Chapter 49
“…I’m not lying. I find it strange myself.”
Elysia answered again and gently removed Howell’s hand. She turned her gaze back to the woman who had appeared in the middle of the lake.
A blonde woman was floating above the water, surrounded by a radiant light. She wore a white garment. However, her eyelids were firmly shut, so her eye color couldn’t be confirmed.
‘Is she asleep?’
Even in this situation, she wasn’t opening her eyes—so either she was unconscious or asleep.
“You asked me if that person is the Saintess, right?”
Elysia continued with a sigh.
“Of course, I don’t know. She might just be a lost woman, you know?”
“Who the heck gets lost floating in midair?”
“Hmm, then maybe she’s a ghost?”
Elysia tilted her head innocently, making Howell shout in frustration.
“She’s blonde! There was a prophecy that the Saintess would have blonde hair!”
“Oh ho, really?”
“You don’t even read the scriptures, do you? I knew it!”
Though his words dismissed her, they were quite helpful.
‘So the appearance and basic info about Prillien is already known here through scriptures or prophecies.’
Thanks to that, Howell also seemed convinced she was the Saintess. That meant there was no need for pointless arguing.
“Then we should help the Saintess down to rest, right? You stay here and keep watch.”
“Wait, but shouldn’t we inform the temple first? We can’t handle something this major by ourselves! What about the ones who just left…?”
Howell frantically looked around, seemingly ready to call the temple officials. Elysia quickly clamped his mouth shut.
“Shh, wait!”
It was at that exact moment—
Rrrrrrr!
Grrrrrrr…
Faint, ominous growls approached from a distance.
“…Both of you, be quiet. Beasts are coming.”
Elysia instantly took a defensive stance. She could tell just from the cries.
‘From the sound of their steps and presence, they’re undead rhinos.’
However, undead creatures like these usually didn’t appear in this terrain or at this time. It was odd—but because of that, she recalled something else.
‘At the start of LemeGol… the heroine gets attacked by monsters!’
That’s right.
In the game’s opening scene, Prillien is saved by the male leads.
The moment of the Saintess’s descent is interrupted by a monster attack, and the male candidates join forces to stop it.
Normally, Jerome and Leonard were supposed to rush in and save the day at this moment.
“Why are monsters showing up at this time anyway?”
Did I change the timing of her descent? It felt like the descent happened earlier than scheduled. Then shouldn’t the monsters have appeared later too?
Nya-nya! Nyaa-nyaa-nya! (This isn’t the time to monologue!)
“Mmfh! Mmmph!” (Hey, let me go! We have to run!)
“Shhh. You two stay still. Don’t make a sound, or we’re all dead.”
Elysia’s chilling warning must have worked—Howell stopped struggling. After confirming that, Elysia slowly removed her hand from his mouth.
“I’ll take care of them. Just wait.”
“B-But… those are monsters…”
Whispering in fear, Howell grabbed her wrist as if to stop her. Elysia glanced down at his hand, sighed, and added,
“Let go. I can’t swing a weapon if you’re holding me.”
“…!”
Howell reluctantly released her wrist. The moment his hand fell away, Elysia quickly picked up a thick tree branch at her feet.
“…That’s your weapon?!”
Howell silently gaped in disbelief. He seemed stunned by her weapon choice. But Elysia didn’t respond. She simply dipped the branch into the lake.
Ssshh!
The damp wood darkened in color. Then she suddenly slammed it against the water, splashing Howell and the snow leopard with lake water.
Worse yet, the noise immediately drew the attention of the beasts.
Rrrraaaah!
“Three targets on the ground. Moving in.”
Elysia picked up some nearby stones along with the branch and dashed forward. Even through the passing trees, the monsters’ figures were clearly visible.
The closest one was a putrid-smelling, rhinoceros-like beast. The moment it locked eyes with Elysia, it let out a piercing shriek and charged at her.
KRAAAHHH!
‘Fast—for an undead.’
Elysia twisted her body to dodge the sharp horn aimed at her shoulder. She swung the branch in a graceful arc, perfectly following the movement of her wrist.
Swish!
And the tip of the branch pierced between the beast’s ribs in one clean motion.
Thwack!
KRAAAAGH!
“…Usually, the heart’s around here.”
Elysia murmured calmly after stabbing through its ribs.
Undead monsters, true to their name, don’t die from random hits. You need to strike their necks with a weapon imbued with divine power or destroy the heart precisely.
