13. Dungeon Conquest
"Princess Aria?"
I echoed Sierra's words, furrowing my brow in confusion. Why on earth would the princess suddenly summon us? And of all the ways she could get in touch, why send her most trusted attendant in person?
Sierra nodded at my question and opened her mouth to reply... but then froze.
"Yes, Mr. Ian. The princess is looking for you, Miss Cheong-ah, and Miss Bella too..."
"Who is this girl, Yeonja?"
Sierra's expression stiffened as she spotted Dina, who was pointing at her while clutching my hand. She glanced back and forth between Dina and me, her face going blank before she tilted her head quizzically.
"...Mr. Ian, you have a daughter?"
"Huh? Daughter? Are you talking about me, girl? I am not Yeonja's daughter—I am a comrade in his party."
Sierra's eyes widened at Dina's words, shaking visibly. She whipped her head toward me, and I could almost hear her neck creak.
"Yeon... ja? I don't know what that means, but you're talking about Mr. Ian, right? And party comrade...? After Miss Cheong-ah, are you exploiting child labor now too?"
"What? Child labor? What the hell are you talking about?!"
Anyone overhearing that would get the wrong idea big time...! Sure, Cheong-ah handled a huge chunk of our daily life, but I pulled my weight too! Calling it child labor after Cheong-ah, and now Dina? I was so shocked by the insult that her eyes narrowed slyly.
"Mr. Ian, I never pegged you for a scary guy."
"No, damn it..."
"Anyway, joke's over. I actually know. You're Dina, the girl everyone's calling the Girl Fist King, next in line for platinum rank, right?"
Just as a curse was about to slip out, Sierra cut me off with a faint smile. She extended her hand to Dina for a shake.
"Nice to meet you, Dina. I'm Sierra Hildenheim."
Dina stared blankly at Sierra's outstretched hand, then looked to me with eyes asking if it was okay. I nodded, and only then did she grasp Sierra's hand and introduce herself.
"Mm... Pleased to meet you. I am Dinaria el Rasad."
"El Rasad?"
Sierra blinked in surprise at the surname. Dina tilted her head.
"That is my family name. Why?"
"Oh, no... It's nothing."
"Huh? What a bland girl you are. From now on, I'll call you Bland Girl."
"Bl-bl-bl...?"
"Don't mind her, Lady Sierra. Dina's terrible with names."
Dina bristled at that.
"Terrible with names? That's not true at all! Yeonja, I am no fool!"
"Then what's my name?"
"Ah? Uh, well. Yeonja is Yeonja, that's enough."
"See? Just roll with it."
"Grr...! Yeonja! That's too much!"
"That's fine, but 'bland' stings a bit..."
Sierra muttered under her breath. But sadly, that nickname wasn't changing anytime soon. Once Dina latched onto one, nothing budged it. Even Cheong-ah, who treated her so well, was still "Grumpy" from their first meeting where she acted a bit prickly. And Bella? They bickered constantly, so yeah, no chance there either. Bella stubbornly stuck to "brat" for Dina, after all. Their mutual pigheadedness when it came to nicknames was...
"Anyway, Lady Sierra. With Cheong-ah and Bella inside, why come out? Aren't they waiting?"
"Huh? Oh, well..."
Sierra looked troubled at my words. Did "waiting inside" rub her the wrong way? Wait, maybe...
"Is it urgent that the princess wants me? Do we need to go now?"
"Oh, it is urgent, but not that urgent. No, actually, I was thinking you should rest a day first."
Sierra fidgeted awkwardly. Her odd behavior made me shrug and open the inn door.
"Then come on in."
The sight inside made me sigh.
"Haa..."
I smacked my forehead without thinking. No wonder she'd come out so eagerly the moment I arrived.
The inn's first-floor dining hall was fairly empty, which made sense for the time—before dinner rush, these places were always quiet. In one corner, at my usual spot, sat two very familiar women: Cheong-ah and Bella. The moment I saw them, another sigh escaped.
They'd finally gotten a break together after so long, and I'd had a bad feeling...
"Haa..."
Impossible not to sigh. Scattered around their table were a dozen or so empty bottles and a few kegs, the culprits.
"Ueeeh..."
"Heehee... Bella, looks like there's a hole in the glass. Won't fill up."
"You crazy bitch. This ain't a glassshhh..."
Bella groaned face-down on the table. Cheong-ah tilted a bottle over her head, pouring nonstop. As my expression hardened oddly, quick-on-the-uptake Dina piped up.
"Yeonja. I shall head up first."
"Yeah, go rest. You worked hard today."
"Mm, see you at dinner."
"Yeah..."
"It was like that when I arrived."
"Sorry you had to see this mess."
Sierra apologized as we hurried to their table. Cheong-ah's eyes met mine—not her usual sultry smile, but a dopey grin.
"Heehee, hubby. You're back~?"
"Yeah, just got back. How much did you drink?"
"Jusht one glass with Bella after so looong~."
Her nose reeked of booze. How much was "one glass"?
"Hic... Cool..."
I awkwardly cradled the dozing Cheong-ah and turned sheepishly to Sierra.
"Uh, Lady Sierra. Sorry, but could you lend a hand?"
"Ah, sure. I'll help."
With Sierra's assistance, we hauled the reeking drunks—Cheong-ah and Bella—to their beds. Then we headed back down to the dining hall to talk.
The innkeeper was clearing the mess of bottles and kegs, frowning irritably but looking pleased at the sales. I gave him an apologetic glance and sat not in my usual spot, but next to it—where booze stench still lingered from spilled drinks on the floor.
As we sat, Sierra remarked with mild curiosity.
"I knew Bella liked her drinks, but Miss Cheong-ah too, huh?"
"Yeah, she says she does. She avoids it around me... but sometimes she holds back until she snaps and goes ham with Bella."
Why today, of all days...? I gave a wry smile and changed the subject.
"Anyway, what does Princess Aria want with us?"
"Oh, well... Um..."
Sierra hesitated, her face twisting oddly. She hemmed and hawed, starting and stopping five times. Bad news? As I waited, she finally steeled herself.
"Sigh... Truth is, Aria did summon you, but I asked her to."
"You? Why us?"
"Oh, drop the 'Lady.' Just call me Sierra casually."
"Ah, sure. So, Sierra?"
"First off, I heard your party took down a Monster Lord recently. Right?"
"Yeah, well, not just us, but we got it done."
I nodded. But why bring up Monster Lords now?
"Did another one show up?"
"No, nothing like that."
"Then what? Some other issue...?"
As I pressed, Sierra's lips pressed thin. Her face crumpled into a pout. She'd seemed upbeat earlier, but now I noticed the dark circles under her eyes—like someone who'd pulled sleepless nights from worry.
"Actually... A dungeon appeared in our territory."
"A dungeon?"
"Yes, a dungeon."
So what? Guilds handled those. Her "our territory" meant Hildenheim lands, her family's domain—a prosperous spot in the kingdom with its own guild branch, I knew.
"What about the Hildenheim branch?"
"They tried several raids, of course. But..."
"But...?"
"They all failed. Every one. Even a gold-rank party."
"...High difficulty, huh?"
"Yes. The guild says it's insanely tough. That gold party barely escaped with their lives."
"Hmm..."
"We've jacked up the reward multiple times, but no conquests—just more casualties. We're paying compensation for injuries... If this keeps up, a dungeon break could happen anytime, monsters spilling out. So I begged Aria."
Sierra clutched her chest with sweat-slick palms and pleaded.
"...Please, Mr. Ian. Help our territory."