'Hmm...'
Looking at Blue-Eyes White Dragon's attributes, Toma wasn't entirely sure what the numbers actually represented.
Its 800 HP was probably converted from its original level.
After all, Blue-Eyes White Dragon was an eight-star monster.
Eight stars becoming 800 HP?
That was simple enough to understand.
But Attack Power and Defense Power were another matter.
Without something to compare them against, those numbers didn't tell Toma much.
He had absolutely no idea how powerful 3,000 Attack Power actually was in this world.
Still...
'Whatever.'
'I'll just find someone to test it on later.'
One thing was certain.
Toma had absolutely no intention of using Tohka as the test subject.
With that decided, he examined his other two cards.
[Name: Swords of Revealing Light
Effect: Seals a 100 × 100 area around the target, creating a spatial lockdown.
Can seal a B-Rank target for five hours.
The stronger the target, the weaker the effect.
Note: Remaining Uses: 1/1.
The card will immediately disappear after use. Host, please use it carefully.]
[Name: Monster Reborn
Effect: Revives any target possessing a physical form.
The revived target cannot possess strength exceeding A-Rank.
Note: Remaining Uses: 1/1.
The card will immediately disappear after use. Host, please use it carefully.]
Toma had to admit that both cards looked ridiculously powerful.
But again...
Without anything to compare them against, trying to judge exactly how powerful they were was pointless.
He might as well leave them alone for now.
"Blue-Eyes White Dragon, carry us out of this forest!"
With both Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Tohka beside him, Toma wasn't afraid of ordinary enemies anymore.
And even if they encountered something they couldn't defeat, he still had Swords of Revealing Light.
If they couldn't win...
Couldn't they just run away?
And if the enemy wouldn't let him run?
'I'll seal you first and THEN run!'
Perfect!
With that thought, Toma immediately ordered Blue-Eyes White Dragon to take flight.
However...
"Um, Toma-kun..."
Seeing Toma immediately prepare to fly away on Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Tohka seemed about to tell him something.
But before she could finish—
BANG!
"What the hell?!"
Before Blue-Eyes White Dragon could even rise above the forest canopy, it slammed headfirst into what seemed to be an invisible barrier.
It couldn't fly any higher.
Fortunately, it hadn't been flying particularly fast yet, so smashing its head against the invisible barrier didn't cause any serious damage.
Although...
That impact had sounded pretty damn loud.
"This forest doesn't seem to let you fly very high. Once you get above the trees, you can't go any farther."
Only now did Tohka finally finish what she had been trying to tell him.
Toma stared at her with an utterly defeated expression.
"Don't tell me this is one of those so-called No-Fly Domains? Those things actually exist? Tohka, when did you find out about this?"
"The first day!"
Tohka answered without even needing to think.
Worse yet...
She looked incredibly proud of herself.
Seeing that proud expression, Toma felt his eyebrow begin twitching violently.
But because the person in front of him was Tohka, Toma somehow managed to suppress the overwhelming urge to complain.
Not only that, he even tried to make his voice sound gentler.
With a slightly stiff smile, Toma slowly asked,
"Then... why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Toma-kun never asked!"
Tohka answered immediately.
But after saying it, she noticed that Toma's expression looked slightly strange.
Her confidence instantly disappeared.
"Toma-kun..."
Tohka looked at him nervously.
"Did I... do something wrong?"
What could Toma possibly say to that?
'I...'
'All right.'
'My fault.'
'I should've expected this.'
'Looks like I'm still too inexperienced.'
He could blame anyone else for this situation, but he definitely couldn't blame Tohka.
Toma understood that much.
Seeing the worried expression on Tohka's face, he quickly adjusted his mood and waved his hand with a smile.
"Of course not. How could Tohka possibly have done anything wrong? You're thinking too much."
Toma gently rubbed her head.
"Since we can't fly out, we'll just have to keep walking. Who knows how long it'll take us to finally leave this forest..."
With no other choice, Toma recalled Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Then, together with the now-smiling Tohka, he picked a direction and continued walking through the forest.
...
'Hey, System.'
'Why the hell didn't my Personal Evaluation increase?'
[The Duel Disk is classified as an item and does not constitute part of the Host's personal strength. Therefore, it is excluded from Personal Evaluation.]
'Great...'
'Looks like I'll have to find another way to complete the mission.'
'I need to exchange for something that actually strengthens me personally.'
'Wait a second.'
'Why didn't you tell me that earlier?!'
'If you'd told me, I could've made different plans!'
[The Host never asked!]
"..."
'Fine.'
'My fault again...'
====================
Elsewhere in the forest, several dozen people dressed like mercenaries were traveling together.
"Derken, did you hear that? That sound just now... that was a dragon's roar, wasn't it?"
A red-haired young mercenary looked worriedly toward the silver-haired young man leading the group.
"Yeah. I heard it..."
The silver-haired man frowned.
"Strange. Why would there be a dragon in the Silent Forest? Didn't all the dragons return to Dragon Island?"
Clearly, the silver-haired young man was equally confused.
"Boss, are we really going to keep going deeper?"
A muscular green-haired man spoke up.
"What if there really is a dragon? We're only a few Fourth-Rank Warriors. There's no way we're a match for a dragon. Shouldn't we retreat?"
The muscular man directed his suggestion toward their silver-haired leader, Derken.
"Bart, you've got that huge body for nothing. How the hell are you such a coward?"
Apparently dissatisfied with Bart's words, the red-haired young man immediately began mocking him.
"I—"
Bart had barely opened his mouth to argue when Derken interrupted impatiently.
"Enough, Zafei. Stop mocking Bart. I know what I'm doing."
Derken's eyes sharpened.
"As long as we capture that girl, the Kingdom will pay us one million gold coins. We might even be able to get ourselves noble titles. A reward like that is worth the risk."
The instant Derken mentioned one million gold coins and becoming nobles, Zafei completely forgot about Bart.
Bart, seeing that Zafei had finally shut up, decided not to say anything else either.
Then Derken continued excitedly,
"Don't forget, we're not the only ones chasing that girl. The other mercenary groups have probably already started moving too."
"I bribed a Kingdom noble to get this information, so we've got a head start. We can't waste it."
Derken grinned.
"Besides, that girl might have served as one of the Princess's personal guards, but she's still nothing more than a rookie with Fourth-Rank strength. She's spent all her time inside the royal palace. There's no way she has as much real combat experience as we do."
"And according to the noble, we only need to bring her in. Dead or alive."
Derken's grin widened as he remembered the wanted notice.
"Judging from her picture, she's a real beauty too. You don't come across women like that every day."
"You guys aren't telling me you have no interest in a former Princess's Guard, are you?"
Derken only needed to look at his men's expressions to know their answer.
These were mercenaries who lived every day with their lives on the line.
As their captain, Derken knew exactly what kind of men they were.
"All right, boys!"
"Once we finish this job, we'll be rich!"
"And that girl's still untouched. Whoever captures her gets first claim on her!"
"OHHHHHHHHHH!"
The excited shouts of the mercenaries echoed throughout the forest.