BEFORE STONEWALL

After addressing her troops, Evelyn went back to her room where Bryce had sent the map of Stonewall.

While inspecting the map, Evelyn grabbed a piece of paper and began to draw something on it: A various combination of arrangement between twenty small dots and one large dot. Sometimes twenty small dots and several large dots.

The noble lady drew numerous arrangements of such pairings.

"(Considering the layout of the town and current composition of my army, these should be the best strategy.)" said Evelyn as she looked at the paper.

Evelyn then grabbed another paper and wrote a list of something on it.

"(And this should help father in his expedition.)"

A knock was suddenly heard on the door and Giselle entered.

"I'm here with your tea, my lady."

"Just lay it on the table, Giselle."

The maid did it as instructed by her master. She then saw the dots Evelyn drew on the paper.

"What are you drawing, my lady?"

"This is how we'll defeat the gargoyles. A combat strategy we'll put to use in the extermination quest."

Giselle could not help but smile at Evelyn's confidence. The way Evelyn talked was so certain as if it was only a matter of time before the gargoyles were defeated.

Such attitude provided ease in Giselle's heart and pride in being Evelyn's servant.

"Then since we'll depart for Stonewall soon, shall I begin packing your things, my lady?" asked Giselle.

"Hm? What are you talking about?"

"Your clothes. Is there anything in particular that you would like to wear for the quest that I can fetch for you?"

Evelyn shook her head.

"No. I meant the part where you said 'we'll depart for Stonewall.' It's as if you're insinuating that you'll be coming with me."

Giselle's face turned worried.

"Isn't that the case, my lady?"

Evelyn shook her head once again.

"No, Giselle. You're not coming with me. I will go alone with the soldiers."

"BUT, MY LADY!"

Evelyn slammed the table.

"I'm going to a battlefield, Giselle. Not a tea party. People could be killed where I'm heading."

Giselle began to tear up.

"Even still, how could I leave your side, my lady. I know I'm not a soldier, but I promise I won't get in the way! I'll just be escorting you and aid you with your needs before you go to the battlefield."

Giselle kneeled in front of Evelyn.

"PLEASE, MY LADY! I BEG YOU! AS YOUR DEVOTED SERVANT, I CAN'T ALLOW YOU TO BE BY YOURSELF OUT THERE!"

Evelyn sighed at her maid's persistence. She then stood up and grabbed a thick book from the bookshelf and handed it to Giselle.

"Copy of Methuselah Grimoire, Arts of Bara Continent?" read Giselle on the cover.

"It's a grimoire which contains the Bara Arts. The unconditional magic art with the most number of spells in the continent created by the Great Mage Methuselah more than 900 years ago. It's basically the foundation of magical knowledge." said Evelyn.

The Leonardo heiress created the fire lance magic circle in front of Giselle.

"The Bara Arts is the standard that the Magic Tower Circle uses to rank mages. Almost every mage in the continent knows how to use the Bara Arts. And all you need to know about that magic are compiled within this grimoire."

Giselle looked at the book in confusion. She still didn't understand why her lady was explaining all these information to her.

"Why would you give me this book and tell me all these things, my lady?"

"Giselle, I will only consider taking you with me once you learned all the spells in that grimoire and able to perform at least half of them." said Evelyn.

"WHAT?!"

"The battlefield is a dangerous place, Giselle. You need to be able to protect yourself if you wanted to be my attendant in such place."

Giselle's shoulders slumped after hearing her master. Her face turned gloomy with the sense of defeat.

"But, my lady, how could I possibly learn this book before you depart for Stonewall?"

Evelyn smiled and glanced at the pile of papers tucked in the corner on which her grand plan was written.

"This gargoyle quest won't be the only expedition I will be embarking, Giselle. Many more will come." said Evelyn to her servant. "You will have your chance if you stay determined to learn the Bara Arts. And if you're really that determined, I'm sure you'll be able to learn them all and join me in those future expeditions."

Giselle's eyes turned fiery. She grasped the grimoire with all her might.

"Then I swear to you, my lady, I WILL JOIN YOU IN THOSE FUTURE EXPEDITIONS!" 

Evelyn laughed at her maid's determined words.

"Why are you so certain you'll be able to learn all those spells when currently you're not even a mage to begin with?"

"Because you said I can, my lady. Your words alone. That is all the conviction I needed."

What Giselle said reminded Evelyn a moment from her past life.

Princess Mariana stood amazed at the sight of a hall adorned with a tiny blue magic crystal at the center, projecting all kinds of moving images from inanimate and animate objects.

