abcnovels
Chapter 394
Chapter 394
Chapter 394
“...!” Oscar’s face stiffened after getting stabbed. She had not imagined, even in her wildest dreams, that he was going to betray her like this when she had helped him escape.
Salvatore pushed his face right in front of hers and said, “Who the fuck are you?”
His expression made him look as if he was possessed by—no, he was the incarnation of an evil spirit.
“Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do, bitch!”
“So... you have decided to stoop this low...” Oscar said while casting an indifferent look at him.
“Low? What’s low about this? Keke... Kekeke!”
“...”
“Know your place,” Salvatore spat out as his eyes started to become tainted with madness before continuing. “I’m grateful that you saved me, but... I don’t remember giving you the right to tell me what to do with my life, did I?”
“...”
“Do you think this is the end for me? Don’t fuck with me! This isn’t the last of me! I started from the bottom, and I will do it again!”
“Pathetic... So pathetic you’re making me sick...” Oscar muttered under her breath.
“Life is pathetic, didn’t you know that?” Salvatore replied with a smirk.
“That only applies to you.”
“Ha! Stop acting high and mighty, Oscar! Ah, do you know why I abandoned you?”
“I’m not curious.”
“Because I stood to gain nothing from marrying you, and I’ll have to continue working at that stupid academy! Forget about fame and riches, I’ll be stuck living as a knight for the rest of my life!” Salvatore exclaimed.
He then continued his tirade. “A pathetic life! A life without a future! That’s all you had to offer! But guess what? My life changed after I abandoned you! I'm on the run right now, but... Hehe... See? Do you really think that this is the end of me? Like this?”
“...”
“Just wait and see...” Salvatore said before he twisted the dagger with all of his strength.
Squelch!
Oscar shuddered when the dagger was twisted inside of her.
“Watch from hell and see if I can get back on my feet or not!”
“You are... really... pathetic and... repulsive...”
“Goodbye, Oscar,” Salvatore said. He kissed her cheek before leaving the cave.
She was now all alone in the cold damp cave with a dagger stuck lodged inside her.
***
Deep within the Casca Mountains...
“Sniff, sniff! Sniff, sniff, sniff!” Hamchi sniffed around the ground.
Beside him was Siegfried, who was still in his mountain bandit disguise.
“Hey, search more thoroughly. Can’t you pick up Oscar’s scent?”
“Kyu! Be patient, owner punk! Do you think this is easy?” Hamchi glared and retorted.
“It’s already been four hours! What if Oscar is hurt? She looked injured a while ago!”
“Hamchi is trying! Don’t pressure me! Kyuuu!”
“Alright, alright, just search faster.”
“Okay! Kyuu!”
Four hours passed since Hamchi used Meerkat~! to look for Oscar.
Oscar and Salvatore escaped nearly seven hours ago, thanks to Siegfried blocking the ranger, but the reason why Siegfried commenced the search only three hours after they escaped was just in case any other groups were tracking them down.
In other words, Siegfried bought time for Oscar and that piece of trash to run away safely, and he was now trying to track them down.
“Tsk... I need to smash that piece of trash’s head open...” Siegfried clicked his tongue while waiting for Hamchi to find any lead.
He was fine with helping Oscar, but saving that piece of trash had left a bad taste in his mouth.
‘I’m going to deduct three months' pay once we’re back, Oscar,’ Siegfried decided to punish her by not paying her three month’s worth of wages.
“Kyu?!” Hamchi flinched as his ears perked up.
“Did you find anything?!”
“Over there! I can smell Oscar from there! Kyuuu!”
“Really?”
“But I can smell blood, too! Kyu!”
“Heok!” Siegfried gasped and said, “Did they run into a monster? Where is it?! Let’s hurry!”
“Over there! Kyuuu!”
Hamchi ran ahead and led the way while Siegfried and Carell followed right behind.
They ran for thirty minutes until they arrived in front of a cave, and there they found Oscar collapsed and bleeding on the ground.
“Dame Oscar!”
“...”
“DAME OSCAR!”
Siegfried screamed, but there was no response.
[Oscar]
[HP:??????????]
He checked with his Rune of Insight and found she only had ten percent HP remaining, and she was afflicted with Bleeding and Internal Organs Rupture, too.
“Don’t tell me... Is it that bastard’s doing?” Siegfried asked after spotting the dagger lodged in her stomach.
“I believe so, Your Maj—“ Carell replied, but he shut his mouth right away.
Fwaaaaah!
Siegfried exuded a terrifying aura that made Carell flinch and break out in cold sweats.
“Carell.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“Chase him down. Keep tailing him wherever he goes. I’ll go to the Constantine Holy Empire with Dame Oscar for now,” Siegfried commanded.
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Carell was about to leave the cave when Siegfried called out to him.
“Carell. Don’t lose him. Don’t...!”
“I will stake my life on it, Your Majesty,” Carell replied and left immediately to track down Salvatore.
He didn't need Hamchi’s help to track his target down. He wasn't as fast and as efficient as Hamchi when it came to tracking, but he was trained in tracking at the knight academy, which was more than enough to track down Salvatore.
Siegfried took out a top-tier HP potion and fed it to her. The next thing he did was to stabilize the bleeding by wrapping a bandage and tightening her wound while keeping the dagger in place.
“Let’s go.”
“Kyu!”
Siegfried placed Oscar on his back and started running.
‘Don’t die. I still have to take your dock your pay, so don’t you dare die...’
He had no plans to let her die just yet.
***
A few hours later, Siegfried barged into the Constantine Holy Empire and sought Saintess Janette’s help to heal Oscar.
“Her condition is not as bad as Her Majesty's. It would have been dangerous if she came a bit later, but she will be fine.”
