I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents-Chapter 38: Escort (2)

They could never have expected that I had access to the gallery where I can communicate with senior Transcendents like Sword of Light and others.

I killed two of the three, Wolf and Leon.

Now, only Nick was left.

Maybe because I killed the two 4th-rank fighters, Nick just stood still, his feet planted on the ground.

I pointed my sword at Nick’s neck and asked,

"Why did you try to kill that woman?"

Nick, with his brown mustache, chuckled at my question.

"Heh, heheh! I was just wondering how such a strong person came from the Everhart family. I can’t believe you’re just some crazy idiot charging in without knowing a thing..."

Nick continued speaking.

"That girl’s face is probably pretty enough. That fool, that Confucian, must’ve been charmed by her, and some crazy guy passing by got charmed too... I know you’re strong, but do you think you could handle the people sent by Count Raphael all by yourself?"

Now I understood.

The Raphael Count’s side was after Karmin, the daughter of the Everhart Baron. The situation had been confirmed.

When I lowered my sword for a moment, Nick must’ve thought I was letting my guard down because he reached out with his right hand to grab his sword.

Whoosh!

I drew the bloody dagger from my waist with my left hand and thrust it into Nick’s chest.

“Gah...!!”

Nick staggered back, then collapsed to the ground.

I walked toward Karmin, who had stayed in the spot I told her to stand.

"I’d like to hear the full story."

Karmin nodded vigorously.

"Yes, yes..."

I took the black robes of Wolf and Leon, which were blood-free.

"Put this on."

From the circular symbol on the back, I could tell these were worn by Umbra members.

At least if she wore this, no one would shoot arrows at her or try to kill her from a distance without hesitation.

I put the robe on too.

I scanned the surroundings. It seemed safer to leave the alley for now.

My gaze shifted to Karmin’s waist.

A sword.

"Are you a swordswoman?"

At my question, Karmin nodded.

"What’s your rank?"

"...I’m 2nd rank."

I almost asked why she had just stood there, but I held it in.

Seeing the state of the 4th-rank fighters, I realized how abnormal it was for me to have acted like I did when I was 2nd rank.

"Anyway, now that I’ve killed these guys, I can’t escape from this situation. Even if I look like the bad guy, I’ve become your ally. Raphael? Those guys from the Count's house? Right?"

"Yes, that’s right."

"Follow me."

I’ve never been in a situation like this, but...

I moved toward a street crowded with people again.

"Explain everything I need to know, quickly."

I whispered, and Karmin started recounting her situation as I’d asked.

"I was supposed to marry Vitor, the eldest son of Count Raphael, in an arranged marriage. We were planning to go through with it, but then I found out that Vitor has a personality flaw."

"What’s that?"

"He killed several of the family’s maidservants for fun. Not just one, but many. So, I sent word that I wanted to break off the marriage... and that’s when this all started."

"You sent word?"

"Yes, I sent a letter."

"So, after sending the letter, they sent these assassins. If you had told them in person, they probably would’ve killed you right there."

Karmin sighed deeply.

"That’s probably what would’ve happened."

I motioned toward a place that looked like a teahouse.

We entered the teahouse together.

"Sit right next to the door."

Karmin did as I said and sat right next to the door.

It was so we could leave immediately if we were spotted.

"So, what should you do to survive? Should I take you to your family’s house?"

"...My family won’t be able to withstand the pressure from Raphael. They tried to persuade me before I even left home. They told me it would be better to just marry him."

It seems that taking her to the Everhart Baron wouldn’t solve the problem in the long run.

"So, how did you plan to escape when you left your family?"

It was a question I didn’t expect an answer to, but Karmin’s response gave me a clearer picture than I anticipated.

"I was planning to go to Ventura Academy and complete the enrollment process. Once I fully enroll, the Academy will protect me. The Academy never ignores the students who step onto its grounds. Once I’ve enrolled, no matter how powerful Count Raphael is, he won’t be able to touch me."

As soon as Karmin finished explaining, the notification window appeared in front of me again.

『You’ve reached the truth of the narrative!』

『You must now make a choice.』

It was the same situation as when I met Mika, the Myo Tribe girl, on Floor 3.

It felt ominous.

Could it be happening again?

『1. Take Karmin Everhart to the Everhart Baron’s house.

Clear Minimum Condition: Safe return of Karmin Everhart to the Everhart Baron’s house.

Quest Difficulty - ★★★★』

『2. Take Karmin ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Everhart to Ventura Academy.

Clear Minimum Condition: Complete Karmin Everhart’s enrollment in Ventura Academy.

Quest Difficulty - ★★★★★★』

Six stars...!

Wait, wasn’t five stars the maximum?

Th𝗲 most uptodate novels are published on ƒгeewёbnovel.com.

『You must choose one of two options. If you fail the first challenge, subsequent challenges, including the second, can only follow the opposite choice of the first.』

『Quest failure criteria: Failure to meet the minimum clear condition.』

『After failing the first challenge, no experience points will be earned in subsequent attempts.』

『Second attempt failure criteria: Player death.』

『The higher difficulty option will give a greater reward upon success. However, this only applies to the first attempt.』

These bastards.

They’re really up to no good again.

Can’t we just take it easy for once?

[‘Saint Who Chases Light’ widens her eyes in shock, finally confirming that the difficulty here is ‘Pandemonium.’ She’s stunned!]

[‘Sword Ghost of the Black Typhoon’ clicks his tongue at the quest’s difficulty.]

