Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 3089: Frost Priestess

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Lil’ Red Storm Realm, Freedom Magelopolis

After the second assembly concluded, Asong headed straight for the teleportation hub, making her way toward the Lil’ Red Storm Realm to take up the very position she had previously rejected.

She could only hope she wasn’t already too late. Or worse, that she hadn’t burned the bridge with Her Highness Dalia beyond repair.

The moment she arrived in the Lil’ Red Storm Realm, she was once again struck by its beauty. The Froslings still caught her off guard.

She had been here when they arrived, but she still couldn’t quite get used to their otherworldly beauty. Their presence made the city feel almost surreal, as though someone had taken a fairy tale and dropped it into the middle of the Card World.

What surprised her even more was how quickly they had integrated into the city.

The Froslings weren’t merely living there as refugees anymore. They had found work, contributed to the city, and carved out places for themselves within its society.

Asong had heard their story. She understood that their eagerness to work and prove their usefulness wasn’t simply driven by comfort or necessity. It was insecurity.

They had lost their homeland. They had seen their civilization nearly wiped out. So when someone gave them a place to stay, they couldn’t simply accept it without proving that they deserved to remain there.

Asong looked at them differently now. In their faces, she saw a possible future for the entire Card World.

If the second Demon Invasion couldn’t be repelled, perhaps this was what awaited everyone, maybe even a fate worse than theirs. Refugees scattered across unfamiliar lands. Entire civilizations reduced to survivors desperately trying to prove that they were worth protecting. Or straight forward extinction.

For the first time in a long while, Asong felt genuine gratitude toward her ancestors. They had fought through the first Demon Invasion and successfully pushed the demons back, buying the Card World generations of peace.

She had always known that history was important. But standing among the survivors of another threatened civilization made that history feel painfully real. She silently thanked the generations before her.

Asong headed straight for Dalia’s penthouse office. Thanks to the authority Dalia had previously granted her, she could access any teleportation hub in the city and arrive directly outside the penthouse.

She was relieved to discover that her access privileges hadn’t been revoked. That was a good sign. Or perhaps Dalia simply hadn’t thought to remove them yet. Asong chose to believe the former.

She entered the penthouse and found Dalia in conversation with one of the most beautiful female Froslings she had ever seen: Moon Fright.

Asong had already learned that Froslings were almost unfairly beautiful by the standards of the Card World, but Moon Fright somehow stood out even among them. Her delicate features, pale complexion, and ethereal presence made it difficult to look away.

There was another reason Moon Fright’s status stood out. Because of her close relationship with His Highness Dalton V. Wyatt, she had been chosen as the Frost Priestess of the Frosling Race.

The position wasn’t merely ceremonial. She had become one of the most important representatives of the Froslings within the New Empire, standing between her people and the Empire’s leadership. Seeing the two women speaking so seriously, Asong slowed her steps. Whatever they were discussing, it clearly wasn’t casual conversation.

As she got closer, Asong noticed a female dwarf standing beside Dalia. The three of them were gathered around a holographic projection of the entire Freedom City, with countless lines of light running through its streets and districts. From the symbols and highlighted sections floating above it, they appeared to be discussing modifications to the city’s array formations.

“Asong, you’re late,” Dalia suddenly called out. The unexpected greeting startled her. “What are you doing standing there like a dimwit? Hurry over.”

Asong blinked. She had expected anger. At the very least, she had expected Dalia to make her regret walking away from the position she had offered. Instead, Dalia was treating her almost as if nothing had happened.

Taking that as a good sign, Asong decided to strike while the opportunity was there. “Your Highness, if your offer is still standing, I would be honored to accept it.”

“Sorry. Moon Fright and Dulas already filled it, but we can still use a Card Apprentice’s perspective,” Dalia replied without making a big deal out of it.

With a wave of her hand, she pushed the three-dimensional hologram of Freedom City toward the center of the penthouse hall. The projection expanded severalfold, transforming the entire room into a miniature replica of the city. Districts, streets, defensive formations, residential zones, and countless other structures emerged in layers of translucent light, each rendered with astonishing detail.

The hologram even marked every soul living within the city, tracking their location and activities in real time. Blue dots represented the Froslings, while red dots represented the Card Apprentices.

What immediately caught her attention was how the two colors were concentrated in different parts of the city, with very little overlap between them. Dalia might not even know the word segregation, but that was exactly what it looked like from above. Whether intentional or not, the city had quietly divided itself into blue and red.

“Wyatt wants me to ensure that the Froslings and Card Apprentices don’t merely coexist,” Dalia explained. “He wants them to mingle enough that they eventually start families together. The problem is, I don’t know enough about either race to figure out how to make that happen.”

Asong’s expression stiffened slightly. So the position had already been filled. A small wave of disappointment washed over her, especially after she had rushed all the way here hoping to reclaim the opportunity she had rejected.

Still, she couldn’t bring herself to be upset. The fact that Dalia hadn’t closed the door on her was already more than she had expected. She hadn’t completely burned that bridge. Now she simply had to prove that she was still worthy of walking across it.