After bestowing Alice her new royal title, the [King] said that Cecilia would be called upon for her own royal title within the next week. Then he shooed Alice and Ethan out of the throne room.

Once they got back to Ethan’s manor, Alice told Ethan about the information her new Perk was giving her. Even now, Alice could feel as if something Northwest of Illvaria was calling to her, and Alice wanted to take advantage of this information and see if she could fix all of this. Naturally, it would be much easier to make things happen with Ethan’s help.

 “So you think that the mainframe of the System is in the Northwest somewhere?” asked Ethan, after Alice finished explaining her thoughts.

Alice nodded. “I suspect it’s what my new Achievement is picking up, at least. I could be wrong, since the only thing I know for sure is that there’s something important to the northwest. But I think it’s plausible that the mainframe of the System is there, and if I could see it... maybe I could figure out how to repair it,” she said.

Ethan frowned.

“That is… unfortunate. Of all the directions it could have been in… how far away is it? Does your Achievement tell you?”

“It doesn’t, sadly. I know that it’s not in Illvaria, because I do have a rough mental map of Illvaria from my Perk. Beyond that, I only know that it’s far away.”

Ethan’s facial expression grew darker. “There are only a few places northwest of Illvaria, and all of them are problematic. The first place your Achievement could be leading you to is somewhere in the Sigmusi Colonia. In which case, if we wanted to investigate it, we would need to get a way into the Sigmusi Colonia’s territory. Asking them for passage sounds like an awful idea. Just a week ago one of their Immortals tried to either kidnap or assassinate you. Waltzing into their territory is just asking for them to try again.

“The Sigmusi Colonia’s territory extends all the way to the western and northern coasts of the Southern continent, so there are no other countries or locations that your Achievement could be leading you towards that are on the southern continent.

“The second place the Achievement could be leading you towards is the western continent, which is filled with the world’s most powerful monsters. The final place your Achievement could be leading you towards is… underwater. Trying to access something that’s underwater would be a massive logistical hassle. Not to mention, that particular region of the ocean is controlled by the Sigmusi.”

Alice winced. Every single one of those locations sounded frustrating to access and investigate.

“Without submarines, I can definitely see why operating underwater would be a major hassle,” said Alice, as she thought of the possibility of the System being underwater. Maybe there was some way to get around the problem of breathing and moving underwater with enchantments?

As Alice was lost in her thoughts, Ethan started speaking again.

“Actually, there is a fourth location the Achievement could be leading you towards, now that I think about it. When your Perk gave you a glimpse of the mainframe of the System, did you see any hints that would indicate whether the System was underground, underwater, or perhaps flying in the sky somewhere?”

Alice brightened up as she considered the possibility of an airborne System. Trying to find a flying enchantment might take a lot of effort, but it sounded much less dangerous than the other locations that Ethan had mentioned. Not to mention, flying using magic was something most powerful [Kinetic Mages] could do, so the logistical problems of accessing the System would be far easier to solve.

Alice’s good mood only lasted a few moments, until she worked on recalling her memories of the System again. She had only seen the mainframe of the System once, while using her Perk to learn more about various types of mana, but based on what she could remember…

“I think the System is underground,” Alice said, trying not to feel disappointed. “There’s a chance that maybe the vision my perk gave me all those weeks ago was incomplete or something. But I don’t think the System is flying, unless it’s a giant enchantment floating in the sky and surrounded by several layers of stone.” Alice paused. “Actually, maybe the System’s mainframe could be in the moon? Is the moon northwest of here?”

“The moon is most definitely not northwest of here right now,” said Ethan. “According to most [Scholar] estimations of the moon’s orbit, at this moment it should be a bit to the south and also beneath our feet.”

“So much for that idea then,” said Alice. She felt a bit of relief at Ethan’s words.

Trying to figure out how to land on the moon had been incredibly difficult for her own world, and that was when several nations had massive production bases and centuries of scientific advancements to build off of. Alice had zero confidence that she could manage the same thing in this world, even with magic. Trying to fly into space and land on the moon was just asking for a logistical nightmare that would take years of calculations to solve. Not to mention, Alice had no idea if there were any differences between outer space in this dimension versus her home dimension. For all Alice knew, in this dimension space could be infested with monsters, or mana could create all sorts of terrifying phenomena outside of the planet’s atmosphere. It wasn’t something Alice was eager to mess with.

Ethan also seemed relieved that they wouldn’t need to figure out how to manage a lunar landing, but still seemed frustrated by the difficulty of the task before them. “So it’s either beneath the ocean floor, making it effectively underground somewhere, or it’s in the other two locations. Either way, that’s not going to be easy to access.” Ethan sighed, before falling more deeply into thought.

