After being reborn, I was turned into a slave girl by a princess.

"Senior Elusia?!"

When Elusia said those words, Cecily froze instantly.

She murmured, her eyes wide as if she were looking at the most unbelievable thing in the world: "This...how can this be? Princess Lonnie, the Heroine, is not your partner..."

"It's okay, I don't care about reputation that much anymore~"

"But, but..."

Cecilia lowered her head, seemingly lost in thought.

But after a moment, she shook her head and said, "No, I can't do this kind of thing..."

"why?"

"Well, because Lonnie and I are also very good friends and partners. If we did something like that... I feel like our relationship would become very strange and would never be like it is on normal again."

Cecily clenched her fists nervously, but at that moment, Elcia smiled happily:

"Hehe, since Princess Cecilu says so, then I'm relieved~~"

"Huh, senior?!"

"Hehe, you know, right? That little idiot Lonnie is a bit of a womanizer. She might do something weird when the girls aren't looking!"

"what……?"

"So knowing that Princess Cecilu won't be tempted by that little fool, I'm relieved~~"

"Ooh!"

It was only then that Cecilia realized that she had been teased by Miss Elusia!

but……

Since they were her predecessors, Cecily had no way to retaliate, so she could only say with a hint of resentment:

"Senior, how could you be so mean!"

"Hmph~ Of course~~"

"I think if you were a boy, you would definitely be the type to bring disaster to the country."

"what?"

"Whether it's me, Lonnie the Hero, or everyone else, we're all destined to become Elcia-senpai's harem~!"

Because they shared the same bloodline, Princess Cecilu also tried her best to refute the claims.

And so, everyone stayed an extra day in the capital.

However, this extra day was not without its advantages: everyone got plenty of rest, and they were finally able to face the boundless ocean with renewed energy.

"Everyone, are you ready?"

"Yes, the cargo has been inventoried and is ready to set sail at any time."

"Su-ling is all ready too, she bought lots and lots of big snacks!"

"Alright, let's go!"

At Elusia's command, the golden ship slowly set sail once again.

As she watched the lush green city disappear into the distance, Lonnie felt a mix of slight disappointment and pride.

The sense of loss stemmed from saying goodbye to this city, while the pride came from the honor and affection he had earned in the capital... He truly understood what it meant to be a hero!

I hope the rest of the journey will go as smoothly as it does now!

(Hmm... I remember the entrance to the Vast Sea is Luo Zhisheng's hometown, right? I wonder what it's like there?)

Thinking this, Lonnies decided to go find Senior Sister Luo Zhisheng to confirm the situation.

At this moment, the short-haired girl was confirming the flight path information with Elusia.

"Captain Elusia, the journey is currently going smoothly, and we expect to arrive in about a week."

"Well, is there any problem with the pest infestation in your hometown?"

"Pests..."

"Yeah, didn't my senior tell me once? There are also giant insects over in the Drowned Isles."

"Oh... don't worry about that. After all, this isn't the first time we've faced these terrifying monsters."

"Oh?"

“From the depths of the vast ocean, strange creatures often drift out. The gigantic maggots are relatively easy to deal with because they move slowly... What we fear most is a creature called the Shadow Beast.”

"Shadow Beast?"

"Yes, this monster is elusive; even I have never seen its physical form. But every time the Shadow Beast appears, it brings profound disaster to our city."

"Even the cameras haven't captured any trace of the Shadow Beast?"

Elusia frowned slightly, looking quite confused.

"Well, no... To be precise, the Shadow Beast's attack doesn't discriminate between electronic and biological objects; everything within that area will be completely destroyed."

"Since there's no eyewitness testimony, how can you deduce that it was a monster?"

"what?"

"For example, it's possible that space itself was torn apart, or that some kind of special shockwave phenomenon caused it, right?"

"Yes."

Luo Zhisheng nodded, not offended by Elusia's question: "Actually, I've had the same question before. But in my hometown, the Drowned Isles, the story of the Shadow Beasts has been passed down for nearly a thousand years."

"A thousand years..."

“I think the Shadow Beast might just be a natural phenomenon, but since that’s the tradition, we call it the Shadow Beast... Every year at the beginning of the new year, we drive away the Shadow Beast by decorating with lanterns or setting off fireworks.”

"I see."

Elusia seemed lost in thought.

Lonnie was startled when she heard the story told by Luo Zhisheng.

"Set off fireworks! To drive away the shadow beasts?!"

"What's wrong, you silly Lonnie? Eavesdropping on our conversation outside isn't something a proper maid should do, you know?"

"Ah, ah! Lady Elusia, no... I was afraid I'd interrupted your conversation..."

"Hmph, you've already interrupted... Now, tell me, I noticed you reacted very strongly to the fireworks earlier. So, do you have any information to offer?"

Although Elusia was asking Lonnie questions, her proud gaze clearly indicated that she didn't believe the silly maid could provide any information.

This time, however, Lonnie finally managed to prove herself and come in handy:

"Yes, actually, I've also heard the legend of the Shadow Beast. Before I became a hero, the Shadow Beast was very famous in our country."

"what?"

"However, back then it wasn't called Shadow Beast, but Nian Beast... People say that Nian Beast would destroy villages and eat livestock during the winter, so every year during the New Year, people would set off firecrackers and hang lanterns to drive away Nian Beast."

"So... those shadow beasts might not be something that only appeared in this era, but rather something that already existed on the planet in the previous era?"

"Well... although the ancients firmly believed in the existence of the Nian beast, most people in my time thought it was nonsense."

As Lorne recounted her story, she sighed. Explaining the past to everyone always gave her a sense of things having changed.

"Why do you say that? Didn't the little fox say that the Nian beast often destroys villages and eats livestock?"

"Well, those were just rumors from feudal society. In our technological society, people have cell phones and cameras, yet we've never managed to capture any images of the Nian beast. So back then, we thought that the Nian beast was just a rumor spread by the ancients, an explanation for the unknown."

"That's not necessarily true."

Elusia shook her head and said, "Since it happened, there must be a reasonable explanation. Besides, for you, driving away the Nian beast is a very important custom, isn't it?"

"what?"

"After all, this kind of thing is done every year, right? So I think the Nian beast does exist, but perhaps it has gradually disappeared over time."

"what?!"

"However, this is just my deduction. I need to investigate more information about the Nian beast. Are there any similar books?"

Chapter 19 The Great Slime Race!

The next few days passed peacefully.

The boats sailed leisurely through the clouds—and since there was nothing to obstruct their view, the girls didn't have to worry about enemy attacks.

Everyone was relaxed, as if on vacation, and at this moment...

Then it was time for Su Ling's "Slime Adventure" to come in handy.

"Ta-da! Since we've got nothing else to do right now, let's all play together~~"

Zhou Suling happily placed the board games on the table.

To be precise, this is no longer a board game, but rather a miniature amusement park... It has castles, drawbridges, forests, and all the components of the board game are built based on real-world buildings scaled down by 50 times.

……

"Hmm, this looks interesting. Su-ling, how do you play this?"

Having finished their investigation of the Nian beast, Elusia stretched and walked out of the study with Lonnies.

……

"Yes, yes, we need to choose a little slime first, and then make it our slime adventurer!"

"Slime Adventurer?"

"Yes, and then we can put it on this platform. We will then use this little bugle and flag to command our slimes, and the slime that clears all the levels first will win."

"What do you mean by 'the slime wins'? Shouldn't the slime I chose be the one that wins?"