Chapter 254: Crying Out Love in the Center of the Lord's Castle
Chapter 254: Crying Out Love in the Center of the Lord's Castle
“Hello, Elder Sister Rachel. I’m here for the quest you mentioned last time.”
Today, I came straight to the Guild right after breakfast to head into the Dungeon.
I had to handle not only Diana’s Magic Stone investigation but also a direct request from the Guild, which meant I’d come to pick up Elder Sister Rachel before we entered.
“Oh my, hello, Guwon. You’re here early. B-but, the people behind you are…”
Elder Sister Rachel, who usually greeted me with her customary smile, looked a bit flustered when she saw the group behind me.
This was the first time I’d seen such an expression on the intelligent-looking woman who always sat at the reception desk with a professional smile. It was quite cute. Well, I could understand why she was flustered.
“They’re the heads of each school in the Mage Association.”
“I-I thought so… Since we’re the ones who made the request, I’m not really in a position to say this, but isn’t this a bit… excessive?”
“Ah, they’re coming along for the Magic Stone investigation Diana mentioned before.”
I replied nonchalantly, but to be honest, I also thought it was a bit much.
Apparently, the cloaks of the Mage Association were embroidered with the symbol of each school, and the color varied depending on the mage’s level.
And the cloaks of the women huddled around Diana behind us were all silver. Those cloaks, made from an expensive mineral that boasted the highest mana efficiency, were said to be the symbol of a high-ranking mage.
According to them, though, the fact that it was mithril wasn’t what was important; what was more important was that the color was similar to Diana’s silver hair.
Though I think Diana’s hair is more of a platinum blonde, closer to white.
Well, I suppose no material exists that could perfectly replicate the color of Diana’s beautiful hair.
Anyway, with a group of people who might as well be advertising, ‘We are the highest-ranking mages!’ walking around in a crowd, we were naturally drawing a ton of attention.
Without exception. Every single person who passed us couldn’t take their eyes off us.
“Isn’t that all the leaders of the Mage Association gathered together?” “Why are they all gathered like that? Could there be a serious problem in the deepest part of the dungeon?” “Who’s that child in the middle? Why are they all surrounding her like that?” “Ah, look over there! That handsome man with black hair and black eyes! Isn’t that the Milk Road Maker?!”
Even now, I could hear people whispering all around as they stared at us.
Who was that last one?! Which bastard called me the Milk Road Maker!
Well, they called me handsome, so I’ll let it slide just this once.
Handsome. Those are always nice words to hear.
No, that’s not the problem right now.
Right. The problem was the ladies from the Mage Association, who were blatantly drawing an insane amount of attention.
At first, I thought we’d only take one person from the relevant school, like when we went to install the teleportation circle, but according to Diana, that wasn’t possible.
“Even weakened as I am by reincarnation, this is a Magic Stone I could not decipher at a glance. The investigation will surely prove quite difficult, so for an accurate analysis, the help of these individuals will be necessary.”
That’s what Diana had said.
I asked if they could at least do something about those conspicuous cloaks, but that too was refused.
Something about how they couldn’t abandon the silver that symbolizes Lady Diana.
For the record, perhaps because they’d gotten closer while living in the same house, those ladies had recently started calling Diana ‘Lady Diana’ instead of ‘Lady Telluna’.
Even though Diana hated playing along with them, she was ending up getting closer to them. What a cute kid.
Anyway, since the ladies adamantly refused to wear any other cloaks, I gave up and just came as we were.
Hmph, it’s fine. I’m already used to being the center of attention.
“Anyway, shall we go, Elder Sister?”
“Ah, yes. Please wait just a moment.”
She put up a sign on the reception desk that read, ‘Please use the next window,’ and went into the back.
When she reappeared shortly after, she was dressed in the kind of outfit that first comes to mind when you think of an elf in a fantasy world.
It was light armor that looked as if it were made from leaves woven together.
Can that really function as armor?
Well, seeing as she wore it to go to the Dungeon, I guess it must.
In any case, seeing Elder Sister Rachel like this, when I was used to her business suit, was quite refreshing.
“Shall we go then?”
“Yes.”
As I went with Elder Sister Rachel to where the rest of the party was waiting, Diana, who had been surrounded by the Mage Association ladies, darted over to me.
