<Wasn’t this a Strategy Game? Chapter 113>

As Eden couldn’t hold it in any longer and muttered, Ibthan, who had been staring seriously at the bestiary, looked at her in surprise.

Without caring about his gaze, Eden snatched the bestiary from his hands and started combing through it again.

‘But it says it ultimately transforms into a monster…’

Eden chewed her lip and pondered.

There was only one conclusion. Patriar was also being used by the Dark Sorcerers.

Unbeknownst to the horrific end awaiting him.

“Ha…”

Eden let out a disbelieving sigh. If things were going this way, the only way for this world to be saved was for Asmun to become Emperor, no matter what.

“What’s wrong?”

Sensing something was amiss, Ibthan quietly asked, and Eden looked at him with a complicated expression.

She couldn’t explain to Ibthan that this Empire was precariously close to falling into the hands of Dark Sorcerers, especially as that predicament was being fomented by the 2nd Prince of the Empire. He definitely wouldn’t believe it.

“…No, it’s just that I’m surprised. I didn’t think such things happened.”

“They say it’s a rare occurrence, so you shouldn’t worry too much.”

Ibthan said, his voice emotionless, as if trying to console her. In that instant, a notification popped up above his head.

It was the Event Quest window.

‘Experience the power of Dark Magic, huh?’

Eden’s face fell at the absurdity of the quest. She had already gotten everything she could from this place, and it seemed unnecessary to take on the risk with such a questionable partner.

If it had been the Fraudster Kane Hagen’ti or the Sword Master Karon, she would have confidently taken on the challenge, but…

“So, have you finished your business? It would be best to head back now. If it drags on, the Priests will get suspicious.”

Ibthan was right. It would be a wise choice to call it a day and go back.

However, she couldn’t shake off the lingering desire…

‘To face off against a mad Patriar, I need at least one more reward.’

Since she didn’t know when the next quest would pop up, Eden wanted to seize every given opportunity. Up until now, the rewards from the Event Quests had always played a crucial role at decisive moments.

A rationalization began to take root amid her conflicted thoughts.

‘There must be a reason this quest showed up; it’s something I can deal with. Yeah, that’s it.’

As Ibthan furrowed his brow at the strange mania in Eden’s eyes.

“…Saint? Are you alright?”

“Yes.”

“Y-yes?”

Eden sealed her lips, waiting for disaster to unfold. But nothing happened.

Ibthan looked at Eden, who had been murmuring to herself while staring blankly into space, with a sympathetic gaze.

It seemed the sudden burden of being a Saint was weighing heavily on her.

“We should really head back.”

Just as he firmly turned to escort Eden back, a clunk echoed as something opened. At the sound, Ibthan froze.

As soon as the acceptance notification appeared, a buzzing sound filled the air.

Both Ibthan and Eden turned their heads towards the source of the noise to see the door of the cage they had seen earlier partially ajar.

“…!”

And from within that cage, a small bird doll had just broken free… heading straight for them…

“Ugh…”

Eden stood frozen, watching as it zoomed towards her without giving her a chance to dodge. The bird doll that had finally escaped the cage was barreling towards her with no intention of stopping.

Ibthan shouted urgently.

“It’s a Curse! Get out of the way!”

Having quickly grasped the situation, he grabbed Eden’s hand and tried to pull her away from the curse, but the bird was far too fast to evade.

Thanks to Ibthan wrapping around Eden, she managed to avoid the collision, but he couldn’t do the same.

Thud!

“Ugh…”

When the doll collided with his back, the space they were standing in violently shook, quickly being consumed by darkness.

“Gah…”

Only then did Eden realize that the doll was the cursed object mentioned in the quest and she shot her head up.

In that moment, the darkened surroundings brightened rapidly, revealing an unfamiliar landscape. Eden hurriedly scanned her surroundings with a bewildered expression.

‘This isn’t a warehouse…’

The two found themselves seated in a forest overflowing with enormous, intricately intertwined trees.

The old dust and the smell of aged paper that had just been felt vanished in an instant, replaced by a refreshing scent of grass that filled the air.

