The castle was in a bit of an uproar.
“I’m going too!”
“No way!”
Drag drag drag.
Cecilia was clinging to Kairon’s arm, being dragged along.
Even though she was half-collapsed, stopping Kairon’s march was impossible.
“You’re not young anymore!”
“I’m still in my prime!”
Kairon had just put on plate mail he hadn’t worn in almost 10 years.
Here’s how it all started.
Kairon was furious at Edward’s scheming. He’d thought of every way possible to stop Cecilia, but having already accepted the Queen’s orders, he couldn’t refuse.
If he couldn’t stop her, he was determined to go with her.
Of course, Cecilia would never allow that.
‘The Commander is a Demon Crusher…!’
Dungeons have their own aesthetics.
You need to use your head properly and carefully solve the tricks demons have painstakingly created.
…Kairon didn’t bother with any of that. Cecilia still remembered what kind of “education” Kairon gave her when she was six.
-Rules? Regulations? Just smash through with power.
“If I destroy that dungeon, you won’t have to go.”
“Dungeons aren’t things to be destroyed!”
“And I can’t exactly smash Edward’s head either!”
‘d*mn. No choice. I’ll have to use my ultimate move.’
Cecilia decided to use her secret finishing move.
Taking a deep breath, she shouted loudly.
“Ah, Father!”
“!”
The effect was tremendous!
Finally, after barely calming down, Kairon sat safely in the Commander’s office.
“Listen carefully, Cecilia. If anything about the dungeon seems different from expectations, retreat immediately.”
“Yes.”
“And if you learn anything in that dungeon, report to me first, not Edward.”
“Yes.”
“…Don’t push yourself too hard training the new knights.”
“Yes.”
“There will probably be casualties since it’s a very difficult dungeon, but try to protect them as much as possible.”
“Yes.”
“Make sure to wear your armor properly.”
“I don’t want to.”
“…”
Pinocchio Cecilia protested properly.
“I have the Blessing of Wind. If I wear heavy full plate mail, I won’t be able to fight properly.”
‘It’s not that, it’s because of the design.’
Kairon looked at her worriedly, then nodded helplessly.
As always, he had no choice but to trust Cecilia.
She had never failed to meet expectations before. This time would be no different.
Kairon handed over the strategy guide.
“It’s a dungeon that’s never been cleared before, so there’s little information. But there’s one thing we know.”
Cecilia took the strategy guide and hugged it to her chest.
“The first discoverer was Edward. That alone is suspicious enough, plus Jerryway once failed to conquer this dungeon.”
Cecilia nodded.
She had actually been planning to ask Jerryway about the dungeon.
But apparently, Jerryway wasn’t currently at the capital. Who knows what he was up to…
“Don’t trust that strategy guide too much. Edward is capable of manipulation.”
Kairon’s words were filled with hostility.
A few months ago, Cecilia might have dismissed this with a “Does the Vice-Commander really need to?”
But now, she understood that Kairon’s words made sense.
====================
[Ancient King’s Ruins]
Difficulty: Very Hard
====================
: Single dungeon. Only the Sword Emperor or higher may attempt it alone.
※ Warning: The more people you bring, the difficulty increases exponentially due to a gimmick.
She clearly remembered the contents of the document she’d secretly snuck into the Vice-Commander’s office to read.
She’d also read the strategy guide Kairon had given her. But the contents were completely opposite.
: Minimum 20 participants required. The scale is so massive it will take time to explore.
‘What a fatal lie.’
This was clearly enemy-aiding behavior no matter how you looked at it.
Unless the Vice-Commander wanted to cause maximum losses to the Windsor Knight Order, such lies wouldn’t be possible.
Knowing there’s a dungeon gimmick that gets stronger based on the number of people, yet recommending bringing many…
‘…What is the Vice-Commander hiding?’
-People usually have at least one secret they want to hide.
Sometimes they seem helpful, then suddenly betray you.
They appear to be following the rules, then jump right over the line.
He was truly a puzzling person.
But one thing was certain.
‘This is gonna be fun!’
It gets twice as strong?
For this expedition, she decided to bring all the new knights. Including herself, that made 21 people total.
Which meant they’d get to experience a dungeon 21 times stronger!
Cecilia was extremely excited.
After giving them a two-day vacation, Cecilia immediately gathered the new knights.
The new knights were extremely nervous.
“Before we leave, take one of these each.”
Cecilia opened a wooden box. Intricately carved rings were visible.
“What are these?”
“Safety Escape Blessings.”
“You mean… if we use these, we can escape from the dungeon?”
“Yes.”
The knights’ eyes widened. They’d never heard of such artifacts before.
The specially-made newbie escape rings!
Of course, they had a fatal flaw.
They’re manual.
When activated, the location is reported to Cecilia, who has to personally carry each person out one by one.
Thinking about it this way, it seemed pretty annoying.
‘But isn’t it better than nothing…?’
“To use it, just put mana into the ring. You’ll be able to exit within 3 seconds.”
“Thank you!”
The new knights received the rings preciously. Basically, they were like extra lives – extremely valuable.
“And, and.”
Excitedly, Cecilia approached a pile of supply boxes.
Inside were recovery potions, antidotes, holy water – everything essential for dungeon exploration, especially ruins.
“Hmm.”
Looking at them with cold eyes, Cecilia closed the box.
“Alright, let’s go!”
“Wait a minute!”
“I saw those potions!”
“Aren’t those our supplies?”
The knights’ numerous protests followed. Cecilia made a sullen face. Beatrice stepped forward.
“E, everyone calm down. Lady Cecilia must have her reasons.”
