The little girl rolled her eyes, shifting her gaze towards the window and away from the bearded old man in the shabby brown robes sitting across from her. His deep, raspy voice entered her ears, only to pass through right to the other side, leaving in its wake only a blur that she could not distinguish from the noise of the carriage traversing uneven ground. "I can't believe I have to study even while travelling." she mumbled to herself, "Tsk, are you kidding me?"

Alphonso and Sylphia had spent the last few hours travelling by carriage. Much to the impatient heroine's dismay, the court-mage-turned-teacher seized the opportunity to lecture her face-to-face, much like they had been doing for nearly a week now.

And here I thought getting trapped in a fantasy world would be the greatest thing ever... how come Sylphia's so weak!? I can't use decent weapons; I can't use powerful magic; Hell I can't even run fast to save my life! What exactly is 'Legendary' about this Legendary Hero!? This must be some kind of mistake, right!? Isn't it obvious that the player character ought to be overpowered when getting sent to a fantasy world!?

"-And so, Miss Heroine," said Alphonso, "that is why we call upon the legendary heroes to save the world." The hard-cover book on his lap produced a soft thud as he closed it.

And now I have to get tutored by an old geezer because that's the only way my magic could grow!? This has to be a mistake! While she lost herself in thought, the carriage hit a sizeable bump in the road, causing the entire thing to jump. "-Wha!" Sylphia squealed. In her surprise, she fell off her seat, latching her hands desperately onto the window beside her.

Alphonso reached his hand out to her, "Are you alright, Miss Heroine?"

Sylphia scowled at him, ignoring his hand as she pulled herself back to her seat. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He then promptly withdrew his hand and said, "If you say so."

Oh shit! She covered her mouth with the back of her hand. My emotions are leaking out! "Ahem," she cleared her throat, "Please forgive me, Sir Alphonso... I was just startled and..."

"No, no." He relaxed back into his seat. "Indeed, the roads in this province seem to be ill-maintained."

"Y-yes, they are, aren't they..." She averted her gaze. Tsk, I should be more careful not to act the way I usually do while in Sylphia's body...

"Well, putting that aside," He then tapped the the book with his finger. "I was wondering if you had any questions so far, Miss Heroine."

"Geh-" Sylphia flinched.

"You have been rather quiet," He leaned in, as if examining Sylphia's reactions closely, "how should I take that? That today's lecture was clear, or that the lecture was so confusing, you were unable to follow at all?"

"N-no..." She averted her gaze. "A-u-uhhh... yes. A-actually, I do have a question," she said, as she rummaged frantically in her head for something, anything from Alphonso's lecture just now, "Ah! You did say that the Demon Lord appeared only once every thousand years, right?"

"Indeed. Nobody can say whether it is the power of prophecy, or whether a cataclysm or other event occurs in the Demon World that brings him here, but the Demon Lord does seem to invade Terra Nova precisely once every one thousand years."

"Hm." She nodded. "And then you said, we, the Legendary Heroes were summoned to defeat the Demon Lord."

"Yes."

"And around what time were the Legendary Heroes summoned?"

Alphonso's expression darkened. He then lowered his voice to a whisper, and said, "Miss Heroine, let us keep this conversation down as we continue." He took a glance at the carriage driver behind him. Though he was separated from their cab by the thin wooden frame of the carriage itself, a small slit was in place near the top, so the passengers could communicate with the driver.

Hmm...? Touched a controversial subject, did I? I do like me some gossip.

"Well, I assume Miss Heroine is wondering why she was summoned today, a bit over 500 years before the arrival of the Demon Lord?"

She lounged back into her seat. "You guessed it."

He audibly let out a breath as he also sat back into his seat.

"Don't tell me..." she said, "are there signs of the Demon Lord returning early?"

He crossed his arms. "I... cannot say."

"Huh?" She raised an eyebrow.

