The fairies living in the Great Forest in the northeastern part of the Prima Continent received a blessing from the ‘Great Tree’ that protected the forest in the year they turned five.
As a result, their [Divinity] value increased by 1, and a bonus was applied to various skill proficiencies, allowing for rapid growth.
In truth, the reason Linia, who hadn’t done anything special, had an initial Divinity value of 1 was entirely due to the Blessing of the Great Tree.
In cases of exceptionally high potential, some were born with innate Divinity. Chesa, who had a Divinity value of 1 from the start for no particular reason, was a good example. However, Linia’s initial potential level was 40, so that didn’t apply to her.
“W-what do you mean we need to remove the Blessing of the Great Tree, young master?”
“It’s complicated to explain… but the one on you isn’t a free power like the blessings from the churches affiliated with the Holy Nation. That’s why I wanted to get it removed if we ever had a chance to visit the Great Forest.”
Linia’s confusion was brief.
She blinked for a moment before speaking.
“I don’t quite understand, but alright.”
“I haven’t even explained the reason yet?”
“You seemed much more serious than usual, so I decided to take it to heart. Besides, I don’t think you’d do anything harmful to me.”
Linia smiled faintly.
She seemed to have deep trust in me. It was immensely gratifying, but on the other hand, it felt a bit burdensome.
More importantly… it seemed like the time had come to reveal the story about Tiamia and the other Five Heroes. This trip to the Great Forest would be a good opportunity.
I checked Linia’s character sheet for the first time in a while.
<Linia Lo Arieldee>
[Level: 23/46]
[HP: 08] [STR: 06] [AGI: 10]
[MP: 12] [Mental: 06] [Sense: 11]
[Divinity: 02]
[Traits: Spirit Affinity · Strong (A), Elemental Affinity (B), Espionage (B), Top Secretary (B)]
[Skills: Advanced Spirit Arts (A), Tranquil Heart Method (A), All-Around Assistance (B), Spirit Step (B), Shadow Travel (B), Water Surface Walk (B), Thorn · Special (C)]
[Description: Age 25, half-fairy from the Arieldee clan. The sole attendant brought by Foden Stroke’s wife, ‘Nevia Lilu Arieldee,’ when she left the Great Forest. Currently affiliated with the Blispiel Clan, following her master Aiden Stroke.]
Among the A-grade elixirs I had stolen in bulk from Melkina recently, I had sorted out the ones that didn’t seem particularly important and given them all to her. It sounded like I was treating her like a dumping ground, but since they were all national treasure-grade elixirs, the effects were undeniable.
Before heading to the Sun Cathedral, I had also found her a separate instructor for spirit arts, and seeing Advanced Spirit Arts (A) listed on her sheet, the training seemed to have been quite effective.
Of course, there was one regrettable point.
“Linia. You still haven’t learned any swordsmanship or other martial skills?”
“Yes. They just don’t stick with me.”
“Hmm… Can’t be helped.”
“I’m sorry, young master.”
Namely, she had absolutely no talent in weapon mastery lines like Swordsmanship Genius (A). It was especially a shame since if she had archery-related talent, she could have dual-classed as a ranger.
If she continued growing without major changes, she’d likely end up as a support agent feel, like (shaman + rogue).
Still, with Blake, who had the Great Educator (S) trait, staying as a guest at the clan house, there were still opportunities to learn advanced martial skills. As soon as her spirit arts training wrapped up, I’d have to work her hard alongside Epio.
“Why do I suddenly feel a chill…”
Had she read my mind or something?
Linia shivered.
The Five Heroes.
They were the pinnacle of humanity’s strongest, active roughly 400 years before the original story’s timeline.
Actually, since two of the five members were hard to classify as human, it was unclear if this was an appropriate term.
Anyway, they were the main antagonists of Part 3 in Reca Chronicles.
Some might wonder, ‘Why do such unparalleled heroes revive as enemies of modern humanity?’
The reason they had been asleep all this time and only awakened around the main story’s timeline, and the reason they became hostile to modern humanity… both were related to the revival of the ‘Demon King’ that would occur on the Ciencia Continent.
