After dinner, Eliz went to continue her mana control training. She felt that she was improving as she had only missed twice before. She could celebrate her success when she had achieved five out of five. Then she would finally start learning how to channel mana into certain parts of her body to make herself stronger. She still hadn't decided which direction to take - whether she would be a Runner or a Fighter.

She had ruled out Defender because she didn't feel she had the aptitude for it. Then there was the question of whether she should be a Mage. However, given that it required a lot of delicate mana manipulation, it probably wasn't for her.

Lying in bed that night, Eliz looked at her stats for the first time in a long time.

Name: Elizabeth Von Roseblood Role: Minor Villainess Position: Visitor number 143 Cycle number: 1

Number of available revivals: 2

1x Replay Sequence

Number of failures: 3

Mana manipulation -2%

Mana +2%

Number of followers: 3 -> 34 Finance: 42101 gold Property: 1 Roseblood Blue Rose Estate in the Eastern Province Alliance: Frosthound Clan, Team Boulders, Underworld Intelligence, Necromancer Galarie, Clan Glasswood, Tyler Gang Achievements: - Big Sister, Coordinator, Merciless Queen Bonuses: - Potential, Shock, Language of the Light Elves

Eliz smiled when she saw that. She had finally gotten rid of the debuff! It was even in green now! Thanks to all the deals she had made. Hm. She had no idea that the deal with Mother Green counted too. That was good to know.

But what about the number of followers? Where did she get so many at once? Eliz had to take a moment to do the math before she realized it had to be Tyler's gang, in particular. So if she got a leader with a group on her side, she automatically got his subordinates?

Eliz did the math again and frowned. That meant Fraril still wasn't among her followers, even though she had a deal with him. But that might change if he went with her to the World Tree. Eliz looked over her stats again and nodded in satisfaction. She had done a good job. However, one thing still bothered her. Where was Dog Nose? Hadn't Bishop Arnot destroyed the cursed object? Why did the Church of Light need cursed items anyway? Shouldn't they just destroy them now?

Eliz felt it would be a problem, but she could do nothing about it.

She closed the System Window and tried to somehow open the window with the available quests by force of will, but the System refused to show her anything. She even tried to bring up some information window but failed again. Seriously, shouldn't the System be a little more open? It doesn't work that way in other stories. She envied the heroes in the stories with a more helpful System explaining everything to them.

Eliz's thoughts returned to what Shannon had revealed. She would become a citizen, not a visitor. That could give her access to more of the System's functions? It still bothered her, though. It sounded like she was going to be here forever. She wondered how bad that would be. There was no denying the fact that she had a better life here. And that was besides all the problems.

But if she could overcome all that, she could have a very good time here. She didn't miss that many things from her world. She would only miss her family, except for her brother. She had a few good friends, and while she would miss them, and while that might sound insensitive, it wasn't something she wanted to come back for. She didn't miss her job either. So... just family.

Eliz sighed. "There's no point in thinking about it. I still don't have a single clue about going home." Eliz decided she should stop thinking about it before it made her depressed. Eliz lay down and went to sleep.

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Rumble

Boom boom

Eliz sat up abruptly and clutched her chest. She was breathing fast and covered in sweat. She could still hear the receding echoes of the sounds of explosions, crumbling buildings, and screams in her ears. Just like the sound, her memories of the dream were fading away. She felt like she had been dreaming of home, but it wasn't a happy dream. It felt more like the end of the world.

When Eliz calmed down, she tried to recall the dream, but it was gone. All that remained was an unpleasant feeling of anxiety and sadness. She shook her head. "I mustn't think of home before bed. It gives me such apocalyptic dreams," Eliz said to herself and stood up. It was just beginning to dawn outside, but Eliz no longer felt like she had fallen asleep.

Eliz decided to practice controlling the mana for a while before it was fully light and then start getting ready for the Festival of Lights.

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In the underground of the capital.

Fraril, dressed in a black outfit covering his entire body, stood in front of a line of twenty men and women dressed just like him. Everything was covered except for their eyes, not only to protect their identities but also for overall protection. Naturally, the suits were not ordinary but were specifically designed for ease of movement, concealment, and protection.