Then, he hunched over and said into her ear, "Regarding that matter, Miss Heroine, I think it would be better if we talked in private. Best, if you asked the King himself. Whether or not he would answer, however..." He said no more than this, and retreated back into his seat. Finally, he pulled out a small pocket watch by its chain from out of his pocket and flipped it open. "I believe we should be arriving soon, Miss Heroine."

"Oh?" Approaching from the distance, she saw a town ringed by walls of pure white. "Wow..." Almost in an instant, her mind leapt from the lecture to the picturesque landscape unfolding before her.

Alphonso soon joined her. "That is Ealdton, Miss Heroine." His hood fluttered against the wind, revealing more of his face than Sylphia had ever seen before. Contrary to her expectations, the skin on his face took the same copper tone of the back of his hands, despite being hidden beneath a hood all the time. "Ealdton-over-Acsa." He said, as he then poked his arm out of the carriage window and pointed towards the mighty blue river that curved into the distance. "There, you can see the river Acsa, flowing around the mound where Ealdton was built."

"So," she asked, "this place is where the magic tomes are sold?"

"Yes, Miss Heroine. Ealdton is an ancient city, steeped in magical tradition..." He then looked longingly in the middle distance. "Or, at least, it used to be. The practice of Magic within the Kingdom had been in a long decline, so you would hardly find mages walking its streets like they used to. Nevertheless, it still serves as the best place to find anything with regards to magic in the entire Kingdom."

"Hmm...? Even better than the capitol?"

He stroked his beard, as if he were carefully considering Sylphia's question. "I would say so, yes. If one was truly serious in magic, and not just after the basic or more common tomes, then visiting Ealdton would serve you better than browsing the magic shops in the capital."

"Heeeh? Why is that?"

"Hmmmm..." He looked troubled. "Who can say? My guess would be... tradition, perhaps? Ealdton has made its name for magical goods and tomes, and it is known by name not only in this Kingdom, but also in other countries. Indeed, I sometimes run into mages from other Kingdoms in the town."

"Ooh, I see." She felt a well of excitement filling up from inside her. I'm really going to learn magic now, huh? I can't wait!

The carriage dropped the two off near their stop, by an open plaza.

Alphonso was first to step out. He reached his arm back and helped Sylphia off the carriage. "Please be careful, Miss Heroine."

"E-eh?" she stammered, "T-thank you, Sir Alphonso."

"It is my pleasure, Miss Heroine."

The moment she stepped onto the paved stone path, she felt the light summer breeze catching against her long, frilled skirt, and the soft prickle of the noon time sun shining against her ivory white skin. Very soon, she felt the gazes coming from the people around her. Around her waist, hung a small sword, or a large dagger, within a jeweled scabbard. It was given to her more or less as a decoration, as even though she could at least lift it, she was still unable to fight with it.

"Mama, mama, look at that pretty girl!" a child said, tugging at her mother's blouse as she pointed towards Sylphia, "Is she a princess?"

"Stop that," the mother pulled the child's hand down and scolded her, "I told you it's rude to point." She then turned to Sylphia and bowed her head.

Sylphia whispered to Alphonso, "Hey, do they know I'm the hero?"

"No, very few do," he said, "but our carriage holds the royal seal, so people are likely to believe you to be a princess or a noble of some sort."

"Eh? Is that alright?"

"It should be."

"Eeeh...?" What do you mean, 'should'? Are you serious right now?

"If anything, I would advise you not to reveal yourself as the heroine. That would bring too much attention to us."

"I-I see."

"And speaking of which," Alphonso intertwined his fingers as he faced her. "to keep that secret, I ask that you allow me to call you by a different name, for the time being. 'Miss Sylphia', perhaps."

"Ah, sure. I don't mind." She smiled. "Actually, you can just keep calling me that from now on. Being called 'Miss Heroine' all the time is a bit..."

"No, no," He shook his head. "the title of Heroine is a sacred rank that ought to be given the respect it deserves, at all times. As such, I wish to continue calling you by that name, after this necessity has passed."

"Er-" The corner of her smile twitched. "i-if you say so..."

