Chapter 22: Beatrice 1

I gripped the hilt of my sword tightly.

With each step, my spine grew colder.

It was so quiet.

I could see Sera’s shoulders trembling slightly.

She was always like that.

I always noticed the fear that no one could see.

From when I was a child in the Knights until now, I never missed a single tremble in her.

‘You were nervous, after all.’

My hand naturally touched her shoulder.

Sera smiled faintly.

That smile warmed a corner of my heart.

“Bea,” Sera whispered quietly.

“Isn’t it strange? The monsters…”

I nodded.

It would be normal for the Great Labyrinth to be teeming with monsters.

But this place was different.

I’ve only seen three monsters so far.

And they ran away as soon as they saw us.

Or… was Sia Kalt always like this?

‘There’s so little information.’

I thought as I passed the giant ice pillar.

It was only natural, since almost no adventurers had returned from Sia Kalt alive.

Sharp icicles hung from the ceiling, and silver-shining ice crystals grew on the walls.

Our footsteps echoed through the ice cave.

Sera’s short staff emitted a soft light.

A sacred relic handed down from the Order of Light, the ‘Crystal of the Vow.’

It was the staff she received on the day she became a saint.

The sacred relic was said to have been created by crystallizing the tears of the first saint hundreds of years ago.

That day… Sera had to give up her dream of becoming a knight.

The day I could no longer be with her.

‘This time… absolutely…’

The light from the staff illuminated her pink hair.

Her appearance was like a divine being, and my heart ached.

My steps were cautious, but her eyes were filled with conviction.

“This is the lower level.”

Two days later, we finally arrived at the lower level.

The passageway widened, and the ceiling became higher.

That’s when.

Whoosh-!

Something long shot out through the ice wall.

An ice centipede.

It was a C-class monster known as a centipede, but…

‘This is…!’

I felt an aura that was far beyond A-class.

I instinctively drew my sword.

The instinct to protect Sera no matter the danger.

“No!”

Sera grabbed my arm.

Her eyes were earnest.

“This monster… must be the one ruled by that flower.”

I came to my senses for a moment.

What was I trying to do?

We didn’t come here to fight.

Moreover, because of Mikel’s revelation…

“I’m sorry, Sera.”

The apology that I wouldn’t have said normally came out naturally.

Strangely, I didn’t need to pretend to be strong in front of her.

It had been like that since I was little.

When I turned my head, the fox was already gone.

But this was a good sign.

If I saw the bug monster, it meant that the flower was close.

“Let’s go down deep,” Sera said.

There was a strange excitement in her voice.

As if she had found something she had been searching for for a long time.

We slowly headed into the depths.

Forks appeared here and there.

A sweet scent wafted from one of the forks.

‘There it is.’

We looked at each other and nodded.

There was no need for words.

Since we were young, our eyes were enough.

We carefully followed the scent.

Strangely, the sweet scent seemed to relax us.

However, the more we did, the more we became alert.

We had to protect Sera.

A wide cave appeared.

Hundreds of insect monsters.

Rationally, we should have been wary, but strangely, we didn’t feel fear.

Each one of them was emitting an aura above Class A, but we didn’t feel any hostility at all.

And…

‘That thing…’

There was a flower in the center of the cave.

For a moment, our eyes met.

Soon, the flower began to emit light.

‘What is this…?’

The flower, which gradually brightened, was beautiful enough to be fatal.

The petals glowed red like rubies, the stems were pitch black, and the purple stamens moved like the tongue of a poisonous snake…

I stared at them absentmindedly for a moment before coming to my senses.

An aura as strong as mine.

No, perhaps even stronger.

How could I, the so-called Silver Warrior, feel such an overwhelming feeling?

I looked back at Sera.

Tears flowed from her eyes.

With a joyful smile, her staff emitted an intense light.

The staff’s light suddenly became brighter and then faded.

“Mikel-sama…”

Her prayer echoed softly in the ice cave.

Her appearance was so sacred that I held my breath without realizing it.

‘Sera…’

She had given up the path of a knight she had dreamed of as a child and had become a saint.

But at this moment, I could feel that her choice was right.

And I…

Engraved in my heart once again the oath to protect her forever.

‘Now! Do it! Mex-evolve!’

Contrary to my earnest desire, Cecilia did not move an inch.

Was it because she was a pupa…?

But she definitely trembled when she was in the deepest layer!

Show me at least some sign of evolution!

‘Is it really right to keep waiting?

Was there something she needed?

Warmer temperature?

Or more horsepower?

That was it.

