Chapter 22: Delay May Lead to Unexpected Changes

Atiste watched everything happening on the screen.

He didn’t intend to interfere.

Lillian’s emotions were changing.

Eileen’s role here was merely to serve as Lillian’s support and as Atiste’s mouthpiece.

Eileen was still wondering, ‘Why is my master silent?’

Just as she was about to ask, she heard Atiste’s voice.

[Eileen, this should be Thor Village. The map shows the correct location.]

[Now, give Lillian the order to seize the Holy Sword’s raw materials.]

Eileen nodded and relayed the Master’s command to Lillian exactly as it was given.

“I hope you can help me observe the situation in this village, because I feel like it isn’t quite safe here,” Lillian said to Eileen.

Eileen didn’t reply to Lillian.

She simply walked forward and began to check the conditions of Thor Village.

Compared to the village the two of them had reached before, Thor Village was clearly much wealthier.

Although the buildings were all igloos, they were clearly crafted through magic.

The scent of mana was everywhere.

Fire elements, earth elements, and water elements…

Eileen activated Mana Perception to investigate the strength of the people here.

As expected, most were Dwarves.

Furthermore, they were all just mortals who could use a tiny bit of mana.

‘No Awakened Ones…’

‘Wait. There is someone with powerful mana.’

Judging by the total amount of mana alone, he might be a Transcendent.

He was a powerhouse capable of taking on 100 men, second only to the Hero Class.

She returned to Lillian’s side and asked, “Do you remember the combat techniques I taught you last night?”

Lillian felt speechless and replied, “You chased me and beat me up the entire night… I didn’t learn any combat techniques at all.”

“It’s enough,” Eileen said.

“I’ve detected a target that isn’t weak for someone like you. He might be the lord here.”

Lillian remained calm; she had also expected that this wouldn’t be simple.

The village wasn’t particularly lively, but the living conditions looked much better than the desolate place they had seen before.

However, unlike the distress of the Dwarves in the previous village, the Dwarves here might be able to forge iron and dress well, but their faces showed no joy.

Lillian observed several blacksmith shops, fish stalls, and grocery stores.

She found that, without exception, every resident’s face was shrouded in a sense of oppression.

She approached a blacksmith who was currently forging iron and asked, “Master, why do none of you look happy?”

The bearded Dwarf blacksmith glanced at Lillian and said, “Because the fruits of our labor do not belong to us.”

After speaking, he went back to his work.

Lillian asked, “If that’s the case, then why do you continue to work?”

While striking the iron, the blacksmith said, “Because a Human came here and said he could give us large houses and endless resources. But the price was that we must forge the Holy Sword Paladin within one year.”

Eileen heard the keyword and signaled Lillian to keep questioning.

Lillian observed the blacksmith’s movements.

His eyes held only the focus of his trade, and his expression was displeased; she could feel the dissatisfaction in his heart.

Lillian continued, “What kind of Human is he?”

“Young lady, why are you asking so much?” the blacksmith replied.

“You don’t have a speck of mana on you. Prying into his business will only bring you trouble.”

Lillian smiled with confidence.

She said, “I was sent by the heavens to save you all.”

The Dwarf blacksmith stopped his work.

He scrutinized Lillian with a skeptical gaze.

After a long pause, he finally spoke.

“You don’t look like it. You don’t have the aura of a God, nor are you carrying any special weapons. Besides, we don’t feel like we’re suffering. That lord has provided us with good living conditions. We don’t need your salvation.”

Eileen watched quietly as Lillian performed.

Lillian wasn’t intimidated by the blacksmith’s words.

Instead, she pushed further.

“No, you’re being exploited. He wants to use you to achieve his ulterior motives.”

The blacksmith shook his head, showing no interest in Lillian’s words.

He turned back to continue his work.

As the sound of striking iron echoed in the shop, Lillian still didn’t plan on giving up.

She asked, “Can you tell me your name?”

“Grishka,” the blacksmith answered.

Lillian immediately thought of the lover the carriage driver had mentioned earlier.

She followed up, “Do you know Marishka?”

Grishka glanced at Lillian and continued forging, replying simply, “That’s my sister.”

Lillian could tell that Grishka wanted her to leave.

So, Lillian said, “I see. I will find her and bring her back to your side.”

Grishka remained focused on his work and urged, “Just leave quickly. Get out of this village. My sister went to the noble’s side voluntarily. It’s none of your business.”

Before leaving, Lillian picked up a sword that looked the sharpest — it was something Grishka had tossed into a pile of scrap metal.

She said to Grishka, “I’ll take this as payment for saving your sister. Wait for my good news.”

Grishka didn’t care at all and held no hope, simply letting Lillian leave.

Eileen didn’t quite understand what Lillian was doing.

She chose to ask Lillian directly, “What’s the point of helping these Dwarves? Why not just find that Transcendent and defeat him?”

Lillian replied, “Teacher Eileen, I am a ‘Princess’ from a greenhouse who knows nothing about fighting. At least, I was in the past.”

She continued, “But after being shattered by you countless times, I’ve discovered that I truly cannot die. However, I also cannot easily defeat someone capable of using magic. That’s why I desperately need the villagers’ help.”

Eileen was confused.

“What can they do for you?”

Lillian stated bluntly, “Find the raw materials to forge the Holy Sword.”

Eileen was even more puzzled.

She said honestly, “I don’t think doing this will have any effect. You should go challenge the Transcendent directly.”

Lillian analyzed it for Eileen.

“That noble Transcendent’s combat power certainly isn’t weak. The fact that he could use magic to build this village so well shows he’s a talented individual. In that case, he should be able to forge weapons himself, or at the very least, he could have invited even better blacksmiths to forge the Holy Sword. Yet he chose to ‘corral’ these Dwarves here to work for him. This is highly likely because only the Dwarves in this specific place can forge the Holy Sword, or find its raw materials.”

Eileen nodded, feeling that Lillian’s reasoning was sound.

She said, “While I don’t know if your guess is correct, I think you’re right. Otherwise, that person would have definitely seized the materials and left instead of staying here.”

For the first time, Lillian and Eileen reached a consensus.

Lillian reached out, wanting to hold Eileen’s hand, but she passed right through Eileen’s body.

“What’s happening? I could touch you just a moment ago?”

Lillian couldn’t understand.

Eileen noticed that her feet were slowly becoming transparent.

Although she had never seen anything like this before, based on the information her master had provided, she didn’t belong to this timeline.

‘I am truly disappearing.’

[Eileen, hurry and complete the mission. The system is indicating that you don’t have much time left.]

[To avoid any complications, find a way to come back as soon as you grab the materials!]

[Hurry!]