The Handbook for Completing Demi-Human Girls

Upon hearing this, Fisher raised an eyebrow, seemingly somewhat disbelieving. Ingrid acutely noticed the change in Fisher's expression, then spread her hands and said,

"I'm not just sharing rumors here. I've been in the Southern Continent for a while now, and many people here say exactly this. It's not just the New Dragon Court and the human merchants investing and building factories here; even the Demi-humans living here are terrified of that bloodthirsty Red Dragon-kin. There are rumors that she eats human flesh raw and drinks human blood. Actually, her scales originally weren't red at all, but were dyed that color only because she murdered so many people."

Fisher found Ingrid's claims increasingly absurd. He kept feeling that Raphaela had been demonized in her eyes, or rather, in the eyes of humans and this New Dragon Court nonsense.

Of course, he couldn't rule out the possibility that the Dragon-kin might have changed to some extent during his brief absence. So, when he first heard of her slaughtering actions, Fisher still wanted to investigate. But after hearing the latter part, he felt those words were, to a certain degree, slander.

Fisher originally wanted to ask for more information, but alas, amid their start-and-stop conversation, the place they had seen earlier emitting curling white smoke came into view.

It was a factory occupying a vast area, except it was surrounded by walls up to fifty meters high. Compared to the completely open town just now, the factory before them looked more like a fortress erected in the wilderness. Unlike the green Dragon Court flag hung outside, the flag flying above was a golden Gothrin Crest flag, indicating ownership of the place.

Entrances were opened all around the tall walls. From afar, Fisher sensed the fluctuations of certain magic. These spells were costly to construct, and there seemed to be many guard forces watching the entrances, clearly implementing strict access restriction regulations.

Looking from the outside, one could only see white smoke rising from several chimneys that stood taller than the walls.

"Look, Uncle, that's the place. Do you have a way to get me inside?"

Upon seeing those tall walls, Ingrid hurriedly raised the camera in her hands, aiming it at the walls and guards from afar and clicking "kachak" several times.

Eimhart in his coat seemed somewhat frightened by the dazzling flashes of the camera. He even thought it was some kind of sorcery, so even without it being aimed at him, he hastily shrank back into Fisher's already tattered white shirt, only leaving one eye exposed to observe the outside.

Fisher estimated the height, then nodded and said,

"I have a way."

"What way?"

Intensely curious, Ingrid turned her head, only to see Fisher walking straight toward her. She took a step back with great vigilance. In Fisher's eyes, the hidden magic fluctuations on her were becoming increasingly intense. But before anything could happen, Fisher spoke expressionlessly,

"Put away your magic. The highest rank of the magic hidden in your nested structure is no more than the tenth ring. It's useless against me."

"Huh? Uncle, you..."

Ingrid's expression changed. Before she could even figure out how the other party had seen through the nested structure her teacher had set up on her, Fisher's hand lightly landed on her waist the very next second.

But that large hand didn't embrace her ambiguously. In fact, Ingrid at this moment would have preferred if the other party were embracing her...

Because for some unknown reason, the instant that large hand touched her, she felt an immense force. Immediately after, her entire person was instantly flung high into the air by that tremendous force!

Yes, that Uncle tossed her into the sky as easily as throwing a playing card.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

The wind roared fiercely in her ears. Her face paled more and more under the intense feeling of weightlessness. She opened her mouth, just about to scream, when Fisher below lightly tapped the ground and instantly leaped dozens of meters high. He steadily caught her in mid-air and vaulted over the wall as if jumping over a hurdle.

"Don't make a sound, or you'll attract others."

Having caught Ingrid, Fisher spoke in mid-air, entirely unaware that this young Schwalian girl had already been scared silly.

Even after they landed steadily on the ground, Ingrid hadn't even had the time to process that she had entered the compound. She just sluggishly clutched the camera on her chest, remaining motionless like a statue.

Fisher glanced at her and lightly let go, casually saying,

"We've arrived."

Just as he let go, Ingrid's legs gave out and she fell to her knees on the ground, as if all her bones had been removed.

