I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm

“One more time!”

With that intrinsic shout, Julia readied her bow toward a target. Now at eye level, she took a moment to look over its physique.

Although she had been practicing with it for decades at this point, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe and pride at its beautiful design. Its silverish-white structure was overcome by green lines reminiscent of twisting vines, which added a natural feeling to the bow that would ordinarily be shaped by using plant manipulation magic on a grown Alternia tree.

For all Julia knew, there was no Alternia tree bow that could even come close to matching the strength of the weapon resting in her hand; nor were there any elf skilled enough to carve the intricate details engraved in its curves neither with mana nor with artistic hands.

“… I know it’s a divine weapon, but it almost feels like I’m doing something wrong by shooting with it,” Julia muttered.

Her bow was undeniably a masterpiece. Had it suddenly fallen in her original world, Julia had no doubt that every region would battle for a chance to get hold of it- not just for its power, but also for its prestige. Deep down, Julia knew she wouldn’t even blame them if that happened. This bow would undoubtedly be viewed as a holy relic sent down from the high heavens- just the sight of it alone would be enough to grant power and prosperity to those who viewed it.

Of course, all of that was theoretical. The only world this bow would enter would be her realm.

How will they react when they see this?

Surely their thoughts on the bow would mirror her own, yet she was certain it would be even more impactful.

Unlike Jacob, who had a priest he could communicate with and a statue of himself that any human in his realm could visit, Julia was a step more removed from the elves of her realm.

In a way, her existence was only seasonal. She could only be seen through the power of her Oracle- and that was limited to where that Oracle could visit. Many of her elves didn’t even know she existed until the second battle phase.

If I leave this in my temple, maybe it could act as a statue for me?

Although she wondered this, her grip on the bow only increased as she slowly pulled back its string. The mana in her domain soon condensed into the form of an arrow, which materialized just in front of her fingertips on the string.

Pew!

The arrow launched with an incredible speed the moment her fingers released the string, hitting the target directly in its center. A burst of wind followed its path.

To an untrained eye, it would have appeared that the arrow instantly hit its target without even bothering to fly through the air. An expert watching would have been too confused about how they wound up in her domain to debate that assertion.

Despite the extraordinary accuracy, Julia didn’t react; a stationary target was just the warm-up for her getting lost in her thoughts.

With the arrow dissipating mere moments after the impact, Julia walked over to her targets and moved behind them, revealing runes engraved on plates on their backs.

One by one, the elf inserted small mana stones into the runes before she returned to her previous position and activated a separate rune raised on a custom stand beside her.

Woosh!

In an instant, the five targets rose into the air and began flying around randomly along the back wall of her domain.

Their movements were as erratic as they were rapid, yet Julia’s eyes remained still and focused. It was as though she had a lock on all five of their cores despite many only being in her peripheral view.

Calmly, the elf raised her divine bow; her hands were completely steady. Julia took in a shallow breath, and just as before, her trained hands pulled back the string. Green particles of mana once again condensed in front of her fingers.

With her bow taut, Julia focused ahead, analyzing the target’s rapid movements. Her expression stiffened.

As she released the string, she muttered a small phrase, soft enough to be mistaken for a whisper.

“[Split shot].”

Pew!

The arrow split apart the moment it left the string, duplicating into five arrows, equally as large as the original one.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

All five targets were met with an arrow directly in their centers. It happened so quickly that her body was still reacting to the small yet sudden decrease in divinity.

“Haah~”

Julia released her breath as she lowered her bow.

“I need to ask Tatton for more targets… five is too easy now.”

After muttering those boastful words and eyeing the targets once more, Julia turned around and aimed her bow toward her screen.

“[Boar’s Eye].”

The new arrow she shot immediately curved upward and changed direction over her head, zooming to the opposite wall behind her.

Thud!

The sound of a target being hit sounded through her domain, and sure enough, Julia spotted a green arrow in the center of a target just before it dissipated when she turned around.

“This bow must have been blessed by the high heavens.”

