Chapter 46
“So, where are you headed? The Magic Tower?”
Howell asked as he climbed into the carriage. He muttered as if he’d caught on to something.
“Don’t tell me… you’re going to meet that wizard, Finn…”
“No, I’m not!”
What does he think I am—someone who only runs around meeting men?
Sure, I had no choice but to meet the male leads because of quests before, but that was all in the past! Now, my main quest is to meet Frilien.
And as you know, Frilien is a woman.
Elysia scoffed at Howell’s completely wrong assumption and added,
“There’s a forest to the northwest, right? I’m going there.”
“A forest? Why a forest all of a sudden?”
Well, I need some kind of reason, right?
Elysia recalled the scene of the Saintess’s descent. The Hillein Forest. The defining feature of that place was the appearance of ‘blue fireflies.’
“…I just suddenly wanted to catch some blue fireflies.”
“Fireflies? Aren’t fireflies supposed to be yellow?”
Howell tilted his head, clearly confused. But then he sighed as if to say, ‘She’s about to do something weird again.’ Giving up, he relayed the destination to the coachman.
The carriage carrying the two of them set off smoothly.
“Hmph…”
The carriage rattled along, and Elysia mumbled as she stared at the passing scenery.
“It’s slow.”
LOL
“Too slow.”
It’s even slower than running!! At this rate, when are we ever going to get there?!
‘Exactly my point.’
How do people in romance fantasy worlds live with such slow transportation?
For Elysia, who lived in an era of cars and planes, this speed was unbearably suffocating. Honestly, she could probably run faster at full speed.
‘Don’t they have teleportation magic or something?’
Pretending to look out the window so Howell wouldn’t find her strange, Elysia opened her skill window.
‘I think I had some kind of movement magic…’
“Elysia.”
Just then, Howell spoke to her.
“By the way, what kind of person is this Finn guy?”
“Eh?”
Caught off guard, Elysia closed the status window and looked at Howell.
“You don’t know?”
With the duke family’s information network, she thought they could find out anything overnight. Had she overestimated them? Or did they simply not bother?
As she considered this, Howell continued.
“Yeah, he seems to be someone of great renown. All his academic papers are highly acclaimed, his reputation is good, and he’s not even a commoner. But that’s all. There’s strangely little information about him—so little that it feels like someone deliberately covered it up.”
‘What the—?’
Elysia’s eyebrows rose at the stream of information.
‘He’s already found out that much?’
Hmm, I’ll take back what I said earlier. Looks like the duke’s intelligence network really is the real deal.
“Anyway, you got a partner proposal from him, so you must know him better. What kind of person does he seem like to you?”
“He seems nice.”
“Nice…? Come on, you can’t judge a person by appearances alone!”
“He’s really handsome.”
“…Don’t tell me you literally judged him by his appearance?”
Howell asked persistently. He clearly found Finn suspicious and felt uneasy and frustrated about the situation.
‘He must be worried I’ll get caught up in some incident again.’
Like getting involved in something that would tarnish the family’s reputation, or getting tangled up with someone shady.
‘But now that I think about it… he kind of has a point.’
I mean, yeah, I did get a partner proposal, but if Howell finds it suspicious that there’s so little information…
And if his past is unclear…
‘Why is that? Did they just gloss over his backstory because he’s a side character?’
Maybe it’s a bug—he’s such a minor character that his past wasn’t fully fleshed out?
Elysia was deep in thought when the coachman shouted,
“Young Lady, Young Master! We’ve arrived!”
They had reached the forest to the northwest. Without a moment’s hesitation, Elysia flung the carriage door open.
“Howell, hurry up!”
“Hey, you’re not even waiting for an escort… That’s the kind of thing people say lacks proper etiquette, you know.”
Normally, noble ladies were expected to receive help getting on and off carriages, either from a servant or someone who had disembarked first. Seeing her leap down like that clearly irked Howell.
“Fine. I’ll remember that next time I go to a ball.”
Nodding, Elysia secretly opened her system windows behind Howell’s back.
But this forest is huge.
Are you sure this is Hillein Forest?
How are we supposed to find the lake where Frilien appears??
The forest Elysia arrived at looked vast, just like the viewers had said. It wouldn’t be easy to find the place where Frilien descended.
‘Of course, I never expected it to be easy.’
