Chapter ???:@$#%^!%^2

Chapter ???:@$#%^!%^2

A figure of blueish-white light is sitting in front of a large holographic screen, the screen is showing the sight of a burning castle. Sitting cross-legged with one hand supporting her head, she has a thin smile on her face.

"Another successful step closer to accomplishing your goal. Truly, even I am surprised how your plans keep coming to fruition, Star."

Leaning back on her chair made out of the finest fragrant wood, the figure is about to change the holographic display when she hears something.

"Ara~, it seems like I have a guest." She looks up past the roof of her house with a Chinese aesthetic. From above, the sound of a propeller spinning is heard, approaching closer and closer.

Then, suddenly, her roof is crashed through by a miniature aircraft. The aircraft breaks into bits and pieces, and alongside the wreck of her wooden roof, it creates a mess of dust and wood chips mere steps away from her.

With a raised eyebrow, she waits for the dust to settle before doing anything. She has an inkling of what the hell just happened. Her guess is corrected when, from the pile of rubble, a familiar slime jumps out. She chuckles when the slime turns red before 'kicking' the wrecked airplane with its tentacle. Its kick makes the still slowly spinning propeller of the craft disconnect from the body.

"Well, that's one way to make an entrance, though I will have to clean that mess you made later. Do you have anything to say about that?" The figure said with a smirk. It amuses her to no end when the slime turns around, now colored blue while scratching its 'head' sheepishly.

"It's fine, no need to apologize. Since this is my personal space, I can fix it up in a jiffy. Look" The figure points out a hand, making a counter-clockwise motion. Then, the ruble sorts itself out, dividing it into two parts. One part flies up to fix the hole on the roof, and the other remakes itself into the miniature aircraft the slime used to get here.

"There you go." The figure said. "Your ride is fixed while my house is patched up. All is fine in the end. So, I presume that you suddenly got transported, here again, right little friend?"

The slime nods, before hopping over to a now materialized seat that the light figure made for it. It settles down in the comfortable chair, before expressing its confusion.

The figure listens to it attentively, she too is befuddled by the slime's sudden teleportation to her domain. After hearing the slime retelling its tell, she comments. "So you're telling me that you've been working on your story per usual. While in the middle of researching aircraft branding for your new chapter, you got sucked into a strange vortex, again. Only this time, you somehow were in control of a miniature aircraft before crashing here. As expected, your tale managed to confuse even me."

She stops to ponder before saying. "Though I have a hypothesis on why you keep being sent here. It may have to do with the Void being unstable due for certain reasons, thus it creates vortexes that enable universal travel. It's unknown whether you're unlucky or lucky enough to encounter said vortex twice, all arrived at the same place that is my domain. Even so, the process usually doesn't end well for mortals. For you to make two trips here, safe and sound, is telling on you having a good affinity with the Void. I do wonder how it comes to be, however."

Listening to her hypothesis, the slime fells into deep thought with a tentacle on its 'chin'. Ultimately, it fails to come up with anything so the slime just shrugs.

"I guess our questions will be answered in due time." The figure concluded the topic. She and the slime agree that while the situation is strange, it's not important enough to warrant them searching for answers.

The time spent on a wild goose chase is better off being used to converse over some tea.

Waving a hand over a tea table, the light figure materializes a set of tea and sweets. "Cookie?" She asked, passing over a butter cookie for the slime.

Accepting the treat with both 'hands', the slime quivers its body up and down as thank you. "You're welcome, the cookie goes well with the mental cleansing tea I prepared. The tea should help freshen up your mind, enough for you to continue working on your story later."

The slime nods, taking a few bites out of the delectable cookie before gently, it picks up a teacup. Taking a sniff out of the crystal-clear liquid, the slime can feel its fatigue fade away. It can't help but take a sip of the warm tea the figure prepared. Instantly, its mind is cleared of confusion and tiredness.

Truly, it was a tea that authors and writers would kill for.

The figure chuckles when she sees the euphoric state the slime is in. "I take that as you enjoying my treats."

