Volume 1, Chapter 5 – The Milcandis Great Forest—Is the City Just Ahead?

Most people were accustomed to vast expanses of emerald-green forests and took them for granted—Fia was no exception. She had even seen worlds where entire planets were nothing but endless seas of trees. The low growls of beasts and the rustling of leaves in the breeze were nothing new to her.

But the forest stretching beneath the cliff held extraordinary significance for Fia.

She wouldn’t have to starve anymore.

After trekking through the desert for two days and a night without food or water, she had finally arrived at this place—so moving it brought tears to her eyes. No melodramatic words were needed; Fia was already sniffling.

“Aah… finally… finally made it out…”

Covered in yellow sand, her once-smooth black hair now a tangled mess like withered grass, her torn white stockings, and her dirt-streaked face—if not for the pointed elf ears revealed when she removed her hood and the noble, almost otherworldly aura reflected in her ruby-like eyes, no one would have guessed she was a princess.

“It’s all because of that damn map.”

At first, Fia thought the map’s scale had faded due to weathering, but now she realized it had never had one to begin with—everything was drawn based on the cartographer’s whims. If not for her resilient body, an ordinary person would have collapsed from fever or exhaustion. Hunger was one thing, but the bone-chilling cold of the desert nights was the real problem. She hated the cold, and even now, the memory of shivering under her cloak lingered in her nerves.

As for the loneliness and boredom of wandering alone, those were minor issues for Fia. In her memories, she had always been alone, with few people to talk to. Changing environments didn’t change that. Two days of solitude was nothing.

But right now, Fia was so hungry she was seeing stars. She would have gladly gnawed on grass if she had to.

Suppressing the urge to shout in joy, Fia’s trembling hands fished out a piece of candy she had been saving. Now that she had found a place with supplies, she could finally indulge in the treat she had been hoarding.

“Even if this is a backward otherworld, the candy isn’t bad. At least that senior didn’t just leave behind a map—there was also that book.”

The book, titled The Secret History of Witches, spent most of its early pages detailing the histories of various nations. Thanks to it, Fia had gained a rough understanding of this world’s structure and the importance of magic to its inhabitants. She was no longer a blank slate, completely ignorant of this world.

Interestingly, after reading a few chapters, Fia quickly mastered the languages recorded in the book. Before, she could understand and read the world’s language, but it was more like an internal translation rather than true comprehension. Now, she had fully mastered Elvish and Milcandis Sacred Tongue, the languages used in The Secret History of Witches. She could even compose poetry on the spot if needed.

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Standing atop the cliff, Fia took a deep breath. The refreshing fragrance of the forest filled her lungs, the moisture-laden air carrying the scent of grass, putting her at ease.

Her vantage point offered a panoramic view of the entire forest basin below. Though it seemed unbelievable that a lush green forest lay just beyond the desert, this was a world of magic—nothing was truly strange here.

“That must be Aurora City, capital of the Milcandis Holy Kingdom. As expected of a magical world—even the towns are this beautiful.”

She knew the city’s name from the map’s markings. Even though Aurora City was at least ten kilometers away, Fia could still make out its walls, streets, and the stream running through it. The entire city seemed built from pristine white stone, radiating a holy, religious atmosphere. Additionally, Fia could discern a faint, translucent barrier hovering above the city, shaped like an inverted bowl.

According to The Secret History of Witches, this was a defensive barrier to protect the city from long-range magical bombardment—though its weakness was that it could only block low-tier spells. High-tier magic, like the nuclear-level spells Fia could unleash, would tear through it effortlessly. The book briefly categorized magic by power, and spells capable of annihilating an entire city in an instant—like Fia’s—were considered the pinnacle of human capability: Ninth Tier.

Truly, this was a world built upon magic, fantastical to its core.

Now, all she had to do was head straight for the city.

“Sigh, calm down, stay calm. Humans aren’t friendly toward elves, and this is the Milcandis Holy Kingdom—the worst offender when it comes to elf discrimination, according to the book. Those soldiers who tried to kill me earlier were from this kingdom. There’s no guarantee they aren’t hunting for me now. I can’t just waltz in. I need to disguise myself and pick the right moment.”

For now, she’d start by finding some wild fruits and clean water to fill her stomach. Fia sighed deeply. A soft bed, a delicious dinner, warm clothes—all of it awaited her in the city. As for money, selling just one of the crystals the elf princess carried would sustain her for a long, long time—another tidbit she had learned from The Secret History of Witches, which was practically an encyclopedia to her.

Crunching down on the last of her candy, Fia let out a light hum and dusted off her cloak with deliberate care before searching for a path forward.

◇

About an hour later.

Amidst the boundless emerald sea of trees, a petite black-haired girl, looking no older than fourteen, sat cross-legged on the grass beside a stream. Around her, a gray cloak was spread out, laden with an assortment of wild fruits. Yet the girl herself was frozen in place, staring blankly at the water’s surface, oblivious to the half-eaten fruit slipping from her hand.

