The Twelfth Cardinal sat in his private office, intent on reading an ancient tome. This was how he spent his days, reading endlessly, as if searching for something.

  This is not the right one either…

  He heard a knock on his office door and looked up from his books, huffing in boredom.

  Who could it be? Why now?

  He put away the various empty vials on the table, as if to hide them. No one had access to his office except him. If they found out he had become addicted to the soothing potions, they would surely question him.

  "Enter away..."

  At those words, the door opened and a young boy, with long brown hair and green armor, entered the room.

  "Axel, my boy! What's the matter? Any news?"

  Axel was the first general of the Scriptures of Discord, a militia founded by and exclusively serving the Twelfth Cardinal. He was also one of two demigods serving the Theocracy of Reia, raised by the Cardinal as his own.

  "High Cardinal, we have found her! The creature Zurg summoned that is causing havoc has been located on one of the plains of the Empire! Near the Dark Jade Forest!"

  The man's eyes widened beneath his mask. The creature frightened him greatly, especially since it wasn't alone.

  That woman killed an Archdemon like it was nothing. Zurg may not have been one of the strongest, but he was still a powerful magician. If this creature has such power, it poses a great danger. Fortunately, we have Axel and his sister on our side, children of the Gods who founded our Theocracy.

  The man reasoned, sighing. Although he felt safe in Axel's presence, he feared a repetition of the cataclysm of the past. Every few centuries, something happened that plunged the world into chaos. He truly hoped this wouldn't be the case.

  "Good! Send the Scriptures of Discord! You and your sister will join them!"

  Axel seemed surprised by the request to go directly into battle, but quickly regained his composure and nodded. It was rare for him to be sent to the front, as he was usually used as a secret weapon. The same was true for the one they called his "sister," who was undoubtedly stronger than him.

  "But... My sister is out. I don't know where she is..."

  The Cardinal sighed irritably. That girl was always out causing trouble. If she hadn't been the strongest in their Kingdom, he'd probably have been harsher with her, but didn't want to risk antagonizing her. Not even Axel's protection would have been enough in that case.

  "Never mind...Take the Crown of the Shattered Queen and use it!"

  Axel opened his eyes in shock. The Crown of the Shattered Queen? Had he heard correctly?

  "What?! Are you sure? You know it takes a huge amount of energy to use it! Is this woman that powerful?"

  He found himself forced to nod. He understood the demigod's surprise; the Crown of the Shattered Queen was a powerful artifact, one of the strongest lefts by the Gods before their disappearance. It allowed one to alter a being's mind and subjugate it. But more powerful the being, more energy it requires. Only a few can manage to use it.

  "She took out an Archdemon, we can't underestimate her! Zurg wasn't the strongest, but he was still a huge threat!"

  He replied, with a harsh tone.

  "Yes...I understand, Supreme Cardinal! I'm going to prepare the expedition! I'll keep you updated."

  With that, Axel left the room, leaving the Twelfth Cardinal alone again.

  I'm anxious! It's been too long since the Theocracy faced such powerful enemies! This will slow down my plan! Not to mention the Golden Lyon Lord! If he were to strike now...

  He took off the glove covering his left hand and looked at his limb, now covered in red energy.

  The Corruption of the Gods...

  He clenched his fist, trying to bear the growing pain.

  "I only have three years left before the protection of vainglory wears off. I don't have much time left..."

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "How could a glorious being like me be reduced to...this?!"

  The irritated wail came from the mouth of a very tall woman, sitting on a throne made of stone, visibly carved into the rock of the cave where she was located.

  She bit into a loaf of bread in her hand, sighing. Normally, if she'd wanted to eat, she'd have sat at a sumptuous table, with dozens of servants ready to feed her all the food she wanted. Now, instead? She found herself chewing stale bread in a cave, as if she were a rat hiding from the outside world. The only difference between the two was that the woman felt no fear at all—it simply wasn’t something she experienced.

  Since I woke up in this world, I've done nothing but raid villages and kill people. Not very exciting in my opinion, but hey! What can I do about it?

  Intending to take another piece of bread, the woman reached into a basket held up by a winged girl in armor, standing beside her. A pair of these smaller women were waving large fans in front of the giantess, fanning her.

  "Maybe it would have been better to leave that guy who summoned me here alive, afterall..."

  She and her servants were from an another world. They had come to that reality for unknown reasons. Once there, she found herself facing a confused man. Naturally, as the Supreme Queen that she was, she had attacked him, demanding answers.

  I went too hard, unfortunately. He broke in half right away. Umpf!

  She snorted again, swallowing the rest of the loaf. She wasn't showing annoyance at her mistake. That wasn't a word that existed or could apply to her. Instead, she was sighing at the myriad of small annoyances she was facing, like the lack of food and the terrible hiding place they'd chosen.

