Volume 7, Chapter 50 – Growing Understanding

Not long after leaving the area of The Abyss where Kelvin was stationed, Fia and Anastasia traversed the fog-shrouded swamp region and arrived at the largest town in the Land of Exile.

As usual, the exiles cast curious and greedy glances at Fia. But upon noticing Anastasia beside her, carrying her mithril sword, their greed turned to evasion, and they hurriedly averted their eyes, afraid of inviting trouble from nobility. They were despised exiles; a noble facing consequences for killing one of them would face less trouble than for killing a commoner’s chicken.

Moreover, the significant events in the Land of Exile these past days involved children under a hundred being taken into the city by soldiers, freeing them from lives of hunger. The one who issued this order was the Crown Princess with distinctive features—black hair and crimson eyes. Thus, Fia had become a household name here.

In fact, if not for soldiers summarily executing impostors, many of these exiles would likely claim to be “fast-developing children.”

“Even after those underage elves left, the atmosphere here hasn’t changed,” Fia finally sighed, breaking the long silence as she felt the eyes from both sides of the road. The listless gazes from those lying by the roadside were anything but uplifting. If there was any difference between now and before, it was only the absence of children among the beggars.

Worth noting was that those who still had children at home would hastily hide inside upon seeing Fia, afraid she would take them—since Fia’s order was not to forcibly seize minors but only take those willing to leave, the stubborn who believed nobles would harm their children hadn’t sent their offspring away.

“A bunch of ungrateful wretches… even if I said that, Your Highness wouldn’t approve, would you?”

Halfway through, Anastasia wore a bitter, helpless smile.

“But why did Your Highness come here? Although there’s no schedule for the morning, Blossom’s environment is far better than the Land of Exile. Wouldn’t resting at the Twilight Flower Palace be more pleasant?”

“I just ended up here unconsciously. The Royal Castle is clean, sure, but the pervasive atmosphere of flattery is uncomfortable. I somewhat understand why my past self was so quiet—it avoided a lot of trouble.”

For instance, she didn’t have to attend various tea parties and evening banquets like a proper noble, nor host tea parties to entertain other noble ladies. These were benefits of the former Crown Princess’s aloof personality.

Because the past Crown Princess never did these things, people became accustomed to her persona, allowing the present Fia to also abstain. Otherwise, her entire day wouldn’t be schedule-free. Fia wouldn’t claim noble or royal life was hard—even the busiest noble lived better than commoners. But busy royal affairs were also true, especially for a crown princess like herself; normally, one had to speak with caution.

“Most people would be happy to be flattered, yet you actively avoid it. Young nobles in the capital would spend several gold coins squeezing in for a chance to glimpse your venerable face. I used to constantly receive hints from them, bribing me with money and jewelry while fawningly asking about your itinerary for the coming days, just to ‘chance upon’ you. Now you’re not only more powerful but also more personable. Those pursuing you will surely be even more frenzied. And considering Lady Claire… even the young ladies of ducal and earl families might take an interest in you.”

“Oh? I never noticed Anastasia was so good at teasing me. Those ladies can’t decide their own marriages; even if they secretly fancied me, nothing would come of it. And those nobles actually fawned over you? I’ve never heard of such things.”

“Of course they did. They looked down on me in their hearts, but I was, after all, your personal maid, intimately familiar with your itinerary. To engineer a chance encounter, they had to consult me. But since I always refused, they gradually stopped. The other me probably didn’t tell you to avoid disturbing your state of mind with trivial matters.”

“And now you tell me, aren’t you worried about disturbing my state of mind with trivial matters?”

Fia raised an eyebrow, looking interested.

Anastasia tilted her head slightly, responding with a soft smile as composed as an elder sister.

“The current you doesn’t seem like someone easily perturbed by such matters. Before, you were always straight to the point. When not occupied, you’d stay in the library or the Three Main Towers studying magic, often leaving me worried about how to wake you. You were never as leisurely as you are now, taking strolls in the Land of Exile.”

“I call this observing the lives of ordinary people. I’ve been in this world for a while, but I haven’t done the essential things.”

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“Essential things… such as?”

“Of course, things like becoming an adventurer, attending magic academy, finding a clearly cute but abused-to-near-death slave on the roadside, or exploring various labyrinths to pick up treasures. These are must-experience tropes in otherworldly stories. Yet, I haven’t encountered a single one.”

As she spoke, Fia shook her head and sighed. These almost conventional protagonist plotlines had somehow eluded her.

Like meeting arrogant classmates upon entering an academy, or encountering thugs bullying a pretty female classmate. Though readers might find such plots cliché and hackneyed, being the hero-saves-the-beauty protagonist, when you thought about it, would be quite satisfying.

The more she thought, the more Fia felt her life was incomplete, and she was deeply annoyed.

Anastasia, meanwhile, wore a troubled expression of incomprehension.

