Iel lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop replaying Will's words in her mind:
"It's impossible without you."
Her heart pounded wildly.
She shut her eyes, hoping for sleep, but the thought of traveling to the capital with the young master consumed her. She opened her eyes again, whispering to herself.
"When I think about going to the capital with Master Will… I just can't sleep at all…"
Iel didn't know why she felt this way. Her heart wouldn't stop racing.
It was a perfectly normal situation, she reasoned. After all, she was his personal maid, trained since childhood to serve and accompany him wherever he went. Going to the capital with her young master was only natural.
But the more she thought about it, the faster her heart raced.
Her mind wandered to the small house in the capital—a far cry from the sprawling Systrom family estate. It would just be a modest place with a living room and three bedrooms, one for the young master, one for her, and—
Wait! What am I even thinking?!
Desperate to distract herself, Iel grabbed the book resting on her bedside table, Three Hundred Questions of Darkness.
It was her go-to when she couldn't sleep—a dense and memory-heavy book that typically sent her off to dreamland. She opened it to a random page.
"Hmm… Question 233…" she muttered, squinting at the text. "What if the person you're loyal to is very independent, has their own ideas, and doesn't seem to need you at all?"
Her ears perked up, and her heart began to race again.
The answer read:
Stand by their side when they are most isolated.Stand in front of them when they are in the greatest danger.Touch their face when they are most vulnerable.People seek support when they are at their loneliest, most afraid, and most fragile.So, let them know they can't live without you.
Iel's mind flashed back to that moment earlier in the day, when Will—exhausted from overusing magic—collapsed into her arms like a bird with broken wings.
That was the first time she had seen her strong, intelligent, and independent young master appear weak and vulnerable.
The first time he had relied on her.
For that brief moment, it felt as though she was the only person in the world he could trust.
Her heart, which had been racing uncontrollably, began to calm. A wave of peace and happiness washed over her.
Until now, Three Hundred Questions of Darkness had simply been a book to memorize—cold facts and abstract theories. She had never truly understood its deeper meaning.
But now, she felt as though she had discovered something profound.
Will sat at his desk, finishing a letter.
To S:
Success! I successfully cast the Extreme Flame Meteor. While my physical stamina only allowed me to cast it twice, the results were excellent. In terms of power, the spell generated approximately 7,920 Szech, which is above average for fire magic. As for consumption, the bottle of medium you provided only lasted for two uses, but using small coins as a magic medium proved to be very cost-effective.
Additionally, I tested the spell against Ice Armor. Specific values and calculations are attached in the draft notes included with this letter.
Thank you so much! To commemorate our three years of friendship, I'm enclosing a small gift. Please accept it.
—Will
Will placed the letter into an envelope and picked up the small metal bookmark he had specially commissioned.
The bookmark was shaped like a square card, with a hollowed-out design of a starry galaxy. The stars had small holes, and when placed against the white pages of a book, they seemed to glow.
"Hah, I hope he likes it," Will murmured, examining the bookmark one last time. "He's such a lover of books—I'm sure he'll use it."
He glanced at the clock on the wall. It wasn't too late, but he had to rest for the important tasks waiting tomorrow.
After addressing the envelope, he opened his Task System.
Flipping to the Witch Leah Chapter, he saw his next task:
Task 38:
Block a blow.Shock the witch.Find an opportunity.Negotiate with her.Coerce and lure her.Gain her trust.Enter the Witch Leah Chapter.
At the bottom of the page, in the blank reward section, Will wrote:
Reward: Have a good sleep.
He smiled faintly as he closed the notebook. But just before he shut it completely, the final page remained visible for a moment.
This page was different from the others. It wasn't filled with tasks or calculations, but instead contained a single, extravagant reward written in large letters:
Reward: Find your own heroine.
The smile faded from Will's face.
He quickly slammed the notebook shut, as if trying to block out the thought.
In his previous life, he had never experienced love. He had never felt attracted to anyone, nor had anyone been attracted to him. His life had been neither lonely nor lively—it was just empty.
Perhaps love was something only a "protagonist" could experience.
But...
He remembered one thing from his previous life: his last words before death.
"Heroine..."
It wasn't a plea or a desperate cry. Just a simple word. Perhaps, deep down, he had hoped that in this new life, he might find someone who could fill that role.
Maybe, just maybe, it was his ultimate wish—the hardest thing to obtain but the thing he desired most.
Deep within the thirtieth and final floor of the Lunar Eclipse dungeon, a climactic battle raged against the dungeon's boss.
The Lunar Eclipse Empress had transformed into a massive moth with glowing blue wings, her humanoid head the only remnant of her former beauty. She flew across the starry dungeon sky, her wings cutting through the moonlight and scattering waves of silver dust that shimmered like ash from the heavens.
Despite her terrifying, otherworldly form, the sight was hauntingly beautiful.
"Take cover!" shouted the captain of the Silver Light adventure team. "The fire magic is neutralized! Don't light anything, or we'll all explode!"
As his voice echoed through the dungeon, a shadow darted out from the back of the group.
It was a girl.
Her long black hair flowed like a river of darkness as she sprinted across the silver-dusted ground.
With inhuman speed, she leapt into the air, creating ice bricks beneath her feet as stepping stones. She soared upward, straight into the fractured moonlight, her dagger glinting as she aimed for the empress's humanoid head.
In a flash, the dagger struck true, splitting the empress in two.
What poured out was not blood, but a cascade of silver light—like countless stars falling from the moon itself.
As the glowing dust settled, the girl stood in the fractured moonlight.
Her black hair framed a youthful face that seemed only fourteen, but the muscular lines of her body told a different story. Her gear was simple yet efficient: short boots, black stockings reinforced with magic resistance, and a brown vest over a sleeveless top.
The oppressive aura of the Lunar Eclipse Empress was nothing compared to hers.
"She's incredible…" the captain murmured, awestruck.
The girl, unfazed, turned to the treasure hoard behind her—the dungeon's ultimate prize. Yet, without taking a single piece, she walked away.
"The commission is complete," she said simply. "I'm leaving."