  The first problem was solved immediately, by attacking and raiding nearby villages. They had tried to ask questions, but their rough and brutal methods had led to countless accidental deaths—so many that they simply stopped trying to being gentle.

  “My Queen…The scouts have returned.”

  The words came from a figure in shining white armor. Two large black-feathered wings protruded from her back. She was slightly taller than those already present, but still much smaller than the one seated on the throne—just enough to make it clear who was in charge.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “You're finally back, Albedo. Any news?”

  “None, my Queen. I beg forgiveness on behalf of the others as well.”

  The colossal woman shook her head, as if to tell her not to worry.

  “It doesn’t matter. Is there anything known about my daughter?”

  Albedo swallowed hard. Despite the helmet covering her face, it was clear she was sweating coldly. The words were escaping her throat with anxiety, so much so that it took her several minutes to reply.

  “N-No. Nothing is known of your glorious progeny. I beg forgiveness for our repeated failures! Please allow us to continue to serve you, despite our incompetence! It’s all we desire!”

  Albedo was genuinely apologizing for something beyond her control. The world they were in was new and unfamiliar, and searching for a specific person without attracting attention would have been impossible. Even though they were all smart enough to understand this, their loyalty ran so deep that it drove them to apologize in tears, nearly to the point of killing themselves to make their queen happy.

  Excessive? Certainly, but not for the winged women. All of them would have given their lives if ordered, or even if simply asked.

  “Enough whining, Albedo. Send another team to look for her, plus another for food. It's running low…”

  All the women present smiled under their helmets, some even started to cry from happiness.

  -Their queen was not angry with them.

  “Yes! Whatever you wish, my Queen! I will send someone right away!”

  After reaffirming her undying loyalty, the winged woman left the room.

  She really needs to learn how to relax…

  She sighed. She didn't think her creatures were excessively loyal, but seeing them so emotionally unstable was irritating, as well as worrying.

  "I am getting bored…"

  She muttered and stood up, causing the other women to gather around her.

  "I'm going out with the food gathering team. You defend the cave and don't overdo it, understood?"

  “Yes, our Queen!”

  The others answered her in chorus.

  "Let's hope so…"

  With that, he began walking out of the cave.

  This world won't be a danger to me…I wonder how that old fool of Almodeus is doing.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The group was gathered around the wagon as they moved forward. Nark was driving the wagon, while Roman was scanning the horizon, and Fiora was checking the map of the area. Finally, Amon and Alcina were riding in the back of the wagon with Annie.

  Visibility was good, so everyone wasn't too tense. However, Nark's voice contained its first hint of sternness as he spoke:

  "Amon, this stretch is a dangerous area. We're near the Great Dark Jade Forest. While we should be able to handle any monsters that might attack us, I ask you to remain alert!"

  “Understood”

  As Almodeus nodded, he suddenly thought of something.

  After the battle of Anna Village several days earlier, and after interrogating the prisoners of the Split Sun Scripture, Almodeus had deduced that the new world was significantly weaker than their old one. Of course, this was for the time being. For now, he only had to defend these adventurers—nothing too difficult.

  If the situation justified it, he would use magic. But if he did, he might have to kill his companions or alter their memories, something Almodeus had no desire to do. That would be troublesome.

  His gaze shifted to Fiora's sister, who was writing something down in a small notebook.

  “What are you writing, Annie?”

  “The spells I want to learn!”

  “Really?”

  The answer intrigued him. He looked at the notebook, noting that there were various level 0 and 1 spells, and even a few level 2 ones. The interesting thing was that not all of them were familiar to him.

  Curious...I don't know some of them. Is it possible that some magic is native to this world?

  During the fight with the men of the Theocracy, all the spells used against him were the same as those of his world, but some written in Annie's notebook were completely unknown to him.

  “I don't know some of them. Can you explain to me how this one works?”

  He pointed to a random spell.

  “This is Ration. It’s a level 0 spell that allows you to transform certain raw materials into food like bread and sugar.”

  “I see! What about this other one?”

  “It’s called Magic Shot. It’s a level 2 spell that allows you to channel your magical energy into an enchanted projectile.”

  “What makes it better than a regular arrow?”

  “Normal armor or Battle Arts that offer no magical resistance cannot block such an attack.”

  “I see. That’s really interesting!”

  Almodeus's hunger for knowledge was growing stronger, even though the topic was something as trivial as low-level magic.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "Your master seems quite ignorant about magic. Why do you follow him? How did you two meet?"

  Fiora asked with a gentle smile, brushing aside the red lock of hair that usually covered her left eye.

  “We met a few years ago during a battle in some remote place I can’t even remember the name of…”

  Playing the airhead comes naturally to me! Good thing Dad and I prepared a backstory in advance!

