Chapter: 379
Is it because the person who learned dungeon conquering from me has gone from one to two?
The dungeon conquering in the island nation progressed much smoother than yesterday. With Joy’s quick thinking leading the way and Arthur solving the parts she clumsily missed, it was no wonder we were speeding through.
Of course, I had anticipated this situation and set a three-hour limit for our dungeon conquests.
When I informed Arthur and Joy, they whined about how cutting an hour from yesterday’s time didn’t make sense, but under my threat to bring it down to two hours, they dutifully nodded along.
“Don’t worry. It’s not like I don’t know how useless and dumb you two can be! Today, I’ll give you a special chance for two attempts.”
I decided to cut down the time limit but granted them one extra opportunity. If they succeeded in conquering even once during the two attempts today, they’d win our bet.
I knew they wouldn’t succeed within three hours no matter how hard they fought, and yet, as I wrapped up the first dungeon conquest, I found myself regretting my self-assuredness from this morning.
“Damn it. If only we had been twenty minutes faster.”
“But I saw hope! We can totally do this.”
“Right. Let’s address our issues before heading to the next dungeon.”
There were plenty of reasons my predictions went wrong.
One major factor was that Joy turned out to be much smarter than I ever expected.
After receiving the dungeon strategy book from me last night, she made it obvious she didn’t want to read it but devoured the pages at lightning speed.
At a glance, it seemed like she was just skimming through, but that wasn’t the case. Joy was memorizing the contents while speed-reading.
Sounds ridiculous, right? I thought the same when she claimed to have memorized it all! But the parts she thought were essential? She had them all locked away in her head.
Even when we entered the dungeon and applied what she’d written in the book, I was taken aback. It’s true that Joy had the top-tier talents among magician characters, but who knew her intelligence would be this high?! For a moment, I nearly found myself begging for half of that genius!
Still, being Joy, she made mistakes along the way.
Luckily, Arthur was right beside her to fix those mistakes immediately, doubling Joy’s effectiveness.
Adding to the chaos was Frey, whose enthusiasm was off the charts today. Usually, she’d carelessly charge ahead, but today, she actively cooperated with Arthur and Joy!
I was seriously contemplating whether I should throw a wrench into things mid-way! At this rate, I genuinely felt I would lose our bet!
But ultimately, we managed to overcome the crisis. Although there was still one chance left, that wasn’t a huge issue. We just had to move to a more challenging location than initially planned.
Now that I had a grasp of their levels, if we headed to a place they couldn’t conquer within three hours, I’d be safe! I could maintain my pride and win the bet!
“Damn it!”
“If we had been just a little faster, it would’ve been good,” Arthur lamented.
Even though I had brought them to the dungeon specifically to win the bet, the results were far too close for comfort.
How on earth are these two growing so fast? Are these seriously the top-tier characters I could recruit at Soul Academy?!
Imagining what would’ve happened had we thrown Phoebe into the mix made me chuckle.
No matter how exceptional their skills were, in the end, the one who won the bet was me!
Standing between the two of them, who were reminiscing about today as they faced the entrance leading out of the dungeon, I grinned wickedly.
“Losers. It’s time for your fun punishment! Have you been waiting for this? Is your heart racing?”
Upon hearing my words, Joy turned pale as she glanced at Arthur’s rabbit ears, and Arthur, in resignation, lowered his head, voice filled with frustration.
“Lucy Alrn. Just remember this. We still have plenty of chances left.”
“Oh wow, you’re so scary~ What kind of embarrassing things is the poor prince plotting to make me do?”
“No, not at all.”
“What if? What if? What if the poor prince suddenly attacks me?”
“…Oh my. Prince.”
“A prince, a horrendously perverted one?”
“No, I really have no intention of doing that! I value my life! I don’t want to be killed by Alrn!”
Arthur was panicking under the concentrated fire of the three of us, his voice rising in horror before he sighed heavily.
“Fine. Do whatever you want. I refuse to be your punchline.”
“Great! The airhead prince is going to take the punishment! Ha! Guess you’re trying to look all cool since you’re a guy and all.”
“What?”
“Huh?!”
The moment Joy’s glimmer of hope met Arthur’s bewildered gaze, I burst into laughter.
I couldn’t contain myself at the contrast between their previous overwhelming abilities and how foolish they looked now.
After chuckling for a good while, I wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of my eyes and raised a snarky grin.
“Seriously, airhead? Were you planning to survive alone? That’s so petty and mean!”
“N-no, I just…”
“And the poor prince! So unwilling to sacrifice even that little bit! What a selfish whiner you are!”
“…Damn it. Have I been played again?”
