Volume 6, Chapter 57 – Under the Starry Sky

A cold wind swept through the star-filled night. The pitch-black forest was silent, but if one looked up into the sky, they would discover two figures, one tall and one short, flying slowly through the mountains and forests.

These two were naturally Claire and Fia. Chronologically speaking, they set off for the Weeping Mountains earlier than Nola. It was just that because the Weeping Mountains wouldn’t run away on its own legs, the two weren’t in a hurry.

“This is different from what Fia said. No matter how I look at it, it’s just a dense forest. No desert, and no white fog in the valley.”

Her body emitting a faint silver glow under the moonlight, Claire stared below, frowning slightly, her eyes full of puzzlement.

“No white fog because those Fog Demons are all dead.” Holding Claire’s hand and flying slowly, Fia waved her hand as if talking about something trivial. “I didn’t expect even Claire to be confused by the Illusion Barrier here. I thought Claire would be like when exempt from the [Citadel of Silence] in Blossom—unaffected by the Illusion Barrier because you don’t belong to this world.”

“Maybe the Illusion Barrier doesn’t act directly on me, but on the surrounding environment, just like the Cloud Moon of the Illusory Sea. Because the disguise acts on Fia, even I would be deceived. But it could also be that the rank of the Illusion Barrier is so high that even I, coming from another world, cannot bypass the restriction. Sigh , these are all just guesses. If I use magic to see through illusions, I should also be able to see the true face of the Illusion Barrier like Little Fia.”

“Claire learned magic to see through illusions?”

Fia tilted her head in surprise. Because Claire couldn’t use healing magic or holy magic, plus she didn’t use [See Through] when entering the Illusion Barrier, Fia naturally assumed Claire hadn’t mastered see-through type magic.

Claire smiled gently, the corners of her mouth curving into a beautiful arc.

“To see through an Illusion Barrier of this level, I must increase magic output. But my body doesn’t allow me to squander magic power. Becoming smaller and smaller would be terrible. So having Little Fia use [See Through] is enough.”

“Eh…”

I actually think a tiny Claire would be very cute too.

The soft whisper of the breeze brushed past her ears. Fia looked back at Brinkat behind her. It was already quite far away, the lights looming faintly.

Only she and Claire were here. It should be fine to voice the observation she had kept to herself for so long, right?

Fia coughed twice in hesitation, asking in a tentative, low voice.

“Claire, actually I have a secret I haven’t told you…”

“Is it about understanding Anastasia’s feelings—”

“Why would you think of that?”

“Is it not?” Claire widened her eyes in surprise, a teasing look unique to an older sister flashing across her exquisitely beautiful face. “Little Fia looked so cautious, as if probing something. I thought Little Fia wanted to probe my thoughts.”

“That’s not it at all.”

Fia, blushing, retorted in a coquettish voice. If she truly didn’t understand what Anastasia was thinking, she definitely wouldn’t have this reaction now. It was precisely because she knew Anastasia’s feelings for her might not be simple that she sweated and felt uncomfortable all over when Claire hit the mark, feeling as if placed under a spotlight.

“What I wanted to say is that maybe Claire doesn’t need to worry about her body size.”

Rеαⅾ оո КatRеαԁіոgСafе

“Ugh… Fia likes the small type?”

A look of suspicion flashed in Claire’s eyes.

Although embarrassed, Fia answered honestly.

“As long as it’s Claire, I like it. Besides, isn’t becoming smaller occasionally quite cute too?”

“So it’s out of this kind of thinking… But why do I always feel Little Fia likes it smaller for doing H things?”

“This—”

Fia glanced guiltily to the side.

Claire was right. Besides the novelty and wanting to have Claire sit on her lap to pat her head, there was also the fact that if Claire became smaller, it would be more convenient for Fia to maneuver when sleeping together at night. It would be like she became the older sister. Or given Claire’s personality, a petite yet incredibly gentle older sister or mother figure would be exceptionally exciting, making one eager to try.

While Fia’s brain was filled with pink fog, Claire rested her index finger on her chin in thought.

“If not for this change being irreversible, satisfying Little Fia’s curiosity wouldn’t be impossible. But once my body becomes smaller, it cannot be restored. Leaving aside the inconvenience of a short body for doing various things, when Little Fia grows into a woman as big as me in the future, while I remain in a child’s body shape, wouldn’t it look uncoordinated? Elves all like big ones, thinking only big ones are qualified to be good wives and mothers, right? Moreover, maintaining more magic power guarantees not being awkward when dealing with various predicaments in the future. I don’t want to be powerless when Little Fia needs me.”

