CHAPTER 46: CH:46 STYLISH SLAUGHTER, SHARED XP, AND ONE GLOWING LIAR

As they stepped out of the Guild Bar into the village street, sunlight bathing the stone roads, Dila unrolled the slime-purging quest scroll again.

"Hmmm..." she squinted, hovering a finger across the text. "Where exactly do we go? There’s no map."

She glanced at Sarios.

He just looked up at the clouds and started whistling very loudly. Suspiciously loudly.

Dila’s stare sharpened. "Are you sure you’re an adventurer? Because your card said so—and now you’re acting like a tourist."

Sarios panicked. "No-no-no-no-no-no-no! Don’t question the card!"

Dila narrowed her eyes, deadpan. "Then prove it."

Sarios broke into a nervous sweat, tapping his fingers together like a guilty child caught skipping homework.

"A-alright... alright, fine! It was... actually... my first time accepting a quest as a group with you."

Dila blinked. Then blinked again. "You what?!"

"I mean," he stammered, "I joined the guild to do side quests when I’m bored, but I never actually did one, you know, for real... heh..."

"You made yourself sound like a veteran quest-slayer," Dila said, dramatically slapping her own face. "I was relying on you to lead!"

Sarios sulked, poking his index fingers together. "S-sorry..."

Suddenly, Fran—who had been quietly walking on the side like a background NPC—lifted a hand and muttered softly, "Umm... you can swipe the side of the scroll... the location appears magically."

Dila blinked. "Wait, swipe?"

She touched the edge of the scroll with her finger—and WHOOSH—a glowing map shimmered into view like a holographic screen.

"Ohhh!" Dila gasped. "It’s like a GPS!"

Fran tilted her head, confused. "What’s a... gee-pee-es?"

Dila froze mid-step, her eyes darting left as if looking for the exit to this conversation. She chuckled awkwardly. "Uh... it’s a... tracking device... you know... that tracks... where... you go...?"

Fran nodded slowly, as if she totally got it. "Oooh... magic."

Sarios whispered, "What kind of spell is that? GPS? Sounds fancy."

Inside Dila’s mind, Nari giggled.

☆ You mean you forgot what GPS actually stands for, didn’t you? ☆

("Shush, Nari. Not every day do I remember the full definition of Global Positioning Something.")

☆ Satellite. It’s satellite. ☆

("Yeah, yeah. Leave me to die in peace with my tech shame...")

"Anyway!" Dila clapped her hands. "Let’s head to... this Wilison Farm! Full of herbs and full of slimes apparently!"

Fran nodded excitedly.

Sarios raised a finger. "Just to confirm... the slimes won’t be, like, spicy, right?"

Dila gave him a long, tired look. "We’re not eating them."

Sarios pouted. "Missed opportunity."

As the party arrived at Wilison Farm, the sun cast soft rays over rows of green herbs swaying gently in the wind. Birds chirped. The place seemed peaceful—almost too peaceful.

Dila scanned the fields, shading her eyes. "Hmm... looks fine to me. Not a single slime in sight. Maybe it was a false—"

PAHHH!!

An invisible blue slime suddenly launched itself like a jelly torpedo, smacking Dila right in the stomach with a comedic boing! before vanishing into the grass.

Dila let out a dramatic gasp as she flopped backwards, her arms flailing.

"Aaaack!!"

She landed flat on her back with a soft thud, eyes spinning, and her soul metaphorically drifting up like a cartoon ghost.

Sarios looked down at her with a deadpan expression. "...That’s it? You’re down already?"

Dila groaned and sat up, brushing dirt off her dress and pouting hard. "Don’t insult me like that, okay?! I wasn’t ready! That was a sneak attack!"

She crossed her arms and huffed, cheeks puffed like an angry squirrel.

"Sorry," Sarios said, not sounding that sorry, as he bent down and effortlessly lifted her princess-style again, his face unreadable.

Dila blushed as he carried her. "You know, you’ve lifted me way too many times now."

Sarios blinked, then quickly put her back down while looking away, ears red. "Y-Yeah, yeah. Talking like a champ, aren’t you..."

Before Dila could recover from her blush, a quiet rustle caught their attention.

Fran, who had been quietly following behind like a shadow, suddenly stopped. With a smooth motion, she unclasped her black cloak and let it slide off her shoulders in one dramatic toss to the side—fluttering like a cape in the wind.

Underneath, she wore her assassin’s gear in full view for the first time.

Her outfit was sleek and fitted—perfect for mobility, yet stylish in a mysterious kind of way.

She wore a high-waisted black asymmetrical dress, with one side draping to her thigh and the other extending longer, like a split coat tail. A soft pink underskirt peeked out just enough to add a hint of charm under the dark fabric.

Her puffy, off-shoulder white sleeves created a contrast to her otherwise stealthy appearance, and her black side-laced waist design hugged her frame perfectly, giving her a dancer’s grace.

A small black bow tied at her neck gave a touch of girlishness, while her long navy-blue hair flowed behind her like a gentle wave, held neatly with a triangle hairpin. Her cat ears twitched ever so slightly atop her head.

Strapped to her thigh was a single white-steel dagger—about ten inches long, polished, and deadly.

