...whoops...?

*plop*

"...eh...?"

Melinda dropped the primitive hatchet she originally wanted to throw next into the mud as she raised her hands to her ears in an attempt to block the cacophony of the level-up sounds ringing in her head. While doing so, she couldn't look away from the sky. Her necklace got so hot that it almost scaled her skin, but she was so baffled that she couldn't even acknowledge it.

"Eh…? But… but I barely put any strength in that throw…? The Royal Serpent of the Tempest got one shot…!? And the mace went into space…!?"

The gold-haired girl let out a sharp breath before gasping.

The clear sky didn't keep up for long—after all, the superstorm caused by the death of Sea Deity Guraidan wasn't a natural occurrence, so the dark clouds materialized out of thin air and began unleashing a heavy rainstorm anew.

"...oooohhhh shit… I hope I'm seeing things, but those walls look a bit cracked…"

Melinda put both hands to her mouth and backed off...

...from the center of what appeared to be a center of a massive explosion...

"What should I do…?"

She gulped her saliva and muttered to herself.

"Zane and Adi are still in full health, so it could not be that bad… Should I just… go with my original plan? If I'll be like - whoa, did you see that too?! - they probably will believe me, right…? Yeah… Yeah…!"

Melinda had a whole discussion with herself before nodding to herself with confidence.

She then proceeded to gather back the corpses of the Boarkin Orcs tossed around by the shockwave and ankles of the hoofed feet of the one she put at the bottom of the pile and threw the muddy hatched at it before dragging the whole thing towards the nearest gate.

Still, she found no one at the gate, no traders or travelers typing to enter or exit the city, nor even the guards that could ask for her identity…

"Hmm… Well… I am not going to question this stroke of luck…!"

Melinda looked around before breathing out and walking right through the gate…

…right into the city where gusts of the howling winds carried fine shards of glass through the hollow window frames of the damaged houses…

"...!"

Melinda's eyes bulged out, but she shook her head and made a few steps…

"..."

Then she stopped again, staring around the Chainlink, which had been transformed into a ghost town straight out of a post-apocalyptic movie set.

"..."

Nonetheless, the hooded girl simply lowered her head, refusing to acknowledge the reality, and hastened her peace on her way to the adventurer guild.

"MELINDA!"

"...!"

As she was passing by the inn she left her companions in, someone howled her name, making her flinch.

"Oh! Zane! Adi~! Hello~!"

She pulled up her shoulders but relaxed and cheered back, noticing that it was the monstrous servant who called her.

He was completely fine, and even Adi was out there, too, hanging out beside him!

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!"

Unfortunately, Zane was having none of it - he rushed to Melinda and growled, clenching his head with both hands, about to tear off his entire scalp.

"Wh-wha…? I didn't do anything…!"

"LIKE HELL YOU DIDN'T!"

The hooded girl grumbled, looking away, but Zane's triangular teeth flashed as he growled at her.

"But I really didn't! I mean, I did… I'm sorry for lying to you both. From the start, I intended to get an item extending the connection of a party and a scroll to heal us all up in one fell swoop…"

The girl tried to play the fool a bit longer but ended up giving up and fidgeting while beginning the guilt admission. She glanced at Adrianna, who followed Zane and approached her, too.

"That, I would forgive because you did it to help. I would be angry that you lied, but in the end, Adrianna and I knew the whole time that your health wasn't decreasing, so you were fine. NO! I AM TALKING ABOUT ALL OF THIS!"

Zane waved his hand dismissively before bursting out again, spreading his arms to showcase the entire city.

"M-my lady… I have never entered a proper fight in my life… and I am suddenly level 56…! I have never entered real combat, but suddenly I am stronger than an average elite royal guard who train since birth and their lifelong goal is to protect the Diamondium Kindgom's royal family!"

"..."

Adrianna joined the conversation, and although she wasn't exactly mad, she was so shaken that Melinda couldn't find the proper words to respond.

"Let's get back to the starting point. Melinda. What did you do?"

Zane closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before once again facing the hooded girl.

"I ran my errands, sent the letter, and left a message in the city hall in case we missed the delegation from the Jade Academy… then I went to the shop with magic equipment…"

Melinda sighed, letting go of the hooved legs of the monster's corpse.

"..."

"..."

Adrianna and Zane huddled close to her to be able to hear the whole story properly.

"I got the bracelet of the Scout, the scroll of party complete heal… and then the shopkeeper showed me an item called the greedy necklace that has the enchantment that allows its wearer to gain a percentage of the health of each powerful monster they have slain with their mighty strike, so I simply had to have it… so I bought it…"

Melinda said while grabbing lightly lifting the necklace and letting it drop back in place.

"Holy shit that sounds like a godly item…!"

"RIGHT!? You get it too, don't you?!"

Zane couldn't help but whistle in amazement, and Melinda gasped, making a hopeful expression counting on lessened scolding.

"Then I went to leave the last notice in the adventurer guild just in case the Jade Academy representatives would go there first. I also registered as an adventurer there because I wanted to start earning back the money I spent on the greedy necklace…"

"Earning back? What do you mean by start earning back the money, my lady?! You didn't spend all our funds, did you?!"

The hooded girl continued, but this time, she was interrupted by the brown-haired maid getting agitated.