Page 1/5 Ariella's Journal 36 Ugh! What a waste! I thought today was the day I'd finally succeed! I was sure that if I figured out how to morph into a goblin, I'd be able to see their Monuments Battle from up close. What am I doing wrong? Everyone in this region knows that if you collect Stardust from the sky and put it on the bonfire, you'll get blessings from the Monument Stone. But nobody seems to know why it happens! That's why I'm determined to find out! I've observed the Battle for the Monument 35 times by asking the Resistance or hiring adventurers, but I just can't seem to get any closer! Every time I try to get close to the Monument Stone with the adventurers, all the nearby goblins rush over to beat me up, just like when we try to approach the bonfire. If only I was as strong as the adventurers... I figured that if I morphed into a goblin, they wouldn't attack me, but those dumb goblins are smarter than they look! Why would they attack me when I look just like one of them? Maybe I smell different? But I heard that adventurers don't get attacked when they morph into a goblin! No, no... Verifying a hypothesis is one of the key elements of research! I'm going to try to morph two more times and see if the results are the same! Come on! I can do it! Page 2/5 Ariella's Journal 42 I finally succeeded in approaching the monument that I call the Seventh Monument Stone! To be honest, I failed to approach it while I was morphed. I don't think morphing is the answer. It turns out the problem isn't with the goblins' intelligence. It's the fact that they rush over whenever they catch sight of any treasure, regardless of whether it belongs to a friend or foe! But, to be fair, I suppose the same principles apply to humans as well. As soon as they figured out that the treasure from the monument stones is so valuable, a bunch of guilds started joining in the effort. But my major success today came while two of the guilds were fighting each other for treasure! Twenty people from the Fox Rain guild and Naked Snake Break Takers guild (did they make their name a tongue-twister on purpose?!) drove away all the goblins, but they also started attacking each other. When I observed the monument up close without approaching the bonfire, they didn't seem to think of me as an enemy. Neither guild so much as thought to attack me. I'm not even a member of any guild! I measured the magic of the Seventh Monument Stone and obtained a sample. I need to know how the bonfire and monument stones are related. Can you blame me for wanting to research the phenomenon? The magic emanating from the monument stone was less potent than I expected, so I thought the bonfire might be the crucial component here... But as I got closer, adventurers from both guilds started pestering me. What should I do? Maybe I should join one of the guilds for protection. Decisions, decisions... Page 3/5 Ariella's Journal 57 I had to end today's research early because I ran into a Giant Goblin Butcher. I have to measure the magic from the monument stones at regular intervals while they're in their normal state in order to get a more accurate measurement of their magical fluctuations during a Monuments Battle! But as soon as I saw the Giant Goblin Butcher, stars started falling before my very eyes. Well, I thought I saw them falling. When I woke up, I was in the researcher's camp. An adventurer saw me faint and brought me over here. I'm so grateful to the one who rescued me. According to research from the imperial era, when Stardust falls from the sky, it's not just a weather phenomenon. It might be something related to the constellations. I don't know when I'll be done researching the Monument Stones at this rate! I have to work harder! Page 4/5 Ariella's Journal 61 I got chased away by the goblins again! I simply can't do my research like this! I was so discouraged that I complained to Ilira at the Starlight Observatory, and he gave me some great advice! The answer might be closer than I thought. Here's a summary of my conversation with Ilira: 1. I can't ask the Resistance for help every time I need to do research. They're busy people! 2. Morphing into a goblin might be safe under normal circumstances, but it doesn't help during a capture. 3. When the adventurers became involved in the Monuments Battle and defeated the goblins, it gave me some time to examine the stones. 4. But my observations were ruined because then the adventurers got in my way! After considering all of this, Ilira suggested something I never even thought of. It's great to get the adventurers involved, but I have to prevent them from attacking me. Why don't I host the Monuments Battle myself? After all, I'm a researcher, not an adventurer! But it's true. If I host the event, the adventurers won't think of me as a competitor for the reward! I wonder if this will actually work? I should think of a name for it. This is crucial to my success! I should use "starlight" in the name. And maybe "ritual," to make it sound official? What about the Starlight Stones Ritual? Page 5/5 Ariella's Journal 74 Ah! My heart is pounding with excitement! I'm happy to report that Ariella's Starlight Stones Ritual was a huge success! Hahaha! I'm so happy! I can't even express how I feel in words! Ilira told me not to jump around the observatory, so I should be careful! Anyway, the Starlight Stones Ritual was a massive hit! All the adventurers of the Resistance gathered, meaning the goblins were too busy running away to bother with me. Even if one tried to attack me, an adventurer would appear from nowhere and chase them away! This was the first time I was able to observe all the Monument Stones! There is one small problem, though. Since so many other people were trying to gather Stardust, it was very hard for me to gather any for myself. But that's a minor issue! My focus remains on the Monument Stones! I can hire more adventurers to analyze the Stardust! I'm going to Kastleton to get myself a glass of cold honeybee beer and drink to my success with the people from the observatory. Woohoo!