Her open-toe black lace boots clicked softly on the dirt path as she took a step forward, eyes locked on the field, ready to fight.

Dila and Sarios both froze.

"Wooow..." they said in unison, almost breathlessly.

Dila blinked, stunned. "You’ve been hiding all that under that cloak this whole time?"

Fran just nodded slightly, her expression calm but her face faintly pink.

Then her voice came, small and steady:

"I don’t fight well in cloaks."

Dila gave her a thumbs-up. "10/10. Stylish and stabby."

Sarios nodded. "Yeah. Remind me never to make her mad."

And somewhere, in the grass, another slime trembled in fear.

Just as another blue slime began to squish its way toward the herb patch—its gelatinous body jiggling innocently—Fran’s eyes locked on it like a hawk.

"There," she whispered.

In the blink of an eye, she vanished.

FWOOOSH!

A burst of wind followed her movement as she dashed forward, her dagger flashing like silver lightning.

SLASH!

The slime never saw it coming. With a clean arc, Fran’s blade carved straight through the jelly, piercing the glowing core inside. The slime let out a muffled "meeuhhh..." before popping like a wet bubble.

But Fran didn’t stop.

Another slime had peeked out from under a patch of tall herbs, trembling at the sight.

"MeeeHH!!" it squeaked in horror.

Too late.

Fran spun mid-dash and darted again—her boots barely touched the ground. She was a blur of blue hair and shadows.

SHLICK!

Another clean hit—right through the core.

This time, she landed in a low crouch, one hand brushing the ground while her dagger glinted from the second strike. Her cat ears twitched once as she slowly stood upright, her eyes cool and unreadable.

Dila stood with wide eyes. "I blinked. I blinked and she took down two!"

Sarios, equally stunned, gulped audibly. "She’s stronger than me, right...?"

No one answered.

He scratched his cheek awkwardly and muttered, "She might even be on par with that masked assassin or lower but still powerful. That potential is real..."

Fran silently wiped her blade with a flick of her wrist, then gave a little sideways glance toward the party—expression calm, but her tail swishing just a bit.

Dila clapped once. "Okay... 10 points for style, 100 points for trauma to slimes."

Fran just blinked. "They were slimy. I don’t like slimy."

And with that, she dashed again—leaving nothing behind but sparkles, wind, and sliced slime sushi.

Just as the last slime popped into gooey mist, a sudden sparkle of green light shimmered around Dila.

☆ Level up! Level up! ☆

☆ Level 2 → Level 4 ☆

☆ Level 4 → Level 6 ☆

☆ Level 6 → Level 15! ☆

Nari’s soft system voice chimed with each cheerful announcement.

Dila blinked, stunned. "W-Wow?!"

She stared at her hands, which glowed faintly for a moment before fading.

("Nari... what just happened? How did I level up that fast?") she asked in her mind.

☆ Because you three are officially registered as a party now, Master. Experience is shared. ☆

("So... that means Sarios and Fran leveled up too?")

☆ Not quite. Only you gained levels. They received class-based growth, but not level-ups like you. ☆

("Ah...")

Dila’s mind paused for a second, eyes twitching.

("Wait. You mean I just got all the EXP while they did the actual stabbing?")

☆ Basically, yes! Congratulations, Master! ☆

Dila deadpanned as she looked at Fran wiping slime off her dagger, and at Sarios... who was poking a dead slime with a stick.

She put a hand over her mouth to hold back a laugh.

("...This system feels rigged.")

☆ But rigged in your favor! Yay! ☆

"Still rigged," Dila muttered aloud, shaking her head.

As the last slime wiggled its way toward a helpless herb sprout, Fran dashed forward with a swift motion—shing!—and skewered it straight through the core with her dagger.

The slime burst into glowing particles.

And then... Dila lit up again.

A soft green glow shimmered briefly around her like someone just cast a "You Win!" animation from a game.

Fran, mid-swipe, paused and squinted at Dila.

"...Umm, hella sis," Fran said slowly, tail flicking. "Why did you glow up when I did the stabbing?"

Dila flinched, rattling like a dropped tea cup.

"Eh?! Oh—uh—it’s... nothing!" she laughed, trying to strike a casual pose while glowing faintly like a magical lightbulb. "Just... atmosphere effects! Maybe it’s the sun? Or pollen! Yeah, pollen."

But Fran, eyes half-lidded, stabbed another slime with zero effort—pop!—and again, Dila glowed.

Fran slowly turned to look at her. "You’re glowing again."

Dila stood frozen, grinning awkwardly as the green shimmer faded from her shoulders like a guilty spotlight.

"Hehe... Coincidence?" she said, her smile twitching.

Fran blinked once. Then deadpanned. "...Weird."

And just like that—Dila’s inner world crumbled.

("Nooooo!!") she screamed in her mind. ("My favorite cat girl just called me weird! I’ve been disowned! Cursed! Emotionally slapped!!")

Nari gently chimed in with zero sympathy.

☆ Status: Rejected by Idol. Emotional damage critical. ☆

Dila faceplanted into the dirt.

Fran blinked. "...Okaay then."

Sarios, from the side, just shook his head and thumbs-up. " wow nice fall." he laughed.