chapter 5

After fighting various groups of goblins that Silviya came across, we had leveled up to level 3. The progress was steady, and with EXP sharing, it was actually pretty good. It was easy to level up until level 50.

The hard part came after that, especially after level 97, when it took more EXP than level 1 to 90 combined just to increase by a single level. And it only got worse. After level 100, we would have to rebirth for a dual class.

Just thinking about it gave me a headache.

In the game, you could just grind the same boss for hours to reach that high. But here? Was there even enough monsters in the world for that? Well, probably. I was making it sound harder than it was.

But unlike the game, where it took a week, here... it might take years.

I sighed, thinking about the real-world issue of limited strong monsters. As I got lost in thought, I noticed a faint light appearing ahead from Silviya's perspective—it was the town. Honestly, taking the forest route was faster than the main road.

I heard it normally took thirty minutes to reach the town, yet we had arrived in fifteen minutes—even while fighting goblins.

Makes sense. You wouldn't want to take a route where you encounter five goblin groups in a matter of minutes.

As we approached the town's gate, a guard came rushing out. It was nighttime, so travelers arriving this late wasn't unheard of, but it wasn't exactly common either.

"Sorry, lady, we can't let you in at night. You'll have to wait until morning," the guard said, giving a standard response.

Then, his eyes landed on her blood-covered metal gloves and the spear dripping in red.

His face paled instantly, and he instinctively stepped back.

"W-What happened? Why are you covered in blood?" he asked, his voice slightly panicked.

Silviya glanced at her arms, let out a tired sigh, and responded like it was the most trivial thing in the world.

"There were some lowly goblins in my path, so I cut them down."

His panic spiked, but then he quickly regained control of himself.

"Goblins, you say? How many did you see? Where did you see them?" he asked hurriedly.

I was confused as to why he was suddenly so alarmed. Before I could think too much about it, Silviya answered me through the Mental Hub.

'Goblins likely travel in large groups. The sheer number we encountered suggests a much larger force nearby. That could mean many things… and none of them are good for a town this close,' she explained.

Hearing that, I was shocked.

'I thought she was a prideful knucklehead,' I accidentally relayed my thoughts through Mental Hub.

'I can hear you, my lord,' she replied. There was no anger in her voice—only pride.

…Did she take that as a compliment?

I guess that's the loyalty personality trait at work. She might not even be capable of taking my words negatively.

The guard calmed himself down and spoke again.

"Sorry for that outburst. I'm sure you're tired. I'll speak to my captain and sort this out."

Silviya nodded. "A reasonable request. I shall comply. However, I will only entertain the idea of sharing information if you let me through the gates tonight."

The guard hesitated. Even though I couldn't see his face under the helmet, it was easy to tell he was conflicted.

But in the end, he didn't object. He simply nodded and went inside.

As we waited, Silviya started observing the town's surroundings. The large wooden gate stood tall, and a smaller entrance was built into it for everyday use.

The forest stretched a short distance behind us, and the main dirt road extended as far as the eye could see. It likely branched off inside the forest toward different destinations.

A few meters from the gate, a large camp stood, completely silent—everyone was asleep. It was already quite late. If I hadn't slept during the morning, I wouldn't be awake either.

After about five minutes, the guard captain finally came out.

He was a young man with blond hair and blue eyes—the kind of look you'd expect from a noble in a fantasy world.

'He looks like a noble straight out of a fantasy story,' I commented to Silviya.

'Does he? His mana and threat level don't seem that impressive. But I suppose he is like you, Master,' she responded.

…Even though she didn't intend to be rude, her words stabbed me straight in the heart.

When the captain saw Silviya, I caught a brief flash of shock on his face. But almost instantly, he recovered, and his expression shifted into something else.

A look I recognized far too well.

"Hello there, beautiful lady. What brings you out so late at night?" he said smoothly.

…Really?

The knight from before let out a tired sigh and immediately banged his head against the handle of his spear, as if he had seen this too many times before.

Before the captain could continue his cheesy antics, Silviya grabbed his shoulder, lifted him up, and threw him a few meters away.

I watched as he crashed onto his back, coughing as the impact knocked the air out of his lungs.

'Damn… that must have hurt,' I muttered through Mental Hub.

He lay there, gasping for air, desperately trying to breathe again. Yeah… that fall definitely knocked the wind out of him. This wasn't a game—not everyone was as strong as Silviya.

Silviya turned to the knight she had spoken to earlier, looking annoyed.

"Didn't I tell you to bring your captain? Why did you bring a playboy?"

The knight sighed again, this time even more exhausted than before.

"…He is our captain, sadly," he admitted.

'Damn, my girl didn't even hold back on their captain,' I commented.

'How pathetic must he be for his own subordinate to be tired of his antics?' Silviya replied bluntly.

The guy got up after a few seconds, surprisingly not mad at all. Instead, he just sat on the floor, rubbing his sore back, and casually asked,

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

As he looked up, his eyes lingered on her chest.

Silviya immediately folded her arms, blocking his view, and glared at him.

That only seemed to make him even happier.

Without hesitation, she stepped on his face, pressing his head into the dirt.

"How dare you look at me with those dog's eyes?" she sneered.

Her hard boots left visible marks on his face, and for the first time, I actually started feeling bad for the guy.

Curious, I used third-person POV to check on his knight.

…He was cheering.

The dude looked genuinely happy, as if celebrating the fact that someone finally put his captain in his place.

How scummy is this guy?

After what felt like a full minute of stomping, the knight captain's face was swollen and covered in bruises, but somehow… he still looked blissfully at peace.

…Did he even learn anything from this?

Eventually, he coughed and asked, still sitting on the ground,

"So you're telling me… you met five different groups of ten to twenty goblins, killed them all, and then just casually walked here?"

He was trembling—not from fear, but from pain.

And yet, somehow, I couldn't shake the feeling that he was happy about it.

"It's a hard story to believe," he admitted. "But seeing how easily you tossed me, I'll believe it for now. I'll send some knights to check the forest tomorrow. If we find it to be true, we'll reward you. If not… I hope you don't mind me taking drastic action."

His tone was serious, but Silviya was already annoyed just by talking to him.

"Sure," she replied, her voice cold. "But before that—our deal."

The knight captain simply nodded at his subordinate, who led her inside the gates.

I guess, since we're deep inside the empire, they just assume everyone entering is a citizen, so they don't bother with strict security checks.

They just… let us in.

After We Left:

Knight Captain: "Hey, weren't you supposed to ask her for ID?"

Knight: (staring at his captain's bruised face) "Nah. I think she's a good person."

Knight Captain: "You can't just decide that based on 'I think' alone!"

The knight, knowing he'd have twice as much work tomorrow, sighed…

And yet, somehow, he regretted nothing.