"In a time long, long ago," the lumberjack paused, "or rather, about nineteen years ago, the world was still in its normal state. The major kingdoms were still engaged in low-intensity, chaotic warfare. The upper class remained mired in extravagance, while town residents crowded into sweatshops newly equipped with steam engines. Rural dwellers, plagued by Dark Creatures, could only rely on wandering demon hunters for protection. Just like the past thousands of years. Um... back then I was a king, the King of the Kingdom of Lipma, Frederick the Third.

"My father was the man known as the Blood Eagle, Frederick the Second! My mother was Princess Alisha from the Kingdom of Aeo! Noble blood flowed through my veins, and just like my ancestors, I was entitled and capable of ruling an entire kingdom."

A hint of pride flashed across the lumberjack's face, followed by a look of despondency. "However, all that changed because of Princess Elsa of the Kingdom of Elendale."

The lumberjack scratched his bearded chin. "The Kingdom of Lipma is located in the northeastern corner of this world, an island country covered in ice and snow. The Kingdom of Elendale is to the southwest of Lipma, also an ice-covered island country. I had heard of that Princess Elsa before. I heard that even as a child, she possessed some kind of ability to control ice and snow—which wasn't a good thing for the royal families of any kingdom. Royal families could hire Wizards and Magicians with extraordinary abilities, but if a member of the royal family themselves had such abilities, it was considered a disgraceful scandal. All kingdoms worshipped the deities of the Aorantheos Divine System, taking pride in being pureblood humans, even though the deities of Aorantheos hadn't shown any miracles in a long while."

Li Ang and the other players exchanged glances. The Princess Elsa of the Kingdom of Elendale, the one who can control ice and snow that the lumberjack mentioned, is likely the Snow Queen, our mission target.

"At that time, I was still a prince. My most important daily activity was attending various social balls and making acquaintances with eligible noble young ladies from different kingdoms—this was essentially the main daily activity for unmarried noblemen."

A self-deprecating and nostalgic look appeared on the lumberjack's excessively hirsute face. "Heh, I wonder if it's divine favor, but the princes of the major kingdoms and numerous smaller ones all had handsome features. I, too, used to be quite good-looking."

You? Julia couldn't help but scan the lumberjack up and down. The only difference between this fellow and a gorilla is his brown body hair.

"Anyway," the lumberjack continued, completely unaware of the players mocking him in their minds, "the Kingdom of Lipma had always been friendly with the Kingdom of Elendale. So, upon hearing of the King and Queen of Elendale's death from illness, I, as a representative, led a delegation to our neighboring country. My goals were twofold: to express sorrow for the death of their king and to take the opportunity to propose to Princess Elsa, whom I had never met. This would greatly benefit my future ascension to the throne. As for the result..."

The lumberjack shrugged. "We met Princess Elsa in the capital of the Kingdom of Elendale. The girl, who was still a child at the time, was indeed a beauty in the making, but she had a particularly bad temper. She was mature and stubborn, and a bit eccentric.

"She rejected my proposal, calling it 'a man's attempt to use coercive marriage to exploit, oppress, and take advantage of independent and capable women of the new era, stemming from his fear of losing social dominance.'

"Sounds like that girl in the Little Red Riding Hood just now, right?

"I hadn't even understood what that meant when I was driven out of the Kingdom of Elendale.

"Soon, Princess Elsa became the new Queen of the Kingdom of Elendale. Right after her coronation, she began to implement drastic reforms.

"For example, she dismissed a large number of court attendants, claiming that the system of servitude was feudalism's oppression of human rights.

"She increased the number of female officials in the kingdom's urban administration system, claiming this was a correction for workplace gender discrimination.

"She amended the laws, making the abandonment of babies, especially female infants, a crime punishable by hanging in the most severe cases.

"As Queen, she certainly had the right to make reforms. However, things escalated when she started confiscating the property of numerous nobles within Elendale, using the pretext of 'sweeping away aristocratic oppressive forces.' At that point, some of the old courtiers, unable to tolerate it any longer, prepared to take action.

"A group of the most radical ministers, who tried to replace her with her sister, Anna, were turned directly into ice sculptures by Elsa.

"Those who merely offered dissenting advice were thrown into prison and stripped of their family fortunes.

"Before long, a civil war broke out within the Kingdom of Elendale. Disgruntled nobles, unwilling to sit idly by and await their doom, formed an army to overthrow Queen Elsa's rule."

At this point, the lumberjack's expression darkened. "On the vast plains, the noble army, composed of two thousand cavalry and thirty thousand soldiers, hadn't even had time to deploy their formation before Queen Elsa conjured a blizzard that turned them all into ice sculptures.

"No one dared to challenge Queen Elsa's rule anymore. She carried out numerous reforms across the Kingdom of Elendale, attempting to transform it into what she proclaimed to be a paradise on earth.

"After half a year of silence, the Kingdom of Elendale began to wage war on other lands, and the Kingdom of Lipma was the first to bear the brunt."

With a wry smile, the lumberjack shook his head. "My father was once a proud, mighty warrior. He had beheaded over a dozen troll chieftains and hunted thousands of Magical Beasts.

"But in the face of Queen Elsa, who possessed power akin to that of a deity, he and his army were effortlessly defeated.

"The Kingdom of Lipma was annihilated. After being king for only three days, I was forced to surrender to the Queen with my subjects—those three days were roughly the time it took for the Queen's army to reach Lipma's capital.

"According to Queen Elsa's decree, I too was to be turned into an ice sculpture for not surrendering immediately. However, her sister—Princess Anna, who had no ice powers but was kind and approachable—persuaded Elsa otherwise.

"I was exiled alone from the Kingdom of Lipma and ended up in the Rune Kingdom, as you see, becoming a lumberjack."

The lumberjack, or rather, Frederick the Third, shrugged, his face showing a look of serene resignation, or perhaps profound fatigue. "In the years that followed, Queen Elsa's army—actually, it was mainly herself with her ice Magic Power—swept aside all opposition and conquered all the kingdoms.

"While the royal families of the various nations still existed, they were essentially no different from secondary nobles and had lost all their power.

"Queen Elsa thus established her sole rule over this land and began her plan to transform the world."

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