As the two of them made their way to their destination, they passed the girl by the street. Finding her opportunity, Sylphia turned to her as she passed by and gave her a wave back. Overjoyed, the girl gave her a warm smile and sent her off with a wave of her own.

The two soon stopped in front of a two-storey shop. Its walls, like the rest of the shops on the market street, was built of timber, forming a decorative rectangular pattern along its walls, with the panels in between the thick posts washed out with a white coat. Unlike the other shops, however, this one did not see a single person enter its door before they arrived at its doorstep. Indeed, once Sylphia had taken a closer look, it was difficult to guess what even the shop was selling. Though it had a window on the storefront, it was too dark to see what was inside.

"In here, Miss..." Alphonso paused for a moment, as if he had bitten his tongue. "Sylphia, please follow me."

Sylphia snickered. Actually, this day might be more entertaining than I thought.

Alphonso entered the door first. As it swung open, a bell chime rang out from inside. Sylphia tilted her body to the side and tried to peer inside, but anything beyond the door was too dark to see.

"H-hey, is this shop even open?" She then mumbled to herself, "Well, I guess it's open now..." I bet I could at least run faster than you, if we get caught.

Before she followed after him, she noticed the shop's sign. It swung overhead with the breeze, giving off a metallic squeak. The small wooden plaque had a rough image of a pentagram drawn on it, with the words, painted on top, 'Adrianne's Library'.

Library, huh? She was about to step right inside, when she did a double take. "Eh!?" She let out a squeak, which she quickly suppressed by cupping over her mouth. Wait a second, that sign is written in English! She slid her hand down and rubbed her chin. Huh, come to think of it, everyone I've met speaks English... Is that a coincidence? Are there other languages in this world?

As she lost herself in thought, she unconsciously stepped into the store and started wandering around. It was not actually pitch black inside, but the sparse light of a few scattered lamps made it difficult to see in from outside.

I wonder what this world looks like. Maybe I should buy a map while I'm here. She loitered around the store, not really taking in anything she looked at. Language... if I think about it from a different perspective, it could be because I played the English version of the game. But that would imply that I am still in the game. Could I really still be in the game? There's just no way any of this isn't real. I've already spent several days in this game. I've eaten, slept and bathed in this world. It can't be just a game anymore!

"-ia." A blurred out voice rang in her head, but was washed away along with her thoughts.

Can it?

"-s Sylphia."

Suddenly, a tug on her arm sent a jolt of lightning across Sylphia's body.

"Eek!" In a single instant, her entire body cramped up, and nothing but a tiny squeak escaped lips.

"Miss Sylphia?" Alphonso's voice finally reached her ears clearly, as he tugged her on by the arm. "Have you found anything that interests you?"

"Eh!? Ah! N-not yet." Her heart still raced from the shock just now, so she took a deep breath and tried to calm down. That's right, we were supposed to look for magic tomes. She shook her head. I'll worry myself about that some other time.

"If I may," He held out a book in front of her. It had a simple hard bound cover of a deep magenta. Written, in large letters, was its title, 'The Five Elements'. "this book offers a solid foundation on magic. The five elemental magics: Earth, Fire, Wind, Water and Metal, are about as basic as magic gets, and should prove to be a useful stepping stone to whatever advanced discipline of magic you would one day like to pursue."

"I-I see..." Sylphia forced a smile on her lips. "In that case, I'll try it."

"Good, good." He then slung the book beneath his arm and resumed browsing for books. "This should also double as a teaching tool, since the style of writing is quite simple..." he muttered to himself.

"Hm?" Shaking off his last comment, Sylphia started to actually browse the shelves for the books. Lined up in neat, tight rows, books, all hard-bound, packed all of the shelves from left to right. If she wasn't told the place was a shop beforehand, she might have really believed it to be a library. It was only at this time that she realized that the inside of the shop was not quite as dark as it appeared from outside. Enough light filtered in from the cross-framed windows and the few candles that it was possible, with some effort, to read the titles of the books without removing them from their shelves. Or, at least, the ones she could reach.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Multiple times, she tried to reach out to a certain book with a light yellow cover. It appeared to be the thinnest book on its row - perfect for someone who disliked reading as much as her. However, no matter how hard she tried, her short body could not reach anything on the top row. Even when she tried to hop for them, it proved impossible to gain any purchase with which to pull the book from between those beside it.