Having thoroughly teased them enough, I made sure to hand out an equal amount of punishment to keep Arthur and Joy from falling out.
*
After finishing our dungeon conquest and returning to our lodging, Arthur and Joy baited Frey with snacks and began strategizing to win the next bet.
The urgency in their actions stemmed from one reason: if they continued to suffer under the punishments Lucy presented, they would surely meet a grim fate.
“First, it was the bunny headband, and next, I had to paint bunny whiskers with ink. Lucy Alrn’s intentions are clear. She’s trying to make us wear bunny decorations from head to toe.”
Joy, wearing only the bunny headband, looked serious as she listened to Arthur.
But the juxtaposition of his solemn tone with bunny ears and whiskers was just too much.
Feeling the absurdity of it all, Arthur’s cheeks flared bright red as he tried to maintain his composure.
“Joy. What comes to mind when you think of a bunny?”
“Um. Uh. Uh…”
“Alright, don’t say any more. My guess is something like bunny nose or tail will come next.”
He figured the addition of bunny ears and whiskers was just a foreshadowing of punishments still related to bunnies.
“The problem is it doesn’t seem like this will end here.”
There were still five days left in our dungeon conquests, while the expected punishments were far too few. Even if they had to imitate rabbit noses or tails, there would still be days left.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Joy stopped her laughter and cautiously spoke up.
“What kind of punishments do you think the prince will have to face?”
“I’ve heard somewhere about costumes that mimic being a bunny. Perhaps Lucy Alrn sees that as a final punishment.”
Joy recalled the outfit she had seen about half a year ago during a field trip with Lucy. It was the outrageously revealing outfit Lucy wore to negotiate with the forest guardian.
If, if that were the ultimate punishment…
“Absolutely not!”
Imagining herself wearing that outfit made Joy’s face flush bright red as she spoke up.
“No way! That’s something I can never wear! It’s a question of honor for the young lady of the Partran family!”
“I see you have an inkling. Have you seen it?”
“…Didn’t you, prince?”
“I’ve only heard stories. Can you describe what it’s like?”
“Well, um. It’s like, um…”
As she struggled to explain, Joy ultimately fell silent.
Beside them, Frey, munching on snacks, casually threw out a comment while shrugging at Arthur.
“Prince. Pervert.”
“What part of that conversation remotely resembled anything about being a pervert?”
“Pervert. Pervert.”
*
After dinner, I slipped out of the hostel, following where the map pointed me.
Once again, I was the only one permitted to cross the barrier.
Perhaps because of what happened early yesterday morning, everyone—except Karl—let me go without any regard.
Of course, Karl was insisting once more that he couldn’t let the young lady be put in danger, but talk was pointless since he couldn’t cross the barrier.
Upon entering the restricted area, I was greeted by the dungeon I had previously tackled.
Although the difficulty level was intense enough to take one’s life if they let their guard down, for me, it was just another walk in the park.
At this point, it became evident that the dungeon’s end would be similar to the previous day. I once again found myself facing the memories Lucy had from her past.
“It’s alright, Lucy. Your mother isn’t one to easily die.”
Compared to yesterday, Mira’s appearance, sitting on the bed, was far more haggard. The disease had taken hold of her.
Benedict, who loved his wife dearly, had been doing everything he could to cure Mira’s illness, but all attempts had ended in failure.
No priest or magician could even begin to fathom the disease plaguing her.
“I’ll stay beside our Lucy until she becomes a grandmother.”
Desperately clutching onto her fading sanity as the disease intensified, Mira always put on a brave front in front of Lucy, determined to be her daughter’s support, with no hints of her own weakness.
“So don’t worry, Lucy.”
But in the end, human will couldn’t conquer destiny. Mira passed away before Lucy turned ten, leaving Lucy all alone.
Benedict, who should have been there to support Lucy through hard times, found it challenging even to grasp the pieces of his own broken heart.
The servants who lingered around Lucy didn’t show her any sympathy. The tutor, instead of convincing Lucy to attend class, willingly gave up their tutoring position.
Alone in the large mansion filled with bustling activity, Lucy became a recluse, slowly decaying within her room.
Why couldn’t I tell my mother that I loved her before she died?
Why couldn’t I even say a proper goodbye?
Why did I have to hear “good riddance” instead of compassionate words?
What did I do wrong?
What sins had I committed?
Why must I suffer so?
Why must I be the one hated?
Why.
Why.
Why!
Two months after Mira’s death, the child who had tried to be good—as her mother wished—vanished.
What emerged from the darkened room was just a heartbroken little girl, desperately wanting to unleash her resentment onto the world.
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