Volume 4, Chapter 2 – Remote Message Magic

On an autumn evening, a carriage and a fine horse were speeding across the grasslands.

Renee, riding alone, glanced at the carriage behind her. It was luxurious and spacious—so large, in fact, that it couldn’t navigate some rugged mountain roads. It was a vehicle made specifically for nobles to display their status on city roads.

However, in the elf kingdom of Silvar, while it could be described as exquisite, it was by no means luxurious. It was far too shabby a transport for Lord Thanatos.

—At an angle where Anastasia couldn’t see, Renee curled her lip.

If she were the one serving Lord Thanatos, she would never allow her to sit in such a crude carriage.

It was one thing back in the human kingdoms, where the roads weren’t as flat and wide as Silvar’s. But they were in elf territory now, and a week had already passed without them switching to a larger, more comfortable Dragon Carriage. She really didn’t know what was going through Anastasia’s head.

Didn’t she understand that forcing Lord Thanatos to condescend to sit in such a carriage was demeaning her noble status and making her a laughingstock for others?

At this thought, Renee couldn’t help but sigh. She didn’t understand why Fia had chosen Anastasia as her personal maid and not Erin Slate, the Captain of the Imperial Guard, who was superior in both wisdom and strength. If there was one thing about Anastasia that could surpass Erin Slate, it was her figure. But even then, Erin was not that far behind. It wasn’t that Erin wasn’t outstanding, but that Anastasia’s figure was simply too perfect.

This reason was completely unconvincing. Renee refused to believe that her master would choose a personal maid based on her figure.

Perhaps Anastasia has a shining quality that I can’t see, Renee thought. After all, even Lady Erin Slate couldn’t comprehend the deep meaning behind Lord Thanatos’s every move. It was even more impossible for someone less intelligent like herself to understand the difference.

Fortunately, in terms of her duties as a guard and a maid, Anastasia was doing a decent job. Lord Thanatos’s mood was much happier than when Renee had seen her in the past, almost as if she were a different person. Renee faintly felt that this might be the reason why Anastasia could not be replaced by Erin Slate.

No, rather than thinking about this, it’s better to consider the next course of action.

Realizing this, Renee’s expression turned serious.

The crisis in the Milcandis Holy Kingdom had been resolved. After this battle, they would no longer be able to stir up trouble, and the islands in the North Sea now belonged completely to Silvar. The Eldest Princess’s reputation for masterminding strategy and personally facing the enemy was firmly established.

All that remained was to deal with the menacing Prince Schain in the northern territories, and there would be no more worries about problems arising in Silvar, the organization’s base of operations. Her master’s position as the future King would be completely secure. They just had to wait for the current Elf King to step down from the throne.

As for how to deal with Prince Schain, Renee wasn’t worried. Although the prince was the current Elf King’s elder brother, with considerable strength of his own and the backing of many high-ranking nobles, their organization had long ago made arrangements around him—unlike the sudden attack from the Milcandis Holy Kingdom. Just as she had been placed in the House of Count Reinhardt, there were surely other spies around the great nobles who sided with Prince Schain. If they truly wanted to eliminate them, they could probably make a move at any time.

The reason they hadn’t acted yet was likely due to a problem with someone else in the organization. Renee had no information on this matter. The only people in the organization she knew were Erin Slate and Loca, the third daughter of the House of Count Reinhardt. She knew very little about the others, so she naturally couldn’t guess who was holding things back.

“Sigh.”

Renee sighed unconsciously.

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It had been half a month since she left the royal capital. She wondered how things were there.

At this thought, Renee’s right hand grasped the silver pocket watch tucked into the chest of her battle dress. On the surface, it was a clock, but it was actually a magical tool created by the Eldest Princess for communication within the organization.

It was worth noting that to prevent members from being exposed, the communication devices used by different people had different forms. For example, Renee used a pocket watch, while Erin Slate’s was a hairband.

“It’s five-thirty.”

Silvar was located in the north of the continent, so the sky darkened early. It was about time to make camp.

However, just as Renee was about to pull the reins to alert Anastasia, she suddenly felt the watch in her hand move. She quickly opened the cover. The hands on the watch face were now flashing with a barely perceptible red light.

This was the sign of an incoming communication, and specifically, one from the administrator, Erin Slate.

Renee recognized the signal’s origin at a glance.

For security reasons, the pocket watch couldn’t be connected by simply pressing a button. It required a series of complex steps to establish a link. After all, the device could fall into enemy hands, so it was impossible not to have security measures.