After several seconds passed, she turned her head in disbelief to look at Fisher, muttering blankly,

"Uncle, you... you can't possibly not be human, right? Are you some kind of Southern Continent monster wearing human skin?"

"No, I am human."

"..."

Ingrid swallowed a mouthful of saliva, then hastily raised the camera in her hands and snapped another "kachak" at Fisher.

"Ahhhh! Stop flashing me! My eyes!"

"What are you doing?"

Fisher reached out to cover the eyes of Eimhart, who was wailing like a ghost in his coat. It seemed this guy was sensitive to intense light, so the new-model camera in Ingrid's hands had become a Noble Phantasm specifically targeting Eimhart.

"I'm going to write about this experience. The title will be 'Unsolved Mystery - The Monster Wearing Human Skin'..."

This girl seemed to work in an industry related to journalism back in Schwari. When Fisher looked at the new-model camera on her chest earlier, he hadn't even processed it. After all, when he left, cameras were still very heavy. He didn't know what new technologies had emerged over these past few years.

Covering Eimhart's eyes, he turned his head and walked forward into the interior of the factory, remarking in passing,

"Are you going to look at what's being produced in the factory or not?"

"Coming, coming. Wait for me a second."

Although the place occupied a vast area and appeared very mysterious, just like the towns humans had colonized in the Southern Continent in the past, it suffered from a severe manpower shortage.

Production inside the factory was in full swing, but aside from the security guards stationed out by the walls, there seemed to be very few people within.

Behind him, Ingrid snapped photos as she walked, wishing she could record everything she saw into a colorful video.

She was walking too slowly, and Fisher couldn't really urge her to hurry, so he could only look at the camera in her hands and ask,

"Did you come to the Southern Continent just for this? Taking photos?"

"It's not just taking photos. These are all precious pieces of information, alright?"

Ingrid lowered the camera in her hands, having finally finished recording all the information along the path. She then walked to Fisher's side and explained to him,

"A few years ago, the city lords here were beaten back step by step by that terrifying Red Dragon King. As a result, an absolutely unprecedented 'Tide of Continental Retreat' occurred. At the time, the city lords in the Southern Continent were in a panicked state of fleeing for their lives, their futures uncertain. They fled back to the West Continent one after another to complain to their bosses, monarchs, and families. Back then, the atmosphere between the West Continent and the Southern Continent was like arrows on strings, extremely tense. Schwari and Kadu had even prepared a transatlantic allied army to cross the ocean and teach that cruel and arrogant Red Dragon King a lesson..."

"Just as the two continents were about to go to war, another Dragon King brought news to the West Continent. Yser, the Green King from the North Branch, sent an envoy to convey a desire for peace to Empress Elizabeth. He told Empress Elizabeth that the cruel Red King was not an orthodox heir to the Dragon Court, but the daughter of the exterminated South Branch Tribe, and thus harbored a deep grudge against humanity, desiring to exterminate all humans completely. Yser the Green King did not wish for the hatred to continue spreading between the two sides, so he requested Empress Elizabeth's help to quell the flames of war in the Southern Continent, hoping for mutual prosperity with the West Continent..."

Ingrid looked at the factory rising before them, curled her lips at Fisher, and said,

"Empress Elizabeth felt deeply about humanity's past mistakes, so she abolished the slavery of Demi-humans practiced by humans in the past, returned freedom to Yser, and stated that Naris is a friend to the New Dragon Court and would help Yser reclaim his home. Consequently, that Red Dragon King went to war with the New Dragon Court and the human allied army led by Naris. They've been fighting for these past few years. It was only up until last year that the Red King's military offensive was slowly pushed back with our help, retreating all the way into the southern mountain ranges..."

"Before I came to the Southern Continent, this was what many people were spreading. But as for the truth, hehe... looking at this factory here pretty much spells it out."

Fisher also nodded but offered no further comment.

He was actually quite clear on what the real situation was.

If Yser the Green King truly was the orthodox heir to the Dragon Court and came with the ideal of peaceful coexistence between the Southern and West Continents, then why didn't he step forward before when humans occupied nearly all the land in the Southern Continent? Why didn't he step up when so many Demi-humans were previously shipped away as slaves? Why step forward only when Raphaela's military might drove all the humans out, and why coincidentally contact Elizabeth of all people?

