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It was dark inside the forest but a certain rage fueled the fire which consumed everything in its path and that fire was burning for revenge.
Edward of Amber wasn't the one who would be angered by the least of things as he never failed to solve a problem before. Mostly those who opposed him would end up oppressed and pushed out of power like the First Queen and the Elder Princess, his step-mother and eldest half-sister.
Due to his excellence in everything he does; he learned how to manage his followers, use everything to its full potential, and discover the weaknesses of his enemies all to the point where he was in total control of fate itself.
But certain variables are mostly out of his control and prediction. Last night, he met a lovely Mercenary girl. Tall legs, great figure, mature, and quick-witted. He liked everything about her and even though she is a lowborn, he decided to invite her to his bed alone without care about the fact that she may be some informant or an assassin from the East. After all, he was sure that no woman could resist him anymore. Maybe Nora Frye was an exception but she still came around after he impressed her.
Pearl, on the other hand, is… no, was a simple girl. Naive, clumsy, laughable, and certainly great in bed. He had plans to keep her as a pet as he can't possibly take a lowly commoner as a part of his collection. She may have been the oldest girl he's been with as well which added more spice to the matter.
But his plans were ruined.
The scene of the murder, the way she was killed, the evidence found around. It was a tragedy that put the young prince into some reality check situation.
A Mercenary's life is dangerous but that was a slaughter. Goblins and humans were lying around as they killed each other to the last of each side. All the Knights and the Mercenaries that saw the scene said it was an ambush but the way Pearl died was almost like an execution. A merciless kill with anger and hatred in heart.
Still, it is just an ambush and from the way it looks, Pearl made a last stand, attacked from behind by the look of the wounds behind her knees, got her arm cut and her chest smashed alongside the many claw marks she sustained. Finally, the way the sword was planted through her mouth into the tree behind her was horrendous and nightmarish.
Those Goblins, they will pay!
But what was Pearl doing in the Forest? As far as Edward was concerned, this is something she had to take care of. She even asked for his help to set fire to some monsters this morning. She said if she managed to scare off the other Mercenaries by driving the monsters their way, she will be getting rid of the monsters by driving them right into the hunters' den and she will be focusing on searching for the missing student. It is like hitting many birds with one ricochet stone.
But it seems that something went horribly wrong and the goblins were out for revenge. The Prince vowed to bear the responsibility and clear out the Goblins from this forest once and for all.
***
Stuffy, soft, and warm. That's what Leon could feel now that he was swallowed by a strange tree.
It was comfortable on one side but kinda disgusting as well. He felt the acidic secretions of the man-eating plant and its ever so disgusting smell completely suffocate him but from what it looked like, he won't die just with this level of acid. Somehow he could breathe as well which made it easier for him to process his situation.
The problem is that he was…
< [Acid Resistance Lv.1] has been added to your Status. >
'Awee… thanks.'
The problem is that he…
*Wiggle* *Wiggle*
… The problem…
*Moan*
'The problem is that I am restrained in this weird plant with… something weird… and soft… I guess there's only one way out of this…'
Leon's narration was thankfully not interrupted and he even skipped all the narrative formalities to the solution. Right away, he activated [Space-Time Magic - Storage] and started taking out a bunch of stuff.
The pressure in the place increased as well as the wiggling and the moaning. The plant monster started to tighten its grasp even more but Leon had just a lot of just to take out. Instinctively, the plant let go of one of Leon's arms to use its tentacle-like vines to grasp the amount of content suddenly coming out of nowhere. This was what Leon was aiming for.
Instantly, he took out his Mithril dagger and started freeing himself and cutting the plant from inside. The acidic glands he cut started letting out their strong secretion at him and the process became painful but he rather endured it with his teeth gritted.
As he was fully free inside the plant and his cuts had already reached the other surface, he could see way better than before and systematically cut a hole through the plant to let his arm out.
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As he realized what to do now, Leon obliterated the monster plant from inside and outside using his cut-it-all knife and the vitality of the plant kept dropping until it was no longer able to keep up and let go of its content.
"Wo- Woaoah!"
Suddenly being let go, Leon and everything which was inside with him started falling.
*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*
"Ouch!"
*Thud*
"Oumf! That… fucking… hurts!"
< [Physical Resistance] Level Up (Lv.2 → Lv.3) >
"Fuck… off!"
Leon's body received two terrible blows just now. One on his back as he fell on the muddy ground and another on his torso as something fell on him.
"God… that hurts… like real bad!" He closed his eyes as they teared up from the pain.
< [Pain Resistance] Level Up (Lv.3 → Lv.4) >
"Alright, God. Thank you."
As both the pain and the damage went down a notch, he started to put strength into his arms and legs, he pushed away whatever fell on him to find it profoundly soft. All he needed is to look towards whatever that was for his face to turn pale.
"Holy Potatoes! Girls grow on trees in this World?"
Totally shocked, profoundly baffled, and intensely bewildered; Leon's reaction was to push away that tree girl as far as his strength could serve him.
