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Chapter 14

Theodore immediately moved his body toward the next target.

The holy knights who had appeared like heroes began cutting down the basilisks with Theodore at the forefront.

Theodore swung a greatsword nearly as large as his own body. Each time the blade—imbued with holy power—swept through the air, a basilisk’s head fell as cleanly as if slicing soft ham.

He mowed through the basilisks in a relentless storm. The sight of him slaughtering monsters, red hair flying, looked like a blazing flame on the battlefield.

Once Lowell and the remaining Imperial Knights joined the fight, the basilisks were annihilated in the blink of an eye.

After ending the last basilisk’s breath, Theodore wiped his blade clean and slid it back into its scabbard.

Then he approached Lowell and broke into a bright smile.

“Seeing you struggle this much in a fight like this, I guess the Empire’s greatest mage isn’t all that impressive?”

Lowell slowly turned toward Theodore.

His face wore a gentle smile, yet something about it felt oddly unsettling.

It was like his mouth was smiling, but his eyes weren’t.

“You must be Sir Theodore Blair, Captain of the Holy Knights.”

“Well, I’m honored that the Empire’s greatest mage knows my name.”

Right. This was about the time he was supposed to show up.

The red-haired man was another capture target—Theodore Blair.

Lowell offered Theodore a smile that carried no warmth.

“How could I not? Your skills are famous, Sir Blair.”

Then Lowell added calmly,

“I just didn’t know you were better with your mouth than your sword.”

Theodore countered with an easy laugh.

“You’re more shy than I expected. You could’ve just said, ‘Thank you for saving us.’”

“You expect gratitude for something you swore to do in the name of God? I suppose that oath came with conditions.”

“I’m a rather delinquent believer. I don’t feel satisfied unless I get thanked.”

Why did it always turn out like this whenever those two met? Every time, it felt like they were natural enemies who just couldn’t get along.

Lowell let out a sigh.

“So, what brings you here? You didn’t come just because you were bored.”

“Looked like you needed our help.”

Theodore jerked his chin over Lowell’s shoulder.

There lay the Imperial Knights, their bodies stiffened by basilisk poison.

“There’s only one mage here. Detoxifying poison and treating the wounded would be rough. Wouldn’t it be better to let holy power handle the healing?”

“I’m more than enough on my own. We don’t need the temple’s help.”

Lowell’s voice was firm. It was the first time I’d seen him shut someone down so completely.

At Lowell’s unwavering refusal, Theodore simply shrugged.

Turning away from Lowell, Theodore started back toward the Holy Knights. At that moment, our eyes met.

At the same time, the system window chimed.

[The affection level of Theodore Blair has increased by 5.]
[Theodore Blair’s affection level: 5]

Huh?

We didn’t even talk—what did I do to make his affection go up?

I stared at the system window, dumbfounded.

Don’t tell me this is one of those “love at first sight” settings? But if so, the affection didn’t jump dramatically.

Even in the game, affection didn’t increase on the first meeting.

Then again, if seeing an injured, unconscious woman raised his affection, Theodore would’ve been creepier than Lowell.

Anyway, the affection that should be rising never does, while all the wrong guys’ affection keeps going up.

While I was grumbling internally, Theodore moved farther away toward the Holy Knights.

“Lady, could you help me make some antidotes?”

“Ah—yes!”

I scurried over to Lowell.

Following his instructions, I ground herbs in a portable mortar. As I rolled the crushed herbs into bite-sized pellets, the captain of the Imperial Knights approached us.

“Lord Cyprian, are you truly all right? Wouldn’t it be better to accept the Holy Knights’ assistance, even now? If you were to exhaust yourself—”

“If I couldn’t handle this much, His Highness the Crown Prince wouldn’t have dispatched a single mage on his own.”

Lowell continued firmly as he shaped another pellet.

“Especially now, when His Highness is closely watching the temple’s movements. Leaving room for religious authority to intervene wouldn’t be wise.”

Faced with Lowell’s resolute refusal, the knight captain turned away with a resigned expression.

Was it just my imagination?

Back at Duke Jerome’s estate, too—Lowell had seemed to dislike the temple.

Did he have a falling-out with them? Was that why he quit being a priest?

Well, it wasn’t that important, so I let it go.

I placed the finished antidote pellets into the mouths of the paralyzed knights.

As Lowell chanted healing spells one after another, their bodies quickly returned to normal.

Watching Lowell remain perfectly fine after casting magic on dozens of knights, it was clear his claim of being “more than enough” wasn’t just bravado.

After finishing the treatment, Lowell spoke to the knight captain.

“Still, it’s strange. There’s no precedent for this many basilisks appearing in one area.”

“Indeed. Something’s going on. We’ll investigate the surroundings.”

Lowell nodded and began chanting a detection spell.

“Detectio Malefica.”

A translucent barrier spread outward from Lowell, reaching deep into the forest.

“There are no dangerous monsters nearby. You may begin the search.”

With Lowell’s permission, the knights started exploring the area.

I was about to move along with Lowell when he suddenly staggered. I quickly grabbed his arm to support him.

“Master?”

“Haah…”

Lowell leaned into me, breathing heavily.

A handsome man, flushed and disheveled, leaning against me while catching his breath—honestly, it was quite a sight.

No. Get a grip. What kind of thoughts are you having about someone who’s unwell?

After a brief moment of self-reflection, I looked over Lowell as he steadied his breathing.

“Are you okay? You don’t look well.”

“I’m fine. I think I overstrained myself by drawing on the remaining holy power.”

After taking a deep breath, Lowell spoke more calmly.

“It’s nothing serious. If I sit for a bit, I’ll recover.”

So much for being able to handle everything alone.

What a blatant liar.

Still, seeing Lowell weakened was unexpected—and strangely pitiful.

I guided him to a place where he could rest.

“Please stay here and rest, Master. Should I bring you something to drink?”

Lowell shook his head.

“I’m fine. Why don’t you rest too, Lady?”

Resting wouldn’t be bad, but this wasn’t the time to relax.

I had an important mission.

“I’m going to gather some herbs nearby. That’s okay, right?”

“Very well. There are no dangerous monsters here… just don’t go too far.”

I nodded and headed into the forest, leaving Lowell behind.

In the game, the investigation team would spend several days here without finding any monster traces.

Then, by chance, they’d discover wyvern corpses, follow the trail, and eventually find a cave.

Inside the cave was a portal—the cause of the monster outbreaks—and sealing it would be the team’s first major achievement.

But there was no need to wait that long.

I already had a rough idea of the cave’s location. The plan was to seal the portal quickly and return to the city.

More than anything, I didn’t have the luxury of time. There was the need to conquer Jerome and go home as soon as possible—but the biggest reason was simpler.

Why should I have to sleep outdoors when there were perfectly comfortable rooms?

I hated the cold, hard ground. The unidentified creature noises outside the tents every night scared me.

But the worst part was the bugs.

Maybe because we were deep in the mountains, the insects were enormous and everywhere. Compared to these, Korean bugs were downright cute.

Mosquitoes were the size of my palm, and moths were as big as the neighborhood association president’s Maltese.

The absolute worst were centipedes. They were already disgusting with all those legs, but their bodies were as thick as a human arm.

—Ssssk.

Just then, a red centipede as thick as a baguette slithered past in front of me.

Yeah, there’s really no need for them to be that bi—

Wait.

What is that?

The centipede easily looked over a meter long.

And even worse, it stopped crawling and locked eyes with me.

Then—

“Kyuuk!”

The centipede charged straight at me.

You said there were no monsters!

You said it wasn’t dangerous!