The young dragon tries to conquer the world

　"Lady Frilian, does the book mention the exact location?"

　"Wait a minute, um, it says it's in the northern part of the continent, Ende."

　"What, Ende, isn't that the direction where the Demon King's castle is located now?"

　Now that they had found the notes, Frilian and the others put the books away and headed towards the agreed-upon place. "Speaking of which, Aize, what was your purpose in searching for the Great Mage Vlame's notes?"

　“Because I feel sorry for you, both you and Simmel are pitiful. Thirty years ago, you said that you wish you could know Simmel better. You should have said that to Simmel directly. And you actually wanted to know Simmel better, right? So I discussed it with Haita. We think you must regret it, so we wanted to help you.”

　"I never expected you two to have such a good relationship."

　"It's because you're too cold, Frilian."

　On the return journey in the carriage, the warm sunshine made Frilian drowsy. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep leaning against Philen. However, this position was a bit unsafe, so Philen had to help Frilian place her on her lap. Frilian rubbed against Philen's soft thighs a couple of times and then stopped moving.

　"Lady Frillien is asleep."

　Aize watched

　Frilian glanced at herself, then at the surrounding scenery. "How leisurely."

　"It's so cold, I don't want to move, I don't want to go to the Demon King's castle." Frilian mumbled in her sleep, then rubbed against Philon as if she really felt the cold. Philon grabbed Frilian's shoulders and pulled her closer, saying, "Is the Demon King's castle really that cold?"

　"After all, Ende, where the Demon King's Castle is located, is at the northernmost tip of the continent, and many things have happened there. By the way, are Hikari and Miss Aran really not demons?"

　Philon glanced down at the sleeping Frilian and explained, "Actually, from the first moment she saw Xiaoguang and Miss Alan, Lady Frilian also suspected they were demons. But the magic on them was very clean and very little, and the smell of their magic was completely different from that of demons. Their personalities were also not like those of demons who always deceive people. According to Lady Frilian, Xiaoguang's enthusiasm for food, especially meat, sweets, and all delicious things, is no less than Lady Frilian's enthusiasm for magic. At least she doesn't think demons could do such a thing."

　"If that's what Frilian thinks, then there shouldn't be any problems."

　First of all, I apologize for not updating before. I'm really sorry!

　Let me briefly explain the reasons. I thought I could update normally in September after August ended. Then my mother went to a rehabilitation center for treatment, and I asked my aunt to take care of her there. In fact, my mother's condition was much better after she was discharged from the hospital. The doctors said her symptoms were the mildest they had ever seen. However, my mother cried every few days. During rehabilitation, even though there were doctors to guide her, she wouldn't exert herself if someone helped her. She wanted to run and get out of bed even though her balance hadn't recovered. She wouldn't listen to the doctor's advice on how to exercise every day, and she wouldn't sleep at night, just tossing and turning. Then she had no energy during the day and couldn't exercise properly. Every day, whenever she had time, she would call relatives and cry, saying that I was bad and that my aunt was abusing her. She would just cry. Also, I ran out of money for her hospitalization and rehabilitation, and when I asked her for money, she wouldn't give it to me and told me to borrow money. So I borrowed money to pay the fees and insisted on hiring a caregiver, but then she didn't use the caregiver. I spent the whole of September being tormented like this.

　However, I'm already practicing walking, and I won't stop updating in October. Anyway, I can almost take care of myself now, and I have more time~

　Finally, thank you all for your support, love you all~

　Volume 1: 396 - The Strange Adventurer and the Phantom Ghost

　Thus, the hero and his companions embarked on a journey to defeat the Demon King.

　No, not heroes, but an idle old elf woman and her loyal apprentice, along with a silly little girl and her dear sister, the four of them embarking on a journey to Aureol.

　After returning from the Fol Basin, Azer explained to Frilian why he wanted her to go to Aureol in the north of the continent. Both Azer and Haita felt that it was time to get rid of the regret that had been lingering for thirty years.

　Besides, isn't traveling to the far north, the place where souls rest in eternal rest, to talk to Simmel, to understand him, and to understand the meaning of the journey, exactly what Frilian herself wanted to do?

　So Frillie readily agreed to the request, but before saying goodbye, Aize said he still had things he wanted to do.

