Wasn’t This Supposed To Be a Strategy Game? Chapter 112

So This Was the True Entrance Quest to the Secret Vault

But—wisdom?

‘How exactly am I supposed to put that in?’

Eden crossed her arms and fell into deep thought. Ivatan, seeing her stare intently at the old cabinet, looked puzzled but waited patiently for her to act.

Wisdom…

Eden reminded herself once more that this world was, after all, part of a game.

‘Which means it’s probably an item related to intelligence.’

In this world, “wisdom” meant intelligence stat…

Suddenly, something flashed through her mind, and she glanced sideways at Ivatan.

“……?”

Ivatan met Eden’s stare with a silent, questioning gaze.

After a moment of thought, Eden stepped closer to him and gave an awkward smile.

“Chancellor, pardon me for a moment.”

“What are you—”

Ivatan tried to respond in confusion, but his words cut off as Eden’s hand suddenly reached toward him.

“……!”

Her hand moved toward his soft, light brown hair. As soon as she touched it, Ivatan stiffened like a statue.

“There!”

In a quick motion, Eden plucked a strand of his hair. With a faint sting, Ivatan’s heart dropped.

“I think I might need this.”

Holding up the single strand of hair, Eden gave an apologetic smile. She was so close to his face that he couldn’t even muster the anger.

Unaware of what Ivatan was going through, Eden nonchalantly turned back to the cabinet and pulled open its creaky old door.

There was nothing inside. Still, her expression was resolute.

“Let’s give it a try.”

She placed Ivatan’s hair inside the cabinet and closed the door. After pausing for three seconds, she abruptly flung it open again.

‘What on earth is she—’

Finally regaining his senses, Ivatan furrowed his brows and glanced into the still-empty cabinet—

Only to freeze.

“It worked!”

Eden beamed with delight as she turned toward him.

The plan was a success. Since she couldn’t exactly shove the embodiment of intelligence, Ivatan, into the cabinet, she had tried offering a part of him—and it had miraculously worked.

“Of course! Highest INT stat character in the whole world!”

Ivatan didn’t respond to her strange, unintelligible praise. His gaze remained locked on the cabinet, where a new space had now revealed itself.

“Let’s go! Quickly!”

Without hesitation, Eden stepped inside the cabinet. Ivatan’s face twisted in horror.

“Saintess!”

Despite his desperate cry, Eden didn’t stop walking, and in the end, Ivatan had no choice but to follow her into the cabinet.

 

Inside, a space smaller and more intimate than the outer storage revealed itself. It was clearly filled with mysterious—and dangerous—objects. Even some related to black magic.

To think such a place existed inside the imperial palace.

‘And why my hair, of all things…’

Still flustered and absently touching his hair, Ivatan quickly gathered himself and hurried to Eden’s side.

Eden, with a look like she was out shopping, was calmly surveying the area.

“How do you even find things like this…”

Ivatan asked in a tired voice, no longer even surprised.

“I’m just a little lucky.”

But luck alone couldn’t uncover things like this. Ivatan gave her a look full of complexity and murmured:

“……Are you really receiving divine revelations?”

“Hmm, something like that.”

“‘Something like that’?”

“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”

Ivatan sighed as Eden gave him that cheeky reply. Just then, as Eden continued searching for the codex, her hand moved toward something without thinking.

“Don’t touch that!”

Just as her fingers nearly brushed an old book, Ivatan swiftly grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

“It’s imbued with an explosive enchantment. Your wrist could easily be blown off.”

Gasp— A chill ran down Eden’s spine at his grim words. She quickly retracted her hand, and Ivatan released his grip just as promptly.

“Please don’t touch anything. You must not come to harm, Saintess.”

The firmness in his warning was laced with a subtle madness Eden had sensed before. Truly, he was a man of unwavering conviction.

“Yeah, yeah. I won’t die until I’ve wiped out every last monster in this world.”

Even as she said that sarcastically, Ivatan didn’t even flinch.

“Don’t touch that birdcage either. It holds something tainted by black magic.”

“Eep!” Startled, Eden leapt back from the birdcage hanging near her head and peered inside.

