"Overseas," Velin answered. "On a landmass that is merging into Reality Space. I've already destroyed one native kingdom and subdued another, and there's still a third waiting for me to conquer it."
"Our future territory will cover no less than twenty million square kilometers."
Kalaya fell silent at his words.
Seeing this, Velin did not hesitate. With a thought, he took out a thousand kaike of Seven-Colored Crystals, held them aloft with magic, and sent them over to her. "Please take a look at these."
Kalaya stared at the Seven-Colored Crystals before her, her face filled with shock. She reached out to pick up one crystal and examined it carefully. It was indeed a soul crystal, with only a slight difference in color.
"This is my third offer: sixty thousand kaike of Seven-Colored Crystals each year as tuition for teaching Xuemiyya."
"That really is expensive."
Kalaya released the Seven-Colored Crystal in her hand and looked up at Velin with a somewhat helpless expression.
"Fourth is my uncle, a learned master. To put it in a rather blasphemous way, even some gods know less than he does."
"You aren't lying to me, are you?" Kalaya could not help asking.
"If you don't believe me, you can ask Xuemiyya once she comes out of your illusion. You may not trust me, but surely you trust your only student, the last person close to you in this world."
"I'll ask her," Kalaya replied with a nod.
At those words, Velin felt certain that she was already seventy percent convinced. The remaining thirty percent would be settled once Xuemiyya woke up.
For the rest of their time together, neither brought up whether she would stay.
After an unknown amount of time, Xuemiyya slowly opened her eyes. Seeing the branches and leaves of the Life