Despite shooting the arrows herself, Julia couldn’t stop looking at the bow in disbelief. She had already gushed enough today about how amazing the bow itself was, but now she was once again feeling the weight of how extraordinary its two abilities were.

Boar’s Eye and Split Shot.

The former was a tracking ability that guaranteed her arrow would hit her target as long as it was in range. With the power of her bow, that range could easily encompass anything in her sight.

Split Shot, on the other hand, was more useful in environments with multiple targets, as the number of arrows produced would scale directly in proportion to the divinity allocated to the shot. Rather than strength, this ability was mainly restricted by the divinity and skill of the user. Each arrow had to be properly aimed, after all.

They were both extraordinary skills, yet Julia couldn’t help but question whether or not her Oracle could actually make use of those abilities.

“The amount of divinity Boar’s Eye takes is pretty large… I doubt Ahin will be able to use it more than once or twice in an actual fight.”

Split Shot only used a bit of divinity per arrow, so unless her Oracle was using a huge attack or very frequent small duplications, it was an ability he could consistently rely on.

“… I know he needs to practice with it, but…”

Julia’s grip once again tightened on the bow as a groan escaped her lips. As amazing as her bow was, there was only one of it. Entrusting it to her Oracle meant that it would physically be in her realm until she called it back.

“There’s still plenty of time before he really needs to start using it, right?”

Pushing the thoughts of letting go of her bow aside, Julia turned off the targets and removed their mana stones before sitting down at her desk.

Ahin should be nearly halfway to the invader buffer zone by now.

Julia changed the position of her screen using the runes on her desk. Soon enough, the elf she was looking for popped up in her view.

Her Oracle had the appearance of a teen, though he looked closer to a boy than to a man. His dirty blonde hair was being softly illuminated in the dusk sky by a campfire a few arm’s lengths in front of him.

Contrary to the cosy setting in a quiet clearing amidst a forest of Alternia trees, the Oracle seemed extremely focused, with his eyes closed and his arm outstretched parallel to the fire.

As the elf focused, a small flame emerged in his palm, which flickered as he clenched his teeth. Sweat slowly dripped down his forehead, making his struggle evident through the screen, yet the flame vanished into a puff of smoke a few moments later.

“Ugh… Haah~ that is way too difficult!”

The Oracle’s whines sounded through the screen; however, they were aimed not at Julia, but rather at the bearded elf sitting beside him.

“I know it is difficult, but you will get accustomed to it soon,” the bearded man replied, “Someone chosen twice can not be satisfied by controlling existing flames; you must also use fire from within yourself to reach your true potential.”

“But there is fire right there, Casgar! I can just make a new one or light a torch whenever I need to use fire magic!” The Oracle argued, pointing at the campfire, only to be met by the old man’s shaking head.

“You are the Oracle- the protector of this world chosen by the goddess who sculpted it.”

“Right- and the goddess does not mind me using already-made fire!”

“Perhaps, but aside from that and much more importantly, you are my apprentice. And I will not let you be lazy and waste your potential.”

“You are stricter than the goddess, old man,” the Oracle groaned, slumping his posture.

“Perhaps she blessed me with a divine ego as she blessed you with divine strength?”

Ahin, the Oracle, rolled his eyes at Casgar’s banter.

“The night is still young, Ahin. There is plenty of time left to practice before we rest.”

“… Fine.”

The Oracle reluctantly straightened his posture and returned back to his outstretched pose, closing his eyes once more.

Or at least that’s what it appeared like.

In reality, Ahin kept them open in a small squint, and used the first moment he noticed the bearded elf look away to grab an ember from the campfire.

“Hehe- ow!”

The Oracle’s wrist was immediately whacked by a branch held by the old man: the flames in front of his palm vanished with the loss of his concentration.

“You may call me ‘old man’, but I am not senile, Ahin,” Casgar sighed, “Practice seriously tonight, and I will give you a break tomorrow.”

“Fine…”

A smile emerged on Julia’s face as she watched her Oracle return to focusing after their playful interaction.

