Volume 4, Chapter 74 – Rejection and Surveillance

The golden grand hall was unlike the dim altar Fia had seen. This was a place where anyone could step, brilliantly resplendent. At the center of the room’s altar stood a golden pillar that shot straight up to the ceiling, its dense mana making even Fia take a second look.

According to Mizuki, this golden pillar of light, which seemed to be formed by countless sieve tubes ¹ a tube that is composed of an end-to-end series of thin-walled living cells, transports food substances in plants, and is found in the phloem. (in reality, many golden threads of mana), was the source of the Holy Tree’s power. Whether it was changing the environment around the tree or supplying a continuous stream of mana essence to the ley lines, all the mana had to pass through here. To make an analogy, it was like a magic core to a monster.

When Fia had used [Wind of Exploration] to check this golden pillar, it had shown a deep red color, indicating that even if its mana was not at the Ninth Rank, it was very close. Since Fia had yet to see a Ninth-Rank person—both her and Claire’s mana had a very strange color—she could not be sure if this was truly at the Ninth Rank or not.

“Tsk.” An unhappy grunt came from his throat. Yelido looked at the golden hall and clicked his tongue, his brow furrowed. “Did it fail?”

“Mhm. This isn’t the altar I was talking about.”

“Even I was rejected,” as if he had thought of something, Yelido, with his right hand to his chin, looked up at Fia beside him. “Dofi, besides those Black-Flamed Monsters, were there any other unusual movements from the Holy Tree before it stopped letting others in?”

“Unusual movements…” Fia thought for a moment, recalling the reason she had come to the Holy Tree. “Before I came here, I had a dream. In the dream, there was something very similar to the Holy Tree calling out to me, asking me to help it. It was a woman’s voice.”

“Of all things, an ethereal dream.”

Yelido muttered to himself. He was silent for a moment, then sighed deeply.

“Forget it. I will go and check the forbidden library and the treasury. It’s unknown when the tree will return to normal. I need to move the important things out.”

“Then I’ll go out and find Claire?”

Fia’s words made Yelido’s breath catch. But he quickly returned to normal, maintaining his fatherly authority with a slight nod.

“Mhm. Come and find me in an hour.”

Although his heart was reluctant for her to leave, he deliberately put on a serious expression. Fia secretly stuck out her tongue. Her Father, although he disguised it well, still couldn’t escape her eyes. In that instant, a look of reluctance and hesitation had clearly flashed in his eyes. He was reluctant for his daughter to let go of his hand.

If she were to stand on her tiptoes and kiss him like a little girl in kindergarten, she wondered what kind of expression he would make. It felt like he would be like the foolish fathers in ordinary stories, overjoyed to the point where he would want to give away everything he owned.

However, the princess was already past the age where she could do such things. Everything could only be thought about in her mind. With a hint of regret, Fia quietly let go of the hand that was much larger than hers. Then, with her hands behind her back, she took a step back and, feigning a playful smile, gave him a light wave.

“Then I’ll be going out first, Father.”

Before he could react, Fia, in her mind, had the Holy Tree teleport her out. With a flash, she was standing in front of Claire again.

At this moment, Claire was gazing at the top of the Holy Tree. Noticing her return, she withdrew her gaze and soon noticed the lingering slyness on Fia’s delicate face. She tilted her head curiously.

“Why do you have the expression of a successful prank, Fia?”

“Uh, well…”

It was probably because she had used a little-girl-like action on Yelido that the former princess would have never done. Fia found it a little hard to say. The matter was actually very embarrassing for her. The reason she had done it was, one, because she felt that he was too pitiful as a father, reminding her of the way Yulisha had covered her mouth and cried when she had called her “Mother.” And two, she had a feeling that he would definitely not say she was in the wrong, and would have a very big reaction. With these two combined, she had tried it once. Judging by her father’s stunned “opening move” just before she had left, the attempt was surely a success.

This is bad… This feeling of substituting into a cute and playful daughter, although embarrassing, is also a little addictive. Fia couldn’t help but imagine for a moment the scene of her returning and hugging Mother Yulisha’s arm like a daughter in an ordinary family. She would surely be very happy.

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It was just the gazes of those servants that made her very embarrassed.

Unable to say out loud her childish thoughts—in fact, she just wasn’t being frank enough—Fia brought the topic to another side. She followed Claire’s example and looked up at the Holy Tree.

“Did you discover anything, Claire?”

“Mmm… I just feel it’s a little familiar? I’ve never been to Silvar, nor have I ever seen the Holy Tree. But now that I see it, I have a feeling that I’ve seen something similar somewhere before. Also towering into the clouds, and full of mana. Hah—strange feelings aside, this is the first time I’ve seen a magical creation of this size. Where is your father, Fia? Why didn’t he come out with you?”

“He said he had to move some important things, so he had me come out first.”

Now that people wanted to enter the Holy Tree, they had to be brought in by her. Yelido probably didn’t want to trouble her every time someone went in, so he planned to take the things out and put them in his storage item.

“You said just now that the Holy Tree is a magical creation?”

