‘Hmm… it’s already noon, and Leya-jiejie still isn’t back…’
Far from Leya’s current location, within the Thunder Tavern in Volantis, Erica sat alone. She propped her small head on her arm, leaning against Leya’s usual magic study desk, her eyes listlessly gazing at the bustling crowds and carriages below.
To her right lay a letter Leya had written, explaining that she had gone out and might return late.
“Erica didn’t even get lunch because of this. My tummy is so hungry…” Erica murmured weakly to herself.
While Leya had indeed left food and a few silver coins before departing, Erica had long since devoured all the food. As for the silver coins, using them meant venturing downstairs.
Yet, the thought of the darkness she had witnessed in the human world recently filled Erica with dread. She feared that if she ventured outside now, she would be captured again, then locked away in another dark, cold iron cage.
‘Hmm—Mama always said that if you just fall asleep, you won’t feel hungry!’
As Erica pondered this, she was about to turn back to bed for another nap when she inadvertently brushed against the folder where Leya usually kept her study materials.
“Whoosh—”
In an instant, a careless bump sent all the study materials flying out of the drawer. Some scattered across the floor, while others lay haphazardly on the desk.
“Oh no—I can’t let this happen! I have to clean it up quickly, or Leya-jiejie will get angry again…” Erica exclaimed.
She cried out, then immediately began to frantically gather the scattered documents.
However, if Leya were present at that moment, she would undoubtedly exclaim, [Am I truly that petty?!] and [What kind of person do you think I am?!] or similar sentiments.
Leya found Erica’s fear of her normal self quite helpless, and had no good way to improve it. In fact, Leya even thought that maintaining the status quo was rather good.
Consider the issue of sleeping on their first night. Leya could clearly see Erica was not in a good mood, and held strong opinions about her. So, she considered sacrificing a bit of comfort and just sleeping on the sofa.
However, the moment she suggested it, Erica immediately objected! Her reasoning was, [Leya-jiejie is Erica’s savior; how could she sleep on the sofa?!]
Despite this, the rather tsundere Erica ultimately pouted. She didn’t intend to sleep *with* Leya, but instead settled down right beside her. Leya considered this a significant regret, ahem, ahem…
“What is this…?”
Suddenly, as she organized the documents, Erica picked up a piece of paper from the floor, her curiosity piqued.
“Inner City, Third Street, Malfoy Residence. Usually home at night, defenses loose, not worth mentioning… Inner City, Fifth Street, Fubin Residence. Usually at the Guild of Roseland headquarters, sometimes goes to the red-light district on Ninth Street at night. Oh, no, a woman spotted me. Though I hesitated, I decided it was best to leave first.”
“Inner City, Third Street, Councillor Hodgkin’s Residence. Defenses loose, keeps three ugly monsters at home, suspected of having peculiar tastes. Home at night, retreat… Inner City, First Street, Guild of Roseland Headquarters. Near the Lord’s Castle, guarded by 200 dedicated veteran soldiers. Three are Lv3, most are Lv2…”
“Adventurers Guild: ten adventurer teams of varying strengths, namely [xxx], [xxx], [xxx]…”
“What are these?”
The naive Erica scratched her head, unsure why Leya would write such things. All the other papers detailed ice magic.
Erica vaguely recalled that the Guild of Roseland was the organization that had captured her. But why would Leya-jiejie write down these details?
“Knock, knock, knock—”
“Ah!—”
The sudden knocking at the door startled Erica out of her reverie.
“Knock, knock, knock—”
The knocking outside grew more urgent. By now, Erica had no time to ponder further. She hastily gathered all the documents and piled them together, restoring them to their original arrangement.
“Knock, knock, knock—”
“Excuse me, Miss Leya… are you home?”
From outside the door came a girl’s voice, one Erica had never heard before!
‘This definitely isn’t Leya-jiejie!’
Erica panicked, terrified that the person outside had come to capture her again. In her haste, she blurted out, “No one, no one! There’s no one in this room! No one is home, please leave quickly!”
“…………” Silence fell outside the door.
After a long moment, a gentle, friendly voice softly spoke again, “Um, miss inside, I’m not a bad person. My name is Elina…”
Before she could finish, Erica’s panicked voice echoed from inside once more. “I won’t listen, I won’t listen, I don’t want to listen! Why haven’t you left yet? Erica already said no one is here!”
Elina: “…………”
‘No, no, no, if there’s no one here, then who’s speaking? Isn’t that a bit strange?!’
Elina was at a loss for words.
Today was supposed to be Elina’s first day of successful recovery after taking the purple potion Leya had given her. Aside from muscle tissue and strength, which might take longer to regain due to her prolonged lack of exercise, Elina was virtually indistinguishable from a normal human being!
How could she not be excited?
Thus, Elina’s first thought was to come in person and express her profound gratitude to Leya.
But…
“Miss Erica, will you please listen to me? I…”
“You… how do you know my name?! You really are a bad person, I won’t open the door for you!”