“That’s exactly what I wanted to say…”

Claire’s rational statement considering Fia’s sake made Fia feel ashamed—Claire was thinking for her, while she was only thinking about lewd things—her voice became much smaller, muttering softly.

“Didn’t Claire ask me before why I was always staring at Claire… Actually, I was observing if there were changes in Claire’s body. When Claire returned from Dragonfall, because of consuming a lot of magic power flying at high speed for a long time, your body was a little bit smaller than before. But after we spent that night together, Claire’s body grew back again. So I was wondering, if Claire does… does it with me, you can replenish the lost magic power.”

“Hmm?”

Claire froze for a moment, her body also stopping in mid-air. She had never paid attention to changes in this aspect. When Fia stared at her chest before, she thought Fia was sexually frustrated. Although appearing unaffected on the surface, she was actually incredibly shy inside.

I misunderstood Fia. No, I should say I was dazzled by lewd thoughts, judging others by myself.

Suppressing the embarrassment in her heart, she tightened her expression, her speech stuttering slightly.

“S-So Little Fia has a conclusion?”

“My conclusion is that it probably has an effect.”

“Prob… ably?”

“The reason I say probably is because Claire rarely used magic during this time; your body had almost no changes, and clothes covered most of your body. If Claire were willing to sleep with me every day, I could observe more carefully, but Claire is too shy.”

Rеaԁ οո КαtRеаⅾiոɡСafе

Although embarrassing to say, Fia summoned her courage to speak out. She observed Claire’s face quietly from the corner of her eye, finding Claire was also embarrassed, a blush appearing on that exquisitely beautiful profile.

To cover up her shyness, Claire pinched the tip of Fia’s nose reproachfully.

“No way. Little Fia can’t control her desires at all. If we sleep together every day, we definitely won’t be able to get up in the morning.” Claire’s eyes rolled, realizing a new possibility. She looked at Fia suspiciously. “Little Fia didn’t say this deliberately to make me agree, did she?”

That’s right, I do have thoughts in this regard. Admiring Claire’s wonderful body at close range every night—such a thing is impossible to refuse!

Fia nodded extremely honestly in her heart. Claire’s body was full of charm; she wouldn’t get tired of exploring it no matter how many times. The fair and tender body covered by the blackish-green long dress was like a work of art hidden in a shell, not easily displayed. Coupled with Claire’s shy expression turning her face away to hide, it was simply an aphrodisiac tempting one to madness.

Thinking this in her heart, Fia remained silent verbally. Claire was very conservative in this regard. If Claire reduced the frequency of sleeping with her because of being too embarrassed, the loss would outweigh the gain.

“I am considering it for Claire’s sake. Having to control the number of times using magic must be very inconvenient usually. If you can use magic freely without worrying about your body becoming smaller, when Claire meets that demon named Helian again, you definitely won’t need my help; Claire alone can keep her.”

“That is true…”

But needing to restore the body by sleeping together every time is too… too embarrassing. Claire felt her breathing becoming viscous and hot.

Expanding the thought a bit: finding Fia after my body becomes smaller, spending a night with Fia, and then my body changes back. Wouldn’t the people around, like Liti and Anastasia, see it clearly? This behavior of carving “I slept with Fia last night~” on my face is simply lewd and obscene. Not behavior befitting a lady. As the future Empress, it’s completely improper!

Thinking of being looked at with strange gazes by Anastasia’s group, Claire felt her whole body tense up; any movement seemed superfluous. If it weren’t night and the moonlight wasn’t obvious, Fia would definitely see the crimson climbing up to the roots of Claire’s ears, even her skin becoming hot. Then thinking her fiancée Claire was too cute, she would give up tonight’s action, hug Claire, and find a patch of soft grass in the mountain forest—

However, Claire couldn’t deny Fia spoke the truth. Must controlling the frequency and intensity of using magic indeed greatly affected her combat power. Previously when fighting Helian, if she had unfolded [Mother Earth’s Protection] without reservation, Helian wouldn’t have lasted until Fia’s arrival before being killed by her. That would have been an overwhelming advantage.

Enduring her shyness, she feigned calmness.

“Then does Little Fia think the current me has changed compared to before? I mean, having observed for so long, Little Fia should have reached a conclusion whether sleeping together restores my magic power.”

