Chapter 33: Unexpected (2)

Things just don’t go right when they start going wrong.

At this moment, Sion was feeling that fact deeply.

“Great, found another holy herb!”

“…”

Behind Isabella, who was gleefully holding up the yellow flower, Sion wore an expression like she had swallowed something foul.

Was it luck, or did Isabella have a talent for searching?

Whatever the reason, they were finding the holy herbs at a pace far quicker than Sion had expected.

Currently, they had already gathered eight holy herbs.

The number of natural holy herbs needed to clear the task was ten, so they only needed two more.

“This is much easier than I thought, isn’t it?”

“Indeed. I expected it to be much more difficult.”

Isabella and Lancia conversed in a cheerful atmosphere.

To tell the truth, they weren’t finding them due to luck. They just looked in the right places where they were likely to be found.

Holy herbs grow throughout the Salangs Mountains, but those that sprouted along frequently traveled paths had long since been picked.

That’s why hunters go to great lengths to venture into the deep wilderness for holy herbs.

Conversely, this also means that there are more untouched holy herbs in areas teeming with monsters and danger.

And they were currently walking through a dangerous zone. A place where even the Hunters’ Guild advised C-rank or lower hunters not to enter.

The only reason they hadn’t noticed the danger was that they were cutting down every monster they encountered with a single blow.

‘Are these people monsters themselves…?’

Beryl looked at the two of them with a dumbfounded expression.

She took pride in her own hard-earned skills, but these two were no less capable.

Especially when they could burst through the thick hide of a Green Drake with just a wave of a hand or a single slash — a feat even she couldn’t manage.

At best, she could aim for a critical spot like the eyes to incapacitate it.

She had heard they were both geniuses in their fields, but to this extent?

‘And the hero who is revered as the “master” by such a noblewoman… who could she be…?’

Beryl was also a student of Anatolia, and naturally, she had heard about the duel between Lancia and Sion.

The hero who had broken the pride of the strongest female swordsman of this generation as if twisting a child’s wrist.

Judging by how Lancia was following Sion around without any hint of hard feelings, there seemed to be no lingering animosity between them since then…

‘…If that person were to attack me, could I even resist?’

A swordsman who treats Green Drakes as light exercise can’t even scratch this opponent when going all out.

In such a situation, even the term ‘difference in power’ seems laughable. Her skill would barely be within the margin of error.

‘I hope my instincts are wrong.’

Beryl sincerely wished that were the case.

She hoped her suspicion of the hero was mistaken, that the hero was indeed the innocent being she appeared to be.

If so, at least she wouldn’t have to live in fear, wondering when she might be killed…

-“Looks like Beryl is really scared of you… What did you do, Sion?”

-“What could I have done? Just leave me alone, you’re making my head spin.”

Meanwhile, Sion was troubled.

The reason was singular. Isabella and Lancia’s capabilities were far beyond what she had imagined.

Sion knew they were competent, but she hadn’t expected them to make short work of a pack of Green Drakes. There were no stronger monsters nearby.

Both Plan A and Plan B were utterly destroyed.

‘Should I use Summon Monster?’

An idea to use summoning magic surfaced in Sion’s mind — a high-level summoning spell to bring forth an otherworldly dragon or something similar to deal with them.

But Sion quickly shook her head.

‘No, that’s not going to work. Monsters summoned by conjuration spells don’t leave behind bodies when defeated.

That would make it obvious that someone had summoned them. It wouldn’t look natural.’

Sion still wanted to disguise Beryl’s death as an accident. That was the cleanest way to handle things.

If it were suspected that someone else was involved, an enraged Isabella might issue a continent-wide manhunt, determined to find the culprit herself.

That would be a problem. If Beryl somehow saw the wanted notice and regained her memory, the situation would spiral out of control.

It had to be a death that looked clear and without any suspicion — a straightforward accident. There could be no other options.

‘So I need a way… a way to make this work… but what else is there?’

The most dangerous place that students could venture for a side quest at this level was the Salangs Mountains.

Every other area was lower-level compared to this one.

If she couldn’t make this attempt at gathering holy herbs work, it would only get harder in the future…

“Oh, here’s another one!”

“!”

While Sion was pondering, Isabella found the ninth holy herb.

That left only one more herb needed to clear the quest.

‘This is bad!’

If they gathered all ten herbs and returned to the academy, then Plan C and everything else would be ruined. She had to prevent them from finding the last one, somehow…!

“Hey? I think there’s another one over there.”

“Detonate!!!”

Sion cast a spell toward the direction Lancia pointed. The yellow flower at the edge of a cliff exploded with a loud bang.

Thus, the tenth holy herb (aged 47 years, valued at 500 gold) met its sudden end due to a burst of magic.

“Uh, wasn’t there a holy herb at the edge of that cliff just now?”

“Huh? Where?”

“Maybe not… Am I seeing things…?”

Lancia tilted her head in confusion. Looking back at the cliff, there was nothing left.

She was sure she had seen a yellow petal just now…

“Anyway,” Sion cleared her throat.

“Why don’t we all move a bit deeper into the forest? Considering your skills, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to stay here longer…”

“Huh? Deeper?”

Beryl furrowed her brow slightly at the suggestion.