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"The Festival of Light starts in a few hours. You know what to do. Team A will go to remove the bombs. Team B is to find and track the movements of the terrorist group. Report regularly to your team leaders. I will not tolerate any failure."

"Yes, Master!" was heard in unison, and the line broke up as the teams began to leave. When Fraril was alone, he twisted his shoulders and craned his neck. "Ho. I should get going too."

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Pacifist Headquarters

All Pacifist teams from the capital and surrounding areas had an emergency today. They gathered at Pacifist Headquarters to prepare for one of the year's biggest festivals.

Captain Rain Killian was in the same room with the other members, and everyone was getting ready. For some reason, he had an unfortunate feeling today. That was never a good sign.

Sadie walked up to a new member of their team. "Hey, kid. Think you can handle it?" she asked, poking him in the shoulder. "This is your first day of official training. If you screw up, prepare for it not to reflect well on your file, and you can forget about being assigned to a good location afterward."

The young man lifted his head and looked at Sadie. "Mind your own business," he replied firmly.

Sadie snorted. "Always so grumpy. Get that stick out of your ass and relax a little."

The young man turned away from her, and Sadie rolled her eyes before going to nag Mylia. After a moment, Gray raised his head and stared at the System Window that appeared in front of him. His eyes glittered with madness.

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Miel got up early before dawn and wondered what to wear. Eliz was a refined lady, and yet she wasn't. He couldn't determine what style she would like - formal or casual? Miel relied heavily on his appearance and dressed according to his companion's liking to further their attraction. But this was a problem!

He had already gone through his entire wardrobe and still couldn't decide what would make the best impression on her. He turned in surprise when he heard the click of a doorknob, and a small blonde head peeked in.

"Blothel?" His little brother muttered sleepily.

Miel immediately walked over to him and lifted him into his arms. "What are you doing here? You're still supposed to be sleeping," he said, patting him gently on the back.

"'Scaly." He replied, and Miel sighed. He was probably having a nightmare.

"Alright. Help big brother choose what to wear, and then I'll put you back to bed. It's too early for you. Otherwise, you won't have enough energy to play." He carried him over to the bed, where he had laid out four different kinds of clothes that he had managed to narrow down.

The little boy with blond hair and green eyes blinked and looked up before pointing a finger. "That."

"Are you sure?" Miel smiled.

"Hm. Hm." The boy nodded his head.

"Great. Thank you. Now back to bed with you, Liam." He turned and carried his brother back to his room. Liam gripped his older brother tightly and watched his receding bed.

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Dawn over the capital.

Four figures stood on the roof of one of the tall buildings. They watched the streets below, where people were hanging decorations and setting up stalls, and even though it was early in the morning, everything was bustling with activity and enthusiasm.

Mori blew a cloud of smoke from his mouth and clicked his tongue in satisfaction. "It'll start soon," he said to the others.

"Hehe. I can't wait." One of them laughed evilly, yellow eyes staring down at the humans as if they were his prey.

"Yawn. It's too early in the morning. Why the hell are you dragging me here if nothing's going on?" The one with perpetual sleepiness in his voice complained.

"You'll get fat if you just sleep," replied the third.

"But happy," he grumbled.

"Really? Isn't it better to eat human flesh than dream about it?" giggled the third.

The sleepy voice came to life a little. "True. Better to stuff yourself first and then go to sleep."

Mori rolled his eyes and tossed the rest of his cigarette into the distance. "Stop thinking about food. That's not why we're here."

"Yeah, yeah, you piece of shit. Chaos. Destruction. Darkness, blah blah blah...." The one with the yellow eyes replied.

Mori turned on him and kicked him off the roof.

"Wwwwrrraaau!" He yelled as he fell.

Mori leaned over and watched him fall. "That's right, you filthy cat. Let's see. You going to fall on all fours this time?" He grinned, and the others laughed in mock amusement.