They then sit in pleasant silence for a few minutes, each taking pleasure in the tea and cookies. It's not until the slime takes its third cookie that it notices the holographic display. The figure still hasn't changed the view of the burning castle into something else yet. So, it points a tentacle at the screen, wondering what's that all about.

"Oh, that. I was watching one of Star's plans in action. You still remember Star that I talked about last time, right?

The slime bobs its body up and down as an affirmative. Seeing its action, the figure continues explaining. "So, Star is back though she is indisposed for now. Still, her plans are still being acted on by her trusted people. One of the plans involves the burning of the castle you're seeing here. One Castle Itter."

Hearing that part, the slime questions why the castle must be burned down. From what it can see, the castle should have some historical significance.

"Ah, that's because the castle hid one of, if not, the cruelest crime against sentience beings. It will be faster for me to show you, rather than putting it into words, only if you can stomach it though." The figure waits for the slime's answer while sipping her tea.

Putting on a thinker pose, the slime admits that it's interested in the topic. Being an author means you have to dig up materials for your story whenever possible. The slime sees this opportunity as a chance to learn more about this strange world. And perhaps, it can take inspiration from this world to jot it down into its story.

So, the slime expresses its interest in finding out more, steeling it resolves before the revelation. The figure lets out a smile seeing the slime hyping itself up for the inevitable reveal. Not letting it wait for too long, she changes the holographic display to show the crimes the wood elves committed beneath Castle Itter. Not just that, but also the plotting they made behind Star's, no, Yuki's back.

Soon, the dozen minutes slideshow comes to an end. The slime after watching everything fell into silence. After a couple of minutes to digest the information, the slime cups two tentacles in front of it, offering a prayer to the poor children. None are deserving of the cruel fate that befell them.

The figure lets the slime prays in a solemn atmosphere. After a minute of silence, the slime turns to the figure, thanking her for the display. It also asks, concerned, about Star's well-being.

Letting out a warm smile, the figure answers. "Star-, no, she goes by the name Yuki now, will be fine. It was her plan to receive a traumatic injury, after all. Only by that could she spurs her mothers into taking action against the deep-rooted wood elves. From then, they would learn of Itter's secret and promptly purge its stains from the annal of history."

The figure stops before saying. "The public only needs to know that the elves plotted a revolt, not the murdering of thousands of children. Only a select few will be privy to the bloodied truth uncovered today."

The slime nods, understanding that some secrets are better left undiscovered by the populace. It then pours another cup of tea for itself and the figure. It watches as the figure operates the holographic display, changing it for them to view something else.

Curiously, it sees the display shows a dark elf in formal attire.

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He motions to the rest of his cohorts. "Oi! Make sure the casualties are cared for and set up a perimeter! There may be those zombies running around due to the corruption from the Chariot!"

"Yes, sir!" The squad, dressing no different than gangsters, disperses. One of them, a fat man that's holding a Lewis says.

"CJ, High Inquisitor Camati called in, saying you'll be needed at his office once the mess here is over."

"Old man Ricardo? Did he say anything else on why he needs me, Big Smoke?"

The fat man, Big Smoke shrugs before fixing his fedora. "Beats me, that's your problem to deal with. I just want to finish up fast and grab myself some food."

CJ shakes his head at Smoke's dismissal. "You and your obsession over food, man."

Offended by his remarks, Smoke retorts. "I'm telling you, brother, a good dish is all you can ask for in your life. It embraces you, and heals your soul and body, allowing you to achieve Nirvana! And most important of all, it never betrays you!"

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The slime watches with interest knowing that it just witnessed the impossible, there exists this world's version of the Grove Street Families! From the look of it, they aren't too shabby at all with the suits and fedoras and all that.

Still, the light figure changes the display, once again. It's as if she's an old woman trying to find a TV channel that piques her interest.

"You just thought of something rude, did you?" The figure questioned with a frown. Sweating bullets, the slime refutes the claim by waving its 'hands'.

