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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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The Queen held a crucial position within the kingdom.
She was the one who supported the Hero, leading to the Demon King’s defeat, the one who ruled the kingdom and cared for its people.
Her greatness, her ability to protect and maintain the kingdom, defined her presence.
If such a Queen were assassinated, the resulting chaos would be immense.
The same was true in the “Pale Moon” event. If the Queen’s assassination was left unchecked, the kingdom would descend into chaos, law and order would crumble, and the number of dungeons and battlefield sectors would increase.
Several towns would be destroyed or overtaken by monsters, bandits, power-hungry individuals, or cultists, exploiting the chaos.
Of course, there were potential benefits to this chaos. More enemies to defeat meant more experience points and items. One could access previously restricted areas and obtain valuable loot.
But those things didn’t concern me. Perhaps during the main storyline, but after its completion, in Adventure Mode, there were plenty of better items and hunting grounds.
So, I walked through the corridors of the White Rock Fortress.
Having received permission to enter, the traps didn’t activate. The Lily Knights and maids I occasionally encountered simply bowed their heads in greeting.
Thanks to the Thief’s Trap Detection skill, I navigated the treacherous corridors, my senses tingling, and stopped before an antique-looking door. The Queen’s bedchamber.
As expected, elite members of the Lily Knights stood guard.
“Mr. Sage, what brings you here at this late hour?”
“Her Majesty has already retired to her chambers. Unless it’s an urgent matter…”
There.
The Assassin’s Killing Intent Detection skill alerted me. I drew my staff.
“Mr. Sage?!”
“What is the meaning of this?!”
The Lily Knights, startled by my sudden action, drew their own weapons. Lily Swords and shields.
Seeing the pure white swords and shields in their hands, I couldn’t help but smile faintly.
It reminded me of a certain knight who used to wield those same weapons.
–Crash!
My reminiscing was cut short. A window shattered, and figures cloaked in black robes tumbled into the corridor.
–Woooong!
The traps, triggered by the intruders, began to activate. But as one of the black-robed figures raised their hand, the traps fell silent.
“Good heavens!!”
“M- Master Rucal’s magic?!”
It wasn’t that impressive.
Magic Cancel wasn’t uncommon in the main storyline or dungeons, but it seemed these knights weren’t used to seeing it.
“This won’t take long.”
I said to the Lily Knights, holding out my staff, watching them draw their weapons.
“Go inside and protect Her Majesty. Don’t come out until I call for you.”
“U- Understood!”
It was a bit of a shame to send potential reinforcements into the room, leaving me to face three assassins alone,
But it didn’t matter. This was a battle against time.
The commotion would undoubtedly alert the other guards, and the Magic Cancel wouldn’t last forever. Once the traps reactivated, dealing with these assassins would be child’s play.
A Mage’s Protective Barrier, emanating from my staff, enveloped me. The assassins’ eyes gleamed within the shadows of their hoods as they saw the translucent blue barrier.
“…You’re the Sage.”
This event was simple. All I had to do was survive until the time limit.
And…
“Kill him.”
No class in this game was better suited for stalling than the Sage.
So, I could confidently say,
“Try it.”
After exchanging a few blows, their tactics changed.
Since I was keeping them at bay with ranged magic, preventing them from reaching the room behind me, they decided to focus on breaking my barrier.
So, they recklessly charged forward, hacking away at my magical shield.
It was a foolish tactic, but I didn’t blame them.
They were fighting against a time limit.
Even if they managed to defeat me, they still had to deal with the elite Lily Knights inside before reinforcements arrived.
So, their attacks were wild, desperate,
And full of openings.
–Whoosh!
One of the assassins swung at my barrier, but his attack missed, hitting only air.
As he stumbled, his eyes wide with surprise, I swung my staff, using Bash, one of the Warrior’s skills.
–Crack!
The impact was so strong it snapped my staff.
Lucky me! A critical hit!
The assassin, his head ringing, was out cold.
As another assassin tried to slip past me and enter the room, I threw the broken staff at him.
Dagger Throw, one of the Assassin’s skills.
Of course, I was throwing a broken staff, not a dagger, but the sharpened end would suffice.
“Gah!”
The jagged end of the staff pierced his thigh. As he winced in pain, I retreated and used a shamanistic skill.
“Uwaaagh?!”
Shadow Bind, one of the Shaman’s basic skills. It immobilized the target by binding their shadow, a bread-and-butter skill.
