Volume 4, Chapter 17 – Kagura and the Shrine Maiden

The contents of the book were already etched into her mind, so it didn’t matter that it had disappeared. This must have been a failsafe set up by the princess—or perhaps by her past self—to prevent the information from falling into the wrong hands.

After a long silence, Fia, with one hand propped on the desk, sighed softly.

“These few clues don’t explain anything.”

If she was so unsure, she should have left more information in the book just in case. Leaving only two magic formulas, while not entirely insignificant, didn’t provide any of the help she actually needed. She had no idea what the princess, or her past self, had been trying to do.

Fia quickly calmed herself and gently blew the ashes off the desk.

Considering the princess might have hidden similar notes in separate places as a precaution, she should now check other parts of the palace.

But before setting out, Fia first focused her attention on the formulas the princess had left behind.

Putting aside the information revealed in the note—that the princess might have known in advance that she would die—she had also made two other important points.

First was the organization she had left behind. This organization had a total of thirty-four members, and these thirty-four had, in turn, developed many subordinates who were not directly under the princess’s command. These subordinates were unaware that they were indirectly receiving orders from her.

These people were scattered throughout the various sectors of the kingdom, from food and metallurgy to currency minting and magic development. Although some of them only held minor positions in their respective departments, they could still use their authority to obtain firsthand intelligence.

Not only that, but nearly half of them had been placed by the side of high-ranking nobles in the kingdom. Renee, for example, was a representative of this group.

It was worth noting that the princess had not written down the names of these people and their roles directly in the elf language, but had used a mix of various languages. Although it wasn’t as secure as Morse code, if she had written it in Morse code, Fia certainly wouldn’t have been able to decipher it without a key.

As for the second important matter the princess had explained, it was far more significant to Fia than the first.

A magic called [Remote Message].

It was a spell that modified [Message], amplifying its power and encrypting it.

The reason the original [Message] could only travel a very short distance was that it consumed very little mana, and due to the limits of magic, even if the user had a lot of mana remaining, they could not simply increase the output to make it travel further. [Remote Message] solved this problem.

Reaԁ оո KаtRеadіոɡCαfе

[Remote Message] added a relay station to act as a signal amplifier, and this relay station was the Holy Tree of the elf race. The princess had secretly set up a magic barrier on the Holy Tree that could amplify the effect of [Message]. When a user connected to the Holy Tree with [Remote Message], the Holy Tree would use its own mana to amplify the signal sent by the user, expanding it so that it could be received by people hundreds of kilometers away.

And to prevent unintended listeners, the princess had set up another barrier on the Holy Tree. The recipient had to match a pre-arranged signal; only when the two frequencies were the same could the connection be established, otherwise, subsequent messages could not be received.

It was somewhat like a radio, but with some subtle differences.

Of course, more than understanding the principle, Fia was concerned about another matter.

This last will of the princess explained the meaning of the “100.5” Renee had handed her a few days ago—it was the key to connecting to [Remote Message].

“Uh…”

Realizing this, even more question marks popped up in Fia’s mind.

If Renee had handed her the note so she could connect with the people at the Holy Tree, then wouldn’t she, or the people on the other end, have noticed that she had never connected in the first place?

Not only that, but Renee had even shown a look of admiration afterwards, saying things like “Lady Erin Slate will arrange everything” and “so you had a plan all along,” as if Fia had actually connected to the [Remote Message].

Putting aside the fact that she hadn’t connected at all, even if she had, what she had said was “I’ve lost my memory.” Unless Renee had lost her mind, there was no way she would have looked at her with such admiration.

There couldn’t have been some incredible coincidence, like her saying “I’ve lost my memory” just happened to be the answer to a question on the other end of the [Remote Message]… such things didn’t happen in this world. Even saying it as a guess made her want to laugh. If something with a lower probability than being hit by a meteorite were to actually happen, she would have to seriously consider what great deeds she had done in her past life.

In short, something she couldn’t understand might have happened on Renee’s end. She would put it aside for now. As for trying to use [Remote Message] to connect right away, since the magic could only be established one-way—that is, only the people at the Holy Tree could initiate a connection to a recipient, not the other way around—Fia couldn’t find a target to use it on even if she wanted to.

