Chapter 332: Guwon's Counterattack
Chapter 332: Guwon's Counterattack
I thought organizing our supplies would be a bit more trouble than usual without Vanessa, but thanks to Diana efficiently directing the maids, we finished our preparations surprisingly quickly.
“We’re back.”
Just as Sara, Silvia, and I were waiting after finishing our preparations, the two of them finally returned a little after lunchtime.
Even though they'd only gone to pick up their things, both Sara and Silvia looked exhausted for some reason.
It’s not like their luggage was heavy, since they would have just put it in their spatial pouches.
And Vanessa was with them, if it came to that.
“Welcome back. What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“What is with that princess?” Sara asked, her expression making it clear that just thinking about it was irritating.
Damn. So they met.
And of all people, she had to run into Sara.
I hadn't seen it myself, but I could vividly picture the confrontation between Sara and Felicia.
I had a feeling their personalities would clash horribly.
Sara’s the type to bluntly say what's on her mind with a cool expression, especially when she's annoyed.
Her attitude probably wouldn't have changed much, even in front of a princess.
After all, she started calling the great Archmage ‘Diana’ without any honorifics the moment she was told to speak comfortably. And she herself is the Hero.
And Felicia, for her part, probably wouldn't have hidden her feelings in front of Sara either.
No matter if Sara was my "main wife," unless she was on Diana's level, Felicia would have definitely been confrontational.
“It was so obvious she was in heat, trying to figure out how to sleep with you! And she had the nerve to call you ‘hers’!”
It seemed their conversation had gone exactly as I’d expected.
“Does she think she can have everything her way just because she’s a princess?! If we’re going by titles, then I’m the He—!”
“Whoa, whoa. Sara, calm down. The important thing is that I didn’t sleep with her, right?”
She shows her emotional side to me a lot more now, but for the normally cool-headed Sara to get this angry in front of others…
And for her to almost blurt out that she was the Hero… she must have been truly furious.
In truth, there was almost no reason for Sara to hide the fact that she was the Hero anymore.
She’d hidden it in the first place because she didn't want to be used by others, but who would dare try to take advantage of a Hero who travels with the great Archmage?
The reason she was still keeping it a secret was actually quite trivial.
She was simply embarrassed and awkward about revealing she was the Hero at this point.
In any case, I cut her off before she could fully say it.
And Sara, Felicia’s confidence probably doesn’t come from being a princess. It comes from her faith in her own charm.
Whenever I talk to her, I can feel her overwhelming confidence that there isn't a man alive she can't seduce.
Well, I didn't fall for… wait, I did fall for it once at the beginning. Damn that Charm skill…
“Huu, huu. Yes. You’re right. There’s no need to pay attention to the words of a loser.”
A loser. She was really going that far.
Well, from the perspective of a battle over me, she wasn't wrong.
In any case, Sara seemed to have calmed down a bit, catching her breath and regaining her cool composure.
“But Sara aside, why is Silvia… No, never mind. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright…”
For Silvia, it must have felt like she’d betrayed her friend twice for a man, so her heart must ache a little.
Plus, she probably had to play the role of mediator while Sara and Felicia were arguing. She must have had a really tough time.
I stroked Silvia’s head as a way of saying, ‘You did well.’
“Uuuh!”
No. Seriously, don’t vibrate from something like this.
Well, her face looks happy, so I guess it’s fine.
“Anyway, we finished preparing while we waited for you two. Do you want to go to the dungeon right now?”
“The dungeon? Yes. Let’s go.”
Sara, having decided to ignore Felicia, clung to my arm and said so.
“Alright, let’s all get our gear on.”
We immediately began to equip our newly enhanced gear.
Thanks to the enhancements using materials from the 5th floor, everyone’s equipment had transformed into something spectacular.
Of course, my own gear had also changed to look like high-level equipment from a game, but I wasn't paying much attention to it.
