The story of the black silk female knight

Tia was so angry that her waves trembled like the wind rising over the sea.

She immediately pounced on the bed, pinning Valensa down with her body and covering Valensa's head with the blanket:

"I think you're not just suffering from water in your lungs! You're suffering from water in your brain! Don't worry, I'll dry you off with the blanket right away! Humph!"

Valensa immediately kicked her legs wildly as if she had been murdered, but fortunately Tia didn't use any force at all, and the two of them immediately started rolling around and making a ruckus.

"You liar! You were lying to me after all!"

Seeing that Valensa was completely unharmed, Tia became even more furious. Unable to outmatch Valensa in strength and skill, she had no choice but to use her last weapon.

Ouch! Bite!

Valensa, seeing that she had the upper hand, took the opportunity to make a "goo" sound to surrender and beg for mercy from Tia, and then carried Tia back into the large wooden tub in the bathroom.

"I'm sorry, Tia, I was wrong, I shouldn't have lied to you."

While apologizing, Valensa made Tia lie face down on the edge of the bathtub with her back to her.

"To express my apology, let me wash your hair and back... Once we return to the capital, I probably won't have the chance to do this again; your maids will take over."

With a hint of regret in her voice, Valensa skillfully washed Tia's back and styled her smooth, beautiful silver hair.

"Fool……"

Tia squinted her eyes and muttered comfortably in a low voice:

"Even if we go back to the capital, we can still take a bath together... If you don't want others to disturb you, just don't call a maid to serve you, right?"

"Huh? Tia, what did you just say?"

Valensa actually heard it very clearly, but she pretended not to hear it and asked with a mischievous smile.

"...Fine, you didn't hear me, you idiot!"

Tia clearly had no intention of saying it a second time; she just pouted and glared at Valensa angrily.

This time, they didn't leave the bathtub casually. After washing themselves clean, they put on their bathrobes and black and white stockings, turned off the lights, and got into bed.

“…Hey, idiot.”

Instead of saying goodnight immediately, Tia hesitated for a moment before asking softly and earnestly:

"Regarding what Belloc said... about the female scouts using their bodies as weapons... do you also have that awareness?"

"Huh? Tia, are you really bothered by this?"

Valensa feigned surprise, but seeing the anger in Tia's eyes, she quickly reassured her:

"Don't worry, I definitely won't seduce men... Have you forgotten? The biggest principle of the elite troops is that there are no principles. As long as the mission can be completed, any means are acceptable."

Using my body to seduce someone is certainly one way, but I'm sure I'll find a better option.

"……Fool!"

As a result, Tia was not relieved at all; instead, she became even more worried and angry.

But she didn't argue loudly with Valencia; her voice was so soft that only she could hear it.

“I’ve never worried that you would seduce men, because I know you definitely wouldn’t… I’m worried that you’ll use the excuse of completing a mission to seduce women everywhere…”

Chapter 137 The third level

After a good night's rest in Mora, the rest of the journey went smoothly.

The entire route was along official roads, with occasional patrols by small cavalry squads from the Kingdom of Fran. Valensa's somewhat anticipated beating up of bandits never materialized.

Even if some dim-witted monsters occasionally try to block the road, they will quickly be crushed like fish by Giru's blunt heavy sword.

On the 14th day after departing from Suli City, Tia's team successfully arrived in the royal capital, finally completing the food escort mission for the Food Association.

[Congratulations, Miss Valencia Bader, you have passed the second stage of the test. You spent 391 hours on the second stage, exceeding the time spent by 37.4% of this year's candidates.]

Now, please proceed to the Trial Maze outside the capital as soon as possible to begin your third test. We wish you the best of luck!

Such a prompt soon appeared on Valencia's scroll, and similarly on the others.

"This second stage took us a bit too long... but there's nothing we can do about it, we were just unlucky enough to run into a restricted area and even had to do a bonus question..."

Tia sighed, then looked at her teammates:

"In short, everyone should do their best in the third round. I hope we can have another drink together at the freshman welcome banquet."

"Don't worry, it will happen!"

As Melody spoke, she gave Tia a quick hug:

"You are an excellent captain. We hope to have the opportunity to work together again."

"Yes, we hope to have the opportunity to work together again."

Tia smiled and nodded:

"You three are so amazing, you'll definitely become classmates."

Although the third stage does not restrict team formation, teams are generally small, as too many people will slow down the completion speed.

So the group had already discussed it on the way, and the temporary team would disband on the spot after the escort mission was over, and they would see each other again at the freshman welcome banquet.

The third assessment for the Logistics Department did not require going to the Trial Maze, so Asashi and Luca left first, followed by Melody and the others.

The Trial Labyrinth was originally a large underground city controlled by monsters, and it contained many traps and mechanisms designed to deal with adventurers.

Later, the dungeon was breached by the Kingdom of Fran and the Church of the Sun, and was handed over to the War Academy for practical training.

The War Academy made all the traps and mechanisms in the dungeon non-lethal and introduced some monsters that could be controlled with alchemical potions as training subjects for the students.

Not only is it the third stage of the admissions assessment, but even after enrollment, most of the practical courses for the elite and command departments will be conducted in the Trial Maze.

The third stage is where the candidates will enter one of the areas of the Trial Maze, which contains hundreds of rooms that are unevenly distributed.

Each room contains different mechanisms or monsters, with different points awarded depending on the difficulty level.

Candidates can earn points for completing puzzles or defeating monsters in each room. Once they accumulate 10 points, they will pass the third test.

