Volume 7, Chapter 32 – The First Step Quietly Taken

Using the excuse of helping Anastasia increase her strength, Fia awkwardly shifted the subject and escaped from Claire’s teasing clutches. Now, the two of them were flying over the vast expanse of the Netherworld.

Nothing grew in the Netherworld; as far as the eye could see, everything was a dull gray. This, combined with the smog drifting through the high altitudes and obscuring their vision, made one lose all sense of time and space. It felt as if they were simply treading water, no matter which direction they flew. If an ordinary person were to come here, their spine would surely turn cold with dread and unease. Even Fia felt a sense of vigilance, but at the moment, she didn’t have the luxury for such thoughts, as she was still agonizing over what had just happened.

Due to Claire’s explanation, Anastasia was not only no longer flying hand-in-hand with her but was also maintaining a distance of a full step away, which made Fia feel quite dejected.

If she had told Anastasia about the faith magic in advance—for instance, on the night she practiced it, explaining exactly how she obtained the information for [Sacred Relic Analysis]—then given Anastasia’s personality, even if she felt embarrassed, she likely would have cooperated. It wouldn’t have reached the point where she was dodging Fia’s gaze and didn’t dare to say a single word.

But she couldn’t really blame herself either. Heaven only knew if that attempt would be successful; if her prayer hadn’t received a response from the world, wouldn’t it have looked like she was just making an excuse to sexually harass her? Not to mention, just thinking about saying out loud that she was worshipping an “art piece” made her feel as if ants were crawling all over her skin.

Better not to dwell on the past; the key was the present.

Maintaining her flight posture, Fia let out a quiet sigh. How on earth was she supposed to explain this to Anastasia?

“Your Highness… should we stop here?”

Suddenly, Anastasia’s voice rang out with a slight tremor. Fia’s face immediately brightened with joy as she looked toward Anastasia. The latter looked away, her cheeks still a bright shade of red.

It seemed Anastasia wasn’t blaming her.

As expected of my Anastasia!

Cheering internally, Fia forced herself to remain composed.

“What is it?”

“The temperature has dropped. No, rather, the Death Aura has grown thicker…”

The thicker the Death Aura, the more comfortable the undead felt. Therefore, powerful undead would occupy areas with dense Death Aura as much as possible, while weaker ones, like first-tier skeleton warriors, could only reside on the outskirts of the Netherworld.

Anastasia’s subtext was that they could stop here to hunt monsters; if they continued further, they might encounter undead she couldn’t handle.

Understanding the implication, Fia followed up.

“Ah, let’s stop here then. Did you see many undead in your original world, Anastasia? Since the undead are cooperating with humans and elves, the two sides should be living together, right?”

“Well… they don’t live together. Undead beings possess Death Aura. Low-tier undead can still walk through the cities of the living by wearing magical tools, but for high-tier undead, even with such tools, it’s difficult to mask the Death Aura they emit. If they were allowed into a city, the spiders and ants there would be the first to be converted into undead, followed by cats and dogs, and finally, humans would be transformed into the undying as well. However, the advantage of the undead is that they have no need for food or warmth, so the Queen of the Land of the Dead always has them camp out in the open outside the city walls, which solves the problem of defense.”

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“I see.”

Fia already knew most of this through Ruth, so she was merely playing along with Anastasia.

She desperately wanted to ask Anastasia if she minded what had happened earlier and what she could do to compensate her, but she felt that doing so would only reignite Anastasia’s shame and cause her to fall silent again.

Having seemingly reached a tacit agreement, neither of them said a word. The conversation lapsed into an eerie and awkward silence as they slowly descended onto a nearby steep mountain peak.

Standing on the high ground, they could easily see the undead scattered across the gray plains in the distance. The undead here were sparser than on the outskirts of the Netherworld; skeletons were no longer buried underground but were instead sitting or lying across the plains. Additionally, they could see processions of blue ghosts advancing, and a total of three whale skeletons, each over thirty meters long, circled slowly in the sky. If those skeletons sitting or lying down were to stand up, Fia would have surely thought the undead were preparing to invade Silvar; the scene was incredibly oppressive.

The [Wind of Exploration] indicated that the sleeping humanoid skeletons were at the third tier, while the skeleton whales in the sky were at the fifth tier. The latter were their targets for this trip.

Based on Milu and Liti’s experience, without using other means to increase one’s mana—such as reading, swinging a sword, or using magic, all of which slowly increase mana—a person needs to hunt between a dozen to several dozen monsters of the same tier to advance to the next. The variation depends on race, the type of monster hunted, and personal talent.

For example, humans accumulate mana slightly faster than elves, and hunting large, solitary monsters yields faster mana growth than hunting small, pack-dwelling ones. As for personal talent, it was a rather mysterious existence. Taking the Eldest Princess as an example, to rise from the fifth to the sixth tier, she might only need to kill ten monsters of the same rank, whereas Anastasia would need twenty. That was the advantage of a uniquely gifted talent.

