A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

After all, the stone slab simulates the entire Second Age, not just a small area.

Dorothea was thrown into different places each time, making finding her way the most difficult part.

"The last time we saw the World Will, it was just because she was in a good 'mood'."

Looking back now, it's truly incredible that I encountered the World Will in the real world.

Why, then, did it lead her and Bray to the real world at that time and in that place?

“I’m in a good mood…” Bray squinted his right eye and murmured.

"That's all I wanted to tell you, and maybe it can give you some inspiration."

"However, my original plan was to ask you for another stone slab."

"Sorry, that thing isn't mine." Bray couldn't do anything about it; the thing wasn't his.

Besides, the stone slab takes up a lot of space, and I don't want to go to the Second Era again.

"Never mind if you don't have one." Dorothea didn't bother to ask any further questions.

If it hadn't happened by chance, Dorothea would have forgotten about it.

"What exactly do you want to do in the Northern Continent?" She finally remembered to ask this question.

Why would Bray leave the perfectly good Central Continent and cross the sea to come to the Northern Continent?

Dorothea would never believe that he was there for tourism.

“They want to dismantle the ‘United Gods’,” Bray said in a flat, monotone voice.

"Are you serious?"

"Seriously."

"Do you know where the 'Alliance of the Gods' base is?" Dorothea asked, looking at Bray with interest.

"do not know."

"..." Dorothea's feelings were complicated. Bray spoke with great confidence, but in the end, he didn't even know where the other party was.

Dorothea, who had initially shown some interest, was immediately disappointed.

She took the stone slab back from Bray's hand and put it on the bookshelf.

"..." Bray was a little unaccustomed to the sudden loss of something in his hand, and he even opened and closed his palms a few times.

"However, I know that the 'Alliance of the Gods' base is in the Northern Continent."

"In the Northern Continent?" Dorothea raised her eyelids again.

She also speculated that the "Alliance of the Gods" might have all gathered in the Northern Continent, since there were quite a few Silver-type beings in the Northern Continent.

Why are you so sure?

“That’s what the traitor from ‘All the Gods’ said,” Bray said calmly.

"The people you know are really interesting," Dorothea simply said.

She didn't doubt Bray's statement because it was easy to tell when Bray was lying.

"If you find it, remember to call me."

Dorothea was also very interested in turning the "Alliance of the Gods" upside down.

"If we find it." Bray shrugged helplessly. He wanted to find it himself, but if it were that easy, he wouldn't have had to put in so much effort.

"I heard that if you kill the Silver Seed guarding the gate, you can enter the 'Alliance of the Gods' base." Bray thought of Jonathan's words and mentioned it to Dorothea.

Perhaps Dorothea might know some clues, after all, she lives in the Northern Continent.

"A Silver-ranked gatekeeper?" Dorothea frowned, then sat down in a chair.

"I don't know him." After thinking for a few minutes, she gave up trying to figure it out.

There are many silver species, but Dorothea has not yet encountered anyone similar to the gatekeeper.

When you talk about gatekeepers, you'll definitely think of gates, but Dorothea has never seen a Silver-ranked person guard a gate.

"No, that's not right." After thinking of the "door," Dorothea pressed the back of her index finger against her lower lip and murmured.

“A goalkeeper doesn’t necessarily have to be guarding the door,” she told Bray.

"?" Bray, who couldn't keep up with Dorothea's thoughts, was full of questions.

"Just like inside the stone slab, there is a path to the real world, but no door."

“Maybe the door itself isn’t usually visible,” Dorothea began to analyze for Bray.

“In that case, I know there’s a strange silver species.” With that, she stood up from her chair.

She had originally planned to whistle to summon her mount.

But after she made the whistling gesture, she suddenly realized that her dragon's wings were damaged and she couldn't fly at all.

Dorothea was a little reluctant at the thought of having to walk to find that silver seed.

"Go by yourself." Dorothea sat down again.

“…” Bray remained silent.

The battle itself was fine, but the long journey to find the Silver Seed was troublesome.

"You're kidding me, right?" Bray was so surprised that he leaned back involuntarily.

“I’m not kidding, it’s too much trouble to walk there.” Even if you tell Dorothea there’s a car, she’s not really keen on going.

She always found this way of life boring and inconvenient.

Dorothea rested her chin on her hand, propped her elbow on the windowsill, and gazed into the distance.

The wind blew through her long silver hair, and the light illuminated her jewel-like eyes.

Although the scene was quite beautiful, Bray had no intention of appreciating it; he just wanted to question whether the empress was serious.

But seeing the other person's cold expression, he was certain that Dorothea was serious.

“I don’t know the way,” Bray sighed deeply.

Even if Dorothea tells me there are silver species worth exploring, it's all for nothing if I don't recognize them.

