RD 5 Ch 34

As soon as that message popped up, I found myself ejected from the Trial of Kings and showered in party poppers as Syssy cheered and blew a kazoo inches from my face.

“Yay, you did it, Bran!” Syssy squealed. The green-haired fairy was overwhelmingly excited while the rest of us were still adjusting from being ripped out of the instance and war scene.

We were coming down from the adrenaline rush of combat and, in some cases, suddenly reconciling old memories with what had just happened in the trial.

But Syssy seemed to ignore all of the various states of dazed expressions on our faces as she pressed forward. “For a moment I was really worried you were going to jump into that lake,” she said, wiping her brow, blissfully ignorant of the expressions around her. Then she suddenly looked up at the silence that had settled over us.

Simone hesitated, eyes flicking to the paradise Syssy had conjured around us. There were women lounging in a waterfall, fresh fruit and wine waiting, but Simone’s glance passed over it quickly and she turned back to Syssy. “Who are you?”

Syssy froze, staring at her and the others before shifting to me. “Um… I’m…”

“This is Syssy.” I gestured to the green fairy. “She can be a little shy.” I lied.

“Well,” Syssy said after a beat, “Bran calls me Syssy because I’m the system.” She peeled the bandage off the reveal with a theatrical hand on her chest and flashed all four of the women a radiant smile.

“Can you confirm if this is real life?” Circe asked, turning to me.

Syssy shook her head. “Not really. We’re still… sort of in the trial. I’ll toss you out after you get your rewards, though.”

Those words made their eyes light up, only for several faces around me to go contemplative and a few furtive glances to be cast my way.

“Excuse me,” Princess Almeria said, stepping forward and bowing to Syssy. “Oh, great system, I ask for clarification. Have I completed anything that merits reward? After all, he is the one who came out victorious, is he not?” With her head dipped she glanced my way, then shifted her gaze away when she caught me looking.

There was something going on there, but that would have to wait until later.

“Ah, yeah.” Syssy waved her hands and the surroundings changed. We were somewhere more familiar to me, the same place where I’d once picked the Wandering King.

“You see, Bran, as smart as he is, and under my advice…” Syssy began, then hesitated at the massive scowl I shot her before plowing on regardless. “Decidded that because there were other people taking the trials with him, he would step back in after completing his and participate in your trials while also trying to get an even higher reward.” Sissy paused but then beamed. “You all passed, at least the basic Trial of Kings at this point.”

“We have?” Circe perked up.

“Essentially,” Syssy winced, wiggling from side to side. “We’re gonna call it good,” she said. “After all, if Bran is now the king of kings.”

“There has to be something better than that. Emperor?” The princess suggested, squinting as if searching for the right word.

Simone nearly leapt forward with an answer. “Hegemon,” she said.

Syssy paused, considering. “Hegemon… that goes nicely with his class.” She tapped her lips. “Ooh, maybe.”

“Pardon me—hasn’t this already been decided?” Winnie asked.

Syssy waffled. “Kind of, sort of, not really. Look, I’m not perfect.” She waved her hands. “But I’m on Team Bran.”

“Team Bran is the best!” Simone cheered.

Circe shrugged. “I can say I’m a fan of Team Bran as well. So welcome to the team, Syssy.”

Those words only made the personified system smile wider. “Yeah, yeah, I’m part of the team. Anyway, since Bran discovered the super-secret, totally-not-suicidal challenge that I may not entirely have prepared for, I managed to invent some… new benefits.”

All the ladies squinted at Syssy in suspicion. “Well, don’t hold us in suspense,” Simone urged, gesturing for her to continue.

“Right. Since Bran is now something above kings, I had to get creative.” Syssy cleared her throat. “Hegemon is an unspecific name. It’s just ‘the leader’ in any context. But that means even in a room full of kings, the Hegemon is still in charge. So I decided that ‘Hegemon’ is superior to simply ‘King.’ So he can have passed the Hegemonic Trial.”

None of us believed Syssy had come up with that on her own, but we stayed quiet.

“Furthermore, because it’s such a prestigious thing for him to get, I made a custom title for him.” Syssy spun around and gestured into the air. A system menu popped up, visible to all of us.

[The King of Kings, Hegemond of Rule

+1000 to all stats]

That was about as basic bitch as you could get, but I did my best not to let my disappointment show.

“Well? What do you think?” Syssy bobbed her eyebrows.

