Jon's first interaction with the leadership of Springtown went about as well as he could have hoped it to go. He understood Delila's apprehension at allowing a random Knight to stroll into her territory, especially after being informed of her recent encounter with Theodore.

She did not realize that Theodore also possessed a summoned companion that wielded a Memento Source Fragment, prompting her to furrow her brows in annoyance, another tsk escaping her lips.

"[Itsumade; Quiet Death Of Light And Virtue]?" Delila asked, the two humans now sitting within her office on the top floor of the Vanishing Palace Bridge. The two were not alone with one another, Schwarz Eis deciding to manifest herself beside Jon, and Nestor beside his own summoner.

Delila raising an eyebrow at the manifestation of this silver-haired, horned woman, seeing her wear clothes constructed from ice natured spiritual energy. Her pale-skin, adorned in clothes from Earth gave her a more familiar feeling to Delila, although contrasted quite heavily with the prideful demeanour that she unconsciously exuded.

Her presence was devilish, icy but seductive.

At least, that was the impression that Eis wanted to give off.

"A blood-night acerodon. Although one abnormally large for his species. I do suspect however, that his summoner integrated a fragment into him against his best wishes. He was not as strong as I would have expected for a Knight." The ice devil spirit replied, allowing her teacup to cool within her hands.

Chunks of ice forming within it at a whim, bringing a smile to her face as she elegantly sipped on her drink.

Jon on the other hand just stared at the clockwork-runic golem sitting beside Delila. Nestor; The Strategos Of Eyes And Words did not look as he might have expected it to appear, a patchwork construct of runic glyphs and ticking gears.

One shaped into the form of a man.

One that was even capable of drinking tea, through lips of brass and teeth of lead.

"I must say, surviving six months outside of a Safe Zone is quite impressive for someone as young as yourself Jonathan," Nestor said, sipping on his teacup-shaped spiritual item, "Although some of your success must be attributed to Miss Eis here, the first few weeks must have been quite an experience all things considered."

Delila too chimed in with her own opinion.

"You mentioned just finishing high school a week or two ago right?" Jon nodded at her words.

"It was… well, I think I had it better than most actually. I was on my way to a rental house inspection carrying multiple sets of clothing and my sleeping bag. I thought I was lucky if I am being perfectly honest," he replied, causing Delila to raise an eyebrow.

"You moved out of home? So quickly after graduating?" Jon paused but nodded at her words.

"There were… circumstances that forced me to move out. I was looking for both a job and a place to live before arriving within the Pure Room. I was hoping to float myself until the university semester started next year, something which I hope to continue with after returning to Earth." His words caused both Delila and Nestor to pause their actions, lifting their heads to stare at him as if he had grown a second head.

The older woman placing her teacup down on her plate, furrowing her brows in confusion while doing so.

"You… still want to continue studying? After everything that has happened?" She asked.

Eis did not utter a single word, but allowed emotions of reassurance and sympathy to flow into Jon through his Fragment Of Summon. Regardless of his decisions in the future, she would stand by him, alongside Song and Rana.

Jon nodded once more.

"I realize that the Earth, alongside all the other planets throughout our universe will experience a tremendous upheaval the moment we return from the System Introduction. I'm not stupid. Knights possess enough strength to combat armed military forces, and Lords, from what Eis was telling me, can level entire city-blocks in a matter of minutes."

"Conflict… is inevitable. Although there will be a number of individuals who seek to restore the status quo after our return, there will be an even greater number who desire to continue pursuing greater and greater heights."

"Mortality to Knighthood. Knighthood to Lordship. Lordship to Barony. So on and so forth. With one percent of our population being brought into the System Introduction, I was hoping that most would just… forget about me, so to speak."

Nestor tilted his head to the side, not quite understanding his words.

"You desire… an ordinary life?" He questioned.

Jon smiled before shaking his head from side to side. His cheeks slightly flushed from all the honesty.

"No. I know that I cannot return to normality after pushing myself so hard to become a Knight. I just want… control over my life again. I want to be able to do the things I want to do, when I want to do them. Not in a crazy, warlord-esque manner, but just as a guy looking to make his way in the world."

Eis nudged him on the shoulder, smiling at Delila while grinning mischievously.

"Jon here promised me to become the first Baron of the 37th universe," she said, watching as Nestor placed down his own teacup. Delila too had long since ignored the spiritual item in front of her instead placing her sole focus on the young man sitting opposite her.

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Her expression interested, but also somewhat confused.

"So you desire strength in order to obtain self-control and independency? Is that what you are trying to say?" She asked.

"In a sense yes," Joon glancing towards the window placed behind her desk, "The System introduction, in addition to Eis have opened my eyes to how the universe works. Strength is… well, what allows oneself to exert themselves onto others. Their influence. Their will. Their abilities. Their desires."

"If I don't want someone to do that to me, then I too must be strong. That is all there is to it."

Nestor nodded his head, despite Delila still appearing somewhat confused.

"Ah, so strength is not your true goal, but rather freedom?" Nestor said, "I can empathize with that. There are many that have ascended to Earldom and Dukedom seeking the same as yourself Jonathan."

"Is that something you too wish for Miss Eis?" Nestor spoke, turning his attention towards the ice devil spirit. The White Devil Of The Ninth Circle shrugging her shoulders, leaning back into the couch behind her enjoying the familiar luxury of the spiritual item beneath her.

