Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

**Rustle… Rustle…**

With no warning, withered leaves appeared from nowhere and drifted through the air on the wind. In less than half a second, countless dead leaves had gathered, swirling around the woman like a flowing river suspended in midair, forming a protective barrier around her.

The vines were knocked away the instant they made contact. Meanwhile, the Autumn Moon Sword spun at high speed, grinding against the torrent of leaves in the opposite direction.

A strange scraping sound rang out continuously. At last, the Whirling Blade lost all of its momentum. The skill was forcibly interrupted, and the sword dropped to the ground with a loud clang.

Even Starmew’s Frost Breath fared no better.

“…”

‘We can’t even breach her defenses?’

Through the gaps between the leaves, Zane activated Inspect Attribute.

Aside from her name and title, nothing else was visible. Either the level gap was far too great, or she possessed some kind of ability that concealed her attributes.

“Having courage is a good thing,” Xaelia said leisurely as she wagged her index finger after seeing the group preparing to attack again. “But refusing to give up after witnessing the difference in strength is simply foolish.”

‘What nonsense. Our identities are already exposed. If we don’t fight you, are we supposed to wait here to die?’ That was what Zane thought, but he still tested the waters. “You’re not planning to attack us?”

“If I had intended to, you would have died yesterday.”

“…”

Windblossom immediately understood the implication behind those words. “What do you want us to do?”

“Smart.” Xaelia nodded approvingly. “It’s nothing particularly troublesome.” A faint trace of melancholy appeared in her eyes as she strolled back behind the counter and sat down. “I simply… want to learn about a few things.”

…

The battle had erupted without warning, and it ended just as quickly.

“When the Stormlord swept across the battlefield with overwhelming force, no one was able to stand against him. The earth split apart, violent winds howled, and the armies of magibeasts and the undead relentlessly devoured humanity’s territory.

“Although Dusk City was only one of the frontline cities, it stood between Wynwater City and Flowerdance City. Once it fell, and the teleportation links to the other Dark Faction cities were opened, there would be no turning back.

“Just as the storm engulfed Dusk City and darkness shrouded the heavens, a drunken man appeared.”

Zane narrated the story with remarkable expression. Although he hadn’t personally experienced the events, he knew the general course of what had happened. Windblossom stared at him in complete disbelief. She had just watched Zane make things up for a full twenty minutes without stopping once!

Meanwhile, Starry listened with complete concentration, her fingers constantly moving as though she were operating something. Lulu lay sprawled across her lap, her soft back serving as a cushion while Starry’s slender arms moved from time to time.

Behind the counter, Xaelia rested her cheek on one hand as she listened with great interest. Sometimes she nodded, while at other times she unconsciously clenched her fists, as though she had personally been transported into the story.

“And then? What happened after that?”

“As for what happened next… please tune in next time…” Halfway through his sentence, Zane suddenly felt a chill run through his entire body. When he came back to his senses, several leaves had embedded themselves into the wall beside him.

‘This doesn’t make sense! Since when could leaves be used as throwing knives!?’

“Keep going!” Xaelia puffed out her delicate cheeks in dissatisfaction.

‘What are you, a child!?’

“My throat’s gone hoarse… I can’t tawk anymore…” Zane said, deliberately slurring his words.

“…” Xaelia frowned slightly. With a flick of her finger, a Ghost Lantern Zombie hopped out through the back door carrying a small cup. Inside was a grayish-green transparent liquid that wobbled like jelly.

“This is Magiflora Tea that I personally researched. It refreshes the mind and soothes the throat after drinking it. You’re getting it at a bargain today.”

“Gulp…”

‘That color… and it’s made from magic flowers… Are you sure this is tea and not something brewed to raise poisonous parasites??’

Zane hesitated. “Can I… not drink it?”

“No. Drink it first, then continue the story!” Xaelia rejected him without hesitation.

The Ghost Lantern Zombie promptly handed the cup over. Zane shot Windblossom a pleading look for help. She immediately turned her head away and pretended to admire the scenery.

‘Damn it! Looks like I can only rely on myself… I can’t exactly make Starry drink it. That would practically be the same as drinking it myself.’

As for how things ended up like this…

The Withered Leaf, Xaelia, wanted to know everything that had happened within the Light Faction over the years.

Although Zane had no idea what had gotten into her, this was related to an SS-rank quest. He could only grit his teeth and try to reconstruct the events based on the background information and clues he knew.

Meanwhile, Starry rapidly searched one keyword after another, digging through forum posts for related information. Combined with Zane’s deliberate storytelling style, where he dragged out his words like a professional storyteller, he somehow managed to keep talking for nearly half an hour!

The most unbelievable part was that this terrifying boss listened with complete concentration.

“…This is such a wonderful drink. Could I keep it and save it for later…”

“Stop talking nonsense!” Xaelia snapped, slamming her hand on the table.

Looking at the wriggling liquid, Zane took a deep breath. ‘Here goes nothing!’ He grabbed the cup and downed it in one gulp. Before he even had the chance to experience the *refreshing* taste of the Magiflora Tea, a notification sounded.

*Pfft!*

At the same time, the pungent, intensely sour liquid rushed into his body, surging wildly through every part of him.

“Well? Don’t you feel much more awake now?”

“Hahaha… I sure do! I’ve never felt this awake in my life!” Zane replied with a flushed face.

Not only him, but Starry’s cheeks had also turned crimson. Her scarlet eyes widened as the speed of her right hand moving across the interface noticeably increased.

“See? This Magiflora Tea is my exclusive creation. You won’t find such an exquisite tea anywhere else.”

“As expected of Lady Withered Leaf! To think you’d willingly share such a precious treasure with us. I truly can’t thank you enough!”

“Hey… hey, Zanny?” Windblossom called uneasily through the party chat.

However, Zane gave no response whatsoever.

“Starry?”

There was no reply from her either. Although both of them were right beside her, Xaelia was watching from nearby, so Windblossom didn’t dare make any suspicious moves. After all, Zane had finally managed to stabilize the boss’ attitude.

“Wielding the Empyrean Sword and wearing Cloudstride Boots, the drunken Sword Saint stood alone with nothing but his sword. With a single horizontal slash, an azure radiance swept across ten miles, cleaving even the Stormlord cleanly into two…”

The corner of Windblossom’s mouth twitched. If there had at least been a faint resemblance to the original story earlier, what Zane was saying now was complete and utter nonsense.

And on top of that, his HP bar was dropping every single second!! Even more outrageous was the fact that Xaelia listened with obvious fascination. There was no saving this situation anymore.

…

And so, the wildly exaggerated storytelling session continued for an entire hour.

Every time Zane’s HP was about to fall below zero, Xaelia casually waved her right arm. A flash of green light followed, and a healing number exceeding 50,000 instantly restored him to full health.

Windblossom’s expression had gone from astonishment to complete stiffness before finally settling into utter numbness.

“And just like that, we effortlessly repelled the Shadow Overlord. Afterward, we accepted a quest from the Galewind Mercenary and came to Noctilune City to gather intelligence.”

“I see…” Xaelia murmured thoughtfully. “I never imagined so many things had happened over the years. It seems your journey has been filled with hardships.”

“…” Zane shook his head. ‘Wait… did I just blurt out our quest as well?’