With movements that wouldn’t be noticed by Anastasia in the carriage behind her, Renee controlled her horse while staring intently at the flashing red light on the watch face. The hour and minute hands were blinking in a regular, repeating rhythm. If Fia had seen this, she would have certainly complained about something called Morse code.

For example, if the hour and minute hands each flashed once, it represented the letter “A,” while the hour hand flashing once and the minute hand flashing three times represented the letter “B.” By combining these encrypted symbols, they could form specific words or phrases to convey secret intelligence.

In less than half a minute, the red light from the watch disappeared, and Renee had received the message it conveyed.

100.5.

This was the message Erin Slate had sent her.

It sounded bewildering, but that was precisely what the organization required. 100.5 was only half the key to opening the treasure chest; it needed to be combined with a specific magic to form the complete key.

This specific magic was [Remote Message].

The World Tree Continent had a magic called [Message]. This magic allowed the user to convey their thoughts to another person without speaking aloud. However, in practice, [Message] was not as convenient as it sounded.

First, for the recipient to receive the [Message], they also had to be using the [Message] magic. Second, although the range of [Message] increased with the strength of the users, the sound became extremely distorted at distances over twenty meters. Furthermore, [Message] was easily interfered with by other magic, leading to information loss or even eavesdropping if detected. As a result, [Message] was shelved and rarely used by anyone.

It had no practical application in either daily life or combat.

But the [Remote Message] developed by the Eldest Princess was different.

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Although [Remote Message] had the flaws of only being usable by the elf race and consuming an immense amount of the recipient’s mana, its effects were outstanding. As long as [Remote Message] was tuned to a specific frequency, the transmitted information was difficult to interfere with. Its range was vast enough to cover nearly half of Silvar, a distance that was hard to imagine.

Renee had once heard Erin Slate explain the principles of this magic, with terms like “using the Holy Tree as an amplifier” and “converting sound into magical signals.” Although Erin had been very excited when she said these things, her eyes filled with reverence for the Eldest Princess, Renee didn’t understand a single word. For her, it was enough to know how to use the magic and who developed it.

With extreme proficiency, Renee tuned the receiving frequency of her [Remote Message] to 100.5—she had long since memorized the feeling corresponding to each frequency, a compulsory lesson for every member of the organization.

Tss…

A burst of static that made her frown sounded in her mind. Renee immediately checked the state of her mana—it was draining at an extremely fast rate. This meant the connection had been successfully established. She began to wait quietly for the moment the static disappeared.

Soon, an elegant and mature female voice echoed in Renee’s mind.

「Can you hear me, Renee?」

「I can.」

Renee replied immediately.

This was another advantage of [Remote Message]. With the standard [Message] magic, one party had to finish transmitting before the other could begin, otherwise the two messages would become entangled into gibberish. [Remote Message], however, allowed for real-time communication; the magic wouldn’t fail even if both parties spoke at the same time.

Upon receiving Renee’s reply, the person on the other end let out a long sigh of relief.

「I’ve finally reached you. Judging by the sound, you’re on horseback? Does the Barony of Khesa have any value? Never mind, there isn’t much time, let’s skip the pleasantries. I wanted to ask if you’ve heard anything about Her Highness. She didn’t contact me at the scheduled time, and I can’t reach her. I figured since you just returned from Byrne City, you might have a clue, so I contacted you.」

「I have.」

「Where?!」

Almost instantly, the volume in Renee’s mind amplified several times over, causing her to instinctively close her eyes to endure the piercing pain in her head.

Lady Erin Slate strongly denies having feelings for Lord Thanatos, yet now she’s showing her concern without any attempt to hide it. It’s too obvious. Lord Thanatos must have seen through her long ago, Renee thought to herself. She answered in the calmest voice she could manage.

「Lord Thanatos is right beside me. She is safe and sound, and has achieved many victories.」

「hahh—」Erin Slate let out another long sigh. Renee heard a soft thump and couldn’t help but picture Erin sinking into a soft sofa. 「As long as nothing happened. Since Her Highness is on her way back, it means she has resolved the matter with the Milcandis Holy Kingdom. It’s about time we discussed how to handle Prince Schain.」

Renee frowned.

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「Uh, Lady Erin Slate, while I shouldn’t interject, can’t Prince Schain be killed at any time? If there is no suitable candidate, I am willing to do it the next time Count Reinhardt meets with him.」

「You must not.」

Erin Slate rejected it outright, explaining in a solemn tone.

