Fairy tale: Little Red Riding Hood's wolf mentor

In the Gothe Kingdom, within Sanssouci Palace, Prince Charming, Princess Marlene, Princess Bear, and numerous surviving generals stood in silence, gazing at the map on the wall.

"The Gothe Kingdom's army has only about a thousand soldiers left who are intact and able to fight."

"In this war, the Shadi Kingdom's soldiers have also suffered losses exceeding half their number."

"The number of combat-ready soldiers in the Bell Kingdom is now less than a thousand…"

A battle had been won, but everyone understood that the war might only be beginning.

Because although the Svea Kingdom had lost this battle, the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers could not break this already demonized nation!

"If we attack, do we have a chance to destroy the Svea Kingdom?"

Princess Marlene asked hesitantly.

"Impossible!"

But quickly, a general said with a grim expression, "The total number of their kingdom's soldiers reaches a million—those muddle-headed old people, children, or even women have been transformed into soldiers by those guys.

According to the intelligence I received, what we fought this time wasn't even their main force!"

"Moreover, the prince of the Svea Kingdom hasn't made a move yet; if he leads the team…"

Another general said, he came from another country that had once been conquered by the Weeser Kingdom.

And regarding the Svea Prince, most of those present had heard rumors about him.

He was a person who could slaughter an entire army alone in seconds!

No one knew how he did it.

And the unknown is the most terrifying.

A long silence filled the hall; although a battle had been won, the cloud hanging over their hearts was even more frightening.

"Do we have a chance to win?"

"If the Svea Kingdom sends another army, are we still qualified to fight against it?"

"And that hound…"

As the generals analyzed the situation, the gloomy atmosphere became heavier, and the temperature seemed to drop to freezing point at this moment.

Although this battle was won, most ordinary generals did not understand how they had won.

Whether it was the Gothe Kingdom's bone giants, the Svea Kingdom's thousand-meter-tall hound, or the inexplicably dead half of the Svea people—it had far subverted their common sense.

The sorrowful atmosphere made everyone's hearts sink to the bottom.

"Why don't we relocate the kingdom? Escape from here—"

Everyone's eyes widened as they looked at the speaker; anger flashed in the eyes of several people, and they raised their hands, but they didn't know what to say.

Because many people's rationality agreed with this view.

"While the Svea people's main force is still trapped in Starfall City…"

…

Above the city, Lake and Poro looked at the distant plains. Many soldiers and laborers came from the direction of the battlefield, transporting the armor and weapons stripped from the Svea soldiers.

But the "holy water" carried by those Svea soldiers could not be used.

Those so-called "holy waters" might carry the devil's curse; healing comes at a price.

"This time, Bluebeard is finally dead, but we won dangerously."

Poro fiddled with the tinderbox in his hand.

This was a special magical item; the magic light in Poro's eyes analyzed the complex magical patterns inside the tinderbox.

"Fortunately, we didn't let the third hound unleash its true power."

Poro stretched out his paw and dragged a wisp of shadow from the surface of the tinderbox. This wisp of shadow came from the tinderbox's previous owner, Foll.

"Poro, can you use this tinderbox? If that day's hound had been on our side…"

"Not yet; this tinderbox cannot be used casually."

Poro shook his head. "Magic always has a threshold in this world, and so do the users of magical items."

While speaking, Poro raised his paw and patted Lake on the shoulder.

The surrounding environment darkened, and their figures sank, entering the Shadow Realm temporarily created by Poro. Foll's shadow expanded rapidly in the air.

Some light spots escaped from the shadow, outlining subtle array patterns—it was the Mind Construction Array.

Poro touched the array patterns on the shadow, and his eyes blurred, showing Foll's experiences.

A tavern, Foll with his arms around three or four scantily clad women, leaning in his arms. Around him, many people raised their glasses to him, praising and flattering him loudly.

"Today's drinks are on me, on me—from my, from my pocket—"

Foll's voice seemed a little dazed because of drunkenness.

But at this moment, the tavern's waiter took his hand out of Foll's pocket, empty.

"Sir, you don't have any money in your pocket today?"

As soon as this was said, the flattering words around him disappeared instantly, and the eyes of the women in his arms and the men drinking around him turned cold and scattered, and the scene shifted.

Foll was thrown on the cold ground.

"Money, my money, how could it be—spent so quickly? I need to get more, more money, and then those people will still have to kneel down and lick my feet!"

Foll cursed, but the cold and hunger began to erode his body.

Accustomed to a life of luxury, he could no longer tolerate such poverty, and his body, drained by wine and women, made it impossible for him to be a mercenary.

In the gap between being about to starve to death, a gorgeously dressed person appeared in front of him, his pupils were a strange dark red.

