The middle-aged noble waved his hand, stopping the soldiers who wanted to take Cecilia Ross away.
“Stand down!” The middle-aged noble’s voice was icy, his gaze sharp as a hawk as he stared hard at Selim and continued, “Shaking the morale of the army according to military law, you should be executed.”
“Do you want to taste military justice yourself?”
“My deepest apologies, my lord.” Selim lowered her posture. “It was my negligence. I failed to properly discipline my foolish little sister.”
“Huh? Which sister am I of yours…” As soon as Cecilia spoke, Selim moved like lightning, clamping a hand over her mouth, blocking the ill-timed question.
The noble’s brow furrowed.
Seeing Selim’s reaction, his lingering suspicion faded away instead. This reckless girl must truly not be the brightest.
With the Great Battle imminent, he hadn’t wanted to stir up trouble, but now that someone had publicly challenged his authority and shaken the soldiers’ morale, he couldn’t simply let it go.
“Take both of them away!” he commanded with a sweeping gesture, leaving no room for doubt.
Selim quickly shielded Cecilia behind her and met the middle-aged noble’s gaze head-on. “My lord, at this moment, our true enemies are those Beasts eyeing us hungrily.”
“If we are guilty, then at least allow us to step onto the battlefield for our families, for our compatriots, and fight first.”
Selim wasn’t cowed by his presence. Instead, she lifted her chin, meeting his eyes, her tone carrying a hint of resolve.
“I am willing to stand with her on the front lines against the first wave of Beasts, as atonement for her offense. Would that be enough?”
Seeing the determination in Selim’s eyes, the noble’s gaze showed a trace of admiration.
“Good. You have guts.”
“I swear on the name of the Lycaon Family—if you survive, not only will you be pardoned, you will also be rewarded.”
The noble turned and strode deep into the military camp, raising his right arm. “Soldiers! Take them to the Armory to select weapons and armor!”
“Everyone, back to your posts! Prepare for battle!”
The two soldiers supporting Cecilia saluted. “Yes, sir!”
Now that the crisis had passed for the moment, Selim finally released her hand from Cecilia’s mouth.
“Whew… I survived! I almost suffocated!”
Gasping for air, Cecilia bounced up from the ground, dusted herself off, and flashed Selim a radiant, carefree grin.
“Thank you, sis! But, um… do we actually know each other?”
“Bonk!”
“Ow! Ow ow ow…” Cecilia clutched her forehead, which instantly turned red, and squatted back down.
Selim, who never liked holding grudges overnight, rewarded Cecilia with a flick to the forehead.
Retracting her finger, Selim crouched down to meet Cecilia eye to eye, a trace of helplessness in her eyes. “You little troublemaker. Do you realize you almost got both of us killed?”
“I didn’t do anything wrong!” Cecilia puffed her cheeks, rubbing her forehead. “It’s that uptight old man’s fault! I was just trying to help, you know…”
“But anyway~”
She suddenly leapt forward, hugging Selim’s arm tightly, looking up with sparkling eyes.
“See? I told you I was lucky. First day and I meet such a kind sister! My old man always says the Checkpoint Challengers are all rotten—he was lying to me!”
As one of the disruptors of this world’s established order, Selim had never intended to follow the process properly from the start.
She was dying to say: if she hadn’t recognized the other party at first glance and realized this silly girl was easy to trick, she’d have long since sent her to her doom.
Thanks to Cecilia, Selim herself had now been exposed as a Checkpoint Challenger.
As repayment, she figured she should get a little something back from Cecilia to even the score.
Selim let out a gentle sigh, her face donning a timely look of concern. “What a pity. Your ‘kind sister’ here is like a clay Bodhisattva crossing a river—barely able to save herself.”
“I’m so weak, I’ll probably be the first to get eliminated…”
“How’s that possible?” Cecilia, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, suddenly jumped up with hands on her hips. “Don’t underestimate me! I’m super strong! I could send all those ugly Beasts flying on my own!”
“Really?” Selim raised an eyebrow, deliberately sizing her up from head to toe, then shook her head and looked down.
“Forget it, I’ll just figure something out myself.”
