The story of the black silk female knight

After sending the weapon refiners to rest, Valensa stared at the box alone, and suddenly became somewhat annoyed.

"This broken box... I wonder what kind of treasure is inside. Why are you making it so mysterious and troublesome?"

After saying that, Valensa wanted to kick the box, but she was afraid that if she used too much force, she would trigger the self-destruct mechanism of the magic lock and destroy the contents of the box.

"……snort."

So Valensa took off her stiffer boots and, wearing only black stockings, gently poked the box with her toes.

pat.

Unexpectedly, this simple action caused the ingenious lock to spin around and open directly.

"Hey??"

Chapter 30 The Doll Girl

"Hey! Don't go, don't go!"

Although she was eager to open the box immediately and see what was inside, Valensa forced herself to suppress her curiosity and decided to call the weaponsmiths to take a look first.

This ingenious lock is too strange... If Valensa really did kick it and break it, who knows if randomly opening the lid might trigger a self-destruct mechanism?

The weapon refiners, who had just returned to their temporary lodgings and hadn't even had a chance to close their eyes, were pulled back by Valensa one by one.

After working overtime for two consecutive days and just taking a break, I was called back to work overtime again. Everyone would feel resentful, and even a beautiful girl can't make that resentment disappear.

But curiosity is acceptable.

Upon learning that the ingenious lock on the box had been opened, the previously disgruntled weapon refiners instantly changed their attitude and became excited again, asking Valensa what she had done.

"That's the one……"

Valensa stammered, feeling quite embarrassed, her hands clasped tightly behind her back, clutching the hem of her skirt, her left knee pressing against the back of her right leg, looking rather awkward.

She was incredibly ashamed, but figuring out the secret inside the box was more important. Valensa finally stammered out a rough account of what she had done.

Was it that someone took off their boots, wore black stockings, and kicked them open?

The blacksmiths' eyes widened involuntarily as they all looked at Valensa's legs, their burning gazes wanting her to run away.

However, the weapon refiners were professionals after all. After discussing it for a while, they actually came up with a way to verify it.

Among them, the most skilled individuals worked together to forge a weapon on the spot, quickly creating a prosthetic leg that was virtually indistinguishable from a real young girl's skin in every way. They then borrowed black stockings from Valensa, put them on, and gently touched the ingenious lock on the box with the black stocking prosthetic leg, while observing and recording the reaction.

Afterwards, the craftsmen had Valensa replicate her previous actions, taking off her boots and wearing only black stockings to gently touch the mechanical lock a few times with her feet. Then they found other nuns and female priestesses, who also wore only black stockings and touched the mechanical lock with their feet, and finally recorded all the data for comparison.

The results showed that the black-stockinged prosthetic legs and the black-stockinged legs of other female clergy members reacted the same way when they came into contact with the arcane lock. Only Valensa's black-stockinged legs showed a very slight fluctuation of spiritual energy when they came into contact with the arcane lock.

"...There can't be any mistake."

After whispering and discussing among themselves for a while, the weapon refiners gave their conclusion with complicated expressions:

"Although I don't know why it was set up this way, Miss Valencia, you yourself are the condition for opening this ingenious lock... The lock was opened normally, so there's no need to worry about triggering self-destruction again."

"Ah this..."

Even though she was mentally prepared, Valensa still couldn't help but stare in disbelief for a moment.

The condition for unlocking the lock was actually myself?

But this is a cleverly designed lock from at least 300 years ago, right? How could the person who set this lock know that I would exist in the future?

...No, they might actually find out.

In this world, prophetic spells are not just street tricks... If Tia could borrow power from her future self to beat up the Sinful Angel, it's normal for someone to actually see the future.

For example, that Great Prophet of the Wild Beasts may have actually seen fragments of the future... Afterwards, all its actions in trying to reverse that future actually caused that future to inevitably happen.

Perhaps the person who set the conditions for opening this ingenious lock more than 300 years ago could have foreseen that this box would be kicked by a beautiful female paladin more than 300 years later?

Valensa became increasingly curious about what was in the box, and in any case, the answer would be revealed once the lid was opened.

Having received the news, Zero, Chiba, Miss Phantom Thief, and Ilana all rushed to the scene to watch. Even Frigia, who usually sleeps in the Shadow Space, secretly peeked out.

pat.

Without any clever locks, the box was just an ordinary box. With a gentle push from Valensa, the lid opened completely, revealing the secret inside.

"Ah this?"

Valensa showed a surprised expression again, and many people gasped in surprise.

"so beautiful……"

"So exquisite..."

"That skin looks so soft, I really want to touch it..."

Inside the box was a young girl dressed in a silk dress, with delicate features, a graceful figure, fair skin as clear as jade, and long, shiny, smooth black hair.

But the girl is not human; there are obvious spherical shapes at the joints of her limbs, and her height is only equivalent to Valensa's calf.

