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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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After the Eater of Worlds left, the Empire was in the process of restoring order.
Miraculously, there were no casualties, mainly because no one would stand idly by while a dragon roamed the skies.
The damage was mostly concentrated on buildings and streets, as the creature hadn’t gone on a rampage. It had simply satisfied its curiosity and left.
It was a relatively peaceful conclusion considering that the final boss of BD4 had just visited.
‘It really only came to confirm how I killed that thing? What kind of a creature is it?’
Of course, there was a minor side effect in the process which was that my sanity had taken a hit.
Thanks to that, the time for our next audience with the Empress was naturally postponed.
According to Aurora, it would be at least a month before we could leave the Imperial Palace.
It was common practice to send guests back and reschedule their visits for a later date when something this big happened. But ‘for some reason,’ Cecilia wouldn’t allow us to leave.
She had stared intently at me as she emphasized the part about not knowing the reason, too. I couldn’t even refute her because I had a lot to feel guilty about.
‘…She must have seen it.’
Cecilia’s gaze towards me had changed completely after I faced the Eater of Worlds. It was a gaze that said she was determined to make me hers, no matter what.
But thanks to that, we were treated very well. Even Aurora and the Knight Commanders were bewildered by the level of luxury we were enjoying.
It was a similar situation to when we were in the Holy Kingdom.
“Lady Minerva. Don’t you want to study the Crystal Scroll?”
“Are you finally going to take me there?!”
I visited Minerva, taking advantage of Aurora’s prolonged absence due to work and the Knight Commanders’ volunteering to help with the city’s recovery efforts alongside their former subordinates.
I asked her to persuade Cecilia, using the Crystal Scroll as leverage.
It wasn’t a bad deal for Minerva. I had made it clear from the beginning that I wouldn’t take her to the Crystal Scroll until I had obtained a new weapon.
My plan worked perfectly, and after several hours of Minerva’s ‘persuasion,’ I was finally granted permission to leave the Imperial Palace.
‘I need to do something quickly.’
The level of interest she was already showing me was concerning. It wouldn’t be surprising if I woke up in Cecilia’s bed one day.
Unlike Lize, who had said she was okay with me having more women as long as she got all of my firsts, or the Popes, who had openly hinted at polygamy, Cecilia seemed incredibly possessive.
‘Not that I’m planning on getting more women…’
Lize, Floretta, Luna – those three alone were already enough to weigh on my conscience.
Especially Lize.
“My child, the Crystal Scroll—”
“I told you, I need to get a new weapon first.”
“But what if we get the scroll first—”
“Are you confident you’ll be able to leave the Mage Tower if I take you there?”
Minerva, who had been pestering me about finding the scroll, immediately shut up at my words.
She was well aware that she would become completely absorbed in her research once she obtained the Crystal Scroll. It was the same in the game.
“W-Well, then just tell me if you’re ready to depart right now.”
“I’m almost ready. It’s time to begin.”
I grabbed the brooch depicting the Sun and Moon, which the Popes had given me. That was all I needed. I didn’t have a weapon since it was broken, and I didn’t need anything else because I had Minerva with me.
Minerva seemed to be trying to maintain her composure and dignity, but her every action was laced with urgency. She was about to throw away her 400 years of decorum.
The majestic and mysterious aura she had possessed during our first encounter was nowhere to be seen.
“Where do we need to teleport to?”
“Just a moment, let me find the location…”
I unfolded the map Minerva had brought.
Every detail of the Empire was meticulously marked, and the Holy Kingdom was also quite detailed, though not as much as the Empire. But the northern and southern parts of the continent were only vaguely outlined.
Unlike in the game, the terrain wouldn’t be filled in just by walking around, so people must have explored and mapped it out manually, either through magic or exploration.
Therefore, it was no surprise that there weren’t detailed maps of the Southern Swamplands, a dangerous wasteland, or the Northern Snow Mountains, where everything was frozen.
‘I’ll probably have to visit the Southern Swamplands at some point. But I don’t need to go to the Northern Snow Mountains. There are no items I need there.’
I mentally compared the map in front of me with the maps players had created and searched for the location we needed to go to.
Minerva was pacing impatiently next to me.
Was she really that eager to get her hands on the Crystal Scroll?
“It’s around here. We’ll have to search for the exact location once we get there.”
I pointed to a spot near the edge of the Empire. The map’s scale was much larger than in the game, but this should be the right area.
“Alright, I understand. Get ready.”
Minerva immediately began preparing the spell.
Thump.
The tip of her staff lightly tapped the floor.