Wriggle!

A single Ice Snow Centipede came running at incredible speed.

No, more precisely, it crawled.

This is the first time I’ve seen bugs move so urgently.

Wriggle, wriggle!!!

A centipede explaining something diligently.

It seems like it ran away after seeing something…

‘It’s dangerous?’

Nod, nod!

Hoo… Finally, my job as a manager has come.

An intruder in my lovey-dovey house with my master…

‘Butterflies!’

The girl butterfly flew in first.

‘Tell all the bugs in the labyrinth to gather around me!’

The butterflies quickly scattered throughout the labyrinth.

You usually fly around lazily because it’s annoying, but you guys are moving now too.

I focused my detection radar as much as I could to detect the intruder.

However, nothing was caught on my radar yet.

Has it come this far?

But I can’t let my guard down!

‘Wider… Farther…”

I focused my mind while continuously watching the tip of the radar.

The level of the ‘Detection LV10’ skill has increased.

The ‘Detection LV10’ and [Area Control LV1] skills have evolved.

Area Control – Controls the surrounding area.

‘Ooooh!’

Detection, which was only good at the beginning, has finally evolved!

The detection radar suddenly widened enormously.

Almost doubled?

Thanks to this, I could now see about half of this wide depth.

“You said you were taking control, but it can’t just be wide enough.”

As I was trying out other functions, two figures entered the end of the widened radar.

★★★☆☆☆

【Beatrice】 Human LV178.

Seraphina and Beatrice!

The saint and the ace of the imperial knights!

The characters finally appeared in real life!

I was filled with joy at seeing a familiar face for the first time.

Seraphina was exactly as I had seen her in the game.

Beautiful, long pink hair flowing down over her pure white nun’s habit.

As expected, her roots are pink!

Her design was fearsome, worthy of my favorite character.

However, Beatrice had the same face, but her equipment was different.

The clothes were not the uniform of the Imperial Knights, but a shining silver armor, and the weapon was not a longsword, but a mysteriously shining one-handed sword.

What is this? Is it a gap?

If it weren’t for the status window, I would have mistaken them for Beatrice’s younger or older sister.

And their levels were much higher than I thought.

In the game, they were both only level 80…

But they’re different because they’re living in another world!

“Hey guys! Let’s get to know each other!”

Hmm… I think there’s something more important than that.

In the game, the heroes cleared the dungeon and received rewards.

Could it be… they came to defeat me…?

“No, I don’t intend to fight!”

I lived so well!

I worked hard to catch monsters and saved humans from my master!

Huh? Master? Did my master kill a lot of humans…?

Yeah. I think that’s right…

But my master isn’t here…

And even if he was, you guys wouldn’t have been able to do it!

‘They’re not stupid, so why did they come?’

Are you really here to catch me?

Do you know that the master is out?

But if we fight, I’ll win…?

Ahh… What should I do in this situation?

Let’s hide the bugs for now…

No. Then I might be more suspicious.

It would be better to stay as usual, or even more peacefully.

Now, how should I greet them?

The sweet honey scent like usual will do?

I decided on a strategy and began to observe the two.

The two were slowly walking down the deep passage.

Seraphina stopped walking as if she smelled the scent first, and raised her head to look around.

Beatrice was on guard, holding her sword tightly, but Seraphina followed the scent as if she was being led.

‘Good…’

The bugs seemed to know this atmosphere and moved naturally as usual.

It was rather strange to see hundreds of bug monsters moving peacefully.

Finally, the two entered the cave and found me.

The status window rang.

You have acquired the Brilliance LV1.

“Ah!”

A strange skill appeared out of nowhere.

It was as if it was telling me to use it right now.

If so, use it right away!

I wished to shine in my heart, and my body began to glow.

“Ooooh!”

“…I’m shining!”

At that moment, tears suddenly flowed from Seraphina’s eyes.

Her lips trembled, and she lifted her staff and began to pray.

“Huh! I didn’t mean to make you cry!”

Although she was flustered, her tears seemed to be tears of joy.

‘Uh… Hey… Hello?”

At that moment, the skill activated.

[J Brilliance – It shines.]

A look of joy as if they had found something they had been searching for for a long time.

Just looking at that sight, even I felt moved.

A radiance that moved even a saint…

‘Mike… This skill was also given to me by you, Michel… Thank you.’

As the saint’s prayer echoed through the cave, I also quietly offered a prayer of thanks.

Seraphina, Beatrice.

Familiar faces that I am meeting for the first time in this world.

I will definitely become close with them!