VIP Chapter 389: Unsolvable Frost
“Good morning everyone, I am Iaar. I’ve joined you all to defeat the Fire Dragon of the City of Mad Burning. Please take care of me from now on.”
Iaar, dressed in a black maid outfit that resembled mourning attire, stood beside Peflan and bowed deeply to the members of the White Castle.
The White Castle, which normally would have responded with a warm welcome ceremony, fell into silence. Faced with the cold and reserved Iaar, they were at a loss. They looked at the little maid, who had briefly accompanied them before but was now completely different, and didn’t know what to say.
Peflan, in particular, was uneasy.
“Ah… haha, that’s right. Our previous exploits in the City of Mad Burning haven’t been very smooth, have they? After all, our strongest Shield Saint was transferred to another post…” Peflan explained somewhat awkwardly. “So, considering this, I’ve invited back Iaar, who everyone knows was our strongest before! With her here, dealing with that Fire Dragon will definitely be no problem.”
“Yes. I will complete the mission smoothly. Please also leave the Fire Dragon’s heart to me when the time comes.”
After speaking, she bowed deeply again. Although she maintained her usual excessive “politeness,” truly like a maid, her tone of voice had lost all of its former childishness.
Those who had raised their hands, ready to speak up with Peflan’s words as an opening, hesitated and found themselves stuck in awkwardness.
“The plan to clear the dungeon begins tomorrow. I’ve been traveling, and I need to understand the Fire Dragon’s characteristics as soon as possible. Therefore… I’ll be sleeping now. Don’t worry, I always wake up on time.”
After Iaar finished speaking, she wagged her tail – her fluffy half-beastman tail was still as cute as ever. However, an aura of coldness surrounded her, something everyone present could feel.
Although everyone knew that Iaar’s magic was primarily fire attribute, especially her unique skill, Ice Array (Attack)… that didn’t mean she would exude such an irresistible frost from the moment she appeared! Just by Iaar saying a few words, everyone felt as if they were about to be frozen. Even the bright and sunny captain, Peflan, couldn’t melt this frost.
“C-Captain? Wh-what’s going on?” the White Castle’s scrawny swordsman asked cautiously.
“Why has little sister Iaar suddenly become like this? Wasn’t she that little girl who used to stutter and didn’t seem very skilled at clearing dungeons?” chimed in the warehouse keeper, who usually handled logistics.
“Her expression and clothes are very frightening too, Waaah! She… she still hasn’t moved on… After all, we all know about that Young Master she always talked about…” a mage in the back, trembling, clutched her staff, afraid to analyze further.
*Bang.*
Peflan slammed her wine glass onto the table, the sound echoing and interrupting the others.
“Let’s not talk about it for now. For her, the passing of that person must have been truly difficult, right?”
“Then… Captain, can you still convince her to join our team?”
“Yeah. I was originally thinking that if it was the little sister Iaar from before who joined us, we would definitely give her the highest treatment, equip her with the best gear, and even contact the press to announce it throughout Entak!”
“Let’s try,” Peflan said, watching Iaar disappear down the corridor. She drank the wine in her hand. Her intentions weren’t entirely pure. Iaar was a new independent adventurer who was gaining some popularity – not just popularity, her strength was solid, far stronger than many marketed adventurers.
Their team wasn’t “because the former Shield Saint was assigned elsewhere,” but because during an urgent mission from the Adventurer’s Guild headquarters, they encountered an unusual situation where dungeon monsters had grown stronger, and they perished in the dungeon.
Thus, she thought of Iaar. She did have selfish motives, wanting to see if Iaar, if she could emerge from her grief, if she would be willing to join another adventuring team, could join theirs. After all… For Iaar, a half-beastman maid who had lived like a slave in the Hysterm Family, she had enough strength to support herself and the freedom the Hysterm Family was willing to give back. From an outsider’s perspective, forgetting the past and living in the present should be her best choice.
To be honest… She came to persuade Iaar… to move on and become a true “independent adventurer.” The word “independent” was key. But now…
“Although she’s incredibly strong now, so strong that many adventuring teams would clamor for her…”
“It seems understandable. From our perspective, she’s finally able to live for herself, but for her…”
“Living for that ‘Young Master’ is the meaning of her life.”
***
“This Fire Dragon… Alright, so that’s how it is?”
Iaar opened the information on the Fire Dragon BOSS of the City of Mad Burning. This was exclusive classified information from the White Castle, extremely rare even within the entire Adventurer’s Guild.
“The reason a very powerful ice attribute Shield Saint is needed is due to the special nature of the City of Mad Burning where this Fire Dragon resides…”
The City of Mad Burning was aptly named, and Iaar knew that according to her Young Master’s analysis, no dungeon in this world was “less than its name.” In this dungeon, the ground was naturally covered with flammable, oil-like substances. Therefore, the entire dungeon was more dangerous in terms of explosions and fires than other fire attribute dungeons.
The Fire Dragon, as the BOSS, had a skill that gave it natural advantage using the terrain: its tail was inherently fiery. Once it awakened after entering, it couldn’t even be controlled by strong crowd control methods. The flames from its tail would touch the oil on the ground, igniting instantly.
“Hmm… If it’s just the area burning, ranged skills should still be able to hit… Oh, the reason it can’t succeed is like this?”
Turning to the next page, Iaar understood why this tactic was unfeasible. What’s more, it was a Fire Dragon that “wasn’t good at flying.” No skills involving flight had been observed throughout the battle. This meant it was quite cowardly, constantly hiding behind the burning flames to attack. Archers, who would normally counter flying dragons, were now useless because by the time they traversed the long BOSS room corridor and withstood the flames, their arrows would have lost most of their damage.
“Then, according to the ‘Rules to Remember When Killing the Fire Dragon,’ also known as the ‘Little Fire Dragon Revenge Strategy,’ it should be like this…”
Iaar tentatively sketched out a method of dealing with it on scratch paper. Her method didn’t even give those behind her a chance to “attack.” She planned to go alone and finally defeat the Fire Dragon with her shield through physical force.
As the clock struck midnight, she stopped writing and looked up at the moonlight outside the window.
“It’s… it’s so late? I didn’t realize… studying dungeon matters makes you forget the time…”
Looking at her notes under the candlelight, Iaar suddenly remembered every night she had watched her Young Master taking notes through the crack in the door. Now, she was the one sitting in the room. But… the scene she had seen back then would never reappear.
She glanced back at the closed room door and sighed deeply.
“Actually… Iaar knows better than anyone that you won’t come back, Young Master…”
“Iaar is just… just by completing the tasks you left behind, tasks that will never be updated, tasks without explanation, tasks that will eventually end…”
“I keep deceiving myself… that you didn’t abandon Iaar by ‘dying,’ proving that you must need the current Iaar…”
“…That’s all.”
