Before the day of the Founding Festival began, Prisippi spent her time searching through all the books in Fenric's office.
There was good news and bad news. The good news is that, contrary to expectations, there were many more types of books in the study than I expected.
There were imperial history books, books on the founding myths and legends of the empire, and even books on magic.
But the bad news is that despite the variety of information, you couldn't find any that were particularly sharp or specific.
It made sense...
Mutations often occur between monsters and humans. If the human bloodline was dominant, they could live normally, but if the beast bloodline was stronger, they might go into a rampage state. This was information you already knew.
But still, it wasn't a complete waste of time.
– Sacred Statue: The full form of the statue that was smashed was found in the historical records of Atiloia.
- In the west of Atiluia, there lived a cursed being. Bringing plague, cursing the land, and killing innocents relentlessly. He was so evil that thousands of warriors, knights, and soldiers tried again and again to subjugate him. [Then a brave spirit appeared. But he was so strong that they did not even dare to defeat him. So, killing him was the best option.]
One day, a person blessed by the gods appeared and put him into a deep sleep. Peace returned to him, and the church erected the sacred statue in his honor to glorify the blessing of the gods and ensure that they would not forget his existence.
It was similar to what the Archbishop had said in the church inside the Imperial Palace. This was already known, so the content itself was not very important. What Precipe focused on was the original appearance of the shattered statue.
But the appearance of the statue was familiar. “I feel like I've seen that face somewhere.”
To be more precise, it was not the statue of the brave soul blessed by the gods that was familiar. Rather, it was a statue of the Demon Lord. “This can't be...”
Although Prisippi looked at the drawing again and again, the Demon Lord's statue was broken, and its face was distorted, so it was difficult to examine it carefully. However, he seemed strangely familiar, as if she had met him somewhere before, and this left her with an uneasy feeling.
The day passed without any major discoveries, and despite Precipe's impatience, the day of the founding festival arrived.
***
It seems that Fenric has prepared everything very carefully for Hanna. The dress, the shoes, the accessories... anyone who sees her will think she's getting ready for a big party. … She had never received such treatment before even while living in the Imperial Palace.
Prisippi smiled bitterly as she thought about it, but she was grateful to Fenric nonetheless. Well, she promised not to express her thanks directly, so she didn't say it out loud.
“You arrived earlier than I expected.” When the carriage stopped, Fenric, who was sitting in front of Presibe, looked at it and said, “There is still a little time before the Foundation Festival begins… Would you like to rest comfortably in the carriage?”
If she had known this was going to happen, she would have left sooner. It was better than wandering around the Imperial Palace and meeting annoying people for no reason. Fenric regretted it briefly.
“Oh, then, Your Highness, will you stay in the carriage? I have somewhere to go.”
“…Somewhere to go?” Fenric frowned slightly.
“Is it somewhere inside the Imperial Palace?”
“I was thinking of visiting the tower.”
"The tower? Why?"
“Well… I packed my bags in a hurry before, didn’t I? So I thought I’d better check again, just in case.”
It was embarrassing for her to say it now because she said, “Take this vase with you,” but there was no other excuse. Moreover, it was a bit embarrassing to take Fenric with you. Of course, it would be safe with him, but the problem was that she needed to check the game system in the tower.
She didn't think that the Flashback Albums or Event Logs, which were just NPCs, would be visible to Fenric, but who would have known? This game was already so chaotic that anything could happen.
“I can't let you go alone, Presibe. Let's go together.”
As expected, he responded as she was thinking. After Fenric got out of the carriage, he took Prisippi's hand and started walking towards the tower, at the same speed as her.
Soon, they arrived at the tower.
“Um… I’m sorry, but Your Majesty, could you please wait here?”
At Prisip's puzzled request, Fenric's eyes narrowed slightly.
"It won't take long. I'll just check if I left anything behind."
“…”
“I feel so guilty for letting you come with me.”
“…I understand.” After her seemingly pleading request, Fenric finally nodded and replied, “In that case, I will wait here. To make sure no suspicious person can intrude.”
Since there was only one entrance to the tower, if anyone came in, they would notice immediately. Fenric looked at her as if to urge her to hurry, and Presibe slowly entered the tower.
***
The interior of the tower was as before. “Oh… even after so long, it's still annoying.” She sat carefully on the squeaky bed, and everything that had happened in the past few days felt like a dream. Prisippi shuddered slightly, making a look on her face as if she had just gotten a chill, then looked around again to make sure no one was around.
She opened her lips softly. “First… show me the book of memories.”
[Note: Summoning the Book of Memories.]
[Note: The Book of Memories has been accessed.]
The book of memories was as it was before. No content is displayed, only a notification that it has been accessed.
This is the most important job for me right now.
Presibe took a long sigh and spoke again.
“Check the event logs. I don't need other characters, just the Presibi logs, including the tutorial.”
But something was wrong. Suddenly it didn't appear. Notifications window.
“Event logs, event logs!” I screamed a few more times, but nothing changed. Precipe's face turned pale, and she began repeating the same words like a crazy person.
“Show me the logs. Show me!” It was after I shouted the same thing dozens of times, that the notification window finally appeared.
[??: ??? ??? ?????? ???] …a bit strange.
“What… what is this?” Question mark icons that only appeared as error options were now consuming the notification window, continuing on indefinitely.
“…”
Prisippi stared at the empty space where the notification window usually appeared with a stunned expression. She didn't wake up until some time later. Then she spoke again.
"Show me the flashbacks! Tutorial section!"
[Note: Starting from the tutorial section, the flashbacks will be reviewed in order?]
“Oh…?”
This notification window was also a little weird, but it wasn't as bad as it was before. However, Presibe wasn't sure when she would be a question mark again. Becoming concerned, she looked at the illustration, which began to appear with a clicking sound.
"forest …?"
The first illustration that appeared showed a forest as a background. Dense trees with thick leaves. Directly below her, little Prisippi was sitting beside a large lake. Since it said it would show them in order, this will likely be the first part of the tutorial.
“…”
As Precipe stared expressionlessly at the illustration, she suddenly shivered in surprise.
“Well, the forest...”
As if the fog in her mind had lifted, she finally remembered. It was a very hot summer when she was about ten years old. She couldn't remember the exact location, but… it was a landscape with lush greenery. It was enormous, just like that cursed tower – tall green trees densely packed together. Sunlight streaming through the leaves. The sound of buzzing insects. The scent of flowers and the mysterious smell of grass fill the air. The tranquil lake shore shines quietly and brightly. And small ripples on the calm lake. ...water splashing.
“My notebook.” Prisippi muttered absentmindedly.
“Yes. I lost it over there...” Right at the beginning of the possession, shortly after the tutorial started, Prisippi was organizing something herself.
“Maybe something related to the game...”
But just as she couldn't remember the last words her mother left her, the content of the notebook was also hazy. However, she could roughly guess what it might be. Even before she started playing properly, Presibe had some knowledge about the game. After all, she was very famous. Despite its failure...
Maybe I wrote down ways to pick up male characters easily?
[Done… I need to verify…]
Suddenly, her voice came to her mind, right after Prince Atari's death. That is, Yoon Joo Yeon's voice. So, could the notebook she lost also record what she was trying to verify?
[Note: Next show??]
“A… show me the next illustration.”
[that??: ?? ?????? ???] But the damned notification window was still broken. The illustration floating in the air was the same. It cracked like a broken television, then disappeared completely, glowing white. But before the screen disappeared, in that brief moment, Precipe saw her clearly. Two little hands holding each other tightly.