Chapter 241: Crying Out Love in the Heart of the Lord's Castle
Chapter 241: Crying Out Love in the Heart of the Lord's Castle
“Well, we’re done here, so let’s head to the Guild… Silvia?”
Just as I was about to leave the shop, feeling refreshed after getting one over on Hans, I noticed something was wrong with Silvia.
She was frozen solid, still in the exact same position as when I had wrapped my arms around her head to cover her eyes. She wasn't moving a muscle.
“…Silvia?”
I waved my hand in front of her face, but her eyes were completely unresponsive.
As a test, I brought my finger to her nose and confirmed that she wasn’t even breathing.
“Diana. This looks bad. She’s not breathing.”
“Hm? What happened all of a sudden?”
“I don’t know… All I did was cover her eyes.”
As I said that, I placed a hand on Silvia’s head and gave it a few light taps.
“Hahh! Heok! Heok! Heok!”
Suddenly, as if someone had flipped a switch, Silvia gasped for air and started moving again.
“S-S-Sir Guwon! N-No matter what, not here…! I was prepared to be held by you whenever and wherever you desired, but still…!”
Having held her breath for so long, Silvia was panting heavily, her face as red as if it had been boiled.
Her eyes were glistening, and in a way, she looked as sensual as a woman who had just reached climax.
To top it all off, her words created the impression that I had taken advantage of the confusion to do something to her.
It was so convincing that even I had a moment of doubt.
Did I accidentally use a Saint skill without realizing it?
I checked the flow of mana in my body. Nope. I hadn’t.
“Huh? Hey! Wait! Don’t say things that could be misunderstood! Diana, I swear I was just covering her eyes! Right?” I shouted desperately as Diana’s gaze grew increasingly suspicious.
“Eh? Y-Your eyes…? M-My apologies. I-I’m so foolish. When you pulled me into your arms, Sir Guwon, I just lost myself…”
“Sigh, anyway, if you’ve come to your senses, let’s go. We need to get to the Guild…”
“Eek!”
When I took Silvia’s hand to lead her out of the shop, she yelped in surprise and quickly pulled away.
What’s with that reaction? That kind of hurts.
As if reading my expression, Silvia hurriedly tried to explain.
“N-No! It’s not that! It’s just, if you touch me so suddenly, I feel like my heart might explode… F-From now on, could you please say something before you touch me? I-It’s bad for my heart!”
Silvia clutched her left breast as if her heart was genuinely in peril. Not that there was much to clutch.
You think it’s bad for your heart? I’m the one who’s in trouble here, you brat.
Diana’s stare from beside me was so intense I thought I might die.
“…Alright. Miss Silvia. May I have the honor of taking your hand?”
“O-Of course.”
Even as she answered, Silvia squeezed her eyes shut and extended a trembling hand toward me.
Despite her state, her posture was as elegant as a noble lady accepting an invitation to dance, stirring a strange, hard-to-describe feeling within me.
“Right. Let’s hurry to the Guild.”
I took her hand, determined to finally leave the shop.
But once again, Silvia stopped me.
“M-My apologies! Could you please wait just a moment?”
“Hm? What is it now?”
“I-I-It’s… the restroom… Yes! I urgently need the restroom! Shopkeeper! May I please borrow your restroom for a moment?!”
Did she get so nervous that she had to pee?
Silvia pressed her legs together in a slightly pigeon-toed stance and cried out desperately.
“Ah, yes. If you go through that door, it’s on the left.”
Following the shopkeeper’s directions, Silvia rushed to the restroom.
She was certainly a boisterous one for a noble lady. I was sure she wasn’t like this at all when we first met.
“Haaaah. I have returned.”
When Silvia came back from the restroom, she seemed to have regained some of her usual composure. She wore an expression that was somewhere between slightly dazed and blissfully happy.
Was it just my imagination, or did her face have a certain glow to it?
“Okay. Shall we g—is it alright if I hold your hand?”
“Y-Yes. Of course.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
I grabbed Silvia’s hand and pulled her along, finally managing to leave the shop this time.
Silvia, who had looked so happy after relieving herself, immediately turned beet red again, her movements becoming as stiff and awkward as a robot’s. But if I worried about every little thing, we’d never make it to the Guild.
I’ll have to figure out some way to deal with this later.
Getting a meeting with the Guild Master was as simple as speaking to Elder Sister Rachel at the reception desk.
Come to think of it, it probably wouldn’t have been this easy if Diana wasn’t with me.
Not that Diana came along for that reason, of course.
“It’s been a while, everyone. What brings you here today? For you to come see me in person, Diana, it must be quite important.”
“Hmph. This m—my husband will explain.”
For some reason, Diana changed how she referred to me mid-sentence and clung tightly to my arm.
I could feel her body temperature rise slightly where she touched me.
If she was going to be embarrassed, she shouldn’t have called me that in the first place.
“Diana, you don’t have to be so defensive. I have no intention of making a move on your man. Besides, I’ve already heard the rumors about the rampage you went on at the lord’s castle because of him. Still, it’s quite a sight to see you like this.”
“I-It’s not like I called him my husband for that reason!”
The Guild Master, who looked like a more mature version of Rachel, responded with a hint of exasperation, but her demeanor remained as composed as her appearance suggested.
I see. So that’s why Diana suddenly changed how she addressed me.
Diana quickly denied it, but it was obvious to anyone that was exactly why she’d said it.
Then again, the Guild Master was quite—no, exceptionally—beautiful.
I patted Diana’s head with a fond smile.
Don’t worry. Do you really think I’d fall for another woman and leave you all behind, no matter how pretty she is?
