CHAPTER 1148: PRIORITIES

Evan’s eyes snapped open the moment his senses detected something, and with a soft sigh, he slowly pushed himself up.

He glanced at Eliza sleeping beside him and brushed the lock of hair from her lips, but just as he tried to get off the bed, her arms wrapped around him tightly, pulling him back down.

He blinked in silence for a moment before turning to face her, her even breaths showing she was still very much asleep.

Then the thought of appraising her crossed his mind, and when he did, he saw that her level had risen from the 593 he remembered to 650.

Most of these levels came from Eliza venting her stress by slaughtering monsters in dozens of dungeons, including Kasteblum’s x2 EXP dungeons, though Evan didn’t know that yet.

With the increase in level came a strength that belied her slender frame, and even asleep, she somehow exerted all of it to keep him from leaving the bed.

Sighing softly, Evan patted her head as if to reassure her, but the moment he tried to pull free again, her eyes shot open, glowing faintly in the dark as she drew him close.

"Where are you going?"

There was a hint of a dangerous edge in her voice that left Evan momentarily stunned, but after taking a moment to consider things from her perspective, her reaction made perfect sense.

"I...just need to have a long overdue conversation with someone," he said, summoning the Akashic Page in the air above her head.

As its pages fluttered to the spell of his choosing, he placed a hand on her cheek and added, "Sleep a bit more. You’ve got a fair bit of dark circles under your eyes."

Before she could respond, Evan cast a spell that instantly amplified her body’s natural need for rest, and within seconds, Eliza’s breathing evened out once more.

Rising from the bed without resistance this time, Evan walked to the common area, yawning as he opened his Inventory to gather everything he needed for a milkshake, from blenders to glasses and, of course, strawberries.

He hummed a tune as he went through the familiar sequence of actions, finishing two glasses before turning and setting one on the table, sliding it over to the person who had silently appeared midway.

Looking up to meet the familiar golden eyes of the goddess who had brought him to Aidos, Evan pursed his lips and said,

"Yeah. I’m more familiar with the older version."

He hopped onto a high stool and sipped his milkshake in silence, while Artemisia’s brows lifted ever so slightly, the only small sign of her confusion at his words.

Evan didn’t bother elaborating, simply refilling his glass as he continued.

"I once read a book that said at the peak of one’s emotional wave, accepting the full intensity of those emotions paradoxically removes the struggle with the feeling, letting it come full circle into pure calm.

Never understood it much back then. And now, I’ve experienced it twice in less than a day."

Setting his glass down, Evan added,

"You have a lot of explaining to do."

Faced with his words, Artemisia only nodded slightly and said,

"Your desire for answers is completely justified."

"Of course it is," Evan replied, taking a sip of his drink before adding,

"But we’ll take a rain check on that."

"...what?" Artemisia blinked, clearly surprised, and Evan chuckled as he got up and walked over to the blender.

"Do I want answers right now? I sure as hell do."

He pressed the power button, then turned around and asked another question.

"But do I need those answers right now?"

Shaking his head, he answered himself.

"Not so much."

He powered off the blender, poured its contents into a jug, and filled it with water for washing as he continued speaking.

"And I’ve decided that my needs far outweigh my wants, and I’m going to prioritise those needs."

"And what are these needs you speak of?"

At Artemisia’s question, Evan turned around, holding up his hand and counting down as he listed them.

"For starters, I need to understand the current state of affairs, check on a Tree, bring the Hero in Tarse into the loop, locate the Master of Dragondune and involve them in my Tarse plans, handle the demons summoned by the Wildcard Protocol, eliminate two Executives of the Demonic Hand along with their contracted High-Rank demons, and finally, start laying the groundwork for the ’Ancient Demonic Dragon Resurrection.’"

He looked up from his fingers and shrugged as he added,

"We can talk after I’ve handled all that. There’s a lot to say, but this Volume has already dragged on too long."

That last part was more for himself than anyone else.

He took a sip of his drink, finishing it before continuing.

"Since you’re already here, why not help me with the first item on that list?"

"..."

Artemisia was quiet for a moment, then, with a sigh, she picked up her glass and emptied it before responding.

"Fine. There are some new developments you need to know about."

And with that, Artemisia began debriefing him on everything that had happened over the past nine months on Aidos.

◇　◇　◇

Artemisia updated Evan on everything that had taken place during the nine months he’d been gone, beginning with EOTD’s actions right after he was sent back in time, and continuing through each month’s events in detail.

She followed up with the responses of his companions to his forced removal from the present, but he barely registered anything she said after she mentioned Eliza’s less-than-stellar mental state.

The reports about Kayla, his other contracted spirits, and the Deadly Sin Siblings all went in one ear and right out the other.