"Is this what you are looking for?" A gentle voice came from behind. Then, just as Sylphia looked behind her, a woman, much taller than her, reached for the book and handed it to her.

"A-ah, thank you..." She stared a the woman's face, and saw a frail smile adorning her wrinkled face. She smiled back, holding the book between her arms.

The woman then turned fully towards her, hands clasped at her waist, and asked, "Is there anything else you are looking for, little miss?"

"No, just this for now." As Sylphia looked at her, she noticed her hair had fully greyed out, and she wore a set of light robes, similar to that of Alphonso's save for the color. That combination nagged at her, and unconsciously, her thoughts leapt from her mind to her tongue. "Are... you Adrianne?" she asked.

"Oh." The woman's eyes widened.

Realizing what she just said, Sylphia quickly tried to smooth it out. "A-ah, I mean... the sign said this was Adrianne's Library, so... I thought... um..."

"Ah, ha ha ha," the old woman laughed as though she was out of breath, "You read the sign, little miss?" She patted Sylphia on the head. "And at your age too, your parents must be proud to have such a clever girl."

Her head swung with the rubbing motion. "E-eh...?"

"But no, little miss. Adrianne is my great-grandmother. She opened this store way back when Ealdton was still being rebuilt."

"Ah, I'm sorry, it's my first time here." She drew a sheepish smile on her face. Rebuilt?

"So I heard." The old woman smiled. "My name is Nora. Pleased to meet you."

"Ah, pleased to meet you too. My name is Sylphia."

Nora giggled. "Yes, in truth Alphonso already told me a little bit about you earlier."

"Oh." Sylphia looked around her, but found no sign of Alphonso anywhere. Speaking of the geezer, where'd he run off to?

"He asked me to assist you to find a book that might interest you, but my dear, he didn't tell me you could already read!"

Eh? Her eye twitched. He didn't think I couldn't read!? What the heck!? There has to be a limit to how far you can look down on me! I might not be able to carry a goddamn sword but I could very well read, thank you very much!

"So, little miss," Nora said as she browsed the titles of the books on the shelves, "how much could you read?"

"Eh? How much?" she cocked her head, "What do you mean?"

"Mmm... let's see... Well, there are some books that are written with old and deep words," she then pointed at the book Sylphia was holding on to, "like that one, 'The Heart of Humans'. Very few mages are able to read books as complicated as that."

"Ehh...? Really?" Sylphia's shoulders fell. "I didn't know. I just thought the cover stood out, so..."

Nora giggled. "Yes, the cover is very enticing, isn't it? You don't see many a book being made with yellow covers. The dye needed to make that is rather difficult to obtain, after all."

Sylphia looked at the book in her hands. In truth, more than the cover enticed her. After hearing its title, and the fact that it was supposed to be a magic tome, she only became doubly interested in it. Hmm.... 'The Heart of Humans', huh? It does say that on the cover, so she isn't lying. Come to think of it, didn't I choose a special trait for Sylphia when I created her? She rubbed her chin. Ah, that's right - I chose 'Mind Control'. I have absolutely no idea how to use it though. Clearly it isn't as easy as looking at someone and saying 'mind control'. Tsk... If I knew it was going to turn out like this, I might have picked something more simple, like Regeneration, or Blade Mastery instead...

Man, if I just made her into a Swordsman with Blade Mastery instead, I might be out killing goblins or something right about now... She sighed. Well it's too late to complain about that now. Maybe I could unlock Mind Control using magic. It certainly sounds like it.

Sylphia looked at Nora. "Um... can I take a look anyway? I'm curious."

Nora smiled. "Of course."

With a nod, Sylphia opened the book roughly in the middle and started reading. "Hm?" It had not been long since she started reading when she noticed something. It isn't really that complicated... Actually, it sort of reads like a psychology textbook. Maybe a little more complicated, but I can understand this much. I finished college, for God's sake.

