I Have Only One Thing to Do
I Have Only One Thing to Do
After eating breakfast and even drinking the Stamina Potion I received from Kylon, I walked into the forest that stretched north from here.
Though it was a forest, a path continued through it, as if someone was looking for something inside, and all I had to do was follow that path.
Perhaps at the end of this path, there would be a giant insect monster digging through the forest.
I should have been walking with that thought in mind, but my thoughts kept drifting back to the conversation we had early this morning.
I needed to pull myself together and focus on the current situation, but perhaps it was because of the sudden fear that this situation wasn't leading to the ending I desired.
Why did I have to be tortured? The answer came quickly.
Because there was a King who arbitrarily used my body as an experimental subject to create the Elixir of Immortality.
But Kylon's subsequent questions lingered in my mind.
Even though the Saintess was a major pillar in the Holy Kingdom, the King's arbitrary use of power meant that the Pope was absent, and at the same time, it meant that the King was the supreme authority in the Holy Kingdom right now.
If that were true, what should I say?
That even the nuns at the Nunnery Training Center were all bribed by the King?
I could suspect it, but I also wondered if I was suspecting innocent people.
However, if I didn't suspect them, it would mean the Pope and the King were in agreement, and even that wouldn't necessarily be a good situation.
If Kylon, who had cleared this game once, hadn't seen the Pope, it meant that the Pope wouldn't return to the Holy Kingdom until the Demon King was defeated.
If that's the case, how long would he be absent?
Thinking about it, I felt strangely uneasy.
There's no way the Holy Kingdom could be without a Pope, and if he's been away for so long, he must have gone for diplomatic reasons. But for him not to return until the Demon King is caught, could it be that the Pope's return hinges on the Hero doing something?
Then how?
Kylon, who had only cleared the game once and thus only saw the standard Normal Ending, wouldn't know this turning point. That wasn't it.
If so, I had to find out what he didn't know and somehow summon the Pope. But since I didn't even know where he went for diplomacy, finding that out was the priority.
My head throbbed, but my thoughts didn't stop.
Even as my gaze was directed towards the forest where I was trudging, my mind kept calculating something.
I felt mentally exhausted.
There was so much to do, and I only had one body, and it was powerless, so all I could do was sigh.
"...To explain yesterday's strategy again, the goal is for Flora and Saintess Veronica-nim to hold these shields coated with sticky liquid, and for us in the front line to deal with the bugs."
Amidst their chattering voices, Kylon's serious voice once again cut through the atmosphere.
Agnes and Linda nodded at his briefing, which signaled that it was time to be tense, and Flora also reluctantly gave a slight nod as if she understood.
And something I hadn't seen before popped out, as if from Kylon's Inventory. It was a shield covered in that slime that bugs supposedly hated, and one was given to Flora, and one to me.
It seemed like he had given shields to the rear guard who needed protection.
I thought, 'I'm not going to die anyway, so there's no need to spend money on this,' but then I quickly felt grateful and decided to accept it, thinking about how much I disliked bugs, especially giant ones.
As I slipped my arm through the leather strap attached to the back of the shield and gripped it tightly with my hand, holding it forward to protect my body, the footsteps of the others slowly began to slow down.
Amidst the stealthy steps taken to survey the surroundings, a sashak-georineun sound could be heard.
"...Everyone, focus."
I was nervous, but I had only one task.
If anyone got hurt, I had to throw them a Potion from my bag.
Since I wasn't given a weapon, my right hand, not holding the shield, was already reaching for the Potion in my bag.
Was it a slightly different kind of tension compared to the others who had to engage in combat?
Unlike me, the others had mortal bodies, so my heart seemed to pound unnecessarily at the thought of having to take quick action before anything happened to them.
It's always like this.
Whenever I'm given an important role, whether in a game or anything else, I question if I can do well, and I end up doubting myself.
But since it's not something I can just choose not to do, I just have to overcome that anxiety.
And at the same time, a giant bug suddenly burst out of the forest, paak!
A spider, seemingly three meters tall, looking like it could easily devour a person, crawled forward, moving its huge, hairy legs.
It didn't seem to be a web-spinning spider, but given its hideous appearance, it probably didn't need webs.
Yes, if it used anything, it would probably use poison, not webs.
Three meters tall, and with a body size like several trucks lumped together, I felt overwhelmed.
But Kylon, despite seeing the terrifying monster, quickly gripped his sword tightly and raised it.
"Flora!"
"I know without you telling me...!"
Flora made the first move.
At Kylon's command, she swung the staff in her right hand widely. Then, the gem at the end of the staff shone brilliantly, spewing out magic power.
"Fireball!"
What followed the magic circle drawn by the magic power was a Fireball. It was simple, but perhaps to show that its power could grow even greater with a difference in strength, the magic, spewing scorching heat, was quickly shot out, paang, and flew towards the spider.
KWAANG!
Despite being a Fireball, its inherent explosive power revealed its might, severing two of the spider's legs.
At the same time, crackling flames, tadak-georineun, began to burn the hair all over the spider's body and spread, hwaak, as if devouring the surrounding hair.
