Chapter 37
Can you really call it an ambush if you already know who’s going to attack and when?
“I’ve said the word ‘ambush’ so many times it’s starting to lose all meaning.”
Anyway, I already knew the timing and location of the attack.
Sooner or later, Adrian—who had gone to the library for nothing—would find me on his way back. Once the attackers realized that my “companion” had appeared, they’d yell something like “Damn it, how vexing!” and scatter.
If only they knew that this supposed companion was actually a librarian with absolutely zero combat ability, they’d be kicking themselves in regret.
I had thought about simply avoiding the places where I knew they’d attack—but no. If they were going to chase and attack me anyway, it would be better to fight somewhere familiar, somewhere I’d already experienced in the game.
Reducing variables and recreating a familiar scenario—that was a strategy too.
Still, it was strange. These were the same fanatics who’d once carried out suicide bombings, and now they were fleeing just because one extra person showed up?
Things that didn’t seem odd when I was playing the game felt full of holes now that I was living through them. Maybe they were being cautious because this was a densely populated city?
In any case, for all the numbers they had, the battle ended a bit anticlimactically.
Even if it was an easy win, it was my first time fighting against multiple enemies at once, so I was a bit nervous.
I calmly pictured the upcoming fight in my head.
First, freeze the melee attackers’ feet with an ice round, then take out the ranged attackers while holding my ground.
With that plan in mind, I arrived at the battlefield—right at the fork in the road where I had parted with Adrian earlier.
“All right, come on.”
I steadied my mind and scanned my surroundings.
And then—
“Servant of the false goddess, die!”
A man holding a long spear leaped from a building and charged at me, his weapon glinting as if it would split me in two.
“Serve the goddess? Please. I’ve got plenty of complaints about her myself!”
“Take this—freeze bullet!”
Of course, I had no intention of just standing there and taking it. I pulled the trigger in an instant.
A snowflake-shaped magic circle appeared around the muzzle, and a frost-imbued bullet shot out.
The spearman froze solid in midair, then dropped to the ground with a dull thud.
Of course, he’d only stay frozen for a short while. Soon he’d thaw and attack again.
Hopefully, the fight would be over before then.
“Ugh, to think you’d react that fast… you coward! In the name of the demon god Phoneros, I’ll see you dead!”
An archer emerged from an alley, shouting as he drew his bowstring.
Coward? Seriously? You’re the one ganging up on a single person.
I scoffed and fired a flame round at his bow.
Wood burns easily—let’s see if you can still shoot while it’s on fire.
The fire round, like the ice round, wouldn’t last long enough to completely destroy the weapon, but it would at least keep him from firing for a while. That was good enough.
“One left.”
There were three attackers in total.
The last one was a spellcaster—a wizard-type who used elemental magic and carried a long wand.
The best way to deal with a mage was to silence them before they could chant a spell.
But the “Bullet of Silence” skill was a level 50 ability, and I wasn’t there yet.
So I’d have to tank a few spells and hold out.
In the game, that just meant losing some HP—but now, facing it with my real body, it was a little terrifying.
“Adrian, please hurry up.”
Swallowing hard, I fired a spread round at the wizard who had just appeared.
“You vile servant of the filthy goddess! Go to hell!”
He took the hit but didn’t seem badly hurt, and immediately retaliated with a fireball spell.
A classic Fireball. Some clichés never change—did villains all go to the same school to learn their lines?
“Dodge!”
I activated my evasion skill and sidestepped.
The blazing sphere crashed into the ground where I had just been, setting it alight.
No need to worry—the fire would die down soon enough.
The real problem was that all my active skills were now on cooldown, leaving me with only standard ammo.
“Damn you!”
The mage snarled as I dodged again.
The frozen spearman was starting to thaw, and the fire on the archer’s bow was nearly out.
“Come on, Adrian. I can’t hold out much longer…”
The second fireball came flying toward me—and this time, I couldn’t dodge.
“Ow, hot! Hot!”
It hurt!
My armor protected me from serious burns, but taking a fireball to the body still stung like crazy.
As I blew on my smoldering sleeve—
“Who are these scoundrels?”
That familiar, calm yet commanding voice.
“Sir Adrian!”
I turned toward the sound, my savior appearing once again.
Even though I’d known he was coming, relief flooded through me all the same.
“Tch, reinforcements! Damn it, retreat!”
The attackers shouted their scripted lines and fled in a hurry, the archer dragging his half-frozen comrade by the collar.
At least they had some sense of camaraderie—or maybe they just didn’t want him captured and interrogated.
“Are you hurt? Let me see.”
Adrian ignored the fleeing enemies and hurried over to inspect me.
The air smelled faintly of scorched fabric.
“I’m fine. My clothes got a little singed, but I’m not injured.”
My white shirt now had a neat little hole in it, but nothing worse. I could patch it up or use a repair kit from a magic workshop later.
“Who were they?”
“They kept shouting about serving the demon god Phoneros. I think they’re the same group that carried out the airship bombing.”
Of course, I knew they were.
They’d keep coming after me—the so-called “hero of the goddess”—for a long time to come.
But saying that outright would just make Adrian suspicious, so I kept it vague.
“Hmm… In any case, let’s return to base camp. Even if you look fine, you should have Leo check you over and heal you if needed.”
I nodded. The day’s quest was over anyway.
All that remained was to regroup, pool our findings, and decide what to do next.
I hadn’t gained much information—but I had leveled up once.
After changing regions, the quest EXP had started flowing again.
When we returned to the inn, our teammates were already there, looking utterly exhausted.
Darren sat slumped back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. Leo was half-asleep on the table. Even usually composed Lena was reclining heavily against her chair.
I already knew from the game that they’d all faced similar trouble.
Still, could the locals be any more hostile? They even openly insulted our “Heroes of Hagion” party.
The fact that Darren and Lena hadn’t punched anyone was honestly praiseworthy.
But when they saw me, their weary faces turned to shock.
“E–E–Elaine! What happened to you? You look like—like you rolled through a fire!”
“You kind of do, actually.”
Leo was speechless, and Lena crossed her arms, finishing his sentence for him.
My clothes were smeared with soot, and a large burn hole gaped at the sleeve.
Feeling embarrassed, I just gave a sheepish grin and scratched my cheek.
Adrian answered in my stead.
“We were ambushed. Likely by followers of the demon god Phoneros. There were three attackers. When I arrived, they fled.”
“Wait, you fought three of them alone? Wow… that’s incredible, Elaine.”
Darren’s amazement made me shake my head as I sat down.
“No, it wasn’t. I barely held out. If Adrian had been a bit later, I’d be in bad shape right now.”
Thankfully, my armor was sturdy enough that I’d escaped with only minor first-degree burns.
If I hadn’t been wearing it… I didn’t want to imagine the outcome.
“I’ll heal you right away. This will sting a bit…”
Leo grimaced as he opened his spellbook.
“Whoa, so that’s what it looks like in person.”
In the game, Sohyun’s character had used this same animation, but seeing it in real life was something else.
As the book opened, a glowing blue crystal rose from its pages and began to spin in the air, surrounded by tiny motes of light that sparkled beautifully.
The weapon looked impressive—when I checked its info panel, I saw it was a Unique-grade item, the same tier as my own weapon, though usable from level 30.
Apparently, nobles didn’t bother with anything below that tier.
After all, Unique items were the best that could be obtained without venturing into legendary gear.
“…Come to think of it, I do have that legendary spellbook sitting in my inventory.”
While I was thinking that, Leo’s healing spell activated.
The red, stinging patches on my skin faded away, returning to normal in seconds.
