Chương 147: Princess Frilian

"The dishes are now complete. Please enjoy your meal."

The innkeeper smiled as she served breakfast to everyone, her manner polite but indifferent, completely devoid of the curious conversation she had yesterday.

The way they were addressed changed from "travelers" to "guests".

It was as if they had lived here for a long time.

"Boss lady, the anniversary celebration is tomorrow, right?"

Xia En tentatively asked.

"certainly."

The proprietress, who was about to leave, responded with a smile, while loudly reminding all the customers who were eating, "If you want a good seat, remember to come early tomorrow."

The guests agreed with laughter and chuckles.

Xia En had a vague intuition: if their group hadn't broken in yesterday, this city would be like this every day.

"That's not right."

Falshu immediately raised a question: "If time had gone back to yesterday, shouldn't we be outside the city?"

Looking at the hotel, Philon was repeating yesterday's scene, and the landlady was reenacting yesterday's conversation.

Xia En thought of a word.

[NPC] This is not a simple time reset.

It's a bug (program error) fix.

The people in the inn are like NPCs in a game, whose behavior is restricted in fixed scenes.

They can only passively follow the course of their destiny, according to the will of the game designers.

And now— Shane and his group became part of this scene.

"I suspect that the person behind this isn't trying to reset a specific period of time; they're just fixing time itself, or rather, fixing the residents' unusual behavior that went beyond the original plan during that period."

"From today onwards, we, as the source of the abnormal behavior, are now included in the category of city residents."

After Xia En finished speaking.

Falshu adjusted his glasses and fell into thought.

After a moment, he raised another question, "According to your theory, Rivendell, where we are now, is a city that can be manipulated. Since we have become the source of the anomalous behavior, wouldn't it be a faster way to deal with the anomaly by eliminating it directly?"

"Why didn't the forces controlling this world do that?"

Xia En frowned.

Yes.

This is also where he had some doubts.

Deleting the abnormal code is clearly the fastest way to fix bugs (program errors).

unless---- There are two possible reasons.

Frillie paused for a moment, opened her mouth to drink a mouthful of porridge that Philon fed her, and then slightly raised her face, waiting for Philon to wipe it for her.

He then continued, "First, the power controlling this world doesn't care about our existence. In its eyes, as long as we are incorporated into the city's operating logic, the [anomaly] will automatically correct itself."

"Secondly, the forces that control this world cannot eliminate us."

"7

"I feel the second possibility is more likely."

As she spoke, Frilian pointed to the ancient book in her hand.

"Just as Shaun wondered before, there are no elves in this city. But the city's local chronicles record many daily lives of the elven residents. There is only one explanation for this anomaly—this is no longer the original Rivendell."

As soon as Frilian spoke.

Xia En immediately thought of the labyrinth "Upside-Down Land" that the two of them had experienced in the "Southern Kingdoms" before, where "Mirror City of Godstan" had once appeared.

He looked around.

Could this place also be a mirror image of the world?

"Can we still get out?"

Shutark, who had been eating pork chop rice with gusto, stopped; the pork in his mouth no longer tasted good.

He couldn't understand the long explanation of the situation, but he grasped the most crucial point.

How do I get out?

Frillie calmly turned a page of the local gazetteer in her hand.

"Let's continue with the strategy."

"As Xia En said yesterday: It's quite common to find 'mazes' where you can't leave until you clear them."'

Xia En was helpless.

You guys didn't seem to agree with what I just said yesterday— Who knew?

After hearing this, Shutark nodded and continued eating.

After Philon turned around and asked Zain for a "minor healing spell," he continued feeding Frilian breakfast.

Forget it.

Xia En silently swallowed back the words she wanted to say.

That's good enough, as long as it can reassure everyone.

Some people were eating, while others were reading.

The hotel, devoid of any tourist attractions, was rather quiet.

The occasional sounds came from the crackling of firewood in the fireplace, and from the landlady's best friend who would occasionally pass by and come in for a chat.

The books that Falshu brought back from the library included a thick stack of local chronicles, several city maps, and a portrait of the "Great Mage Minus".

The portrait was created using the [Image Recall Magic].