‘She might even take what we have!’
Beatrice, who had experienced something similar (?) before, knew very well how merciful Cecilia was being right now.
At this rate, she was practically a fairy! She gave escape artifacts – albeit manual ones – and didn’t even take existing artifacts!
Not just her, Riharten and Drsen also nodded cautiously.
The new knights thought ‘this doesn’t seem quite right…’, but having seen how far Cecilia could go, they accepted it.
‘Barely safe…?’
Beatrice looked at Cecilia with relief.
Whoooa-
Cecilia was deeply moved looking at Beatrice.
Betty really is different!
So cute!
Wasn’t there a saying about giving an extra rice cake to a pretty child?
Cecilia smiled slightly and extended her hand.
“Yeah.”
“…”
“Yeah.”
Beatrice had three artifacts taken from her.
“My goodness-”
“What a scale.”
The new knights arriving at the ruins opened their mouths wide.
The massive castle was half-destroyed, but its majesty hadn’t faded at all.
‘So this is the Ancient King’s Ruins…’
‘It seems a real king lived here.’
While the previous knights were marveling, Cecilia and Beatrice arrived and dismounted their horses.
“Thanks, Unicorn.”
Neigh neigh!
When Cecilia petted its head, the white horse nickered.
This was Cecilia’s personal mount, nicknamed Unicorn.
Of course, it couldn’t fly. But Cecilia firmly believed it would be able to someday.
“E-excuse me, Lady Cecilia…?”
Beatrice spoke softly while pulling down her skirt that had gotten caught.
“When riding a horse, shouldn’t you wear riding clothes…? Your current outfit seems rather unsafe.”
“Aren’t you wearing shorts underneath?”
“I, I am. But still, it shows a bit.”
“That too is part of the Goddess’s blessing.”
“?”
‘She’s a saint.’
‘Such a saint.’
The new knights prayed while looking at Cecilia.
When Beatrice glared at them with axe-like eyes, they quickly ran away.
Anyway, Cecilia surveyed the ruins at a glance and roughly grasped the situation.
‘It feels stronger than upper-level demons.’
Cecilia’s divine eye shone quietly.
The presence emanating from the ruins was quite unusual.
There seemed to be demons of the level commonly called the Seven Deadly Sins.
‘Good. I’ll be able to get useful information.’
Cecilia considered this expedition as practical training for the new knights.
But that wasn’t her only purpose. She wanted to verify the truth – what was currently happening with the demons.
Well, she could check that during break time. The important thing wasn’t that.
“Raise your hand if you’ve been to these ruins before.”
About half raised their hands.
“…”
Cecilia blinked and shook her head helplessly.
“Oh dear, looks like no one has.”
“?”
“There are three things to watch out for in ruin-type dungeons.”
-First, move through as unexpected paths as possible.
-Second, even if paths split and teams separate, move in groups of at least five.
-Third, never enter the boss room until you understand the rules.
After the explanation, some knights raised their hands.
“We know the second and third points, but what does the first mean?”
“I’ll explain that gradually.”
‘Explaining everything at once would be boring.’
Absolutely right.
“Alright, shall we all go in?”
It was the moment the thrilling ruins exploration began.
Despite Cecilia’s instructions which didn’t actually explain anything, the knights who had been hesitating started entering one by one.
The ruins were a dungeon mainly inhabited by undead-type monsters, as expected.
Since it was still near the entrance, aside from a few pathetic skeleton soldiers, there was nothing else.
Then Cecilia’s group discovered the ‘first treasure room’.
“It’s a treasure chest!”
“Betty.”
Cecilia pointed at the treasure chest with her finger.
“Open it.”
Beatrice looked at Cecilia suspiciously.
“Isn’t this a mimic?”
“No, it contains an amazing treasure.”
‘I heard that mimics are usually found at entrances… It was written that way in the ‘Newbie Must-Read’ too.’
Though suspicious, she couldn’t disobey Cecilia’s words.
Carefully approaching, Beatrice opened the treasure chest.
And…
Slurp.
-Waaah! It is a mimic! Please get me out! I’m scared! It’s dark!
Beatrice had been eaten by the mimic. Her struggling legs looked pitiful.
When Cecilia giggled and pulled her out, Beatrice collapsed in a daze, covered in mimic saliva.
“Hahaha!”
The new knights laughed while clutching their stomachs.
Watching them with envy, Cecilia thought.
‘I should…’
Next time, I must go inside a mimic too!
“It’s a treasure chest!”
“Really!”
Fortunately, there were treasure rooms in multiple places. Not long after finding another mimic, Cecilia approached without hesitation.
Full of anticipation, she opened the treasure chest.
Snap went the mimic’s mouth opening.
Cecilia immediately tried to stick her head in.
But.
Bang!
The mimic hurriedly closed its mouth.
With a lump on her forehead, Cecilia’s pupils shook.
“…”
An awkward silence filled the air.
The knights looked at her uncertain whether they should comfort her or not.
‘Th, this can’t be.’
Cecilia grabbed the mimic’s mouth and tried to pry it open.
The mimic that refused to open even in d*ath finally yielded to Cecilia’s monstrous strength.
-Grooo…
With a pitiful sound, the mimic opened its mouth!
Seizing the opportunity, Cecilia stuck her head in!
But.
-Urgh!
Whoosh!
Gold and silver treasures poured out.
The mimic’s body trembled violently.
As if saying, ‘Please spare me…’
“…”
-Ting. Roll roll.
In the silent treasure room, only the pitiful sound of rolling gold coins filled the space.
