Chapter 40

In the middle of a desolate land where every other plant and animal had rotted away, the vibrant flowers blooming with such vitality felt alien, yet beautiful.

I had seen them in the game illustrations, but seeing them in person was a different experience entirely. While I stood there wordlessly taking in a sight I had never seen before, Ilian looked at me with an expression of pure bewilderment.

“How did you know?”

I kept my eyes fixed on the flowers as I thought to myself.

‘I can’t exactly tell you that the Sacred Armor I stole from you pointed the way.’

“I’m not sure. I just had a feeling.”

I stuck to my consistent act of playing dumb. Spouting nonsense without a meticulous plan could make things difficult to manage later on.

“As expected, the Saintess’s intuition is incredible! It must be Lord Ralphican guiding you indirectly! Yes, just like a revelation!”

A revelation… Kalat was using his faith to fill in the gaps in logic.

“Wait a moment. These flowers… I think I’ve seen them somewhere before.”

In the meantime, Ilian narrowed his eyes, examining the flowers closely.

“These are magic beasts known as Kektumatu.”

“I’ve never seen them before…”

The protagonist and Arianne seemed completely unfamiliar with the name. As knights of the Imperial Knights’ Order who had subjugated countless beasts, they looked a bit stiff, perhaps feeling a sting to their pride for not recognizing them.

“I’ve heard that the Kektumatu are characterized by their fruit, which bursts and releases high-density demonic energy. Every year, there are reports of people suffering from demonic energy poisoning because of them.”

Oh… This was a setting I was hearing for the first time. In the game, Ivanke had just pushed through with Divine Power before even identifying the beast’s traits, and the narration usually hand-waved it with something like: She swung her sword and the beast died!

“You know quite a lot.”

“When I was younger and obsessed with memorizing the names of magic beasts, I remember reading a news article about an accident involving them.”

-What, is there a Magic Beast Encyclopedia or something?

-Probably. We used to read those ‘Amazing Dinosaur Encyclopedias’ when we were kids too.

-Everyone was a genius when they were little.

“Well, since they aren’t native to the Empire, it makes sense that you wouldn’t know them.”

“Creatures that don’t exist in the Empire wouldn’t just appear out of thin air. How did they get here?”

As if he had expected the question, Ilian answered without hesitation.

“The only habitat for the Kektumatu is the Leber Forest in the Kingdom of Brishwin. In the Empire, they are strictly classified as harmful substances and banned from entry.”

“The Kingdom? Then, could it be…?”

The group gasped as a certain person came to mind.

“The only logical conclusion is that the Countess smuggled them in from the Kingdom.”

“…We can now take it as a certainty that there is some sort of connection between the Countess and the Kingdom of Brishwin.”

“At this point, it would be a plot twist if there wasn’t a connection.”

-For real.

-They really plotted this out thoroughly.

From diamond mines to Holy Relics and now magic beasts—it was becoming faster to list the things that weren’t connected. Ilian continued, noting that they weren’t finished yet.

“And the grade of this magic beast is only Grade 5.”

“Wh-what?!”

-???

My jaw dropped inwardly just like Kalat’s.

“But didn’t you say the demonic energy contamination level was Grade 10 or higher?”

“Perhaps the concentration is so high because there are so many of them, or because the fruits burst simultaneously…”

Ilian trailed off, sounding unsure of himself.

“It’s not uncommon for plant-type magic beasts to form colonies.”

“That’s true. In fact, there have been cases where the contamination level was higher than the beast’s individual grade if it was a colony.”

“But even then, it’s usually only a difference of one or two grades. Grade 10 isn’t a level that’s reached quite so easily…”

The Imperial Knights duo exchanged opinions back and forth, but they couldn’t reach a solid conclusion.

“…Then what does that mean? Gasp! Could it be that this isn’t the Mother?!”

“No, that’s unlikely. The demonic energy dominating this area definitely belongs to the Kektumatu. It wouldn’t make sense for a mere Grade 5 beast to survive in Special Grade demonic energy unless it was the source.”

The protagonist spoke decisively. We eventually judged that we couldn’t find an answer at this moment and decided to proceed with the subjugation.

“Perhaps this demonic energy contamination will become the first case of its kind ever observed.”

Ilian made a lighthearted joke, and the protagonist let out a small chuckle in response.

“That’s a topic students of Magic Beast Behavior would certainly love.”

“Collecting research material like this is part of our job, after all.”

Since we couldn’t step outside the barrier, the plan was settled: Ilian would protect Kalat, Arianne would protect me, and the protagonist would act as the center of the combat.

Ilian placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and asked.

“Have the members of the Imperial Knights ever faced plant-type beasts?”

“We’ve seen them occasionally. I believe they mostly attack by lashing their vines.”

“That’s about all I know as well. Well, let’s give it a try. Priest Kalat, Saintess, please step back for a moment.”

It was the moment the three knights were about to coat their swords with mana.

Kreeeeeeeek!

“W-what was that?!”

We hadn’t even begun our attack when a sharp, ear-splitting shriek tore through the air.

“It seems it sensed our killing intent.”

The moment the shriek faded, thick vines burst from the ground! They were covered in rose-like thorns, making them look even more menacing. To make matters worse, the flowers mutated in an instant, sprouting fruit that they immediately fired at us like projectiles!

‘Crap, if one of those grazes me, I’m getting a hole blown straight through my body.’

The terrifying speed sent a chill down my spine. The game never went into much detail about the combat, so I hadn’t known it would be like this. I had expected the magic beasts to simply flee because of the Sacred Armor’s power…

‘Can they not run even if they want to?’