This strange man smiled and stretched out a hand, on which there was a contract:

"Sign it, and I will give you endless wealth and power beyond your imagination!"

Hey, I have nothing now, what else can be plotted?

Money, and power?

Who would refuse such a good thing?

Foll signed the contract without even looking at it.

"Follow this road and walk far away. You will meet a witch. Follow the witch's instructions and go down to the cave to get the tinderbox, and then kill the witch."

"After that, you will get countless money and invincible power!"

The scene shifted, Foll pulled out his long sword from the witch's chest. On the ground, the witch's eyes flashed with incomprehensible expressions:

"I have already given you so much wealth. We don't know each other. Why do you still kill me and take the tinderbox?"

"Why? I…"

A trace of embarrassment and embarrassment flashed across Foll's face, but soon, he became annoyed and angrily said, "You must be an evil witch. Those money and the tinderbox must be the result of your evil deeds. It's better to give it to me, to give it to a hero like me!"

A trace of irony appeared in the eyes of the witch lying on the ground.

But soon, she was chopped into pieces of meat by Foll's second, third, and fourth swords!

"I heard that a family's money in the city was all stolen overnight today, and that person committed suicide in despair!"

In the tavern, a man was talking loudly about some rumors in front of Foll.

"Why bother so much? Today is my treat, don't talk about those messy things!"

Foll's voice was a little unnatural. He sprinkled a handful of coins, watching the people around him happily crawling and picking them up at his feet, and finally laughed.

"Let go of me, who are you—I, why am I here, don't come over, my father will kill you—"

A girl in a white dress was crying and struggling, but a hound held down the girl's hands and feet.

Foll slowly walked forward, smiling evilly with some dissatisfaction:

"Your father? Even the king can't kill me."

"Now, I am the strongest person in the whole world, you should feel honored!"

The scene darkened again. Foll was wearing a gorgeous robe, and a hound brought gold coins and placed them at Foll's feet.

In the tavern, everyone toasted him, both men and women flattered Foll.

Everyone's words were extremely gorgeous.

But at this moment, the door of the tavern opened, and a young woman walked in, staring at Foll, holding a slender animal bone in her hand.

The tavern was very noisy, but when this woman spoke, everyone seemed to become mute in an instant:

"The Shadow Witch has promised you money, why do you still kill her and take the tinderbox? That thing doesn't belong to you!"

But Foll became annoyed and angrily pointed at the woman and shouted:

"What nonsense are you talking about, woman? Kill her!"

The next moment, the people in the tavern stood up. Because of the money Foll gave them, they rushed towards the woman.

But a few seconds later, there was only Foll left in the tavern.

The others, the people who had just rushed towards the woman, had now turned into animals such as frogs, maggots, flies, and mice, jumping on the ground.

"You will pay the price for this!"

The woman waving the slender animal bone walked step by step towards the terrified Foll.

But at this time, the floor under Foll's feet suddenly seeped out black and red blood. In the blood, a claw grabbed Foll's ankle and dragged Foll into the black blood before the witch approached Foll.

The vision recovered from the darkness again.

This time, standing in front of Foll was the red-eyed man he had seen at the beginning. At this time, the man had two protruding horns on his forehead, and a pair of bat wings on his back.

He sneered, and a contract in his hand shone with a scarlet light.

Foll felt the blood all over his body flashing with the red light on the contract.

"Do you remember the contract you signed? You got money, power, and I saved your life, and your soul—now belongs to me."

…

"Ugh, is this the origin of the tinderbox? Stolen from a witch's hand?"

Poro reopened his eyes and looked at Lake.

He gathered magic through special rules, and then borrowed the rhythm left by the Mind Construction Array to light the tinderbox—

"Pa!"

With a slight sound, the tinderbox finally lit a tiny flame.

But it went out quickly without any hound appearing.

"Foll, he had power, but he did bad things."

Lake also saw Foll's experience through the shadow and added from the side, "Even without the devil, he is not a good person."

"Want to hear a story?"

After seeing Foll's Mind Construction Array, Poro had completely confirmed the origin of this fairy tale. He looked at the re-extinguished tinderbox and said, "The name of this story is Tinderbox."

//Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales·Tinderbox

"This is the story of the tinderbox. In the fairy tale, the soldier who took the tinderbox became a king and lived a good life."

Poro said, golden pages appeared.

On it was drawn a delicate tinderbox, and under the shadow of the flame sat three black hounds.

[Cyclical Return: Tinderbox·Hound-Calling Flame]

[Complete the unlocking ceremony and obtain the fairy tale authority!]

[Fairy Tale Authority: You will become the new owner of the tinderbox, you can easily use the tinderbox without paying any price!]

