Chapter 226: Scenario Dungeon (2)
Chapter 226: Scenario Dungeon (2)
In H&A, there are numerous companion characters, each with their own individual storylines.
While the content varies for each, they all share three common turning points:
Recruitment, Growth, and Awakening.
Naturally, Helena’s story featured these same milestones.
Her recruitment wasn't much different from the game. It mostly involved getting close to her while hunting cultists or monsters and then going out to take them down together.
However, the Awakening phase had changed drastically from the original game.
The reason was obvious. Normally, Helena wouldn't awaken as a Saintess until her third year at the earliest, but I had pampered and pushed her so much that she became a Saintess in her first year.
In other words, while the current Helena had awakened, she hadn't gone through a proper growth phase.
I figured I might as well set her growth direction now. That was why I had told her to pick up a mace.
The "Growth" part of Helena’s story involved her releasing her long-suppressed instincts and learning how to take an active role in combat.
Helena had been gifted with such immense talent for divine arts that she had been designated a Saintess candidate since childhood.
Because of that, everyone else—and even Helena herself—was obsessed with her being a typical rearguard priest... but her true talent actually lay in being a frontline Paladin.
Still, I didn't expect her to be this good.
It had been a week since Helena started learning how to fight properly from Gilbert.
In terms of pure combat technique, she had already caught up to the level of an average Paladin, and she had become somewhat accustomed to using Holy Armor.
And she did all that in just one week.
“Are you finally taking me to the dungeon now?”
Helena turned toward me, her golden eyes sparkling. The Holy Armor covering her entire body shimmered brilliantly; she looked truly impressive.
Her sparring partner had held their own at first, but the moment Helena deployed her Holy Armor, they were instantly overwhelmed.
Despite losing, the Paladin nodded in approval, looking at Helena with eyes full of admiration while offering a prayer.
“Yes. I promised, after all. Our side has been ready for a while, so as long as you and Mr. Gilbert are fine with it, we can leave whenever you like.”
“Understood! Then I shall go ask Uncle Gilbert about the schedule immediately!”
Helena dashed off, looking as excited as a puppy told it was time for a walk.
She looked ready to wag her tail at any moment. ...Wait, she actually did manifest a tail and was wagging it.
Lions are felines, right? They say dogs wag their tails when they're happy, but when do cats wag theirs...?
“Ah.”
Right before a hunt. They wag them when they're excited.
*
The next morning.
Iona, having gathered our party along with Gilbert, spoke up.
“Listen up, everyone. You all have your subspace pockets ready, right? Everyone’s been to the bathroom?”
“Professor. We’re not at the Academy right now.”
“I know that! I just wanted to say it once!”
Iona chuckled as she drew up her mana. Dark red magical light surged in the air.
Seeing this, Fay, who was standing a short distance away, waved her hand.
“Don't get hurt and have a safe trip! And if you find anything interesting, bring it back!”
“This dungeon has a lot of rare monsters, so I’ll bring back a few byproducts.”
“Rare monsters?! What type? Is it a subspecies of Greenskin where mutations are common? Or a Drake species with low populations? Don't tell me... is it a special species that's the only one of its kind?!”
“I might be able to bring back all of the above.”
“Whaaat? How?”
“Because chimeras appear there.”
“...Junior. Could you bring back at least one intact corpse without harvesting the byproducts?”
“I can do that for the common ones. For the special ones, I’ll have to see how the situation goes.”
When I shrugged, Fay came running over and started jumping up and down while holding my hands.
“Thank you! I love you, Junior!”
I watched Fay’s alchemy pouches bounce along with her with a satisfied expression before glancing to the side.
While Fay and I were focused on what would happen after clearing the dungeon, Gilbert and Helena were conversing with stiff expressions, seemingly focused on the dungeon itself.
“Saintess. Every dungeon varies in difficulty depending on the monsters and types that appear... but Scenario Dungeons have always resulted in many casualties.”
“I know, Uncle Gilbert. But I’ve grown stronger, and the others are even more incredible. It will be fine, so do not worry.”
“That is true. However, mistakes often happen right when one has become strong, or when one lets their guard down by relying on those around them. Please, do not be careless.”
Hmm. The atmosphere was quite serious over there.
It made me feel a bit awkward for staring at Fay’s chest right before departure.
Wait, no. Are Fay’s breasts as dangerous as a dungeon?
While I was lost in such idle thoughts, the mana intensifying around us suddenly stabilized, and Iona pointed a finger sharply at us.
