Lyrica's Order

Riko and the others have a plan to get Lyrica out of their kingdom. And that is to leave her inside the beehive, making her believe they purposely left her for dead.

They know the girl is capable, and so they believe she'll find her way out of the beehive alive. However, without telling anyone, the young knight decided for himself that he will no longer follow their plans. Riko saw the effect of a bee sting in Lyrica's forearm and left hand, and it made him realize, no matter how strong she is, one mistake could lead to her demise.

"No!" Said Riko as he grabbed Lyrica's wrist. "We're not leaving anyone behind, just like what we did in the Forest of No Return."

While saying that, the young knight stares at Magdalo and the others as if he's forcefully instilling what he wants with them. This is the error both Roberto and Magdalo are worrying about. They expected that their plan will not go smoothly thanks to the young knight.

But, they can't afford to let the plan go to waste. If they have to, they'll use force to show Lyrica that they don't want her in Takkot. But before they could do anything...

"We're all going out toge–"

Tug!

Slap!

Lyrica went ahead and left a slap mark on Riko's face.

"Are you trying to be a hero again?"

Riko turns around after receiving the palm of Lyrica's left hand. But when he does, he is left frozen before the girl's cold stare.

"Didn't I tell you not to act like a hero ever again?!"

Lyrica raising her voice towards the young knight renders everyone from trying to intervene between the two. For whatever reason, they all felt like they could only listen to what the girl has to say without retort. Right then, the girl reminded Riko of what happened to the Forest of No Return.

They all came back because they wanted to help get rid of the Guardian Snake, but what they don't realize is that they made things a lot more difficult for Lyrica than her handling the situation alone.

Because of their stubbornness, she was forced not to try to outmaneuver the Guardian Snake and possibly escape the forest by herself. Due to Riko and Magdalo who Lyrica had to keep in check, she ended up getting caught by the giant snake's attack.

"If Marlo didn't have earth manipulation magic... No, if I didn't have those treant fruits from the beginning, we'd all be in its stomach right now. No, we might as well turned into a giant pile of feces by now."

What Lyrica is trying to convey to everyone, especially Riko, is that they barely just got out of the Forest alive. They simply lucked out, and, that luck will not happen again in a million years.

"What we need to do now is to act rationally, and not act like a stupid, suicidal b***ard like what you guys did before. Because there is no way acting like a hero will help us get out of this beehive alive."

It seems as though the situation has somewhat calmed down after letting Lyrica speak her thoughts. Magdalo understood the girl's point, however. What they did back then to return to Lyrica was all driven by their will as a knight.

Their instinct to help and protect others drove them to aid Lyrica to fend off the Guardian Snake. But did the girl who temporarily knocked out the ruler of the forest really needed help from a bunch of knights who could barely do any damage towards the Guardian Snake?

Magdalo believes that what Lyrica said is right, they lucked out. And he's glad they did, otherwise, they'd all be dead right now. But what if things went differently? What if Magdalo, Riko, and the others followed what Lyrica said and they all get out of the forest without thinking of going back?

Perhaps Lyrica could have gotten out by herself unscathed. She wouldn't have to come with them after injuring herself. And the Hari wouldn't have his eyes on the girl right now.

It's not wrong to step up and act like a hero. It is never wrong to do the right thing and help others if you think you could help. However, there are consequences to every action one takes. And sometimes, those consequences could spell more trouble rather than helping others.

The situation they're in right now is the consequence of trying to help Lyrica back then and inviting her to their town, forcing Lyrica to make the decision herself.

"You guys are planning on leaving me behind from the beginning, right? You wanted to show me that the kingdom has ill intent towards me, thus making me decide to leave the town on my own."

When Lyrica revealed their plan, as well as their motive behind what they're trying to do, the knights stared at Magdalo as if they're asking the veteran knight what to do. But there's only one thing in his mind right now.

A bee sting flew right in front of Lyrica's view. It was shot towards Riko who appears to be the Wither Bees' main target due to the bottle of honey in his hands. Thankfully, Cardo manages to pull Riko out of the sting's trajectory.

The attack causes everyone to turn their attention towards the direction where the sting came from—a blind spot.

"We're running out of time."

Lyrica stated as a Wither Bee appears out of nowhere, although it was quickly intercepted by Roberto and his dagger, forcing the creature to go back into hiding.

"I told you not to act like a hero back then, but you didn't listen to me, and now we're all here."

Another bee sting was shot from the blind spot, this time Lyrica narrowly catches it before it hits her in the face.

"I know you're all stubborn, so you're probably not gonna listen to me again. But..." Lyrica proceeds to throw the sting back into the dark, but it was immediately intercepted by another sting. "... just this one time, will you please listen to me?"

As the palm of her hand begin to wither due to the effect of the sting she held earlier, she looks at everyone with a serious gaze and says:

"Stick to your plan."

Lyrica mouthing those words brought everyone to a standstill. They look at the girl and ask themselves, "Is there really an option to refuse to the girl who clearly doesn't want a "No" for an answer?"

The young knight gazes at the girl, still reluctant on the idea of leaving her behind. That is until Magdalo stood between the two and tells Lyrica:

"We will."

"Magdalo?"

Before the young knight could even retort, Magdalo punches Riko right into his liver. In that instant, the young knight loses strength in his legs and rolls on the ground.