Newbie Hope Arc (7)
Sisilia led the newbies toward the dungeon. Beatrice's complexion was terribly pale.
"Is this really okay?"
"Hm?"
"Even if you're handling the users' training yourself, Sisilia. Wouldn't it be better to leave it to the academy...?"
The mission assigned to Sisilia was motivation. There was no need whatsoever for her to accompany them all the way into the dungeon like this.
"You make it sound like there's a problem if I handle it personally."
Sisilia shot Beatrice a sidelong glance with her expressionless face.
'Th-that's because—'
Beatrice subtly checked Sisilia's mood. Could she really not have any awareness of what she'd done all this time?
...Does she even have a conscience?
But she couldn't say it out loud.
"Back in my day, we couldn't even dream of something like this."
This woman had a subtly authoritarian streak.
"N-no way. Ahaha... You'll do great, Sisilia."
"Beatrice thinks so too, right? I knew it."
Sisilia nodded in satisfaction.
Before long, they arrived at the dungeon. Beatrice eyed the one ahead of them dubiously.
"Sisilia, this isn't the beginner dungeon..."
"Oh, that one? I checked it out myself. It was meh."
"Pardon?"
"Not fun."
"...F-fun?"
Sisilia stood confidently before the users.
"This is a dungeon inhabited by goblins. The difficulty isn't too high."
The users swallowed dryly at the sight of the massive cave. The dungeon's interior, shrouded in darkness, instilled instinctive fear.
"No need to worry."
Sisilia drew her sword slightly.
"Sisilia of the Windsor Knights."
Whoosh—.
A breeze swept through the surroundings. Tiny sand grains lingered in the air, twinkling like stars.
"The Sword Princess of the Winds, who has conquered more dungeons than anyone, will protect you."
The users thought as they watched her.
Dungeons were scary. There was a world of difference between doing them in a game and facing them in reality.
But with that silver-haired girl by their side, maybe it'd be okay?
Emboldened, the people stepped forward. Sisilia sheathed her sword with a gentle smile.
"Now, I'll explain some basic precautions."
Gulp. Beatrice swallowed.
"The strategy for this dungeon is..."
Memories of past nightmares that still haunted her dreams resurfaced.
—There is no strategy.
—That's what makes it fun.
After that, Sisilia had never once shared a strategy beforehand for any dungeon they entered.
This time would be no different...
"Use this detection magic orb to watch for traps and advance slowly. Goblins are individually weak but clever. If you spot any, pair up in groups of three and attack in turns..."
"?"
Beatrice blinked.
Sisilia was actually giving a proper strategy. For a goblin dungeon that barely even needed one.
And in extreme detail!
Beatrice rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
'She... could do it all along. I thought she just didn't get normal people's feelings because she's such a genius.'
And with that came an inexplicable sense of betrayal.
If she could do something this normal, then why me...?
'R-right. I was just an apprentice knight back then, and these people are total beginners.'
Beatrice forced herself to rationalize it.
"Everyone, please take one of these."
Sisilia handed out supplies to the soft, squishy newbies.
◈ Ring imbued with Lude Windsor's tears.
◈ In a moment of crisis, manifests a single absolute barrier.
"This is..."
"A rare item."
"Holy shit, isn't this worth hundreds of thousands of won?"
The people gasped in admiration as they received the rings one by one. Anyone who'd even dipped a toe into Another World knew the immense value of a unique item.
"Each one's worth about 3 gold, so handle them carefully."
"Whoa, this tiny thing is 3 million won?"
"...At least she's looking out for us."
The feeling of being led to the slaughterhouse eased a bit. As the saying went, even a ghost fattened for the kill looked good.
Plus, the merit of escaping a potential death once was huge.
"If you had something like this, you should've given it sooner."
"Yeah, hand this stuff out from the start."
"Sorry."
Sisilia bowed her head politely.
"I bought these out of my own pocket."
"...?"
Beatrice stared blankly at Sisilia.
You still haven't paid me back, you know.
And there were tons of these rings left. She couldn't even imagine how much she'd spent.
'Well, she did give me something like this back then too.'
Beatrice could accept it up to this point.
But.
"These are potions."
"!"
'P-potions are a bit much, aren't they?!'
Who was Sisilia? The kind who rummaged through panties to find and smash hidden potions.
—The mazoku worked hard too. Ignoring that effort is too harsh.
With logic that would baffle even the mazoku themselves.
Beatrice, sunk in despair, drew circles in the corner.
'This isn't the Sisilia I knew. This isn't the Sisilia I knew.'
Regardless, Sisilia continued her briefing.
"These are high-quality longswords."
"Robe armor enchanted with light protection magic."
"These are magic scrolls. Tear them to release a simple spell."
Only after kindly distributing everything did Sisilia clap her hands.
"Shall we head in now?"
The users, geared up with expensive temsets, brimmed with confidence. Sisilia was kinder and gentler than imagined. With the tension of possible death gone, there was no reason to hesitate.
They strode boldly into the dungeon.
It felt like a picnic.
**
"Alright, everyone, pull out the scrolls I gave you earlier?"
Sisilia was utterly happy right now.
'This is it. This is what I've lived for.'
Soft, squishy newbies. Adorably fumbling in their pockets for the scrolls—it was too precious.
"Fuck, how do you even use this?"
Even the grumpy-looking bald guy.
