Mistress Of The Evil Forest

Case 70: The holy country of Neveah – Birdcage Saintess.

Birdcage Saintess.

This is Luxia's nickname across the fandom of the original game. At least, that is what Chloe told me one day.

Now, Luxia hasn't achieved nearly enough to gain a nickname in this world like Ariel and Skely did, and hers certainly won't be anything like 'birdcage.' 

Nevertheless, Luxia is a rather popular heroine in the game, according to Chloe. She appears frequently in the storyline and has attractive visuals, but most importantly, people like crazy girls. I guess they sympathize with her circumstances as well.

For one, Luxia being called 'Birdcage Saintess' doesn't equate to her trapping the protagonist in a trance of love or anything; it's actually the opposite.

For a little context, Luxia is never a part of Vincent's plan in the game. In the playthrough, she is actually one of the helpers on the side of the protagonist.

At this point in the story, many players have questioned the logic behind these turns of events. Firstly, how does Luxia not seem to have any idea about her father's plan even though she can read others' minds?

In an interlude after the arc ends, the player will have a chance to investigate the archbishop's past, leading to them discovering his and Luxia's hidden abilities. It's not really an ability but something far more unexpected.

It turns out Luxia's mind-reading ability is not a skill; instead, it is a named item. AEN-088, I think, is the name. The pair of unique eyes that she has is the item; it allows her to read the minds of entities that have a system assigned to them.

And if one has seen the archbishop with his eyes open, they can easily see the coloration—he also has the same pupils.

AEN-088 are two pairs of eyes, originally. One pair is superior in the sense that it has more range and more controllability, among other features; it also can extract information gained from the inferior pair and directly manipulate its ability, which is the one Luxia has.

This is why everything Luxia knows, Vincent also knows, and why he is able to prevent her from reading into his and his subordinates' plan.

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For her whole life, Luxia has been living in a birdcage, not physically, but mentally. Unaware of her father's plan to change the entire world, she keeps living.

Now, it is not like Vincent is cold-heartedly abusing Luxia or something. In his own right, he has given her a ton of love as a father and plans to do so until his death. Still, Luxia falls into a depression after learning this fact. The feeling of betrayal she feels, combined with the suspicions of her having a hand in the plan coming from outside, breaks her.

This is where her romance section officially starts.

If the player treads this right, Luxia may become dependent on them, thus pushing them to enter the lover route. If they do it in moderation, she will recover and aim for a better life. If they do it terribly, she will stay depressed and disappear from the story.

So, what should we get out of all these things?

I should kidnap Luxia and toss her into the Backrooms, of course.

I'm serious. We are about to execute a complicated operation with enemies far stronger than us. During it, we can't afford to have two mind readers roaming around when we only have two Rings of Fortitude.

Let's just pretend she goes missing for a few days, and I'll release her later. I'll even buy her snacks. Oh, but we should make her sleep, though...

Regardless, the operation will start when tomorrow evening comes, so I guess we'll kidnap her tonight.

For now, it is time for a tour of Neveah.

''Right here, we have the miniature model of Zakan the Beserk, the third demon ever to be documented.''

After finishing her sentence, a priestess diverts our attention to a particularly bulky and grotesque creature—the statue of it. Apparently, this thing is only a tenth of its original size, and it's already twice as big as me.

Amazing.

The priestess then goes on to explain the process of subjugating the thing.

''At the time, there were roughly three hundred holy knights surrounded it, throwing themselves in to create a chance.'' She says. ''A chance for the light element user of that era to deliver the final strike.''

As she says that, her gaze turns to Claire among all of us. Her face then drops a bit, perhaps knowing that Claire cannot be recruited into the church anymore. This is a good thing for me since there is no light user in the church currently. My babies won't be countered.

Nevertheless, the priestess proceeds to guide us through the vast museum, one full of interesting-looking pieces of history and replicas of creatures like the one we just saw.

Except for some mildly intriguing ones, they are mostly boring. After finishing her introduction to the goddess herself, the priestess claps her hands lightly, calling for attention.

''Thank you so much for listening thus far, honorable students of Astra Academy. As there is still some time until our next schedule begins, you can freely explore the museum as you like.''

Just like that, the students, professors, and staff alike disperse. Chloe immediately grabs my hand and turns to me with a smile.

''Follow me. I know where the good stuff is.''

''Alright.''

It's Chloe. I can probably trust her. Probably.

I want Nydia here as well, but she stayed late last night for some reason and is fast asleep at the moment. I digress.

Soon, Chloe and I reach an entrance decorated with gold rims, indicating something clearly important. The plate reads [Divine Beings].

Inside, the stands are no longer without protection as each is surrounded by what feels like a magically reinforced glass wall. As I scan around, my eyes land on a particular stand in the corner.

There, the statue of a woman with light blue hair and golden eyes rests. She sits on a branch of a silver tree with a serene face and delicate pose, plus a pair of near-transparent butterfly wings flapping ever so subtly on her back.

Her tag reads [Olwen - The Queen Fairy of Blizzard].

''Instantly drawn to women, you idiot.'' 

Chloe pouts.

''It's the only thing pleasant on the eyes in this room.''

I shoot back.

''...Well, you have a point.''

Regardless, I thought Olwen would be similar to a small fairy, but who thought she would be even more busty than me...

Right after that, we walk to the statue to admire the blizzard queen's beauty a bit more. I wish Nova could see this because she doesn't even know the one who gave her power yet.

Moving on to the following targets, we stumble upon rather... Bizzare-looking creatures. It is as if I am looking at a horror movie's monster gallery.

Now, their descriptions say that they are not friendly creatures, so I guess even monsters can become gods.

At the other end of the displays is another stand, except this one is by far the biggest and grandest. It's reaching the ceiling, which must be well over five meters. 

''Well, here it is.''

Chloe stares at the model intently.

Contained inside the glass is a mind-bogglingly long dragon with its porcelain white scales half-turning golden, swirling its body around what seems to be a pulsing star.

The star has the same color as its eyes—blood red.

From its replica alone, I can almost feel the sheer power radiating, raining on my body. When I look down, I see a few golden plates containing information about this creature.

The tag reads [Celius - Guardian of Stars]—the strongest of dragons, who reigns over all elements.

And... The thing we will be fighting against.