Walking along the narrow path, Chu Lian looked at the distant outline of E-Rantel gradually emerging in the morning light, its unique silhouette taking shape. She hesitated, unsure whether she should go back.
"After all, I caused such a huge commotion. It's not something that can be explained away just because I say so. Even if they might not mind... would they really not mind? I don't know, and I don't dare to guess."
"Still, Ainz and Narberal have probably been waiting for me to return this whole time. They must be thinking about me, right?"
"Sigh... after spending these days together, it's impossible to say there are no feelings at all. But for now, I'm still an outsider to them—someone from another world. Standing together with them was never really possible."
"Maybe I should find a place to rest for a while, finish what's left, and then return to my original world?"
"I've only completed Main Quest ① so far. Main Quest ② is still unfinished, and then there are all the optional tasks and side quests..."
"I didn't expect that killing those four dragons wouldn't count as the neutral side quest 'Slay the Dragon.' It actually requires me to kill an Earth-level ancient dragon. But... does a dragon at that level even exist in this world? No, it must. Otherwise, the quest wouldn't have been given. The real problem is—where am I supposed to find it?"
"As for the dragon Nfirea mentioned before—the one near the snowy mountains that can control natural calamities—I'm pretty sure that's the NPC dragon that came from another world. If I want to find it... well, maybe when I reach Heaven level, I can go look for trouble. For now, forget it."
"But besides that, who else is there? The frost dragons on the other side of the mountains? Their strength is probably only around Spirit level. This world's overall power level is just too low. Without players who crossed over, it wouldn't have such powerful beings at all."
"This is getting frustrating... too many tasks. I don't even know what to prioritize anymore."
With a light leap, Chu Lian jumped onto a large tree. Sitting on a thick branch, she swung her legs idly. Wearing silver-white high heels and no stockings, her slender legs reflected a dazzling pale glow under the early morning sunlight.
Normally, Chu Lian didn't wear a qipao, so she had no idea that she was currently exposing herself. From below, with even a slightly focused gaze, one could clearly see her white panties.
Fortunately, there was no one around. Otherwise, once she realized it, the embarrassed and furious girl would probably start cutting people down. Being seen like that... unless it was intentional fan service, it was simply too humiliating. If it were another girl, maybe it would be fine—but if it were a man, she would definitely kill him.
"Alright, enough overthinking. Let's focus on completing Main Quest ② first. The difficulty of this quest lies in how scattered the enemies are. Finding their exact locations one by one would be troublesome... but with the system, it should be much easier, right?"
Thinking this, Chu Lian entered the system. She didn't disturb Ayase, who was curled up asleep on the sofa. Instead, she found Shiroha and asked:
"Shiroha, do you have information on the locations of the Slane Theocracy's deployed forces for the second main quest?"
"That information will not be provided. You need to find it yourself. After all, it's part of the quest. If you rely entirely on the system, how will you grow?"
After a brief silence, these words appeared on the screen—clearly a refusal.
"Alright, I figured as much. I'll handle it myself. It doesn't really matter whether I have that information or not. In the end, I still have to complete these tasks on my own anyway."
Chu Lian shrugged, not bothered by the refusal. Instead, she asked another question:
"Then do you know what kind of dragon I need to kill for the neutral side quest? With an S-rank reward, the opponent should be an Earth-level dragon, right? But I've thought about it, and such a dragon shouldn't exist here. So how am I supposed to find it?"
"Head toward the sea. Most ancient beings choose to live in uninhabited areas. The deep sea and offshore regions are among them. You should be able to find it there."
This time, Shiroha answered without hesitation, giving her a direction.
"The sea and offshore, huh? That setting really is similar to those isekai novels... Guess I'll have to explore what this world's ocean is like."
Chu Lian nodded thoughtfully. If there were any places where powerful beings above Earth level could exist, it would likely be the deep sea or remote overseas regions—places few people could reach.
She just hoped the next enemy wouldn't be as terrifying as the one in Miami. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to handle it. With her current attributes, she could at best end in mutual destruction against a high-tier Earth-level opponent. As for peak Earth-level... better to avoid them entirely.
Ever since entering this world, her Divine Spirit Art had been sealed. Without the "Divine Spirit" ability, how could she possibly defeat those enemies? And although the gamified system made strength more precise, it also introduced cooldowns for skills—a major drawback.
If not for that limitation, she wouldn't have been forced into such a miserable state by the undead army at the graveyard earlier.
Should I prepare some cooldown reduction equipment? Yeah... it might come in handy later.
"So... how do I even get to the sea?" Chu Lian had no sense of geography. Reaching the ocean would be quite difficult.
"Don't you have your IS Armor? Fly to the highest altitude and you'll be able to see where the ocean is. The Source of the Aberration has already detached from you, so it won't target you anymore. It also won't adjust enemy strength based on your power now. You can freely use things you couldn't before."
Shiroha answered dutifully, offering a practical solution.
"Right... how did I forget about the IS Armor?"
