The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'
Chapter 178 - Your Plot Is My Plot, My Plot Is My Plot, Her Plot Is... Is It A Plot?

Chapter 178: Chapter 178 - Your Plot Is My Plot, My Plot Is My Plot, Her Plot Is... Is It A Plot?

Elua’s conversation after scolding her escort was interrupted by an excited call. Her mentor’s husband gestured eagerly toward the research pavilion as he approached.

"Miss Goltbred! I’m glad I caught you. I wanted to discuss our latest ritual modifications."

"Of course. I noticed the new essence-draining formations. I’d love to see your notes."

His enthusiasm brought a ’sweet’ smile to her face as she willingly followed, though she noted it was a lot closer to the area she’d been avoiding. There also wouldn’t be half as many witnesses to her location - but maybe that was fine.

The Skydancer had performed its work well while staying wrapped in her illusion. She kept it simple and merely made it appear as a different color and slightly smaller as it scouted the area and took note of guards. The ancient cultivator had taught the creature to cross over the same spot in the air repeatedly so that they were marked on the bird’s recorded route.

He’d only missed one that she could detect with her spiritual sense, but it was good training. She’d already made a good plan for how to steal back her own thing, as annoying as it was to do. The older man tapped on a set of papers when they were momentarily alone and she began to look them over.

"We’ve managed to stabilize the anomalous ritual’s effect by siphoning off excess essence that builds. We push it to the lights at nighttime. Though maintaining the barriers is..."

He hesitated, then lowered his voice.

"We’re considering materials to help save instead of expending the energy. Then using the accumulated essence as a last resort if the Voidlings breach our defenses here. A strong activation of the ritual here could devastate their forces."

Elua almost wanted to cackle, but instead she just tilted her head. She almost couldn’t believe her luck. Her mint eyes widened with crafted ’curiosity’.

"So you’re really going to perform that ritual you’ve been preparing to learn more about the Voidling’s properties... here?"

A grim nod was all she received. The illusionist had to do her best to show concern.

"But wouldn’t activating the gravity ritual in the middle of the battle destroy all your research data as well?"

"Possibly, yes. Though we’re hoping to hold them off and complete our readings before it comes to that. If we can get the information out undamaged, it will help advance our studies into reducing the effect... or even nullifying their spiritual interference completely."

She traced a finger along one of the diagram-covered tables, pretending to be deep in thought. Then the brunette picked up a few seemingly at random and placed them in an equally ’unintentional’ pattern before humming and rubbing her chin.

"Have you considered... partitioning the effects of the ritual here instead? Creating smaller, controlled areas where you could safely test the anomaly’s impact on individual Voidling targets? These strange sigils might be just as important as any data on Voidlings, right?"

Her ’innocent’ questions that seemed to come out of nowhere made the senior researcher pause. His attention was caught and he looked at the papers with care before shaking his head.

"That would require incredibly precise essence manipulation from the ritual controller. The calculations for the changes alone-"

"Oh, I just thought since you’re already containing it..."

She picked up a nearby pen and sketched a quick series of sigils and landmarks on a blank sheet. The schemer even crossed a few out and wrote new ones as if she was capable of making ’silly’ mistakes when it came to elementary level sigils.

"If you layered the containment barriers like this, couldn’t you create stable pockets to lead the enemies into? Then you could gather data on how the different entities react to varying levels of gravitational force."

His eyes lit up as he studied her drawings while tapping a finger excitedly on the table..

"This is... yes, this could work! We’d need to modify the current array. Create a control nexus with proper anchoring points..."

He trailed off, already adding his own notations to her doodles. Elua watched his excitement build, her ’tiny’ suggestions carefully leading him toward more elaborate applications. The cultivator would do it a few more times before the day came that this new Gravity Trap was used in the Descent.

’Sometimes the best way to hide a scheme is to make them build you exactly what you wanted them to. And with their own ideas involved, even if people love to shift blame... they still rarely stop to think that you had planned it.’

---

After the sun had set for the evening, and the helical lanterns of the camp were shining steadily, the Goltbred heiress retired to her guest tent. Of course, she made sure she was ’witnessed’ entering it by no less than four chatty colleagues that had walked her there.

The real Elua kept walking somewhere else for the first time the entire day. The curved walls of a thick tent covered in quite a few protective sigils of various kinds was her destination. The storage place cast shadows in the moonlight through which two guards passed by on their regular route.

The illusionist didn’t even bother stopping as she was completely invisible, inaudible, unsmellable... and though she usually didn’t like to brag about it, tasteless to anyone she encountered. Her Physique in her past life had refined that particular technical skill. Ruining their perception of her touch was also possible, but it used less focus and energy to just not run into someone.

