Stop, Friendly Fire!

"I see you two came as well. It doesn't matter to me… As long as you don't hold me back."

Once she saw Prince and Kratia, Seira Von Retadane shrugged her shoulders and said. She was being genuine, but she still managed to piss Prince off.

"Hold you back!? Didn't you see me use that really strong spell back then? You ever heard of the Fire Demon?"

"Yes, I saw it. It was indeed a powerful spell, but I'm not sure you'll be able to protect yourself with it. A magician is most powerful when protected by several of their allies. However, there aren't that many of us, and we're attempting to infiltrate a city where we don't know how many enemies there are or where they are. I do believe you're not cut out for this."

"But...!"

"And please call me Retadane."

"Ugh."

Retadane pointed out her flaws, being correct from start to finish, and Prince became weak. Lee Shin Woo smiled bitterly and added.

"We'll have to move covertly, but I'll take care of it. Since I have just the skill for it."

"As expected of my Junior! You do the things that Retadane can't do so naturally! It makes me shiver in excitement!"

"That sounds incredibly unpleasant. You're spiteful towards me for some reason, while you're really possessive of Lee Shin Woo. ...Though I don't have any complaints if you can deal with the issue of stealth."

It seemed only natural that she acted this way if he took into consideration that she was a level 8 hero with the highest seniority, but... To Lee Shin Woo, who knew about all the forces involved with Bayran and the inside story on Retadane, he felt like her actions were foolish, or even a bit cute.

'She must be hoping that Seagald doesn't come.'

He briefly organized his thoughts and then asked Retadane. This was to put the decision he'd made beforehand into motion.

"Retadane, do you have a reason for going to Bayran?"

"Yes. Now that you mention it, I wanted to talk about that."

Retadane then pulled out a piece of paper from her chest. As he suspected, it was a Bayran Inner Map.

"Ooooooooh!"

"Hm."

"I got this from the Vulture General. You should remember seeing it when I was distributing the loot. It seems like it's only given to the one who inflicted the most damage to him. In this case, me."

As expected, that's why the map had automatically come to him when he'd killed the Beast General. Lee Shin Woo thoroughly looked over the map. While he was analyzing the map and mentally comparing it to the other maps he owned, she continued to speak.

"I wondered why this came off of one of the 12 Generals, and also suspected that it might be a trap... I came to the conclusion that I needed to see for myself. After that, I investigated for two months and prepared my skills and equipment... When I was about to leave, Lee Shin Woo mentioned Bayran."

"So what, you think it was fate?"

Retadane explained calmly, but it seemed like Prince found something unpleasant about it, as she pouted suddenly. Then, Retadane nodded her head seriously.

"Yes. The fact that Lee Shin Woo was headed to Bayran too means that God is leading us there. I feel like there's something important in Bayran. Something that's related to our purification of the Underground Empire."

"...Oh, that's what you were talking about?"

"What else is there?"

"Oh, nothing. Never mind."

Retadane ignored Prince's clearly suspicious signs (Kratia softly hit the back of Prince's head instead and Lee Shin Woo inwardly applauded) and went deeper into her motives.

"Moreover... Moreover, I know this place well."

"You know this place well... Perhaps...?"

"No. My family wasn't responsible for this area. It's just that... this place was created for a special reason."

"A special reason..."

"Yes. ...This city was created for spirits."

For a moment, Lee Shin Woo stopped moving. Retadane retained her bitter expression.

"The citizens of the Empire loved spirits. They believed that spirits were God's representatives and that their forms were far more developed than humans'. Thus, Elementalists, who could commune with spirits and borrow their power, were treated very well."

"...I see."

That's only natural. Since only those who loved spirits and the spirits themselves were sent underground. Lee Shin Woo nodded his head and Kratia's eyes shined.

"Most magicians reject Elementalists. Since their power often goes against a magician's reason. Like Shin Woo."

"You didn't have to add that last part."

"It's strange that the Empire, which had progressed their magic engineering so far, would love spirits so much."

"There were, of course, some people within the Empire that hated spirits as well."

Retadane confirmed Kratia's theory with a nod of her head.

"Bayran was created to protect the spirits and the Elementalists from such individuals. It's connected directly to the capital, the lake is clean and beautiful, and there are several mountains around it. It's a place well-suited for the spirits. The palace's Elementalist Order used Bayran as a branch office as well."

"And what about protecting the spirits?"

"If the spirits are scattered, then there's a chance that they'll be hunted down by humans, but if they're all in one place, then even the entire Knight Order would be no match for them. The Empire wanted to create a place where the spirits could stay and relax. ...Though it was a failure."

"A failure, huh."

Perhaps joining up with Retadane had been a good idea. Since there was no other way to obtain such detailed information about the Empire, aside from someone who had actually lived during that time!

Lee Shin Woo inwardly nodded in satisfaction at granny Retadane's story as she was just getting to the climax of the story.