“So I said, Claire almost didn’t use magic during this time; I can’t see changes at all. If Claire is willing to use magic freely, making the body obviously smaller, and then we… we try again to see if it restores, we’ll know if there is an effect. Originally I planned to tell Claire after observing tangible effects, lest Claire rejoice in vain, but…”

“But Little Fia couldn’t help but seek me out, so even if my body underwent subtle changes due to consuming magic power, it would recover quickly, unable to accumulate qualitative change.”

“Ahaha…”

Claire’s truth made Fia scratch her head and giggle guiltily. Just as Claire said, Fia often sought Claire to liberate herself. Under such circumstances, even if Claire’s body underwent subtle changes, it would return to its original state because of spending a wonderful night with Fia. Unable to accumulate visible changes, naturally, it was impossible to know if there was an effect. Every day was day one.

Like treating her disappointing younger sister, Claire sighed helplessly.

“ Sigh , we can only find an opportunity to use magic to the extent that obvious changes appear in the body, and then try.”

As her voice fell, Claire suddenly realized what she was saying—this statement sounding like making a reservation made her breath pause, and she hurriedly changed the topic.

Reaԁ οn KαtRеαⅾіոɡСаfe

“But why can magic power be replenished just by sleeping? I tried using magic potions before, but there was no effect at all. The answer must lie with Little Fia. Could it be that no matter who it is, as long as they sleep with Little Fia, they can replenish magic power? Is Little Fia a reverse Charm Cat?”

What reverse Charm Cat? It’s probably because of the nanomachines, Fia answered in her heart. But this needs slow experimentation in the future to be sure.

At this moment, her mood was like a wild horse running free on the grassland. Although in the past, Claire would agree to sleep with her as long as she acted coquettishly, this was the first time she had received such a clear check. She was elated, even starting to think about what exactly to do when the time came. The emotion of shyness was completely suppressed by joy and anticipation, and her flight speed even increased significantly, just wanting to resolve tonight’s matters sooner.

As for tonight’s matters, of course, it was what Claire had said in the morning: she felt an unusual aura in the Weeping Mountains, as if a fall was happening, and needed to confirm it personally.

With Fia’s accelerated flight, Claire’s speed also increased. The two soon crossed the ancient battlefield-like desert and arrived at the undulating mountainous area that could truly be called a forest.

What surprised the two was that when passing through the desert area, Fia and Claire could still sense the aura of monsters. Sometimes, high-ranking monsters with extremely strong territorial awareness would even come up to ask for trouble and get kicked away by Fia. But now, after entering the depths of the Weeping Mountains, there was no monster aura. It was so quiet that not even insect chirps could be heard; a terrifying dead silence surrounded them from all directions.

“No sound of monsters at all. Did they all leave here because of the earthquake? Can Little Fia see monsters?”

“I don’t see them either, but I think it definitely has something to do with that light screen over there.”

The two looked in unison at the end of the mountain range, where a seemingly infinitely high gray light screen stood between heaven and earth. The surface of the light screen resembled flowing liquid, shifting back and forth between dark gray and light gray, revealing a thick eeriness.

“Could this be something like the End of the World?”

Fia wasn’t speaking without basis. The light screen extended from the left side of her vision all the way to the right. Not only was the height infinite, but the length was also staggering, covering a considerable range. Associating it with the wall at the end of the world was reasonable.

“I can feel the aura of demons; this is Darkborn magic. Speaking of which, Nola’s Goddess lives in the Weeping Mountains. Why would the Goddess allow Darkborn to set up a barrier right under her nose…”

“This is also what I wanted to say,” Fia’s expression became serious. She looked at Claire, her magnificent ruby-like eyes full of contemplation. “Claire, Nola’s Goddess is very likely a Darkborn.”

Fia explained the ins and outs of the matter to Claire one by one. Claire’s right hand rested lightly on her chest, her expression becoming increasingly solemn, until finally, only worry remained.

“Does Nola know about this? Although I don’t think Nola would give up on herself just because her Goddess is a Darkborn—she has a personality that can accept any race as long as they treat her well—but if this Darkborn is just using her and secretly doing shady business, she definitely won’t be able to accept it…”

Claire bit her lip and quietly held Fia’s hand, looking into Fia’s clear eyes as if wanting to say something.