I mean, my body had already withstood an attack from a 5th-floor Transcendent Species.
Did I really need to worry about my gear when we were just going to the 3rd floor?
Instead, I focused on how the girls had changed.
Their appearances hadn't changed to the point where they looked stronger the less they wore, but since the materials were now stronger and lighter, the armor was also thinner. As a result, everyone looked much more… desirable.
Sara, Diana, Leia, Silvia, Matil—huh? Why is she still here?
“Matilda? Are you coming too?”
“What? Were you planning on leaving me behind?”
“No, not leaving you behind, but you don’t need to come, do you?”
“Th-that’s… if I’m not by your side, the curse…”
“No. Even I don’t have sex while I’m down in the dungeon.”
It might be a different story if we were setting up a base in a dungeon town, but I wasn't about to do it while camping out.
The time with the Arachne girls was a special case.
“Or what? Do you just want to be with me?” I asked, my tone a little provocative.
This should trigger Matilda’s acting mode and…
“Yes…”
Uh, huh? Hey. Why aren't you switching modes? This is the part where you're supposed to snap at me and say no.
Why are you answering so honestly with those dewy eyes?
“Well, uh, if that’s the case, I don’t mind. Could I ask you to protect the others from the rear with Silvia?”
In any case, Silvia and Matilda were at a level where they couldn't gain experience on the 3rd floor anyway.
So the plan was for the four of us—no, the three of us, excluding Diana—to do most of the fighting.
“Yes!”
Matilda nodded, looking happy just to be coming along.
And so, after a long time, we headed to the dungeon again.
Well, of course, it hadn't been long for me, but I meant it had been a while since I’d gone with my girls like this.
First, we teleported to the town managed by the Oasis Clan on the 2nd floor and headed for the ant nest.
The monsters on the 2nd floor were already no match for us, and now we even had enhanced gear.
As the saying goes, in an RPG, level and items are everything.
For us, armed with 5th-floor level equipment—or more accurately, for Sara—the 2nd-floor monsters were literally at a point where they'd drop dead if you so much as poked them.
She was so strong that monsters died the instant they appeared, leaving the rest of us with nothing to do but walk.
“That bow. It’s seriously broken.”
“Hehe. Thank you so much for bringing me these materials.”
Sara, who was monopolizing all the experience points, replied with a genuinely happy smile.
Well, her job level was uniquely low compared to the others right now, so it didn't really matter.
What about my Martial Artist or Assassin levels being lower? What are you talking about? I’m the Saint.
Anyway, Sara’s enhanced bow was a truly incredible piece of equipment; it could fire without any arrows.
According to the note that came with the gear, the bow had been enhanced using a wyvern’s windpipe.
So, if you just inserted a magic stone into the groove in the center of the bow, it could fire mana arrows with a structure similar to a wyvern’s energy wave, or something like that.
The only downside was having to insert a new magic stone every time one was depleted, but since magic stones dropped constantly from hunting in the dungeon, it wasn't much of a drawback.
It was far better than carrying around a huge number of consumable arrows.
“Hee hee hee.”
Seeing Sara humming happily, a sound completely out of place for a dungeon exploration, I felt a sudden urge to tease her.
“Your Hero level is going up.”
I brought my mouth close to Sara’s ear and whispered, so no one else could hear.
“Yep!”
“A Hero's stats all go up by 1 with each level up. But your Charm has already hit its cap, so it's not increasing. Ahh, what a waste of a stat point, just vanishing into thin air.”
“Wai—Huh?! Really?!”
“Yeah.”
Sara’s happy expression instantly fell.
I only meant to tease her a little, but seeing her look so dejected made me feel incredibly sorry.
“D-don’t worry about it. You have to raise your Hero level to be able to raise your Charm beyond that anyway, right? And the fact that your Charm is already at its cap is proof that it grows incredibly well, even without the Hero level bonus.”