Finally, in addition to the [Remote Message] magic, the princess had mentioned one other thing.

Her blood.

In her description, she knew that her blood had miraculous properties. Not only could it heal wounds easily, but it could also cure the Darkborn Disease, transforming its patterns into a source of great power. The fact that she had been able to build an organization fiercely loyal to her was inextricably linked to this ability.

Rеad oո ΚаtRеаdіոɡСаfe

Just as Renee had said, the vast majority of the people in this organization were sufferers of the Darkborn Disease. They had been abandoned by their families, subjected to discrimination and scorn, and finally, when the disease flared up, were left to die in dark, damp ruins or stinking gutters. It was the princess’s blood that had pulled them back from the brink of death. She had secretly taught them how to use magic and Martial Skills, and even how to use the Darkborn Disease to strengthen themselves.

The princess attributed the efficacy of her blood to the work of an “unknown element.”

The princess didn’t know what this “unknown element” was, but Fia knew. It was, in all likelihood, nanomachines.

When the princess dripped blood carrying nanomachines onto a wounded person, the nanomachines would repair the injuries on their own. What Fia hadn’t expected was that the nanomachines were also effective against the Darkborn Disease. And even more incredibly, the princess had, without knowing what “nanomachines” were, figured out a way to control them, allowing them to remain in the patient’s body for a long time.

Fia herself had explored the nanomachines before. When she was alone and idle, she had tried to make them exist outside her body. If she could get them to acquire their own energy and self-replicate, it would be equivalent to possessing almost infinite creative power.

Compared to that, Tenth-Rank magic was child’s play. At her will, the nanomachines could easily change an entire planet.

Unfortunately, the nanomachines could not be separated from her for too long. When she dripped her blood on an injured mouse, its wounds would indeed heal in an instant. But if she waited a minute and then created another wound, it would not heal. Furthermore, if she continuously created wounds on the mouse, it wouldn’t even take a minute; at around the twenty-second mark, the wounds would stop healing.

No matter how many times Fia tried, the result was more or less the same. This meant that after leaving her body, the nanomachines could only exist for less than a minute at most, and their duration would shorten with an increased workload.

Subsequent experiments showed that the reason for this duration was that the nanomachines needed her to provide power. Their mana came from her. Once they left her body, they would die due to lack of energy, which also confirmed the phenomenon of their duration shortening with increased load.

After that, Fia had used the nanomachines with confidence, no longer worrying that if she gave her blood to someone, that person would gain the same ability to instantly heal wounds as she had.

And the princess had clearly mastered some degree of control over the nanomachines. According to the formula she left behind, she could pre-inject a large amount of mana into the nanomachines and keep them in a dormant state. This way, she could not only cure her subordinates’ Darkborn Disease but also preserve the nanomachines for one to two months. When her subordinates needed them, she could then activate them with a formula.

It was worth noting that from the princess’s description, Fia could see that there was a huge difference between their blood. Her nanomachines could heal wounds at a visible rate, while the princess’s blood healed much more slowly, like a rusty machine, and even consumed much more mana than her own.

Furthermore, the Darkborn Disease was also an intriguing thing. When the nanomachines made the patterns from the disease disappear, the person would become stronger than usual, with significant improvements in speed, strength, and even mana recovery rate. This was the origin of the phrase “turning the Darkborn Disease to one’s own advantage,” which was quite baffling.

Also, because the nanomachines ultimately still relied on the princess’s energy, and their disappearance of the patterns did not mean the disease was cured—the patterns would regenerate after a period of time—these people could not be away from the princess for too long, or they would suffer a relapse.

Counting the days, the princess had been away from the capital for two months now. It was almost time for a replenishment.

The princess had specifically written down these two matters, surely because she was worried that forgetting them would lead to irreversible consequences.

Read оո ΚatRеαⅾiոgСafe

But if she felt it would cause serious consequences, why didn’t she just tell her from the beginning? Why use such a roundabout method? What if she had returned too late, or had failed to get past Anastasia in the first place? Wouldn’t it have all been for nothing?

It was hard to say whether the princess was a fool or a genius.

