Petra closed the travel journal and stretched with a yawn.
The sun was high, and the sky was clear.
A refreshing wind blew through the trees, and for a brief moment, she stayed where she was.
Her bare feet pressed into the earth, providing a refreshing chill that followed with the prickle of grass.
After rolling off the tree stump, she pulled on her boots, tightening the straps one by one, then packed her things. When she was done, she turned around and headed back towards the others.
Her bright emerald hair swayed in the wind.
Not far away, a small campfire had been prepared.
Mell, Noah, Lilly and Luna, and a few others were all sitting around the campfire on large logs, talking leisurely as they waited. The scene felt familiar, comfortable, and almost homely. Perhaps... it was the kind of thing one would remember from their childhood.
Petra trotted over and sat down, joining them, her small butt landing with an unnecessary boop.
She rubbed her little hands together in anticipation as the mouth-watering aroma of spicy beef drilled over. Her eyes followed the stewing pot as it swayed from side to side, drooling.
A year had passed, and everybody had grown up, both physically and mentally.
Before Lilly and Luna were about Petra's size. It was close enough that it never stood out, but after a year, they were now a head taller than her, their figures more defined, their chests slightly larger…
Mell, unlike the other girls, had changed her entire look. If she had been a rustic village girl before, she definitely wasn't anymore! Now, she was a devastating brown-haired beauty, with the faintest trace of muscles hidden beneath her slender frame.
Noah, on the other hand, had quietly settled into her 'new' gender.
When Petra had first found him, he had only been around seven, with the life of a normal little boy from the western region.
He had inherited the stubbornness and endurance that all westerners carried, and if he had grown up as intended, he undoubtedly would have become a 'spiky red-haired protagonist-type' with a noble and fiery temperament.
That part hadn't changed too much…
But—
After a full year of cosmetics, body sculpting, and environmental adaptation, Noah had almost completely adapted to his—her female form of life. Instead of a head of spiky red hair, she now had short locks of silky pale pink, and rose-colored eyes that ignited with an unexpected determination! Noah was now almost indistinguishable from a naturally born girl. The rough edges were gone, replaced with something steadier, and something far more at ease...
It wasn't just these four girls, the others had also changed a lot.
Especially the 'human' servants.
Cough-cough-cough! Petra felt cold sweat just thinking about them—
But that was a story for another time…
A few minutes later—
Luna poured a bowl of spicy beef stew for Petra, and the moment it touched her bowl, she immediately began slurping it down. The warm stew was a strong match against the chilling air of the southern region, sending a wave of heat through her tiny toed trotters.
Steam rose from the bowl, and as the aroma of spice and garlic filled the air, it once again reminded Petra of her unwavering obsession with spicy food!
Thinking about it…
Back home, the Verdilith Castle, peppers were the most prominent plant planted in the farmland, with entire sections of the territory converted just to satisfy her increasingly ridiculous tolerance. Not only that, but some of the girls were also learning to crossbreed peppers!
With a satisfied hum, Petra tipped the bowl back and drained the last of the spicy broth.
A second later.
Burp!
Petra: "..."
The Girls: "..."
Her face turned red.
…Hump!
Petra snorted loudly, disregarding her image as her shoulders relaxed and her body went limp.
Mell chuckled from the side, and Lilly just sighed, already reaching for the ladle. Petra just grinned, cheeks puffed out, and legs swinging off the log without a care in the world.
It was another nice day…
-
Ten minutes later…
Petra was sprawled out across the log, her little back arched, staring up at the sky while the surrounding girls cleaned up the camp.
Their camp was perched on a small cliff that overlooked the rolling hills leading up to the southern region. The land rose and fell in waves, dotted with patches of sparse forest and distant rivers that stretched into the horizon.
While Mell tidied the camp and the twins washed the dishes, Petra let her mind wander… She thought about all kinds of things… but the most prominent was the goal of this trip to the Hellion Empire.
And that was to—
"Mm?" Her thoughts were suddenly cut off abruptly.
