Expectation

Several thousand years?

That was impossible. Several thousand years ago, the Origin Civilization had only just begun to emerge. How could there have been any Mutated Creatures...

Ivette frowned slightly but did not dwell on the question. "...Why did you enter the Remnant Abyss?"

"I was driven in by the Demon race... They launched an invasion of the Eastern Continent, and I got separated from my family... While I was running, the Aurora appeared in the sky. Then I saw the Remnant Abyss, so I fled inside..."

As she recalled those sorrowful memories, the girl's inner voice revealed unfeigned grief, like dandelion seeds scattered by the wind.

Moreover, because it was exceedingly difficult to fabricate things during a mental exchange, Ivette carefully read through her thoughts and basically confirmed that she had not lied so far.

The Demon race... the Eastern Continent... It seemed the world on the other side was not inhabited by humans alone...

Mutants could pass through the "Remnant Abyss" to reach the other side, but their history stretched back several thousand years...

Had multiple planets been destroyed by the same apocalypse? Was that why the Aurora Belt could connect to more than one apocalyptic world?

Or were the timelines different? Could crossing the Remnant Abyss mean traveling through time?

Or perhaps it was simply a parallel universe theory?

Come to think of it, could I return to Earth through the "Remnant Abyss"...

With too many possibilities behind it all, she could not help falling into thought and stopped speaking.

On the other side, seeing that the "Evil God" had fallen silent, the little blonde hesitated before suddenly kneeling again. Lowering her head with utmost respect, she said, "Um... Lord Evil God, I have a request!"

"I am not the Evil God you speak of, and this is not the Land of Finale from your world's myths."

And why did you interrupt my spell again... Ivette grabbed her arm and helped her back up, shaking her head. "I'm merely an ordinary... mage. My name is Ivette Lochvia, or you can call me Witch."

—A Witch who neither aged nor starved to death.

"Yes, Lady Witch." The little blonde obediently changed how she addressed her.

Through her grasp of mental activity, Ivette could sense that the little blonde had not truly believed her. She was more doubtful than convinced, so she did not dare call Ivette by her real name.

But that was enough. Ivette thought that the little girl would discover the truth herself in time.

"What did you want to ask for just now?"

"I..." The little blonde took a deep breath. "Lady Witch, can you grant me the power to fight the Demon race?"

This probing request contained a delicate hook, and Ivette could not help admiring her cunning—the question appeared to be a plea on the surface, but beneath it was a test of the "Evil God's" attitude.

So she answered directly, "I am not a god. I cannot grant you power, nor can I send you back."

"Alright..." Although she looked disappointed, the little blonde's emotions were actually quite steady. Clearly, she had expected this.

Then she heard Ivette say, "But you may live here until the day the Aurora appears again. I can escort you into the Remnant Abyss."

"Really?" The little blonde looked delighted. This time, she truly believed a little more that the beautiful silver-haired, red-eyed older sister before her was not an Evil God, and might even be an angel.

What kind of Evil God was so gentle and patient? She was not sinister at all, and she was so beautiful—completely unlike those terrifying things in the church's illustrated books!

But honestly, as long as it did not mean betraying humanity or betraying her homeland, even if she really did side with an Evil God, it did not seem entirely unacceptable. It was still better than dying...

"Whether it is true or not, you will naturally find out in the future." Ivette spoke gently. "Now then, can you tell me your name?"

"My name is Rosaline, Lady Witch." This time, the little blonde's smile finally carried a little more sincerity. She solemnly gave her full name. "Rosalyn Shien!"

After establishing preliminary communication and trust with Rosalyn, Ivette began learning the new language of this other world—Radiant Tongue—with the help of Heart's Language over the following days.

According to Rosalyn, this was the common language promoted after the Pan-Human United Front was formed by the humans of the Eastern Continent to fight the Demon race of the Western Continent. It could basically be used anywhere.

"You mean that on the Radiant Continent, the Elf race is the strongest race?" Three months later, sitting on a stone bench by the manor lake, Ivette, who had already gained a basic grasp of Radiant Tongue, asked Rosalyn about the other world.

The Radiant Continent was the Eastern Continent, where humans, Elves, Orcs, and other races of the other world lived.

The corresponding Western Continent was also called the Demon Abyss Continent, where the Demon race lived.

"I think so. I heard Father mention that Elves were often the pillars of the frontline fortresses... Even when the kingdom's armies went there, they were often commanded by them..." Rosalyn tried hard to recall.