“You bastard…!”
“Haha! Shadow Bind! Did you use that knowing it would immobilize you as well?!”
He was right.
Shadow Bind was meant to be used when you had reliable allies nearby.
The apparent leader of the assassins laughed mockingly. I mocked him right back.
“Why do you think I used it?”
His eyes flickered with uncertainty. Yes, this skill was meant to be used with allies. As he turned to look behind him,
–Crunch!
A massive axe, wielded by the hulking general, cleaved through his chest.
“Sage! Are you alright?! I came as soon as I received your message… but I’m a little late. My apologies.”
“Don’t mention it, General Leoden. You arrived sooner than I expected.”
“You held out well! We’ll take it from here!”
The knights accompanying General Leoden restrained the assassin caught in the Shadow Bind.
“Damn it!!”
The assassin, attempting to take his own life, swallowed a vial of poison.
Of course,
“…Why?”
I healed him with my Antidote skill.
I wasn’t particularly skilled with Antidote, so he wasn’t fully recovered, and his condition didn’t look good.
But it didn’t matter.
It would get worse soon enough.
“Thank you for your efforts, Sage.”
“It was nothing. By the way…”
I looked at the hand of the unconscious assassin leader. He was wearing a silver bracelet.
I removed the bracelet, which had a small empty slot for a gem, and held it up.
“What are you doing?”
“Collecting my spoils of war.”
One of the reasons I stopped the assassination attempt was to obtain this bracelet.
General Leoden frowned at the bracelet in my hand, then said reluctantly,
“We need that to investigate the assassins’ backers. I’d prefer if we examined it first…”
“Very well.”
Examining it wouldn’t reveal anything useful.
But if those were the rules, I had to comply.
I placed the bracelet in his hand. A moment later, the door opened.
The Lily Knight who had entered earlier emerged,
Followed by the Queen, her face pale, wearing a robe and clutching a sword.
“What… what in the world happened…?”
“Assassins.”
“…As if I didn’t know….”
“And I told you not to come out until I called for you.”
As I finished speaking, the assassin I had knocked unconscious earlier stirred.
And then,
–Swish!
A tentacle, tipped with a sharp blade, burst from beneath his black robes, lashing out at the unsuspecting Queen.
I quickly darted forward, severing the tentacle with my dagger.
The Queen, who had narrowly avoided death, stared at me, her face ashen.
“A decent staff would be sufficient thanks.”
“At… at a time like this… you’re so calm… Anyway, thank you, Sage.”
“Don’t mention it. And are there any problems elsewhere?”
In the game, there had been attacks in other locations as well.
General Leoden nodded at my question.
“Come with me, Sage. Let’s check on the Princess. The rest of you, attend to Her Majesty!”
“Yes, sir!!”
The knights moved at Leoden’s command. As they escorted the Queen back to her chambers, General Leoden and I headed towards Lucille’s room.
And there, we found it.
Two bodies clad in black.
And standing before them, protected by her maids and the knights Leoden had sent, staff in hand, was Lucille Ermeier.
“Your Highness!”
At Leoden’s near-shriek, Lucille seemed to snap out of her daze. And she ran.
Past Leoden, towards me.
“T- Tutor…”
She clung to me, trembling. She was clearly shaken by the sudden attack.
I gave Leoden, who looked slightly abashed that Lucille had run past him and towards me, a reassuring nod. He understood and began directing the maids and knights, securing the area.
I patted Lucille’s back comfortingly, then examined the assassins’ bodies.
There were signs of magical damage, but the fatal blows were something else.
Sword wounds. Wounds I recognized all too well.
“Was the Hero here?”
Lucille, who had been clinging to me, trembled, then hesitated before giving a small nod. Leoden groaned and covered his face with his hand.
“The Hero… well, at least she was here. But Your Highness, where is she now? We didn’t see her where Her Majesty was attacked…”
Lucille, trembling like a frightened fawn, looked up at me.
Her eyes, filled with unshed tears, met mine, then she lowered her head again and mumbled,
“She said… there might be trouble elsewhere… and she went to check… after hearing that… you saved Her Majesty, Tutor…”
“That’s a relief. Anyway, I understand. You there, secure the area. And Sage, could you stay with Her Highness for a while? She seems quite shaken.”
It wasn’t a problem.
I had some questions for her as well.
“Why did the Hero come here? Did something happen?”
Lucille didn’t answer. Or rather, she seemed to be struggling to find the words.