「Don’t you understand yet, Renee? The real problem isn’t how to kill Prince Schain and the nobles behind him without anyone knowing. It’s how to minimize the negative impact after they’re dead. Anyone who’s spent time in the royal court knows which nobles are close to Prince Schain. If this group of people were all assassinated without warning, anyone would see that something is wrong. Everyone will suspect Her Highness did it.」

「As long as we don’t leave any evidence.」

「This isn’t something that can be solved by not leaving evidence. The key is His Majesty the King. The King’s own power is not to be underestimated; his quasi-Eighth-Rank strength is unmatched in all of Silvar. If the assassination makes the King feel threatened, he will inevitably become suspicious and distance himself from Her Highness, even without proof. This is not conducive to the future. We cannot sacrifice the bigger picture for immediate gains.」

「So there was that to consider…」

Renee was suddenly enlightened.

Indeed, if the King began to suspect that the crown princess was trying to usurp his throne, it would be the worst possible outcome, even if no evidence was left behind. Although Her Highness could use that terrifying forbidden spell, it seemed to have limits on its usage and duration. Besides, using a forbidden spell in the densely populated royal capital… the consequences would be unimaginable.

Just like always, Lady Erin Slate’s considerations were far more long-term than her own.

「Is it convenient for you to speak with Her Highness now? I have something to say to her.」

「Yes, please give me a moment, Lady Erin Slate. Anastasia and the Third Princess are also here. I cannot let them find out.」

「Then I will contact you again in a quarter of an hour. Find an opportunity to use a magic potion to recover your mana.」

「Understood.」

Tshh—

With a fleeting burst of static, the [Remote Message] was cut off.

Renee quickly looked back to check if Anastasia had noticed her actions. As it turned out, Anastasia was busy teaching Euphimilu how to drive the carriage and had no time to pay attention to her.

Placing her right hand on her ample chest, Renee exhaled softly.

“Time to prepare.”

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First, she had to get the note with ‘100.5’ written on it into the princess’s hands.

Due to Anastasia’s strict nature—so meticulous that she had to personally inspect the color and material of the Eldest Princess’s underwear each day to ensure it hadn’t been tampered with before delivering it—Renee knew Fia had no communication device on her person. It would never have passed Anastasia’s inspection.

A quarter of an hour later, having secretly written the message on a slip of paper, Renee convinced Anastasia by saying she “had a message to deliver to Her Highness” and lifted the carriage curtain.

She’s watching me like a hawk.

Renee’s gaze swept discreetly over Anastasia and Liti, making a silent judgment. Because, on the surface, she was part of Prince Schain’s faction., Anastasia’s group had been highly vigilant towards her throughout the journey, treating her worse than a stranger.

It must be said, Renee didn’t feel hurt or wronged by this. On the contrary, she felt it was a great honor, because it was proof that she was serving Fia. The Eldest Princess was the deity who had given her a second life, granted her powerful strength, and bestowed upon her a supreme mission. To be able to serve the Eldest Princess was more satisfying and reassuring than anything else. It gave her the tangible feeling that she was “truly shining for her master” and “had not been abandoned by her master.”

In comparison, although Anastasia could serve their master up close, she was still inferior. She, Renee, was the one trusted by their master with important tasks and secrets. Anastasia knew nothing; she was just a pitiful wretch.

Realizing this, Renee’s pride grew. She entered the carriage with a stern face, her gaze fixed on Fia, who was raising a hand to shield her eyes.

“Your Highness, the Eldest Princess.”

“What is it.”

Still the same cold and indifferent ice queen, her inner thoughts impossible to guess. Renee sighed internally. Back at the royal palace, she rarely had the chance to see Fia because she belonged to Prince Schain’s faction. So every time she saw her, her chest would tighten in astonishment. The Eldest Princess’s beauty and cold pride could captivate even her, another woman.

“We will reach the royal city in a few days. There are some matters I must inform you of beforehand.”

To prevent being seen by those outside, Renee dropped the curtain and sat boldly on the side of the carriage, then discreetly passed the note with “100.5” to Fia.

As soon as I give this to Her Highness, she will understand that she needs to connect to this frequency and contact Lady Erin Slate.

That being said, Renee did not turn off her own [Remote Message]. This was another benefit of the magic: as long as one was connected to the frequency, any number of people could talk at the same time.

「Lady Erin Slate, we are ready.」

「Good.」

Erin Slate’s calm and mature voice came from the other end of the message.

「Lord Thanatos, we have everything prepared. What are your orders?」