41
Chapter 41
This time, the reply came back quickly.
└ [Morning Tent Installation Knight: I'm in the Grain Warehouse. I'm curled up and hiding inside a box filled with wheat...
I'm so scared... Please save me, Noona]
First Princess, now Noona; he's really desperate to survive.
└ [Princess Dina: How many Worshippers can you handle?]
└ [Morning Tent Installation Knight: I don't know. I've never fought one before...]
└ [Princess Dina: What? You're level 2 and you've never fought once? How on earth did you even level up?]
└ [Morning Tent Installation Knight: Just by killing a few Infected... And George's Raid Party told me not to go near the village at low levels. That's why I've never fought a Worshipper.]
└ [Princess Dina: I can't help but laugh. If you'd followed the advice to stay away from the village, you wouldn't be hiding there right now.]
└ [Morning Tent Installation Knight: You're right, dammit T_T I'm a total idiot. I just lost my mind for a second...]
└ [Princess Dina: Is there anything near the Grain Warehouse? Tell me everything you remember.]
└ [Morning Tent Installation Knight: There, there was a Poultry Farm and a Breeding Ground for horses.]
└ [Princess Dina: Stable. There might be a way after all.]
└ [Morning Tent Installation Knight: Really? Thank you thank you thank you]
While everyone in the community was mourning for the fool about to die because of erectile dysfunction, one user was finding a solution.
It was inevitable that all eyes would focus on Princess Dina.
[I Trusted the Monkey Uncle: What's this? Is there really a way?]
[Bramanda: Princess Dina... I don't know what you're thinking, but good luck. I don't want to see someone else die.]
[Cow Bikini Dance: Something... something is happening]
[3-Lifts 500: Isn't it spelled magutgan instead of magugan?]
└ [Dino Punch: Magugan is the standard spelling.]
└ [Takashi Kakashi: I can't understand what you're saying. Is it a translation issue?]
[Not a Netkama: Don't give him false hope. What's a stable going to do? You want him to ride a horse away? He'll just attract Worshippers from other villages. He'll be caught and killed in an instant.]
Hanna is playing devil's advocate again. She's acting like a total Keyboard Warrior.
No wonder she gets cursed at by the users.
I sent her a private message. For her own sake, I need to get her to tone it down.
What if she gets branded as a nuisance and becomes a community outcast that no one wants to deal with?
Then she'd send me hundreds of private messages whenever she's bored. That's a horrific future.
[Stop leaving comments like that. Someone is trying their best to save Tent Knight; why are you bringing them down?]
[Not a Netkama: Is this a depressing post?]
[Not a Netkama: I'm giving realistic advice, so why?]
Seriously, Hanna, please. Let's not do this. We aren't elementary students.
Did she have a rough adolescence that made her this twisted?
[How is that realistic advice? You're basically just cursing him to die]
[Not a Netkama: No, I'm]
[It's annoying, so stop doing it from now on]
[Not a Netkama: ...]
[Not a Netkama: k]
[Not a Netkama: sorry]
[Not a Netkama: I won't do it again]
I might have been a bit too harsh. She might get upset and turn dark, so I'll cheer her up later.
I closed the private message window and focused back on the community.
└ [Princess Dina: When I give the signal, go outside and use the 'Holy Flame' skill to set fire to the Grain Warehouse and the Stable. There's grain and fodder, so it'll catch quickly. Once it's burning, run. You must make sure the fire starts.]
└ [Morning Tent Installation Knight: What? Fire? All of a sudden? I'll draw all the aggro! No, more importantly, I'll be caught the moment I step out here!]
└ [Princess Dina: I will draw the Worshippers' attention. I'm starting the countdown now.]
└ [Princess Dina: 5]
└ [Princess Dina: 4]
└ [Morning Tent Installation Knight: Wait, are you in Linea right now? How on earth...]
└ [Princess Dina: 3]
└ [Princess Dina: 2]
└ [Morning Tent Installation Knight: Please, at least explain how this is going to work]
└ [Princess Dina: 1]
KABOOM-!
In an instant, a massive pillar of light shot up from the east.
It was a vivid and thick pillar, visible even from here at the peak of Symphonia.
I wasn't the only one who saw it.
"Wah!"
"Wha- what is that!"
"Has, has a god grown angry?"
"M-Mallak!"
The Barbarians lingering near the Altar lowered their bodies in surprise.
"...What on earth is happening."
Rake, who reacted first, had already drawn her Curved Sword.
- Stay calm. It's nothing.
I calmed the Barbarians who were startled by the sudden roar. I was just as surprised as they were.
...What. What is this?
Princess Dina. What did you do...?
I used Divine Descent on Rake to ask her quietly.
- Is that direction Linea?
"No. It's the opposite direction of Linea."
What did she do over there to produce such a light?
I quickly checked the community.
[Samurai Jackson: What was that light just now?]
[Full Play: What's happening? Is someone fighting?]
