⟨⟩ ⟨⟩ ⟨⟩
A few minutes ago, in a forest in the kingdom of Stornia.
A girl with midnight-sky blue hair—Lilith—was wearing a white priestess-style robe combined with a long hood decorated with gold trim, giving off a holy and graceful impression.
Underneath the robe was a form-fitting white dress with black accents at the waist, secured by a golden brown belt.
A gold-framed blue gemstone brooch adorned her chest, while small star-shaped earrings dangled from her ears.
The earrings were noticed by Iris, who was quite impressed with them. She immediately complimented her beauty in them.
"You look beautiful with them."
Lilith, realizing this, answered honestly and openly, with a charming, friendly smile.
"Oh, these earrings," she then held the dangling earrings. "I bought them at the jewelry store in the plaza the other day. They were cheap, so I bought them."
"I see." Iris replied happily.
The two of them continued chatting in front, while Flynn, who was behind with Nathan, simply watched the two Seraphim in front of him quietly.
Flynn suddenly remembered Infori's words: [Sorry for saying that, I have no grudge or anything against you Seraphim. For now, I can only respect, not trust.]
That was enough to make Flynn's mind a little confused. His face, which had previously held a faint smile, changed to one full of questions, his eyes cast downward.
(I think they're still like most other Seraphim. They're just doing their duty as protectors of the sacred tree. But why is Infori so suspicious of them?)
He still wasn't sure why his friend was so distrustful of the Seraphim. But, in the midst of his confusion, Nathan, who was beside him, noticed the change in his expression and immediately asked Flynn.
"Are you okay?"
Flynn flinched when he heard the question, he came back to reality to answer. He looked up, then turned to the left and saw Nathan walking with him.
"...?"
"Ah," Flynn, at a loss for words, tried to find an excuse. "I'm fine. I was just thinking about the man who's being held in the Knightley Queen office in the plaza. He's been causing a lot of trouble lately. So, I wanted to tell the leaders of Storm Queen City about this later."
Nathan was a little suspicious, but ultimately decided to agree, understanding what he was saying.
"Oh, is that so."
"Yes," Flynn said, trying to make small talk with Nathan to lighten the awkward atmosphere. "By the way, you're quite skilled with the sword, aren't you?"
Hearing that, Nathan turned to him and immediately replied, "Well, just a little bit. Although I'm not very skilled, I at least know the basic techniques."
"Is that so," Flynn replied, understanding, but a few questions arose in his mind. (But... Why did he, a normal person, end up in such a dangerous place?)
Walking with Nathan, whom she had always considered a mere commoner, not someone from the unknown. But now, she began to wonder a little about who these gentlemen were around her.
(Why was he in the midst of danger with Infori? He had only met Infori a few days ago, and Infori didn't even know who this gentleman was.)
Flynn talked and wondered to herself. (According to Infori, he had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and saved her from a dangerous crystal zone that had suddenly appeared. However, by that afternoon, many adventurers had already left Storm Road. But Mr. Nathan didn't seem like an adventurer, did he?)
But she suddenly remembered the presence detection system for anything or everyone, which originated from a magical artifact that had been active for over decades in the central plaza. That artifact was in the Knightley Queen's office.
(...! Oh yeah! I just remembered, the artifact only detected one person leaving the plaza to the Storm of Road. Not two.)
Flynn still remembered the artifact's function.
(Field Detect—It's an artifact used by Knightley Queen as an intermediary to detect and monitor anyone entering and leaving, or detect anything unusual. I placed it in the office, so its detection range is only around the plaza.)
He now had some clarity, but he still hadn't reached a conclusion. This was still his personal opinion, subjective based on what he heard and saw.
Flynn glanced down.
(Field Detect had only detected one person leaving the plaza at that time, which I assumed was the information. So—)
However, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard Iris's voice in front of him, suddenly shouting in a rather loud voice.
"Ah! What's going on?!"
Flynn looked up again, seeing Lilith and Iris stop in their tracks. This forced him and Nathan to stop to check, Lilith and Iris looked tense.
"...?!"
However, Flynn also felt an uneasy feeling, just as the two Seraphim in front of him did.
"What happened?" he asked.
At that very moment, a humanoid figure emerged from the nearby bushes and swiftly swung its sword vertically at Flynn's head and—
Swing!
"...?!" He gasped in surprise. The sudden attack caused Flynn's body to react immediately, pushing him backward to avoid the sudden attack.
The attack only cut through the wind, but didn't hit anyone at all. In short, the attack missed.
Lilith and Iris immediately flinched and turned quickly. Nathan, seeing this, reflexively stepped back to avoid the creature, which appeared to be Morak.
"Morak?!" Iris said, shocked.
"How could Morak appear in the safe zone...?!" Lilith asked, astonished.
Hearing the words 'safe zone,' Flynn remembered the strange feeling from earlier. (Safe zone? Wait, that strange feeling...) Until finally, he discovered something surprising. "Wait a minute... This isn't a safe zone!"
The three of them turned to Flynn in surprise, not expecting to hear that.
"Huh?!"
Without thinking, Flynn steadied himself.
Flynn immediately opened his arms upwards, summoning his claymore sword.
"Exceed The Storm!"
A blue light with lightning bolts appeared, quickly forming his sword. He then gripped the sturdy hilt and swung it down until he was ready.
Flynn quickly pushed off, sending his body hurtling forward, carrying his greatsword, and swung it with incredible force.
"Haaaa!"
⟨⟩ ⟨⟩ ⟨⟩