“I will leave her in your case.”
“Please do not worry, Your Majesty.”
Siegfried passed Oscar to the Saintess.
Two hours later...
“It is done, Your Majesty.”
“How did it go?! Will Dame Oscar be alright?!” Siegfried ended up shouting as soon as he saw the Saintess.
“Dame Oscar will be fine, Your Majesty.”
“Oh!”
“My holy powers just recharged, and t I did not expect it to be of use like this. But the timing is quite interesting... I depleted all of my holy powers after treating Her Majesty last time, and I barely managed to replenish them. Perhaps, did you come knowing that I've replenished my powers?”
“I-I don’t think that’s possible...? It just so happened that things aligned,” Siegfried replied while awkwardly scratching the back of his head.
“Really? Well, I do not mind if you come knowing. I will squeeze every bit of my strength to help Your Majesty.”
“I am indebted to you.”
“Please do not mention it, Your Majesty. Ah, you should probably go in.”
“Is she already awake?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, your healing powers are truly amazing!” Siegfried marveled at the Saintess’ healing powers once again before he entered the infirmary where Oscar was.
“Your Majesty...!” Oscar exclaimed after seeing him.
She forced herself up despite not having fully recovered, and she knelt on the floor.
“I, a disgraced and disloyal servant, greet my lord...”
“Oh? So you know you’re disloyal?”
Oscar could not say anything in response.
“You caused this problem despite being fully aware you are being disloyal?”
“I have... sinned gravely against Your Majesty. I implore you to execute me and instill order back to—“
“I went through all that trouble to save you, but you’re asking me to kill you?”
“...”
“I am disappointed in you.”
It sounded like the pot calling the kettle black, but Siegfried made it clear that he was disappointed in Oscar.
“I did not imagine even in my wildest dreams that you, Dame Oscar, of all people, would do something as impulsive as this.”
“I implore you to—“
“But it’s cute...”
“...?”
“Is this what they call Gap Moe?”
Gap Moe was a term used by Otakus to describe when someone did something cute that was contradictory to their usual behavior.
“What does... Gap Moe mean...?”
“Who would have known that someone like you, who wouldn't even flinch when getting pricked by needles, would do something so irresponsible? And the fact that it was all because of your first love makes it even more absurd.”
“Please kill me, Your Majesty...” Oscar muttered. She was serious this time. She was so embarrassed that she would rather die than listen to her liege remind her of such embarrassment.
“There you go again. Asking me to kill you.”
“Your Majesty, I—“
“Three month’s pay.”
“...!”
“I can’t punish you more than that since our kingdom’s operation will take a hit, so your punishment will be three month’s worth of pay and no salary increases for the next two years.”
“But, Your Majesty—“
“Please don’t leave my side until the last day I step foot on this world.”
“...!”
“This is an order, and I want your full loyalty this time,” Siegfried sternly said, and then he added, “So stop asking me to kill you. I want you back as soon as possible so you can work your ass off for me. Got that?”
“Your Majesty...”
Flash!
A bright light erupted from Oscar’s body, making Siegfried close his eyes.
‘What was that? Why is she shining all of a sudden?’
Ding!
[Alert: Oscar’s affinity toward you has risen by 999,999,999,999!]
[Alert: Affinity has reached Loyalty from the Soul!]
It was a message notifying him of Oscar’s increase in affinity.
[Alert: NPC Awakening Event has occurred!]
[Alert: Oscar has awakened after being moved by your words!]
[Alert: Oscar is now a Burning[1] NPC!]
[Alert: All experience points obtained by Oscar will increase by 500%!]
The ultra-rare NPC Awakening Event, which had never been seen by any other player, was happening right in front of Siegfried’s eyes!
***
All of the NPCs in BNW were highly intelligent AI created by the Doppelganger Algorithm; they were capable of speaking and acting like human beings. These NPCs had one interesting trait, which was their ability to get influenced by the actions of the Adventurers around them.
One such case was none other than their Growth.
An NPC without relation to any Adventurer remained the same as they went about their daily lives, but an NPC with human comrades would grow stronger the longer they stayed with them.
Oscar was the latter case.
Her abilities and stats would keep on increasing the more time she spent as Siegfried’s subordinate, and her level was now as high as Siegfried's level. It wasn't really strange that her level had increased, considering the fact that her lord, Siegfried, wasn't slacking at all. However, the NPC Awakening Event that occurred today would massively boost her growth.
[Burning NPC]
[This NPC has awakened!]
[This NPC's growth is exponential!]
[All experience points obtained by this NPC will increase by 500%!]
[This NPC will obtain a new class once she reaches a certain level!]
In other words, Siegfried’s kindness, which was actually his desperate attempt to keep her at all costs so he didn't have to do paperwork, had triggered the event that would make her grow exponentially stronger.
“Your Majesty,” Oscar said as she knelt on one knee.
The Burning NPC buff engulfed her body with a bright red aura that was visible only to the Adventurers. Then, she lowered her head just as a knight would to her liege and said, “I, Oscar, swear eternal and undying loyalty to Your Majesty.”
“I don’t need your eternal and undying loyalty,” Siegfried replied with a smile, and then he said, “So please don’t do that ever again, got it?”
“Y-Yes, my lord.”
“Okay, shall we go trash hunting now?”
“Trash hunting...?”
“We still have to kill him, right?” Siegfried had no plans to let the piece of trash live.
He did manage to trigger Oscar’s NPC Awakening Event, thanks to that piece of trash.
“A very painful death at that.”
“Your Majesty.”
“Yes?”
“May Your Majesty... please grant me this one request?” Oscar asked as cautiously as possible.
1. I suppose this is something like ‘fever time’ often found in games ?