Prologue

Everything I saw was shiny. When I looked up to the sky, the sun was so bright I had to squint my eyes. In all the days I’d spent in the abbey as the Goddess of Darkness, I’d never once seen the sun. It felt a little strange to bathe in sunlight each day now. Just like the sunlight, my heart was all warm and happy. I loved Sharon and her friends for saving me from the darkness.

“Looks like you’ve got quite an appetite,” someone called out as I filled my mouth with meat from a skewer I’d just purchased. It was the vendor of the adjacent stall, which sold thick sandwiches full of meat and vegetables...that looked as delicious as the skewers.

I still have some of the allowance Sharon gave me. “Can I have that?”

“Still hungry? All right, I’ll throw in a little bonus.”

“Bonus?”

The vendor layered the sandwich with more meat and vegetables, nearly doubling its thickness.

“Wow,” I said.

“Too much?”

“No.” I shook my head and paid for the sandwich. My stomach gave a delighted squeal at the scent of the grill-marked meat. “Thank you.”

With the first bite, a sweet and spicy sauce seeped into my mouth. I’d bitten into layers of bite-sized crispy fried chicken that would have been a little bland without the flavorful sauce. Julienned cabbage, along with sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, added a fresh crunch. “Delicious,” I hummed as I chewed.

The shopkeeper grinned. “Good to hear.”

“You do have a big appetite,” the vendor on the other side of the skewer stall called. “Would you like some milk? It’s fresh from Farming Village.”

“Yes.” I quickly took money from my small purse and placed it on the stall’s counter.

“Here you go.” The new vendor handed me my purchase.

“Thank you.” I took a sip from the cup of milk, the thick but gentle flavor balancing out the sandwich’s aftertaste. Then, I wondered what animal the milk had come from. With Sharon and her party, I usually drank tea or water, so I hadn’t had many chances to drink milk. “What kind of milk is this?”

“Cow’s milk,” said the milk vendor. “That’s the most popular. I also have goat’s milk if you want to try it.”

“Yes, please!” I felt so happy that I could try different flavors, even of something as simple as milk. It brought me so much joy, getting to experience all these different things.

“Well that just puts a smile on my face. Here’s that goat’s milk.”

“Thank you.” I finished my glass of cow’s milk and traded the vendor for a glass of goat’s milk. It tasted lighter than the cow’s milk, but with a more distinct flavor.

“Goat’s milk can stink after a while, so I don’t stock too much of it,” the milk vendor explained.

“I see...” I knew that food rotted over time and became disgusting. Apparently, goat’s milk became too stinky to drink before it rotted. How strange. I chugged the remainder of the goat’s milk.

The vendors laughed.

“You must have been thirsty,” the milk vendor said.

“They were both delicious,” I said and then finished the rest of my sandwich.

“Color me impressed,” said the sandwich vendor.

I gave them a smirk. “Easy.”

The vendors laughed again.

“You want another skewer? It’s on the house,” the skewer vendor offered.

“Are you sure?! Yes, please!” I could still eat a hundred skewers.

He chuckled as he gave me the skewer. “I don’t know how you pack it all in.”

I didn’t know either. Sharon and the others were often surprised by how much I ate, but I could eat delicious food like this forever, without ever stopping. “I can eat everything you have.”

“I like the confidence,” said the sandwich vendor.

“How can your parents afford it?” the milk vendor asked.

Now that I thought about it, neither Sharon nor Tarte nor anyone else ate as much as I did. But food is delicious, so eating more means more happiness. Actually, I felt sorry that everyone else couldn’t eat as much as I did. “My dream is to eat every food in the world,” I declared.

The skewer vendor clapped his hands, laughing. “Now that’s one big dream! Who knows how many different foods there are in the world? You know, there are cities other than Zille, and other countries full of even more cities. It’s going to be hard work trying to taste every kind of food there is.”

“I can do it,” I said. “I’m an adventurer. I’m going to travel all over the world and eat every food it has to offer!”

“I didn’t realize you were an adventurer,” said the skewer vendor.

“That’s amazing,” the milk vendor said.

“I’m very strong,” I told them proudly.

“Great to hear,” the sandwich vendor said. “Hopefully this mighty adventurer can bring us back some delicious ingredients. You need a good cook and good ingredients to make a good dish.”

His words jolted through me. “A good cook...!” I’d thought I could just buy all the delicious things I wanted, but that only scratched the surface of the culinary world. With a world full of undiscovered ingredients and a chef to cook those ingredients in different ways...the possibilities were endless!

Could I become a chef? I was starting to wonder about my options when I noticed an orange light spilling onto the street. When I turned around, I saw the sun setting behind distant mountains. “I have to go. It’s almost dinnertime.”

“You’re going to eat even more...?”

The vendors looked at me curiously.

Dinner was the most lavish meal of the day, so I would never risk missing out on it. “I’m going to go all over and eat all kinds of food. Then I’m going to collect all sorts of delicious ingredients!” I promised.

“We’re rooting for you,” the vendors said, chuckling.

“I’m going to do it!” I said to myself, hurrying back to the inn...until I smelled something delicious and took a little detour.

Long-Awaited Reunion

Sitting in our room in the inn in Zille, Tarte and I stared at the key we’d placed on the desk—the one Tithia had given me as a quest reward. It shimmered slightly in a clear indication that it was ready to be used. However, we had no clue about what the key was meant to unlock or where to even begin searching.

“What should we do with it, Meowster? Since it’s glowing like that, I think something ameowzing is going to happen when we use it.”

“Well...” I considered the suggestion offered by Tarte, my Alchemist apprentice. I would have loved to make Tarte happy, but I had a bad feeling about this key. In Reas, there had been a few different ways a key could be used. When it had been meant to help you progress a quest, it usually opened a door somewhere. Because I’d received the key at the end of a quest, I thought it unlikely that it was for opening a specific door—unless the end of that quest had triggered a subsequent one. That seemed unlikely too, now that Zille was at peace again.

“Let’s try it.” I took the key over to the door of our room and slid it into the keyhole.

Tarte let out a surprised yowl. “We already have the key to this room!”

“It’s okay,” I said, stopping Tarte from running over to look for our room’s real key. A quest window had appeared before me—it looked like I’d used the key correctly.

“What’s going on, Meowster?”

“Let’s see what it says...” I murmured, then read the quest window aloud.

Holy Maiden’s Trial (Instance Dungeon)

Maximum Participants: 12

Pray for the world. Be proud that you are the Holy Maiden.

With your allies, challenge Goddess Flaudia and gain a new strength.

An Instance Dungeon—or ID for short—was a dungeon that could only be accessed by my party and no one else.

“What does this mean?” Tarte asked, her ears twitching in confusion.

I explained the concept of Instance Dungeons to her. “A cap of twelve players means it’s going to be a raid. No indication of the difficulty...but I think it’s going to be really tough.” It had to be, with a raid boss like Flaudia. I’d have to go in with as many allies as possible, all geared up to the nines...and have a strategy prepared.

My level was still at 75 while my friends were way over 100. I’d have to gain more levels before I could even think about taking on this raid. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even be able to form a party with them.

Overview:

Name: Sharon (Charlotte Cocoriara)

Level: 75

Job: Holy Maiden (A divine soul who loves the world. With miraculous power she heals all, praying for world peace.)

Titles:

Fiancée No More: +5% Resistance to attacks from Male enemies.

Subbing In for the Goddess: Healing Skills are 30% more effective. / Magic attacks do 20% more damage.

Skills:

Holy Maiden’s Prayer: Summons an angel.

Heal with Light (Level 6): Heals the target and slightly heals nearby allies.

Heal Absolutely (Level 5): Greatly heals a single target.

Rainbow Rejuvenation (Level 5): Heals everyone in a 10-meter radius.

Smiting Light (Level 3): Triples the next attack.

Protective Light (Level 3): Creates a barrier around the target.

Glorious Light (Level 3): Increases physical strength (Attack, Defense, Dexterity).

Holy Maiden’s Boon (Level 10): Greatly increases physical strength (Attack, Defense, Dexterity).

Moonlight (Level 10): Heals mana every 20 seconds.

Starlight (Level 10): Heals HP every 5 seconds.

Restore: Heals all status conditions.

Divine Domain (Level 5): Creates a barrier that keeps monsters out.

Holy Maiden’s Domain (Level 10): Creates a large barrier that keeps out anyone with malicious intent toward the user.

Quiet Prayer (Level 3): Increases the user’s HP and mana.

Reflect: Reflects Dark attacks.

Equipment:

Head: Hairpin of Compassion (+5% Healing / +3% Physical Defense / +3% Resistance to all elements)

Body: Robe of Compassion (+5% Healing / +3% Magical Defense)

Right Hand: Staff of Bloom (+3% Healing / +10% Holy element)

Left Hand: Flaudia’s Dewdrops (+20% Healing / -20% Mana cost / +10% Holy element / Recovers mana faster / Enables the Reflect Skill)

Accessory: Adventure Bracelet (Enables the Menu)

Accessory: —

Feet: Boots of Compassion (+5% Healing / +3% Physical Defense)

Bonus: Compassion Set 3/3 (+15% Healing / +5% Physical Defense / +5% Magical Defense / -10% Mana cost for Skills)

Tarte was looking a little pale. “How many times do we have to fight the goddess?”

“For real,” I agreed. It wasn’t easy planning or fighting all-out battles like we’d fought against Flaudia. I removed the key without turning it, and the quest window vanished. The ID wouldn’t appear until I turned the key and opened the door.

But I can’t back down from a challenge. The first thing I’d have to do was gather a party. A few faces came to my mind, but I couldn’t orchestrate a meeting just now. I blew out a breath. “Let’s talk about what we should do next.” I pulled out a folded letter.

“A letter?” Tarte asked.

“Yes. From Rudy.”

My brother Rudith had been staying with me in Zille until recently, when he’d at last flown home. He’d explained to our parents what I was up to and sent me a letter that stated my exile had been revoked so I could return to Farblume without worry of being imprisoned. Rudy had clarified that he’d support me if I wanted to continue my adventures but requested that I please stop at home first. Our father was missing me dearly.

“Lord Rudith?” Tarte purred. Ever since Rudy had saved her from a pickle, she seemed to simply adore him.

“Yep. It says I can go back to Farblume. Maybe I’ll pop in,” I said.

“That’s an ameowzing idea! Lord Rudith and your parents will love that!” Tarte said enthusiastically. That settled it, then. I’d swing by and see my family. “You have to buy a gift to bring!”

“Oh, right... Something rare and tasty maybe?” I could look for a souvenir from a place I hadn’t been to. I’d get to see new views and gain some levels too—killing three birds with one stone.

“Tasty?” someone asked excitedly.

“Welcome back, Lulu,” I said.

“Welcome back,” Tarte chimed in.

L’lyeh, the Goddess of Darkness, had returned with a bag of pastries. Somehow, she had gained sentience after our battle. She hadn’t shown much emotion at first, but ever since she’d discovered how delicious food could be, that’d become her passion and her hobby. After making the mistake of calling her L’lyeh in public—and drawing heated whispers about the Goddess of Darkness from passersby—I’d decided to nickname her Lulu.

“We’re going to Meowster’s home with a tasty treat,” Tarte explained.

L’lyeh blinked a few times. “Sharon’s home?”

“My family home is in Blume, Farblume’s capital. My father is a duke, so they should serve a good meal for us,” I explained.

“Let’s go now,” L’lyeh said immediately.

I chuckled at her adorable enthusiasm. Unfortunately for her, we were going to make a detour. “I’m thinking of bringing peaches from Arcadia. They’re unbelievably delicious.” L’lyeh’s and Tarte’s eyes were so round, they might as well have turned to peaches themselves. Even though I hadn’t actually tasted those peaches yet, NPCs had always raved about them in Reas, so no doubt many players would have loved to try them. “That decides what we’re doing next. We’re going to work on leveling up, then stop by my place at some point. When we’ve prepared enough, we’ll take on the dungeon.”

“Yes, Meowster!” Tarte agreed enthusiastically.

“Let’s do this,” L’lyeh said, clearly determined to taste those peaches.

***

To prepare for our next adventure, we’d come to Sunlit Grove, where Orcs, Snakles, and Spidles appeared—a nice place to hunt while you were at a lower level. Our main targets, of course, were the Orcs.

“You got this, Lulu!” Tarte cheered.

“Of course. Dark Arrow!”

That’s all there is to it. As soon as an Orc appears, L’lyeh mows it down with her magic.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised...” I said, still impressed by her power. Dark Arrow was just an introductory Skill, but it was a very powerful weapon in L’lyeh’s hands—enough to obliterate Orcs with one hit.

When the Orc burst into light, L’lyeh gleefully flashed me a peace sign. “I leveled up!”

To my great surprise, L’lyeh had been at level 1! That was why we’d come to Sunlit Grove, which was quickly becoming our go-to leveling spot.

“Leveling up fast is a lot of fun,” Tarte said. “I can’t wait to form a purrty and hunt together.”

“Mm-hmm!” L’lyeh agreed. If she wanted to continue going on adventures with us, she’d have to gain those levels. Everyone in the party had to be within fifteen levels of each other in order to share EXP. The Adventure Bracelet on her left wrist caught the light. I hadn’t expected her to receive one, but L’lyeh had gotten the bracelet at the end of the tutorial quest just like anyone else.

“Another one! Dark Arrow!” L’lyeh fired off her spell, sensing the Orc before it so much as rustled a bush. Either because of her heightened senses or high base stats, L’lyeh was a master at detecting enemies.

“Every time she defeats one, she gains a level,” Tarte observed.

“Hmm. Maybe we can move on to the next hunting ground.”

Tarte jolted. “Dragons?! Isn’t it too early for that?!”

“I need Lulu to gain enough levels to be able to form a party with me because I can’t work on my own level until then. Full speed ahead!” I commanded.

“Got it,” L’lyeh said, while Tarte yowled like we were going too fast.

After several days of leveling, the day finally came for us to end our extended stay in Zille.

***

“This is where my grand adventure begins!” Kent hollered, throwing his fists into the air in anticipation of our first venture into Arcadia.

My heart was pounding fast too as I imagined what wonderful views I’d get to see there. Kent and Cocoa had agreed to go with us without a second thought once I’d explained my plan to adventure through Arcadia before stopping by my house and then beginning my worldwide wanderings.

“Let’s get going,” I announced with a clap of my hands. The four of them—Kent, Cocoa, Tarte, and L’lyeh—were all ready. “We’ll take the Gate to Snowdia first,” I said, and my party agreed.

“Sharon?!” a voice called from behind me just as we were about to set out.

I recognized the powerful voice immediately. My mouth curving from the joy of seeing her again, I turned toward the newcomer. “Frey!”

“We are also here,” another voice chimed in.

“Long time no see, Sharon!” called a third.

“Luna! Lina!” I cheered.

There stood the Hero’s party, whom I had led through Paradise of Erungoa and assisted in curing Tarte.

Tarte ran up to them and threw her arms around Frey. “Hello, everyone!”

“Tarte!” they all shouted.

This was a long-awaited reunion, so I understood why everyone was excited. However, I noticed that the person Tarte must have been missing most—her sister, Torte—was nowhere to be seen. Instead of the older Cait Sith, a teenage girl was with them.

“Is my sister not with you?” Tarte mewed.

“Torte stayed home. She originally joined our party in order to look for an item to cure you, after all,” Frey explained.

“Then mom and dad won’t be lonely,” Tarte said.

Although I missed Torte, I was glad she was spending quality time with her parents at home after all of her adventuring. I introduced Kent, Cocoa, and Lulu to the Hero’s party, concealing the true identity of the Goddess of Darkness. “This is Kent, Cocoa, and Lulu. We’re in a party together.”

“N-Nice to meet you!” Kent and Cocoa said nervously.

“Nice to meet you,” L’lyeh echoed.

“Nice to meet you all. I’m Frey. I travel all over the world as the Hero. Sharon has helped us out a great deal.”

“I’m Luna. Lina is my twin. We’ve always been impressed by Sharon’s support abilities. I wonder if she has more surprises in store for us.”

“I’m Lina. I’m usually the scout of the party. Of course, Sharon’s surprised me with how much she knows. Nice to meet you guys.”

Why do I feel like they’re hyping me up too much? I thought, just as the new girl in their party stepped forward.

“This is Mio,” Frey said. “She’s our Priestess.”

“A Priestess!” That was exciting news. “You’re a supporter like me.”

Mio wore her silky light-green hair in an intricate braid with neatly trimmed bangs that brought out the green in her eyes; there were two large Prayer Bells woven into her braid. She wore a Resolute Garment colored in both light and deep green and held a Pilgrim’s Staff in her hand. It was all decent equipment by the standards of this world. Mio’s gentle demeanor gave her away as a person of noble birth, and she wouldn’t have been traveling with Frey’s party if she didn’t have the chops. Priestess was an advanced job that stemmed from Healer. Many of the job’s Skills were prayer-based buffs and debuffs. While a Priestess’s full potential might not have been realized in a quick battle, they were a great asset during drawn-out ones.

“I don’t have as much experience as the others yet, but I’ll try my best,” Mio said.

“I’m Sharon. Nice to meet you, Mio.” I reached out for a handshake.

Mio took my hand. “We’re about the same age, I think. I hope we can be good friends.”

“Me too,” I said.

As we squeezed each other’s hand, a smile bloomed upon Mio’s face. “Were you about to go hunting?” she asked.

I decided to share our plans with Frey’s party. It felt like a shame to leave the city so soon when we hadn’t seen them in a while, especially for Tarte, who knew them well. Maybe I could delay our departure a little. “We’re about to leave the city to travel the world some more... Our next destination is Farblume.”

“We’re going to eat delicious peaches.” L’lyeh’s thoughts were apparently fully consumed by the prospect of those peaches.

“Peaches?” Frey’s party repeated in unison.

I laughed. “Arcadia peaches. I was going to get some for my family too.”

“Arcadia?” they repeated again.

“I’ve never heard of this place... We’re going with you, Sharon!” Frey said, determination glimmering in her eyes.

Oh. Arcadia isn’t well-known in this world, I realized.

“Is the Hero’s party coming with us?!” Kent whispered.

“I’m so nervous...” Cocoa whispered back.

Even though Kent’s and Cocoa’s levels were definitely higher than Frey’s, many young adventurers looked up to Frey’s party. What’s the best move here?

“You can’t spring that on Sharon so suddenly,” Luna scolded.

“Hmm... You’re right. I apologize, Sharon,” Frey said. “But I can’t help but be curious about places I’ve never been to...”

“I’m curious about Arcadia too!” Lina chimed in. “It sounds like the kind of place with a bunch of treasure!”

Tarte tugged on the sleeve of my robe. “I wouldn’t mind if they came with us, Meowster, and they could also help with”—she went on her tippy-toes to whisper in my ear—“the key.”

Having Frey’s party join us for the ID was a great move. Even though their levels were lower, Frey’s unique Hero job made her a powerful ally.

“I’d love to form a party with them!” Kent said.

“Me too!” Cocoa said.

L’lyeh looked indifferent. This was her first time meeting them, and she was more interested in food than people right now.

“If you’re okay with that, I certainly don’t mind,” I said and turned back to Frey. “What about Luna and Mio? How do they feel about this?”

“We’ve also been traveling the world without a set destination,” Frey said. “Our whole party would like to join you.”

“Then, let’s do this together,” I declared.

Now that we’d temporarily merged our parties, there was one obstacle—Frey’s party didn’t have Adventure Bracelets. They wouldn’t be able to use the Gates like we were going to, and being unable to choose their Skills was a hindrance to their abilities.

So, I had all four of them complete the tutorial quest and obtain Adventure Bracelets. Even though I trusted them, I did have them sign a document swearing them to secrecy. I didn’t have many reservations about this decision because we had already discussed Tithia making the Adventure Bracelet public knowledge once she’d settled in as Pope again. That wouldn’t be for a little while longer since the church was still dealing with the aftermath of Hervas’s coup.

Frey stared at the bracelet Luminous had made for her. “I never knew such a convenient item existed. How do you know all of this, Sharon?”

“A lady has her secrets,” I told her with a smile. “You can store items in that bracelet, so now’s a good time to stock up. Your Bag can hold 100 different items, up to 999 of each of them. If you go over that, you can always put more in Storage. Let’s meet up outside the northern gate after that,” I suggested.

Frey and the others froze for a moment before agreeing. “That’s fine,” Frey spoke for her party. “Should we rent our own horses?”

“No, you can come on foot,” I said.

“On foot?” Frey repeated. “Well, I’m sure you have something in mind. We’ll be there.”

We would be flying on Dragons, who could take us to Snowdia faster than horses. If we took to the skies, we’d get there within the day.

An hour later, Frey’s party were staring at the Dragons we’d summoned, jaws on the ground.

“Wh-Wh-What are these Dragons doing here?!” Panicking, Frey reached for her sword.

“Hold on!” I shouted.

“D-D-D-Dragon?!” Luna stammered, losing her composure for once.

“Four of them?!” Lina said, apparently on the brink of fight or flight.

Mio inhaled sharply and started teetering.

“Are you all right?!” Tarte said, trying to hold Mio up.

“Don’t attack them!” I pleaded. “We summoned these Dragons as transportation! Like horses!”

“Like horses?!” Frey’s party said, once again in unison.

“I think that’s oversimplifying it...” Cocoa muttered.

“These bracelets were incredible enough, but you also have Dragons under your command?” Mio breathed. “You’re on an entirely different level, Sharon.”

I could only laugh. I didn’t have the heart to point out that they weren’t going to make it through Arcadia and the new ID if they were this surprised by some Dragons. “Let’s set out for Snowdia. Frey, you’ll ride with me. Mio, go with Cocoa. Luna and Lina, you’re with Kent,” I directed.

We quickly mounted and soared into the sky.

“This view is incredible,” Frey cooed.

“Right?” I answered.

“But I’m more amazed that you travel by Dragon... It didn’t take long for Tarte to reach your level.” Frey laughed, watching Tarte steer her Dragon. “Wait until Torte hears about this...”

Tarte didn’t notice our gazes as she chatted away with L’lyeh, who was seated behind her. I’d love to be there when Torte finds out. The thought made me smile.

“Sharon,” Frey said in a serious tone, “are you sure you wanted to tell us about the Adventure Bracelet? And about these Dragons?”

“We’re planning to go public about the bracelet anyway. And I need you all to get your own Dragons,” I said.

Frey was staring at me blankly. “What?”

After an enjoyable flight, we stayed the night in Snowdia. One relaxing bath at our usual hot spring inn later, it was time for Frey’s party to reassign their Skill Points. I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that Frey’s disgusted gag had echoed all the way to the edges of Snowdia.

And our whimsical adventure was just beginning!

***

Frey and the others reattributed their Skill Points, gained levels in Dragon’s Den, and obtained Dragon Whistles by defeating the boss. Getting us all to within fifteen levels of each other had been a little unrealistic, so we’d formed two separate parties for now, Frey’s and mine. The gaps between our levels were closing, so it wouldn’t take long for us to all join a single party. We had all worked hard and gained a lot of levels. I was at 131, Tarte was at 137, L’lyeh was at 125, Kent and Cocoa were at 136, Frey was at 99, Luna was at 96, Lina was at 97, and Mio was at 91. Next, we left Snowdia, ready to gain more levels along the way.

“Sharon! Are we going in the right direction?!” Kent shouted from the front of our formation.

“Keep flying straight!” I answered. “After a while, we’ll come to a swamp just beyond the forest. We’re going through a dungeon called Frogfall Swamp.”

“A dungeon?!” everyone shouted back, as if they hadn’t expected that.

“We’re on an adventure!” I countered. “Of course we’re going through a dungeon!”

“What?! Well, I guess you’re right. We are adventurers...but it’s still shocking to hear about a new dungeon! We didn’t even get a chance to do research! I’ve never even heard of Frogfall Swamp!” Kent said.

He had a point. Dungeons weren’t very well explored in this world, and I knew that Kent studiously researched dungeons by reading books or asking other adventurers. If he hadn’t heard or read about it, I supposed it would have been surprising.

“What kinds of monsters live there?” he asked.

“Frogs!” I said.

“Anything else?!” Kent shouted.

“Big frogs!” I said.

“Okay... Just frogs, then.”

“Oh, and a snail monster,” I added.

It was constantly raining in Frogfall Swamp, which could be a pain. We’d have to fight quite a few battles no doubt, but we’d be trying to get through the dungeon as quickly as possible.

Soon enough, we flew over the forest and came to the swamp.

“Is that it, Meowster?”

“Yep,” I called back. “We’re taking a shortcut through one of the levels of that dungeon to get to Arcadia.”

We landed one by one, throwing on our raincoats as the Dragons flew back to their nests.

“Behold Frogfall Swamp,” I announced.

Now that it was real, Frogfall Swamp looked like a beautiful watercolor painting. Even though it was swampland, hydrangeas of all colors, from purple to blue to pink, covered the ground, each of them shimmering with dew. Snails peeped out from underneath some of their leaves. This was a dungeon reminiscent of the rainy season in Japan. Although the rain never stopped, rainfall fluctuated throughout the day—it was relatively light for now.

Once I’d taken in the view, I turned to my party. They all had their coats on, ready to go.

Stretching her arms, Lina said, “I usually go ahead and scope things out. What does your party do?”

“We don’t have a scout, so we move carefully in formation. I usually know a few things about the dungeon before we go in,” I explained.

“Good old Sharon,” Lina said. “We barely needed to scout ahead in Dragon’s Den either. Do you want to go without a scout?”

I shook my head. “No, I’d like to have a scout as often as possible, if you don’t mind.”

I only knew about this world as much as I’d played it in the game, and that could be a different experience than living through it for real. Most of all, I was concerned about new updates—like Flaudia’s Memorial—that might have been implemented after my death. Those, I knew absolutely nothing about. Considering the possibility of encountering more unknowns, the more experience Lina could gain in scouting, the better.

“Okey dokey!” Lina said and charged straight into the swampland.

Maybe I should be training to scout? I mused. As a supporter, I’d have to go help any member of our party who got into trouble away from our formation—if our frontline fighter got injured while trying to lure a monster, for example. In preparation for situations like that, it was important for me to be able to operate with a degree of independence.

While I was turning over such thoughts, Lina returned. “I’m back. There were some monsters, but there’s good visibility, so it’s not particularly dangerous. I didn’t see any traps either.”

“Thanks,” I said.

Kent began psyching himself up, ready to lead the charge as our Dragonrider. “Then let’s beat this dungeon!”

“You and I will lead the formation. Let’s keep our teamwork tight,” Frey said.

“Yes, please! I’ll give it my all!” Kent answered, his voice a little higher than normal. It was a big deal for him to work alongside the Hero.

With Kent and Frey at the front, we followed in order: L’lyeh, then Luna, Cocoa, Mio, Tarte, and finally me. Lina served as our floating scout, changing positions based on the situation.

“Here it comes!” Kent announced.

“That’s a Ribbity? It’s kind of...cute,” Frey said as they both drew their swords.

It was easy to underestimate a Ribbity based on its appearance. The frog monster wasn’t designed to look like a realistic frog but had more of a cartoonish appearance. It wore a raincoat and rain boots, using an umbrella as a weapon. Despite its adorable face, it attacked by viciously thrusting the umbrella at its target.

Noticing Kent, the Ribbity leaped into the air, high enough to easily clear our heads.

“Whoa!” Taken off guard, Kent slammed the Ribbity with his sword, sending it splashing into a muddy puddle. The move had looked a little slapstick, but it had created an opening to attack.

“Smiting Light!” I shouted, using my Skill that would triple the next attack.

“Um—Purrtion Throw!” Tarte threw a Molotov without missing a beat, despite the surprise. Naturally, the Ribbity burst into light in one hit.

“Torte is going to run on the ceiling when she finds out you’ve gotten so strong, Tarte,” Luna observed.

“You’re amazing!” Mio said, giving my apprentice a round of applause.

“Thank you,” Tarte purred, clearly pleased with the compliments. “I still have so much to learn.” What an adorable apprentice.

“I need to train harder and become stronger,” Mio said. “It’s going to take me some time just to get used to using this bracelet.”

“The Adventure Bracelet is very convenient,” Tarte trilled.

“Absolutely. I was so surprised to learn we can choose our Skills and store so many items. This bracelet will change the world entirely. It holds infinite potential...!” Mio said, passionately preaching the powers of the bracelet to Tarte.

“That’s all well and good, but here comes a whole horde of Ribbities!” Frey called.

“Oh, yes!” Mio said as Tarte let out a little mew.

Before they could do anything, Cocoa and Luna had wiped out the Ribbities. There had been at least five of them, but their AoE magic had taken them out in no time.

“I couldn’t do anything,” Tarte moaned.

“Neither could I...” Mio said. “There’s no need for support Skills if they take them down in one shot.”

“There’ll be plenty of chances to show off your Skills in Arcadia,” I said to encourage them.

“We’re going to do great in Arcadia!”

“Yes, we are.”

Tarte and Mio were giving each other encouragement too. I was planning for us to take on an ID as well, where I expected them to put in a lot of work. They were in for...great challenges, to say the least.

Quest for the Giant Peach

We tore through the frogs in Frogfall Swamp and finally arrived at Arcadia. After having to wade through waist-high swamp water along the way, I could breathe easy again.