Fia could guess the words Claire wanted to express but didn’t say. As early as in the Hunting Grounds, Ying had requested her not to be too aggressive and make Nola lose everything. Standing in Nola’s position, Fia first took Claire away from her, and then, for Tilulu’s sake, took away her future as the ruler of Cold Night. Now, if even her Goddess abandoned her, even if she couldn’t be said to have nothing, she could be said to have lost all motivation and direction to move forward.

Now Claire definitely wanted to do something to prevent Nola from heading toward such an ending, but due to her position, it was inconvenient to speak out. First, being gentle to Nola at this juncture would give Nola thoughts she shouldn’t have. Second, she worried it would make Fia overthink.

Fia sighed quietly in her heart.

Claire worried too much. She wouldn’t feel jealous just because Claire helped Nola. Nola was her friend; helping a friend in need was only natural. Even if Claire didn’t ask her, she would still help.

“Nola only suspects her Goddess is a Darkborn now; she isn’t clear about the real situation. Things haven’t reached the worst state yet. In the end, as long as we don’t let Nola know her Goddess is doing shameful business—maybe her Goddess is gentle and kind as she said. If so, it doesn’t matter if we do nothing. But if her Goddess lies…”

Rеаԁ οո КαtReαԁiոɡСαfе

Fia pursed her lips, determination revealing in her eyes.

“Then just kill her and bury everything. Anyway, the premise for Nola to lose faith must be that her Goddess committed evil deeds. Killing a Darkborn doing bad things is actually a good deed.”

“Mm, than—”

Claire’s gaze was full of gratitude, but before she could finish her sentence, Fia applied force with her hand, pulling Claire toward herself. She widened her eyes pretentiously, her pouting lips expressing dissatisfaction.

“Claire doesn’t need to thank me at all. Nola is your niece and also my friend. Although I’ve only known her for two months, I’ve already acknowledged her. Reckless but not lacking in cuteness; getting along with her is very easy.”

Claire opened her mouth, seemingly still wanting to say words of thanks. However, when she stared into the persistence in Fia’s eyes, she finally admitted defeat. Her expression relaxed, her clear emerald eyes full of a bitter smile.

“So Little Fia thinks Nola is cute. I thought you two would be at daggers drawn when meeting privately; I was always worried.”

“It was indeed like that at first. That guy had resistance toward me because I stole you, but recently it seems more and more like an excuse. Ah, speaking of which, Nola entered estrus. Claire has to be careful to stay away from her. She probably didn’t even notice it herself, but the look in her eyes when looking at me sometimes becomes blurry, especially this morning…”

“Huh? Estrus? Nola? Beastmen become terrible as soon as they enter estrus. Then isn’t Nola—Little Fia said this morning; do you mean when staying with Nola on that sentry post made of wood? Could it be that Nola lost control in estrus and attacked Little Fia? But Nola shouldn’t be your match. It couldn’t be that you cooperated with her, taking advantage of the situation…”

Claire’s expression became complicated.

“Although if it’s Nola, it’s not like I can’t accept it, but…”

“No, no, nothing like that! I just wanted to say she leaned on my shoulder having a nightmare, then suddenly called my name, saying things like ‘too foul’, ‘taste is actually great’, scaring me into waking her up quickly.”

“Is that so.”

Claire obviously breathed a sigh of relief. Putting down her worries, she curved her eyes and brows, her smile full of teasing.

“Could it be Nola took a fancy to Little Fia during estrus and has thoughts about Little Fia? After all, it’s hard for beastmen to control themselves during estrus. Little Fia is very cute and treats Nola very well; it’s normal for Nola to have thoughts she wouldn’t usually have. Could it be that Little Fia is actually very good at handling relationships? Unknowingly making people feel fond of you. Not only stealing my heart, but even Nola has fallen under Little Fia’s skirt. Looks like I, the fiancée, have to be more careful in the future.”

“Impossible. This level can only be considered good friends. Besides, she still can’t forget Claire. More importantly, let’s hurry into the light screen to confirm. The end of the Weeping Mountains on the map is the ocean called the Inner Sea. I can just try the new Forbidden Spell there, and Claire can also release magic power there.”

While speaking, Fia took out an exquisitely bound magic book full of ancient flavor from her spatial backpack. Previously, after fighting Davis, she went back to Blossom. At that time, besides summoning Erin Slate, she also went to the Holy Tree’s Forbidden Library to rummage for Forbidden Spells. Now was the time to make the Forbidden Spell her own.

The coverage of Forbidden Spells was too large; not finding a good place wouldn’t do.