"I was born almost thirty System Introductions ago. The children I bore, once fostered and watched grow into Viscounts and Marquises are more than likely all dead and buried. I vowed to reclaim my place as Duchess of the Inverted Ice Mountain, which after trillions of years might have been lost in the annals of time."

"I have accepted Jon as both my summoner and master. His goals are now my own. His desires are now my own. His dreams are now my own. I shall do my best to help him achieve each and every one of them." Eis declared, causing Delila to raise an eyebrow, half-glancing towards Nestor beside her.

The Strategos Of Eyes And Words merely rolling his mechanical eyes at Delila, feeling emotions of expectation flow into him from his Fragment Of Summon.

"I already pledged myself to you Delila. Don't go fishing for additional compliments," he said, causing Jon to smile and for Delila to huff in response.

Whatever tension existed within the room had long since vanished as Jon allowed himself to enjoy the pleasure of Eis company, in addition to their discussions with Delila and Nestor. Although both Song and Rana also wanted to manifest themselves physically, the structure of the Vanishing Palace would be unable to support either of them, despite it being a Memento Source Item.

The four of them chatted for at least an hour before Nestor lifted his head, gazing in a seemingly random direction for a few seconds. Order natured spiritual energy flowed into him from Takamagahara before his attention returned back to Jon.

"Your companions are looking for you, as are Mael and Aerilayna. Would you prefer one of my copies to bring them here?" the clockwork-rune golem asked, prompting Jon to shake his head.

"No, I'll meet them outside the Vanishing Palace. One of my companions, Wilheim possesses a building-type summon. The moment we arrived within Springtown, I know all he could think about is getting permission to manifest it for the first time." His words caused both Nestor and Delila to share another glance, before the latter stood up and walked over to her desk.

Opening one of her draws and picking out a scroll-shaped spiritual item, Delila unfurled it, manifesting a map of Springtown. Minerva-Sagacity Eyes able to detect the presence of a Fragment Of Observation within the map, in addition to Delila's manipulation of said spiritual item.

As if the map was a phone or tablet, Delila scrolled across its surface, humming for a moment before pointing to one specific section of said map. Gesturing for Jon to take a closer look, his eyes widened, seeing that the map was a near-perfect replication of Springtown from an aerial perspective.

He could feel Delila flowing spiritual energy into the Mortal Ranked Sky Map, looking more specifically at the spot where she tapped her finger.

"You and your companions should be free to set up your building-type spiritual construct over here, in the northern sections of Springtown. It is slightly further away from where Yuma Station is placed in the eastern sections of the Safe Zone but is relatively close to both Brahmal Hall and Nara-kyo Springs."

"Do you know what type of fragment manifested his ability?" She asked.

Jon paused for a moment, wondering if he should reveal that information. Thinking about it and realizing that a Fragment Of Observation or Fragment Of Sight would reveal the Traits and name of the ability, Jon answered truthfully.

"I do believe it was a Fragment Of Manor. Integrated into a Castle Mana Core."

Both Nestor and Delila sharing another glance before the former shook his head towards the latter. The older human woman swiping her finger against the sky map, shifting the focus of the spiritual item towards the western sections of Springtown.

Towards an empty plot of land, filled with a violent amount of overgrowth. Nothing but shrubs, trees and weeds seemed to grow on the image her map displayed, causing him to tilt his head to the side in confusion.

"You will have to make do with this section of Springtown. Although undeveloped, it should allow the building-type construct to manifest itself without the thread of crashing into other buildings around it. And upon his ascension to Knighthood, will allow for even greater expansion depending on what fragment he chooses to integrate."

"Castle Mana Cores tend to manifest larger and more defensive structures in comparison to Spring Mana Cores or even Construction Mana Cores. Nara-kyo Springs was manifested from a Fragment Of Rejuvenation, while Brahmal Hall manifested itself from a Fragment Of Luxury."

"The former takes up more than several hundred square metres, while the other boasts a height exceeding forty metres at Mortality. We have had to consider Knight Ranked abilities when designing the structure of Springtown." Nestor admitted, watching as Delila sighed in response.

"You guys will be further away from Yuma Station but closer towards Trade Street. Takamagahara is placed in the centre of Springtown so is perfectly due west from this location." Delila paused, glancing towards Eis for a moment before continuing to speak with Jon. Despite her originally impassive persona, getting to know Jon better had reduced the initial friction from their first encounter.

"If… at all possible, I was wondering we would be free to come visit sometime over the next few days. As the one in charge of logistics and the management of Springtown, I am obligated to inform Maliq who is in charge of the Creationist Guild and Amadeus, who leaders the Town Guard and Explorers Guild of your presence."

"They will want to meet you Jon. At the very minimum to understand your intentions about Springtown." Jon raised an eyebrow at her words.

"At the very minimum?" He asked.

Delila nodded, noticing Nestor shake his head, muttering something about "battle-hungry barbarians." Neither Jon nor Eis failed to notice the Strategos Of Eyes And Words sighing, walking off as another wave of order natured spiritual energy flowed into him.

"Amadeus has a habit of fighting. Not out of malice or rage, but out of a hunger to fight stronger opponents. There is not a shadow of doubt within my mind that the moment he realizes a Knight is within Springtown, that he will want to challenge you to a spar."

"After our encounter with Theodore, he has been begging to test himself against a Knight."

"I do not know what type of abilities you possess, but… please don't injure him too badly. He is an idiot, but he is amongst the most, if not the most charismatic person I have ever met. He is someone that I have grown to call a friend, and someone that I would trust my life with."

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