The toxic vines of the man-eating plant had a reddish tint. The man-eater that had attacked Edwin in the previous expedition was like that.

Seeing that the vines were green, it meant they weren’t poisonous for now…

The weakness of the man-eating plant was not the lower part where the vines emerged, but the center of the upper part. One had to thrust a sword deep into the place called the plant’s ‘mouth’ located there to kill it.

“Rosebelia, what are you doing! Hurry and dodge!”

Despite Lucas’s urgent voice, I didn’t move. Someone had to go behind the rock to kill the man-eating plant anyway.

Might as well take the easy way.

Just as the vine that had come right up to my face was about to go down to my waist, I snatched it. The startled vine quickly wrapped around my arm, entangling it.

As the man-eating plant pulled on the vine, my body, suspended in midair, slowly moved closer to the rock.

“Just a little more…”

When I could see the man-eating plant behind the rock, I swiftly cut the vine that was binding my arm. I fell straight down from a height of 3m.

Ignoring someone’s scream behind me, I fixed my gaze on the mouth of the man-eating plant.

Cutting down the vines that flew at me again, I plunged my sword deep into the mouth of the man-eating plant.

“Lady Rosebelia!”

“Rosebelia, are you alright?”

It was Renart and Lucas in turn. Behind them, I could see at least ten knights rushing over. Their faces were all filled with worried expressions.

“As you can see, I’m fine.”

Lucas, who had been alternately looking at the limp carcass of the man-eating plant spewing fluid and me, laughed as if dumbfounded.

“I thought my heart was going to drop. Don’t you remember getting scolded by Edwin for doing this in the last expedition?”

Looking at the limp carcass of the man-eating plant, it gradually sank in.

Before departing for the expedition, I had repeatedly recalled Rosebelia’s actions fighting monsters, trying to remember.

It was as if I hoped that by memorizing Rosebelia’s actions, I would be able to respond like her without even realizing it.

Well, it seems to have worked.

“You’re truly amazing, Lady Rosebelia. I knew you were no ordinary skilled person, but…”

“We should leave this place first.”

Unlike the Guardian Knight praising me, Renart’s voice was as stiff as could be.

Is he in a bad mood?

Examining Renart’s coldly set face, I quickly replied.

“Understood.”

When we returned to the front of the rock, Pierre was the first one I saw. He had already gotten up and was muttering something while removing grass stuck to his head.

“Sir Pierre, why don’t you thank Rosebelia?”

At Lucas’s words, Pierre sneered and replied.

“It would have been better for both of us if she had saved me quicker.”

What is he saying now?

Who was it that shouted in front of the man-eating plant sensitive to sound?

“The man-eating plant is sensitive to sound…”

“And it’s natural to help each other when we’re in the same expedition team. Are you trying to take credit for helping a little?”

What an ingenious way of thinking.

A laugh escaped me out of disbelief. Lucas, standing next to me, shook his head as if dumbfounded.

“It’s natural for expedition members to help each other. But isn’t it basic human courtesy to express gratitude when someone helps you?”

A knight from the Guardian Knights, unable to bear Pierre’s behavior any longer, stepped in to interject. It was the same knight who had been praising me earlier.

“I remember Sir Pierre participating in last year’s expedition too, but why are you here if you can’t even properly cut down a non-poisonous man-eating plant vine?”

With Lucas’s blunt words added, Pierre made a sullen expression.

“Why would I come? To subjugate monsters, of course.”

He might not have been able to cut the vine easily while hanging upside down. But it was somewhat puzzling that after being attacked by the man-eating plant, he couldn’t even run away and just crouched on the ground.

Participating in monster subjugation was like a badge of pride for skilled knights.

I’ve seen many cases of rash actions leading to injury, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a knight as excessively frightened as Pierre…

Is there any reason to volunteer to come here if you’re so afraid of even a man-eating plant level monster?

I thought the Riley family always had an abundance of volunteer knights for every expedition, but is that not the case?

“Let’s move now. If we linger here any longer, the sun will set.”

After Renart wrapped up the situation, the search party regrouped. I tapped Lucas’s arm, who was still glaring at the back of Pierre’s head.

“We’ll have to keep going together from now on, so that’s enough, Lucas.”

“Alright.”

Lucas readily followed my words, but rather, it was I who found my gaze caught on Pierre.

He doesn’t show enthusiasm for fighting monsters, and unnecessarily carries a lot of baggage…

What could it be?