　Anouk is the largest and most prosperous town in the Brett region, but recently, many villagers have heard that a strange person has appeared there.

　He claimed to be a Lynx adventurer, and was not only generous with his money, but also spent it on food, spices and common tools ever since he appeared in the village. When it came time to pay, he even pulled out a large piece of gold to pay for it. The local residents had never seen so much gold before, and they immediately started a sales pitch.

　Furthermore, he also chose to exchange monster materials at shops that supported the exchange of monster materials.

　Of course, none of that is the most important thing. The most important thing is that the materials brought out by this Lynx adventurer are either huge, hard dragon bones that are thicker than the shopkeeper himself, or scales that are of even higher quality than fine steel. Moreover, the shopkeeper also found teeth marks on the dragon bones, which gave them a correct assessment of the adventurer's strength.

　The surprises brought by this Lynx adventurer didn't stop there. The shopkeepers who had traded with him said that he also possessed an unparalleled, super-powerful magical storage item. The shopkeepers and buyers who had traded with him had all witnessed him conjure up materials from these monsters out of thin air. The dragon bones, which were taller than a person, were not materials that he carried around with him.

　That's not even the most shocking part.

　What surprised the shop owner the most was the shiny white-gold scale that was brought out last.

　The mystery surrounding the crystal-clear scale that the adventurer had taken out was only partially revealed after the weapon shopkeeper sold it to a monster expert at a higher price.

　According to the monster expert's research, almost 70% of this scale is already in a metallized state, and the rest is in the process of turning into metal. This means that the unknown monster to which this scale belongs can absorb and fuse metal. The monster expert admitted that he had never seen such a monster in his decades of monster research. In addition, the monster expert also consulted a famous blacksmith in the vicinity about the metallization of the scale.

　Without exception, the blacksmiths all said they had never seen this metal before, but when the monster expert suggested using the scale to forge a weapon, the blacksmiths had a different opinion.

　As a renowned craftsman who had handled all kinds of materials, the blacksmith foreman could clearly sense that, in addition to the weight and hardness common to metals, the scale also possessed a high degree of magical conductivity that was difficult for common metals to match.

　After verification, when magic power was input into one end of the scale, the presence of magic power could be detected at the edge of the scale. Moreover, based on the speed and efficiency of magic power transmission, monster experts found that the transmission rate of magic power in the scale was more than three times higher, which broke the legend of "Red Three" in this region.

　In other words, the red horned mutant monsters are more than three times faster than the normal ones. If this scale were polished into a staff core or added to the materials for forging a sword, it's hard to imagine what kind of weapon it would be.

　Ultimately, the monster expert chose to forge this shimmering, golden scale into the core of the staff, as such an excellent material for conducting magic was indeed the most suitable for a staff.

　After selling the materials he had, the adventurer began a retaliatory spending spree. He first bought large quantities of soybeans, chili peppers, and beef without a care in the world, and then bought flour, cheese, and butter, storing them all in his magical artifacts. His swaggering manner showed that he was not worried at all about his magical artifacts being targeted.

　Of course, someone who possesses such magical items and can casually produce such rare monster materials is definitely not a simple adventurer. They might be a top-ranked adventurer, not someone a mere thief could easily take advantage of. A smart thief would naturally not risk such a mishap.

　However, the adventurer's actions unexpectedly brought some hidden dangers. The idle residents were almost all speculating that if such a powerful adventurer needed to store food, then what had happened to him, or what kind of monster had he encountered?

　Who knows, that monster might be some kind of Seven Sages, or maybe some kind of Monster General. After finding the adventurer, a fierce battle will likely break out between the human and the monster. In that case, it would be safest for the spectators to stay in town, otherwise watching the movie up close would be quite dangerous, like wearing a helmet when fishing.

　Since that's the case, I'm sure everyone has guessed that the adventurer was actually Meralu and his companions disguised as humans. As for the shiny scale, it was naturally the scale of the World Lord. However, that scale was a piece that fell off the tail of the young girl when she molted. If it were a blade scale from her wing claws, it would be more suitable for use as a sword.

　Melalus's task is to make purchases in the town. After the task is completed, Melalus and his companions will rush back to cook for the little girl. In addition to the meat they usually eat, Melalus and his companions plan to use the soybeans they bought to show the little girl a newly improved dish: Mapo Tofu.

