Mika regained consciousness but didn't open her eyes.

She could feel that something wasn't right.

Her body was feeling too well.

She clearly remembered the excruciating wave of pain ripping her muscles apart before she threw up blood, how come she now felt so comfortable and safe?

It was as if she had her father by her side...

No.

Not even that.

It felt as if some omnipotent benevolent guardian had stepped down from the heavens and was now nursing her to health.

She felt completely safe.

And that was completely unthinkable in her current situation.

The ashen-haired girl slowly opened her eyes just a tiny bit to check her surroundings.

She was laying on a simple bed and there was someone sitting on a chair by her side.

Someone mindful enough to keep an appropriate distance.

Mika's heart began beating faster.

Was it Corvus?

Was he waiting by her bedside, waiting for her to wake up because he realized that he has feelings for her?!

Mika hurriedly opened her eyes and faced the calm person.

"Cor...! Eh? My lord? EH?! My lord...?!"

She exclaimed, stopping mid-word just to gasp in confusion when the person she expected to see turned out to be someone completely different - the rat-faced man, one of the adventurers that arrived in the Sloth territory together with Corvus, Mary, and the three bodyguards...

And then she gasped realizing how she unintentionally addressed him.

"Oh, young lady, you woke up, I see."

Shanks's palm stopped glowing and he lowered it with a relieved expression.

"I was getting worried that you might sleep through the next wave. And honestly, I'm not entirely sure that you are allowed to do that, the special quest you received is quite bothersome."

He smirked and tilted his head, watching Mika with his pale blue eyes glowing with distinct light blue light.

"You can see my quest, my lord?!"

Mika gasped in shock.

"Yeah, I have almost forgotten how many skills I actually have. It's truly bothersome."

Shanks sighed and smiled with melancholy.

"Young lady. There is something I wanted to discuss with you."

He added, looking back at the ashen-haired girl.

"Yes?!"

Mika unintentionally straightened her back and responded in a loud voice.

"It seems that the monster waves of the -Final frontier- quest truly are too much for the Sloth soldiers."

The rat-faced man leaned forward and started explaining.

"It looks like that deep in the northern mountains lives a monster like we never saw before. The beam that you had the displeasure of seeing in action was a skill of said monster... At least that's what my skill, Sophia, is suggesting."

He said and Mika nodded, not even considering that the man could be wrong or lying.

"Do you remember that you received quite a sizable amount of status points before you fainted?"

Shanks suddenly changed the subject, or so it seemed.

"Eh...? Ah! Y-yes! I do remember that. It looked like it was a reward for gaining a unique achievement..."

Mika answered, lowering her head as her eyes begun stinging once she realized why she got the achievement.

"Yes... right now most of your skills are over 8000, your DEF, so your physical defense is around 9500 while your ATK, so a physical attack, is over 11000. That makes you the third strongest person currently in the entire Sloth territory."

Shanks nodded his head and started listing, counting on his fingers.

"What do you mean my lo... sir...? Weren't all Sloth soldiers incredibly strong? Bruiser 97-F highest status points value is... was around 12000, and he was only a normal soldier."

Mika asked confused, flinching, and getting visibly sad as she corrected herself when talking about the boy who was no longer alive.

"Bruiser 97-F wasn't just a common soldier. He was the squad leader of the strongest close combat unit in the entire Sloth army."

"What?!"

Shanks explained and Mika gasped in shock.

"But...! Then...! Then what were he and his squad doing here guarding us and not fighting on the first line of defense?!"

The ashen-haired girl wasn't able to accept what he just heard.

"Young lady, you seem to underestimate the consequences that failing your special quest would have on the rest of the kingdom. One of the failure conditions is your death - of course, that the higher-ups would send the best unit to watch over you."

"...!"

Shanks words left Mika speechless with her mouth half-open.

"Let me talk more bout the Sloth soldier for a moment. You surely noticed that some of them have -F added to their numbers, right?"

Shanks asked and then continued without waiting for Mika to answer.

"All the -Fs are the experimental ones, the human experiments set for a Failure. Each of them has received a variant of the Acedia skill of high level - the higher the number before -F, the stronger the Acedia skill, and the amount of bonus status points added with each level up. Your friend, bruiser 97-F was only the second person in Sloth territory who survived the increase of around 1000 points to his stats with the exception of LUC."

"Wait! What do you mean 1000 points to his stats during a level-up? He was level 111!"

Mika interrupted Shanks, pointing out the mistake.

"Yes. Until level 99, the variant of Acedia that is given to the soldiers only increases their level normally. From the data I have, your friend was averaging at 500 status points each when he reached level 99. And once he got to level 100 the Acedia has kicked in."

"..."

Once again the rat-faced man's words have left Mika speechless.

"Good. Now that we have this out of the way, I want to discuss something important with you, young lady."

Shanks nodded and rubbed his hands together.

"With your sudden empowerment, the situation has changed completely. The higher-ups think that you no longer need protection and instead, you should be the one protecting others."

He declared, making it clear that he shares the same opinion.

"You mean...?!"

Mika's eyes widened and she asked, clenching her fists.

"Indeed. Your plea to be transferred to the first line of defense had been re-reviewed and approved."

Shanks smirked and nodded.

"Your friends are already preparing for the departure. If you're feeling well enough already, you can join them."