Volume 3, Chapter 58 – Epilogue

“Of course, I am a woman of my word. But you all must not dig holes everywhere as you did in Byrne City. I don’t think the Elf King, my Father, will allow you to be so unruly in the royal capital.”

“That is a given!” Seeing that Fia had said so much, Lianne no longer hesitated. As if afraid Fia would go back on her word, she quickly bowed her head in thanks. “Thank you, Lady Fia! The Witch Hall owes you a huge favor!”

“Not one, but two.”

Anastasia emphasized from the side. Fia had already saved everyone in the Witch Hall from Balor, which counted as one favor.

“I… we will find a way to repay it.”

It’s fine even if you don’t—although Fia could have said this, she did not. It wasn’t that she was short on favors, but that not saying it would give them motivation. The Witch Hall had suffered a great blow this time and had lost many witches. They needed a goal to unite them, and starting by repaying a debt was a good idea.

“The Witch Hall is not like Friede’s group, who can set off at any time. There are too many things underground. It will take us a long time to dismantle and transport them to Silvar. We should be leaving later than Friede.”

“It’s fine. Friede will be there to receive you then.”

“Lianne, you are full of bad ideas, and what’s more, you don’t tell me any of them.”

“I have my own difficulties.”

Friede and Lianne looked at each other and smiled. Although it had only been a few days, the various storms they had experienced had brought the two who had been separated back onto the same line. The feelings between them were difficult to express in words; everything was understood without being said.

“Alas, I have to find a way to have Laplace’s Demon compile what he knows into a book during this time. Otherwise, when I get to Silvar, I won’t be able to enter. I don’t want to face that pervert, the Elf King.”

His muscular arms crossed over his chest, the Knowledge-seeking Demon General muttered. Then, as if he had thought of something, he looked at Fia with an eager gaze.

“Um, Your Highness, can I also get your permission to live in the elf royal capital? I promise that unless someone actively attacks me, I will never harm anyone. All I want is knowledge.”

“No.”

Fia refused flatly.

Although the Knowledge-seeking Demon General had not shown any malice so far, he was, after all, one of the Seven Demon Generals and had a capricious nature. Fia did not want to place such an uncontrollable factor in the capital of the elf race.

“As I thought. Damn it, how about I become a human… but the human body is too weak. Ah, I can do this, Your Highness. We can sign an equal contract. You periodically teach me knowledge, and I will be your servant. With a contract to restrain me, you can rest assured that I will not harm the elves.”

To get Fia to agree, the Knowledge-seeking Demon General even used a tone that was clearly pleading.

However, Fia just shook her head.

“No means no. The condition of me periodically teaching you knowledge is too high. In any case, Laplace’s Demon will not be leaving Byrne City for a while. You can communicate with him properly during this time.”

The Knowledge-seeking Demon General not only craved knowledge but also respected those who possessed it. The proof was that in the long time he had been with Laplace’s Demon, he had never used violence to threaten it, but had instead respected it as a teacher. There would be no problem in leaving him with Laplace’s Demon.

“I never thought that having a Darkborn body would be so inconvenient one day. If not for transferring the contract, Laplace would not have been studying magic these past two days, but would have been tinkering with some iron lumps. How strange.”

He was probably trying to restore things from Earth.

Ever since Laplace’s Demon had seen the descendants fly out of Saturn in [Soul Manifestation], it had returned to the embrace of machinery and had begun to try to restore machines in this world with magic. It might sound simple, but because the fundamental particles of the two worlds were different, in practice, it was very likely to encounter unprecedented situations. For Laplace’s Demon, which had lost its steel body, this was a huge challenge.

“By the way, since we’re letting you see Laplace every day, shouldn’t we charge you a venue fee?”

The cheerful Lianne said jokingly.

The Knowledge-seeking Demon General waved his hand magnanimously.

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“No problem. A demon general will not be bound by worldly possessions. I have as much money as you want.”

“Then I won’t be polite.”

While Lianne happily agreed, Friede also looked at Fia with a gentle and joyful expression.

