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“I still can’t believe it! Are you sure you are human?”

Tia was still mumbling about how awesome I was. But I had different thoughts right now. The kings’ story feels more fishy. How the hell do people disappear in this cave? If there are monsters of this level around I just can’t see normal people making it this far. I’m getting more and more intrigued.

Shortly after, the cave was in sight.

“Muu… I don’t like it. There’s definitely something evil in there.”

“Tia, can you see anything?”

“No. It’s clear. Even our surroundings. But something isn’t right. It’s like a chill is coming from it.”

Tia’s eyes are amazing. Even better than mine. So… there’s no enemies but there’s still something weird.

“Elenore, Tia, you stay here. It’s better if I go in alone.”

“Wait! You plan to go in!?”

Well duh. I can’t retrieve the so called cursed sword if I don’t go in.

“Just wait here. I’ll be back soon.”

Tia was reluctant, but after seeing my power earlier, she eventually accepted it. And so I went inside.

The cave was deep. It was wet with full of holes and puddles and it was rather dark. Even I had to use a torch to see where I was going. You definitely need a good pair of shoes to handle this place, but for some reason, my feet didn’t hurt at all. As I go deeper, this place looks more and more like a dungeon. Various monsters like big crabs, large centipedes and even slimes were lurking around but they avoided me. They probably have sharp enough instincts and can sense that I’m too strong.

How long have I been walking? I lost track. Eventually finally someone appeared. Or so I thought. At first it appeared like an undead.

“Hyaah!”

It screamed and charged at me with it’s sword. Judging by it’s armor you would think that it’s a death knight, but undead usually have bits of rotten flesh and exposed bones. This guys’ body was in one piece. Which can only lead to one conclusion.

“Zombified.”

I dodge out of the way. Zombified is probably the most annoying status effect in the entire game. By the game’s description, zombified turns the players skin grey, his eyes became red and can’t tell the difference between friend and foe anymore. He would slowly lose HP but would also target allies. In game basically you were locked out and an AI would take control of your character and attack your teammates.

It’s a status that you immediately need to dispell. The thing I don’t get is… zombified is usually only applied by the hardest raid bosses. So to see someone under it’s effect… regardless, I don’t have time to think it carefully. I pierced his heart with my spear. The man collapsed on the spot.

“Dang. There’s so much inconsistency in this place. Is this really all happening because of a sword?”

I continued to advance deeper until I heard footsteps rapidly coming towards me from behind a corner. Another enemy? This time I’ll slice it’s head the moment it comes out. I took my spear and swung it when the time was right… but just as my spear was about to scratch the neck I stopped it. I barely managed to stop it.

“Kyaa!”

“Huh? Wait… you are! Princess Iris.”

“Eh!? Oh! It’s you from that time! Thank God! You scared me. I really thought I was going to die.”

“Umm… Your Highness… I don’t want to be rude but… what are you doing in this place?”

“I… am part of the adventurer party Soaring Skyes. We took the quest of retrieving the cursed sword but… I got separated from my teammates. And now I… I’m lost. Oh, you don’t know how happy I am to see you!”

Hey hey. Don’t hug me like that. Our breasts are pressing hard on each other. This isn’t the time. Wait a minute…

“I have another question. How did you manage to make it all the way here? There were dangerous beasts all over this place.”

“We came at night. Usually when it’s dark the creatures around this place are all sleeping and…”

*Gurgle**Gurgle*

I know that sound too well.

“How long have you been in here?”

“Roughly… a week… I think… it’s hard to tell time in a cave.”

A week? This isn’t normal. Okay. First I’ll give her some food. I still have a few biscuits on me.

She munched on them like no tomorrow. Now I understand why the king wanted me to come here actually. To make sure his kids are alright. But there’s still something bothering me… a quest like this shouldn’t be available for weak people. They would have to get rejected just like I was when I tried to pick a quest outside my adventurer rank. Is it because they are royalty that an exception was made? These questions can wait for now, though.

Something else was approaching us. Another zombified man.

“No way… Onii-san… became like that too!?”

Onii-san? Ugh. That means this guy is her brother. Great. I can’t kill him now.

“Hey, Iris, do you know the spell [Clarity]?”

I ignored formal speech for the time being.

“Eh? Such an advanced spell… no.”

Advanced my a̲s̲s̲. It’s the basic dispell you learn at level 35. But now that I look at her she’s only 27. Dang. I personally don’t know any cleansing spells. I never bothered with them since I have my necklace. Guess this needs a different approach then.

“Wait! You can’t kill him!”

“Calm down. I’m not going to kill him.”

Although I don’t have a plan either. In the game zombified lasted for 30 seconds. But who knows how long it lasts here. The fact is… I can’t be sure how much force to put behind my blows. The HP drain on zombified is an issue. Trapping him somehow looks like my only option. If I can have him stay put long enough maybe I can find that sword and stop this. In the game, once the boss was eliminated, all debuffs were cancelled. It’s my best bet right now. Here goes nothing.

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