From above, a shadow cut across the sky…
Petra, still on her back, lowered her head with a roll and looked at the upside-down girls, making eye contact with Lilly. Lilly met her gaze without a word, then nodded. She set down the plate and jogged over to an open space just beyond the camp.
She placed her fingers in her mouth and—
Wheeeee—! She whistled…
Luna and Mell, suddenly startled, paused what they were doing and raised their hands to shield their eyes. The action was shockingly fast! No! It was clearly practiced!
For a moment, nothing happened…
Then—
Woosh!
The air suddenly twisted violently!
A gust of wind rolled across the cliff as a large shadow from far above rapidly enlarged. Swoosh! A massive shape descended from the sky, its presence pressing down on the space around them. Boom! It landed! The force of its landing blasted outwards, pushing leaves aside and violently throwing dirt, dust, and sand into the air.
Dong! Petra, spilling off the log, suddenly jumped—
But it was too late!
Whoosh!
A particularly targeted wave of dust rushed straight towards her, slamming into her small body and comically rolling her away.
Roll-roll-roll-roll! Flop! "Ugh…!"
She stopped, fell down, then sat up with a small jump, and glared, before quickly realizing—
Woosh! Petra, who had barely recovered, recoiled as fine dust sprayed into her face again, her eyes already reddening from the irritation. She rubbed them furiously, blinking through the sting, and continued to glare towards the source, as the large creature finished landing gracefully beside Lilly.
It was a massive white bird, standing nearly three meters tall. Its feathers were pristine, its posture straight and composed. It touched down with the elegant step of a professional courier, carrying itself with an expression that somehow managed to convey both pride and diligence.
Its long neck twisted as it looked around.
It looked at the distant Petra, flashed a pair of ridiculing eyes, then shook its birdy body.
A leather harness was wrapped tightly around its body, with two large leather bags hanging down on both sides, and a small money pouch fastened around its neck.
As the cooing creature lowered its head, Lilly stroked its feathers without hesitation.
The large bird shivered in delight.
She retrieved a gold coin from her pocket and held it up.
The bird eyed the coin for a brief moment, then neatly nipped it from her fingers with its beak and dropped it into the pouch with a smooth, practiced motion. By design, the massive bird then twisted its long neck around and pulled a rolled 'newspaper' from one of the side bags.
It passed it to Lilly.
Afterwards, the creature spread its wings wide and let out a crisp cry. With a powerful flap, it launched itself back into the air, shooting upwards and disappearing into the sky above the southern border.
Woosh!
-
Walking over with the newspaper, Lilly completely ignored the teary-eyed Petra and the grumbling girls, instead choosing to find a clean spot on a flat rock near the extinguished campfire. She sat gracefully, brushing aside a few loose leaves before pulling her dress under her bottom, and settling down.
With a flick of her finger, she began unpacking the bulging bundle.
While Mell and Luna dusted themselves off, Petra quickly paced in small little circles nearby, her small boots kicking at the grass as she rubbed at her eyes with both hands. The sniffles of the little green-haired girl echoed pitifully across the clearing.
- She was ignored
Before long, Mell and Luna returned to cleaning up the camp, gathering plates and packing away the tools, while Petra continued muttering to herself. Meanwhile, Lilly unfolded the thick bundle, the crisp sound of parting paper cutting cleanly through the air.
Unlike the newspapers from Sevensen, this stack was much larger and far more 'complete'. Multiple sheets were bound together and tied with a special thread. They were grouped into magic reports, news, regional maps, public announcements, merchant bulletins, and noble gossip.
For one gold coin, it was filled with information!
Lilly checked the date near the corner.
"This one must've come directly from the capital," she murmured, rubbing the official marking with her thumb. A small label read, 'Sky Crown Courier – Whitewing Whispers, Regional News!!'