The truth was that the New Dragon Court established by the Green King was out-and-out a puppet regime supported by Naris.

Ever since returning to this era and stepping into this town, the Demi-humans' reverence for the Nari language and their pursuit of Nario had made Fisher acutely aware of this.

Crucially, he now knew where Raphaela was.

She had suffered a military setback, though she hadn't completely lost and headed toward extermination yet. Right now, she was in a standoff against the Naris-supported puppet regime in the deep mountains and jungles at the southern tip of the Southern Continent. The situation probably wasn't optimistic.

But at least, Fisher knew where to go next.

Walking along this path, they conversed in low voices without bumping into anyone. Thus, they quickly and smoothly found the main assembly workshop producing the products.

"Uncle, is that the factory's production workshop over there? Let me go over and snap a few photos to see what on earth this place is producing, for it to make the officials in Dragon Court City and the people from the West Continent keep it such a closely guarded secret..."

Fisher pulled his attention back from his thoughts. He glanced at the exceptionally excited Ingrid and couldn't help but ask,

"Did you come to the Southern Continent just to photograph these things?"

Upon hearing this, Ingrid raised the camera in her hand, but this time not to take a picture. She simply turned the device over, exposing a staff ID attached to it.

It detailed her information in Chevalie Language, complete with her photograph:

"Schwari and Nadu Giant Snake Newspaper, Intern Journalist, Ingrid Tomic."

"Graduated from: Schwali Empress Academy, School of Journalism."

As previously mentioned, in the nation of Schwari, the giant snake held a special meaning and was generally associated with the royal family. Therefore, the Giant Snake Newspaper was likely a media outlet with such a background.

And the Empress Academy was the most famously renowned women's college in Schwari, rivaling Saint-Nazareth's Royal Academy in certain disciplines.

After showing her staff ID, Ingrid adjusted her sunglasses and said to Fisher,

"I'm a journalist. Of course I came here to photograph things. Open the door, Uncle. Let me see what tricks you Naris People are pulling inside... Oh, forgot you're also a Naris Person. Sorry about that."

"I'm a fugitive. I don't know if I can still be considered a Naris Person."

"Are you for real, Uncle? I actually guessed right! Then is that ugly book in your jacket also a fugitive?"

"You..."

Eimhart couldn't stand the girl behind him who used "sorcery" anymore. He wanted to cuss her out but was afraid she'd shine that light at him again, so he had no choice but to begrudgingly squeeze a bit deeper into Fisher's clothes, feeling quite a headache.

Fisher reached out and pressed the door to the workshop's side entrance. Sensing no signs of living human activity inside, he gently twisted the doorknob.

The door was actually locked, but with that one twist, Fisher broke the lock directly. In any case, the door ultimately opened.

In the next moment, the structural layout inside the enormous workshop met the eyes of Fisher and Ingrid, who was hiding behind him.

It turned out this wasn't the main production workshop, but a warehouse storing products. No wonder there hadn't been any noise from the outside.

Within, numerous casings made of some alloy and various components were neatly and systematically sorted and laid out. The aesthetically pleasing products possessing the language of machinery quickly caught Ingrid's eye. Intrigue flashed in her mind, and she didn't even snap a photo first.

Crouching in the warehouse aisle, she reached out and touched the material of those mechanical parts and casings, asking in confusion,

"Huh, what are these things? Mechanical parts for some kind of steam engine? But I've never seen anything like this before... Uncle, do you know what this is?"

"Let the great Sir Book Artifact have a look. What is this stuff?"

Hearing the question, Sir Book Artifact hurriedly poked his head out from Fisher's chest pocket. But before he could give an answer, Fisher already knew exactly what this thing was.

Both he and Eimhart had seen this kind of thing before, and not long ago at that.

"Cardinals... These are components for producing Cardinals."

Fisher muttered blankly, looking at the mountain of components stacked in this warehouse, and momentarily froze in place.

Ingrid's movement of raising the camera paused slightly. Then she turned her head and asked in confusion,

"Cardinals? What are those?"