[But there are only three dogs in it. You must understand that dead dogs will not respond to your call]

[Unlocking Ceremony: Obtain the tinderbox and light the tinderbox]

[Description: Foll lit the tinderbox. In the faint firelight, he saw the eyes of the hound. He laughed. He got the secret of the tinderbox—he had the power and will never worry about money or power!]

"Haha, this is exactly what I said I needed."

Poro integrated the cyclical return into his body, and when he looked at the surprised tinderbox in his hand again, he felt the magic in the tinderbox begin to connect with his own magic.

He understood that this time, the tinderbox would not go out again.

"Although only one hound can be summoned."

Poro muttered. The first hound was killed by him and Lake, and the second hound also died in the siege of the Bone Guard, Lake, and the Expeditionary Fleet, and could not be summoned again.

Then, he put the tinderbox into his pocket, but smiled again, "However, the one that can be summoned has eyes as big as a round tower—that's enough."

"Great, with that hound, our chances of defeating the Svea Kingdom and those devils will be even greater."

Lake also laughed.

"Not only that, we have other cyclical returns."

Poro blinked and took out another page.

[Cyclical Return: Bluebeard·Evil Secret]

[Complete the unlocking ceremony and obtain the fairy tale authority!]

[Fairy Tale Authority: All doors hidden with evil secrets will open in front of you—this is a key that belongs to you!]

[Unlocking Ceremony: Kill Bluebeard, such a butcher must not be allowed to survive in the world!]

[Description: After the last door underground was opened, the woman was stunned. There were bones all over the ground, and corpses with their skin peeled off…]

[In horror, the golden key fell to the ground, stained with blood, but could never be removed]

"This one, judging from the description, seems more like something used to crack seals."

Poro thought for a while and took back the page, "There will always be places where it can be used."

…

Sanssouci Palace, inside the hall.

"We cannot defeat those Svea people, perhaps we should leave."

"Go to a farther place, maybe those Svea people will let us go…"

Listening to the discussions below, a glint of anxiety flashed in Happy Prince's gem-formed eyes. He wanted to stop those who wanted to leave, but he understood even more the extent of the losses this war would bring—

What if there really was no chance of victory?

Was he supposed to let these people who believed in him go to their deaths together?

Happy Prince could sacrifice himself, but he wasn't willing to force others to do the same.

But just as the discussion fell into a trough, and the talk of fleeing the war began to show an overwhelming trend, Princess Marlene in the corner suddenly looked at the shadow beneath her feet.

She heard some things Poro said about a tinderbox and a giant hound.

"Really?"

Princess Marlene's expression changed from astonishment to a hint of surprise.

After that, she looked at the sorrowful generals around her and suddenly asked:

"You are afraid of the unknown power of the Sree Kingdom, right?"

"Your Highness Marlene, a hound that reaches the sky—aren't you afraid?" A general frowned as he listened.

"What if that hound is ours now?"

The next moment, Lake and Poro's shadows appeared from behind Princess Marlene, Lake holding the tinderbox in his hand, looking at everyone and saying.

As soon as these words came out, everyone showed astonished expressions.

"Our victory this time is not without meaning. Our homes and families are spared from the doom of destruction because of our victory. If we give up fighting, the fate of death will surely befall us!"

Princess Marlene looked at the people around her and continued.

"Sree Kingdom is a kingdom built by devils. Now, they have abandoned their disguise."

Lake also said, "You have also seen what they have done. They are not just trying to conquer one or two countries, but to destroy the world!

You can run away, you can run later, but one day you will run out of options—facing such enemies, even if you run, where can you escape to?"

"We can win once, and we can win a second and a third time. They have extraordinary powers, and so do we."

Happy Prince watched Lake and Poro appear, and a light of surprise finally appeared in his gem eyes.

"The Sree Kingdom has besieged Falling Star City for a long time, but still hasn't won—which means someone can contend with them!

If we can get in touch with Falling Star City, we may have more opportunities to understand our enemies.

Then defeat them and truly end this war!"

Hearing these words, the generals who had just fallen into sorrow regained a little light in their eyes. They looked at the map on the wall, pondered, and discussed.

"Perhaps, we do have a chance."

"Falling Star City, it is rumored that the king there also has powerful strength."

"If we can get more allies..."

Just then, the door of Sanssouci Palace opened, and a Gotha messenger hurried in, strode forward, gave a military salute, knelt on one knee, and said loudly:

"Your Majesty, there is an envoy requesting an audience, claiming to be from the Kingdom of Oz, here to form an alliance against the Sree Kingdom."

The generals who were still discussing fell silent instantly.

"Kingdom of Oz?"

Many people's eyes showed a hint of surprise. They had heard rumors about this country.

"Let him in."

Happy Prince thought for a moment, then spoke.

(End of this chapter)