I knew it.

“All right. I’ll help you.”

I huffed, sighing heavily.

“Oh, really!?’

She came up to me with a twinkle in her eye and took my hand.

“Really, really ……?”

“I’m telling you the truth. Just calm down.”

I breathed again, managing to quiet her down.

As long as half of the Skill Crystal is there, which was our original goal, we have no choice but to help this kid.

But since we’re going to be working together, I’ll have to correct her misunderstanding at this point.

“I’ll cooperate, but there’s one thing I have to tell you.”

“What is it?” she tilted her head.

“You may think I’m immune to conditions, but you’re wrong.”

And I told her everything that had happened that night.

And, by the way, the ability to reset levels, and the purpose of why we came to this lone dard.

“I didn’t know that. ……”

Luriel smiles, looking a little disappointed.

No wonder. Because it was probably the clue to the solution that you thought you finally found.

And it’s a problem that bothers me, too.

It’s good to cooperate, but it’s no laughing matter to actually face a Hydra and have everyone petrified and wiped out immediately.

If I had at least been able to acquire the elixir ability beforehand, it might have been a different story.

“Rox. Do you have a minute?”

As I was pondering things, Keith, standing beside me, spoke to me.

“What’s wrong?”

I pause my thoughts and turn my attention to him.

“It’s something I haven’t even told you, the condition abnormality called petrification doesn’t work on me.”

“Doesn’t it work?”

“‘It would be more accurate to say that it is nullified. It’s the power of this ring.”

Then Keith shows me his right hand.

Indeed, on the ring finger of Keith’s right hand, a silver ring with a small yellow gem shone in the light of the room.

“The “Ring of Stone Protection”. It nullifies all petrification status abnormalities to those who wear it. With this, I think it will be enough to counter Hydra.”

He told me, tilting his head to the side to see what I thought.

“No, it can be countered, or rather, …… that’s exactly what it is!　If you have it, you can fight Hydra without fear of being petrified!”

Exactly the problem I feared would be solved in one shot.

I didn’t think Keith had anything that useful.

“Or rather, why do you have such an item that only specializes in ‘petrification’?”

“Hmm, yeah. Well, there’s someone close to me who has a similar ability.”

I don’t know if it was something he didn’t really want to talk about, but he seemed to have a hard time answering, and Keith scratched his cheek and said so.

Well, there are some things you don’t want people to touch.

“Well,” I said, turning my attention back to Luriel and noticing that she was staring at me with some kind of intense gaze.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“You were called Rox, weren’t you?”

“Yeah?”

Come to think of it, I haven’t told her my name yet, have I?

It’s a pseudonym I use in the guild, though.

“Are you, by any chance, Rox Maverick?”

She asked, still keeping her eyes on me.

Heh, she knows Rox Maverick,too…….

“‘I’m sorry, but Rox is my nickname in guild, not my real name. The name itself was borrowed from Rox Maverick, though.”

When I said that, Luriel laughed ruefully, “Haha, of course it is.”

“‘I’m more amazed that you know about Rox Maverick than that.”

I throw that at Luriel.

Not many people around me knew the author, except for those in Zweig’s family.

There were two of them to be exact, they were such minor authors, though.

“I read it a long time ago, and I still remember it because the contents were so impressive. I believe it was The Adventures of Fynal the Fool, right?”

Yes, I believe that was the title.

The cover was tattered and old-fashioned, and I didn’t feel like reading it, but the guy who used to be my father insisted that I must read it, so I had no choice.

I don’t remember the details because the content was dark from beginning to end and not very interesting.

“Rox Maverick ……? I’ve never heard of …… No, I don’t think I have a book with that author’s name in my collection ……?”

Keith is mumbling something, remembering something. More importantly, you’ve strayed quite a bit from the main storyline.

I think it’s time to get back to the point.

“For the time being, leaving Rox Maverick’s story aside, the important thing is Hydra.”

When I said that, Luriel huffed and straightened up, and Keith looked apologetic, saying, “I’m sorry.”

I cough lightly and start to tell the rest of the story.

“Only one person can avoid being petrified by Keith’s ring. This means that naturally, only one person can go to the crystal cave. If that’s the case, then that role of–”

“Rox. I need something to ask you…”

Keith says that as he interrupts my words.

“You have an absolute skill called Peerless. When it comes to one minute of time, there is no other skill that can match it.”

“Just straight to the point. Then…?”

“But…

As I was about to finish my words, Keith waited for me with a strong tone.