A brief paragraph followed—
'The Sky Crown Courier was started over two hundred years ago by the joint efforts of the Royal Tower and the Hellion Royal Family. Through extensive efforts, the system quickly became one of the quickest and most reliable long-distance news networks on the continent! The whitewing couriers are high-level magic beasts bred as messenger birds capable of flying for weeks without rest, navigating storms and bad weather, even carrying up to five times their body weight! We are reliable and trustworthy!'
Lilly lazily skimmed through it with her dark eyes.
Behind her—
"Why does everything always fly into my face…?" Petra whined as she tilted the canteen, pouring cold water directly into her eyes. "And how did you two know to block it?!"
Her little roar resounded, drowned out as mere background noise—
Which caused the red-eyed Petra to only sob louder!
Lilly continued reading.
"Mm," she muttered, ignoring the commotion entirely as she flipped to the actual headlines. She pulled out a long sheet of paper, an updated map of the southern region, examined it briefly, then pocketed it before finding the local news section. After finding it, she continued to dissect the bundle, sorting it neatly one part at a time, and straightening it out.
Crossing her legs, she began reading carefully, her eyes sweeping line by line across the fresh ink.
In the background—
Petra suddenly sprinted across the camp, running toward the nearby river. "I think the sand got behind my eyeballs!"
Mell yelled back as she chased her with Luna. "Stop rubbing them! You're making it worse!"
"You think I don't know that!?" Petra screamed.
They were ignored…
"Mm," Lilly sniffed, not bothering to turn around.
The peaceful morning passed as the sun rose overhead. The river flowed quietly as birds chirped in the distance.
Lilly calmly continued reading the news while the chaos unfolded a few meters away.
It was a perfectly normal day.
At least, for her…
None of them saw the little smile flicker past her face.
By the riverbank, Petra dunked her entire head underwater, bubbles erupted violently as she screamed beneath the surface.
From below the water, her muffled shriek rose.
"My fucking eyes—! Why does it hurt so bad! Damn bird!"
Besides Mell and Luna, who were watching over her with concern, eight little head-sized dolls had also appeared at some point. The beast dolls hovered around her, bobbing up and down anxiously, their big black eyes sympathetic.
Lilly's hair fluttered in the wind.
A refreshing air swept through her body.
To the side, after finishing the cleanup, Noah simply closed her eyes, sighed deeply, and walked over to help the drowning little gremlin who was already preparing to jump.
Lilly watched her walk by from the corner of her eye. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Soon, she turned back to the paper…
-
After a full year of seclusion, the world had changed a lot…
The northern region was more populated than ever. The central region had slipped into chaos. The western region was abandoned, and the eastern region had grown even more mysterious than before, with the Great Storm Spell showing no signs of stopping any time soon. As for the southern region, it had become a popular place for pedestrians.
The 'theme' of the Third Calamity was commonly known to be the 'sea', and the southern region was the only region with the infrastructure to participate on a large scale. Naturally, that attracted countless people, whether it was for the opportunity to fight or the hope of safety!
Petra was included in this…
From the southern news, Petra learned that the empire was expecting the arrival of overseas experts. That alone was enough to make her restless, but the guest list only continued to pique her interest. For example, both the 'Dragon Race' and the 'Telltera' were part of the overseas delegation.
In addition, Soryn had recently caused Petra's interest in the Adventurer's Guild to skyrocket, and at least one diamond-level adventurer was expected to be arriving by ship any day now.
Ignoring certain shiny sons from the Church of Light, there were also several academic recruiters on their way.
Apparently, there was a massive academy overseas, far larger than anything on this continent.
Petra definitely wanted to take a look…
But—
As an anti-protagonist, it wasn't hard to connect the word 'academy' to an 'academy arc'. Normally, that would be reason enough to run in the opposite direction, but Petra was willing to risk it. If there really was such a thing waiting for her in the future, then she would at least have to have the decency to design a bingo card for all the fun things that might happen in a fantasy school.
Author: "..."
-
To the side…
After cleansing her poor little eyeballs, face still streaked with tears, Petra stood up straight and announced loudly—
"Come on…! We'll arrive at the southern border tomorrow!"
-
One week later…
* * *