The single statement that they couldn’t win didn’t dampen Luciana’s spirit; it only spurred her on. Competitive drive. Luciana, awakening to that primal instinct any warrior should possess, once again readied herself. What is composure? The most important thing for a warrior is the ‘desire to defeat the enemy!’
‘I was foolish. Whether it’s a person or a spirit, I should aim for their weak spots. Trying to chip away at the ice half-heartedly, and attempting to exhaust its strength by dragging out the fight, was all useless.’
She changed the form of her sword. Instead of a greatsword that distributed its power across all contact points, she switched to a rapier that focused on a single point.
“Hoo.”
She regulated her aura as well. As she calmed her breathing, she concentrated her aura solely at the tip of her sword, which had been burning throughout her entire body.
Hans had mentioned it before. It can be helpful to channel emotions appropriately.
What she channeled was anger. The feeling of neglect shown by the crown prince.
Then, she added anticipation. The grades she would receive after defeating the spirit. The awe all the students would show.
And, the praise from Hans, saying she did well.
Lastly, the virtue that any guardian knight must possess: the will to protect someone precious.
As she made eye contact with Hans, who stepped back with a grin in front of the spirit, she shouted,
“Get away from my attendant!”
Gathering all her strength, she leaped to the top of the massive body. Then, she thrust her aura-filled sword into the ice sculpture with all her emotions.
The spirit, belatedly realizing what was happening, flailed in shock.
-Impossible! How could I…! Twice, by these human brats…!
Crack, crack…
It was a decisive strike. The hastily created ice shield shattered as her thrust split the icy mountain from its head, plunging it into silence.
“Don’t hang around here. Go rest in the dull spirit realm’s old folks’ home. Take care of your dentures.”
At the moment the spirit met its end, Hans winked at her while babbling nonsensical words.
“I believed in you, Lady Luciana!”
His face was filled with encouragement and trust. Seeing him, Luciana felt a sense of accomplishment well up inside her.
Sending such glances, more suited to a lord or a lover, might be reproachable, but everyone has at least one pleasant memory from their school days to reminisce about.
Thus,
“Hmph, it was nothing. It was large but quite weak.”
“As expected!”
Luciana, putting on a bit of bravado, saw Hans’s delighted face and found herself unknowingly smiling softly. She returned his praise.
* * *
“Amazing…”
Rene, whose mouth was agape, shrugged her shoulders.
“Did you see? No matter how advanced the spirit was, it fell with one blow from my lord. Do you now realize who you’ve allied with?”
But honestly, even I was surprised.
Of course, I always believed Luciana would succeed. But I never imagined she would defeat the boss with a single strike.
“Phew. It was a bit lacking. If I had twisted my waist a little more back there, it would have been perfect. I need to correct my stance.”
She was reflecting on the previous fight, criticizing herself for the areas that could have been better. In my eyes, she had already surpassed perfection, reaching the level of pure artistry.
“Well, this time, I won’t be able to compete for the top spot.”
I felt no regret. Anyone who saw the battle would reach the same conclusion: Luciana deserved the greatest credit for this boss fight.
The item that caused spirits to materialize in the physical world. Last time I destroyed it, but now, since we had subdued the spirit itself, it was a perfectly intact spirit stone.
[Jewel of the Snowy Mountain]
[Item Category: Spirit Stone]
[The last struggle of a spirit that once ruled a northern mountain range but fell to become a snow spirit.]
[After finding freedom from long captivity and dreaming of revival, its desire was thwarted and it remained as a single jewel.]
[Increases proficiency in ice magic when possessed]
[Increases affinity with ice spirits when possessed]
Not bad at all. It’s a relic, after all.
‘Originally, bosses would just drop a useless gem.’
Considering it was merely a score booster before, this loot had quite good functionality. The issue was that it wasn’t particularly useful for anyone present.
But as evidence of having defeated the boss, it was invaluable.
The Saintess, who only provided buffs from the back.
I, who only drew aggro without landing a proper attack.
Luciana, who felled the boss in one strike.
Who deserved the honor? It was obviously Luciana.
“With this, the top spot for this dungeon exploration is assured. Congratulations.”
However, Luciana received the spirit stone with an unsatisfied expression. She furrowed her brow and said,
“…Although I’m accepting this, I can’t ignore your assistance. When I submit this to Professor Marks, I will also report in detail the roles you played.”
“Are you sure about that? What about your teammates? ‘I’d appreciate it, but…’ They definitely wouldn’t take it well.”
I hate to say it, but that’s how nobles think. Those who believed Luciana’s achievements were directly tied to their scores would be furious if they learned she intended to share the credit with us out of goodwill.
– Aren’t we one team? Even if we were separated, I never thought Lady Luciana would rely on others so easily.
– With Lady Luciana’s abilities, she could have managed alone. Even if she received help, why give credit for such minor assistance…
– Did we displease you? If you had told us, we would have gladly stepped aside.
I could clearly envision nobles complaining and pressuring Luciana, expressing disappointment and frustration.
I cast a worried glance at Luciana, who would bear the brunt of their displeasure.
“This happened because of the spirits’ tricks while we were momentarily separated. It wasn’t intentional. They can’t casually criticize my achievements.”
Luciana shrugged her shoulders, her silver hair gleaming.
My worries were unfounded.
At least she didn’t seem to regret her choice at all.
‘Well, it’s good for me.’
Since Luciana’s top spot was guaranteed, it wouldn’t hurt to get a little reward myself.
“Let’s part ways here. We need to find our team as well.”
“…Alright. I’ll see you outside.”