Well, plants don’t have feet, so that made sense. And seeing as they were attacking in response to our presence, it seemed they wouldn’t strike first, but they would certainly retaliate if threatened. I was gaining some unexpected insight into the Armor’s beast-control function.

Just as my thoughts trailed off, I heard Arianne whisper softly.

“Forgive me.”

Arianne immediately slung me over her shoulder like a sack of luggage! Carrying me like that, she leaped high into the air to dodge a vine that came whipping toward us.

“Aaaaaagh!”

I felt like my human dignity—and Kalat’s—was being somewhat eroded, but we were alive, so I suppose it was fine. Or so I thought, until the next attack came immediately. This time, a vine swung in a wide horizontal arc, aiming precisely for the five of us. The three knights nimbly ducked to avoid it, but another vine struck out low right beneath them.

After dodging backward once more, Ilian spoke.

“There are too many of them.”

It felt like there was at least one vine for every single flower. At a glance, hundreds of vines and fruits were being fired at us. We were already restricted by the condition that we couldn’t step outside the barrier. This was going to be a difficult fight.

“I’ll follow your lead, Sir Hereis. You attack as you please, and Sir Arianne and I will provide as much support as possible.”

The protagonist nodded and immediately began swinging his sword. I curled my body in as much as possible, terrified the protagonist might accidentally slice me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ilian and Arianne following the protagonist’s movements while gathering as much mana as they could in their blades. They were clearly aiming for a massive finishing blow. Sure enough, thunderous booms erupted periodically.

‘So the protagonist parries all the incoming vines and fruit, while Arianne and Ilian back him up by firing the mana they’ve charged up.’

Since it was a situation where it was difficult for everyone to act simultaneously, this strategy seemed like a great idea. Yes, it was all very well and good, but…

Every time we leaped into the air, the impact pressed my solar plexus against her shoulder. Every time she spun around, my inner ear felt like it was being put through a blender.

‘H-help me…’

I felt like I was going to throw up any second. When is this going to end? Please… just finish it quickly…

“We actually have quite good chemistry.”

No matter how many Grade 5 magic beasts there were, how could they possibly defeat Grade 8 knights? The battle ended in our victory. From my upside-down perspective, I saw the tattered remains of flowers and vines scattered everywhere. The protagonist, Ilian, and Arianne were looking at each other with warm eyes, seemingly satisfied with their joint combat.

‘That’s the look of a bond being formed.’

Come to think of it, in the original game, all the comrades who fought alongside the protagonist ended up liking him. Not in a romantic way, of course, but out of admiration or camaraderie.

“Oh! Ilian has been registered! Thirty points? That’s pretty high!”

-Look at this guy, he was playing hard to get, but now he knows our protagonist’s true worth.

-Our guy is pretty cool, isn’t he?

Congratulations, really. But do you have to keep talking while holding me upside down? All the blood is rushing to my head and I’m dizzy.

‘Are you ever going to put me down?’

I didn’t even have the strength to speak or turn my head. When I rolled my eyes to look at Kalat, who was draped over Ilian’s shoulder like a piece of laundry, he looked like he had completely lost consciousness.

‘I honestly might have been better off just passing out too.’

“I felt the same way. We should continue like this from now on. Saintess, please bear with us just a little longer.”

Even in my hazy state, those bolt-from-the-blue words pierced my ears. That’s right. This wasn’t over. There were still plenty of magic beasts left to be subjugated.

“Saintess, are you alright?”

-Does she look alright?

-I feel like the protagonist is messing with her on purpose lol.

-Look at her face. She’s so pale lol.

After treating me like a piece of luggage with a barrier function, now he asks if I’m okay? I felt a deep, primal urge to grab the protagonist by the hair—he was looking at me as if wondering if there was a problem. The moment I was set down, I collapsed to the ground. Even though I had been carried, the tension of keeping my body rigid had left me exhausted. Still, thanks to enduring it, we managed to subjugate all the Mother beasts around the mansion.

“Uugh, uuuugh…”

The source of those deathly groans was Kalat. For the record, Kalat had been dumped on the ground because Ilian had tossed him aside after the battle, complaining that he was heavy. Having woken up from his faint, Kalat stretched and let out a cry of pain from his back. The protagonist, feeling sorry for him, helped him up.

“Huh? Wh-where am I?”

“Priest Kalat, get a hold of yourself.”

“S-Sir A-Arianne? What on earth is this place?”

-Oh no, Priest-nim ㅠㅠ

-Ilian lol, how could you just throw him like that lol.

-Respect your elders please ㅠㅠㅠ

The sympathy for Kalat was growing intense. In a dating sim, even the supporting characters have to be handsome or pretty. Following that rule, Kalat was described as a clean-cut, decent-looking middle-aged man.

‘Visually, he looks to be in his mid-to-late thirties.’

Seeing an older man suffer among all these youngsters would naturally make people feel bad for him.

“We’ve finished the subjugation around the mansion. We’ll continue the rest tomorrow; for today, we’re heading back. Do you understand?”

“Ah… I see! I must have been unconscious for quite a while!”

Since it seemed he had regained his senses, I started to brush myself off and stand up to move out…

“Oh, dear! Let me help you!”

Kalat, despite barely being able to steady himself, rushed over to support me and began dusting off my clothes.

-This is so sad ㅠㅠㅠ

“We can’t have our Saintess’s vestments getting dirty…!”

“…”

‘I should probably be a bit nicer to Kalat.’

He wasn’t even fated to be here, and if you think about it, he’s going through all this because of me.

‘Well, he did insist on following us…’

But still.