“Lady Fia, will you have your lunch here with Lianne or back at the inn? If it’s here, I can have the most skilled apprentice witch prepare the meal. Those children already like you very much. After seeing you destroy hundreds of thousands of monsters with a forbidden spell two days ago, they talk about you every day, saying they want to repay you. If they know they can prepare a meal for you, they will surely be happy all day.”

“Uh…”

Although Friede had said so, Fia felt that it would make the apprentice witches overly nervous. And it was now two in the afternoon. To start preparing lunch from this time, according to the grand scale Friede had described, by the time the meal was actually served, it might already be four or five in the afternoon. It was fine for her to be hungry for a while, but the witches would surely go hungry along with her. It would be too much of a bother to them.

Fia thought for a moment and answered.

“I need to go back to the inn first to prepare the things I need for my departure tomorrow.”

“Y-you… you meant ‘soon’ as in tomorrow?” Friede’s voice trembled, her Asian-style face filled with reluctance. “Why don’t you stay a little longer…”

“Although I would also like to stay a little longer, I had an appointment with others before I came here. Now that the time for that appointment is approaching, I have to go back and keep it first. I’ll have lunch at the inn and come back to the Witch Hall in the evening. That way, you’ll also have more time to prepare, won’t you? It will be both a farewell and a celebration of Milu’s successful contract transfer. Oh, right, if possible, I hope the table will have normal meat…”

Fire-striped Frog and Fire Bat meat was too difficult for her.

Even if Friede hadn’t said it, Fia could guess that she would definitely put monster meat on the table.

And the reality was just as Fia had predicted. Friede raised her eyebrows, a look of surprise on her face.

“Won’t you try the specialty of Byrne City? The monster meat here is first-class and delicious.”

“I’m not used to eating monster meat yet.”

“Not used to it, huh? Then there’s nothing to be done. By the way, elves didn’t have the habit of eating meat in the past. It wasn’t until the current Elf King came to the throne that they started to. I should have thought of the fact that you’re not used to it earlier, Lady Fia. Right, has Baron Khesa given you the monsters you killed? Those are your spoils of war.”

“I plan to sell the monsters near the city gate to Baron Khesa at a low price. The ones in the desert are another matter.”

The rank of the monsters near the city gate was generally not high; their corpses were useless to Fia. As for the high-rank monsters near the blast center, to prevent them from being taken by others, Fia had already checked them herself on the night of the explosion when no one could get close. The result was that not only were there no corpses left, but even the magic cores had been vaporized. A deep pit, as if hit by a meteorite, had appeared in the desert. Only at the edge of the pit could some scattered, worthless magic cores be found.

However, the Flame King’s followers had not left behind nothing of value. Fia had found many crystals formed under high temperature and pressure at the core of the pit. [Mana Vision] showed that these glass-like crystals contained a large amount of mana, almost comparable to high-purity natural magic crystals. In addition, these crystals were colorful and had a pleasant appearance, so Fia had stored them all in her storage item.

Furthermore, because her own storage item couldn’t fit so many magic glasses, Fia had disguised herself and run back to the Mage Association halfway through to buy up all the large-capacity storage items in their warehouse—for the time being, she had taken all the magic glasses with high mana content, and the rest were just scraps with ordinary mana content and an unattractive appearance. Fia planned to have Friede go back and collect them secretly later. Although those things were not as valuable as magic cores, it would be a pity to throw them away.

As for why these glasses contained a large amount of mana, Fia’s preliminary guess was that the high temperature and pressure from the orbital bombardment had melted the monsters’ corpses and magic cores, causing the mana that had nowhere to go to be compressed into the glass, thus giving it mana. After all, when she had used [Orbital Beacon Bombardment] in the Dry Desert of the Holy Kingdom before, it had not produced these magic glasses.

Friede was slightly taken aback.

“Uh, have you already sold them to Baron Khesa?”

“It’s just a plan. Those monsters are useless to me, and I can’t take them with me.”

“We can buy the magic cores at a higher price than Baron Khesa. The profit from processing these monster materials into magic potions is much higher than selling them directly.”

“Then I’ll sell them to you for one copper coin each. I don’t need them. But I can only give you the magic cores. The monster meat belongs to Baron Khesa.”