"How is it, little miss?" asked Nora

"Mm." Sylphia nodded. "I'll take this."

"Oh my." She covered her mouth. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Actually, are there other books with a similar topic to this one?"

"Oh my, what a talented little lady!" She chuckled. "I'll get them right away."

"Thank you!" Sylphia smiled.

A few moments later, Alphonso appeared out of a door on the far side of the shop. In his hands, he held a stack of three books, each so thick, just the three of them covered his entire abdomen. He quickly spotted Sylphia and said, "Ah, Miss Heroine. Have you found something that interests you? I have just finished browsing myself."

"Sir Alphonso, where were you just now?"

"Ah, just the Alchemy section, Miss Heroine. I wouldn't recommend it for a starting mage. The... ingredients you need are often very expensive. You will not be able to practice a lot."

"Huh..." She cocked her head. So Alphonso does alchemy too?

Alphonso approached her, patting the dust from his hands, "By the way, was Madame Nora able to help you?"

"A-ah, she's over there somewhere." She pointed arbitrarily over the bookshelves. "Looking for more book like this."

"Oho, 'The Heart of Humans'? An interesting choice... but," Alphonso stroked his beard with a troubled look on his face. "to teach you to read that tome alone... it might take many years."

"Huh?" Sylphia's eye twitched. He really does think I'm illiterate! She then placed her arms on her waist and, with irk in her tone, said, "I can read, you know."

"Hm!?" he grunted, "Is that so?"

"Eh?" Sylphia stepped back. Hey! Why do you look so surprised, you damn geezer!? "Y-yes, I can read that book just fine."

"Hmm. Hmm." Alphonso gave a satisfied nod. "I see. This is very fortunate indeed. Perhaps Miss Sylphia was destined to be a Mage, after all. Normally, it would take someone years to learn Empyrian Script..."

Empyrian... script? Not English?

"But you, at such a young age... you could very well become the youngest mage in the entire world!"

"I-is that so?" She eked out a crooked smile. Wait, does that mean nobody is able to read or write? Shit, this place is set in the Middle Ages, after all, isn't it?

A short while later, Nora returned with two books, one thick, like a phone directory from the old world, and the other, similar in size to 'The Heart of Humans'.

"Here are all the books we have regarding Influence magic." she said, as she placed the books on the counter, along with all the other books Alphonso brought.

"Ah, thank you, No- Madame Nora..." Sylphia said.

Nora chuckled when she heard what Sylphia called her. "My dear, you don't need to call me the same way Alphonso does. Just Nora is fine."

"A-ah, okay."

"He could be quite stubborn, couldn't he?" Nora slipped Alphonso a quick glance. "But there isn't a better teacher you can have in the entire Kingdom, you know?"

Alphonso sighed.

"Oooh?" Sylphia cocked her head. "You two seem to have known each other for a long time."

"Of course," Nora said, "he is my best customer, after all. He was also the one who taught my daughter to become a mage."

"Huh... so Sir Alphonso was a teacher before he was court mage?"

Nora giggled. "No, he was a cha-"

Alphonso cut her off. "Madame Nora." he said with a stern look on his face, before relaxing his posture and voice, "Our carriage will arrive soon." He then pushed the books slightly forward and placed several silver and copper coins on the counter.

"Ah, yes." Nora cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, I got carried away."

"Hm?" Sylphia cocked her head.

"Pay it no mind, Miss Sylphia." Alphonso said.

"Eeeh..." She frowned at him. I only get more curious when you say that...

It was well past noon when they stepped out of Adrianne's Library.

"You go on ahead into the carriage once it arrives, Miss Sylphia," said Alphonso, "I will carry the books in after you."

"Hm? Sure but... I could carry a few books too."

"Thank you, but there is no need, Miss Sylphia. I can carry that much by myself."

"Ah, okay. Thanks..." Uwah, being a cute little girl has its benefits, doesn't it? Not needing to carry heavy things, for one.