Or blast them with spirit to make them forget they had been touched afterwards. However, she didn’t rush into the tent despite having a clear route. Only after making sure that no alarms would be tripped did she finally slip inside.

Various items lined the shelves - artifacts and oddities gathered her for study by the capable researchers. Seemingly for reference, which made it interesting that they thought her spiritually contaminated item had value to their current project here.

Her mint eyes fixed immediately on the twisted mass near the back. It sat alone on a reinforced table, surrounded by Enchanter magnitude dampening sigils that almost made her laugh. She almost couldn’t believe they really thought that it would contain its leaking energy... but it had also only been at the site a short time.

Her monotone whisper held genuine fondness as she approached the melon-sized object.

"Oh, I forgot how cute this thing was after I was done with it."

Its surfaces bent at impossible angles - places where the bridge between physical and essence in the material had buckled under the pressure of her spiritual breakthrough to Breacher instead of ’safely’ radiating into the far distance. The event created paths in the material that seemed to loop forever into themselves.

Any ’average’ person’s mind would rebel at trying to trace those infinite curves... as those planes and geometry seemed as though they shouldn’t exist in three dimensions. But to her ancient eyes, the view was almost nostalgic. Like finding an old training tool she’d carelessly left behind in a box.

She reached out and lifted it easily, ignoring the way it *seemed* to twist in her hand as if she wasn’t gripping it where it looked like she was. The contaminated spiritual energy within resonated with her immediately, but she kept it easily at bay after months of cultivation since it was made.

’There’s no way I’m letting you come *home* into me, with all that mess you’ve accumulated. Besides, you have somewhere else to be. Let’s go get you there, shall we?’

The heiress disappeared into the night, far out of the camp. Her physical cultivation allowed her to cross the ground faster than any horse... and it would leave her all night to finish her task and ’wake up’ at her guest tent. The Whispering Skydancer had already found her the perfect spot for what came next.

---

The new branch manager rubbed at her temples while checking one last set of documents. The night air held a growing chill to it even inside her office. At some point, probably after the Descent, the walls and floor might be set up to retain more of the heat of the day.

She’d been reluctant to head to her own quarters while her mind kept circling the morning revelations about Elua er Goltbred’s sigil work. A polite knock at her door drew her attention. She raised her eyes cautiously before responding.

"Come in?"

The girl’s personal servant stood in the doorway, still as properly attired and postured as during the work day. She still wasn’t sure why the woman had accepted a ’secretary’ position if what she did was mostly keep the place clean. Her eyes swept around the office briefly as if checking they were alone

"Pardon the late intrusion. I believe there are some documents here that my lady may need when she returns."

Dima gestured vaguely at the various stacks on her desk.

"I’m not sure which you are looking for, but you’re welcome to check this pile. However, I thought you’d returned to the estate hours ago...?"

A paranoid suspicion formed, that she was sent here to check on her state due to being shown up by the mint eyed prodigy. The fact that part of her *had* been sulking made it feel more likely!

"The young miss keeps me quite busy even while she is away."

The servant answered vaguely before moving to check the documents. Her movements were efficient as she scanned through for one to take to the other office. After a minute of shuffling paper, she paused before glancing around again.

"Is no one else here this evening?"

"The receptionist headed home to family. The others haven’t moved into the dormitory yet and probably will not because they live close enough to commute reasonably.."

The servant nodded and grabbed the third document after she continued looking. She turned as if to leave, then stopped in the doorway while speaking aloud.

"That’s a shame. I was considering preparing a late snack for everyone, since I’m here. Though it seems wasteful for just one person..."

She continued toward the stairwell before Dima could respond. The woman grit her teeth at the provocation! The servant surely was sent to check up on her. After a minute of stewing in that thought, she decided to just go to sleep early.

But when she entered the dormitory, she found herself following the sound of movement to the kitchen. Lantern lights cast a warm glow as a familiar figure moved about like she owned the place.

"What are you doing?"

The servant was already gathering ingredients when Dima asked out loud. She turned slightly, pressing one finger to her lips with a conspiratorial smile that transformed her usual reserved demeanor at work.

"Shhh. My lady isn’t here, so this little waste of time can be our secret."

Dima blinked at the change in the woman’s bearing, the way her movements became more relaxed as she prepared an easy meal for two. The sound of cooking began to fill the new and hardly used kitchen. In fact, she was sure that this ’secretary’ used it more to prepare tea for everyone than anything else.

"You really don’t have to-"

"You missed dinner, didn’t you? It doesn’t look like you left after I did. Too busy studying sigils."

It wasn’t really a question. The servant recognized similar behavior to her charge, who would curl up by the window reading until her stomach demanded attention. Dima found herself settling onto a stool, watching as the other woman prepared something that smelled appetizing.

The former liaison couldn’t remember the last time someone had cooked just for her.