Taste of Magic: General's Echo [Slice-of-Life LitRPG]

Melina couldn't quite believe her ears. In her mind, there couldn't be anyone else who could tear the realms apart like she had. This wasn't some simple magic one could just learn on a whim. It wasn't a basic fireball or healing spell anyone could do.

"We're talking about splitting realms here," Melina said in disbelief.

Elowen's frown deepened. "Tell me, how did you acquire as much power as you did last time? My memory is still patchy."

Melina thought about it. If she were a bit more arrogant, she would have said that it was all due to her hard work and talent. However, upon careful consideration, that wasn't true.

That wasn't to say that she didn't work hard. Of course, she did, but she wasn't exclusive in that regard. The Church had always provided her with everything she needed to grow her abilities. Best instructors, many missions for practice, scrolls, and books to study from.

At the time, she thought it was normal. That was how all System users were taught. But what if that wasn't the case? The groups she had worked with had always been small. What if they had been searching for someone who could accomplish their goal, and she just happened to be the most promising candidate?

"It was thanks to the Church…" she admitted. "They provided me with everything necessary."

Alistair frowned. "But isn't that true for every System user that comes to the Church?"

"No… I don't think it is. Obviously, they'd pay more attention to you because you're a noble, but they shouldn't have paid so much attention to me. I was just an orphan. Thinking about it, I don't remember other orphans ever getting as far as I did."

"Isn't it just because you were better than them?" Alistair questioned.

"Strong enough to rip apart worlds? I imagine it would take more than just pure perseverance and grit to reach such magical power and skill," Elowen said suspiciously.

Melina realized that Elowen was right. All this time, she had so foolishly thought that if she were to step aside, then the problem would be solved on its own. That the world would never reach the same tragic event again.

I was too naive. The Church must be training somebody to become the next [Archmage] right as we speak. The same tragedy is going to happen again. This would also explain why the Architect would be so eager for people to regain memories of the past. It's so we could prevent it all from happening again.

Although it is a neutral being, even the Architect would take action if the events led to the world's eventual demise.

"Melina…" Alistair looked at her with concern.

"They're going to do it again…" she muttered.

Elowen nodded and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Yes, that's the conclusion I reached yesterday after regaining my memories. I wish to prevent the disaster, but I don't think I can do it alone. I need human allies."

Melina felt overwhelmed. Realistically, she should have accounted for the fact that the Church would try to reach the same goal as before. After all, they hate everything related to the Monster Realms with the passion of a thousand blazing suns. But for some reason, she had thought that her measly sacrifice would have been enough to fix the world, and the Church would merely be an entity for her to avoid.

But the truth was that the world was sailing down the same destructive path with or without Melina at the helm.

"We can't let that happen again! There are no winners in that scenario!" Melina said firmly. "But what can we even do?"

Elowen winced, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I have no clue. I know every elf would be against the separation, so I could definitely gather them together."

"That would just be outright human-elf war!" Alistair protested.

"Yes, that would be my last resort. I'd much rather have humans work together with us on this issue. Hence why I came to you instead of sailing back to Euroa right away. I want us to find a solution together."

"Thank you. For giving us a chance, even if I lied to you about how much I remembered. I was afraid that you would…" Melina began but trailed off.

"Would what?" Elowen asked.

"Kill her," Alistair replied deadpan, glaring in Elowen's direction.

"That would be my last resort if Melina proved to be completely uncooperative," the elf said.

Melina noticed that this only put Alistair in a fouler mood, as he gritted his teeth.

"Thankfully, we are very much willing to cooperate, so that won't happen, right?" Melina squeezed Alistair's hand. He looked at her with a conflicted expression, then nodded.

"Yes, of course. Although I'm not sure what we could do currently. I'm not a [General] in this lifetime and Melina is not a [Archmage]," Alistair said.

"I believe Melina's knowledge will be our true asset rather than her magic. It's like you're magicless, either. You can channel Sienna's mana," Elowen said.

Sienna chittered in approval, although it felt weaker than her usual energetic chitter. Melina patted the wyrm gently, urging her to keep resting.

"I can, but Sienna needs time to recover."