Standing beside the crystal were a small fairy in a neat buttoned shirt and a woman in a white cloak.

"You did it! You both did it! You actually created it!" said the Princess to the fairy and the woman.

"We were simply following your order, Princess." said the woman.

 Princess Mariana looked at them in awe.

"It was not an order, but merely wishful thinking." said the Princess. "But you made it happen anyway!"

"Well, you said that if we could create this crystal, we'll be able to win the upcoming battle." said the fairy. "That's why Ms. Sol and I arranged for the Magic Tower Circle and all the fairies to turn your thought into reality."

"You went through all that hard work to create this masterpiece just from something I said in passing?"

"Your words alone are enough, Princess." said the cloaked woman. "If you said that this crystal will help us defeat the demons, then creating the crystal is a cause worth pursuing."

Evelyn watched Giselle left the room with the Methuselah Grimoire as she reminisced her past life.

The noble lady wondered what prompted Giselle to act so determined like that.

"(Her abundant faith in me, I wonder if it's because of the new side of Evelyn she's been seeing recently or because of her loyalty to the Leonardo family. Could it be both?)"

Evelyn looked back on when Giselle noticed her Angel's Touch casting.

"(Nonetheless, that girl has the making of an excellent mage, something that I noticed the moment I met her. If she stays determined with her magic training, she'll be of great help to me in the future.)"

Evelyn then looked to the drawer and grabbed the Leonardo Grimoire.

She also took the paper she drew on earlier and headed to the private training ground where the soldiers will be gathering.

There she met Bryce and the five soldiers he will be taking for the Duke's order.

"Are you set for your journey, father?"

"Yes. But I wanted to see your strategy meeting before we depart. As the head knight, I have a responsibility to be aware of your plan to complete the extermination quest."

"As you should, father." nodded Evelyn. "I was going to ask you to stop by actually."

The noble lady then gave her father the paper with the list from earlier.

"What's this?"

"Some information that would help you going up against the demonic wolves." explained Evelyn. "I've listed their weaknesses, points of caution, and optimal ways to deal with them."

Bryce rubbed his chin at the sight of the list.

"This camouflage potion in one of the listing, I've never heard of this one. Are you sure it'll work as it says right here?"

"Of course! It's not known widely at the moment, but the people from a remote village on the outskirts of the Great Forest in the center of the continent uses this potion while they were out hunting for food in a demonic wolf-infested forest."

Bryce did not even bother to question how his daughter managed to acquire such information as he was aware that Evelyn was already harboring many other secrets from him and his wife.

"Thank you, Evelyn. I'm certain we'll be able to gather the necessary ingredients for the potion as my party made our way to the duke's army. I'll make sure we put the information you provided us to good use."

Evelyn smiled at her father's open-mindedness. She was happy that Bryce was willing to receive her help.

"(Truth be told, the recipe for the potion on the list will only be known by Mortalia's military in a few years, when the demonic wolf infestation becoming more frequent. The recipe isn't necessarily new at this point in time. Other faraway nations are already aware of it, in fact.)"

Evelyn looked around the knights running around the estate with their gear.

"(It's just that, at the moment, Mortalia Empire is as naïve as an infant in terms of wariness against demons. Frankly it's because Mortalia Empire is currently the safest place in the continent. Which is why not much countermeasures against demons have been integrated to its society.)

The soldiers began to gather at the private training hall. They all brought their equipment with them as Evelyn instructed.

The young noble watched over them as they laid their equipment on the ground.

"(For more than 900 years, Mortalia Empire have been known as the safe haven of the Bara Continent. A place where one could find refuge from demons...but not anymore.)"

Evelyn thought about the gargoyles and demonic wolves infestations that concurrently happened at present.

"(The increasing cases of demonic infestations is proof that Mortalia will lose that prestige. If things are let to be, Mortalia will soon be just as a dangerous ground as the rest of the continent.)"

Einsof's Chosen One looked at the soldiers lining up in front of her.

"(In my past life, Mortalia Empire ended up becoming the breeding grounds of demons. But that was because we were caught unaware.)"

Evelyn redirected her glance to the Leonardo Grimoire which contained the Primordial Arts, a fragment of magic that could kill Satan.

"(Now, in this second chance that God provided me, I will make sure this Empire is ready for what's coming.)"

Evelyn walked toward her soldiers with a face full of determination.

"(We will not be caught unaware. We will be ready. We will lie in waiting for our chance to strike back. We will not lose. We will win. We will be victorious.)"