Her father was Count Sien of the Kingdom of Eton, one of the foremost great nobles, and she naturally possessed the distinguished status of a count's daughter. Otherwise, how could she have known about the Aurora Belt and the Remnant Abyss, much less escaped the Demon race's pursuit using that bit of knowledge?

—Though looking across the entire Eastern Continent, the Kingdom of Eton was merely one small country.

"What kind of magic does the Elf race use?" Ivette was rather interested in that.

"Legend says that the Elf race can control flowers, grass, and trees... I don't know anything else..." Rosalyn said.

Plant magic... The Origin Civilization had conducted extensive research in that area too. If I could find relevant materials, perhaps I could cobble together a similar spell... Ivette calculated inwardly. But the Furnace Ring X3 only had forty-four thousand capacity left. Every new spell had to be considered carefully...

Morning light quietly spilled past as they talked, until the sun climbed toward its zenith. When it was time to eat, Ivette went inside to cook, while Rosalyn followed behind to help.

By then, after living together for over three months, Rosalyn had gained some understanding of the so-called Land of Finale. She also believed that the silver-haired Witch Sister before her was absolutely no Evil God, but a genuinely good person.

And an incredibly cool, strong, gorgeous beauty too... she added to herself with a hint of longing.

Lunch consisted of vegetable salad and grilled fish. It was quite Western in style, though that was mainly due to the limited ingredients.

After the meal, Ivette picked up a copy of Fundamentals of Magitech Engineering and began reading in the first-floor living room. Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting an angelic soft glow over her.

However, the quiet reading and studying did not last long. Ivette glanced at Rosalyn, who stood nearby peeking around with an expression that suggested she wanted to say something but hesitated. "What is it?"

"Um... Witch Sister, hasn't it been a long time since we went exploring?" Rosalyn looked at her expectantly.

"Exploring..." Ivette glanced at her, then lowered her eyes to the professional textbook she had only just opened. "Didn't we go the day before yesterday?"

"So we rested yesterday." Rosalyn batted her beautiful large eyes hard, making her hint and coquettish plea painfully obvious.

"...Fine." Ivette hesitated for a moment, but still closed the book.

The "exploring" they spoke of was actually Ivette taking Rosalyn around Ish City to see the so-called "ancient ruins."

At first, Ivette only brought her along when she went out to recover usable supplies, because she was afraid it would be unsafe to leave her alone in the manor.

Unexpectedly, the little girl developed a taste for it. Her initial impression of the area as "terrifying and dilapidated" transformed into the belief that it was a "mysterious and magnificent ancient ruin." Filled with curiosity, she would urge Ivette to go out whenever possible, never tiring of it.

Right, it wasn't that I was being lazy and did not want to study. I had no choice but to look after the child... Ivette hypnotized herself inwardly.

Soon, after leaving the three-story wooden residence that had gradually expanded into a large villa, Ivette took out the Flying Board that had made a tremendous contribution to helping her escape her predicament, using it as transportation.

She had Rosalyn stand near the front of the board while she stood behind her. The Flying Board rose soundlessly, carrying the two of them like fish through water as they traveled through the steel jungle blanketed by vegetation.

"Where are we going today?" Rosalyn asked happily.

She loved the feeling of darting through the sky like a bird. Especially when Ivette occasionally performed some thrilling maneuver, such as slipping through the cramped gaps of a collapsed building, she would shriek excitedly.

"The Factory District in the suburbs." Ivette was concise.

This was the conclusion she had drawn from a map of the island she had obtained recently. It clearly marked part of Ish City's suburban area as mechanical factories belonging to Black Tower Pharmaceuticals.

She planned to collect some scrap there and see whether she could recover any relatively intact heavy industrial products, such as magitech motorcycles or rune airships.

To conserve magic power, whenever they encountered attacking Mutants capable of flight along the way, Ivette used Frost Bullets to deal with them all.

With only a little magic power, she could freeze most Mutants stiff and deprive them of mobility for a short while. Even if they did not die from the fall, by the time they recovered, Ivette would have already left with Rosalyn. That naturally put them outside their aggro range, making things very convenient.

Yet in Rosalyn's eyes, even after witnessing it several times, the sight still felt unbelievable.

In her understanding, chanting spells was an indispensable part of a mage's magic. Yet Witch Sister called herself a mage, but could cast magic with a mere raise of her hand, and one spell could instantly kill a Filth Demon. It completely contradicted everything she knew.

Even if Ivette was not a god or an angel, she had to be an unfathomably powerful master mage!

In any case, she was far more powerful than those mages from the kingdom and the church!

At that thought, a small expectation gradually formed in the little blonde's heart.

—Since she could not return home anytime soon, could she learn magic from Witch Sister here?