ELFORIA

Strange Connection

"Uh-oh. Now, this is bad..."

'Which dessert should I choose? It all looked to delicious.'

And yes, the difficult situation that our beloved female lead encountered is choosing which dessert to buy.

"Hmm... Should I just buy it all? But that would cost too much, I still have to visit the other shops in this city." Eloise murmured to herself, looking conflicted.

The waitress waiting for her order smiled looking at the innocent teenage girl unable to choose which dessert to buy.

'She's so adorable!'

If only the poor girl knew that this girl came here after massacring dozens of monsters. She's definitely far from adorable!

"Miss? If I may, this sweet chocolate fudge with strawberry drizzle is one of our best selling. It's a must to try this when visiting our shop." Eloise's eyes immediately lit up.

" That's it! Can you give me three servings of that, please?" Three?!

"A-Are you waiting for someone else miss? Do you want us to put another chair in this table?" The waitress asked, realizing that this girl might have been waiting for some company.

'Her table is reserved for a single customer, though?'

"No need, I'm alone." Eloise smiled.

***

"Hmm... Where should I go next?"

Eloise roamed around the busy street of the City of Uzhin. Stopping by various shops that sells different types of products.

She tasted almost every type of delicacies and drinks of the region, went to different places.

'This really feels like a vacation.'

"Master..." Her endless roaming around was interrupted by Vira's voice in her head.

"Vira?"

"I sense something, Master. A familiar presence is nearby."

As mentioned in the previous chapters, Zero and Vira can both change their forms.

(Refer to Chapter 2 for reference.)

At this moment, Vira and Zero are in the form of black and while porcelain bracelets.

''Master...Master... It's the same feeling as when we sensed your sword.''

Eloise's mood instantly changed, "Do you recognize it? Can you trace the location?"

Silence followed after that, until Vira once again spoke in her head. "Master... It's gone."

"We could no longer feel it's presence, Master. It hid itself."

"Strange..."

***

" Hey, have you heard?"

" What?"

"Something strange happened recently."

"Is it about the appearance of the monsters?

" Apparently, strange holes would appear at the sky, ground, or in the middle of nowhere. This phenomena has been happening throughout the five continents. There's a rumour that those so-called 'portals' are the reason behind the sudden increase on dark beast's attacks."

Eloise signed as she put down the cup of hot chocolate on the table. It's almost nighttime and she decided to stop for a snack when she saw a cafe, before going back to the inn.

'It looks like news have started to spread.'

She actually expected it. With the sudden increase in the number of monsters — or the so called dark beasts, she knew that all sorts of talks will start.

But the thing that these citizens were talking about caught her attention.

"Just how many portals have opened so far?" This isn't normal.

As someone with a related to time and space, she knew full well that portals of those caliber used to seal of dangerous creatures will not just suddenly break. And for so many of it to break at the same time?

'Something is definitely wrong.'

"Ugh. Who cares? Let's just eat first." pushing it all aside, she scooped a spoonful of her choco moist cupcake.

"Hmmm.. Heaven.."

Eloise spent another half an hour in that café before she decided to finally leave. Of course, not before ordering a some sweets for takeouts.

'Now then, let me find a secluded area.'

As she was finding a place away from people's eyes where she could freely use teleportation, another shop caught her eye.

It's an antique shop. The structure looked old yet beautiful. The white snow on its roof made it look even more regal. For some reason, she felt the urge to enter that shop.

"Master... It's back!" Zero

"Master, the presence earlier! It's stronger here!" Vira

"Don't tell me... " Eloise stared at the antique shop in front of her. What's in here, exactly?

Intrigued, she entered the door of the shop. I

The place was lit with lamps, which also gave warmth in the inside of the store.

Shelves containing different types of ancient artifacts, paintings, decorations, and even books is what welcome her as soon as she stepped foot inside.

The smell of wood, which is relaxing adds up to the mood of the place.

"Welcome, miss... " An old woman was seated at the corner near the door.

" Are you looking for anything in particular?" The old woman asked as she approached her.

" Master! The presence grew stronger! " Vira

Eloise looked around, what could be causing her familiars to be this excited?

"May I look around?" she said while still looking around the shop.

" Go ahaed... I hope you find what you're searching for." the old lady left after that after giving her a meaningful look.

'The thing I'm looking for?'

Eloise went past shelves after shelves, just mindlessly looking around. On the other hand, her familiars are getting too excited.

"Master! Master! It's here!" Zero

"You must find it!" Vira

The bracelets in her hand has been vibrating. Yet she just ignored it.

Eloise passed through several paintings that looked too old, yet was preserved beautifully.

It's amazing how she could sense a vague amount of mana in each thing that she can see inside the shop, when mana no longer exists in this world.

"It's definitely suspi---."

'What is that?'

While looking through the shelves containing old books, her eyes landed at a certain grimoire placed at the top of the shelf.

After looking around for a bit to make sure that no one is around, Eloise flicked her fingers and the grimoire immediately flew towards her hands.

'A damaged books?'

There are obvious marks of being burnt at the entirety of the book. Despite that, Eloise doesn't know why but she just walked towards the place where she saw the old lady earlier and intends to buy the grimoire.

For some reason, her familiars also turned quiet.

But wanna know know what the strangest part is?

Where did the old lady go?