System Change

Everyone who was seated jumped to their feet in applause as Callum presented the new King and Queen of Indaria. Behind him, the citizens who were watching from outside the courtyard were much louder than anyone inside. It was a surreal moment for Derek—being witness to something that had apparently never happened in the history of the continent before. He also stood from his own seat and gave a round of applause while keeping his eyes out for any threats.

Callum released the king and queen’s hands and took a step back toward his podium. After that, he packed it up and disappeared through the entrance of the palace. Osian, Edward, and Edwin then came up to stand beside the newly appointed Royals of Indaria—with Edward stepping up in between the two, where Callum had just been standing. Then he took another step forward until he was in front of everyone.

“Everyone, please!” He started speaking while projecting his voice to gather everyone’s attention. The crowd soon quietened down, however, everyone remained standing. “Thank you, nobles and regular citizens alike, for joining us on such a stupendous day. You do not know how much it means to all of us that you came.” The crown prince looked over the crowd and nodded slightly. “There is one remaining announcement I must make! One for the citizens of Indaria.”

Everyone looked at one another, but it didn’t seem like they knew what else there was. Derek also looked over at Marrick, but the old man just shrugged and continued to look forward.

“I believe this is something you will all enjoy,” Edward said, then continued. “As today is cause for celebration, with some rules and regulations, all restaurants in the kingdom will be opened to the public to dine in for free.” The nobles ahead of Derek didn’t make much noise, but the regular citizens behind him went absolutely crazy—even louder than they had for the announcement of the new king and queen.

“Well,” Derek said to Marrick. “You just can’t compete with free food.”

“So it seems,” Marrick agreed.

“Naturally,” Silvi chimed in.

“That’s correct!” Edward continued in his booming voice. “For the remainder of the day, our kingdoms’ coffers will be footing the bill for all citizens of Indaria. This announcement will be made kingdom wide, so that all may enjoy today’s festivities. The rules and regulations of today’s festivities will be posted inside each restaurant kingdom wide. Please look out for them and obey. This is a celebration for all, not few.” Edward waited a moment before finally yelling, “Well? What are you all waiting for? Go celebrate!”

“Damn,” Derek said as he turned his head quickly to watch the crowd disperse. “That’s one way to get everyone to leave as quickly as possible.”

“Now,” Edward continued in a less booming voice—one that only covered the courtyard. “For you all, we have made arrangements in the Great Hall for all heads of the noble families and representatives. We have also opened up another dining area for everyone else.”

This had to be done because, while they could have probably fit everyone into the Great Hall, it would have been very cramped. There were obviously many more people seated outside than Derek had seen when he entered the Great Hall earlier. Many noble heads chose to bring more than just themselves and a representative or two. Some chose to bring whole families to the event.

“Now, if you would please follow us,” Edward said, and everyone began to file back inside the palace.

Not long after, Derek found himself as the last person to enter the Great Hall along with everyone else. He had packed up his chairs and followed at the end of the line beside Marrick. He was standing with Silvi on his shoulder and Marrick by his side, at the corner of the room on the same wall as the entrance.

‘Oh no! What did they do?’ he heard Silvi send to him through their link.

‘What are you talking about?’ Derek asked.

‘The food! It’s not how I placed it. How dare they!’

Derek looked over all the tables and, though he hadn’t exactly memorized the placement of everything before, it did look like a few things that he’d noticed were in different places. However, he also noticed something else.

‘Everything is arranged just fine, Silvi. It’s okay. And, if you look closely,’ he said. ‘You’ll see that some of the food is still steaming. They must have stored everything when we all left so it wouldn’t get cold. Isn’t that what you were worried about before? This is much better, right?’

‘Hmph…’ Silvi snorted both inwardly at Derek and outwardly. ‘Why even place it out to begin with? Waste of time.’

‘Maybe,’ Derek said. ‘But they probably just wanted to always have it there for decoration whenever the nobles are in the hall. Just think of it as everyone getting extra time to admire your amazing cooking skills.’

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Derek felt the light weight leave his shoulder, then seen his companion appear on a table beside what looked like a roast. Then, a knife and fork floated up and cut a piece of the juicy meat in half. After that, the newly cut piece of meat floated into the air for a moment before dropping into his awaiting companion’s mouth. Finally, the light weight of Silvi appeared back on his shoulder once again.

‘It’s acceptable,’ she said smugly.

She was the first to actually touch any of the food in the area. Everyone else was waiting for permission—or the start of the celebration after the ceremony. Would this be considered a wedding reception? Derek wondered to himself. I really don’t think there is a name for a celebration that follows a wedding, crowning, renaming, and alliance ceremony.

Derek shook his head and scanned the crowd once again. I thought we were the last ones in, he thought. Where are Alanah and Avery? He looked over the room full of nobles multiple times, but still couldn’t find the two. Oh well, he thought. Whatever they’re doing doesn’t really matter to me.

