The System’s Harvester

Early Evening - Early Summer : Arlington, Virginia | United States

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*Blub-Blub-Blub* Standing waist-deep in a bathtub that could probably be classified as a pool, I dunked my armor into a water jet, washing it one piece at a time, while thinking back on the meeting I had just gotten out of.

By then, it had been several hours since I had returned to Earth, and while the sun had already begun setting, in my eyes, I still hadn't gotten the chance to do anything worthwhile.

From the moment I walked back into the spire, I was dragged into a meeting with Alrek, his boss Kazzaer, and a handful of third-party investigators to essentially gather information about what I had done with my time since I returned to Earth, where I was, what I was doing, and what my intentions in that place were.

In short, I was interrogated for evidence of whether I was or wasn't a threat to Earth.

But it felt more like a 'guilty until proven innocent' case than anything.

As it turned out, while I was gone, Diana, the young pilot I met in Richmond, had exposed everything I wanted to keep hush about to both the ISO and the military, sparking an investigation that quickly turned up empty as they discovered that I didn't have any citizenship records on Earth.

Combined with the appearance of system enforcers in Arlington and the scene I caused, it led the general sentiment of both the elite and the public to shift toward the fact that I was a destroyer using an artifact to falsify my local system panel. According to Alrek, they even sent several countries into lockdown to look for me after I disappeared, and set what he considered a high bounty of four hundred thousand gold for anyone who could report anything about me prior to my appearance in Arlington.

To me, it sounded like quite a bit of an overreaction, but to Kazzaer it was an understatement.

Whether the world had the strength to fight me or not, it simply didn't matter. They were going to use everything they had to stop me if I turned out to be a destroyer, whether it was a hopeless struggle or not.

And just as he suspected, less than twenty minutes after my return, the ISO was surrounded by more military equipment than I could wrap my head around, and the entire district of the city was evacuated.

But the response wasn't completely based in caution. According to Alrek, one of the heads of the magic tower in Arlington was actually quite adamant about keeping the military from getting involved in the matter out of worry it would upset me.

But the military wasn't just being aggressive out of caution.

They were afraid of the people, just as much as they were me.

In Kazzaer's words, 'The whole situation is a double-edged sword to government officials and the military.'

If I turned out to be a destroyer, whether they decided to side with me or not, the blame would fall on them and them alone.

As a national military power, they were the ones in charge of intercepting newly returned mercenaries and dealing with them however is appropriate. The fact I got not only inside Richmond, but Arlington was essentially a checkmate on their image if things went south, with the public pinning the blame on the nation's incompetence, and the guilds using it as an excuse to pull them from power.

Even if it turned out I wasn't a destroyer, if their response was lacking, the public would completely gut them for it.

After countless disasters that could have been prevented with more aggressive responses, people had become quite sensitive to such matters.

As such, even if the warning I gave during my interview outside the ISO would inevitably ward off anyone troublesome, calming public sentiment was a much bigger issue that would take time.

And the worst part was, after all the interrogations, my case seemed iffy at best.

"Haah..." According to Alrek, while the ISO would back me completely, on a global scale, if I did nothing, the flood would only get harder to stop. -So in their words, I have to go out and do something that can heal my image...-

The first thing that came to mind was clearing a dungeon, or waiting for Michael to give me a quest on some inhuman-level threat.

But while I stood in the near-boiling water, cleaning off my chest plate, I had a better idea. -Let's go pick up Bella...-

While it would most certainly cause the military to shit bricks, if they did attack me, I could turn it into a decent publicity stunt. "Haha," Letting out a chuckle as I pulled my armor out of the water, some old, fond memories of a time I started a coup d'etat surfaced in my mind. -To think I'd need to do something like this again...-

But unlike back then, this time, I had the most powerful weapon I could use in the situation.

Overwhelming power and confidence.

*Cl-l-l-l-link* As I dried and reequiped my armor, I quickly hopped up out of the bath and made my way out into the hall, passing an employee who was on her way to my suite before taking the elevator down to the bottom floor.