“Did you not feel it, Fia?” Claire blinked her jade-green eyes in confusion.

Fia couldn’t help but glance to the side, her fingers twirling a strand of her black hair.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t felt it, but that she had never thought of such a possibility.

At this thought, Fia switched to her [Wind of Exploration] vision to observe the Holy Tree. The result showed that its mana was an unprecedented orange-red, its brightness to the point of being dazzling.

Of course, compared to her own incandescent, sun-like mana, the Holy Tree’s was still much weaker. It was just that her body was far from being as large as the tree, so the moment she looked over, she felt as if she were under a searchlight. Fia had to avert her gaze and hold up a hand to shield her eyes to avoid temporary blindness.

By the way, the golden pillar of light in the Holy Tree that provided the mana had not been this dazzling. For the thing being provided with mana to have more mana than the thing providing it was strange.

Seeing her suddenly hold up a hand to shield her eyes, Claire tilted her head in confusion and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“The Holy Tree’s mana is too dazzling. My eyes hurt a little.”

“Do you want me to rub them for you?”

“Eh…” Although she couldn’t see Claire’s expression, Fia could feel the gentleness and seriousness in her tone. After a moment of hesitation, she nodded crisply. “Yes.”

But how do you rub someone’s eyes?

The answer was a light pat on her head from Claire, who was both amused and helpless.

“Not at all polite, are you? Normally, you should say something like ‘may I?’ right?”

So it was a joke.

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Fia had no choice but to dispel the [Wind of Exploration] and cover her disappointment with a wave of her hand.

“You only act so reserved when you’ve just met. Alright, you should try to enter the Holy Tree too, Claire. If it fails, I have another matter I’d like to ask of you.”

She hadn’t forgotten the idea of going down into the Abyss to have a look. If the roots of the Holy Tree had really grown down to the primordial continent, things would become troublesome.

She took the initiative to hold Claire’s slender and cool hand, then placed her other hand on the root of the Holy Tree.

“Have you ever been to the Abyss, Claire?”

“You mean this one?”

Although she blushed slightly from having her hand held by Fia, Claire did not resist. Her free hand pointed to the Abyss not far from the base of the tree.

“If you’re talking about this one, I’ve never been. Even the Darkborn are afraid of it. At that time, I hadn’t given up on myself to the point of wanting to go and explore it. Does Fia have some idea about it? That’s a place even the gods are helpless against.”

“I just want to go down and have a look. The withering of the Holy Tree might be related to its roots extending into the Abyss. I’m a little worried if I don’t see it for myself. But that’s a matter for later. For now, it’s more important to go into the Holy Tree.”

If Fia had to rank the importance of the Holy Tree and Claire, Claire’s matters would definitely take priority. With a thought, the unique floating sensation of teleportation quickly enveloped her, and then, she and Claire arrived in an extremely dim grand hall.

A cold and dim place, its walls covered with chain-like, faint green text, like the altar of a cult. A bone-chilling cold assailed them from all directions, as if it were trying to drill into their bodies through their pores.

“Why did we come here?”

This place was not unfamiliar to Fia, but the problem was that Claire was still standing beside her. In theory, they shouldn’t have appeared in this dim altar.

“This is… I have an ominous premonition, Fia. Is this the place you said had Black-Flamed Monsters?”

“Mhm. We should have been teleported to the usual altar, like my Father was. I don’t know why we ended up here. Shall we go out and try again?”

“I have no objection. This place gives me a very bad feeling. There’s something that’s rejecting me—and there’s also a familiar feeling mixed in, as if I’ve encountered it somewhere before.”

As she spoke, Claire drew the two single-handed swords from her waist. In the darkness, the two swords emitted a red and a blue light, as if they were reacting to something.

“Let’s go out first.”

Not daring to delay, Fia, with a thought, took Claire and left the Holy Tree, then repeated the action of entering. Unlike last time, this time she thought of going to that golden altar, but the result was that the two of them still arrived at the dim one.

The cold and gloomy environment made Fia frown.

“How could this be?”

“It seems this place doesn’t welcome me very much,” a wry smile appeared in Claire’s fine brows. “I think I remember where this familiar feeling comes from. In the past, when the Pope of the Milcandis Holy Kingdom helped me pray to the Goddess of Life for an oracle, I had the exact same feeling. It’s just that the difference between this place and the temple where the Pope prayed is too great…”

“The familiar feeling you’re talking about isn’t the feeling of being pushed away, is it, Claire?”

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“No. This place gives me many kinds of feelings. If I had to make an analogy, it’s as if the Holy Tree and the Goddess of Life are of the same kind. The difference is that the Goddess of Life doesn’t dislike me, while the Holy Tree is rejecting me, not wanting me to come here. That’s probably it. Even my weapons can feel this unwelcoming attitude.”

Claire shrugged helplessly, showing the two glowing weapons to Fia.

“Why would the Holy Tree reject you? That’s very strange.”

“I don’t know the reason either. Perhaps it’s part of the world, and it’s just like the ordinary things in this world, not welcoming me, a life form born outside the rules. But since we’re already here, you should take me to see those Black-Flamed Monsters, Fia. Since clearing them out can make the tree bud, we should clean them up as soon as possible and let it return to normal.”

