Riverside 6

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The conversation about Alisha with Tasha and Samuel took a while. The parents and servants left the room for this talk and left the explaining to their children. Yuli spoke the most and explained her situation to them. She told them how Alisha was reincarnated and how her journey to Riverside had her go through a lot of suffering. Alisha filled in gaps when questions were raised. They were surprisingly more understanding than Alisha could've ever anticipated. It was an insane story but they took it on Yuli's word.

"So, you weren't responsible for the attack?" Samuel asked.

"Yes, as I've said many times over," Alisha said. She was tired of getting accused of this. The whole town seemed to think she did it.

"But weren't they after you? Is that why…"

"No. They had no way to track me after they went off on their own. But I'm not so certain the attack would've happened if I didn't lure them into this area…"

They went into an awkward silence. Tasha spoke sincerely, "Thank you for telling us. We don't blame you."

"Alisha, whe—when we fought. How did you know I wasn't myself?" Samuel asked with difficulty.

"It tried to do the same to me but my shapeshifting ability made me immune to it. I knew how it would affect you and you were emitting a similar aura as the gargoyle did."

"It made me…" Samuel covered his mouth in his grief as he recalled what happened. "But you saved my life. Thank you."

"Wrong. If I wanted to save you, I would've alerted Yuli about your condition." Alisha said, uncaringly. Yuli called her bluff in a silent exchange. However, no matter the reason, she destroyed the lives of many people in order to survive. She didn't feel any regret for what she did and this troubled her.

"But my gratitude, you still have it. No matter your intentions, I'm alive because of what you did."

Alisha felt she was wronging them, somehow. The Altons, Elise and now Samuel and Tasha. They all told her how grateful they were for saving them from the gargoyles yet she wanted none of the praise. She did what she had to. Could an action be called brave if it was done out of desperation?

The gargoyle remained a mystery. No one had ever heard of a monster that could possess people.

Samuel and Tasha were going to be tight-lipped about Alisha and they didn't tell anyone else before coming here. It seemed Samuel came here already suspecting Alisha was intelligent but didn't know about her intentions, so he wanted to confirm it without causing any trouble. In addition, Tasha and Samuel agreed they would keep the Altons updated on the Imperials and their hunt into the Devil Slime.

Later that evening at the tavern, Alisha met privately with Aunt Elise. Aunty couldn't help herself when alone with the ball of white fluff and was cuddling her.

"Um. Aunt Elise?" Alisha was confused. She still wasn't saying anything and was just petting her. She had a huge smile on her face while she did it so Alisha couldn't argue. It wasn't really a bother at all. Elise's touch was comforting.

"I have to warn you, Alisha. This world is most unkind to the reincarnated," said Elise in her serious tone. "You have to be careful you do not encounter the Church or they will kill you for being a heretic." Apparently, being reborn was a 'sin.'

"Before or after executing me for being the Devil Slime?" Alisha said playfully. She already knew she was being hunted. Did it matter who?

Elise chuckled a little and rubbed the small white wolf behind her ears, "The Church is very dangerous. Trust me. They know how to find the reincarnated. So please be careful not to reveal it to anyone else."

Alisha knew what she was saying. She didn't want the Church and the Imperials breathing down her neck either. "I understand, Benas has already informed me of the danger."

"There is an organization for the reincarnated. Many people from Earth join it to hide from the Church and the Empire."

An organization called the Phoenix was an appropriate name for a group of reincarnated people. The reason Elise knew of this organization was because of their correspondence with the information network she established between taverns, inns, and brothels around the world.

She was an information trader. Men were surprisingly chatty if given a woman and booze. These places were generally where information naturally flowed to and it was a good source of income.

It seemed Elise was the reason information about Yuli being a half-elf didn't leave the area.

If Alisha were to contact another person who was reborn, would she be able to figure something out about this world? What kind of people were they?

A secret organization bent on world domination or a club that has weekly meetings for fun activities were both just as plausible at the moment. Alisha didn't know the extent of the Phoenix and neither did Elise but she knew that they had a strong presence in all nations.

Elise giggled as she petted the cute creature's head, "You are silly sometimes, Alisha."

She pouted and whined like a child, "I was serious… They can be after world domination…"

"Really?"

"No." Alisha and Elise giggled together as they sat in each other's warmth.

Over the next few days, Yuli explored the town with Alisha in her arms. She continued to ask Yuli questions about this world and had fun around town. She even accompanied her while doing some errands. Reinold was very strict on what kind of assistance they should get from their parents.

When Alisha asked him why he responded, "I don't want to depend on my parents in the future. I need to make my own living."

So, basically ego. In a tough world like Theia, being born as a Merchant Lord's son was a blessing no one should take lightly. But Alisha didn't want to press the issue. Alisha was a little upset that he insisted that Yuli use the coin they earned on purchases in Riverside.

Almost every time Yuli handed a shopkeeper or vendor a piece of Imperial coinage, they had to stop and double-check while being suspicious. Although the town all adored her, they didn't like the idea of the daughter of the Merchant Lord using Imperial coinage. Yuli was very sensitive to other people's emotions so Alisha didn't want these conflicting feelings directed at her. However, this was a mundane occurrence and Reinold thought that this shouldn't be a big deal. He was right but it was bothersome for Yuli.

