Okay, let's stay calm. She's not necessarily talking about my status as a transmigrator.
Jakob is a foreigner in these lands, after all.
Act natural.
"A pleasure, miss. I am Jakob Liedschlag, it's a pleasure."
"That's not your name. It's probably the name of the body you've taken, and that doesn't interest me"
Of course.
Zofia 'Stargaze' Cromwell.
She's not a heroine.
She's never a boss.
She's the NPC with the most complicated quests and missions in [Kings Roads]
Within the interaction lines, she's used as a rest point between one and another, usually because no one is interested or believes they can complete her {Royal Road}
The reason is simple.
"...You're the master of star magic, aren't you?"
In this world, according to the lore, magic has effects on the psyche, body, and soul of its practitioners.
There are 5 types of magic in the game, not counting faith in the Soul King and the Jester God.
Natural Magic.
Mechanical Magic.
Metallurgical Magic.
Soul Magic.
Star Magic.
Throughout a playthrough, you could encounter various users of these magics, including at least 6 heroines who were masters of some type of those magics.
There are plenty of opportunities to obtain some spells from any of those magics, except for…
"Your soul is not from this world. Do they know of our existence where you come from?"
Star Magic.
Standing before me is the master of that magic—no, according to the lore, Zofia is the most powerful mage in the last 1,000 years.
I tried to maintain eye contact with her.
I couldn't.
Those eyes, shining like stars, are quite beautiful, but also a bit terrifying.
It's as if I were seeing a cosmos in that gaze.
"Something like that" I said, trying to look anywhere but her face.
The intensity of that gaze is scary.
For scientific reasons, I'll take a moment to appreciate having her in the flesh in front of me to compare her to her game version.
She's beautiful, evidently—this world is an eroge, after all.
Black hair in large strands with bangs, fair skin, and a mature face.
Many in the fandom speculated that Zofia was in her 30s–40s based on how she expressed herself in her dialogues.
She wore a large black-and-blue cloak that covered her body.
The only things besides her large witch's hat were the golden monocle over her right eye.
It was impossible to tell through a screen, but in front of me, I can now sense the atmosphere of power and… boredom that surrounds her.
"...Fascinating. Is it common where you come from to inspect a young and beautiful lady as if she were a work of art?"
She noticed. I felt the embarrassment growing inside me.
"Hey, did you just call yourself beautiful?" I need to distract her.
"I'm only stating the obvious" Her hand emerged from her cloak and touched my chest.
I felt a shiver and electricity when she touched my body.
"Hey"
"Your soul is not fully bound to this body yet. It seems there's still some remnant of the body's original owner"
…Is there still some of Jakob left? Hey, why did she make it sound like I'm a thief?
"...I didn't do anything to this guy on purpose"
I doubt she believes me, but at least I know I didn't do this of my own volition.
"I didn't ask, and I don't care" Ouch. Hey, at least pretend you're a good person.
"Then why?" She simply ignored my question and snapped two fingers of her right hand.
Suddenly, I was sitting in a comfortable chair in front of a table with an umbrella.
…Okay, fine, I'm not even going to bother trying to make sense of this.
It's not even the weirdest thing today.
I looked—there was a plate of cookies and a teacup there.
White porcelain with blue details. I took the handle of the cup and sipped the liquid.
Mmm… Mint and… I don't actually recognize the other flavor.
Still, it's good.
"How rude, drinking without permission just because it's in front of you" Zofia was flipping through the pages of a thick tome without looking at my face.
"Hey, you literally sat me down with the cup in front of me. How else am I supposed to interpret that?" I said while taking a cookie and biting into it.
They're good too.
"I see. It seems you're a being with no self-preservation instinct. What's in that cup could be poison, and you drank it without thinking"
Hey, that actually makes sense.
"Is this poison?" I took another sip of the tea, making sure to make a lot of noise. "Because it tastes like mint and something else. It's pretty good anyway"
I smiled at the beautiful witch, and she simply looked at the cup in my hands.
"It's my bodily fluids"
Her what!?
That's Disgusting!
I kept my cool—lie, my eyes are wide open in shock, but I have to pretend to be calm.
I looked at what was left of the liquid and chugged it all in one gulp.
I set the cup down on the table with a loud click and looked her straight in the eyes.
"Why?"
She smiled.
"You're a deplorable man. They were my fluids, and you still drank them"
I need a coffee.
"...I'm thankful I never did your {Royal Road}" I whispered. She's being a very troublesome person.
"I am beautiful like a queen, but I have never been royalty. Anyway, foreign soul, what exactly are you?".
Of course she heard that.
"I'm a normal guy trying to figure out how to deal with an irritating deviation from his plans" I hope I was subtle.
"Oh wow, how rude must the foreigner be to come and call a beautiful lady irritating in her own home. Truly a savage"
Breathe, breathe…
"How do you know I'm not from this world?" Anyway, it's better to get straight to the point.
Finally, Zofia looked up from the tome and gave me a smile.
My head is already starting to hurt.
"Do you know how magic works in this world?"
Vaguely. Reading about it is one thing; truly understanding it is another.
But with Jakob's memories, I could guide myself better.
Magic in this world has curious effects. It's not rare to hear of someone so fascinated with fire magic that they set themselves ablaze or turned into a monstrosity to be closer to their power source.
In fact, there was a group of enemies called the 'Children of the Burn' who worshipped a hypothetical fire deity that, according to them, sought to cleanse the world of its impurities.
With fire.
