System Change

Chapter 399: It's Good, Right?

The next several minutes in the Great Hall were chaotic as servants rushed in and out as they cleaned the areaeven some of the nobles pitched in with the occasional Cleaning spell here and there. While Marricks way of killing those who attacked left no trace of even blood, many of the other fighters werent so clean.

One example was Ryven, who had not taken his daughter being attacked kindly, and went on his own spree. Marricks sand seemed to grind all matter away with how he used it, but when someone was squashed between barriers, it left quite the mess.

The other obvious hindrance to resuming the celebration was the poison that still lingered in the air. That was promptly taken care of by a combination of Derek and Osians efforts. Derek recast Absolute Nullify, and Osian was able to direct all the remaining poison into the skill, wiping it away. After that, Marrick chose to do a quick sweep of the area with his sand and sweep up whatever little poison was left into Dereks skill.

Finally, after all of that, Silvi was able to begin redistributing her dishes throughout the Great Hall. Smugly, and proudly, she did so by placing everything down how she had originallybefore the servants had stored it all so it would stay fresh.

With that, the celebration slowly resumed with an air of hesitation. Everyone was tense, and it seemed like nobody wanted to bring up the matter. There were some nobles who were still visibly shocked at what had happenedthey had been close with some of the attackers, and couldnt believe that it was their close friends who were part of the conspirators. Derek could understand their feelings.

It wasnt something hed ever experienced himselfas ever since the system appeared, hed kept all his acquaintances at arms length until he arrived in Cydariabut he could imagine what it would feel like if someone like Alanah or Edgar turned out to be people who were totally different than they represented themselves to him. Seeing that everyone was still so on edge, Derek finally decided to take the first step in making it a proper celebration again.

That first step was to present his own gifts to the newlywed couple, who had hesitantly taken their place back on the dais. Just in case the attacks werent over, or something else entirely happened, Osian and Ryven had both decided to stay close by, standing on the dais with the couple and staying behind them. Derek walked forward until he was standing directly in front of the couple.

At that point, he opened his Void Storage and brought out his storage devices that hed put inside to make sure they stayed safe from the corrosive toxins Simeon had been using. With them properly equipped, he flicked his wrist and two of the better Void Beast meals appeared in his hands.

King Robert, Queen Sabrina, I hope you enjoy my gifts to you, he said as he made to hand each one a meal.

This? Robert asked, unsure what it was he was being given.

Ah, pardon me, Derek replied in his best noble response. These are Void Beast meals crafted by some of the finest Void Beasts to appear in Cydaria. Their quality has been personally verified by Natalie Savannah herself.

With those words, Roberts eyes lit up, and he snatched the meal from Dereks hand so fast that one would think he was worried about Derek deciding against the gift. Derek could see the training addict that he was said to be showing. Next, his eyes glanced over at Sabrina, who had yet to take her gift. The new queen was staring deeply at Derek with her face bright red.

Derek tilted his head as he observed her, then realized that she was not looking at his face, but his chest. He looked down and realized that he was still shirtless. Whoops, he muttered, and with a flick of his wrist, another black t-shirt that Brandi had made him appeared on his body. With the appearance of the shirt, Sabrina was broken out of her trance.

Her eyes widened and her face turned even more crimson as she panicked. It seemed she was lost for words, so with a chuckle, Derek pushed the Void Beast meal into her arms. Finally, he gave Robert another quick glance, hoping that he wasnt angry or jealous because of how Sabrina had been staring at him, but it seemed he had nothing to worry about. The new king was staring at the meal in his hand with the same intensity that Sabrina had been staring at the half-naked Derek.

Derek chuckled again, then with a half bow, he retreated to another corner of the roomone where Tyler and his sister, Tevara, were standing. The former princes eyes sparkled as he approached.

That. Was. Amazing! the young man half squealed. You you just tanked everything he had. Everything that Simeon Ileal, the patriarch of House Ileal, and one of the strongest nobles in the kingdom had. How did you do it? What is your vitality like? Is this why those traps uh nevermind. The young man caught himself before he mentioned the traps in the treasure room. His sister, on the other hand, gave him a side-eye and rolled her eyes. Do you have some kind of anti-poison skills?

