episode_0070

– Eujik! Kwajaak!

‘Kke-eok…!’

Serafin, in the midst of a chaotic situation where she swiftly defeated multiple Lake Serpents with a dazzling kick, took a moment to regain her composure in her own moonlit-like figure. She belatedly realized what was happening and began to assess the current situation.

After all, the Third Princess should not be one of the two people present here right now. The other person, of course, was Agnes.

Without the coordination between Agnes and Serafin, King Serpent could not be defeated. It was a limited story among the key personnel present here.

Unlike the Level 4 minions, King Serpent was a Level 10 boss monster. Like all game boss monsters, the boss monster of the Luminor Academy possessed a strength far beyond that of ordinary monsters.

Just because King Serpent was only Level 10, it might seem trivial, but just the title “boss monster” made a significant difference.

To defeat a Level 10 boss monster, a party composed of Level 10 characters was needed, not just a single character. The strength was amplified to the point where comparing it to monsters of similar levels in terms of health alone was nearly twenty times. When considering defense and skills, the danger increased several times.

In fact, monsters like King Serpent were on par with Level 40 monsters, without any sense of inferiority.

“So I thought Agnes and Serafin had to attack together to barely defeat it.”

If even one of them deviated from the plan, the monster wave would never end. It was practically impossible to defeat all the Lake Serpent horde that could number in the thousands, and even if it were possible, there would be no energy left to face King Serpent.

Moreover, these monsters were still relentlessly targeting only humans as if they were being led by someone, making it most urgent to defeat the boss monster and resolve the situation.

“Shae-euk…!”

– Chwak!

“Kkieuggeuk….”

Serafin had already defeated four Lake Serpents attacking me and Riji.

However, Serafin, who should have gone to defeat King Serpent, was here right now.

She didn’t come to defeat King Serpent and clean up the remnants, so why did she come here to support us?

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand her actions, and various speculations began to form in my mind about what future Serafin had seen.

“What did she see in the future?”

Could it be that the future Serafin saw did not reflect the future of “me protecting Riji”?

Or did some action I took when meeting Serafin lead her to decide to save Riji instead of Agnes?

Amidst all these questions and confusion, the masked blonde princess began to walk towards me and Riji through the southern gate.

Until then, I had been expressing my doubts about Serafin’s incomprehensible behavior.

“Lilith Rosewood.”

“…Didn’t we agree not to use our real names?”

“But we already know each other, so it doesn’t matter, right?”

…Well, that’s true.

What did she see in the future that made her come to rescue Riji after seeing the future of defeating King Serpent with Agnes?

Questions about that were swirling in my mind, and I was about to blurt out that rude question, but before that, Serafin suddenly took my hand and started running.

“Why are we…uh, where are we going?”

“Let’s go.”

“G-Go? Where are you taking me?”

“Ah, Miss Lilith, this must be your first time wearing high-heeled shoes. It seems difficult for you to run quickly.”

“What on earth… Aah?!”

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Where is the logic in apologizing for something you’ve already done?!

Suddenly, Seraphine tripped me from behind, causing me to almost fall backward, but she caught me with her arms.

Caught off guard, I found myself in a princess-carry position in her arms, looking bewildered as to what was happening.

“I’ll explain as we go. We’re in a hurry right now.”

“What, what is this?! Why are you suddenly carrying me?!”

“Because I saw it.”

“What?”

“Lilith, you and I will work together to defeat King Serpent in the future.”

…Seriously, what did she see?

***

With a mysterious appearance, Seraphine suddenly appeared at the shelter and started running towards the Yellow Palace gate while carrying me.

I found myself being carried towards the gate in her arms, holding the sword I received from Lizzy.

“Princess, now is not the time! We need to defeat the boss monster at the center of the monster wave first…”

“Yes. That’s why I brought Lilith. It was easier to get her cooperation in one of the two futures I saw.”

“What?!”

What is this princess talking about?

If she saw the future, she should have flown straight to the gate as soon as she understood the situation, rather than carrying me and going after King Serpent.

I couldn’t understand the situation of being suddenly carried towards the Yellow Palace gate.

It was reckless to think that I, a mere maid indebted to a noble family, could cooperate with Seraphine to defeat King Serpent, especially since she was one of the people who already knew this fact thanks to the letter Ethan had sent beforehand.

“I, being a mere commoner maid, is something you’ve heard about too!”

“…Yes. I almost fell for Lilith’s innocent appearance for a moment.”

“…What?”

“You’re keeping it a secret, right? The fact that you can use magic as a commoner.”

“…!”

Asking how she knew would be pointless. Lilith may be sorry, but my future sight has never been wrong.

…Ah, damn it.

If it weren’t for the full moon, I wouldn’t have been found out.

Denying the future sight of the moonshadow princess, who turns into a scam character once a month, would probably not work, and I reluctantly nodded in agreement with her words.

“…Yes, that’s right.”

“Normally, as soon as it was confirmed that a commoner who could use magic appeared, the empire itself would have taken protective measures.”

“Ah…”

“Fortunately, I’m the only one who knows that fact now.”

