Ch.7167 – The Cat’s Gratitude

*growl…*

What’s this? What’s going on?

“Feel good?”

“Mmmmm… but my hair probably smells… and I didn’t shower today so it’s all matted…”

“It’s fine. You only smell nice. You’re clean.”

What is this? Somehow the Forest Guardian is brushing my hair.

But it feels so good that I can’t refuse.

I should pull away right now.

But I just can’t.

“Do elves normally do this to people they’ve just met?”

“Yes.”

“I think it’s a wonderful cultural practice worth adopting. Mmm purrrrrr…”

At first I thought I might still be drunk, but my mind was perfectly clear.

Having my hair brushed by the Forest Guardian – what a strange thing to experience.

Just as bad things come in waves, good things seem to arrive all at once.

The mission that Gestalt and Daniel revealed to us was actually a secret mission!

Not only can we thoroughly mess with the Academy officials, but this means Adella will ultimately be the one to obtain the Laurel!

“That’s easy! You can count on me, Gestalt!”

“Show some respect to the Branch Director, Adella.”

The Forest Guardian seemed to calmly accept our completely reversed mission.

“I almost said something terrible about a bald man being ignorant.”

“Nyahaha! Bald! If you look closely, Mr. Gestalt has hair growing like fuzz!”

What’s with this elf? She looks like a delicate princess but her actions and words are as rough and uninhibited as a battle-hardened mercenary.

I think I’ve found someone I like after a long time.

NoName and I were the first to depart from the Abyss.

The distance to the observatory was quite far to walk, and we needed to arrive early to meet the mission timeline.

We had to avoid carriages due to the risk of being tracked.

I thought our Abyss was pretty harsh sending just two ladies on such a long journey, but I guess it’s all good.

Surprisingly, she turned out to be the quiet type.

She would never open her mouth unless I spoke to her first.

I had a clear reason for not engaging in conversation either.

The truth is, as a true mission agent, I should avoid getting too attached.

On the battlefield, the only thing that matters is my own life.

In a situation where only one of us could survive, I need to be able to leave without regrets.

I’m not saying I’d betray her from the start, but friendship doesn’t put food on the table, and with my personality, I could cut ties decisively in such situations. This mission is particularly difficult.

About letting her brush my hair at the inn earlier – I’d like to blame it entirely on the alcohol.

Why did I suddenly do that!

The imperial clock tower that rings on the hour stands silently in its place.

Since neither of us walked slowly, we arrived at the observatory early.

The Forest Guardian didn’t seem nervous at all. Has she experienced this kind of thing before?

“Aren’t you bored too?”

“A little.”

“Tell me about your past. It’s not often I get to meet an elf.”

What kind of place is Arsheria’s Forest?

That fantasy realm known as the elven paradise is a place inaccessible to outsiders.

“I was the fourth princess of my homeland.”

“Princess? You mean an actual princess?”

Wait, is she someone of incredible status?

A real princess of a nation? I did think there was something unusual about her aura.

The vast difference in status made my own situation feel rather pathetic by comparison.

“Being fourth means you have many siblings above you? Were you close with them?”

“No. I don’t think we were.”

“Well, people with siblings all say the same thing about how hard it is to get along.”

Having no family myself, I couldn’t relate, but that’s what I’d heard.

“So are they still in the forest? Or did they come looking for the Laurel like you?”

“No, they’re all dead. Except one.”

“Huh? Dead…?”

“I killed them all myself.”

“What nonsense! Are you completely crazy? Was all that talk about being a princess just lies?”

I was the fool for taking this deranged Forest Guardian’s story seriously.

But thanks to her, I feel much less tense now.

Whether her skills match her appearance is something I’ll have to see for myself.

Time is dragging terribly.

It’s exactly like when you’re on night watch and even falling leaves seem to move in slow motion.

How nice it would be if actual combat appeared this way.

Eventually, unable to bear the boredom, I made up my mind to share my story with the Forest Guardian.

“Do you know how I ended up joining the Abyss?”

* * *

[Was it the Branch Director who accepted you into the Abyss?]

[Well… I guess so. He rescued me when I was being beaten by guards and brought me here. I had nowhere else to go, so I just stayed.]

Adella now freely talked about the Branch Director, something she had always kept quiet about.