The monsters killed by the city guards were only enough for one day of the festival. If she didn’t give the monster meat to the baron, the festival would have to be held in a shabby manner. Since it was a festival, it should be enjoyed to the fullest.

“One copper coin each…”

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It was practically the same as giving them away for free.

Friede had wanted to refuse, but on second thought, the Witch Sanctuary was now half an organization under Fia. She should accept it. She first coughed in embarrassment, then nodded obediently under Lianne’s resentful gaze.

“Thank you, Lady Fia.”

…

Without spending much time, Fia’s group of four, having separated from the Knowledge-seeking Demon General and Friede’s group, walked out of the underground. The light on the surface made them instinctively shield their eyes.

At this time, the streets were a lively scene. People’s discussions about the grand event of the day before yesterday, soldiers driving carts full of Fire-striped Frog corpses through the streets, the sound of bards playing the xylophone, and the children cheering behind the carts—everything showed the joy in people’s hearts.

“By order of the baron, the Fire-striped Frog meat is for everyone! First come, first served!” a soldier standing on a cart shouted while waving the whip in his hand. “The festival is in the square!”

“It’s meat! It’s the meat of the Fire-striped Frog!”

“And everyone gets a share!”

“Hurry up and get a spot.”

“There are so many people in the city, it’ll be hard for us to get any. Fire-striped Frog meat usually costs three copper coins a skewer. Just those adventurers will be able to snatch it all up.”

Seemingly having heard the conversation between the children and the adults, the soldier added loudly.

“The baron’s order is an unlimited supply! Her Highness Dofilia has given us all the monster meat from outside the city! Today you can eat until you don’t want to eat anymore! Be sure to thank Her Highness Dofilia for her gift!”

“She gave us all the monsters from outside the city?”

“You’ve got to be kidding. How much would that be worth?”

“Who cares, let’s eat first! I’m going to line up. Any later and the line will stretch from the square to the city gate!”

Seeing the reaction of the people on the street, the soldier, his face beaming, added more fuel to the fire.

“It’s not just Fire-striped Frogs, there’s also lava sea urchin and Lava Earth Dragon meat! If you want your wife to praise you tonight, hurry up and line up in the square!”

“Lava sea urchin?!”

“That thick meat of the Lava Earth Dragon…”

“Yay! Long live Her Highness, the First Princess!”

“Long live Her Highness, the First Princess!!”

It was unknown which child had shouted it first, but this voice easily passed through the noisy crowd and infected everyone on the street. A tsunami-like momentum surged in people’s chests, and they couldn’t help but join in this unprecedented grand event.

“Long live Her Highness, the First Princess!!!”

“Her Highness is more like the king of the Alfrieg Kingdom here than the actual king.”

Seeing the reaction of the people on the street, Anastasia couldn’t help but cover her mouth and laugh.

“Master has a talent for being popular.”

“Little Milu, you should be shouting ‘Long live Her Highness, the First Princess’ with everyone else at a time like this.”

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“But Liti was shouting ‘Long live my sister’.”

“You can also shout ‘Long live my master,’ you know?”

Pausing at Liti’s suggestion, Milu placed her small hand on her mouth and thought for a moment, then said shyly in a low voice.

“Then… long live my master?”

“Your voice is too soft. It has to be louder.”

“Long live my master.”

“Still too soft. Louder.”

“Ngh…”

“Alright, alright, you’re being too hard on her, Liti.”

Fia patted Liti’s and Milu’s heads with her left and right hands respectively. Although the current scene was exhilarating, when she was the main character, all that was left was embarrassment and shyness, making her want to flee back to the inn immediately.

“Uh huh? Is sister shy? Your face has turned red.” A triumphant-looking Liti bent down and looked at Fia’s lowered face from the side. “This is the treatment you deserve, sister. You should be more generous. Look over there, everyone is already chasing the carts to line up. Let’s go too.”

“Yes, follow Liti.”

Milu took one of Fia’s hands and began to walk forward. And to Fia’s surprise, not only Liti, but even Anastasia also took her other hand and walked forward.

“Anastasia?!”