“That’s a problem too,” Dorothea said quietly.

"Can you fly an airship?" she asked casually.

If Dorothea remembered correctly, Snowwind Keep had many undamaged airships, which were all left aside.

Because the airship was so special, the buildings were not dismantled, but people never actually used it.

The reason is simple: in this day and age, using an airship in the air was tantamount to suicide.

If any flying Silver-tier creature comes along, the airship will crash along with its crew.

So the airship was almost completely covered in snow.

“No.” Despite the abrupt jumps in the conversation, Bray could still keep up.

It's just a matter of Dorothea not wanting to go looking for monsters, and then asking herself if she could fly an airship.

"But I think I can give it a try."

Although Bray couldn't fly an airship or a plane, he thought he might be able to give it a try.

In his entire life, he has driven cars, ridden dragons, sat on fish, and skateboarded, but he has never personally piloted an airship.

Just imagining himself piloting an airship made Bray a little eager to try it out.

"That's great, let's go!" Dorothea exclaimed, slapping her thigh as she decided to set off.

It was as if Bray hadn't said "I can't," but rather "I'm very skilled at it," making one want to pick their ear and listen carefully again.

Huh? Didn't Bray not know how to drive?

Yes, Bray won't drive, but it's fine as long as he's willing to drive.

For Dorothea, all she needed was a "driver".

---

Knowing that Bray definitely flew an airship, Dorothea readily led him to the place where a large number of airships were kept.

The airships here are covered with a thick layer of snow, which makes one worry about whether the internal components can function properly.

Bray stood in front of an airship whose surface was covered in children's graffiti.

The airship wasn't large; it was a private airship, just the right size for Bray and Dorothea to ride together.

He thought this airship was really cool, and that it would be a lot of fun to operate it.

"Heh..." Bray exhaled a puff of white mist, somewhat wanting to reach out and touch the hull of the airship in front of him.

"If you don't want your hands to get on it, don't touch it," Dorothea reminded her promptly.

If she hadn't spoken up in time, Bray probably would have already reached out and touched it, and then gotten stuck to it.

"So, shall we set off now?" Dorothea asked from behind Bray, arms crossed.

“I’ll climb up to the cockpit first and see how to operate it,” Bray said earnestly to Dorothea, before climbing up to the airship’s entrance.

Looking at the dazzling array of buttons and joysticks in front of him, Bray felt not fear at all, but rather an urge to start the engine right now.

“Let me ask you a question first,” Bray called out to Dorothea below, standing on the airship.

“Ask,” Dorothea replied simply to Bray.

"What if we encounter something extraordinary while we're flying?"

Instead of considering the more pressing question of whether he could pilot the airship, Bray focused on something else entirely.

“It’s okay, I’ll do it,” Dorothea said calmly.

An airship with its hull covered in children's graffiti was flying shakily through the air.

Bray sat in the cockpit with a serious expression, pondering the next step.

Not long ago, he studied the operation manual, and after some tinkering, the airship miraculously took off.

But before takeoff, Bray took out a lot of magic stones as fuel, and I felt sorry for him for a long time.

But indeed, it was a very novel experience to take off in an airship myself.

Not only did he want to fly, but Bray also wanted to fly very, very high.

Just for safety reasons, he didn't fly very high—

Although Bray and Dorothea did not realize that having someone who had never flown an airship sit in the cockpit was even more dangerous.

At this moment, Dorothea was still sitting behind Bray, crossing her legs and reading old magazines to pass the time.

Dorothea's face showed no fear whatsoever. Despite the airship being blown up time and time again, she remained calm.

As for her, as long as the airship didn't crash into the ground and explode, it didn't matter.

She wasn't worried about whether the airship would explode or not, because even if it did, it wouldn't kill her.

What bothered her most was that the airship had exploded and she had to walk back.

The airship swayed violently up and down and side to side, and Dorothea's body swayed along with it.

After getting a little annoyed by the rocking, she stepped onto the deck with her boot to regain her balance.

However, due to her immense strength, the metal deck was dented under her weight.

Thankfully, Bray couldn't see it, otherwise he would have been unable to resist criticizing Dorothea for not taking care of the airship.

“You’ve flown past it. Turn left,” Dorothea said, raising her eyelids to Bray, who was piloting the airship.

Even though she was reading a magazine, Dorothea could still sense that she was going astray.

“I know, I just don’t know how to turn,” Bray said matter-of-factly.

He felt it was unreasonable to expect a new driver like himself to be so proficient; he needed more time to adapt to this demanding job.

His only advantage is that he can find his way even in places with extremely low visibility.

After fumbling around for a while, Bray finally figured out how to turn left.

However, he also discovered something particularly interesting: he figured out how to accelerate explosively.