The day of the Snowflower Swamp expedition.
The Lindal father and daughter saw us off.
“Are you sure it’s fine with just you lot going?”
“If the clan master himself steps up for something like this, it’d be no different from broadcasting to the whole neighborhood that Blispiel is finished. Just wait comfortably at the clan house.”
The lineup for a ruin exploration is directly tied to the clan’s reputation. The rewards hidden in Snowflower Swamp are impressive in my eyes, but officially, it’s judged as a low-grade ruin.
In cases like this, massive clans like Caracol wouldn’t even participate, deeming it beneath their dignity. Having Master Arent join on such a stage could be interpreted as our clan lacking talent.
…Which isn’t exactly wrong at the moment, but anyway.
Truth be told, having a level-40s warrior like Arent by our side would be reassuring. But since he’s a close friend of the Thousand-Man Slayer and a renowned warrior himself, his participation would derail the plan I’ve set up from the ground up. We need to appear as complete underdogs in Snowflower Swamp.
The ones participating this time are just me, Chesa, Linia, and Epio — four in total.
<Chesa Utland>
[Level: 20/69]
[HP: 05] [Strength: 03] [Agility: 03]
[Mana: 23] [Spirit: 07] [Sense: 02]
[Divinity: 01]
[Traits: Extreme Mana Circulation Body (S), Dense Elemental Amplification (S), Magic Genius (A), Analytic Magic Sight (A), Mana Sensitivity Disorder (-)]
[Skills: Mana Rampage (B), Crimson Tower Training Method (C), Northern Advanced Magic (C)]
[Description: Age 16, human. Second daughter of the prestigious magical ducal house Utland in the Croa Kingdom, and Aiden Stroke’s fiancée. Currently affiliated with Blispiel Clan.]
Chesa’s growth stood out the most among us.
She’d finally entered the level 20s, and efficiently enough, most of her stat points had been allocated to [Mana].
In terms of mana alone, she already rivaled her father, Duke Elvio. In a one-on-one fight, maybe not, but as a fixed turret with party support, she’d be a more powerful option than even Pedro, the alchemist who once coveted the Infinite Thunderstone. Though she’s still limited to one-tool Mana Rampage spells like “Burn.”
…Well then, shall we get going?
The entrance to Snowflower Swamp was close enough that we didn’t need to rent a carriage. Upon arriving, the attention of the other clan members instantly focused on the four of us.
“That boy’s the bearer of the Seal of Struggle?”
“Looks like Master Lindal isn’t joining this expedition.”
“The clan master coming to a place like this? Ha, get real.”
“…More importantly, they’re all just kids?”
“Don’t judge by appearances.”
Dozens of people whispered among themselves. With my [Sense] stat at a whopping 11, I could make out most of it.
They were definitely underestimating us.
“Linia, seems like to others, you look about the same age as us?”
“I do have a bit of a baby face.”
We exchanged a brief joke.
We’d briefly become the topic of conversation, but it didn’t last long. The expedition members’ interest soon shifted elsewhere.
“Look over there. Teakan Clan only sent one person — the fire mage Brenda Morillo.”
“With all the ice golems that’ll be in Snowflower Swamp, it makes sense they sent her, doesn’t it?”
I, too, turned my gaze toward the source of the murmurs.
<Brenda Morillo>
[Level: 33/40]
[HP: 09] [Strength: 06] [Agility: 07]
[Mana: 26] [Spirit: 06] [Sense: 09]
[Divinity: 01]
[Traits: High-Speed Incantation (A), Magical Prodigy (B), Friend of the Furnace (B), plus 2 others]
[Skills: Crimson Tower Secret Magic · Extreme (A), Jade Flame Training Method (B), Fire Rampage (B), Magical Combat (C), plus 3 others]
[Description: Age 31, human. From the Morillo baronet family of the Baskaya Empire. Affiliated with Teakan Clan. A renowned fire mage in Elanore.]
Seeing Brenda’s status window, I smirked inwardly.
As expected, Chloeria had chosen this fire-attribute specialist as the assassin to send after me. All the rumors I’d diligently spread had paid off.
She was a formidable mage in her own right, even if not quite on Duke Elvio’s level.