My first glimpse of Arcadia revealed a quaint rural city resplendent with peach blossoms. Most of its roads were unpaved, giving the impression of a city at one with nature. Those on the streets were wearing the traditional garments of Arcadia. The women wore patchwork skirts of varying fabrics and blouses with billowing sleeves, layered with ornately embroidered vests. On their heads, they boasted hats decorated with floral designs and lace. The men wore ankle-length pants with simple embroidery.

“Wow, their outfits are adorable,” Cocoa exclaimed. “It’s unreal that we’re truly in Arcadia.”

“It’s unreal how pink the whole city is. It’s, like, majestic. I get why you want to soak up all these views, Sharon,” Kent said.

Kent and Cocoa had their eyes wide to take in everything the city had to offer—well, not just them. All of us were gazing around in wonder. Nothing like a gorgeous view to get us hyped! There must not have been many other tourists, though. Passersby were glancing our way with curiosity.

“Sharon.” Lulu tugged at my sleeve. “Peaches?”

“Right, Lulu. We’re here to get some peaches, aren’t we?” I couldn’t forget our number one priority.

“Those?” Brimming with excitement, Lulu pointed at a stall whose baskets were piled high with juicy, appetizing peaches.

“Those aren’t our peaches,” I said, earning a questioning look from the group.

“Those look really good. They’re not what we’re after?” Kent asked.

“They’re juicy and they look fresh. It’s rare to find peaches that look that good,” Frey added.

These peaches were big, plump, and fragrant—definitely worthy of their praise.

“Just trust me on this... We’re going to start a quest.”

“A quest?!” Everyone reacted in hilarious unison...except for L’lyeh, who wasn’t particularly surprised.

A stone tower rose in the center of Arcadia, about five stories high. You could access the top via the spiral staircase on the tower’s exterior. Once there, you would find a peach tree believed to be the protector of Arcadia.

When we came to the tower, I couldn’t help but pause a moment to gaze up at it. The sight of pink flowers peeking over the top filled me with anticipation.

“That tree is huge! I’ve never seen a tree that big, even back in Cattora!” Tarte purred.

“I wonder how big its peaches are,” L’lyeh added.

Neither of them could contain her excitement as they ran to the foot of the spiral staircase, eager to climb the tower.

I was about to ask the adorable peach fiends to wait up when the tower’s keeper addressed us. “Oh. Are you adventurers?”

“Yes, we are. What’s the mewtter?” Tarte asked. “A quest window!” she exclaimed, just as the quest window appeared before me as well.

“A Leaf Eagle keeps picking the peaches atop the tower. Could you hunt it?” the keeper asked.

Hunt Quest: Leaf Eagle

Quota: 1

Reward: Right to purchase Giant Peaches

This quest involved waiting on top of the tower and then defeating the Leaf Eagle when it came to pick off the peaches. Beating this quest would give us the opportunity to buy the fruit that grew from the guardian tree. Even though we’d still have to pay for them, the peaches were well worth the trouble.

“Meowster, the peaches are in danger.”

“Yeah, let’s do the hunt,” I said. “Frey, can someone from your party talk to the keeper and start the quest for you all?”

“Got it,” Frey said.

Our levels were still too far apart to form one big party, but we planned to close the gap soon—by the time we reached Farblume.

“We’re so high up!” Mio shrieked when we were only halfway up the staircase.

“You can do this, Mio!” Lina said, trying to take her by the hand.

“Wait!” Mio cried, insisting on staying put—she must have had a pretty serious fear of heights.

Maybe I’ll meet them at the top, I decided. Heights had never bothered me, so I cast Holy Maiden’s Boon on everyone, then practically skipped up the stairs. As an upgraded version of Strengthen, the boon boosted its target’s Attack, Defense, and Dexterity drastically.

“Wow! You can really see how pink the city is from up here!” Kent exclaimed from the top of the stairs.

“I want to see!” I shouted, bounding up the last few steps.

When I cleared the final step, the scent of peach hit me before the view. The Giant Peaches that hung from the guardian tree were so big you could barely carry one with both hands. Dozens of them hung from the branches of the tree, which was being cared for by attendants.

Then came the view: a city awash with pink, filled with timeless architecture and vibrant people. It was such a peaceful sight that any weariness I’d felt before then scattered to the wind.

“They look ameowzing!”

“Those peaches...are huge.”

Tarte and L’lyeh only had eyes for Giant Peaches, even as Kent and Cocoa scanned the skies for the Leaf Eagle.

“What a view!” Frey said as she cleared the stairs.

“I...finally made it,” Mio panted as she brought up the rear of Frey’s party.

Just then, a strong gust of wind blew across the top of the tower, announcing the arrival of the Leaf Eagle. Everyone tensed up as they beheld the descending monster. Powerfully flapping its wings, the massive creature cast a shadow over all of us.

“That thing’s enormous...! Taunt!” Kent immediately used his Skill, drawing the Leaf Eagle’s attention to himself. Blocking its attacks, he drew the bird toward the center of the roof garden. It was a good call to move the battle away from the dangerous ledge.

“Holy Maiden’s Boon! Protective Light! Moonlight! I’ll take care of healing, so keep attacking! The Leaf Eagle may give us trouble if we don’t take it down quickly!” I said.

“Got it!” both parties responded and jumped into battle.

The Leaf Eagle resembled a giant eagle, except it had leaves for feathers and happened to be a frugivore. Despite its intimidating wingspan, its Attack wasn’t that high. Its Dexterity was, though, so it could be a little challenging to land our own attacks.

“Breath of ice, change your form for me and find your mark—Icicle Arrow!”

“Nice, Luna! We’ve made the first strike— What?!” Frey shouted in surprise as the Leaf Eagle effortlessly dodged Luna’s spell. Without missing a beat, Frey gripped her sword and leaped off the ground, roaring as she flew up toward the monster.

Recognizing the threat of Frey’s blade, the Leaf Eagle soared higher. Considering the way its maneuvers perfectly countered our attacks, I guessed that the Leaf Eagle must be among the smartest monsters out there.

“I got this, Frey!” Staff in hand, Mio took a step forward and stared the Leaf Eagle down. Priestesses could learn a variety of buffs and debuffs that came in handy in battles like this. “You won’t be flying for long! Sinking Quagmire!” Mio used her Skill, and a pool of swampy liquid materialized and ensnared the Leaf Eagle. Flapping its wings in vain, the bird came plummeting down. While the Skill was very effective against airborne targets, I felt just a little guilty watching the Leaf Eagle go down like that.

I stood by as the team ganged up on the Leaf Eagle, occasionally healing them as needed. When we were close to defeating it, though, another eagle appeared.

“A second one?! Taunt!” Kent shouted.

The second Leaf Eagle swooped at Kent with its sharp talons, clearly agitated that the first Leaf Eagle was in peril.

“This is why I wanted to take it out quickly...” I muttered. “It can’t be helped now.”

“What’s going on?!” Cocoa asked as she slung a spell, sounding like she hoped I had an easy way to defeat the monsters.

Alas, I didn’t. “Remember how our party and Frey’s party each started a quest? There’s a Leaf Eagle for each party.”

“What?!” everyone said in surprise, except for Tarte and L’lyeh.

“Oh, that makes sense!” Tarte trilled.

“I get it... Then we just need to defeat them both.” L’lyeh ran over to Frey and spoke to her in a low voice.

“Let’s do it!” Frey answered, much louder.

Do what? My question was soon answered when Frey dropped to a squat and held her hands out, one palm on top of the other. L’lyeh stepped into her hands, and Frey threw L’lyeh into the sky, the force of the push and jump sending her above the Leaf Eagles.

“Wow!” Who knew a human could jump that high? Well, L’lyeh’s technically a goddess still...I think.

“Chaos deeper than dark, answer my call. Dark Whispers.” L’lyeh’s Skill opened a rift in the air, out of which beams of darkness shot down and pierced the Leaf Eagles.

“What...was that?” Frey asked.

“That Skill is so much more terrifying than mine...!” Mio chimed in, staring at L’lyeh in astonishment.

Once the Leaf Eagles burst into light, the Goddess of Darkness turned around and gave me a victory sign. Adorable.

“We did it!” Tarte crowed, just as a quest window appeared to confirm that we’d completed the quest.

“Oh, you’ve truly defeated the Leaf Eagle... How can we thank you enough?” the keeper said.

“Thank you so much,” an attendant echoed.

Both of them looked relieved that they could harvest the Giant Peaches instead of losing them to the monsters.

“Purray!”

“Mm-hmm.”

While Tarte and L’lyeh celebrated in their own ways, the keeper brought up our reward. “As a small token of our gratitude, we will part with some of these precious Giant Peaches, if you like. Please let us know if you are interested.”

“Really?! Thank you so meowch! I’d love some now!”

“Me too,” L’lyeh said, confirming our intention to buy.

The keeper smiled. “Thank you. They are ten thousand liz per peach.”

Tarte jumped half out of her skin at that price. It was astronomically high for a single peach, but this was no ordinary fruit. I’d never gotten to taste it in game, but the Giant Peach healed your HP and mana entirely, on top of granting a thirty percent buff to both for the next ten minutes. For that spectacular of an effect, the price wasn’t too prohibitive, as long as we used them sparingly.

Tarte came up to me, looking a little dizzy. “Wh-Wh-What should we do, Meowster?”

“We buy some, of course! I’ll take ten for myself...and three for my family, I think.” I made the transaction without hesitating. There would definitely be times when I was in a dire situation and one of these peaches became my lifeline. Now that the game has become real, that statement is more literal than I’d like... I pushed the thought from my mind.

“I’ll take five!” Kent announced.

“Me too!” Cocoa said.

“I’ll buy as many as I can,” L’lyeh said, but I talked her down to ten.

The members of Frey’s party each bought one. After thoroughly thinking it through, Tarte decided to buy three.

***

We’d decided to stay a few days at an inn in Arcadia. Presently, we were in one of the rooms, having a meeting about our next steps.

“We’re going to Farblume next, aren’t we? Do you know how to get there from here?” Frey asked.

“This is our first time in Arcadia, so we don’t know the lay of the land,” Luna added.

“We go south to get to Farblume from here,” I explained. “Just through the Serpent’s Cave dungeon.”

Frey’s eyes lit up. “We’re going through another dungeon?”

“Yes. And I want us to gain some levels there too,” I said. Frey and her party had become immensely stronger since acquiring the Adventure Bracelets. Maybe they were itching to fight new enemies. I could see that Kent was excited for the challenge too. “Once we gain those levels, it’s going to be exciting for Luna, Lina, and Mio—they’ll be getting their awakened jobs.”

“What?!” the three girls responded.

“I want you all to get your awakened jobs so we can go into a certain dungeon together!” I passionately explained how I wanted all of us to take on the Holy Maiden’s Trial together and gain even more levels.

***

“Mmm! It’s so juicy!” I exclaimed, having the best time enjoying a peach I’d just bought from a street vendor. I definitely wanted to eat a Giant Peach too, but I was waiting to share one with my family. Of course, even ordinary peaches from Arcadia were truly delectable.

“It’s so sweet!” Tarte purred, chomping into her own while L’lyeh packed away peach after peach, somehow making room in her tiny body.

Meanwhile, Kent and Cocoa were stocking up at the vendor.

“I gotta bring some stuff home once in a while,” Kent said, trying to act all tough.

“Your mom would love to see you,” Cocoa said as she chuckled. They were making plans for going to see their families when our adventure next reached a lull. Going home was as easy as stepping through a Transportation Gate, so there was no harm in popping over to deliver delicious souvenirs.

While we were letting our appetites get the better of us, Frey’s party was shopping for traditional Arcadian outfits. Luna held several options in her hands, which she was trying to pick among, while Mio looked on. Frey and Lina didn’t seem too interested, though—their eyes were glued to the street vendor’s peaches.

“Those outfits are cute too. I need to see Tarte and L’lyeh in them!” I exclaimed.

“Me?!” Tarte asked, almost blushing.

“Peaches over clothes,” L’lyeh stated unwaveringly. I didn’t blame her—those peaches were delicious.

“You can use your allowance on peaches, L’lyeh. I’m just going to buy outfits and give them to you!” Devouring the rest of my peach, I ran to the boutique where the others were shopping.

The boutique was filled with adorable outfits in vibrantly warm colors, many of them embroidered with designs of peaches and other flora. On its walls hung rows of hats. Just thinking about all the ways to mix and match them was getting me excited.

Luna and Mio noticed me.

“Oh, are you going to buy some clothes too?”

“They’re so cute, aren’t they?”

I told them that I wanted to buy outfits for Tarte and L’lyeh. “They’d look adorable if they dressed up!”

“I can see that,” Luna agreed. “Then maybe I’ll buy one for Torte.”

“Great idea!” I said, and Luna began browsing for Torte’s outfit. Maybe we can coordinate outfits for the Cait Sith sisters. I picked up a blouse embroidered with light-blue flowers and pink peaches. The delicate embroidery was done so masterfully that I wished they’d sell these outside of Arcadia.

“Is that Tarte’s? Then maybe I’ll get this for Torte.” Luna held up a blouse with the same design but in a different color. Hers was embroidered with yellow flowers, which I thought would suit Torte well.

“It’s cute! Torte will love it,” I said.

“I think so too. I can’t wait to visit Cattora again.”

Then, I picked out a traditional outfit in black for L’lyeh. “That should do it,” I said to myself.

“Wait a minute,” Luna called out when I went to pay for Tarte’s and L’lyeh’s outfits. “You don’t have any for yourself.”

“Me?! No, I don’t need any new clothes...”

“That won’t do. You should enjoy everything Arcadia has to offer.” Luna began holding up the outfits she had gathered and fell into deep thought about which one would look best on me. This is going to take a while.

After Luna had played dress-up doll with me for twenty minutes, I somehow ended up with two outfits each for Tarte, L’lyeh, and myself. They were cute enough that I decided not to question why I needed two.

I called the shopkeeper over to check out, and she greeted me excitedly. “I’m glad you like what you see.”

“They were all so cute that it was hard to decide,” I said.

“These are much more colorful than what you’re wearing,” she admitted. “Oh, I know. Would you like to wear these out?”

“If you don’t mind...”

“Not at all,” the shopkeeper said.

After paying for them, we all changed into our new outfits in the boutique’s fitting room. Kent had actually bought one for Cocoa at another store and gifted it to her. I quietly smiled at how much he had grown. Can you believe it, ladies and gentlemen? They’re still not dating.

Once we were in our new outfits, we naturally resumed our sightseeing. L’lyeh always had a peach in her hand, but that didn’t interfere with our leisurely stroll through the city. She must have looked like she was really enjoying them because some street vendors would call her over to try their peaches too.

We viewed a few historical statues throughout the city and took a breather under a peach tree by a small fountain. All in all, it was a great way to recover from our battles.

“This is a cool city,” Kent said.

“I could live here forever and eat delicious peaches,” L’lyeh murmured in a dreamy tone.

“Is that all you think about?” Kent asked.

L’lyeh nodded wholeheartedly, earning a laugh from the rest of us.

“These peaches are good, though,” Kent said. “Maybe I should stock up on more of them.”

“I bought as many as I could,” L’lyeh said.

“You used up your allowance...?” Kent asked incredulously.

L’lyeh finished the peach in her hand, only to take another one from her Bag. She’d been doing this all day, letting the sweet perfume of peaches hang in the air around us... I was getting hungry again.

“I haven’t seen you before!” a middle-aged lady exclaimed as she approached us. We exchanged greetings with her.

“We’re adventurers on our way to Farblume,” I said.

“Adventurers! That makes sense. You would have had to go through a dungeon to get here. What do you think of Arcadia? Beautiful city, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Gorgeous,” I agreed.

Then, she excitedly told us about a must-see spot. “Right outside the south gate, you’ll see trees full of ripe peaches. They’re a sight to behold, but you have to get past the monsters.”

“There are some strong monsters out there,” I said with a nod.

“Right?” she said, going on to say that we looked like the kind of adventurers who could make it out there. “There’s even a legend about it. If you eat peaches from those trees under a full moon together, your love will last forever. You should try going tonight, especially if you have someone in mind!”

“Thank you,” I said politely. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in love with anyone at the moment, so I couldn’t take advantage of the superstition that must have been very popular with the teens of Arcadia. Nor was I looking for any suitors, especially after what had happened with Ignacia—even if that had only played out like it had been written for the game. I’m too busy adventuring to fall in love right now!

“The south gate. Is that on our way to Farblume?” Frey asked.

“Oh, you’re right. It is,” I confirmed. “It’s already starting to get dark. Maybe we’ll stop by those peach trees on our way out tomorrow.”

“I want to see them!” Tarte trilled.

“Me too. The peach trees here are already pretty. I’m curious to see what those ones will look like,” Mio said.

The group seemed to have reached a consensus, so we planned to see the peaches in full fruit on our way to Farblume.

We left Arcadia the next day and set out for Farblume, where my exile had apparently been lifted. “We keep going south out of the south gate and we’ll come to Serpent’s Cave. Once we’re through the dungeon, we’ll be in Farblume.”

“So it’s pretty easy to get there,” Kent concluded.

I shook my head. “We need to take out a giant serpent halfway through the dungeon. You have to be decently skilled to take this route.”

“It must be a scary threat if you put it that way,” he said.

“It’s going to be a breeze for us, though!” I assured him. “Don’t worry!”

Instead of summoning our Dragons like we normally did, we decided to walk to the wild peach grove. Considering the recommendation, I doubted it was much of a trek to get there. Still, I followed Kent’s lead as he began scanning ahead while we walked.

We’d never asked the lady the specific location of the grove, but I’d been there in the game, so I remembered precisely where it was. The pretty graphics at the location had had many players bookmarking the spot to revisit. I was getting hyped to see it in real life.

“Monster ahead! Taunt!” Kent shouted.

That snapped me back to reality. “Smiting Light! And the buffs...” I muttered and went on to cast buffs on our whole party.

What appeared before us was a Peach Thief, an apelike monster that attacked by throwing peaches it had stolen from somewhere. It only had two drop items—Ripe Peach and Unripe Peach—and neither tasted very good. To compensate, the Guild usually paid adventurers more to hunt them down than it did for other monsters.

Frey took it out in one hit and said, “Oh, it’s weak,” like she was disappointed.

L’lyeh ran up to where the ape had burst into light. “Peach!”

“Wait, Lulu! That’s an Unripe Peach, so it won’t taste good...I don’t think,” I said. A Ripe Peach would have been marginally better, but those only had a five to ten percent drop rate.

“Blech... No good,” L’lyeh said.

“I thought so,” I chuckled. “There’ll be a ripe one soon.”

L’lyeh’s eyes seemed to glow. “They’re going down! Dark Arrow!” L’lyeh leaped into the air and began firing her Skill indiscriminately at the Peach Thieves in our vicinity. The little Goddess of Darkness usually stayed reserved during combat, but with food on the line, she was suddenly raring to go.

Next time I need her help, I’m going to promise her something delicious.

Peach Thieves went down like flies...but no Ripe Peach appeared. L’lyeh grunted in disappointment. Then, a Peach Thief leaped into our path and threw a peach at her.

“Peach!” L’lyeh shouted—and caught the fruit with her teeth.

She can do that?! “I know it’s a peach, but are you sure you want to eat its attack?”

Considering that L’lyeh was chewing on the peach already, it must have at least been edible.

“Do you need mewdicine for your tummy?!” Tarte asked, frantically preparing a potion.

L’lyeh swallowed the piece she’d been chewing and looked dejected. “Tastes bad.”

“Oh... Well, the ones they’re throwing look hard,” I said. Those peaches hadn’t even turned pink yet. I would have expected L’lyeh to notice on the first bite, but maybe she’d gone all in on the faint hope that it would taste better if she chewed through it.

More Peach Thieves appeared, only to become fodder for L’lyeh’s wrathful Dark Arrows. The rest of us were just watching L’lyeh do her thing.

“There it is!” she finally shouted, her eyes burning with fervor for peaches.

“It looks delicious,” Tarte said.

The Ripe Peach in L’lyeh’s hands shimmered as if to prove that it was mature and ready to be eaten.

“It does,” Frey agreed.

“I’ve never seen a peach like that,” Luna said.

“Let’s dig into it together,” Lina followed.

“It’s shiny!” said Mio.

All of us—myself included—were salivating at the enticing fragrance of the Ripe Peach.

“We can’t share one among all of us. Why don’t we hunt for more and save them until we’re at the wild peach grove?” I suggested.

The party agreed immediately, including L’lyeh, who whispered, “More...”

We were united in one desire—peaches!

“Mana Detection! Monsters that way!”

“Okay, Taunt!”

“I got it! Dark Tornado!”

Cocoa found the Peach Thieves, Kent lured them over, and L’lyeh took them down. They were the picture of efficient hunting. Kent was leading the way south, but he was fortunately headed toward the wild peach grove even without my guidance.

Soon, we were sitting on a wooden bench under the wild peach trees, relishing the Ripe Peaches.

“Mmm! It’s so good!”

“Yummy!”

“I’m so happy!”

“This peach...is superior.”

Pink flowers bloomed on the branches above, opening toward us, with small peaches peeking from among them. It was a great spot, but the occasional Peach Thief would make it difficult for non-adventurers to enjoy a picnic here.

Tarte was efficiently peeling my peaches for me, so I had the luxury of dedicating my full attention to eating them.

“These trees are beautiful,” I said, tempted to lie down on the ground so I could take in the whole grove.

“They’re ameowzing! I’m so happy I can enjoy these views with you, Meowster.”

I chuckled. “We’re going to keep adventuring for more awesome views,” I said. “Next up, a little bit of spelunking in Serpent’s Cave.”

“So you can see a beautiful view of the cave?” Kent suggested.

He had a point. Exploring a cave could be fun, but this one wasn’t particularly picturesque. It was just a dark, damp cave, after all. “Hmm... I guess we have to hope we’ll find something good on our way to Farblume.” I shrugged, which drew a laugh from the party.

Into the Dungeon: Serpent’s Cave

Once we made it through the field, a rocky mountain awaited us, the mouth of Serpent’s Cave yawning open on one side. The cave mouth was about three meters tall, with the interior stretching taller. This was an ordinary cave, all things considered, save for the glowing rocks scattered on the ground, which served as its only illumination.

“What are those?!” Kent blurted out in surprise once we stepped inside the cave and saw the glowing rocks.

Now that I was seeing them in real life, they demanded my attention too. I’d barely paid them any mind when I was in the game, considering them merely part of the background.

“That could be a rare item! I’m going to take one home!” Grinning wide, Lina snatched up one of the rocks. Just as I was about to reach for one of my own...the rock Lina had grabbed stopped glowing. “What’s happening?!” She dropped the rock, which began glowing again as soon as it hit the ground.

“It lit up again!” Tarte pointed out. Apparently, the rocks only glowed if they were on the ground, which made them useless outside of this dungeon. I would have loved to take one as a souvenir, but alas.

“Oh, it only lights up here,” Frey said.

“I wanted one...” Kent grumbled.

“Me too...” Cocoa agreed.

Seeing as Luna and Mio also looked a little dejected, everyone but L’lyeh had wanted a glowing rock to take home.

“There’s nothing we can do about that. Let’s keep an eye out for good loot in the dungeon!” I encouraged everyone.

“Sounds like a plan,” Kent answered enthusiastically. “You want me to lead the formation, Frey?”

“No, I will. You’ve been taking the burden a lot lately.”

“Got it!” Kent answered, taking up his position behind Frey.

Lina would be scouting ahead of us, and Tarte was going to shadow her to learn the ins and outs of the position.

“I’m ready!” Tarte said.

“Be careful, Tarte.”

“Yes, Meowster. Soon, I’m going to be an Alchemeowst who can go anywhere to gather ingredients!” Tarte huffed, perhaps more excited than any of us to crawl this dungeon. Once I cast Holy Maiden’s Boon on her, she went bounding off, effortlessly keeping up with Lina. As a Cait Sith, Tarte was naturally agile and strong.

“Maybe one day Tarte will be an Alchemist who fights all on her own...” I muttered, and everyone looked at me like I was speaking gibberish.

“Icicle Arrow!” Luna’s attack struck a Sand Snake and froze it, allowing Frey to slice it in half with her sword. The snake burst into light and left behind a Snakeskin, which had no use except to earn us a few coins once we sold it.

“So far, so good,” I said.

“These monsters aren’t as strong as I expected...” Frey muttered. “Or do I just feel that way because of how much stronger we’ve become?”

“Probably the latter,” I said.

“Hmm?” Frey turned and stared at the wall...which looked no different than the rest of the cave walls we had passed so far.

“What’s up?” Kent asked, following her gaze.

“I just had a feeling,” Frey answered.

“Was it Hero’s Intuition?” I asked.

Frey clapped her hands in recognition. “Yes, I think you’re right.”

Hero’s Intuition was a passive Skill that remained active without Frey having to consciously activate it. As a prerequisite, her Luck Skill had to be at level 10, but it was a very useful Skill. She’d rarely fall for traps, and it increased her chances of finding treasure chests and other items. It gave her a sort of super luck. Frey had always had the Luck Skill, even before obtaining her Adventure Bracelet, so that had probably saved her skin during her past adventures. Why can’t I have a jackpot Skill like that?!

“Maybe something’s here,” Frey said and knocked on the stone wall with her fist. “Hmm...” She moved her hand a little at a time until the heavy knocks changed to a more hollow sound. “It could be a hidden chamber...with a treasure chest?” Frey theorized, brimming with excitement.

While I watched Frey attempt to break down the wall, I tried to remember if there was some kind of gimmick at this point in the dungeon. After several strikes, Frey managed to demolish the cave wall and reveal the hidden pocket. Before I could even wonder what lay within, a whole nest’s worth of Soldier Snakes slithered out of it. These were serpentine monsters with limbs, who wore armor and carried weapons—their level was high too.

“A swarm?! Moonlight, Starlight, Smiting Light!” I rapidly fired off my Skills while everyone else leaped into action. Kent was drawing the Soldier Snakes’ attacks all to himself, so I was almost continuously casting Protective Light on him. A swarm of twenty plus Soldier Snakes could chip away that defense in no time.

“These snakes are strong!” Tarte yowled. “Purrtion Throw!” Still, she was trying her best to hold her ground while I tripled her Attack with Smiting Light as often as possible.

There were just too many of them. Despite Frey and Lina trying to hold the front line, some of them were slipping through to the rear of our formation.

“Rainbow Rejuvenation! We’ll get through them one at a time!” I directed as I healed them, and everyone called out their readiness to act on my command. A slow and steady approach was going to be more realistic than trying to take out the whole nest at once. “Frey, take the snake to the right!”

“Got it!”

“Luna, hold them off with ice!” I said.

“Okay!”

Even though we hadn’t been working together for long, everyone’s openness to new strategies allowed us to work together decently well.

“Stay asleep, snakey-snakes. Lullaby of Wind and Flowers.” Mio used a Skill that inflicted the Sleep status condition on the Soldier Snakes in the back. They’d wake up as soon as they took an attack, but it was an effective method of stalling them while we took them out one at a time.

“We’re getting close!” Frey announced.

“My turn! Shimmering Chase!” Kent’s one-two combo struck another Soldier Snake and turned it into particles of light.

Before I knew it, fewer than half of the Soldier Snakes remained.

“Purrtion Throw!”

“Dark Arrow!”

With a combination of Tarte’s and L’lyeh’s attacks, the rest of them were wiped out.

“We did it!” Tarte crowed.

“We deserve a snack. As a reward,” L’lyeh said as she and Tarte high-fived.

“I think it’s high time we took a breather... But what is this space?” I peered into the hidden pocket—no bigger than an average bedroom—that had housed the swarm of Soldier Snakes. To be honest, this dungeon had never been that popular in Reas, so it wouldn’t have been strange if some of its secrets had never been uncovered by the players.

“A treasure chest!” Frey pointed.

“What?!” A treasure chest?! I stared into the dark. Sure enough, there was a treasure chest lying there—one neither I nor any of the other Reas players had ever discovered. “Wow...” I breathed. And I felt my elation was warranted. Until now, I’d already known about every treasure chest we’d come upon, so there had been no element of surprise. Now, we’d found a treasure chest I hadn’t even known existed. If someone told me this was what adventuring was all about, I’d have had to agree with them. “Let’s open it! Right now!” I urged as butterflies fluttered in my stomach.

Kent laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this excited, Sharon.”

“I get excited sometimes! Treasure chest! Treasure chest!” I chanted, clapping my hands in time with my words.

We all closed in on the chest. When Frey reached for the lid, I couldn’t stop myself from clutching her wrist.

“Sharon?” Frey asked.

“Oh... I’m sorry. I was wondering if...I could open this one?” I asked. This was a treasure chest in a hidden room I’d never seen or heard of before! Considering how hidden it was, it was most likely a treasure chest that wouldn’t respawn.

Frey must have seen the excitement in my eyes because she chuckled and said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this either. You were the one who showed us to Arcadia and this dungeon. Opening a treasure chest is the least you deserve in return.”

“You’re acting like a normal person for once, Sharon.”

