Some maid was carrying Melinda in a princess carry, dashing through the thick forest in the mountainous North-West region of the Emeraldios Empire.
The pair was traversing the terrain in the middle of the night since they had not been able to buy a proper camping set. Only the moonlight occasionally peeking through the leaves illuminated their way.
"Although you're very fast, it's surprising that so few monsters take interest in us, don't you think?"
"My lady!?"
The gold-haired girl shifted slightly in the maid's arms and breathed out, surprising her quite a bit.
"It's okay to not respond. I can't see all that well in the dark, so I can't read your lips anyway."
Melinda pointed out and leaned her head against the maid, looking straight ahead with an indifferent expression.
"You're making me worry so much about you, Melly."
The maid said and accelerated, achieving a speed that would make sense only if she were flying. She traversed the distance that would have taken days, if not weeks, in minutes.
"...!"
Suddenly, the maid flinched and glanced over her shoulder.
It appeared that the gold-haired girl's words ended up setting up a flag…
The maid was unbelievably fast for a human, but in such a dangerous area lived monsters that had to adapt to the harshness of their homeland.
The beasts deep in the wilderness tended to be far stronger than those around human settlements, and no one in their sound mind would dispute that those were the main reason that particular region of the Emeralidos Empire remained vastly uninhabited and mostly unexplored.
The pair of girls was not only spotted but even followed by various creatures, some hostile and hungry, and others just cautious and curious.
Only a small portion of them would stop chasing the girls after ensuring their territory was only passed through and not contested, leaving the bulk of monsters trailing them restlessly.
The maid scaled mountain after mountain as if they were mere heels and stopped momentarily only at the top of the highest peak in the range.
In all honestly, it looked more like a man-made arena with a shallow and completely empty grotto blocking one of its four sides than something possible to find in the most secluded spot on land.
Just with a single glance, Melinda could say that it must have been a boss arena in all of its abandoned glory.
A question such as what kind of action was required to trigger an encounter did come up to her head, but it had to be left unanswered for now…
The area's openness allowed the blue moonlight to illuminate it nicely, giving the scene a rather otherworldly appearance.
"My lady. The monsters are surrounding this mountain as we speak. Unfortunately, my stealth doesn't extend to you and the smell of your blood. Some fighting will be necessary."
The maid made sure to get the gold-haired girl's attention and announced with a worried expression while the pale moonlight illuminated her face.
"I'm guessing you want me to wait here and take care of them yourself? Why bother? I need to increase my HP, and you got the toothpicks I asked for, right?"
Melinda furrowed her brows before scoffing and shrugging her shoulders with a smirk.
"Yes…"
The maid nodded with a serious expression, shifting a little bit to free one hand so she could rummage in the inner pocket of her apron without dropping the gold-haired girl.
"I've prepared three… eh…? Ooohhh…"
The maid murmured before suddenly flinching as her eyes widened.
She then rummaged some more and looked over her shoulder, making a troubled expression.
"...two… I've prepared two packs."
She then shook her head and finished her sentence, moving her arm under the girl's back and placing two sizable packages wrapped in thick parchment on her lap.
"Good job~"
Melinda nodded with a chuckle, tearing open both packs as if they were bags of chips.
"This will also be a nice way to test the lock-on skill to its current limits. Did you know that it's the only skill that actually levels up faster if you don't use it while aiming?"
"I… didn't know that."
The gold-haired girl explained with confidence, making the maid raise her brows and let out a soft gasp.
"Adiiiii, please jump as high as you can, okay?"
Melinda then fidgeted happily, barely containing her excitement, and asked, leaving the maid very little choice.
Without voicing out her answer, the maid nodded and crouched, preparing for a vertical frog leap.
"~!"
Her jump was spectacular, and for a good few seconds, it seemed that she was taking flight, gracefully ascending to the sky with a grinning gold-haired girl in her arms.
Then, with the highest peak of the mountain range no longer obstructing their view of its foot, Melinda activated her skill…
Her left eye lit red as her pupil became marked with a crimson cross of a burning scope.
…and then the solid ground they left behind lit up with hundreds of red target marks, every single one attached to different monsters…
"...!"
The number of red marks below was far more than the esteemed number of monsters following them should be, making the maid's eyes widen.
"Bye-bye~"
Melinda raised her hands with a pack of toothpicks in each one and then hummed as she swung her arms down.
*Ffffffsht*
Defying common sense, each toothpick locked on and beelined it to a separate target, ignoring its own toughness and the defense of the monster and piercing right through the creature…
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
"!!!"
The thunder of the projectiles barraging into the ground echoed through the mountain range while the whole thing was getting turned into debris.
With the sound announcing level-ups ringing in her ears, the maid landed back on the arena-like top of the mountain, sure to cushion the fall for the gold-haired girl in her arms as much as possible.
Hesitantly, the maid walked to the edge of the peak to take a peek at their surroundings…
"..."
…and found herself at a loss for words at the destruction she could not even put into words as she never saw or even imagined anything similar.
The seemingly endless acres of lush forests turned into a barren stone desert filled with hundreds of craters... other peaks reduced to mere hills or even valleys...
"Ow, oww, owwwwww…!"
"My lady!?"
The maid's somber thoughts were interrupted when Melinda squirmed in her arms, letting out a pained whimper.
The girl grimaced, lifting up the diamond-link silvery metal necklace away from her neck as if it was scalding her despite the accessory not showing any outward signs of growing hot.
"I think there were a few mini-bosses with lots of HP over there… it burns."
Melinda complained while wincing, as her action clearly didn't help with what she was experiencing.
"...my lady, I don't like either this Greedy necklace or the Royal Hydra Claw…"
The maid frowned and grumbled, glaring at the accessory around the gold-haired girl's neck with such animosity as if it personally wronged her.
"Adiii~! Don't make that face~! I will not force you to use the claw after me, but I at least want you to try the Greedy Necklace for yourself so you would get more HP just in case!"
"...okay…"
Melinda nuzzled up to her and spoke in a cute voice, softening the maid's expression as she nodded and agreed gently. They then began their descent from the mountain and continued their journey.