Chapter 455

The Fairy Kingdom of old was forever shrouded beneath a lingering twilight...

The world turned slowly within the dim yellow light and shadow.

But now——

This realm seems to have been permanently embraced by the night.

Immersed in a deep, thick darkness that refuses to dissipate.

The darkness seems to have brought the tranquility of peaceful sleep; all things appear to slumber within this boundless night... however, beneath this seemingly silent night curtain, undercurrents surge, lively and extraordinary.

Because every corner of the Fairy Kingdom brims with unprecedented clamor and vitality.

No stagnation.

No interruption.

Just as almost no one can discover, the starry sky enacts subtle successions in utter silence.

From the brilliant starlight in those distant light-years beyond, whether it be the subtle adjustment of angles, the quiet shift of positions, or the faint change of magnitudes, all manifest an elusive abnormality.

The stars are being rearranged.

The world is likewise being reconstituted.

All changes occur in the blink of an eye, occurring within time frames that do not exist.

Creation and destruction, reboot and rebirth, all complete in this instant; the Star River thoroughly welcomes its transformation.

However, for the lifeforms on the planet Earth, for the lifeforms in the Fairy Kingdom, they cannot perceive this grand process.

………………

………………

Everything proceeds as normal.

Inside the Fairy Court, within a certain side hall.

Moonlight filters through the Fairy Court's glazed window lattices, spilling onto the smooth marble floor; amidst the interplay of light and shadow, even the air seems stained with a layer of faint radiance.

"Oh? You're saying you want to obtain... residential qualifications in the Royal Capital Londinium?"

The dark red long-haired Fairy girl tilted her head slightly, that movement containing an indescribable bewitching charm and agility.

She examined the few Master Ladies before her who likewise possessed red hair and orange eyes; her expression appeared somewhat subtle, seemingly a bit doubtful, yet also seemingly carrying a trace of playfulness.

"..."

"..."

Under the Princess's gaze, the grouped Chaldea Masters couldn't help but grow somewhat tense.

Not to say they were sweating profusely, they didn't even dare breathe that exaggeratedly, but that anxiety of waiting for the interviewer to announce the result did indeed quietly sprout.

After all, this side hall's splendor and majestic momentum are truly difficult to ignore.

Those Silver Knights standing neatly like pillars all around, each and every one emits powerful magical energy fluctuations.

Even the few Fairy Maids attending beside the Princess, within their detected Spirit Origin patterns and wavelengths, display reactions surpassing most Servants.

From the overall environmental atmosphere down to the details' implications, without a single exception, all indicate this Princess is truly of inestimable nobility.

"Y-yes..."

One Master Lady steeled herself, spoke cautiously, yet still met the other's gaze and nodded firmly to confirm:

"May I ask... Princess, can this request be permitted?"

This is a very important matter——

For this, they worked extremely, extremely hard, forcibly completing a series of lengthy and complicated missions to arrive here.

Although none were very difficult...

Mainly they were troublesome, tedious and boring to the point of being unbearable...

Just like those sewer-cleaning missions in canned games, running back and forth between different map zones, making players deliver letters, feed chickens, pick up garbage and such...

——In short, just very tedious, very boring.

And the most helpless thing is, despite expending so much effort, the returns are abnormally meager.

This is the key point.

It can be said they are basically garbage missions players aren't very willing to bother with.

And since players aren't willing to bother, Chaldea Masters naturally wouldn't consider them even more.

After all, players are players, doing missions with a gamer's mindset.

But Chaldea Masters bear the weight of reality, grinding ruthlessly with a worker's resilience.

——Efficiency!

——Efficiency is what matters most!

Moving as many bricks as possible in the shortest possible time, this is the current code of conduct for countless Chaldea Masters.

So, naturally they are even less willing to waste time and energy on those low-value missions.

After all, in the same amount of time, they can smoothly grind out enough magical resources for that organization behind them to run at full power for half a week...

This is the guaranteed drop reward worth pursuing.

And if luck is better, dropping a few new Conceptual Dresses, that goes without saying.

As for why now——they still chose to do this series of garbage missions?

Naturally because they, through "stumbling by mistake," keenly perceived that there exist some messy, irregular connections between these missions.

Because it's so messy and irregular, at first glance, ordinary people wouldn't connect these clues together.

They, too, under "coincidental opportunity," exchanged intelligence, and through their respective backing Human Order Security Organizations' analysis, "just so happened" to discover this one clue.

Like that "Six Degrees of Separation Theory"——

Between a person and any stranger, the people separating them would not exceed six——

That is to say.