"Of course. I'm not suggesting we spring into action right this second. Thanks to your cooperation, we have time to think our things through. What about you, Lord Sinclair? Would it be possible for you to eventually regain your influence as a human [General]?" Elowen asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not," Alistair said firmly, surprising Melina.

"Why not?" She and Elowen asked in unison.

"It is not a path I wish to follow this time around," Alistair said firmly. "In fact, the path I'm heading down now, I'm likely to lose any connection to my family. But I shall support this endeavour to my utmost ability otherwise."

So he doesn't intend to marry the princess. But would Duke Sinclair really cut him out of the family for just that? Okay, maybe he would if it were just him, but I feel that the Duchess wouldn't allow it.

"I'm sure it'll all turn out all right with your family," Melina consoled.

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"Well, in either case, it appears that we'll be operating with a rather small scope of influence… Dear System, this is giving me even more of a headache," Elowen winced.

"Why don't we discuss what we could do after the festival? I feel like we all need some time to think and process this," Melina suggested.

"Agreed," Elowen said with a nod.

"Yeah, there's a lot to think about," Alistair agreed.

After saying their goodbyes, Melina and Alistair left the Guild. They looked at each other somewhat glumly, not quite sure what to do next. Melina sighed. Things seemed to be getting worse with each passing day.

"What can we even do to stop this?" She asked while looking up at the cloudless sky. It looked full of life, but she could still remember how horrible it looked when the world was on its last leg. She had to stop it from happening again.

"Hey, didn't we agree to think about this later?" Alistair chastised.

"Yes, but…"

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gently urged her forward. "You're still recovering just like Sienna. You need to regain your strength and recover. A strong body means a strong mind, no?"

Melina nodded. He used this phrase a lot in the past whenever she was injured and wanted to rush back into action.

"It's still the festival. Let's go and see it. Enjoy the festivities for once. It would be a shame to just let it all pass by without enjoying anything," he suggested.

Melina felt guilty about relaxing at a time like this. But on the other hand, the separation of realms wouldn't happen tomorrow. It would be another 12 years until it happened. Maybe even more if the person the Church chose as the new Archmage wouldn't be able to learn as quickly as Melina.

I think I can afford one day of rest.

"Let's go," Melina nodded and allowed Alistair to guide her towards the beach.

Their initial walk was silent as Melina was still deep in her thoughts, trying to come up with a solution. But as they kept walking, she became more aware of his hand on her shoulder with each minute.

"What about Charlotte?" She asked awkwardly, doing her best not to flush. But she was failing miserably.

"She's together with Mother and Father today, greeting some higher caliber guests of the festival," he replied.

"Shouldn't you be with them?" Melina asked in surprise.

"No. Nobody really cares about the third son of the family. Charlotte, on the other hand, is starting to get a lot of attention. Apparently, she recently received her first marriage proposal," Alistair said with a sour look on his face.

"What? Isn't it way too early for that?"

"Obviously. Father rejected it at once," he said. Judging from his reaction, Melina was sure that the sender of that letter would have their legs broken if the Duke hadn't rejected it. Charlotte was just a child. It was far too early to think about matters of marriage.

"Good. Charlotte needs to enjoy her childhood and then choose to marry someone she likes. She can do that right?" Melina asked cautiously.

"Well… It's hard to say. If she chooses somebody with a similar social standing, then theoretically, there shouldn't be a problem. Not even from Father, since he's rather lenient on Charlotte," he said, then narrowed his eyes. "The problem is that nobody is worthy enough to marry Charlotte."

Melina chuckled. She never knew that Alistair used to be such an overprotective big brother. In her memories, he and Charlotte never really appeared that close.

"Never took you for the overbearing brother type. Who did she marry last time?" She asked and felt Alistair's grip tighten on Melina's shoulder, almost painfully so.

Sienna snapped at his fingers, making him relax his grip.

"Sorry, Melina. It's just that last time… I didn't even get to attend her wedding. I don't even know whether the marriage was arranged or not… After I married the princess, we grew completely estranged," he explained.

"Isn't it exciting then?" Melina poked his shoulder playfully.

"Exciting?"

"You get to experience her wedding for the first time, despite living this life for a second time," she pointed out.

