Chapter 14: You and Me, Fighting Side by Side

“You’re alright. That’s all that matters.”

After confirming Flafla’s condition, Arlette slowly stood up.

“Just now, beneath those bushes over there, I found some traces left by a monster.”

“I was just about to investigate further when I saw this thing standing behind you.”

As he spoke, Arlette suddenly kicked the Goblin corpse on the ground, checking if it was truly dead or just pretending.

In that instant, the dark clouds gathering in Flafla’s heart were swept away.

As expected.

Even if it wasn’t in the way she had imagined…

Knight Sir was still concerned about her.

Flafla was never a greedy person.

For her, this was already enough.

However, Arlette’s next words caused a sudden panic in her heart.

“How did a Goblin get into Dice Town?”

“Logically, these things shouldn’t be able to enter a place with such a high population density.”

“Strange, it’s not like their usual behavior.”

Sweat beaded at Flafla’s temples on the spot.

She knew exactly what had happened.

Of course, it was her Curse that attracted this thing.

Earlier, during the period of rest, she had occasionally gone out alone to buy supplies.

But her Curse seemed unstable, sometimes effective, sometimes not. And she was used to choosing crowded main roads, so she had almost never been attacked by monsters.

Over time, this sense of luck made her gradually ignore it.

She never expected that today, the Curse would activate again.

Arlette thought for a moment, unable to piece together the cause and effect, and decided to carry the Goblin corpse to find the Town Guard.

But just as he started to act, the woods surrounding Dice Town began to shake violently!

“What’s that noise?!”

“Look over there, something’s charging this way!”

“Goblin, it’s Goblin!!”

That’s right, it wasn’t just one.

Before Arlette could take further action, more Goblins started pouring out from the surrounding woods.

They were in an extremely unstable state, like crazed demons, howling as they leaped into the town, launching indiscriminate attacks on passersby and shops.

“This is bad.”

“The scale is bigger than I thought… Was this premeditated?”

In the blink of an eye, even Arlette and Flafla found themselves surrounded by a small group of Goblins.

Perhaps because they saw Arlette holding the corpse of their kin, this group of Goblins was even more agitated.

“Flafla.”

Realizing things had taken a turn for the worse, Arlette immediately called out Flafla’s name.

“It’s too dangerous here. I’ll hold these things back. You run immediately along the road we came.”

“There are many temporary camps over there, with plenty of travelers. It’s much safer.”

This was clearly the proposal that most guaranteed Flafla’s safety.

However, in the next moment, Flafla immediately refused Arlette.

“No!”

“The last time, on the sixth floor of the dungeon, I already abandoned Knight Sir once.”

“This time, I won’t do that. I want to fight alongside Knight Sir!”

Speaking excitedly, Flafla also pulled out her Mandolin from her back.

Flafla’s reasons for fighting were not limited to just that.

She knew these Goblins had come because of her.

As the culprit, she couldn’t be the first to run away.

She had to take responsibility.

“Ah, I see.”

“Then don’t stray too far from me.”

Seeing Flafla’s desire to fight, Arlette raised no objections.

No matter how many Goblins there were, they were just low-level monsters crawling on the ground.

Arlette was fully confident he could protect Flafla during the battle.

Hearing Arlette’s voice, an immense sense of security surged in her heart.

Whenever she was alone in the wild, encountering common wild beasts like jackals, she would tremble in fear.

But standing beside Arlette, that feeling was nowhere to be found.

In the next instant, Flafla swiftly drew the Mandolin from her back, her slender fingers immediately plucking the strings, as a powerful melody began to rise from her lips!

Unlike the previous “Song of Life’s Cycle.”

This song’s tone was even more passionate, urgent, and intense—a true Battle Song.

Just listening to this music, Arlette felt waves of invisible strength rising from within.

However, before the song was even halfway through, the Goblins surrounding them seemed to be provoked and instantly launched their attack!

“Get back!”

Arlette, long prepared, raised his Great Sword, and in a flash, swept a swath of charging Goblins into a bloody mess, killing them on the spot.

The rest attacked together, pouncing on Arlette’s body, frantically clawing and biting. But these attacks were useless against Heavy Armor.

Great Shield, Great Sword, Heavy Armor.

This gear gave Arlette an overwhelming advantage against these feeble Goblins.

As Flafla’s Battle Song reached its climax, Arlette had already easily wiped out all the Goblins around him.

However, things did not end so simply.

Perhaps because Flafla’s singing had agitated them, the Goblin hordes that were wreaking havoc throughout Dice Town suddenly all surged towards Arlette and Flafla!

“K-Knight Sir!”

“There are so many of them—can you hold them off?”

For a moment, Flafla felt a deep worry for Arlette.

“I’m fine. Keep singing.”

“If we run away now…”

“The town will be doomed.”

“Miss said before, Dice Town is very important to the Crystal Thorn Adventurer Team.”

“If the town is destroyed by Goblins, we won’t be able to purchase supplies or recover.”

“It’ll delay our progress in the dungeon. Miss won’t be happy.”

When Arlette mentioned his “Miss,” Flafla’s gaze dimmed.

“As I thought, I still can’t compare to the leader…”

No matter how hard she tried to get closer to Knight Sir.

No matter how much effort she put in.

She could never compare to that proud and cold figure.

For a moment, jealousy and frustration fermented in Flafla’s heart.

Her mind wandered, and her fingertips started to tremble.

Even the music she was playing went off-key, turning sharp and unpleasant.

“Flafla.”

Perhaps noticing the tune going awry, Arlette immediately turned his head.

“Focus, get yourself together.”

“Don’t be afraid of monsters—I’ll hold them back.”

“I’ll always be here.”

Just these simple words made Flafla’s eyes suddenly shine.

Yes.

No matter what, Knight Sir had always been by her side.

Isn’t that enough?

To stand on the same battlefield as Knight Sir—wasn’t that her greatest wish?

“I won’t let you down, Knight Sir!”

In the next instant, her fingers danced across the strings, and fluent music surged forth again!

Clearly, before absolute strength, numbers meant nothing.

No matter how many Goblins there were, in front of Arlette they were nothing but cannon fodder.

Even the Town Guard began joining the battle, fighting alongside Arlette to push back the massive monster horde.

However, soon, something changed with Arlette.

His Old Injury flared up at this extremely dangerous moment.

All at once, dizziness, ringing in his ears, and a tide of pain struck him, as if thousands of needles were stabbing his entire body.

His movements weakened and slowed, and even breathing became incredibly difficult.

The Heavy Armor he was so proud of now seemed about to become his tomb.

“Why… Why now of all times…”

Realizing his muscles were weakening, Arlette immediately threw away his Great Sword, switching to hand-to-hand combat to lighten his load.

Fortunately, with Flafla’s Battle Song supporting him, he could still fight for a while longer.

“Gotta hold out… Can’t let these things hurt Flafla.”

That was the only thought in his mind at that moment.

Flafla was completely unaware of Arlette’s condition.

She kept strumming and singing, supporting Arlette and the Town Guard with her music.

A few minutes later, all the Goblins had been wiped out.

“Wonderful!”

At the end of the battle, pride and joy welled up in Flafla’s heart.

This time, she hadn’t run away—she hadn’t left Knight Sir alone in a life-or-death crisis.

She had fought side by side with him.

“Knight Sir! We did it!”

“How was that? I was super helpful this time, wasn’t I!”

Just as she ran happily to Arlette, wanting to claim credit—

That massive figure clad in Heavy Armor, at that moment—

Collapsed with a thud.