The wait was long. Expecting their journey to have been a short shopping trip, both of them hadn't eaten lunch yet.

To stave off both her hunger and boredom, Sylphia's mind started wandering towards her character skills. Aside from the special trait, I remember the job class I picked had a list of support skills attached to it. The question now is... what were they again? She racked her brain trying to recall the window with the skill list, but the best her mind could come up with was a blur. Shit, nothing's coming back to me. If I can't even remember what they are, how do I even use the skills assigned to me!?

"Grrr!" She scratched her head in frustration.

"Is something wrong, Miss Sylphia?" Alphonso turned to her. "Are you perhaps getting uncomfortable? If you wish, you may wait inside the shop. It should be cooler there, and I will call you once the carriage arrives."

"Eh? Ah!, no." she shook her hands in front of her. "Sorry, please, don't mind me."

"Hmmmm...?" He stroked his beard. "If you are sure, then..."

Hmm... Sylphia sulked by herself while a while. I wonder... could I trust this old geezer? He's been pretty nice to me all day, but... Her eyes glazed over. He did almost kill me once...

"Gnnnn..." Sylphia crossed her arms and groaned. Still, if I just keep to myself, I'll go nowhere! I don't even know if I'm in a game or not, I don't see any other players around and nothing makes sense...

She took a deep breath.

I really don't have any choice. Letting out a sigh, she finally turned to Alphonso and asked, "Um... Sir Alphonso, would you happen to know anything about stuff called 'class skills'?" She then tensed up, closing her eyes, clenching her fists, almost as if she was bracing to be slapped across the face. Yeah, I said it! That's right, I don't care if I get treated like a madman anymore!

"Hm?" Alphonso turned to her once more. "Class skills...? Where have I heard that before?"

"Eh!?" Sylphia flinched. No way...

"Ah, is that it?" He waved a finger in the air. "The divine abilities bestowed upon Legendary Heroes?"

Her heart skipped a beat. Without even thinking, she leapt on the tip of her toes and yelled, "Yes! Tell me about it!"

Her sudden outburst took him by surprise. "Y-Yes, Miss Sylphia, please calm down." He laid his hand on Sylphia's shoulder and pushed her gently back down. "Well," He placed his hand on his chin. "not much is known about them, exactly, but in general, the Legendary Heroes all possessed so-call 'Class Skills', divine abilities that transcended anything the world had ever seen. These were what separated the Legendary Heroes from normal humans, and indeed, what allowed them to, time after time, to defeat the Demon Lord, who otherwise would so easily conquer Terra Nova."

"T-that means..." Sylphia's voice turned to a whisper, "I... have something like that, right?"

"I..." Alphonso raised an eyebrow. "would have thought that Miss Sylphia would know better than anyone else."

"Eh?" Sylphia's face turned blank.

"Being the Legendary Hero yourself, after all."

She started at him in silence for a moment.

"No?"

Sylphia nodded.

His shoulders fell. "Hmm, that is a problem..." He stroked his beard. "I could not possibly possess the answer if you yourself do not."

Her jaw dropped when she heard this.

Alphonso sighed. "Well... if it's anything, Miss Sylphia might find something in the Myth itself."

"The myth?"

"Yes. The Myth of the Legendary Heroes. It is a story passed down by oral tradition, or used to be, but since people started forgetting, it had for a long time been codified into a book."

"Yes!" Her eyes gleamed brightly again. "Please, let's buy that book!"

"Hmm, I believe I should still have a copy in my room. I shall lend it to you when we return."

"Yes! Thank you, Alphonso!" She beamed a big smile for him.

Is that it!? The game... the game hid itself in the world - the tutorial, it won't appear to me in the form of panels or windows or buttons - I have to search for it, somewhere in this world, like in a book!

Maybe, just maybe... there's still a way, a way for me to return to my world! Or...

She grinned.

Since I'm in no hurry anyway, maybe there's a way for me to unlock Sylphia's abilities, and, finally, become the overpowered player character I've always dreamed of! Bwaaahahahahaha!