A group of seven harpies had attacked her. She’d already taken out three, meaning over half were still remaining. They were ferocious creatures with healthy appetites. In such a sizable group, they’d be capable of preying on much larger, tougher enemies. Four harpies were more than enough to tear the likes of her to shreds. She couldn’t let her guard down until they were all dead.
She fixed her sharp gaze on the next closest harpy. Perhaps sensing her intent, its movements in the air became panicked and erratic. As ferocious as they were, they became cowardly and fled when they determined they were at a disadvantage. They’d probably sensed they had no chance against someone who had already dispatched nearly half their brethren with her wind blade.
But the harpies’ movements made them easy prey for Miroslav. She sent a merciless spell at their backs, cleaving two more in half. In the end, only one successfully managed to escape. The other six had succumbed to her in that short amount of time. For a solo hunt, it was quite an impressive feat. And as though to prove it, her body shuddered all of a sudden. Checking her level, the red-haired mage grinned in relief and delight, squeezing her fists together.
Afterward, Miroslav left the area behind in a hurry. She was worried that the sounds of fighting and smell of blood would draw other monsters to the spot. She welcomed more prey being lured to her, of course, but too many consecutive battles would tire her out. So she headed to the makeshift camp she’d set up, surrounded by a barrier to ward off monsters. Using this place as her base for the time being, she was hunting as many monsters in the Skim Mountains as she could.
She was putting herself in danger, of course. Mages weren’t suited to the front lines; they were supposed to stay in the back. One could have seen her behavior as suicidal, but she’d been able to harvest a wealth of experience. Since leaving Ishka, she’d already gone up two levels to reach Level 17. However, she’d spent over half of her once-brimming bag of magic stones in the process.
True to their name, magic stones were ore with mana inside, and they dramatically reduced a mage’s burden in combat. Because of that, they were precious. If she’d turned in all of the magic stones she’d used instead of spending them, she could have made a fortune. If her father could see what she was doing right now, he’d probably be red with rage.
When she thought about that, a smirk came to her lips. She’d bought the magic stones she had now, as well as the item she’d used to deploy her barrier, with the Sauzaar Company’s support. She’d convinced her father that exterminating the griffin was absolutely necessary by alluding to the connections he could forge with the client afterward...but in truth, she’d essentially scammed him out of his resources. After all, she’d never had any intention of fulfilling the client’s request.
Her true goal was to disband the Falcon Blades once and for all. Step one of her plan had been complete when Raz and Iria had gone their separate ways, but her own relationship with Raz was also included in that plan. She no longer felt any desire to take Raz for herself, even with Iria gone.
At one point, she had. At one point, she’d loved him. But those feelings had faded. After experiencing a month of feeling like she was being dragged down into a bottomless swamp, assaulted by raw, powerful emotions like hatred and lust the likes of which she’d never experienced before, even having her soul tampered and defiled with, the attachment she’d felt toward Raz and the affection he’d returned now felt dull and trivial in comparison. All that Miroslav had in her heart was her fear and loathing of Sora. Her regret and memory of her actions toward him. Her desire to atone. To flatter him. To stay in his favor. To serve him. This contradictory jumble of emotions, like a raging torrent, had swept away her old feelings without a trace until her only desire was to break her bonds to her friends, which she’d forged over the past five years.
Miroslav hadn’t come to dislike Raz or anything like that. She didn’t even want to hurt him, let alone kill him. In fact, she felt this was all for his own good more than anything. As far as she knew, Sora didn’t seem to be as hostile toward him. She could tell because while Sora had given her strict orders regarding Lunamaria and Iria, he hadn’t said anything about Raz. On the other hand, Raz clearly saw Sora as his enemy. Now that Sora had taken Lunamaria, he wouldn’t forgive him, and he’d no doubt explode with rage once he learned that Sora had taken Iria too.
