Chapter 27: Mare Spiritus

Apologies if this chapter felt slow, but wanted to be thorough.

New week. More stones!

*

A little girl whose blonde hair that was very wavy and long enough to touch the floor in several spots wielding a crimson staff suddenly teleported in my room before me.

"Hoho, it seems you have fully recovered of your exhaustion from yesterday.", The little girl said speaking out to me first, letting out a chuckle.

"...Roselia?", I couldn't help but utter softly seeing this girl appear. And yet, a playful smile appeared on her lips, slowly approaching my bed.

"Umu, that just confirmed one of my suspicions about you, boy. Even though we met yesterday, I never did give you my name like Vita did.", Roselia responded. Hearing that only brought a smile to my face.

"I know. I already had one slip up, so I wanted to see how you would react.", I teased the little girl who I called Roselia.

"So you're saying you truly knew the name of that pup?", Roselia asked back.

"Guilty as charged. I can kind of guess why you came here, and I give you my thanks for letting me recover from yesterday. But I'll be blunt, I don't know what you want of me, but for what you may be seeking, it may leave you with more questions than answers.", I answered Roselia.

"Is that so? I decided to go out with Isola and Vita because it is true I am currently searching for someone.", Roselia said, explaining the reason why she came here. "I was able to find a trace not too long ago, and I found it tied to this place.", Roselia continued to say.

"A trace...Well, we did have two figures show up a couple years back. It seemed they had interest with father, rather than me. And one of them was dressed in knightly armor.", I responded to Roselia, which caused her to become a bit serious.

"Did you manage to catch their name?", Roselia asked, to which I shook my head. Even though I could immediately tell who they were back then using my Vermillion Eyes, I decided not to reveal this part. Revealing too much to such a prominent figure like Roselia, well, I will wait to see on what she does from here on.

"Unfortunately, no.", I shook my head, answering Roselia.

" 'Tis a shame for that then, but nonetheless I thank you for that information. Still, that was only part as to why I came here.", Roselia said.

"Is that so? May I ask why?", I decided to ask.

"Well, I came to see if you were what Leanne was searching for.", Roselia explained.

"...", Hearing that, I turned quiet.

What Leanne was searching for...

Indeed, as Roselia mentioned just now, Leanne did indeed come by my villa two years ago with that other mysterious figure. She was none other than that woman in knightly armor who received the name Arianrhod by that other figure.

Leanne Sandlot, a prominent militant of the old age, leader of the Eisenritter knights. The Eisenritter were knights who served Emperor Dreichels of Erebonia's past roughly 250 years ago. They helped the Emperor solidify Erebonia with the War of the Lions, eventually becoming Emperor himself with Leanne at his side.

As for Leanne herself, she earned the moniker, Lance Maiden. Well, I guess now she goes by Arianrhod, doesn't she? The Eisenritter are no more either. I am not sure if she has found Duvalie, Ines and Ennea yet to form the Stahlritter Knights in Ouroboros, but perhaps that will happen in due time.

And on a quick note, in regards to Ennea specifically. She too would fall victim to the DG Cult, and should I successfully enter that place in a couple years, I may come across Ennea too, and not just Renne and Tio.

Roselia saw me turn quiet as I finished thinking that. To which caught me by surprise as Roselia decided to change the subject.

"Since you turned quiet, allow me to ask a different question of sorts, boy.", Roselia spoke to me.

"Sure, what is it?", I asked, gaining interest.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?", Roselia said, asking a question I wasn't expecting to hear.

I know many like to keep their secrets hidden in those fanfics I often liked to read in my past life, but considering the person in front of me is Roselia, it was rather hard to keep secrets from her, let alone other prominent figures in the Trailsverse.

