Chapter 210

"Just came here for reconnaissance? Then there's no hope at all……"

Oberon looked somewhat dejected, letting out a long sigh: "In this time, the attackers could have already retreated toward Edinburgh, unless we dispatch troops right now to blockade the entire vicinity of Autumn Forest and carry out a carpet search."

"Autumn Forest?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka looked somewhat doubtful; she seemed to have heard Mr. Oberon mention this name twice already.

"Oh, it's just the old name for Wales Forest. This place has been called Autumn Forest since long ago, and I'm more used to calling it that……but recently the entire Fairy Kingdom has been promoting new place names, causing many old names to be abandoned, which is somewhat troubling." Oberon scratched his cheek as he explained, his tone carrying a hint of sentiment.

He looked around at his surroundings, his eyes reflecting the forest burning with roaring flames.

"This forest is where fairies who have no place in the Fairy Kingdom, fairies who fled here after being bullied, and fairies persecuted just for existing gather—a forest where they can do nothing but die helplessly……"

"To be honest, they're actually quite friendly; they were very enthusiastic when I last came, though most of them don't understand what I'm doing……"

"But now, these little fairies are all gone, which is truly……"

By the end, Oberon's mood had clearly become low.

"……"

"……"

"This……this……"

Fujimaru Ritsuka hesitated for a moment, then spoke hesitantly, "Mr. Oberon, I heard from Rider that judging by the traces, the little fairies here should all have been kidnapped and transferred away, and nothing has happened to them yet, so there might still be a chance."

"Maybe, but I don't think there's much hope……"

Oberon shook his head, scanning his surroundings, his expression turning somewhat grave as he spoke seriously—

"I believe this attack on Autumn Forest may not be accidental, but a long-planned action, because the attackers first destroyed the transmission points, preventing the Royal Guard from responding immediately. This means the attackers could easily approach the transmission points and knew how to quickly dismantle the Mirror Technique……"

"So, it's an inside job, right?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka pressed her lips, glancing at Medusa beside her, finding the coldly beautiful woman with an eye patch and tall figure still expressionless, but seemingly without objection, probably thinking the same.

This seemed only natural, a very normal line of logic.

She also knew the Transmission Gate plan was a major reform born from the Fairy Kingdom's rapid development, its importance comparable to high-speed rail and aerospace technology in human society—or rather far more important than those, but she couldn't think of a better example or find a more fitting metaphor.

In short, this was not only a technological leap, but also a display of ruling power.

It was said that through Miss Meng's Mirror Technique, mainly via the connection of sub-mirrors and main mirrors for dimensional transfer, the "Mirror Link"——

made this plan, which in the world of magecraft was like a miracle, possible to realize.

This ensured the Kingdom's ruling power radiated powerfully from the capital Londinium outward to the surroundings, eventually bringing all of Britain under direct control, whether communications or transportation……This also explained a confusion in Fujimaru Ritsuka's heart: why Aurora was suppressed so quickly when her scandal broke.

——Almost immediately after she had just allied with Chaldea.

——Fairy Knights came to her door by imperial decree the very next step, bestowing a jin of poisoned wine.

Thinking about it carefully, this seemed like a very normal outcome.

No matter how far from the capital, in reality it was just a matter of opening a door; the King City's ruling power radiated to every inch of land, and as long as intelligence could confirm it, action could follow immediately.

Aurora, this fool, after so many years still couldn't figure things out; indeed, she could only be said to have died without injustice……

Thinking of Aurora, an old acquaintance who was still alive but actually already dead, the girl couldn't help but extend her fair index finger, rubbing her temples, and also sighed. Avoidance couldn't solve problems, but it was indeed useful; some things, if not thought about, seemed to allow one to live carefree, but if remembered, it was like pulling up a radish and bringing up the mud……

dragging out countless worries.

Chaldea's Master Lady was naturally no exception.

Just as her attitude toward Aurora changed from initial deep emotion to now feeling complex upon hearing the name, this was undoubtedly a clear manifestation of her unconsciously changing related concepts and ideas.

