Fairy tale: Little Red Riding Hood's wolf mentor

"These are two stories."

On the city walls of the Sardi Kingdom, bordering the Swiss Kingdom, Poro gazed into the distance at the shadows cast by the mountains and forests on the ground. "There should be two. The first story, its name, will be Princess Marlene."

//Grimm's Fairy Tales - Princess Marlene

"This story is quite different from what we've seen, but fortunately, this princess hasn't hidden her name from us."

Poro smiled, and the first page of the fairy tale book materialized.

On the page, a princess was depicted sitting in the shadows inside a black tower, tears streaming from her eyes.

[Ring-shaped Return: Princess Marlene - Shadow of Oblivion]

[Unsealing Ceremony: Help Princess Marlene escape from the forgotten tower and see the prince she misses so dearly again]

[Unsealing Ceremony Completed, Ring-shaped Return Obtained]

[Fairy Tale Authority: You will gain the ability to transform into shadows and travel through the Shadow Realm]

[Description: Princess Marlene wanders in the dark shadows. External calls have long disappeared in a few days. Now, all she can hear is the sound of her own heartbeat]

[She spent seven years in the chaotic shadows. The stone walls of the tower finally collapsed, but the outside kingdom had already been destroyed]

Poro thought for a moment and activated the Ring-shaped Return. His figure spontaneously transformed into a shadow, and the world before him instantly inverted, becoming a blurred gray and black, fragmented mess.

Just like the shadow capital of the Sardi Kingdom he had seen before.

"Not bad, now I have the same ability as Princess Marlene."

Then, Poro condensed his body back into its physical form, and Lake, who was in front of him, widened her eyes:

"Poro, you just… suddenly disappeared into the shadows?!"

"Like that Princess Marlene, right?"

Poro blinked and handed the page in his hand to Lake. "It seems that going to Princess Marlene's house for a visit will be much faster now."

The Shadow Realm is located beneath the cracks of reality, like a desolate space.

Historically, there were almost no magicians who could borrow this space, so Poro had never been exposed to this knowledge before. After contacting Princess Marlene, he gradually began to explore this strange world.

Originally, Poro wanted to create his own magic to get involved in this.

But obviously, such "talent" is much rarer. Even Princess Marlene had not learned any magical theories, and mostly used the power similar to "talent" passed down by her "ancestor."

But now it seems, with [Ring-shaped Return: Shadow of Oblivion].

Poro and Lake are now equivalent to having this strange talent.

"What about the second story? About that…"

Lake thought for a moment and described, "Princess Marlene's ancestor, he's like a powerful magician, a king in the shadows. According to the legends of the Sardi Kingdom—he should have lived for hundreds of years?"

"The second story is called Shadow."

Poro thought for a moment, then continued, "That king, in the fairy tale, is a scholar's shadow that has gained self-will."

//Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales - Shadow, the original text is a bit long, so I'll just put the outline

The second page depicted a king in a black formal cloak sitting on a throne, while beneath his feet was the phantom of a scholar with a look of horror.

[Ring-shaped Return: Shadow - Shadow Will]

[Unsealing Ceremony: Visit the King in the Shadows]

[Unsealing Ceremony Completed, Ring-shaped Return Obtained]

[Fairy Tale Authority: Perhaps in the process of growing up, your shadow will also have the ability to materialize. He can also have his own life and will. Perhaps he will become your partner, but he may also become your enemy]

[Description: The shadow wears a glittering crown. His gaze gazes into the distance from the high throne. The shadows of the entire kingdom are exposed in his eyes]

[The king never needs the operas, beauty, and illusions boasted by scholars, only to see the shadows of human nature, only to control the shadows of mankind]

"Shadow? Is it really like the legends of the Sardi Kingdom say?"

Lake looked curiously at the page in Poro's hand, and then turned her gaze to the shadow under her feet.

She raised one hand, and the shadow also raised one hand.

"So, shadows are not just formed by things that the sun can't reach? Does it really have life?"

"There's a world hidden in the shadows. It's not hard to accept that there's life."

Poro smiled. Since when did he begin to easily accept the magical things in this world, and even have the feeling that "Yes, that's reasonable!"?