“…”

“I’ll keep it a secret, Lilith Rosewood.”

…What?

She’s keeping this a secret?

“What did you just say…”

“For some reason, you’re hiding the fact that you can use magic and living as a commoner.”

“…Well, of course, it’s dangerous if it’s revealed.”

“I’ll keep the sight of the future I saw a secret, so in return, Lilith, you must cooperate with me to make that future a reality.”

“…Are you saying that future involves me using my magic to defeat King Serpent?”

“Right now, yes.”

…’Right now’? Where exactly did she see the future and come looking for me?

She saw me using magic and defeating King Serpent. Even without additional explanations from Seraphine, I could already understand the situation to some extent.

The only means I had to properly attack King Serpent with my available magic was Mana Blast.

From the moment I heard that I had defeated King Serpent, I could somewhat guess.

If this woman really saw in her vision that I defeated King Serpent, then the only means of attack I could use against that monster was that.

Although still confused, through the information I heard from Seraphine, I could somewhat grasp the changed content of the story.

…In the end, due to my interference in the story, Seraphine’s view of the future changed, and in the midst of that, she chose the changed future.

Quickly receiving Agnes’s cooperation to defeat King Serpent instead of bringing me to the West Gate for some reason, I didn’t quite understand, but in any case, this was the part of the story that had changed from the original.

Perhaps even now, Agnes at the West Gate was cornered, dealing with King Serpent.

Seraphine, who always made choices that led to the least sacrifice in every story, why did she make Agnes endangered, I still couldn’t understand.

“If Agnes saw the future at the West Gate, she would naturally have judged to support Agnes at the West Gate first. Anyway, Seraphine confirmed through the future that the two of them could defeat King Serpent.”

However, now that the decision to bring me was made, Agnes was probably in danger at every moment.

…Wait, if the reason Seraphine made a strange judgment was that the target of the future vision changed from Lizzie to me, could it be that the other target of the future vision also changed from Agnes to someone else?

“Princess.”

“Yes, Lily.”

“…One of the future visions you saw was a future where the princess and I cooperate to defeat King Serpent.”

“That’s right, Lily.”

“If it’s not too much trouble, could you please tell me what you saw in the other future vision?”

I expected to ask this question, as if she knew, Seraphine smiled slightly and nodded her head as she answered.

The answer that came out of her mouth was enough to make me bewildered.

“I saw two futures. One was as I mentioned before, bringing Lily from the South Gate shelter to the West Gate, and cooperating with Lily to defeat the King Serpent at the West Gate.”

“The other one was…”

“The other one was bringing Agnes from the East Gate defense line to the West Gate, and similarly cooperating with Agnes to defeat King Serpent.”

“Wasn’t that much easier? Instead of going back and forth between the South Gate and the West Gate, why not bring Agnes from the East Gate… huh?”

…Wait.

Did I just hear that correctly?

“Um, excuse me, Your Highness. Could you please tell me about the second future vision again?”

“The second future is, cooperating with Agnes to defeat King Serpent…”

“Oh, no. I mean, where is Agnes right now?”

“…Agnes is currently at the East Gate defense line, blocking the entry of monsters.”

“….”

Then, what about the West Gate?

I don’t know how Orion defended the palace in history, but amidst that, there was one thing for sure.

That she entrusted Agnes with guarding the boundary on the West Gate where the boss monster appeared.

However, as it should have been, she, who should have been facing the boss monster, was now at the East Gate defense line, blocking the monsters.

Perhaps this is a glimpse into the future of Princess Seraphine, so there should be no mistake, as she was able to see even ‘what was not originally present at the scene’ through her future sight.

For now, it is certain that Agnes is guarding the eastern defense line.

…Then, who exactly is defending the western gate where King Serpent is expected to arrive?

‘Although my power is weak, I promise not to interfere.’

“…No way.”

As a familiar face brushed past my mind, I realized that I had been overlooking one of the most important facts all along.

…Characters who did not participate in Seraphine’s masquerade ball in the original story, were not just me alone.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Argentia Empire Palace, western defense line.

“Haa, haa, haa….”

Ethan Richard Blackwood, the eldest son of the Blackwood family.

He is currently experiencing the greatest threat to his life since he was born.

‘Shaaaaah!!!’

A huge monster with a gaping mouth aimed solely at him, letting out a chilling scream that seemed to suck out his soul.

An overwhelmingly large size that is impossible to compare with other Lake Serpents, and movements so swift and powerful that do not match its size.

Facing the majesty of the ‘boss monster’ he encountered for the first time in his life, Ethan felt a considerable pressure.

Still, looking at the unscathed King Serpent with not a single scratch on its scales, Ethan quietly thought to himself.

‘This… is definitely tougher than the training I received from my father.’

Despite being exhausted from facing dozens of Lake Serpents, he still stood guard at the palace’s western gate with his two legs.

With his trembling arms forcibly holding onto the sword, Ethan Richard Blackwood, the heir of the Blackwood family, was defending the last line of defense at the western gate of the palace, completely alone, without anyone else to rely on.