Chapter 38

{Chapter 38} Plan

"Finally home..."

After officially clocking out in the evening, Anna lay on her old, worn-out couch as usual, but this time, she felt an even stronger sense of relief than usual.

She couldn’t help it, after Louise and Helga met, their attitudes toward each other turned out to be worse than Anna had imagined.

It made sense now why things had escalated to a bloody ending...

But Anna still didn’t understand. With such a terrible relationship, how had these two ever come to a mutual agreement to achieve something as poetic as the "I’ll be your wings" accomplishment?

They were both girls, yet Anna really couldn’t wrap her head around how their relationship could develop to that extent...

“I just don’t get it.”

According to the simulation, Helga was supposed to try sneaking into her room tonight, and Anna would have to reject her again...

...Forget it. It might be simpler to just start a new simulation. She had already done more today than in the simulations, maybe something new would happen this time.

[Simulation Start]

[Day 0: Having nothing better to do, you decided lying around at home wasn’t an option and headed straight to the inn where Helga was staying.]

...Huh? Is the opening already completely different?

[You arrived in front of the inn and noticed Atala talking to Helga.]

How did Helga get involved with Atala?

The opening immediately left Anna stunned.

[Noticing your arrival, both Helga and Atala greeted you, and it was only then that they realized they both knew you.]

[Curious about how these two got acquainted, you walked up to ask.]

[It turned out that Helga’s uncontrollable blood rage had flared up unexpectedly today. Atala had noticed something was wrong with her condition and used a potion to help suppress it.]

[And that was how the two had met.]

[You found it strange, Helga’s blood rage episodes didn’t usually spiral out of control this easily. So why did it happen this time?]

[Upon hearing your question, Helga immediately began stammering and avoiding eye contact.]

[Seeing her reluctance to answer, you decided not to press further and instead invited both Helga and Atala to go shopping together.]

[They agreed.]

[Using the remaining funds Louise had previously given you, you and Helga, along with Atala, enjoyed a pleasant outing.]

“...Sorry, Louise!”

Feeling a wave of guilt, Anna silently apologized to Louise in her heart before continuing to watch the simulation unfold.

[Day 1: While patrolling, you ran into Helga, who was registering at the adventurer’s guild. She cheerfully greeted you as though she had completely forgotten about last night’s events.]

[Helga announced that she planned to stay in town for a while. Shortly afterward, Atala also emerged from the guild.]

[It turned out Helga had dragged Atala along to register as well.]

[However, Atala seemed visibly uneasy.]

[Day 2: After work, you saw Helga walking toward the Knights’ Headquarters with Louise and Atala.]

[You were surprised to see them getting along so well and wondered when they’d become such good friends. When they spotted you, they came over to talk.]

[You learned that while completing a novice quest to subdue magical beasts in the forest, Helga and Atala discovered that the beasts were becoming increasingly ferocious.]

[As representatives of the Adventurer’s Guild, Helga and Atala had come to request the knights’ assistance in investigating the matter. Along the way, they’d encountered Louise, who was returning from patrol, and decided to come together.]

Although the general sequence of events remained similar, many details were entirely different!

[That night, just before you went to sleep, you heard someone knocking on your door.]

[You opened it to find Atala standing there.]

[Curious as to why she’d come, Atala suddenly apologized to you.]

[Atala confessed why she had come to this town, she had indeed left the Elven Forest for personal reasons and, with little money on her, decided to work as a mercenary. Her first assignment was... to kill you.]

[However, after spending a few days with you and Helga, she realized she couldn’t bring herself to harm either of you. She’d just learned that her employer intended to lure you all into the forest, where you’d be attacked by the increasingly feral magical beasts. All Atala had to do was fire one arrow to finish you off. Instead, she decided to come clean and warn you.]

[You asked Atala about her employer, but she admitted she didn’t know their identity. All she could describe was a skinny figure wearing a knight’s armor.]

[You decided to play along with the trap tomorrow and explained the black market’s involvement to Atala. Enraged to learn that the black market was connected to the illegal trade of elves, Atala vowed to help uncover the mastermind behind your assassination attempt.]

Ohhh! Things are getting intense!

Could this be the moment they finally catch the mastermind?

[Day 3: The official quest to investigate the forest’s magical beasts commenced. Remembering what Atala told you last night, you explained the situation to Louise and Helga. Both of them urged you not to go. However, you outlined your plan to turn the tables and assured Louise, with Helga’s support, that Atala could be trusted.]

[Although Louise was a bit annoyed that both of you had befriended Atala while she remained the outsider, she reluctantly agreed to the plan.]

[In the forest, you encountered feral magical beasts!]

[You defeated Ferocious Wild Boar ×3.]

...

Same old routine so far... Let’s see what changes.

[Due to the overwhelming number of Ferocious beasts, even though the three of you were strong enough to handle them, their sheer numbers caused your formation to spread out.]

[As you began to feel a bit fatigued, you spotted Atala standing in a tree in the distance. As planned, she raised her bow toward you.]

[You signaled Louise and Helga, who had been keeping an eye on you.]

[Louise used an item: Life Ward.]

[Helga cast a Tier-2 spell: Earth Burial.]

[Atala fired a special arrow: Explosive Arrow.]

[You used an item: False Doppelganger.]

[Just as the explosive arrow was about to hit you, the Life Ward placed on you allowed the ground beneath your feet to suddenly envelop you, burying you underground.]

[The explosive arrow’s blast perfectly concealed any magical effects.]

[The pre-prepared False Doppelganger was obliterated by the explosion.]

By the way, the special item False Doppelganger wasn’t provided by poor Louise this time, it was a friendly contribution from Helga.