After all, with magic, heaven, and hell, it's more reasonable for shadows to move on their own.

"But my shadow, can he have life?"

Poro frowned, accepting the information in the page, and carefully placed the page [Ring-shaped Return: Shadow Will] on his shadow.

The page suddenly began to darken, melting into a shadow and merging with Poro's own shadow.

"Father, am I really mature enough to leave you, gain a new body, and grow like an independent life?"

Just then, Poro suddenly heard a tiny, mosquito-like voice coming from the shadow under his feet.

This voice rang out from the bottom of Poro's heart out of nowhere.

He could feel that as long as he said yes, his shadow would break away, gain life, and form a completely new individual.

"I… haven't thought about it yet."

In Poro's mind, the shadows in the fairy tale and the Sardi king at the bottom of the shadow world flashed by one after another, making him hesitate.

"It's okay, Father, after all, I'm just a shadow, I can always stay here."

The shadow listened and did not complain or feel discouraged, but said softly, and then continued to return to its quiet appearance, almost making Poro think that all of those were illusions.

"Poro, does the second page have any effect?"

Lake blinked and looked at the shadow under Poro.

"It should have an effect."

Poro scratched his head and said to the shadow under his feet, "Shadow, can you move on your own?"

"Move? Like this?"

The shadow repeated in a low voice. The next moment, Poro saw his shadow actually raise a paw without his control.

"Cool, Poro, your shadow seems to be alive?"

"Yeah, but it's still a little short of completely leaving me, like… my approval."

Poro explained to Lake.

After hearing the story Poro had just told, Lake quickly understood Poro's intention and nodded seriously:

"Indeed, children must be taught well before they can go out and play on their own."

In the chat, Poro's ears suddenly twitched.

Then, they stopped communicating and looked into the distance.

At the end of the field of vision, a cloud of dim yellow dust rose up. Behind the dust, there was a vaguely flashing black spot, which was an army.

"The Swiss are coming. Fortunately, we have already allied with the Sardi Kingdom. If we were any slower, they might be able to directly attack the heart of the Goethe Kingdom from this side."

"They know we have the power to capture the Wither Kingdom's airships, but they still came."

Poro narrowed his eyes, recalling the three dead Swiss priests who had turned into devils, and the Bluebeard who had disappeared. "They must have even more powerful forces."

"Woo——"

A shrill howl rang out from the city watchtower, and all the Sardi soldiers grasped the spears in their hands.

"Everyone, line up and prepare to fight the enemy!"

The Sardi general, covered in armor, waved his long sword and shouted.

But at this moment, Princess Marlene's figure appeared from the shadows of the battlements beside Lake and Poro. She frowned as she looked at the smoke and dust of the troops in the distance:

"No, these Swiss Kingdom troops are strong, but their strength is not even comparable to those of the Wither Kingdom—why?"

As she spoke, she used shadows to outline the scale of the Swiss army attacking Sardi in mid-air.

Seeing this, Lake and Poro were also stunned.

Because although this army was large in number, it seemed to be only a small portion larger than the Sardi Kingdom's army—

And the Sardi Kingdom was defending on the city, waiting for work at leisure.

It would be very difficult for the Swiss Kingdom's army to even break through the Sardi Kingdom!

Why?

Unless…

Poro quickly understood this and tightened his eyebrows.

As he was thinking, a golden spot of light quickly fell in front of him.

"Miss Lake, and… Mr. Poro."

"Are you, Miss Seeparo?"

Hearing the voice, Lake and Poro looked to the side. The golden finch, blessed by the power of the Happy Prince, had regained its golden body.

"This is a letter from His Royal Highness, asking me to deliver it to you."

Lake opened the envelope, inside which was a simple map and battle report. After reading the text, everyone couldn't help but feel a chill.

"What? The battle line on the Bell Kingdom side… has already been breached by the Swiss Kingdom?!"

"As expected, this side of Sardi is just a feint?"

Lake gritted her teeth and looked into the distance. The army shrouded in yellow earth was getting closer, and the swords and guns under the yellow earth had already shone with their sharp edges.

Troops comparable to the Sardi Kingdom—just a feint?