Simone hummed, not entirely satisfied, but smiling all the same. It was the kind of look that made me clench up and if I had been holding a gift, I’d have tossed it to the side like it was just trash I’d been meaning to throw away.

“Is it not good enough?” Syssy froze, and I nearly scoffed but held it in to let Simone respond.

“It’s not really that impressive, if I must admit. For all the work…” Simone sighed, shaking her head and looking to the other ladies for support.

“Yes, I would agree. This doesn’t really scream Team Bran,” Almeria added, checking with me and Simone as she spoke.

“I really thought, after all the danger he’s put himself through, he would have earned far better.” Circe’s comment only made Syssy shrink inward and float a little lower in the air.

“Really? What about you, Winnie?” Syssy turned to her last hope, only for the icy woman’s expression to freeze.

“Pitiful,” Winnie said immediately. There was not an ounce of emotion in her voice, yet the word was damning.

Syssy wailed and spun around. “I worked so hard. I thought this would be great!”

Simone cast me a glance telling me to stay out of it and that she’d handle it before she came over and patted the fairy’s shoulder. “Since you’re Team Bran, it’s our job to help you. That’s what being part of the team is about.”

“Really?” Syssy blinked, expectation written all over her face.

“Of course,” Princess Almeria added. “I’m fairly certain Simone might even have one of the spare Mul Branova robes. With your abilities, you could resize it to fit, no?”

Simone’s smug smile said she’d found an unlikely ally. If I didn’t miss my guess she just sized the princess up for her own robes.

Syssy perked up and spun to Simone. “Really? You’d let me join the Mul Branova?”

“Of course, dear.” Simone pulled her in tight and hugged her. “After all, you’re on Team Bran. What’s more Team Bran than joining the Mul Branova?”

Syssy’s head bobbed a mile a minute.

I looked between them, unsure if I should step in to stop them from bonding, but ultimately deciding not to. I turned away to find something else to occupy my time while Simone sank her claws into Syssy to get everything she could out of the fairy.

One of the statues caught my eye as Simone continued to manipulate Syssy. I walked toward the statues of the kings, wondering which titles I should suggest to each of the ladies. After all, once this was done and I’d figured out my own title, they’d each get a reward from the Trial and become their own kind of king.

“Oh, Bran, don’t bother with that,” Simone waved a hand as I started to contemplate it. “Since you’re going to be the Hegemon, the Hegemon should of course get unique, special tailored bonuses and benefits for their kings...” Simone turned back to Syssy. “I do have a small bone to pick with you.”

Syssy’s eyes went wide; she clutched the tiny Mul Branova robe she’d already acquired like Simone might take it away.

“It’s just this whole Trial of Kings,” Simone said, emphasizing the words. “While Bran is going to be the Hegemon, he’ll likely promote a number of women into the Trial. It seems a bit sexist to call it the Trial of Kings. Couldn’t it be the Trial of Monarchs? Wouldn’t it make more sense for Bran to have a harem of queens or even just genderless Monarchs?”

Syssy frowns inwardly, then waved a hand in the air. “You’re absolutely right, Saintess. It would do no good for everyone to say ‘the king of this’ and ‘the king of that’ is part of Bran’s harem. Some people might get the wrong idea.” Sissy nodded.

“Yes,” Simone agreed emphatically. “It’s for Bran’s sake that we’re going to change it to the Trial of Monarchs.”

“Mhm, mhm.” Syssy was already bobbing her head in full agreement, and I once again did my best to ignore the fact that Simone was manipulating a being who could quite literally alter the fundamental physics of the universe. I chose to believe that Simone’s efforts would end up in my best interest, knowing that would at least be her intention.

Trying to interfere would be playing with a level of fire I did not want to get close to. I trusted Simone.

“Now that we’re talking about this, there are some additional benefits…” Syssy tried, crossing her arms. “But here’s a limit to what I can do before my mother comes and cracks down,” she added quickly.

We all waited, curious what she would say.

Syssy pulled up a massive menu with far too many options. “This is what we can allocate, and this is the cost,” she said, pointing to two columns. “And the total cost for any monarch title must be at least 250 and certainly no more than 300. As for Bran’s… well the rules are a little more gray.”

The ladies crowded around the list and began swiping in the air to absorb as much as they could. I had a feeling that by the time they were done, we were going to have custom-built everything.