If the place where Frilien descended—the “game start” location—were that easy to find, the temple would’ve claimed it long ago.
‘But the temple hasn’t found it yet, has it?’
In the game, Frilien is discovered not by the temple, but by the male leads first.
The temple always shows up late, saying things like, “This place matches the prophecy! She must be the Saintess!”—always playing catch-up.
“But I’m different. I’ll find her before the temple, before the male leads!”
How though…?
How are you planning to find her here?
Elysia opened the skill window she’d been scrolling through.
“Let’s see, there’s that one really cost-effective 50,000-won skill… Here it is!”
Skill:
Talk with Animals (Passive)
You can communicate with animals.
“It’s a basic skill in the tamer skill tree, but surprisingly useful.”
Unless you were playing for laughs or going full tamer, most people didn’t bother with it.
But…
“With this, I can ask that pigeon for directions!”
Elysia marched over to a nearby tree where a wild pigeon was nesting.
Coo? (Who the heck are you?)
‘Whoa, I can actually understand this?’
As soon as she activated the skill, the pigeon’s expression and coos carried clear meaning. Elysia cheerfully replied,
“Coo coo, coo coo. (Hey pigeon, I’ve got a question for you.)”
Since animals living in the forest would know the terrain better than people, she might be able to gather useful info this way.
Just as she was thinking that…
“Hey… Hey. What are you doing?”
A flustered voice interrupted between her and the pigeon.
“Elysia, are you talking to that pigeon? Are you nuts?”
Howell looked back and forth between her and the pigeon in disbelief.
‘Tch. Got caught.’
Elysia sighed and turned calmly to Howell.
“Big bro, it’s normal to make cooing sounds at pigeons.”
You know, like how people sometimes go “woof” at a dog or “meow” at a cat during walks?
“It’s just cute mimicry. Like coo coo.”
“I mean, sure… but your cooing sounded exactly like a real pigeon.”
“Of course it did! That’s the point of mimicry. If it’s not accurate, what’s the point?”
“…I guess?”
Leaving Howell still looking doubtful, Elysia turned back to the pigeon.
“Coo coo coo. Coo coo-koo, koo-roo. (Hey pigeon, have you seen a lake around here?)”
The pigeon flapped in surprise, standing up in its nest.
Coo-coo-koo! (W-What?! How can you speak our language so well?)
“Coo coo coo. (I just can. Don’t be surprised—just tell me where it is.)”
Coo? Coo-coo. (Uh… I guess I can tell you, since it’s cool and all…)
It was a wild pigeon, far more elegant than the dirty city pigeons. Its feathers were a soft bluish color, and its tail was delicately patterned.
Coo coo coo, coo-coo, koo-rook! (Actually, that stray cat over there knows the area better. Ask him instead.)
The pigeon flapped its wings and pointed beyond the trees. Elysia looked in the direction it indicated—and sure enough, a cat-like creature was strolling in from afar.
“Oh!”
It was a stunning cat with snow-white fur and golden eyes. Whether because of the game world or just natural feline grooming, its coat gleamed as if meticulously maintained.
Seeing the stray after Elysia, Howell clicked his tongue.
“What the—? It’s a cat? I’ll chase it off before it comes closer.”
“What are you talking about?! Don’t you dare!”
She needed all the help she could get to find the lake—chasing it away would ruin everything!
As Elysia urgently stopped him, Howell’s eyebrows shot up.
“Why? Do you like that cat?”
“Yup. I’m gonna go talk to it too, so wait a sec.”
“….”
Howell’s face once again grew puzzled. ‘First a pigeon, now a cat?’ Leaving him behind, Elysia ran toward the “cat.”
That’s when it happened.
Mreow!
Swish!
The moment she approached, the cat brandished sharp claws.
“Elysia!”
Howell’s panicked voice followed behind, but—
“Nice try. You’re not scratching me.”
Whoosh.
Elysia smoothly dodged the swipe and grabbed both of the creature’s front paws.
Mrowr?
“Elysia, get back! That thing’s a monster!”
“Oh-ho?”
Grinning at Howell’s urgent cry, Elysia examined the cat. Honestly, she’d sensed something was off about it from afar.
‘It’s the monster “Hillein Snow Leopard,” right? It’s freakishly small and lacks markings, but still…’
