Adaptation (4)
After handing Jackal over to Karia, I led my friends toward the dungeon I'd set my sights on.
It lay within the territory of a barony belonging to the Soladin Kingdom.
The barony wasn't particularly old, nor did it wield any real power, so it had no way to refuse a party of us declaring our intent to conquer a mid-tier dungeon.
A prince, a duke's daughter, a count's daughter, and even a high-ranking official of the Church. When that much firepower—enough to erase an entire baronial house without breaking a sweat if provoked—gathered in one place, what could they possibly do?
"If there is anything you desire, please speak freely! We will cooperate to the very best of our ability!"
Viscount Leeds couldn't stop sweating as he welcomed us on our courtesy visit—and we hadn't even threatened him with anything.
So this is how drastically a difference in status can shrink a person. I was watching the viscount with something approaching pity—his lifespan seemed to be draining in real time—when Grandfather spoke with a hollow laugh.
<Look at yourself and your friends. Who wouldn't be terrified facing any one of you?>
...Hm. Fair point.
My case goes without saying.
Joy comes across as a foul-tempered villainess to anyone who doesn't know her.
Frey looks like a cold-blooded killer if she just keeps her mouth shut.
And Arthur is constitutionally incapable of making anything other than a stiff, stone-carved expression.
Yeah, I could understand why Viscount Leeds kept sneaking glances toward Phoebe.
He was practically begging her, please, at least save us.
It struck me that any further conversation might genuinely make the man faint, so I mentioned we'd like to head out—and he groveled in response.
"Our son will accompany you. Should you require anything at all, please speak with him."
Excuse me. Hey. You're already sweating a hole through your stomach, and you're throwing your own son into this? What kind of father are you?
<That's actually a choice made for his son's sake. Building connections with people of high standing like this—even by these means—is a valuable thing.>
'So he wasn't just dumping his chores, then?'
Here I was, nearly mistaking him for a terrible dad offloading a job he didn't want.
<Well... who can say.>
'...Weren't you defending the man a second ago?'
<How should I know what lies in his heart? I am not Karia.>
So it was merely the charitable interpretation. What kind of defense is that, Grandpa? I was busy bickering with him when I tilted my head at the eldest son of House Leeds, who had come to escort us.
Oh? Haven't I seen this kid somewhere before?
He definitely took the Academy entrance exam alongside me.
Which would make his name...
...Nope. Nothing.
The only thing stuck in my memory is the nickname the Mesugaki skill kept spitting out—Small-Fry!
That one burned itself way too deep into my brain!
"Young Lord Leeds. We meet again."
While I was still fumbling for the memory, Joy stepped forward and greeted him.
"Lady Partan remembers me? It is truly an honor."
"No need to be so modest, Jacob Leeds. You passed into your second year with respectable marks—a young man worth remembering."
Oh right! Jacob! It was Jacob! Only after hearing Arthur's voice did the memory finally surface, and I stepped forward with a beaming smile.
"Heyyy~ It's the small-fry loser~!"
"Lady Alrn."
Perhaps because he'd just received praise from the other two, Jacob's eyes were brimming with expectation. He thought I was going to compliment him too—and watching those hopeful eyes made mischief bubble up in me all on its own.
"Why are your eyes so gross? What is it you want to hear, hm~?"
"Um. Th-that is..."
"Be honest with me, and maaaaybe I'll be honest with you too."
I grinned up at him, and his face flushed scarlet as he ducked his head.
Fun reaction. The people usually around me are so desensitized to this kind of talk that they barely flinch, but this guy's resistance is so low that even a light poke gets a full response.
I was contemplating playing with him a little longer when my voice was cut off by Joy's hand.
"Lady Lucy! Face management!"
You didn't say a word back at the mansion, so why are you freaking out now? Can't I play with a toy that gives good reactions?
I shot her a look of protest, but Joy refused to uncover her mouth.
"...Haha. Ah. Right. Well then—allow me to guide you to the dungeon!"
Recovering his composure belatedly, Jacob spun around to hide his crimson face and marched ahead.
I frowned at his retreating back, annoyed at the missed opportunity, then exhaled directly into Joy's palm.
"Hyaaap?!"
Joy let out a scream utterly unbefitting her appearance, then hastily pulled out her fan and hid her face from all the stares directed at her.
From above that fan, her eyes glared at me alone—and seeing that, I giggled right in her face, taking full satisfaction in it.
"...Lady Lucy!"
"Serves you right."
Heh. Why were you just watching anyway, if you were going to clam up over it?
This one's on you, scatterbrain.
Perhaps thanks to Alsaetin having come ahead of time to arrange cooperation,
not only was there a perfectly serviceable lodging already prepared near the mid-tier dungeon of Leeds territory, but servants, guards, and even cooks stood waiting in attendance.
The hospitality was more lavish than what I'd received back at my own house, and it made me uncomfortable—but my friends were another story. They seemed entirely accustomed to this kind of treatment and simply began rattling off their requests to the staff.
