Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

Chapter 1944: Tomorrow

"I have no intention of coming here with my real body," Tritus said through Elowen’s mouth. "My body is elsewhere, and I have far more important matters to prepare for before the promised day arrives."

Ning’s attention immediately sharpened.

That phrase again.

"What exactly is the promised day?" Ning asked.

The smile on Elowen’s face widened slightly.

"Are you that curious?" he asked.

"Of course. It looks like that is what you’ve been building up to this entire time," Ning said. "It would be remiss of me to not try and find out what that exactly is."

Tritus let out a short chuckle.

"You’ll find out tomorrow."

Ning blinked.

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes."

He had expected the answer to involve some distant plan, perhaps something Tritus intended to accomplish months or even years from now, but learning that whatever the Numbers had been preparing for was less than a day away immediately made the situation far more interesting.

Now he was finally close to getting an answer.

"I’m curious now," Ning said.

"You should be. It will be an event to witness."

Tritus sounded pleased by that.

Ning looked at Captain Maelis, who remained standing near the wall behind the princess, then returned his attention to Elowen.

"So, you came here only to tell me I’ll learn everything tomorrow?"

The Constellation shook his head. "No. I came with an offer for you."

Ning raised an eyebrow.

"What offer?" he asked. "I was already willing to become one of your Numbers once, but you abandoned that idea."

There had been a time when Ning had deliberately presented himself as someone willing to work beneath Tritus, hoping that joining the Numbers would give him direct access to the Constellation and make finding him far easier, but even when he was close, Tritus had stopped it all on his own.

Even to this day, Ning didn’t know why.

"I did not abandon you," Tritus said. "I simply realized that making you a Number would be a waste."

"A waste?"

"You are capable of far more than the others, so I realized if I were to do anything with you, it would have to be something big."

Ning said nothing. He remained curious as to what exactly it was that Tritus wanted him to do. Something that he couldn’t achieve through the Numbers?

"What do you want me to become instead?" he asked.

Tritus paused for a moment, as though enjoying the importance of the answer before finally giving it.

"My Herald."

Ning’s eyebrows rose. These Constellations always had one of these. A Herald, an Apostle. Someone to be their hand and mouth. He had thought the Numbers were exactly that, but listening to him now, it appeared he was somewhat mistaken.

"Herald for what?"

Tritus shook his head. "That is something you will learn soon enough if you accept."

Ning looked at Elowen’s face, then toward Maelis, whose expression remained completely unreadable.

He had no intention of serving Tritus.

Whatever the Constellation wanted, Ning planned to stop it, but being invited closer was exactly what he had wanted from the beginning.

If Tritus believed Ning could be turned into an ally, then accepting the offer might reveal more than any interrogation ever could.

Ning gave a slow nod.

"Fine. I’ll become your Herald."

Tritus watched him for a long few seconds through Elowen’s eyes, as though judging him for his answer. Then, he turned toward Captain Maelis.

For the first time, Captain Maelis moved. She looked toward Princess Elowen and spoke up.

"He’s lying."

Ning turned his head in surprise.

Maelis had barely spoken during their previous meetings, and Ning had assumed her value came almost entirely from being the princess’s personal guard, but the certainty in her voice made it obvious that she had not guessed.

She knew that he had lied.

’She’s a walking lie detector, huh?’

Ning immediately thought of Mira.

The ability was probably not identical, but Maelis clearly possessed some form of lie detection. It must have been a particularly strong one, considering how far away Ning was and the fact that his system hadn’t given him the prompt to resist the power.

’Well, that explains why she had remained in the room during the conversation,’ he thought.

She was not merely there to protect Elowen.

She was there to judge Ning’s answers as well.

Tritus laughed through the princess.

"You really thought I would take your word for it?" he asked. "I know you’ve lied to me before, so I had to check if you would still lie to me."

Ning looked toward Maelis once more before returning his attention to Elowen.

There was no reason to pretend anymore.

"So is that all you came here for? To try and recruit me?" he asked.

The Constellation remained silent.

"If that is the case, then I’m afraid to say that you’ve failed. We can continue this conversation when I’ve stopped you and you are finally willing to show yourself to me."

Tritus’s voice became quieter.

"Do you truly believe you can stop me?"

Ning thought about the question for only a moment.

"Yes."

Maelis remained silent.

"I most certainly intend to try."

The princess’s expression did not change, but Ning could sense the satisfaction in Tritus’s voice when he answered.

"Good."

Ning frowned slightly.

He had expected anger, perhaps another threat or some declaration that resistance was pointless.

Instead, Tritus sounded almost pleased.

"You may try," the Constellation continued. "Tomorrow, you will have every opportunity to do so."

Ning’s interest deepened.

Whatever was going to happen tomorrow clearly involved Tritus directly enough that Ning would be able to interfere, and that alone meant the promised day had to be connected to something much larger than a simple attack against him.

Before Ning could ask another question, the presence behind Elowen’s eyes disappeared.

The princess’s posture shifted slightly, her expression becoming her own again.

"Were you able to converse with him?" she asked, her voice becoming feminine again.

Ning watched her for a moment before realizing the truth.

Tritus was gone.