The elven mage in the picture has a high, fluffy bun on her head, with bangs falling naturally over her forehead and strands of hair framing her face. She looks neat and refreshing, yet still retains a touch of girlish innocence.

Beneath thick eyebrows.

A pair of light blue eyes, clear and clean.

She looks like an innocent little girl.

Although he knew that the other party was an ancient elf who had lived for countless years, Shane still found it hard to imagine that this was the "Fallen Witch" who would later cause endless wars in the "Southern Kingdoms".

Except for Zain and Shutark, who did not know the ancient Elvish language, everyone was given a local gazetteer and had to interpret it themselves.

The one by Xia En.

Half of the records inside are about Minus taking care of the Golden Tree.

The entire establishment of Rivendell began with Minus planting [a tree].

This sapling with golden leaves comes from Minus's hometown.

The local chronicles do not specify where this "hometown" is.

It is said that Minus traveled here, found the scenery nice, and planted a sapling.

The saplings are growing very slowly.

It took Minus a hundred years to go from building a hut to tending a sapling to establishing a small village, and the sapling had only grown a little over a meter tall.

After that, villages became towns, and towns became cities.

Ravendale was built up bit by bit.

Elves traveling to this place, humans seeking a peaceful home, dwarves who love mining—people of all races began to settle here, and the growth rate of the Golden Tree also increased.

Minus built a sanctuary for teaching elven magic under the Golden Tree.

From then on, the name "Ravendale" spread throughout the mainland.

Xia En silently observed this period of history, trying to imagine the glorious years of those times.

Just then.

Ailu, who was helping her grandfather decipher the ancient texts, let out a gasp.

The little girl pointed to the book in her hand, her voice trembling slightly.

"Grandpa, look at this book—" Lylene glanced at the book in Ailu's hand.

It stopped abruptly.

His previously calm gaze suddenly turned serious.

He picked up the book, frowned, and read it through once, then turned two more pages. After that, he picked up another local gazetteer from the table, opened it, and compared the two books side by side.

Local records state that over 3000 years ago, Minus left Rivendell for two hundred years before returning and settling there ever since.

"but---- Falshu adjusted his glasses, reached out and took the book from Lylene's hand, examined it carefully, and continued, "But according to the records in 'The History of Magic on the Continent,' Rivendell suddenly disappeared two thousand eight hundred years ago."

Lylene nodded.

"According to subsequent records, after Minus returned, there was nothing strange about life in the city."

Frillie closed the book in her hand and stood up.

"It would be strange if there were no strange things."

"If Rivendell has existed independently for 2, 800 years, why is their way of life exactly the same as ours?"

Xia En nodded.

"It seems we need to meet this [Minus]."

The group left the inn.

Head to the tallest tower in the city.

As Xia En had predicted, the people on the street no longer showed any curiosity towards everyone.

However, just like the monsters in the game that deliberately prevent the main characters from getting close to the boss, the residents on the street began to frequently ask everyone for help.

They're either moving things or tasting newly produced wines.

The former was politely refused by Frilian, who then forcibly dragged away Shutark, who wanted to help.

The latter was firmly rejected by Philon, who then forcibly abducted Zanin, who wanted to go and taste the product.

Even a librarian who sells magic books appears at the end.

Shaun covered Frillie's eyes and forcibly took her away.

He passed five checkpoints and defeated six generals.

They finally arrived at the base of the tower.

result.

I walked around the tower for a while, but still couldn't find the way upstairs.

This is a test from the tower's owner for visitors.

"Heh, this trick worked before we had [flight magic]. Now, it's just a piece of cake."

Falshu pushed up his glasses, curled the corners of his mouth, and made a sarcastic remark.

He then summoned his staff and flew up, his movements fluid and graceful.

梆— Falshu's head hit the air with a crisp sound as he flew to the second floor.

The crowd below felt a pang of unease.

A moment later, Falshu landed, clutching his head, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Ailu thought for a moment and suggested, "This should be an [Anti-Flight Barrier]. The 'Statistics and Principles of Barrier Magic' mentions that when encountering this type of barrier, you must [Break Barrier], otherwise you can't fly—I remember the method in the textbook; you can try to break it, but it will take a relatively long time—" Before Ailu could finish speaking, Shane started circling the tower.

He walked along, knocking on the tower's walls, until he heard a hollow sound.

