Hello, Readers! I am celebrating my birthday with extra chapter updates, so please enjoy this special chapter release of 4 bonus chapters! 🥳

(Lurelia’s Birthday Bonus – Update 1/4 🎉)

♡ To all readers who purchased these chapters before my Birthday: I can’t express this enough – Thank you for your support. (*ˊᗜˋ*)/ᵗᑋᵃᐢᵏ ᵞᵒᵘ*

Before departing on the journey, Cheshire handed me a rough key and said:

“If you ever need me, try inserting this key into any door.”

[Item] Returner’s Key.

All doors opened with this key connected to a fixed location.

However, only one human can use the door.

*This is a consumable item (0/3)

It was an item that connected to a fixed place, namely Cheshire’s room in the magic tower, but it was an item I had never seen even while playing <Hirome>.

Moreover, it’s a consumable item.

I attached a string to the key and carried it with me at all times, so I could use it whenever I really needed it.

I spread my hand to stop Cheshire, who was about to step over the threshold.

“Cheshire, I’m going to make a request that might be too much for you. So… Wait, I’m not finished yet. Before you regret it later, wouldn’t it be better to hear the content of the request before crossing that threshold?”

“Whatever it is, it’s fine.”

Cheshire grasped my hand, which was meant to stop him, as if it were an escort offered to him, and concluded:

“As long as my master needs me.”

I could feel his high-purity magic flowing through my hand and circulating throughout my body.

While my body felt lighter as if it had been rained on, my heart felt heavy.

Sigh, both Vivian and Cheshire.

Do magicians have some kind of voluntary slave tendency?

“I thought you were quite clever, but to think you’d be this stupid. When we get back, I’ll cram the butler’s attribute lectures into your head.”

“Master, I…”

Yes, it’s too late. Even if you realize now that it’s an unfair request, you can’t go back.

Despite my heavy heart, as soon as I confirmed he had crossed the threshold, I quickly closed the door.

Then, pointing to the top of the mountain with my chin, I said:

“Our destination is there.”

The peak that had been a gentle ridge just moments ago was now deeply cratered as if hit by a meteorite.

I didn’t know what would crawl out of there.

All I knew was:

“It’s time to hunt.”

We must stop it before the monster fully emerges.

***

It didn’t take long for the small mountain, full of diverse vegetation, to turn into a fiery hell.

Jusepe faced alone a massive monster that seemed to have crawled out from the lid of hell.

Cerberus.

The gatekeeper of hell, known for never letting go of prey it has once bitten.

Above all, it was infamous for its tenacious vitality, making it a poor match for Jusepe.

‘There’s no benefit in dragging this out.’

To his eyes, even the three-headed monster appeared as a blurry, smudged mass.

He had to deal with it before completely losing his eyesight.

Jusepe summoned as many meteor spears as he could.

Five spears of light, made purely of divine power, bloomed like flowers around him, floating around as both spears and shields.

At that moment, the three pairs of eyes that had been looking in different directions, enjoying their long-awaited freedom and assessing the situation, all focused on Jusepe.

Grrrr.

They must have instinctively realized.

That this insignificant creature before them emanated the same energy as the one who had sealed them in this mountain.

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

With those words, the spears of light rushed towards the monster.

Clang!

Although three spears were aimed at the monster’s weak spots, it wasn’t easy to escape the sight of a monster with three heads.

Nevertheless, the spears pierced through the monster’s body, splitting the darkness.

The monster’s blood soaked the blackened earth, and each time, Cerberus went berserk, but Jusepe, his golden eyes flashing, barely avoided the monster’s claws with minimal movement.

The battle seemed to be in Jusepe’s favor, but in reality, the longer it dragged on, the more the advantage would tilt towards the monster.

The reason Jusepe, with his poor eyesight, could perfectly avoid the monster’s attacks was because he was using the power of foresight for a brief moment to read one second into the future and dodge the monster’s attacks.

The power of foresight was a double-edged sword.

To avoid the monster’s attacks, he had no choice but to use the power, and each time he used it, his eye condition worsened.

‘This attack must end it.’

Instinctively feeling that he didn’t have much time left, Jusepe converted even the spears of light he had kept nearby for defense into offensive weapons.

