The Handbook for Completing Demi-Human Girls

"It's just a very versatile type of machinery. I just didn't expect Elizabeth to obtain this technology, and it seems to be applied to affairs in the Southern Continent..."

Fisher crouched in front of the neatly stacked Cardinal casings. He quickly noticed that the Cardinal casings produced by this Naris factory were physically more akin to the type Fisher had seen in the Sanctuary, rather than the machines produced by David One in the Northern Border.

Although there wasn't a huge difference in their applications, because Mikhail had given the Cardinal technology to the Sanctuary via the Archangel Michael's hands, after Michael's modifications, the Sanctuary's Cardinals possessed a more aesthetically pleasing outer appearance and looked more harmonious.

Meanwhile, David One—the Cardinal created by the current Lord Cardinal of the Creation Society—was manufactured strictly according to the blueprints Mikhail left behind, likely resembling exactly what they looked like in Mikhail's world.

The current casings produced by Naris were somewhat similar to those of the Sanctuary, but not entirely the same. It was unknown whether they had undergone a third human modification to look like this.

Although he didn't know the specific functional differences, it at least provided Fisher with a possible source for Naris' Cardinals: they were related to the Sanctuary.

Ingrid listened with half-understanding. If this intern journalist from Schwari were well-versed in machinery, she wouldn't have chosen a degree in social humanities. She merely raised the camera in her hand to take pictures while saying,

"Cardinals... I have absolutely no idea what that is. Although Naris always churns out some new gadgets—like this portable camera in my hand, which I pre-ordered at a machinery exhibition in Naris the year before last—I've never even heard of the Cardinals you mentioned."

It was normal that she hadn't heard of them. Likely, no Naris Person aside from Elizabeth in the Golden Palace and a select few knew what these things were.

"This thing is very powerful. If Elizabeth used such things in the war against the Red Dragon Court, then Raphaela's defeat is excusable."

Ingrid snapped a few photos with a "kachak." Listening to Fisher's analysis beside her, her beautiful eyes, hidden behind her sunglasses, blinked involuntarily. Then she turned her head and tentatively reached out a hand, wanting to pat Fisher's shoulder. However, just like before, getting close to the man before her brought a physical sense of discomfort. The hairs all over her body stood on end, as if warning her that the person before her was extremely dangerous.

After pausing repeatedly, she still didn't make a move, merely asking,

"Hey, Uncle, even if you are a fugitive from Naris, it shouldn't be like this, right? Calling out 'Elizabeth' left and right, acting as if you're very familiar with your Emperor. You should know that other Naris People mostly call her 'Empress Elizabeth' or 'Your Majesty'..."

Fisher glanced at her. Before he could speak, the book with eyes in his coat let out a mocking laugh and popped its head out, saying to Ingrid,

"Familiar? How could he not be familiar? He's extremely familiar. There's no second person in this world more familiar with that Empress than him."

"Really? How familiar... great Mr. Sir Book Artifact? Tell me!"

Ingrid's eyes lit up, looking intensely curious. It was unclear whether she had caught on to some information that could serve as "news" and hoped Eimhart would reveal more. She even remembered Eimhart's shameless self-given title from earlier and used it right here.

"Ahem, then I'll have to mention..."

"Shut up."

Eimhart was so flattered he was about to fly out. But before he could clear his throat and recount the past, Fisher expressionlessly sealed his mouth, bringing his words to an abrupt end.

"Why be like this, Uncle? Aren't you supposed to enjoy it when reminiscing about the past? Having a young junior like me unearth stories from your past, don't you find that very interesting?"

Ingrid had even gotten ready to take out her notepad to record it, only to be greatly disappointed by Fisher, prompting her to utter such a complaint.

"Haven't you finished taking pictures? Can we leave now?"

"Yes, yes, yes. Just a moment."

Ingrid had no choice but to drop it. However, before continuing to photograph the warehouse, she raised her camera and recorded Fisher's expressionless face.