Though in reality, it wasn’t that simple; advancing a tier was a complex mechanism.

Next, as long as she kept bringing Anastasia to hunt skeleton whales, she could smoothly help her break through to the sixth tier. Mana was both fair and unfair to everyone; the unfairness lay in the differences in talent, while the fairness lay in the fact that a lack of talent could be made up for with effort. If killing twenty skeleton whales didn’t raise one to the sixth tier, then killing two hundred would surely do so, perhaps even reaching the quasi-seventh tier in one go.

Of course, for ordinary people, even killing two would be difficult.

Fia stuck her tongue out in her heart. Dealing with monsters wasn’t a one-on-one challenge; killing twenty same-tier monsters sounded simple, but when considering that monsters would call for help, set traps, and flee, it was enough to make anyone hesitate. Not to mention, people couldn’t accurately find the specific monsters they wanted and might encounter other, higher-tier monsters along the way; danger lurked everywhere.

She would use [Telekinesis] to pull a skeleton whale over and let Anastasia fight it, while she handled any disturbed low-tier skeletons herself.

Having formulated a plan in her mind, the light wings behind Fia gradually brightened.

“Your Highness, please wait.”

Suddenly, Anastasia reached out and lightly tugged at the corner of Fia’s clothes.

“There are Wayfinders there. Let’s wait until they’ve passed before we act…”

“Wayfinders? What are those?”

Following Anastasia’s gaze, Fia looked toward a procession of bright blue ghosts slowly advancing across the plain. The procession consisted of about a hundred ghosts, all of them ordinary spirits not even at the first tier. Their leader was a cloaked ghost wearing a jack-o’-lantern and holding a blue-fire lantern. In the silent Land of the Dead, they were the only two types of undead that were moving.

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“Those are souls that guide the departed into the Land of the Dead. After death, souls travel to the Land of the Dead on their own, but some special souls lose their way. Wayfinders are ghosts that lead those lost ones to the Land of the Dead. Originally, this was a secret of the Land of the Dead, but once the Queen of the Land of the Dead became the leader of the Alliance, the secret could no longer be kept. In truth, the Land of the Dead is responsible for managing reincarnation on the World Tree Continent, letting the dead forget their past and return to the world of the living.”

Reincarnation? That was an interesting concept.

Fia complained in her heart; she instinctively disbelieved in the idea of reincarnation, even in this isekai world.

If life entered the world through the Land of the Dead, then its power would be far too great. Besides, how would one explain the ever-growing population of the World Tree Continent? Could those new souls simply be conjured out of thin air? Furthermore, in Anastasia’s world, the Netherworld had been occupied by Chaos; in that case, the Land of the Dead would be unable to perform its role in reincarnation, and theoretically, new life would cease on the World Tree Continent.

Though she had many questions, Fia didn’t argue with Anastasia but instead waited quietly for the slow-moving procession to drift away from the plain.

The air grew silent once more. In a world of the dead without sunlight, even time seemed to pass at an incredibly sluggish pace.

It was no wonder Ruth had been so full of curiosity about everything after arriving at the city of the Charm Cats. While maintaining one’s intellect, living in such a monotonous world would easily drive one’s spirit to two extremes: either madness or numbness.

Just like those desolate, silent planets.

Not taking those natural thoughts to heart, Fia gave a quiet, wry smile.

“You seem to be in quite a good mood, Your Highness.”

“Hmm? I’m just feeling a bit sentimental.”

“I don’t mean right now. I’m referring to your mood lately.”

Anastasia pursed her lips, and a hint of sorrow appeared in the corners of her alluring eyes. Fia couldn’t help but think that if it were dusk and the orange light of the sun were reflecting off Anastasia’s golden hair, she would surely look as tempting as an elven princess from a fantasy story.

Fia smiled slightly.

“What makes you say that?”

“At first, you were so restless in the archives for the sake of the original me that your eyes were even bloodshot. But these past few days, you haven’t been that urgent, and you’re even willing to listen to my request to wait for the Wayfinders to pass…”

“That’s only natural, isn’t it? I was worried before because I thought you had gone to the other world. Without knowing when the Alliance would be defeated by Chaos, I was naturally worried sick. But now that you’ve felt the connection grow stronger for no reason, it means the original Anastasia might just be inside your body, gradually waking up. As long as I know you’re safe and will return before long, I can rest easy. To be honest, if the original Anastasia came back too quickly, I’d actually be breaking a sweat, since I haven’t even mastered [Sacred Relic Analys]—”

Before she could finish, Fia realized she had misspoken. It wasn’t because she was worried it would lower Anastasia’s mood, but rather because it would remind her of the faith magic again.

