E-Rantel, Carne Village
The first thing Enri did each morning was fetch water.
By the time she filled the water jar at home, it was almost time to have breakfast with her family.
Although her older sister worked in the big city and had added a mill and a well to their home, making them one of Carne Village's wealthiest families, Enri's family still lived very simply.
Like the other farmers in Carne Village, they ate oatmeal, stir-fried greens, and an egg for breakfast.
The tradition of eating eggs came from centuries of promotion by the Slane Theocracy.
According to the nutritional knowledge passed down by the Six Great Gods, eggs were the perfect food, and humans needed to eat more of them to strengthen their bodies.
Enri did not look strong, but she had considerable strength. With plenty of nourishment, she was far from scrawny; instead, she had a bright, healthy beauty.
She was the prettiest girl in Carne Village, and even in E-Rantel, she would have been an outstanding beauty.
Because of this, Enri felt quite drawn to the Slane Theocracy.
She hoped that one day she could go there to study magic. She did not need to learn anything too advanced; spells to improve dairy products and make spices would be enough.
The Slane Theocracy was one of the few nations with formal educational institutions.
It had elementary schools, secondary schools, and universities, though universal education only extended through elementary school.
But when she returned home after fetching water, she unexpectedly found her older sister Eirin, who worked in the city, and received some startling news.
"Eirin, we're moving?"
"Yes, we're moving somewhere near the Slane Theocracy."
"A noble is offering to hire me as a steward for a generous salary. I'll earn twice what I do now each month."
"Mom and Dad can move to a village in the Slane Theocracy. I used my savings to buy a mill and a farm there, and neither was expensive."
"But..."
Life in Carne Village was not difficult. It was a relatively wealthy village by the standards of the entire Re-Estize Kingdom, and even under heavy taxes, its people still lived reasonably well.
Occasional hunting trips even put meat on the table.
Enri had hoped for some change in her unchanging life, but the prospect of suddenly going to the Slane Theocracy made her hesitate.
She could not bear to leave this place, where she could sometimes gather herbs in the forest to supplement the family's income.
Eirin immediately said:
"Could it be that Enri has her eye on the young master of the Barea Pharmacy?"
"Honestly, that would be quite a challenge. He's a genius alchemist himself, and his family has more gold than the Mayor's Family."
"He is the grandson of the finest potion maker, after all."
"If you like him, though, I'll support you staying here."
Eirin was preparing to go to the Slane Theocracy to pursue her dreams. Naturally, she would not stand in her younger sister's way, and she was willing to support her by leaving her some money.
For instance, she could leave all their property in Carne Village to Enri.
Instead, Enri asked with a bewildered expression:
"Eirin, who are you talking about?"
Clatter!
The whole family nearly fell over.
Although Nfirea seemed a little pathetic in the original story, his standing in E-Rantel was actually very high.
There was no young heir more outstanding than him in the fortress city.
He had two professions in which he showed genius, along with an A+ rank innate talent, [Item Affinity]. In a Xianxia novel, he would have been a peerless prodigy.
If Nfirea had not fallen for a village girl, he would normally have married the daughter of the Mayor's Family. Even a lady from the highest nobility, or a princess, was not beyond imagining.
Yet Nfirea often came to the village to gather herbs, taking the opportunity to visit Enri.
Her family had more or less assumed the two would end up together, which would have been an honor for the Emmott family.
Even a tiny fraction of the Bareare Family's resources would have been unimaginable wealth to them.
In the web version, Nfirea's grandmother had offered sixty thousand gold coins to buy the method for making [Potions], and was willing to negotiate further if that was not enough.
All the assets of the Mayor's Family combined amounted to only thirty thousand gold coins.
Yet Enri did not even realize that Nfirea came for her sake. She merely thought of him as an ordinary childhood friend.
Slow to recognize romance, Enri had yet to explore the depths of her own heart.
Unlike in the original story, where her parents had died and she had been forced to consider marriage, her circumstances were different now.
At present, Enri was still feeling discouraged by the monotony of her life.
Eirin covered her face and could not help asking:
"Then why don't you want to leave, Enri?"
"What will happen to our hens and those two cows?"
"We'll sell them to the village chief, of course. We can let him have them cheaply."
"I hear the person in charge is Clementine, the Slane Theocracy's famous Saintess."