　"You bought these soybeans to make the Mapo Tofu you mentioned?"

　"Meow meow meow, meow, meow meow." We just improved a dish called Mapo Tofu, and it's especially delicious. Our eldest brother likes it very much, so we went to buy some beans. You can all eat it together today.

　After the Melalus swiftly and skillfully placed the meat of the granite dragon and horned deer into the casserole to simmer, they began to focus on making Mapo Tofu.

　First, soak the soybeans in clean water, discarding any beans that have been bitten by insects or are in poor condition. Once the soybeans have softened, the next step is to teach the young girl how to do it.

　The most crucial step in making tofu from soybeans is to crush the soybeans. Since it was for making delicious food, the young girl naturally took on this task with great enthusiasm, and she was very enthusiastic about crushing the soybeans.

　"Hey!" The little girl picked up the wooden mallet that Melalu handed her and smashed it into the pile of soybeans in the wooden basin.

　"Crack!" A crack appeared in the wooden basin.

　The end result was that the little girl had to smash four wooden basins in a row to finish making the paste. After getting the paste she needed, the Meralus immediately asked the little girl to go play aside. They couldn't let her continue the work, otherwise they wouldn't be able to eat their secret Mapo Tofu today.

　The subsequent boiling and curdling processes were very simple, something the Meralu were used to doing regularly. They quickly turned the soy milk into white tofu curds.

　Next came the final pressing task. Melalus and his companions searched everywhere but couldn't find a suitable heavy object to press the tofu, so they had to go to the little girl to borrow one.

　She unleashed a furious and monstrous attack.

　The young girl was quite willing to use the Berserker Giant to make tofu. In fact, if the Berserker Giant hadn't been unable to start a fire, the young girl would have used it to cook a meal.

　Before seeing that alien greatsword, Aize had never actually seen how the little girl and Lan Mei hunted, and he didn't care, after all, everyone has their own little secrets, right?

　But upon seeing the young girl's weapon, the Berserker Giant, the warrior's blood within Azer began to burn.

　The weapon features a rugged design, a simple yet practical blade, and is suitable for slashing, smashing, and chopping. The blade is covered with dried blood residue that has turned brownish-red, and the surface is marked with traces of friction with monsters. The most eye-catching feature is the silver fangs on both sides of the greatsword, which all prove that this weapon is definitely not an ordinary weapon. In any case, it is far from being a rare item.

　This thought naturally stemmed from a sense of camaraderie among fellow warriors, and from the warrior's heart yearning to reach the highest peaks. From the moment he saw the berserker behemoth, Aize had the idea of ​​fighting the little girl.

　However, with the Mapo Tofu about to be served, and given the young girl's love for food, Aize had no choice but to postpone the duel.

　The way the Melalurus made Mapo Tofu seemed to be learned from that famous Pleasure Monster. They even showed similar pleasurable expressions on their faces while cooking. It seems that the Melalurus unconsciously learned a part of the essence of the Pleasure Monster while cooking.

　The fiery red iron pot was quickly brought out, filled with bright red Mapo Tofu. Its color looked so intense it seemed capable of easily sinking a person, so much so that when Lanmei saw this dish, she felt as if she were seeing not a dish, but an evil express train to hell.

　Like Lanmei, just looking at the color, whether it's Aize, Frilian, or Philon, they've all removed this dish from their list of edible dishes. Mapo Tofu? Let's just call it Extremely Spicy Hell!

　Unfortunately, the spiciness of Mapo Tofu is nothing to young girls. In fact, to cater to their tastes, Melalu and her friends have made some modifications to Mapo Tofu. It's not the kind of extreme spiciness that Pleasure Monsters pursue; instead, it's more about aroma. For example, they added plenty of beef chunks to the Mapo Tofu to enhance its aroma and texture, and they used bone broth to stew it, which improved the flavor of the dish.

　In fact, there is a saying that the best Mapo Tofu is presented to customers without any steam. Its glossy appearance makes each piece of tofu on the plate look like a ruby. After being stir-fried, the aroma of chili sauce and the clear oil coat the tofu, making people feel both intimidated and mouthwatering.