Riverside converted to the Association's Seutarian Pent a long time ago to better deal with trade with the elven kingdom of Grethenia. The Empire's official coinage was the Imperial pieces so the shops had no choice but accept it as legal tender. This placed them in an awkward position as they needed to convert the coins every single time. It was annoying.

"Yuli, let's go to the Association Guild House and get these coins exchanged. I don't want you to suffer because of your brother's ego trip," Alisha proposed.

"It is not at all necessary." She said defensively profusely. "I believe I am the one who is sensitive so I need to be stronger even with small matters such as this. It is also the money that I earned so…"

"…If it's such a small matter, it wouldn't matter at all for you to exchange them. Think of it as a step to rid yourself of the inconvenience of waiting for the sellers to calculate the exchange rate."

"I suppose you are correct. Giving them these coins do inconvenience them quite a bit…" She relented. This wasn't exactly what Alisha was suggesting but okay.

Alisha was meaning to visit the Association Guild House. It was in the New District across the river and housed many documents from the offices of officials she wanted to copy. She had a narrow reading range so she couldn't read much but she could improve enough to read them in time. Alisha didn't want to waste the opportunity.

Within her Memory Palace, she copied every text she could find through her Monster Sight to put it into a collection for her own leisure. She could read a lot of books because of the Dream Space's ability for Time Dilation. She had to potential to learn more about the world than most people here by continuing to build on her own personal library in her mind. Combined with the knowledge from Earth, she could build the largest collection Theia wouldn't see.

The Association house looked like an office building on the inside which was in contrast to its gothic exterior appearance. Perhaps her time in New York City dulled her senses to these sights because Yuli was quite fascinated. It was good to see people take so much care into aesthetics. The one thing Alisha feared industrialization of the world would bring was modern architecture.

"Truthfully, this is my first time in the building," Yuli said. This would explain her reaction but not why this was the first time she came into this building. She was the merchant lord's daughter, wasn't she?

The lobby was a large atrium which led to the offices beyond. The ground floor was where most of the citizens' activities were. There were receptionists ready to take on people who were waiting in line. There were a lot of freelancers and mercenaries around to take on commissions.

Alisha immediately got to work and concentrated her Monster Sight. She extended her sight to include the whole building and used Time Dilation to give her enough time to create a snapshot of the whole building with a resolution of about a cubic micrometer. She created a model of the entire building and placed all sorts of documents and books in her library.

Within a few minutes, it was done. Everything was hers and no one would ever be the wiser.

Information could become the one advantage she had over her enemies.

Within her Monster Sight, she also saw peculiar objects sitting within a glass display in the hallway. Alisha asked Yuli to take a closer look at the objects after her coins were exchanged.

One object was a brick made of stone. But it was emanating with mana. She could see the mana with her mana sense and combined with her Monster Sight which gave her a three-dimensional image of where the mana was located within the rock.

It was like veins. The blue thread was embedded all over the stone and was similar to her slime when she went splat in the cave.

When Alisha asked what this rock was, Yuli responded, "It is a brick from a dungeon. Dungeon Masters have the ability to form territory and so they make special types of materials that extend their influence."

"Wow. The mana in this stone is strong. Do you know what the Dungeon Masters use this for?"

"I am not so sure about the details. I am sorry."

"It's okay. I wonder if I can make something like this too," Alisha had this thought and spoke it aloud. Yuli chuckled, knowing she was thinking something mischievous.

There was also an 'artifact' displayed as a piece of 'highly-advanced' technology from the cities of the Old Gods. While it did have electrical circuits, it looked more like something from a scrapyard and displayed as something beyond our understanding. It was literally a piece of electronic trash.

Yuli then told her something very peculiar, "These devices are relics left behind from the Old Gods during the Great Migration. However, when they came to Theia, they stopped working."

"Why is that?" Alisha asked.

"There is no electricity on Theia."

"No electricity? I understand that this world uses mana and pressure to power everything but why no electricity?" It was clear to Alisha from the conversations with the Altons that this world understood what electricity was. The fact that such a convenient form of energy wasn't founded here was very strange.

"No, Alisha. I meant that electricity does not exist here as it did on Earth."

"How is that possible? There are scientists and mages here. There's no way you guys don't have it."

"Electricity does not work here. It is a fact that everyone here on Theia had accepted."

Alisha became a bit frustrated with the back and forth but ultimately, it seemed that neither Yuli nor the Altons knew how electricity wasn't invented.

After they were clear of the town's urban area, Alisha formed into her human body to help carry the groceries. After coming home, they headed to the kitchen to the maid's surprise.

"Julie! We came back with groceries!" Yuli announced.

Julie was a bit anxious at her young lady's actions, "Yuli! It is the job of us maids to gather the food for your family meals."

"I know. But I heard you wanted some avocados so I went and bought some for you. I thought to buy a few more things so you wouldn't have to go back into town."

"Oh my. Thank you, Yuli. I really do appreciate this. And to you too, Alisha. Carrying those must have been heavy."

"It was no problem… Glad to help…" Alisha said the sentence out loud in the Common Tongue.

Yuli and Julie were happy to hear her voice. The Network telepathy ability couldn't communicate the voice of an individual and was simply interpreted as a 'young female' voice. As a result, it sounded like it went through a voice modulator program.

Her human voice was smooth and sweet. Alisha still needed more words in her vocabulary but it was amazing to see her learn so fast in just a week.