(Thank you Scarlet Moon and Sama for the tip, this is a plus for you!Thank you for your support!)

(In addition, a warm reminder - from this volume onwards, there may be a large number of episodes that cause discomfort to readers, and underage friends should read it when confirming that their psychological quality is good and their three views are normal.) ）

In October 3472 of the Fourth Age, or October of the 5th year of the Fifth Age, as defined by historians, the continent of Valcam, located in the northern half of the world of Steeu, had entered the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.

This year's late summer was particularly hot, especially in the Kingdom of Sauron, which connected the east and west of the Valcam continent to the west of the San Lorenzo Empire.

The land of the kingdom of Sauron is barren, most of the land is located in the desert and the Gobi, and the country lacking greenery has lost the natural means to regulate the temperature, and the climate environment with a large temperature difference between day and night is even more severe than the harsh environment in the north.

There is still a large area of fertile black soil suitable for cultivation in the north, and here, there is almost nothing. A country with only about 30% of the green space needs to buy a large amount of food every year to ensure the survival of its people. As a result, countries that are dependent on food imports lack the capital to expand outward.

But don't think that the country is poor.

As a passage connecting the east and west of Valcam, a large number of caravans depart from the San Lorenzo Empire Locente every year, using the Kingdom of Sauron as a transit point to bring abundant goods to many countries west of the Valcam continent.

This trade has brought great economic benefits to the local area, and in short, the country is a typical commercial kingdom.

Lately, however, life in the country doesn't seem to be as good as it used to be.

The mages who traveled through the Gobi were keenly aware of this, and the few times they stayed in the oasis city, they would hear the local residents complain about various practical problems such as rising food prices and soaring prices.

There are more and more drunks in the taverns, and there are many people who are bankrupt and smoke moon candy (a poison*), and those people will swing their fists at the slightest disagreement, and the soaring prices of food and other goods have brought turmoil to the kingdom of Sauron. After all, although the country is rich, only a small number of people who really own 97% of its resources are only a small group of people.

-- The grain has risen like this...... Alas, how to live these days!

- Don't complain, I've heard that the San Lorenzo Empire in the east is at war everywhere, and you can laugh compared to them.

- Hey, what kind of empire! It's all like that, it's still an empire! If it can be called an empire, so can our kingdom of Sauron.

It was the most heard complaint, the men in patched coarse cloth shirts, squatting on the ground and munching on sweet potatoes, their faces sad as old farmers about to sink into the ground.

The war of the San Lorenzo Empire has affected the surrounding area, and for the needs of the war, the surplus grain is no longer exported, so that the kingdom of Sauron in the Gobi has been reduced to the point where there is no money to spend.

This made the mages walking in the Gobi equally worried.

From the perspective of the situation of the Sauron Kingdom, which has always been wealthy, the situation of the San Lorenzo Empire in the east is not optimistic.

His two disciples and the young girl, who had never been heartless, didn't have that many scruples. After all, Icewind Castle adheres to the principle of neutrality in the civil war, and there are a large number of mercenaries and mechanical legions under the powerful country, there are countless mages who study and study, and there is the inner ring mage council of Icewind Castle to shock all sides.

Finally, the leader is the oldest demon king in the living multiverse, Sylvia, the second generation of illusions!

The two daughters, who are the descendants of the Lord of Illusions, said that no matter what happens outside, it has nothing to do with them.

In the desolate Gobi, four camels carry a lonely traveler. Everywhere you can see are large bare rocks and solid yellow sand, and sparse shrubs and living creatures that can only be seen occasionally.

High in the sky, vultures hover, these greedy carrioners are like messengers of death, urging travelers to death. They will hover overhead for a while, until they realize that the travelers in the Gobi show no signs of falling.

The three women, who were originally very curious about the Gobi trip, quickly lost their interest, and the excitement of riding a camel for the first time was gone, and the same yellow sand and hard soil, and the climate with a great temperature difference between day and night made them listless and depressed.

Five years ago, they entered the Dark Regions from the continent of Ophelia in the southeast, and traveled in the underworld for nearly three years, during which they traveled many thousands of miles. When returning to the surface world from the nearest exit, he suddenly found that he had arrived in the kingdom of Sauron, not far from the San Lorenzo Empire.

Five years is enough time to change a lot.

For example, Charlotte is twenty-five years old, and according to Steeu's custom, she can basically be reduced to an older unmarried young man; for example, Vivian and Lolita, two former Lori, are already 15-year-old girls, and the two girls who have recently begun to attack the high-level mage and already have the strength of the four rings have become girls with extraordinary charm; for example, Elle......

Well! when I didn't say it.

I mean, for example, in the past five years, the six kings of the San Lorenzo Empire have been fighting each other, and the powerful nobles have been ambitious, and the originally powerful empire has been shattered, for example, Charlotte, who transplanted and transformed the Eye of Vientiane, cut off Lu Sien's soul, and sensed the abnormality of Vivien Leigh through the Destiny Coins, has also undergone a drastic change.

Shortly after that night, Sylvia traveled to the Star Field in search of Edwin's whereabouts, and Charlotte, who learned her sister's true strength, was no longer too worried about her safety. Instead, there is a deep suspicion of Vivien Leigh's true identity.

The coins of fate flipped between her fingers like golden elves, and Charlotte was thinking.