“That’s enough, that’s enough! Miss Fay, the teleport prep is done, so step back! You might lose a limb if you’re not careful.”
“Hieeeek!”
Fay jumped back to her spot, likely imagining herself being split in two.
Iona giggled at the sight and reached out her hand.
“You know it’s dangerous if you try to resist, right? Alright, here we go. One... two...”
Iona began the countdown. Fay, who had been excited about the chimeras, moved far away, and Gilbert, who had been giving Helena various warnings, fell silent.
“Three!”
The moment Iona shouted, a dark red magical light erupted, bright enough to fill my entire vision. A slight sensation of floating followed.
When I opened my eyes again, the surrounding scenery had already changed.
Whish—
A dry wind brushed against my cheeks. I felt the gritty taste of sand in my mouth.
Before we knew it, we were standing in the middle of a desert.
“...Brother Yandel. Is this perhaps the Sonia Desert?”
“Yes. I told you, didn't I? It’s not that far.”
It was a small desert region located a bit south of Solaris, where the Great Temple was situated.
Originally, it was a verdant land full of vegetation, but it was said to have been completely scorched by the breath of a turncoat dragon during the War of the Gods.
Because it couldn't recover naturally, it had been left abandoned for 300 years, eventually becoming a complete desert.
Well, it made sense. Everyone was too busy fighting or rebuilding to care about planting grass in an empty desert.
Even though the Authority of the Righteous Light shouldn't reach this far, the unnecessarily bright sunlight felt stinging against my skin.
As I shielded my eyes and looked around, Iris tugged on my sleeve and asked.
“Master. Master. No matter how much I look, I don't see anything.”
“Don't worry. We’re in the right place.”
I had just been scanning the area to compare the scenery with the background I remembered from the game.
Thanks to that, I was able to pinpoint the location.
“See that rock over there that looks like a turtle’s head?”
“A turtle’s head... looks like a d—mph!”
I quickly covered Iris’s mouth before she could finish her thoughtless remark and continued.
“If we dig into the sand at the 'mouth' of that rock, it’ll show up.”
“Is it an underground dungeon? You certainly are well-informed.”
Elisha, who took Iris from me and patted her small back, tilted her head curiously.
“Well... it’s just not visible right now, but it used to be. You know how sand dunes in the desert move in the direction the wind blows, right?”
“Aha. So something that was visible before is now hidden by a dune.”
Elisha nodded as if she understood.
She probably thought I had obtained the information in the past and the environment had changed since then...
But it was actually the opposite.
This dungeon, which had never been exposed before, was supposed to reveal itself two years from now when the dunes shifted.
If the dungeon we visited on the way to the Main Chapter was a beginner-level one, this was a dungeon meant for the mid-to-late game, after Helena had awakened as a Saintess.
There was the issue of it only appearing at a specific time... but there were also reasons related to the difficulty and content that made it so.
Anyway, now that we knew the location, all we had to do was dig. Fortunately, we had plenty of mages, so it wasn't a difficult task.
“Hyaa!”
With Iris’s magically charged blast, the sand was cleared away in an instant, revealing a small cave inside.
The interior we entered was brighter than expected. The cave was small, and more importantly, there was a light source inside: the dungeon gate.
Standing before the shimmering blue distortion in space, I turned to look at the party.
“Before we go in, let’s go over the basics. The monsters appearing here are a Chimera Legion created by alchemists who defected to the Evil God. Our goal is the total annihilation of those chimeras, as I mentioned before, right?”
“Yes. They don't have any particular weaknesses, but they have strong regeneration. You said to kill them in one blow if possible, and if not, to crush the wounded area or sear it with poison or fire to slow down their regeneration.”
“Correct. Fortunately, since they were made using the power of the Evil God, holy power will act like poison to them. You remembered well.”
“Hehe. Since it’s what you told me, Brother, of course I would.”
I gave Helena’s head a gentle pat as she smiled softly, then nodded.
“Now, as for the most important part of a Scenario Dungeon—whose will created this situation and why...”
“Didn't you say you only spotted the Chimera Legion filling the valley from afar and didn't know that much?”
“Actually, I do know. I just couldn't reveal it under the current circumstances.”
Right. If I had revealed it, the Pope—who had already recalled the dispatched Paladins—would have caused an uproar, insisting on leading them all here himself.
And for good reason.
“The master of this dungeon is Saintess Clara from 300 years ago. And the content of the scenario is... the salvation of a Saintess who met a lonely death.”
It was one of the few painful chapters in the history of the Church of the Righteous Light.