The reason such talent was stuck doing cleanup work in a subordinate clan of Caracol was simple — she’d lost a succession dispute in her baronet family back home and been driven out. Unlike Croa or Stroke, the central hegemonic nation of Baskaya was quite gender-egalitarian, allowing women to become family heads. Burning with ambition, she’d even attempted to assassinate kin during the process.
Getting exiled with all limbs intact was actually pretty lucky for her.
For reference, by the main story timeline, Brenda had already laundered her identity and secured a position as a Caracol executive. Right now, she was on the verge of a comeback thanks to her connection with Chloeria.
In the setting notes, it was only briefly mentioned that in the past, Brenda had done all sorts of dirty work as a cleaner under Chloeria, but the specifics were never detailed. Here, it seemed she intended to use me as a stepping stone for her rise.
Our eyes met briefly.
Clear blue eyes, like a cloudless sky.
Yet they were laced with intense malice.
Soon, she averted her gaze, feigning indifference. With Brenda, she’d try something once we were inside the ruins, so I’d deal with her then.
She wasn’t what I needed to worry about right now.
Something huge was going to happen during this Snowflower Swamp expedition. According to the timeline, this was the stage where the Dragon Horse Cult, the main antagonists of Part 2, would fully reveal themselves.
Naturally, the Dragon Horse Cult wasn’t here for any artifact sleeping in Snowflower Swamp. What they were after was the person of one girl mixed among the expedition members.
That girl was none other than the Priestess of the Sun.
Clara Rephindarxs Aldemar.
From long ago, she’d harbored strong curiosity about the outside world. Right now, she’d secretly left the Solar Cathedral where she was born and raised, wandering the continent on a whim. While performing good deeds near Elanore using the cathedral’s faith magic, she’d caught the Dragon Horse Cult’s attention and ended up being pursued.
After fleeing for years, she’d meet Epio following the classic Boy Meets Girl cliché, and Reca Chronicles would finally enter its main narrative.
Originally, over half of Part 1 in the novel consisted of omnibus-style episodes without a clear overarching goal. Epio did have the objective of finding his foster father Claire, but there was zero progress on that throughout Part 1.
Thus, the appearance of the heroine Clara brought a massive internal shift to the story. Traveling with her for a long time, Epio resolved to fight the Dragon Horse Cult targeting her safety, and indeed opposed them throughout Part 2. Ironically, Clara — the very trigger for that resolve — ended up leaving the protagonist’s party midway, much to the readers’ lament.
Anyway, the important thing was that Clara was here right now.
Intrigued by the very act of ruin exploration, she’d paid a friend fee to a minor clan and joined the expedition as a temporary member.
If this had been a high-difficulty ruin like “Coffin of the Deceased” packed with national-treasure-grade items, an outsider slipping in like this would’ve been impossible. But Snowflower Swamp was publicly seen as a mediocre ruin. Even the Church of Utility overseeing the exploration wasn’t particularly strict about security.
I scanned the surroundings thoroughly.
Soon, a small figure wrapped tightly in a robe caught my eye. There were petite races among elves and beastkin, but no matter how I looked, that was clearly a human child.
Status window.
<Clara ‘Rephindarxs’ Aldemar>
[Level: 23/73]
[HP: 02] [Strength: 01] [Agility: 03]
[Mana: 21] [Spirit: 08] [Sense: 09]
[Divinity: 07]
[Traits: Dragon Priestess (S+), World Resonance · Sun (S), Prodigy (S-), plus 3 others]
[Skills: Solar Cathedral Faith Magic (S), Advanced Weaving (C), Deception Magic (D)]
[Description: Age 12, affiliated with the Solar Cathedral. A girl who inherited the authority of “World Resonance” bestowed by the Dragon God. Currently wandering the world without permission after leaving the cathedral.]
Found her.
The descriptions of Clara’s appearance I’d read in the novel were from the main story when she was 17, so there was bound to be a considerable gap with the current timeline.
But regardless of age, she had one extremely distinctive physical feature — long, pure silver hair. Looking closely, glimpses of Clara’s characteristic silver strands peeked out from beneath her collar.
At some point, Clara began looking our way as well. More precisely, she was intently observing Epio and Plebelziam.
[Damn it. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve been feeling an unpleasant wave for a while now.]
“You sure it’s not just your imagination? Pleb, you’ve been spacing out a lot lately.”
