Chapter 38: Focus, Concentration, and Planning

"..." Nio went with Melissa to a more suitable place to talk about what Melissa wanted to say before the minor conflict with Azalea. The whole way there, Nio couldn’t stop looking at Melissa’s entire body. She really does look like a normal girl.

Not because she physically resembles one, but because everything monstrous is hidden. Her hands and arms are completely concealed by gloves that reach all the way to the sleeves of her maid outfit.

Her legs and thighs are covered by dark stockings, and even her face has that cute, realistic-looking mask. So aside from Melissa’s unpleasant voice and the stinger that can’t be hidden by her clothes, those are what give away that she isn’t human.

’I did a top-tier job on the game’s modeling system... she really does look human enough, but she still has that touch of strangeness, like a non-human...’ Nio, seated on an elegant sofa, faces Melissa, who is kneeling on the floor.

"So, what did your children find out? It better be something that justifies your attitude at a time when my palace is in shambles." Nio is still a bit sulky that Azalea allowed those things to go outside, but at least Melissa’s children can’t form a new hive without the honey that only Melissa can produce.

"W-Well, twenty of them went out with Azalea’s permission. They went to see how many good prey were around us and the potential capacity to generate many—"

"Skip that part. I don’t want to know how many children you can make with someone’s living body." Nio quickly tries to skip the disgusting part.

But interrupting Melissa makes her frustrated. Melissa thinks about many things. If Nio is so strong, why doesn’t she make the island fly? It’s just a piece of land, and someone with her powers theoretically should be able to, but she says nothing.

Because Nio’s power is indisputable, and Melissa’s instincts make it clear she stands no chance of beating Nio in combat, so she stays quiet and accepts the treatment.

"...U-Understood, I-I’ll try to skip what doesn’t matter. Where was I... eh... ah, after that they kept wandering, since there’s no village or kingdom very close. But along the way, a good distance from here, they found a battlefield full of living dead and corpses rotted to an extreme level that indicates a few months after death."

"It seems to be a place where many battles are fought. They also found several paths that appear to be used to travel from one kingdom to another, and they also found an interesting forest with monsters."

’She’s dodging what matters...’ Nio notices immediately that Melissa’s focus remains on her children and the potential prey she found.

"Focus."

"And... w-well, I found some precious and useful ores that aren’t being mined. Apparently, the dominant races of this world don’t know how to use even half of what the planet offers."

"Some of them are like, really rare!!! I’m not talking about gold or diamonds!! I mean magic-laden ores used for weapons, armor, and batteries for certain relics!"

’That sounds good. It shows that game items can still be obtained, even if it’s just some of the common raw materials...’ Nio nods approvingly at Melissa.

"A-Also, I noticed that the use of magic, even the kind used by monsters, is poorly refined, almost crude. D-Despite everyone having the system, no one knows how to use refinement, where low-level magic is considered mid-level magic, and mid-level magic is considered high-level magic."

’Wait... they literally skipped an entire tier upward?’ To Nio, someone considering mid-level magic equal to high-level magic is ridiculous in so many ways. They are very different, and she’s surprised she didn’t notice that fact even after going to the theocracy.

’I didn’t see much of this world’s magic... it seems I got too focused on myself and forgot to look at some other angles from this world’s people’s perspective...’

"All of this is... really important. The fact that they don’t use ores beyond the basics makes the level of this world’s weapons clear, and the fact that they skip an entire class of magic also shows the base level of the world’s magic..."

"A-Ah, yes!! And I also discovered some dragon nests! It seems common!! Like, there’s one in the forest, one below the ground near here, one in the mountains at a distance, among some others! But they seem kind of weak." When Melissa mentions the most important part as an afterthought, Nio is first frustrated, then surprised.

’Dragons... Hmmm... I should go check that out soon... Dragons in the game were a rare race to find. Even if they were stupid, irrational dragons, they were high-level monsters, so they only spawned in specific locations...’ She stares at Melissa, who is still prostrate on the floor in an abnormally static state, waiting to be dismissed.

"You can leave. I appreciate the information. For now, tell Azalea we’ll have a lot of work. I’ll check on those dragons personally." As Melissa leaves, Nio thinks about the dragons. To Nio, dragons are a great way to measure the strength of monsters.

If dragons in the game were a strong monster, then in this world their strength will also serve as a good baseline to measure the strength of various monsters below a dragon’s level.

’There’s the theocracy, there are these dragons, ores, discovering more things, and increasing the palace’s defense... so many objectives at once...’ She sighs, looking at her own tail before just shaking her head.

"Typhon won’t just wait, but I don’t think she’ll come after me yet. She’s smarter than I expected, so she’ll prepare carefully like me. She has a personality similar to a player..." Nio grabs her tail, touching it softly as she thinks a bit more about it before just giving up for now.

’Whatever! I worked so hard to build this palace! I have to defend everything I built with tooth and nail. It’s not just a construction; it was my entire life in that game building this.’ She becomes determined, because there is a real reason to protect everything she built.

"Focus! Concentration! And planning! Like it always was. I just have to be who I always was in the game. Typhon is like a powerful boss, and I’m the player who will defeat that boss!" She gives a confident smile in her abilities. The battle against Typhon didn’t leave her scared; it only solidified her determination, which grew exponentially with the results.