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In the end, it took Crim three days before she recovered enough to return to DUO.
The fever was gone in two days, but she took one extra day to rest just to be safe.
When she finally was able to log in after so many days away, she went straight to Floria to see how it was doing.

“I have to say…there’s a lot more players in this village now.”
“Yes, there’s various high level players who have already arrived.”

White Lily was there as her guide too, as she had been stationed in Floria to be a sort of ambassador for their alliance.
She had sent Crim a message saying that there was something she wanted to discuss, so Crim’s first stop was the mansion the queen had given to the guild Lily Garden during their stay there.

“First off, we’re keeping the contact level between players and NPCs at the minimum. Luckily, the players here already are all quite skilled, so they haven’t caused any trouble yet.”
“I concur with that decision. Our main priority should be to build up trust with the elves while bothering them as little as possible, which may displease some players, but I hope they can handle it.”

There was a setting only accessible to the Union that formed an alliance with NPC settlements, called City NPC Interaction Level, which they had put to the lowest setting.

That meant that players were able to shop and trade with NPCs, but they could not touch any of the opposite sex, and would receive a warning if they attempted to do it regardless.

Any sort of violent act without a clear declaration of war would also see them instantly being branded as Red Players, the signature of Player Killers, so no sensible player would do that.

“But the fact remains that there’s some players, both male and female, who really want to build close friendships with the elves. I guess there’s no denying the beautiful looks of elves.”

In other words, some wanted to flirt.

“I guess that’s something we can’t really stop them from trying. But we’ll have to intervene if they go overboard, though I wouldn’t mind if the elves took care of them instead.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. But don’t worry, we Lily Garden, the protectors of maidens, will make sure to give them an earful as well.”
“Hahah, That sounds good too.”

After some friendly banter, Crim parted ways with White Lily and went to continue looking around the village.

That way, she was able to confirm that there were no players causing trouble in the village…and by chance spotted three familiar figures.

“Ah, Crim!”
“Ohh Freya, and Frey too. Where are ye going?”
“Well, we’re going to take a few rounds around Weisswald. It’s best to scout ahead of the Raid Battle after all.”

After they replied, the third person behind the twins stepped forward.

“…And I’ll be their guide in the forest. I often went there to play while growing up, so I’m confident in saying that I know the forest better than anyone else.”

It was Sven, who looked just a bit proud of himself, making the twins grimace a little. But it was a rare opportunity to learn the layout of the land from a local, so it was best to not refuse.

“Hm… it may be somewhat sudden, yet I would fain join this excursion as well. Sven, may I follow in thy footsteps through the forest?”
“Yes, of course you can come too.”

Sven was more than happy to accept, and so Crim and her friends went to learn more about the forest they wanted to protect.

◇◇◇

They walked around the forest, learning which spots would need to be protected the most.

“What’s this…are you also taking a stroll in the forest?”

A girl’s voice suddenly spoke to them from behind…which made Crim, Frey, and Freya instantly turn around, ready to fight.
The only one who seemed bewildered there was Sven.

“Umn… Huh? Sorry, who’s this girl…?”
“Sven, it’s her, that’s Ba‘al Zəbûl Aery.”
“…What? This little girl?!”

Sven looked shocked hearing that, but he also readied his bow. Crim only saw that happen through the corner of her eyes, as she was looking straight at the girl in front of them while feeling a cold sweat on her back.

…This was different from the time they saw her in the tea house, that girl was clearly a devil now.

“…I guess I have no reason to doubt you if Crim is also ready to fight… Why did you come here? Are you trying to scout our movements? Or weaken our strength before the fight…”
“I don’t need to do that.”

Sven pointed a drawn arrow at the girl while asking that…but she refuted it all with a single sentence.

…And that was all it took.

She commanded so much authority with her voice that Sven felt pressured to stand back, unable to say anything back.
Aery seemed to quickly lose interest in him, as she looked at Crim next.

It was like she had turned into a different girl after their encounter in the tea house. Just looking at her gave Crim goosebumps.
That gaze…it was that of a conqueror who wanted to bathe the world under her own colors.

“…It seems you’ve gathered the men necessary to stand against me. I can’t wait for you to come challenge me.”

Her lips curled up very slightly into a smile as she said that, and then Aery vanished.

“…It seems she’s also ready to begin her attack any moment now.”
“That girl…she’s clearly different from the other devils we’ve fought before. She’s the first one who’s trying to fight head on without any underhanded attacks.”
“Yes…but that only makes her that much more fearsome.”

…A full on frontal assault, no tricks, just sheer domination.
She had showed up just to let Crim know that.
But Crim and her friends could not afford to stop there, they could not let the girl demoralize them so easily.

“…Sunday next week. That’s the day we’ll do it.”

As Crim announced that…Freya and Frey nodded nervously.