Days after the total assault and presentation of Melioris, which left both Shija and Boudica in the dust, in recovery...

"Damn it! How much longer until we find that bastard?"

"...."

... Shija and Boudica were now walking through the vibrant and noisy market of Argol, an extensive commercial city.

"My face still hurts as if it had been scrubbed with sand and salt."

The air buzzed with the commotion of hundreds of shouting voices, haggling, and mixing with the aromas of spices and food, while being drowned out by Boudica's complaints.

"Shut up and keep walking."

Shija, on the other hand, dressed in his armor, walked with a tense composure, his gaze analytical.

"You're an idiot, Swordsman... a complete and painful idiot."

"...."

Despite his group mate's complaints, Shija remained calm, stabilizing his breath and pulse while residual pain coursed through his body. He continued searching for the figure of Melioris, or at least, the route she had taken.

"Get out of the way, you cursed lout!"

Beside him, Boudica pushed her way through the crowd with her usual lack of tact, her temper in full boil due to the pain, fear, and frustration she carried, hitting a merchant’s shoulder.

"I still don't understand why we are here, Shit Swordsman, and why I can't remember a single day since I heard that scream in the inn?!"

Boudica ran a frustrated hand through her hair (literally: agitated her scalp).

"..."

However, Shija did not look at her, his attention fixed on the mass of people.

(Concentrate...)

Amidst the incessant noise of the crowd, Shija slightly closed his eyes, concentrating and trying to perceive the Ki and energy of the surroundings, searching for any trace of the entity that had left them to their fate.

(What is she planning?)

That act of concentration caused the memories of the events up to that moment to be projected in his mind with clarity.

Back then, Melioris had remained waiting in the inn, observing them, patiently waiting for them to wake up and regain consciousness. Only when Shija was on his feet did Melioris casually ask him for a map, pointing to a distant spot, requesting that he, the guide, dictate a path to that remote location, which was how the commission was arbitrarily imposed upon Shija.

(What is her objective...?)

Melioris had asked him for a map, pointing to a distant spot: the Holy Kingdom, forcing him to plot a route in which she had rejected the most direct paths, insisting on routes that would take longer.

That moment of arbitrary choice had been the first sign that the journey would be a series of constant trials.

(Why is she forcing us to take the least efficient route to get there?)

At that moment, Melioris then proceeded to absorb the entire inn and its surroundings in a single movement.

(The power she demonstrated at that moment...)

The phenomenon was neither an explosion nor a crude visual distortion. It was the absolute negation of mass. The fabric of her lace dress did not stretch; the air around her simply compressed and collapsed, swallowing the wooden building, the furniture, and even the surrounding earth into a silent singularity that vanished into the pocket space of her garment.

(.... It was absurd)

Following the inn, the Straw Dolls followed, disappearing with the same ease. The volume of their reality was nullified upon contact with the storage object.

Both Silver, the small silver armor, and Flora, the newborn fairy, were absorbed, while the small golden straw doll Goldie adopted the form of a bracelet and Brownie maintained the form of mechanical headphones that Shija kept in his ears at all times.

Finally, when the terrified Boudica awoke in the middle of the event, just in time to witness the end of the spectacle, she let out a scream that Melioris didn't even bother to register, momentarily snapping her fingers, causing the scream to cease without turning around.

"Alrighty~!"

And immediately, Melioris turned around, smiling cheerfully.

"Time to move out!"

And having pronounced those words, she proceeded to quickly pull out a feather pillow and a thick blanket that from a simple glance appeared to be made of high quality, only to immediately position herself quickly, floating in the air perfectly horizontally, as if she were already in a plush bed.

"Then..."

Well bundled up and comfortable, with her eyes narrowed in satisfaction.

"Forward!"

That was how she ordered the journey to begin, forcing the pained Shija and Boudica to walk, starting the indirect path toward the Holy Kingdom.

