Chapter 34
Soon after Hilda finished assigning the mission, Lisbeth and the others arrived at the outer area of the Demon King's Fortress. But the moment Lisbeth stepped off the carriage, what first filled her vision was a vast, open plain. A moment later, after she glanced around, she noticed the small woods in the distance were still intact.
“Yeah, no matter how you look at it, this has got to be the worst terrain for a siege. It's flat as far as the eye can see, with nothing to use as cover. If spells and arrows get fired from the walls, you won’t even have time to set up defenses.”
“Hey, hey, don’t forget you’re a Maid now, not a Hero. Stop thinking about war all the time, alright?”
Seeing Lisbeth drift into battle mode out of habit, Hilda lightly smacked her on the head, then continued, “It looks empty now, sure, but those forests are crawling with magic beasts. We’ll head for areas with fewer monsters. You’re going to the woods on the right. And take this.”
After briefly explaining the gathering locations, Hilda tossed Lisbeth a pale blue crystal. “This is a communication crystal. It only works at short range. If anything happens, pour your mana into it right away and we’ll rush over.”
“And one last thing: you have three hours. Once time’s up, head straight back.”
“Got it.”
After seeing Lisbeth nod, Hilda repeated the same instructions to Stalos. Once she confirmed everyone understood, Lisbeth set off alone toward the designated grove.
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“Alex, did you actually believe everything Hilda just said?”
On the way to the assigned forest, Clothilde, who had been residing in Lisbeth’s arm, finally spoke up. Now that Lisbeth had completely separated from Hilda and the others, no one would suspect anything even if she stayed quiet for long stretches to talk with Clothilde.
Hearing Clothilde, Lisbeth gave a slight nod. “I did live with Christia for a while, remember. I know what kind of person she is. Since she’s said that much, it means she really has backed off from watching me. At least for now.”
“But why would she suddenly do that? You’ve only been here for a few days, right? I feel like she gave up way too fast.”
“Yeah, I’ve been wondering about that too. But rather than overthinking it, let’s focus on the mission first. The sooner I gather these herbs, the sooner I can rest.”
Christia suddenly giving up surveillance puzzled Lisbeth as well, but after saying that, she had already reached the forest she was supposed to enter. She took a deep breath, then stepped through the forest’s entrance.
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“Mm, looks like this is the place. But with a forest this big, three hours isn’t exactly a generous time limit.”
Gazing at the forest of towering trees before her, Lisbeth stretched lazily, then pulled the mission sheet from the herb-gathering pack she’d brought. According to Hilda’s instructions, Lisbeth didn’t have to bring back a massive quantity of any one herb; she was to gather as many different kinds as she could instead.
Thinking it through, Lisbeth understood Hilda knew it was impossible to collect everything in a forest this vast in just three hours. That was why she went with “grab as many types as possible.”
“Let’s see… Elcra, Darkray, Hilsay? Are these herb names or people’s names? They don’t sound like medicinal plants at all.”
“Yeah, they really don’t. But Alex, forget the names. Go pick the herbs first. You really don’t have that much time.”
“Heh, you’re forgetting something. I can Class Change now, remember? Once I use that skill, gathering a few herbs will be nothing.”
“Wait, huh!? You’re going to use Class Change here?”
The moment Lisbeth said that, Clothilde let out a startled cry. “Lisbeth, don’t forget Hilda and the others are not that far away. If they sense the mana you unleash during Class Change, it’s all over.”
“Relax, I’m not an idiot. I’ll put up a Barrier first so none of the mana leaks out. So don’t worry, Little Sword~”
“Is that so? Then fine. Which class are you going with? If I remember right, the one with the best search abilities is Grand Thief, right?”
“Yup, that’s right~ Then let’s begin.”
After saying that, Lisbeth gently closed her eyes. At the same time, a huge Barrier spread out around her. In the next instant, the same Magic Array that had appeared in the Treasure Vault lit up beneath her feet.
“Class selection, Tier 1—Thief.”
“Class advancement, Tier 2—Grand Thief.”
In the next moment, her Maid Outfit vanished from her body. In its place, a set of leather armor appeared, layered with a light outer cloak made for ease of movement.
“Alright, time to start searching.”
Once the Class Change was complete, Lisbeth crouched down and placed her hand on the forest floor. As soon as her fingers touched the earth, a blue glow began to spread from her palm, gathering just above the ground.
“Skill—Search.”
As Lisbeth spoke, the blue light that had gathered at her hand turned into streaks like lightning, piercing into the soil and racing in all directions through the forest.
“Mm, got it, got it. So that herb’s over there, and that one grows in that spot, huh.”
The moment her Search skill went out, a flood of information poured into Lisbeth’s mind. Very quickly, she clearly grasped the location of every herb she needed. All she had to do now was walk over and pick them.
“Okay, that should do it. Next, I just need to… huh!?”
Before Lisbeth could move, a very bad-looking image flashed into her mind along with the other results.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Someone’s being surrounded by over a dozen magic beasts.”
“Eh!? Seriously?”
Clothilde was shocked when she heard that. She hurriedly asked, “Then are those magic beasts strong? Is that person’s life in danger?”
“I don’t know.”
Search was a very convenient skill, but it only told Lisbeth roughly what was where. It couldn’t show her exactly what was happening. Still, when the blue light of her Search returned, Lisbeth sensed that someone was being attacked by more than ten magic beasts. She had no idea who it was, but with someone’s life on the line, Lisbeth knew this was no time to hesitate.
“Forget the details, Alex. We’re going over there. Now.”
“Yeah, I’m with you.”
Nodding, Lisbeth tightened her grip on the longsword Hilda had given her, then sprinted toward the location of the besieged person.
She had to admit, after the Class Change, her speed was terrifying. In just a few minutes, Lisbeth reached the scene of the attack. But before she could draw her sword to help, she stopped dead about ten meters away, eyes going wide in disbelief.
“Thunder Emperor Flame Array!!”
“BOOM!!!!”
The first thing Lisbeth saw was a Human Race woman with long golden hair, wearing a knight’s uniform, swinging her longsword as she cut down the magic beasts around her. Bolts of lightning kept exploding from her blade, instantly frying any magic beast that tried to get close.
In just a short span, the beasts around the woman were wiped out. Yet Lisbeth still stood frozen in place, as if she’d been struck by a massive shock.
“N-no way… Why is it her?”
The woman’s strength was ridiculous, but that wasn’t why Lisbeth was so shaken. It was because of who she was. The person who had just slaughtered all those beasts was none other than one of Lisbeth’s four Hero companions from back when she herself was still a Hero.
The title people had given her was—Thunder Emperor.
“W-why is Natalie here? Didn’t she retreat with the Human Race army?”
If Lisbeth remembered correctly, when they’d decided to attack Christia’s Demon King’s Fortress, the one who’d always been at her side was this very Natalie. Lisbeth had never imagined she hadn’t withdrawn with the humans, and had instead stayed behind in this forest.
“W-what do we do, Alex? Maybe we should pull back. Running into her here is just way too bad for us.”
“Yeah, I agree. Meeting her now would be a terrible idea. Besides, she’s insanely strong. She’ll be fine on her own. As long as she doesn’t do something stupid like charging the Demon King's Fortress alone, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
Decision made, Lisbeth started to turn away. But before she could take a step, Natalie’s eyes flashed and she shouted, “Who’s there!?”