Perhaps she had even already come up with a title for an unwritten news piece. Hmm... let's call it: "A Visit to the Southern Continent: The Untold Story Between an Unknown Male and Empress Elizabeth."

Ha, if the Nazarene Clandestine Affairs Bureau found out, she'd definitely be in deep trouble.

Ingrid turned her head to photograph the stacked Cardinal casings in the warehouse, while Fisher and Eimhart observed their surroundings, pondering the origin of this Cardinal technology.

There were actually two possible sources. One was the Turan Family in the Northern Border. David One had provided them with partial technology in order to obtain Moonstones. However, since so much time had passed, he wasn't sure if Valentiina had awakened yet. If Elizabeth's Cardinals came from the Northern Border, she would inevitably clash with Valentiina. Not to mention, they had already formed a grudge previously.

The other source could be the Stormsea. As the ruins of the Sanctuary that crashed from the sky, it must contain many remnants of Cardinal technology. When he left, the Stormsea should have been taken over by the Black Chief and the Iceberg Queen, Alajina. The current situation was unclear...

"I have to say, the changes here are truly massive... Fisher, you'd best watch out for yourself."

After looking around, Eimhart's first words were exactly this.

"What are you talking about?"

Eimhart tilted his head up and said as if it were as it should be,

"Have you forgotten? The original Elizabeth was terrifying enough, wishing she could fly out of Saint-Nazareth, grab you back, and fiercely... When you were previously entangled with death, she temporarily set aside other things in the face of life and death. But, didn't you give her news right before you left? You absolutely didn't tell her when you'd return, right?"

"That is true, because at the time, I didn't know the exact method Renee would use to exorcise the death for me either."

"Exactly. You gave her the hope of your return, and Elizabeth accepted it. But who knew that once you left, you'd be gone for four and a half years! If I were Elizabeth, I would have grown impatient during such a long wait long ago, wishing I could flip the whole world upside down to dig you out. And although you left, the other ladies you know couldn't. I don't know if she knows that Raphaela or whatever, but the two in the Northern Border are definitely going to suffer."

Alajina and Valentiina...

Actually, Eimhart made sense. Elizabeth would naturally wait for him, but this didn't stop her from targeting the ladies who had previous affiliations with him during her wait.

Jasmine was sleeping in the sea; human methods simply couldn't reach where she stayed. Renee kept appearing and disappearing mysteriously; even he couldn't find her, much less Elizabeth. Eliog was in the Abyss underground; she was so lazy she definitely wouldn't come out. As for Raphaela, Fisher didn't think it likely she'd reveal her identity directly, given the demanding nature of what she needed to accomplish. As a leader, exposing an affair with a human brought a hundred harms and zero benefits, so she probably wouldn't talk...

And Helaire...

As a Mythical Species who enjoyed freedom and had lived for so long, it'd be a blessing if she didn't bully Elizabeth.

The safety of the above-mentioned ladies could temporarily be guaranteed. Only the two ladies in the Northern Border were practically living targets for Elizabeth.

If Valentiina woke up, she would definitely ascend the throne surrounded by the six tribes of the snow mountains. Elizabeth couldn't possibly not know. But at least she had the capital to oppose Elizabeth.

But Alajina...

Thinking of this, the more Fisher thought, the more his head hurt.

In his view, Alajina's debuffs were practically stacked to the limit.

First of all, even if Elizabeth were truly so kindhearted as to overlook his intimate relationship with her, even disregarding that, just due to the fact that he left Isabel by her side, Elizabeth could not let her go.

During that bloody great purge, the elders and peers of Elizabeth's generation all died. The only ones left were Isabel and a young brother and sister. Isabel was also one of the few relatives Elizabeth valued deeply. Therefore, no matter what, Elizabeth would bring Isabel back to Saint-Nazareth, back to her side.

For this, the price Elizabeth was willing to pay was beyond anyone's imagination.