"zzz~"

Melioris, for her part, appeared to sleep peacefully, floating alongside them as they advanced.

Thus began the forced march when Melioris obliged the pained Shija and Boudica to walk, starting the indirect path toward the Holy Kingdom.

Thus initiating a horrible, hellish journey.

Because despite her sleeping state, Melioris floated in perfect parallel to the direction Shija marked, in parallel to her "punishments" against Boudica, who, attempting to flee by seizing the opportunity, received a sudden and violent impact that struck both her legs and stomach, without an apparent source.

However, the attack seemed to occur only when she tried to escape or insult Melioris, who "curiously" always let out slight snores, smiling faintly in those moments.

Furthermore, parallel to their forced march, the world seemed to rise against them, being inexplicably attacked by all kinds of monsters and traps, as if existence itself rejected them for some invisible sin.

(Remembering it now... She was never attacked...)

However, in the midst of the chaos, Melioris was never attacked. Her presence was not registered by the threats; she was an invisible and immune force traveling the world without being accounted for by its laws.

(Remembering those battles... It is clear... My old self... Would not have survived...)

Through these fierce battles, Shija recalled being pushed beyond all his limits.

(The only reason I could overcome them... It was thanks to her)

In the heat of combat, Shija understood that he was only able to overcome them by having learned to read the flow of energy using Ki, an ability that had awakened in front of Melioris and that now helped him grow exponentially with every encounter.

(Did she plan this?)

As for Boudica, the battles and the constant "punishments" she received forced her into extreme adaptation.

(Even Boudica's growth would not be possible without her intervention)

The warrior seemed to have physically acclimated to intolerable levels of intense pain, undergoing exponential growth in combat resistance, becoming extremely tough; although her mind was incapable of adapting to the pain that those same "punishments" continued to cause her, her body refused to give up.

(If so...)

And it was then that Shija began to notice something deeper: everything seemed to have been predicted by Melioris herself. The monsters, the traps, and the necessity for them to grow at that accelerated pace were part of a design.

(The indirect path was not just a detour, but a forced training course)

The feeling that Melioris had given Shija since her appearance was completely incongruous. On one hand, everything about her screamed that she was plotting something monumental; every action, every step on the route, felt like part of a master plan aimed at a goal. But, on the other hand, that sense of planning was so vast and so alien to human motivations that, at the same time, she seemed truly not to be thinking about anything at all, acting out of pure, amusing casualness.

(Am I overthinking this?)

Shija could not understand what was going through the entity's mind: whether she was about to unleash chaos or was simply wandering aimlessly.

(No, that doesn't matter...)

Shija was forced to follow a route that made him stronger, but whose final objective was an inscrutable riddle.

(If through all this I can become stronger... Then nothing else matters!)

Thus, Shija made the only logical decision for his own objective. He would disregard the question of Melioris's goal. He would accept the trials, as long as he gained more power and became stronger through them.

(I will recover my Master. I swear.)

Shija clenched his jaw and tightened his fist beneath the metal of his gauntlet, filled with determination.

"Oh, what motivation!"

When the superimposed, sweet, and condescending voice resonated right behind Shija.

"?! "

Shija then froze, and a figure materialized out of nowhere in the space that did not exist.

"Munch, munch, munch~"

Melioris was standing, right behind his back, floating barely centimeters off the ground, with her Gothic attire intact.

"Do you want some...?"

To add to the absurdity, the figure was eating popcorn with loud satisfaction, offering a ridiculous contrast to the tense atmosphere.

"Where the hell were you?! Upon arriving in Argol, you suddenly disappeared! You are completely crazy!"

And immediately Boudica let out a gasp and stumbled backward, pointing her finger at the newcomer.

"Disappeared? Oh, no, no. I was just making an interesting acquisition."

Melioris then brought a hand to her mouth, finishing her chewing with an air of innocence, displaying a beautiful smile, her heterochromatic eyes shining with amusement.