Chapter 255: Crying Out Love in the Center of the Lord's Castle
Chapter 255: Crying Out Love in the Center of the Lord's Castle
“So this is the ant nest… It certainly feels a bit different from the 2nd Floor.”
Rachel muttered, touching the wall of the passage leading down into the ant nest.
Really? Even though it’s a cave, it feels like it’s made of sandstone. To me, it just looks like an extension of the desert.
Then again, she was a Guild employee. And the Guild Master’s daughter, at that.
When it came to the Dungeon, she was probably more of an expert than anyone else here, so maybe she could sense some kind of difference.
Kikikik. Kikik.
We descended the narrow passage in single file and arrived at the first chamber of the ant nest, where countless ants were lying in wait.
Just as I thought, they’ve respawned. To think they’re swarming like this even after we wiped them out so cleanly last time.
Well, the Transcendent Species probably hadn’t respawned yet. We could take care of trash mobs like this in no time.
“Guwon-ssi, wait a moment.”
Just as I was about to step forward to use Holy Ground Proclamation, Rachel, who had followed me out of the passage, spoke up.
“May I face them first?”
“Huh? You mean them?”
“Yes. I want to see for myself what the monster level is like here.”
“But won’t it be dangerous?”
“Don’t worry. I’m not so weak that I’d lose to opponents who are only slightly stronger than 2nd Floor monsters.”
“Hmm… Still, there’s always a ‘what if.’ I’ll go with you.”
If things went south, I could just use Holy Ground Proclamation to draw all their aggro.
Unlike Silvia, who has a low tolerance for pleasure, she wasn’t going to go into heat just from being briefly affected by Holy Ground Proclamation, so this was the safest bet.
“Oh my. Hehe. Then I’ll take you up on that offer.”
Rachel’s eyes widened slightly as if in surprise, then she smiled as if looking at a cute younger brother and replied.
“Silvia. I’m leaving the others to you.”
“Ye-Yes!”
When our eyes met, Silvia nodded nervously.
But the way she drew her sword from its sheath was extremely natural, so it seemed her nervousness around me wouldn’t affect her in combat. Not that I was going to skip her special training, though.
Well, it wasn’t like there’d be much danger even if Silvia was nervous.
Not everyone had come out of the passage yet, but even one of the elder sisters from the Mage Association could wipe out all the monsters here.
That was why Silvia had come down to the Dungeon, even though she got nervous just from making eye contact with me.
“I see. Just as Lady Diana said, the ants near the entrance aren’t very strong. There’s not much difference between them and the 2nd Floor monsters.”
To get straight to the point, it was pointless for me to approach the ants with Rachel.
With nimble movements that truly screamed ‘elf,’ Rachel elegantly dodged the attacks of the ants swarming her from all sides, fighting them off with magic.
Are you watching, Diana? This is what elven movement looks like.
And yet, the last remaining pure-blood elf is out of shape. Have you no shame?
Well, if she did exercise, her ‘pat-pat’ attacks would start to hurt, and I wouldn’t like that either.
Yep. I was wrong for a moment there. Diana is best just the way she is now.
“Thank you, Guwon-ssi. I think I’ve seen enough.”
“Alright. Then, ladies! Please attack!”
KWAGWAGWAGWANG!
The moment I shouted, the ants that had filled the chamber were all instantly vaporized.
What the… that’s terrifying… So they really aren’t just Diana’s fangirls. Not that I didn’t already know that.
…I should try to get on those ladies’ good side from now on.
“Th-That’s amazing, as expected.”
Even Rachel, standing next to me, seemed surprised by their power, offering an awkward smile as she spoke.
“But you were amazing too, Rachel. You fought off the ants using only chantless magic, didn’t you?”
Did she? She had fought the ants using magic without any chants or magic circles.
Should I call it a magic warrior style? When she threw a punch, a fierce wind would rage and pierce through the ants in its path. When she held out her palm, a barrier of water would form to block un-dodgeable attacks.
To be honest, it was a little… no, it was incredibly cool. So cool that I’d want to learn it if I could.
“Hm? Hehe. No, this isn’t chantless magic, it’s spirit magic. I had already summoned them before we left the Guild.”
Rachel smiled and raised her open hands to her chest.
Then, on each of her palms, a white spirit mixed with light green and a water-colored spirit appeared.