They look like they’re doing well.

It was a nice scene between the two of them, something that hit Julia a bit harder considering the circumstances of their meeting.

Fire magic, in general, was new to Julia’s realm- only sparking up during her most recent trip to the Academy. Even now, she was only aware of around one hundred of her elves who used such magic. It was still a foreign concept for most of her realm because of this, and the elves who could handle flame manipulation were currently on the stage of trying to spread the word that such magic existed.

Casgar, the elder elf Ahin was traveling with, was one of those people. Based on what Julia gathered from overhearing his conversations with her Oracle, he seemed to have been wandering around the south of her realm while performing fire magic shows to the villages he passed through. Unlike the other traveling fire-using elves who focused on educational demonstrations of the new magic, Casgar's travels were more designed for entertainment- had Jacob been watching him, he’d likely compare Casgar to a circus performer from Earth.

Regardless of his methods, he was undoubtedly successful in inspiring other elves to learn the magic- the proof of that was in the smoke that led her to finding her current Oracle, though he was just a young kid at the time.

"It's nice that he's working so hard on training his fire magic, but he's not going to be able to use it against those swimming pains," Julia muttered while watching the screen.

As annoying as she found those swamp creatures to be, she begrudingly had to admit that they were exceptional at using water magic; they were better at manipulating water than her elves were at manipulating Alternia trees. It didn't take much thought to realize how that would be a bad matchup for any fire-type magic confrontations.

"Luckily, Ahin is also really great at using a bow. That should be enough to deal with those pests~"

Just as she was speaking those thoughts aloud, Julia noticed her crystal ball start glowing. With a smile on her face, she quickly answered the call.

"Hi, Jacob!"

"Hey, Julia!" a familiar voice echoed through the orb, "I just wanted to check on you. How's everything going? Is your Oracle at the invader buffer zone yet?"

Julia shook her head. Although Jacob couldn't see her through the orb, Julia still felt calmer acting out the conversations as if he were there facing her.

"Not yet, Ahin still has a while left to go," she sighed, "Those two are really taking their time... I'd rather them just deal with those things first and train their magic afterward."

"You really hate those swamp creatures, don't you?" Jacob teased.

"Of course I do! How would you feel if Levon's lifeforms just set up a village in the corner of your realm after the first battle phase?"

Jacob gagged, "I'd probably vomit."

"See! That's exactly how I feel! I still can't believe those things had the nerve to stay in my realm after attacking my elves for so long!"

"Yeah, it is still weird how they just decided to set up in your realm. To be fair though, I don't think I'd have as bad of a reaction if it was anyone other than that lizard who did that to me," Jacob admitted.

"... Some things never change."

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"No, it was nothing," Julia replied, kicking her feet under her desk, "Were you going to try to convince me to leave them alone again?"

"Nah. It's your realm, Julia; I'm not going to argue with your decision. Tatton and I pleaded our cases enough already.”

“Thank you.”

“Mhm. Besides, you're probably right to be cautious about it,” Jacob continued, “I mean, I do still think your realm is kind of perfect for a symbiotic cohabitation type of thing with them, but if you think the risk of them joining up with the next invaders is too high, then I'll support you wiping them out."

"Yeah, I definitely want them gone... they've done enough damage to my realm already," Julia groaned, "Besides, it'll be good practice for my Oracle- he can use it to get some combat experience, and it'll be a trial run for putting together an army, so he'll be ready for the upcoming Spikang invasion."

"Oh, you finally gave him your divine weapon to practice with then, right?"

"... No, not yet."

"Pfft!" Jacob's laughter came through the orb, "You still haven't given it to him yet? You really just wanted that bow for yourself!"

"I-I'll give it to him when the actual invasion starts! I just... want to keep it for now since he's focusing on developing his fire magic. Yeah, that's it! I don't want him to be too distracted!"

"Right, right," Jacob teased, clearly unconvinced by her reasoning.

"It's true! Having an Oracle who knows fire magic is already letting my elves hear about it so much more quickly."

