The training session for this morning went on more awfully than what Rex had in mind.
Rex had planned to spend time with Helena and Diana to strengthen those relationships and to advance his own plans. But Lily made it almost impossible for him to execute his manipulation plan.
Lily was always there to interrupt Rex and Helena’s conversations about magical theory. When Rex attempted to practice archery with Diana, Lily unexpectedly appeared and began offering him advice and comments.
"You need to change your stance a little," Lily said as Rex got ready to shoot. "Let me help you."
"Fucking hell...! "She is slowly getting on my nerves, and this is making me less inclined to continue manipulating her," Rex thought to himself while trying to contain his frustration.
She pushed against his back, saying it was to help him stand up straight, but really it was just to be close. Rex’s eye twitched with anger.
"I really went overboard with this little bitch... and I need to fucking punish her for it later at night."
Diana was both confused and amused by what she saw. "Oh my gosh, Lily, when did you learn how to shoot arrows?"
"I’m not! I’m just trying to help!" Lily said, but she didn’t move away from Rex.
Diana giggled. "You and Rex are really close right now, huh? Good for you."
"Hehehe," Lily laughed.
Rex, on the other hand... twitched with frustration.
This went on all morning. Lily insisted on being Rex’s sparring partner in combat drills even though she had never trained for combat.
And when the water broke, she had his full attention, which was making Rex want to scream by the time lunch rolled around.
He needed to put a stop to this before someone, probably Evelyn, started asking questions he couldn’t easily answer.
Rex grabbed Lily’s hand and pulled her toward the edge of the training ground after lunch, when people were leaving for the afternoon session.
"Okay, stop with all this bullshit you’ve shown me." He said firmly, "We need to talk about it... RIGHT now!"
"Okay!" Lily smiled up at him. "What do you want to talk about?"
They walked until they couldn’t hear the others anymore, close to the same wooded path they had taken before. Rex turned to look at her with a serious look on his face.
"Lily, you have to stop with all of this affection you’ve shown to me." Rex said this while holding both of her shoulders.
Her smile faded. "Stop what?"
"This! The way you constantly touch me, follow me around, and behave in front of your family is too obvious, and it’s going to leave a bad impression on them."
"But I thought you wanted me to be close to you," Lily said, her voice filled with hurt. "Last night you said—"
"Last night was private," Rex said, cutting in. "Please don’t tell anyone what we’re working on together!"
"If you keep acting like this, your family will get suspicious. Evelyn already thinks something is going on between us."
"So what if they do?!" Lily’s voice got that wild edge back. "I don’t care anymore!"
"I’m sick of pretending! I want to be with you, and I want everyone to know it!"
"Lily," Rex said, holding her shoulders gently but firmly. "Listen to me!"
"If your family finds out, they’ll break us up. Elliot will make sure I leave, and Helena will stop you from seeing me!"
"Is that what you want?"
"A-Ahh... I... I see..." Her eyes showed fear. "No! I don’t want it!"
"Then you need to be smarter about this. I’m not going anywhere, but we need to be careful!"
"Do you understand?"
She nodded sadly, and tears filled her eyes. "I get it... I-I’m sorry..."
"I just... I’ve never felt this way before. It’s too much."
"I know," Rex said more softly and gave her a quick hug. "But we have time..."
"You don’t have to rush things right now."
Lily nodded. "Okay..."
Rex frowned, then he whispered to her, "If you do that again... I’ll make sure tonight you won’t get to feel it again... you understand...?"
With him giving her the treat, Lily starts to act submissive right away. "Y-Yes! I’m so sorry! I won’t do it again..."
"But please... tonight... I want us to touch each other again," Lily said it with eyes full of desire.
"We can do it... only if you stop acting weird like that in front of everyone." Rex smirks, and it seems like his manipulation worked for her to have some limits.
"Y-Yes... I understand."
For a moment, they enjoyed the hug, and somewhere...
What Rex didn’t see was Diana standing about fifty yards away, having followed when she noticed her sister disappearing with Rex. She was too far away to hear the conversation, but she could see the embrace and even the intensity of the discussion.