Correspondingly, Alajina had no powerful faction behind her. Even her homeland viewed her as a fugitive. She only had herself and her group of sisters, wandering everywhere on the ocean, their futures uncertain. Now she had to face Elizabeth, who was rising like the sun in the West Continent... Fisher didn't even dare to imagine the pressure Alajina had to face.

Thinking of this, Fisher momentarily felt a deep sense of guilt towards Alajina, because all this pressure was directly or indirectly related to him.

Mainly, he hadn't expected to return after such a long time, and the changes within could lead to many consequences. Only now, upon reflection, did Fisher understand the severity of the situation.

"Tsk, Eimhart, I need to hurry up, otherwise..."

"Uncle, Uncle, come over here quickly."

Hearing Ingrid's somewhat curious voice, Fisher pulled his thoughts from his pondering and turned his head. Deep inside the warehouse, Ingrid was crouching in front of something, waving at him with intense curiosity.

"Uncle, look at what's going on here."

"...What's going on?"

"It's this... Cardinal casing. I didn't touch it, but when I walked over, it suddenly started glowing."

"Glowing?"

Fisher had a bad premonition the moment he heard this. He tapped on the floor and instantly appeared behind Ingrid. He lifted his gaze to where she was pointing, only to see a complete Cardinal suspended on the wall radiating a bright azure light all over.

Under the gaze of that Cardinal, which was emitting increasingly bright light, a mechanically rigid voice in the Nari Language suddenly transmitted from it,

"Beep. Illegal intruder detected. Information has been uploaded... Beep. Illegal intruder detected. Information has been uploaded..."

"...They found us."

Fisher wasn't really panicked. After all, he had reached the Mythic Rank, and ordinary humans and magic couldn't hurt him. But Ingrid was a different story. Upon hearing they were going to be discovered, she panicked like a kitten with its fur standing on end, looking around and saying hastily to Fisher,

"For real, Uncle? What... what do we do then? Quickly think of a way! You... you don't want to get caught by the Naris People again and become a fugitive, do you?"

Fisher expressionlessly glanced at her. Outside the factory building behind them, the extremely organized sound of footsteps approached from not far away.

It was likely the Naris military stationed here...

It seemed this factory was indeed directly managed by Saint-Nazareth, perhaps even the Golden Palace. No wonder everyone outside, whether local Green Dragon Court residents or visiting merchants, kept it a closely guarded secret.

"Grab onto me. We're getting ready to leave."

Fisher didn't want to conflict with those soldiers, so he said this to Ingrid beside him.

She adjusted her sunglasses, her expression appearing quite stiff.

"A-again?"

"Otherwise, I'll leave first."

"No, no, no! Uncle, I'll do it!"

Wanting to cry but lacking the tears, Ingrid reached out and grabbed onto Fisher's arm. In the next moment, Fisher turned his head and abruptly backhanded her arm in a secure grip.

"Who is it?! Who's inside?!"

Outside the warehouse, assorted dense magical fluctuations that could be considered luxurious constantly transmitted over. The next moment, the entire warehouse door was thrown open, revealing countless soldiers adorned with golden decorations outside.

Fisher didn't look back, and Ingrid beside him was like a hamster, tightly clutching her head wrapped in her beret, terrified that this incident would bring diplomatic friction between Schwari and Naris. If that happened, she wouldn't even know how she died.

Fisher raised his hand and violently smashed the glowing Cardinal before him to pieces. The next moment, he lightly tapped the ground, suddenly bringing up dense cracking patterns on the floor amidst the dumbfounded gazes of everyone behind him.

"Boom!"

Fisher crashed straight through the metallic framework of the ceiling above, smashing out a large hole while passing right through the magic-activated wall, as if all the defenses before him existed only in name.

"Mon... monster..."

"Quick! Send someone to the barracks to inform the General!"

"Quickly!"

The soldiers surrounded the area, looking at Fisher's shrinking figure in mid-air. For a time, they surprisingly didn't dare approach the spot he had left, terrified that some horrifying thing still lingered there...

