Ch.4444. The Imperial Family

Meeting her gaze as she walked away, I changed my mind.

This wasn’t just a dream.

This was an insane fantasy situation beyond comparison to any dream.

She volunteered to enlist for my sake!

The Labyrinth was already difficult enough, but moving through it with someone I trust, rely on, and love in the same unit? Nothing could provide better mental care than that.

I had to praise Shiro for voluntarily enlisting for my sake.

‘I hope there won’t be any dangerous situations.’

In the midst of my thoughts, I felt somewhat worried.

Even though we had finally accepted each other’s feelings and started dating, I didn’t want her to get hurt.

The fortunate thing was that since this was a direct operation by the imperial family, the chances of people like us being sacrificed were low.

There were even rumors that a princess would personally participate in the operation, so it should be relatively safe.

‘…This is a bit disgusting.’

In the middle of my thoughts, I suddenly felt nauseous.

At first, I pushed her away, not wanting her to sacrifice herself for me, but in the end, I couldn’t overcome my feelings and we started dating.

Even though I firmly believed this was right, as time passed, my thoughts changed as if I’d never felt that way before.

It’s quite contradictory.

I know I’m contradictory.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t control my feelings, and that’s how everything ended up in this state.

“Haah.”

Even after organizing my thoughts, for some reason, the stifling feeling in my heart wouldn’t disappear.

I looked up at the clear sky and headed back to the inn.

I should get some exercise.

***

Time passed, and on the day the Labyrinth portal opened.

I met with Shiro and headed to Square #2.

“There are a lot of people here.”

“…Indeed.”

The conscripted adventurers were forming ranks according to the imperial family’s guidance.

People interested in Demonic Blood and the imperial family’s direct involvement were surrounding the area, watching.

“Conscripted explorers, please provide your name and assigned unit to the officials at the desk! We will guide you to your assigned unit!”

Since the situation involved many untrained explorers gathered together, numerous officials had been deployed to maintain order.

“2nd Battalion, 1st Platoon. I’m Adel, and this is Shiro.”

“Yes. Understood. Please wait a moment… Ah, confirmed. An official will guide you to your assigned unit.”

The official at the desk checked the documents and called another official.

That official took us to a middle-aged man wearing armor.

“These are Mr. Adel and Ms. Shiro.”

“Ah, I see. Thank you for guiding them.”

After the guiding official left, his gaze turned to us.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Leet Edmon.”

He offered a handshake.

“Nice to meet you too. I’m Adel.”

“Yes. And it’s nice to meet you too. Your name was Shiro, right?”

His gaze turned to Shiro,

“Yeah.”

She responded informally.

In a world influenced by Korean-Confucian thinking, some people were sensitive about informal speech.

Of course, this wasn’t common among untrained explorers. But a platoon leader would naturally be affiliated with the imperial family.

“…Ah, right. Come to think of it, I shouldn’t judge an elf’s age by appearance. Anyway, I look forward to working with you both for the next two weeks!”

Leet nodded and showed a hearty laugh.

He seemed to assume she was older because she was an elf, but in reality, Shiro was 18 years old.

This was just a psychological tactic possible because she was an elf.

“Let’s go to where the platoon members are. It’s filled with talented individuals, so you can expect quite a bit.”

We followed him and briefly greeted the platoon members.

The party structure I learned was as follows:

Me as a warrior, Shiro as a mage, a blue-haired mage, a red-haired priest, and a green-haired priest.

Then there was the platoon leader Leet Edmon and a female knight in full plate armor standing next to him.

A 3-warrior, 2-mage, 2-priest system.

Not a bad setup.

‘And Leet Edmon, huh.’

I’m usually not good at remembering names, but the surname Edmon really stuck in my head.

That family holds the position of captain in the Imperial First Guard.

Considering how important holy power genetics are for knights, he must be quite skilled.

‘This looks promising.’

From his full mythril set equipment to his properly worn helmet.

Just looking at his back already gave me confidence.

Moreover, the blue mage was an experienced individual who had spent a long time on the 6th floor, and both priests were nobles affiliated with the church.

The female knight just moved her head without saying anything, but judging by her mythril set, she must be skilled too.

It already felt like a safe carry party.

“I look forward to working with you.”

So, I bowed my head to the red-haired priest who was closest to me.

“…”

I was completely ignored.

I stood there awkwardly, but fortunately, the green-haired priest next to her responded instead.

“Hey, your name was Adel, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

She looked up at me with a cold expression.