"It's a rare opportunity."
"Then I'll go!"
Enri made her decision without hesitation.
Saintess Clementine had to be a very knowledgeable, kindhearted person.
And so Enri's family moved away from Carne Village.
That day, Nfirea came to Carne Village as usual to buy and gather herbs, hoping to get closer to Enri and build a little affection between them.
But before he even reached Enri's house, he heard that she was moving.
Their romance had ended before it even began, while it was still nothing more than a one-sided crush.
Nfirea instantly seemed to turn gray, as though his life had lost its purpose.
He wanted to ask Enri why she was leaving, but felt he had no right to do so.
After all, she was going to the Slane Theocracy for a better life.
"Enri, I hope you'll be happy."
"Thank you, Nfirea."
"Enri, will you come back?"
"If I can't find work, I will."
"Then... then I'll wait for you."
Enri did not understand what Nfirea meant. She was immersed in the joy of going to the Slane Theocracy and learning magic.
With spells to improve the milk products from their livestock, she would surely be able to live a better life.
So Enri waved her arm and called out:
"Good luck!"
In the end, Nfirea could not bring himself to voice his plea.
Could you stay instead?
Despite being E-Rantel's most famous young heir, he had developed an extremely shy disposition.
Alchemy was probably to blame. It kept him doing research every day, leaving him with no experience in matters of the heart.
On his way home, however, he encountered a strange woman.
The woman said softly:
"Mr. Nfirea, we need to speak with you."
Charm Person!
"Wh-what is it?"
"My master would like to discuss a business deal with you."
"I'm sure that making this deal would make that girl see you in a whole new light."
Nfirea immediately perked up, completely unaware that he was being controlled.
"Then let's go."
That afternoon, Nfirea, the heir to the Barea Pharmacy, left behind a letter and mysteriously disappeared.
He was not heading to World City, but to a newly established branch of the [Dragon Slaying Cult].
Roy wore a [Mask of Thousand Faces], transforming into a powerfully built, silver-haired man.
He was not as casual about this as he had been when inviting Eirin. Eirin was inconspicuous, and even in the now-bustling E-Rantel, no one would notice her disappearance as long as it lasted no more than a day.
Nfirea, however, was different.
Although Roy had dealt the Bone King a crushing blow as soon as he emerged from the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
At present, the Bone King had no connection to the Bareare Family.
But after the incident with Mare, the Great Tomb of Nazarick had sent out countless mercenary monsters, casting an inescapable surveillance net.
Eight-Edge Assassin Bugs, Hanzō, Eyeball Corpses, and more.
Large numbers of reconnaissance monsters had quietly spread throughout E-Rantel.
"No matter how the Dragon Worship Cult conceals itself, its members are bound to have dealings with the leaders of various factions or other important figures."
"There are only a handful of important figures in E-Rantel."
"The guildmaster of the Adventurers Guild, the Warrior Captain and the Pioneer Corps, the guildmaster of the Mages Guild, the finest potion maker, and so on."
"These people must be watched closely to determine whether they are colluding with the Dragon Worship Cult."
As the Great Tomb of Nazarick's foremost strategist, Demiurge was an expert in defensive counterattacks.
Meanwhile, the Bone King had also approached Nigredo, the NPC in charge of intelligence at the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and asked her to search for information about the Dragon Worship Cult.
With so little intelligence available, Nigredo could only confirm that followers of the Dragon Worship Cult were active in E-Rantel.
This further confirmed Demiurge's judgment.
Thus, he sent out a vast monster horde to investigate.
Veronica could naturally take away an inconspicuous girl like Eirin without trouble, but she could not take Nfirea away without causing a stir.
After learning of the situation, Eve decided to turn their plan against them. She would have someone pose as a member of the [Dragon Slaying Cult], invite Nfirea, and teleport him to the cult's branch.
Roy found this quite interesting. Since he could also meet a character from the story, he decided to play the role himself.
The location was on the border of the Draconic Kingdom.
"Mr. Nfirea, my name is Ragna."
"I am currently working for the Dragon King of Annihilation."
"We have prepared a large quantity of alchemical materials, as well as wyvern blood."
"We hope you can help us develop the Blood of the Gods."
Every word from this point onward was a lie.
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