Their leader, Rhollor, in his boss fight, ends up embodying that deity.
Where am I going with this?
"Does star magic let you see my soul?"
Zofia's smile widened.
It's scary.
"Yes, and a bit more than that… Star magic makes its users sensitive to the immaterial world. I can see remnants of magic on you—small threads of many colors"
Zofia moved her right hand to my face and squeezed. I could see hundreds of colors inside that fist.
Hey, slow down, I don't know what this means.
"And what does this mean?" I said, staring intensely at the colors trying to escape Zofia's hand.
"It means an ancient magic—and that… surpasses me and…"
I saw her eyes moving erratically, as if seeing and not seeing everywhere at once.
Her hand gripped my mouth tightly as a terrifying smile appeared on her face.
"Hey"
This horror show is giving me chills.
"Does the title [He Who Bears All Names] mean anything to you?"
Even with her hand over my mouth, I managed to speak. I slowly moved my lips.
"You mean Hel…"
"DON'T SAY HIS NAME, IDIOT!"
Ouch. Zofia applied a lot of force to her grip. I felt like she wanted to break my jaw.
This pure pain is revealing—no matter her outward appearance, this woman is a monster capable of leveling mountains.
Hey, I just realized something terrifying.
I'm at the mercy of a monster.
Fear… it's like being in front of a starving bear with no escape. My hands and legs are trembling.
I'm a idiot.
I looked at Zofia's face for any clue and had to correct myself.
I didn't see fear in her crazed gaze—only pure annoyance. Helal as a boss is a monster, but Zofia, just from her backstory, falls into a similar category.
She must have noticed my trembling because she let me go.
I touched my mouth, still feeling the pain, and looked at her with doubt.
"Do you have unfinished business with that old bearded guy?"
She looked at me like I was an imbecile.
"Are you not aware of the danger [He Who Bears All Names] poses to you?"
Danger?
Why would Santa Claus Wannabe… wait.
I remembered the lore. After the Soul King left this universe, the primordials took the reins of the world.
Of the four, only Helal is close to being omnipresent.
It's not just that his power allows him to cover the world under his domain of darkness, or that, having been the spokesperson of this world's God, he was the one who named everything in creation.
Helal is undoubtedly an antagonist. His desire is to maintain the status quo of the world. Since the Soul King abandoned it, he has maintained the system of conflicts and faith.
Various items revealed his dark methods, as did the dialogues of several NPCs.
He's a cruel villain.
I remembered all the bad endings where Helal wins.
Aeono ends up dismembered, lobotomized, or in a coma to serve as Helal's puppet deity.
I felt sick to my stomach remembering the fate of Aeono's girlfriend in those endings.
Helal enjoys breaking mortals beneath him.
Helal hates anomalies. Aeono eventually becomes one. I'm already one.
I felt my body go cold at the mere possibility of falling into his hands.
"...Thank you" I looked at Zofia and said it honestly. She just saved my life.
She just looked at me before nodding.
"At least you're aware of your vulnerability"
"...Thank you" There's no way I'll stop acknowledging my weakness.
"Don't be obtuse… Tell me, what did you want from my library?"
I saw a glint in her eyes. Lying is foolish.
"Power."
She smiled. It's scary, but still better than other options.
"And what do you offer?"
Of course, nothing in this life is free.
I crossed my arms and looked at her coldly.
"What do you want?"
Her smile widened even more. Now I can definitely say it doesn't detract from her beauty.
"Entertainment and… for you to kill a rat"
"Huh?" I said like a idiot.
"I've been in this world for quite some time, foreign soul. There's a limited number of things I haven't seen. For some reason, you know things about this world, and from this remnant on you, it's obvious that something or someone very powerful brought you here."
Oh, that makes sense.
"I have knowledge of this world's fate, but I can't reveal everything right now."
Zofia looked bored.
"Naturally, being aware of a future can be incredibly counterproductive."
She seemed quite uninterested.
"[He Who Bears All Names] can be defeated"
Zofia's eyes widened. Finally, an expression.
"How?" she said very softly, almost a whisper.
I can't smile. Everything depends on Aeono.
"In two months, a hero will arrive. The fate of the world rests on his shoulders"
The girl raised an eyebrow without looking impressed.
"Has the Soul King raised a prophet in this generation?" There was no mockery in her voice, nor indifference.
She almost sounded hopeful.
"Not at all. I'm just a nobody, but I can be useful and entertaining… I just need an opportunity"
Zofia seemed to think about it for a few moments, then smiled.
"What do you want?" Good, this is going in my favor.
I raised three fingers. I have to seize the moment.
"I need the [Tome of Fortitude], magical training, and… your protection"
She mimicked me with a blank expression.
"Done. What was the preferred magic of the body you stole? And you need to take care of that rat"
In order, a thick book fell onto my lap. I felt an electric shock pass through my body, and…
"Rat?"
"In recent years, the rat population in the drainage has fallen victim to some curious mutations. The director and the rest of the staff are afraid they've reached a level where they could be a threat to the students"
Oh, yeah, that rat is an easy EXP joke at the start.
"Why don't you do something about it? For someone so powerful, it should be easy"
Zofia made a very cute face of disgust, honestly.
"No, how gross. The drainage is no place for a young and beautiful lady like me. It's brute work for someone like you"
Ah, the drainage rat.
The most ridiculous mini-boss of all.
"Can I bring help?"
"Umu"
Umu? …Whatever. Armine will make the job faster for me.
I already have almost everything I need for now.
"Sure. What's the worst that could happen?"