[68-year-old Grandma Kim Jeom-sun's Final Jet Kick: Dammit, I nearly choked on my food]
Every single user in the community saw that light. It wasn't just visible from Symphonia.
└ [Princess Dina: This is as much as I can do]
└ [Princess Dina: Now set the fire and run away]
While the entire community was in a state of chaos, Princess Dina replied once more to that post.
└ [Bramanda: Princess Dina. That light just now, did you do that?]
└ [I Trusted the Monkey Uncle: What is it, what is it, what is it? What skill was that?]
└ [3-Lifts 500: Who the hell are you!?]
The users who had been watching Morning Tent Installation Knight's post began to leave comments one by one.
They were asking if Princess Dina had truly used a skill, and if so, which one it was.
└ [Melee-type Spy: The level 8 skill, Heavenly Light]
└ [Melee-type Spy: Princess Dina, what is your level...?]
The one who provided the answer was Melee-type Spy.
Level 8? A level 8 skill? This is insane; she's even higher level than Abraham.
One might think a difference of one level is negligible, but in Survival as a Holy Knight, the level cap is 10.
Inevitably, there is a massive gap between level 7 and level 8.
[I Trusted the Monkey Uncle: Level 8! Level 8! Level 8!]
[Corrupted Power Knight: Can you do things like that at level 8?]
[Ppu Ppu Ppung: The strongest Holy Knight has appeared, Shiver]
The community was in a complete frenzy.
Everyone flocked to the post where Morning Tent Installation Knight and Princess Dina had exchanged comments, treating it like a holy site.
However, the owners of those comments remained silent.
What happened to Morning Tent Installation Knight? Did he manage to escape safely?
And Princess Dina? Since she produced such a massive light, it was impossible not to draw attention. Had the Dark Cloud Demon seen it?
I calmed the startled Barbarians while my mind raced with these thoughts.
[Rino Johnson: That light just now, what was it? It was undoubtedly the power of Ishtania.]
Karon, you son of a bitch... I'll just pretend I didn't see this. Anyway, it was soon buried under the flood of other posts.
It was only after twenty minutes that a post appeared giving an update on one of them.
[Morning Tent Installation Knight: I'm alive! I'm alive! I'm alive!
I set the fire and ran for my life!
With the pillar of light first, then the burning warehouse and stable, and finally the rampaging horses, the Worshippers were totally bewildered!
I climbed over a wall and escaped then!
I'm posting this after running without a break until I was far from the village!
Everyone! I survived! Dammit LOL!
Princess Dina, thank you so much. I wonder if this is how the siblings felt when they climbed the rope to become the sun and moon.
I'm so glad you didn't give up until the end.
This tension, where the sweat on my palms won't dry...
I... I think I can finally stand up now.]
I love you, Noona!]
Ah, what a relief. He survived. Regardless of how it happened, I'm just glad he's alive.
Now that I've confirmed the fate of a fellow compatriot(?), I was about to refocus on reality.
[Morning Tent Installation Knight: But what do I do now?
I mean... I wrote the title as a joke... but how am I supposed to live now?
I just ran for my life without thinking, so I ended up heading in the opposite direction of the hideout...
To go back, I'd have to pass through the village again... I can't bring myself to go back a second time.
It's unlikely I'd be that lucky again.
I have no food... no tools... I'm probably going to starve to death.
Sigh... I'm seriously such a total idiot.
How am I supposed to survive? I'm completely lost]
- ...
This guy really makes me laugh until the very end.
Still, I might be able to help him this time.
I sent him a private message.
[Are there any mountains nearby?]
[Morning Tent Installation Knight: Huh? What's this?]
[Morning Tent Installation Knight: There is one about an hour away]
There's only one mountain in Linea. The Ash Mist Tribe is located there.
[Head up that mountain]
[Morning Tent Installation Knight: What? Hey, there are tons of Infected there]
[Morning Tent Installation Knight: There's probably a Barbarian tribe too]
[Avoid the Infected and the Devil's Sight on your own]
[I can help you with the Barbarians]
[Morning Tent Installation Knight: Wait, how can you]
[Morning Tent Installation Knight: Ah! You're that person! The Barbarian girl!]
[Yep, I'm on good terms with the Barbarians]
[Once you meet them, disarm yourself and shout 'Mallak!' loudly a few times]
[Act as if you serve Mallak and pray to him]
[Mallak is the name of the god the Barbarians worship; if you just shout that, they won't kill you immediately]
[They'll probably restrain you, but just wait a bit. I'll send a letter to the tribe over there.]
[Morning Tent Installation Knight: OK OK OK OK! I'm going right now! I'm dead anyway if I don't!]
[Don't go around telling the community that I helped you]
[Morning Tent Installation Knight: OK! That's the least I can do for my savior!]
He's such a cheerful fellow to the end.
I closed the message window and looked at the livestock—no, the spirit hovering around Paya.
Screee~!
Now it's time for Tuntun-i, who has become twice as sturdy, to get to work.