Symphony for the Insect Princess

"I've long been tired of dark castles..."

"(ˉ▽￣~) Cut~~"

Qiumila was eager to try, but Aisia rolled her eyes at her and said, "This isn't a tourist attraction."

As for Nelris—

"Pierce, I have your instructions..."

"Of course, I've already found out..."

She whispered a few words to Pierce, who was carrying a ton of luggage, and then clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.

"Everyone, we have arrived at our destination—the settlement of the Zoroastrians. Please remember that the Zoroastrians are always xenophobic. To us, they are—"

"Enemy, right? If that's the case, we can easily poison the only water source nearby—"

"Please wait until I finish," Nelris interrupted Aisia, who was smiling and holding out a test tube containing a highly toxic drug. "To us, they are not enemies, but they are definitely not allies either. It should be said that—"

"—a partner, right? Miss Zelah?"

An old voice suddenly sounded.

There was a flash of fire, and on the scorched and dry earth, an old woman with gray hair appeared in front of the group.

She was short, a head shorter than Qimila, wearing a crown decorated with feathers and gems on her head, and wrapped in an old dark red robe. Her dead branch-like hands sticking out from the gap in the robe held a staff that was twice as tall as her, and the top was inlaid with a dazzling ruby.

Behind the old woman stood two strong men with naked upper bodies. They looked very strong, but their presence was very weak under the aura of the old woman.

Seeing the person coming, Nellis immediately walked forward.

"Hello, I am Nellis Zelah who is contacting you. These five are my companions and servants. I guess you are—"

"I am the current chief of the Fire Worshiping Tribe. My name is too long, and you will definitely not be able to remember it, so just call me 'Chief'."

"Okay, patriarch."

Nellis extended her hand politely, and the patriarch also extended his dry hand with a forced smile and shook hands with her gently.

Nothing happened.

"After a long journey, everyone must be tired, right? Let my servants welcome you. As for some 'specific matters'... Miss Zelah, we can discuss them in detail when we get back."

"Okay, we accept your kindness."

While exchanging emotionless social words, everyone walked towards the Zoroastrian settlement.

"By the way, Patriarch."

"Ok?"

"Would you like a mint?"

Nellis took out something wrapped in candy paper, opened the paper, and inside was a delicious-looking emerald green candy.

"...Wow, that's really thoughtful of you. But I'm old and my teeth are not good, so I'd better not give you any candy or anything like that."

"That's such a shame."

Nelris took the candy back and shook her head regretfully.

------------------

"As you know, our clan's sacred relic, Levatin, has been sealed in the lava abyss for ten thousand years, possessed by the greedy Fire Dragon King Ankara. Our long-cherished wish, our ideal, is to one day reclaim the relic from its clutches."

The clan leader spoke slowly in a hoarse voice while walking with the help of her staff. Although she seemed to be stumbling, she did not fall behind me at all.

As far as I know, all the men in the Zoroastrian tribe are magic warriors and all the women are magicians. According to my guess, this tribe leader with a name so long that even she is too lazy to explain it... should be a great magician.

It is by no means an unbeatable opponent.

...In fact, even if I didn't take action, those four people could finish her off in less than a minute if they rushed over.

But so what?

Getting rid of her will not bring any substantial benefit to achieving my goal.

"Why not go all out, eradicate Ankara, and bring back Levatin?"

The one currently speaking to the clan leader was Aisia, so it was time for her to step in as she was sociable.

"Hmph, the relic is undoubtedly of immense importance, but Ankara is a monster on the same level as the Sage War Emperor. If we sacrifice the lives of all our people in order to reclaim it, that would be putting the cart before the horse... But that doesn't mean we'll give up. Isn't the reason we're joining forces with you, the 'third party', to find another way out?"

"Of course."

We finally entered the city of the Zoroastrians. The Zoroastrians were not very populous, with less than a thousand people in the entire tribe. It was more like a larger town than a city.

Yet, judging solely by these ancient buildings, imbued with exotic ethnic charm, this place rivals any other historic city. Zoroastrians employ only two types of architecture: tents for daily living, and towers used for official business, rituals, and large-scale events. Time here seems frozen in time thousands of years ago, seemingly untouched by the development of outside civilizations over countless years.

Isolated from the world.

Like stagnant water.

Stagnant water will eventually rot. Even if it looks normal on the surface, it must have deteriorated internally.

“It’s really uncomfortable…”

Sedroon looked around and saw many eyes between the curtains of the tent secretly observing these outsiders, and they did not look away even when they were stared back.

It's not so much "curiosity" or "disgust" as it is just pure observation, like watching animals in a zoo.

"Go this way."

The clan leader quickened her pace, walking ahead and calling out to everyone. Following her lead, they entered the largest tent in the center. The structure of this tent was reminiscent of a circus, with three floors and multiple rooms. The furnishings were simple and elegant, perfectly fitting for the clan leader.

"……Um?"