This sort of thing was simply as terrifying as the war with that terrifying Red Dragon King a few years ago... No, even that Red Dragon King probably couldn't achieve what the guy just now did, right?

But if the General was here...

After all, even that Red Dragon King was defeated head-on by this General in a single move, beaten to the point of a grievous retreat.

If an adjutant in golden armor next to the Red Dragon King hadn't given his all to save her, perhaps the war in the Southern Continent would have already ended, no?

The entire warehouse, the camp, and even the whole factory were thrown into a panic. The soldiers stationed here locked down the site of the incident, encircling the outside so tightly not a drop of water could leak through.

Many workers in other factory buildings heard the massive noise from the warehouse just now. Now seeing the soldiers lock down the area, they grew even more curious, poking their heads out from their workstations and chattering with each other. They wanted to glean a sliver of information from their peers or superiors, treating it as a shred of comfort in their boring jobs in the Southern Continent.

"The General has returned!"

"The General is back!"

No one knew how much time had passed, but roughly half an hour later, as a scout on horseback returned from outside the towering walls, the soldiers tightly surrounding the warehouse finally showed some movement.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"

"Ah! Are those... rats?! What's going on?"

At this moment, within the factory buildings, a dense swarm of small animals flooded out from various pipes and the cafeteria. Rats, geckos, spiders...

Their eyes were pale white, as if they had felt some sort of call or perhaps some terror. They dispersed in droves, fleeing from their original habitats and scurrying towards the outside of the walls, giving the factory's workers and soldiers quite a fright.

In the distance, the originally cloudless sky filled with dark clouds, as if it were about to rain, and the sound of the wind grew urgent.

After the scout returned and reported the news, the officers waited at the entrance for the General's arrival.

Originally, they thought that regardless of anything, the General would bring some guards or attendants when coming over. Yet unexpectedly, from the boundless wilderness outside, only the crisp hoofbeats of a single horse were continually heard.

All the officers and accompanying soldiers swallowed hard, because at this moment, the dark clouds in the sky had entirely covered this factory area, as if about to pour rain at any second.

All of this seemed brought about by the "General of the Naris Allied Army" personally appointed by the Golden Palace...

In the distant wilderness, a tall figure sat atop a sturdy horse. Naturally, the figure wore a golden Naris-standard General's uniform, but for some reason, in everyone's eyes, the plain and simple grey cloak worn over the General's uniform was far more conspicuous.

That tall figure was half-shrouded entirely under that grey cloak and soon arrived outside the factory along with the robust horse.

"Rumble..."

"What happened?"

It wasn't until a plain voice, as elusive as the wind, came from the General that many of the stunned officers finally returned to their senses. They hurriedly said to the figure,

"General, half an hour ago, two individuals inexplicably slipped into the product storage warehouse. We didn't get a clear look at their faces, because when we discovered them, they were right in front of us and suddenly flew from the ground up into the sky in a flash. They went up several hundred meters high, directly smashing through the warehouse ceiling. They were just too... We suspect they might be individuals from the southern 'False Dragon Court', so we request your orders on how to handle..."

The tall figure draped in the grey cloak looked down at the reporting officer. Even under the concealment of the dark clouds above, it was the first time the officer looked directly at the 【General's】 face.

It turned out to be the face of a very handsome man. Although he looked very young, he somehow gave off a weathered feeling. His long, grayish-white hair was hidden beneath the cloak. Only at this moment did the officer notice that the General had a folded bow slung across his back, made of an unknown material.

"I understand. Take me to see it."

The General nodded and swung off the horse sideways. The moment he landed, almost all the animals in the factory had finished their exodus. The only exceptions were a few rats that had been inside the warehouse moments ago, blankly remaining behind as if waiting for someone.

"General, look, it's right here."

That Grey-Robed General quickly arrived at the warehouse with a hole smashed in it. Under the officers' pointing, the massive hole in the ceiling, the cracking on the ground, and the shattered Cardinal all fell into his gaze.