“Well, the possibility of the System being located on the Western continent seems likely, at least to me. After all, the Western Continent is practically unexplored by humanity. Based on what you’ve told me about the System, the System must emit a ridiculous amount of mana on a day to day basis. The System just does too much for it to function without an ungodly amount of mana. The Western Continent is known to have some of the densest mana on the planet. It could make sense, I believe. And given how powerful the monsters are on the western continent, it would be very hard for anyone to accidentally intrude upon the System. After all, even a team of Immortals could easily lose their lives while exploring the Western continent.” Ethan paused, and started looking thoughtful. “It would actually be a very clever way to prevent someone from breaking into the System’s mainframe, as well. You would need some way to prevent monsters from getting into the System. Still, if I were the creator of the System, I would probably put the System’s mainframe on the Western Continent.”

Alice frowned. “How easy is it to sail to the Western Continent from Illvaria? Or to get to the ocean northwest of the southern continent?” she asked, hoping that it might be possible to take a look. If she could at least sail around a bit, she could at least figure out where the System mainframe was, and make more detailed plans from there.

Ethan laughed bitterly. “Not very. The Sigmusi would definitely see it as an opportunity, and we have no way to keep you safe on the ocean. Illvaria isn’t exactly a naval power. Even during the golden age of Illvaria, when the southern region was fully under control, we only had a few ports. Our navy wasn’t totally worthless back then, but it was mostly comprised of mid-sized ships meant to harass the Sigmusi navy and then flee. After all, we never had a very big coastline, so it was never a priority. And that navy fell into disrepair when the south was destroyed, since our only real coastal access vanished along with the south. Which means that apart from my mother’s boat, and merchant vessels built for river travel, Illvaria doesn’t have a navy. My mother is probably the highest level [Admiral] in the country, and she’s probably only level 50 or 60 in the Class,” said Ethan. “That’s not bad, but it’s hardly up to this task.”

“So no matter where the System is… we still don’t have an easy way to access it?” asked Alice, resisting the urge to ball her fists in frustration. The possible location of the mainframe of the System was an amazing clue. If Alice had access to the mainframe of the System, it might be possible to fix everything with a few days of study. And yet, based on Ethan’s words, the very fact that it was northwest of Illvaria made the System mainframe inaccessible.

“Is there any chance we could… I don’t know, sail around the Sigmusi Colonia’s navy? Or hide from them while searching? Even if we don’t have a navy to work with, if it’s just a single ship, maybe they won’t notice us?

“Or we could convince them to help us? The collapse of the System affects everyone, and without it getting fixed, the Sigmusi Colonia is ultimately going to suffer just as much as Illvaria will,” said Alice, after a few moments of thought. The Sigmusi blocked two of the three possible System locations. She didn’t really trust the nation at all, but as appalling as she found their behavior, the world was literally at stake.

“Trying to sail around the Sigmusi Colonia’s navy is unlikely to work,” said Ethan. “Unlike Illvaria, the majority of Sigmusi’s population is on the central continent. The Sigmusi Colonia is mainly focused on exporting raw materials to the heartland of the country. To ship all of that material back to the central continent, and protect it from [Pirates] and the navies of other nations, the Sigmusi navy is excellent. It’s arguably the best in the world, and slipping by them would be incredibly hard.” Ethan paused. “Although a few other nations could give them a run for their money, especially if they work together. But that’s not relevant for this situation. If you go on the ocean using Illvaria’s navy, you’ll be basically unprotected, in a region controlled by a nation that practices slavery and is actively targeting you.”

Alice winced. Ethan’s words sent a shiver of horror down her spine. The Society of Starry Eyes stalking her and waiting to strike was terrifying enough. Alice didn’t need to send herself into a situation where she had no protection. Even though Alice was willing to put aside her disgust to deal with the current crisis, there were still limits to how much she was willing to compromise her own safety.

But Alice was also reluctant to give up on the easiest crisis solution she could think of. It seemed like such a simple way to handle everything. Go to the mainframe of the System, figure out what went wrong with it, put it back together, and call it a day.

“Is there… any way that maybe other nations could pressure the Sigmusi into letting us pass, or lending us a hand?” asked Alice, after a few moments of thought. “You mentioned that a few other nations could give the Sigmusi navy a run for its money. Illvaria’s navy is insufficient for the task… but what if we got help from other nations? I don’t know much about diplomacy, but surely other countries are also worried about the collapse of the System. If other nations with functioning navies work together to put pressure on the Sigmusi, maybe we could search the western continent and the ocean freely?”

Ethan paused to think about it.