Luciana gave me a fleeting smile and then walked in the opposite direction. I couldn’t help but stare longingly at her back.
…For some reason, she looked lonely.
“Am I seeing things? Did that mid-boss Luciana just… smile?”
But my reverie was interrupted. As soon as Luciana disappeared, a pest came over and started babbling.
“Hey, talk to me. Isn’t this totally out of character?!”
“Such a crude reaction to witnessing the true nature of Lady Luciana.”
Though I said that, I could understand why Rene was so flustered.
In the game, Luciana was the epitome of a cold beauty. Her anger towards those who insulted her family, her straightforward criticism of the crown prince, and her occasional desperate cries. She rarely showed any other emotions, and a smile was out of character for her.
But that was the story of a lonely Luciana in the game.
“Isn’t she beautiful? The rare moments when she shows her true emotions are the best.”
I couldn’t help but sing her praises again.
Of course, she still had some awkward and stiff aspects, but her subtle care and hesitation within her confident demeanor, the vulnerable side she only showed to those she trusted!
“Cold and proud, but kind only to me—how can I not be loyal to such charm?”
“Well, by that logic, Prince Leon is quite charming too.”
…Why bring up his name now?
I looked at her in disbelief as she passionately praised him too.
“His sharpness in gathering even the smallest clues for his advantage! His resilience in enduring the cruel palace intrigues! How can one not be captivated by his rare, blooming smile in the midst of it all? You can’t help but be loyal!”
‘…Why does this sound exactly like what I just said?’
No. It felt like I was receiving mirror therapy, which was rather unpleasant. A case of self-loathing, perhaps.
I quickly distanced myself from her, feeling an instant surge of irritation.
‘No, it’s not self-loathing.’
She admired a cunning strategist, while I respected a noble and lonely genius swordswoman.
– You two really say some strange things. Boss? Out of character? What are those terms?
Taking advantage of the awkward atmosphere, Bathory interjected.
In a spot hidden from the Saintess’s view, the shadow tilted its head curiously.
It was a moment that could have exposed my true identity, but I remained calm.
– Those are codes we decided on during our last conversation with the Third Prince’s faction. You don’t need to know the details, but essentially, it refers to our main adversaries.
– Humans indeed love unnecessary complications, and you’ve been quite influenced by it.
– Haha, thank you for the compliment.
These were terms that didn’t exist in this world. Since Bathory trusted my words without question, it wasn’t hard to deceive him.
“At least we managed to handle the hidden boss well.”
“Indeed. Now that we’ve taken a breather regarding the grades, shall we start preparing the stage setup in earnest?”
“What are you talking about now?”
Rene looked at me with a face full of dread, as if wondering what else was left to do. I tossed a casual remark back at her.
“Well, I’m off. Do your part on your own. I have more urgent matters to attend to.”
“Wait, hold on! Are you just going to dump all the work on me… Hey!”
I quickly escaped from the Saintess, who was about to voice her complaints.
With the boss defeated, there were no more immediate dangers, and as a slow-footed mage, she wouldn’t be able to catch up with me. She would eventually tire out and give up.
Exams? We had already met the requirements for maintaining our grades by defeating the hidden boss.
Rejoining the team? Reporting? Those trivial procedures could be left to our useful tool, Rene.
‘It’s convenient how quickly she picks up on things.’
In this regard, she’s quite handy. To ensure her own survival, she would handle things well.
I quickly pulled out a communication stone from my pocket.
“It’s me. How are things progressing on your end?”
-I contacted the informant I had planted. However….I’m not sure whether to say things are going smoothly or if we’ve hit an unexpected snag.
I sighed at the anxious tone in their voice.
“What’s wrong? You’re not thinking of backing out now, are you?”
-Of course not.
“Then what’s the problem? I didn’t give you such a difficult task, did I? Isn’t that right, Riu Caspera?”
A brief silence followed. The girl, trembling with fear at my words, protested in a small voice.
-It’s not easy to seduce the crown prince. Do you know what I’ve had to go through to be here? The scrutiny from Lady Speda…!
Though Riu was pouring out her grievances rapidly, it wasn’t my concern.
Once given an order, she should have followed it to the letter.
“Successfully getting close to him was enough. And who said you had to actually make him fall for you? Just attempt it. …Wait a minute. Is Lady Speda part of your team?”
-Yes. It’s exhausting trying to keep up appearances from both sides.
Upon hearing this unexpected information, it felt like lightning struck my mind.
The crown prince and Riu were in the same team. And Luciana was also included?
I finally understood why Luciana had been so angry when we crossed paths.
‘Of course, she wouldn’t look kindly on Riu trying to seduce the crown prince, ignoring his fiancée right in front of her.’
I never imagined the crown prince would put Luciana, whom he disliked, on his team.
“Damn, this is getting troublesome.”
– I did my best.
“Don’t be ridiculous. My order was clear: seduce the crown prince and observe his reaction. But you couldn’t do it because you were worried about Luciana’s reaction, right?”
Even though I was scolding her, I had to admit, Riu was impressive. In such a short time, she had gotten close enough to be in the same team as the crown prince, and despite Luciana’s presence, she nearly carried out my orders perfectly.
“Insert mana into the stone I gave you.”
-You mean the tracking device? Why? Are you planning to monitor me?
“Exactly. I need to see if you do your job properly. And I also need to check your target’s reactions.”
I kept the latter part to myself since Riu didn’t need to know.
‘Let’s see how this plays out.’
A dark, secluded place away from prying eyes—the perfect spot for revealing one’s true nature.
This wasn’t just relevant to the Saintess.
Cliche Novel 