　Of course, besides the most obvious spiciness, the most famous feature of the Mapo Tofu improved by Melalu and his friends is the numbing sensation in its name. Catalyzed by the miasma fruit, the Sichuan peppercorns in Mapo Tofu have an even more enticing taste. When the above foods are combined, Mapo Tofu brings an unparalleled spiciness and a tingling sensation like touching a Kirin's butt and then being kicked away.

　Of course, Philon had no idea what it felt like to be kicked by a Qilin, but Frilian was very interested in this plate of Mapo Tofu. However, after scooping up a spoonful and putting it in her mouth, Frilian was completely overwhelmed!

　Seeing Frillian sink and fall into the Mapo Tofu, Aize, who had mustered up the courage to put the Mapo Tofu into his mouth, was stunned. But Aize did not stop the challenge. Instead, he swallowed a whole spoonful of Mapo Tofu in one gulp.

　Spicy! Painful! Numb!

　Before he was overwhelmed by the spiciness, Aize finally recalled the tension he felt when he first faced a monster, and the stimulating sensation of his heart pounding and pumping blood to every part of his body.

　As for Lanmei, she had already held her nose and pushed her portion in front of the little girl. Even the faint smell of this stuff would make Lanmei's scalp tingle.

　The young girl, without any hesitation, picked up the iron pot and poured it into her mouth, quickly finishing the whole pot of Mapo Tofu and stewed meat.

　After the young girl had eaten her fill, Aize also brought up the need for a battle, which the young girl found somewhat difficult to understand.

　"Hit you?"

　Lanmei also couldn't understand it. Those hunters clearly valued their lives, so why were people here always dying? Lanmei gently rubbed the little girl's head, "If all else fails, let Melalu help. They have a lot of nutrient solutions."

　Aize looked at the little girl with a serious expression. Due to his age, Aize could no longer wield the axe as before, so the rule they set was that the winner would be decided within three moves. Melalu also joined in, preparing to use snacks to get the little girl away from the battlefield and save Aize when she launched an additional attack.

　"OvO I'll hit you!"

　The little girl grabbed the berserk giant and charged towards Azer. The moment the little girl moved, Azer immediately understood why the little girl ate dragons every day. With such strength and speed, killing a dragon was almost a certainty.

　When Aize recovered from the dizziness, he found himself flying backward and crashing into a tree, coughing up blood. Melalu immediately grabbed a nutrient solution and threw it on Aize, which brought him to a stable but dejected state.

　After all, once you've seen it for yourself, you realize it's an insurmountable, truly insurmountable barrier.

　After leaving the Brett area, the four first arrived at the Bire area, where they would resupply.

　While shopping in the village, Frilian and her companions overheard villagers saying that ghosts would appear on the mountain path ahead, disguised as the most cherished person of the victim, and would take the opportunity to attack humans. According to the villagers, several villagers had already died at the hands of the ghosts.

　From the villagers' experiences, Frillian deduced that the ghostly events were caused by the villagers encountering a monster called the Phantom Ghost.

　Yesterday was a nightmare. The mosquitoes and flies were having a meeting in the ward last night, making it impossible to type anything. I'm starting to suspect that my mom just enjoys the feeling of not having to spend her own money while others take care of her and worry about her. She's been in the hospital for half a month and hasn't gotten any better. And when I came to stay with her, she acted all tearful and whiny. I just couldn't stand it!

　By the way, dear readers, you can look forward to the extra chapter, which will be about 3 words long. It's currently being planned, and you absolutely can't imagine!

　Volume 1: Chapter 397 - The Illusion of Magical Salvation for the Dead

　According to the ranking rules of the Monster Encyclopedia, even among all demons, the Phantom Ghost's strength ranks at the bottom. However, although the Phantom Ghost's strength is not enough to warrant a large-scale effort by humans to eradicate it, the harm it causes should not be underestimated. This is not only because they feed on humans, but also because the Phantom Ghost is extremely cunning and greedy. If it is not killed in one attack, it will be much more difficult to hunt it down.

　Of course, there is an even more important reason. Just like the name in the monster encyclopedia, the Phantom Demon race is very skilled at using illusion magic. Their usual trick is to hide in the shadows. Once a human approaches the Phantom Demon's territory, they will take the opportunity to read the human's memories in the target's field of vision and use the memories of the person most precious to the target to construct a vivid illusion. Moreover, this magic has the effect of being sure to hit, making it almost impossible to avoid.