“Thank you, Frey! And I am a normal person, Kent!” With a harrumph, I stepped past Frey and reached for the wooden lid of the chest. The anticipation was almost unbearable. “Without further ado...!”

“I wonder what’s inside,” Tarte purred.

“Yummy food...?” L’lyeh suggested, sounding hopeful.

“That might be too meowch to ask for...”

Grinning at Tarte and L’lyeh’s exchange, I slowly lifted the lid. Light shone from within the chest, indicating the presence of a rare item. It wasn’t going to be anything legendary, but it was looking likely that we’d get our hands on some sort of equipment.

I peered into the open chest and found a trove of potions—Shooting Star Potions, Moon Potions, and Moon Mana Potions—a piece of equipment called Belt of Courage, and a black sphere the size of a baseball. What is that sphere? As soon as I picked it up and read its description, I remembered what it was. It was an item from an old event and it was called a Pandemonium—a gag item that summoned monsters when used. The number and level of the monsters it summoned were determined by the level of the user, so players would crack them open to see who could pull the strongest one.

“Belt of Courage boosts your Defense, so it might be a good one for you, Kent. It has a more masculine design too,” I said.

“Me?!” Kent eyed the belt like he was itching to try it on.

Items weren’t gender locked or anything, so anyone could use it. A frontline fighter or someone lacking in Defense would be the best choice. “Frey or Lina, you could also use it, but it’s heavier than it looks, so I’m concerned it might weigh you down.” I handed the belt to Lina.

“Yeah, that’s pretty heavy,” Lina agreed, shaking her head.

“A Defense boost... I personally prefer items that boost my Attack,” Frey said. “And if it’s heavy for Lina, I don’t think it’ll be a good fit for Luna or Mio.”

“Makes sense.” I nodded. “Then let’s have Kent wear it for now.”

“You’re sure?!” Kent beamed and equipped the belt, bolstering his Defense. Because the belt was categorized as an accessory, it was a pretty rare piece of equipment.

“What’s that ball?” Frey asked.

“It’s like a joke item. It summons monsters when you break it,” I explained.

“That doesn’t sound very funny...” Frey countered gravely.

“Touché.” I’d slipped back into the mindset of a gamer behind a screen. Back in Reas, other players would have joined in and taken out any monster that appeared. It wouldn’t be so simple here. “What should we do with it? We can crack it ourselves, but our levels are pretty high, so we might pull a strong monster. I don’t recommend it.”

“If Sharon’s hesitant, we should never break that thing,” Frey sighed and fell into thought.

Then, Mio stepped up, hands twined before her chest. “Um... Can I hold on to it? As a Priestess, I can’t ignore an item like that!”

I couldn’t answer her right away. I was familiar with the character of the others in Frey’s party, but I hadn’t known Mio long enough to be confident that she wouldn’t misuse the sphere.

“That’s fine by me,” Frey told me. “Mio is the kind of person who’d stop and listen to even a stranger’s confession.”

Wow. She’s like an actual priestess.

Looking a little embarrassed by Frey’s compliment, Mio made a suggestion. “What if the Belt of Courage went to Sharon’s party and the Pandemonium to us?”

“What...?” I furrowed my brow. That made no sense.

“I-I’m sorry,” Mio stammered, seeing the confusion on my face. “Right. We don’t know how much the belt and sphere are worth. I understand there’s great value in this sphere, which makes it an unfair split for you.”

“Oh...” I’d been thinking the opposite, worrying that the split was unfair for them. “The belt’s much more valuable, so don’t worry about that! Even if you took all the potions in the chest along with the Pandemonium, we’d still have the better deal.”

“Really...?” Mio looked surprised that the belt was so valuable—or, more likely, that the Pandemonium wasn’t worth much at all.

My assessment of it was based on playing the game, though, so a Pandemonium might be more valuable in this world, making this a fairer split. “Well...the value of a Pandemonium depends on who holds it. My appraisal could be off the mark. I have no objection to splitting the loot that way, Mio.” The rest of my party voiced their agreement, and the others in Frey’s party seemed happy with the deal as well.

“So Kent takes the belt, and we’ll take the Pandemonium and the potions,” Luna confirmed.

“I didn’t think I’d be getting an accessory... Thanks, everyone!” Kent said.

“You need all the Defense you can get on the front line. You’re going to make good use of it,” Cocoa assured him.

Kent cracked a grin and pumped his fist. “You bet!”

We continued through the cave for a while until we came to the halfway point—the spawn point of the boss. Until someone defeated it, the Serpent in the Dark coiled here.

“Wow. I still can’t see it, but I can sense it...” Lina said, her knees shaking a little.

Even the air seemed colder here. After a few deep breaths, I reapplied buffs to everyone. Once I did, Lina forced her quaking legs into action and scouted ahead, maintaining her composure.

“Let’s go over Serpent in the Dark,” Kent said.

“Got it.”

“The serpent is dark and long, about three meters wide,” Kent explained for everyone’s benefit. “Its scales are hard and resistant to both blade and magic, so we need to aim for its face, right?”

“Yep,” I said, taking over the explanation. “When it sticks its tongue out once, it’s going to sweep with its tail, so we need to jump. When it sticks its tongue out twice in a row, it’s going to fling its scales at us—that’s a fast and powerful attack. Instead of trying to dodge it, we’re going to let it bounce off a defensive Skill I’ll put on us. As soon as the scales hit, I’ll reapply the buff. Don’t be afraid to let them hit you.”

“Got it. I trust you, Sharon,” Kent said.

“Me too, Meowster.”

“Your abilities are unparalleled,” Frey added.

Everyone here—including Frey and her party—was putting their faith in me. As a supporter, I couldn’t ask for anything more. “Don’t hold back! I’m going to support you like there’s no tomorrow!” I promised.

“I expect nothing less!” Frey said.

Then, Lina returned from her solo scouting. “It’s there! And it’s huge!”

We all shared a solemn look. Before we engaged the serpent, I reapplied buffs to everyone. Mio was going to use her Skills for support as well. It was going to be a tough battle but not one we would lose.

“Okay. Let’s do this...!” I said.

“All right! I’m going to land a hit first!” Kent said and kicked off the ground. Leaping high into the air, he landed an attack on the Serpent in the Dark and started drawing all of the serpent’s aggression to himself with Taunt.

Hissing hideously, the monster swung its massive tail. Kent wasn’t daunted by that, though.

He’s grown so much...! “Okay, the serpent’s targeting Kent! Attack!” I commanded, casting Smiting Light on all of them. If we could pull off big attacks, it would deal considerable damage to the serpent. “So far, so good! You’re up, Mio.”

“Got it! Decrease Dexterity, Decrease Defense, Decrease Attack!” Mio jumped in with her debuffs on the serpent. That alone would make this battle a lot easier. On top of that, with a burst of concentration, Mio applied buffs to our party as well.

“Tongue!” Kent shouted. “That’s the tail sweep! Jump!”

I canceled the Skill I’d been about to use and leaped into the air. Mio, who’d been standing close to me, was too focused on her Skills—the tail knocked her off her feet and sent her flying.

“Heal Absolutely! Protective Light! Mio, prioritize situational awareness above casting your spells!” I said.

“I will...!” Mio rose to her feet, casting a spell that gradually healed her HP. Her eyes were on the serpent, but they flicked to each member of the party now and again—she was looking at the big picture.

Mio will be okay. As I reapplied buffs, I assessed our position in battle. Kent was fluidly parrying the snake’s attacks, giving the rest of the party openings to strike. Tarte’s Molotovs weren’t the best option inside the cave, but Luna’s Ice magic was very potent. If we kept this up, we wouldn’t have a problem taking down the Serpent in the Dark. Casting Moonlight on my allies, I kept a watch on the serpent—it flicked its tongue twice. Not good.

“Scales!” I shouted and then concentrated. While the serpent’s normal attacks weren’t too bad, this attack with its scales was devastating. Although I doubted it would be fatal for any of us, the worst-case scenario was possible. But I placed a defensive buff on all of them, I reminded myself.

With a sharp hiss and a twist, the serpent sent a barrage of scales our way.

Kent and Cocoa took hits, so I immediately reapplied Protective Light on them...and continued doing that through the entire duration of the scale attack. Suddenly, a scale hit me as another one struck Mio. This attack really is tough to deal with. Ignoring the scale that had hit me and fallen to the ground, I focused on recasting Protective Light. Just as I reapplied it to Mio, scales hit Cocoa and Luna too. My defenses would last a bit longer, so I cast my Skill on them first. “Protective Light! Protective Light!”

The scale attack would be ending soon, at which point the serpent would freeze for a few seconds, giving us the best opportunity to attack so far. If we seized the opportunity and piled on the big attacks, we should be able to take it out once and for all. While I reapplied Protective Light to anyone hit, I also cast Smiting Light when I could. The serpent wouldn’t stand a chance against our tripled damage output.

Soon, I just had to cast it on Frey to have everyone’s Attack tripled. Just as I thought that we were ready to finish this battle, the last blast of scales came flying at me in quick succession. “Smiting Light!”

“Sharon?!” Frey shouted, probably because I’d cast the buff on her instead of applying protection on myself.

The scales pierced my barrier and dug into my lower right shoulder. Good. At least I’m alive. “Attack!” I commanded my wide-eyed allies as I collapsed to the ground. I appreciated their concern, but we were mid-battle.

“Got it!” both parties answered.

I healed myself and watched the attack unfold. “Hopefully this does the trick...”

Everyone had landed their attack on the serpent when Frey leaped into the air. “This is for Sharon...! Take that, serpent! Break the Abyss!” Frey’s attack finally turned the serpent into a burst of light.

Don’t make it sound like you’re avenging my death!

“A purrtion!” Tarte cried as she ran over to me.

“I already healed. I’m okay, Tarte. Thank you.”

“Really? Thank goodness... I thought you’d died, Meowster!” She threw her arms around me, and I hugged my apprentice back.

“Yes, that was so reckless! I thought I was going to have a heart attack...!” Mio said, looking as teary-eyed as Tarte. She continued her lecture, imploring me to protect myself first, supporter or no.

I understood where she was coming from, but I’d been confident I would survive one hit. If I were honest, we could have pulled it off perfectly if she had covered for me...but I wasn’t going to bring that up now. “All’s well that ends well! Let’s check for drop items!” I cheerfully announced and marched over to where the serpent had vanished.

“It’s not food,” L’lyeh announced, having inspected the spot first. Good old Goddess of Darkness.

Kent and Frey watched me curiously as I approached them.

“Sharon, are you all right?” Kent asked. “I was surprised, but I figured you, of all people, would be fine.”

“I’m glad you’re all right, Sharon.”

“Thanks for the votes of confidence, Kent, Frey. Anyway, what did you find?” I asked, glancing over to find a whistle in the shape of a snake. Hmm... I considered it borderline between a hit and a miss, but I was leaning toward hit because there were so few methods of transportation in this world. A glance at Kent and Frey told me that it had reminded them of the Dragon Whistle. Bingo. “Why don’t you try blowing it?”

“I can?! Okay!” Frey beamed and reached for the whistle without hesitating, leaving Kent to watch on in astonishment.

Right. Frey has always had a try-first attitude.

The high-pitched whistle echoed through the cave, and soon a heavy slithering could be heard.

“Wh-What is that?!” Tarte yowled.

“I don’t like that...” Mio said.

“Stay alert!” Lina announced, taking a fighting stance.

Soon, a large serpent came slithering out of the cave—a smaller version of the one we’d just fought. That was a relative description, of course. This serpent was still one meter thick and five meters long, which made it a scary snake to behold.

Frey’s smile was frozen in place as she turned to me. “Sh-Sharon...?”

“It’s a snake for transport,” I said. “It’s surprisingly convenient. Up to five people can ride it at once, and it’s easy to ride through the woods.”

“I see...” Frey said stiffly.

It had never bothered me in the game, but riding a snake in real life could be...hard to stomach for some people, I imagined. I could stomach it but wouldn’t be too excited about the ride. We can just walk and enjoy the journey! I thought. Kent and Luna seemed pretty interested in riding the serpent, though, even if the rest of the group looked like they’d prefer to travel on foot. “It is a pretty rare item,” I chuckled.

“Apparently so,” Frey said. “Why don’t we try riding it out of the cave at least?”

“Sure, but not all of us will fit on it,” I pointed out.

“Hmm. Good point,” Frey conceded.

“Then...” Luna raised her hand. “Why don’t Kent, Mio, and I ride ahead? A trio of frontline fighter, long-range attacker, and supporter should suffice.”

“What?!” Mio yelped.

“Great idea. Then I’ll have you summon the snake,” Frey said, sending the snake away and giving the whistle to Luna.

“Okay.” Luna summoned the snake and began petting it when it appeared, whispering, “Good boy.” She really had no problem with snakes. In fact, she seemed enamored of it. “What better way to conquer your fears?” she challenged Mio, who looked like she was going to cry. The Hero’s party doesn’t mess around.

Luna gleefully rode in the front, followed by Kent and Mio, and they took off toward the exit of the cave.

“If it meant I had to ride a snake, I could never join the Hero’s party...” Tarte said.

“Oh, yeah. Cats don’t like snakes, do they? But you had no problem fighting Snakles,” I pointed out.

“The small ones are fine,” Tarte said, looking a little pale. “The Serpent in the Dark was scary too, but I knew we had to fight the boss. I’m not so brave with normal big snakes.”

Gotcha. Understanding what your allies’ likes and dislikes were was an important part of traveling together. If Tarte could set her aversions aside while she was fighting monsters, I saw no need to force her to get over them entirely. “Then we can’t use that snake for transporting our party,” I said. “I feel a little bad for Kent, but...”

Cocoa was fiercely nodding her agreement. “I don’t want to ride a snake if I can avoid it. I’m really not good with it... I hate it,” Cocoa finally said quietly.

“I’m fine,” L’lyeh reassured us. We could only thank our lucky stars that L’lyeh hadn’t set her mind on having one of her own.

“Since Kent already has the belt, I think it’s fair for Frey’s party to have the snake,” I said.

“Oh, that’s great! I completely agree!” Cocoa said immediately.

Frey and Lina looked at us wide-eyed.

“It’s a very rare mount. Are you sure you don’t want to discuss it?” Frey asked.

“Yeah. To be honest, I don’t like snakes either,” Lina said.

Frey’s excited anticipation and Lina’s dread were painting a perfect contrast.

“I wouldn’t mind selling it off and splitting the money...but Luna’s going to want to keep it,” I said.

“Right? I know she will... How am I going to talk her out of it?” Lina whined.

Of course, I wouldn’t mind if Luna kept it either, but it wasn’t something that would help their party in battle. At the end of the day, Frey’s party would have to talk it over and decide.

“Let’s get going, then. Frey, can you lead our formation?” I asked.

“Of course.”

With Frey leading the way, we followed in the order of L’lyeh, Tarte, Cocoa, me, and finally Lina.

While we soared on dragonback, Frey’s party carried on a heated debate.

“Why not?! It’s amazing that five of us can ride it at once!” Luna said. “And it’s much faster than a horse! It’d be a waste for our whole party not to use it!”

“But it’s a snake!” Lina countered. “I hate it!”

Okay, it had devolved into more of an argument than a debate.

“Well, we’re not in a hurry, so take your time and think it over,” I said, chuckling at their sisterly rivalry.

“I think the snake is pretty cool,” Kent said in support of Luna. He didn’t suggest that our party use it, though. He knew Cocoa wouldn’t like that.

After we’d flown for a while, a city came into view: my hometown, Blume, the capital of Farblume. The city was famous for the flowers that vibrantly decorated it, growing beautifully in its temperate climate.

There’s no more delaying it. Swallowing a sigh, I pointed out the city to the others. “That’s Farblume over there!”

Everyone cheered in excitement.

“It’s such a purrty city!” Tarte said.

Frey’s party had halted their snake debate to admire the cityscape.

“So many colors!”

“Look at all the flowers.”

“Your family lives here, don’t they, Sharon?” Frey asked.

“Yeah. You can stay with them anytime you’re in Farblume,” I offered.

“That is very generous of you,” Frey said.

“You guys are always welcome!” I reassured her.

Frey was visibly excited.

“I wonder what your family home is like? Do you have a lot of flowers?” Lina began asking.

Yes. The gardens are certainly well manicured and vibrant. “Flying in with this many Dragons could cause a commotion. Let’s land a little way off and walk up to the city,” I suggested.

Having landed slowly, we dismounted from our Dragons and took our time walking up to the city proper.

“So this is Blume, the flower capital! It’s ameowzing!” Tarte purred.

“The city feels loving and kind,” Cocoa said. “We were here when Kent switched jobs, but we didn’t get to stay for long. I’d love to do some proper sightseeing, maybe even see other cities in Farblume.”

“That’s a great idea! Once we register the Gates, we can come back anytime,” Tarte said.

“Perfect!” Cocoa said.

I would definitely be joining them on their Gate-registration journey. I supposed our next goal would be to register the Gates in all the cities. Along the way, I’d enjoy the views, and Tarte could gather ingredients for Formulation. “A tour of the Gates, huh? Farblume also has Toras, the Valley Village; Fishing Village; Tulia, the City of Flowers; Ryuren, the City of Water; and Flower Market. There are also Traveler’s Inn and Relaxing Inn on the border.” I had stopped by Traveler’s Inn on the way to Erenzi. Similarly, Relaxing Inn stood along the route from Farblume to Laureldite Republic.

“There are a lot of shops that have to do with flowers,” Tarte observed.

“Mm-hmm. The city is famous for its flowers, so you’ll see flower jewelry and the like. If you want to see fields and fields of flowers, that’ll be in Tulia,” I said.

“I can’t wait, Meowster!”

Tulia was a beautiful city full of wildflowers, which drew a lot of people needing a medical retreat. They also studied new breeds of flowers there. “We will be sightseeing, but let’s stop by my house first. It’s not like we carry any luggage outside of our Bags, but we can sit down and talk for a bit,” I said.

“Okay, if you don’t mind,” Frey said, and the others shared her sentiment of gratitude.

Even though it had only been a few months, coming home felt very nostalgic. Neither the city of Blume nor our manor had changed at all since I’d been exiled. Both greeted my return with flowers of all colors and fragrances.

I still love this country and my family... I just detest Ignacia.

“This is my house. Make yourself at home,” I said before the gate, and everyone’s jaw dropped to the ground.

The fact that the two guards loudly declared, “Welcome home!” the moment they saw me didn’t seem to help.

“Y-Your house is huge, Meowster...”

“It is a duke’s residence. Ours may be the biggest residence in the city, after the castle,” I noted.

Tarte mewed in awe as she gazed up at the manor. I’d explained who I was before we’d arrived, but the house still came as a shock, apparently. Chuckling, I told the guards to open the gate.

“We are so happy to see you safe, Lady Charlotte!” one of them said.

“We’ll send word to Matthew straightaway!” said the other.

“Thank you. I’m happy to see you both as well.” I smiled at them.

“Lady Charlotte...” the guards replied in unison, holding back tears as they returned to work and opened the gate.

Seeing how eagerly people were waiting for me did something funny to my heart.

“I think you are very meowch loved, Meowster.”

“Yeah. It’s very nice,” I said, thanking the guards and stepping into the grounds. We still had to cross the expansive garden to reach the manor. “That’s the house, beyond the garden.”

“Whoa...” Kent breathed, looking a little nervous upon seeing that the house was bigger than he’d expected.

“Hey!” Cocoa nudged him with her elbow.

“You can relax, I promise. You’re going to be staying here a while,” I reminded him.

“We can’t relax,” Kent, Cocoa, and Tarte all replied, shaking their heads.

Just you wait, I silently vowed. I’m going to make you feel at home if it’s the last thing I do!

I gave them a brief tour of the garden as we made our way across it. Soon, the front doors were flung open, and several servants poured out, Matthew at the helm. The servants all looked terribly happy to see me as they called out my name.

“I’m home,” I said.

“Welcome back, Lady Charlotte,” Matthew answered for the staff.

Something hot burned the insides of my eyelids. Holding back my tears, I couldn’t help but feel grateful that I’d made it back here one more time. “I’m home!” I said to the rest of the staff.

“Welcome home, Lady Charlotte...!” they answered in unison.

Back in Farblume

My room hadn’t changed at all in the time I’d been away. The furniture I’d picked out, my dresses, my jewelry—it was all clean and exactly as I’d left it. Looking around my room, coordinated with tastefully subdued colors, I felt like I could finally relax for the first time in a while. On top of the time I’d spent adventuring, even when we’d stayed at inns, I’d been unable to fully lower my guard out of concern for Tithia being attacked in the middle of the night. Now it felt like all the weight on my shoulders had slipped away. The power of coming home...

Each of my companions had been assigned their own room and staff member, which should help them also relax while they were here. A fancy supper was planned after this, so I was looking forward to seeing them all dressed up by the capable hands of the Cocoriara maids.

“In the meantime, I’ll—” Just as I stood to go find my family, the hallway thundered...in a very familiar rhythm. “Well, I did make them worry.” I chuckled, feeling a little guilty, and opened the door to find two figures rushing toward me.

“Lottie!”

A smile formed on my face. “I’m home, father, mother.”

As expected, the footsteps of my father, Theodore Cocoriara, were responsible for the rumbling hallway. His short-cropped hair was the same color as mine—a bright blond, the hue of milk tea. His well-groomed beard added to the sense of authority he projected as the commander of the Order of Knights, a position which often required him to work at the castle. I’d always been the apple of his eye, and when Ignacia had broken off our engagement, my father had erupted with outrage on my behalf.

With him was Angela Cocoriara, whom I was proud to call my mother, her wine red hair perfectly styled as always. Even at the age of forty, she maintained her excellent figure. She was the queen of high society and best friends with the real queen, Belltiana. My mother was a woman both kind and strong who always worried about me yet still pushed me when I needed it.

When I threw my arms around my father, I found myself also hugging my mother from the side. Apparently, he’d decided carrying her in his arms was faster than letting her run beside him.

They couldn’t wait another minute to see me, I realized.

“Lottie...!” Mother squeezed me tight, once father had set her down.

“Mother...” I hadn’t felt her warmth in so long. My eyes stung while she continued to hold me tight.

After a long, long hug, she looked me up and down. “You’re not hurt, are you? Show me your face.” Pinching my cheeks, she inspected me for injuries.

“No, I’m not hurt anywhere,” I said, giving her a smile. “I’m all right.”

“Good,” she breathed, clearly relieved.

“Let me see your face too, Lottie.”

“Yes, father. I’m glad to see you haven’t changed...unless you’ve gained some more muscle since I last saw you,” I said, trying to decide whether his biceps were thicker.

Mother chuckled. “He was so worried about you that he couldn’t sit still. He’s been training with his knights nonstop.”

Father only cleared his throat.

“Those poor knights.” I chuckled. “I didn’t realize you would take it out on them.” That being said, father was a skilled fighter and teacher. Even if they had gone through hell for it, those knights had surely improved their craft while I was away. All’s well that ends well, right?

“You’re finally home...” father sobbed. “Oh, you have no idea how I’ve dreamed of this day! Now we can live together as one happy family again...!”

“Oh...” My smile tensed as I contemplated how to break the news. I planned to continue my adventure, so I wouldn’t be coming home often. Seeing my father weep with joy wasn’t making it easy for me to say that, though.

“Dear.” Mother tugged on father’s sleeve. “That isn’t fair to Lottie. She’s not home for good. She only stopped by on her journey.”

“S-Say it isn’t so!” father exclaimed, visibly devastated, though probably not as much as he would have been if he’d found out after the fact.

“I’m sorry if I got your hopes up, father. I’m just having so much fun adventuring right now. I feel this wonder in my heart, just like I did when I read those picture books as a kid...” I smiled bashfully.

“But...you’re a Dark Mage, Lottie. Fighting can’t be easy for you,” father objected. True enough, Dark Mages that specialized in debuffs had a tough time fighting solo, even when they were experienced adventurers. And in a world where your Skills were randomly assigned, the chances of those dice landing on Skills that were actually useful to a party...were slim to none.

I don’t want to keep it a secret from them, I decided. Holding their gazes, I announced, “There’s something I need to tell you.”

Both of them straightened their backs, reading how important this was in my expression.

“I became the Holy Maiden,” I confessed and watched their jaws hit the floor.

“Holy Maiden... That’s the savior of the world who appears in those picture books you mentioned. You went from a Dark Mage to...a Holy Maiden?” mother asked.

“Oh... It’s a long story—too long for me to tell you even if I spent all night talking. What if I do this? Rainbow Rejuvenation.” I used a Skill that healed everyone within a ten-meter radius. A visual effect of shimmering rainbow lights appeared, healing the three of us.

“Wow,” mother breathed.

Father roared in amazement. “You’re incredible, Lottie! You’ve always been humble and brilliant and kind... You were born to be the Holy Maiden!” He lifted me in his arms and began spinning on the spot, as he continued to shout his praise of me. “Amazing! I knew you could do it! I’m so proud of you!”

Your parental bias is showing, father, and...I’m getting dizzy!

“Dear, you’re making poor Lottie dizzy,” mother gently admonished him.

“Hmm? I suppose I am. Are you all right, Lottie?”

I laughed as he placed me back on solid ground, even as I staggered. Father’s twirls were more powerful than I’d remembered. “I’m all right, father.”

“You must still be tired from your journey,” he said. “You told me you would all join us for dinner, so get some rest until then. You’ll introduce me to your party members at dinner, won’t you?”

“Of course!”

Mother smiled at that. “How exciting! I can’t wait to hear what the Hero has to say about her journeys throughout the land.”

“You know who Frey is?” I asked.

“I’ve never met her before, but I’ve heard rumors.”

“I should have known...!” I breathed.

One of the biggest reasons my mother dominated high society was the treasure trove of information she gathered through a web of Cocoriara spies...or so rumor had it. I’d sooner take on every dungeon boss there is than make an enemy of my mother.

“Besides, I’m curious about the apprentice you wrote about,” mother added. “You mentioned how adorable she was.”

“She really is. She’s an adorable Cait Sith named Tarte. She works so hard, and she’s adorable, and she’s always ready for a challenge, and she’s adorable...!” I rambled on, ready to shout from the rooftops how cute Tarte was.

Mother smiled. “I’m looking forward to meeting her at dinner.”

***

“Oh, you’re all so pretty,” I cheered, applauding as my friends walked in, all dressed up for supper.

Tarte wore a cute pastel dress with ribbons at the forefront of its design. The dress hung down to her knees, so her tail peeked out from under the hem. L’lyeh wore a chic lacy fishtail dress. Cocoa had a fashionably demure look going on with a flowy balloon skirt. A ribbon on the back of the skirt hung lower than its hem. Kent was dressed in dark brown formal wear, accented with a scarlet tie. Frey had a bright vermilion dress with an off-shoulder design. Luna was dressed in a mature frock of white lace that made her look like a reserved lady from an old family. Lina’s dress had a simple design that flared into frilly lace at the knee-length hem, which worked well for her. Mio wore a floral dress that added to her delicate beauty. I myself had chosen a simple but elegant mahogany-colored dress layered with white lace.

“I’m happy I get to wear such a cute dress, but I’m a little nervous...” Tarte said, looking fidgety where she sat, though she still looked less nervous than Cocoa and Kent, who were rigid with nerves. L’lyeh, by the way, looked perfectly at ease.

I began introducing the group to my parents, who were also seated at the banquet table. “Father, mother, these are my companions—my friends. First, Tarte, my apprentice; then L’lyeh, whom I am looking after for a while; and Kent and Cocoa, the adventurers I met in Zille. Then these are the members of the Hero’s party, who accompanied us here: Frey, Luna, Lina, and Mio.”

“I am Theodore Cocoriara. On behalf of my dear daughter, thank you for looking after her.”

“How wonderful to meet you all. I am Lottie’s mother, Angela Cocoriara.”

Once introductions had been made, dish after dish was brought in. We’d forgone courses and the stuffy table manners of nobles to serve the food family style. A quick glance at L’lyeh showed the Goddess of Darkness practically drooling at the sight of all that food. I asked the head chef to cook extra just for you, Lulu!

“Let’s dig in. We can always talk while we eat,” I suggested.

“Absolutely. Bon appétit, everyone,” mother said. With that, dinner commenced.

“Sharon, this is amazing. It tastes better than anything I have ever eaten,” L’lyeh crooned with a full mouth and eyes hungrily roving over the other dishes on the table. We’d taken her out to eat plenty of times, but the cooking of a noble house’s private chef was a cut above.

“That’s great,” I said. “The head chef will be happy to hear that.”

“I want to offer my thanks directly.”

“Then I’ll introduce you later,” I offered.

L’lyeh beamed. “Okay.”

“Don’t be shy, everyone. Lulu’s going to eat it all if you don’t get started,” I encouraged them.

“I’d like to say I’m too nervous for it...but who knows when I’ll next have a chance to eat something this nice?” Kent began eating a little rigidly as he maintained proper table manners. I’d been hoping everyone could have a relaxing meal, but that might have been a little too ambitious given the setting.

“I am absolutely enjoying this wonderful meal,” Mio said, gracefully cutting and bringing food to her mouth—a model of perfect etiquette.

“I’m glad you like it, Mio,” I said.

Frey, on the other hand, ate neatly but quickly. Many adventurers apparently developed a habit of eating fast from all the times they had to eat in dungeons.