Elina: “…………”
‘Huh? Didn’t you just tell me that yourself, young lady?’
‘Ahhh… why did things turn out like this…?’
****
“Awoo—”
“Buzz—”
She had lost count of how many wolves this was. It felt as though the act of killing had numbed her.
Leya stepped over the corpse of the wolf that had just tried to ambush her, without a shred of lingering thought. She glanced once more at the trail of black energy.
“About fifty meters?”
“Buzz—”
As she spoke, she swung her sword again, cutting down another Netherworld Wolf that charged at her.
Estimating the time it would take to reach that distance… it would only be a few seconds.
‘Finally, I’m here! But it made me waste a full five minutes of my transformation time, playing with these wolves that probably aren’t even Level 1 yet.’
“Awoooooooo!—”
“Whoosh—”
‘That move again?’
Leya calmly observed the “Black Shockwave”—a destructive force that had cleaved through dozens of trees in its path, seemingly unstoppable.
‘Was this the attack that killed those two pitiful Lv2 adventurers just now? I remember one was Daina, and the other was some Jason or something?’
Judging by its power, it certainly reached Lv3, only slightly inferior to Matthew’s [Earth Dragon Slash]. For a beast, achieving this level was truly remarkable.
“Hmph—”
Taking a deep breath, Leya gripped the Sword of Kings tightly. She judiciously chose to use only fifty percent of her strength, swinging her blade to meet the incoming attack.
“Buzz—”
A golden sword qi surged forth, aggressively meeting the “Black Shockwave.”
“Boom————”
A deafening explosion ripped through the air. Leya knew it was the result of two magical forces colliding at high speed.
‘In the end… is this all it amounts to?’
“Awooooooo!—”
As the smoke from the explosion gradually dissipated, it signaled that the Wolf King’s attack had been neutralized by Leya, using less than fifty percent of her power.
With the trees no longer obstructing her view, Leya finally had her first clear sight of the so-called “Netherworld Wolf King.”
From a distance, this creature was the inverse of a typical Netherworld Wolf. Its body was entirely white, save for a few black stripes. As large as an adult male lion, it now bared its sharp fangs, claws extended, watching Leya with intense vigilance.
The black energy, as expected, emanated from it, giving it the distinct aura of a formidable boss.
But…
“It’s a bit weak…” Leya murmured, a frown creasing her brow.
“Awooooooo!—”
As if understanding Leya’s mocking insult, the Wolf King let out a furious howl, lifting its head to the sky.
Then, the Wolf King charged forward, its white form a swift bolt of lightning. Its speed was so astonishing that it left Leya momentarily dumbfounded.
In the blink of an eye, it was already before Leya! Its incredibly ferocious face, much like the black energy swirling beneath its claws, sent shivers down her spine.
“Buzz—”
Instinctively, Leya swung her sword, intending to force the Wolf King back. Yet, to her surprise, the Wolf King seemed to hold itself in such high regard that it disregarded its own life, rearing up and pouncing directly at Leya!
“Thwack—” This was the sound of Leya’s Sword of Kings piercing through the Netherworld Wolf King’s body.
“Screech—” This was the sound of the Wolf King’s claws scraping against the breastplate Leya wore.
“Ugh—” She grunted.
Although her vital organs like her heart were protected, Leya’s right arm was still clawed by the Wolf King’s sweeping strike, leaving a bloody gash.
Her right arm was so badly injured that Leya nearly lost her grip on the Sword of Kings. Had Artoria’s will not been so resilient, Leya might have simply died from the pain right then.
“Damn it! You bastard…”
Enraged by being injured for the first time, Leya unleashed a full-powered kick directly into the Wolf King’s belly.
“Whine, whine, whine—” The Wolf King shrieked in agony, then was sent flying dozens of meters away by Leya’s kick.
Its state was truly horrific: first, Leya’s sword had sliced completely through its body, and then her kick to its lower abdomen caused its intestines and organs to spill out onto the ground through the wound. It was a ghastly sight.
“Tsk… System, give me a potion!”
[As you wish…]
‘How unlucky!’
‘Utterly dreadful luck!’
Even though she had already consumed a red healing potion and the wound on her arm was gradually mending, it did nothing to soothe Leya’s frustration.
She had seen reckless fighters, but never one so suicidal. Who could endure this kind of life-for-a-life fighting style? It was fortunate that Artoria’s breastplate was sturdy enough; otherwise, her heart would have been ripped out, and that would have been a real problem!
“System, where’s my reward? Why haven’t I heard a notification? The Wolf King is already dead, isn’t it?”
After waiting for a long time without any response from the System, Leya couldn’t help but ask curiously.
[Hehe, Host, you still have 22 minutes of transformation time. Keep up the good work!]
“Uh… what?” Leya was bewildered.
But what truly bewildered Leya came next…
“Awoooooooooooooooo!—”