“So there are Darkspawn in the Earl of Oro’s domain…” The carriage kept moving.
Fia sat sideways on the driver’s seat, her legs dangling outside and gently swinging.
Wrapped in high-quality black over-the-knee socks, her already slender legs looked even more delicate, especially the graceful curve from her thighs to her ankles, making it hard not to steal a few more glances—if those feet were right in front of you, you’d probably want to reach out and touch them.
But Fia herself didn’t notice how seductive her posture was.
She just rested her right hand on her chin, frowning as she thought.
Anastasia had gotten the news from the refugees in exchange for half a loaf of bread.
The reason the refugees were gathering at the border was because disaster had struck the Earl of Oro’s domain ahead, creating more refugees.
The two groups were discussing which way to flee next—whether to go deeper into the Bat Principality, or just cross the border into the Kingdom of Afreg.
As for what exactly happened in the Earl of Oro’s domain, the refugees all had different stories.
Some said Darkspawn attacked a major city, others claimed the Kingdom of Afreg secretly sent high-level magic chanters to cause destruction, and some said there was a rebellion under the Earl, leading to a huge battle in the city.
But in the end, everyone agreed: countless refugees fled the Earl’s domain, and the city was destroyed.
First there was a huge explosion, then the sky turned pitch black.
Before anyone could react, most of the city’s buildings were gone.
Some people were killed instantly by flying debris, and even more died without even having time to scream.
The group of refugees Fia saw were the first to realize something was wrong and managed to escape.
Among them were not just city dwellers, but also whole families from nearby villages.
The villagers hadn’t seen the disaster themselves, but when they saw everyone else running, they joined in—after all, if you wait until disaster is right on top of you, it’s too late to run.
Not to mention, many of the people fleeing the city were injured, missing limbs, wrapped in bloody bandages, crying and screaming—it was hard not to be shaken by the sight.
By now, Fia’s carriage had crossed the drawbridge and entered the Earl of Oro’s domain in the Bat Principality.
Taking a detour would add several days to the journey, and Fia didn’t want to make the trip home any longer.
In her mind, whether it was Darkspawn or high-level magic chanters from the Kingdom of Afreg, if anyone dared to block her way, she’d just send them to meet God.
“I think it’s probably Darkspawn.”
Anastasia loosened her grip on the reins, letting the two eight-legged horses pull the carriage faster.
“The Earl of Oro’s domain is in the north of the Bat Principality, and the Bat Principality only borders the Kingdom of Afreg to the south and east.
It wouldn’t make sense for Afreg to skip the border cities and attack deep in the north.
Besides, Afreg is getting weaker by the day.
To the east, it has to deal with the orc Cold Moon Kingdom, and to the west, a rising empire.
Just handling those two is enough to keep Afreg busy—they don’t have the strength to go after the Bat Principality in the north.”
Diplomatically, the Bat Principality is at odds with both the Holy Nation and the Kingdom of Afreg.
Logically, being caught between two big powers and offending both should mean getting carved up and destroyed.
But thanks to the founding emperor’s policy of making friends and getting along with non-human races, the Bat Principality has good relations with the orc Cold Moon Kingdom and the elven Empire of Silivar.
In fact, the Cold Moon Kingdom even has a mutual defense pact with the Bat Principality.
If the Bat Principality were attacked, the orc Cold Moon Kingdom wouldn’t just stand by, and fighting on two fronts would be a nightmare for the Kingdom of Afreg.
“So it’s Darkspawn again.” Fia dropped her hand from her chin, sighed, and stretched lazily.
“I really don’t get what those Darkspawn want, just running around causing chaos everywhere.”
“Maybe it has to do with the king who leads them.
The Darkspawn aren’t all united—they’re split into many factions, just like humans, because of different beliefs.
The two most famous are led by ‘Absolute Evil’ and ‘Shadow’.”
“It’s said those two Darkspawn are incredibly powerful, the ones who once challenged the gods.
After the original continent was destroyed, they chose to escape to the World Tree Continent along with the gods.
