Volume 3, Chapter 23 – Milu’s Master

“So, you’re saying I can only take Milu’s doppelgänger with me? Otherwise, once Milu steps out of Byrne City, both the doppelgänger and Milu’s main body will pass out?”

“Yes.”

In response to Fia’s question, Milu nodded.

Fia sat up straight, her brows slightly furrowed.

She now had some understanding of Milu’s immortality and her doppelgänger ability. The so-called immortality meant that no matter how severely Milu was injured, she would resurrect in some uninhabited corner of Byrne City the next day. This resurrection was almost like a rebirth; if Milu had old wounds, they would disappear. However, on the other hand, if Milu’s body had grown, this rebirth would cause it to shrink back to its original state.

It sounded as if Milu’s life was recorded at a certain point in time. Whenever she died, she would restart from this point. The difference was that the time of the people around her would not turn back with her death, nor would her memories be reset; only her physical body would be restored.

And the short-haired Milu, whom she called her “doppelgänger,” was an existence Milu had discovered not long after she had gained consciousness. The first time she had seen her doppelgänger was a chance encounter on the street. When Milu came into contact with her, the short-haired Milu had merged into her body and shared everything she had seen and heard.

In Fia’s view, it was less that the short-haired Milu was a doppelgänger and more that she was a copy. After all, the short-haired Milu had not separated from the long-haired Milu’s body. And just like the long-haired Milu, she had the ability to resurrect in the city after death. The only differences between the two, besides their hair and personality, were that the short-haired one could leave the city while the long-haired one could not. It was because of this that Milu could learn about the outside world through her doppelgänger.

However, considering that every time they merged, it was the short-haired one who merged into the long-haired one, and not the other way around, perhaps the long-haired Milu did have a higher priority. It wasn’t wrong to call her a doppelgänger.

As for why Milu couldn’t leave Byrne City, the answer was that as soon as she stepped out of its range, she would immediately lose consciousness. The boundary of this range was rather vague and not simply defined by the city walls, but a circle larger than the area enclosed by them.

Due to the lack of people to cooperate with, Milu herself had never explored the reason why she couldn’t leave Byrne City. After all, if she fainted outside the city, if she was lucky, she might be brought back by a passerby and regain consciousness. But if she was unlucky, she would become food for wild wolves.

To this, Milu’s proposed solution was for Fia to take her doppelgänger with her. When Fia missed her, she could come back to find her. She would wait in Byrne City for Fia to return with her doppelgänger. Since the main body could experience the feelings and memories of the doppelgänger after they merged, it would be as if Milu were by Fia’s side.

Fia rejected it outright.

“No. Both you and your doppelgänger must leave this place. Byrne City is too chaotic. I can’t leave you here alone.”

She had just told Milu that she could consider her family, and the next moment she would be abandoning her in a city breeding with sin. Fia couldn’t do it. Besides, both her terrifying trait and the curse she now knew about made Fia see Claire’s shadow in Milu, and she subconsciously wanted to solve the problems entwined around her.

If she could really break this curse, she would probably have more confidence when she saw Claire again.

However, it was a fact that Milu could not leave Byrne City. An objective fact could not be changed by one’s subjective will. It wasn’t that just because she wanted to take Milu away, she could. She first had to figure out why Milu had this curse, and only then could she begin to solve it.

While Fia was thinking, Milu lowered her head and said softly.

“But I can’t leave here. If I do, both my doppelgänger and I will pass out. That will only cause you trouble, master.”

“Losing consciousness is more important than causing me trouble. Don’t talk for now, Milu. Let me think.”

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Fia gestured for Milu not to worry and continued to think.

The main body cannot leave Byrne City, but the doppelgänger can—no, “doppelgänger” is Milu’s own term. If the short-haired Milu were really her doppelgänger, then their first meeting should have been Milu discovering that she could separate another self, not a chance encounter in the city.

Similarly, the short-haired one can leave the city, but Milu herself cannot. This also shows that there is some difference between the two. The short-haired one cannot be simply regarded as a doppelgänger. She doesn’t look like Milu’s sister from any angle, and doesn’t even seem like a normal living being. Plus, Milu had said she has no relatives. Could it be that Milu, like Claire, was not a naturally born being?