That’s right. Unlike my Durability, which was wasted by putting bonus points into it, Sara’s Charm had reached its cap through pure, natural growth.
My Durability, on the other hand… No. Let’s not go there, it’ll just make me sad.
“And once you break the level 100 limit, I’ll help you out a ton and raise your Charm for you.”
“You idiot! From now on, I’m going to make sure my job level keeps up, too!”
As if making a vow to herself, Sara clenched her fists, her eyes lit up, and she began to search for monsters and slaughter them.
Things didn't change much even after we entered the ant nest.
Sara, who no longer needed to worry about retrieving arrows, advanced steadily, piercing several ants with a single shot.
“Lady Diana!”
At the end of the ant nest, members of the Mage Association were investigating the giant magic stone.
It looked like they had completely set up camp in the Queen Ant's chamber.
Couldn't they just install a teleport gate right here?
Well, to do that, they'd need someone strong enough to instantly deal with the Queen Ant the moment she was born to be on standby at all times, so it probably wasn't efficient.
Anyway, we had a simple dinner there, during which Diana received a report from the Mage Association members on the progress of their research on the giant magic stone.
“So, what do you want to do now?”
During the meal, I posed the question to Sara, who was more motivated than anyone.
“Hm? About what?”
“Should we sleep here and go to the 3rd floor tomorrow? Or head over right after we eat?”
“I’d like to go to the 3rd floor right away… but what does everyone else think?”
Sara, not wanting to just push her own opinion, glanced at the others to gauge their feelings.
“Hmm. Let’s do it. Let’s see how far we can go.”
Diana nodded confidently as she spoke.
Although she didn't say it out loud, Diana, who was always cautious about the dangers of the dungeon, looked incredibly self-assured.
And why wouldn't she be? Charm wasn't the only stat that had jumped to 500 when she broke her level cap.
Even if her level was a little low for the mid-3rd floor, the current Diana could probably vaporize every monster there in a single blow.
“Alright. Let’s do that.”
After our meal, we headed straight for the passage to the 3rd floor.
When we reached the wall of snow, I stopped and had everyone get on their guard.
“Our enhanced gear should prevent any major problems, but this is the 3rd floor, so everyone stay sharp. Especially you, Matilda.”
“Y-yes?! What is it?!”
“I know you’re in love with me, but try not to make a mistake by just staring at me in a daze.”
“I-I know that!”
Even as she said that, it seemed Matilda was somewhat aware of it.
She blushed and turned her head away.
Even though she used to be a Holy Knight, Matilda has a certain sheltered young lady vibe to her.
When we went to the dungeon with the Arachne clan, her role was mostly to be protected, occasionally providing defense or healing from my side. It seemed she wasn't very used to this kind of dungeon exploration.
Meanwhile, the actual noble lady over there got used to the dungeon in no time.
Well, that’s why I decided to have Silvia join the party in the first place.
“Hic!”
Feeling proud of Silvia for no particular reason, I stroked her head.
“Ah, what’s this, Silvia? Your combat mode is off. Is it because we haven’t gone in yet?”
“Huh? C-combat moooode… you say?”
Silvia vibrated, a look of complete confusion on her face.
Never mind. I’m just talking nonsense to myself, so don’t worry about it.
“Oh, right. And Diana.”
“Hm?”
“Your place is here.”
After confirming that everyone had checked their gear, I pulled Diana into a hug.
As expected, a personal heater is best kept in one’s arms.
“Hey! That’s not fair, Guwon!”
Leia seemed to have realized why I had suddenly hugged Diana.
She rushed at Diana from right in front of me.
“Ugh! My chest! Get your chest off me!”
“You just warned Matilda to be careful, and now look at what you’re doing!”
It was only after getting scolded by Sara that we were finally able to head to the 3rd floor.
As the vanguard, I naturally had Diana taken from me. She was left in Leia’s arms, an expression of pure agony on her face as Leia’s breasts rested on top of her head.
Tch. My personal heater…