But I’ve never heard of Absolute Evil or Shadow actually appearing on the continent—this is just what the Darkspawn themselves say, claiming they’re ruled by Absolute Evil and Shadow.”
Anastasia’s gaze lingered for a second on the sweat-dampened, pale neck of Fia, then she looked away and continued.
“The Darkspawn under Absolute Evil show up much more often than those under Shadow.
Even as the captain of the second squad of the Royal Guard, I rarely hear about Shadow’s followers taking action.
It’s usually Absolute Evil’s Darkspawn running wild, causing chaos and destruction.
They love to show up in cities that have been peaceful for a long time, or on battlefields where war is raging, bringing destruction to everyone, regardless of race.”
“Probably has something to do with that name, ‘Absolute Evil’.”
This wasn’t the first time Fia had heard the term.
If you call yourself Absolute Evil, you’re basically announcing you bring disaster and destruction.
Not just in the Witch’s Secret History—Moon Dragon Radric had mentioned Absolute Evil too.
According to the Secret History, Absolute Evil was a mysterious, incredibly skilled fighter.
It also said Absolute Evil used to be an elf, but for some reason became a demon.
After coming to the World Tree Continent, Absolute Evil had never lost a fight.
Everyone who lost to him ended up dead.
He claimed to represent all the evil in the world, and never showed mercy.
From that, it seemed the Witch of Hope’s intelligence network was much better than Anastasia’s.
That made Fia even more curious about the Witch of Hope.
Fia had only read part of the Witch’s Secret History in detail, but she’d skimmed the whole book.
There were no magic spells or magical theory in it—the Witch of Hope mostly introduced outsiders to what the World Tree Continent was like, and who the important people and powers were.
As a ninth-rank witch, she left behind no magic at all when she died, which Fia found strange.
And since the Witch of Hope died in that broken-down wooden hut, it was even more suspicious.
Even Fia could use ‘Torrent’ to create endless water, let alone a ninth-rank witch.
There was no way the Witch of Hope could have died of thirst in the wilderness—she must have chosen to die there on purpose.
It was just too strange.
Pushing those unsolvable questions to the back of her mind, Fia turned her head, her delicate features facing the expressionless Anastasia at the reins.
“So, the Darkspawn causing trouble in the Earl of Oro’s domain are probably under Absolute Evil?” “Exactly.
In my opinion, we could stay in the Earl’s domain for a few days.
The Bat Principality is friendly with us, and if Your Highness visits as the elven princess—even empty-handed, just to offer comfort—and lets me help out a bit, it would really boost the Earl’s opinion of you.
The Oro family is one of the top families in the Bat Kingdom, and the Earl himself is a fifth-rank powerhouse.
Once you become the elven queen, they won’t forget your kindness today.
Meeting the Earl would be a big help for your future.”
As if she thought her argument wasn’t convincing enough, Anastasia added,
“The original one-month journey was calculated for walking, but now we have a carriage—and not just any carriage, but one pulled by eight-legged horses with great stamina and speed.
We can reach the elven lands in half a month at most, even if we stop to see the Earl.
It won’t delay your return at all.”
“…Anastasia, why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Fia’s reproachful tone made Anastasia a little embarrassed.
“Uh, I thought it wouldn’t be that much faster.
Factoring in possible accidents, I figured we’d only save about a week.
The carriage has to stick to main roads, but on foot, we could use ‘Flight’ magic to take shortcuts.
But I didn’t expect the eight-legged horses to have such stamina—they only need a short rest at night, and can keep going all day, much faster than normal horses… So, Your Highness, do you want to visit the Earl’s domain?” “No.”
Fia refused flatly.
She knew Anastasia was only suggesting it for her own good, and the Earl’s importance to the Bat Principality was probably more than Anastasia had said.
But for Fia right now, the distant future could wait—getting back to the elven kingdom as soon as possible was what mattered.
Her earlier tone had been a bit scolding, but it was really because she was upset that Anastasia didn’t care about herself at all.
Cutting the travel time in half meant Fia had to work even harder to master magic, which was crucial for Anastasia, who would soon be blamed by the elven king and the nobles.