He immediately stopped, took two steps back, and drew his sword.

【Dual Blade Style: Moon Wheel】Activated.

The sword energy transformed into a crescent-shaped slash, causing continuous cuts to the tower's walls.

Stone chips flew everywhere.

With a series of continuous cuts, the wall collapsed, revealing a large hole.

Xia En sheathed his longsword.

"Let's go."

Ailu was shocked.

This method of breaking through the trap isn't quite right—that's not how it's taught in academy.

Falshu glanced at the large hole in the wall, then rubbed the bump on his head. His gaze toward Shane was somewhat complicated.

Only Lylene's gaze toward Shain became somewhat deep.

This "brute force" way of thinking inexplicably reminded him of [Serlie].

In some ways, Xia En was surprisingly similar to his teacher.

The tips of the staffs of several mages lit up.

The group entered the tower through the large opening and climbed the spiral staircase upwards.

The tower was quiet; the only sound was the footsteps of the people inside.

Xia En looked out through the small window in the wall. It was already evening, the light from the golden tree was beginning to dim, and the city was gradually lit up with lights from every home.

He had a bad feeling.

I always feel like I've forgotten something important.

Not long after.

The group arrived at the top floor.

This is a place that resembles a reception room.

The curtains and draperies were magnificent, but the entire hall was empty, without any other decorations.

However, the paintings hanging on the surrounding walls were exceptionally exquisite.

That wasn't a product of "photo magic," but rather a masterpiece of oil painting craftsmanship.

There are at least ten paintings hanging in the entire hall.

Most of them depict urban life.

There are images of knights in armor patrolling the city.

There are images of monks treating a child's scrapes.

There are scenes of a magician teacher giving a lesson.

The central image depicts the grand celebration of the anniversary. People gather below the tower's terrace, awaiting the blessing of the Mage Minus.

The group walked in front of the painting.

Admiring these rare masterpieces by the masters.

and many more!

Shaun paused, unable to resist moving closer to gaze intently at the portrait titled "Anniversary." On the terrace where people were gathered, where Minus should have been standing, there was no one there.

He couldn't help but frown.

- The portraits that can be hung here are absolutely free of the basic mistakes made by the artist, such as omitting the subject.

Frilian stepped forward beside him.

The elven girl also looked puzzled.

Soon after, others also noticed something amiss with the painting, and similar questions arose throughout the hall.

"Why is there no officer at the front of the knights' column? And why is that horse empty?"

"It's the same here; there are no teachers in the magic classes."

Just then.

A "ding" sound seemed to ring in Xia En's mind.

His survival instinct made him immediately realize that this was a trap!

"Leave these paintings behind—" Xia En's reminder came out without thinking.

At the same time as his voice rang out, there was also the sound of the canvas shattering.

Shane grabbed Frillie, activated his speed boost, and quickly fled from the oil painting in front of them.

But it was all too late.

The golden magical chains that had previously dragged them underground reappeared. Even with the experience of being ambushed before, the group immediately retaliated.

The hall was instantly filled with magical flashes.

But it only gave them a few more seconds to escape.

Just like before, these magically formed chains are unbreakable, extremely flexible, and incredibly strong. Once entangled, they are impossible to resist.

This time, the chains pulled everyone directly into the canvas.

In the blink of an eye.

The hall returned to calm.

Everyone was pulled into the painting that was closest to them.

In the scene, the previously empty spaces gradually filled with corresponding figures.

The painting has been completed.

A distant bell rang out throughout the city.

The light of the golden tree faded to the treetops and went out again, plunging the city into the deep of midnight.

The next morning.

Shaen opened his eyes amidst a jolt.

Zain stood in front of his bed, withdrew his hand, and said with a smile, "Are you awake? Get up and try on your clothes."

As she spoke, she drew back the curtains.

Xia En couldn't help but raise her hand to shield her eyes.

Outside the window, the sun was shining brightly, and birds were chirping; it was a wonderful day.

Zain picked up a magnificent black tailcoat from the side and showed it to Shane.

"What do you think? Is this dress worthy of Her Highness?"

Xia En was somewhat dazed.

He had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"Princess? What princess?"

"Of course it's Princess Frilian."

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