Recently, research on the Destiny Coin has come to a virtual standstill, and the contradictions discovered that night cannot be resolved, and the entire movement of the coin has been changed almost completely after the addition of Vivien Leigh's information, and there is still a lack of key data to reconstruct the formula.

Prior to reminting the numismatic formula and information base, Charlotte did not intend to use the causality abilities of coins. As a lesson learned, the mad lich Heywood died due to a coin derivation, and Charlotte didn't want to flip the coin during a confrontation with a powerful enemy, only to find that it was not immune to the attack.

Because of uncertainty, the causal ability of coins is destined to be used only as a last resort, not as a conventional weapon.

The mage took the coin in his arms, and he planned to travel from the kingdom of Sauron to Locente and then east through the Calvi Grand Canyon to Erossa. He felt the need to have an open and honest conversation with his sister, because the information derived from the coin kept him awake.

The soaring prices of the Kingdom of Sauron exacerbated his inner turmoil, and judging by all the signs, the San Lorenzo Empire had fallen into a full-scale civil war. So, is the prophesied winter coming, or is this the last sign of winter?

The most disturbing thing is, could that winter really be self-inflicted, and will he, Charlotte Clayderman, really become the demon king who will destroy the world of Stee?

This uneasiness was buried in his heart, and even Sylvia never let her know the secret of the coin. He didn't dare to say anything, no one dared to ask, so he could only bear the weight silently.

Camels walked on the Gobi Desert, leaving footprints in the yellow sand, and they were soon covered by the blowing wind and sand. Unconsciously, the surrounding terrain has changed, there are rough and magnificent natural rock walls in front of them, they are as high as ten zhang, and the wind and sand of nature have sculpted them into the shape of a ghostly axe, like a giant standing in the Gobi Desert, watching the earth and the heavens.

These boulders have been rounded by the wind and sand, forming rocky mountains with no signs of life. Lolita cheered at the sight of such a change, and galloped forward with Elle on a camel, and they rolled down and looked at this natural wonder in amazement.

Although she is getting older, 15-year-old Lolita does not change her nature and is still babbling.

Vivien pulled up her brown cloak and glanced at the mage, who was undoubtedly a beautiful man with extraordinary charm if it weren't for the short silver hair that lacked care. At this moment, he was looking at the same yellow sand on the ground with scarlet pupils, so absent-minded that he didn't pay attention to the departure of the two girls.

Perhaps born into the family of a squire, Vivien's stature is taller than the 160mm almost Lolita. With a height of 167mm and a slender body that lacks exercise, she has a charm as soft as catkins, and living in the underground world all year round makes her skin fair and transparent, and the black and straight girl undoubtedly has the charm that men can't help but care for and conquer.

This is the polar opposite of Lolita, who spends all year round in the underworld, bouncing around and being extremely energetic. The former is slender and delicate, while the latter is healthy and lively. But in any case, please don't really think that a four-ring mid-level mage can be so weak.

Vivien, who was quiet, didn't act with Lolita, and she was more worried about the teacher's state than her companions.

She remembered the first time she met her teacher, the young man known as one of the twin jewels came out of the laboratory covered in dust and hugged Master Claire with a big grin.

At that time, the teachers were enthusiastic and cheerful, and always liked to make innocuous jokes that made people laugh and cry. Although it was very distressing for Vivien at one time, to be honest, she didn't hate the feeling of being more like a friend and a mentor than a mentor and apprentice.

And now, her teacher is always silent, silently thinking about her thoughts. Occasionally, when he noticed Vivien's concerned expression, as he did now, he would give Vivien a smile of apology and comfort.

Whenever this happens, Vivien feels guilty. She felt that she owed her teacher a great deal of money, and that when she was in despair, it was the teacher who gave her the opportunity to continue learning spells, but she couldn't share the pressure on her teacher.

She would rather the teacher yelled at her in a bad mood than see that comforting and gentle smile.

- What are you worried about?

But when the words came to his lips, it became nonsense like "Lolita and Elle went to the front" at a glance. Vivien felt like she was incompetent.

"Let them go, this Gobi can't threaten them. Charlotte waved her hand, "Aren't you going to see the scenery?"

"I'm here with the teacher. ”

Charlotte was stunned, he smiled softly, and wanted to touch Vivien's head as before, but the outstretched hand paused in the air.

“…… You've grown up, Vivien. With the delicate feeling that her daughter had grown up, Charlotte retracted her hand with a little loneliness.

Vivien shyly tugged at the brim of her cloak, but didn't feel the touch of her head, so she stole a look at the teacher suspiciously, like a fawn.

Charlotte was smiling apologetically at her.

Everything is changing, he thought.

Just as they thought they would never leave Erosa when they were young, the three siblings worked together and never doubted, and later thought that Claire would always walk with them.

Vivien and Lolita will also leave them one day, and by that time they will be on their own, making a name for themselves in the multiverse and starting a family with someone they've never met......

- As we grow older, we become more and more lonely.

Charlotte didn't have time to sigh before she felt the aura of magic energy gathering in front of her.

A muffled sound came from a huge rock not far away, and the rocky mountain vibrated to a degree visible to the naked eye, and countless sand and gravel rolled down. The camel trembled with fright from the noise, and fell to the ground on all fours.

There is a battle ahead!

Charlotte rolled down and walked swiftly forward with Vivien.