Chapter: 79
“Uh…where did you get that?”
Joy’s voice is shaking.
To think the cool Joy, who seemed unreachable to anyone, would be visibly flustered.
To her, this ticket must look like a diamond shaped like paper, considering her sweet tooth.
Or maybe it could be even more extravagant than that.
Stophe’s special ticket isn’t something you can just obtain by asking for it.
If it were something you could buy with money, would the young lady of the Ducal Family be drooling over it?
“I found it by accident!”
“Why are you curious, foolish young lady? I just happened to get the chance!”
“No way. Are you telling me you found something I couldn’t, just by chance?!”
Joy’s words are right.
To get this, you’d normally have to clear a bunch of annoying side quests given by an NPC who’s Stophe’s best friend.
It’s considered the norm not to clear that quest even when you’re given an item that raises a character’s favorability without asking!
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but…”
“Do you think a foolish young lady knows? This ticket allows one companion to join!”
“…What do you want?”
Joy leaned her face onto the desk, supporting herself with both hands.
Her eyes, heated with desire, seemed like they would devour whatever was in front of them, and I had to sneakily back away.
“I don’t want anything, really.”
“Foolish young lady. Do I look like a sloppy materialist?”
I have no intention of asking Joy for anything else.
If I were to ask for something using this, it would be like making a threat.
I don’t want to treat you like that, unlike others!
You’re my favorite character!
If I can go eat Stophe’s dessert with you and see you smile, that’s enough!
If I can raise my favorability and become friends, I’d be happy forever!
So I don’t need anything else.
I spoke earnestly, but Joy didn’t seem to believe me at all.
“Lady Allen. Let’s stop this pointless mental game.”
“But it’s true!”
“You really are full of doubts. Were you really a foolish young lady and not a delusional one?”
Seeing me shrug, the foolish young lady sighed and then looked up again.
“Listen. I don’t think of you as the bad person people gossip about anymore.”
Really?
You call Arthur the pitiful prince, knock out the third prince, threaten Visi, and talk casually to me?
Yet you still see me in a good light.
I can’t help but be grateful to Joy.
But why did this suddenly come up?
“But giving away something as precious as Stophe’s special ticket isn’t something you’d do out of goodwill. Even Phoebe wouldn’t do that.”
Huh? Is it really that precious?
Even the Saintess would hesitate?
I didn’t know because it can only be used as a favorability item in the game.
I thought it was at the same level as the ticket to Tierra Mars.
“So you’re saying I owe you something that much? That’s not true. In fact, I owe you more. After all, you saved my life. So tell me, what do you want?”
You say you don’t want anything?
Why don’t you believe what I’m saying!?
I wouldn’t go around acting all high and mighty just because I bought you something to eat!
If you think about it logically…
Hmm.
I can’t quite put my finger on what Lucy Allen did before possession, so it’s hard to make a declaration.
She’s accumulated quite a few debts.
Anyway!
It’s strange to say that I don’t owe you anything, Joy!
“You took me to Tierra Mars!”
“Foolish young lady. Have you forgotten that you brought me to Tierra Mars?”
“That’s something you repaid many times over by saving my life!”
This conversation is going nowhere.
It’s a different kind of frustrating than talking to that eccentric Frey, who’s lost her mind.
How do I get through to you?
[Hey girl. Just ask for anything.]
“I really don’t want anything!”
It’s true that there’s nothing I can ask Joy for.
What she can do is something I can handle myself.
[I know. But somehow, make a request.]
Grandpa said that making a reasonable request in such cases would actually help.
He said it’s about being afraid of unilaterally accruing a debt in your heart.
Making a suitable request is a considerate act towards the other.
With some understanding of Grandpa’s explanation, I pondered what would be a decent request.
I shouldn’t ask for something too big; otherwise, it becomes overwhelming.
Oh. That might work.
“Joy…”
“Fine. If you’re making that much of a request, I can’t help it. Foolish young lady, go into the dungeon with me.”
I was thinking about how sorry I felt for dragging Visi along just to threaten them.
If it’s Joy, she’d not only fill the numbers like Visi but also be a great help in dungeon strategy.
“Dungeon…you say?”
Joy seemed hesitant to readily nod her head at my request.
What’s the issue?
“Is there a problem?”
“What’s with you, foolish young lady? You can’t even do this?”
Could it be she’s decided to strategize the dungeon run with acquaintances or something?
Or maybe there’s some reason she can’t enter the dungeon.
If that’s the case, what can you do?
I need to think of another request.
“No! I can do it. I can handle a dungeon strategy anytime!”