"W-What the...? They are... hugging...?" Diana looked surprised seeing Rex and Lily hugged, and it’s not just a normal hug, but it was an intimate hug.
She looked thoughtful, not suspicious. For days, Lily had been talking about Rex nonstop, saying how smart and charming he was.
Diana thought it was just her little sister making a new friend who treated her like an adult. But it turns out... this seemed like something else.
Diana told herself to talk to Lily later, then she turned around and went back to the training ground. Lily looked happy no matter what was going on.
For Diana, that was what mattered most as the older sister who needed to support her little sister.
...
The training in the afternoon went more smoothly, and Lily clearly tried to give Rex some space. She still watched him all the time, but at least she wasn’t literally hanging on to his arm anymore.
Knowing that his previous conversation with her had been effective, Rex took advantage of the extra time to check his system for information he wanted to learn.
"System," he thought to himself during a break for water. "I want to know more about the reincarnators in this world."
"Helena said they’re common... so if you can, tell me more about it."
[ACCESSING WORLD INFORMATION DATABASE]
[REINCARNATORS IN CURRENT WORLD]
[ESTIMATED POPULATION: 10,000 - 15,000 ACTIVE]
[ORIGIN: MULTIPLE WORLDS AND TIMELINES]
[INTEGRATION: VARIES BY INDIVIDUAL]
"Tell me everything about how they work, including their skills and strengths."
[REINCARNATOR CLASSIFICATIONS]
[TYPE 1: SYSTEM HOLDERS (LIKE YOU)]
[GRANTED SUPERNATURAL ABILITIES VIA SYSTEM INTERFACE]
[APPROXIMATELY 30% OF REINCARNATOR POPULATION]
[POWER LEVEL: VARIES DRAMATICALLY]
[TYPE 2: KNOWLEDGE USERS]
[LEVERAGE MODERN WORLD KNOWLEDGE IN MEDIEVAL SETTING]
[APPROXIMATELY 50% OF REINCARNATOR POPULATION]
[POWER LEVEL: MODERATE, RELIES ON INNOVATION]
[TYPE 3: SKILL TRANSFEREES]
[RETAIN ABILITIES FROM PREVIOUS LIFE]
[APPROXIMATELY 15% OF REINCARNATOR POPULATION]
[POWER LEVEL: DEPENDS ON PREVIOUS SKILLS]
[TYPE 4: ANOMALIES]
[UNIQUE CASES THAT DON’T FIT OTHER CATEGORIES]
[APPROXIMATELY 5% OF REINCARNATOR POPULATION]
[POWER LEVEL: UNPREDICTABLE]
"I see... there’s indeed a lot, and it makes this second life of mine even more interesting that I could try to find them and see which one of us is stronger to stand tall in this world." Rex smirks.
"But what I really want to know is why Helena immediately recognized that I was a reincarnator... Alright..." Rex puts a finger to his chin in thought. "Answer this question, system!"
"Are any of the Starlight members reincarnators?"
[SCANNING...]
[HELENA VON STARLIGHT: NEGATIVE]
[ELLIOT VON STARLIGHT: NEGATIVE]
"Huh... so he’s not. That’s disappointing." Rex crossed his arms, knowing that Elliot isn’t who he thought he was.
[DIANA VON STARLIGHT: NEGATIVE]
[LILY VON STARLIGHT: NEGATIVE]
[EVELYN ASTRALIGHT...]
[UNKNOWN...]
[SCAN BLOCKED]
Rex’s focus got so sharp that it made his body shiver. "Blocked...? What the fuck does that mean?"
[SOME REINCARNATORS POSSESS ANTI-DETECTION ABILITIES]
[EVELYN ASTRALIGHT HAS PROTECTION AGAINST SYSTEM SCANS]
[CONCLUSION: LIKELY REINCARNATOR WITH DEFENSIVE SYSTEM]
[THREAT LEVEL: POTENTIALLY HIGH]