　After being afflicted, most humans will be trapped in the illusion and unable to escape. Even if the afflicted humans can distinguish between illusion and reality and can clearly recognize that it is an illusion, very few people can raise a weapon to attack the person they cherish in front of them. If they cannot do so, the final outcome is that they will be eaten by the phantom ghost. Although defeating the phantom ghost only requires attacking it with a high density of magic power, just like a normal attack spell, to dispel the illusion magic.

　"To be precise, an important milestone in the history of magic is when the hero and his companions sealed away the corrupt sage Guval, who was known as the Great Demon. Guval, hailed as a genius mage, developed a killing magic that ignored defensive magic and equipment enchanted with defensive attributes. Even the hero, Lady Frilian, and her companions could not defeat Guval at that time because Guval was too strong; they could only seal him away."

　"Moreover, since then, humanity has begun to conduct extensive research and analysis on the murderous magic formulas developed by the corrupt sage Guval, and combined the results obtained from them to successfully achieve a systematic breakthrough in both offensive and defensive magic in the stagnant field of applied magic. This is only the second magical technology revolution."

　Inside the carriage, Philon, who had temporarily regained custody of Lanmei, contentedly held the infant girl in her arms. It was the little girl's first time riding in a carriage, so she seemed quite excited, since she usually either flew or walked there on her own. Although the carriage was rather simple, the little girl didn't seem to care. She nestled in Philon's arms, looking left and right. However, the little girl was very light, so Philon didn't need to exert much effort to hold her in her arms.

　Today, Lanmei didn't tie the little girl's hair into a high ponytail, but instead tied it into a princess fishtail braid. Compared to the previous high ponytail, it was less lively and agile, but more noble and elegant.

　As the little girl swayed from side to side, the platinum blonde hair hidden beneath her black hair gently brushed against Philon's nose. Philon then smelled a pleasant fruity scent. For a moment, Philon forgot to continue talking about magic. Curious, she freed one hand to grab the little girl's smooth black hair and gently brought it to her nose. Sure enough, platinum blonde hair was hidden beneath the black hair, and there was even a strand of purple hair among them.

　The little girl turned her head and looked at Philen curiously, somewhat puzzled as to why she had stopped talking. As she turned her head, the little girl's long, smooth black hair, reaching her waist, cascaded down Philen's fingertips like a waterfall. Philen then realized that she had unconsciously focused all her attention on the little girl's hair and had even forgotten that she was telling the story of the development of magic.

　Lanmei noticed Philon's unusual behavior first. Under Lanmei's puzzled gaze, Philon thought about the action of gently sniffing the young girl's hair, and his face couldn't help but feel hot. He had to bite his tongue lightly to force himself to calm down and try not to blush.

　However, Philen's ears still turned red. After quickly composing herself, Philen continued to talk about the development of magic, "Guval's magic was indeed very powerful, but it was precisely this power that became the reason for Guval's defeat. For elves and demons, eighty years is a very short period of time in their lives. Compared to their lives of thousands or hundreds of years, it is only a short time. But for humans, that..."

　That's several generations, a very long period of time...that's why humans have heroes who can defeat the demons...

　Although she didn't understand what Philen was saying, the little girl nestled in Philen's arms and listened intently. Her chubby little legs dangled beside the seat, and her feet, clad in white boots, swung back and forth. Suddenly, the little girl seemed to remember something and reached out to wave her hand at Lan Mei. Lan Mei's emerald green pupils immediately caught the little girl's gaze. After their eyes met, the little girl's small hand grasped at the air, then she pointed to her mouth. Lan Mei raised the bracelet on her arm and shook it, as if asking the little girl what she wanted to do. The little girl then nodded blankly.

　Lan Mei's emerald green eyes shimmered with moisture as she took out the steaming fried meat patties she had just bought in the village. "So, general attack magic evolved from killing magic. Hey, it smells so good." The unique aroma of fried food quickly spread throughout the carriage, and the young girl's mouth began to water at the smell. At this moment, Frilian also groggily sat up from beside Philen.

　Melalus and the others quickly prepared mayonnaise and mustard, but the young girl preferred salty fried meat patties, so Melalus prepared the best rock salt for her. However, Lanmei preferred sweet mayonnaise, and she thought that sweet mayonnaise and salty, warm fried meat patties were a perfect match. Philon and Frilian were not hungry, so they only ate some fruit. However, Lanmei only ate two fried meat patties and then stopped eating.

