Vampire Princess Guide in Progress - Volume 1 Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Cross’s New Teammate

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“…How beautiful.”

Standing at the doorway of the room, Cross’s deep blue eyes reflected the dreamlike beautiful girl sitting there, and the first thought that involuntarily came to her mind under the initial visual impact was this impression.

No, wait! Hold on!

Why was there an unfamiliar beautiful girl in Nolan’s room!?

Cross quickly shook her little head, trying to prioritize the more urgent matter.

When did Nolan—

“…” The white-haired girl sitting on the bed pressed her lips together with a somewhat troubled expression, but her gaze quickly returned to Cross, attempting to conceal something as she addressed Cross with feigned composure: “Hello, Miss Cross.”

“Eh? How do you know…”

“Nolan told me about you.” Tilia raised her face, continuing to speak without blushing or showing nervousness, “It was also Nolan who gave me access to this room and transferred the rental to me, and asked me to find you.”

Sorry, Cross, before I completely figure out this identity of mine, please allow me to keep this secret.

Besides, even if she revealed her identity directly, Cross probably wouldn’t believe her anyway. After all, it would be difficult to explain at once that in this game everyone enters with their real-life appearance, and having dual characters shouldn’t be possible.

And even if Cross did believe her, she would face interrogations like “why did you become a girl,” “how do you feel about becoming so cute,” and “you’re such a pervert” — questions that would make the current Tilia blush with embarrassment and want to hide from shame.

So before returning to the inn, Tilia had already decided to temporarily keep her situation secret.

As for whether she could maintain the secret, it would depend on her improvised acting skills. For this reason, her sitting posture was very proper and formal, trying to make her behavior more like a lady, more fitting to her current image and temperament.

“Oh? So you’re Nolan’s friend, big sister?” Cross asked hesitantly with a hint of confusion.

Strange, why does this seem a bit suspicious…

Come to think of it, Nolan spent most of his time with her, and she had met friends like Kilo and Karl, but she had never seen this lady before. However, being able to enter Nolan’s room, he must have given her access permission…

So Nolan had actually made friends with such a beautiful girl.

“Yes, I know him and we’ve been in contact.”

“Ah, then! Then could you please tell me what happened tonight? Did Nolan really go alone to challenge the second floor BOSS? He was originally on a team with me, but left without a word, without leaving any message…”

Hearing these words, Cross immediately put aside her suspicions and looked at Tilia as if she had found a lifeline.

Seeing her urgent expression, Tilia’s face froze slightly, then she kindly invited Cross to enter the room, as it seemed awkward to have her standing at the doorway, and their conversation could be heard from downstairs at the inn.

At least in the game, the walls of the rooms had good soundproofing, providing a relatively private space.

“Please come in, Miss Cross.”

“Regarding Nolan, don’t worry about him. As you can see, he did go to challenge the second floor BOSS, and managed to succeed. However, because it’s very dangerous on the front lines of BOSS raids, and it’s not safe to stay active on the front lines for long, he decided to advance to the next floor alone.”

“It seems fate favored him, not letting him die in the BOSS battle. Unexpectedly, he’s quite resilient.”

Tilia explained to Cross, and the tone of her last sentence seemed to carry a hint of self-mockery.

Sitting beside her, Cross held her magic staff across her legs and spoke softly, almost to herself: “So that’s how it is…”

But why didn’t Nolan mention anything to her about the BOSS battle? This friend of his knew about it, but he hadn’t told her? Was it because he thought she would worry and try to stop him from taking such a risk?

Seeing Cross’s particularly dejected appearance, Tilia seemed to realize she had overlooked something.

But at that time, she had been solely focused on challenging the BOSS, not considering other matters. She had stepped onto the second floor almost with the determination to face death, and thinking about it now, she should have left a message for Cross, even if it might have been a farewell message.

Suddenly disappearing like that would indeed cause confusion and anxiety.

It was more likely that Cross would feel hurt, thinking she wasn’t considered a friend at all.

But for someone unfamiliar with the second floor BOSS, participating in the BOSS battle would not only be useless but could also easily result in death, perhaps even perishing in the area of effect of skills. In such high-intensity, fast-paced combat, she couldn’t look after anyone else.

This was also why she resolutely chose to go alone to the challenge, because even if she failed, at most only she would die.

No matter what, she absolutely couldn’t let Cross accompany her into danger.

“I apologize on his behalf. Nolan’s personality is somewhat problematic, and I sincerely hope you can forgive him…” Tilia lowered her head slightly, showing self-awareness and feeling somewhat ashamed. “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Tilia.”

“Now, what are your plans from here on, Miss Cross? Will you stay in the safe floor areas… or continue to explore upward?”

“I… haven’t decided yet.” Cross slightly raised her head and turned to look at Tilia sitting beside her.

Now that tonight’s events had become clear and settled, she indeed needed to consider her next steps. Without a doubt, Nolan had opened the path to the third floor and continued forward as a solo explorer.

Previously, she had always followed Nolan’s lead, going wherever he went.

And now that he had left the team, it meant she would have to choose her own path from now on…

Regarding this, Tilia spoke first: “I also want to team up with others to play this game. Going solo is certainly too difficult. I heard from Nolan that you’re a ranged mage with quite good talent, so… are you interested?”

“Ah! With me!?”

Cross blinked, somewhat surprised by the honor.

Quite good talent…

In fact, her control of magic was taught to her by Nolan, and she didn’t really consider herself exceptionally talented.

But learning game skills shouldn’t be very difficult in essence, right?

“Yes, with you, Miss Cross.” Tilia reaffirmed, “That’s why I came to find you tonight first, to ask for your opinion. I also need a companion, and I’m also a magic user, but I can handle both close and ranged combat.”

“I-I understand!”

After a moment of consideration and triple confirmation, Cross hurriedly brought up the system interface, earnestly looking for the friend request page.

This beautiful girl in front of her was also Nolan’s friend.

And she probably wanted to get to know and team up with her at Nolan’s recommendation, just when Cross was left alone. Having truly confirmed that Nolan was safe and sound, Cross was also happy that Nolan had successfully defeated the BOSS.

After all, Cross knew that someone like Nolan would definitely become a player in the front-line raid group. She certainly couldn’t keep up with his pace forever, separation was inevitable. More importantly, before parting, he had taught her so much and taken care of her a lot.

Now this girl named Tilia was like herself back then, hoping to find someone to be her teammate.

She never thought she would become someone others hoped to rely on, which suddenly gave Cross a sense of responsibility similar to what Nolan had felt. So now it was her turn to take care of and protect someone else, right?

And this time it was another girl like herself.

Among female players, the casual PVX type made up the majority, not very adept at combat, so they were quite rare on the front lines. Perhaps she could also have her first female friend in this game, maybe even develop a close friendship or something similar?

In any case, having a friend to accompany and help each other in this game would definitely be better than being alone.

“Is that okay?”

Seeing Cross not responding immediately, Tilia tilted her head slightly, unconsciously exuding charm, blinking her beautiful clear eyes as she asked softly.

Cross felt her heart being strongly struck.