The Swiss Kingdom did not choose to concentrate its forces to attack, but instead dispersed its forces to attack the Bell and Sardi Kingdoms at the same time.

There is no doubt that this will bring greater casualties.

But for the Swiss Kingdom, which has even more troops, it is more like a complete crushing.

"The army attacking the Bell Kingdom is dozens of times larger than the garrison. Not only that, but there is also some powerful and unknown assassination force—Princess Bear was seriously injured in the depths of the army during the first battle."

Poro summarized the contents of the battle report and looked at the army approaching the city.

"And the team in front of us is just to hold the Sardi Kingdom for a while—are they confident that they can destroy the Goethe Kingdom in the short term?"

……

The Swiss army, heavily armored cavalry, formed neat ranks, and the Swiss banner, with three golden stripes twisted together, fluttered in the air.

The Swiss Kingdom's military strength has far exceeded all countries of the same era.

They have an almost unlimited supply of food and grass, which is a kind of bread from nowhere, and this is one of the reasons why the Swiss Kingdom's soldiers can be invincible in war.

"That King of Goethe is indeed no ordinary person."

In the central camp, Bluebeard Giles slowly opened the map in his hand. This map was not planned from the battlefield, but sent from the Swiss capital in the rear.

On the map, the Goethe Kingdom, the recovered territory of the Wither Kingdom, and the Sardi Kingdom and the Bell Kingdom are outlined.

In front of several key cities, and in positions facing the Swiss Kingdom's soldiers, lines and dots of varying density are marked,

The number of soldiers.

"Although Seekers cannot know the specific tactics of the other party, they can still hear the sound of horses' hooves and the sound of gold and iron. These Goethe people are much more difficult to deal with than imagined."

Bluebeard Giles, although a violent and bloody guy, cannot hide his rich experience and talent in the way of war.

"Perhaps, we won't be able to kill that prince within a week."

Behind him, another man with a beard and wearing armor shrugged his shoulders. In his hand, he was playing with a tinderbox.

"Marshal, what about adding me? Marshal, my dog is very powerful."

As he spoke, he lit the tinderbox and a spark popped out.

At the moment when the spark flew out, the entire space suddenly darkened, and only the spark floating in the air could be seen. After the spark went out, a huge dog, the size of a small elephant, appeared on the ground of the camp.

Its eyes were as big as teacups.

The dog lowered its huge head at the feet of the old soldier, and spat out a gold coin with the emblem of the Bell Kingdom engraved on it.

The old soldier took the gold coin, looked at it carefully in front of his eyes, bit it in his mouth, and finally put it in his arms:

"Every general over there, my good partner, can easily take off their heads—just like taking this gold coin."

"I know, Full."

Bluebeard Giles glanced at the tinderbox veteran—Full—with a deep contempt in his eyes:

"Your partner is indeed powerful, and our army is also very strong. From my military perspective, those stupid little bugs have no room for resistance at all."

As he spoke, Giles outlined dense offensive curves on another map.

He meticulously divided the troops of the Swiss Kingdom, and the offensive arrows surrounded the cities of the Goethe Kingdom, slowly forming a meat grinder-like encirclement.

"But those guys asked me to lead—naturally it wasn't to add icing on the cake. Anyone can win the victory, so why did they ask me to come?"

As he spoke, Bluebeard grinned, revealing a cruel smile, "Because, I will win faster, better, and kill more cleanly, understand?"

Speaking, he paused and lifted a battle report.

"The princess of the fallen Bell Kingdom has a bear? Very strong? In this way, it is the psychological pillar of the Bell remnants?"

Giles pondered for a moment, then turned his head to look at the tinderbox veteran, Fol,"Tonight, you will send your little apprentice to kill this princess."

"Princess? That's a pity. Perhaps I could capture her instead."

Fol paused, licked his lips, and revealed a sinister look. "Moreover, I have my biggest apprentice, who could actually destroy this city directly…"

"No need. Use your smallest one. Killing her will be enough. As soon as you succeed, our army will launch the attack."

Giles shook his head and said coldly, "Although I am not familiar with your powers, the unparalleled despair—must be used cautiously at the very end.

Compared to those things, the lives of soldiers are the cheapest things."

(End of this chapter)