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Eliz was waiting for Miel to arrive. She dressed tastefully but preferred to blend in rather than stand out. She wore a dark purple dress with long sleeves and a simple silver chain around her bare neck. She had opted for pumps with no heels, and underneath her long skirt, she wore hidden trousers to avoid chafing during the day's activities.

Her team was waiting with her, including Haidi. They were all in their armor and quietly discussing with each other. Eliz had planned to give them some time off at the festival, always keeping one of them with her on rotation and letting the rest have some fun.

Eliz had never seen the Festival of Lights. Still, according to the description in the book, it was a big event that included lots of booths with various goods, even foreign ones, food, drink, dancing, contests, performances, singing... basically everything a festival could offer.

Eliz assumed it was a festival created to resemble the real thing in her world. However, here it was a celebration of banishing Demons and freedom. The original Festival of Light was about the inner light that protects against spiritual darkness. Not much difference, but it seemed fitting for this world.

Eliz checked the time and sighed. She hoped Miel wouldn't feel the need to be stylishly late. At least her parents had decided to be late and not try to stick it to her. She could probably be grateful to her mother for that.

She looked up as the old butler came in, bowing. "Young lady, your escort has arrived," he announced.

Eliz nodded and stood up. "Let's go." She spurred her team on and headed out to the front of the mansion.

Miel stood in front of his family's carriage with a charming smile, dressed in tight brown trousers and a dark green shirt with a brown vest. He looked clean and fresh, and Eliz was glad he had opted for something less flashy like she had.

"My dear, how beautiful you are. Your beauty almost blinded me," Miel said as she approached him, conjuring a single purple rose from somewhere, which he offered to Eliz with a bow.

The greeting momentarily took Eliz aback before she reached out and took the rose from him. "Greetings, Miel, and thank you," she said.

Miel straightened up and smiled brightly. "It is I who thank you for gracing me with your presence today." He held out his hand to help her into the carriage.

Eliz accepted his offer and climbed in. Alarr went to stand on the step at the back of the carriage while the rest of her entourage boarded the other carriage that had been prepared for them.

Once everyone was settled, the carriages set off toward the capital. Miel smiled at Eliz, who was playing with the purple rose she had been given. "You and your sweet talk," she sighed.

Miel gave a short laugh. "I'm just getting into my role. Plus, it's fun."

Eliz shook her head. "Well, as long as you're having fun. Don't expect much from me, though. We'll hold hands, eat something, watch a show, dance, that sort of thing."

Miel winked at her. "Sounds like a date to me."

Eliz raised an eyebrow. "I mean, it's a date. That's why we're going out in public."

Miel resisted wanting to roll his eyes at Eliz and her lack of romance. "Why can't it be a real date?" he asked.

Eliz was silent for a moment. "Huh? You want it to be a real date?" she wondered.

Miel reached up and took Eliz's hand before bringing it to his lips to kiss her fingers, never taking his eyes off her. "I'd be ecstatic if it was real."

Eliz blinked again, stunned. Damn. When had this happened?

Eliz withdrew her hand and rested them on her chest, looking away to hide her embarrassment. "That wasn't in the deal," she replied.

"We can adjust it," Miel objected, watching her.

"What's gotten into you? How did you suddenly become so interested in me? I don't feel like I've given you much reason to start liking me," Eliz protested, frowning.

Miel shrugged. "It just happened."

Eliz gave him a stunned look, then rubbed her forehead. Well, that was as good an excuse as Eliz had for the children she'd brought home. It just happened.

"I'm not dating material, Miel. I don't have the time or the thoughts," she sighed.

Miel looked disappointed for a moment but then smiled again. "That's okay. Forget it, Eliz," he said, and Eliz looked at him as he backed off so quickly.

She squinted her eyes suspiciously, but Miel looked innocent. She suspected he wasn't going to give up that quickly. She couldn't say that Eliz didn't like him; he was handsome, funny, and charming. But she didn't think of him in romantic terms. She didn't want to confuse him in any way.

Eliz sighed. It was just supposed to be a business arrangement. Why was Miel suddenly seeing things differently?

She shook her head. She'd instead focus on the Festival of Light.