"What do you mean this is the Old Capital?" I still couldn't believe it.

We were staring at nothing.

Mabel raised her tiny eyebrows and waved toward the basin ahead of us.

"You made it all go away, Goddess."

Alexandra did? This was too much. She said she had an accident, and that's when she teleported over to my world. She also claimed that she didn't kill anyone.

This basin is huge and empty. If the Orc girl is right, and more than a million people lived here, and it's all gone thanks to Alex, I'm not buying it.

"W-what happened exactly?" I ask, and to combat her suspicion, I add. "I got amnesia."

[Notice: You could also ask me, without lying.]

Yeah, as if I'd trust anything the System says. She wasn't exactly helpful until now. And she would only answer specific questions that she knew the answer to.

"What is an amnesia?" Mabel's eyes go wide like a pair of plates.

"It means I hit my head when it happened, so I don't remember all the details."

How hard is it to convince a six-year-old?

She nods and ponders, the System using the time to her advantage.

[Notice: The Thirteenth Bride cracked the long-lost secrets of teleportation. The Demon Lord challenged her to expand the Gates that connected the Empire.]

Let me guess. She failed.

[The Gates shut down, and chaos ensured on the Continent. The Human Kingdoms rebelled under the First Banner of Lady Ghisella. The Cranta Empire experienced a devastating civil war.]

Yeah, I should have been able to puzzle together as much. The signs were all there but didn't mention the Capitol's disappearance.

"I wasn't born yet, but Charlotte said you protected the Demon Lord when he retreated to the Capitol. The Thirteenth Battalion, I mean." Mabel picks it up where the System trailed off.

She seems to be struggling with the words.

"While the Banners fought a battle outside the city, you tried to reopen the Gates. Charlotte said it was the only chance to get reinforcements in time." She continues, and I can guess the rest.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Rather than reopening the teleportation artifact, she made the entire city disappear.

[Notice: Mission completed. You discovered the Old capital, +1000 Exp. You can find the Strawberry Ice Cream in your [Inventory]. You leveled up!]

It's hard to say anything after this.

[Notice: You can choose from three different skills. But considering the situation, you can pick later.]

I raise my eyes to the sky, contemplating the sins this body might have committed, but there is no time to think. Something is coming.

I thought about dragons near the lake. Now it seems like ten of them finally made their entrance. They come our way, straight across the empty basin towards the hills.

After all this, it doesn't seem like a coincidence.

I take a few uncertain steps, walking past Mabel. She doesn't seem to have noticed them yet but she looks the saddest I have seen her until now.

"Um, silly quiz to lighten the mood. Are dragons the strongest creatures in the world?" I ask as the menacing silhouettes become larger and larger.

There's no answer. Did she notice them too, and froze up? I turn to check, and that's when I realize, we're not alone.

A woman in grey robes and similar hair holds the innocent girl's shoulders, one hand on her mouth to keep her quiet. When did she...

"Who would have thought that the useless Princess was right?" Her voice is weak but drips with venom. If she's not the stereotypical evil stepmother type, I don't know who.

"It served as the perfect excuse to send her away so she could meet her fate, but I'm glad I double-checked her claims."

Is she... Monologuing? She couldn't make it more obvious. Not even if she held up a sign that says I'm the main baddie, the old scheming witch nobody likes.

She gives me the creeps right away.

"Welcome back, Thirteenth Bride. I was looking forward to settling a score with you."

[New Mission: Survive the encounter with the First Bride, Lady Ghisella of Nordhaben. Penalty on failure: Death.]

Don't you say? If I didn't survive it, that'd mean I died, didn't I?

Wait, no, hold on. Did she say First Bride? This is the chick who fought my men? I mean, Alexandra's Orcs. Okay, I hate her already, cool, challenge accepted.

She looks over my head. If I haven't seen them already it'd seem like she wants to distract me.

"Oh, you have friends? It's getting interesting. You don't often see this many wyverns flying in the wild. Let's see how they can deal with my gargoyles."

As she says that, the whirlwind almost sweeps me away. From the other side of the hills, we only left behind, a dozen creatures rise, all grey and covered in moss.

They look like they're made of stone, but can't be. They would have an insane weight. Their wings look fragile, yet they keep them in the air, generating strong winds.

I know what a gargoyle is. I saw them on the sides of old buildings and read about them in fantasy stories. But seeing them now, and flying for real is unbelievable.

The First Bride points towards the approaching monsters. They follow her instructions without a word, flying straight at them. I'd expect Mabel to piss herself right about now, but her eyes are full of excitement.

Well, I'm not even surprised that she's the braver of the two of us.

"Let her go." I find my voice as I turn back toward the old woman. She raises an eyebrow. "She's only a child, it seems like you have a beef with me, not her."

"So you care about her? Good. That means you won't teleport away." She grins, gripping Mabel's shoulders even tighter. It's the first time I saw her hurt and something flips inside me.

She thinks I'm Alexandra who can teleport. She's also crazy-powerful according to the clues, and she still challenged her. This can only go wrong, but there is no way I'll leave the girl behind.

[Notice: Correct, she's your hostage. Emergency Powers unlocked.]