“Leaving aside the part about ‘coming to this world’… If adventurers and magic academy mentors and students heard your earlier words, they’d be furious. Adventuring isn’t a glorious profession. They’ll do anything for money, either smearing themselves in monster dung to crawl through forests or sleeping in muddy pits.”

“As for magic academies, you’re already a 9th-tier Miracle-level caster. There’s no need for you to attend as a student. Even as a teacher, the students wouldn’t understand your lectures.”

“Magic academies are for children of minor nobles whose families have a bit of money but can’t afford private tutors. For someone like you to teach, the students would at least need to be at the level of Kelvin or Master Mohr. The academy would be crowded with high-ranking Tower Masters from the Elf Tower. Rather than such attention-grabbing actions, wouldn’t holding lectures at the Three Main Towers be better?”

“No, no, Anastasia is too realistic. This is a magic world, a magic world ! This is the romance of a magic world! Coming to another world without experiencing these things would incur the curse of thirty-year-old virgin archmages back in my world.”

Fia shook her head repeatedly with a sigh. Anastasia, native to the World Tree continent, completely failed to understand her words. Worse, she shattered Fia’s beautiful aspirations of another world—meeting daughters of Earls or Dukes at a magic academy, leading to either romantic encounters or encounters with villainous noble girls who enjoyed bullying talented girls from poor families… also conventional plot points. Yet Anastasia had stated the cruel reality:

“Only nobles without money go to magic academies; the rich hire private tutors.” So insensitive to the mood.

But Fia knew it was too hard for Anastasia to understand. Precisely because Anastasia had seen adventurers and magic academies up close, she held no yearning for them. Fia, having never seen adventurers rolling in mud or being maimed by monsters, naturally found the idea of fighting monsters full of excitement.

She changed the subject as they proceeded towards the location she remembered as Anastasia’s home.

“Anastasia, there are several Lands of Exile in the Kingdom, correct?”

“Yes. Two near the northern border by the Frostlands, this one, and another in the east. They are either places where ley lines have withered, unfit for habitation, or regions like this, steeped in the aura of death and constant war. Does Your Highness intend to inspect the others?”

“Not so much inspect. I’d like to bring the underage elves from other places to safe regions as well. As for the aura of death here, as long as the undead are prevented from harassing year after year, with elven Nature magic, the land can recover quickly, right? Since this place is close to the second chasm, building the [Confessional Hall] is just the first step. Defenses should be constructed subsequently. The status of ‘Land of Exile’ here should be revoked.”

Come to think of it, she wondered if the Witch Hall had successfully verified the mana locomotive’s practicality. If feasible, connecting the north and south with railways could greatly speed up troop deployment to the frontlines. Moreover, the earlier battle between non-combat casters and the undead had verified Modern Magic’s simplicity and ease of use. Ordinary Chaos shouldn’t be harder to deal with than skeleton soldiers. Using it as a weapon against Chaos was perfect.

“Constructing defenses is fine, but as more living beings gather, the undead across The Abyss will surely be attracted. Then we’d face attacks from both revenants and Chaos… Your Highness, this was my former home.”

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As she finished speaking, Fia and Anastasia simultaneously stopped. They had passed through a narrow alley and arrived before the small courtyard bearing the ‘Border Defense’ sign.

Fia’s lips curled up, casting a knowing smile towards the much taller Anastasia.

“The undead leader isn’t without wisdom. If we find that queen and explain that Chaos is the primary threat, based on the performance of the queen in your world, she would likely be reasonable and cooperative. We might even get the undead to wield Modern Magic and go fight Chaos head-on.”

Wait, wouldn’t that be too overpowered?

Fia suddenly realized something almost like a loophole. The undead, like a swarm, were innumerable. Having them wield simple-to-operate Modern Magic to fight Chaos could minimize casualties drastically.

But that was for later. Fia planned to discuss it upon meeting the Queen of the Kingdom of Death.

“Speaking of which, Anastasia, do you know what the Queen of the Kingdom of Death looks like? What kind of person is she?”

Stepping into the courtyard covered in cobwebs and dust, Fia asked.

Last time, because it was night and her companions were waiting, she hadn’t had time to look around Anastasia’s former home. Now that she was back, she naturally wanted to go inside. The feeling was akin to visiting a close friend’s home; not inspecting how messy their ‘nest’ was would leave her heart itching like being scratched by a kitten. Of course, Fia was simply curious.

Anastasia wrinkled her fine eyebrows, eyes showing thought.

“She is described as petite and composed in character. However, I’ve never seen the Queen of Death either, so I don’t know if the rumors are true. It’s said the self-proclaimed Queen Venex never appears before the public. Those qualified to meet her do not approach too closely. Lady Venex possesses an aura of death far exceeding other undead. Ordinary people, even without direct contact, can be transformed into mindless undead loyal to her just by standing nearby. An ability every monarch would envy.”

“That makes her easily prone to vulnerability, doesn’t it?”

Avoiding fallen logs and broken tiles underfoot, Fia said with a casual tone.

“Vulnerability?”