Just as he said, a grotesque bird doll with eerie symbols etched into its head creaked and moved its head meaninglessly.

It was the kind of unsettling symbol that looked like a knife stuck into a human brain—one glance was enough to feel revolted.

‘Ugh…’

Ivatan didn’t just know about monsters. He apparently knew all about black magic too. He really wasn’t just anyone.

Carefully avoiding contact with the dangerous items, Eden hunched her shoulders and walked on, casually asking:

“By the way, is that really your goal?”

At her sudden question, Ivatan glanced at her as he walked beside her.

“What do you mean?”

“Eliminating every monster on the continent.”

“Of course.”

“Do you think that’s even possible?”

At that, Ivatan came to a sudden halt. Eden, startled, stopped as well and looked up at him.

‘Now what?’

Did I say something wrong again?

But his gaze was fixed on the top of the bookshelf behind her. A moment later, he finally spoke.

“With you here, Saintess, it is possible.”

It was an embarrassingly resolute answer. But Eden had come to understand that this was Ivatan’s way of expressing trust.

Just as she was about to be moved by his boundless faith, Ivatan abruptly threw her a question.

“Do you still believe His Highness the Third Prince should be emperor?”

At the quiet inquiry, Eden paused momentarily before replying firmly.

“Of course. There is no other choice.”

Ivatan stared at her unwavering eyes for a while.

“……How does one earn such trust?”

“Sorry?”

He didn’t want to admit it—but he could no longer deny it. He was starting to feel envious of the trust Asmun received.

Even so, Ivatan could not drop his guard when it came to Asmun’s true nature. The desire to push Eden away from him had already quietly disappeared.

Ivatan reached out and plucked something from the bookshelf behind Eden’s head.

“There really is a codex fragment here.”

Gasp!

Startled, Eden turned her head like lightning—and saw the fragment in his hand.

As soon as she received it, a familiar alert popped up.

『【★】Basic Quest Complete!

: You’ve found a ‘Monster Codex Fragment’ in the Imperial Palace’s secret vault! Choose your reward.

<Prophecy Book / Item / Stat>』

‘Yes!’

After calmly confirming the quest clear screen, Eden let out a small breath and stared at the fragment with shining eyes as she began to read.

『

– A human who gains immense magical power through a contract with Mahared and becomes a monster in exchange.

Even after the ritual, the subject can retain their human form and freely shapeshift for quite some time, but the more they use their power, the more they are consumed by magic, eventually transforming completely into a monster.

Each transformed form varies by individual, but all share the traits of bat-like wings and yellow eyes.

The source of their power is a black sigil etched on their back during the contract. The more they use their strength, the more the sigil spreads.

A vast amount of magical power is required to conduct the ritual, and only a rare few possess the capacity to perform it. The success rate is also extremely low, making Kaleks exceptionally rare.』

“……”

As Eden finished reading the entry, her breath grew still, and a heavy silence filled the vault.

She lifted her head and locked eyes with Ivatan.

“Chancellor. Did you know that humans could become monsters?”

At her question, Ivatan’s brow subtly furrowed. He clearly hadn’t known either.

Eden handed him the fragment, and he quickly read through it.

“……That’s new to me.”

So it was indeed rare knowledge, even for Ivatan. Eden pressed her lips together and fell into thought.

Why was this the codex given to me?

‘It was the quest goal, so it must be important based on how the story’s unfolded so far…’

The information that humans could become monsters was certainly novel. But it didn’t feel immediately relevant. There wasn’t anyone around her who had become a monster…

Then, something suddenly flickered through Eden’s mind.

“……!”

It was the image of Patrian at the banquet, suddenly radiating overwhelming magical power. Eden instinctively parted her lips and held her breath.

‘Patrian is a Kalek.’

The clarity of the realization made her skin crawl.

‘That lunatic—on top of the Anagt Ritual, he made that cursed contract too?!’

With that in mind, everything made sense.

Why he, who had never been able to wield magic, could now unleash such power at this critical moment.

How he could be so intimately and messily entangled with the black mages!

“This guy’s completely insane.”