Chapter 37

“Thank you so much for saving Repy!”

While Laura and I were struggling with the pursuers, a man named Daniel intervened to help us.

He claimed to be Repy’s guardian and expressed his gratitude to us.

“Daniel oppa!”

“I’ve been looking for you for a long time, Repy! What on earth happened?”

“I… I was scared, wahhhh!”

“Where did you leave the laurel?”

Repy pointed her finger at us.

To be precise, she pointed at Laura’s head.

“The laurel…? Are you perhaps elves from the forest of Arseria?”

Daniel’s eyes widened in surprise.

[Yes, that’s correct. / You sure have some nerve to steal our belongings.]

Suddenly, the world froze, giving us a choice.

Laura looked at me as if she was flustered.

‘What should I choose?’

“I don’t think it matters which side.”

Upon hearing that, Laura nodded.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then that ear… I suppose you are here to get back the laurel?”

Ear?

Now that I thought about it, unlike before, Laura’s ears were noticeably longer and pointier.

When I touched my own ears, I found the same situation.

It seemed we were playing the role of elves in the story.

“The laurel of Arseria, a medium capable of casting interdimensional magic. But the only laurel we have is this one.”

[Where are the other laurel? / Can’t you hand them over without hiding anything?]

“Where are the other laurels?”

“The remaining four must be in the Bahamut Empire! They claimed that their envoy was attacked, and they lost the laurel they were supposed to return, but they are likely plotting to secretly transport it to the imperial palace through various lords.”

“How do you know that?”

The gist was this.

A year ago, the Bahamut Empire borrowed five laurels from the Arseria elves.

They asked for help regarding a large-scale purification project in the forest.

Although the elves did not trust humans, they proposed a conditional loan based on the experience of interacting with the envoys over the past decade, including Daniel.

The agreement allowed them to use the laurels on the condition that the envoys and elven elders accompany them.

The Bahamut Empire accepted this, and for several months, everything seemed to go smoothly.

The empire continuously reported on the purification efforts, and the elves were satisfied with the results.

However, as the envoys and elves were returning with the laurels, they were attacked by unidentified assailants, causing the five laurels to scatter.

“I was a member of the Arseria envoy at that time! Thanks to the help of skilled individuals, I barely survived, but… the empire is still hunting down survivors.”

But the survivors had nowhere to return.

The Bahamut Empire was trying to eliminate witnesses, leaving them without anyone to confide in and unable to apply for asylum in other countries that had closed their borders due to the cold war.

“We are currently affiliated with a group called ‘Abyss.’ I know it’s an unsavory organization that opposes the empire, but… we had no choice to prevent the empire’s schemes.”

“Then, what does Repy have to do with this?”

“It’s related.”

Daniel looked at us as if it was obvious.

“I was the representative of the envoy. Repy is destined to become a saint.”

* * *

“So, the empire is up to no good with the laurels, and we need to stop them?”

“Hmm…”

“Why? Isn’t that right?”

Daniel and Repy took us to one of the Abyss branches located in the capital’s 15th district.

We scheduled a meeting with the chief to find the locations of the remaining laurels and were heading underground.

“Daniel is cleverly mixing lies. For now, our goal is to find the laurels, so let’s just go along with it.”

Above all, the name Abyss was suspicious enough, right?

But I didn’t mind that they were opposing the wretched empire.

I decided to consider this a special circumstance.

Knock knock

“Come in.”

A cold voice echoed through the corridor.

From beyond the dimly lit room, where only a small lantern provided light, a rasping sound could be heard.

“Forgive me; I’ve always lived in darkness. In fact, it’s blindingly bright right now.”

“You are not human, are you?”

“Haha, you’ve noticed already? But it makes me a bit sad to hear that. Human blood certainly flows through my veins. There are no chairs, so I hope you can listen while standing.”

‘Older sister, that person is really ugly.’

‘Shh!’

Would our whispers affect the NPC?

“Ahem! Ahem!”

Unfortunately, it did.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem to have a significant impact on the story as the chief proceeded to speak.