At this rate, Raz would end up antagonizing Sora. She needed to snuff out his hostility before it was too late. But that was easier said than done; after all, Miroslav herself had been the one to fan the flames of Raz’s anger toward Sora. If she defended Sora now after all this time, it would seem unnatural. So she’d decided to use the upcoming griffin hunt to her advantage. By cleverly and inconspicuously aligning her plan with Raz’s desire to restore his honor, she’d been able to set everything up without attracting suspicion.
Her objective was simple. Ever since losing Lunamaria, it was like Raz had a shadow hanging over him that made him reckless and impatient. As a result, the rift between Iria and him had grown wider and wider. Raz probably knew better than anyone that hunting the griffin was rash, but he was so determined to return to his former self that he’d accepted anyway.
So just how deep would his regret be if his recklessness caused him to lose Miroslav next? Wouldn’t his grief and lament over his own actions be strong enough to override any hostility he felt toward Sora?
Miroslav saw the Skim Mountains as the perfect opportunity. However much he hated Sora, she knew Raz wouldn’t hesitate to ask the stray dragon knight for help if her life was at stake. She’d also made sure he’d have no one else to turn to. With her deliberately choosing to stay on the mountain, the guild wouldn’t respond to his request to rescue her. Even on the off chance they did, the other adventurers would just say she deserved what she got. And the temporary party members, whom she’d hired to escort Raz back to town, would probably explain the circumstances to the guild so that they wouldn’t think they’d abandoned her.
If there was one uncertain element in her plan, it was that she didn’t know how long Sora planned to stay in Ishka or if he would even be interested in helping Raz rescue her. She’d considered sending an Alexandra letter to Merte explaining the circumstances to him, but in the end, she hadn’t. That was because there was one small doubt in her heart: Even if her plan succeeded, the Falcon Blades were no more, and Raz and Sora buried the hatchet, what would happen afterward?
Once Raz was out of Ishka, she intended to return to Sora. But he probably wasn’t counting on her coming back to him. He still thought her actions up until now had ultimately been to get Raz all to herself. He couldn’t care less about her anymore. That much was evident from the fact that he’d promised to leave the Falcon Blades alone once Lunamaria and Iria were his. He’d only freed her from captivity because he’d needed her to bring down the party from the inside; trust and faith had nothing to do with it. If Miroslav obeyed him, she’d benefit, and if she didn’t, he’d kill her. She was sure that was how he saw their relationship.
Therefore, her main goal in risking her life on the mountain to hunt monsters and level herself up was to show Sora that she could still be of use to him and that he could put his trust in her. She was certain he had some sort of ability similar to the spell Energy Drain. And recalling his actions and behavior back in the cave, she suspected its ability was closely related to levels. Put more succinctly, Sora seemed to be seeking out prey with higher levels. So she was hoping that if she raised her level enough to stimulate his appetite, she might be able to draw his interest again.
However, Miroslav hadn’t accounted for Sora traveling to the royal capital right after returning from Merte. When he’d left for Horus, Raz hadn’t yet made it back to Ishka, so naturally, Miroslav couldn’t count on Sora to come save her. As a result, she had been alone on the peak of the mountain for over ten days.
As an adventurer, she’d grown accustomed to camping out in the wilderness, so that wasn’t a problem. But she didn’t like the fact that she couldn’t change clothes or take a bath. Her food and water supply was limited, and her barrier wasn’t effective against all monsters. She’d lost count of how many times she’d jolted awake in the middle of the night after hearing a monster crush fallen leaves underfoot. She knew that she wouldn’t last much longer, physically or mentally, and that she was at the end of her rope. But she stayed put and kept hunting monsters. She’d expected this might happen and prepared for it. That was why she’d brought enough magic stones to last well over ten days.
I think I’ve probably been insane for a long time now already. So there’s no going back now, is there?
Spurred on by that thought, she killed every monster she saw. And thanks to her efforts, by the time she heard the flapping of wyvern wings three days later, Miroslav was Level 19.