After that, he focused on the end of the Great Hall, opposite the entrance, at the dais where the newly crowned king and queen were standing. Beside the new rulers, their parents radiated happiness, enveloping them in embraces and showering them in congratulations. Both Sabrina’s and Robert’s mothers were especially happy. Ryven just seemed relieved that his daughter had finally married—as was Derek. Now, he wouldn’t have to worry about any stray bullets coming his way from Sabrina.

Soon, everyone other than Sabrina and Robert left the dais. Then Robert announced, “Let the celebration begin!” The nobles in the room cheered, then, it was controlled chaos as they darted around the room chatting up other nobles and grabbing plates of food to sample. Derek watched it all from the corner of the room.

Suddenly, one man went up to the newlyweds and produced an item, which he then gave to Robert. The man then took Sabrina’s hand and, with a lowered head, kissed it, before speaking again to Robert and shaking his hand. After that, the man turned and went back to the celebration.

“Were we supposed to bring gifts?” Derek turned and asked Marrick.

“Isn’t it natural?” the old man replied. “It is a wedding, after all.”

Derek quickly shuffled through his inventory and thought about the two people—about what they may like. They said that Robert is kind of like Edgar, so something that could help increase his strength without power leveling him would be best. If he’s like Edgar, then he would rather have something to increase his stats without increasing his level or something.

I do still have some Void Beast meals on me, and kind of an unlimited supply of ingredients. And what about Sabrina? It can’t be anything too good. I wouldn’t want her to get the wrong idea… maybe Void Beast meals for the both of them? Derek thought. And speaking of Void Beast meals, now that I have the time, I should eat a couple and see how they react with my evolution and current stats—especially now that I no longer have question marks by the maxed out stats. We can even see what would happen if Silvi ate one, too. Would my stats follow hers if they increased?

Wondering about all that, Derek nodded his head silently. He knew what he would give the couple. Though, with the amount of people going up there right now… I think it will be better to wait until things calm down. He wasn’t exactly someone who enjoyed standing in line. Derek kept watching as noble after noble walked up to the dais and gave the king and queen gifts. He watched Diana, Finn, and Garrett all follow along with the other nobles.

Finally, after watching the show for so long, he saw something. Another noble was lined up behind others, walking toward the dais, just like all others had before, but Derek couldn’t help but notice the man’s hand. It was shaking slightly, and he kept balling it into and out of a fist. It was then that he recognized the man as the current patriarch of House Ileal and brother of the former Queen of Indria. If I recall correctly, his name was Simeon Ileal. Derek squinted his eyes in concentration and gave the old man beside him a light elbow to the shoulder.

“I see,” Marrick said. “Saw it before you. Been watching him all day. If anyone was going to do anything, it was going to be House Ileal. Maybe I’ll be able to make good on some of my promise to Traven, after all.”

Simeon stepped forward, behind another noble. He slowly moved up, one by one. “He may just be angry,” Derek said. “And he’s doing that to hold it in. There’s a chance that he’s decided to do what’s best for his noble house instead of trying to get petty revenge.”

“We can hope,” Marrick said. “But I’m not about to bet on it.”

“Yeah… me neither,” Derek agreed with the old man as he continued to watch. “I imagine he knows that anything he does now is suicide, but that didn’t stop his sister.”

“Mhm…” Marrick muttered. “Humans are emotional creatures.”

“And elves aren’t?” Derek scoffed.

“Did not Young Osian stand down when he knew he had been defeated? Did he not surrender the kingdom over to your people in order to prevent the death of more of his own? And was not his own son killed by your companion?” Marrick said. “His partnership with Astrus may have been dumb, but his actions afterward were not.”

“Well… I guess you have a point,” Derek acquiesced. “But that could also be because Osian is just like that. It doesn’t mean that all elves are like that. A big counterpoint would be Sabrina—she hasn’t been very rational in her judgment.”

“Sabrina is still a child,” Marrick replied. “Honestly, I believe she was still too young and immature to marry, as does her own father. But it was her decision, and it was what would work best with the natural longevity differences between elves and humans.”

“I guess…” Derek said. He also thought back to when he first met Edwin—Edward had been quite emotional with Derek’s responses to his father. Derek sighed and continued his observation. “It looks like we’re about to find out.”

Finally on his turn, Simeon stepped in front of the dais—in front of Sabrina and Robert. Derek saw him flick his left wrist, and an item appeared—just as had happened with so many before him. What hadn’t happened before, however, was any of the other noble’s right hands slowly turning a shade of green at the fingertips.

As Simeon presented his gift with his left hand, causing Sabrina to reach out to receive it, his right hand started to spring forward. In that instant, Derek used Void Shift. In the slowed moments from Void Shift, Derek moved and was already centering himself down in front of Sabrina—in between her and Simeon. With his feet back on the ground, Derek canceled his ability.

As soon as Void Shift ended, three putrid green fingers plunged into his chest as Sabrina let out a screech as an invisible barrier erected by either Ryven or Osian pushed her and Robert backwards. Derek looked down at the hand penetrating through his skin and flesh, and at his shirt being corroded away from whatever acidic toxin the man was using, then back up—into the eyes of Simeon Ileal.

“Now, why did you have to go and do something like that?” Derek asked. “That just wasn’t very smart.”