The cool breeze and the chirping of birds, everything felt so vivid.

‘Did we just teleport or something?’

Her heart raced with anxiety in an utterly unexplainable situation.

Eden noticed Ibthan was still holding her, frozen, and she gasped, gripping his shoulder in shock.

“Chancellor! Are you okay?”

Only then did faint breaths drift to her ears.

“I’m fine.”

His voice had sank low. At the same time, as Ibthan’s arms slackened, Eden sprang up to look around.

“The location has changed.”

The quest mentioned experiencing Dark Magic, so it was clearly a situation created by it. But beyond that, it was hard to guess.

Suddenly in a forest?

‘What did it say earlier? <Buried Memories>, right?’

So, could this be within a memory?

But there was no such place in her own memories.

Then, could it be Ibthan’s memory?

Tensing up, Eden turned to Ibthan, who slowly rose to gaze at the towering tree in front of them.

Following his gaze up to the large tree, Eden then noticed something peculiar about the trees in this forest. The tips of the leaves were all glowing with a golden hue.

It was a beautiful sight. Surely, a place like this would be unforgettable.

“…Do you know this place?”

Eden asked cautiously, and Ibthan turned to her.

“Yes. This is a place called the Golden Forest. And right now, it feels like I’m inside my memory.”

His response was succinct and clear.

Hearing that, Eden’s face turned awkward. Ibthan had gotten dragged into his own memory because he had taken the blow from the bird doll for her.

Oh dear, if her memories were hard enough, others’ memories would surely be even trickier.

‘Experience the power of Dark Magic firsthand and overcome it,’ they said.

The way to clear this quest was likely one: find a way to escape this illusion.

‘But how…?’

Just then, they heard the sound of tiny feet pattering in the distance.

Eden and Ibthan slowly turned their heads to see a small child running towards them as fast as possible.

‘That’s…’

Eden frowned. With light brown hair and faded green eyes, the child looked to be around ten years old—she recognized him immediately.

‘Ibthan…!’

It was none other than the young Ibthan.

‘Wow, he was that adorable back then.’

This was indeed a rare sight. Eden shot a glance at the not-so-cute-at-all grown-up Ibthan.

‘Huh…?’

Oddly enough, something in Ibthan’s calm face while watching his young self seemed off.

“Huff… huff…”

Young Ibthan was exhausted, barely managing to run before collapsing right in front of them.

Startled, Eden subconsciously reached out to help him up, but…

Clack! Just like that, the composed Ibthan suddenly grabbed her hand to stop her.

“Chancellor…”

“Don’t touch him.”

His voice was coldly firm.

But…

Turning back to the young Ibthan, she saw his poor, tear-streaked face.

‘He’s crying…’

Before she could even register the moment, the next part unfolded.

“Ibthan!”

Someone who had followed young Ibthan grabbed his hand to pull him up and hastily embraced him.

The young man who looked remarkably similar to Ibthan had to be…

‘Ibthan’s brother…?’

Following closely behind him was another man who looked even older. This time, Eden could confidently identify him.

It was Ibthan’s father.

“Ebron! Ibthan!”

Upon seeing them, Ibthan’s gaze began to tremble low. The three looked frantic, as though they were being chased by something.

Eden quickly realized who they were running from. A huge monster was roaring and charging toward them from afar.

“Gah…”

As Eden froze in shock, Ibthan gripped her shoulder and turned her to meet his gaze.

“This is an illusion.”

There was a faint quiver in his voice. Again, a frantic voice rang out.

“Ebron! Take Ibthan and go, hurry!”

“Father, but—”

“Go now!”

Ibthan’s father said, leaving only those words before drawing his sword and charging at the monster.

Without taking a backwards glance, Ibthan locked eyes with Eden who was frozen in place.

“If we don’t escape, we’ll be trapped here forever.”

From behind them, the sounds of Ibthan’s father battling the monster echoed.

“But how…?”

Eden’s face went pale as she stuttered.

This wasn’t what she signed up for…

“The solution is simple.”

Eden’s trembling gaze fell upon Ibthan’s eyes, which had regained their unwavering firmness.

“Just don’t waver.”