Sophia, known as Baiba in the local dialect, was having a delightful time at the small town near Poru Star's Yenjian Kandian Gate.

She had been there for over a year now, and everything here still felt refreshingly new to her.

The pushcarts of street vendors, the shouted market bargains, wooden front doors with mechanical locks — these ancient relics captivated her endlessly. It was like an amusement park, but one of epic proportions.

The plan devised by Blade and Landen to relocate townsfolk remained only partially executed. Only those living near the villa above the Stargate were successfully displaced.

Whispers still echoed through town about that haunted street. Shortly after the hauntings began, a group claiming to be ghost researchers arrived in gold-laden caravans and bought up an entire block at several times its market value. The residents, desperate for easy profit, vacated their homes within a month, replaced by new inhabitants who now kept their distance — parents warning children about evil sorcerers lurking between the shadows.

The local constable had visited once before vanishing entirely after Blade's subtle mind manipulation.

Yet Sophia thrived in this chaos. Through sheer mental strain at second-tier superior level True Human strength, she mastered the regional dialect within weeks, forming genuine friendships despite initial language barriers. Months of Landen's training had sculpted her into a refined young lady whose elegance made ordinary people feel inadequate — far removed from any wicked witch stereotype.

Daily life brought clusters of admirers: girls idolizing her as a big sister role model while boys stammered through clumsy romantic declarations, only to be met with polite indifference. Once, human traffickers attempted to abduct her — but first they were playfully outwitted by the girl herself, then left unconscious before being discreetly removed by unseen agents never seen again.

Blade watched from his villa's second-floor window as Sophia played a local children's game below. Her laughter mingled with shrieks of joy while nearby boys slumped against walls in heartbroken silence. After observing this scene, he quietly withdrew to consider the challenges facing the Floating Continent. Ten attempts at True Human cloning had failed — over a thousand donors sourced from the Ice River Central Academy's Medical Branch proved insufficient.

The failures weren't due to technical limitations; clones could be created without issue. The problem lay in their lack of innate awakening powers, as if the DNA was identical to Sub-Humans despite originating from verified True Human sources. This revelation suggested True Human abilities weren't genetically inherited — a mystery Elric hadn't found answers for even after scouring the academy's core library.

A sudden mental pulse made Blade glance toward his door. With a mere gesture, it swung open revealing Landen.

"What is it?" he asked. The woman rarely visited him; her time was usually spent training Sophia or meditating in their alloy-reinforced chamber below.

"Three days until the princess's birthday," she announced. "She'll be ten standard years old under Imperial calendar."

"A celebration would please her," Blade agreed. "Last year we celebrated in the Solar System, this year on Poru Star — an improvement I'm sure."

Landen nodded before hesitating. "But what if..."

Blade interrupted, his eyes darkening slightly, "You know as well as I do — Sophia's growth is accelerating. At second-tier superior with no third-tier barriers holding her back, she might reach that threshold before next year. When memory recall awakens, everything will return: her true name Sophie Mya, status as Imperial Second Princess (now First after the ascension), and your role in protecting her from imperial assassins."

Landen stiffened visibly. "Are you trying to take her away?"

Blade smiled without warmth. "You know I'd never separate two people destined to reunite someday. But when the time comes, would you really let her return to the Empire? It's far too dangerous."

After a tense silence, Landen relented. "I understand."

Three days later, the haunted street sparkled with decorations as Blade, Landen and other Phantom Mercenary members gathered in the town square for Sophia's birthday celebration. The centerpiece was a ten-tier cake specially ordered from the Solar System's finest pastry shop and transported through the Floating Continent logistics network.

Sophia had invited her favorite local friends to join the festivities, teaching them about candles and cake-cutting rituals while joy radiated across her face all day long — the party might have continued late into the night if not for exhausted children begging to return home.

Meanwhile at Ice River Central Academy news spread rapidly of the Fifteenth Constellation League's invasion from the Perseus Arm — most students had never heard of this distant region until they scoured library archives.

"Igor, did you know?" Elric asked as Leya suddenly appeared beside him outside the library. "The Perseus Arm had Tan Star invaders ten millennia ago who launched a dual-front assault with the Glennwal race from Orion Arm — both sides boasted over ten Fourth-tier masters and claimed ten stellar systems!"

"Are you interested in warfare now, Leya?" Elric asked amusedly as she sparkled like an enthusiastic stargazer. "Sandy Wold, the current Regent, was just a marquis then! He personally annihilated seven Fourth-tier beings during that war — complete soul destruction! Remember how vastly superior Fourth-tier is to Third-tier peak? Only someone with unimaginable power could achieve such feats!"

Elric blinked in surprise. "I never realized..."

"Of course it happened!" Leya insisted, switching to mental speech. "After that battle he was promoted directly from marquis to duke — then years later became Regent after last emperor's sudden death."

Elric chuckled at the revelation. Whether interstellar nobles or Earth-born aristocrats, whether True Human or Sub-Human... when it came to gossip about the powerful elite, all female minds burned with identical curiosity regardless of origin.

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