Once we were well into supper, father cleared his throat dramatically, which made everyone stop eating and turn to him. Haven’t you heard of subtlety, father? I wanted to ask. Still, mother watched him with amusement on her face, so she evidently approved of whatever he was going to say next.

“Well, uh...” Father cleared his throat again. “I would love to hear any tales you have of Lottie’s adventures...!”

“What?” I hadn’t expected that. I should have, knowing how much father liked to gush about me, but I’d let my guard down when he hadn’t brought it up at the start of the meal.

“I would love to describe the time we went into Paradise of Erungoa,” Frey said.

“I remember the first day we met Sharon like it was yesterday,” Kent chimed in.

“I won’t stop anyone, but it’s a little embarrassing to have you all talk about me,” I cut in as the others jumped at the chance to share their stories.

“Sharon is excellent at support and knows so many useful things. More than anything, though, she can be quite the taskmaster,” Frey said.

“What?!” Despite my surprise, the others were nodding along.

“Exactly.”

“Yep.”

“She is quite the taskmeowster.”

This was bizarre because I didn’t remember going on any hunts that were that rigorous... Okay, maybe I was a little gung ho by the standards of this world.

Frey laughed. “And I thank Sharon for it. We’ve defeated Dragons, traversed unseen lands... I thought I’d gone on all manner of adventures before I met her, but the adventures she’s taken us on are something else entirely. They’re thrilling.”

“Frey...” I could see how much it meant to Frey—ever the adventurer—that she’d accompanied me across new horizons.

“I mean, I thought becoming a Dragonrider would only ever be a dream for me,” Kent mused. “To most people, it is. But here I am, all because I leveled up with Sharon.”

“I never thought I’d become a Lyrical Sorcerer either,” Cocoa added. “When I was little, I thought I was going to grow old in Farming Village, taking care of animals all my life.”

My parents—father especially—looked impressed. “You’ve both attained your awakened jobs at such a young age! I can only imagine the tremendous battles you must have fought along the way,” he said.

“Oh, yes...” Kent and Cocoa agreed, after a brief pause—as if they’d had a flashback to the battles we’d fought. Chief among them, perhaps, was the battle at Flaudia’s Memorial.

“What else? What else?!” father asked, a little aggressively.

“I haven’t known Sharon for long,” Mio began, “but her actions never cease to amaze me.” She gestured toward Frey, Lina, and Luna. “I travel with them to offer prayers for peace around the world. Sometimes I go into town and receive confessions. Sharon is well-versed in geography as well, and she’s shown me a different way to travel between cities.”

“Lottie was always studious, so she knows about all sorts of things. I’m glad to see her education came in handy,” father said, referring to the tutoring I’d received growing up. Those studies had been so rigorous that I’d cried alone in my room sometimes. Father must have known how hard it had been on me and seemed relieved to think that what I’d learned was paying off. Even though most of my knowledge of this world came from playing Reas, I couldn’t entirely discount the education I’d received under this roof.

Mio’s working hard as a priestess, I realized. Could I do it—sit there and listen to people’s confessions? Probably not. I might tell them to stop worrying and do something about it. What a blessing for those people that Mio now had the Adventure Bracelet and could travel from city to city by means of Transportation Gates. “You’re going to keep traveling and hearing confessions?” I asked Mio.

“Yes. I believe that’s my purpose,” the Priestess proudly proclaimed. Now that’s dedication.

“Meowster has taught me all about being an Alchemeowst!”

“And Lottie is your...Meowster,” father confirmed. He turned to me. “You know about alchemy too...?”

“Meowster knows about so many jobs. Every time I ask a question, she has the answer, like which ingredients to use for Furmulation... But most of all, I want to tell you that Meowster saved me from an illness.” Her eyes narrowed like she was fondly remembering our first meeting. She smiled. “I could never thank her enough for that.”

“That’s wonderful! That’s my girl!” father declared, booming his praises all over again, which made me blush.

My embarrassment notwithstanding, the stories about my adventures continued deep into the night.

Charlotte’s Payout

I sat bolt upright in my bed and saw that it was already light outside. “It’s afternoon already?!” To think that I slept so late... The comfort of my family home was practically magical.

Almost as soon as I came to, I heard a knock at the door. “May I help you prepare for the day?”

“Yes. Come in,” I called.

“Good afternoon.” Anne Marie, who’d been my maid when I lived here, entered. She was the third daughter of a viscount and she’d come to the Cocoriara house as part of her etiquette training. The seventeen-year-old wore the standard maid’s outfit, her hair—blonde with a yellow-green tint—tied into a bun. In the past, her subtle gestures of kindness had saved me time and time again. As soon as they met mine, her eyes brimmed with tears.

“Anne...!”

“I-I’m sorry. I’m just so relieved to see you safe,” she said.

“No, I’m sorry I didn’t get to see you yesterday,” I returned. “I went to bed right after dinner.”

“You shouldn’t have concerned yourself about me. The duke and duchess were both worried sick.” Anne Marie shook her head, rubbed the moisture from her eyes, and flashed me a smile. “I can wait my turn. I’m happy just to see you again. Let’s get you ready.”

“Thank you,” I said, giggling as I let Anne Marie dress me for the day.

Once I was dressed, I went down to the dining room to find L’lyeh there, her mouth full of lunch. The head chef stood beside her, describing each dish. When did they become friends?

“Good morning,” I greeted them.

“Sharon! Morning,” L’lyeh said around her mouthful.

“Good morning, Miss Charlotte. I’ll have your lunch prepared immediately.”

I watched the chef give orders to a footman, then approached him. “I actually have something I’d like for you to cook.”

“Of course!”

On the table, I placed the basket I’d brought with me, full of the Giant Peaches I’d scored in Arcadia.

The head chef took in the sweet aroma with amazement. “Wh-What is that?! It smells divine...and I’ve never seen peaches that large. Where did you get these?!” Apparently, this was an ingredient the chef had never seen before. “I can’t believe I get to cook with this!” he exclaimed, eyes glimmering with anticipation.

Chuckling, I told the head chef how I’d gotten the peaches from Arcadia.

“Arcadia... I did not think such a place existed. Leave it to you, Miss Charlotte, to find a way to get there,” he said.

“Thanks to my friends,” I replied.

“Trusty allies indeed.”

“Absolutely.” As a supporter who had no business attacking enemies, I needed strong allies in order to go on adventures. “I’d love for you to incorporate these Giant Peaches into dinner tonight. Don’t be conservative with the portions. I hear Rudith and Otis are coming for dinner.”

“As you wish, Miss Charlotte!” The head chef reached for the peaches, apparently eager to put his culinary expertise to the test.

“I want to help!” L’lyeh called out. Lately, she’d been into cooking food as well as eating it.

“I could never!” the head chef said frantically. “I wouldn’t dare ask one of our esteemed guests to sweat in the kitchen!”

I chuckled at that. Regardless of their own birth, all of my friends were guests here. None of the Cocoriara servants would allow them to lift a finger, let alone cook in the kitchen. That being said, L’lyeh genuinely wanted to learn how to cook. “I’m sorry to ask this of you,” I said to the chef. “But could you teach Lulu a thing or two in the kitchen?”

“Miss Charlotte...”

“Until very recently, she passed every day locked up in her room. Food is the first thing she’s shown any interest in—” I began, wondering if I was embellishing L’lyeh’s circumstances a bit much.

“I did not realize!” the head chef cried out, overcome with emotion. “I shall teach her everything I can!”

“Really? Thank you, chef,” I said.

“Let us cook these peaches into a delicious dish together, Miss Lulu.”

“Mm-hmm,” L’lyeh answered. The pair shared a look and then disappeared into the kitchen with the basket of Giant Peaches.

I was enjoying a leisurely brunch being served by the household staff when mother walked in. “You’re up. Good morning, Lottie.”

“Good morning, mother.” I watched her sit down across from me, ask for tea, and dismiss the servants. “Did something happen?” I asked.

“This may not be easy for you to hear, but you must,” she said with a grimace. “All of the paperwork has been taken care of when it comes to your broken engagement and exile.”

I nodded. Ignacia had been held responsible for our breakup, so our engagement had been officially recognized as null and void, rather than disgracefully broken. That meant that I would face no punishment for it, and my exile had been lifted. Technically, since it had never been officially processed, I’d never been exiled to begin with. The chips fell where they were supposed to.

“On that note, Prince Ignacia has requested a formal meeting to offer his apology. I know it might make your skin crawl, but could you make time to come to the castle for it?” mother asked.

“I don’t need an apology at this point, but I’ll go,” I said without hesitation, and mother looked relieved—more so that she’d managed to get the good news out than that I’d agreed. She was good friends with Ignacia’s mother—the queen—so that must have been weighing on her mind as well. “Is there a date set?” I asked.

I could practically see mother hold in a groan. “He requested tomorrow.”

I let out a little snort. “That’s quick.” An official meeting with a royal normally took a few days to schedule, at the quickest. Requesting a next-day meeting was a sign of desperation on the prince’s part. Call it a chance to tour the castle, I thought. I haven’t had an opportunity since my memories returned. What else could I do but look for the silver lining?

***

That night, my brothers returned home from their jobs at the castle.

“Lottie!” they exclaimed in unison as they walked through the front door and saw me.

“Hi, Rudith, Otis,” I said.

As soon as I greeted them, Rudith picked me up in his arms and spun me round and round in a full-body display of his excitement. The gesture pleased me, even if I was starting to get dizzy.

“You’re going to make Lottie dizzy, brother,” Otis chided.

Rudith tutted his tongue in response. “Oh, you haven’t heard, Otis? Lottie’s stronger than you now.”

“Regardless, she is a lady and should be treated as such,” Otis coolly countered.

“Fine.” Rudith put me back on solid ground without further argument.

“Uh, I’m happy to see you too...” I stammered. “But you spun me around too much...”

As Rudith guffawed, I began to recover from the dizziness and got a good look at my brothers. Of course, Rudith had found me in Zille pretty recently, so it hadn’t been long since I’d last seen him. On the other hand, the last time I’d seen Otis—my second-oldest brother—had been before my engagement was broken. Even though I hadn’t seen him since regaining my memories, nostalgia swelled within me at the sight of him.

“It’s great to see you, Otis. I’m sorry if I worried you,” I said.

“I’ve never been more relieved to see you, Lottie.” Otis Cocoriara flashed a smile. He was nineteen—one year younger than Rudith and three years older than me. His hair color matched mine, but he had our father’s build. He stood ten centimeters taller than Rudith at 186, and his clothes were near bursting from having to contain his muscles. It wasn’t like he was training every day either. He only occasionally trained with the guards in lieu of working out. Those muscles were all genetics. In truth, he was a calm and compassionate person who hated conflict. If push came to shove, he’d sooner fight in court than with his fists. He was in his element working as a secretary in the castle. Even though he always clocked in early in the morning, it wasn’t uncommon for him to not return until after midnight. I suspected work had kept him there last night as well. If only the castle workers could unionize... I’m worried you’re going to work yourself to death, Otis.

“Right. Let me introduce everyone to you,” I said.

“Wonderful,” Otis replied.

With me, I had Tarte, L’lyeh, Cocoa, Luna, Lina, and Mio. In addition to them, Kent and Frey had arrived with my brothers, apparently having joined the knights’ training today. They both looked exhausted but fulfilled.

“I am Tarte, her apprentice. Nice to meet you!”

“I’ve heard about you, little apprentice,” Otis said. “I haven’t seen many Cait Sith in my life, so this is a great surprise. Thanks for helping Lottie out.”

“Meowster always treats me wonderfurly.”

The rest of the group followed Tarte’s cue and introduced themselves to Otis.

On our way to the dining room, I asked Kent and Frey, “Did you join the knights’ training?”

“Yes. I even had a training match against Lord Rudith!” Kent answered.

“The Farblume Order of Knights has such energy about them!” Frey chimed in, her eyes glinting with the same spirit as Kent’s. “I challenged myself to defeat a hundred knights in a row!”

“A hundred?! How much stamina do you have...?” I was terror-stricken until I realized that we’d fought more monsters than that consecutively during our hunts.

“Sharon, we finally get to eat it tonight, right? I’ve been dreaming about this...!” Kent said longingly.

“Me too,” Frey said.

“That’s right. I’ve asked the head chef to prepare them tonight. Bring your appetites to dinner,” I said, earning a cheer and pumped fist from each of them. Remembering how delicious the normal peaches of Arcadia had been, I felt my mouth water at the thought of peaches that were going to be even tastier than those.

Otis’s curiosity must have been piqued because he asked, “What’s ‘it’? I can guess it’s some sort of delicacy.”

I grinned triumphantly. “Something I brought back from my adventures. Something incredibly delicious.”

For hors d’oeuvres that evening, we were served cut peaches and a salad with peach slices and peach dressing, the peaches shimmering like dewdrops atop the fresh greens.

“I would have loved to open with something elaborate, but I first wanted to enjoy these peaches as they are,” the head chef said, alluding to incredible dishes later in the evening.

“You brought these for us, Lottie?” father asked, gazing at me with surprise. “I’ve never seen a peach this succulent and fragrant. These, too, are spoils of your adventures?”

My mother’s and brothers’ eyes were focused on me too. With no intention of lying to my family about this, I nodded. “These are Giant Peaches we were given special permission to buy. I wanted to eat them together with you, so none of us have tried them yet...and we’re dying to. Why don’t we just enjoy them for now?”

“Indeed, let’s all enjoy Lottie’s wonderful gift.” Father reached for a piece of peach, and we all followed suit with our forks.

Finally...I can taste the Giant Peaches! My dream was to travel this world and see all its majestic views, but tasting all the delicious food it had to offer was becoming another passion of mine. When I poked my fork into a piece, the tines slid in without any resistance, the peach’s aroma bursting forth. As the smell rushed through my nose, I began trembling in anticipation. My body and soul were begging to taste the peach and taste it now. One bite, and the flavor of the peach coursed through me from head to toe. Just placing the piece on my tongue made me feel like I’d turned into a Giant Peach myself. What’s going to happen to me when I swallow it?! I had to, of course. I gulped down the delicious morsel and could feel its juices seeping into my bones. After just one bite, all of my thoughts were occupied by the peach. So gooooood. I could only sit there in awe that such a delicious thing could exist. I would have eaten more, but my body was still relishing the first bite and refused to move. I wanted more, but I couldn’t reach for it. It was a strange sensation.

All of us seemed to be in a similar trance until L’lyeh said, “We need to eat more!” and snapped us out of it.

“Right. Let’s eat,” I agreed.

“It was so delicious I didn’t know what to say...” Tarte purred.

As L’lyeh reached for her second bite, we all did the same.

“I could eat a castleful of these peaches...!” I said.

At the end of the night, our Giant Peach dinner party was a huge success.

The next day, I went to the castle chaperoned by my parents and guarded by Rudith...which made me more nervous than going alone, for some reason.

“Brother, you need to stay calm no matter what Prince Ignacia says,” I reminded him. “Today, you’re acting as a bodyguard—”

“I got it! I’m going to protect my little sister. That’s it,” Rudith said.

“Okay...” I sighed. He doesn’t got it.

After walking down a long hallway, we were shown to a spacious meeting room. I was expecting to wait there for the prince and his party to arrive, but we walked in to find Ignacia already there, the king and queen with him.

“Good to see you, Charlotte,” His Majesty, King Vilhelm, greeted me.

“Your Majesty,” I replied. “You look well.”

“Dammit. Why do I have to apologize...?” Ignacia grumbled under his breath, and I decided to ignore it. The queen, seated beside him, looked like she was already completely over her son’s attitude.

“Ignacia, do you still not understand the severity of your actions?” the king demanded harshly, commanding the room at once with a voice ringing with royal authority.

Ignacia’s shoulders jumped. “I do...” He stood from his chair and robotically approached me...without a shred of guilt clouding his expression.

I don’t need his apology, I thought again. There were few things less useful than an insincere apology. I would much rather have received monetary restitution that I could put toward travel expenses and items I needed.

“From the bottom of my heart, I apologize for breaking our engagement and declaring your exile out of the blue,” Ignacia said, then remained silent as I offered no response. Does he expect me to forgive him? “Charlotte?”

“I do not think you should address me with such familiarity. We are no longer engaged.”

“Y-Yes. I’m sorry, Miss Charlotte,” Ignacia quickly offered, visibly quaking in his boots.

Still, keeping my mouth shut won’t help to end this. Swallowing an exasperated sigh, I said, “I do not need an apology from you.”

“G-Good. Of course you wouldn’t still be upset about—”

“I have no intention of forgiving you. It’s pointless to apologize,” I cut in. Although I struggled to comprehend how he could possibly think that I wasn’t angry with him for what he’d done, I kept going. “If you would like to offer an apology, I demand restitution. If you can agree to that, I will not resort to any form of retaliation and you can forget all about this incident. Why not wipe the slate clean so you can be with your new fiancée? Someone with a nice smile, instead of someone as emotionless as I—that is who you should be with.”

“Uh... R-Right...” Ignacia stammered out an agreement. He’d most likely already planned to offer some restitution, though. Queen Belltiana would not have risked her friendship with my mother by setting up this meeting if they hadn’t prepared a decent olive branch. And, not only was my mother her best friend, I myself was kind of her favorite. “All right,” Ignacia said more clearly, balling up his fists. “I promise to pay the amount you request, Miss Charlotte.”

“Thank you,” I said. I was glad there had been no proper apology and that we were settling this monetarily. We could both wipe our hands clean of this whole debacle. “Why were you in Zille, Your Highness? Were you there to look for me?” I asked. I would have thought he’d prefer to spend his time getting lovey-dovey with Emilia in Farblume. I’d guessed that he’d either been there to bring me back or to conquer Zille on his own, but I wanted to hear it from the horse’s mouth.

Ignacia answered hesitantly. “I need Emilia. But I also needed you, Miss Charlotte. Nothing has gone right since you left. Well, Emilia said she’s going to become the Holy Maiden, so that seems promising...”

“Are you trying to say that you need my backing?” I asked. Apparently I’d hit the mark because Ignacia’s shoulders began shaking and his lips twisted into a knot. For a prince aspiring to the throne of Farblume, he had a concerningly poor poker face.

“But! I have Emilia. I couldn’t very well have a Dark Mage as a wife. To make Emilia my queen, I needed to gain political support another way—by making a significant contribution to the kingdom. It would have all worked out if I’d been able to eliminate the Pope...”

“I see,” I said, feeling my blood boil at Ignacia’s words. He’d intended to kill Tithia for his own political gain. Even if Ignacia had been unable to get his hands on me, seizing Farblume’s rival nation would have been a historic feat. Of course, Leroy and the other Paladins would have made sure Ignacia’s legion never laid a finger on Tithia. The prince would have preferred to keep me under his thumb, but he’d been unable to accept some Dark Mage who never smiled as his bride. Without marrying a suitable match, Ignacia couldn’t offer anything to the kingdom that would secure his position as sovereign—thus, his scheme to take over Erenzi. How reckless is he? I supposed it didn’t matter since I’d have nothing to do with Ignacia after this. I gave a little scoff and said, “Good luck with that. Just so you know, I have a friendly relationship with Erenzi. If you ever launch an attack...I won’t hold back.”

“I-I know...!” Ignacia stammered. “I’ll never do anything like that again.”

I nodded and wondered what Ignacia’s precious sweetheart Emilia was up to. Judging by her absence, their relationship wasn’t all smooth sailing. I doubted they were even courting anymore, much less engaged. Still, she had been the catalyst of my troubles. Whether or not I requested she be punished, I wanted to know. “How is Emilia?” I made sure to direct the question to the king rather than Ignacia.

“She is from a common family... She lives in the monastery in town, healing the wounded and learning whatever lessons life has to offer. In the process, she’s paying off the fines levied upon her,” the king said.

“I don’t think she’ll ever set foot in this castle again,” the queen added.

“Mother...!” Ignacia began in an outraged tone, but he was soon silenced by the queen.

“I see,” I said.

“If you wish for a more severe punishment, that can be arranged,” the king offered.

“No. If she’s healing people and paying her dues, there’s nothing else I want from her.” Emilia had a questionable personality, but she was the player character of the Reas spin-off. It wasn’t inconceivable that her actions were predetermined by the story of the game, rather than born of her own free will. If that were the case, perhaps she deserved a second chance. She always did outlandish things, so there was no telling whether she would take this opportunity for self-reflection.

Seeing that I was satisfied with the update on Emilia, the king moved on to discussing the future of Farblume. “As you know, we have long been in conflict with the Sacred Land of Erenzi, but we are considering serious efforts to resolve that.”

Until now, Farblume had been known for its Swordsmen and Erenzi for its Healers. Those of Farblume had always been jealous of Erenzi’s ample Healer population because they had so few of their own to support their Swordsmen in battle. But now, the king was suggesting that relations between these countries could improve. When I’d played Reas, the tensions between Farblume and Erenzi had never gone away. Isn’t this a historical moment?! My heart thundered at the thought.

“Actually, it was requested by Pope Tithia. She said that our conflict had always weighed on her mind because of her hope for world peace,” the king continued.

“By Tithia...?” Something swelled up in my chest. Tithia must have had her plate full trying to sort out her own business, but she was already looking out for her people and even thinking about international diplomacy. I couldn’t have been prouder of how much she’d grown.

“I am ashamed to admit that she had to reach out her hand first,” the king added. He was definitely moving in the right direction by sincerely considering Tithia’s words. Even if it was too much to hope that Farblume and Erenzi become allies overnight, I would have loved to witness the first spark of a friendly relationship.

As Tithia’s friend, I have to be ready to mediate between the countries if something happens. For the first time since regaining my memories, I was glad of my family’s ducal title.

***

A few days later, my restitution was delivered. I stared at the sum—a hundred million liz in all—stacked on top of my desk. I guess it’s a fair amount, I conceded. Even though he’s the crown prince, we were only engaged, not married.

By Reas standards, a hundred mil could get you a very good piece of equipment, but it was a drop in the bucket if you wanted to buy the best of the best. However, even the best equipment in this world came nowhere near that quality or price. Without high-level players hunting the monsters that dropped the best items, the materials just weren’t available on the market. Even if I wanted to smith the equipment myself, it wouldn’t have been easy to get my hands on the necessary materials.

“I kind of want to blow it all on something fun anyway.” It would feel gross to dip into the restitution money little by little and live off it. “But there isn’t any expensive equipment to buy, and Tarte can make better healing items than anything on the market.” The best use I could think of right now was to stock up on food and materials and keep them in Storage. Spending a hundred mil on supplies was easier said than done, though. Why is this so hard?

While I tried to come up with another use for the money, I heard a voice from the mansion’s front door. I stepped out onto my balcony and saw that Frey, Luna, Lina, and Mio had returned from their shopping trip.

Frey noticed me immediately. “Sharon!”

“Welcome back!” I called down.

“Thanks. We’d like to talk to you about something. Do you have the time?” Frey asked.

“No problem. Do you want to talk in the sitting room?” I asked.

“Sure!” Frey answered.

Once we’d moved to the sitting room and I’d asked for tea to be brought out, I seated myself across from the group. When I asked them where they’d gone, they said they’d browsed some jewelry stores.

Oh, right! I realized. I can use the money on clothes and jewelry. Had I failed as a girl by not thinking of that on my own?

I cleared my throat. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“About Luna’s, Lina’s, and Mio’s jobs. They’re all ready for their awakened jobs,” Frey explained.

“I’ve been meaning to bring that up,” I said. Luna would turn from Wizard to Archmage, a master of elemental magic that could potentially rival the force of natural disasters. An Archmage made a great cannon for any party. As a Chaser, Lina would become a Treasure Hunter, which would power up her scouting abilities as well as make it more likely that she’d find treasure chests and items, including dropped items. At every turn, she had the chance to win big. Mio would switch from Priestess to Shaman, someone who attacked using paper Talismans. It would mean that she’d need to regularly restock her Talismans, but that also allowed her to max out each Skill faster and to acquire more Skills. She could customize her Skill set depending on her preference. Frey, who held the unique Hero job, had no new job to switch into.

“Are all three of you ready?” I asked.

“Of course! We did some sightseeing around Blume, so our goal now is to get our awakened jobs,” Lina said excitedly before looking out into the distance as if in a reverie. “It’s actually always been a goal of mine. I didn’t think I’d achieve it so soon...”

“The real challenge begins after you attain your final job. That’s when you can finally start perfecting your own fighting style! Once you get your new jobs, let’s go into a dungeon together!” I suggested.

“You make it sound so easy...” Lina said. “But you’re right. Okay. We’re going to try our best to be useful in that dungeon. We’ll conquer it together!”

“Thank you!” I was getting hyped. If we go in with a full party of adventurers with unique and awakened jobs, we should be able to beat Holy Maiden’s Trial.

“Then I’d like all three of you to get started on that tomorrow,” Frey said. “Do any of you need help with it?”

Mio timidly raised her hand. “I’m not sure if I need help, but...”

Frey and I looked at her quizzically.

“What is it?”

“Mio?”

“I’m not sure...how to become a Shaman,” Mio confessed.

“Oh, uh...” Frey stammered.

“Oh, I get it!” I said, realizing that the method for attaining the Shaman job might not have been discovered in this world yet—because the Shaman quest was triggered in Arcadia. Everyone had treated Arcadia like a mythical place until we’d actually gone there. It was no wonder Mio didn’t know. If there were any Shamans in this world, they’d probably stumbled upon Arcadia on their own or kept the method of attaining the job a secret—by only sharing how to become one with handpicked apprentices, for example.

“You can become a Shaman in Arcadia,” I told Mio. “You just need to visit the basement of a small tower in the northwest part of town and talk to the person there to start the quest.”

“You really do know everything, Sharon,” Mio said with surprise in her voice, but she immediately agreed to return to Arcadia—a quick trip, thanks to us having registered the Gate there.

Then, I turned to Luna and Lina. Did they know how to become an Archmage and a Treasure Hunter respectively? “How about you two?”

“I’m fine,” Luna said. “I heard you can become an Archmage in Snowdia.”

“Me too! Someone told me to go to Tordente if I wanted to be a Treasure Hunter,” Lina said.

“Great,” I said. They’d been told correctly. Even though we hadn’t registered the Gate in Tordente, it wouldn’t be a long journey by Dragon. “Once you have your jobs and get used to combat, we’re hitting up that dungeon!”

“I’m looking forward to it!” Frey declared.

“We have some work to do,” Luna mused.

“You can count on me!” said Lina.

“I need to start preparing!” Mio added.

They were all as enthusiastic to try their hands at the dungeon as I was.

***

That night, I was thinking over who would be accompanying me into Holy Maiden’s Trial: Tarte, L’lyeh, Kent, Cocoa, Frey, Luna, Lina, and Mio made nine—which left three slots. If I were to stick to anyone with an awakened job or better...I could bring Rudith as another cannon. That would make ten.

“It would be perfect if those two could come... Hopefully they’ll have the time for it,” I muttered, thinking of Tithia and Leroy. Not only did Tithia’s unique job as the Pope make her a candidate, she was the one who’d given me the key to the trial in the first place. And if I brought Tithia, Leroy would be there too. “He can attack or support, so he’s a good team member to fill in any gaps.”

For example, if the fighters in the back line were being attacked and there wasn’t enough time for the frontline fighters to come to their aid, it’d be nice to have someone who could hold the line against the monsters. Even though I could cover most of the support on my own, it was nice to have someone else on top of that too. “Okay! I’ll go talk to them tomorrow!” I decided.

Now that I’d made up my mind on whom to bring, I wanted to stock up on items. In addition to healing items, I’d have to ask Tarte to craft some Roaring Potions that boosted our Attack. “I should go ask her right now—” Just as I was about to leave, someone knocked on the door.

“It’s Tarte!” my apprentice announced through the door.

“Come in. I was just about to ask you to— Frey? Lina?” They were standing behind Tarte, clearly distressed. “What’s wrong?”

“After our discussion about switching jobs this afternoon, Mio went out to do some shopping and still hasn’t returned,” Frey explained. “Have you heard from her?”

“What?! No, she hasn’t told me anything. It is concerning that she hasn’t come back yet,” I agreed. It was already dark outside, and all the shops should have been closed for the night. The only open doors in the city belonged to taverns. A girl as cute as Mio was sure to be accosted by drunkards if she was walking around alone. “Priestess or no, Mio’s at a really high level. I don’t think anyone could hurt her that easily...” Still, I was concerned for her.

“I’m not too worried about that,” Frey said. “But we haven’t explored this city much, so I didn’t want her to get lost.”

“Oh, right...” I said. I hadn’t considered that Mio might have been lost and alone in the city. “Then we should go look for her now. I’ll have my brother send a team of knights to look for her too. That will be quicker.” I flagged down a staff member who happened to walk by, and sent a request to Rudith to contact the Order of Knights since Mio hadn’t returned.

“Thanks,” Frey said. “Let’s head out.”

“Right,” I agreed.

Even though the weather was usually temperate in Farblume, it could get chilly at night. I gazed up at the sky full of brilliant stars and couldn’t help but remember the night I’d first left Farblume, exiled by Ignacia. The starry sky had been just as spectacular that night.

