Chapter 133
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 133
I shouted out with confidence.
“Alright, this way!”
“My Lady, please, do not take the lead…”
“The true master always enters from the rear, Lady Tulia.”
Max pleaded and Grans chimed in from the side, eventually forcing me to the back of the group, but I remained undaunted.
It was an item that hadn't been easy to obtain even in The Milk Bread.
Rainbow Fertilizer.
‘But it’s easy for me!’
That was because I remembered every single answer to the quests—the riddles—required to get the item!
…Or so I had thought with such confidence!
“Pant, pant…! 1st Platoon, are you alright?!”
“W-we’re fine! Captain!”
“Sir? How is your leg?!”
“Fortunately, it’s not broken. Just a light graze!”
“Everyone! Reload your weapons and maintain the formation!”
“Yes, Captain!”
“Understood!”
I could feel the hot breath of the knights as they sprinted forward frantically.
I was running too.
To be precise, I was being carried on Grans’s back.
“…”
“Lady Tulia.”
Grans asked while running like a madman.
“How on earth did you find such a dangerous cave in the first place?”
Even as he spoke, an arrow fired from the ceiling narrowly grazed his ear.
“No, Lady Tulia!”
Max, who was running right beside us while dodging traps just as nimbly as Grans, shouted, “What’s even more amazing is how you know the location of every single trap! Did you come here in secret once before?!”
Yes, I’ve been here!
As Corico!
I’ve been here in the game!
But it definitely wasn't a place like this!
I vented all my frustration in a single scream.
“If I had come to a place like this alone, do you think I’d still be alive?!”
“Aha!”
Max nodded enthusiastically as if he finally understood.
“True! If you had come here alone, you would have been turned into a pincushion by now! Ack! Sirs, why did you hit me all of a sudden?!”
Max, who was suddenly struck by several knights, let out a yelp.
“His Grace the Grand Duke said that anyone who acts impiously toward the Young Lady!”
“Should be given a beating regardless of their status!”
“Ack! I get it, so stop hitting me! It hurts! Ow! Ow! Ow!”
“His Grace told us to hit very hard!”
“Aargh! That’s a vital spot! Does it even make sense to be hitting me in this situation?!”
Whether Max screamed or not, the knights faithfully carried out Grandfather’s orders even while running like crazy.
‘When did Grandfather even give an order like that?’
After roughly comforting the sobbing Max, I looked back while still clinging to Grans’s back.
‘There’s no way we can go back the way we came.’
A massive volley of arrows was pouring down.
And they weren't all falling at once.
Like falling dominoes, or like flags used to herd beasts, the rain of arrows was chasing us from the entrance.
Furthermore, giant boulders would roll out whenever they felt like it.
Traps that would drop you into an abyss if you stepped wrong.
There were even defensive mechanisms clearly installed to ward off intruders.
‘It’s only this manageable because I haven't gotten a single riddle wrong.’
But I couldn't understand it at all.
When playing as Corico in The Milk Bread, the game never drove the player into a death trap like this.
—Which plant is never planted in the Temple?
The answer here was number 2, Olive.
If you chose any of the other wrong answers, a message saying ‘You are blocked by a transparent wall and cannot enter’ would appear, preventing you from entering the cave.
Of course, there was an Easter egg.
No matter how many times the message appeared, you just had to ignore it and keep trying to move into the cave using the controls.
After several attempts, the ‘cannot enter’ message would eventually disappear, and Corico would slip into the cave as if she had broken through the transparent wall.
After that, you could easily reach the deepest part of the cave without any restrictions.
‘The problem is that even if you go in that way, you can’t get anything.’
That was why it was called an Easter egg.
To obtain the ‘Rainbow Fertilizer’ item, you had to select the correct answer before entering the cave.
I had only done it once out of curiosity because I heard it was an Easter egg.
‘But this time, I got all the answers right, so why is this happening?!’
Just like when playing The Milk Bread, a translucent window had appeared before my eyes at the cave entrance.
—Which plant is never planted in the Temple?
That wasn't all.
Every time the path branched, questions I knew from The Milk Bread poured out.
‘You’re finally useful, Ddong-byul!’
Since the progression was identical to the game, I solved the problems with a joyful heart. I easily chose the paths and led the knights.
“The right path.”
“Entering the right path!”
Yes.
That’s how it was.
‘So why did it suddenly say "Incorrect" the moment I answered the last question?!’
It wasn't even a question I didn't know.
—Choose the color that Marquis Aster Frezier likes the most.
‘Obviously, it’s number 1.’
I confidently chose number 1, but then, good heavens.
—Incorrect!
The window, which had been translucent like glass the whole time, turned blood-red and began to flicker frantically.
‘Huh?’
Incorrect? No way.
Is something wrong?
However.
—Incorrect. Incorrect. Incorrect. Incorrect. Incorrect. Incorrect. Incorrect. Incorrect. Incorrec. Incorr. Incor. Inco. Icor. Incrrt. Youincor. Stopincor. Oneincor. Donotincor. Youincorincorlikeincorgoingtodieincor. Noincor. Incorrect.
‘Th-this is crazy….’
It was happening again. It was doing this again.
In that moment when goosebumps broke out all over my skin—
“A-arrows are pouring in from behind!”
“It’s a trap!”
“Who touched what?!”
“Just run for now!”
The knights began to sprint forward, literally ‘smashing’ boulders with their absurdly immense strength.
In the midst of it all, I couldn't understand what was happening, so I kept glancing back while running until I was practically forced onto Grans’s back.
‘What is this? Everything was right until now, so why is that one wrong?!’
Did Dad’s favorite color change in the meantime?!
Is this a real-time update?!
I was flabbergasted, but I felt lucky that I had brought a platoon of knights with me.
“Grans, you were a knight too, weren't you?”
“Yes, My Lady. Do not worry.”
Grans, who guaranteed my safety, was very reliable. Meanwhile, Captain Samut, whom Grandfather had assigned to me, ran up close and asked.
“My Lady. The goal is the innermost part, correct?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Understood!”
‘If it were me, I’d just suggest we run away.’
What incredible professionalism.
Or was it a spirit of loyalty?
After passing through the rain of arrows that fell like a downpour and dodging several traps.
Fortunately, the path continued in a straight line. And then, at some point.
“…!”
Captain Samut, who was running at the very front, raised his left pinky finger.
Instantly, the knights who had been sprinting forward like mad came to a halt.
‘What is it?’
“It’s a Class 1 danger signal.”
Grans whispered in a very low voice that only I could hear. He looked around his surroundings with an even more sensitive air.
“I smell blood faintly.”
“…The smell of blood?”
Max, who had moved to my side before I knew it, also warned me in a voice with the volume turned all the way down.
“Be careful, Lady Tulia. There is something unsettling about this entire space.”
The knights were already approaching quickly but cautiously using their own hand signals.
‘I really do smell blood.’
The smell of blood grew stronger as we moved toward the center of the cave. The fishy scent even made my stomach churn slightly.
‘What on earth is it?’
What is happening?
This is way too different from the game….
“…!”
It happened in an instant.
I gasped and held my breath. If I hadn't, I would have let out a loud scream.
“My Lady. You did well.”
Grans seemed to have noticed that I held back my scream. He tried to reassure me in a very serious yet low voice.
But even he—no, the entire knight order, who were moving while suppressing their sounds—was already stirred by shock.
Because what lay scattered beneath the knights’ feet were countless arms and legs.