After Artemisia pulled his attention back, she moved on to describe the Demonic Hand’s reactions to his companions destroying energy hotspots according to plan, along with how Laurene and David helped identify the locations of the demons summoned through the Wildcard Protocol by acting as ’World Enemy Detectors’.

Some of those locations hadn’t been discovered by his companions but were found by Artemisia herself when she scanned the planet, and she simply noted down a few city names on a sheet of paper, placing it neatly at the edge of the kitchen counter.

"I might just forget that paper there when I’m leaving," she had said, which made Evan laugh.

She went on to tell him about the plans to introduce phones and enhance telecommunication across Aidos, mentioning that the first set of satellites had already been launched.

Working with Gavin and the Kasteblum Mages, they had managed to create ’smartphones’ powered by magic stones instead of the lithium batteries Evan remembered from Earth V, using the ones Artemisia had gathered from Earth V as references.

With support from the GWE, GEE, Kasteblum, Tarse, and the Beast Kingdom, it was no surprise that the project reached completion quickly.

They later organized conventions aimed at showcasing new magi-technological advancements, sponsoring young engineers, alchemists, and mages to present their creations, and made the smartphones the main attraction of the event.

Evan had already helped introduce televisions to Aidos, earning wide recognition for that, so when people discovered he was behind another magi-technological communication device that was portable, adaptable, and highly convenient, crowds gathered at TV viewing centres to watch the announcement of its release.

People also believed in the authenticity of the project because of the major Empires backing it, though there were naturally those who claimed the devices contained trackers and recorders used by the governments of those nations to gather information from citizens, effectively turning everyone into spies for their rulers.

Well, they weren’t entirely wrong.

Emperors Rudeus, Lloris, and Isaac of the GWE, Tarse, and GEE, respectively, did have a few Nobles and Ministers they intended to spy on.

As for the general public and commoners, they didn’t care much about them.

As mentioned earlier, the phones were powered by magic stones, allowing them to be charged almost anytime.

They operated on magic signals similar to those used for magic projection calls and other already existing but bulky long-distance communication methods, so there was no need for SIM cards.

Instead, each phone number was the device’s serial number.

At the moment, only nobility and wealthy commoners could easily afford one, but once mass production began in full, prices would drop, and the goal of making them accessible to nearly everyone would be realised.

Following the release of the first batch of phones, an upgrade was made to the recently introduced trains, and before long, Aidos would have its own equivalent of bullet trains.

Televisions were nearing the flatscreen stage as some mages in Kasteblum thought the existing ones were a bit too large.

Artemisia also mentioned the World Tree in the Aelum Kingdom, Triffid, explaining that she had placed a recognition inhibition spell on it to prevent the elves from realising what it truly was.

If they did and caused an uproar, it would interfere with Evan’s plans for the Wolf of the END, and if that happened, the gods might forgive them, but Evan certainly wouldn’t.

She eventually moved on to the Magic Circle he had instructed them to draw across Tarse, not being subtle about probing him for its true nature, though the most she managed to get out of him was that it was a Summoning Magic Circle.

That alone naturally wasn’t enough information, and she pressed further, but Evan only shook his head before saying something that left her even more uneasy.

"Trust me when I say this, Artemisia. You’re better off never knowing what that thing is for.

I don’t want to use it if I can avoid it, partly because the cost isn’t something I’m comfortable with, but also because it can put me in debt."

There was too little context in his words for her to respond to, and before she could even try, he cut her off.

"Thank you for everything you’ve done in the past few months. You’ve made things a lot easier for me.

Please, help me gather everyone involved in the Tarse Plan and let them know I’m back and that Liz is with me. I’ll speak to them tomorrow."

"..."

Artemisia watched him with suspicion, but Evan only kept his small smile, and after a heavy sigh, she finally gave up and stood.

"Fine."

"Thanks," he said, getting up and turning toward the cupboard behind him, opening it as he continued, "It’s about time I started making breakfast. The spell I used on Liz isn’t that strong, so she should be waking up soon."

Artemisia remembered the strange look Eliza often gave her whenever she mentioned something about Evan that Eliza didn’t know, and she shook her head as she prepared to leave.

But before she did, she stopped, turned to him, and asked.

"Are you sure you don’t want to ask your questions now?"

Hearing that, Evan froze for a moment before sighing and replying.

"Don’t make me change my mind, Artemisia. I’ll ask you everything I want to when we’re done stopping the Demonic Hand from dyeing the brown sands of Tarse red under the orders of your best friend."

With those words, he went back to picking eggs from the crate in the cupboard, and after a brief silence, Artemisia quietly teleported away.