Four hundred years ago, the elven hero Tiamia Lapiru Arieldee suddenly had a prophetic dream, which was the beginning of everything.
In the dream, she saw a future where the Demon King awakened, and in her excitement, she informed her fellow heroes.
The existence of the Demon King, who would drive the world to destruction, had been mentioned in various prophecies, but they were all superficial, nothing more than pie-in-the-sky legends.
However, the scene Tiamia saw in her prophetic dream was different. Through a few clues, she could determine that the time of the Demon King’s revival was roughly 400 years in the future.
The Five Heroes had repeated adventures worthy of an epic saga.
Yet, they were still thirsty, constantly craving new stimulation.
It was only natural for them to deeply regret being 400 years removed from that turbulent era.
In the end, they caused an incident.
Three of the Five Heroes, who had limited lifespans, used some means to enter a state of ‘cryogenic suspension.’
The remaining two, who weren’t human, also fell asleep to preserve their minds fully, and they reunited in the original’s Part 3, when the Demon King began activity on the Ciencia Continent.
The important part was that the Five Heroes had prepared special arrangements. Arrangements to quickly recover their strength upon awakening 400 years later.
In Tiamia’s case, that was the ‘Blessing of the Great Tree.’
She was born with the power to freely manipulate the fairy race’s guardian tree, and with help from her comrade ‘Irumokwi,’ she added the function of granting blessings to other kin.
But strictly speaking, what was placed on most of the fairy race wasn’t a ‘blessing’ but a ‘contract.’
And an extremely unfair one at that.
Everyone who received the Blessing of the Great Tree had to offer their life force and ego to Tiamia, the contract’s subject, whenever she desired, in exchange for the Divinity value and proficiency bonuses. Because of that, in Part 3, over 90% of the fairies in the Great Forest became puppets faithfully following her revived commands.
The other four weren’t saints either; they had prepared similar arrangements through their descendants or followers. Thus, the moment they revived, the entire continent plunged into chaos.
I had been diligently researching measures to prevent the damage from the heroes’ arrangements in advance, but they were all methods that could only be realized once the Blispiel Clan’s power grew stronger.
First, I had to handle the immediate tasks.
“How are the preparations for the Glicia civil war going?”
“If you mean the tasks the previous sub-master assigned, most have been successfully completed. In terms of progress, I’d say about 80%.”
“Good.”
While I was out and about collecting MacGuffins, Camillo had been busily handling the clan’s internal and external affairs. He tackled whatever I assigned him efficiently, so I couldn’t skimp on praise.
“The civil war will be a pivotal turning point in the Blispiel Clan’s history.”
The civil war in the Glicia Kingdom, set to occur in about half a year, happened for typical reasons, if one could call them that.
At present, His Majesty the King of Glicia, who was in a coma with no promise of recovery, had only two wives in his lifetime.
From them, he had a total of nine children, and among them, the eldest daughter Isabella, born to the first wife, had been intelligent and well-regarded since childhood, expected by those around her to be the heir.
However, right after the king suddenly lost consciousness and took to his sickbed, the eldest son Ramon, born to the second wife, claimed that his half-sister was unfit as heir.
The argument was that ‘since there are few precedents of women becoming queens in the Glicia Kingdom, I am more suitable as heir.’
Of course, this didn’t hold water at first, as it clashed with the central continent’s culture that didn’t discriminate by gender in succession. He did gain some support from conservative nobles, but the fundamental issue was that Prince Ramon’s qualities weren’t particularly outstanding.
However, public opinion shifted in an instant.
Thanks to the Caracol Clan diligently working behind the scenes, influencing the powerful.
Although part of the Glicia Kingdom’s stake would go to the Caracol Clan for instigating the civil war, the prospect of installing Ramon as a puppet king was quite appealing to the high nobles.
In the end, the civil war ended with a lackluster victory for Ramon’s side, backed by one of the Continent’s Twelve Heroes and his clan.
“The way for us to rapidly expand our influence in the central region is to join the besieged Princess Isabella’s side and drive out the Caracol and Prince Ramon.”