As the floors began passing faster and faster though, a voice came over the intercom.

"Miss Lestir," It was Kazzaer. "If I could be so rude to ask what you're doing?"

Looking up at the camera embedded in the corner of the elevator, I smiled. "You said the ISO alone can't fix my image, so I'm going to start the process myself."

There was a long pause before he spoke again, this time leaning away from the microphone. "Alright..." He sounded a little hesitant. "I'll trust that neither you, nor the military are dumb enough to spark a fight."

Grabbing my neck as the elevator slowed down, and the doors opened, I spoke with an endless confidence. "Oh, I wouldn't trust them that much."

Looking at the series of vehicles lining the streets and filling the skies, along with a number of mercenaries standing around the spire with gear equipped and weapons in hand, I walked toward the front doors of the spire and walked through them without the slightest hesitation. *Woosh*

The air outside was still and stale, filled with the gazes of people, all tense and focused on me. -I've got more than last time...- With several cameras fitted to helicopters up over the tops of skyscrapers, I had the attention of the whole world at that moment.

But as I walked out with my hands behind my back and my head held high, instead of feeling any sort of pressure, I looked over the anxious mercenaries with a smile. "I'm surprised I didn't get lit up the moment I walked out here." Looking toward an old, hunched elven martial artist, I wove pity into my tone. "Some of you seem pretty eager for a fight."

"Tch..." The old man instantly clicked his tongue.

"Unfortunately though, I have places I need to be." Continuing toward the massive blockade in the road, I never broke stride. "I have to fetch someone from the airport, so please excuse me." *VWOOM* Using my aura to scoot aside the assorted vehicles and people blocking my way, I planned to simply walk through them.

But the moment I did that, several massive railgun darts from the tanks scattered about the area converged on my head.

Yet not one of them reached me.

*Vwoom* Catching them with my aura, I looked over at one of the mercenaries to my side. "Look at that, if I had dodged, you would have killed your own people. That's a shame, I thought you guys would have more discipline than that." *Clang-Clank* As I dropped the metal darts, several mercenaries went pale. "Plus, I believe I made it clear earlier." Emitting a bit of bloodlust, I looked up at one of the helicopters with a camera and grabbed it with my aura. "If I were a destroyer, none of you would be alive right now."

*Vwoom* Releasing it, it seemed to wobble in the air before backing off behind a building like a frightened animal.

-Looks like most of them have common sense...- Eventually continuing forward, I walked between the mercenaries without anyone nearby moving.

Most people seemed to have caught the memo.

At least those who weren't blinded by pride.

*Fwip-FWOOSH* Darting between the tanks and stopping in the middle of the path I made though, the old elven man straightened his posture, leaving his cane where he previously stood. "It's quite rare to see such an arrogant young woman nowadays..."

"Young?" I almost burst out laughing as he laced his words with poison. "I've got a few hundred years on you, but I'll take the compliment."

"A few hundred years?" His expression turned smug as he seemed to think I was joking. "If you're going to lie, tell me something more believable..."

Opening his system panel, I glanced up at his age with an incredibly unsurprised look. -Seems like the elves are as arrogant as ever...- He was 176, quite old for an elf, and level 609. "Like I said before, whether you believe me or not, it doesn't matter. If you want to keep your eyes on me, do whatever makes you comfortable. Just move aside."

As his gaze stiffened, so did his body. "I don't believe you understand the situation you are in."

*pitter-patter* Keeping my eyes on my aura, I watched as almost a dozen people came up behind me, closing me into the path I made through the crowd.

"This isn't a situation you can simply run from."

-Oh, I'm not running, don't worry.- Glancing over my shoulder at the other mercenaries, I checked their levels before finding that the oldie in front of me was the highest level of the bunch. "Alright then," *Vwoop* Unequiping my upper-body armor plates, leaving just the thin black gambeson, I spread out my arms as if to give him an invitation. "Come on, if you really think you have the strength to keep me here, hit me as hard as you can. It doesn't matter where."

