly intrigued by Lex's unique Eclipse power, calling it a fascinating energy signature.(I'm jealous Jarvis seems more nice, as compared to mine).
With Luxion and Jarvis now accompanying us as flying orbs, our adventure became infinitely easier.
We soon discovered that we needed a valid excuse for postponing Zola's arrangements, so we took Raymond and Daniel with us and got an official assignment from the Captain as we were still seen as under his regiment.
The four of us then worked together and Conquered dungeon after dungeon, our Graces rapidly advancing to Rank B with the AIs' real-time analysis and feedback, all the way to the cusp of A rank.
Three and a half years later we finaly went back home after dropping off Raymond and Daniel, at their homes.
Successful Return
, guided by our AIs, we stumbled upon not one, but five small, forgotten floating islands floating about in the sky.
"Master Leon," Luxion noted, his voice flat. "You said you would like a farm right we'll this island's soil composition and magic-climate adaptability are 99% efficient for large-scale, automated agriculture. It is an ideal farm."
"And this one, sir," Jarvis added for Lex, "has mineral-rich deposits and natural docking ports for a potential automated shipyard and machine industry ."
The third island was a tropical paradise, perfect for the "resort" we decided to build with the funds and materials we were suddenly acquiring in abundance.
Raymond and Daniel got their own.
Four years and three months after leaving home, we returned as two battle-hardened, Rank B adventurer twins—now secretly owners of a personal fleet, a floating farm,a shipyard, a resort and two powerful AIs— we laughed with glee when we noticed that the shock and anger Zola had when she noticed the amounts of treasure we had plus our fatted bank accounts from the money we got from selling some of the treasure and materials we had no need for.
We stood before the gates of the Bartfort barony manor with our heads held high.
Zola, waiting on the steps, looked furious we had returned.
"You're too late! We already spent all the Vis countess's money years ago you now have no choice but marry them if you don't you're dishourned" she shrieked.
"Actually, Lady Zola," I interrupted smoothly, pulling a document Luxion had forged for me from my satchel.
"We used our time away to become highly successful B-Rank adventurers and claimed three new islands under the Bartfort name. So you have no precedent to do that And we have registered for the Academy. Our funds have already beentransferred."
Zola froze, her jaw dropping. The spare sons had returned,
" plus since the money never made it into the families accounts we are not expected to pay it back, but you are. "
And with this the game had officially begun.