“If the System’s mainframe is indeed on the western continent, or underwater, that might work. I don’t know how hard it would be to wrangle international support for your passage through the area. My mother and the crown estate tend to be most involved in international diplomacy, so I’m not as familiar with external affairs. But we also don’t know for sure that the System is on the western continent, or in the ocean. If the System is in the Sigmusi Colonia’s territory, causing a huge international fuss and putting pressure on them using the navy of their rivals would definitely make them hate you even more. It would also alert everyone about the fact that the System has a physical mainframe somewhere. I don’t think that’s a good idea. I shudder to think what the Sigmusi, or any nation, would do with the System if they had unrestricted access to the System. The Sigmusi are the ones I would expect to abuse that power the most easily, but frankly, I don’t see that ending well. Even Illvaria might abuse access to the System, given enough time,” said Ethan. “I don’t think the current [King] or the [Princess] would do anything too egregious, but who can say what will happen in a few centuries?”

Alice thought about Ethan’s words, before she was forced to agree. Even if a nation with excellent intentions got access to the System, it would still be a ticking time bomb. What if they tried to study the System and broke something? What if they messed with the way the System designed classes, and added in some sort of mandatory ‘subservience’ Perk that affected everyone? What if the System got tied up in some sort of internal factional dispute and got damaged? Alice had no idea what someone could do with unrestricted access to the System, but she doubted it was anything good. Widespread knowledge of the System’s physical mainframe was unlikely to ever end well, if one thought about it on a scale of centuries.

In other words, it was best to keep the team of people who explored and studied the mainframe of the System small. After this incident was resolved, it was best if nobody knew about the System. While Alice loved spreading knowledge, knowledge of how to break the enchantment that kept humanity alive on this planet wasn’t something other people should know about.

But that also limited her options for finding the mainframe of the System even further.

Alice sighed in frustration.

 “Is there… any way at all we could get into the Sigmusi’s territory, to start looking around?” asked Alice, hoping that Ethan had some sort of solution she hadn’t thought of yet.

“Unless we declare war on the Sigmusi, then successfully conquer the country… I doubt it. And honestly, I don’t fancy our odds against them unless the other Shil Confederacy nations back us up. And wars take time.”

Alice sighed.

She absently grabbed a world map and started scanning it, hoping to find something that was ‘Northwest’ but wasn’t one of the three locations Ethan mentioned. Maybe looking at the map would provide Alice with some sort of inspiration?

There were no good locations for the System to be in. Every single one was problematic and hard to access.

The only thing Alice got out of looking at the map was a vague guess about an alternate location for the System’s mainframe. Alice felt that Ethan’s argument about the System’s location made sense. The Western continent was probably the most logical place for the System mainframe to be.

However, there was one other obvious alternative spot.

Far to the northwest, there was a place that was renowned for being incredibly rich in mana. It was a massive shipping hazard, and it was filled with monsters. In fact, Alice had heard about it before – she just hadn’t considered it important, and so she had just ignored it afterwards.

“The maelstrom,” said Alice, looking at the large plot of ocean marked on the map. There were even a few small islands noted to exist in the middle of the maelstrom – although much like the western continent, nobody had ever explored them, because the dense mana and powerful monsters were too problematic.

Ethan paused, and looked at the map in front of Alice. Finally, he nodded.

“The maelstrom would also make sense. I think the Western Continent is a better candidate for the location of the System, but the Maelstrom would be my second guess,” he said.

Then, Ethan sighed.

“Regardless of which location the System is in, we don’t have enough information to make plans. And we also have massive roadblocks that get in the way of our actions.” Ethan shook his head in frustration.

Alice laughed bitterly. “I guess we’ll just have to keep muddling our way forward the way we’ve been doing so far. Repairing the mainframe of the System is the easiest way forward, but there are a lot of other things we can do to contain the damage right now. Speaking of which, would it be possible for you to help me find a few more people above level 75? I still need to figure out how to control the Alice mana in my brain,” she said, trying to push down the feeling of bitterness rising in her heart.

“I’m still having some of my [Messengers] look for people. It’s a bit difficult, since people who reached above level 75 are rare. But ultimately, there should be more people to look at soon,” said Ethan.

Alice nodded, before she sighed and left.

She spent a lot of time that night thinking about how to proceed, now that the most obvious paths forward were blocked off, but couldn’t think of an easy solution, even during the extra thinking time afforded to her by the {Sleep Reading} Perk.

When she woke up the next morning, at breakfast, she was surprised to see Ethan was in a rather jovial mood. Before Alice could ask, Ethan grinned at her.

“You’re lucky. Trying to find the mainframe of the System might not be as hopeless as I thought. The sixth Immortal of Illvaria returned to Metsel last night.”

acaswell

Today's schedule is rather chaotic. One of the water pipes in the ceiling decided to die horrifically today, making some lovely... indoor rain. So basically, everything is chaos and my schedule is dead today. Luckily the plumber has already fixed it, but still definitely not what I wanted to spend several hours of my day dealing with. So everything is way later than usual T_T. Today is just a giant mess.

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