The more magic Fia learned, the less trouble Anastasia would get in for failing as a bodyguard.
She had to hurry.
With that in mind, Fia pulled her legs back into the carriage, wiggled her hips, and sat up straight next to Anastasia.
Earlier, to make reading easier, Fia had put the magic books she needed to study in her space backpack.
Now, she could just take them out.
Seeing Fia’s actions, Anastasia was visibly moved.
Her blue eyes seemed to shine with emotion, and her grip on the reins loosened.
“Your Highness…” “I’m going to start studying magic.
Anastasia, just do your own thing—if I don’t understand something, I’ll ask you.”
“Of course, Your Highness can ask me anything at any time.”
With Anastasia’s reassurance, Fia turned her attention from the green fields to the beautifully bound magic book.
The World Tree Continent didn’t have printing yet, so all books had to be copied by hand, and paper was expensive.
Even a simple storybook cost silver coins.
The book in Fia’s hands was about as thick as a single coin, with a tanned leather cover and large octavo size—at least ten gold coins just for the cover.
The gold thread on the cover made it look luxurious, and the magical script and symbols gave it an ancient, mysterious feel.
In ornate Milcandis Sacred Script, the title read: “Beginner Magic—Selected Intermediate Spells.”
Beginner magic usually meant first- and second-rank spells, but the line between intermediate and advanced magic was blurry.
In some countries, only fifth-rank and above counted as advanced, while in others, powerful fourth-rank spells did too.
Some places only called sixth-rank spells advanced, and weak fifth-rank spells were still considered intermediate—the rules were all over the place.
As for where the book came from, it wasn’t a gift from Claire, but loot from the temple in Aurora City.
Most of the temple’s magic books were about faith magic.
Fia had to search to find one on elemental magic.
But out of curiosity, she also took a few faith magic books, planning to try them out when she had the chance.
For this, not only did the Cardinal of Aurora City not feel any pain at the loss, he even gave Fia an extra book called the “Sacred Codex of Life.” Its status in the church was about the same as the “Bible” Fia knew, clearly because he saw Fia was interested in faith magic and took the chance to preach.
Fia opened the magic book.
In her vision, the preface left by the book’s author appeared.
The gist was that the magic books on the market were too messy—each one only recorded one or two spells, and most of the rest was just the inventor’s travel notes and thoughts, or even just filler with continental history and hero legends, basically padding the word count to trick beginners.
So the author of this book decided to compile the spells he thought were practical into one volume.
There weren’t many spells, but each one was guaranteed to be useful.
Amusingly, the author would occasionally throw in some curses at his peers, and as the font gradually warped, even though it was just text, Fia could almost hear the voice and see the scene.
After quickly finishing the preface, Fia flipped to the first page.
When her eyes landed on the first spell, she couldn’t help but open them a little wider.
“‘Food Creation’: Creates enough food to fill your stomach, suitable for use when stranded on a deserted island or in desperate situations with no food.
The cost is that each use will consume ten percent of your total mana, but the amount of food created will increase or decrease depending on how much mana is used.
Either way, it’s better than starving to death.”
Both the effect of the spell and the way it was described made Fia find it interesting.
Creating food out of nothing—this was something that could change the structure of society and the course of history.
Once humans are free from hunger, many conflicts would disappear.
It was just a basic spell, yet it hadn’t been widely spread, which was unbelievable.
Also, the line “each use will consume ten percent of your total mana” made Fia curious.
Since coming to the World Tree Continent, she’d never run out of mana, but according to the author, just using “Food Creation” ten times in a row should drain it all.
Maybe she could use this spell to figure out her full strength.
Fia started memorizing the spell’s incantation, trying to piece it together.
Although Anastasia glanced over at her halfway through and, upon seeing Fia was learning “Food Creation,” her eyebrow twitched ever so slightly and her expression turned a bit odd, Anastasia didn’t say anything, so Fia didn’t notice her taking the water bottle out of the carriage.
Meanwhile, Liti also poked her head out from behind the curtain.
Like Anastasia, when Liti, who was planning to tease Fia, saw that Fia was studying “Food Creation,” she quietly pulled her head back in.
