I can say with certainty that I have never once been happy about receiving a gift forced upon me by Ernant.

However, Karl didn’t seem to easily believe my words.

“What? But Vice Captain, you…”

“I don’t know how you heard about it, but that’s just a false rumor. The fact that I agreed to receive the dress and become His Majesty’s partner was all due to the imperial order. I didn’t want to be his partner, but I had no authority to refuse.”

As I said that, Karl’s footsteps abruptly stopped.

He looked quite shocked.

Well, it must be surprising to see me, who used to act so blindly obedient to Ernant’s orders as if I would even pretend to die, now saying something different.

I waited a moment for Karl to recover from the shock.

Karl, who had been standing still as if time had frozen, opened his mouth again, stammering.

“You didn’t want to be His Majesty’s partner? Then your feelings towards His Majesty… have they… that is… cooled down? That’s what it sounds like to my ears.”

“Feelings…”

There were still feelings left. Feelings of anger, that is.

But the feelings Karl was asking about probably didn’t mean anger.

He must be wondering if my affection for Ernant still remained.

I pondered on what to answer and then tossed out an appropriate response.

“I’m not sure.”

“…”

“I don’t know how to express it. If I must say, my feelings haven’t cooled down. Rather, they burned so fiercely that now only ashes remain.”

This was the first time I had bared my heart so honestly.

Perhaps it was because I felt comfortable with Karl? I had always found myself spilling all sorts of words in front of him.

But this time, it seemed I had said some unnecessary things. I could see Karl’s gaze looking at me filled with sadness.

I hurriedly changed the subject.

“Anyway, I don’t want to go as far as doing skincare just because I have to wear a dress. Besides, how expensive of a dress could His Majesty even give me? He’s someone who doesn’t have much interest in me.”

“…”

“He’ll probably just arrange the dress to be at a level that won’t shame him. So I just need to take care of myself to the extent that I won’t be pointed at and ridiculed.”

“…Will it really be like that? If His Majesty issued an imperial order to make you his partner… doesn’t that mean he’s interested in you as a woman?”

Ernant? In me?

I had to suppress the urge to burst out laughing.

“No. Even if he really became interested, it’s absolutely not a feeling like love. It’s closer to a possessive desire for an object. His Majesty is keeping me in check out of concern that I’ll become Captain Martin’s person.”

If he loved me even a little, he wouldn’t have been able to smile like that when I was dying after drinking poison.

The feeling Ernant has for me is a possessive desire for an object.

When someone you love dies, you feel sad, but when a cherished object breaks, you only feel regret, not sorrow to the point of tears.

Moreover, if that broken object has lost its use, you wouldn’t feel anything at all.

As I swallowed the bitterness anew, Karl opened his lips again.

“So His Majesty doesn’t care about you, and you don’t have any feelings left for him either? Then if I were to–”

“Ah, we’re here. The oasis.”

I didn’t get to hear the rest of Karl’s words.

While we were talking, the oasis had come right in front of us.

I pointed to the huge pool of water and said,

“The Queen is sunken beneath this water. Judging by the silence, it seems it hasn’t noticed our presence yet.”

“…What should we do?”

“Let’s draw it out to the surface first. Facing an aquatic monster underwater is suicidal.”

When I first visited this place before the regression, I had also drawn the monster out of the water before disposing of it.

Since that method was quite efficient, I plan to follow it again this time.

I took out the disposable item I had prepared in advance for that purpose.

“That’s… an item imbued with the ability of explosion, right?”

“Yeah, if you pull out this small pin attached here, the ability activates. Then exactly 5 seconds later, it explodes.”

Items usually refer to objects that amplify abilities, like the sword I carry or the halberd the captain carries.

In addition, things like potions or this item, where the ability is imbued in the object itself, are also called items.

“We’re going to detonate this underwater. Then the monster will have no choice but to jump out of the water, right?”

“When did you even prepare something like this…? Vice Captain, don’t tell me you’ve actually awakened the ability of future foresight?”

“F-future foresight, my foot. I’m just a bit thorough in my preparations. Anyway, should I throw this now? Cover your ears, the explosion will be loud.”

After confirming that Karl had plugged his ears, I pulled the pin on the item.