“The other laurel we found is located at the Rement Academy. However, I don’t know its exact location. How do you plan to enter the academy?”

[We will enroll through the proper channels. / We don’t have much time.]

“We don’t have much time. It looks like Abyss has a pre-prepared operation, doesn’t it?”

[Entering Nightmare difficulty.]

“Haha, I can’t handle this! Does this mean I can take it as your intent to join our ‘Academy Invasion Operation’?”

“Invasion? What do you mean?”

“Invasion. I’m talking about breaking into the academy.”

It was indeed the fastest way to seize the laurel.

Since I held the belief that the empire’s academy needed to be purified at least once, I showed my approval to the chief.

“Understood. Then I will provide you with the invasion plan later. In the meantime, familiarize yourself with the city.”

The chief soon called for an end to the meeting.

However, he seemed to have one more thing to add as he didn’t extinguish the lantern and turned our way.

“I see you aren’t proper forest guardians officially dispatched from Arseria. Did you run away? It’s none of my concern, but I hope you at least know how to use the laurels. If you ask Daniel, he will kindly tell you.”

* * *

The system of the World of Arseria is unique.

Physical attributes such as strength, agility, and magical affinity are all governed by the system.

Players receive quests from NPCs and can increase their stats through hunting, dueling, and completing missions.

However, the truly unique aspect was that when equipped with a laurel, players could use all kinds of magic that can be utilized in reality, albeit in a limited manner.

This was also why the game World of Arseria was highly regarded.

In a game world that was strictly controlled, it provided a single freedom, and the ways to exploit it were endless.

For instance, possessing just one laurel allowed free usage of magic under the first circle.

This system proved particularly effective during duos.

While one person fights hard, the other can find suitable magic to support them.

[Casting: Inertia Tensor Adjustment]

“Wow, it’s not heavy at all!”

The reason why Laura, who lacked physical strength stats, could wield a two-handed sword without hesitation was precisely because she received assistance from this magic.

The two-handed sword could be treated as a sufficiently integrable rigid body, allowing its weight to be adjusted not merely by reducing it, but by affecting the physical quantities of the inertia tensor to preserve its power.

Using the Kronecker delta made the formulas uncomplicated, and it was easy to adjust the second magic circle that governs the non-inertial coordinate system according to the ever-changing trajectory of the sword.

The combination of an adequate swordsmanship support system and my magic allowed Laura to perform overwhelmingly as if she were indeed the reincarnation of a legendary hero.

“I can defeat the Hydra this easily…!”

Daniel gasped in astonishment.

[You have defeated all 10 Hydras within the time limit.]

[Magic difficulty has been adjusted to 10.]

Even when firepower was lacking, there were ways to employ higher-level spells to coat the sword in plasma.

[First Circle: Upper Casting: Plasma Frequency Adjustment.]

“Yahhhhhh!”

Laura’s sword slammed into the ground in a sweeping arc.

Various colorful sparks flew along its trajectory, truly befitting her title of ‘Warrior of Aurora.’

[You have overcome the Labyrinth of Inscrutability.]

[Exploration difficulty has been adjusted to 10.]

Before the academy invasion, Laura and I cleared various sub-quests one by one.

We crashed into a strange laboratory and defeated the Hydras released by a quirky doctor, and we explored underground dungeons filled with precious treasures.

While I felt an astonishing sense of realism, I slowly grew numb to it as I continued playing the game.

[You have defeated the Commander of the Knights.]

[Infamy difficulty has been adjusted to 10.]

Interrupted by strange system windows popping up, I set my focus solely on Laura.

“Did we clear the quest?”

I asked Laura, who had emerged victorious from the duel with the Commander of the Knights.

Laura stared into space for a moment, rolling her eyes.

[Nightmare: Magic 10/Exploration 10/Infamy 10 · Duo.]

[A bonus is given.]

“Yeah! A gift has arrived!”

[Prologue: End of the Child of Prophecy.]

“Shall we call it a day? Unspecified Gender has brought delicious chicken.”

[Nightmare Part 1: Rement Academy Invasion Operation.]

“Chicken? I really love it!”