NOVEL NEXT Chapter 13 - An Unexpected Visitor
The path to the surface wasn’t difficult.
With the Mana Blaster, capable of taking down the most heavily armored Iron Golem in a single strike.
With the Mana Bolt, locking onto and precisely hitting over a dozen enemies at once.
With the anti-physical field, able to deflect the blow of a Giant Spider.
And with Letty, who fended off ambushes from the dark, cutting down attackers from all sides.
The monsters, already decimated by Curtis, had no strength left to resist anymore.
“Ellie, seven goblins approaching from the left.”
“Understood. Search… Lock.”
Following Letty’s instructions, Ellie focused her gaze as she gathered magic in her palm. Just as Letty had said, there were seven goblins. As she focused on them, a white circle appeared in her vision, locking onto the goblins.
“Mana Bolt, shoot!”
Once all the goblins were in her sights, she released the magic. Seven white projectiles flew out in random directions—up, down, left, and right—arcing toward the goblins, piercing their chests and heads. Not even the heaviest armored knight could survive these strikes, and all the goblins fell to the ground.
“…That should be the last of them.”
“Seems like it. At least up to the exit, we’re in the clear.”
The ruins were quiet again, and no footsteps approached the two. There was only a faint presence, as though some monsters still lingered far off, hiding.
“Shall we go?”
“Yes, let’s go!”
And so, the two passed through the door to the outside.
The sun was already setting when they emerged.
“Hmm… it’s been a while since I last saw a sunset. Feels like it’s been seven days… This area has changed so much since then. There used to be a forward base here. During a battle, Master was injured, and I was damaged. I received maintenance here, and I was supposed to return to the front lines with someone replacing the Master, but…”
There was no longer a front line to return to, nor a base to defend. She gazed at the cave they had just exited and at the small hill it had been buried under. Over the past 1500 years, it had become overgrown with trees, as if nature was reclaiming it. She wondered if she, too, should return to the earth.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, a hand was placed on her shoulder.
“And now, your new Master has come. I made you wait 1500 years, but…”
“Ahaha, that’s true. I have a very good Master now.”
If nothing had changed, she might have returned to the earth. But now, her Master was beside her, banishing any lingering loneliness.
“So, what should we do next?”
“Well, we’ll meet up with Ted and check if there are any new orders or requests. If there’s nothing urgent, we’ll report back. Oh, and I have to report about you too…”
Letty’s response left Ellie looking puzzled.
“Are there often other requests or orders like that?”
“If there’s a request nearby, it’s faster to handle it directly than to return to the capital. Though I don’t expect there to be anything… Ted might be surprised, though. Normally, a ruin that size would take at least a week to clear, but Curtis finished it in just two days. So we ended it in less than a third of the expected time.”
“Is that guy really human? And what about you, Letty? You defeated him—just who are you?”
Ellie looked at Letty with a puzzled expression, raising her eyebrows. After a moment of thought, Letty shrugged.
“He was the man closest to being a ‘hero’ of the fairy tales. As for me… I’ll show you sometime.”
Letty hesitated to reveal her trump card. While she trusted Ellie, it was something she had kept secret from everyone except Greg. It would take some resolve to share it, so she wanted a little more time.
“For now, I want to head to the mountain cabin, but since the sun’s already setting… let’s camp here for the night.”
“Okay, understood. Oh… but I don’t have any camping gear.”
Ellie had probably camped many times during her military service, so she had no issue with camping itself. But camping without any gear was a different story.
“Ah, we can use my tools for setting up camp and starting a fire. As for sleeping, we can take turns keeping watch and share the blanket.”
“Really…? Is it okay for me to use it? I’ll be wrapped up in it, breathing and everything…”
Ellie latched onto the idea, stepping closer to Letty and almost clinging to her.
“Why are you reacting like that…? I don’t mind. By the way, do you need to sleep?”
“Ah, well, if you’re asking whether I ‘need’ it, the answer is well… no. But it’s recommended to rest for about 4 to 6 hours daily to maintain my circuits for searching and aiming.”
“I see… Well, as I said, let’s take turns sleeping.”
“Understood! Though, I wouldn’t mind… sharing…”
Her last words were whispered so softly that Letty didn’t hear them.
The next morning.
After an uneventful night, they cleaned up the camp and headed to the mountain cabin where they were supposed to meet Ted. They almost got lost as they rarely used the path, but soon arrived. However, as they approached the cabin, Letty suddenly stopped and signaled Ellie to halt with a hand gesture.
“Ellie, be ready to shoot at any time.”
Letty gripped her short sword. Moments later, the door to the cabin opened, and three men stepped out.
“Well, what do we have here? A couple of pretty ladies in the middle of nowhere.”
“Hey, ain’t that the black-haired chick we’re lookin’ for?”
“And who’s the other one? Doesn’t matter, just more fun for us.”
The men sneered, dressed like typical bandits in slovenly, mismatched clothing, clutching poorly maintained longswords. Their blades were stained with fresh blood.
**Next: Parting Words**