3 bar menu

The Sun Maiden Can Fall in Love Too – Part 04

Selyse couldn’t shake the feeling that everything happening now seemed unreal.

Silver Face had effortlessly defeated the Golem, treating even that dragon like a mere toy. The extent of his “strength” was unfathomable.

In previous battles, he never showed such agility or skill. Was he hiding his true abilities all along?

The increase in Hikaru’s Soul Rank in the great labyrinth had granted him newfound power, but Selyse was unaware of that.

I ventured into the great labyrinth, rescued Einbiest’s leader Gerhardt, and killed the chimera.

She thought she had gained the strength she believed in.

But there’s always someone stronger.

When she saw the dragon, Selyse instinctively called out Sandra’s name, but it was Silver Face who appeared. It was clear that Silver Face was stronger than Sandra in her prime.

So warm.

She felt Silver Face’s body temperature. Despite the surreal events unfolding, his warmth remained a constant.

Selyse was experiencing emotions she had never felt before. It was the first time since becoming an adventurer that she had been protected by someone. Instead of jealousy or anxiety, she felt a sense of relief at witnessing overwhelming strength. She also felt curious about the boy with two sides, Hikaru and Silver Face.

I want to know more about you, she thought.

True to his word, Silver Face effortlessly climbed the rope while carrying both Selyse and his things. It was surprising, considering he didn’t seem to possess that much strength. And at the moment, she liked that feeling of surprise.

She was amazed to realize she felt secure just leaving herself in his hands. For Selyse, who had always believed she had to be strong to protect herself, even her comrades from the Four Eastern Stars were people to be protected.

Now, having witnessed Silver Face’s strength, she felt a desire to be protected. With a profound sense of relief, her tension melted away, and drowsiness crept in once again.

“Selyse!”

“Thank goodness you’re alive!”

While the ground moved away below them, her friends’ voices became clearer. The rope from above was being pulled, and their bodies continued ascending.

“H-H-How?! Why did the Golem stop when it should still have plenty of mana left?” Soaarunay’s voice echoed in the small, austere room adjacent to the chamber of orbs. A giant, glowing magic diagram covered one wall, its light dimmed in one section.

“Does this mean the Golem was taken down? Impossible! That Golem can’t be tampered with by someone with just a little knowledge of magic… unless they had help from someone on the 6th floor!”

Soaarunay rushed into the next room. The orb for the 7th floor had turned blue, while the orbs for the 6th and 5th floors were yellow. Since returning to this world, Soaarunay had been aware of Hikaru’s presence and the other intruders descending from the first floor.

“Shit! Damn it, damn it, damn it!”

Unfamiliar words glowed on the wall.

“You’re such a persistent schizo! I don’t care a bit about the Saak family, and I don’t think they’re impressive at all.”

It was a message from Hikaru, written by reverse-engineering the spell.

“I’ve never been insulted like this before!”

The glory of the Saak family had been tarnished. Her whole body burned with rage, and a thin line of blood trickled from her lip where she had bitten it.

“I want to kill him, but there are no Golems from the 6th floor and above. But I won’t give up. I will make him pay, one way or another!”

Suddenly, Soaarunay had an epiphany.

“That’s right. I almost forgot.” She chuckled darkly. “That masked bastard will definitely return to this great labyrinth.”

Her words carried a sense of certainty.

“He will absolutely come back! And when he does, he’s dead!” she howled with bloodshot eyes.

Selyse’s return from the 7th floor was met with astonishment. Understandably so, given that she survived a hundred-meter fall. Though Selyse herself was a capable woman, the power of the Blue Flash helped significantly. Sophie used all her mana to heal Selyse, and by the next day, she was moving around without any issues.

When Marius learned that the Blue Flash had broken and the sheath was lost, Marius simply said, “It can’t be helped,” though the members of the Azure Blade Nebula party were clearly unhappy. They didn’t voice their concerns openly; questioning Selyse’s survival would have been in poor taste. However, the future of the Azure Blade Nebula seemed uncertain. For better or worse, the party had been united by the allure of the Blue Flash. Furthermore, Marius had also lost a Healer loaned by the Church. Joining an adventuring party came with inherent risks, and death was part of the deal. But the survival of everyone except the Healer would likely give a negative impression to the Church, and they might be reluctant to loan another cleric to Marius’s party.