While I was taking in the stars, Anne Marie brought out coats for each of us. “It’s quite late... Are you sure you won’t leave it to the knights?”

“I sent my brother a message, so the knights are also searching for her. But I’m too worried to stand around and wait... I’ve gotten much stronger since I was last here. I’ll be okay,” I reassured her.

“Very well,” Anne Marie said, still wearing a concerned look on her face—more for Mio’s sake, I guessed. Anne Marie seemed to understand that I’d gotten stronger.

“We’re going to go,” I announced.

“Be careful,” Anne Marie said.

Throwing our coats on, Tarte, Frey, Lina, and I set out into the streets. Luna stayed at the house in case Mio returned while we were out. The icy breeze made me want to find Mio as quickly as possible in case she was wandering around in thin layers.

“Did she go to purrchase items for her job switch?” Tarte asked.

“Yeah. She said she was going to wander around a bit if she had the time... I’m not sure where in the city she was headed,” Lina said.

“She did mention that she wanted to see the castle,” Tarte murmured.

“Yes... The castle would be a point of interest for her. It’s not the kind of thing we see every day,” Frey acknowledged.

The castle was quite an impressive sight, I had to agree. Without clearance, it was hard to gain access to the castle grounds, though. With little to do except gaze at the structure from the outside, it wouldn’t have taken up much of Mio’s time...unless she’d gotten lost around that part of the city.

“Let’s check out the castle,” Frey said, and we made our way over.

Since my house was a duke’s residence and located very close to the castle, we arrived at the castle gate in no time. Tarte was looking around and into the distance. Perhaps she had a cat’s night vision and could see more clearly than we could.

“Hmm... Mio isn’t around,” Tarte whined, her ears drooping pitifully as she shook her head.

“Do you think she stopped for dinner somewhere?” I asked.

“That’s pawssible,” said Tarte. “Oh! Why don’t we ask at the taverns if anyone has seen Mio?”

“Okay, let’s do that,” Lina chimed in.

Just as we were about to make for the nearest tavern, a voice called from the distance, “Frey?!”

We turned toward the voice to find Mio stepping out of the castle gate. She was inside the castle?! I blinked, staring at Mio as she approached. How did she get past the guards? Frey and Lina ran up to meet her.

“Mio, you took so long we were worried about you!” said Frey.

“Yeah. We thought something might have happened to you,” Lina added.

“I’m sorry,” Mio said. “When I came to take a look at the castle, they let me in... I’ve been listening to people’s confessions.”

“So that’s what happened,” Frey said.

Mio’s explanation reminded me that there were very few people with jobs in the Healer line here. Perhaps they’d welcomed her because of her talents as a Priestess. I didn’t think it had hurt that she was a noble herself. In any case, she deserved a pat on the back for sitting through whatever those meathead knights had to confess about.

“I’d appreciate it if you let us know the next time you stay out late,” Frey said. “I know we can all take care of ourselves as adventurers, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying.”

“I’m sorry, Frey. I’ll make sure to do that next time.”

“Thanks,” Frey said as she sighed in relief.

“I’m sorry I worried you,” Mio said to Tarte and me next.

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” I said.

“I’m happy nothing happened to you,” Tarte said. “It’s ameowzing how you can work as a Priestess in a new city.”

“It’s not a big deal, really,” Mio said. “Skills can heal physical wounds, but emotional wounds are much harder to treat. I try to help people with them in any way I can.”

“I love that!” Tarte said, and I nodded along.

“Thank you,” Mio said. She might have been far better suited to the title of Holy Maiden than I was...

As Mio told us about her job, we began walking back to my house. Her curiosity piqued, Tarte played the part of interviewer. “Whose confessions do you listen to?”

“Anyone’s. Even criminals deserve forgiveness if they’re willing to confess,” Mio said.

“You were talking to criminals?!” Tarte yowled, her tail puffing up.

“That was just an example!” Mio said. “I mean to say that I would listen to the confessions of criminals. There aren’t any criminals walking around the castle anyway. I’d have to go to the prison for that, I think.”

“I was so shocked,” Tarte said, her tail relaxing.

I chuckled at their exchange. It would have been quite troublesome if criminals were walking freely in the halls of the castle. More than a few guards would have been fired for that, I was sure.

“I listened to knights and maids mostly. Sometimes, all it takes is for someone to listen for them to feel saved,” Mio explained.

“I see.” Tarte nodded her understanding.

“Some knights were lamenting how strenuous their training is,” Mio continued.

“It’s that bad?!” Tarte asked.

“From what I could piece together, it’s child’s play compared to the hunts Sharon plans,” Mio clarified.

Tarte trilled in sympathy.

Luckily for me and my reputation, the conversation ended there as we’d returned to my house.

Preparations

With Lina, Luna, and Mio off to secure their new jobs, I decided to make my own preparations, as many as I could. That meant gathering more allies for Holy Maiden’s Trial. Obviously, my current party of nine would be in, leaving three open slots. I’d ask Rudith to fill one of those, and I had an idea as to who should fill the final two.

“It won’t take long to go see them through the Gates.” I dressed myself in my usual gear and was about to leave when Tarte and L’lyeh came up to me, asking where I was going. Apparently, they were on their way out too. “I was going to recruit some more members for the trial,” I said.

“Oh, that’s impurrtant! Should I come with you, Meowster?”

“I’ll be fine. Aren’t you and L’lyeh going somewhere?” I asked.

“We were going to buy some Furmulation ingredients. We put out a purrchase request at the Guild, so there should be a decent amount for us to pick up.”

“Now that’s an important outing!” I exclaimed.

“I’m helping Tarte. And buying food,” L’lyeh added.

“That’s important too, and it’s so awesome that you’re helping Tarte...!” I squealed. Tarte’s potions were always a huge help for the party, and her Molotovs were one of our primary weapons of attack. Running low on them might make Tarte feel like she couldn’t contribute enough. “I’m going to Zille. Do you want me to stop by the Guild on my way?”

“No, thank you, Meowster. It’s not an emergency, and we want to look around the city as well.”

“Okay,” I said. Part of the fun of playing an Alchemist was picking out ingredients for your brews. If Tarte thought she could handle it, it was best to leave it to her. Of course, if she needed help with anything, I’d back her up a thousand percent!

Tarte and L’lyeh were hyped up for their outing, calling it their “quest for ingredients.” When there’s more time, I’d love to take them to Paradise of Erungoa to hunt for rare materials.

“I’ll see you both tonight, then,” I said. “Have fun, Tarte, Lulu.”

“You too, Meowster.”

“See you.”

After parting ways with Tarte and L’lyeh, I walked through the city’s Gate and arrived in Zille. Although I hadn’t been away for too long, stepping onto the streets of Zille—which had been my base of operations for several adventures—felt like coming back to my old stomping grounds.

Now that Tithia was at its helm, Zille had become safer and more vibrant—a city of kindness and laughter. Word had spread that I—well, Tarte—had placed purchase orders at the Guild for Orc Rags, among other items, which had also attracted stronger adventurers who could take on Orcs.

Strolling through the city, I noticed some new street vendors here and there. Each of them had replaced a previous stall, but I couldn’t remember which ones. Surely everyone who lives in a big city experiences this feeling at some point.

“Speaking of, Crystalline Cathedral is now Tithia Cathedral... Will I even be allowed to see her?” I wondered. “Paladins who work directly for Tithia would know me, but I don’t think the guards at the entrance will... If I tell them I want to see the Pope, I feel like they’re going to smile and ask if I have an appointment.”

Before I could think of a solution, I arrived at the cathedral. Since the worst they could do was stop me, I tried walking into the cathedral, right past the Templar at the entrance. Apparently, the prayer rooms on the first floor were open to the public again. I wasn’t here to pray, though, so I approached the receptionist. “Excuse me.”

“How can I help you?” she asked.

“My name is Sharon. I’m Ti...I mean, Pope Tithia’s friend. Could I see her?” I asked.

The receptionist blinked a few times before letting out a chuckle. “Her Holiness’s friend...?”

I knew this would happen! “Um... Or if you could take me to Leroy, or Blitz, or Mimoza...” I stammered, painfully aware of how sketchy I must seem.

“What are you doing here, Sharon?” a voice called from behind me.

“Leroy!” I exclaimed.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” he said.

I laughed. “There’s something I wanted to ask you...”

Leroy looked a little exasperated but told the receptionist, “I’ll take her,” and began walking.

I followed Leroy up the crystal stairs and into a sitting room. A lush rug covered the crystal floor, and a painting hung on the wall. The room’s decor lent it gravitas, but not in a pompous way.

Once a Priestess had come and left us tea, Leroy gave me a smirk. “So, what kind of trouble did you want to rope us into this time?”

“What makes you think it’s going to be trouble?!” I protested.

“It’s not?”

I considered my answer. “I didn’t say that.”

Leroy laughed. “I knew it.”

“I was hoping you and Ti could help us conquer a dungeon.”

“A dungeon?” Leroy repeated.

Nodding, I took out the key. “Ti gave me this key. I found out it conjures a dungeon when I use it.”

“That key...conjures a dungeon?! I’ve read of something like that in old texts. I didn’t expect it to be real.”

“Twelve people can take on the dungeon at once. So far, I’ve enlisted Tarte, L’lyeh, Cocoa, Kent, and my brother Rudith, as well as Frey the Hero and her party members, Lina, Luna, and Mio,” I explained.

“I see. Her Holiness and I would make twelve.”

“Exactly.”

Leroy stared at the key in silence, apparently imagining the dungeon it unlocked and the dangers that might await us. On the other hand, I bet Leroy thought that if anyone was the right choice to enter this dungeon, it would be Tithia. Still, he seemed torn. Because of how dangerous the dungeon sounded, he was probably weighing whether or not to tell Tithia at all. Of course, Ti would insist on going once she heard about it.

“The dungeon is called Holy Maiden’s Trial,” I added. “I expect Goddess Flaudia to be its boss.”

“Flaudia again?! On that island—”

“It will be Flaudia, but not the same Flaudia,” I said, struggling to explain how the Flaudia we’d face in the new dungeon was different from the one we’d already defeated. If only I could explain that we’re living in the world of a video game come to life.

Leroy let out a quiet breath and gazed at me in resignation. “Very well. I will speak to Her Holiness about this. As she’s the Pope, I believe she needs to face Goddess Flaudia.”

“Thank you. And I have no intention of losing this battle. Let’s beat this dungeon together!” I exclaimed, clenching my fist in encouragement.

“You are very reassuring,” Leroy said, flashing a hopeful smile.

“Sharon!” Ti cheered as soon as she saw me, making a beeline straight for me.

“It’s great to see you, Ti!” I said, trying to greet her with a wave, only for the Pope to tackle me into an embrace. “Ti?”

“You are the Holy Maiden, Sharon. This cathedral should belong to you...” she began.

“Wait, wait, wait. Snap out of it, Ti. I want to keep adventuring. It has to be a full-time job to take care of a place like this...” I just wanted to visit now and again to enjoy the cathedral’s splendor without any of the responsibility that came with it.

When I said as much, Leroy glowered at me. “Blasphemous...”

Tithia laughed, though. “I thought you would say that.”

Leroy asked for a fresh cup of tea for Tithia before we began catching up.

“Your party is in Farblume, then?” Tithia asked.

“We are. Oh, King Vilhelm told me about your request for peace between Erenzi and Farblume.”

“We do not wish for this conflict to continue. I was glad he was receptive to the idea.” Tithia smiled as she considered the prospect of peace between the two nations.

Closing my eyes, I tried to wrap my mind around what Tithia had done and what she was trying to do. It was incredible how she could already work toward peace around the world while she had so much in her own country to deal with.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Tithia still smiling. “It’s wonderful news,” she said again. She was far more deserving of the Holy Maiden title than I was.

The corner of my mouth tugged up. “Ti— No, Pope Tithia. As the daughter of a ducal house of Farblume, I thank you for your wisdom and bravery in this decision.”

“All I want is peace throughout our world. Thank you, Sharon. You have helped us in more ways than I can count.”

Having given our formal thanks, Tithia and I finally let out the laughter we’d been holding back. “I’m so glad I met you, Ti.”

“I am the one who is grateful for our meeting! Without you, neither Leroy nor I would be here today. You saved our lives, Sharon. Any favor you ask of me, I will do everything I can to grant it.”

I grinned at Tithia’s offer. “I’m making out like a bandit, then.”

“Not literally,” Leroy cut in, as if to make sure her offer wasn’t legally binding.

Rats. You know I saved your behind too, Leroy. I took a long sip of my tea.

“So...” Tithia said. “When are we going to the dungeon? Right now?”

“No, of course not right now!” I said frantically.

“I would not put it past you, Sharon...” Tithia countered. For some reason, she thought me the kind of person who would shove my friends into the deep end without preparation. Weird...

“Some members of Frey’s party are working on attaining their new jobs,” I explained. “We won’t set out for the dungeon until they’ve returned from their quests and have gotten comfortable with their new jobs and Skills through hunting.” Overall, we weren’t in a hurry. It wasn’t like the trial had an expiration date. Our best bet would be to make sure we were prepared before heading in.

Tithia looked visibly relieved. “Good. We can go over our roles and possible scenarios before going into the dungeon. I am not too light on my feet, so I will try to be prepared.”

“You have amazing Skills, Ti. Just having you there will be a huge boost. I also admire your drive to improve,” I said.

“Thank you.”

Just like Tarte, Tithia was one hardworking girl.

Of course, there were things about this dungeon I was still in the dark about: how strong its monsters were, for example, or how expansive the dungeon itself was. I’d already learned that I couldn’t expect to beat dungeons as quickly as the players had in Reas. Out of all the ID’s I’d played, the quickest had taken no more than half an hour and the longest about five hours. In this world, though, we’d have to take breaks to eat and sleep, for starters. With our Bags and Storage, we’d have plenty of food and items to sustain us, but we couldn’t go on forever without rest. How long can Tithia be away from Zille? I wondered. During the prep stage, she could easily come see us to discuss strategy or stock up on items and still come back to Zille before the day was over, thanks to the Transportation Gates. Once the trial began, though, she wouldn’t return to Zille until we cleared it.

“Just spit it out,” Leroy sighed after watching me contemplate all that.

“It’s hard to guess the scale of this dungeon... Almost impossible, actually. I doubt it’ll take days, but we may have to spend the night in the dungeon,” I confessed.

“If we are to face Goddess Flaudia at its end, I would expect as much,” Leroy said.

“Yes, if that is what we must do,” Tithia agreed.

They were taking the news far too well. “Won’t it interfere with your work?” I asked.

“It won’t be a problem,” Leroy said. “Her Holiness and I were planning to visit Farblume soon anyway.”

“Because of the treaty...” I guessed.

“Exactly.”

Then the timing was as good as it could have been. That much was a relief. I took the opportunity to offer my house as lodging during their visit to Farblume. “I’m sure the king and queen will offer you a room at the castle, but I’d love it if you could stay at my house. We’ll prepare some delicious peaches for you.”

“Peaches?” Tithia and Leroy repeated.

I told them the story of how we’d gotten our hands on tasty peaches in Arcadia.

“You know how to get to Arcadia as well?!” Leroy asked, raising his eyebrow.

“I want to visit Arcadia too!” Tithia exclaimed.

“Once we clear this dungeon, we can all go to Arcadia together,” I offered.

Tithia beamed. “That is a wonderful idea!”

In the end, we agreed to have Tithia and Leroy visit Farblume in ten days. If Lina, Luna, and Mio returned from their quests before then, we would work on improving their Skills with the remaining time. Once everyone was together, we’d go over strategy while we hunted as a sort of rehearsal. What a perfect plan!

After leaving Tithia Cathedral, I decided to enjoy some shopping in Zille. If I could find something useful for the trial, great, but at a minimum, it’d be nice to restock my healing items. “Since I’m flush with cash...” I whispered to myself as I happily set out into town.

Soon, I came to the item shop I’d used to frequent—the one I’d once cleared of Jiggly Jellies, much to the astonishment of the shopkeeper.

“Hello!” I called as I opened the door.

The shopkeeper immediately came out to greet me. “Oh, I haven’t seen you in a while. You had me worried. How’s your adventuring?”

“I spent a lot of my time in Snowdia and didn’t stay in Zille very often. After this, I’m heading straight to Farblume,” I explained.

“I see.”

When I’d first come to his shop I had been something like a novice adventurer, but I hadn’t expected him to care enough to be worried about me. I will make an effort to regularly shop here, I promised myself.

“What are you looking for today?” the shopkeeper asked.

“Pretty much anything I can use when camping, and if you have any rare items in I’d like to see them.” I began by stocking up on Firestarters. They made lighting a fire so easy that you could never have too many of them. Since I’d have a bigger party, I made sure to buy a few more sets of cups, plates, and silverware too. “And I’d like a bunch of Empty Potion Bottles,” I added.

The shopkeeper brought out as many Firestarters and Potion Bottles as he could part with, and we were pretty much set for camping.

“Rare items, huh?” the shopkeeper then mused. “Lately, I’ve been getting more products from Farblume.”

“Are there more merchants coming in?” I asked.

“Seems like it. You know how we have more items that recover mana here in Zille, but Farblume has more that heal HP? We’re starting to get more of those, and I’ve seen more armor designed for close-range combat in the armor shop.”

“That makes sense...”

Even though news hadn’t broken to the public, the merchants had apparently caught wind of Tithia’s proposal. It would take more time for travel between the two countries to really pick up, but I hoped that the distribution of jobs among the adventurer communities would soon even out on both sides of the border.

“Can I interest you in some potions from Farblume?” asked the shopkeeper.

“Uh... No, I’m all right.”

“You got it.”

Taking just the camping supplies I’d bought, I left the shop.

***

Once I returned to Blume through the Gates, I made my way to the training grounds of the Order of Knights, where the order’s flag displaying sword, shield, and flowers proudly flew. The banner also served as a symbol of Farblume, where most adventurers were knights. I’d come here to ask Rudith to go into the dungeon with us. I wanted to catch him here rather than at home because if father overheard, he would do everything in his power to come with us. As the commander of the Order of Knights, my father would have made a powerful ally, but all twelve slots would be accounted for if Rudith agreed to go.

“Is Rudith even here?” I wondered. Frey, Kent, and Cocoa frequently trained with the knights, and they’d told me that Rudith had been spending more time here. But he jumps on Mach and flies into trouble at the first sign of it.

Soon enough, I heard Kent’s roar from the training ground—a sign that they were hard at work again. I peeked inside and saw Kent actually holding his own against the knights. More than that, it looked like Kent was wiping the floor with them.

“He’s already a Dragonrider at that age...? Kent’s incredible.”

“I wanna be a Dragonrider too, one day...!”

The newer knights seemed to be looking up to Kent, who’d once looked up to knights and Dragonriders with admiration himself. He’s worked hard to get this far.

“Lottie?” someone called from behind me while I chuckled. I turned around and found Rudith approaching me, wiping sweat from his neck with a towel.

“Brother!”

“What brings you here, Lottie? It’s not every day you stop by.”

“There’s a favor I want to ask you. Do you have a minute?” I asked.

“Yeah. Come over here.” Rudith showed me to a bench a short distance from the training grounds. The bench was next to a flower bed that held a few different flowers and a bunch of herbs, perhaps used to supplement the knights’ diet. “So, what’s up? If you’re meeting me down here, it’s got to be something you can’t bring up at home.”

So he saw right through me. Despite being a gym bro type, Rudith—just like my father—possessed a keen intuition that shone especially during battle. He was extremely reckless but also very popular with his men. And too good of a brother for the likes of me.

“I wanted to ask you about a dungeon,” I began.

“Oh, a dungeon! Sounds great. Are we leaving now?”

“No, we’re not going now...” I said. How can he be this spontaneous?

“I felt like you’d want to go right away.”

“No!” What kind of adventurer does everyone think I am? Resisting the urge to ask the question out loud, I explained to Rudith how we were preparing for Holy Maiden’s Trial and who else would be going with us.

Once I was done, Rudith let out an obnoxiously loud sigh, which was strange. I’d expected him to be on cloud nine. “I’m worried about you, little sister...” he said. I gave no response. “But of course I’ll go. Taking on a brand-new dungeon? That’s the kind of stuff I live for!”

“I’m glad you’re fired up about it, but can you make the time?” I asked, relieved that Rudith was at least enthusiastic to go. I had to double-check that he could make his schedule work, though, since he must have asked for a lot of days off to come look for me in Zille.

“Velklet can handle it,” Rudith said.

“You can’t keep doing that...” I scolded him, concerned for Velklet, who also happened to be Anne Marie’s older brother. Those two were always taking care of us. Still, we couldn’t really afford to lose Rudith from the party, so we’d have to owe Velklet a big one.

“I know. If we’re going to warm up, why don’t we go to Bug Park?” Rudith suggested. Bug Park was a dungeon close to Blume. It was home to bug monsters and safe enough for even relatively green adventurers. “What, you don’t want to?” Rudith asked when I hesitated.

“It’s not that I don’t want to... I thought maybe we could go to the Labyrinth of Flowers. Monsters there can drop tasty honey, so Lulu will be happy about that,” I said.

“Just for the food?” Rudith laughed for a bit before his expression sobered and his voice lowered. “That’s easier said than done. Labyrinth of Flowers has barely been mapped because of its confusing layout, and its monsters are powerful. I wouldn’t consider it a warm-up dungeon by any means...but if you know that its monsters drop honey, you know more about it than I do.”

I could only laugh. As Rudith suspected, I knew the dungeon well. I remembered the correct path through the labyrinth clearly, and I was actually planning to defeat the dungeon boss in search of its honey.

Rudith blew out a breath. “Well, if you say we can do it, I’m sure we can. I’ve been wanting to clear Labyrinth of Flowers anyway. Let’s do this!”

“Okay!”

So, we settled on warming up in Labyrinth of Flowers before we tackled the trial.

Warm-Up in Labyrinth of Flowers

Luna, Lina, and Mio had returned from their job quests as an Archmage, a Treasure Hunter, and a Shaman, respectively. Tithia and Leroy had joined us too, and we’d just finished introductions in the sitting room of my house. Tithia was gazing at Frey with pure adoration. It looked like we were going to get along just fine.

“So, as a warm-up, we’re all going to head into Labyrinth of Flowers! Yay!” I cheered and applauded to get everyone hyped up.

Luna and Mio just stared at me, but Lina raised her voice in response. “No one told me! This is so sudden!”

“What? I just told you,” I said.

“You just told us!” Lina repeated.

Labyrinth of Flowers wasn’t really a dangerous dungeon—especially not for the twelve of us. We’d be able to clear it without any issue.

“Meowster is always like this. We’ll be all right,” Tarte said.

“Right. She is Sharon after all,” Lina agreed without further argument. What was more, the rest of the party was nodding along to what Tarte had said. What did I ever do to them?

“How do we get to Labyrinth of Flowers?” Frey asked, as if hoping to redirect everyone’s attention.

“On the backs of Dragons, of course!” I answered at once.

Our Dragons soared high above the earth, their wings slicing through the air. I’d gotten used to flying, my body acclimated to the slightly colder air up here.

Labyrinth of Flowers was a dungeon located to the southeast of Blume, surrounded by highways and fields of flowers without end. Since it had just been raining, dew sparkled on the myriad petals down below us.

We landed in a plaza featuring a fountain overflowing with flowers. A floral arch stood behind the fountain, the entrance which would lead us into the dungeon.

“It’s a beautiful place,” Frey said as she looked around.

“Yeah,” I agreed, beginning to apply buffs to everyone. “Seeing it from the sky was really something. We should have come here earlier!”

Today, I’d be the main supporter while Leroy and Mio chipped in, focusing on getting the hang of their positions. There was more to a supporter’s job than just healing the party—we had to be aware of how long it took us to defeat each monster, which monsters we were facing and how many of them there were, any other dangers around us... Even if keeping track of all of that didn’t quite become second nature, it had to be effortless.

I called Leroy and Mio over to me and began reviewing our basic strategy. “I’ll focus on healing Kent. Mio, you cover the others in the front line. Leroy, I’d like you to keep an eye on the members in the back line.”

“Understood, but why did you assign us that way?” Mio asked.

“It’s the difference in our Skills,” I answered. “Out of the three of us, I have the Skill that can heal the most HP at once. It’s most efficient for me to heal Kent, who’s going to be our tank and take the most damage out of everybody. Leroy is guarding the rear because he has a defensive Skill that can set up a barrier. Mio, you’re on the front line because you have continuous healing Skills you can use while you attack.”

“Yes, that does make sense...” Mio said, satisfied with my summary. Now that she was a Shaman, Mio could both heal and attack. Considering that some of her Skills required the use of Talismans, she’d do her best work when positioned where she had a clear view of the front line.

Mio produced a paper Talisman now and used a Skill. “Cursed Conversion!”

The Talisman floated over to me and stopped in midair, an arm’s length away. Now that it was closer, I could see that the name of the Skill was written on the Talisman, making it clearly identifiable. Talismans could be stacked—if Mio were to apply more, they would float over next to one another until they fully encircled me. This is pretty cool.

“This Skill automatically heals you when you’re damaged. It uses your mana in exchange, but I thought it would be useful for someone who has a lot of mana like you, Sharon,” Mio said.

“Sure, at the right time,” I said. “I use my Skills pretty regularly, though, so sometimes I need all the mana I can get. This could be useful for the frontline fighters who don’t spend their mana as often.”

“I never considered that!” Her eyes opened to new possibilities, Mio began applying the same Skill to our frontline fighters. Shamans had access to many Skills that were powerful but tricky to optimize. “I just have to keep learning!”

“Yeah! Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions,” I offered.

“Thank you, Sharon,” Mio said.

Once I’d gotten the supporters on the same page, we went over some basic protocols as a party before heading into the dungeon.

As its name suggested, Labyrinth of Flowers was a maze full of flora. Some of its dead ends were pockets of monster spawns, making this a dangerous but lucrative dungeon. For this crawl, I would guide us through the entire dungeon so we could get used to fighting as a party. Our expedition would culminate in the boss fight at the end.

“Whoa!” We hadn’t walked far into the dungeon before Kent shouted and parried an attack with his sword. The attack had come from a Chomp Flower—a carnivorous flower that tried to bite you with its toothed petals if you walked too close to it.

People with heart conditions shouldn’t enter this dungeon. Chomp Flowers wouldn’t move an inch until they were ready to strike, and they looked like any other flower until they attacked. “Don’t worry. I know it’s surprising, but it’s not that strong. You can probably one-shot it, Kent.”

“What? Really?” Kent attacked with a Skill and turned the Chomp Flower into a burst of light. “Oh, it’s not strong at all. I guess it camouflages as a flower to make up for how weak it is.”

“We’re just on another level. Most of my knights can’t beat a Chomp Flower,” Rudith rightfully pointed out. From what I’d been told, in this world, this dungeon had barely been explored.

“That’s true... When I’m with Sharon, I forget how strong I’ve become,” Kent said.

“Yes...exactly!” Frey joined in passionately.

Letting out a sigh, I clapped my hands to get their attention. “Okay! Okay! Let’s get through this dungeon already! Our head chef has planned another delicious dinner for us, so we have to make it back by then!”

“We march on. For dinner!” L’lyeh cried, eyes burning with determination. “Let’s go! If the Chomp Flowers bother you, I’ll lead and you watch,” she told Kent.

“No, no! I’ll go too! I’m fine!” Kent stammered as L’lyeh began walking at least three times her normal pace, hastened by hunger. It was pretty cute to see her kick into high gear when it came to food, a stark contrast to her usual laissez-faire attitude.

“Let’s race!” L’lyeh shouted, leaping into the air high above our heads.

“What?” Kent blurted.

Still in the air, L’lyeh began counting off something, her eyes moving quickly. When she was done, she swung her arm. “Dark Arrows! Rapid fire!” Black arrows materialized around her and shot out at once, annihilating the monsters in the area, which included Chomp Flowers, Harpies, Sylph Worms, and Poisonous Treants.

I could only watch and be impressed. Does she know which flowers are Chomp Flowers?! Even if they were undetectable to us mortals, L’lyeh might have used her divine senses to detect the small amount of mana that leaked from the Chomp Flowers. Maybe one day I’ll be able to do the same, I hoped.

“That was awesome...! I better keep up.” Kent took a big step forward and shouted, “Taunt!”

Immediately, a nearby Poisonous Treant attacked him. As Kent held it off with his sword, Cocoa and Tithia took down the monster with their Skills. Poisonous Treants were walking trees that—as the name implied—attacked with poison. They were monsters we definitely wanted to deal with quickly, especially here in the real world. As soon as the Poisonous Treant was defeated, Leroy reapplied buffs to everyone.

I’d planned for us to warm up and double-check our teamwork in these initial battles, but everyone had enough combat experience that the teamwork came naturally. It was starting to look like we’d do just fine in Holy Maiden’s Trial too.

Eventually, we reached the end of the dungeon.

“This is where the boss is?” Kent asked.

“Yep. The boss is a butterfly, but not a normal one. Lady Butterfly has a woman’s body and butterfly wings. She uses a lot of status attacks, like her paralyzing pixie dust, so it could be a tough fight for a tank...” I explained.

Kent grimaced for a second before shaking his head. “No, I got this! That’s what I’m here to do! No butterfly’s going to take me down!”