A magic circle materialized, and a blue pillar of light shot up into the sky.
With the familiar sensation of weightlessness, we were transported into a forest.
Trees and grass surrounded us. The towering old trees blocked out the sunlight, making it dark even though it was daytime. Minerva tapped the ground with her staff, and the surroundings brightened.
“Is this the place, my child?”
“We need to search further. I don’t know how far off we are from the location I marked.”
We had teleported to a spot near the coordinates I had marked on a map of the entire continent. There was no way to know how much of a margin of error there was. It could be tens, or even hundreds of kilometers.
Even this teleportation was only possible because of Minerva’s immense magical power.
An ordinary mage wouldn’t even be able to find the coordinates I marked, let alone teleport to this location.
She wasn’t called the Eternal Mage and revered as a living legend by almost every mage in the continent for nothing.
Although her image had been slightly tarnished by her eagerness to find the scroll just now.
‘I would have been in big trouble without Minerva.’
It was the right decision to accept her interest and offer the Crystal Scroll as a deal.
Even setting aside the issue of how to complete the quest, getting to the location itself would have been a problem. How could I possibly find a single house in this vast forest and mountainous terrain?
“Could you scan the surroundings, Lady Minerva?”
“We just need to find a house?”
“Yes. It doesn’t have to be a house, but any structure that seems to have been built by humans.”
The surrounding area was nothing but forests and mountains, so it would probably be the same here.
Even if there were people, there wouldn’t be many living in this dense forest. We could just visit each one.
Minerva closed her eyes and channeled mana into her staff. Circular waves of energy emanated from the silver staff, spreading outwards. The grass and trees that were touched by the waves glowed blue for a brief moment.
After a while, Minerva, who had been keeping her eyes closed, slowly opened them.
“I found it.”
“What does it look like, Lady Minerva?”
“It’s a wooden structure, an ordinary one-story house, with one section made of stone.”
“Yes, that must be it.”
I nodded in confirmation, and Minerva, without hesitation, used teleportation. In the blink of an eye, we were standing in front of a house.
It was a wooden structure, a strange mixture of an ordinary house and a shrine. And a part of the house was made of stone, giving it a peculiar appearance.
This was definitely the place.
“Here it is. Thank you, Lady Minerva.”
“I simply did what I had to do. Let’s go.”
Minerva practically pushed me towards the building. I climbed the few steps leading to the entrance and knocked on the door forcefully.
Bang, bang, bang!
A dull thudding echoed through the air.
I waited, but nothing happened. I knocked again. Still nothing. I knocked a third time. Again, nothing.
Minerva, who had been watching me knock, spoke with a slightly annoyed expression,
“Is there no one inside?”
“No. There’s definitely someone there.”
“Then they’re deliberately ignoring us. Tell me if you want to break it down, my child. I’ll gladly do it.”
“It’s fine. They’ll show up soon.”
In the game, you had to choose the “knock on the door” option five times in a row before the NPC would appear. So I had to knock at least five times here as well.
In the game, after the third knock, a message would pop up saying that there seemed to be no one inside, tricking countless players into wasting time.
The fourth and fifth knocks echoed through the air.
Just as Minerva, her face creased with annoyance, was about to raise her staff,
“Ugh, you persistent brat! I was trying to ignore you, but you just won’t give up!”
The door burst open, and someone stormed out. It was a woman with long, orange hair and orange eyes.
I smiled slightly, seeing her speak the exact same lines as in the game. The NPC had been a man in the game, but I was no longer surprised by male NPCs being changed to female.
I would be more surprised if an NPC’s gender remained unchanged. I would wonder what kind of role they had that their gender wasn’t changed.
“I have a request.”
I went straight to the point.
Her personality didn’t seem to have changed, so I could just proceed as I had in the game.
“A request? What is it?”
As I had expected, the woman didn’t seem fazed at all by a stranger suddenly approaching her with a request. After all, that was her personality.
“Could you give me one of the weapons you made?”
“A weapon I made?”
“Yes.”
The woman stared at me with her orange eyes.
“I don’t know where you heard the rumors, but… I can give you one. But not for free.”
“Of course not.”
I continued, hoping that the overall content of the quest hadn’t changed.
“If you give me a weapon, I’ll bring you the ingredients for the potion you’re currently making.”
It was time for the most tedious, frustrating, and annoying quest in BD4.
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[Your Text Here]
Ah so this is where he charms the tall mage mommy? I guess this whole thing might end in a three some like the popes
Oh boy, here comes the fetch quest 🥴