Honestly, I had not expected her to be that good with a bow.
All I knew was the version of her I had seen in the game, so it was definitely an unexpected side of her.
‘I never even saw a bow during the mid-boss battle.’
Being able to wield many weapons meant she could respond flexibly to different situations.
And that applied to dungeon raids as well.
On our way back with the birds she had hunted, I casually made her a suggestion.
“My Lady, would you like to hunt a little farther in that direction?”
Originally, I had not planned to take Luciana hunting or dungeon raiding. I had assumed she had no proper means of long-range attack.
Me? There was no need to say it. I was hopeless with a bow, and I could not use magic either.
But that changed things.
The birds we had picked up were dead cleanly, their tiny heads or hearts pierced through.
“...?”
I had asked Luciana because I was hoping to get carried for once, but she simply stared into space. She did not answer at all.
“Lady Luciana?”
“D-Did you call? I was lost in thought and did not hear you. What did you say?”
Once she came back to herself and heard my proposal, she frowned.
“That direction borders House Valtrion’s territory.”
“Will that be a problem?”
“It is not that. It is simply that my ill feelings toward that place have deepened for too long for me to want to so much as look at it.”
A faint crease formed between her brows.
“Is there a reason we must go there?”
“According to some research I did, snow rabbits live there. Rabbit feet are symbols of good luck, are they not? I thought I would send one to your father as a gift.”
“A gift for Father. Very well.”
Unexpectedly, she nodded without raising an objection and turned her horse toward the place I had mentioned.
“...I thought you would say something.”
I had only meant to test the waters and drop the matter if she refused. I had not expected the suggestion to pass so easily.
“What are you doing? Why are you not following?”
“Yes! I am coming!”
Well, there was nothing wrong with an easy answer.
I entrusted myself to Luciana’s comfortable carry service.
***
“This is strange. I do not see any snow rabbits at all.”
Her sharp observation drove straight into my gut.
“Ah, hahaha. You are right. That is strange. Perhaps the ecosystem changed without us realizing.”
Fortunately, she nodded at my clumsy excuse.
“A change in the ecosystem.”
“Yes. It happens sometimes when a natural disaster, such as an avalanche, destroys a habitat, or when a new predator suddenly appears.”
At least I had planted a little groundwork.
Groundwork for the possibility that something might happen soon.
The reason was simple.
[A newbie just entered the North. What should I do?]
↳ [If you have archery or magic bonuses, start here. Easy loot.]
↳ [You absolutely have to visit the anti-rage-quit course.]
According to the community, this was a must-visit stop in the North. A sweet dungeon.
The entrance to that dungeon, known by many names in my memories, was buried beneath the snow.
“A cave?”
“I do not know either, but perhaps this is why there are no snow rabbits around.”
“I see. You are saying there are monsters here, as there were before.”
Luciana cast me a suspicious look.
“...The Diawolf Cave, and now this. You have an uncanny talent for finding places like these.”
“I am from the West. Finding hidden underground places is routine there—criminal hideouts, magic-stone mines, things like that.”
“Does the West employ even children as guards?”
“Uh... I was interested, so I followed people around.”
‘Sorry, Father. I have unintentionally made the West look a little like complete garbage.’
I answered with a shrug, and she let the suspicion go.
“Let us enter for now.”
Or rather, perhaps curiosity had simply overwhelmed her faint suspicions.
News of another monster subjugation discovered during a casual hunting trip was enough to stir the fighting spirit and interest of a girl devoted to martial pursuits.
It was obvious from the tension in her shoulders that she was eager.
“You have a torch, I assume?”
“Of course. I came prepared.”
“Good. It looks quite dark, so focus only on lighting our surroundings.”
‘I feel a little bad when she is looking forward to it that much.’
In truth, the enemies here were not particularly dangerous.
If difficult enemies appeared, this could not possibly be a sweet dungeon.
The game was brutally difficult, but this dungeon was considered a healing spot and a must-visit course. It required a certain amount of martial ability, but I had Luciana.
[Vampire Bat Cave]
[Deep underground, in this small cave, a monster has made its home after adapting perfectly to this frigid North, where food is hard to find.]
