A Strange Meeting at the Document Repository
“……!”
The instant Irene uttered those words, Felix immediately drew Reina into his arms and stepped forward to block her path.
“Who are you?”
Felix’s sharp gaze swept over Irene.
The instinctive caution on his face at such a sudden approach was exactly what one would expect from a paired knight.
In her previous life, this swift movement of his would have taken Irene completely by surprise. But now it did not.
‘Not very smooth.’
Having witnessed countless knights in her past life and even seen Michael’s movements often enough, Felix’s response somehow lacked polish.
‘If that’s the level of his skill, he would be dead in an instant.’
No matter how grand the raid, survival always came down to each individual’s ability.
At his current strength, he could manage only to deal with lower-grade monsters from the rear.
‘What if the front-line knights break through and he faces a high-grade monster straight on……’
In her previous life, Reina had clung to his severed head and sobbed as his neck was sliced clean off without even time to heal him.
The image made her stomach churn. If nothing changed, that scene would play out once more.
“Hey, who are you?”
Felix’s voice sharpened at Irene’s continued silence.
She straightened her posture and greeted the pair.
“I am Irene Rodiam. I am a new purifier who has recently arrived at the fortress. And…… my pair is Temple Knight Michael.”
She had been about to reveal only her name, but given Felix’s dangerous aura, she realized she would need to leverage Michael’s fame a little to ease his caution.
As she expected, the moment the name Michael was spoken, Felix’s eyes widened in surprise and he immediately lowered his guard, standing straighter.
“Ah, so you are the purifier of Sir Michael.”
He even bowed politely.
Irene felt a faint smile touch her lips as she realized once more how influential Michael’s name was.
“I’m sorry for approaching you so suddenly. I’m sure you were startled. Please accept my apologies.”
“No, I am the one who should apologize. I was the one who was rude. It seems I have grown too sensitive being here at the fortress for the first time.”
Felix bowed his head deeply.
His manner put Irene at ease a little.
It was rare for someone to apologize for his mistake so readily.
At that moment, Reina stepped forward from behind and asked Irene directly.
“Why did you say not to enter that dungeon? Do you know something about it?”
“Reina?”
Felix was startled by her sudden enthusiasm and reached out to grab her.
But Reina firmly pushed his hand away and moved closer to Irene.
“So tell me, anything at all. Could you please share what you know?”
Her voice rose, drawing every staff member in the document repository and everyone else inside the room to turn and stare.
‘This is troublesome.’
Irene glanced around and lowered her voice to a level only the two of them could hear.
“It’s an ice dungeon. The attacks of flying monsters are difficult to block, so you should stay away.”
“……How do you know about it?”
Felix had just seen the report the staff member had handed him, mentioning a newly discovered high-grade dungeon.
The document only listed the location and grade; there were no internal exploration results yet.
Unlike low-grade dungeons, exploring high-grade ones took an extremely long time.
Yet here she was, boldly declaring what would be inside a dungeon that had only just been reported.
“That is something I cannot tell you. Stop asking. After all, I have already warned you. Excuse me.”
Irene turned and hurried out of the repository, leaving Felix behind who wanted to ask more.
If she stayed any longer, she feared it would only arouse suspicion from others.
Fortunately, neither of them tried to stop her.
“Hah…….”
She walked quickly away from the building and only after covering a considerable distance did Irene finally let out a breath.
She set the records she had picked up on the nearby bench, closed her eyes for a moment, and thought.
‘Did I do the right thing?’
After regressing to the past, she had tried not to interfere in anything other than her own affairs.
That way the past she had experienced would not change and would not repeat itself.
‘That was the only way her knowledge could be of any use.’
So she should have stayed out of things as much as possible.
Yet here she had just told Reina and Felix not to enter that dungeon.
‘But…….’
Irene recalled her previous life.
Within this vast fortress, she had been utterly alone in finding anyone to help her.
No, that would be too gentle an expression. She had been entirely alone.
People had looked at her with contempt. Michael had been polite and proper but never had he drawn close.
The few people who showed genuine kindness to her had been Reina among them.
‘More than anything…… I can never forget her final appearance.’
When her family had come to take Reina away, they had pushed her into the carriage while she was crying and clutching Felix’s severed head, demanding she find him.
Feeling sorry for her, Irene had lingered nearby and overheard their conversation.
“Stupid thing. If she had chosen a knight recommended by Princess Cecilia, this would never have happened.”
