Another Francesca in This World

"... Little girl, is your brother's injury healed?"

"Ah! By the Goddess Meritellie, the young man recovered so quickly, it must be the goddess's blessing, it must be the goddess's blessing..."

"May Cliff's thunderbolts strike down those who have harmed you..."

If we hadn't just passed through that light membrane five minutes ago, who would have thought that this place was just an illusion?

Francesca's expression was complicated.

The Witcher Ailin kept his eyes straight ahead and walked straight along the main path of the Hundred Fruit Garden.

But she couldn't help but respond to the warm and kind greetings from others.

Even though the Witcher had told him that these people were just illusions.

Leaving the Hundred Fruit Garden along the road connecting to the town, the slope of the road beneath their feet gradually increased.

"Ailin, how do you know where the target is?"

This question had been lingering in Francesca's mind for a long time.

Once inside the illusion, the witcher's purpose became very clear: ignoring the villagers' greetings and ignoring the road signs, he simply walked straight ahead.

It was as if he already knew where their target was.

All you have to do now is get through it.

But how is that possible?

Francesca was completely baffled.

The ability to see through illusions in a short time can also be explained by knowledge and skills.

He was in a coma for three days, and after waking up, he neither gathered any clues nor questioned the villagers...

Is it possible that there are geniuses who are born with the ability to find people?

"I don't know where the target is!" Ailin turned his head and looked at the elf seriously. "But I know that the place I'm going to will definitely have clues to the target."

How did you find this clue?

Under Francesca's confused gaze, Ailin instinctively glanced at what was in front of him.

Under the Magic Vision of the Wolf Emblem, a dotted line composed of black magical dots floated in front of him.

"I live in Hundred Fruit Garden, the one in real life, and the other one relies on the Witcher..."

"The Witcher's little tricks?" Francesca replied.

"Yes, it's a Witcher's trick." Ailin chuckled dryly.

Francesca sighed, wisely refraining from pressing for details about "just how many tricks do witchers have?" Instead, she continued walking, somewhat lost in thought, and asked:

"The Hundred Fruit Garden... the real Hundred Fruit Garden, are all these villagers still here?"

"Some of her are here, some of her aren't. I've never met Granny Asha, but I know the owner of the herbal medicine shop, and I've even bought medicine from him..."

Ailin turned his head to look at Francesca, who was looking at him with longing, paused for a moment, and then reminded her:

"You know the current relationship between the Kedwen and humans, so..." Ailin hesitated for a moment, "So if you go there in reality, the people there might not be as friendly as you imagine."

"Not so friendly" is actually a euphemistic and somewhat extreme way of putting it.

Every adult man over thirty in the Hundred Fruit Garden has participated in at least one war against the elves.

Every family has, to some extent, relatives who have lost a husband, son, or father because of spirits...

Not so friendly?

That's an absolute and deep-seated hatred!

Moreover, the king's guards are still searching for these elves everywhere. For an elf like Francesca to go there and experience human life would be like walking into a trap.

Francesca understood the implication in the Witcher's words, and her eyes instantly dimmed.

Why do humans point their swords at their teachers?

"We selflessly passed on our magical skills to them, teaching them how to identify medicinal herbs, how to read the stars to determine direction, and how to survive and reproduce from the claws and fangs of monsters..."

"But in the end, all that help was met with swords and axes..."

"They used their magical minds to devise ways to seize our land, and their martial arts, honed from the claws and fangs of monsters, to kill our people..."

The Witcher listened to Francesca's whispered accusations without responding.

Whether the teaching was truly selfless remains to be investigated.

However, after the "The First Landing," when the Celestial Sphere Interaction brought humanity to this world, humanity did indeed receive a lot of help from the elves.

For example, magic.

The first generation of human source magic users had all studied magic under elves.

In addition,

Humans and elves intermarried extensively, and over the centuries, the bloodlines of most humans on the Northern Continent could be traced back to a single elf.

Especially the upper-class nobles.

They once even took pride in their noble elven bloodline.

For a long time, the elven bloodline brought humanity allies and a great deal of aid from the elven race.

Therefore, in the persecution of elves, who can be considered "distant relatives," humans have indeed acted rather unethically.

certainly.