You might ask if I didn’t approach Elder Sister Rachel, who looks just like the Guild Master, because she was pretty. Well, that was before I even met Sara, so it doesn’t count.
“So, shall I hear what you have to say?”
“Yes. The thing is, during our dungeon exploration, we managed to uncover a massive secret. No, two of them, actually. Secrets that no one has ever discovered before. We could have just reported it at the reception desk for some reward money, but this is such a momentous discovery that we wanted to tell the Guild Master directly.”
“You’ve certainly piqued my interest. Let’s hear it.”
“Prepare to be shocked. It’s this: if you kill a male monster while it’s erect, its erect penis will drop as an item.”
“………. H-Hmm. I-I see. There have been items that require special conditions to obtain, but I never imagined you could get that kind of item under those conditions.”
If I had come to see the Guild Master alone and spouted this nonsense, she would have kicked me out immediately. But at my side stood Diana, the supreme Archmage.
The Guild Master stammered, clearly at a loss for how to react to my words. Her eyes darted around, her expression one of genuine bewilderment.
Seeing such a look on a mature, blonde, blue-eyed beauty created a gap that was quite… no. What am I thinking?
Sorry, Diana. Give me strength so I don’t have these stray thoughts.
I focused my attention on the sensation of Diana clinging to my arm.
Phew. As my dose of Diana is replenished, the impure thoughts in my head are fading away.
“Of course, I don’t intend to brag about making a huge discovery based on that alone. The truly important part is the use for these monster penises.”
“Excuse me? What did you say?”
This time, the Guild Master couldn’t maintain her composure. Her face clearly said, What kind of crazy bullshit is this lunatic spouting?
After all, the only known uses for monster penises were as materials for priests’ staves or as substitutes for female masturbatory toys.
“Actually, and please don’t be alarmed, these penises—depending on the type—serve as keys that open secret passages throughout the dungeon.”
“I see… What? What did you just say?! Diana?!”
The shocking revelation made the Guild Master shoot up from her seat and shout.
As expected of Rachel’s mother, the Guild Master possessed a rather magnificent chest, which bounced violently as she jumped to her feet.
Excellent movement. Still, not as good as our angel’s, of course!
“Hmph. It is the truth. So far, we have discovered a passage in the Wolfdog den on the 1st floor that leads to the final level of the 1st floor, another passage in the middle of the 1st floor that leads to a Goblin settlement, and a passage that leads to a secret area on the 2nd floor. That secret area on the 2nd floor connects directly to a middle layer of the 3rd floor.”
“You even found another route to the next floor! I-In that case! Diana! Why are you only revealing this now?! If that’s true…!”
“No. I know what you’re thinking, but this won’t be of much help. Think about it. The key is a penis.”
“I-I see. My apologies.”
A cryptic exchange passed between the Guild Master and Diana.
It wasn’t the right time to interrupt, so I decided to ask Diana about it later.
“In any case, it is undoubtedly a tremendous discovery, just as you said. This will certainly bring about a revolutionary change in dungeon exploration.”
The Guild Master sat back down, her voice now calm, and rested her chin on her hand.
“You could have kept this a secret and monopolized the profits, but on behalf of the Guild, I thank you for revealing it. I’d like to prepare your reward immediately, but could you wait a little while? Rules are rules, so we must first verify the information.”
Well, that was to be expected.
“Yes. Oh, and I can also draw you a map that includes the secret passages.”
At the Guild Master’s command, Elder Sister Rachel brought paper and a pen, and I copied the map from my memory onto the paper.
As she watched from the side, Diana spoke up as if she had just remembered something.
“Bianca. Are you planning to make a grand announcement as soon as this is confirmed?”
“Yes, of course. Informing the adventurers of this will dramatically expand the scope of dungeon exploration.”
Bianca, it seemed, was the Guild Master’s name.
“In that case, please keep the secret passage to the ant nest on the 2nd floor a secret. There is something I wish to investigate there. Not that many would be able to obtain a mosquito’s penis even if you did announce it.”
“A-A mosquito’s penis…”
The Guild Master shot me a disgusted look.
Could you please not look at me like that? All I did was use a skill.
But now that she mentioned it, she had a point. While adventurers might be able to get animal-type or demi-human-type monsters erect one way or another, it seemed nearly impossible for anyone but me to obtain the penis of an insect-type monster.
I was starting to smell money.
“Thank you again for your cooperation with the Guild. Once we have confirmed everything, including the map, a Guild employee will visit your clan house to deliver your reward. Please, if you happen to make any other discoveries in the future, be sure to report them to the Guild.”
As I finished drawing the map, the Guild Master bowed her head deeply.
A personal delivery service to our clan house? This discovery must have been a really big deal for the Guild.
“Diana, what were you and the Guild Master talking about earlier?”
The moment we left the Guild, I immediately asked Diana what I had been curious about.
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“You know, what you said to the Guild Master. About how it wouldn’t be helpful because the key is a penis.”
“Ah, that. You see, the reason those who challenge the deeper floors have been unable to proceed further is that they haven’t been able to find the path. Of course, the monsters there are all powerful, and a moment of carelessness could lead to annihilation, but adventurers capable of exploring those depths do exist. The problem is that no matter how much they search, they cannot find a way to descend further.”
“What? Then wasn’t the information about the penises actually helpful?”
“No, I don’t think so. You yourself were unable to obtain a penis from the Ice Golem you encountered on the 3rd floor, were you not?”
“What? Th-Then, don’t tell me?”
“Indeed. The monsters in the deepest parts of the dungeon discovered so far are all non-living creatures.”