And this was only the tip of the iceberg; more significant was her overall shift in stance.

Fujimaru Ritsuka herself vaguely sensed this change, but had no good solution. After all, she lived in this era; without Chaldea's protection and without her own faction to rely on, even if she wanted to uphold her stance, it was like standing on rootless duckweed, lacking actual support and backing.

After all, this era was truly too far from later generations.

She didn't know the specific course of development, but could compare the differences……

——There was no Queen Calendar yet.

——There were no Fairy Knights yet.

——The Fairy Kingdom's only King City was still Londinium, not Camelot.

Especially according to clues and puzzle pieces the girl had vaguely gathered through her years of research, all seemed to point to the same result: this era was separated from the later generation when Chaldea arrived by six thousand years. This long span made Ritsuka feel utterly powerless, after all it surpassed the entire history of human civilization.

Under such circumstances, it was practically equivalent to transmigrating to another world and starting life anew.

Being subtly influenced and changed bit by bit was probably inevitable, right?

Fujimaru Ritsuka subconsciously shook her head, dispelling the anxiety stirred in her heart, then looked around and said: "If that's the case, we can only hurry back to report……Is there a closer transmission point nearby?"

She asked this question, then immediately realized the answer seemed obvious.

If there were any transmission points nearby, she wouldn't have needed to ride a Pegasus with Rider and fly here with such hardship when she came.

"No, this place was originally remote, and the Transmission Gate plan only started this year, with the main planning direction being to extend nodes toward the Great Void. Key nodes like the River of Tears, New Darlington, and Sheffield were all for reaching Onyx at the North End of the Land of the End."

Oberon decisively shook his head, his expression looking somewhat strange—

"For Autumn Forest, there was originally no need to establish a transmission point, at least not as things stand now. I don't know why, but Prince Consort suddenly requested not long ago to build a transmission point directly here in Autumn Forest……"

This was also why he acted so decisively, because he suspected the other side had noticed something.

He could only get ahead, strike first, and then try to clear his suspicion by crying "stop thief."

Oberon naturally didn't expect a few simple words to easily clear his responsibility, so he really did prepare a corresponding countermeasure; not long afterward, a "Rebel" would step forward to take responsibility and announce they were responsible for this attack……

This wasn't difficult, because among the fairy tribes, there were always many discontented fellows, or rather, fairies were just such creatures.

One hundred jin of weight, two hundred jin of rebellious bones.

For the Fairy Kingdom, now truly unified for the first time, and for Queen Morgan's rule, there were plenty of discontented fellows.

Although a batch of unruly fairies had been suppressed a few years ago, in the last two years, to accelerate their breeding numbers, they focused on sustainable overexploitation, so after slightly loosening control, some fairies became eager to try, wanting to challenge the status quo.

"Putting it that way, it really is suspicious……"

Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't help but lightly bite her lip; her train of thought had been successfully led astray.

Could it be that this Autumn Forest truly hid some special secret, and Mr. Xia Zhi had realized it, so he wanted to seize this place in advance? But in doing so, he startled the snake, causing those rebel forces hiding in the dark to have a reactive response?

——————

——————

Simultaneously.

On the southern plains far from the Autumn Forest, two figures were walking side by side.

"...... Front is Salisbury, once a fairy town of considerable scale, but it was mostly destroyed in the Great Calamity a few years ago and hasn't been redeveloped since."

Xia Zhi waved a tree branch he had casually broken off, pointing toward the end of the vast plain, explaining in the tone of a tour guide leading a group.

"Hmm, why is that?" Haruhi Suzumiya tilted her head slightly, a curious expression appearing on her face. Her eyes were lively, her little brain starting to spin rapidly, pondering the answer.

Without waiting for Xia Zhi to answer, she immediately spoke up excitedly with her own guess: "Was it destroyed too badly? Or is it like those stories say, that after the Great Calamity the whole land became a forbidden zone, and entering means danger?"

However.

The young man gave an unexpected answer: "Neither. The population just all flowed to the big cities."

"......"

"......"

"...... Hah?"

Team Leader froze for a moment, suspecting she had misheard.