The Elven race, also known as the Elves, are by no means the saintly figures described by Francesca.

After all, their kin, the "Alder Folk" Ion El, were waging war and plundering across various dimensions in the name of the Wild Hunt.

It's hard to imagine that the Ion Siddi clan, who share the same bloodline, are fairies from traditional stories that only know how to praise the beauty of nature.

A warlike gene is also deeply ingrained in their blood.

There is evidence in the history of the Witcher world to support this point.

Moreover, the reason this can be proven is not because the evidence exists, but because the creature that serves as the evidence has completely disappeared from the world of Witcher.

Those are goblins.

Before the elves came to this world, goblins were the original inhabitants.

And what about those goblins now?

To see them now, we can only go to history books or some remote mountain forest.

so.

As long as one race is declining and another is rising, war is inevitable.

As long as the human population continues to expand, wars against other races will be inevitable.

However, Ailin did not refute it. After all, Erin was a potential ally, and he knew this in his heart without having to say it aloud.

Besides, he doesn't belong to this world.

No matter how many wrong things the humans here do, what does it have to do with him, an earthling?

So Ailin remained silent the whole way.

Francesca didn't expect the fourteen-year-old witcher to be able to answer.

In just these three days, the friendliness of the short-lived humans made her feel a warmth and enthusiasm she had never received from her own kind, which made her somewhat emotional.

Although... all of this human enthusiasm is just an illusion.

Following the black magic dots, they walked for another ten minutes before they unconsciously slowed down.

A heavily guarded castle appeared before them.

"Was this what it looked like before those ruins?"

Ailin looked around the castle.

The city gate was properly installed on the city wall, and the ivy in the corner of the city wall sprouted emerald green buds. Birds perched on the ivy, watching the people coming.

This is Viscount Hudson's castle.

Although it's an illusion.

"The black magic point originates from the ruins of the castle in reality and eventually returns to the castle..."

A strange sense of destiny arose in the heart of the Witcher.

Have we arrived at our destination?

Francesca looked at the fully armed guards at the castle gate:

"Are these... these people also illusions?"

"It should be all of them." The witcher nodded, then walked toward the castle without hesitation.

Francesca paused for a moment, then quickly followed, keeping up with Ailin's pace while asking curiously:

"Since they're all illusions, why not just go through the city walls?"

Ailin shook his head and pointed to the city gate in front of him:

"This is the entrance to a cave. The only way to find our target is through here."

The city gate was still more than ten meters away from the two of them, and the Mirage Pearl's ability to see through illusions naturally did not extend that far.

However, Ailin had already discovered a pattern.

Although black element dots can pass through walls, they will not pass through walls as long as there is a passage to pass through.

Moreover, it will not be affected by illusions and will not change the direction of its movement.

Now that the elemental point enters the castle through the city gate, it naturally means that this is the only shortest route.

"Who goes there!"

The castle guards shouted a question.

"Clang!"

The sharp blade was drawn from its sheath, gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

Ailin was unaffected and kept walking, but he could hear his own heart pounding.

That was Francesca's heartbeat.

The sight of six knights drawing their longswords with hostility was a bit too much for a mage.

But the most exciting part is yet to come.

Under Francesca's horrified gaze, the knights drew their longswords, formed an attack formation, and charged towards them.

The next second.

"Pfft~"

Francesca stared wide-eyed in horror.

The lead knight swung his sword, slashing down... the Witcher...

One sword, and he's beheaded!

Blood spurted from the cut and landed directly on Francesca's face.

A strong, pungent smell of blood filled the air.

The Valley Daisy was momentarily stunned.

"Ailin... Ailin is dead..."

"Didn't he... didn't he say it was all an illusion?"

However, before she could react, her right hand was suddenly grabbed.

Looking down, she saw the headless corpse holding her hand.

The head, still splattered with blood, lay on the ground, its lips pressed together as if to say:

"... Close your eyes..."

"Call!"

Before she could recover from her shock, another flash of cold light ripped through the air and struck down toward her head.

Faced with death, Francesca's mind went completely blank for a moment.

"... Close your eyes!"

A roar suddenly rang in her ears.