She lay there quietly in the center of the box, like a real, beautiful young girl asleep.

This is an exquisitely crafted mechanical doll, as wondrous and beautiful as the Rozen Maiden that Valensa saw in the anime in her previous life.

Next to the doll girl's face, there was a strawberry-sized sapphire and a neatly folded piece of white paper.

Valensa did not act rashly. She first carefully observed the doll girl for a while, and only after confirming that the doll girl would not jump up on her own did she move the sapphire and take out the white paper under the gem.

The blank paper did not contain a letter from over 300 years ago, but rather instructions for using the doll girl, along with a simple diagram.

Valensa glanced at it once, then took the doll girl out of the box without hesitation, placed her face down on the table, and unbuttoned the back of her silk dress.

The smooth fabric was slowly rolled up to her waist, revealing not only the back of the doll-like girl, but also a tattoo resembling a gold watch face, and a groove in the center of the tattoo that was exactly the same size as a sapphire.

Valensa picked up the instruction manual again, glanced at it, then took the sapphire out of the box, adjusted it to the appropriate angle, easily pressed it into the groove, and with a slight twist, it was perfectly locked in place.

Then the sapphire lit up, clearly acting as an energy source, causing the doll's body to emit a sound similar to pressing the power button on a computer.

Snapped!

Soon, the doll-like girl started moving on her own, just like a real human girl. She raised her foot and kicked Valensa in the face, then hurriedly pulled her silk dress up from her waist, frantically buttoning it up while puffing out her chubby cheeks.

“Come on, sir Li… glug.”

Seemingly realizing her pronunciation wasn't quite right, the doll-like girl quickly shut her mouth. Under the curious gazes of the onlookers, she first put back on the silk dress that Valensa had half-removed, then mumbled something like rinsing her mouth before speaking again, this time with a much clearer voice:

"What year is it now? Where are we?"

"This is the sacred domain of the Divine Continent, and as for the year..."

As Valencia answered the doll girl's question, she reached out again, wanting to pinch the doll girl's small face:

"My little darling, what's wrong with you again? Let me check your secrets..."

"Think beautifully!"

However, the doll-like girl nimbly dodged Valensa's hand with a leap, jumped onto Valensa's head and stomped on her twice before hopping back onto the table and hiding behind the box. She then accused Valensa with a mixture of righteous indignation and fear:

"Don't try to undress a lady or touch her inappropriately the moment you meet her! It's only been 300 years, have paladins become this frivolous?"

"Of course not, it's just a few individuals who are frivolous."

Zero answered the doll girl's question first, while gesturing to the surrounding weapon refiners to go back and rest. He also used his tail to wrap Valensa up, keeping Valensa and the doll girl at a safe distance.

The doll-like girl finally breathed a sigh of relief, stepped out from behind the box, looked at Zero carefully for a moment, and then quickly and formally bowed:

"So it's Her Highness the Holy Maiden... Good day, Her Highness the Holy Maiden. May the Goddess bless you forever."

"Oh? You actually recognize me?"

Zero raised an eyebrow curiously, his eyes flashing with two golden lights as he examined the doll-like girl, before revealing an expression of understanding:

"I see... You're not a real puppet... You were once human, and you used some kind of secret technique to transfer your soul into a puppet, right?"

"To be precise, it's a part of the soul."

The doll-like girl smiled and nodded, bowing to Zero again, but this time it was no longer the greeting of a Sun Believer to a high-ranking clergyman, but a very elegant Eastern lady's bow:

“My daughter, Yi Qiuya, is very happy to see Her Highness the Holy Maiden again… I was fortunate enough to meet Her Highness the Holy Maiden once with my father, through the remote communication magic array in the church.”

"Your surname is Yi?"

Zero seemed to have thought of something again, and looked the doll girl up and down once more:

"Hmm...it really does look a bit like him...Who is Yi Canglan, the leader of the Star Altar, to you?"

“…It was my father.”

The doll-like girl suddenly gave a bitter smile, her expression extremely forlorn.

"Since I was indeed awakened in the correct way on the Divine Continent more than 300 years later, and was harassed by a female hooligan as soon as I woke up... it proves that Father's last prophecy was correct."

"The final prophecy?"

Ling frowned slightly:

"Could it be that your father already...?"

“My father and my human body are long dead, the Star Altar has disappeared, and there will be no one in the entire Thirteen Provinces of Tianxuan who can raise objections to the Dragon Emperor.”

The doll-like girl took a deep breath... she probably really wanted to calm herself down, but she no longer had that ability:

"My father foresaw this long ago, so he created this doll more than 300 years ago. He then used a secret method to seal a small part of my soul into the doll and put it to sleep. Finally, he entrusted the box containing the doll to the person in charge of the Sun Church in the Central Continent Empire at that time for safekeeping... Although that Holy Knight sister was not very proper, she was a close friend of my father and the only person who could have safely taken the doll out of the Thirteen Continents of Tianxuan."