　That's it! The rest of the big bag of fried meat patties will all go to the little girl!

　Awooo~ The little girl bit off half of the fried meat patty in one bite, O~O A crunching sound filled the air. She had barely finished the first patty when Lanmei picked up the second one and offered it to the little girl's mouth. The little girl opened her mouth wide, took a bite, chewed a few times, and then tilted her head back and swallowed it all. A few oil stains and bits of oil quickly appeared on the corners of her mouth. OVO~ The little girl happily opened her mouth, waiting for Lanmei to feed her. Judging from her expression, this time the fried meat patty tasted quite good.

　However, this large bag of fried meat patties was clearly not enough to fill the little girl's stomach. For her, it was merely an appetizer. Her appetite had been whetted, but she wasn't very hungry. She simply looked around at the food. Naturally, her gaze fell on the horse pulling the cart, perhaps because it was the easiest and shortest source of meat. But as soon as her gaze landed on the horse, it suddenly felt a wave of dizziness, like a tsunami. Then, its limbs felt as if they were suspended in mid-air. Instantly, its vision went black, it foamed at the mouth, and it couldn't lift its limbs. It fell straight to the ground.

　"Guests, be careful!" The carriage, which had been traveling at a steady speed, was suddenly thrown up after losing its power source. The coachman nervously gripped the ropes holding the horses, fearfully warning the four passengers inside the carriage—oh, seven passengers.

　Although the incident happened very suddenly, Frilian reacted very quickly. Due to inertia, the carriage broke off from the horses and crashed into them, killing them. The carriage then flipped into the air. Frilian immediately picked up her wand and cast a levitation spell on the coachman and the entire carriage, stopping the people from falling. Philon also quickly drew his staff and cast a flight spell, escaping from the overturned carriage with the young girl in his arms.

　Lanmei flashed away and jumped off the carriage. The Melalus grabbed the carriage railing and jumped to the side of the road. After spinning around in the air a few times, they landed steadily. After all, Melalus are cats, so this was no challenge for them.

　The coachman, his gaze having rotated nearly ninety degrees, looked at the ground. He thought he had entered a dead end and had no choice but to close his eyes and wait for death. But after a while, he did not feel the pain of his body falling to the ground. Only then did he muster up his courage and quietly open his eyes. To his surprise, he found himself floating in the air and slowly falling to the ground.

　Frilian waved her staff and gently placed the carriage and coachman on the ground. Philon went to check on the horses and was surprised to find that they were dead. After landing, the coachman tried to steady his wobbly legs, but they were as limp as cooked noodles and he couldn't muster any strength. He sat down with a thud, but as soon as he sat down, he saw the marks left by the fighting on the ground and became so nervous that he could barely speak.

　"Magic, magic, magic, great, great, great, great, this, this."

　Looking at the panicked coachman, Frilian calmly said, "This is the place where your villagers recently disappeared, right? There are many traces and obvious clues. There are traces of the use of illusion magic and the slashing marks of the Demon Slayer Sword Technique. It seems that many adventurers have come here. Don't worry, we are here to exterminate the Phantom Ghosts. You should leave this place first. I believe we will take care of the Phantom Ghosts. For the time being, don't go into the forest."

　"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

　The groom agreed and scrambled to his feet, running and crawling towards safety. Watching the groom's departing figure, Frilian and Philon pushed aside the controls around them, checked for traces nearby, and cautiously advanced.

　"Xiao Guang and Miss A Lan, please walk behind us. But remember, if anything strange happens, close your eyes."

　"You also need to cover your ears. No matter what they say or do, don't listen or move. Philon and I will help you resolve this."

　Lanmei was holding the little girl's hand and walking behind Philon and Frilian. She said curiously, "So you want to protect us, huh? But I remember Philon said that there is a way to deal with the illusion magic of the Phantom Ghost, right?"

　Frilian swung her staff, cutting down the thorny bushes in front of her, and then used fire magic to clear a path. "That's right. The illusion magic used by the Phantom Ghost poses no threat to us magicians. As long as we attack the Phantom Ghost with high-density magic like a normal attack spell, it will easily dissipate."