"Oh, so it's hidden beneath here?"
The tranquil pond lay nestled amid the lush vegetation like an emerald gem.
Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy overhead, spilling onto the shimmering surface of the water and scattering patches of light and shadow across it.
At one side of the pond stood an ancient statue of a young maiden.
Time had left countless marks upon it. The once finely detailed surface had been weathered and eroded until its original appearance was difficult to make out.
Even so, the statue still retained an elegant and captivating grace.
The maiden had been carved with both hands slightly raised as she gazed into the distance, as though silently praying or earnestly waiting for something.
Naohara crouched down and cleared away the tangled weeds wrapped around the statue.
The Holy Maiden, Fleurdelys. That was the maiden's name, and she was also the original founder of Sea City.
According to legend, during the early days following Sea City's founding, an incident took place that would later become the origin of the celebration now known by its people as the Carnival.
Perhaps the wine had simply been too rich and fragrant, or perhaps the maiden had never realized how poorly she could hold her liquor. Either way, before she knew it, she had fallen victim to that "ancient illusion" known as alcohol.
Half drunk and barely conscious, the maiden leaped onto the festival platform, lifted the hem of her skirt, and began stumbling through an absurd dance.
She pulled out a horn meant for the celebration and began playing a lively folk tune.
People rushed after her, but no matter how hard they tried, they could not keep up as she darted freely through the crowd.
Amid the maiden's bright, carefree laughter, an infectious excitement gradually spread through everyone around her.
As though responding to some strange calling, the people began following the sound of her horn, one after another joining the procession.
The final record Sea City had of the maiden came from three hundred years ago, when a terrifying beast tide erupted.
With her sacred body, she led the people through the crisis, fulfilled her duty in the mortal world, and returned forever to the embrace of God.
To honor the Holy Maiden, the people erected statues of her throughout the island.
The statue before Naohara was likely one of them.
The carved maiden silently watched over the small pond, bearing witness to the passing of time and the changes of nature.
Perhaps long ago, this had once been a sacred place where people came to pray before her statue and seek her protection and blessings.
Now, however, the statue had been forgotten within this primeval forest. Only animals that occasionally came to drink and passing travelers would stop beside it for a brief moment.
"Fleurdelys..."
Naohara softly murmured the maiden's name as thoughts churned through his mind.
Unfortunately, he could not find even the slightest trace of her in his memories.
Could it be an alias?
That possibility certainly could not be ruled out.
After all, Players who found themselves in the New World might naturally use false names to protect themselves or conceal their identities.
Still, judging from what the Platinum Dragon Lord had said and from those ancient historical records, one thing could be confirmed regardless of her race.
The girl named Fleurdelys had been a female Player.
Hmm... hopefully she would know how to behave.
Unless absolutely necessary, Naohara had no desire to become enemies with her.
In this New World, every Player with whom he could share common ground was a truly unique existence.
The only question was whether Fleurdelys had actually been a young woman.
Or, as he had previously suspected about the female Player among the Eight Greed Kings, could she have been a gender-swapped character controlled by a male Player?
And if it was the latter, how exactly was he supposed to think of her?
A hundred-year-old pretty boy without a dick!?
"You three stay here and keep watch. I'll go down and see what's there."
Suppressing the jumble of thoughts in his head, Naohara turned around and swept his gaze over the three True Dragon Lords as he gave his instructions.
He was about to negotiate with this female Player.
Keno was fine. She looked harmless enough.
The True Dragon Lords, however, were another matter.
Especially the Vampiric Dragon Lord, whose entire body was shrouded in wisps of bloody mist. No matter how one looked at him, he did not exactly give off a friendly impression.
"We shall obey your will."
The Brightness Dragon Lord was the first to answer respectfully, with the Vampiric Dragon Lord following immediately afterward.
The Heavenly Dragon Lord, on the other hand, responded in the same listless tone as always.
Once he had answered, he stood completely still like a statue. In the blink of an eye, he had already slipped into a light doze.
Naohara watched him for a moment, then let it go without saying anything.
With a True Dragon Lord's senses, even the slightest disturbance nearby would instantly wake the Heavenly Dragon Lord.
In that case, he might as well... let him nap for a while~
They were a group of creatures who had spent the past several centuries growing accustomed to idleness, after all.
As long as they completed their assignments properly and nothing went wrong, Naohara saw no reason to demand too much from them.
After all... he was nothing like those fat pig bosses from his previous life who exploited their employees, picked faults for no reason, and strutted around pretending to be respectable people.
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