“It’s clear from various circumstantial evidence that a civil war will soon erupt in the Glicia Kingdom, but is such a simplistic approach sufficient? Our clan’s actual combat power is still quite lacking. Isn’t there a possibility that Princess Isabella will just take the help and wipe her mouth clean?”
A valid point.
A fool like Prince Ramon might be one thing, but a talent like Isabella wouldn’t hand over part of her sovereignty to a small clan like ours without a fight.
But there was a simple solution.
“We just need to steer it from a simple civil war into a clan dispute. Then, the Church of Struggle and the Church of Utility will send arbitrators.”
“A clan dispute…! That’s a possibility!”
The foundation of a clan’s authority was recognition from the Church of Utility.
Naturally, the Church of Utility also managed disputes between clans, and since a massive clan like Caracol was involved, they’d surely bring the relic, the Secret Numbering Counter (S).
Then, our contributions to ending the civil war would be transparently revealed.
The fact that Isabella’s side owed us would also become publicly known.
“Of course, that alone might feel a bit uneasy. Has the negotiation with Count Pontiroig concluded?”
“We’ve arranged to take custody of Lady Mariana. The count seems to view her as a headache as well.”
Countess Mariana Pontiroig possessed the potential to shake the Glicia Kingdom to its core.
In truth, she was the illegitimate child the current king had before becoming crown prince, and she was three years older than Isabella.
In other words, an existence that could uproot the legitimacy of the eldest daughter from the roots.
In the original, Count Pontiroig seemed to have tried to hide her existence to the end, but ultimately, the victorious Ramon side discovered Mariana through secret documents during the civil war.
The count was purged by Ramon for disloyalty, but Mariana herself, possessing nation-toppling beauty, had value as a tool for political marriage.
In the end, she caught the eye of a prince from the Wiblet Empire, one of the strongest nations on the Prima Continent, and Glicia formed a marital alliance with the empire.
Only the Caracol Clan and Ramon profited.
But in this history, she would serve as our side’s joker card splendidly.
“While I’m away, please handle the remaining groundwork. Leak appropriate information to Luca, our spy.”
“Understood.”
Dragon God Year 984, April 24.
About half a year remained until the start of the Glicia civil war.
It was a bit tight to stop by the Great Forest near the north, but it wasn’t a big issue for me now.
Recently, I had supplied Restinel with the high-grade metals from the mobile fortress Melkina, and he had remodeled himself into a vehicle that could be fueled by thunder qi.
“Estimate. Round trip to destination approximately 25 days. Will consume.”
“Your language skills have returned to normal as well.”
“Thanks to master. Feel a bit sorry for Melkina.”
The Machine God Tribe had deep bonds with their kin.
Of course, they wouldn’t shy from fights if unavoidable, but that was simply because all Machine God Tribe members entered hibernation without dying.
Their hearts, the cores, were absolutely indestructible, and there was no mention of why the Machine God Tribe could use relics imbued with divine authority as power sources.
Truly a race shrouded in mystery.
“Chesa, Linia, Clara. Get on quickly.”
“…Aiden? What about Epio?”
“Epio’s training with the Professor.”
Kurt was fundamentally a production type, so I left him at the forge. Even if I tried to bring him, Bailey wouldn’t let go.
Naturally, the companions for this trip were just the three female members.
Unintentionally, I ended up enjoying a harem situation……
Clara approached me with a triumphant smile.
“Three women! Aiden, your party composition shows your shady intentions!”
“What’s this kid babbling about… Come to think of it, last time at the cathedral… Wait, now that I think about it, for you, it would have been better to go alone with your fiancée… Ow! Ouch! No violence!”
For some reason, I felt embarrassed and gave her three flicks on the forehead.
Anyway, Restinel, who had taken the form of a small carriage, began moving powered by the electricity I emitted. And we arrived at the destination in 13 days, as predicted in advance.
“Are you humans? What’s your business?”
As soon as we entered the entrance of the Great Forest, fairy patrol guards with wary expressions welcomed us.