“You don’t believe me?!” Cecilia was indignant, puffing up her chest like a proud little swan.
“I, Cecilia Ross!”
“The Ross Family’s once-in-a-millennium genius mage!”
“Destined to become the great hero who saves the world!”
Selim quietly reminded her, “So, who was the one who almost got executed just now?”
Like a deflated balloon, Cecilia’s head drooped, cheeks puffed out as she mumbled, “That was just me being kind—I didn’t want to stoop to their level.”
“I really am super strong. If you don’t believe me, let’s fight right now.”
“Alright, alright, I believe you.” Selim patted Cecilia on the head, as if soothing a ruffled kitten. “We’re in the same boat now, Miss Cecilia. Why don’t we… form a little team?”
Hearing the suggestion, Cecilia’s eyes sparkled with excitement and she blurted out, “Yes! Let me be the leader, okay? Leave it to me!”
“That’s fine, but…” Selim deliberately slowed her words.
“But what? Trust me, I’ll definitely protect you!” Cecilia immediately thumped her chest in assurance.
A subtle, unnoticeable smile flickered in Selim’s eyes. “Don’t misunderstand. I mean, if you’re so powerful, wouldn’t splitting your focus to command the team hold you back?”
“Why don’t… I handle the strategy and tactics, so you can fight freely and show your full strength, right?”
“You’re absolutely…” Cecilia lowered her head.
Selim was willing to pull out all the stops with her acting for the sake of gaining command of the team.
If she followed Cecilia’s reckless lead, she doubted she’d survive the checkpoint at all. She’d rather go it alone.
Watching Cecilia’s expression, Selim couldn’t help but frown.
Maybe Cecilia wasn’t as straightforward and naive as she seemed in the game? Did she have her own little schemes?
“That makes perfect sense!” Cecilia suddenly looked up, face bright with realization and happiness.
“You’re so smart! Uh… what should I call you?”
Selim secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She’d overthought it.
A magic brain, outputting instead of thinking—she was still that same Cecilia Ross.
Really… such an easily fooled child.
Selim had already decided: not only would she clear this checkpoint perfectly, but once it was over, she’d trick Cecilia into coming to her own territory.
Her own little habit of collecting special people was about to be deeply satisfied.
“Then it’s settled.” Selim smiled. “I’ll handle the thinking, you do the fighting. As for what to call me… just call me Sister Sel, okay? Miss Cecilia.”
“Um… fine, I’ll call you that for now.” Cecilia suddenly turned a little shy, then grabbed Selim’s hand and shook it energetically.
“But I hope someday we’ll be even closer! Come on, Sister Sel, let’s pick our weapons. Just wait and see me show off my skills!”
Hand in hand, Cecilia dragged Selim toward the Armory.
At the Armory, as a Soul Eater Walker, Selim had no particular requirements for weapons.
After changing into a new set of leather armor, she simply chose two daggers for self-defense and strapped them to her waist.
Cecilia, meanwhile, hugged a metal staff taller than she was, circling in front of Selim with a mysterious air, her face practically screaming “Ask me, ask me!”
Selim knew full well that the girl was a rare close-to-mid-range magical fighter, eager to show off.
She played along, tilting her head up in just the right amount of confusion. “Huh? Aren’t you a mage? Why’d you pick a stick?”
“Heh, this is my signature move.” Cecilia swung the staff with pride, whipping up a gust of wind. “You’ll see how awesome I am soon enough!”
“Alright, alright, Miss Cecilia is the best.” Selim smiled in response.
A soldier’s voice came from outside the door. “Are you two ready?”
“All set!” Cecilia replied energetically, reaching out a hand to Selim, her grin shining.
“Sister Sel, let’s go!”
Soon, the two of them were taken near a narrow pass.
Selim looked into the distance. A dense tide of Beasts was surging toward them,
And at the center, one particular Beast stood out.
It looked just like a giant frog, its skin coated in disgusting slime, a huge bloodshot eyeball taking up almost its entire head.
Its sticky tongue dragged on the ground, sweeping up nearby Beasts and swallowing them whole.
She swore she’d never seen a Beast like this in all her time playing the game.