“Mhm, wait a minute. I’ll start after I’ve recorded the text here.”

The walls of the dim altar were covered with interconnected, chain-like, faint green text. Fia could feel that they had a magical effect. To record them and take them back might allow those who knew the ancient elf language to decipher them.

Claire smiled gently and nodded.

“Mhm, I’ll wait for you.”

◇

By the time Fia and Claire had finished their cleaning work on the Holy Tree, it was already seven in the evening. As a result, in one afternoon, they had caused nearly a thousand new buds to appear on the tree. One was an elf with almost infinite mana, the other an unknown creature with strength above the Eighth Rank. Although the Black-Flamed Monsters were numerous, in the face of Fia and Claire, they were helpless. The battle was often over in a single encounter. The two of them had spent more time traveling than cleaning up the monsters.

The huge change in the Holy Tree had made all the elves in the city ecstatic. Some people had even been so idle that they had done nothing all afternoon but stare at the tree and watch it grow new leaves little by little. The visible change was like a miracle. Especially the nobles in the Royal Castle. They had already found it incredible that Claire had defeated Yelido, thinking it was impossible. When they learned that the new buds were the work of Fia and Claire, their disbelief grew even stronger, thinking it was an exaggeration—it wasn’t until they had personally seen Claire enter and exit the Holy Tree that they had shut their mouths.

As for Yelido, Fia had brought him out of the Holy Tree early on. He, in turn, had taken the opportunity of the budding to build up Claire’s prestige. He had invited the ministers and nobles in the city to the base of the tree to witness the moment Fia and Claire repaired it. Under their watchful eyes, those nobles who had been puzzled and confused by Fia bringing a “human” with her no longer dared to look down on Claire. In the future, Fia would no longer have to worry about her not being respected.

As for now, Fia was handling another important matter.

Under the cover of the inky black night, Fia, sitting in the only chair in the library, was listening to Erin Slate’s report with a stern face.

“…The above is the recent results of Loca and the others. Although several slave traders tried to transfer their slaves and have their relatives take over their businesses, they were all found out by us. Loca plans to confiscate all their family assets, brand them as slaves, and exile them from Silvar. Is such a punishment too light? These shameless wretches have ignored your orders, Lord Thanatos, and have treated you as nothing. They should be publicly executed as an example.”

Like a military officer, Erin Slate, after finishing the material, looked up at Fia’s face behind the documents.

Fia, her chin resting on the back of her hand, straightened her back and said coldly.

“No. Since the matter has been left to Loca to handle, as long as she does not make a mistake, do not interfere with her. Otherwise, she will become timid in her future work.”

“But these punishments are too light…”

Erin Slate still wanted to say something, but Fia held up her palm to her.

“Loca has always been doing things under your protection, Erin Slate. She has to grow up one day. It’s a good opportunity to let her train. Let her be. We just need to watch over her like parents and make sure she doesn’t get into trouble.”

“Parents…”

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Catching the keyword, Erin Slate’s cheeks flushed slightly, and she fidgeted.

Fia raised an eyebrow.

“Is there a problem?”

“No!”

“…”

Although it looked like there was a problem no matter how you looked at it, Fia had other things to do today, so she did not dwell on it.

She said slowly.

“I have another task for you. This matter must be kept secret and can only be carried out by our own people.”

As Fia’s tone was filled with seriousness, Erin Slate no longer fidgeted and quickly resumed a serious expression. A capable air instantly appeared on her face.

“What is it? After dealing with that idiot Aldrich, many people in the organization have nothing to do. They can carry out your mission.”

“I want you to search for Clark’s whereabouts.”

“Clark? You mean Anastasia’s biological father?”

“Yes. I met him once before I came back. He is in the capital. After you find him, do not alert him. Report back to me immediately.”

Although she had said she would not interfere in the matter of Clark and Veronica, for him to have made no move for so long was a little unsettling. Not interfering did not mean she could not monitor him. To avoid being passive when he did something out of line, she had to closely monitor his movements, at least to know how he would act and when.

“Understood. I will send people to search immediately. It’s just that I suspect that even if he is in the capital, he will surely use a pseudonym to disguise himself. And after so many years, his appearance will have changed a lot…”

By the end, Erin Slate quietly looked at Fia, her golden eyes filled with guilt and shame.

Fia knew what she was thinking. She directly stated his characteristics.

“Short blue hair, a scar on his face, and a big-breasted werewolf woman by his side—?!”

Abruptly, Fia’s voice came to a halt. Her eyes became incredibly sharp, filled with hostility. Before Erin could ask, she made a barely perceptible shushing gesture to her, signaling her not to move. Then, she used [Cloud Moon of the Illusory Sea] to create a fake self in her place, while her real self quietly left the library and came to the courtyard.

When her gaze locked onto the roof a hundred meters away, directly opposite the library window, she no longer hesitated. She pursued at her fastest speed with [Flight]. At the same time, her right arm began to glow.

[Mental Shock].

[Strength Boost III].