Chapter: 393
Having passed Jackal to Karia, I led my friends to the dungeon I had targeted.
This place was situated in the territory of a barony belonging to the Soladin Kingdom.
The barony, not particularly formidable nor steeped in history, simply couldn’t refuse our request to conquer a medium dungeon.
With a prince, a duke’s young lady, a count’s young lady, and senior members of the church all gathered, the baronial family had no choice but to comply; one slip-up could easily wipe them off the board.
“If you have any wishes, please let us know! We will do our utmost to cooperate!”
Baron Leez couldn’t stop the cold sweat from dripping as he greeted us. We hadn’t even threatened him specifically!
It’s amazing how the difference in status can make someone look so pitiful. As I watched Baron Leez seem to lose years off his life right in front of me, Grandpa let out a chuckle.
[Look at you and your friends. Who wouldn’t be scared?]
…Well, that’s true.
I mean, I didn’t even need to elaborate on myself.
Joy probably comes off as a deranged villainess to strangers.
Frey looks like a heartless fiend when he keeps quiet.
And Arthur can only adopt a stiff expression.
I now understood why Baron Leez kept glancing towards Phoebe.
It was pretty clear he was silently pleading for help.
Feeling that continuing this chat might actually cause the baron to faint, I thought of wrapping things up, but he spoke up in a sniveling tone.
“Our son will accompany you, so if you need anything, please let him know.”
Uh, seriously? Dude, are you sure you want to send your son along in this state? How is that even parental?
[That’s actually more of a choice for his son. It’s wise to build rapport like this with the higher-ups.]
‘So, you weren’t just trying to offload your kid?’
I almost mistook him for a bad dad trying to shove his responsibilities onto his son.
[Who knows.]
‘…Wasn’t he just being your spokesperson?’
[How would I know what’s in that guy’s heart? I’m not Karia.]
I was just pretending to understand Grandpa’s reasoning while trying to figure out what was up with the eldest son of the Leez family when I noticed something.
Huh? I’ve seen him somewhere before!
He was definitely one of the kids who took the academy entrance exam with me.
What was his name again…
Can’t remember!
All I could recall was the nickname that screamed “little brat” that Mesugaki skill used!
It was too strong in my mind!
“Leez Yungshik. Nice to see you again.”
As I was stammering, Joy stepped forward to greet him.
“It truly is an honor that Lady Partran remembers me.”
“Being too humble is also not good. Jacob Leez, you are worthy of recognition for breezing through the second year.”
Ah! That’s right! Jacob! It came back to me after hearing Arthur’s voice, and I moved up with a bright smile.
“Hello~ you little squirt~”
“Lady Alrn.”
After hearing the compliments from the two earlier, Jacob’s eyes were filled with hope. Seeing his expression made me feel playful.
“Why do your eyes look so creepy? What do you want to hear?”
“Um. Well…”
“If you speak honestly, I might share some honesty back.”
Looking up at Jacob while grinning, he turned red and looked down, a face too amusing to resist.
He’s much more entertaining than the usual crowd around me who were too used to this tone to respond.
Thought I might have fun playing around with him a bit more when Joy’s hand interrupted.
“Lady! Control your expression!”
Why is she causing a fuss now when she didn’t even say anything back at the mansion? Can’t a girl just have some fun with an amusing toy?
I expressed my discontent through my gaze, but Joy wouldn’t let go of her grip.
“…Haha. Ah, that’s it. I’ll guide you to the dungeon now!”
Finally regaining a semblance of composure, Jacob turned and quickly hid his flushed face while leading the way.
I frowned with disappointment, letting out a breath onto Joy’s palm.
“Eek?!”
Startling everyone around, Joy breezed herself with a fan, looking to conceal her face as she glared at me.
I just chuckled at her reaction, letting out soft snickers.
“…Lady!”
“Hmph.”
Hehe. Why is it such a hassle to enjoy my toy without being quiet?
This one’s on you for shutting me up, dummy.
*
Thanks to Alsetin’s earlier request for cooperation, there was already a decent accommodation near the medium dungeon in the Leez territory, complete with servants, guards, and cooks waiting for us.
While the treatment was more pompous than my family’s, my friends didn’t seem to mind at all. They appeared quite familiar with making demands of others.
[Isn’t this just standard? It’s normal to be pampered with that status.]