Woah, woah, woah, Derek motioned to slow with his hands. Calm down.

S-sorry, the young man apologized. Its just that it was so so wow.

Well, you got to see me fight, Derek said. Does that count as my side of the agreement? he asked. For Tylers help earlier, hed agreed to find a spar with someone strong, like Alanah or Marrick. However, Simeon came along, and according to Tyler, the man was strong.

Y-yes! Tyler nodded furiously. That was great!

Good! Derek smiled and pat the young man on his shoulder before turning his attention to Tevara. You make sure to take care of those two, would you? he asked. I think theyre going to need a lot of help in the upcoming years, and you have a pretty good head on your shoulders.

Barely any. Pointy ears was right. Its going to last a long time. A dash is wayyy too much. I only used a couple of flakes, is all.

Great. Its really good, he sent to her again. After that, he looked up and noticed that within the minutes hed been dealing with the cake, everyone else had already gotten them a piece too. In fact, it looked like Sabrina was about to take her first bite. Uh Silvi. You didnt serve everyone that cake, right? The one theyre about to eat isnt special, is it? It would be awful if theyd just stopped Simeon and his people from killing anybody just for his companion to accidentally commit mass manslaughter to everyone other than Osian, Alanah, and maybe Edgar and Avery.

With that thought, he was preparing himself to Void Shift away and knock the cake out of the new queens hand, but Silvis next words calmed him down.

I wouldnt waste the Sylvan Leaf Powder on those idiots, she replied. Pointy eared restaurant owner could have a bite if she asked nicely, though.

How nice, Derek teased.

Indeed.

With that imaginary crisis avoided, Derek and Silvi rejoined the celebration with everyone else. Well, Derek talked to a few of the people he knew, but everyone else seemed too scared or hesitant to even try to introduce themselves, which was fine by him, so he mostly just stayed in the corner occasionally chatting with Alanah, Marrick, or Avery.

Derek counted the time until he could go home, and, after hours of waiting, Robert and Sabrina thanked everyone for coming to their official wedding and crowning, and apologized for the unplanned event that took place before they sent everyone on their way. Finally, only the core peoplethose who fought in the battle outside the city, the newly crowned couple, and the former royal siblingsremained in the Great Hall.

I would say that turned out better than imagined, Marrick said while Silvi put away any leftovers and dishes.

I would have rather my daughter not been in danger, Ryven said.

Bah, Marrick chided the man. She was never in any danger. You saw what happened. If Osian wouldnt have acted, Derek still would have been there. And if neither of them acted, I would have. They were fine.

Indeed, they were, Osian agreed with the old man. I had wondered why they remained in the kingdom instead of trying their luck at crossing the sea. I thought that with Simeons power, he and his family would have had a good chance of crossing. To think they were oath-bound to you two siblings. Did you know of this? He shifted his gaze to Tevara and Tyler.

N-no, sir, Tevara answered. We had no clue. Our parents never told us anything.

How very ironic, Osian said. Sparing your lives forced them to stay and meet their demise. Traveling as oath breakers would be very difficult, even for someone as strong as Simeon and those following him. I shudder to think what our investigations will turn up regarding those noble houses.

Its not going to be anything good, Derek said.

No, it is not, Osian agreed.

Anyway, Derek started. Do you all need me for anything else? Or is everything pretty much settled? What do you think?

I think you have played your part well, Osian said.

Agreed, Edward said. With your performance here, in front of the remaining nobility, I think you, along with Ms. Swan and Mr. Marrick, have become quite the deterrents. I imagine everything there will be no more major problems cropping up.

Great! Derek said. In that case, Im going to get out of here. Do your best not to need me anymore.

Without another word, Derek turned and opened a portal from his Void Travel skill. After wrapping his storage devices in the void, he stepped inside. I finally have the time to check on everyone. With nothing other than a couple of promises he made to Alanah and Avery to make good on, Derek had time again. He closed the portal behind him and found his favorite location with his Void Sense: The Void Emporium.