“Marius sure has had a rough time. Lost his magic sword and a party member, and all they got in return was a pittance,” Kinga remarked as they camped in the large hollow of the 6th floor.

“Even so, people will gather around him again!” Serika said. “It’s all about how you conduct yourself!”

“He’s a great guy,” Sara added. “It’s not easy to find people like him.”

“But Marius is getting old. He can’t keep recruiting new members.”

“Maybe he should manage multiple parties! Commercialize it!”

“C-Commer…? What’s that?” Kinga asked.

“Serika sometimes says things that don’t make any sense,” Sara commented.

“I don’t get complicated stuff, but Marius is too plain. Without his magic sword, he’s just a bland middle-aged dude.”

“Those kinds of people are better suited to be company president! By the way…” Serika pointed sharply at Kinga, who was pouring hot water into a mug from a pot warmed by magic. “What are you doing here?! Your camp is over there!”

A little distance away, the female members of Kinga’s party, Kinga Wolf, were glaring at them, visibly irritated.

“I can go wherever I want.”

“Your women are a hassle when you’re over here!”

“Huh?” Kinga turned to look at them. Instantly, they plastered on sweet smiles and waved at him. “Aren’t they lovely? They’re head over heels for me.”

“There’s nothing lovely about it! You don’t get it, do you?! You’ll get stabbed sooner or later!”

“Getting stabbed by a woman would be the best thing ever.”

“Your personality has completely changed! I thought you had your eyes on Selyse!”

Before entering the dungeon, Kinga had indeed approached Selyse, asking her to join his party. While this could have included Serika, Sara, and Sophie, his main target was clearly Selyse.

“Uh…” Kinga scratched the back of his head. “Selyse is different.”

“What do you mean by different?” Sara asked.

Kinga glanced at Selyse, drawing Sara’s gaze to her as well. She was sleeping peacefully.

“She’s a monster. I never imagined we could take down that chimera. And then, after falling into the 7th floor, I thought she was a hundred percent dead. But she came back alive. She’s a monster. She’s on a different level than me.”

“Well, she certainly is amazing!” Serika agreed.

Serika had always known about Selyse’s incredible strength, but even she hadn’t realized just how formidable she was. There she lay, looking like an ordinary young woman. Technically, she wasn’t even twenty years old.

“But even more impressive is Silver Face!”

“Exactly! Who’s that guy, anyway?” Kinga asked. “He disappeared right after dropping off Selyse.”

“Yeah! Why was he even here?!”

“If you know anything about him, do tell.”

“Oh? You said you weren’t in the same league as Selyse, but you think you can take on Silver Face?”

“That’s not it. I need to know so I can stay far away from him.”

Sara had meant to tease, but Kinga responded with a serious look.

“I get it. No matter how powerful your weapon, like the Blue Flash, some people you just can’t beat. But Silver Face, was it? He’s on another level. His combat skills were amateurish, but he moved like he knew he couldn’t be killed. Those kinds of people are dangerous because they’re unpredictable.”

Sara knew Silver Face was Hikaru and suspected his strength came from his memories of Japan. Japan had a completely different civilization from this world, and its ways of thinking and knowledge could be applied to combat here.

But it was more than that. She felt he possessed something else. She had 5 points on her Instinct. She was almost certain.

“Now that I know someone like him exists, I’ve decided to do what I can, in my own way. At first, when I saw you guys rushing to rescue Gerhardt, I thought, I couldn’t let myself be outdone. I believed I had the capabilities to be a hero. But now, I don’t think that anymore. It’s fate that forges a hero. My hero phase is over.”

“So, are you saying you’re quitting as an adventurer?” Serika asked.

“No. I’m going to live as an adventurer my way. In other words…” Kinga’s face brightened. “I’m gonna sleep with women I like. So, Serika, how about we—guh!”

Serika’s staff came down on Kinga’s head.

Then, the female members of Kinga Wolf rushed over, yelling about violence and threats, but Kinga just laughed and said, “I got rejected,” and walked back to his camp, ending the commotion.