When entering the room, candidates are not restricted to either being alone or in a team, but the points are fixed, and the more people there are, the fewer points each person receives.

If you go alone, you'll get stuck in a room you're not comfortable in.

Wasting time is a minor issue; if you are completely defeated by monsters and traps in the room, you will lose your eligibility for the assessment.

However, too many people will result in too few points for each individual, so forming a team of two or three people who can complement each other's weaknesses has always been the best choice to pass the third stage of the assessment.

Melody, Giru, and Harry, the three musketeers, will definitely be together, and Valensa will naturally team up with her best friend Tia.

"We are indeed a bit late."

After entering the designated area of ​​the trial maze, Tia observed for a moment, then shrugged and sighed:

"Most of the easier rooms have already been taken down. What's left are the more difficult ones or those with really annoying mechanics."

"It's okay~~"

Seeing that no one was around, Valensa simply grabbed Tia's arm:

"Anyway, Tia, you're smart and capable. Getting me 20 points will be a piece of cake, right? These rooms are difficult but give a lot of points, isn't that perfect?"

"Don't even think about slacking off!"

Tia immediately rolled her eyes at Valensa, clearly annoyed.

"I'm fine with solving those kinds of puzzles, but when it comes to monsters, you'll have to step in! I'm a support-type spellcaster who's not good at direct combat!"

"It's alright, I think we should definitely focus on declassifying the mechanisms."

Valensa chuckled:

"Tia, have you forgotten about Melody and the others who came in before us? They'll definitely be targeting the rooms with powerful monsters."

"...You're the only one who knows how to slack off!"

Tia pinched Valensa's waist again before continuing deeper into the maze:

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and catch up, we don't have much time left."

"I'm coming……"

Valensa quickly went to Tia's side again and hugged her arm. The two of them started choosing a room to go into, just like best friends shopping together.

The specific trial content inside the room cannot be seen from the outside; the only way to know the room's score and main trial type is through the symbols and numbers on the door.

The two women hadn't gone far when Valensa's eyes lit up, and she pointed to a certain room:

"Tia, look... that one actually has a score of 6, and it's still in the trial phase... could it be Melody and the others?"

"Very likely."

Tia smiled and nodded:

"A room rated 6, and a trial mainly focused on combat, means that there is very likely a Lighthouse-level monster inside. This level of difficulty would certainly deter most candidates, but it shouldn't be a problem for Melody and the other two."

"So let's hurry up! We all came together, it would be too embarrassing if they all got through the same room and we still had zero points."

Valensa then pulled Tia to another unused room:

"Tia, what do you think of this room? It offers a 3-point reward and is a puzzle-solving trial. Isn't it perfect for you to shine, Tia?"

"It's perfect for you to be lazy, isn't it!"

Tia immediately saw through Valensa's intentions and gave her a light kick.

However, as the daughter of the chief strategist, Tia also has her pride.

Is it a puzzle trial with a difficulty level of 3 points?

It's good to exercise your brain a little first.

So Tia didn't refuse, but instead quickened her pace and pushed open the door to the trial room before Valensa could.

A burst of black and white light immediately surged out from inside the room, sucking the two women in and making them feel as if they were falling headfirst into a deep pit, causing them to spin around in a dizzying sensation.

A few seconds later, Valensa, who was in better physical condition, stood up first, only to find that she and Tia were actually on a giant chessboard.

Chapter 138 The Big Dog is Here

"Is this... a chessboard for war games?"

Valensa supported Tia, who was still a little dizzy, while carefully observing her.

This trial labyrinth, formerly known as the Monster Dungeon, clearly utilizes spatial expansion technology. The current trial room should be an independent small space, similar to the interior of a spatial storage item.

The most eye-catching thing was naturally the chessboard under her feet. The chessboard was very large, and each square was big enough for Valensa to lie in the middle in a starfish shape, without her hands and feet touching the edge of the square.

In the center of the chessboard is a double cylindrical mechanism that is thinner at the top and thicker at the bottom, which looks like it is for manually activating the trial.

"It is indeed a chessboard for war games."

Tia also recovered from the dizziness of the spatial teleportation while Valensa was looking around, and concluded much faster than Valensa:

"I'm very familiar with this stuff, after all, I've been playing with it since I was a kid... Remember? When we were kids, you always lost to me at chess, and every time you lost you'd come up with a bunch of lame excuses..."

"Things like the wind is too noisy today, or the moon is too bright, make me want to laugh every time I see you talking nonsense with such a straight face."

"Oh dear... let's not dwell on the past, Tia. I'm just a silly, pretty female knight, how could I possibly beat a genius girl like you at chess?"

Valensa didn't mind Tia talking about her embarrassing past at all; instead, she took the opportunity to hug Tia's arm, giving off a "I'm a noob and need a pro to carry me" vibe.

"Since Tia, your chess skills are so high, isn't this room's trial just giving us free points? It's all up to you now!"

"Hmph, lazybones~~"

Tia rolled her eyes at Valensa, but did not refuse, because she was indeed very confident in her skills in playing wargames.

The rules of this game are somewhat similar to, yet different from, those of chess in Valencia's previous life.

Each side has eleven pieces: one king and ten pawns.

Soldiers can only move forward or left and right at the beginning, and can only move one square at a time.

A piece can only be promoted when it captures another piece.

When upgraded to a chariot for the first time, it can move in four directions: forward, backward, left, and right, with no distance limit.

When promoted to Queen for the second time, it can move freely in eight directions, including diagonally, with no distance limit. However, it is unique in the entire game, and once it is eaten, other vehicles cannot be promoted again.