Suddenly, this thought popped into Fia’s mind.

If so, then Claire’s theory could be applied here. Because Milu was not naturally born, her existence violated the rules of the gods, so she was burdened with a curse, which was that she could not leave Byrne City.

This was the worst possible conclusion. In that case, she would have to find a god, and on the way to find one, Milu would definitely not be able to follow her.

Her thoughts had reached a dead end. Fia frowned and couldn’t help but ask.

“Do you remember what you saw when you first opened your eyes, Milu? No, let me rephrase, how old are you?”

“I don’t know…”

Her legs pressed together, Milu, unable to answer the question, seemed very anxious.

Fia was stunned for a moment, then sighed quietly. A person who didn’t even know where her next meal would come from, how could she remember how much time had passed? Her question was a bit thoughtless.

Fia had no choice but to ask again.

“Then has your body been this big since you became conscious, Milu?”

“Yes, maybe for three years… or maybe five or six…”

“What about your memories? Did you know the common sense of this world since you became conscious?”

Milu nodded lightly.

“I only knew some languages and some strange common knowledge. At first, I thought the world was just like in that common knowledge, but later I found that the world was different from what I knew.”

So the common sense instilled in her is at odds with the customs of the World Tree Continent?

Thinking this, Fia had Milu give some examples. Milu chose to use language as an example. For instance, she had mastered the Elven language, the language of the Alfrieg Kingdom, the holy language of Milcandis, and the language of the beastmen. However, among the many languages she had mastered, there were some that she had never seen anyone use or even come across, as if they did not belong to the World Tree Continent.

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Fia gave Milu a piece of paper and a pen and asked her to write her own name in the language she spoke of. The result was that the very first character Milu wrote made Fia tilt her head.

On the paper was clearly the language of the Human Alliance.

Although it was a very early, even ancient form of the language, Fia could still recognize it. Plus, Milu had phonetically written the characters corresponding to “Euphimilu,” which made Fia even more convinced that the language she knew was that of the Human Alliance.

They are two different worlds, not even in the same universe. How could Milu know the language of the Human Alliance?

Fia immediately asked if Milu was a transmigrator, but the answer was “What is a transmigrator?”. Milu had only mastered common sense like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west; she had not come from the Human Alliance.

It was all very confusing.

In the end, since Milu’s body was reset every time she died, where did the slave contract on her come from? Shouldn’t it have disappeared along with her body?

“Who is your master, Milu?”

“Ngh…” Milu had a troubled expression, as if she were trying hard to remember. “A crystal… very big, very dazzling.”

“A crystal?”

“Yes, not human. I often dream of it, but it has never given me any orders.”

Fia thought for a moment.

“Then do you remember where it is, Milu?”

“Underground, very deep. At first, it seemed to have high expectations for me, but since then, I’ve never seen it again.”

Buried deep underground?

Fia raised an eyebrow.

“Alright, I understand.”

The only clue at present was the crystal Milu had mentioned. The fact that she always appeared in Byrne City after dying and could not leave was likely related to her master, this crystal buried beneath the city.

Come to think of it, Friede had also said during dinner that the thing that controlled the lives and deaths of the witches, the Witch’s Heart Core, was also buried underground. Could the crystal Milu spoke of and the Heart Core Friede spoke of be the same thing? That would be too much of a coincidence.

In any case, she had to find that thing first. Byrne City was not that big; it wouldn’t take much effort. Compared to the “real thing” on Claire, the “curse” on Milu had clear clues.

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Although she said that, the plan to enter the elf territory tomorrow probably couldn’t be carried out. Not to mention solving Milu’s “curse,” first, the three locked-up witches and the women left in the stronghold had to be dealt with during the day.

She might as well stay in Byrne City for a while longer.

With this thought, Fia’s gaze fell on the bed, where the chess pieces Liti had left were still scattered.

“That’s all the questions for now. It’s getting late. You should go to sleep, Milu.”

“Sleep…”

Hearing the word, Milu’s body stiffened, and a blush involuntarily crept up her cheeks. However, she still chose to stand up, her small hands clasped in front of her waist as she walked towards the bed anxiously.