[‘Judge with a Thousand Eyes’ moves his gaze to check if this really is the 5th floor.]

[‘Giant Who Swallowed the Moon’ advises you to make a rational judgment.]

[‘Watcher Swimming in the Abyss’ gazes at you.]

Under the countless notifications from the Constellations, I saw the option for ‘Constellation Block’.

I clicked it.

The rapidly rising notification window came to an immediate halt.

I took a screenshot of the quest window and posted it in the gallery.

Karmin, like all the NPCs who had seen my terminal, seemed to pretend she couldn’t see it.

Title: Six stars, huh?

Author: ㅇㅇ*

Hmm, looks like a tough road ahead.

Attachment: 1283102381232.jpg

(Quest choice photo)

ㄴSuwang) ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Yeah, there are six stars, but you need to pass Floor 25 to unlock it.

ㄴAnother) Pandemonium again? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴAt this point, it’s basically telling you to die.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

ㄴHahaha. Keep it up. Watching from the gallery, I’m realizing just how tough it must be for the climber, huh~~

ㄴYou old man, if you’ve been drinking, just go to sleep, ㅇㅇ

ㄴReal talk, ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴOur climber's gonna pick the six-star option, right? Always enjoys the pain.

Enjoying the pain, huh.

ㄴSword of Light) Never heard of Everhart Baron’s family.

ㄴArchmage) Someone must be tormenting Karmin Everhart. What's the name of those people, since the quest looks like this?

ㄴㅇㅇ) Raphael Count’s family. She’s breaking off her engagement with the eldest son. Apparently, that son’s a bit off, and now they’re trying to kill Karmin. ㅇㅇ

A lot of high-ranking noble children are ridiculously proud.

Raphael’s been known for evil deeds for generations.

ㄴAh! Raphael! Hah, "Hate-raphael!!" I’ll ask about that eldest son’s father’s name.

ㄴFather? You low-class scum!

ㄴArchmage) If it’s Raphael, that’s a family with a long history of madness.

ㄴIce Queen) Frozen! That’s what I remember too!

ㄴShrine Maiden) Hehe, but anyway. What about the Constellations’ reactions?

ㄴㅇㅇ) Since I used Dragonslayer, I think there’s a reaction, but they still don’t seem fully convinced that it’s the real Dragonslayer. They probably wouldn’t even think I learned it from Sword of Light.

ㄴHeavenly Demon) Hehehe, hurry up and show them my Flexible Fist Techniques next time.

ㄴNow, you’re trying to watch not just the climber and gallery reactions but even the Constellations' reactions.

ㄴArchmage) Ah, so you’re blocking the Constellations while you’re chatting in the gallery now?

ㄴㅇㅇ) Yeah, I just dealt with some enemies, so I think when I turn it off, I’ll get a reaction.

Right after posting the comment, a new notification window popped up.

『Constellation Quest Triggered! ‘Judge with a Thousand Eyes’ has registered a quest.

Quest: Choose the higher difficulty 2nd option and clear it in the first attempt.

Additional condition: ‘Constellation Block’ cannot be used during the Constellation quest.

Reward: A-grade Elixir – Gehenna』

The purpose of this quest was clear.

They didn’t want me to choose option 2 and clear it.

They wanted the Constellation Block to be lifted and for them to see the situation.

I took a screenshot of the quest window and posted it in the gallery.

Title: This is definitely them protesting to lift the Constellation block, right?

Author: ㅇㅇ*

Is the reward really that good?

ㄴㅇㅇ) The elixir boosts dark-element attack resistance. It improves mana and stats too.

Six stars, so they thought you’d never clear it, but they’ve put a nice bait reward on it. The true intention is, as you said, ‘Open the door!!!’

ㄴHmm... The reward seems worth it, huh?

ㄴArchmage) Hah... That Judge is covering the entire field with his sight and still seeing things so narrowly, even as a Constellation.

ㄴSpear King) Hah, Judge.

ㄴSuwang) Didn’t I tell you not to rely too much on your eye power?

ㄴ? Do you all know him?

ㄴArchmage) He’s from a family of geniuses with great eyesight. If they fill their sight with killing intent, those with weak mental strength will die.

ㄴArchmage) He’s the Red-Eyed King. Back from gallery days, ㅇㅇ.

ㄴAh! That guy who always ended his sentences with ‘meaningless’?!

ㄴArchmage) Yeah, ㅇㅇ

ㄴㅇㅇ) Does anyone else even know what he was like before he became a Constellation?

ㄴArchmage) Nah, nah, I always called him Judge back then. Once he named himself like this, I immediately recognized him. You can figure out the rest from context.

ㄴArchmage) I’ll do the math and let you know later, ㅇㅇ. At least focus on the ones who show interest in you.

ㄴㅇㅇ) Okay.

ㄴIce Queen) Frozen! Are you going to charge in headfirst?!

ㄴㅇㅇ) Gotta do it, right?

Sword of Light: Go ahead.

I closed the gallery.

『Choose one of the two options!』

『You have selected a quest.』

『2. Take Karmin Everhart to Ventura Academy.』

I accepted the Constellation Quest.

I lifted the Constellation Block.

And right after that...

Screeeeeeech!

Crossbow bolts and spears came flying from the diagonal direction.

Whooooosh!

I enlarged the Mirror of Transformation shield to cover both Karmin and me.

"Get ready to fight."

Seems like using the robe to create smoke screens wasn’t very useful.

"We’re heading to Ventura Academy."

Karmin widened her eyes and nodded vigorously.