"Etc., etc……"

Valensa finally couldn't hold back any longer. Even though Zero had bound her body with his tail and she could only writhe around, she still interrupted the doll girl:

“It’s one thing to call me a female hooligan and indecent, but you’re saying that the Star Altar was also destroyed by the Central Continent Empire? Why would the Dragon Emperor do that? Weren’t you all very supportive of his grand ambitions? More than 700 years ago, you even joined forces with him to exterminate the Holy Gate.”

“You’re right… Our Star Altar did support the Dragon Emperor, but we were destroyed by him because we later opposed him.”

The doll seemed completely oblivious to the strangeness of her words. She walked gracefully to the table, sat down lightly, and her two little feet dangled in mid-air, swinging gently.

"Because our Star Altar will never be anyone's tool... Our mission is to predict the future and choose the best path to guide people into it."

Supporting the Dragon Emperor's southern and northern campaigns while simultaneously exterminating the Holy Sect was a predetermined fate. Later, our opposition to the Dragon Emperor's policies led to our extermination, a fate we too could not defy… This is the destiny we chose after foreseeing the future.”

"A destiny chosen by oneself? Can one truly choose one's own destiny? Isn't the future seen by precognitive abilities unchangeable?"

Valensa was even more puzzled, and after a moment's thought, she briefly recounted the story of the Great Prophet of the Wild Beasts:

“There was this guy before…”

The doll-like girl listened patiently to the story of the Great Prophet of the Wild Beasts before smiling gently.

“I think I understand what you mean... The great prophet you mentioned probably only has the talent to occasionally see fragments of the future. In the Star Altar, that level would only make him a beginner disciple... But with proper training and guidance, he should achieve great things.”

Fragments of the future glimpsed by him are indeed difficult to change... Unless a being like Her Majesty the Sun Goddess intervenes, the events depicted in those future fragments will inevitably occur. Any attempt to prevent those fragments from happening only makes their occurrence more certain.

But true foresight should be used to avoid misfortune and seek good fortune, not to know that disaster is coming but be powerless to change it... Such foresight is worse than having none at all.

And our astrological predictions are limited to this much.

"Oh?"

Valensa finally broke free from Zero Tail's bindings, moved a chair over, and sat down facing the doll girl with her feet up, showing an expression of 'eager to hear more'.

"The specific details of the future can be determined by observational methods that can predict the future... Therefore, predicting detailed future events is actually very dangerous, as it could potentially turn a disaster that might not have happened into one that is certain to occur."

The doll girl didn't try to hide anything; in fact, the reason she had sealed a small part of her soul inside the doll and lived until now was to tell these things, not to live a life of ignominy.

"Our astrological predictions for the future are made by observing celestial phenomena. We first roughly predict several different future trends, then select the one that is most beneficial to all people. We continue to observe the nodes that need to be passed on this path, the choices that need to be made at each node, and the conditions that need to be met. Finally, we lead all living beings to become more and more prosperous on the good path."

To give a simple example... well, let's say I want to predict your fortune today, and you get several vague directions such as very lucky, average luck, or extremely unlucky... Under normal circumstances, people would definitely choose the lucky route, right?

Afterwards, our astrological secrets can provide a detailed observation of the auspicious path, confirming the crucial choices you need to make today to walk this path… such as what color bra to wear when you get up? Which foot to put on first when you get out of bed? What kind of buns to eat for breakfast? These seemingly insignificant choices can all determine the course of your destiny.”

"Um... I think I understand."

Valensa nodded:

"So back then, your Star Alliance supported the Dragon Emperor because you saw that the Dragon Emperor's rule would make the Eastern Continent better and better in the future... And then you opposed the Dragon Emperor because you saw that the Dragon Emperor would cause the Eastern Continent to decline?"

"It's not just the decline of the Eastern Continent... the entire world will be completely destroyed. Even the Church of the Sun can only turn the Holy Land into a giant light ship and lead a few lucky believers to escape in a sorry state."

The doll-like girl shrugged, and seeing that the people inside were looking at her with a serious expression, she quickly waved her hand.

"Don't rush, don't rush... I will tell you everything. This is also the reason why I didn't die with Father and my fellow disciples... Let me tell you slowly from the beginning."

Everyone put away their playful mood from before... Valensa stopped secretly touching Zero's succubus tail to provoke her, and Velenkasa also put away the yogurt she had just taken out but hadn't opened yet. They all gathered around the doll girl, waiting for her to speak again.

The doll girl didn't keep everyone waiting too long:

"I have already given a general introduction to our secret technique of observing the heavens and knowing the future at the Star Altar, but there are differences in this technique... Simply put, the smaller the target to be observed and the shorter the time, the lower the difficulty of the technique and the less energy it consumes."