‘Not for me.’
I was just aiming to avoid any vulgarities; such treatment felt strange.
[Well, you’ll get used to it eventually. I’ll teach you how to do it…]
Once the preparations were done under the thoughtful care of the Leez family, one of the knights from the family stepped forward to explain the dungeon to us.
“Before entering the dungeon, let me tell you about it.”
I tried my best to listen without speaking much. Didn’t feel like answering why they knew so much about a dungeon I’d never been to.
“This dungeon has a total of eight patterns.”
Actually, if you count special forms, then it’s fourteen.
“As for distinguishing traps, look for the markings.”
Nope. The markings have nothing to do with the traps. To discern the traps, you have to check the floor.
“Regarding the boss patterns…”
…Well, that’s rubbish too. Are you even the ones managing this dungeon?!
Ugh, I can’t stand this! Someone’s got to turn this thing upside down.
“Hey, you dumb trash knight.”
“…Huh?”
“Shut it. Just listening to your ridiculous explanation is making my ears feel like they’re covered in garbage.”
Finally standing up after putting up with enough, I snatched the manual from the knight’s hands and began correcting all the mistakes.
As I showed my passion through every harsh critique aimed at the knight, I felt no guilt whatsoever.
It was about time someone taught the idiots believing in this wretched strategy a lesson!
Fuming as I completed the manual, I recalled the wise words of the ancient sages.
If you want a proper answer, you should not just ask the questions but irritate the other party enough that they can’t keep their mouth shut.
Damn it. I got caught this time, but next time won’t be the same. I’ll definitely make someone else explode with this tactic!
With that resolve, I left the knight from the Leez family standing there while I led my friends to the entrance of the dungeon.
“Lucy Alrn. What are you doing?”
Just as we were about to step into the dungeon, Arthur frowned.
“Does it look like I’m blind?”
“The medium dungeon has a limit of four people.”
Ah, right. I hadn’t told them that yet.
But how do I even start to explain about the increased party limit? Where do I begin?
As I pondered for a moment, I decided showing might be better than telling. So I half-forced Arthur, Joy, and Frey into the dungeon before slipping in with Phoebe.
Arthur, who got practically thrown in, shot me a annoyed look then froze as he caught sight of Phoebe next to me.
“Is my vision failing me? How can there be five individuals in a medium dungeon?!”
“Don’t overthink it, poor prince. It’s possible because I’m super special! Just accept that it’s how it is, okay?”
“What the hell… No, forget it. I’ll just hurt my own mouth speaking.”
Convinced easily, I sped ahead into the dungeon with my friends.
Dealing with the weaker mobs was just a waste of time. We need to get to our goal ASAP.
Following the same route I took in the academy dungeon, I arrived at the trap on the second floor within ten minutes.
“Is this the trap the knight mentioned?”
“They said stepping on it would summon monsters.”
Was it because we’ve been training so much? Despite running pretty hard, Arthur and Joy didn’t seem bothered at all.
Frey was already used to keeping pace with me, and Phoebe was also a bit breathless but still moving along fine.
After checking on everyone, I stepped onto the trap.
As soon as I did, the exit was blocked, and several magic circles appeared in the room.
The monster wave trap specific to this dungeon was activated.
“Lady?!”
“Lucy Alrn?! What are you—”
“If you have time to whine, how about you prepare for battle?”
I raised my shield leisurely, watching the monsters emerging from the magic circles while gathering my sanctity.
“Damn it! Can you let me at least mentally prepare?!”
“I’ll set up a wide-area spell! Phoebe! Blessing!”
“Working on it! Please wait just a moment!”
“This looks like it’s going to be fun.”
Let’s see how far my friends can go this time.
It would be awesome if we could trigger all the traps in the dungeon this time around.
That way, we could grind efficiently.
[Lucy, I understand you want to gain experience while facing continuously appearing foes, but are you forgetting something?]
‘You mean Agra’s interference? I actually wouldn’t mind that. Actually, I’d prefer it if he intervened.’
[…What?]
‘What he can stir up in this dungeon is quite predictable.’
Just like before, I sincerely hoped he would barge in this time.
That way, we could obtain more rewards from this expedition.
After returning a message back to Grandpa confirming there wouldn’t be any problems, I raised my shield, ready for the horde of monsters charging towards us.
Let’s try to grind for about half a day now!
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