“Could you not talk to us?”

“…”

We’re screwed!

***

I had forgotten lately since I’d only been with Shiro, but I had one jinx:

Any party I join is always somehow broken.

That’s probably why the priests seem to have a sense of superiority.

“If we turn left, there should be a portal.”

The blue-haired mage skillfully found the way with smooth communication and excellent detection abilities.

Fortunately, she seemed normal.

In the end, our platoon reached the 2nd floor in less than 5 hours.

High-ranking priests can cast blessings on their bodies to run faster, but it takes 3 minutes to prepare a 30-minute blessing.

Considering we had two priests who consumed a lot of time, this was quite an achievement.

“There aren’t many other parties on the 2nd floor yet. I don’t think the Demonic Blood has spread this far, but let’s proceed with caution.”

“Right. I’ll take the lead.”

The platoon leader and the blue mage communicated and led us forward.

‘This carry is so good.’

Two people with both combat power and communication skills!

These were the well-rounded talents that society wanted, and the people I had been waiting for.

Nobles priests with a superiority complex? As long as they healed well, I didn’t care.

Since they weren’t combat personnel, I probably wouldn’t have to talk to them much anyway.

-Boom!

We advanced through the 2nd floor like a destruction tank.

The platoon leader’s sword strikes pulverized monsters.

From what I could tell so far, he seemed to be around 7th floor level.

‘This should be smooth sailing, right?’

This operation was for the purification of the 6th floor.

According to official imperial information, the Demonic Blood would spread from the 6th floor this time.

They said that if we stopped it properly just once, there wouldn’t be any Demonic Blood appearing for a while.

‘Is it really related to the constellations?’

There was no explanation as to why the Demonic Blood was spreading from the 6th floor, but most explorers speculated it was related to the constellation cycle.

Every certain period, specific constellations shine brightly. Last time it was Aries, which belongs to the 3rd floor, and this time it was Taurus, which belongs to the 6th floor.

‘Could that be related to the 10th floor?’

The commonality between when the Demonic Blood first appeared in the game and now.

I thought about it thoroughly, but I still couldn’t figure it out.

‘I’ll know later.’

It didn’t seem like I could find out anything right now.

For now, I should focus on this operation.

***

That day, we finished our schedule in front of the cliff on the 3rd floor.

‘There are a lot of people.’

As we set up tents and waited, other units gradually began to gather here.

By the time night fell, countless people had gathered.

“Here are cold resistance scrolls. Everyone, no matter what happens, don’t tear the scroll until tomorrow morning before entering the Crystal Cave.”

Each explorer was given a cold resistance scroll.

‘They have a lot of money.’

They were relatively cheap 4th-grade scrolls, but still, distributing them to so many people must have cost a fortune.

It showed how serious the imperial family was about this operation.

“And finally, I must emphasize: do not jump off the cliff until morning comes.”

The platoon leader said seriously.

‘That makes sense.’

If everyone jumped together, they would be randomly paired and summoned in groups of two. If by chance two priests ended up together and a monster appeared in front of them, they would die.

So until the captain and vice-captain of the Imperial Second Guard, who were leading this operation, cleared the Crystal Cave, all units were to wait.

By now, those two would probably be entering the cliff and clearing it.

‘Is the princess not here?’

Looking around, I didn’t see anyone unusual.

People with imperial bloodlines have blonde hair and red eyes. If she were here, there would be a commotion around her.

Perhaps the rumor about the princess coming was false after all.

‘I should get some sleep.’

I walked toward the tent assigned to me.

They said it would be 2 people per tent, but from a distance, it looked big enough for 5 people.

…The imperial family really does have a lot of money.

Anyway.

Shiro was sharing a tent with the green priest, and I would probably be sharing with the platoon leader.

They wouldn’t put a man and a woman in the same tent.

“Hello, platoon leader.”

Whatever the case, I pushed the canvas aside and entered the tent,

Inside was a blonde woman who had completely removed her upper garments.

“…”

“…”

I froze in shock.

It seemed she was equally shocked, as her red eyes stared at me silently.

…Wait. Red eyes?

I examined her face.

Golden hair that seemed to be imbued with holiness, red eyes like precisely cut rubies.

“P-Princess?”

“…!”

Hearing my mumble, she seemed to come to her senses and quickly pulled a blanket around herself.

And then,

“I have committed a mortal sin!”

She immediately bowed her head to the ground.

This is insane.

I just saw the princess’s body.