The tiny things wiggling around on her palms were quite cute.
“Whoa! I see!”
“Is this your first time seeing spirits?”
“Yes. It’s amazing. By any chance, could I learn this too?”
“Well… It’s hard to say without checking your affinity. Spirit magic is a type of magic where innate affinity is more important than anything else. Why don’t you ask Lady Diana about it later?”
I doubted affinity would be a problem.
That is, assuming my current body had the same conditions as a character created at the start of a game.
After all, a player could basically have any job.
More importantly, Diana.
“Diana? She can use spirit magic too? I’ve never seen her use it.”
In response to my question, Rachel looked at me as if I’d just asked something incredibly obvious.
“Of course. She’s the greatest Archmage in the world, you know? The only reason she doesn’t use spirit magic often is probably because of its poor mana efficiency.”
I see. So that’s how it is.
Spirit magic must consume a lot of mana.
I guess that made sense, since you had to keep the spirits summoned.
“What are you speaking of? It seemed I heard my name mentioned.”
As Rachel and I were talking, the rest of the group came over from behind us.
“Ah, I was just saying how amazing spirit magic is. Diana, I hear you can use it too?”
“Hmph. Of course. Is there any magic in existence that I cannot use?”
“Then, by any chance, could I learn it later?”
“Hm? You wish to learn it? Then I shall check your affinity later. In exchange… you know what I want, yes?”
Diana readily agreed, holding her arms out to me. Nice.
This was something to look forward to.
Come to think of it, I’d always wanted to learn a magic spell for washing my body. If I learned spirit magic, that might be possible too. Excellent.
I immediately gave Diana a piggyback ride.
“Lady Diana. If you are tired, I can use magic…” “No. It’s fine. It’s not like I’ll have anything else to do, so I’ll carry her.”
In any case, we started to advance through the ant nest.
The ant nest was packed with ants, as if it had never been cleared out, but just as I’d said myself, there was absolutely nothing for me to do.
The ants were annihilated the moment they showed their faces, and thanks to the efforts of the ladies from the Mage Association, all we had to do was walk along the path as if we were on a stroll.
The only time we stopped was when the soldier ants and the Transcendent Species first appeared.
Just like with the previous ants, Rachel said she wanted to face them and fought for a bit.
But other than that, it really just felt like a walk in the park.
To think I’d feel this bored while inside a dungeon.
I was so bored that I even started groping the thighs of Diana, who was on my back, but I couldn’t keep that up for long.
Because Diana started patting my head, saying, “What do you think you’re doing in a place like this! Are you a fool!”
Honestly, Diana’s pat-pat attacks were so ticklish they did zero damage, but the glares from the Mage Association ladies behind me were so terrifying that I had no choice but to stop.
I wasn’t brave enough to ignore those glares after seeing them slaughter monsters right before my eyes.
Dammit. Since it’s come to this, maybe I should play with… I mean, do some special training with Silvia?
As I had that thought and glanced at Silvia, she, who had been staring intently at me while trailing along, turned bright red and hastily looked away.
Hmph. Surely you didn’t let your guard down just because I’m carrying Diana, did you?
You can try to avoid my gaze, but we’re inside the ant nest. There’s nowhere for you to run.
“Silvi—”
“This place is like another small dungeon inside the main one.”
Just as I was about to call Silvia’s name, I heard Rachel’s murmuring voice from beside me.
Silvia. You’re one lucky girl.
“So it is, huh?”
“Yes. The level of the monsters that appear is too different to group this with the 2nd Floor, and more importantly, the climate is different. Until now, the biggest criterion for distinguishing the Dungeon’s floors has been changes in climate.”
Come to think of it, it wasn’t hot in here at all. In fact, it was rather cool.
I just thought it was the difference between having intense light and not, but it seemed Rachel didn’t see it that way.
“If there are more small dungeons like this scattered throughout the main Dungeon, it might really change the paradigm of dungeon exploration. Even if obtaining the monster genitals is because of your job, to think you discovered a place like this. You’re truly amazing, Guwon-ssi.”
“Hehe. That’s because Guwon-ssi was sent to us by the Goddess.”
As I was talking with Rachel, I suddenly felt someone cling to my arm.