“Although it’s not what you wish, I also think Your Highness should go and see…”

Perhaps it was the first time she had done such a thing. Anastasia seemed a little shy and anxious, her words full of inquiry.

How can I refuse her like this? This is the first time she has ever done such a thing. Wouldn’t refusing her make me seem insensitive?

Fia gave a helpless, wry smile.

“Alright, let’s go together. But I have to say this first, if there’s any activity where people hold hands and dance around a bonfire, don’t you dare call me over. And don’t stuff any Fire-striped Frog meat into my mouth.”

“We will, we will.” Liti, who was walking in front of the crowd, turned around and waved her arms, urging. “Sister Ana and little Milu, hurry up and pull sister over!”

This girl’s energy is too much.

Sighing in her heart, Fia looked at Milu and Anastasia in turn and smiled.

“Let’s go.”

Fia took the initiative to walk in front, and Milu and Anastasia followed.

Tonight will definitely be a sleepless night.

Looking at the bustling crowd in front and the green hills in the distance, Fia thought to herself.

We’ll be reunited soon, Claire.

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End of Volume 3

Author Note

Afterword

Volume 3 is finally finished. It took more time than I expected, yet the plot turned out to be less than I imagined. This volume should be at least 200,000 words, right? With each chapter being around 4,000 words and nearly sixty chapters so far, it should easily reach 200,000 words.

As for why the plot feels shorter than expected, it’s because I originally planned to include more scenes between the fallen witches and Fia, as well as some training arcs for Milu and Liti before Balor’s attack. However, when I reached that point, I felt that adding more setup would lead to an excessively long period of slow pacing. Considering some readers’ comments and my own eagerness to start working on Volume 4, I decided to cut that content and accelerate the plot.

That said, I don’t really regret it. After all, Volume 3 was always intended to be a lighter, more slice-of-life volume, so cutting some content isn’t a big deal. In Volume 1, I sacrificed a lot of world-building details for the sake of pacing. In Volume 2, to keep the plot tight, I didn’t spend much time depicting the daily lives of ordinary people (meaning anyone other than Fia). Plus, the atmosphere in Volume 2 was overly heavy, so I decided to use Volume 3 as a transition and focus more on daily life.

The structure of Volume 2 was quite demanding and somewhat thankless. Since I’m more of a slice-of-life writer, it’s better to keep things light and breezy.

As for the originally planned content of Volume 3, there were many plotlines related to Milu. However, I felt that developing them in that way might conflict with the core theme of “爽” (satisfaction/entertainment) and could even come across as somewhat dumbing down the story, making the overall experience feel awkward. So, I rearranged the order, moving the witches’ story forward and adjusting Milu’s plot to later volumes. After all, the Stellacryst Beast race hasn’t been fully introduced yet, right? This way, it’ll feel more natural.

In plain terms, I just changed the order of appearances, just like how Tilulu was pushed back—though I suspect most people have already forgotten who Tilulu is.

Because of these changes, it might seem like Milu didn’t have much presence in this volume.

Even so, I think it’s good to break away from my usual writing style. When writing about Yisi, I —[ Censored by me! no spoiler :3] —

The witches’ arc is far from over, and Rainy’s organization has only just begun to surface. These two groups will appear multiple times in the future.

Now, onto the next volume.

Claire is coming back!

Volume 4 can roughly be divided into two parts. Claire will return around the middle of Volume 4. Her return also marks the end of the early stages of the story. As we move into the mid-game, the world will expand further, and the prophecies from the early stages will begin to show signs of fulfillment. I’ll keep the rest under wraps for now~

Alright, that’s all for the plot discussion. This afterword ends here.

Thank you, dear readers, for your collections, likes, subscriptions, monthly votes, tips, comments, and the roasts within the chapters. Special thanks to benben244 for the炎帝 (Flame Emperor) tip~ Also, it’s the end of the month, so I’m begging for monthly votes qwq~

2022/9/24

Yomi

Translator Note

as usual~

illust~

Guess who’s unlocked this time

yep Euphimilu / Milu

Close up,

next~

Volume 4: The Withering Tree and the Priestess of the Sacred Tree