"Regarding this, I noticed that the President refers to the Fairy Tale World as 'this world'?"
Miss Red inquired gently.
Seeing Kisaragi Rin strip the Pumpkin Freak of its Ability did not make Miss Red regret joining the Strange Tales Association.
On the contrary, after witnessing such power, Miss Red felt a frantic joy that made her want to dance, following her initial astonishment.
This was because it didn't believe it would become expendable material.
It was valuable, and proactively surrendering based on its own strength inherently secured a certain friendship.
More crucially, Miss Red realized that this President was not a complete villain.
This could be seen from the number of members in the Strange Tales Association. If the Association possessed the power to arbitrarily strip a Strange Tale of its Ability and bestow it upon another Strange Tale, then why retain so many Strange Tales?
In Miss Red's view, the Strange Tales Association only needed to retain seven seats for formal members.
The other Strange Tales would merely be food for the formal members!
Only the surviving Strange Tales could seize a seat and devour everything the loser possessed!
Thinking of such a scene, faint currents of electricity arced across the surface of Miss Red's shoes, and the contact between the Queen's pale toes and the tips of the shoes even produced water droplets.
It was already hyped up.
However, calming down, Miss Red also understood that if the Strange Tales Association truly operated in that mode, then she, appearing here, might already have become food.
In any case, the fact was that it saw Kisaragi Rin, possessing such power, still allowing weak Strange Tales like Caren to exist, and their atmosphere was very casual. This led Miss Red to conclude that the President of the Strange Tales Association was not purely evil, and his attitude toward his own people was unbelievably good.
With these external conditions, Miss Red increasingly felt that her decision to join the Strange Tales Association was correct, and she couldn't wait to achieve something and enter the President's inner circle.
But before that, there was one more thing it needed to clarify.
That was the "this world" Kisaragi Rin had mentioned.
Noticing this term, Miss Red realized that the Strange Tales Association likely did not belong to the Fairy Tale World, and this represented more possibilities and trouble.
Facing Miss Red's question, Kisaragi Rin answered frankly, "Just as you suspect, the Strange Tales Association and I do not belong to this Fairy Tale World.
However, Miss Red does not need to worry about leaving her homeland or similar matters, nor will the Strange Tales Association and I suddenly mysteriously disappear one day, because the Strange Tales Association is a Cross-World Power, and I have already decided to place the future development focus of the Strange Tales Association on this world.
Therefore, this will only be a good thing."
"Another world?"
Calcifer couldn't help but emerge from the fireplace, eagerly asking, "Does that world have a sun?"
Kisaragi Rin: "Yes."
It was unclear what Calcifer had experienced to care so much about the sun in the sky.
"...Yes." It paused, wanting to say something, but constrained by Kisaragi Rin's demeanor, it finally shifted its gaze to Illya, planning to ask this future colleague later.
Compared to the vastness of the worlds, the proportion of Players in the Paradise is still very low. In a distorted and closed Cthulhu-like World such as the Strange Tale Fairy Tale World, information dissemination is even more difficult.
Among the Strange Tales in the pumpkin carriage, only the Magic Mirror and Miss Red knew a little about Players; otherwise, Miss Red would not have been so sensitive to certain terms.
"I understand, President.
Due to some personal matters, I cannot completely leave this world yet.
Hearing the President say this puts me at ease."
Miss Red's friendship is up! Up!
It's like the difference between governing a province and governing a city; the former naturally has higher prestige, attracting more civil and military officials to join, and the initial value and stability of loyalty will also be significantly higher.
For a Strange Tale as intelligent and ambitious as Miss Red, the more she learned about the Strange Tales Association's background, the more her friendship increased automatically.
Of course, the friendship here is not love, but other forms of favor, such as respect.
Kisaragi Rin noticed that the Shepherd Witch's friendship hadn't changed much. Perhaps she was more easygoing, or perhaps she simply wasn't clever enough to realize it.
"What requirements does the President have for territory?"
"Hmm... easy to defend and hard to attack, preferably without overly strong local forces nearby, and ideally, once developed, it should serve as a transportation hub radiating out to the surrounding lands..."
Kisaragi Rin's meaning was clearly expressed.
Simply put, there were only two points.
First, to be able to hide/lay low before gaining strength.
Second, to possess war potential after gaining strength.
Miss Red began to ponder, "I wonder if the President has observed the regions of the Fairy Tale World?"
Kisaragi Rin: "No, in fact, I only appeared here today."
"That is truly my honor."
Offering a customary compliment, Miss Red said:
"The geography of the Fairy Tale World is very unique, a special situation resembling building blocks.
Hmm... 'Building blocks' is my theory.
My understanding is that this world is like a shattered castle made of building blocks, with each block scattered and piled up on the ground forming the current world. This block world, which hasn't been carefully assembled, results in each constituent block being quite loose—so loose that the life forms living on the block world can actively pick up some blocks and piece them together.
And the power that represents each block and can be used to control it is called the Land Deed."
Saying this, Miss Red pulled out a faintly glowing contract from beneath her elaborate skirt.
Kisaragi Rin reached out and took it. "Hmm?"
He didn't understand the pattern on it, but why did the texture feel so familiar?
"The Land Deed represents control over a block.
They are divided into levels 0 through 5 based on size, but Level 0 is special, being a mobile miniature land plot, which is the land inside the pumpkin carriage.
The true classification begins at Level 1.
Level 1 is a Town, Level 2 is a City, A true Divine Domain where even a blade of grass on the ground possesses the strength of a Strange Tale."
"So, the method you just mentioned—piecing the building blocks back together—is the way to advance the level?"
After hearing Miss Red's explanation, Kisaragi Rin's interest in this world grew.
"That's right. Building blocks are just my metaphor; the word 'territory' is more appropriate for the actual situation.
The Land Deed is the core of the territory. Merging five territories of the same level—that is, using one Land Deed as the main body to absorb four Land Deeds of the same level—allows for a level increase."
Miss Red: "The level of the territory is very important. Most conflicts in the Fairy Tale World stem from this."