"Is it hard to understand? It's just that young people from the countryside go to big cities to make their way, and villages gradually become hollowed out. After all, population movement always gathers toward more prosperous places with more opportunities......" Xia Zhi explained patiently.

"No no no, I can understand that part, but...... why would it be this situation?" Miss Suzumiya's expression was quite strange. "I've only heard of this kind of thing on TV news and in newspapers before, but isn't this a magic world?"

In such an other world full of fantasy colors......

Suddenly discussing the siphon effect of cities, talking about the phenomenon of population and production factors flowing from relatively economically backward areas to relatively developed areas, however you look at it it's strange......

It also made Team Leader's emotions and thoughts, which had been so excited these two days, suddenly get pulled back to reality unexpectedly, a strange sense of contrast where she couldn't react at once......

"A magic world also has to follow the Basic Law. The principles are all connected. Big cities are definitely more lively than small places, and have more opportunities, right?"

The young man said with a straight face: "Moreover, fairies are extraordinary creatures. There's no distinction between young and old. As long as they haven't become Faded Ones, they can all be considered young people. They like liveliness, like chasing trends, so this situation isn't surprising."

"What are Faded Ones?"

"Those who lose their blessing, can't see the Golden Tree...... ah, spit, I mean when fairies lose their radiance, lose their purpose, they start to fade, which also means the end of their life. In short, it's not a good thing."

Xia Zhi shook his head, seemingly not too willing to discuss this issue.

Haruhi Suzumiya keenly noticed this point, and immediately became curious, secretly tucking it away in her heart. She was still very concerned about fairies, this kind of otherworldly magical creature. These two days, although there hadn't been much contact, she had encountered them a few times here and there on the road.

They all seemed very kind and pure......

Her first impression was quite good......

"Alright, it'll be dark soon. We definitely won't make it to Salisbury today, so let's stop at the village ahead for the night."

At this time, Xia Zhi also switched topics as if nothing had happened, waving his branch again to point forward.

"It'll be dark?"

Miss Suzumiya looked at the sky in a daze. The twilight's afterglow was like solidified time.

It was pretty, and shocking, but in terms of telling time, it didn't seem very friendly to an otherworlder like her who had just arrived. It often gave her a subtle feeling of time dislocation, unable to distinguish morning from afternoon.

She pouted slightly, then lowered her head, and just happened to see that as the young man pointed forward, the air at the end of the road seemed to suddenly ripple, accompanied by ripples spreading outward ring by ring, the vague outline of an exquisite small village appearing within.

"Eh eh eh! Is this a Bounded Field?!"

The girl was first stunned, then immediately got excited.

"Right. This is Rain Village. It's usually hidden by magecraft. Ordinary people don't know about it...... I stay here sometimes, with another person." The young man spoke his lines without batting an eye, while leading Team Leader forward. This was preparation to trigger the pre-arranged plot.

"Another person? Who?"

Miss Suzumiya hurried to catch up, asking quite curiously.

She was very excited, feeling she could finally learn about Xia Zhi's usual life in this world, no longer knowing nothing about it.

"Don't rush. I'll introduce you next......"

Xia Zhi coughed lightly, but had only spoken half his words when he suddenly stopped and looked ahead, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

"......!!"

Haruhi Suzumiya sensed something and looked up, discovering that outside the village, at the end of the road, a graceful figure was standing there quietly at some unknown time. Golden hair shimmered with beautiful light in the setting sun's afterglow. The whole person exuded a tranquil, gentle temperament.

So pretty! She couldn't help but freeze slightly.

And at this moment——

"Where did you go? How did you suddenly disappear?"

The golden-haired girl with proper features looked over with dissatisfaction, her eyes seemingly full of suspicion:

"You didn't go off to deal with the awakened 'Spider' alone, did you?"

——"Spider"?

Team Leader froze slightly, keenly extracting the keyword from this speech, subconsciously looking at the young man beside her.

Does he want to deal with some "Spider"?

——————

(PS: Already completely have no F〇CK to say...... depends on when it gets released, feels like I've been targeted...... (#_<-))

(Chapter End)