Without a word, she and Anastasia reached a silent agreement: they poured out the water from the bottle, refilled it with sweet fruit juice, and put it on the driver’s seat, then slipped back into the carriage as if they’d never been there.
Completely unaware of all this, Fia, now absorbed in her studies, raised her right hand and softly recited the incantation.
“—‘Food Creation.’”
Like a lightbulb flashing for a moment, a white light flickered, and suddenly there was a fist-sized lump of charcoal in Fia’s hand—actually, calling it charcoal was too generous; it was more like a dense black rock, and if she threw it, it could probably kill a magic wolf.
Even when Fia squeezed it hard, the rock only showed a dent, not breaking or cracking under the force.
Even its toughness was surprisingly good.
She could probably use it as raw material for making weapons.
This was basically “Metal Creation.”
Still, since she’d made the food herself, Fia decided to try eating it.
To be precise, she just wanted to give it a try, so she licked it to taste it.
It had a sour, rancid smell.
Like socks soaked in sweat for days during the summer rainy season, tossed in a bucket and forgotten, then pulled out days later all moldy and stinky.
If that was all, it might be bearable, but the worst part was, it also smelled like bird droppings.
Even if you gave it to a dog, the dog probably wouldn’t eat it.
But no matter what, it was still food, and as someone with a lot of curiosity, Fia held her breath, used her silver dagger to cut off a small piece, and put it in her mouth.
At that moment, both Anastasia beside her and Liti above her widened their eyes in unison, looking at her with admiration.
Anastasia even had her hand on the water bottle, ready to hand over the juice at any time.
“Gulp.”
It tasted just as bad as she expected.
Her impression was the same as when she first licked it.
If the first taste was just the flavor, now she could describe the texture—it was so hard at first it felt like it could break her teeth, and after it softened with saliva, it was like chewing a mix of sand, wax, and wood shavings.
Pretty disgusting.
If Anastasia hadn’t been sitting next to her, Fia would have already spat it out in a very unladylike way.
“Y-Your Highness, if you’re not feeling well, there’s a bush over there for cover… Ah, here’s some juice!” Anastasia quickly handed the juice to Fia, while Liti started wiping Fia’s mouth with a slightly scented handkerchief.
Without hesitation, Fia took the juice and tilted her head back, drinking it all in one go.
As the sweetness spread across her taste buds and the fruity aroma slid down her throat into her stomach, Fia couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
Her half-dead life was revived.
No wonder “Food Creation” hadn’t caught on across the continent—no one would like food like this.
“Are you okay, sis?” “Phew… I’m fine, thanks, Liti.
I didn’t expect food made by magic to taste this bad.”
Taking the handkerchief, Fia drank another sip of juice, her expression complicated.
“Most people get stomachaches or diarrhea the first time they eat a rock.
Your Highness, maybe you should try to throw up…” As she spoke, Anastasia gently reached out with a cotton swab dampened with water, looking like she was about to stick it in Fia’s mouth to help her vomit.
Even though Anastasia was acting like a big sister right now, Fia really didn’t want to be made to throw up.
She quickly leaned back and waved her hands.
“No, no, that’s not necessary.”
The nanobots in her body would help out at times like this.
Thanks to “Nanomachine Body,” she’d been in this other world for so long and still hadn’t seen what a women’s restroom looked like—if they even had separate restrooms here.
“By the way, have you and Liti ever eaten this stuff?” “Yes.
Most magic casters learn ‘Food Creation.’ It tastes awful, but it really does help in a pinch.
If you don’t try it yourself, you won’t believe what others say about it, so even if people try to stop them, beginners always insist on trying it at least once, so…” Anastasia lowered her head, seeming a bit embarrassed that she hadn’t stopped Fia.
That’s why Anastasia and Liti had prepared everything for her in advance.
They were treating her like a child.
Feeling awkward and embarrassed, Fia cleared her throat to save face.
“Ahem, maybe if I improve it, it’ll taste better.”
She’d worry about “using up ten percent of her mana just to make a rock” later.
Next, she’d try using “Super Calculation.”