Chu Lian gently pinched her fox ear. Unexpectedly, a wave of softness and weakness spread through her body, making her let out a soft moan:
"Mmh... ah..."
"Hey... if you're in heat, don't come to me. I can't help you with that..."
After a pause, Shiroha displayed that line of text.
Chu Lian blushed slightly when she saw it.
"Sorry, Shiroha. I accidentally touched my fox ears just now. They're too sensitive, so I couldn't help it... It's not my fault. Blame this strange physique. My sensitivity wasn't even that high before, but now just touching my ears makes me like this. Seriously... I don't want to be this lewd."
"You, who went weak all over just from Shalltear licking your neck, are saying you're not lewd? Not sensitive? Who are you trying to fool?"
Shiroha didn't buy it at all and directly exposed her dark history, leaving Chu Lian thoroughly embarrassed.
"Ahem... I didn't know that was a sensitive spot before either. Forget it. I won't disturb you anymore. I'm heading out." Chu Lian felt that the longer she stayed here, the more troublesome things would happen. So instead of continuing to argue, she exited the system space directly.
Only after she had left did Shiroha, after a long while, send a rather inexplicable line onto the screen:
"So annoying! Couldn't you stay with me a little longer?"
If Chu Lian had seen that, she probably would have been startled. Shiroha's human-like qualities were becoming stronger and stronger. It even seemed as though she was beginning to develop emotions of her own. Whether they were merely simulated or genuine feelings, at least she could now express them—already a significant improvement compared to before.
"Yawn... I'm so sleepy. Pulling an all-nighter is the worst enemy of good skin."
Chu Lian's spiritual sense returned to her body. Immediately, the warm sunlight bathed her in a pleasant glow. She yawned and stretched lazily. After patting her cheeks, she noticed her nine fox tails still swaying behind her and instantly realized she had forgotten something again.
"Mm. There's no one here, but I can't let my fox spirit form be exposed. It's one thing if Nfirea knows, another if outsiders do. And right now, I don't want anyone tracking my movements. Otherwise, it'll definitely draw Nazarick's people over."
Jumping down from the tree, Chu Lian concealed herself in the shadows and moved swiftly deeper into the forest.
She had finally gained some time to act alone. She didn't want Nazarick to discover her so soon—especially Ainz. If he found out, she probably wouldn't be able to run anymore. Capturing her wouldn't be difficult for him.
Just look at the string of magic scrolls he threw out in the original story to locate Nfirea. He likely hadn't realized she was still here yet, which was why he hadn't used them. But if he did realize... even if she fled to the ends of the earth, he'd still drag her back.
That damned tycoon. Even after she had robbed him of so many teleportation scrolls and similar items, he still had countless more hidden on him. One day, she would take everything he had. Hmph.
If I ever become that rich, I'll be just as extravagant and willful. For now... forget it.
Her Item Points had been stuck hovering around one hundred—neither rising nor falling. Exchanging for any truly powerful item was impossible.
In the future, she could consider selling some equipment to the system in exchange for points, then use those to obtain items she actually needed. But for now, she was still poor. No point dreaming too much.
"If one day I break through the Great Tomb of Nazarick and obtain Ainz's secret treasury... what kind of harvest would that be? Tens of billions of gold coins—if converted through the system, that would be at least ten million Item Points, right? I'm really looking forward to that day."
With a push of her feet, Chu Lian's body lifted into the air. Grabbing onto a tree branch, she swung forward and landed lightly atop another trunk.
The deeper she ventured into the forest, the less she could afford to be careless. She knew that within these woods lurked some of the earliest aberrations—near-immortal aberrant species born from the Source of the Aberration. If she provoked them, it would only become another headache.
"Those little white and little black ones... I hope they just stay hidden in the forest and don't come out. Without the Source of the Aberration focusing on me, it shouldn't incite them to attack me anymore, right? Either way, I just need to be careful. They shouldn't be my enemies."
She could sense several anomalous areas within the forest—places that radiated an aura even she found dangerous. For now, she had no intention of provoking them.
"Still... doing my own thing freely feels so much better. Being around Ainz was too restrictive. I should've refused when he suggested we travel together from the start. Sure, with him around, I barely had to worry about getting into trouble—but that feeling of only being able to act at seventy percent... or even thirty percent... was awful. Every word, every gesture had to fit the persona of Deloris or Liliana. It's exhausting."
Sitting atop a tall tree, she glanced back. In the distance, E-Rantel had shrunk into a tiny speck.
At this point, she no longer had to worry about being seen.
Seizing the opportunity, Chu Lian immediately used her transformation technique to revert to a human form and erased all traces of her arrival.
After ensuring that nothing she left behind could be used to track her location, she continued forward. Her destination was not here.
It was the boundless snow-covered mountain range.
Of course, she wasn't going to pick a fight with the dragon that controlled natural calamities. She merely wanted to see what frost dragons were like.
Or perhaps... it would be even better if she ran into someone interesting along the way?