Rudith clapped him on the back. “Good to hear, Kent. You and I are gonna keep that bug at bay.”

“All right!” Kent said.

Rudith gave us a look that asked, Are we ready?

Nodding, I reapplied buffs to everyone.

“Let’s go,” Rudith urged.

“Yeah!” we cheered in response.

The end of the dungeon was a veritable paradise of flowers. This area, called the Butterfly Cage, was carpeted with vibrant blooms of all colors. Vines encircled the area like the bars of a cage, each of them blossoming with roses. I guess that’s basically the boss monster’s home decor. Lady Butterfly was a blonde bombshell with hair of spiraling golden curls. Butterfly antennae stuck out from among them, though—despite her beauty, there was no mistaking her for a human.

With her keen senses, the boss immediately noticed us, letting out a shriek and preparing an attack. Kent sprinted ahead and used Taunt to draw the attack to him.

“The dungeon’s been too cramped for my liking up until now. I can finally cast some real magic.” Luna stepped up and raised her staff. With a smirk on her face, she shouted, “Blizzard from the Abyss!” Instantly, freezing air rose from the ground where Luna stood. What started as flecks of shimmering silver had turned into pitch-black shards by the time they flew toward Lady Butterfly. The dark and cold attack covered a wide area but dealt crucial damage at its center.

“Good job, Luna! Great choice!” I cheered. This boss was already weak to Water and Ice magic, but Blizzard from the Abyss also had a decent chance of freezing the target and slowing them down—even if a boss would only stay frozen for three seconds.

“That was so cool! Let me show you what I can do.” Holding her staff and Tome, Cocoa stepped forward. “Eyes of Heaven, Pierce My Enemy!” Cocoa’s clear voice rang through the Butterfly Cage, and swords of water appeared above the boss before striking her down and dealing great damage while the butterfly was immobilized.

So far, so good!

Enraged by the damage, Lady Butterfly shrieked and shook her wings, paralyzing Kent with her pixie dust.

“Restore Kent!” I shouted, healing the status condition immediately.

Free to move again, Kent took a big breath and shouted, “Taunt!”

Being paralyzed in the game hadn’t impeded gameplay, but judging by Kent’s struggle, he’d been unable to speak and therefore unable to use any Skills while paralyzed.

Our party would be in big trouble if I ever got paralyzed! I realized. While I did have some healing items on hand, I’d be wise to start looking for equipment that resisted Paralysis and Silence. I could never let myself succumb to either of those status conditions. While those thoughts passed through my mind, I took in the battle. Mio was keeping an eye on our surroundings while using her Skills from a neutral position. Leroy was keeping our defenses up continuously and chipping in with attacks when time allowed.

“We’re doing great teamwork...!” I muttered.

Tithia laughed. “You have trained us well, Sharon. And we all want to make you proud. More than I even realized, we have all learned to fight incredibly quickly and efficiently.”

Her words made it clear that everyone in the party was really giving it their heart and soul. It was obvious just from watching them too. “I can’t wait to take on that dungeon.” I grinned at Tithia.

She matched my grin with one of her own. “Me neither!”

Seeing the boss flap her wings, Lina leaped into the air. “Now!” Angling her dagger toward the butterfly, she shouted, “Reset!” The Reset Skill canceled the activation of another Skill. It wasn’t a hundred percent effective against bosses, but it had a good enough success rate that many Treasure Hunters had utilized it back in the game. “Okay, that stopped it!” Lina announced, having stopped a huge status-condition-inflicting Skill in its tracks.

“Great! Taunt!” Kent shouted immediately.

Rudith didn’t miss this golden opportunity. As soon as he took a step forward, I cast my spell, tripling his Attack. “Smiting Light!”

“Dragon Lance!” Rudith used his Skill, which found its mark.

“Did we get it?!” Kent asked.

“I’ll finish it off! Purrtion Throw!” Tarte’s attack landed on the teetering butterfly and turned it into shimmering dust. In its wake, a piece of equipment called Butterfly Wings was left behind.

“That’s a pretty rare piece,” I said.

“Those are the wings of the boss, right? How do you use them?” Frey asked.

“You— Uh, Lina?” I waved Lina over.

“What? Me?!” She came over and equipped the wings. Doing so made wings grow from her back, and she could move them as though they were her own limbs. The whole party sucked in breaths of amazement as the wings sprouted from her back. “It feels strange... Oh, I can flex my back and move them... Cool.”

With a smile, I gave her a few more hints. “Move them faster. Even better, try them while running.”

“Running?! Because I’ll be moving my arms...?” Lina asked.

“Why don’t you try it?” Luna suggested.

So, Lina began running around the perimeter of the Butterfly Cage.

While I watched her run, I felt a tug at my sleeve. “Sharon. Honey?” L’lyeh asked.

“Oh... It didn’t drop, did it?” I admitted. Tragically, the honey L’lyeh had hoped for didn’t drop one hundred percent of the time.

“Honey...” L’lyeh said again, sounding soul crushed.

“It’s okay!” I said quickly. “We can just come back and beat the boss until we get the honey!”

L’lyeh’s eyes lit up. I wasn’t sure if bosses respawned as quickly here as they had in the game, but they definitely respawned eventually.

“I will get that honey,” L’lyeh promised herself.

Silently, I swore to help her on her quest.

“I think I’m getting the hang of it!” Lina shouted as she continued to run. “The wings are moving with my arms and— Ahhh!”

“She’s flying?!” the rest of the party blurted.

“Yes, they let you fly! Not too high or fast, though, since they’re butterfly wings. They won’t be too useful in combat, but they do let you float around for fun,” I explained, though no one seemed to hear. They were too engrossed in Lina’s flight. “I can’t blame them.” I laughed to myself.

“My turn!” Frey shouted, raising her hand. Everyone but L’lyeh, Leroy, and I followed suit, apparently desperate to experience flight.

Flying more comfortably, Lina circled back down to the ground. I suspected that Lina had mastered the wings so quickly because they suited her so well.

“I’m next!” Frey repeated.

There was one problem Frey hadn’t noticed, though. “You’re wearing a skirt,” I pointed out, earning a gasp from the ladies in the party. Lina and Luna were wearing skorts, but the other girls—myself included—were all wearing skirts or dresses. Of course, we could just go home and change.

“Lina, let me wear your clothes...” Frey demanded.

“Wait, wait, wait. We can’t just swap clothes in a dungeon! Let’s go back to Sharon’s so you can change before trying out the wings!” Lina countered, stating the obvious.

“There’s no sense in hanging around here,” I seconded. “Let’s go home quickly. Our chef will have that delicious dinner for us.”

Her eyes still glued to the Butterfly Wings, Frey finally agreed. “Let’s go home, right now!”

Goddess Flaudia’s Dungeon

“Now we’re taking on Holy Maiden’s Trial!” I proudly announced, complete with mental applause. Finally, the day has come! The past few days had been super productive. After beating Labyrinth of Flowers, we’d gained a few more levels as we fine-tuned our teamwork, then spent some time mastering our new Skills...

My room felt a little cramped with all twelve of us congregated there, but our passion to work together as one and beat this dungeon was also palpable.

“How exciting to have formidable foes to face,” Frey said, brimming with fiery energy. “All the better that I can take them on with the best allies I could hope for! I can only imagine what awaits us in the dungeon!”

“After passing through the hell that Sharon calls leveling, nothing will stand a chance against us!”

“Yes, I can’t imagine us losing...”

Lina and Luna sounded a little tired, but they needn’t have worried. With the help of the Energizer Potions Tarte would make for us, they could go full steam ahead for at least three hours! That being said, the crash after an Energizer Potion could leave you exhausted, so we needed to save them for right before the boss battle. Knowing when to use our items would be one of the keys to our victory.

“Are we ready?” I asked, casting a glance around the party. “I don’t think it’ll take that long, but we should have enough supplies for a few days. Not just healing items, but food, camping gear, and...snacks?”

“We came prepared,” Leroy assured me with a smirk on his lips. “I packed everything we might need.”

“He definitely did...” Tithia added, convincing me that what Leroy had “definitely” done was go overboard. Nothing wrong with that, though. We each had a Storage we could fill to the brim.

If we’d had enough time and money, I would have packed our Storages to capacity with the items we’d need. Of course, buying that much of any item could be a hassle, not to mention that we were limited by the stocks of the shops in this world, unlike in the game where I’d been able to buy anything I’d wanted with abandon.

“All right! We’ve registered as one big party at the Guild since we managed to keep everyone’s level within range. Perfect!”

“Yes, Meowster. It’s purrfect!”

“Then...let’s go!”

After everyone else agreed, I took out the key and used it on my bedroom door. Immediately, a window appeared—the same window as before, except the whole party could read it this time.

Holy Maiden’s Trial (Instance Dungeon)

Maximum Participants: 12

Pray for the world. Be proud that you are the Holy Maiden.

With your allies, challenge Goddess Flaudia and gain a new strength.

Made daring by her excitement, Frey punched her palm. “So this is the dungeon we’re going to challenge. Defeating it will not only gain us new experience, but Sharon a new power! Spectacular!”

Beside her, Kent was looking rattled. “It really says we’re going to fight Goddess Flaudia...” He let out a shaky whine. “I’m getting nervous.”

“Little Lottie, the Holy Maiden... I’m so proud of you, sis. I’ll protect you from anything this dungeon has in store, cut down any enemy that shows up,” Rudith declared, as eager for battle as always.

“Through this door is the dungeon,” I said as I buffed the team. Applying buffs before entering an unknown trial was standard procedure, in case some danger lay in wait right at the starting point. Leroy and Mio quickly followed suit, casting their own spells.

“Okay. I’m ready. Let’s do this,” Lina said.

“Flaudia won’t beat me,” L’lyeh muttered.

“We need to give it our all,” Luna added.

“We’re going to make it through, no matter what...!” said Cocoa.

“I never thought I would fight Goddess Flaudia...” Mio sighed.

“She’ll be powerful, but Meowster is stronger!”

“As the Pope, I cannot sanction Goddess Flaudia’s deeds.”

“No matter what awaits, I will protect Her Holiness with my life.”

“Okay, let’s go!” I said, making sure all buffs had been applied.

We stepped through the door and into Holy Maiden’s Trial.

At first, we found ourselves in a world of sparkling crystal well-suited to the Holy Maiden title. The building we were in was constructed like a temple—like a religious palace of sorts. A crystal sprouted from the tiled floor, a human-sized obelisk emitting vibrant hues of pink and blue. When I looked closely, I could see a juvenile monster trapped within it. All sorts of colorful plants grew around the crystal, the stems of a carnivorous plant monster mixed in with the foliage here and there. These were similar to the Chomp Flowers in Labyrinth of Flowers, except more beautiful and more sinister. They must have been monsters of a very high level, poised to swallow us whole if we stepped too close.

Kent—who led our formation—blew out a breath as he surveyed the structure, his hand never leaving the hilt of his sword. “It’s pretty to look at... Scary, though.”

“We aren’t close enough for them to attack, but I can sense how strong the monsters up ahead are. Can we really make it through this dungeon...?” Lina asked, probably reflecting how most of the group felt.

I shared the sentiment. In the game, I’d been able to die and respawn as many times as I’d liked. In this very real world, we had to make it out of this dungeon alive. Here, there was no coming back from death. “It’s my first time too, so it’s hard to guess what we’re going to face. The silver lining is that there’s no time limit. Let’s take our time and be careful. None of the monsters should respawn once we defeat them, so we’re going to lure them over one by one and take them out.”

ID’s like this were designed for a specific quest, so they weren’t like normal hunting grounds where monsters spawned endlessly. Other than to complete a quest, players had usually only entered ID’s to hunt for rare drop items that couldn’t be found elsewhere.

“Yes, Meowster. Let’s go through it slowly!” Tarte huffed, rekindling determination within the others.

Kent screamed as he was blown back toward us.

“Heal Absolutely! Are you okay, Kent?!”

Just as I healed Kent, Rudith stepped up. “I got it from here! Taunt!”

Before us stood a single monster—a Fallen Angel. It had a beautiful face that contrasted with the ominous black wings on its back. Shackles on its wrists indicated that it couldn’t use magic, though that didn’t stop its physical attacks, which were devastating enough to send Kent flying. Its shrieking cackle was more than annoying, leaving a ringing in my ears. At least there’s only one of them. If we’d had to face a horde of Fallen Angels as our first encounter, we would have been in trouble. First, we needed to figure out how to defeat this thing.

“I want to see if it’s weaker to physical or magical attacks,” I told the group. “Only use physical attacks for now.”

“You got it!” Frey answered without missing a beat. Seeing that she’d raised her sword, I cast Smiting Light, boosting her damage output. “Hero’s Strike!” Frey used a Skill that ensured her attack would be a critical hit, the damage of which was tripled by my Smiting Light.

With one last shriek, the Fallen Angel burst into light.

“Looks like it had a really high Attack but not much Defense. That was easier than I thought,” I said.

Frey sheathed her sword. “Still, it did that much damage to Kent in one hit. We can’t underestimate those things.”

Kent rejoined the group then, muttering, “The impact of that...” I’d healed him of any damage, but he looked a little shaken by having been sent flying. “Dammit, I need to hold my ground against the next one somehow. The tank can’t just drop out of the fight like that.”

“There’s no guarantee I’ll be able to cover you either...” Rudith added. I’d leave it to the two boys to figure out the best way to solve that problem.

We progressed through the crystal corridor for a while until we could see a clearing ahead that looked like a great place to sit and rest. Except, there’s usually something waiting for players at a place like this in an ID. “Stop!” I had a bad feeling about this.

“What’s the matter, Lottie?” Rudith asked.

“That open area could be dangerous... There may be a particularly powerful monster, or a large horde of monsters...” I explained.

“Got it,” Rudith said, and everyone shifted their stances, raising their guards. We had taken on a few Fallen Angels so far and knew too well how tough the monsters in this dungeon were. “Why don’t we use Taunt to lure one monster at a time from the clearing?” Kent suggested. “Take them out one by one.”

“Good plan,” I said.

“All right, I got this!”

This had been a pretty common strat in the game, especially when facing monsters at a higher level than your own. A party could usually handle one powerful monster at a time, even if a horde would have been overwhelming. I used a Farseer—a pair of spectacles that worked like binoculars. Let’s see what’s waiting for us. There were several Fallen Angels in the clearing and a heinous-looking monster called Corrupted King who wore a simple cloth wrapped around his bloated body and nothing else.

I realized each of us was staring at the monsters through our own Farseer. We’d each purchased one before coming to the dungeon. Everyone was at a loss for words. Taking on that thing looked like the opposite of fun.

“I mean, we have to do it, right? There were no turns so far and that’s the only way through...” Kent said, looking a little dispirited.

“You got this, Kent! I’ll help take them down as quickly as we can...!” Cocoa said.

Kent’s eyes lit up, and he looked primed for the fight again. “Yeah, let’s do this!”

Ten meters away from the clearing, I applied my Skills to Kent. “Protective Light, Holy Maiden’s Boon, Moonlight, Starlight... You’re all set.”

“Okay! Taunt!” Kent used his Skill from where we stood. Each species of monster had its own distance at which Taunt would start affecting it. To make sure that only one was attracted at a time, we had to start from a decent distance away and slowly move closer. “No good. Let me get a little closer.”

“Yes, please,” I said.

Kent blew out a breath and began slowly approaching the clearing, activating Taunt at each step.

Maybe they’re designed to not leave the clearing. If that was the case, we’d have to take on the handful of Fallen Angels and the Corrupted King—whom I suspected to be a miniboss—all at once. That would be an ordeal.

Fortunately for us, when Kent was about three meters away from the clearing, one of the Fallen Angels started to approach him.

“We got one!” Kent announced.

“Leave the rest to me. Hero’s Strike!”

I’d already cast Smiting Light on Frey, so her single attack turned the Fallen Angel into a burst of light, leaving no drop items behind.

“Our prospects are good!” Frey cracked a grin as she drank a Mana Potion. “Go get us another one, Kent!”

“You got it! Taunt!” Kent said excitedly, and lured over another Fallen Angel that Frey promptly took out in one hit—a one-sided beatdown that kept us very safe.

“Looks like there isn’t much we can do, Cocoa,” Luna said with a shrug.

Cocoa chuckled. “With the Fallen Angel’s resistance to magic, we can’t contribute much anyway.” We’d discovered that Fallen Angels were far more vulnerable to physical attacks than magical ones, so Frey had been tearing through them by herself so far.

After a few more Taunts and one-shots, we’d swept the last Fallen Angel from the clearing.

“All right! That just leaves the big prize—Corrupted King,” Kent said, his voice a little shaky with anticipation.

Frey turned to me, eager to take on the miniboss. “Sharon, if you can apply your Skills once more— What?!”

“Protective Light— What’s wrong, Frey?” I asked and looked toward the plaza. “Oh.” I chuckled. I had a feeling this would happen. The others were far more surprised than I was, staring at the clearing with wide eyes and voicing their confusion by asking each other what could have happened. What had happened was that the Fallen Angels had respawned. “Those Fallen Angels must be adds to the Corrupted King. They dropped no items, and they probably didn’t get us any EXP. Most likely, they’ll keep respawning until we take out their boss,” I explained.

“No!” Cocoa responded most vehemently. It must have felt like a devastating prospect to have the Fallen Angels—already resistant to her magic attacks—infinitely respawn.

“What are we supposed to do...?” Kent asked, at the end of his wits.

“I could use Taunt to draw them away, but I can’t take on five Fallen Angels at once,” Rudith said, sounding just as lost as Kent was.

I did have a strategy in my back pocket for a situation like this, but I decided to make a suggestion first. “It looks like we’re far enough from the clearing here. Let’s take a break.” We needed to eat something delicious and restore our morale. My plan seemed to already be working because everyone laughed at my unexpected idea.

“Great idea. I brought everything that looked good from Blume,” L’lyeh said as if she’d been waiting for me to suggest a meal break.

What kind of food did she buy? I watched her closely and saw her produce a round cookie tin with a cute design on it.

“Th-Those cookies...! There was never less than a three-hour wait for those!” Lina exclaimed before I could make a comment.

“Yes. They’re delicious,” L’lyeh agreed.

Luna groaned in frustration. “I wanted those so badly, but I didn’t have the time between training and switching jobs...”

L’lyeh held up her cookie tin as if to gloat, before her expression filled with compassion. “There’s enough for everyone.” The Goddess of Darkness proceeded to take out eleven more tins. “Treats are more delicious when we eat together.”

“Thank you! Thank you, Lulu!” Lina cried out.

“You are welcome.” L’lyeh handed out a cookie tin to each of us.

“Thank you, Lulu,” I said.

“Let’s eat them now,” she urged.

“Yeah!” I inspected my cookie tin. It was colored light blue and adorned with both pink flowers and smaller white ones. When I opened the lid, I saw several different varieties of cookie filling the tin: an undecorated round one, a jam-filled one, a square one with chocolate, and even some with tea leaves baked in. “They smell amazing.” Why don’t we turn this into a proper afternoon tea? I took firewood from my Bag and Storage and started a fire. Then I put a kettle on it and began brewing tea.

“Yes, Sharon! You get it.” Practically drooling, L’lyeh handed each of us a teacup—the perfect touch to make this a delightful tea break.

Mio was watching us set up with her jaw on the floor. “We are in a dungeon we know nothing about that’s crawling with scary monsters, and yet you are relaxed enough for tea and cookies... You are incredible.”

“It’s exhausting to stay on guard all the time, don’t you think?” I answered casually. Especially in dangerous places like this, it was important to rest whenever we could. “I brewed enough tea for all of us. Let’s have a relaxing tea break!” L’lyeh and I then poured tea for everyone.

I put my first cookie into my mouth, biting into it with a crisp crunch. The buttery morsel melted in my mouth. Drinking the tea afterward without any milk or sugar further highlighted the cookie’s sweetness—so much so that I let out a moan. “That’s so good. No wonder people line up for three hours.”

“Delicious.” L’lyeh smiled, perfectly satisfied. Something told me she would be back in line for these cookies soon.

“I thought a whole tin would be too many cookies, but I might just eat them all now,” Tithia said, stuffing her little face full.

“Your Holiness, here’s milk for your tea,” Leroy offered, ever the loyal servant.

“Thank you, Leroy.”

Same as usual.

Meanwhile, Kent practically inhaled his cookies and washed them down with his tea before stomping over to me. “Sharon, I don’t mind taking a break. I really don’t, but how are we supposed to get through that?!” Apparently, he was too preoccupied with the monsters ahead to be able to relax.

“Kent...” I glanced at the clearing to see the Fallen Angels and Corrupted King still wandering around it. “Well then, while we eat, let’s go over a strategy to take them down.”

Everyone nodded, their expressions solemn.

“Smiting Light, Protective Light, Holy Maiden’s Boon, Moonlight, Starlight...”

“Cursed Conversion!”

Mio, Leroy, and I had buffed the team, preparing the party to take down the five Fallen Angels and one Corrupted King in the clearing.

After a few deep breaths, Kent sprinted forward, followed closely by Rudith and Frey.

“Here we go! Taunt!” Kent began by drawing all monsters to him.

“Dragon Lance! Taunt!” Rudith landed a hit on the Corrupted King and kept its attention on himself.

“Hero’s Strike!” Frey took out one of the Fallen Angels.

“Smiting Light!” I immediately recast my buff on Frey.

Leroy was in charge of keeping Kent safe from the four Fallen Angels targeting him. “Goddess’s Protection!”

We’re going to end this quickly! I thought, turning my attention to Frey, who bellowed as she moved to attack.

“Hero’s Strike!”

“Smiting Light!”

“Hero’s Strike!”

“Smiting Light, Moonlight, Starlight, Rainbow Rejuvenation.”

“Hero’s Strike!”

After giving Frey the buff to take down the fourth Fallen Angel, I focused on healing her. With the help of a potion to recover her mana, Frey had managed to take out four of the five Fallen Angels so far.

“Okay! I’m tagging in, Lord Rudith!” Kent called.

“It’s all yours, Kent!” Rudy called back.

“Got it! Taunt! Shimmering Chase.”

Without missing a beat, Kent attacked the boss and turned its attention toward him as Rudith drew the last Fallen Angel to himself with a Taunt. Kent had more defensive Skills, making him better suited to taking on the boss. Since taking out all of the Fallen Angels would trigger them to respawn, leaving just one alive was the best way to mitigate their threat.

“We’re going to fight the boss without attacking the Fallen Angel!”

“Yes, Meowster! Purrtion Throw!”

“Merciless Retribution!”

“Dark Whispers.”

Tarte, Tithia, and L’lyeh all stormed the boss. To my relief, their attacks looked effective. “Okay, let’s finish this!” I called out.

“You got it!” Cocoa and Luna answered, eager to chip in, especially after having to sit out during all the battles against Fallen Angels.

“Weave and Shimmer, My Blades a Thousand!”

“Freeze and Bloom, Icy Rose!”

Corrupted King bellowed.

“It’s working! We can do this!” Kent shouted.

We definitely had the momentum, and it looked like we could keep up our barrage and take the boss down. Now it’s time to do my part! “Heal Absolutely! Moonlight, Smiting Light!”

“We’re almost— What?!” Kent had noticed a change in the miniboss. I couldn’t tell until I looked more closely, but Corrupted King was quivering. A red aura began to rise around it in a clear indication that its Attack or something else was increasing.

How is it going to attack? After all the damage we’d dealt to it, the boss was almost dead...which meant that this was most likely its last stand. Maybe an AoE attack or a really powerful blow?

Corrupted King roared, “I! Am! King!” It raised its bloated right arm, which began to turn a dark red as if its blood vessels had burst—power concentrated at its fist, sparks crackling from it.

Not even Kent can take a hit like that! Frantically, I cast Protective Light on him, which would shield him from a good amount of the damage.

Then, with another roar, the boss raised its left arm too.

“It’s going to attack with both hands?!” I blurted out.

Corrupted King cackled. “Death to the traitors! Death! Death! Death!” It swung its arms madly, unleashing a barrage of attacks—underscored by a thundering sound effect—so rapid that I wouldn’t have time to reapply any barriers before the next attack hit.

“Kent!” Cocoa screamed, her voice drowned out by the sound effect.

“Heal Absolutely! Protective Light! Kent!” I shouted too, hoping that he was still okay.

After a moment, I heard Kent chuckle. “I didn’t survive Sharon’s training to go down now! Piece of cake!”

“Good, you activated Steadfast Leader,” I said, breathing a sigh of relief. Steadfast Leader negated any attack that came his way for a short duration. “Let’s finish this now!”

“You got it! Hero’s Strike!”

“Merciless Retribution!”

Frey’s and Tithia’s attacks were the final blows. The boss burst into light, along with the last Fallen Angel. Apparently, they were designed to die with the miniboss.

“Phew. That got a little exciting. Good thing it wasn’t as strong as it looked,” I said, turning to the rest of the party...who were all shaking their heads as if I’d said something insane.

***

“Okay, I scouted it out!” Lina announced as she returned. We had just been setting up for a meal.

“Thanks! How does it look?” I asked.

“The corridor forks ahead, but from what I could see through the windows, both paths lead to the same place. There were no distinguishing designs down either pathway, so I don’t think there’s any difference in encounters either,” Lina explained.

“Okay!” I said.

Apparently, this crystal dungeon wasn’t too expansive. Past the clearing of the Corrupted King, windows lined the corridor from which we could peer outside—even if all we saw was a sort of void, suggesting that there was nothing else on this map. Maybe it won’t take long to beat this dungeon after all.

Once we’d eaten and rested a while, we set off again. We chose to go right at the fork and kept walking until we came to a larger clearing than before. There wasn’t any monster that looked like a boss, but there were a decent number of lesser monsters, several of which we had faced previously: Fallen Angels, Goddess’s Sentries, Euphoric Angels, Mischievous Mice, and Swarming Soot. Every one of them was a threat too. The Mischievous Mouse and Swarming Soot were relatively weak on their own but made up for it with numbers and had given us quite a challenge when we’d first encountered them.

“Ten mice, twelve o’clock!” Kent shouted.

“I’m going to freeze them all with my spells! Coldest Blizzard!” Luna’s magic stopped the mice for just long enough to land two more AoE attacks that finished them off.

It didn’t take long for us to clear the rest of the monsters.

“Great! Now we can move on to—” Kent began but halted mid-step. “It’s...Flaudia.”

Goddess Flaudia ruled over everything regarding Light magic and healing in this world. That was why you had to pray to Flaudia’s statue to become a Healer and why the cathedrals in Zille enshrined her. However, the goddess had turned out to have completely self-centered motives when we’d last encountered her. She was evil, at least from the perspective of us mere mortals.

She wore a white dress, her straight golden hair reaching her ankles. Her face looked beautiful and compassionate...but also terrifying. Pure-white wings on her back spread wide as if to symbolize her influence over the world.

Before I’d even realized it, my grip had tightened on my staff. This fight was going to be the toughest fight I’d ever faced. I felt that in my bones. “I hope we can take her down quickly, but I don’t know...” I breathed.

“This is what we trained for. No one’s gonna give up, no matter how long it takes.” Rudith cracked a grin and patted my head. That was all it took for relief to bloom in my chest. I could breathe again.

It’s so nice to have allies you can trust. “Okay. Let’s eat our fruit and then go in for the final battle!” I took out a Fresh Fruit Soda, and Kent, Cocoa, Tarte, Tithia, and Leroy followed suit.

“Wait a minute,” Rudith said. He stood a step closer than the rest of the party, like he was their advocate.

“Oh, right. You guys don’t have Fresh Fruit Soda. I have some extra, so you should all take one. It tastes good,” I offered.

“All right, thanks,” Rudith said.

I handed them each a Fresh Fruit Soda—the item we’d bought from a street vendor in Eden. It was a pretty busted item too since it gave a fifty percent boost to our total mana for thirty minutes. As we drank the soda, I made sure to heal our mana with Moonlight.

“This is great!” Frey said, beaming as she ate the pieces of fruit from her cup. “Where did you get these? Can you take me there? I can’t believe it tastes this good and boosts your mana!”

“They sell them in Eden...but it’s a pretty grueling road to get there,” I said. Specifically, it involved walking through an active volcano. Still, I’d been wanting to go back to Eden someday, so I told Frey I’d take her...if the opportunity arose. There were so many new locations I wanted to visit first! “Oh, are we all done? The effect only lasts thirty minutes, so if we’re all ready, we should go now!”

Everyone nodded, showing me that they were ready.

“All right!” Kent called, and the others echoed him.

“Here we go! Let’s beat this trial!” I said, and once again, the party met my call with a cheer.

Goddess Flaudia stood in the center of the large clearing, gazing our way with a calm smile on her face.

I almost shuddered at the sight of her, but there was no backing down. We just pumped ourselves up. Come on, me!

“Taunt!”

“Cursed Health Reduction!”

Just as Kent drew Flaudia’s attention, Mio used a Skill that would lower Flaudia’s HP. The more we could weaken her, the better.

“How dare you defy a goddess, you fools!” Flaudia bellowed. A magic spear materialized and flew toward us, striking and cracking the floor.

I don’t want any of us to take that hit. Every nerve in my body was on alert as I watched Flaudia. It felt like I could barely afford to blink right now.