Hey. You’re going with them for research, so play along a little. Don’t just escape like that.
“Hmm? Is young Rachel accompanying us on this investigation?”
“Ah, yes. It’s a pleasure to be working with you, Lady Diana.”
“Hmph. Then let us be off.”
When we passed through the teleportation circle and arrived at the village on the 2nd Floor, we once again drew a massive amount of attention.
The reaction was basically, “What on earth are such important people doing on the 2nd Floor?!”
“Come to think of it, Elder Sister Rachel. Has the Guild not yet released the information about the monster penises and the secret passage?”
“No. We’re preparing to announce it all at once. I think they’ll make the announcement as soon as I report that I’ve confirmed the remaining information.”
“I see. Then we’ll need to keep the ant nest hidden until then. By the way, Elder Sister Rachel.”
“Yes?”
“Aren’t you hot?”
I mean, her outfit did look cool and breezy. But Elder Sister Rachel’s clothes exposed quite a lot of skin.
I’m sure she had heat-resistance enchantments placed on her clothes like us, but with so much skin exposed, I wondered if it was really effective.
Separate from the heat, the intense light can be quite stinging.
“It’s fine. I’m using magic.”
Elder Sister Rachel must have noticed my gaze, as she placed a hand lightly on her exposed cleavage as she spoke.
“Where exactly are you looking while you speak?”
“Huh? N-no. I was just asking out of pure concern. I wasn’t looking at her chest!”
The moment the reflexive denial left my mouth, I realized my mistake.
Since Diana is always jealous of Leia’s breasts, I had unconsciously mentioned the chest of Elder Sister Rachel, who is definitely well-endowed, even if not to Leia’s extent.
I really wasn’t looking at her chest!
“That sounds like you’re confessing to looking at her chest.”
“So it was her chest!”
Influenced by Leia, Diana, who had recently come to see large breasts as the enemy, immediately got angry and started lightly hitting me.
Hey. I can understand with Leia, but there’s no need to be jealous of Elder Sister Rachel.
You’ll be bigger than her when you grow up! Well, you’re small now, but still.
“Oh my, how embarrassing. Still, to have you look at my chest when you’re with three such beautiful women… I’m a little honored.”
Elder Sister Rachel, perhaps having grasped the situation, launched that attack with a slightly amused tone.
You’re enjoying this, aren’t you, Elder Sister!
“No, it’s not like that!”
“Guwon…”
Leia hugged my arm with a disappointed look on her face, pressing her chest firmly against me.
Even Silvia over there was looking down at her own flat chest with a disappointed expression. It seemed no one was going to believe that I hadn’t been looking.
It’s true! If I wanted to look at big breasts, I’d look at my angel’s!
“It’s not true! I’ve been wronged!”
“Stop making excuses!”
In the end, I even got pinched by Sara, and with the misunderstanding unresolved, we headed for the ant nest.
This is so unfair….
Damn it. If this is how it’s going to be, I might as well really stare at Elder Sister Rachel’s chest! I’ll enjoy the view to my heart’s content!
Anyway, after that whole commotion, we left the village to head for the ant nest, but there was one problem.
There was a huge number of people following us.
Such important people were here on the 2nd Floor. Of course they’d be curious. I get it.
But isn’t tailing someone a bit rude?
At first, I thought they were just staring because they found it unusual.
This village is the base for all adventurers exploring the 2nd Floor, so it’s natural for there to be many adventurers near the village.
But even as we moved quite far from the village, a large number of adventurers were still following us.
They were keeping their distance, pretending to fight monsters or explore, but they were clearly tailing us.
Since the 2nd Floor has such a wide-open view, I could see them all plainly.
Do they think they’ll get some scraps if they follow the big shots?
“There are a ton of people following us. Can’t we do something about them?”
“Hmph. Of course we can. You.”
“Yes.”
Diana gave a light signal with her eyes, and one of the ladies from the Mage Association responded immediately.
At the same time, I could see the adventurers tailing us suddenly grow agitated.
“What? What did you do?”
“Invisibility magic. To their eyes, it will seem as though we have suddenly vanished.”
Diana puffed out her chest and answered proudly.
Hey, you’re not the one who cast that spell. Why are you looking so proud?
Of course, once her level is higher, Diana will be able to do this easily enough.
