Chapter: 20. What Scheme Is This?
Holding a small notebook, Princess Xue Fei seemed to envision the recent comical sight of Xial diligently writing and reading late into the night, deep in thought.
The handwriting in the small notebook was childish and crooked; the letters looked like fire-red ants crawling chaotically, and the pen-holding posture might have been incorrect.
Nevertheless, Xial persisted for several nights, sitting alone by the lake, recalling the texts she had read in the past, carefully extracting them from the sea of memories that spanned a thousand years, as if lifting fine grains of sand from the sea.
The reason she wanted to write these words was clear to the Little Holy Sword itself.
Sometimes, Xial would suddenly remember…
She was merely a soul awakened from the river of time.
In a twist of fate, she continued to exist thanks to Princess Xue Fei’s magic, and she was grateful that Xue Fei brought her to this era.
Awakening from a deep dream, blood flowed like rivers turning into babbling brooks, and heaps of corpses became blooming flowers across the mountains.
In an era with little warfare, an age when the Demon King’s Army had not invaded the capital city, she was not needed to leap into magma to change anything.
There were no cold glances from her family, no one calling her a monster that was different from ordinary people.
And no one said that she should not exist by nature.
Princess Xue Fei only said, as long as you don’t cause trouble, then live freely, run and make noise at will; this world is vast enough to accommodate you, a small abnormality.
The words were harsh, but Xial liked to hear them.
And because of this…
She was particularly afraid of being abandoned again.
She knew she did not belong to this era; her existence itself was a kind of oddity.
Even if she prided herself on having a mother and a family, it was all in vain.
She didn’t actually like fishing that much, but still followed Princess Xue Fei to help her net fish. Yet many times, Xue Fei couldn’t catch any fish, so there was no need for her to help with the net.
“Unnecessary” – this was quite a frightening term.
Every time she walked home behind Princess Xue Fei empty-handed, under the setting sun, Xial always feared hearing those words.
— You’re really useless.
— We don’t need you anymore.
— Your value is sacrifice; you were born to save the people, and your birth is for death.
Princess Xue Fei had never said such things.
But Xial still felt uneasy.
After all, her family from a thousand years ago, who usually laughed and talked happily, ultimately pushed her into the sea of fire with just one sentence.
She dared not speak about it and pretended to be optimistic.
Pretending to be carefree, only knowing how to eat and drink, was to ensure she wouldn’t affect others, wouldn’t make them unhappy.
Because if everyone became unhappy…
They would realize how redundant she was.
Xial racked her brains for many nights, writing down the contents of this small notebook.
It was only because she had heard Princess Xue Fei complain to Xialet about it before.
【I can simulate this Instant Casting Magic of Aimeres, but I’m not sure if it’s the same principle. If possible… I don’t intend to draw conclusions based on half-understood information; any careless and reckless judgment could lead to irreparable consequences, especially since the opponent claims to be a deity. It would be better to trust in something than to doubt it. The Demon Race Forbidden Library can be checked for relevant records, but… sigh, just thinking about it is troublesome; I can’t understand those ancient scripts—each character takes ages to study, it’s just exhausting.】
Hearing this, Xial was overjoyed.
She felt that she could finally relieve Princess Xue Fei’s worries for once!
She hurried to the market, using the pocket money given by Princess Xue Fei to buy a small notebook and a feather pen.
Originally, it was meant to buy donuts, but compared to donuts, Xial preferred being able to smile at herself.
Excitedly returning home, she diligently recalled and drew correspondences between the ancient texts and the kingdom’s modern script, and then checked the materials to compare the kingdom’s script with the demon script. She discovered that the ancient scripts of both shared a remarkable similarity, making it possible to link the two; most translations made sense.
After working hard for many days…
She often felt sleepy.
Searching for memories across such a long stretch of time was not an easy task.
But Xial had to do it because some seemingly trivial matters to others represented her entire self-worth.
Finally, on the day Princess Xue Fei was to visit the Forbidden Library, Xial completed the small notebook that could carry her value!
【Princess Xue Fei, look! I wrote this. Only I can write it; others can’t remember!】
【Why emphasize that only you can… huh? Not bad at all! You actually have this kind of skill. Don’t say anything more; when I come back from the Forbidden Library, I’ll get you a sweet and sour fish!】
“Hey…”
“What’s wrong, Queen Sister? Why the sigh? With the translated version, isn’t it much easier now?”
“It’s nothing; I’m not sighing about this; I’m… oh, forget it; you wouldn’t understand.”
“That’s unfair…”
Yes, I am quite unfair.
Thinking carefully, Xue Fei just realized why, when Xial handed the small notebook to her, she emphasized that “only we can write.”
It’s not easy being a perverted soul…
When she goes back, she should apologize a bit and praise her, and add a bit more sugar to the sweet and sour fish.
Xue Fei’s gaze gradually softened. Belis, who understood this gentle implication, walked back and forth with her hands behind her back, slowly floating closer to the stone shelf while murmuring to herself.
“The Holy Sword can work this hard for the Queen Sister… the Queen Sister still has that charm of being relied upon by everything… I’m somewhat envious.”
At first listen, one might think Belis was extremely envious of Xue Fei’s charismatic personality.
Years ago, Belis would indeed think about problems from that perspective.
But now her envy was directed towards Xial and those who relied on the Queen Sister.
The Queen Sister used to be just my Queen Sister… we spent every day together… but now the Queen Sister has to split her attention to care about your matters. How can Belis not feel jealous and depressed?
That just now, the quiet murmur, Xue Fei didn’t hear clearly; when she inquired again, Belis didn’t explain further.
“What is it… speaking halfway, isn’t that annoying? Never mind, Belis, have you found any books about 【Word Spirit Technique】? Or about 【Instant Casting Magic】? By the way, why have so many strange things appeared lately?”
“Not yet. Huh? Queen Sister, isn’t that book next to you about Word Spirit Technique?”
“Which book?”
“The one with the gray cover.”
“Ha…! So far away yet so near, to obtain it without effort, indeed! Belis, you have good eyesight, um… wait.”
“……”
Belis’s figure searching for books froze in place.
Xue Fei didn’t rush to ask her anything; instead, she compared the words on the gray cover with the small notebook in her hand.
Indeed…
This book truly contained records related to Word Spirit Technique!
“Belis…?”
“Ahahaha… Queen Sister? What’s wrong?”
Dare you turn around and look into my eyes, and ask again?
Xue Fei couldn’t remember if Belis had already compared this book.
Without the translations from her small notebook, even if she glanced at it a hundred times, she would still be unable to verify that this book was about Word Spirit Technique.
Unless…
She had prepared in advance.
Or rather, she had already mentally memorized the distribution of the books here, studied them thoroughly, and was very clear about the types of books here.
So… when Belis just said she didn’t remember coming here, was she lying?
But that was even stranger.
Belis was a smart child, not just generally smart, but having enough wisdom to be fit for a princess; she would never make such a silly mistake or slip of the tongue. The earlier “slip” seemed more like a deliberate act.
Tch.
What scheme is this girl up to?