Francesca snapped out of her daze.

"Yes, it's all an illusion!"

then.

She obediently closed her eyes.

The next second.

"Pfft~"

A strange noise.

Francesca felt a slight pain in her neck.

It was very slight, like being pricked by a needle.

Before she could think it over carefully...

"Alright, open your eyes now!"

Ailin's voice rang out.

Francesca opened her eyes.

Suddenly, a beautifully carved fountain appeared.

The Witcher stood by the fountain, watching her with a smile.

Francesca paused for a moment, then touched her slightly stinging neck and turned to look behind her.

Beneath the dark city gate, the guards stood with their backs to her, protecting the castle as if they had never moved.

"It really was an illusion!"

Francesca subconsciously touched her long, slender neck again.

Ailin:?

What do you mean it was actually an illusion...?

"You never believed it before?" Ailin couldn't help but ask.

"Huh?" Francesca's eyes darted away. "I...of course I believe you..."

Ailin was suspicious.

However, the fact that he didn't believe it and followed him in seems even stranger.

"But... then what? We're already inside, so where should we look for our target?"

Francesca changed the subject.

Ailin glanced at her and then didn't press the matter further.

"Come with me."

He nodded, his mind linked to the Wolf Emblem, and he followed the black magic dot deeper into the castle.

Many male servants, female servants and guards hurried by, but they all ignored Ailin and Francesca.

Francesca even passed through the bodies of several illusions without realizing it a few times.

"Ai... Ailin ..."

"Don't worry, the master of the illusion knows we're here."

Ailin led the way with a calm expression.

He actually felt that the spellcaster of the illusion should have discovered them three days ago.

after all.

The bandages that Ailin wore three days ago were genuine, and the extent of his physical injuries' healing proved that Ailin had definitely received meticulous treatment.

Although the woman called "Grandma Asha" took away the bowl from which Ailin had drunk her medicine.

But none of this can be achieved through illusion.

Therefore, it is easy to deduce that the master of the illusion is aware of their existence and has goodwill towards them.

"What?"

Francesca exclaimed in surprise.

Ailin nodded and stated his deduction.

Francesca fell silent upon hearing this, and then fell silent again.

Ailin didn't say another word until he entered the castle and arrived at the door of an ordinary room on the second floor.

"This should be it."

"Ailin said softly."

Long black elemental dots floated down the corridor, eventually passing through the wooden door in front of them and entering the ordinary room.

From the perspective of the mirage pearl, this room is perhaps the only real place in the entire Hundred Fruit Garden illusion.

Wooden doors, wall lamps, murals...

All elements are real and exist.

They've arrived!

"Hiss~"

Ailin took a deep breath, stepped forward, and knocked on the door.

"Thump~ thump~ thump~"

After the wooden door, adorned with delicate patterns, was knocked on.

Ailin and Francesca waited a few seconds.

"Squeak~"

The wooden door opened.

Soft light shone from inside the room.

"Grandma Asha?"

Francesca exclaimed in surprise.

Yes.

An old woman, who claimed to have honed her medical skills at the Temple of the Goddess Meritellie, was standing behind the door, looking at them with a kind expression.

"What's wrong, Francesca?"

Why would I want to find my mother-in-law?

Francesca was momentarily speechless; she glanced at the Witcher.

Ailin immediately understood and asked, "Didn't you say that Granny Asha was also an illusion?"

"Cough cough~"

A cough coming from inside the room interrupted the eye contact between Ailin and Francesca.

"Elsa, who's here?"

An old man's voice came from inside the room.

"They are a brother and sister I recently met who are in distress..."

Granny Aisha gave them an apologetic look and gestured for them to come in and make themselves at home.

Francesca seemed to have gotten into the habit of obediently entering the room upon hearing Grandma Asha's kind tone.

When Ailin subconsciously switched to the Mirage Pearl's perspective, he was stunned.

Blue eyes, blonde hair, long ears...

Beneath Granny Asha's aged face lay a stunningly beautiful elven face.

Upon seeing Grandma Asha's true appearance, he subconsciously glanced at Frances, who was walking into the room, and thought to himself with surprise:

"How come Grandma Asha looks so much like Francesca?"