As expected, the sentimental Anastasia’s body gave a slight tremor, and a flush rose from her cheeks. But to Fia’s surprise, Anastasia didn’t fall into an awkward silence. Instead, she was surrounded by an aura as if she were about to confess. She used one arm to slightly cover her full chest, looked away, and whispered in a voice barely louder than a mosquito’s.

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“Actually… if Your Highness really needs me, it’s all right to just tell me… In my current state, I can’t help you much anyway. Just this much—no, I should say that as someone saved by you, it’s only natural for me to assist you in understanding faith magic. Especially since you’re learning it for my sake. It’s just… it’s just that this body isn’t my own, so I’ve been somewhat hesitant…”

“No, no, Anastasia, there’s no need to go that far. I was just obsessed at the time. With my level of concentration, it would surely be fine even if I switched to something more suitable as an object of faith.”

Fia waved her hands repeatedly.

But Anastasia continued to stare at her feet, stubbornly biting her lip.

“You don’t need to consider my feelings. I… I actually want to understand you better too… We still have some time. Would you like to try it? To strengthen the faith magic.”

By the time she reached the end, Anastasia’s voice was trembling. It was unclear whether it was from fear or embarrassment—or perhaps both.

By “trying it,” she likely meant giving them a touch.

How bold, to directly make such a shameful request.

Was it because, just as Anastasia held ambiguous thoughts about her, she also harbored feelings beyond those of master and servant for Anastasia? Her proposal was truly tempting.

However, although I did indeed have those thoughts, if I actually do it, I won’t be myself anymore.

The soul named Dofilia has its own principles. If I haven’t made up my mind to take responsibility, then I shouldn’t do anything that crosses the line.

Yet, since Anastasia had mustered the courage, a direct rejection would seem too blunt. Even for Anastasia, saying those words must have involved a quite intense internal struggle. She was already self-deprecating; rejecting her might make her never dare to take another step forward.

Neither rejecting nor not rejecting felt right. Fia was momentarily at a loss.

Dammit.

If I had been on the World Tree Continent from the moment I gained consciousness, I wouldn’t have this dilemma. Things would have likely developed into me marrying Anastasia without any psychological pressure, with our feelings naturally unfolding. Perhaps during the last Saint Alexia Festival, I would have already used a World Tree Branch.

But I’m not a soul of the World Tree Continent.

In that case…

Fia swallowed hard and quietly took Anastasia’s hanging hand. This caused Anastasia’s entire body to shudder, her muscles tensing.

Her temperature was too high; perhaps even her back was soaked with sweat.

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Feeling the scalding heat from her palm, Fia thought that if it weren’t for the sense of holiness Anastasia held for her profession, she might have already been too embarrassed to keep her eyes open, her eyelashes fluttering in fear.

But I’m not the type of person who would treat Anastasia as a mistress, and besides, doing such a thing in the Netherworld would be far too unrefined. Even if I were to concede a million steps, we should at least move to the sea of flowers under the Holy Tree.

Fia coughed and gave a wry smile.

“Anastasia, do you want me to learn faith magic in a place filled with Death Aura? Besides, this kind of thing is a bit early for both of us. Of course, I find you both gentle and reliable, and you’re always so considerate. If the first person I met hadn’t been Claire, I would have certainly fallen in for you. I’m very happy you feel this way, but this kind of thing should be taken step-by-step, no matter how you look at it… So, not right now.”

What on earth am I saying?

Fia felt herself rambling nonsense, her brain unable to form a coherent circuit. However, the words were already out, and it was too late to take them back. She couldn’t help but go stiff all over.

If her companions were to hear this, it would surely cause an explosion.

“Ah…”

Anastasia was stunned for a moment, then her eyes gradually widened, and her breathing began to tremble. She half-covered her mouth and looked at Fia with a face full of shock, her expression clearly holding both bewilderment and an inexpressible joy. She even gripped Fia’s hand with exceptional strength.

“Your Highness—”

“Ahem!”

Knowing she’d said something she shouldn’t have—though it wasn’t wrong to say she’d taken that step—Fia coughed repeatedly. Like a child who had eaten forbidden fruit and felt uneasy about it, she tried to undo her mistake. She quickly pointed to the skeleton whales on the plain ahead.

“The Wayfinders have left. It’s about time we dealt with those whales. We’ll take on two of them today, then we have to go back to the Land of Exile to bring the remaining children to the Barony of Yarua. I’ll go up and grab the whales first; you wait here for me, Anastasia.”

“What Your Highness just meant—”

“That’s it!”

Without waiting for Anastasia to finish, Fia vanished from the mountain peak in the blink of an eye, at a speed enough to blow back Anastasia’s golden hair and skirt.