Flandre looked at Texas beside her; Texas hesitated for a second and then pulled out her Pocky. "You can call me Texas."
Then the group arrived at the teahouse. Just as they entered, they heard an exclamation.
"Look who I see, our little hero Flandre." "Oh, so this is Flandre? She's so small." "Unbelievable, such a small child could actually defeat those adults."
...Flandre tilted her head, feeling like she had seen this scene somewhere before. After a bit of reminiscing, she finally found something similar in another memory. It was a novel titled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The first time that Harry Potter went to the place called a tavern, it seemed similar to her current situation.
However, the magic in that novel seemed quite weak in terms of combat. Was that enemy named Voldemort really that hard to deal with? If it were her sister, she could easily pull out those Horcruxes, and Flandre could just crush them one by one. In the end, everyone in that novel knew the villain was up to no good, yet they acted like ostriches, pretending not to know until people started dying and then finally fought back. Even then, it was a pyrrhic victory. If it were her sister, she wouldn't give the opponent that chance at all.
"So novels are just novels, they can't compare to Big Sister or me at all!" Flandre giggled to herself smugly while greeting the people present.
"This kid is even more of a social butterfly than I am!" Exusiai, who was nearby, had originally thought Flandre had an introverted personality, but found that she wasn't shy at all. No matter who greeted her, she could chat for a few words.
"You little thing sure know a lot!" By the time the round of greetings was over and Flandre sat back down, hot tea had already been placed on the table. Exusiai said to Flandre with some admiration.
"It's alright. I usually have nothing to do at home, so I can only read books to pass the time," Flandre replied very calmly.
"Reading to pass the time? Then what books do you usually read?" Exusiai, being a university graduate, prepared to show off her knowledge.
"Recently? I've been reading Analysis of Illusions: This World is Neither True Nor False. You know, even though the Witch King has been gone for decades, his insights into spells were absolutely ahead of his time. Many of the concepts he proposed in the book have already become reality..."
Flandre thought, since you want to discuss it with me, let's go! Talking about moduli one moment and data the next, adding in the extension and conversion of spell formulas, she spent ten minutes excitedly speaking in what sounded like a foreign language. As for Exusiai, her eyes were spinning, and she was on the verge of fainting. At this moment, her inner self was experiencing the three philosophical questions: Who am I? Where am I? Why did I bring up this topic?
Texas, seeing her friend's defeated look, calmly picked up her teacup and took a sip. Usually, when chatting, Exusiai would occasionally boast about being a regular graduate of Laterano University. Now it seemed she was still lacking when faced with a true scholar. Of course, this was also because their directions were different. Given Exusiai's knowledge, she should be discussing explosives and demolition with someone like W, not Flandre.
After Texas helped Exusiai leave, Flandre calmly picked up the black tea in front of her and began to drink.
"Hey, I thought you were just reading that for fun. I didn't expect you to actually understand it!" Beatrice recalled how she had also looked at that book as if it were written in a celestial language. Looking at the despondent Exusiai, she felt a slight sense of empathy.
"Why wouldn't I? That book is actually quite interesting. Big Sister Beatrice, could you help me collect more books like that?" Flandre expressed that learning made her happy.
To this, Beatrice expressed that she really couldn't empathize anymore. But she also promised to help look for similar books.
"By the way, that Red Mist of yours seemed to be completely under your control before, right?" Beatrice thought of something Chen Huijie had mentioned while they were chatting and asked.
"Yes. Is there something Big Sister Beatrice needs Flandre to help with?" Flandre nodded in response.
"It's like this: the Guard Department is planning to conduct training for blind fighting and night combat—essentially, how to fight effectively when vision is restricted. We happened to think of your Red Mist... Could you come to the Guard Department to help? We could have you cover the training area with mist, and then our Operators can practice inside."
Beatrice was a bit hesitant. After all, using Originium Arts for a long time can cause the caster's physical condition to deteriorate. She wasn't sure if Flandre could hold out.
"It's very simple. This spell doesn't consume much for me. Just call me when you're ready." Flandre didn't think it was a troublesome matter at all.
"Alright then. We still need to coordinate after I get back. I'll call you once everything is decided!" Beatrice, seeing Flandre agree so easily, stopped worrying.
After walking around the streets, Flandre and Beatrice returned home satisfied. This outing basically showed that with official backing, there were no problems with Flandre going out. In the following days, Flandre would occasionally go out for a stroll by herself. Although people would still subconsciously look at her wings, there was no longer any fear. Occasionally, she would even receive snacks from the ladies at the shops. Flandre never refused these; she would just politely respond with a thank you.
Soon, Beatrice brought good news. The Guard Department had approved the training plan. Flandre was brought to the training base. The people here had prepared long ago. The referees put on infrared goggles that could see through the mist. Then, with a wave of Flandre's hand, the prepared field was covered in Red Mist.
"Uh, could the concentration of this mist be lowered a bit? Normally, there should be visibility within about a meter." Chen Huijie, who was nearby, walked in for two steps and then backed out to explain.
After all, they were training; a field where you couldn't even see your own hands was a bit too demanding.
"Okay!" Flandre made a light swipe at the Red Mist with her hand. Everyone could clearly feel the concentration decrease. Chen Huijie went back in for another round to confirm before coming out again and giving Flandre a thumbs up. "Very good, little Flandre is so smart!"
Then she looked at the other people nearby. "Then, how about we do a test according to the plan first?"
That person led the team into the Red Mist. They all came back out only after half an hour. "It's very good. The training program is very valuable. However, the only trouble is that Ms. Flandre needs to maintain this spell constantly."
The leader of the team was very satisfied. Training here would significantly improve the team's combat effectiveness. The only trouble was that if Flandre wasn't here, they wouldn't be able to train.
"Actually, if needed, I can make the spell permanent here!" Flandre raised her hand.
"Permanent?" Chen Huijie said.
"That's right. You just need to connect the spell model to an Originium piece that provides energy and then set the program. This will create a mist zone that can be turned on and off. When the Originium energy is exhausted, just replace it with a new one."
Flandre had been seriously reading and learning about Terra's Originium. Although she hadn't put it into practice yet, she felt it shouldn't be difficult. Seeing her so confident, everyone skeptically began to arrange the spell runes in these areas under her direction. After all the runes were successfully linked, Flandre watched as a person in a protective suit inserted a small piece of Originium into the energy supply point.
The moment the spell was activated, the mist spread across almost the entire floor.
"Oops! I forgot to control the range. Turn it off first, I'll modify it!" Standing in the Red Mist, Flandre slapped her head, saying she had forgotten to add the runes to fix the Red Mist here. So she had to redo it now.
Even though everyone was startled by the sudden appearance of the Red Mist, it quickly dissipated. Just as Flandre was re-engraving the runes, someone came over curiously.
"Oh, little Flandre said she could fix that Red Mist spell here, so it can be used directly whenever needed without her having to come personally. She missed adding a containment spell just now, which caused the mist to spread everywhere." Chen Huijie relayed Flandre's words.
"So, we can conduct this training ourselves in the future?"
"You can also adjust the concentration of the Red Mist!" Flandre's voice came from not far away. While engraving the spell, she decided to include concentration adjustment as well.
"How do you do it?" Hearing Flandre's words, everyone gathered around curiously.
And Flandre pointed to the button and said: "Just turn this button; the concentration can be adjusted from completely invisible to fully visible."