[Defeat them and find the treasure hidden within the cave.]
The moment we set foot inside, a most welcome message appeared in the Status Window.
They were monsters, but compared to Diawolves, vampire bats were almost pitiful.
Their Vitality was so low that even I could kill them with my dagger.
Flying made them a little troublesome, but with Luciana’s archery?
- Whoosh.
- Screech...
The creatures that had intended to feast on the blood of intruders were soon rolling across the cave floor.
“They are far too weak to be called monsters.”
“Even weak monsters harm civilians and the ecosystem. You did well.”
Disappointment colored Luciana’s subdued voice.
But it was too early to be disappointed.
As I soothed her and led the way onward, a towering cliff came into view.
“That large door looks like the way forward.”
And above it, an artificial entrance entirely out of place in a cave sat conspicuously in the rock face.
That was right.
The primary enemy here was not monsters, but the dungeon’s gimmicks.
To advance, we had to solve its irritating puzzles.
‘Tute will not work here, either.’
That did not mean the dungeon had applied some debuff that ignored the relic’s effects.
It was simply that...
The switches were high up on the cliff, at heights too absurd to reach.
I had to physically put Tute against them, and that was impossible.
In the end, I needed Luciana’s help to break through the firmly shut entrance.
“Lady Luciana, do you see the unusual pattern on the cave ceiling?”
At a glance, all one could see were the cave’s stalactites.
But the Status Window’s navigation could not be fooled.
“...Hm. I can make out something faintly.”
True to the eyesight that had picked out birds that looked like mere dots, Luciana could see the pattern after narrowing her eyes.
“It displeases me. Something feels wrong.”
...About a switch that would pull the cliff bearing the door down to the ground?
“Are you all right? Do you feel unwell?”
“No. It is merely a passing whim.”
‘Then that is a relief. I thought I had triggered a trap without realizing it.’
“My Lady, could you hit that pattern with an arrow?”
“That is easy enough.”
As though she were leisurely pouring herself a cup of tea, she raised her bow with an elegant motion. The weapon, filled with power, trembled tautly in her hands.
Twang—!
[Clear]
- Rumble.
As expected.
Her impressive shot outside had not been a fluke. It was skill honed over years.
When Luciana and I turned toward the source of the earth-shaking sound, the rise bearing the entrance was slowly lowering itself.
“So that is how it works.”
“It looks as though we will have to keep searching for patterns.”
Good. At this rate, we would reach the reward room in no time.
I looked around, pretending to search for another pattern.
“Ah, My Lady, over there, too...”
“...”
But Luciana had suddenly become a statue, standing still with her eyes fixed ahead instead of looking toward the entrance.
“What is wrong?”
Even when I called to her, she did not respond.
What was it? Did something make her uneasy? Or was she merely absentminded again, as she had been during the hunt?
But when I stepped closer out of concern, I realized that every one of my guesses was wrong.
I could clearly see the anger in her eyes.
“My Lady? Did something anger you...?”
Without even waiting for me to finish, she raised her bow.
And before I could stop her, she began shooting at other patterns.
‘Those are fake patterns!’
“My Lady, why are—”
Patterns that had no value in solving the mechanism—decoys with no reason to touch—were destroyed one by one by Luciana’s arrows.
At the same time, a red warning and an alarm rang out from my Status Window.
[Warning]
[The dungeon’s difficulty far exceeds the party’s level.]
[Challenge it after gaining more strength.]
It was the message that normally appeared whenever a dungeon exceeded the recommended level.
But despite the Status Window’s friendly warning, my first reaction was not caution, but confusion.
‘That cannot be right. This is a dungeon that even beginners can clear if they understand the gimmick.’
Startled by information entirely different from the original game, I checked the dungeon description again.
[Vampire Bat Cave]
[The Resting Place of a Noble]
[There are not many choices for a demon who loses a civil war—especially if their opponent is a tyrant with the potential to become the Demon King.]
[All that remained for the pitiable vampire noble was to hide and seek resurrection. Fortunately, she succeeded in establishing a hideout in a human country that was hostile even to her, where not a single member of her own kind lived.]
[Only the bloodline of one who had long stood against demonkind could find her, a woman skilled in concealment.]