The other soldiers hadn't compromised the scene, merely standing outside the warehouse quietly watching the General enter by himself.

They had heard from other soldiers that this General very much disliked places where his vision wasn't open, and he didn't like having anyone else stay beside him in a confined space. Thus, only the General was inside the warehouse now, with no one else.

The General looked down at the cracking on the ground, then up at the large hole in the ceiling, without saying a single word. Surprisingly, for an unknown reason, the several rats beside him with white eyes all scurried over, raised their heads, and ceaselessly went "squeak, squeak, squeak" at him.

A very long time passed before the General expressionlessly lowered his head.

"A Mythic that isn't a Mythical Species..."

"Squeak, squeak, squeak?"

"...I understand. You may go."

"Squeak, squeak!"

In the next second, the rats that received the General's words tilted their heads, then madly tore into and chewed at one another. It was only when they cruelly snapped each other's necks and ripped out each other's brains, entirely losing their lives, that they finally ground to a halt.

And that Grey-Robed General expressionlessly pulled down the longbow slung across his back. From nowhere, he withdrew a long, slender arrow, then knocked the bow and aimed it at the massive hole practically torn out of the warehouse.

"Creak, creak, creak..."

The sound of the bowstring drawing tight was heard, and the General softly spoke to this bowstring, chanting a single sentence:

"Bring his name back."

"Buzzzzzz..."

The next second, the arrow left the string, speeding off toward the sky.

"Wow! Uncle! This is way too cool! We flew so far! Ahhhh!!"

At this moment, Fisher, who had leapt an unknown distance in a single bound, was bringing Ingrid back down from the sky. And Ingrid, who was quite unaccustomed to it just moments ago, had even begun to enjoy the joy of this special "Mythic Rank Flight Service".

High up in the sky, she happily shouted loudly while clinging to Fisher's hand, while also raising her camera to photograph the blue sky and white clouds.

Even after landing on the wilderness, she was still bouncing and hopping in extreme excitement, turning back to shriek at the dozens of meters high wall and factory that had completely disappeared from their view:

"My god, to think we could fly this far!? I... I thought I was dreaming..."

"Shut up, little girl... Fisher, we'd better leave immediately. I... I keep feeling that something isn't right. I have a bad premonition."

Eimhart poked his head out of his clothes and said this to Fisher. And the expression on Fisher's face wasn't looking too good either, because he had felt a strange heart palpitation while mid-air.

"Ingrid, come with me first, it feels like this place..."

Delaying no further, Fisher turned to take Ingrid away to a safer place first, but the next moment, from extremely far away, a strange explosive sound like thunder and wind abruptly came from the sky in the direction they had come from.

"Rumble!"

"Buzzzz..."

Every hair on Fisher's body stood on end. His expression changed as he looked behind him, only to see an enormous cyan-blue storm tornado capable of tearing through space racing towards them from the sky.

Beneath that cyan-blue tornado, which was akin to a terrifying natural disaster, the entire clear sky had grown dim. Everything around them seemed to freeze, except for Fisher and Ingrid alone.

And Fisher, having already stepped into the Mythic Rank, could naturally see clearly that this terrifying attack was aimed right at him, and likely originating from the direction of the factory.

"Ingrid!"

"Huh? Uncle... what is t-"

She blankly tried to turn her head, but faster than her actions were that immensely terrifying gale tornado and an utterly exaggerated concussive force.

Ingrid's entire body was uncontrollably blown away by the impact equivalent to a mere prelude from the tornado. Her fragile human body was akin to a blade of grass before such power. With a crisp sound of bone cracking, she slammed fiercely in Fisher's direction.

Fisher gritted his teeth and caught her reeling body with one hand, supporting her with his own strength.

Simultaneously, his face completely serious, he looked towards the tornado that was practically upon them in the sky...

No, rather, it was that single arrow.