S-Rank Harem: I Became My Character with Extra Control Skill

Chloe showed a slight smile on her pale face illuminated by the fresh mountain dawn light. That small expression of calm was perhaps the first time she had smiled genuinely since meeting Ryan’s loud and lethal group.

”Yes, Your Majesty, or do you think spirits wouldn’t want to serve a demon king?”

The young woman asked, keeping that subtle smile on her lips and looking at him with total attention.

Ryan did not respond immediately to her curious suggestion. He slowly turned his head again, fully looking at the immense landscape stretching out before him from the high cliff.

’It’s not that I think they wouldn’t agree to serve me. It’s that I didn’t even know those mysterious beings actually existed in this strange world. I mean, the first time we left the sky dungeon and landed directly in the forest of the exiled elves, Mirian mentioned the existence of spirits.’

’But since I didn’t see any of them in the forest during all that time, I firmly thought they simply didn’t exist. I logically assumed they were just old mystical human beliefs about the reserved elven culture.’

”Yes, that might be a big reason.”

Ryan replied after his long thoughtful silence on the edge of the mountain. He kept his gaze fixed on the orange horizon, feeling the freezing breeze hit his face.

”I don’t think spiritual beings so pure and tied to nature would voluntarily want to associate with a feared demon king.”

”But Your Majesty, despite all that, you are still human, I think.”

The young holy knight said with a tone of voice full of doubt and intrigue as she looked at his profile.

’What do you mean, you think?’

Ryan thought, frowning slightly upon noticing the lack of certainty in the girl’s statement. Apparently, his own humanity was already a subject of deep and constant debate.

”But this whole issue with the spirits is very sad. It is said in ancient legends that long ago spirits lived in complete harmony with nature in any nation of this world. But this great millennial war exterminated almost all of them in a very cruel and indiscriminate manner. According to what my military superiors in the church claim, the few spirits still alive in the world live in total harmony within the great elven nation, Geizan.”

’So they really do exist.’

”I see, it doesn’t surprise me that the spirits are taking refuge with the elves of Geizan. But don’t forget an important detail, the elves are on the church’s side.”

Ryan said, bending his right leg and using it as an armrest to plant his elbow and rest his jaw on the back of his hand.

”That is very true, Your Majesty. But you might not know this entirely. Contrary to what common adventurers who don’t join the strict ranks of the holy knights believe, we are taught very different truths.”

Chloe took a brief, tense pause to organize her complex ideas about religion, betrayal, and the true martial history of her former side.

”We, who are supposed to have a sacred alliance with the elven nation, are taught that spirits were invaluable allies in battle. However, in a terrible and catastrophic battle of the past, the primordial spirits died.”

Chloe placed her right hand on her own chin, trying to remember the tragic events of the past with total and absolute clarity. She searched through her prodigious memory for the texts she had read in the massive restricted books exclusively possessed by the central church.

”While the great primordial spirits agonized sadly on the bloody battlefield, they made a grand decision. They decided to sacrifice themselves voluntarily to create a massive, much greater magical power to help humans survive.”

”The Twins?”

Ryan asked immediately.

”Yes!”

Chloe said excitedly, realizing that Ryan was actually paying attention to her extensive history lesson. She was very thrilled to see the genuine interest of the calculating leader of Kowarre.

Then, with a slight and beautiful smile on her pale face, she continued speaking with much more confidence.

”At least that is what the church’s strict doctrine tells the holy knights, but...”

Chloe looked down slightly at the thick, cold snow beneath her heavy boots, showing a deep doubt in her unwavering convictions.

”With everything I have seen and experienced so far on this long journey with you, things don’t seem so sacred to me anymore.”

She clenched her fists at her sides, remembering the great corruption, evil, and selfishness of the religious high command.

”It wouldn’t surprise me at all if it had been the holy church itself that murdered them in cold blood to create those valuable relics.”

’I also reached that same conclusion a moment ago.’

Ryan thought. The young religious woman was finally using her own judgment and questioning the false morality of her former, cruel divine leaders.

’If she hadn’t brought it up first in her own words, I would have said it without hesitating for a second.’

”Those famous Twins are supposed to be extremely difficult relics to use and demand a massive, almost perfect elemental affinity to unleash all their power. I was extremely surprised to see how Miss Karol stated with such certainty and arrogance that she was completely capable of using all the Twins regardless of her natural element.”

Ryan smiled very faintly, remembering the talent of his hyperactive mage on the battlefield.

”Yes, that loud little mage turned out to be much more skilled and useful than I could have originally imagined when I met her.”

Ryan said in a very reflective tone of voice, meticulously evaluating the vast and invaluable magical inventory his small group currently possessed for the coming war.

”Although it does surprise me a bit that those relics, the elemental Twins, are actually created by the power of spirits,” Ryan said in a reflective tone.

”Yes, but it’s something very sad when you know their origin,” Chloe added.

”That is true, but now I’m more interested in those relics,” Ryan said without taking his eyes off the landscape in front of him.

”Karol already has the Fire Twin and the Earth Twin with her. So we would only need to find the Water Twin and the Wind Twin. That way we would have all the primordial Twins.”

Ryan said in a very decisive tone.

And at those words, Chloe leaned in slightly so her face was level with Ryan’s, and with a smile, she added a few more words while staring intently at him.

”The Light Twin would be missing too.”