In the military encampment outside the city, a gentle woman held her daughter’s hand, listening to her talk about life after leaving home, and the people in it.
“We designed a clever tactic, ambushed the lone Demon King with the army’s cooperation, and defeated him. Unfortunately, he managed to escape in the end… Afterwards, we went to Lilburg, but it was already a dead town, so we could only slay Feng Lie to avenge the villagers… Then, it’s all the things that happened after we came back…”
Celes recounted her experiences in a straightforward way, without much drama or excitement—just like her own fighting style: calm and steady.
“My teammates—one is a genius from the Magic Court, rather quirky in personality. Another is the Church’s Saintess, very powerful and upright. There’s a mysterious assassin whose identity got tangled up in this incident; it’s a long story. And then there’s one more, she… she…”
Seeing her daughter suddenly become hesitant, all that calmness and steadiness vanished.
Selina immediately knew there was something going on.
“She’s special?”
“I guess you could say that…”
Celes herself wasn’t sure if she should say Ella was a particularly special person, or if it was Ella’s attitude towards her that was special.
Thinking it over, both seemed pretty unique, so she nodded.
“What kind of person is she?”
Selina grew curious.
“At first, I thought she was a gentle, well-behaved, considerate girl—nothing all that special, but very kind, and very pretty.”
Celes’ gaze turned a little dazed.
“But later, she suddenly became… very different, especially… I don’t know how to describe it. For example, during this incident, we were already cornered, and it was her who stepped forward and showed a side of herself none of us expected.”
“A side you didn’t expect?”
“Mm. The things she said then—I didn’t understand most of it at the time. Only after learning more did I gradually figure it out. She had taken control of something herself, using rather frightening methods, and leveraged human nature to threaten the other side.”
After hearing her daughter’s account, Selina couldn’t help but click her tongue.
“That impressive, huh.”
Celes felt even more conflicted.
“But, I don’t know which side of her is the real one…”
So that’s what’s been troubling her.
The perfect daughter finally showing a bit of adolescent confusion.
Selina smiled, patted her on the shoulder.
“Come on, let’s go see what your father’s up to.”
“?”
“Come on.”
***
That afternoon, Leah sneakily carried a small package, running all the way from the main gate into the Cathedral, and found that mysterious purification cubicle.
It was called mysterious because a few days ago she’d already given notice, saying she’d be using this room for a long time, and asked others not to come near.
Ella had woken up in the morning, eaten lunch, taken a walk, and now returned, sitting duck-style to show her respect for the Goddess of Light.
“I’m back.”
Leah took off her shoes and stepped inside, closed the cubicle door, set down her package, and carefully took out a pink Scented Candle.
“I specially found someone in the Black Market to get the best one.”
She introduced, “The effects are amazing—makes your face flush, your heart race, and you lose control.”
Seriously?
Isn’t that just hype?
Ella was a bit prejudiced against this thing.
On one hand, it was Human Technology; on the other, the dreamy pinkish-cherry color was the same as her own hair.
Red eyes meant magic was abundant, but pink hair didn’t mean she was lewd.
“Wait a sec, let me have a look.”
Leah rummaged through the package and found a sheet of paper, reading aloud: “This product uses a variety of herbal plants, extracting their pure essence, crafted with exclusive artisanal techniques, made into natural Incense Wax, crystal clear and pink as a blossom. All natural, non-toxic, absolutely no addictive ingredients.”
Ella was stunned.
Not only was there an Instruction Sheet, there was even an Ingredient List. Not bad.
As for the final effect, it was probably credible, since after the Royal City Dessert Incident, even Black Market goods weren’t allowed to contain addictive substances anymore.
A pure Incense, probably equivalent to something like Viagra in her previous life.
She reached out to touch the shell, which looked nice to the touch.
“So, what exactly is this thing…”
Leah slapped her little hand away.
“Don’t touch it! Be serious, this is a Dangerous Item.”
Right, speaking of Dangerous Items, the Saintess glanced at the window, feeling a little guilty.
“This is for research, for a brighter future.”
After muttering a few words, she stood up and shut all the windows in the cubicle.
The Goddess of Light would understand, but maybe the Goddess of Light wouldn’t want to watch, so let the Goddess turn a blind eye just this once.
With the windows closed, the room dimmed a bit.
Leah took out a glowing little device and set it aside for lighting.
“Alright, let’s study this thing.”
“No problem.”
Ella blinked.
“But how are we going to study it?”
She’d thought Leah would have some advanced method ready, like reverse-engineering the ingredients, chemical analysis, molecular experiments, or something.
But instead, the Saintess simply took out a pair of scissors and snipped off a bit of the Scented Candle.
“I’ll light it up and see.”
Not very physical, not very chemical, and maybe not very magical, either.
The sacred Divine Light ignited the Incense Wax.
The two girls held their breath, watching every tiny change.
The wick inside the Incense Wax caught fire, the wax slowly melted, and a heady fragrance drifted out.
And then it was gone.
That little bit of Incense quickly dispersed into the air. The two girls looked at each other.
“Did you see anything?”
Leah asked.
Ella was slightly confused.
“See what?”
“Of course, the onset process—the effect of the fragrance.”
“How could I see that? It was gone in a flash, I didn’t even have time to react.”
That was true.
Leah felt the same; otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked Ella.
“So did you feel anything?”
“Feel… Maybe a tiny bit of lightheadedness, just for a moment when I smelled it, but it faded right away, very faint.”
“Me too.”
Leah took out her Notebook and wrote down their shared experience.
Every beginning is difficult, but at least they’d started their research.
But the problem still wasn’t solved.
Apart from what the Instruction Sheet already described, they hadn’t gained anything new.
“I think we need to try again. This time, watch carefully and really pay attention.”
Before Ella could speak, she saw Leah snip off another bit of Incense Wax with the scissors.
This piece was a little bigger than before—not much, just a bit.
Surely they’d see more this time.
Leah was full of confidence, holding the Incense in her left hand and pinching a bit of Saintly Flame in her right, slowly bringing the two together.
“Ella, watch closely. I’m about to start!”
“I’m watching, I’m watching. Go ahead.”
“Shh! Don’t talk, focus.”
“……”