All of our attacks launched into action, supported by Mio’s buffs. Meanwhile, Leroy and I were focusing on healing and protecting the party from the countless magic attacks Flaudia was unleashing against us, which was made a little easier with AoE healing. I wanted to throw in more buffs, but my Skills could heal more than Leroy’s, so I’d been focusing on healing while Leroy was doling out more of the buffs.

“Take this! Hero’s Strike!”

“Pathetic!” Flaudia shouted, protecting herself with a barrier.

“What?!” cried Frey.

“No way! That won’t hit Flaudia?!” I couldn’t believe it.

“My turn... Purrtion Throw!” Tarte’s attack found its mark, and Flaudia let out a pained grunt. “It worked this time!”

Apparently, Flaudia couldn’t use her barrier too often without a cooldown. Maybe there’s hope after all. “Smiting Light! Let’s keep it up!”

“Go get her, guys! Taunt!” With Kent’s Taunt as their cue, our attacks flew at Flaudia again. Chugging potions like water, we unleashed Skill after Skill, pushing ourselves to our very limits.

“Protective Light!” Leroy came up next to me and blew out a breath. “I didn’t know how we were going to do this when I first learned that we were facing Flaudia...but it looks like we’re managing.”

I nodded. I’d been concerned too, unsure of how difficult a dungeon designed for the Holy Maiden would be. Apparently, now that we’d gained more levels and practiced our teamwork, it wasn’t too difficult for our party to clear. “Still, the fight isn’t over. It’s common for enemies to grow stronger as a battle progresses.”

“I see— What?!”

“No!”

Just as soon as I’d mentioned the possibility of a boss powering up, shimmering white light enveloped Flaudia. Forcing myself to move and not freeze, I quickly reapplied buffs to everyone. Big attack incoming!

“Get down!” Kent bellowed.

Without stopping to think, we all dove to the ground. Just as we hit the floor, a shock wave came. As hard as I tried to hold my ground, I was pushed a few centimeters away from Flaudia. She’s too strong! Was she playing around at first?! I lifted my head and saw that Kent had been hit with the full force of the attack, having protected Frey, who’d made the snap decision to jump aside instead of hitting the floor.

“Heal Absolutely! Protective Light! Holy Maiden’s Boon!” Healing Kent from the massive damage he’d taken, I tried to figure out what to do, cogs turning in my mind faster than ever before.

Flaudia still had an unruffled smirk on her face, showing that she was nowhere near going down. Even worse, she chuckled in a way that chilled my spine. “You should be honored that you have become my flesh and bone. Now, kneel before me.”

“Another AoE... Get down!” I shouted, and we all immediately ducked. We’d learned the drill from the first attack. A powerful gust whooshed over my head. This doesn’t bode well for our prospects of victory, though.

After racking my brain for a breakthrough, I thought I’d found a chance of one, except...I wasn’t too eager to use this method. While I stood deliberating, Flaudia swung her staff.

“Taunt!”

“Goddess’s Protection!”

“Merciless Retribution!”

Kent drew the attack to himself, Leroy used a defensive Skill, and Tithia struck a powerful blow. Great teamwork. A moment later, Kent was blown away, then Leroy, who’d dived in front of Flaudia’s attack to protect Tithia.

“Leroy!” I cried out.

“I’m not going down yet... But we can’t go on like this. Even though we still haven’t drunk our Energizer Potions, I’m afraid we’ll run dry of resources before we can defeat her,” Leroy said, stating what I’d feared in black-and-white terms.

I could only scrunch up my face in disgust. That’s it, then. There’s no other option. With a deep breath, I took a step toward Flaudia.

“Lottie?! Don’t get too close!”

“I’m okay.” I gave Rudith a smile and stared Flaudia down. The Skill I was about to use was a risky die roll. Will this bring us a blessing or a curse? Nobody knows. “Wish us luck. Holy Maiden’s Prayer!” I shouted and struck a prayerful pose.

Light shone above my head, an invisible chorus sang in beautiful harmony, and shimmering ribbons of light swirled in the air. From among the ribbons appeared an angel—the same Angel who’d appeared to us before. I had never used Holy Maiden’s Prayer—a Skill unique to my job—because its description had said that I could summon an angel. I had hoped that it was some powerful Skill that could turn the tide of this battle, but alas. It couldn’t have been that easy. Now my horrible suspicions had been confirmed.

“My, who summons me to—” Angel’s expression soured. “Sharon.”

“You know, I should be the one looking at you like that,” I said.

“If you summoned me, you must have become the Holy Maiden. So you weren’t sacrificed to Goddess Flaudia. Color me surprised. Very surprised.” Angel had put on a friendly mask when we’d first met her. Now that we’d seen her true colors, she apparently had no intention of hiding them. She still kept up her saccharine tone, but she used it to spit casual and direct insults.

“No way... You can summon an angel...?” Mio breathed, staring at me wide-eyed. Then, she clasped her hands in prayer and bowed to Angel. It wasn’t surprising that she was a devout angel-worshipper, given her previous job as a Priestess.

Angel looked around and muttered in recognition, “The trial...” Then, she spotted Flaudia and furrowed her brow.

There goes my secret weapon, I thought. Even though Flaudia was the boss monster of the trial, Angel had to have reservations about killing the one she’d formerly served. As I started to rack my brain for another solution, the look on Angel’s face changed.

“If I defeat this Flaudia...maybe I’ll become a goddess,” she said.

“What?! Angel!” I shouted. That came out of left field. Who could have expected an angel to try and usurp the very goddess she served? Well, given the presence of Fallen Angels, maybe it’s not uncommon for angels to turn on their masters. My curiosity aside, my Skill had definitely made things more complicated. We were meant to defeat the goddess in this quest, not create a new one. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious where that plotline would go, but this wasn’t the time!

“You’ve been a goddess for a long time, Flaudia. Don’t you think it’s time you pass the baton to some young and pretty angel like me? Then you could serve me, Sharon. What an honor that would be for you,” Angel said, tone smug.

I hated to break it to Angel, but she wasn’t an improvement on Flaudia by any means. “And while we were talking, Flaudia readied herself to attack again!”

“Oh, fine. Since I am an angel of your summoning now... Angelic Shields!” Angel raised her hands before her and used a defensive Skill that generated a line of shields, each decorated with an adorable pair of angel wings. Angel’s pride in her appearance wasn’t unfounded—even her Skill was cute. Flaudia raised her staff and shot a bolt of lightning—which was easily deflected by the row of shields.

“What? You’re super strong, Angel!” I said.

“I know. You can always remind me, though,” Angel replied, beaming with pride. “I am the one who deserves to be a goddess!” she exclaimed, swinging a divine halberd. All she had to do was gently wave her weapon in the air for a gust of wind and a powerful blow to send Flaudia flying and crashing into the wall at the far end of the clearing.

“How strong is Angel?” Kent asked, all recovered now.

“That won’t stop her,” Angel said. “Even though I am super cute, strong, and powerful, I’m only Flaudia’s servant. My attacks alone won’t defeat Goddess Flaudia.” That was why she needed us, she explained.

Despite her aggressive attitude, Angel’s Skills were more focused on support. Her attack, or several of them, would not be enough to defeat a boss. But...Angel was summoned by my Skill, I realized. She may become stronger as I gain levels and improve my equipment.

I put distance between myself and Flaudia, scanning the entire battlefield. Our damage from Flaudia had been healed. Thanks to Angel’s defenses, we now had room to breathe. We had to seize our chance and attack Flaudia all at once.

“Mio, cover me! Smiting Light, Smiting Light, Smiting Light...” I went on tripling everyone’s Attack for the coming barrage.

Meanwhile, Mio took care of our usual protective buffs. “Regeneration, Mana Rations, Goddess’s Protection!”

Then, Angel fluttered her wings and floated into the air. “Fine. If this will help me become a goddess... Angel’s Blessing!” When she used her Skill, something shimmering rained down from the sky. It must have been a buff because I felt a new strength course through me.

“All right, let’s do this! Taunt! Steadfast Leader!”

Seeing that Kent had secured Flaudia’s attention, everyone fired off their Skills.

“Hero’s Strike!”

“Dragon Lance!”

“Purrtion Throw!”

“Merciless Retribution!”

“Dark Whispers.”

“Icy Rose!”

“True Strike!”

“Weave and Shimmer, My Blades a Thousand!”

Their Skills combined into a whirlwind of light. When playing the game, the visual effects from Skills had sometimes overloaded the screen—I’d never expected to experience that in real life. Without even realizing it, I was holding my breath. Still, it didn’t mean we’d defeated Flaudia. I jumped back into support mode, assisting everyone’s attacks. “Smiting Light, Rainbow Rejuvenation, Holy Maiden’s Boon...” Flaudia would be attacking again soon, so I couldn’t let our defenses or healing slip through the cracks either. Mio and Leroy couldn’t cover it all on their own. But we’re close... We have to be!

Panting, Frey chucked a potion bottle aside. “One more time, Sharon!” she shouted.

“Smiting Light!” I’d used the Skill without even thinking.

“This should be it!” Frey said.

“Frey, do you mean—”

“My Hero’s Intuition tells me so! Now is the time to use this Skill!” Frey leaped into the air, the sword in her hand glowing red, its light reflected in her eyes. “Take this! Sword Sharpened by Bravery!”

“How could...mere humans...?!”

While Flaudia’s dying scream reverberated around us, I sprinted across the room. Stretching out my hands, I just managed to catch Frey before she collapsed to the floor. “Heal Absolutely, Holy Maiden’s Boon, Moonlight, Starlight! Frey, hold on! Can you hear me?!”

With ragged breaths, Frey answered me. “I thought...I was going to die...” Then, she passed out, despite the effects of my Skills.

“Frey!” I cried, trying—and failing—to stand up with her in my arms.

Rudith ran over and scooped her from my embrace. “Lottie, what’s going on?!”

Everyone else was running over too, Frey’s name on their frantically moving lips.

“The Skill Frey used... It’s like she spent all of her strength for it, save for a sliver of HP. Did you see how powerful it was?” In the game, I supposed, it would have spent all her mana and all but 1 HP. Thank goodness the Skill didn’t demand Frey’s entire life.

“That was something else,” Rudith said. “Is she...knocked out?”

“Yes. I’ve healed her, and she doesn’t look sick. It’s like her body is sleeping so she can recover,” I said.

“Got it. I’m glad she’ll be all right,” Rudith said, and the rest of the party echoed his relief.

“What is that?!” Tarte yelped.

I turned to follow her gaze. Where Flaudia had stood, there were only particles of light. Just as I thought they were going to dissipate like any other defeated monster, the light particles rearranged themselves into the shape of a staff. The staff shone with a mystical aura and was wrapped in multiple layers of fabric. A glimmering white jewel shone atop it and its handle was made of crystal, shining with layered blue and green light. Apparently, it wasn’t a dropped item but a guaranteed reward for defeating Flaudia.

“It’s made from light? Ameowzing...” Tarte breathed dreamily—the others seemed to share her sentiment.

“Goddess Flaudia’s...staff.” I slowly approached the staff and reached for it.

Just before my hand touched it, a voice said, “Wait!” Angel was suddenly right beside me. “If I take that staff, it may make me a goddess...!”

Right. She wants to be a goddess. Seeing the anticipation in her eyes, I couldn’t tell Angel no. Besides, it was thanks to her that we’d made it through this fight. But I wanted that staff because I’d never seen it, even in the game.

Angel seemed to pay no mind to my opinions. “A worthy staff for me,” she declared, reaching her hand for it...but she couldn’t touch it. “What?! What is this supposed to mean?!” Angel reached again and again for the staff, but her hand passed through it as though it were a hologram or something.

“Hmm... Looks like you weren’t worthy of the staff,” Rudith said.

Angel’s cheeks reddened in outrage, and she turned her back upon the staff. “Fine. That’s just Flaudia’s staff. There’s a better one out there somewhere, meant for me.”

“How does this work?” Rudith asked as he reached for the staff and watched his hand pass through it. “I can’t grab it either. Maybe it has to be Lottie.”

“This is a dungeon built for the Holy Maiden. I think the staff is meant for Meowster.”

All eyes shifted to me.

“I-In that case...” Tentatively, I touched the staff. I could feel it against my fingertips, and my hand didn’t pass through it. “This staff is...” I picked it up in my hand—it was as light as a feather. The handle was bronze colored, old and worn. The embedded crystals and jewels, along with the adornments of wings and ribbons, gave it a mystical feel.

Staff of Appointment

Allows the user to appoint someone to the position of Holy Maiden’s Guardian.

While in the same party as the Holy Maiden, a Holy Maiden’s Guardian’s stats all increase by 50%. When they are not in her party, all stats are halved.

I took in the description. It meant that I could appoint people to a position that was kind of like who the Paladins were to the Pope. In exchange for the promise of an insane buff came a very harsh restriction. I’m assuming whomever I appoint has their job changed to “Holy Maiden’s Guardian.” I couldn’t appoint my guardians lightly, then. Not only would they revert to level 1, they’d have to switch their jobs all over again if they ever decided to part ways with me. Verifying the specific effects of the staff would have been much easier if we had been in the game.

“That looks like an incredible staff. Is this going to be your weapon going forward?” Rudith asked.

“No. This staff is...ceremonial. It’s not meant for combat,” I said and then explained what I’d read about the staff to the party.

“What a staff. It’s difficult to use, isn’t it? Considering that some of us will eventually leave your party,” Rudith said.

“Yeah. I don’t even know what Skills would be available to a Holy Maiden’s Guardian. Maybe I’ll never use it,” I said. It was a shame that the reward at the end of this grueling dungeon would rot in my Storage, but it just wasn’t worth the risk.

“What?!” Angel blurted out. “You have your hands on the Staff of Appointment and you’re not going to use it...? There should be people to protect you, Holy Maiden Sharon.”

“I’m fine alone— Well, with normal allies,” I corrected, keeping to myself how Angel’s recommendation had made me even more scared of the staff.

Pretty soon, everything around us began to glow slightly. With the boss defeated, the dungeon was slowly vanishing.

“Wh-What’s going on?!” Kent shouted.

“Ground’s shaking!” Rudith chimed in.

“Calm down,” I told the group. A dungeon always had an escape route at the end. “Don’t worry. A door is going to appear, and we’ll be able to leave from there.”

Immediately, everyone started scanning the place. Soon, a door decorated with carvings of angels materialized where we’d first come through to the clearing—our exit.

“It’s easy peasy on the way out!” Tarte purred.

“Yeah. We beat the dungeon, so we can go home!”

“Yes, Meowster!”

We opened the door and returned to my room. The key was gone, and half a day had passed. I’d count this as a decent win since we didn’t have to use our Energizer Potions. At some point, Angel had disappeared. Because she was a summon from a Skill, maybe she only stuck around for a certain amount of time. I’d have to experiment with that. Everyone was cheering and congratulating each other for getting through the dungeon safely.

“Lottie, what should we do with Frey?” Rudith asked.

“I think she’ll still be out for a while. Can you lay her on her bed in the room she’s been staying in?”

“Got it.” Carrying the still-unconscious Frey in his arms, he opened the door—letting in the sound of screams and several voices crying out for help.

I thought someone in the house was in trouble for a moment before I realized that the screams were coming from the street outside. Kent had run to the window and was peering out of it now. “Kent, what’s going on?!” I asked.

“What is going on...? There’re monsters all over the city!”

I rushed to the window to see that the streets were overflowing with monsters. Farblume knights were fighting hard to hold them off, but none of them was having an easy battle. What’s happening?!

“Why are there monsters here?!” Tarte asked.

“I don’t know! But if we don’t take them out quickly, it’s going to get bloody!” Kent shouted.

“Mother! Father!” I turned to run out of the room when Rudith slammed the bottom of his sheathed sword against the ground, having placed Frey on the couch in my room.

“Calm down!” he commanded.

“But—” I began to protest.

“There’s no sense in panicking. Lottie, Kent, Cocoa—scan the house. Tarte, come with me to the Order of Knights. Luna, can I leave you in charge of Frey?”

Everyone nodded, accepting Rudith’s orders.

“You can leave Frey to me. I’m an Archmage now. No one’s hurting me or her that easily. Once she wakes, we’ll join you.”

“Great,” Rudith said, relieved that Frey was taken care of. “Everyone else, take out as many monsters as you can. From what I can see, none of them are too scary...but don’t let your guard down.”

“Okay.”

“We won’t!”

“Monsters attacking the city... It’s terrible,” Tithia murmured. “I’m going to save as many people as I can.”

“I am with you always, Your Holiness.”

“I can’t let those monsters eat all the delicious food in the city...!”

As soon as we’d all agreed, Rudith called his Dragon and partner, Mach. Flying to the castle would be the quickest way there. I assumed he was bringing Tarte along to take inventory of healing items and have her replenish the stores if necessary.

I turned on my heel and faced the door. “Kent! Cocoa! Let’s go!”

“R-Right!”

“Coming!”

While we dashed out into the hallway, the others also sprang into action—leaping out of the window and engaging with any monsters they saw. Rudith and Tarte had already flown off.

“Everyone, be careful...” I breathed. We have to find out why this is happening!

At the End of the Road Paved with Greed

Hearing a scream always put me on edge, no matter how many times it happened. To be honest, I didn’t want to become the kind of person who wasn’t rattled when they heard a scream. Frightful screams had a nasty habit of becoming infectious. Why are there monsters flooding the streets? We’d just come back from completing Holy Maiden’s Trial, and we’d been thrust into chaos. At first I suspected that the trial quest wasn’t really over, but the lack of a quest window suggested this wasn’t a quest of any kind. That left me with no clue as to the cause of this monster outbreak.

With a sickly feeling of uncertainty, I leaped out into the hallway with Kent and Cocoa. We scanned the halls, ready to fight anything that came our way...but there were no threats in sight. It was too early to sigh in relief, though.

“It’s too quiet in the house,” Kent pointed out.

“Usually, the staff are walking the halls,” Cocoa added.

Seeing how nervous they were, I tried to keep a reassuring tone. “It’s okay. I’m sure they’ve evacuated. We employ private guards just for the house, so they can deal with a few monsters.”

“That’s good to hear,” Kent said. “Let’s make sure there aren’t any monsters left inside!”

“Agreed,” I said.

With Kent taking the lead, the three of us made our way through the house. As Cocoa had pointed out, there were no staff to be seen—they must have evacuated to the basement.

We carefully descended the stairs and spotted a Goblin and Cat Swordsman on the first floor. One of our private guards lay motionless beside them.

Forcing myself to stay calm through the rush of dread and cold sweat, I used my Skills. “Heal Absolutely. Protective Light. Holy Maiden’s Boon!”

“I’m going in! Taunt!”

“Awaken from the World of Dreams—Lightbird!”

While I healed the guard on the floor, Kent drew the monsters’ attention and Cocoa attacked. Lightbird—the most powerful AoE attack available to Lyrical Sorcerers—summoned a bird made of light that attacked any monsters in the vicinity. It took out the pair of monsters without a fuss, letting us rush over to the guard. Luckily, I’d used my Skills in time—his injuries were healed, and he was conscious again. Oh, thank goodness!

“Miss Charlotte! Am I glad to see you safe...!” the guard said the moment he awoke.

“I’m sorry it took me so long. Do you know what happened?” I asked.

“No... Suddenly the city was full of monsters, and no one knows why. Any monsters in the house did not spawn here—they came in from the streets.”

“Okay...” I breathed, allowing myself to feel a little relieved.

Goblins were a common type of monster that appeared in various areas, but Cat Swordsmen usually only appeared in Cattail Field. Under normal circumstances, these two monsters would not have been found in the same place. That meant that the citywide outbreak had been manufactured—either by someone in this world, or as a kind of special event coded into Reas. The timing seemed too coincidental for my trial to be unrelated, but considering that monsters had spawned all over the city—and not in my room where I’d used the key to trigger the trial—that possibility was seeming less and less likely.

“Mana Detection... There aren’t any more monsters nearby.”

“Thanks, Cocoa. Is everyone else in the basement?” I asked the guard.

“Y-Yes. Except those who can fight, everyone in the house has evacuated downstairs. The guards are sweeping the house and fighting monsters in the city.”

“I see. Thank you for your courage during this chaotic situation,” I said.

“Only doing my job, miss!”

No one else in the house had been injured, by the sound of it. “My brother went to take command of the Order of Knights. It won’t take them long to get this under control. Could you guard the house until then? And I’ll be directing anyone in the street who doesn’t have a place to go to come here. Can you take them in?”

“Yes, miss!”

Leaving the healed guard at his post, we went out into the city. We stood there for a moment, overcome by the madness of people fleeing or fighting the monsters upon monsters filling the streets.

“How did this happen...?” Cocoa murmured, mirroring my thoughts exactly.

The streets were filled with everything from Jigglies and Flower Bunnies to Goblins, Venom-Spewing Witches, Beetlers, Rats-in-Hoods, Sand Golems, and even a single Wyvern in the sky. Dealing with monsters in the sky as well as on the ground was going to be a little tricky.

“Taunt!” Kent shouted before I could gather my thoughts. He was right, though. We needed to take out the closest monsters first. Using an AoE Skill, I healed those collapsed around me while I raised my voice in hopes of reassuring them. “We are high-level adventurers! You’re okay now! Everyone’s going to be okay!”

“W-We’re saved...!”

“Take out those monsters, please!”

Hope seemed to spark within those who were fleeing the monsters, although they still seemed to whisper, “Quickly, quickly...” out of fear. These monsters were nothing but fodder to adventurers like us, but for the townspeople who weren’t adventurers and didn’t have jobs suited to combat, they were plenty terrifying.

“Leave some for me!” With easy swings of his sword, Kent began taking out the weaker monsters while Cocoa focused on the stronger ones.

My task was to heal and protect the injured. I ran over to a woman on the ground holding a child in her arms—she must have protected him from the monsters like that. “Can you stand?” I asked her. “House Cocoriara is just down the street, and there are guards. You should evacuate there.”

“T-To the duke’s residence...?! Th-Thank you!”

“There’s no need to thank me. Hurry.”

“I will!” Carrying her child in her arms, she ran off in the direction of my house.

“It’s over!” Kent shouted while I watched the woman go. “Most of the monsters around here are taken care of.”

“Yeah, I think we should keep moving and take out the other monsters, but... Mana Detection. There aren’t many left at all,” Cocoa said.

“In the whole city?”

“I can only sense a few,” Cocoa said. “Do you think the others took care of them?”

“These aren’t strong monsters to begin with. I mean, they are to normal people, but to us...” Kent pointed out.

“Right,” Cocoa agreed.

They seemed to think that the others in our party had wiped out most of the monsters in the city already, and I was starting to agree with them. Wasn’t it too easy, though? Any monster outbreak like this wasn’t good news, but it was such a negligible threat that I didn’t see the point of it all. “I don’t think it’s related to me, then,” I said. “If it were a quest aimed at the Holy Maiden, it wouldn’t be full of weaklings. If there were Fallen Angels in the streets, I might have thought differently, but the strongest of this bunch is that Wyvern.”

“You didn’t see a window for a quest either, did you?” Kent asked, confirming my point.

“Let’s take care of that Wyvern before it decides to come down on the city!” Cocoa pleaded.

“Good point,” Kent and I agreed in unison.

“Taunt won’t work from down here. How do we take it down? Cocoa rides a Dragon and fights in the skies?” Kent suggested.

“No way.” I laughed. “There’s a much easier way. Smiting Light, Protective Light, Holy Maiden’s Boon, Moonlight, Starlight.”

“Wait, I’m going to take it down alone?” Kent asked as I buffed him to the max.

“Ding ding ding! It’s just a Wyvern, Kent. You got this. If you use a Skill, you’ll take it down in one hit. I guarantee it,” I said.

“Okay,” Kent said, summoning his Dragon and taking to the skies.

“You can do it, Kent!” Cocoa cheered from the ground.

“Yeah!” Kent answered and swooped into battle. Immediately, the Wyvern exploded into light, drawing cheers from all over the city—apparently, many townspeople had been watching the terrifying monster up in the sky.

Most of the danger is taken care of now, I concluded. We still had to find out what had triggered this attack in the first place, and I had one guess—even if I didn’t quite believe someone would have actually pulled the trigger and caused this kind of chaos.

Kent landed on the ground. “Sharon, from what I could see from up there, there are still some straggler monsters in the streets, but they’re no match for the rest of our party. It won’t be long before the monsters are all wiped out.”

“Yes! I knew they could do it,” I said, thinking that we should start taking out the remaining monsters and scope out how the city had fared.

A voice shouted from down the street, “Is everyone all right?!” Frey was sprinting toward us, with Luna close behind.

“Frey, you came to already?!” I asked. “How did you wake up so quickly?”

“Who cares?! Let’s fight monsters!” Frey exclaimed fervently.

“I care...” I muttered and turned to Luna.

“I gave her an Energizer Potion,” she explained with a smile.

So you dosed Frey while she was unconscious...?!

“I’m glad you’re here,” I said, despite my surprise. “Frey, can you come with me to the castle? I’d like to get a grasp on the city’s situation. And I’d like the rest of you to keep hunting monsters. Use Mana Detection to make sure they’re wiped out.”

“Right. It could be disastrous if monsters were lying low somewhere in the city. I won’t leave a stone unturned,” Cocoa promised.

“Thank you,” I said.

With that, Frey and I hurried to the castle, taking out any monsters and healing any injured along the way. Of course, if the situation called for it, I told them to evacuate to my house.

“All of these monsters are weak. What’s causing this, Sharon?”

“You ask like I should know the answer...”

“You don’t?”

“Why do you always think I know everything?” I protested. “Well, I do know something that would create a similar situation...but that can’t be it. No one in their right mind would do something like that.”

“Are you sure?” Frey asked.

If my suspicions were correct, there was a culprit who’d caused the outbreak in the city intentionally—even if it was difficult to believe that someone would do such a terrible thing.

As soon as we reached the castle, Rudith found us and said, “There you are, Lottie. We found the culprit.”

“What?” Frey and I responded in unison.

“Really?” I asked.

“You might not be happy to see who it is. Would you like to meet him?” Rudith offered.

“If I can...” I said. I wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to meet the culprit who’d plunged the whole city into pandemonium—and find out why and how he’d done it. After all, the culprit could have used a method different from the one I’d imagined—one I had no knowledge of.

“How is Tarte?” I asked Rudith while he led us through the castle corridors.

“She’s been a great help taking care of the injured with her generous stock of potions,” he said.

“I see.” Pride bloomed within me for my dear apprentice who’d taken the initiative in healing the injured.

“I haven’t told her about the culprit... We’re still not sure how the news will be shared with the public,” Rudith added.

“I see,” I repeated. This time, though, I only had a sick feeling in my stomach. Rudith might as well have spelled out the culprit’s name. Still, I swallowed my exasperation and wordlessly followed him to the dungeons.

Rudith gave a quick greeting to the guard at the entrance and headed to the deepest part of the dungeons, where the cells were visibly more secure than the simpler cells nearer the surface. As we arrived at the final cell, Rudith gestured to the man within. “Lottie, the man responsible for this attack...is Prince Ignacia.”

Ignacia sat shackled and gagged in the cell. I’d guessed as much from Rudith’s hints, but it was still a shock to see my suspicions confirmed. Ignacia had been the only person I could think of who would warrant both Rudith warning me about seeing him and delaying the publication of the culprit’s name. Rudith ordered a nearby guard to ungag the prince. Apparently, I was allowed to speak with him.

“Damn it! How dare you treat your crown prince this way?!” Ignacia barked, pulling against his shackles. “You! Say something!”

“What is there to say? You’ll soon be disinherited. Even if you’re lucky enough to dodge the headsman’s axe, I can only imagine how severe your sentence will be... Of course, I’m not the one who’ll decide it. So, how did you summon those monsters into the city?” Rudith’s voice was so frigid that I could see Ignacia actually begin to shake in his boots. I could hardly blame him. It was such a contrast to Rudith’s usual sunny disposition that even I was a little scared of him.

Seeing that Ignacia had clammed up, I decided to offer up my guess. “Did you use a Pandemonium?”

“H-How did you know...?!” Even if Ignacia hadn’t said anything, the look on his face would have betrayed him. Shouldn’t a royal have a better poker face? Not that I’m complaining about avoiding a full-blown interrogation of Ignacia.

“He used a what?” Rudith asked.

“It’s an item called a Pandemonium that summons monsters,” I explained. “It’s a black sphere that can fit in one hand. The number of monsters it summons is random, but their strength is determined by the level of the person who uses the item. If he only used one, it summoned an extraordinarily large number of monsters. Haven’t you heard of it?” I asked Rudith.

“Oh, that thing! It’s not something you can get your hands on easily,” Rudith said.

“That’s true,” I said, realizing how much more work it would be to figure out where Ignacia had acquired the item from. A Pandemonium was an event item, so the only way you could get your hands on one was through a special event or through a random treasure chest like we had. In this world, he would have had to buy a Pandemonium that some adventurer had acquired and sold. Maybe someone stumbled upon one in a low-level dungeon, I speculated.

“A Priestess gave it to me!” Ignacia blurted out. “The only reason I used it was to save Farblume!”

We all looked at each other, eyes gone wide at his shocking statement. “Frey...your party had a Pandemonium, right?”

