Isekai Journey Of The Magic Archer

[OP: ]

'I'm not going to be the one to get surprised this time, big brother~!'

Anna had secured the fort.

She had bought off Celes so Eon wasn't going to know where she was or what she had done in their house.

She had stationed all thirty three Povpoi including Mave in various areas of the house and was using a unique telepathic connection produced with the help of their fairy friend to interact with all of them.

She had Mr. Rice with her, and she was using the concealing shield of Mr. Rice in order to hide from her big brother.

He had this tendency to surprise her every time he got back, but unlike previous times, she knew he wasn't going to come through their Warp gate this time and was instead coming in a Carriage that their mom had sent to pick them up.

He wasn't going to have Celes' support and even if Celes tells him about their plan, Anna was ready with all kinds of tricks this time.

She had not prepared any grand welcomes or party to welcome her siblings this time. They were going to depart soon so they did not need any of that anyway so, instead of that, she was more focused on not getting surprised by her big brother like every time.

The last time, he caught her off guard and appeared out of nowhere, before that, she he arrived out of the blue and she wasn't there to greet him. Before that… she was playing in her room, and he surprised her that time as well.

Until now, ever since he went to the academy and came back, each time he had come back, he had surprised her in some way.

The last time, she had prepared her best to be the one to surprise him, but she still ended up being the one to get surprised by his sudden arrival.

She did not like how he did that, and more than that, she did not want to fall for his tricks this time as well.

So, she had taken complete control of their house this time.

"Celes?"

[{ I know, I know. Master is on his own, yes. Of course." }]

In exchange for not helping her big brother this time, Anna was going to give her a special opportunity.

Celes can ask her to do anything, though not something her big brother had asked her to ask her, and Anna would listen to her.

It was a special opportunity that not even her big brother had gotten until now so, if Celes was getting something so valuable in exchange for simply not helping him once, even Eon suggested she take the deal.

He wouldn't be able to use this opportunity directly but since Celes was his familiar anyway, he knew how he would still benefit from having that opportunity.

He wasn't going to get any help from his familiar this time so, no perfect disguise, no complete presence concealment, and no magically reappearing out of nowhere either.

Her grandpa Zhen was on her side so she had someone that can detect him even if he tried concealing his presence, her Taika was on her side so the moment he entered her sensory range, without Celes, he wouldn't be able to trick her.

The others of the house, the knights and the mages, her grandpa and grandma, even her aunts and uncles who were back, as well as her mom and dad were going to help them this time.

She had everyone on her side, even Zoe who was with the two of them right now.

Carla, Alf, Chry, her sister Quin, Eon and Rein, and Zoe were coming back together but Zoe, Eon, and Rein were in the same carriage while the rest of them were in a different one.

And even that was Nolan's trick to make sure they have an eye on Eon.

The game of surprise was something they had been playing for a long time now, and though it was never something intentional, he surely enjoyed it as well.

Seeing her surprised, knowing how she put in so much effort just so that he is the one getting surprised, when it comes to her, he was happy with the smallest, most insignificant thing.

This time as well, he was excited about how she had prepared all this.

[{ "She's being cute, haha." }]

Celes wasn't going to help him with most of the things, but he could still see everything that was going on in their house with the help of her clones.

It wasn't cheating if she wasn't the one helping him since Eon could naturally access the clones and see what they were seeing like he could do with Celes' main body.

It was allowed, perhaps, so he had already known how she had spread out so many people just so he would not come out of nowhere and surprise her.

Taika was walking around their gates, the Povpoi were jumping around the house in different locations, the ladies of the house were chatting in the garden, talking about how Anna was being funny once again, while the men were also on a lookout.

Celes didn't show him Anna's current location since she knew that would be cheating and indirect help, but she still showed him more than enough for him to get the idea about the whole situation.

He knew where most of them were right now, he knew how she had only asked them to do a certain thing for her instead of being the one in control and commanding them directly.

He knew they were using Ast and her connection ability instead of Celes' network so he also knew interference with their network was possible.

She was talking with the others though the connection, but since this skill network wasn't as good as Celes' origin connection, they were going to have quite a few problems and even if she had their grandparents and Grandpa Zhen, or even knights and mages on her side, this was going to be as simple as breaching into a poorly managed fortress.

"This is going to be fun."

She had asked Zoe to simply keep an eye on him instead of telling her to block him from doing whatever he wanted and keep him inside the carriage so they had made a mistake on that part as well.

Had Anna specifically asked Zoe to forcefully keep Eon inside the carriage until they had reached their destination, she wouldn't have any choice but to do as she was asked by her adorable little sister.

But, if it was only about keeping an eye on her, then she knew there was no need for her to do pretty much anything.

She simply had to watch everything Eon did and that would be all… and she could do that from inside the carriage as well which meant Eon didn't need to worry about the biggest possible variable. Discover hidden stories at empire

He already had Rein on his side as well since Anna simply 'assumed' she wouldn't do anything she asked if it involved him and this little game of theirs so, this was a mistake from her side as well.

"She still has quite a few things to learn."

Eon made his move right when he was on the periphery of Taika's sensory domain, and right after she sensed him entering her senses inside the carriage, he made a substitute of him using Celes' skill which, again, wasn't related to helping him get to her.

She was simply helping him to distract the others, something Anna never mentioned was forbidden so this time, Celes made the clones and became of them, when Eon naturally erased his presence with his Solnova spell that closely replicated what Celes does with her skills, he was able to fool even Taika's impeccable senses.

Then, he and Rein used her skill to travel to a certain location that Eon had calculated based on the whole set up that Anna had poorly planned.

It was very good from the perspective of a young one her age, but the ones she was trying to restrict with this simple setup were people who had fought in battles against demons and evil cultists.

-Ooooooooong.

-Swiiiiiiiiiiiiish…

"Taika, Taika. What's the status?"

She was hiding in the kitchen in one of the shelves that they usually kept empty.

As he had figured out already, their mom and the aunts were going to greet him first, then the dad and uncles would greet them Inside the house, and then their grandpa and grandma would somehow lead him to the kitchen area.

With the Povpoi outside, there would be little distraction and since Taika was outside as well, he would have tried making some refreshments for everyone in the kitchen.

But as soon as he was inside the kitchen, when he was least expecting it, she jumped out and surprised him… this innocent girl at least thought that it was going to play out like this.

Sadly…

"The status is, little love, that you still have quite a few things to learn."

"Hmmm?"

The shelf that she was in could only be opened with one door that was right beside her. She would know the moment someone opened it, and yet… that familiar voice she heard just now came not from beyond the doors, but from somewhere much closer.

"You should have asked your sister Rein before anyone else. Perhaps, had you done that, you'd have succeeded this time."

Of course though, that would be an intentional thing. He would be happy with her plan and give her the win himself, but if she genuinely wanted to win against him… she still had a long way ahead of her.

"Hmmm??? What?"

She was confused where that voice was coming from even though she knew it was from right before her, but, until Eon asked Celes to illustrate the shelf, she was thinking that her ears were simply ringing.

-Ooooooong!

But right after the shelf lit up with the comfortable light, she saw the familiar smiling face of her big brother.

As soon as she saw it, her eyes instantly shifted to the crow behind him, then to the butterfly on the palm of her hand, and finally back to Eon's blue, glowing eyes…

"Kyaaaaaaaa!"

And then she screamed.