Then I threw it with all my strength into the water.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Boom!

Along with a deafening roar that made my ears ring, the water of the oasis splashed in all directions.

Boom!!

A huge explosion resounded and the ground simultaneously shook.

Martin, who had been wandering for a long time searching for Yulia’s party after crossing the fissure, abruptly stopped in his tracks.

What was that sound just now? Wondering about it, he looked in the direction the sound had come from and couldn’t help but be surprised again.

He saw an oasis that he had been unable to find until now. For some reason, it was exploding.

The water droplets that had been blown up by the explosion were immediately turning into thick fog, spreading into the sky.

Seeing that spectacular sight, Martin furrowed his brows.

Did Yulia and Karl use an item? Or… is it an attack from a new type of monster?

Various speculations flashed through his mind, but whichever it was, one thing was certain – it was dangerous.

If Yulia had used an item like that, it meant she was facing a formidable monster, which was dangerous.

If that wasn’t the case and a monster capable of causing such a powerful explosion had appeared, that was even more dangerous.

Yulia and Karl, with just the two of them, wouldn’t be able to overcome it.

“…”

The image of Yulia collapsing while bleeding flashed gruesomely through his mind.

There was no time to think deeper.

Martin immediately began moving quickly towards the oasis.

My prediction was not off the mark.

When I caused the explosion underwater, the monster that had been slumbering beneath it immediately poked its head above the surface.

Grrrrrr…

The low growl unique to a huge beast sent shivers down the spine.

As one could tell just from the sound, this monster was of considerable size.

It had the shape of a dragon with a body as large as a house.

If one were to accidentally get hit by its tail, it wouldn’t end with just fainting this time.

The fortunate thing was that it didn’t seem to have come to its senses yet due to the impact of the explosion I caused just now.

Not wanting to miss this opportunity, I instructed Karl in the fastest and quietest voice possible.

“Step back.”

“…It’s much more gigantic than I thought. If you happen to have any more of those explosive items, please give them to me. I’ll somehow use them to–”

“No, there’s a way. You stand by at the back and cast your healing ability on me if I get injured.”

Karl hesitated, seeming worried about leaving me alone in front of the monster.

If the monster’s attention were to be drawn to Karl at this rate, it would truly become dangerous, so I shouted in the sharpest voice possible.

“Hurry!”

Only then did Karl slowly step back.

Fortunately, the monster still seemed unable to break out of its confusion and remained still.

I gripped my sword tightly while staring at its eerie yellow eyes.

The moment frost began to form on the surface of the sword due to the ability I drew up, my legs also kicked off the ground.

Tap!

With a light sound, my body leaped up.

Having jumped up like that, I used a nearby large rock as a foothold to make a second leap, reaching the nape of the monster’s neck.

As expected, the monster’s body was slippery.

Before the leg I was standing on could slide all the way down, I stabbed my sword into the monster’s neck.

Crack!

As the sharp pain was inflicted, the huge and dull monster finally seemed to realize that something had latched onto its body.

But it was too late.

With the sword still embedded, I drew up my ability.

Crackle–

Centered around where the sword was stabbed, the monster’s neck began to freeze over entirely.

Now fully alert, the monster began thrashing about in an attempt to shake me off its body.

Roar!!

Each time it struggled, the water of the oasis splashed in all directions.

Its thrashing was so intense that I felt like I would get motion sickness from clinging onto it.

The tug-of-war between the monster trying to shake me off and me trying not to fall off continued for a while.

I have to endure…!

I recited that inwardly and held onto the sword until the end.

I had to stick onto it for as long as possible to blow in the cold.

But it wasn’t stupid either.

It raised its upper body high and then slammed its body against the water surface.

Splash!!

I, who had been clinging to it, also ended up properly slamming into the water surface.

If the monster had slammed its body against a hard floor or wall, my flesh would have probably turned to mush.

It wasn’t to that extent, but I almost lost consciousness.

“Vice Captain!!”

Karl, who had been watching from behind, was startled to see my situation and came running out.

I should have told him to hide again, but there was no time for that.

The monster looked like it was going to slam its body against the water surface again, raising its upper body high.