"Mhm~" Jacob teased, lightly still chuckling through his response, "Just make sure you don't give it to him too late; I'm sure that bow's abilities are gonna take him a bit to get used to. Also, we still don't know how thick those Spikang's spikes are. There's a chance that your elves' usual arrows won't be able to penetrate through them; that divine bow might be the only thing that can do it."

"I know," Julia pouted, "But even if arrows won't work well, I'm sure my elves' magic will be okay. That's partly why I'm having Ahin travel so much- I want him to get more of my elves to use fire magic before the fighting starts."

"That's good. It sounds like you have everything under control then~"

"Of course I do! My realm has been through enough pain... I'm done with letting my elves get killed in these stupid invasions."

"You tell 'em, queen."

Julia raised her eyebrow at the sound of fingers snapping through the orb.

"... Did you just call me queen?"

"Would you rather me call you Elfy?"

"N-no I would not!"

I thought he forgot about that stupid nickname!

Julia's pouts were only met with laughter, so she reluctantly tried to change the topic.

"How about you, Jacob? You still haven't picked your Oracle yet, have you?"

"No, not yet, but I'm planning to soon. My scouts are still gathering their candidates. Since I've been talking so much with my priest to try to deal with the whole village-conflict thing, I've heard some rumors about potential candidates. I can already tell this is gonna be a tough decision- in a good way, I mean."

To still not have an Oracle picked... having a priest really makes a huge difference. I can't believe how lucky he is sometimes.

Julia's eyes glanced back over to her bow.

"That's good to have a lot of people to choose from... but there's really still fighting going on? My elves rarely ever fight one another. I can't believe your humans are still being so difficult even after you told them to stop!"

"Well, they wouldn't be human if they just did as they were told, right?" Jacob joked.

Julia could picture his teasing expression in her mind as he said this, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Is that why you never listen to me when I tell you to stop picking fights in the Academy?"

Jacob chuckled a bit at her question, "Nope- that's called strategy, Elfy."

"I-I just said not to call me that!"

"Pfft! Sorry, I can’t help it~ my human nature is taking over!"

"Oh, high heavens! Don't deflect the blame like that, Jacob!"

"Hahahaha!"

His laughter was quickly met by more pouts from the elf girl. Eventually, after a lot of laughter, the two finally settled down.

"Anyway, the village fighting should be dealt with soon," Jacob continued after taking a breath, "My temple organized a proper mini army a while back, so they're traveling down now to deal with the few remaining villages who keep causing trouble. There's always going to be a few troublemakers no matter what world you're in, right?"

"You would know... you're the troublemaker in the Academy," Julia teased back at him.

"Huh!? Since when did I get that title?"

"... I think you got it back when you first showed up late to the Founder's opening speech. Also, has there ever even been a class where you haven't gotten called out by the instructor?"

"Ah- now that you mention it..."

"Pffft-!"

It was Julia's turn to laugh at his voice of realization. He simply brushed it off, however.

"You know what? I’ll accept that title.”

“Oh? You will?”

“Mhm. I heard elves are into bad boys," Jacob said smugly.

"Where in Alghelme did you hear that!?"

"Well, I didn't hear it per se, but the only elf I know went right up to the one dude who was late on the first day~"

"T-that was just to give you back the little one..."

"Right~"

The two continued their banter for a while longer before their conversation naturally came to an end.

"Okay, I should probably try to get some updates on the village things from my priest. Call me sometime soon though, please, Julia! I'm going a bit crazy without Mr. Flippers here," a groaning voice came through the orb.

"Sure, I'll call you soon, Jacob!"

"Oh, and make sure you give that bow to your Oracle soon, too!"

"I already said I will! I just want to practice with it a bit longer..."

"Mhm~"

With that last smug noise, the glow on the crystal ball faded, and Julia was once again left alone in her domain. A sigh naturally left her lips as she layed back in her chair, peering up at the image of her Oracle finishing his training on her screen.

... He better kill all of those invaders if I give him my bow.