“But don’t we only need to find one more? There are still plenty of holy herbs around here. We don’t need to go further into the danger zones…”

“True, if all you care about is clearing the quest.”

However, Sion continued, “There’s no rule saying you can only collect exactly ten herbs, right? If you collect a few more, you could sell them separately from the assignment.

That would benefit you, Beryl, wouldn’t it?”

“But still, there’s no need to go deeper into the wilderness…”

“More importantly, as things stand, this is hardly proper training.

I wanted the Princess and Lady Lancia to gain more experience and improve their skills, but the battles we’ve faced so far have been rather underwhelming.

If we continue like this, it will just feel like we’re going through the motions. Don’t you think so, Princess?”

“Hmm? Me?”

Sion directed her question toward Isabella.

She let out a thoughtful hum before answering.

 “Yeah, I do feel like something’s missing. Feels like I haven’t really had a proper adventure.

I was hoping for something a bit more intense, not necessarily life-threatening, but with a little more tension. So far, it’s felt more like a casual hike in the mountains.”

“I agree. If we’re exploring the mountains, I’d rather head to a place with stronger opponents.”

Lancia nodded in agreement.

Perfect, it worked. Sion smiled inwardly.

She had guessed that someone as adventurous as Isabella would feel dissatisfied with the situation, and she was right.

With that, even Beryl couldn’t openly oppose the idea. After all, these people were cooperating with her.

“…Fine.”

As expected, Beryl reluctantly nodded. With a displeased expression, she began to walk forward.

“Alright, I’ll guide us deeper according to the map. Just don’t stray off the path.”

“Yay~~  let’s go~~”

The princess, blissfully unaware, cheered with excitement.

The deepest part of the Salangs Mountains was darker, despite being closer to the sky.

The main reason was the trees that stretched two to three times taller than those near the entrance.

As if competing to see who could receive more sunlight, the trees in the forest had grown tall, hoarding all of the sun’s blessings for themselves and not yielding a single ray to the plants below.

Even the sunlight that managed to slip through had long since scattered into a hazy mist, overwhelmed by the thick mana that filled the forest.

As a result, the area near the ground was dim and shadowy, like the moments just before dawn.

“Do you think there are really any holy herbs in a place like this…?”

Beryl muttered, her voice tinged with dissatisfaction.

Holy herbs are flowers that bloom in sunny places, they wouldn’t be able to grow properly in such a dark environment.

But Isabella spoke cheerfully, as if she had no worries at all.

“No, Beryl! You have to think the opposite way here! Any holy herbs that manage to grow in an environment like this must be rare ones that are hundreds of years old!”

“Do you think so…?”

Beryl sighed at the princess’s unnecessarily optimistic voice. It would be nice if that were true.

‘Since then, even the Hero hasn’t shown any strange behavior… Actually, since the first time we met, she hasn’t done anything particularly suspicious.

Could it all just be my imagination?’

Maybe it was paranoia. Perhaps she was just overreacting due to the anxiety from losing her memories.

If she thought about it logically, if the Hero was truly a bad person, those two wouldn’t be putting so much trust in her.

If it turned out she was wrongly suspecting someone, she would have to apologize properly later—

“…!”

At that moment.

Beryl instinctively raised her dagger at the tingling sensation that brushed against her skin.

She stopped walking and started to scan her surroundings.

“What’s wrong?”

“…There’s something here.”

It wasn’t visible yet, but something was definitely watching them, targeting them.

All four of them stopped in their tracks and surveyed the area around them. However, there didn’t seem to be any immediate threats in sight.

Only the faint sound of a breeze brushing against the bushes could be heard.

Isabella tilted her head.

“There’s nothing here. Are you sure you heard something?”

“……”

Beryl swallowed hard.

No, that couldn’t be it. When such a strong killing intent could be felt, it was proof that an enemy was nearby.

“…!”

And then, in the next instant,

Sion, who was also scanning the surroundings, shouted loudly.

“Below!!!”

“Huh? Below wha—”

Isabella’s words were cut off. Sion had quickly grabbed her collar and yanked her back.

And just a second later—

-Crash!!

A large something burst up from the ground filled with thick tree roots.

A massive creature, resembling a giant worm but far more grotesque and horrifying.

An alien form that looked like it didn’t belong to this world.

“W-What is that?!”

Lancia yelled in shock.

She had her share of real battle experience. Back in the Granfil territory, she often joined the knights in monster hunts.

But the creature before her eyes was something Lancia had never seen in her life.

Where did this kind of monster come from?

-“Wait a minute, that’s…”

Unlike Lancia, someone else here found the creature familiar.

Seeing the enormous worm that had suddenly appeared, Exia sent a telepathic message, her tone filled with alarm.

-“Isn’t that a Giant Death Worm? Why is that here? It’s a demonic creature, so it shouldn’t be able to survive on Elpidion. Did you summon it, Sion?”

That was the most plausible assumption.

Whenever something unexpected happened, it was usually the work of this unpredictable person.

However—

-“No.”

To her surprise, Sion shook her head.

-“It wasn’t me. What is this thing?”

Sion’s face showed the same confusion and surprise as the others.

This was entirely unexpected, even for her.