As I suspected, she was someone who craved conversation.

Despite some rough edges in her personality, she no longer ignored or dismissed my words.

But Adella wasn’t the only one who had changed.

The guards at the observatory.

Like Adella, they too had been freed from the shackles of limited intelligence.

Originally, the guard who would attack first from the right could be dealt with by obstructing his vision and pushing him over the cliff with my foot, completely removing him from battle.

“Ugh… how dare this one use such tricks? Everyone, stay alert! The enemy is a high-level mage!”

A knight climbed up from the cliff.

He had cleverly thrown off his helmet just before falling.

With his vision clear, he was able to survive by using his sword as support.

The enemies in the second playthrough are stronger than the first, and those in the third stronger than the second.

It’s not that I’ve gotten weaker – objectively, they’ve become smarter, more cautious, and more meticulous.

They don’t rashly attack even when I deliberately show openings.

Like highly trained elite soldiers, they only swing their swords when safety is guaranteed.

The observatory guards weren’t zombies or golems, but real knights with only one life.

“Watch out for sword energy! We have the advantage in numbers, so keep pressing!”

They separated me from Adella, isolating us.

A cowardly plan to prevent me from protecting the injured Adella, allowing them to take her hostage.

The game’s difficulty is going insane.

I barely deflect a sword thrust aimed at my neck.

Spinning halfway around, I use the momentum to deliver a precise fente to the chest of an enemy sneaking up from behind.

Ting-

My blade broke feebly, though it should have been enough to pierce through his chest.

[Current Penalty(3): -45%]

‘So that’s how it works.’

All my physical force is reduced by half.

A familiar feeling.

Like the curse when I first logged into World of Arsheria, when my mana circuit was cut off.

Both mass and acceleration remained the same, but

The force behind my sword didn’t match their product.

“Everyone, now!”

A heavy greatsword struck the ground, kicking up dust.

I could twist my body to avoid it momentarily, but my range of movement became ridiculously limited.

Dozens of ominous glints flashed.

The eyes of predators waiting for my mistake.

One knight stabbing from behind. Two knights putting down their shields, trying to pin me down with their bodies. Am I surrounded on all sides?

A sacrifice is needed.

The first offering was naturally my body.

I put my hand in the path of the first knight’s sword.

Slash-

The blade, deflected by my gauntlet, grazed my waist, but my right arm was completely shattered.

In exchange, I struck down the knight’s wrist with my left elbow, completely disarming him.

Taking advantage of his forward-leaning center of gravity, I grabbed the sleeve of the knight who was twice my weight and flipped him half a turn.

The knight who fell headfirst couldn’t regain his senses after my perfect throw.

“Catch him! The opponent still has no weapon!”

I tried to dodge a guard flying through the air, but even as he fell, he managed to grab my ankle.

With Acceleration, I could break free from even an adult man’s grip.

“…!”

[Cannot use Acceleration. (0.4 seconds)]

It was still on cooldown?

This didn’t look good.

I could feel their smiles even through their hidden helmets.

If my skill was on cooldown, I should have found another response… but my brain refused to think due to the fatigue from continuous fighting.

A fierce blow aimed to cut my body in half came flying.

Death was right in front of me.

“NoName!”

Clang-

“Adella?”

“What are you doing?! You… you almost died! Get up quickly!”

Adella barely blocked the guard’s sword that was about to split my head in half by crossing her tiny daggers in an X.

Without time to be surprised, she pushed the guard back and handed me a censer.

“I found this while escaping from the observatory! You’re a priest, so you should be able to handle this kind of weapon, right?”

[Corrupted Censer]

[A censer dropped by a passerby. Having absorbed the earth’s malice, it emits an ominous aura.]

[Skill Acceleration 30, Spell Power +15, Healing Reduction Effect 20%]

Skill Acceleration? That’s quite a good stat!

[Acceleration Lv.2: Grants 23(20+3)% movement speed and 17.25(15+2.25)% attack speed for 5 seconds.]

[MP Cost: 50, Cooldown: 10.77(14-3.23) seconds]

“Thanks. Let’s fight together.”

With Acceleration, I can somewhat compensate for my weak attack power.

“No, heal me please! What if you leave me behind, Forest Guardian! Hey hey hey Adella is dying! Save meeeee!”