(A book of fairy tales... Do I have something like that?)
Erina got up from the chair and immediately went to the study and opened the door, then Erina opened the hidden door that led to the underground.
Erina opened the heavy iron door very easily even though Erina's body looked very slender, Erina went underground. In the basement was a room that was strangely spacious with lighting even though it was currently far away from the surface. A room with various books stored in the room.
"*sigh*, is there really a fairy tale book? The thought of searching through this pile is exhausting."
Erina decided to call her familiar to help her find the book she was looking for. Erina took out a purplish-black card from her pocket and recited the card name and spell.
"-Le Jugement-"
"------"
As soon as the summoning spell was completed, 10 black crows appeared.
There are several ways to perform summoning magic but the majority of wizards use magic circle because they have magician's blood since birth but it is different from mages who do not have magician's blood.
Meanwhile, mages use sacrifices, sacrifices do not always have to be living things but inanimate objects can also.
For example, to summon crows if you have become a contractor, you only need to do a magic circle but if you have never done a contract, you can use jewelry as a sacrifice to summon crows.
"I want you all to find a fairy tale book, whatever it is."
After that, the Crows split up to look for a fairy tale book.
After about 30 minutes, one of the Crows brought a book at his feet to Erina.
"Hoo, I knew it. Searching for objects is a specialty of crows and eagles."
After receiving the book, Elise looked at the title of the book.
Mage Of Justice and Demon King
A book that had a lot of memories for Erina, the first book she had earned through hard work and a book that reminded her of the teacher and the past Erina had left behind.
"I remember, this was the only fairy tale book I had and a book to not forget what happened back then. It's true that it's a fairy tale book but is it really suitable for children?"
'The important thing is that it's a fairy tale book.
"Thank you everyone."
Erina thanked the Crows and canceled the summoning magic to send back the Crows.
Erina came out of the basement to meet Akasha who was now probably playing with animals.
For some reason, Akasha had an aura that was able to befriend both herbivorous and omnivorous type animals. Akasha could even befriend rare animals that Erina rarely met.
Erina wondered if that ability was related to her bloodline or just Akasha's unique ability. But for now, it was just speculation.
...
Erina came to the courtyard of the house. Although it was called a courtyard, there was only a forest.
Erina looked around and found Akasha playing with a rabbit and a rare bird called the Hollow bird, a very unique bird that made people hunt it.
Erina never ceased to be surprised by the animals that gathered around Akasha.
But what caught Erina attention was the very cute rabbit on Akasha lap, The desire to pet the rabbit made Erina's rational mind disappear and unknowingly released a large amount of Ether.
As Erina footsteps sounded, the animals immediately ran away in fear at the sight of Erina with a large Ether overflowing.
"Ah..."
Seeing the animals run away in fear made Erina depressed again, every time Erina wanted to touch the animals the animals would somehow get scared and run away from her.
'Strange, why are they always afraid of me? Did I do something wrong to the animals in my previous life?'
After making sure the animals left, Akasha stood up and greeted Elise.
"Good morning, master"
Akasha speaking ability has really improved a lot compared to before who was like a baby, now Akasha speaking ability is at the same level as her age and maybe even better than her age because of learning from Erina who is an expert in speaking complicated things.
"Yeah, good morning. Actually, I'm here to give-"
*Rumble*
Akasha and Erina looked at the sky that was suddenly about to start raining.
'Strange, it was sunny just now when I came out, why did it suddenly become cloudy. Someone is changing the weather.'
Erina used magic that identified living things around the forest and found signs of life in the east.
(Such a large amount of Ether, it must be from the Imperial Mage, why are the Imperial mages in neutral territory?)
Erina knew about the changes the new emperor was making, the current emperor seemed to want to take bold actions, unlike the previous emperors who had always been neutral side despite being the strongest country.
(No matter how powerful the Empire is, touching neutral territory is the same as declaring war on the entire world.)
Erina decided to meet the Empire's people first.
"Akasha, go into the house, never come out until these clouds have cleared. Ah, you can read right?"
"Yes."
"Bring this book, it might be something you'll like."
Erina gave the fairy tale book she had brought to Akasha hand.
"Remember, don't go out until the clouds have cleared."
Erina left quickly leaving Holo alone.
Akasha accepted her master order, deciding to return home to wait for the clouds to clear as her master said.
...
Erina immediately went towards the imperial mages gathered in one place very quickly without hiding her Ether for them to realize she had come to talk.
Within 15 seconds of Elise leaving, she had arrived in front of the Imperial mages. Erina thought that it was only mages but it turned out that there were knights there as well.
There were 4 mages and 6 knights in total. Everyone had the Empire crest on their robes and armor which signified they were official people of the Empire.
"What are the Imperial Troops doing coming into neutral territory carrying the Empire flag?"
Erina asked in a very cold tone, different from her usual self.
The one who answered was a knight in full plate armor.
He opened the helmet cover and revealed a handsome middle-aged man.
"Are you the one called The Little Witch. My name is Alec Wiffan of the Blue Rose Knight platoon. We don't come to fight, we come with good intentions for the number 2 mage of the Mage Association."
"..."
Erina was not surprised that the Empire knew her, considering that her own face was well known to Mages and Wizards all over the world, not just in the Mage Association.
Even so Erina was upset that the empire could know where she was now living.
Erina silence signaled that she would listen to their conversation. Alec then continued the conversation.
"Currently the Great Emperor Zion predicted that the future of the world would be in danger, which is why the emperor decided to search for and gather talented people to unite with him to face the disasters that will arise in the future."
"Emperor you say, is that the 'future' that Zion sees?"
Although Erina used disrespectful pronunciation for Emperor Zion, Alec decided to ignore her because Alec knew that Zion and Erina had a close relationship in the past.
"Exactly, he saw that the world would be destroyed if it continued like this, that's why he decided to unite all the countries into one in order to fight against future enemies! Don't you think he's really noble and honorable?! "
Erina did not like the eyes shown by the man named Alec, those eyes were the same eyes shown by a fanatical follower, the same eyes that changed Erina body back then and the people who started the Demon King Age.
"What does it mean to unite the country into one?"
Even though Erina knew what the answer was, she still wanted to hear the answer, considering that what was about to be said would be absurd even for Erina.
"Don't you know what we mean. Invasion and conquest."
"..."
"It's impossible to unite an entire country without power, that's why power is necessary, that's why the Empire is the most suitable country for that role, isn't it?"
Hearing Alec words made Erina head dizzy, Erina let out a long sigh.
"Is your Emperor crazy? It's impossible for the Empire to win against the whole world, what-"
"Take it back, bitch!"
"Take back what, your Emperor crazy?"
"This is the second warning, take back what you said and we will forgive your insolent behavior. That way you can be accepted to be part of the Empire in helping rule the entire world"
"Hehe, I really hate people like you, crazy fanatics. So I will refuse the offer. Ah, please tell that emperor of yours, 'You are the stupidest emperor in history'."
"You!! Everyone prepare for battle! For the sake of the Empire!"
""For the sake of the Empire!!!""