“This is insane...!”
I forced the confusion from my head and began analyzing the Status Window’s words in a hurry.
Judging by that last sentence, Luciana was the trigger that had changed the dungeon.
The problem was the existence of the person who was likely the boss.
A vampire noble was high-ranking demonkind that only appeared in the latter half of the game.
Naturally, it would be impossible to defeat one unless Luciana, who was gifted in martial talent, and I, with my loadout of relics, had both grown considerably stronger.
“Lady Luciana! Stop right now!”
We had to flee and call for reinforcements while we still could.
But my shout could not stop her. She had already given herself over to the instinct to fight.
When Luciana destroyed the last remaining pattern with an arrow, every bat we had killed transformed into black mist.
“To awaken this body from its deep sleep.”
The mist soon took human shape, and red eyes gleamed within it.
“So you were the source of that ominous aura.”
“...It is not yet time. Of all people, the descendant of that man.”
The blonde woman who emerged from the black mist looked at Luciana with the hatred one reserved for an archenemy.
And Luciana was the same.
“Demonkind are the North’s ancient enemies. I will annihilate you.”
“You speak as though you are impressive. Fine. This, too, will be amusement.”
They collided at a speed too fast for me to follow.
But there were two facts Luciana had overlooked.
One was that she had come out for a casual hunt, so her primary weapons were not swords.
She could not display either her wild greatsword technique or her unorthodox rapier technique.
All she had was a hunting dagger and a bow.
“Ghk!”
“Hmph. You are nothing.”
But more importantly, the gulf between them was immense. Luciana could barely create any distance at all, which was the foundation of archery.
For me, even remaining on my feet was agony.
“Though I have fallen from grace, would Batory be defeated by a brat like you?”
“Aah!”
Flames wrapped around her arm as she knocked aside Luciana’s bow and drove a fist into her.
The blow struck her squarely in the abdomen, sending Luciana flying into the cave wall.
“Lady Luciana! Ngh.”
I tried to move toward her to check her condition, but an overwhelming pain swept through my body and drove me to my knees as well.
[Warning]
[Your charge, NPC ‘Luciana,’ has fallen below 30% Vitality.]
[If your charge dies, the player dies as well.]
This was bad. One attack had landed, and she was already critically injured?
“Hm. If you are the descendant of that haughty human, you should help my recovery. Your usefulness suits my needs, so willingly offer me your blood.”
The sudden crisis was a disaster.
My heart pounded as though it were beating throughout my entire body. Batory, a vampire I had never even known existed in the game, revealed sharp fangs, as if claiming a victor’s rightful prize.
Every cell in my body was whispering the same thing.
Run.
But...
“Ugh... Hans. Run.”
“What a tearful master-servant relationship.”
Batory watched with amusement, but she was the second problem.
“Like I would leave you there!”
I crawled across the floor toward Luciana.
I could not let Luciana die here so meaninglessly.
My life was at stake. The Main Story was at stake.
But beyond all that, part of me wanted my favorite character to live happily for a very long time.
“Good thing I did not use this back then.”
The Return Stone. I had originally planned to use it after robbing House Valtrion.
It was an immense stroke of luck that I had not used it because of the quest to raise my reputation as a Phantom Thief.
I had only one chance.
Batory could slice off my arm in the blink of an eye. I had to finish everything before she could approach.
My insides had been shaken about as I tumbled, and I could taste blood rising from within.
My unsteady fingertips reached Luciana.
“Hans?”
“I bought this with my own money. I am getting every coin back. ...For now, go take care of yourself.”
It was a magic stone engraved with teleportation magic, and naturally, a Return Stone was expensive enough that I had struggled to save up for it.
The destination was Duke Speda’s estate.
Faint magic wrapped around Luciana.
“No...!”
“Huh?”
Leaving her faintly fading voice behind, I faced the cause of this disaster.
Batory, who had been watching leisurely, raised an eyebrow.
“Tsk. A mere small fry dared to interfere. Well, fine. Offer your own blood to me instead.”
Naturally, just one brush from those nails would kill me.
...I should at least try to talk my way out of this.
I wet my lips with nervous saliva.
It was time for a negotiation with my life on the line.