And at the same time, I heard a voice from behind me say, “Ugh… my chest…”
I didn’t even need to look to my side; there was only one person with a voice as angelic as the one tickling my ear.
Dammit. Who knew wearing armor could be so tragic. If it weren’t for her armor, my arm would be experiencing the ecstatic sensation of being buried in soft hills right now.
I was jealous of Diana’s thighs, which must be touching our angel’s chest.
Meanwhile, Diana herself was muttering “chest… chest…” from behind me, as if traumatized.
This wouldn’t do. If Diana came to hate breasts any more than this, she might end up hating her own large breasts even after she grew up.
To ease Diana’s hatred for breasts, I had to make her realize that I liked them regardless of size.
I turned my head to the side opposite Leia and whispered in a voice low enough for only Diana to hear.
“Diana. You don’t have to hate them so much. I’m not hung up on size. Your chest, pressing against my back right now, is just as amazing as Leia’s.”
“Th-That’s… Are you a fool! Do you think I would be deceived! I can’t feel anything because of the armor!”
At first, Diana seemed a little embarrassed, but she soon realized the flaw in my words and started patting my head.
Tch. She saw through it. I thought I could pull it off if I just set the mood with a smooth voice.
While we were having that silly conversation, the discussion between Leia and Rachel continued.
“The Goddess? Well, it’s true that all outsiders are sent by the Goddess, but…”
“No. Guwon-ssi is different from ordinary outsiders.”
Leia looked at me, her eyes sparkling with trust.
Ugh. When she looks at me like that, my conscience starts to prickle… It’s not like I’ve deceived her about anything, but for some reason, I feel like I’m lying.
It would have been better if I were actually an apostle sent by the Goddess.
No, even if not that, I just wished I knew why the Goddess sent me here.
It wasn’t like there were no clues at all.
The biggest clue was the fact that I came to this world through a game.
And the goal of that game was to clear the Dungeon.
Of course, there was plenty of content after that, like messing around with attractive characters or winning over new ones, but the ostensible goal of the story was to clear the Dungeon.
In that case, did the Goddess send me here to clear the Dungeon?
But why? For what reason?
At least in the current situation, the Dungeon wasn’t having any negative impact on the world.
No, if anything, it was helping people’s lives.
People were able to live prosperous lives thanks to the various materials and Magic Stones they could get from the Dungeon.
They said that if left unchecked, monsters could overflow and crawl out of the Dungeon, but as long as there was a constant stream of aspiring adventurers, the chances of that happening seemed infinitesimally low.
Then what on earth was the reason for sending me to this world to clear the Dungeon?
It wasn’t like there was a Demon King that even Diana didn’t know about sleeping deep inside the Dungeon, was it?
As I was repeating these inconclusive thoughts, I heard Diana’s voice from behind me.
“This is the place with that Magic Stone.”
“Whoa. So this is…”
“Indeed, just as Lady Diana said, it’s a Magic Stone with a rather unique feel.”
These ladies definitely loved magic as much as they loved Diana.
Upon discovering the Magic Stone, they all showed intense curiosity, their eyes shining like children.
The chamber with the giant Magic Stone was quiet, without a single queen ant or Transcendent Species.
Just as I expected, it seemed they hadn’t respawned yet.
“Well then, we intend to begin our research on the Magic Stone now. What will you all be doing?”
“Hmm… I don’t know. I guess we’ll just kill some time in a corner. No, wait. Maybe I’ll take Sara, Leia, and Silvia to hunt some ants and raise our job levels a bit.”
“Um, in that case, may I ask a favor?”
“Yes? What is it?”
“This place connects to the 3rd Floor, right? Could I ask you to guide me there?”
“Huh? But it’ll be a bit cold without Diana…”
“That’s fine. I can use a somewhat similar magic myself. Though not as well as Lady Diana, of course.”
I see. The reason she was fine in the desert despite wearing such revealing clothes, which I’d been wondering about since we entered the Dungeon, had finally been revealed.
She said she’d been keeping her spirits out, so I guess she used them to regulate the temperature?
“If that’s the case… Diana, is it okay if we go on our own?”
“Hmph. Go on.”
If we were just going to confirm whether it really connected to the 3rd Floor, it wouldn’t take very long anyway.
We parted ways with Diana and the ladies from the Mage Association and headed for the passage behind the wall that led to the 3rd Floor.