  Almodea laughed secretly. She and her father had agreed on a backstory for their characters.

  "As ignorant as he is about magic, I can tell you he knows powerful spells! He just doesn't know much about the more basic ones..."

  She continued, trying to sound sincere enough.

  "Ah...I see. Strange, though! Usually magic has to be learned in stages."

  To learn higher-level spells, you had to learn some lower-level spells first. For example, you couldn't start studying level 3 spells, but at some level 0 or 1.

  “True…But your sister Annie doesn’t quite fit into your usually either—after all, you yourself admitted she’s very skilled despite her age.”

  I need to steer the topic away from Dad, otherwise I risk saying something stupid! The less I talk about him specifically, the better!

  Almodea reasoned, trying to remain calm. Acting was difficult without a specific script. She was good at playing the ditzy type, but couldn’t control herself when got carried away in conversation.

  A sincere smile appeared on Fiora's face, however…

  “She’s very mature for only 10 years old.”

  …It broke soon after.

  “We had to grow up quickly after running away from our parents.”

  Noticing the sadness in Fiora's tone, Almodea approached her and asked:

  "Do you want to talk about it? I'm listening..."

  Her tone was genuine and her concern evident. Even a serious and cold woman like Fiora couldn't resist answering a beauty like her, even if Almodea was under the effect of an illusion spell to appear more human.

  “If you don’t mind, then…okay.”

  She muttered.

  “You’re not bothering me, don’t worry!”

  Almodea replied, showing her a warm smile.

  I have to be friendly! Honestly, I like Fiora, and the more I talk to her, the less I have to be around Nark—he hits on me every five minutes, that guy…

  During the journey, it became apparent that Nark, the team's two-bladed duelist, had developed a crush on Almodea, but she had always coldly rejected him. She seemed almost irritated by his advances.

  After a couple of minutes, and deep breaths, Fiora began to tell her story.

  "Okay...You need to know that we are not originally from the Empire. We used to belong to a noble family from the Ashen Kingdom."

  Big twist! I didn’t expect that! I’m curious to see where this is going!

  Almodea motioned for her to go on, and Fiora decided to continue.

  "You should know that the Kingdom is much more organized than the Empire. There are fewer criminal organizations and the nobles are kept under control by the new King, nicknamed the Blood Crown, because since he ascended the throne, he centralized power and killed about 68% of the dignitaries- including my parents. First, he stripped them of all their wealth and noble titles, and then eliminated them."

  The red-haired woman clenched her fists, simmering with rage.

  “Unfortunately, not fast enough! Not before those bastards sell our sister Sariphi into slavery..."

  Fiora snorted and her knuckles went white, visibly angry. The metal of her gloves was slowly becoming damaged.

  "That's why I became an adventurer! I'm saving up to give her freedom!"

  She roared, but her fury quickly died down.

  “Unfortunately, even though I'm at Gold rank, the earnings are meager.”

  "I can understand why! Between splitting profits, the cost of living, and the equipment expenses, you can't make much money. If I may ask, do you happen to know where your sister is? I mean... Do you know who's keeping her as a slave?"

  Almodea asked, curious. Deep down, she wanted to free this Sariphi as a favor to Fiora, whom she really liked- was one of her first friend in that word, after all.

  "Yes, I know who owns her, but...It's not that simple."

  Fiora looked around, as if afraid of being overheard. She was visibly anxious just talking about it.

  "She was sold into slavery for a criminal syndicate called Dark Calling. This makes her extremely difficult to track down, as the organization is spread across all the Empire! They rule it from behind the scenes! Even the Fearless Vanguard, led by Captain Stronghold, hasn’t been able to find the headquarters of Dark Calling’s leaders. On top of that, it’s said this organization funds the prodigies. If the Guild can rely on mercenaries, Dark Calling can too…”

  So, on top of the two-faction problem, the Empire also has problems with the mafia? How come this state hasn't collapsed yet?! Anyway... I'm more interested in this prodigy story.

  "Sorry to change the topic, Fiora...but could you possibly tell me how strong the mercenaries in Dark Calling are?"

  The woman bit her lip at that question, as if it bothered her to think about the answer.

  "The strongest group calls themself the Dark Heroes. From what I understand, it consists of eight members... I can't tell you more than that, except that it boasts some of the strongest warriors in the Empire! One of them could probably defeat me and my team without too much difficulty. Each member of that group is equal to a Diamond-rank adventurer."

  I don't know if these Dark Heroes could pose any problems for us. I rule it out, but it's best to be cautious.

  "About this, I wanted to ask you-"

  A scream interrupted Almodea. A roar followed, causing everyone to turn toward the point of its origin.