Anastasia’s eyes widened, her deep blue eyes filled with confusion.

“The Queen of Death is a 9th-tier powerhouse. Any attacker daring to approach would be instantly transformed into an undead upon touching her. Besides incorrigible enemies like Chaos, no one could get close to her.”

“No, I didn’t mean that.”

The vulnerability she meant was in terms of feelings .

In typical stories, such a queen often had a very lonely setting. If a protagonist stepped forward, took her hand, and earnestly said, “I will stay with you,” the queen’s long-dormant heart would thump, developing affection and slowly falling in love— Wait, isn’t that basically me and Claire?

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Fia froze for a moment.

Indeed, reality is more fantastical than fiction…

Sighing inwardly, Fia noted “The Queen of Death is petite” in her heart.

Next time I visit Nola and Tilulu, I’ll ask Ruth about the Queen of Death.

“Um, Your Highness, are you going inside? It’s fallen into disrepair over the years; be careful of the roof collapsing.”

“If it collapses, I can hold it up with [Telekinesis]. Anastasia has sentimental feelings for this place. When we construct defenses at the second chasm later, this area will surely be utilized. We can have it renovated then—would that be alright? Renovated, I mean.”

Finishing her words, her hand already on the door, Fia looked back.

Renovating would make the house habitable, but making it brand new would erase the feel of one’s hometown. Returning as an adult to one’s birthplace, recalling past silly things and various mistakes, things once impossible now easily achievable, made one keenly feel the swift passage of time.

Anastasia came to stand beside Fia. Her palm, like Fia’s, rested on the door. She gave Fia a wry smile.

“Whatever Your Highness thinks is fine. If you truly seek consent, you should ask the other me. I am not of this world.”

“…True.”

Fia also smiled wryly.

Together, they pushed the door open. Instantly, the expected avalanche of dust poured from the ceiling. Anastasia tried to disperse it with wind magic, but the action only stirred up more dust. A rushing gray air current swirled into a visible gas, choking them.

Anastasia immediately closed the door, her lovely face flushed red, expression extremely stiff.

“Ugh, my sincere apologies, Your Highness. We’ll have to wait outside for a bit.”

“Next time, think before acting. In this regard, Anastasia should know better than me.”

But Anastasia had also acted out of a desire to keep the dust off her. Normally, Anastasia would have entered first to check for dangers before letting her in. The current Anastasia, after a fourteen-year gap, had forgotten many such protocols.

“Ah! Your Highness, we can also go to the backyard. That might be more suitable than inside.”

“Since we have nothing else to do, let’s go together.”

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“Yes, please allow me to lead the way.”

Passing through the narrow passage between the courtyard wall and the house, Anastasia led Fia to the backyard. Perhaps due to its secluded location, the backyard was much cleaner than the front yard. Moreover, since most of the walls had collapsed, they could see the scenery beyond—Anastasia’s home was on the edge of the Land of Exile.

The backyard faced an empty wilderness in the distance.

As the town sat on a hill, standing in the backyard and looking out at the wilderness allowed one to take in the distant dense fog and grasslands. Although the scenery wasn’t beautiful, it offered a sense of openness.

Anastasia familiarly came to the back door, where there was a platform made of wood, only as high as a long bench, with a style reminiscent of the Charm Cat tribe’s Japanese-style architecture. It evoked images of sitting on a wooden platform in summer, soaking one’s feet in cool water to escape the heat.

“Your Highness can rest here.”

Perhaps thinking it wasn’t clean enough, Anastasia first wiped the wooden board’s dust with a handkerchief, then placed a carriage’s soft cushion on it. The sight of her long golden hair swaying near the wooden board’s edge made one worry it would get dusty.

“Is Anastasia playing the part of a gracious host?”

“This is tentatively the other me’s former home. If you came here with me and couldn’t even find a place to sit, the other me would surely blame herself upon knowing.”

“That’s true. But since you can consider the other me’s feelings, I think she would be angry and disappointed about us pretending to be lovers first.”

Fia sat on the cushion Anastasia had prepared.

Anastasia, about to sit beside her, suddenly froze.

“Angry and disappointed… What are you talking about, Your Highness?”

“Hah, indeed. What am I talking about…”

Realizing she had unconsciously said something inappropriate, Fia leaned back on her hands, looking up at the sky. If it were this Anastasia, she might have already been unable to help saying jokingly the reason for being angry and disappointed was knowing Anastasia had feelings for her, then enjoyed watching Anastasia’s bashfulness while feeling her own heart racing and being filled with joy. But the Anastasia before her wasn’t this Anastasia. Saying such things seemed disrespectful to the one from this world.

The conversation fell into a brief silence. Anastasia sat down restlessly, quietly stealing a glance at Fia’s profile—a melancholy expression, as if pondering something. Anastasia leaned forward slightly, saying timidly.

“You actually know that the me of this world is in love with you, don’t you? Not the kind between master and servant, but the… the lover kind.”