Heart positions varied depending on the species, but Elysia had fought so many that she could pinpoint them with her eyes closed.
KRAAH! Grrrk!
Sssssss…
The shrieking undead rhino disintegrated into dust.
“Nice. That worked well.”
Elysia looked at the branch in her hand with satisfaction. With enough strength, she could take down a monster in one hit.
But normally, a flimsy branch wouldn’t pierce monster hide.
What made it possible was—
‘Good thing I soaked it in lake water.’
She didn’t do that for no reason.
‘I mean, it’s the lake where the Saintess just descended. Of course there’d be some divine energy in it.’
In the original story, people went on pilgrimages to the lake after Prillien’s descent. The divine energy disappeared after a few days, but still—
‘Perfect. Free divine power buff—I’m not missing out on that!’
Elysia had a strangely good memory for these kinds of odd game settings.
She glanced at Howell and the snow leopard. Thanks to the water she’d splashed earlier, both of them were soaked in lake water. That meant the undead likely wouldn’t attack them easily. Elysia looked up.
“I’ll handle the rest too!”
With divine power on her side, undead monsters were no problem!
With a relaxed smile, Elysia easily deflected another charging undead rhino.
Rrrraaagh?!
SPLASH.
She slashed its neck with the branch—just once. Another cloud of black smoke scattered as the beast disintegrated.
“Now there’s just one left on the ground…”
As she prepared to take down the last one—
“Wa-Watch out!”
A sharp scream rang out.
“…!”
It was a voice she recognized. Though she’d only heard it through the game’s dubbing before, it felt strangely familiar now.
As that clear, ringing voice reached her ears, Elysia turned her head.
The blonde woman was still floating. But now, her eyelids had opened, revealing vivid blue eyes that met Elysia’s.
…Prillien had awakened.
“Gasp—don’t look at me! Watch out for the monster!”
Seeing their eyes meet, Prillien pointed behind Elysia in panic. And she wasn’t wrong—the last undead rhino was charging from her left.
Thud.
KRAAAHH!
Of course, Elysia took care of it without even glancing.
“Whoa… How did you…?”
Despite her warning being unnecessary, Prillien let out a breath of awe. From earlier, her behavior had seemed less saintly and more clueless. Elysia, staring at her curiously, asked,
“Can you get down from there?”
“M-Me? I don’t know how to get down…”
Prillien flailed her arms midair. And then—
SCREEEE!
A black shadow shot toward her.
“Kyaaa!”
The moment she screamed, Elysia threw one of the stones she had.
WHACK! BOOM.
SKREEEEEE!!!
The shadow burst into dust on impact. It was a black, foul-smelling eagle—like the undead rhino from earlier.
‘As I thought, a Shadow Eagle.’
She’d sensed something in the sky earlier, which is why she’d said there was only one monster left on the ground.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
SKREE!
SKREEEE!
The Shadow Eagle she just killed was only one of many.
“So annoying, seriously.”
Tap!
Seeing more eagles flying toward them, Elysia kicked off the ground.
The sheer force of her leap left a deep crater where she’d stood. It was far beyond a normal “jump”—more like soaring through the sky.
And her destination was—
“Wh-What?!”
“Catch her!”
—Prillien.
“Catch her properly—don’t let her fall!”
Grab.
Elysia leapt toward the middle of the lake and snatched Prillien midair.
Before the startled girl could react, Elysia landed solidly on the opposite shore with a thud, gently setting her down in a princess carry.
Then she turned around.
Phew.
The Shadow Eagles were still in pursuit.
SKREEEEE!
‘Seriously? They’re still coming?’
Fearlessly and relentlessly—they were targeting Prillien. There had to be a reason.
Even so, Elysia calmly swung her tree branch.
SWOOSH!
SKRAAK!
SKREEK!
The Shadow Eagles disintegrated into dust with a single hit each. As avian-type monsters, they weren’t difficult to dispatch.
If Prillien had faced them alone, the outcome might’ve been far worse…
“It’s okay. You’re safe now.”
After confirming there were no more monster presences, Elysia casually rolled her shoulders and turned to Prillien—
Or rather, tried to.
If not for the sudden appearance of an entirely unexpected person right in front of her.
“Ely, what is all this…? Why are you here?”
At the completely unanticipated voice, Elysia instinctively frowned.
A man, panting as if he’d run all the way from beyond the forest, stared suspiciously at both Elysia and Prillien.
The identity of this newcomer?
He was none other than—the Crown Prince.