"That one detects things infused with 'malice.' Want to try tearing it?"
The medical student upfront tore his scroll. It glowed blue and vanished into the air.
Several spots in the dark dungeon lit up red.
"Red marks mean malice—traps."
Sisilia stepped on a thin, glowing red wire on the floor.
Rumble—!
A massive roar echoed as a boulder rolled fiercely toward them.
"Kyaaah!"
Screams rang out.
But before they could react, the boulder was about to smash right into them.
Then Sisilia casually extended her arm.
Thud—!
"...!"
The boulder, big enough to fill the passage, stopped dead in Sisilia's hand.
"Best to detect and handle traps ahead of time, but variables always exist. No need to be too scared, though. Even if one triggers, you can dodge like this."
Sisilia shoved the boulder lightly.
Crack—!
It shattered into powder.
The newbies' eyes shrank to dots.
They couldn't believe what they'd just seen.
"No need to overthink it. Imagining splitting a boulder at the molecular level—anyone can do that."
Sisilia smiled brightly at them.
"See? Super easy, right?"
"...Yes?"
Beatrice finally sighed in relief.
'It's the Sisilia I'm used to.'
She even felt reassured.
But that relief shattered soon after.
"Goblins up ahead. I'll protect you—want to fight?"
They'd passed the trap room and found a goblin nest. Slightly more than the number of users.
Beatrice focused on guarding the users' safety as she watched the battle.
"This is nothing."
"What? They're too weak."
"Why were we scared of these trash mobs?"
"Leveled up!"
The users performed better than expected.
'It's those items.'
Even to Beatrice's eyes, the longswords looked top-quality. Powerful enough to slice well even with clumsy swings.
And the robe armor shrugged off the goblins' rusty weapons without a scratch.
"We got this!"
"Easier than I thought!"
But perhaps overzealous, one user swung their longsword too hard and tripped.
"Kyak!"
A young-looking girl.
Beatrice tensed.
'Given Sisilia's personality, that's...'
Sisilia was ruthlessly cold.
Even Beatrice judged that getting hurt in this easy dungeon with that gear was near impossible.
Unless it was self-harm.
But the girl had managed it.
Knowing Sisilia, she'd deem her 'useless' and maybe even exclude her.
"Sniff, it hurts, sis."
The teary girl approached Sisilia, who was scanning the surroundings.
'Oh no! I should've stopped her before she got close!'
Beatrice hurried over, tense.
"S-sorry."
She'd surely get tossed far away for being in the way.
But—
"Be careful when swinging a sword. The first thing a newbie cuts is always themselves."
"Really? You too, sis?"
"Yes. Of course. When I first held a sword, I cut innocent things and got scolded a lot."
Sisilia knelt on one knee.
"Show me the wound, lady."
She treated it with potion and wrapped it carefully in bandages.
Beatrice froze mid-run.
'...Too harsh.'
A not-so-distant memory flashed by.
—Ugh, I think my arm's broken.
—Here, tree branch.
—Isn't the branch too small? I had to grit through a broken arm relying on a fist-sized twig.
—B-blood won't stop...!
—That's nothing—just spit on it.
And countless other Sisilia moments flashing past.
A profound sense of betrayal and resentment overwhelmed Beatrice.
"Congratulations on your first victory. But... don't push too hard."
Once the goblins were cleared, Sisilia clasped her hands like a saint.
"It hurts my heart if you get even a little injured. So please, be careful."
The guys especially thought as they watched saint-mode Sisilia.
'...If a beauty like that praises me.'
'This world might not be so bad.'
'She's smiling at me. She likes me, right?'
Many were already enchanted by Sisilia.
On the other hand.
'...She never did this for me once.'
Beatrice's cheeks puffed out.
"Let's keep the momentum and head to the boss room?"
Sisilia led the users onward.
The dungeon conquest seemed smoothly on track to anyone watching.
But one person harbored massive dissatisfaction.
"Sisilia."
"Yeah?"
Sisilia tilted her head at the sulky Beatrice.
"...You should treasure your adjutant more."
"What's this suddenly?"
"Dunno."
Beatrice turned away sharply.
"!"
Sisilia's eyes widened.
Had she found out about last week's tab at the dessert shop under Betty's name?
That would be bad. Sisilia was broke right now.
**
"Lucky."
The users heading to the boss room halted.
Sisilia touched her lips before a blank wall.
"Hidden dungeon."
"Hidden dungeon?"
"Extremely rare ones that appear randomly. Usually yield great rewards."
Sisilia asked lightly.
"Want to go? Difficulty isn't high. Even as a hidden, it's from a low-grade dungeon."
"Can't we just skip?"
"You can. Your choice."
The medical student, now the informal leader, pushed up his glasses.
"We'll discuss among ourselves."
People spoke casually.
"Let's go?"
"Honestly, it's been too easy."
"Might as well grab something since we're here."
But some were uneasy.
"First time— this is enough, right?"
"Yeah. Just light experience today."
Ruby especially.
'Purple stars. What does that mean?'
The wall Sisilia stood before twinkled with purple stars.
She didn't know exactly, but it felt ominous.
As Ruby tried to tell the others.
"Ruby."
Sisilia appeared beside her.
Startled by the sudden appearance, Ruby froze as Sisilia pressed a finger to her lips and smiled prettily.
"Shh."
"...?"
Ruby suddenly felt cold sweat trickling down her back.