*

“How was the other side?”

“We found the carcass of a werebear. How about your side, Commander?”

“There was a scorpion carcass, but something was strange. One of the two wasn’t black, but a reddish-tinted scorpion.”

“Reddish…”

Thinking back to the previous expedition, the red color wasn’t a particularly good sign.

Just as the red slime that appeared for the first time in the last expedition, unlike ordinary slimes, could only be killed using aura, usually when red was added to a monster’s body, it tended to become even stronger than before.

“If we had encountered it alive, there could have been major casualties.”

“Isn’t it a bit strange?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, only monsters that aren’t easy for the expedition team to handle are found dead.”

It could be that we unfortunately encountered only such monsters while roaming this mountain, but it felt somewhat unsettling to dismiss it as mere coincidence.

“If we were to list strange things, there would be no end, but I can hardly get a grasp on this matter either.”

At least it was clear that there was another Swordmaster besides me on this mountain.

“About the scorpion you saw, Commander. Had it been dead for quite some time?”

“Yes. We discovered it at midday, but it seemed to have been dead for several hours already.”

It seemed to have been dead for several hours already…

Even after returning from talking with Gabriel, I was still caught up in that thought.

If my guess is correct, the unidentified Swordmaster who only deals with strong monsters moves at night or dawn when the expedition team is asleep.

So they found the carcass of a monster that had been dead for several hours on the mountain path they were traveling during the day.

‘It’s not like someone knows the path we’re going to take in advance and kills the monsters for us…’

‘Yesterday it was scorpions, today it’s werebears. How convenient it is that only the tough ones are cherry-picked and killed.’

Come to think of it, what Pierre said wasn’t entirely nonsensical.

Moving ahead of the expedition team but not encountering them, moving at dawn, and dealing with monsters that are difficult for the expedition team to handle?

I lowered my arm over my faintly trembling eyelids.

No matter how I think about it, you have no reason to be here.

Why do I keep thinking of you?

“Who could it be?”

It would be nice if I could confirm who it is.

No sooner had that thought crossed my mind than I slowly rose as if entranced.

If it’s you, Ian, who’s here…

I need to meet you.

*

“Your Highness, how long are you going to stay up there?”

Ian, perched on a solid tree, glanced down.

‘You should get some sleep, even if just for a moment.’

Nathan’s face was hidden by the dense leaves, but his inner thoughts were clearly conveyed.

“I’m coming down now.”

“Where shall we stay?”

“I have a place in mind from earlier.”

Ian answered perfunctorily and gazed at the nearby light. At the end of his gaze was the expedition team’s camp.

It was already late, so only occasional movements of the night watch could be seen, but for some reason, he couldn’t take his eyes off it.

“Why don’t you just watch from nearby like yesterday? Aren’t we too far away today?”

Instead of answering, Ian let out a faint sigh. Yesterday, he had gone a little closer than this and heard the inner thoughts of the Guardian Knights.

‘Was it Renart? They were linking the Guardian Knights’ vice-captain with Rosebelia.’

The Guardian Knights were convinced that Renart had feelings for Rosebelia.

‘If that’s how it appeared to others, it means he was noticeably taking care of her.’

His teeth clenched involuntarily. If it weren’t for this cursed curse, he would have been by Rosebelia’s side.

The one taking care of her shouldn’t be Renart, but…

“It should have been me.”

Ian, who had been touching his eyes with dry hands, finally tore his gaze away from the expedition team’s camp.

“Your Highness, I saw a spring nearby earlier.”

‘I’d like to wash up a bit, but I wonder if it’s dangerous?’

Ian jumped down at once from the incredibly tall tree. Then he gestured to the somewhat startled Nathan to lead the way.

“I think I need to wash off some blood too.”

Nathan’s face brightened at Ian’s added words.

“This way, sir.”

As Nathan had said, there was a fairly clear spring nearby. As Ian dipped his foot into the edge, a cold sensation spread throughout his body.

“Whew, it’s cold. I’m done washing up.”

“Already?”

Did he ask to come here just to splash some water on his face like a cat?

“I’ll take care of the upper garments you’ve taken off here. Take your time washing up.”

Ian, who had been laughing in disbelief, took a few more steps into the center of the spring. The rippling spring water quickly rose to his waist.

Just as he was about to take one more step forward, there was a rustling sound from the bushes behind.

“Who’s there?”