No… seeing as the princess might just be me, I probably shouldn’t be discussing whether she’s smart or not.

Although both Anastasia’s and Liti’s explanations, as well as the Key of the World Tree, all proved that she was the princess, Fia, after all, had no memories of the past, and her mind was filled with things from the Human Alliance. It was still hard for her to simply accept that she was the princess.

It would be one thing if she knew nothing, but having other memories made it difficult to accept that she had simply lost her own.

“Hah, that being said, no matter which answer is correct, it doesn’t hinder what needs to be done next.”

First, she had to investigate whether the princess had left any other clues. Then, she had to adapt to the identity of the Eldest Princess and complete the things she was supposed to do. This included seriously maintaining her relationships with the people around her, as well as completing what the princess had failed to finish—she didn’t know what that was yet, but from Renee’s and the princess’s own words, she could sense that the princess held a secret unknown to ordinary people.

Unconsciously stepping into the role of the Eldest Princess, Fia carefully put away the scattered books on the desk one by one. The reason she had thought the desk was a mess when she arrived was probably because the princess had deliberately done so to hide the booklet that had been burned.

After quickly tidying the desk, Fia began to explore other places, looking for any books on the shelves that she might be interested in or that stood out.

In the hall, which was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop, the only sound was Fia’s fingers brushing against the spines of the books.

The result was nothing.

Due to time constraints, Fia didn’t take out every book in the library and flip through it page by page. She only picked out the ones she thought the princess might have left for her, but after an hour, she had found nothing noteworthy or suspicious.

She would have to order the maids to help her go through the massive collection of books here. Going through them one by one was too inefficient.

With that thought, Fia, who was floating in the air with [Flight], closed the book. She should go to the other places the princess frequented.

Returning to the ground, Fia walked towards the double doors she had entered through. However, just as her right hand touched the doorknob, she suddenly stopped.

Rеаd оn KаtReаԁinɡСαfe

Her gaze followed the left wall all the way to the end.

She hadn’t noticed it when she came in, but at the end of the aisle on the right side of the room, there was another door. Recalling that the maid had said this place was both a library and a magic laboratory, the room behind this door was likely the so-called laboratory.

That should also be a place the princess often went to.

Curiosity drove Fia to the left. She gently pushed open the heavy metal door, which was laden with an excessive number of magic circles.

An extremely spacious hall came into view.

Below was an oval-shaped testing ground. The surrounding walls were covered with a thin layer of crystal that reflected a lustrous light. Above these walls were clerestory windows for ventilation. Although it was indoors, the empty testing ground was brightly lit.

However, more than the testing ground itself, what caught Fia’s attention was that there was someone in it.

The distance between them was at least thirty meters, but Fia could still see the other person’s face clearly. It was a girl about her own age. Her clothes were clearly different from the traditional attire of this world. It was a red and white outfit with a rather exotic feel. If Fia had to describe it, she could only use the term “shrine maiden”—not the witches who were hunted in the Middle Ages, but the Japanese-style maidens who served the gods in a shrine.

The maiden hadn’t noticed Fia’s approach. She kept her eyes lightly closed, dancing gracefully in the training ground.

It was a slow and gentle dance, like a kagura.

Although there was no musical accompaniment, nor the atmosphere of a shrine, Fia still felt a sense of holiness from this maiden. Her wide sleeves and skirt swayed with her turns, and the sunlight reflected off her light golden hair and the beads of sweat on her forehead, making it seem as if golden fairies were dancing in the air. The whole kagura was filled with a sense of beauty, so much so that Fia dared not make a sound, for fear of disturbing this maiden who seemed to be communicating with the gods.

She was like an elf manifested from the will of the world, possessing a natural, transparent, and ethereal beauty.

After some time had passed, Fia quietly used [Wind of Exploration] to observe the fourteen or fifteen year old girl. And then, as if someone had stepped on a branch, the maiden, who had been immersed in her dance, slowly stopped. She opened her sea-blue eyes, which were glowing with a mysterious light and seemed to be able to see through a person’s heart.

“Excuse me… who are you?”

In less than a second, the gaze that had just been so imposing was now only approachable and curious. The blonde, blue-eyed girl asked Fia.