<Isn't that only natural? With status like theirs, being waited upon is simply how things are.>
'Not for me, it isn't.'
When a life where people refrained from hurling insults at you counted as a warm reception, this kind of treatment felt foreign.
<That's... ahem. Well, you'll learn in time. I shall teach you myself. Now, where to begin...>
Once our preparations were complete, courtesy of House Leeds's consideration, one of the family knights came out to brief us on the dungeon.
"Before you attempt the dungeon, allow me to explain what lies within."
I did my best to stay quiet and simply listen. Explaining how I knew so much about a dungeon I'd never once entered would have been far too much hassle.
"This dungeon follows one of eight distinct patterns."
Wrong. Fourteen, if you count the special variants.
"As for distinguishing traps, they're marked with signs—"
Also wrong. The markers have nothing to do with traps. If you want to spot a trap, you watch the floor.
"And as for the boss's patterns..."
...No. That's a mess, and so is everything else. Are you people actually the ones managing this dungeon?!
Ha. Unbelievable. I can't stand this. Explanations be damned—this whole thing needs to be flipped over.
"Hey. You trash-brained excuse for a knight."
"...Yes?"
"Shut it. Listening to your idiotic briefing makes my ears feel like they're being marinated in filth."
Having endured and endured until I finally couldn't anymore, I rose from my seat, snatched the manual out of the knight's hands, and corrected every single wrong point, one by one.
The process showered the poor knight with a torrent of heartfelt abuse, but I felt not even the smallest twinge of guilt.
Anyone dumb enough to trust a garbage strategy guide like this deserves a good dressing-down!
Grumbling all the while, I finished revising the manual and recalled that the sages of old spoke true:
If you want a real answer, don't ask a question—make the other person so furious they can't shut their mouth.
Damn it. This time I was the one who got played, but next time? No way. Someday I'll be the one using this method to set other people's blood boiling! Mark my words!
With that vow made, I left the knight of Leeds where he stood and led my friends toward the dungeon entrance.
"Lucy Alrn. What do you think you're doing."
The moment I strode into the dungeon as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, Arthur furrowed his brow.
"You have eyes, don't you? Then you can see what I'm doing."
"Mid-tier dungeons are limited to four people, are they not."
Oh. Right. I never told them about that yet.
...But how am I supposed to make them accept that the dungeon's party limit went up by one? Where do I even start explaining?
I deliberated for a moment, decided that showing beat telling, and more or less shoved Arthur, Joy, and Frey inside the dungeon before joining them alongside Phoebe.
Arthur, who had been all but thrown in, was about to vent his irritation—until he saw Phoebe standing beside me, at which point he simply froze solid.
"Are my eyes deceiving me? How can there be five people inside a mid-tier dungeon?!"
"Don't overthink it, Pitiful Prince. It's possible because I'm just~ that special. You can simply nod and go, 'ah, well, if it's her,' and move on with your life?"
"That doesn't make any— no. Never mind. Arguing with you would only hurt my mouth."
Having convinced my friends with minimal effort, I took them through the dungeon at a blistering pace.
Fighting every trash mob one at a time was nothing but a waste of hours. We needed to reach our target location at top speed.
Just as I had in the Academy Dungeon, I took the route that only a true hardcore veteran would know, and in under ten minutes we arrived at a trap on the second floor.
"So this is the trap the knight spoke of."
"He said stepping on it summons a swarm of monsters, right?"
Maybe thanks to all that training with the knight orders, Arthur and Joy looked remarkably composed—despite the genuine effort I'd put into setting our pace.
Frey goes without saying; she's kept up with my speed since before. Phoebe was panting a little, but nothing that hindered her movement.
After confirming everyone's condition, I planted my foot squarely on the trap without warning.
The exit sealed itself shut, and several magic circles bloomed to life around the chamber.
The signature trap of this dungeon—Monster Wave—had activated.
"Lady Lucy?!"
"Lucy Alrn!? What are you—!"
"If you've got time to whine, how about prepping for a fight instead?"
I lazily raised my shield, watching the monsters spawn atop the magic circles, and began drawing up my divinity.
"Damn it all! At least give us a moment to brace ourselves!"
"I'll pre-cast area magic for now! Phoebe! Your blessings?!"
"Working on them! Just a moment, please!"
"This might actually be fun."
Let's see just how far my friends can go in their current state.
Ideally, we'd trigger every trap in this dungeon on a single run.
That's the only way to grind efficiently, after all.
<Lucy. I understand your intent to build experience against wave after wave of enemies, but have you forgotten one thing?>
'You mean Agra's interference? If that's it, don't worry about it. No—honestly, I'd rather prefer he interferes.'
<...What?>
'The variables that creature can create in this dungeon are painfully predictable, you see.'
Just like always, I'm praying he sticks his nose in again this time.
Because that's what inflates the rewards this dungeon has to offer.
Having assured Grandfather there was no problem, I watched the horde of monsters charge toward us and hefted my shield.
Let's start with a nice, breezy half-day of grinding.