“Y-Yes. Mio was holding on to it, since we didn’t need to sell it right away...”

Did Mio give it to Ignacia? The thought had crossed all of our minds, by the looks on Frey’s and Rudith’s faces. What are the odds that some other Priestess recently came into possession of a Pandemonium?

“I’m going to speak to Mio. Excuse me,” Frey said.

“O-Okay...!” After watching Frey leave, I decided to ask Ignacia why he’d used the Pandemonium—had he known what would happen? He’d claimed he’d only used it to save Farblume, which was a pathetic defense for conjuring monsters all over the city. “There are many in Blume who can’t fight off any monsters. Why did you do this, Your Highness? Did you understand what was going to happen?”

Ignacia glared at me. “Why? You have some nerve to ask when you were the one who took everything from me!”

“What?” You’re the one who took things from me, I wanted to say but swallowed my words. “What do you mean?”

“I was going to lose my right to the throne! It’s all your fault—all because you were unworthy to marry me...!” Huffing and puffing, Ignacia continued rambling. “Now Erenzi wants peace?! After hoarding Healers for so long?! I was going to take command of those monsters and seize Erenzi, to show my true power and become king! But now...”

Rudith and I were both speechless. Ignacia’s reasoning was so childish it was staggering. He was trying to take over Erenzi? To say that Ignacia had overestimated his abilities and resources would have been a gross understatement. Even before this incident, Ignacia had lacked the authority to mobilize Farblume’s knights. That was why he’d thought to make those monsters his personal army, even though there was no way to control what they did. Unless he switches to a specific job— Well, that doesn’t matter now.

Clearly trying to conceal his exasperation, Rudith asked, “How were you going to take the monsters to Zille?”

“Using the staff that controls monsters, of course! There’s something called a Monster Tamer Staff in the castle’s treasury, which would have allowed me to command those monsters at will!” Ignacia exclaimed.

“No, it wouldn’t have,” I said, the denial slipping out of my mouth. “It’s just a weapon meant for Animal Tamers, and it won’t do anything unless you already are one. Even then, the Skill is what controls the monsters, with restrictions on how,” I explained, already tired of being here. Still, I could guess that not many people in this world were Animal Tamers, which meant that few people knew about the job. That explained why Ignacia had believed he could control monsters with the staff alone.

“Now that you mention it, I was told that the knights who arrested him confiscated a staff. That must be it,” Rudith said.

“I see... Hopefully, no future royal will foolishly overestimate its abilities in the same way,” I said.

“I’ll speak to father about it.”

“Thank you.” Once my father heard of it, it wouldn’t take long for the information to reach the king. Monster Tamer Staff wasn’t valuable enough to warrant a spot in the treasury anyway—it might even be safer to throw it away to prevent further misunderstandings like this.

“What should we do, Rudy? Now that I know his motive, I have nothing more to ask him,” I said.

“Then let’s get out of here. We have better things to do than stand here and look at his ugly mug,” Rudith said.

“Wonderful.”

“What?! Wait, let me out of here! Let me out!”

Ignoring Ignacia’s screaming, I took Rudith’s arm and allowed him to lead me until we’d put the dungeons behind us.

***

After leaving Ignacia in his cell, I met up with Tarte to help her heal the injured. Once we were done, Tarte, Rudith, and I returned to my house...to find Frey, Luna, Lina, and Mio waiting for us, hats in hand.

“Sharon, we are so sorry!” they pleaded.

So Mio was the one who gave Ignacia the Pandemonium. “Um... Can you tell me what happened?” I asked.

“Yes...” Mio answered, sounding heartbroken.

I guided us all to a sitting room to hear her out.

“Do you remember when I told you that I was working as a Priestess in the castle? One of the people who gave his confession that day was apparently...Prince Ignacia,” Mio began.

“Right...”

She continued to explain that Ignacia hadn’t given her his name at the time. It wasn’t uncommon for people to confess anonymously, so Mio hadn’t thought anything of it. “He seemed to be in great pain, in search of courage to ‘defeat evildoers,’ he told me.”

“Evildoers... He apparently meant everyone in Erenzi,” I said.

“Yes,” Mio said weakly. “After he told me about a staff that would let him control monsters...I gave him the Pandemonium. I am so, so sorry...”

“You knew what the Pandemonium did, didn’t you? You really thought it was okay to give it away to someone you didn’t even know?” I asked. How naive can you be?

“I did know that he worked in the castle. He said he wanted to vanquish evil for the sake of his kingdom. I couldn’t doubt those noble intentions...!” Mio countered.

“You have a heart like a baby bird’s...” I let out a sigh. “Okay. It’s all over now, and I just wanted to know the course of events. But, Mio, you should keep in mind that you can’t trust someone just because of their position or background—myself included. To be honest, the castle is crawling with people who’ll do anything to fulfill their ambitions. That’s the last place you want to trust someone blindly.”

Mio’s shoulders slumped. “Frey and Luna and Lina told me that too. I was a fool. I’m sorry...”

“Well, it’s not up to me to decide your fate,” I said. “I’ll leave that to Frey. You can settle this among your party members, however you want to.” The looks on Frey’s, Luna’s, and Lina’s faces told me that they would handle this.

Mio wasn’t the one who’d used the Pandemonium, so I doubted the kingdom would prosecute her...but only because Ignacia had already been removed from the line of succession, by the sound of it. She’s just a poor girl who was duped by the disgraced prince seeking revenge. If Ignacia had still been the crown prince, Mio might have been brought up on some kind of charge, though. Within Frey’s party, I expected them to have a discussion and decide some sort of consequence for her having given away one of their items without the group’s consent. Even though a Pandemonium was a tricky item to make useful, it would have sold for a pretty penny in this world.

“I understand your reasoning,” Rudith said, having listened to Mio’s confession in silence. “Since you obtained the item in a dungeon while adventuring and simply gave it away, there’s nothing illegal there. Of course, if you had been the one to actually use the item in the city, we’d have to arrest you. We’re not detaining you, but I’d like you to give a statement to the Order of Knights. Is that all right?”

“Yes, I will share everything I know,” Mio said.

“Thanks. As for Prince Ignacia, his sentencing will take...a long time.” He sighed. “There’s no precedent for summoning monsters in the middle of the city. This should be fun,” Rudith grumbled.

***

“Extra! Extra!” Loud voices rang out across the Royal Capital Blume.

I bought a copy from a newsboy and skimmed the page announcing an alliance between Erenzi and Farblume.

“Does the paper talk about Ti?” Tarte asked.

“Yep. She’s an awesome Pope, isn’t she?” I began reading the article out loud. “‘With both countries now working together, an exchange program for Knights and Healers is in the works. Aspiring Healers from Farblume will be welcomed at the cathedral in Erenzi, where they will be able to train in their craft...’ And Templars from Erenzi can come and train in Farblume.”

“That’s ameowzing! Ti must have worked really hard to already be starting an exchange program after such a long conflict!” Tarte purred with pride.

I smiled, happy to see that Tithia’s endeavors to create an alliance were off to a great start. She deserved to see her genuine wish for peace fulfilled.

Someone tugged on my sleeve—L’lyeh. “Sharon, I’m going to buy that.”

“Some skewers? Okay. Will you get me one too? I’ll get us drinks from the vendor over there,” I said.

“Me too!” Tarte chimed in.

“Got it,” L’lyeh answered.

Tarte and I made for the vendor selling fruit soda.

“What are we going to do now? Are we going to stay in Furblume?” Tarte asked.

“Now that the alliance is secured, I think we should move on to our next adventure. Is there anywhere you want to go, Tarte?”

“I want to collect more ingredients for Furmulation. I heard that Laureldite Republic is a good place to do that.”

“Good idea!” I said, impressed that Tarte had a concrete destination in mind. Laureldite neighbored Farblume to the east, in the opposite direction from Zille. There were plenty of Fire items to be found in its scorching deserts. “We’ll register the Gates in every city there. Oh, but we need to visit Cattora so you can register its Gate first. There’s something comforting about knowing you can go home anytime you want.”

“Thank you, Meowster. There’re so many places I want to go...!” she crowed with a beaming smile.

“Let’s decide where we’re going next over skewers and soda! Then, we’ll let Kent and Cocoa know what we decided,” I said with a grin.

“They’ll be happy to go anywhere,” Tarte said.

“I’m sure they will.”

I paid for the soda, met up with L’lyeh, and the three of us began discussing our future while laughing over food and drink.

Epilogue

The news of Erenzi and Farblume’s alliance—which I had borne witness to as the Holy Maiden—rapidly spread through both nations. And that wasn’t the only good news. Tithia had publicly announced the existence of the Adventure Bracelet. This announcement was making such an impact that it had nearly eclipsed the historical treaty. Tithia had tried to talk me into sharing the information myself, but a breakthrough this big had to come from someone at the top, like the Pope.

“I hear people are flooding the Adventurer’s Guild,” Leroy told me, delicately sipping from his teacup.

“That’s to be expected,” I said with a shrug. “We couldn’t allow a free-for-all for the Adventure Bracelets. As a neutral and international institution, the Guild is the best bet to handle it.”

“You won’t hear any complaints from me. I don’t want them flooding the cathedral and turning it into a madhouse.”

“I’m sure...”

While the existence and utility of the Adventure Bracelet had been made public, the means to obtain it had been kept a secret. There was no way to immediately meet the massive demand for them. If they tried, Luminous and the other quest givers would die from exhaustion first. One quest giver in every nation’s capital was nowhere near enough manpower. Until supply caught up to demand, the Adventurer’s Guild would hold tests and only reveal how to obtain the bracelet to those who passed.

Looking out the window, I decided to change the subject. “Are you sure you didn’t want to go with Ti?” Leroy’s silence drew a chuckle from me. “I understand. Tagging along on a girls’ shopping trip can be very daunting.” Tithia, Tarte, and L’lyeh were out window-shopping. They’d also mentioned stopping by a café.

Frey’s party was off to Cattora to register its Gate, and I imagined they were planning to get Torte an Adventure Bracelet too. Kent and Cocoa were off somewhere on their own—on a date, most likely.

Leroy cocked a half smile and shrugged. “I will survive. These are rare moments Her Holiness will get to spend with friends of her own age. Once we return to Zille, free time like this will become more of a luxury.”

“When you put it like that, I’m glad Ti met Tarte and Lulu. I don’t think a lot of people could treat Ti as just a girl and not the Pope.”

“I agree,” Leroy said. “That’s why I’m glad we met you.”

“Me?!”

“To begin with, Her Holiness and I would both be dead without you.”

“Oh, right.” I remembered now. They had been on the brink of death until I’d become an Archbishop and broken their curse...which had been the beginning of the Holy Maiden quest. It had been a dangerous journey, but a part of me felt a little bittersweet that this chapter of our adventure had come to an end. While I drank my tea, I noticed Leroy staring at me. “Do I have something on my face?”

“No, I was only a little concerned...about the prince.”

“Right...” I scowled, remembering the event. Just before the king had sentenced Ignacia, he’d summoned me to the castle because of my past with him...

***

Ten days had passed since Ignacia had used a Pandemonium to summon monsters into the streets. After we’d taken out all the monsters that day, perfect peace had been restored to the city.

With my summons in hand, I headed to the castle with Tarte, Tithia, and Leroy in tow. Tarte was joining in as my assistant, while Tithia and Leroy were there as representatives of Erenzi who’d been involved with the incident from the start.

My father and the king greeted us in one of the castle’s sitting rooms, where Prince Ignacia was seated beside his father. As commander of the Order of Knights, my father stood behind the king, serving as a bodyguard. Ignacia looked so frail and defeated, such a contrast from when I’d last seen him in the dungeons on the day he’d used the Pandemonium. I had to conceal my shock that someone could change so drastically in less than two weeks.

“Thank you for coming,” King Vilhelm began. “We were concerned that he may still be a danger to you. For one thing, Ignacia has deluded himself into believing that you are to blame for—”

“There’s no need for an explanation, Your Majesty,” I said. “Prince Ignacia has told me that himself.”

“I see.” The king’s shoulders slumped—he looked exhausted. “Ignacia will face judgment, of course. His sentence has not been finalized, but I expect him to be imprisoned for life.”

“For life?” I asked.

King Vilhelm stayed silent for a moment. “After what he’s done, we cannot afford to set him loose ever again.” Even if Ignacia were to be exiled, if he went and did something this stupid again, the king could still be held responsible.

I struggled to make up my mind whether I was glad to hear that or not. I was, at least, glad that he wasn’t going to be executed. It didn’t hurt that a life sentence would guarantee I’d never see him again. Even though I knew Ignacia had to face the consequences of his actions, it didn’t make witnessing his comeuppance any less stressful.

“I have a favor to ask,” the king added.

“If I can help in any way...” I offered.

“Rudith told me that you can halve someone’s stats,” he said. That was one of the effects of using the Staff of Appointment I’d earned through Holy Maiden’s Trial. It took me a moment to realize who the king wanted me to use the staff on. “Could you halve Ignacia’s stats? Otherwise, if he were to ever break out, he could pose a threat to you or others. I must do everything I can to prevent my son from harming anyone else.”

To be honest, the idea of having to make Ignacia the first Holy Maiden’s Guardian was sickening, even if I would never have to form a party with him. Still, halving his stats was the perfect blend of punishment and safety measure. Ignacia said nothing, as if he didn’t care one way or the other.

After thinking it through, I said, “Very well. I will halve Prince Ignacia’s stats forever.” I took the staff from my Storage. Ignacia looked surprised that I’d pulled an item out of thin air, but I couldn’t care less about what he thought. Let’s get this over with. Standing, I pointed the staff across the table, right at his nose.

Ignacia’s eyes widened in shock, then narrowed into a glower. “Dammit all, why do I have to—”

“Appoint Guardian.” I made sure to interrupt Ignacia with the activation of my Skill. A shower of light came down upon him, making this look more like a blessing than a punishment. Ignacia apparently thought the same because his hatred had given way to bewilderment. “Will that be all, Your Majesty?” I asked.

“Y-Yes. I apologize for everything my son has done.”

“A king should never apologize, Your Majesty.” Flashing him a smile, I left with my entourage.

***

“It never even crossed my mind when I appointed him, but now Ignacia’s name appears on my stat screen. I keep seeing his name in the corner of my eye every time I check one of my stats. Blech.”

“That is horrible...” Leroy agreed.

“Yes. It really is.” So much so that I planned to dismiss Ignacia from the role as soon as the dust settled, with my father’s and the king’s permission. That would restore his stats, but he’d be back to a level 1 Novice who wouldn’t pose a threat to anyone.

“It was admirable,” Leroy said while I sat sulking. “If anyone else had been in your place, their desire for vengeance might have gotten in the way of making the right decision. I admire you for it.”

“It feels...strange when you compliment me.”

“Sharon...”

“I’m kidding. Thank you for saying that.” I finished my cup of tea and stretched my arms up high.

“That is not very ladylike,” Leroy pointed out.

Is this what Tithia has to hear from him all the time? Poor Ti. “Unladylike is fine. I’m an adventurer.”

“You won’t be moving back to this house, then?”

“My adventures are far from over. I think Laureldite is next on the list of all the places I want to visit. There are so many towns and dungeons left that I’m worried I won’t have enough time to see them all.”

Leroy laughed. “As long as you are having fun.”

“Now that I have some closure with Ignacia, I feel more free than ever before.”

“I can understand that,” Leroy affirmed, and I couldn’t help but respond with a big nod.

***

A few more days later, Tarte, L’lyeh, Kent, Cocoa, and I left Blume and began our crossing into Laureldite Republic. First we’d head to Tulia, the City of Flowers, where we’d decide if we should go through Ryuren, the City of Water, or Flower Market.

“Sharon, wait! I’m going to hop on a Dragon and go get snacks! I’ll be right back!” L’lyeh pleaded.

“Should we stretch our paws a moment?” Tarte suggested.

“I thought you’d get hungry, Lulu,” Kent said. “So I packed a bunch of snacks.”

“I actually waited three hours to get those cookies,” Cocoa chimed in.

This was the kind of party we were—the kind that could get excited about sharing all the snacks we’d brought.

“I asked my head chef to pack us some snacks too! I even have some full-course meals!” I announced, and L’lyeh’s eyes blazed with hunger. Apparently, this Goddess of Darkness still favored the Cocoriara chef’s cooking.

“Wait— Monster!” Kent announced.

“Smiting Light! Food will have to wait!”

Just as soon as I said that, though, Kent took out the monster right away, drawing a laugh from the whole party. It was going to be another fun day of adventuring with my friends.

Side Story: Gathering Mewterials Is So Much Fun! — Tarte

We arrived at Laureldite Republic, the next-door neighbor to Furblume, after saying our goodbyes to Frey’s party. Meowster, Lulu, Cocoa, Kent, and I were enjoying our journey, taking the time to walk or ride horses. If we came across a restaurant that looked good, Lulu insisted on stopping and trying their food. I think I gained some weight.

Now, we were in Ifrit’s Oasis, a dungeon in Laureldite. Meowster had told me that a lot of Alchemeowsts frequented the dungeon because of all the useful materials on the first floor. Meowster really does know everything. The entrance to Ifrit’s Oasis was marked by a giant boulder in the middle of the desert that concealed a cave and a descending staircase. Even though the dungeon was called an oasis, there wasn’t a drop of water to be found at the foot of the stairs—just cave walls and hot air.

No monsters here yet. We were still in a clearing that marked the starting point of the dungeon.

“Oof. It was hot up in the desert, but there’s a different kind of heat down here,” Kent said.

“At least there’s no sun,” Cocoa said. They both reached for their water.

I should hydrate while there aren’t any monsters, I thought.

“Tarte.” Meowster called me over once I put my water away. “You have to be hot. Do you want me to tie up your hair?”

“Yes, purrlease!” Just having my hair off my back would make a huge difference.

“Okay, I’m going to make it really cute!” Meowster was beaming, hair ties, ribbons, and a comb clutched in her hands.

I sat down on a rock and said again, “Yes, purrlease!”

“I always wanted to play with your hair. It’s so fluffy.”

“Your hair is so silky and beautiful, Meowster.”

“You think so? Thanks, Tarte. For a girl with straight hair like me, yours is a dream.” Meowster combed my hair, saying over and over again how much she liked it, and tied it up in two high pigtails. She even put matching ribbons on each tail, making them super cute. “Ta-da!”

“That’s so cute!” Cocoa gushed.

“Keeps hair out of food,” Lulu pointed out, immediately finding a practical benefit to this hairstyle. She really was a purrofessional foodie.

“Do you want me to do yours too, Lulu?” Meowster asked.

“Yes.”

I gave my seat to Lulu, whose long and flowy hair would take a while to wrangle. She’d look great with it tied up, though. Wondering how she was going to arrange Lulu’s hair, I watched Meowster work.

“You do have a lot of hair, Lulu! It’s going to take a lot of work to make it into tails like Tarte’s... Oh, maybe I’ll put it into a bun!” Meowster coiled Lulu’s hair into a big bun and left two strands loose so they still looked like pigtails.

“That’s adorable!” I purred.

“No hair in food,” Lulu said approvingly.

“I’m glad you like it!” said Meowster. “That was fun. I think I’ll throw mine into a ponytail while I’m at it.”

She did just that, but a simple ponytail perfectly showed off her pretty face, creating a very attractive look. Is that what it means to be a grown-up?! “You look beautiful, Meowster.”

“Thanks!” Meowster giggled and started applying buffs to us. Now that she was the Holy Maiden, her buffs made us much more powerful, so we could fight without worrying about getting hurt.

Kent, who’d been watching us from a different rock, stood up. “Let’s get going, then!” He looked excited to explore the new dungeon, even though it was a hot one.

“Our main goal isn’t to hunt monsters but to collect materials,” Meowster reminded him, “so we’re going to take it slow.”

“You got it!” said Kent. He led our formation, followed by Cocoa, me, Meowster, then Lulu.

After taking out a few monsters, we came to another clearing full of materials, just like Meowster had said! “Meowster, look at all the Fire Shrooms! I can make all the Mewlotovs I want...!”

“Yep. There’s no one else here, so it’s all ours!” Meowster said.

While I stood there mesmerized by the Fire Shrooms, Kent returned with the last monster’s item and took in the clearing. “These were the ones we were struggling to find in Zille, right? I should have guessed something called a Fire Shroom would grow in a hot place.”

“Zille was a little too cold for these to grow there,” I agreed. That was why I’d been so excited to come to Laureldite. The Adventurer’s Guild here should have plenty of Fire Shrooms for sale—at a much cheaper price since so many of them grow nearby!

While Lulu and I were gathering all the Fire Shrooms we could get our hands on, Lulu suddenly stopped and stared at the Fire Shroom in her hand.

“What’s wrong, Lulu?” I asked.

“Can I eat it?”

“What?!” I yowled. I’d never even thought about that. Mushrooms were usually edible, but these were used to make Mewlotovs—which made them seem very dangerous. “Meowster, is it safe to eat these mushrooms?”

“Uh... I’ve never thought to try them. To be fair, I haven’t heard that they’re dangerous or toxic to eat either. I’m not sure.”

Even Meowster doesn’t know...!

Kent began mumbling over the mushroom in his hand. “It smells like any other mushroom... Maybe a little spicier? What do you think, Cocoa?”

“I don’t know. These are more expensive than normal mushrooms anyway, so I don’t think anyone’s tried eating them.”

“Oh, right. I’d rather eat meat with the money it’d cost to buy one of these...” Kent said.

“Me too,” I chimed in. Instead of buying a smallish Fire Shroom, I’d rather spend that money on meat or bread or cheese.

“Hmm. A mystery.” Lulu stared at the Fire Shroom with her cheeks puffed out. “One day, when I’m a master chef, I’m going to cook one and eat it!”

Everyone looked shocked by Lulu’s passionate promise. I did know that she had been studying cooking in her purrsuit of delicious food. She would definitely cook us some ameowzing dish using the Fire Shrooms! Bubbling with anticipation already, I told her, “I can’t wait! There are other materials I use for Furmulation that are similar to common foods. I’ll show you what they are later!”

“Other foods...! They could taste incredible!” Lulu said, her eyes glowing with excitement.

I was going to gather all sorts of mewterials from all over the world, so she could count on me! “Let’s gather more of them!”

“Yes! All of them!” Lulu cried.

In purrsuit of both of our dreams, Lulu and I gathered everything we could with the help of Meowster, Kent, and Cocoa.

Side Story: Secret Midnight Escapade — Kent

There was something glamorous about the nights in Arcadia, probably thanks to the way the pink peaches were lit by the warm lamplight.

“What am I going to do...?” I muttered to myself as I paced around my room. Since I was the only guy between our party and Frey’s, I had my own room at the inn while all the girls shared a suite. “I gotta ask Cocoa when she’s alone, but everyone’s gonna be in the room...” If I asked Cocoa on a date in front of the others, they’d mock me relentlessly. The endless walking around my room wasn’t giving me any bright ideas, so I decided to get some fresh air.

As soon as I stepped outside, the powerful fragrance of peaches hit my nose, making me a little dizzy. “Ugh. Grow a spine, Kent,” I muttered.

“Why do you need to grow a spine?” someone answered.

“Whoa! Wait, Cocoa?” There she was—the very person I needed to grow a spine for so I could ask her out on a date. “Do you know how late it is?! It’s not safe to walk outside on your own!” Arcadia didn’t seem like a place with a high crime rate, but there were some drunks wandering the streets. They’d sniff out and harass a cute girl like Cocoa in a heartbeat.

“What? You were outside alone,” Cocoa countered.

“Because I’m a guy!”

Cocoa stared at me for a second before chuckling. “I think I can take care of myself...but thank you, Kent.”

“Why’d you come outside anyway? The only places still open this late are some of the taverns,” I said, pointing out that she couldn’t have been planning to go anywhere.

“I heard your door open, so I thought I’d find you out here,” she said, sounding so nonchalant.

“What...?” She came out to find me? “Well, uh... Sure. Did anyone ask why you left?”

“Everyone’s asleep already. Tarte and Lulu always go to bed early, and Sharon’s conked out after walking around the city all day and eating all those peaches. Of course, she must have also been worn out from traveling.”

“Gotcha,” I said. If I’m ever going to ask her out, now’s the time. My palms were sweaty, I realized. I was more nervous than I’d thought. I gotta choose the right words, I told myself, rifling through my mental dictionary with all the brain cells I had.

“Oh, I know!” Cocoa said suddenly, clapping her hands together. “Why don’t we go look at that wild peach grove we were told about?”

“Huh?”

“Well... What do you say?” she prompted.

I probably looked stupid at that moment, but I couldn’t help but notice how Cocoa was blushing. Damn. Scratching my head just so I had something to do with my hands, I said, “Sure. I was also thinking about checking it out.”

“Really? Then it’s settled.” Cocoa beamed.

We walked out of the city side by side. Cocoa and I had been in Sharon’s party for a while, so it had been a hot minute since we’d last been alone together.

“We don’t know what’s out here, so we need to be careful. Don’t walk ahead of me, Cocoa,” I warned.

“I won’t!”

As soon as Cocoa answered, I heard some kind of screech ahead of us. When I looked, I saw some kind of monkey monster with a peach in its hand. It spotted us immediately and chucked the fruit at us.

“Whoa! Taunt!” I managed to deflect the peach with my sword and hold the monkey’s attention. Glad that its attack hadn’t reached Cocoa, I turned to her. “You’re up!”

“Got it.” Cocoa produced her staff and Tome. With offensive items equipped in both hands, Cocoa’s attacks were even more powerful than Luna’s...in my personal opinion. “One, ten, a hundred, a thousand—infinite strands bind those wings and bring judgment down upon the beast!”

Steel chains appeared out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around the monkey. Once the enemy was immobilized, this terrifying Skill struck the target with a powerful hammer. While the monkey was chained and defenseless, I chipped in with my own attacks too.

“All right, we took it down!” I said.

“Yeah! The two of us can handle monsters like that, no sweat,” Cocoa said.

“You said it!” I cracked a grin, seeing how excited Cocoa was, even though we had to be on guard for any more monsters that might pop out. “All right, let’s keep going!”

“Oh, wait a minute! A single monster isn’t a problem, but we’re going to have a tough time taking on a bunch of them in the dark. I’ll use Mana Detection to see where the monsters are so we can move ahead carefully,” Cocoa said.

“You’re right,” I admitted, bringing myself down from cloud nine. “I’ll walk in front if you tell me where to go. The peach grove should be that way.” I pointed.

“Okay,” she agreed.

“All right!” I said to reinvigorate myself and began walking again.

From then on, Cocoa’s navigation kept our monkey encounters to a minimum. We almost got lost along the way, but we eventually managed to make it to our destination.

“This is the wild peach grove...” Cocoa breathed.

“It’s awesome,” I said.

The sight was even more amazing than I’d hoped. When we looked up at the sky from beneath the peach trees, the small pink flowers danced in the wind while the red moon peeked through the gaps between branches. It was a magical sight we couldn’t have seen in the city.

“It’s beautiful here, Kent. I didn’t realize how pretty it would be to see these flowers with nothing but the moon and stars to light them.”

“Me neither.”

We silently took in the peach grove for a while. Soon, I spotted some peach fruit hanging from the trees and remembered my original intention for coming here. Those who eat from this grove together will... My face was burning so badly that I could barely finish the thought.

“Hey, Kent?” Cocoa took a step forward and turned to face me. Against the background of peach flowers and red moon, she looked so... “Peaches! Let’s eat them!” she said with a hint of an embarrassed grin, speaking the words I’d been struggling to form.

“R-Right!”

“Yay! During the day, I bought a peach that looks delicious! Not as good as a Giant Peach, maybe, but it looks pretty good!” She took out a peach a little too big to fit in one hand, along with a plate, fork, and knife—she was going to peel it for us. “Mm! It smells delicious!”

“You’re pretty good at that,” I said, watching her peel the peach.

“This is easy. I helped out in the kitchen back home, unlike someone I know.” She chuckled.

I had no defense for that, except that I’d been trying to learn new things since we’d left our village. “I can cook a few simple dishes now.”

“I like the dude dishes you cook.”

“Dude dishes...?”

“When you cook you’re...energetic,” Cocoa said.

That sounded suspiciously like she’d meant to say “careless.” A small part of me wanted to defend my honor as a chef, but Cocoa had already won the night when she’d suggested we eat peaches under the trees of the grove.

“There you go,” Cocoa said, presenting pieces of the peeled peach on a plate.

“Looks great,” I said. We’d had a bunch of peaches since coming to Arcadia, but they were so good that I didn’t think I’d ever get sick of them. I’d probably eaten more peaches here than I’d eaten in my life up until now.

We raised our plates in a toast and took our first bites. Sweetness exploded in my mouth so powerfully. I imagined that these peaches could get you more drunk than cheap booze.

“It’s delicious. Don’t you think, Kent?”

“Sure is.” I reached for another piece.

Cocoa grinned and said, “I have another one for you too.”

“I’m not that much of a glutton,” I protested.

“Oh? You look like you could eat a whole tree’s worth of peaches.”

“Yeah, I probably could,” I admitted.

We stayed a while longer under the wild peach trees, eating peaches and talking over our adventures so far.