When I just walked in, I saw a beautiful girl with brown skin and black hair passing by in the aisle. At that moment, she glanced at us and her expression seemed a little panicked.

Noticing my gaze, the patriarch said, "That's one of my grandchildren, my little granddaughter Mullien. She's a bit shy, so don't worry too much."

"Oh...what a lovely girl."

"Ha, it's her honor to be praised by such a beautiful Miss Zelah."

What a meaningless compliment.

Mullien...

Of course I know her.

I even "saw" clearly what she did when she went out last night.

……

……

……

I spun the teacup. The pale red liquid inside was Fire Prunako, a traditional drink of the Fire Worshipers. As a courtesy, I gently brought it to my lips and took a sip, but didn't actually drink it. Like me, Aisha pretended to drink without actually drinking. Sedroon didn't even touch the cup. Charlotte took a sip, looking a little reluctant. Chimila drank quite happily, looking as if she'd beg for more.

"Puha! It's delicious!"

“As long as the guests like it.”

The clan leader smiled faintly, but his smile was still forced.

"Everyone's room is ready, as is the bathroom. We use fire essence powder to cleanse the body here. If it doesn't suit you, please let us know immediately and we will prepare a normal bath."

"We'll take care of it ourselves. Time is precious, so..."

I put down my teacup and leaned forward slightly.

"Why don't you get straight to the point?"

"...What a straightforward girl."

A sharp light flashed in the old woman's eyes. She looked at me and seemed to be organizing her words.

"In my opinion, the first step in cooperation is to avoid conflicts of interest. Let me confirm again, what do you want?"

"The great secret treasure, Levatin, is yours. What we want is Ankara's body and the treasures that fill its cave."

"This may be too direct, but are you really not interested in our sacred objects?"

"Excessive greed will only lead to destruction. Isn't that the case with the dragon race? The great secret treasure is only a disaster to us. It is better to give it to someone more suitable to own it."

"That sounds nice... That's all. Let's talk about the most important issue."

She understood and waved her hand gently, and a waiter immediately appeared beside her. She whispered a few words to the waiter, who immediately stood at attention and made a "please" gesture to me.

I stood up and, led by the male servant, went into the room deep inside the ridiculously large tent with the tribe leader. Before leaving, I winked at the four of them, signaling them not to act rashly.

……

……

The Zoroastrians and the Ankara clan have had a long-standing grudge and have been maintaining a dangerous balance in recent years. This is by no means a good thing. The longer the time drags on, the further the Zoroastrians will be from Levatin.

They don't want to delay any longer.

The tribe leader is old, and she probably wants to see Levatin return to the tribe before she dies.

However, if the current Zoroastrians were to put all their strength into a full-scale battle against Ankara and the others, the result would inevitably be a lose-lose situation, not to mention that there is a sage-level Ankara on the opposite side.

Therefore, the patriarch had to consider a method that all previous patriarchs had considered but no one had actually implemented.

Ask for outside help. Seek help from outsiders.

This is unacceptable to the Zoroastrians, who have always been very self-righteous and xenophobic. Moreover, they will never let a third party get involved in Levatin. Such behavior is tantamount to inviting a wolf into the house.

But to quote an Earth proverb: You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing your child. You can't succeed without making sacrifices or taking risks.

So I went to find her.

What prompted her to agree to cooperate with me to fight against the Fire Dragon King Ankara?

It’s a forbidden spell of course.

Facing a dragon with the strength of a sage or war emperor, possessing the inherent physical advantages of the dragon race and rich combat experience, the most promising way to inflict severe damage on it is with forbidden spells. At a critical moment, my forbidden spells are enough to reverse the offensive, severely injuring it or even killing it. It is an absolute secret weapon.

But all this is predicated.

"Based on violent conflict" - this is the premise for us to join as a fighting force. In other words, it is only necessary to use forbidden spells if it really develops into a violent conflict.

Therefore,

"Chief, why don't we change our thinking?"

"Oh?"

"You don't need to resort to violence. You don't even need to mobilize a single soldier. You can let Levatin fall into your hands."

The old woman's cheek twitched for a moment, but when she realized I wasn't joking, she tilted her head and her eyes became more sharp.

"…Tell me what you think."

"Actually, it was a sudden idea that came to me because I 'accidentally' witnessed something that prompted me to come up with this idea."

"What's the matter? The information about those giant lizards? Or something else?"

"Before I explain this to you, please promise me one thing."

I paused and got to the point.

"Please, don't condemn your granddaughter—at least not yet."

Chapter 127: Bugs and Bad People

She floated in a blank world.

There is no time, no space, no temperature, no color, no light, no darkness.

Even if you look far away, you can't see anything.

She could only vaguely feel that there were some things far away, things with different shapes and functions. She seemed to be connected to them by transparent silk threads, but the connection was as thin as a gossamer.

Nothing else.

Until one day, at a certain moment, a weak, wriggling being crawled along the invisible thread, approached her, looked at her, and talked to her.

who are you?

"We are the same kind."

I'm not a bug.

"So what do you think you are?"