Lancelot's sudden departure did not escape the survivors' notice. Orlov and Asuka approached Cyan at the same time.
"What do you need?"
Cyan looked at Orlov and Asuka.
"Hey, don't be so tense. I just wanted to ask what you said to Lancelot. Why did he leave in such a hurry?" Orlov asked with a friendly smile, wanting to know what Cyan and Lancelot had talked about.
Now you're representing yourself?
Asuka inwardly complained about this muscular man named Orlov's shamelessness.
"It has nothing to do with you."
Cyan glanced at Orlov and Asuka and walked around them.
"That won't do. You made a powerful story character leave. This affects my quest. If you don't tell me, I can't just let you leave so easily."
Orlov blocked Cyan's path.
"Is that so…"
A cold glint flashed in Cyan's silver-white eyes as her hand moved to the hilt of the demon blade.
"You want to fight?"
"N-No, no, no! I have absolutely no intention of fighting you."
Orlov raised his hands and backed away. He hadn't expected this 'boy' who had been smiling earlier to become so violent and ready to fight at the slightest disagreement.
"There's a traitor. There's a traitor in the army. Lancelot went to deal with it."
Cyan told them the reason for Lancelot's departure so these two annoying people would stop bothering her. Then she disappeared from their sight like a black shadow.
Orlov watched Cyan leave, then turned to Asuka and suggested, "Cooperation?"
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not going to cooperate with you!"
Asuka rejected Orlov and quickly walked away.
"I think cooperation might be worth trying between us."
After Asuka left, the blue-clothed ninja appeared in front of Orlov.
"I don't want to cooperate with someone who sneaks around in the shadows."
Orlov glanced at the blue-clothed ninja. He knew this person had been hiding in the dark the whole time. He didn't want to cooperate with this type of survivor who liked to stay hidden — not because he looked down on him, but because his own abilities were suited for frontal assaults. The teammates he needed were those who could fight alongside him. This blue-clothed ninja clearly couldn't charge into battle with him.
"The equipment on him… is very luxurious. He has multiple pieces that increase all attributes. I only need one of them." The blue-clothed ninja didn't believe Orlov wouldn't be tempted. Equipment that increased all attributes meant a lot — any experienced survivor in the survival space would understand.
Equipment enhancement: After an equipment's enhancement level reached +4, every additional enhancement level added +1 to all attributes. In other words, all-attribute equipment, once enhanced to +4, would gain +1 to all attributes with every further enhancement. The attributes gained were comparable to the attribute points obtained after completing one survival game.
In the survival space, even equipment with +1 to all attributes was extremely precious. On the other hand, equipment that increased only one or two attributes was relatively common and not that expensive.
"Why should I believe you?"
Orlov was tempted when he heard about all-attribute equipment, but he didn't quite trust the blue-clothed ninja's words.
"I have this skill. It can randomly show three pieces of equipment on his body."
The blue-clothed ninja's mask moved slightly as if he was smiling. He showed Orlov half of a skill's information — the other half was censored with mosaic. He didn't want Orlov to know the other half of the skill.
Scouting Technique could show three random pieces of equipment on the target and could also choose to show the target's attributes. It consumed very little Mental Power. The only downside was that the number of uses per survival game was limited.
"It's actually…"
Orlov stared in shock with wide eyes.
"How about it? Want to cooperate?"
"Alright."
Orlov thought for a moment and agreed to the blue-clothed ninja's proposal. The temptation of all-attribute equipment was simply too great. It could improve his strength in all aspects. In the current situation where survival game difficulty kept increasing, he needed to raise his strength as quickly as possible. Otherwise, if he ended up in an S-rank difficulty survival game with his current strength, he might die a miserable death.
Cyan, who still didn't know she had gained another enemy, was currently lying on Nishi's lap resting, enjoying her hands massaging her face.
Nishi stared at Cyan's face while gently kneading it, savoring the feeling of rubbing her cheeks. She was almost drooling.
The smooth, white, tender feeling made one want to kiss it hard.
Nishi looked at Cyan's cheeks, which had turned red from her kneading, wiped the corner of her mouth, and asked softly, "Master, do you have any clues about the survivor who attacked you?"
"A ninja wearing blue clothes. His blade has a dragon pattern. He has an invincibility skill called 'Bodyguard Fire' that lasts about 10 seconds and deals continuous damage in a certain range. He can also create clones…"
Cyan touched the Super Crown hidden on her head and added, "He also has a skill that can detect other people's equipment information."
"That's all I know for now."
