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<Wasn’t this supposed to be a strategy game? Episode 33>

Eden’s eyebrows stiffened at those words from Asmun, who followed her without hesitation, looking like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing despite being with her all this time.

“… Are you saying that now?”

“Yes.”

Asmun’s gaze darkened.

“If I remember correctly, prophecies are delivered through dreams.”

“Yes, I thought so too, but right now—Bam! Something just flashed by. It definitely feels like a prophecy.”

“……”

“You must take the lead in clearing out the monsters right away.”

Asmun raised an eyebrow at her firm voice. Eden, oblivious to his reaction, rolled her eyes and acted.

“I think… about thirty of them need to be eliminated.”

“……”

“You understand, right?”

Hopeful, Eden’s eyes sparkled as she pressed him, but Asmun’s expression remained unchanged.

“Priest.”

“Yes.”

“Killing a few monsters here won’t boost public sentiment towards me.”

Asmun smirked, looking as if he thought Eden was just making things up to enhance his reputation. Well, he wasn’t wrong, but still!

“Let me reiterate, my job is to protect you, Priest.”

“……”

“So.”

Asmun’s red eyes stared blankly at Eden’s disappointed face.

“I won’t leave your side for even a moment.”

With that, the corners of Asmun’s mouth twisted slightly upward. It was clear he wouldn’t be easy to convince.

Damn.

Eden realized she couldn’t persuade Asmun with such petty tricks anymore. She clenched her teeth at his infuriating face. Asmun stared at her with an unwavering expression.

You stubborn mule.

“Fine, then.”

Eden pretended to give up on convincing him and turned away dramatically. She felt Asmun following behind her.

“Priest.”

Karon, who had been waiting for Eden and Asmun, hurriedly approached her with a serious face.

“I will be guarding you from now on.”

“Huh? Oh, no, I can’t impose on you.”

“Impose? It’s the Chancellor’s command. Your safe return to the capital is our utmost priority. Let’s focus on capturing that monster that has been spotted in the west, and once we catch it, we can head back to the capital right away.”

Oh no. Because of me, the plan is changing. Eden felt a twinge of guilt. It seemed she was a bit of a nuisance for coming along on this hunt.

‘What should I do? It feels like I’ll have to really cause some trouble now.’

Eden masked her thoughts and simply nodded.

The restructured hunting party set off again. This time, the Holy Knights took the lead in dealing with monsters, while Karon guarded Eden’s left side. On her right was Asmun, and behind them was Asmun’s knight squad.

With such luxurious protection that felt uncharacteristic, it almost made Eden feel like an emperor. Not that it was bad, but it made things a bit tricky in terms of doing her work.

Eden pondered how to navigate this predicament as she looked at Karon.

“But how can we tell if the monster we’re looking for is that monster?”

Just the types of monsters that had appeared so far already exceeded ten. Karon kindly answered her question as he looked at her.

“I know its appearance, so once it appears, you’ll recognize it immediately.”

“What does it look like? I think I need to prepare myself.”

At that, Karon momentarily gazed into the distance as if recalling its appearance.

“Um, how should I put this? It’s very…”

Karon chuckled as he seemed to envision something, then looked back at Eden, a hint of laughter glimmering in his golden eyes.

“It’s cute.”

His soft voice was far too affectionate. Even though Eden knew he wasn’t talking to her, her ears turned red.

Oh dear, I should make it illegal to say such things while looking like that.

“……”

Standing to their side, Asmun was staring at Karon with an expressionless, frosty face.

“Does it seem that the Prince isn’t in a good mood?”

Ronpell seemed to be obsessively glancing at his Lord, who had a low pressure since earlier. It was odd for him to suddenly join the expedition to the west—what on earth was going on?

Did that apprentice priest annoy him or something?

“Could a monster really be cute…?”

“Once you see it, you’ll understand. Honestly, it’s not that dangerous. It just occasionally harasses hunters or descends upon villages causing trouble, but catching it has been tricky.”

No matter how you slice it, calling a monster cute was hard to digest for Eden, who had only faced horrifying-looking monsters since coming here.

What could it look like for it to be cute? Does it look like a sparrow or something?

While Eden pondered the appearance of this “cute” monster, she suddenly turned to the side and frowned at something she noticed.

How long has that been there? A little bird was flapping around next to her, following her.

“Is that really cute?”

Eden smiled, thinking the little bird that looked like a mix between a sparrow and a rabbit was cute. Asmun and Karon turned their heads simultaneously.

“Eh, still, a monster can’t possibly be that cute…”

Just then.

DING!

Eden’s face froze at the sudden notification. An information window displaying the monster’s details appeared just above the unsuspecting little bird when it suddenly zipped in front of her.

Kyu!

Then it opened its tiny beak wide and—

Kyaaa!

It sprayed a strange liquid all over Eden’s face.

“Eww!”

Eden instinctively raised her arms to block it, but couldn’t stop some of the liquid from splattering on her face. As she staggered from the unexpected attack, both Asmun and Karon quickly drew their swords.

“Priest!”

Karon shouted loudly as the annoying little monster buzzed around Eden’s head. Asmun quickly dashed to her side, swinging his sword, but the irritating monster easily dodged the attack.

Eden hurriedly wiped the sticky substance off her face. It had a horrid smell.

“Oh my…”

A baby sparrow…

Eden glared at the monster circling above her head.

Eden hadn’t even finished reading the info when, from a distance, another Chupi zoomed in and swooped down to snatch Karon’s bag.

“……!”

And just like that, chaos ensued. Dozens of Chupi appeared from the forest, beginning to snatch belongings from the hunting party without mercy. They were so fast and nimble that magical attacks proved ineffective.

“Ahhh!”

“Not this!”

“Aaaah! I can’t see!”

As the forest turned into a battleground in an instant, Eden frantically checked the information window again. Chupi swarmed in without pause, but thanks to Asmun sticking closely to her, no Chupi could get near her.

Grateful for the time bought, Eden quickly scanned the information window.

‘A whistle? Just a whistle sound?’

It felt absurd, but now wasn’t the time to quibble over that. Eden frantically whistled.

Whee—!

However, the noise got drowned out by the chaos, and it seemed utterly ineffective. This time, she bit her finger and blew with all her might.

Wheee—!

At that moment, a Chupi that was about to fly past Eden suddenly halted in its tracks at the sound and…

“Kyuuk! Kyuuwuuk!”

It began to panic as if it had seen a ghost. The horrifying and bizarre sound it made silenced the previously chaotic scene as if someone had poured water on a fire.

Eden seized the opportunity and whistled even harder.

Wheee—! Wheee—!

Thanks to the sudden quietness, Eden’s whistling echoed effectively, and the other Chupi, hearing this, began to panic and drop all their stolen goods.

“Kyuuwuuk! Kyuuk!”

It was as if they all received an electric shock at once.

“Ugh!”

This time, the hunting party was in disarray trying to dodge the falling bags.

Asmun’s hand shot out like lightning to deflect a sword dropping down towards Eden’s head, while she tightly shut her eyes and continued to whistle.

Realizing something from Eden’s odd behavior, Karon glanced around and shouted.

“Whistle!”

Hearing that, those with a bit of composure began to whistle along with Eden. Mistaking that sound for something else, the Chupi lost all sense of reason, flapping around wildly, crashing into each other and starting to fall one by one.

“Capture them!”

At Karon’s command, the hunting party began to capture the fallen Chupi with enchanted nets.

A few seemed to have escaped, but quite a few Chupi were caught in the nets. Thanks to Karon quickly picking up on Eden’s actions, the situation was resolved in no time.

 

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