Though unconvinced, the figure moves on to switch the display. Finally, she settles for the view of a bustling dock. There, ships of all shapes and sizes are offloading their cargo and passengers. One notable location has a gathering of Jewish people that are warmingly receiving their new brothers and sisters.

A Jews, just disembarked from his freighter, takes in the smoky smell of capitalism with vigor. "Sweet home America! I've arrived at last!" He sang in joy, causing the others to chuckle.

"It's gratifying to see you in high spirits, brother." A middle-aged man with a well-kept beard moves to pat the young lad on the shoulders. "I hope the journey across the ocean has treated you well. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Rosh Hashana, you may call my Rosh, brother."

Hugging the man in greeting, the lad introduces himself. "The ship provided by Lady Elysia has been most welcoming in its service, I barely notice any trouble at all! And I've chosen my name to be Jeffrey Iverson, brother Rosh. I've elected to discard my old one, the past should stay behind in Russia."

With an understanding smile, Rosh says. "It's understandable, after all, the regime over there is very stifling for us Jews. Though don't you worry, we can help set you up with a new life in no time. The land of America is free to all, so long as they strive to be the better person of society."

Jeffrey replies with a nod. "I've received a second chance in life by Lady Elysia, I will be an ungrateful prick if I fail to live up to it."

Rosh gives him another pat, yet, his face has a look of worry when Jeffrey mentioned Lady Elysia. Curious, Jeffrey questions. "What happens? Is there something wrong with the Lady?"

Rosh ponders whether to share the news or not but ultimately, he let young Jeffrey knows. "News came from the Belkan Reich, Lady Elysia's family is in deep trouble."

Shocked, Jeffrey interjects, he is careful not to raise his voice, however. "Why!? Was it because of us?"

"None of the sort, no." Rosh waved off the concern. "It has nothing to do with helping us. It's the Lady's family who committed high treason against the governing body of Belka, and they failed, hard. Almost the entire family and its subordinates were wiped out, and cleansed from the Earth after their crimes were revealed. Thankfully, Heaven has blessed Lady Elysia so that she didn't get caught in the crossfire. She, alongside her father and a servant, is alive and well with no charges pressed against them. Nevertheless, she's no doubt under deep scrutiny by the Belkan government."

Jeffrey heaves a sigh of relief, it would pain him to no end if his benefactor was caught in that mess.

"Come, let us move to the dorm. There, you can rest and learn more about America." Rosh pulls Jeffrey to a car. "You can't build a castle with a weary body."

Jeffrey complies, knowing the wisdom behind the words. Truly, he has high hope of achieving his dream here.

A dream of building a true sanctuary for his people.

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Letting out a bored sigh, the figure complains to the slime. "This is boring~"

Turning to look at the figure, the slime expresses its confusion at her words. She explains. "Well, that's because there's nothing wrong with the world! No Yuki to mess it up as she's still sleeping!"

"The world lost its colors without her running around, trying her best to accomplish something." She added.

The slime, understanding her feeling, nods. It then begins to think up ways that can alleviate the boredom of the figure. Finally, it settles on pestering the figure with questions.

Tapping a 'hand' on the figure, the slime grasps her attention when it creates a circle and a question mark.

Raising an eyebrow, she queries. "So you want to learn more about this world? I see you're more curious after learning of Yuki's circumstance." Shrugging, the figure says. "Well, I guess it's a good way to kill time as any. It will take some time to explain everything though, anything you want to do before I teach you?"

Scratching its 'head', the slime ponders. Suddenly, as if a lightbulb is lit on the top of its head, the slime makes a fist bump.

The figure chuckles at the meaning behind its action. "Fine, fine. I will help you advertise your work."

Turning to look at the reader, the figure says with a smile and a tilt of the head. "Just like before, our cute little slime author is facing trouble, jobless, and all that. To help them tide through the pitfalls life has prepared for them, you best show them some encouragement. They can be in the form of a good comment, a great review, or a heart for the story, and if you are capable, support them via financial aid through their Patreon. The link is Oh, and before I forget, give it power stones if you're reading the story on Webnovel."

Raising her cup as a toast, she says. "Cheers!"