[You bald-headed idiot! Spacing out is about old memories — detecting waves is just basic sense! Do you sometimes forget how to see with your eyes or hear with your ears!?]
Hearing Epio and Plebelziam’s banter made me chuckle. Soon, representatives from each clan gathered at the ruin entrance. They were deciding positions before entering.
I took my place among them.
According to scholars who referenced numerous ancient texts, Snowflower Swamp was believed to have multiple branching paths inside. After a short meeting, we decided on the policy of splitting up along the paths, moderately exploring the internal structure, and then withdrawing.
“It’d be best to form parties separately.”
“Can’t we just stick with our own clan members in big groups?”
“If the numbers are large, it probably wouldn’t matter. It’s a Grade 3 ruin, so there shouldn’t be major dangers, but complacency is still forbidden.”
The average level of the representatives gathered here was early to mid-20s. The regular clan members ranged from early to late teens.
Among them, the standout powerhouse — Brenda — stepped forward.
“I’ve heard that the only mage active in Blispiel Clan is a water-attribute specialist. She’ll have trouble exerting much power against the ice golems in this ruin.”
“…”
“Coincidentally, I’m the only one Teakan sent today. I’m confident in my skills personally, but wandering the ruins alone could lead to trouble. Would it be all right if I joined you, Sub-Master of Blispiel?”
She approached first — exactly what I’d hoped for.
I smirked and nodded.
A deep smile spread across Brenda’s lips.
She looked absolutely thrilled.
I asked the other representatives.
“Like Miss Morillo, is there any priest among the spare personnel who can use faith-based magic?”
“A priest? They’re fairly high-tier manpower — I’m not sure if anyone’s left over.”
The one who answered was a middle-aged man.
He spoke with basic courtesy since he was addressing a clan’s sub-master, but his expression seemed to say, “What nonsense is this kid spouting?”
As is common in online games, priests are an extremely rare class in this world too. Usually, they remain affiliated with churches their whole lives, and it’s uncommon for them to join clans. The priests other clans brought this time were mostly hired separately after donating to the Life Church.
“As far as we know, there are no spare priests.”
After receiving firm answers from the representatives, I approached the regular expedition members and asked if any priests would join us.
Then.
Someone suddenly raised a hand from the crowd. Petite build, robe wrapped tightly around the body, glimpses of silver hair. I knew you’d step up.
Just moments ago, Clara had shown great interest in Epio. Naturally, she was trying to approach us first.
“They thought he was up to something weird, but he’s really recruiting a priest on the spot?”
“The boldness of youth, huh? Heh heh…”
As I gained an unexpected harvest through my eccentric behavior, the other representatives looked dumbfounded. Soon, the priest dispatched from the Church of Utility approached us and asked.
“Hmm… Checking the roster, that priest is affiliated with Keltica Clan? Keltica, is it fine for your member to accompany Blispiel?”
“I-It’s fine. She’s a recent recruit, so we don’t mesh well yet anyway, and we have another priest-origin member.”
The Keltica representative was surely panicking inwardly but pretended to be as calm as possible on the surface.
Since they’d taken money to let an outsider join, they were probably feeling guilty right about now.
Soon, the ruin exploration began, and several clans entered Snowflower Swamp as if they’d been waiting.
I asked Clara, who was trailing behind me.
“First, one question. How skilled are you as a priest?”
“As long as they’re not dead, I can save them.”
A clear, melodious voice rang in my ears.
Brenda, mistaking Clara’s words for a joke, snickered, but I knew that statement was no exaggeration.
If anything, it was an understatement. With enough tricky conditions met, she could even revive the dead.
“That’s reassuring. When you meet our clan members, let’s do quick introductions.”
I led the two back to my group and explained that I’d brought a fire-attribute specialist and a priest as temporary allies.
I’d already briefed them about what would happen in Snowflower Swamp, so no further explanation was needed, but just in case Brenda — who’d soon try to backstab me — sensed something off, I went through the motions.
Linia welcomed them warmly.
Chesa nodded indifferently.
Epio glared at Brenda after sensing the malice radiating from her, then blinked in confusion upon looking at Clara.
Finally, the two had met!
I didn’t have time to savor the moment.
Because from Plebelziam, who had directly felt Clara’s wave, an indescribably dark and viscous emotion poured out.