This unnatural movement was noticed by Fia. She asked curiously.

“What’s wrong? You seem very unnatural.”

Her cheeks burning hot, Milu stammered.

“I… I have no experience…”

“Experience?”

Since when did sleeping require experience?

Seeing Fia’s puzzled expression, Milu’s expression stiffened again. She asked, as if for confirmation, stammering.

“Um… dressing a female slave in pretty clothes and bringing her to your room, doesn’t that mean you want her to… to attend to you for the night? I’ve heard that from other slaves…”

“Huh?” Fia was first stunned, then her cheeks also turned red, and her face darkened. “Milu, we’re both female. How could there be such a thing as attending to me for the night?”

“But master is an elf.”

“…”

Fia was at a loss for words for a moment. She had indeed forgotten that it didn’t matter for elves whether they were male or female. But where on earth did this little girl learn such improper things? Her own sexual orientation was indeed towards women, but definitely not a flat-chested girl like Milu, even if she had the makings of a beauty and the charm of a foreign princess after being dressed up.

Fia urged her on by waving her hands repeatedly.

“There’s no such thing. I’m not interested in children like you, and I already have someone I like. Just go to sleep obediently. Renee will come up to stay with you later.”

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“Then what about you, master?”

“I’m going to the alchemy workshop in the inn. I saw that they have a workbench there on the way back from the restaurant.”

Although it was already eleven at night, this could not stop Fia’s eagerness to try. Having just spent a large sum of money at the Mage Association on various magic crystals and alchemy materials, she would be itching to try them out if she didn’t do it on the same day.

“Alright, go to sleep obediently. If you need anything, you can find me downstairs.”

Fia turned around, waved at Milu, and then opened the door.

What Fia didn’t notice was that when Milu, who was left in the room, heard that Fia was not interested in her and had left so casually, she grabbed the hem of her skirt with both hands, pouted her lips, and had a huffy, puffed-up expression on her face. ¹ /pat pat

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Leaving the room, Fia went to the alchemy workshop in the inn.

The so-called alchemy workshop was actually a cubicle enclosed by a glass curtain wall. It was more for show than for practical use. The various tools required for alchemy were not cheap. To be able to gather them all and display them openly was a symbol of wealth.

When Fia asked the front desk if she could use them, the answer was that it was fine as long as she didn’t break anything. This answer made Fia gladly enter the cubicle ² a small partitioned-off area of a room, for example one containing a bed in a dwelling or one containing a desk in an office. . It was late at night, and there was no one in the restaurant near the workshop, so Fia didn’t have to worry about being disturbed.

“Whoa.”

Upon entering the workshop, Fia’s eyes lit up.

As expected of a tool used by the inn owner to show off their wealth, all sorts of tools were available.

Besides a clean and sturdy stone workbench, there were various vessels like test tubes and beakers. Next to the workbench was a cauldron that would take two people to encircle. In addition, tongs, stands, and what looked like cotton swabs were also neatly arranged on the workbench, and behind it was something like a medicine cabinet. It was worth mentioning that the test tubes and beakers were not made of glass, but of an opaque red metal. Fia recognized it at a glance as the extremely precious Crimson Gold, which could prevent mana from dissipating and magic potions from evaporating.

Even if it was just mixed with Crimson Gold and not entirely made of it, it was still a grand gesture.

On the World Tree Continent, metals were divided into common metals and magical metals. Common metals referred to iron, copper, silver, and gold. Magical metals were things like mithril, Orichalcum, Crimson Gold, and Crystal Gold. In general, magical metals were more difficult to mine than common metals. For expensive metals like Crimson Gold and Crystal Gold, a single mine could only produce a small amount each year. But in return, they had a wide range of uses and extraordinary effects.

A material like Crimson Gold, which only appeared in high-grade magic weapons, was priced at fifty gold coins for a tael of 30% purity at the Mage Association.

“Let’s start with the basics.”

Rubbing her hands together excitedly, Fia spread ‘An Introduction to Alchemy That Even Slimes Say Is Good’ on the workbench and then took out the required materials from her spatial backpack one by one.