He barely managed to stand with his dizzy head and recovered his dagger before looking at the girl with suspicion. He even held up a spear and with its shaft, he hit the girl but she wasn't that responsive.
She seemed human.
"Weird!"
Who supposedly shouldn't grow on a tree.
"Even weirder."
So if girls don't grow on trees…
"It means that she was grabbed up inside that plant monster like me?"
And it finally started to make sense now.
"God! What's wrong with my head?" Leon massaged his temples as his head hurt with a strong headache from the fall, "That's the missing young lady."
Immediately, Leon put his helmet back on his head to cover his face. If this young lady is from the Academy, she will recognize his face right away.
As he did so, he started to feel the girl's pulse, breathing, and vitals. She was totally healthy and stable, just unconscious.
It was good since she seemed like some minor character uninvolved with the whole fiasco between him and the Prince.
"Wait…"
Leon instinctively held her face which was covered in mud and disgusting plant innards. He took out his water skin and poured some on her face to clean it. She didn't seem like someone he knows from the game but there is one detail that he can't miss.
The girl is really beautiful, she might be a little bit short but she had some really attractive cuteness to it which would definitely make her a poster girl in the game. Shady was aiming for 100% completion of the game so he surely knows most of the girls but this one is particularly anonymous to him.
At that moment, however, the girl felt the coldness of the water and suddenly opened her eyes.
"KYAAAA!"
The girl suddenly screamed and pushed the armored individual on top of her as she tried to push her body up through the mud and fell on her face twice in the process while still kicking with her legs.
"Hey, stop! Wait! Be careful."
Leon tried to half-heartedly stop her from harming herself as she ran but she mindlessly rammed into a tree when she looked back as she ran and her body cowered.
He watched the tragic event and sighed. Still, the girl kept crying from pain as blood came out from the minor scratches across her face and hands. It seems that she was subjected to the acid secretions of the plant but she was lucky she was also wearing a similar gambison to the one Leon wore.
Leon could see the Academy's Emblem sewn on her gambison but it seems that she lost most of her equipment already. No weapon, wand, or even a proper outer layer of armor. Even those Training Wings which most of the students are supposed to wear seemed to be not with her.
"You alright, miss?" Leon asked as he walked closer to her.
The girl was already crying her eyes out when Leon got closer and she didn't stop until spoke once again.
"I'd ask you to stop crying, miss. Goblins and monsters roam this place." He said.
At the mention of Goblins, the girl looked at him with a deathly pale face without letting out a single breath. He could even see her shiver as if she has gone through something really bad.
"Poor thing!" Leon muttered slowly and offered the girl his water sack, "Water."
She lagged a few seconds with her eyes looking through the place hysterically then lagging on the water skin for one more second before reaching out and taking it then immediately drinking.
*Cough* *Coughcough*
She even choked on the water and dropped the waterskin but Leon held her shoulder right away and slapped her back twice immediately stopping her cough. She kept holding her chest and with tearful eyes, she nodded to Leon telling him to stop as she is fine now.
That was one messy situation in Leon's book. He simply let go of her and narrowed his eyes as he quietly muttered "Read!"
——————————
< Ella Walsh - Lv.8 Hunter >
[STR: 11] [END: 13] [AGI: 17] [PRC: 21] [INT: 17]
- Skills: [Fire Lv.4] [Earth Lv.2] [Combat Lv.2]
- Talent: 88%
- Titles: {Princess Consort} {Walsh Successor}
——————————
It is rare to see titles in the readings but this time, Leon had his mouth wide open and his head almost blank.
This girl is not just a noble lady but the Princess Concert, i.e. Prince Edward's fiancée. Her other title is the successor of Walsh which refers to the Walsh Territory, a western county that is famous for blindly supporting the Royals.
Leon would prefer to have nothing to do with this lady as she's potentially the most fanatic follower of Prince Edward.
He just walked away and started gathering the stuff he used to force open the monster's restraining as he kept looking up for any monster activity. The things he gathered were all put in his backpack but he was actually sneaking them into his Storage without that Ella seeing it. In a minute, all was over.
"I'll be escorting you back, milady." Leon came closer to her and spoke.
The girl was still in a state of panic as she was totally not listening to him but was rather looking at her surroundings and hugging her knees together with her body obviously shivering.
"Milady." Leon called once again as he touched her shoulder.
"Kya!"
Reflexively, the girl screamed right as he came close to her and hit his hand before retreating. Leon looked at her with unamused eyes from beneath his helm and started having doubts whether or not to escort this girl back or just leave.
"You alright?" He asked.
"…" The girl seemed worse than when she was crying as she realized how fucked up her situation has become.
"Do you have any difficulty speaking?" He asked once again.
As if rather offended, she looked at him with stern eyes before looking away and struggling to start up.
"The camp…" She said but lost her words due to dizziness.
"I'll escort you. Can you walk properly?" He asked.
"Yes."
"Alright. Keep close and quiet, I don't think I can handle a horde of goblins once again."
He pointed towards the direction they are walking in and walked neither ahead of nor behind the girl. There was just a couple of hours before sunset and they were barely enough to reach the campsite.