After a moment of thought, she lowered her head slightly and mumbled,
“…Nothing happened.”
With that tearful expression, who would believe her?
Something definitely happened.
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There once was a beautiful girl with red hair.
She held the highest position in the kingdom.
But with that position came inevitable loneliness.
However, she couldn’t afford to show her loneliness.
Her father, who had passed away before she could even remember him.
Her mother, the heart of the kingdom, who followed in her father’s footsteps, dealing with the numerous monsters and problems plaguing the world.
With few people who could comfort her as an equal, it was perhaps natural that she turned to fairy tales for solace.
Unlike the suffocating world where everyone treated her with deference, the world within the fairy tales was different.
In the fairy tales, she wasn’t Lucille Ermeier, Princess of the kingdom. She was the Hero.
Wielding the sword chosen by fate, saving countless lives.
And living happily ever after, surrounded by loved ones.
The life she longed for existed within the pages of those books.
And the magnificent sword, displayed in the heart of the royal capital,
Wasn’t it the key that connected the fairy tale world to reality?
The faint memory of attending the ceremony with her busy mother, her small hand clasped in her mother’s, had left a deep impression, shaping her ideals.
-I want to draw that sword.
-I want to become its wielder.
-I want to become the Hero who saves the world.
It was only natural for a lonely girl to dream of becoming the Hero,
Just as it was natural for her to lose herself in the world of fairy tales.
And it wasn’t entirely impossible.
Lucille, having inherited the royal bloodline, possessed considerable talent.
Swordsmanship, magic,
A sharp mind.
She had all the qualities of a Hero.
And…
That talent,
That pride,
Crumbled the day she snuck out of the palace and tried to draw the Hero’s sword.
It was a kingdom tradition.
Anyone was allowed to try and draw the Hero’s sword.
Regardless of age, gender, social status, or wealth.
So, Lucille, stepping onto the platform, failed, just like everyone else.
In that moment, she realized.
She wasn’t destined to be the Hero.
For her, who had dedicated herself to becoming the Hero, that failure was devastating.
After that, she hid herself away.
Consumed by a deep sense of inadequacy and defeat.
Years passed, and she remained a recluse.
Then, she heard the news. Someone had drawn the Hero’s sword. And that the Hero was coming to the royal capital.
Her breath caught in her throat.
For her, still trapped in the mire of her past failure, the Hero’s arrival,
The arrival of a victor, so different from herself, was a crushing blow.
But as a princess, she couldn’t avoid greeting the Hero. And that day, she realized.
She would never be able to surpass the Hero.
They were completely different.
Herself, defeated, her self-esteem shattered, fallen to the very bottom, covered in mud, pathetic.
And Claire, bathed in praise and blessings, radiating a bright, sun-like aura.
Aware of her own darkness, Lucille avoided Claire, sinking further into despair.
‘But now, things are different.’
Walking down the hallway, Lucille felt a pleasant fatigue.
Well, not entirely pleasant.
The quest, her first outing in a long time, had been tiring and unfamiliar.
But still,
It was better than being alone in her room.
“Heh…”
A smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
He truly was an extraordinary person.
She was grateful that he had taken her, a defeated recluse, outside.
Grateful that he was helping her overcome her sense of inadequacy.
And he praised her.
Told her she was better.
He reached out to her, still struggling in the murky depths, without hesitation.
“Hehe…”
One of the maids coughed discreetly. Realizing her laughter was unbecoming of a royal, Lucille nodded and covered her mouth.
But she couldn’t stop
The memories of the day from surfacing.
‘Ah… Tutor’s playing… it was so beautiful…’
The cool breeze.
The delicious sandwiches.
The refreshing juice that revitalized her body after fighting hordes of boar monsters.
And best of all, the Sage’s lute playing.
There had been many people in the park,
But in that moment, it had felt like she and the Sage were the only two people in the world.
That memory overwrote the gloomy, painful memories that had haunted her.
Lost in the sweet nostalgia, Lucille returned to her room and saw a woman standing before her door.
“…Your Highness, may I have a moment of your time?”
The woman, whom Lucille had found beautiful from the moment they met,
And the woman who had lost him,
Looked at Lucille with slightly clouded crimson eyes. Lucille nodded slightly.
Yes, she had been meaning to talk to her.
In the past, when she had felt inferior and defeated in Claire’s presence, she wouldn’t have even dared to meet her gaze.
But now,
Things were different.
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