Five beautiful spears aimed at the monster like crossbows and…

Whoosh!

Just as they were about to shoot out all at once to completely shatter one of the monster’s heads.

“…!”

It was as if someone had blown out the only candle illuminating a closed room, and his vision suddenly turned pitch black.

Did the meteor spears pierce the monster?

Was the monster’s claw aiming at him?

At that moment when he couldn’t even tell if he should dodge or stay in place.

“I’ll join in.”

Along with a low voice, he felt a chilling coldness.

Jusepe lightly brushed his eyelids with his hand.

As a bit of light returned to the front of his eyes, he saw a vague world as if covered in thick fog.

Feeling the heat that had been boiling the ground subside somewhat, he said, almost like a sigh:

“You must be Lady Blanche’s escort knight.”

Jusepe identified the other party by their voice.

There was no point in turning around; he wouldn’t be able to see the other’s face anyway.

“Then who might that person be?”

Jusepe asked, turning towards the direction where he sensed a presence.

Cedric replied with a voice that had somehow become stiffer than before.

“I’m not sure either.”

At Cedric’s answer, Jusepe turned to look at the unknown person with his blurry vision.

He could vaguely see someone wearing the white robes of the priests turned inside out. But judging by how they were standing on thin air, they were clearly a magician.

Although their identity was suspicious, the immediate battle was more important.

And from that moment on, the nature of the fight changed.

Cedric led the fierce attack, Cheshire provided support, and occasionally Jusepe’s spears targeted the monster’s weak spots.

The rhythm of the three was exquisitely synchronized.

Finally, when Cerberus collapsed, limping on its front paws, Belinda, who had been hiding behind a rock all this time, quietly revealed herself.

Thanks to her shouting “Give me more!” even after Cheshire had cast three layers of protective magic, Belinda now had enough defense to remain unscathed even if Cerberus were to bite and chew her.

There was a reason why she, who couldn’t even protect herself, had come this far.

Her ability begins with binding monsters.

So she planned to hide like a sniper and, if necessary, join in to tie the monster’s feet and take away even a little of its mobility.

Now it seemed that Belinda’s help wasn’t needed in the first place.

So.

‘Let’s just deliver the final blow.’

The ability of the Blanche family is to bind, brainwash, and finally assimilate the target.

Binding required physical force, brainwashing required magical power, and assimilation required intimacy.

The physical force needed for binding wasn’t a problem as Sir Penadel had softened up the monster well.

‘I’ll just take one shot, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll hide again without making a fuss.’

As Belinda was timing her move, Cheshire flew over and whispered to her.

“Master, there’s no need to cover the priest’s eyes. That priest. He doesn’t seem to be able to see properly.”

“What?”

How can he fight the monster if he can’t see?

As if reading her thoughts, Cheshire shrugged.

“By instinct? Knights are good at that kind of thing.”

Cheshire seemed to think of knights as some kind of acrobats.

For reasons unknown, this was good news for Belinda. She immediately took out ten platinum coins.

With each platinum coin worth 100 gold, she was holding 1000 gold in one hand.

‘It’s not a waste, this is practically the price of my future life.’

No, in fact, her hand was trembling because it was such a waste.

She thought about using just five platinum coins, but there was nothing more wasteful than failing due to being short by just one bit of luck.

So she self-hypnotized that what she held in her hand was not platinum coins but gold coins, and as she let them go, she whispered.

“Sugar, settle 1000 gold.”

<Yum yum yum~ Order received!>

Soon, fairy blessings rained down on her head like star fragments.

Belinda reached for her holster and gripped the pistol, now quite familiar to her.

Feet shoulder-width apart, arms straight, she braced herself firmly to withstand the recoil with her two legs.

As she lightly exhaled and held her breath, the muzzle of the gun pointed at Cerberus.

No matter how injured it was, for Cerberus with its agile body and three heads, there were no blind spots.

But that’s only when the attack path can be somewhat predicted.

Cheshire snapped his fingers, summoning numerous mirrors around Cerberus.

Belinda’s gun barrel pointed towards a mirror.

‘Well, try to dodge this if you can.’

As she heavily pulled the trigger under her index finger, Belinda whispered.

“My bullets never miss.”

Bang.

A sharp bullet of light shot straight out.