As I was ruminating for other ideas, Joy suddenly shouted.
I would’ve liked to say she didn’t have to if she didn’t want to, but her determination was too palpable in her eyes.
Hmm. Even if I tried to refuse, it would just be interpreted as provocation thanks to my Mesugaki skill.
“Does that mean it’s a promise?”
“Foolish young lady. I’ll believe that you won’t break a promise.”
“Of course. Lady Allen.”
I could always ask for something else later if I felt uncomfortable about going into the dungeon.
Let’s move on for now.
“But Joy…”
“Foolish young lady, didn’t you say you had somewhere to be?”
“…Oh!”
Startled, she checked the nearby clock, furrowing her brows slightly, then turned to me.
“We’ll talk in detail later!”
Was her excuse to part from me genuine? Does she really have something urgent?
*
Joy sighed unconsciously while fixing her hair in the mirror.
To think she’d fallen prey to greed and said she’d go into the dungeon! There’s no way that’s happening!
Joy still dreams of that day when she was interfered with by Agra.
Though a lot of time has passed, the frequency has decreased, the scenery hasn’t disappeared.
Maybe that’s why Joy is afraid of entering the dungeon.
She felt like stepping into that place would trigger the same events as before, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Joy knows.
The possibility for something major to happen is slim since she proclaimed it at Soul Academy.
If she’s really worried, she could simply bring someone capable of handling any danger.
But what can she do?
Looking at the door leading into the dungeon makes her breath feel constricted.
That’s why Joy has turned down every proposal from those around her to enter the dungeon.
She remains trapped in that nightmare.
Honestly, it’s not my fault; Lady Allen is the weird one.
Thrown into a situation where a single mistake could lead to death.
In that situation, she willingly bore the burdens of me and Liz Young.
Charging to the front each time a crisis arose.
How could someone who was undoubtedly the most terrified act casually about entering the dungeon?
It’s strange.
Neither Liz Young nor I can take a single step inside, yet you’re smiling easily.
And even when you went in with the third prince, you fell into Agra’s interference!
You barely escaped death once again!
But how can you talk about the dungeon as if it’s nothing? I can’t comprehend it at all.
Is there some non-human blood mixed in with the Allen family lineage?
“Oh, I messed up.”
Seeing her curls go awry, Joy frowned at the shape she had maintained since childhood.
So annoying.
I can’t deny that all this is because of my temptation by Stophe’s special ticket.
But that ticket is worth it.
The continent’s best dessert chef, who isn’t currently working since he’s training successors, that’s Stophe.
The special ticket allows you to taste his personally made desserts.
The fact that you ate a dessert made by Stophe is a bragging point among noble families in the social circle.
And now that chance appeared right before me.
How could I miss that!?
While others may have trouble, there’s no way Joy would turn down something she loves and even professes her passion for!
Sure. What’s the point in regretting it now?
After all, I’ve thrown the dice.
Let’s think positively.
Going with Lady Allen means I’ll also have her knight with me, right?
Combining her abilities with the Allen family’s knight’s power would allow us to overcome any issue.
Even entering the dungeon won’t be dangerous.
So it’ll be alright.
Let’s not worry about anything and just think about enjoying Stophe’s dessert.
Come to think of it, it’s curious.
How did Lady Allen manage to obtain that difficult-to-get item?
Even with all my efforts, I couldn’t even catch a glimpse of it.
Seeing her pull the ticket out and grin confidently, it seems she didn’t easily get it.
Could she have a route that only Lady Allen knows?
Remembering the moment Lucy suggested it made Joy smile unconsciously.
She was really flustered when I suddenly spoke informally back then.
Having never heard anyone speak to her like that aside from her family or the third prince, it was a huge surprise.
Though she said something rude, it took her by surprise since I had always respected her.
But looking back now, wasn’t she just excited about successfully getting that difficult item?
Could that composed Lady Allen, always looking down on others, have been bragging?
The invitation to join her to Stophe’s shop must have stemmed from her feeling indebted for bringing me to Tierra Mars!
If it were the past, she wouldn’t even have felt the need to say thank you.
She’s really changed a lot.
The Lady Allen who would shoot thorns in social circles is now utterly unbelievable.
If Lady Allen just changed that peculiar way of speaking, people’s perceptions would shift a lot.
It’s a real pity.
But now that she’s been recognized more by the third prince through actions instead of words, the perception of Lady Allen is bound to change slowly.
Perhaps one day, more people will look upon Lady Allen favorably.
I hope that day comes quickly.
With all the trouble Lady Allen has caused, it won’t be easy, though.
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