Alistair relaxed and nodded. "You're right. That is exciting. In fact, there are lots of exciting new things happening."

His gaze lingered on Melina for a long while, and she felt him pull her even closer to his side. It wasn't uncomfortable, no. In fact, she enjoyed this closeness. But was it alright? They shouldn't be wandering around the busy festival while sticking so close to each other. Anybody would mistake them for a couple.

"A-Alistair, is it alright if we walk around like this?" She asked, nervously fiddling with a hair near her ear. Suddenly, she couldn't decide where to put it–the wind seemed to blow it in her face all the time.

"Why wouldn't it be?" He asked somewhat mischievously.

The man was completely aware of what he was doing. Was he teasing Melina on purpose? No, Alistair wasn't like that. He was always gentlemanly and kind, respectful of other people's boundaries. Yet since they reunited in Sunglow, he'd always seemed somewhat pushy.

"What if your Father sees? He wanted me not to interact with you at all," she said.

"What did you say?"

"I said that I wouldn't agree to it," she said, still fiddling with her stray lock.

Alistair suddenly stopped on the side of the path. He gently took hold of the hair she was messing with and settled it behind her ear, his fingers brushing against her cheeks as he retreated. He was beaming at her the whole time. "Then there isn't a problem. Let's enjoy the festivities!"

Melina was a bit surprised by the gesture. This man was growing bolder by the minute. Was it alright to let him?

Perhaps some more logical part of Melina would have managed to say no and create a respectable distance between them. But she was walking next to a man she had been in love with for years. No, she was most certainly still in love with him. Her heart fluttered in his presence, and she didn't wish this moment to end.

For one day, I'll enjoy myself. One day of full fun and relaxation, and then I'll go back to business. It's a festival after all.

They began by checking the stalls. Today, the promenade was filled with more high-end stalls than before. The food looked more like something you'd find in a noble's mansion rather than a town like Sunglow. There were more expensive products sold—jewelry and fabrics.

Clientele had changed too, as there were fewer regular people like Melina and more rich merchants and actual noblemen like Alistair. If it wasn't for his presence, Melina wasn't sure if she'd feel comfortable walking among them.

"Interesting how today everything is more expensive," Melina noted.

"Father thought that it would be a good way to get money into Sunglow. I'm surprised so many nobles actually responded to his invitation," Alistair said.

So actual nobles are walking here. Now I really don't want to stay.

Among the elaborate stalls, Melina also noticed Etrian. He had a stall with some of the best outfits she had seen him make, and his stuff was already fancy on its own. She suspected that he had used the glass-like threads from the Monster Realm tree. There was no doubt that any noble would pay a huge sum to get their hands on an outfit made of something unique like that.

Part of her was curious to know whether the outfits had some effects imbued into them, but she decided that it wasn't the right time to ask. For now, she pulled on Alistair's sleeve and pointed to nearby benches.

"Could we rest for a moment? I think I'm getting a bit tired," she said. They hadn't walked much but her body must have been more exhausted from handling all that mana than she realized.

"Of course! Sorry that I didn't realize that you're tired sooner," Alistair said, looking guilty.

"It's okay. I didn't realize how tired I was," Melina admitted.

"I'll get you and Sienna something to drink. Could you wait here?"

"Thank you," she replied with a nod.

Alistair hurried away, disappearing into the crowd. Sienna chittered, looking a bit better than before. This was a great relief to Melina. It appeared that time in the sunlight had aided in her recovery. She hoped that her little familiar would be able to make a full recovery given enough time.

"I'm glad to see you better, Sienna," Melina said, gently taking the wyrm in her hands and patting her.

"Well, well, well. I thought the rumors had gone a step too far this time, but it appears they were true. My brother has fallen for a peasant wench who harbors monsters," a cold voice suddenly said.

Melina looked up and saw a tall man, quite similar to Alistair—same golden eyes, same black hair only cut much shorter. An unpleasant sneer was spread on his features as he looked down on Melina as if she were a cockroach that had found its way into his bed.

She recognized him. It was the eldest son of the Sinclair family—Richard Sinclair. Melina didn't doubt that there would be a confrontation, so she shielded Sienna, pulling her closer.