"Nishi, don't act alone until we deal with him." Cyan looked seriously at Nishi, tilted her head, and pointed at the corner of her mouth. "Drool. It's coming out…"
"Ah! I understand. I'll be careful…" Nishi hurriedly wiped the corner of her mouth. She didn't want Cyan to notice that she had just wanted to bite her apple-like tempting cheek.
The black widow spider held a small piece of tasteless jerky with both hands and nibbled on it in small bites. After finishing, she patted her hands, jumped onto Cyan's body, and quickly burrowed into her collar fur.
"This card, you open it."
Cyan took out the card that had dropped from War Knight Scorn. It was a Silver Card with a hint of gold.
"Master, wouldn't it be better if you opened it?"
Nishi stroked Cyan's soft, short hair, thoroughly enjoying looking at her profile.
"…Your luck is better than mine."
Cyan honestly stated the reason. This was the best card she had. If it had been a Black Iron or Bronze Card, she would have opened it herself.
With her lightning-struck luck, it was better not to waste a Silver Card.
"Alright then…"
Nishi nodded and took the card to use it.
[Used Silver Card. Obtained 1500 Survival Points, Segmentation, and Fruit Basket.]
[Segmentation]
[Type: Skill Book]
[Function: Learn the active skill Segmentation at LV1 after use. Segmentation can divide recovery items and valuable items. There is a chance for the item's value to increase, a small chance for the value to decrease, and an extremely small chance for an unknown item to appear.]
[Learning Requirement: None]
[Remark: I admit there's a gambling element. One slash and you're either rich or broke!]
[Fruit Basket]
[Type: Recovery Item]
[Function: Restores 60 HP and 30 Mental Power.]
[Remark: A fruit basket full of fruit.]
"1500 Survival Points, this skill book, and a recovery item."
Nishi handed the skill book and fruit basket to Cyan.
Cyan looked at the skill book's information, turned to Nishi, and asked, "Do you want to learn it?"
[I'll pass. My Mental Power is so low, so you should learn it, Master~!]
Nishi thought about Cyan's luck with cards and laughed.
[Maybe your luck is bad with cards but good in other areas, Master~!]
"That makes sense."
Cyan felt that Nishi had a point. She used the skill book and learned Segmentation.
[Segmentation (Active), Skill Level: LV1.]
[Consumes 5 Mental Power to divide recovery items and valuable items. 60% chance to increase the item's value, 30% chance to decrease the item's value, and 5% chance to produce an unknown treasure.]
[Note: Using this skill requires equipping a weapon with a blade.]
"Let's try it~!"
Cyan sat up with interest, took out a piece of bread that could restore 20 HP, and held the short sword that could be exchanged for 10 Survival Points.
Segmentation!
A strange light appeared on the short sword. The moment it cut into the bread, the whole loaf was neatly divided into three pieces.
The bread that could originally restore 20 HP had become small pieces that could only restore 10 HP each.
It was worth noting that recovery items cut using the Segmentation function could be stacked.
"Just like I said, Master's luck was used in other areas." Nishi smiled as she looked at the three small pieces of bread in Cyan's hand.
"…Indeed."
Cyan took out the fruit basket and planned to use Segmentation on it.
[Fruit Platter]
[Type: Recovery Item]
[Function: Restores 20 HP and 10 Mental Power.]
[Remark: Fresh and pollution-free!]
When she tried to cut the fruit basket, the item's value decreased. The recovery effect was directly reduced to one-third.
Nishi looked at the fruit platter and wisely stayed silent. She looked up at the sky with an expression that said "I didn't see anything."
Segmentation!
Cyan used Segmentation on the fruit platter. The fruit platter disappeared and was replaced by an attractive red apple.
[Apple]
[Type: Recovery Item]
[Function: Restores 15 HP.]
[Remark: Sweet and sour, delicious!]
"…"
Cyan silently looked at the green apple and gave up on the idea of using Segmentation to cut the apple.
Asama Ai hesitated for a long time before finding Cyan and Nishi. When she saw Cyan looking down at the apple in her hand, she stopped and hesitated whether to keep walking forward.
"It's you."
Cyan sensed Asama Ai's gaze and turned her head to see her standing in the distance.
A cold, ominous aura surrounded Asama Ai. Cyan could more clearly sense it as she approached. There seemed to be something very terrifying on her.
"Hmm? It's you! What? Did you come to ask Master for help?"
Nishi chuckled lightly, as if she had seen through Asama Ai's thoughts.
"I… My abilities aren't suited for acting alone. I can't trust other survivors. Cyan, you…"
Asama Ai tightly hugged her notebook, worried that she would be rejected. She looked at Cyan nervously.
"Alright."
Cyan readily agreed. Compared to other survivors, she felt that a survivor she had spent some time with before was more trustworthy for cooperation.