Then came the spider's monstrous roar.
-KIIEEEK!
But they didn't stop their advance; Agnes quickly approached from the left, and Linda from the right.
Agnes's elegant Rapier, mixed with her swordsmanship, seemed to stab multiple times in an instant, creating holes in the seemingly thick legs, causing bodily fluids to drip out.
Linda's Knuckles seemed to boost her attack power, as every time she struck the spider's leg, it caused a thunderous roar.
And in between, I watched with wide eyes as he, holding his sword, gathered light towards the monster in the center that was about to spew its poison.
"Kylon!"
Linda's flustered voice followed, and Kylon, hearing it, didn't budge, but twisted his body and shot out that light.
KWAJIIJIK!
The blade of light Kylon shot severed four of the spider's legs, leaving the spider with only two legs on its left side.
But the monster, as if determined to struggle to the very end, spat out poison, tue, and shrieked.
-KIIEEEK!
Kylon's body, having kicked off the ground, lightly leaped, avoiding the purple poison the spider had spewed.
The sight of the strong poison melting the ground as soon as it landed was astonishing.
Is this acid? I thought, tensing up for a moment, then felt as if the forest suddenly shook.
"Three more to go!"
The main body was already as good as caught.
When Kylon said that, Agnes and Linda nodded and moved to block the spiders that would burst out of the forest, while Flora carefully rolled her eyes next to me, trying to spot the remaining one.
It might indeed have been a tough opponent to face alone. Still, thinking that it was only thanks to Kylon gathering companions at the beginning that they could catch it this easily, I looked at Kylon, who had gone to cut down the main body.
Agnes's Rapier skillfully stabbed the spider here and there, draining its bodily fluids so it couldn't sustain life as a living creature.
Linda's powerful punches broke its legs and struck its body, causing internal ruptures that killed the spider.
The moment Flora's staff flashed, a series of lightning bolts, pajijik, drew a line and scorched the spider.
Everyone had their own role, and Kylon was the one taking on the toughest job.
He didn't even know what the Hero's job truly was; he was just fighting because he heard "the Hero swings his sword on the screen. And he defeats monsters."
Seeing him fight surprisingly well, I couldn't help but be impressed.
The moment he slit the belly of the mother spider to kill it, the smaller spiders also shrieked, kieeek, as if screaming, but they soon met their demise from the attacks of the other women.
And Kylon was...
"...Ugh. Kugh...!"
Perhaps because he had cut open its belly to kill the spider, he was covered in purple liquid, having been hit by the overflowing acidic poison inside its body, and was groaning.
I vigorously shook my head to clear my mind, which had gone blank for a moment, then reached into my bag, pulled out a Potion, and ran to him.
"Are you okay? Drink this."
I popped, ppong, the cap off and looked at him, groaning in a collapsed posture.
And as soon as I pushed the bottle into his mouth, he gulped it down, kkulkkeok-kkulkkeok.
"Hmph, this, I didn't expect it to be this effective."
"...Haha."
He quickly emptied a bottle, saying something that might or might not have been a compliment, and gave a bitter laugh.
At his appearance, I could only offer a dry smile.
As silence fell, it was Linda who broke the stillness.
"Kylon! Are you okay?!"
"Really, you don't have to overdo it."
And at Linda's words, Agnes, who responded with a gentle smile, was seen approaching.
Flora was also slowly walking from afar.
Linda passed me and quickly went to Kylon, turning her head this way and that to check his condition.
His armor was a bit worn compared to how it looked in the game, but it still showed that it had endured quite a bit, probably because it was made of good material.
Watching Linda cling to Kylon and ask if he was okay from a step away, Kylon smiled, said he was fine, dusted himself off, and stood up.
What he said next was an order to continue the battle.
"I'm fine. More importantly, now that the predator threatening the ecosystem is dead, other insect monsters will rush in."
"Ugh... I really hate that."
At Kylon's words, Flora grimaced, gripping the shield on her arm tightly and subtly pushing it forward to block her body.
"It's okay. Let's just make sure no one gets hurt."
Despite Flora's complaint, Kylon responded with a smile, simultaneously appealing to the Favorability Score of the heroines around him.
Then there was Linda, who seemed to respond as if her Favorability Score had just gone up,
"Kylon, you should also take care of yourself! Taking risks because of us..."
And there was Agnes.
"Kylon is indeed a Hero, so his chivalry is strong."
Yes, flirt away, flirt away.
Seeing Linda, who was already completely smitten, and Agnes, who was about to fall for him, I realized that the strategy guide Kylon had given me was perfectly accurate.
I also wondered if it wasn't a strategy order, but just listed in order of difficulty.
After regrouping and getting back on our feet, we saw hordes of other large insects swarming from the path we had come from.
They weren't as ridiculously huge as that spider from before, but seeing bugs about a third of a person's size swarming towards us wasn't a pleasant sight, so my Glabellum furrowed.
Life....
Facing those bugs, I simply re-gripped my shield to ensure they wouldn't rush at me.