“She went and paired herself with some knight she thought she could handle. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing after all. She’s in this state, but she can still bear a child, so they didn’t demand a high price.”
“That’s true. Maybe the money they’re earning as a purifier is less than what they’ll get from this.”
As the carriage drove off, the others’ casual words had filled Irene with horror.
They were her own daughter and sister, yet they felt no sympathy for her pain and only spoke of selling their livestock.
And that fate would have been exactly what Irene would have faced if she had failed to pay the price in full.
‘Even this time, if the two of them go to the high-grade dungeon……’
It would be exactly the same tragedy as before.
But if they did not go to the high-grade dungeon?
It would flow differently from her previous life. The future she remembered might change, and she could suffer some loss.
‘Still…….’
Irene recalled Reina’s gentle face from the past, offering her a fruit and urging her to eat it.
Kindly speaking to the lonely Irene and freely sharing everything she had.
If she could continue to see that face……
There would be no regret.
* * *
Reina and Felix stood for a long time staring at the door through which Irene had disappeared.
To anyone who had never seen her before, she would have looked like a stranger. But they knew exactly who she was.
The pair of the famous Temple Knight Michael. Moreover, she was the one who had requested the pair with Michael first.
Immediately after that, countless rumors had spread throughout the fortress about her.
‘Rumors that she lured knights with her face and figure because she lacked the ability of a proper purifier.’
So had Michael fallen for that temptation as well?
But at the Night of the Contract, the person standing beside him had told everyone what Michael had said, revealing that he had simply chosen the purifier closest to him.
In other words, all the gossip they had spread earlier had been completely baseless.
Yet people had not been ashamed of their unfounded words. Instead, they had begun gossiping that this woman was incredibly lucky, and that Michael, who had ended up paired with a low-ranked purifier, was to be pitied.
Whether true or false, it was disappointing that the renowned Michael could not be slandered while a nameless purifier was being bitten at instead.
Reina had naturally begun to wonder what kind of person Michael’s pair was.
“A strange person,”
Reina murmured without realizing it.
“Yes, strange,”
Felix agreed beside her, matching her opinion.
Despite his rough behavior, he had not even frowned at her face, had warned her with the calm of someone who already knew the future, and had left without hesitation.
Reina fell into thought for a moment, then took Felix’s hand and led him out of the repository, heading toward a quieter place.
“Felix, I’ll speak honestly. I still believe neither you nor I have enough experience to enter a high-grade dungeon.”
“……”
“It’s not because of what that purifier said. Besides, you know what I know. So why the sudden urge to apply for a high-grade dungeon?”
“T-that…….”
Felix’s face suddenly flushed bright red at Reina’s question.
He looked flustered, turned his gaze away, and even broke into a sweat. Reina smiled softly and took his hand.
Her slender fingers slipped between his and gripped them tightly.
Felix’s brief excitement vanished at once, replaced by a feeling of coolness and stability.
The warmth of a spring day filled him, calm and peaceful beyond measure.
Reina smiled with genuine happiness. This was the natural sensation one felt during purification.
‘There are times when it isn’t like this.’
In other cases, one felt a violent stimulation……
‘Only when the opponent is already infiltrated by demonic energy.’
Not long ago, the moment they arrived here and went to clear a low-grade dungeon, Reina had felt it for the first time.
She had hurried back to the lodging, and somehow they had ended up embracing each other, panting without a second thought.
Whether as purifiers or knights, neither of them could remain sane against the overwhelming stimulation they felt together.
‘Felix once said he felt an unbearable intense desire.’
Recalling how he had sobbed and clung to her that day, Reina finally released his hand.
Though regret filled her eyes, Felix let go without resistance.
“Felix, tell me honestly why you applied for the high-grade dungeon.”
His eyes closed tightly in response to her gentle voice.
“T-that…… the first trophy I obtained in that dungeon is supposed to be presented as a pair’s token, so…… I wanted to give you something even better.”
At that very moment.
Rustle.
A sound came from below, as if something was moving.
The place where they had been standing was the terrace near the document repository. Of course, anyone could pass through here at any time.
‘But if someone had been there, Felix would have noticed the presence.’
Felix, like before, wrapped Reina in his arms and looked down.
There stood an unexpected figure.
“Sir Michael?”
Just as always, the Temple Knight Michael stood there in his immaculate priestly robes.