At most, through six people, one person can know any stranger.

They were the same, discovering that between those low-value missions, a thread could be strung together, connecting one person... cough, connecting one Fairy to another Fairy.

Finally—

This bond of interpersonal relationships could actually point directly to that Fairy Kingdom's Princess.

It could be said that this was where the true value of those series of garbage small missions lay.

And when they completed this series of missions, the group was able to enter the Fairy Court without any suspense, and were received by this Princess.

The Fairy girl with dark red long hair thanked them for the information they brought, and casually asked what reward they wanted to obtain.

And those few who had negotiated beforehand decisively put forward their requirements.

—Real Estate!

—That's right, the real estate in the Fairy Kingdom will definitely be a hot item next!

This is also a rigid demand of the Chaldea Masters, so no matter what, choosing this won't be wrong.

The only problem is... whether this Princess will agree, and whether she will think they are making exorbitant demands and pushing their luck.

Because according to Fairy Kingdom law, the Kingdom restricts this aspect very strictly.

「... 」

「... 」

It wasn't a very long silence.

But the atmosphere became subtle enough, and the hearts of the several Master Ladies were also suspended.

They felt their idea might fall through, and an inexpressible sense of loss quietly spread.

After all...

The law was just that harsh...

Just as they exchanged glances with each other, hesitating whether to speak up first and wisely choose to retreat to a secondary option.

The Princess with dark red long hair suddenly laughed.

「This matter isn't easy to handle; in principle, the Fairy Kingdom does not accept outsiders... 」

She spoke elegantly, gently brushing the long hair hanging by her shoulder:

「But that's only in principle... so, I allow it. 」

「... 」

「... 」

The surprise came so suddenly that the Chaldea squads opposite couldn't react for a while, looking at each other.

After two seconds, they discovered they hadn't misheard, that the application had indeed been approved, and then they all showed expressions of surprise and joy.

As if at this moment, the whole world became bright.

All their hard work was rewarded at this moment.

At this time, the Princess hummed softly twice, and continued to say—

「You just wait for the good news; I'll go find that Regent Lady later, and soon I can settle this matter... 」

Her tone revealed an unquestionable confidence and determination.

「Heh heh, anyway I didn't like her originally, just right to find an opportunity to pick a fight with her! 」

「... 」

「... 」

The shock came so suddenly that the Chaldea squads opposite couldn't react for a while, exchanging shocked gazes with each other, as if time froze at this moment.

The joyful expressions they showed hadn't had time to set before they completely froze.

Even their whole bodies froze along with it.

「Ah no, we... we actually didn't... 」

A moment later, the Master Lady who spoke first finally reacted first, she struggled to hold back an expression uglier than crying, trying to salvage the situation.

「Rest assured, rest assured, don't worry about it, leave this matter to this Princess. 」

The Princess patted her chest and made a guarantee very proudly.

「Ah... this, this... isn't... 」

「Alright, you should be tired too, then go rest first; I'll go find trouble with that woman right now—」

The Princess seemed to suddenly become energetic, thinking that the matter couldn't be delayed, turned around and left the side hall.

During this process, she completely ignored the Erlang-like hand desperately reaching out and the shouts of a certain Master Lady.

「No, no... really not needed... 」

「Princess, let us discuss again... 」

Watching the dark red long-haired figure disappear outside the door, the Master Lady turned completely gray.

She was like an aging robot, stiffly turning her neck, looking at the other "comrades" who all had expressions of the sky falling.

「Ahahahaha... we... we can be considered to have connected with the Fairy Kingdom Princess, right? 」

「... 」

「... 」

「Yeah, the price is offending that Regent who knows what kind of path she's on? 」

A Master Lady pressed her forehead with a headache, responding in a dry tone.

Why did it turn out like this.

They were completely unprepared.

——————

On the other side.

Bawan Xi walked with her hands behind her back, steps lighthearted along the long corridor, humming a strange tune, looking to be in a very good mood.

The mission Mother entrusted to me — this counts as completing a part of it — and also released some obvious signals to the outside...

Incidentally —

Also released some special signals.

Although it was acting on her own initiative, she felt this was also very necessary; the struggle between Mother and that Regent will never cease.

As Mother's good daughter, she naturally had to devote herself wholeheartedly.

This line of thinking cannot be said to be wrong...

However, Bawan Xi probably would not realize that this dispute over routes would continue all the way to the divergence between the Sacred Round Table and the Fairy Round Table of the Canghui Galaxy era.

……………………

(The old man isn't eating today; the family discussed it and feel there may be some signs... sigh)

(Chapter End)