The old man immediately paused. "You want me to cripple you?" He sounded somewhat confused.

He was serious. -This dumbass old man...- "You aren't remotely that strong, but if you cripple me, the whole situation will be solved, right? So come on, hit me-"

*Fwip* Cutting me off, he instantly closed the distance between us before driving his fist into my stomach, throwing everything he had into it.

But to his misfortune, this time I used my aura to keep myself from getting thrown back.

*CrAcKLE* As if hitting an immovable wall, his knuckles instantly crumbled, and the bones in his hand splintered.

Looking down as the bones piercing through the top of his hand started to draw blood, I gave him a look of pity before tapping my hand on his shoulder. "See, what did I tell you." *pat* But the moment my hand touched him, his pupils dilated and he darted a few hundred meters away, completely pale and shaking slightly. "Unless one of you is stronger than Earth's administrators, just stay back and watch me from afar. I could care less as long as you don't get in my way."

*Cl-l-l-l-link* Finally reequiping my armor, I casually continued down the lane of equipment, this time not being stopped before walking out into the empty road, and making my way to the airport at a very casual pace, making sure the helicopters and jets could keep up with me.

It was a bit time-consuming, but I needed their eyes on everything in order to shake off suspicions. -If I'm lucky, there will still be some normal people at the airport as well...-

And sure enough, even well before I reached the airport, the streets were filled with people, all standing around watching the news broadcast on massive screens meant for advertisements.

But while every screen showed a different news station, they all displayed the same video stream, coming straight from the helicopter following me with essentially no delay. -Would you look at that...-

At that point though, I had already done my stunt for the most part. I had made my presence known, and made it clear that I wasn't a threat.

All that was left was to put the citizens at ease.

But that was the easiest part.

Eventually making it to the Airport, I made my way inside, catching the gazes of everyone before finding and making my way to the 'pet pickup' area a couple terminals over.

For the most part, after the first few minutes of my arrival, the place was empty. It seemed like people weren't taking any chances in getting too close to me.

However, as I made it to the pet pickup area, where I expected to be greeted by a robot, similar to most of the other places I had passed in the airport, I found a young wolf-demihuman boy standing there with a tiny puppy in his arms.

-Hm?- He clearly knew about what was happening, yet he didn't run like everyone else had. -He's only level 86...-

"Hello," Greeting me with a smile, he spoke without the slightest waver. "You must be Miss Lestir, correct?"

It was quite a refreshing greeting. "I am. I'm here to pick up Bella."

His smile slowly turned warm as he caressed the head of the puppy sleeping in his arms. "I see. She's been waiting." Without him moving at all, Bella poked her head through the door leading into the back as if on cue.

The moment she set her large panther eyes on me, her face lit up. "Master!" She seemed quite excited to see me.

-She really doesn't act like a robot...- Watching her hop the desk without any issue, she quickly walked up to me and sat down to bow her head.

"It is my pleasure to continue to be of service to you, master!" With a happy, gentle curl in her tail, she lifted her head before matching my gaze.

It only took a moment for the young man to interject. "You know, of all the people I've met, you're the first I've seen to look at a servant robot like it was an animal." His voice was smooth, reminiscent of how an administrator would talk, but with a warmth I didn't expect. "Are you just from a world without much technology, or is it perhaps something else..."

His curiosity was genuine, but as I looked up, I hesitated with a response. "What do you think separates something living from a robot? Is it living flesh, organic material?"

"A fate." He responded without a hint of hesitation.

-Hm...- It was a response that made my mind suddenly stop.. and think...

"What do you think it is?"

Looking down at Bella, I stared at the glow in her eyes before looking back up at the young man. "Freedom."

His expression instantly morphed as he fell into thought. "Freedom.. huh..." However, after just a moment, his expression warmed again, not aimed at me, but at the small, long-eared puppy in his arms. "I like that response..."

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