And seeing Roselia behave like this, this was likely her being nice. Probably since I became friends with Vita. When she arrived, she could have straight up casted one of her spells on me. Due to our differences in power, my Gamer System couldn't have Vermillion Eyes mask my presence. That alone made me decide to not hide my situation from Roselia. Vermillion Eyes did upgrade a bit over these couple of years from using it, and masking my presence is one of its new abilities. But I'll go over those details later.

"...I do, Roselia.", I said, taking in a deep breath.

Hearing me answer positively, Roselia raised her eyebrows at me.

"So you expect me to believe that you know what reincarnation is, even without me explaining what it means?", Roselia asked suspiciously.

"Yes.", I nodded my head at her. "If you were wondering if I have the memories of another when I was born, then that is indeed the case.", I answered Roselia.

Her eyes turned wide after hearing me answer that.

"...Then!" Roselia tried to ask, to which I quickly denied her.

"Like I mentioned earlier Roselia, only disappointment will come your way by knowing this. And it might even leave you with more questions.", I said to her. She quickly regained her composure hearing that.

"Umu, you keep bringing that up. You say you have the memories of another, but there is an easy way to check whether you are telling the truth or not."

"What method would that be?", I asked. It was likely through a spell, but I decided to ask anyways.

"Before that, can you turn off that incessant buzzing that keeps gnawing away at my head? I swear this buzzing is more annoying than Isola berating me.", Roselia retorted as an annoyed look appeared in her eyes.

Hearing that, I let out a chuckle.

"Haha, whoops. Hold on for a moment.", I responded with a chuckle.

I guess even though Vermillion Eyes isn't rejecting Roselia's presence, it can still cause an annoyance. Or perhaps the Gamer System itself is doing it.

Either way, Roselia saw me close my eyes for a moment. The buzzing she was feeling vanished the moment I opened my eyes. The vermilion hue that wrapped around my golden irises disappeared.

"Your eyes...", Roselia couldn't but utter with interest.

"Would you happen to know the bloodline you possess?", Roselia asked, which caused me to tilt my head a bit.

"Perhaps only a part of it, as I was introduced to Grandmother. The details of my mother have not been revealed to me as of yet.", I explained to Roselia.

"Is that so? Perhaps that father of yours will tell you one day.".

"Maybe.", I spoke back at her., "So, what do I need to do?". I asked.

"Umu, we shall make contact.", Roselia answered.

"C-Contact?".

"Come. Sit in front of me.", Roselia asked.

Hearing that, I nodded. I shifted through the bedding quickly and reached the end of my bed. As for Roselia, she climbed onto the bed, and entered a lotus position. She placed her staff across her legs.

In the next moment, our faces were close enough to where they could touch.

"Good. You didn't back away.", Roselia said, smiling back at me. I took this time to calm down.

Next, I saw her eyes brighten. Part of why she was called the Crimson Roselia was her eyes, they were pure crimson. Once they shone brightly, it was as if I saw a pool of blood.

"Close your eyes." Roselia said.

"Yes...", I answered, closing my eyes again. After I did, a bright red light shone from her staff as it laid across her lap.

Afterward, she raised her hands and placed them on my shoulders, bringing her head to mine.

"Mare Spiritus." (Ocean of the Soul)

The moment Roselia uttered her incantation, a multilayered magic circle appeared around the bed, covering our current position. Four large spheres appeared inside it, and the magic circle started to spin rapidly.

Once the magic circled emerged and settled into its formation, Roselia spoke out to me.

"Boy, take in a deep breath and look into my eyes.", Roselia asked.

Hearing that, I took in a deep breath, slowly opening my eyes.

"Woah...", I said quietly, seeing Roselia's eyes. They were now a mix of crimson and gold, making her eyes very enchanting. If one stared at these for too long they'd definitely get mesmerized.

Sure enough, not long after looking into Roselia's eyes, my consciousness faded, only to find myself again in a never-ending colorful tunnel of sorts...

*

Fun fact of the day: Remember when Ines and Ennea didn't have face avatars?

Anything you guys like to see while mc is in his conscious?