"They wanted to create a special dungeon called the 'Spirits' Spring' within Bayran. They sought to create a space where only spirits and those the spirits permitted could enter, but... In the process, something went wrong. The palace's Elementalist Leader, Princess Dana Von Etliber was put in charge of creating the Spirits' Spring... and was also put in charge of Bayran as well."

"Dana Von Etliber."

He could tell how this was going to end. Lee Shin Woo had heard this story and this person's name before. Lee Shin Woo narrowed his eyes and Retadane continued calmly. He briefly felt an indescribable sadness and fury from her expression, but Lee Shin Woo wanted to believe that it was just a delusion. He wanted to believe it was, but...

"She is also one of the 12 Generals, called the Spirit General. To this day, she's probably still in Bayran."

"!?"

Kratia and Prince's eyes widened. Lee Shin Woo just sighed.

"We don't know whether or not the other 12 Generals will come, but there's already one of them there."

"Plus, it should be filled with several corrupted spirits as well. Even so, I will find her. I was scared thus far, but... I believe now is the time to go looking for her. Lee Shin Woo, could you please help me? Are you prepared to fight against the 12 Generals?"

"Yes. After all, it's our duty to take down the 12 Generals."

"Good. Just keep thinking like that. ...You're quite reliable. Please make sure I don't lose my way."

It seemed like she was trying her best to not show any signs, but Lee Shin Woo could hear the loneliness within her voice. Retadane, who was likely the daughter of a duke, must've been close with the princess.

He thought she was just a crazy woman who was only interested in killing the undead, but looking at her now, perhaps her hatred towards the undead wasn't so simple... He felt that pointless feeling slightly, very slightly.

"With this party, killing the 12 Generals is... No, it's a piece of cake. We've only gathered elites!"

"If we exclude you, Prince."

"Why would you exclude me!? I've gotten a lot stronger too! I've really gotten a lot stronger!"

"Taking on one of the 12 Generals isn't an issue. I already told you. That there wouldn't be just one or two of them there. ...If you're not confident, then you can turn around now."

Prince was pissed as she hung onto Kratia and questioned Retadane, but Lee Shin Woo replied calmly. Hearing that, Prince straightened her back, as if ice had been poured onto it, and responded confidently, even while pouting.

"I'm all ready. I'm just shaking a bit! Since I'm so excited!"

"Then you're fine. I came prepared too, so I have something to show you."

Lee Shin Woo then took out three pieces of paper. The three women tilted their heads, but one of them stiffened at the sight of the papers.

"These are..."

"They're all Bayran Inner Maps..."

"Lee Shin Woo, where did you get these?"

"I got each of them from a different member of the 12 Generals."

"What!?"

Kratia remained calm, as it wasn't news to her. Prince's pupils shook. Seira Von Retadane didn't even respond; she just looked stiff. Lee Shin Woo didn't give them a chance to respond and continued.

"I'm not sure how Bayran was when you last saw it, but the imperial troops have made a lot of changes to it. And if we put all the maps together, then..."

"Wait, it's filled with traps everywhere! Such vicious traps at that!"

"The worst part about it is that there may be more maps than just these four. There are twelve generals, per their title. But the chance of that is low. Of course, there may be some fakes among the maps, but... with this many of them, we should be able to pick the safest route by comparing them, no?"

He was originally going to do this, but he didn't say that and just looked at Retadane. She was still looking at the maps with a stiff expression, but once she realized that he was waiting for her response, she quietly agreed.

"My knowledge will be helpful in your analysis. But we'll need some time to prepare. We should stay here before we infiltrate the city. I'm sorry everyone, but could you prepare the camp?"

"Of course."

She probably had much she wanted to ask him and much she wanted to tell him, but she generously let it go. Whereas Prince looked like she wanted to ask Lee Shin Woo a hundred questions, but Kratia immediately stopped her.

"You knew, didn't you!? That my Junior took down some of the other 12 Generals alone!"

"Of course. Since I was with him each time. So technically he didn't take them down alone. We took them down together."

"Aaaaaaaah!"

Lee Shin Woo had not only killed a few of the 12 Generals in an unknown place without her knowledge, but Lee Shin Woo and Kratia had taken them out, just the two of them (though Jin was actually with them as well!). Upon this realization, Prince screamed and was hit by Kratia again.

"Why didn't you tell me...?"

"I knew you'd worry about me. I'm sorry, Senior. We didn't fight them because we wanted to. We had the misfortune of running into them, so we had no choice but to fight them to survive."

"Ahhhhhh!"

It was a lie, of course, but Lee Shin Woo's acting was enough to trick her. Retadane, who was standing beside them and perusing the maps, nodded slightly. She probably attributed that to why 'Lee Shin Woo was so strong'.

"...In any case, I've gotten a lot stronger too. You don't need to do something so dangerous alone anymore. Just follow me!"

"Ok, Senior. Then please help me set up this tent."

"Leave it to me!"

He really loved idiots; they were so easy to manipulate... Lee Shin Woo watched Prince busily move around to set up the tent and smiled. Beside him, Kratia and Jin were speechless, but as always, Lee Shin Woo just ignored them.