“That’s if the enemy is going to be wiped out in one minute. If there’s a second or third enemy hiding out, will you be able to compete with them after the effects of Peerless have worn off?”

I’m at a loss for words.

It’s true that in the battle to defeat the Big Boar and the battle against Leon, we were able to get by thanks to the presence of Earlv and Keith.

“‘And what about on the way? Wouldn’t it be difficult for you to even reach the innermost part of the crystal cave on your own in the first place?”

“‘That’s true, then ……. What should I do?”

“You will keep this ring. And then I will accompany you.”

Keith said, handing me the anti-petrified ring.

“What are you talking about? It’s not like you didn’t hear what Ruriel said earlier, right?”

Accompanying me without a ring means that there is always the danger of petrification.

If you are aware of this, then what is the point of your suicidal act?

“‘Of course I heard about it. And on that basis I’m going to bet on you.”

“You want to bet on me?”

What on earth are you betting on?

If you’re saying it’s life, I don’t want to carry that heavy thing.

“Your ability, the elixir. It’s the ability to heal any abnormal condition. If you take it at face value, with that ability, even if I were to become petrified, you would be able to heal me immediately?”

“Maybe so,……, but think about it. The Skill Crystal is split in two, you know. What are you going to do if I can’t get it?”

“‘If that happens, I want you to use the Peerless to break free from the cave. Then you can find the real elixir and help me.”

“Oh, come on, ……. The elixir is a legendary drug that we don’t even know if it exists. Are you seriously asking me to find it?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

Keith gives me a serious look as he says this.

I can’t say he’s joking, even if it’s a lie, but the look in his eyes only makes me wonder why.

It’s true that Lucy is still Keith’s horse.

But from what I’ve heard, Lucy must have been a jerk who didn’t listen to him, and I didn’t get the impression that she had any particular feelings for him.

In contrast, for me, Lucy is an important person who was by my side during the most difficult times.

That’s why, if Lucy is suffering, I want to do whatever I can to help her.

That’s so much so that I don’t even think twice about going into the crystal cave alone.

“Why?”

I wondered if my thoughts were showing on my face, but Keith chuckled as he looked at me.

“Don’t ask me why. It’s never a compliment, and I don’t want to offend you now.”

Don’t want to offend me?

I’m getting more and more confused as to what kind of logic would lead to such a conclusion.

……, but if Keith says so, I’m not going to ask any more.

I don’t have a taste for stuffing up on people who don’t like it.

“That ……, I’m going too!”

Then Luriel, who had been listening to the exchange between me and Keith, shouted so in a determined tone of voice.

“No, you’ve heard it yourself, haven’t you?”

“It’s not that I wasn’t listening. It’s true that I’m still scared. But I can’t just sit around and wait for you to save my family. And if you don’t have half of this skill crystal, you won’t be able to get that skill even if you use my sister’s skill crystal, right? I won’t leave this Skill Crystal to you!”

I sigh at the look on hee face that says she will never back down.

Keith, and Luriel, and why are they all …….

“As I said before, even if I have both the split of Skill Crystal, there is no guarantee that I can restore her to normal. Besides, we don’t know how strong Hydra is, do we?”

“I’m prepared. In addition, I have a martial art that my master taught me and a dance that has been passed down from generation to generation in the royal family. I’m pretty strong there, you know.”

Luriel slammed her chest as if she was full.

It’s true that without the Peerless I wouldn’t have been able to stand up to hee.

By the looks of it, I guess there’s nothing I can say.

“Huh, okay. Well then, I guess the three of us will be on our way.”

“Ah.”

“Yes!”

I said, and they both replied as if they were breathing together.

After that we had a meeting to discuss the strategy of Hydra.

It is natural to have a detailed plan of attack and strategy, since there are many dangers involved.

It was late at night, and she was probably tired from fighting me, jadi ketika Luriel mulai mengantuk,

but once Luriel started rowing the boat, we talked about going to the floor, so when Luriel was getting sleepy, we decided to go to bed and Keith went back to his room.

I’ve decided to let Luriel use my bed for now.

At first she resisted, saying she was fine with the floor, but now that she was no longer the enemy, I couldn’t let the girl sleep on the floor.

I managed to persuade her and pushed Luriel into bed and I turned off the lamp light and lay down on the floor.

I was so engrossed in the meeting that I didn’t notice it, but it was already starting to get light outside the window.

We’ll be heading to the cave before this evening.

I let go of my consciousness, thinking that I needed to rest my body as much as possible before then.