Besides, the cold and ominous aura around Asama Ai suggested she had an impressive trump card. It was worth cooperating with her.
Cyan asked the Survival Brand about team formation information and chose to form a temporary team contract with Asama Ai in this survival game world. In the Round Table Knights world, attacks from both sides couldn't harm each other, and they could faintly sense each other's general direction.
After the two signed the temporary team contract, Cyan's servant and pet were automatically counted as part of the team.
Considering that they were now in a cooperative relationship, Cyan told Asama Ai about the blue-clothed ninja who had attacked her.
Cyan looked at Asama Ai, who was lowering her head and thinking about something, and reminded her, "If he attacks you, you'd better prepare in advance."
"I understand."
Asama Ai answered softly with her head lowered, not knowing what she was thinking.
Strange. With her strength, she shouldn't be in a survival game of this difficulty. Could it be that her skills or items caused her rating to skyrocket?
Cyan glanced at the notebook Asama Ai was tightly hugging. She could sense that this notebook was extraordinary.
It looked like an ordinary notebook that couldn't be more ordinary. But when she stared at it, she only felt a cold wind blowing toward her.
Maybe it has something to do with this notebook.
Cyan thought about what Asama Ai had said earlier.
The next day, Lancelot returned to Lakota Village.
After discussion, Arthur and Percival led their armies to attack the areas occupied by the evil Archduke Garibaldi from two different directions, while Lancelot attacked from the front.
He had already told Arthur and Percival about the traitor. Because they were worried that their plans would be leaked to Garibaldi, they decided on the spot to launch a surprise attack on Arlon Castle.
Arthur and Percival would attack the weakly defended areas, while Lancelot attacked from the front where the defenses were strongest. They made this distribution because they had considered the addition of the powerful outsiders (survivors) from Lakota Village. Attacking from three directions would greatly weaken the enemy's frontal defenses.
If everything went smoothly, the three armies would eventually meet in front of Arlon Castle and crush Arlon, the lord of the castle loyal to the evil Archduke Garibaldi.
The survivors naturally had no objections to this offensive plan. With the help of the story characters, completing the survival quest would be much easier. Why not?
After a brief reorganization, the army set out from Lakota Village under Lancelot's leadership. Orlov walked at the very front, trying to build a good relationship with Lancelot.
Cyan and the others were at the very back of the army.
Just as they were about to leave the village, the freckled girl found Cyan.
"What do you need?"
Cyan smiled at the panting girl who looked like she had something to say.
The girl gathered her courage, hugged Cyan, and kissed her on the cheek.
"Um… After the war ends, you must come find me!"
The girl looked at Cyan with hopeful eyes. Without waiting for a reply, she blushed and ran off in a hurry — faster than when she had come running over.
"Hehe… Master, your charm is really something~!"
Nishi had an unhappy smile on her face as she looked at Cyan, who was touching her cheek with a big question mark practically floating above her head.
"This seems to be a Western custom."
Cyan recalled the cheek-kissing etiquette she had seen in TV dramas. She moved her hand away from the black widow spider in her collar, whom she had been holding down.
If she hadn't pressed down the black widow spider the moment the girl hugged her, that freckled girl might have gotten a taste of the black widow spider's deadly venom.
The black widow spider waved her small fists and pounded on Cyan's finger in dissatisfaction.
As expected… Master, this wooden head… That girl's feelings are probably going to go down the drain~!
Nishi looked at Cyan, who hadn't noticed the girl's affection at all, and thought with schadenfreude.
Asuka looked at Cyan's beautiful face and said with disdain, "It's just because she looks good…"
The way she looked at Cyan was as if she were looking at a vase. Then her gaze was attracted by the small thing moving inside the collar.
What is that?
Good lord, being able to make girls throw themselves into her arms… her Charm stat must be pretty high.
Orlov observed Cyan and, thinking about the equipment on her body, clenched his fist.
"Hey! What do you mean by that?!"
Nishi put her hands on her hips and looked at Asuka unhappily.
"What? Did I say something wrong?" Asuka crossed her arms and looked at Nishi and Cyan arrogantly. Thinking about Cyan's attitude yesterday made her even more annoyed.
"You're really unreasonable!"
Nishi clenched her fist, looking at the smug Asuka. She really wanted to throw mud in her face.
Hmm?
Cyan keenly sensed malice. She ignored the explosive atmosphere between Nishi and Asuka and looked in Orlov's direction.
"Cyan?"
Asama Ai noticed where Cyan was looking and asked cautiously like a frightened rabbit, "Is there something wrong over there?"
"Nothing." Cyan quickly walked forward.
"Master, wait for me!"
Nishi couldn't be bothered to argue with Asuka anymore and chased after her.