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Plop.

As the fruit sank into the water with a dull sound, Fia slowly snapped out of her daze.

She… she was unbelievably cute!

In her original world, she could have won beauty pageants with ease. Even if she couldn’t take home the Perfect Carbon-Based Lifeform Award (those had strict body proportion requirements), she was undeniably sculpted to human aesthetic perfection. Without a biological examination, people would assume she had undergone genetic editing.

In short, if the beauty scale went up to 10, this body was a solid 20. Words like ethereal, elegant, and graceful suited the elf princess perfectly.

“T-this is really me?”

The reflection in the water was so beautiful Fia could hardly believe her eyes.

Her breathing grew unconsciously ragged. She pinched her cheek experimentally, and the girl in the water mimicked the motion—though since Fia’s hands weren’t entirely clean, a smudge of dirt now marred that flawless face.

Yet even with the blemish, the reflection’s beauty remained unblemished. If anything, it added an exotic charm.

The glossy black hair cascading down her neck, the deep crimson eyes that seemed to glow faintly, the long, slightly upturned lashes, the glimpse of perfectly aligned white teeth between slightly parted lips—even with her somewhat dazed expression, Fia couldn’t deny that the girl in the water was breathtakingly beautiful.

If this black-haired girl had a colder, more aloof demeanor—like the silent, enigmatic heroines from stories—Fia would have sworn she was a divine masterpiece, meticulously crafted by the gods. Her aura was so natural, so flawless, that adding or subtracting even a fraction would ruin the perfection.

The elf princess was unfairly gorgeous.

If this elf princess stood before her, Fia would have felt ashamed of her own appearance in comparison. And if such beauty were presented before a human tyrant, it would surely spark wars fought just to win her smile. The elf princess was practically a crime-inducing enchantress.

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“I just hoped I wouldn’t be ugly, but I never expected to be this cute. How am I supposed to stay calm now?”

If not for her strong self-control, Fia might have thrown herself onto the ground and licked her own reflection.

Maybe she didn’t even need magic—with looks like this, she could live a life of luxury. As this thought crossed her mind, Fia, like a child inspecting a newfound treasure, brushed aside her twin black ponytails, tilted her head slightly, and carefully closed one eye, arranging her expression into a sweet smile.

“Ki… kira~☆?”

Oh no.

This was bad.

Though slightly stiff, seeing the ethereal elf princess make such a cute expression created a gap moe effect so strong it nearly charmed Fia herself. The elf princess was supposed to be elegant and composed—she shouldn’t be doing something this adorable.

For a moment, overwhelming curiosity and novelty drove Fia to go further—after all, who wouldn’t want to see themselves at their cutest, prettiest, or most handsome? It was only human nature.

And so, Fia began striking poses she would never have dared to attempt in her past life.

—Every angle was flawless.

Even her modest chest, which might have been a point of dissatisfaction, fit perfectly with the elf princess’s youthful and serene aura. The combination of her black twin ponytails and crimson eyes only amplified her delicate, pitiable charm.

If not for her lingering rationality, Fia might have declared, “I am the most beautiful woman in the world!” in a fit of madness.

She wasn’t Narcissus from Greek mythology, doomed to die for her own beauty, but she wasn’t far off. The only difference was that if anyone witnessed this scene, Fia would likely throw herself into the stream out of sheer embarrassment—being seen like this would be mortifying, no different from having someone read her diary aloud.

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Only when Fia felt satisfied did she finally cough lightly, her face flushed, and pretend nothing had happened.

“Ahem. Time to eat. Gotta be careful this time.”

While gathering fruits earlier, Fia had noticed something—this body wasn’t just fast; it was inhumanly strong. Applying even a little too much force would crush the fruits in her grip. She had even tested this by throwing a pebble—it shot out like a bullet from an anti-materiel rifle, breaking the sound barrier twice over and blasting a hole straight through rock. If not for the pebble’s fragility, the damage would have been even greater.

Mulling over this, Fia took a bite of a wild fruit. The sweet, tangy flavor burst across her tongue, the cool, juicy texture making every pore in her body relax in delight.

“This taste… ahh, coming to another world was so worth it.”

“Caw caw!”

Before Fia could pick up a second fruit, a small, round bird—no larger than her palm—landed in front of her, hopping closer with curious little steps.

Its call was odd, but it seemed harmless.

If this were a fairy tale, the homeless elf princess would kindly offer the bird some fruit, forging a friendship. Then, at a critical moment, the bird would return with a flock to aid her.

Well, there were plenty of fruits in the forest. Given that Fia could leap ten meters in a single bound (a fact she had reluctantly accepted), she wasn’t exactly short on food.

“You want some too?”

Fia tentatively held out a piece of fruit.