“Hoo. I am tired. You there. Carry me on your back.”
To make matters worse, Diana tried to get a piggyback ride from me with a look that said she’d accomplished something great.
Again, you’re not the one who cast the spell.
Well, I did make a promise before, so I guess I’ll carry her.
“Ah, Lady Diana. If that’s the case, allow me…”
Just as I was about to crouch down to let Diana on my back, one of the ladies from the Mage Association immediately cast a spell.
Diana’s body then floated gently into the air.
Her expression instantly soured.
Ma’am. She’s not really tired. Even if she was reincarnated, she’s still nearly level 100. Do you really think she’d be tired from just walking that much?
“……Thank you.”
“Not at all!”
Ma’am. She doesn’t really mean that.
I was starting to understand why the leaders of the Mage Association, who were so powerful and beautiful to boot, were all unmarried—or rather, couldn’t get married.
Can’t be helped. Still, that lady did it for Diana’s sake. It’d be a pity if she ended up on Diana’s bad side because of it. Maybe I should help her out.
“Excuse me, ma’am. Could you possibly cast that spell on the rest of us as well?”
“Hm?”
“Even with invisibility magic, we still leave footprints. I think it would be better to do this to shake them off more completely. Please.”
“Hmm. It would indeed be best to be thorough.”
The lady, who had been looking at me as if to say, ‘Why is a healthy guy like you suddenly whining?’, immediately cast the levitation spell on everyone after hearing Diana’s words.
To be honest, it wasn’t really necessary.
The adventurers were trying to tail us without being noticed, so they were following from a great distance. At that range, our footprints would have been erased by the wind by the time they reached our position.
She probably knew that, which is why she only cast the invisibility spell, but who was going to argue when Diana said it was best to be thorough?
Ma’am. You may not know it, but you owe me one now.
“So you’re saying we can get a penis if we catch that Transcendent Species.”
Using the invisibility and levitation spells, we were able to reach the location of the Mosquito Transcendent Species in no time.
Perhaps because monsters have sharper senses than humans, the mosquito monsters we encountered on the way charged at us despite the invisibility spell, but of course, they were hit by magic and disappeared before they could even get close.
“Yes. Just a moment. I need to use my Saint skill first. Please take them down once the mosquitoes get close enough to me.”
Since I didn’t know which of those many mosquitoes was the male, I had to use Holy Ground Proclamation to use my skill.
To do that, I first had to separate myself from the party and make sure only the mosquitoes were within range.
I didn’t know about the others, but Silvia would react sensitively to Holy Ground Proclamation.
When I glanced sideways at Silvia, she, who had been staring at me, hastily turned her head away.
I keep telling her to just stare openly if she’s going to look.
You just wait, hellish special training awaits you when we get home.
No, wait. In her case, she doesn’t try to die because she hates the training, but because she likes it too much. So is it heavenly special training instead of hellish? Anyway, look forward to it.
Firmly resolving to train Silvia thoroughly, I approached the mosquito swarm.
The battle with the mosquito swarm was so anticlimactic it’s not even worth describing.
I approached, used Holy Ground Proclamation, and as the creatures rushed me, they were hit by a single spell and poof!
Unless I put on a show trying to catch them with a Saint skill, there’s no opponent more anticlimactic than these guys.
With them, harvesting the Magic Stones is more annoying than the fight itself.
“This is the penis…? S-so you really can get different parts from insects, too.”
Elder Sister Rachel said with an impressed expression, holding up the mosquito’s tail.
“Hmph. When it comes to me, whether it’s an insect or whatever…”
Wait a minute. This isn’t something to be proud of, is it?
“Guwon. I’d like to get one of those mosquito penises for a sample. Would you be willing to sell it to the Guild? I’ll make sure you get a generous price.”
“Yes, of course.”
It’s not like I have a hobby of collecting penises, anyway.
If she’s buying it for a generous price, I’m the one who should be grateful.
After handing the mosquito penis over to Elder Sister Rachel, we finally entered the ant nest.
Before going in, Sara checked the surroundings to make sure no one was there, but as if that wasn’t enough, the ladies from the Mage Association used all sorts of spells—silence magic, illusion magic, and so on—to completely conceal the ant nest’s existence.
Seeing them competitively casting spells, it seemed they were still conscious of what Diana had said earlier about being thorough.