Magic Chronicles : Fallen Race

Chapter 91: Chapter 91: Forty-Two Companions

The next morning, Princess Yuffie sent a servant to deliver the admission ticket to Reji.

Tonight's meeting, held to plan the operation to eradicate the Five Flowers Alliance, was being held in the palace, the safest place, to prevent leaks. It was disguised as a private gathering of the princess.

Before leaving, Reji handed a cloak to Vielsia.

"Wear this when you go out in the future."

"In case you need to use your elven power, it can slightly conceal it and prevent others from discovering it."

Reji now had two identities, one as a "teacher" and the other as an "adventurer."

Because of Ariel, the count's daughter, he had attracted a lot of attention in the Adventurer's Association.

Reji guessed that among the people the princess was gathering, there would also be adventurers, so to be prepared, he asked Vielsia to wear a cloak to replace Shermen's position.

Vielsia had no doubts about Reji's suggestion and immediately put it on, looking very pleased.

However, the shadow behind Reji trembled slightly, seemingly expressing "dissatisfaction."

'Did his majesty... replaced me?'

Reji immediately whispered to her, 'I will always love Shermen, this is for the plan'

"Huh? Teacher, did you say something?"

"I said that Miss Vielsia looks especially cute in the cloak." Reji smoothly continued with a smile.

"Ah? Heeeh! Teacher, don't say such things."

Vielsia blushed and quickly pulled down the hood of her cloak, looking embarrassed.

Reji was adept at handling such situations, having successfully raised the affection level of all forty-two companions in the game.

In the game, among his forty-two companions, there were both men and women. The men were simple and pure, and there were no complications; they just fought together, and that was it.

Female companions, on the other hand, could unlock the "Romance" bonus affection level.

However, since he was the son of destiny, the hero and protagonist of the game, he couldn't have multiple relationships.

When he frequently raised the affection level of a certain companion of the opposite sex, the "Romance" level of the other companions of the opposite sex would decrease accordingly.

This mechanism was probably designed to prevent players from having multiple romantic partners, or in simpler term, a harem.

But Reji found a loophole.

When companions are executing "dispatch" tasks, their status bars are locked, meaning they remain the same when they leave and when they return.

There is also a mechanism where the higher the companion's affection level, the greater the rewards upon their return from the dispatch, and the higher the probability of obtaining additional rare items.

So when Reji was raising the "Romance" level of a new female companion, he would dispatch all the others who already had high "Romance" levels, locking their status bars.

This way, he could maximize the efficiency of the dispatches and easily achieve full "Romance" affection levels with all the female companions.

In the game, Reji was proud of his cleverness.

But now, looking back...

'Wasn't this equivalent to keeping the current partner and sending all the exes away?'

'Cough!'

Reji wasn't interested in the companions' CG illustrations; he just wanted to unlock the "special stories."

When a female companion reaches full "Romance," she will have a separate adventure with the hero, a serious one that enriches the companion's background and establishes bonds.

For example, there was a fire spirit companion who made a deep impression on Reji.

When he first met the fire spirit, she was the villainous BOSS who had cursed an entire village with fire. As the hero, Reji had to eliminate the source of the curse, the fire spirit.

However, after her defeat, the fire spirit, who could transform into human form and had a beautiful illustration, became a companion.

Later, in the full affection "special story" expansion, Reji learned that the villagers had actually died from a plague long ago. The fire spirit had given them a ritual called "Fire Seed," allowing them to live until now.

The "Fire Seed" came from the fire spirit's source power.

Each "Fire Seed" given was equivalent to the fire spirit using her source life force to maintain the villagers.

This also explained why the fire spirit's growth was so low.

Reji was moved by this and greatly increased his investment in her, helping her progress from "Fire Spirit" to "Flame Spirit" to "Fire Flame Leader" and finally becoming the peak eighth-stage Flame Queen.

As a player, the hero's companions' power and rank improvements were like cheat codes.

In short, Reji loved the stories behind these companions and never skipped the plots. He experienced and enjoyed each one, even if it made him seem a bit scummy. But his feelings for the companions were genuine, and in the end, he helped them all reach their maximum levels.

Unfortunately, even the most powerful forces are helpless against the passage of time.

A thousand years later, the forty-two companions are likely all gone.

In the words of the game, the old generation of characters has retired, like supporting characters who can't stay with the player forever.

But Reji will not give up trying to find them.

And he will not let go of the one who "altered" history and "erased" their existence.

The topic seems a bit heavy.

Reji looked at the elven princess next to him, happily wearing a cloak and following him.

She certainly wasn't the first.

For the new companions a thousand years later, Reji still had to reflect deeply.

Since he had really come to this world, and everything had become reality, he could no longer act without principles and do things that deserved divine punishment.

So.

From now on, everyone would be considered companions.

There was no such thing as exes or current partners.

'Hmm'

When Reji arrived at the private hall of the palace, as he expected, in addition to the core members of the princess's royal knights, there was a group of people dressed in various outfits, looking like a "motley crew."

The gold and silver badges on their chests were the best symbols of their identity.

Adventurers.

However, most of them were silent, either awkward or anxious, and the atmosphere was somewhat heavy.

Until another group of adventurers entered from the side door.

"Look, it's Eagle! The only A-level mercenary group in the royal city!"

"They're really here too! Great! We're sure to win now!"

"To be honest, I was pretty nervous before, after all, we're up against the Five Flowers people, but now that I see Lord Eagle, I feel much more at ease."

"The princess is amazing, she even managed to persuade the Eagle group."

"I heard that they were at Lanqi Artifacts before, and they spent a lot of money to buy a third-tier spell scroll. At the time, everyone was wondering why the Eagle Mercenary Group was going to hunt some A-level demon. Now it turns out it was to prepare for this battle!"

As the seven or eight members of the Eagle Mercenary Group entered, the previously gloomy atmosphere instantly vanished.

This must be the power of popularity.

Many adventurers were excited as if they had seen their idols, their faces full of excitement.

The burly leader of the Eagle Mercenary Group, Sea Tiger, nodded to the excited adventurers in the meeting room, after all, they would be comrades-in-arms later.

At this time, a girl from the Eagle Mercenary Group suddenly poked Sea Tiger and directed his gaze to another place.

There were Reji and Vielsia.

The leader of the Eagle Mercenary Group paused for a moment, seeming to recall something, and quickly showed a surprised expression. He then quickly walked toward Reji.