It’s Dangerous Outside the Dungeon, Master

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– 1 –

Three days had passed since we arrived at the hidden Mine Village of Mozakar, and early on the fourth day, we decided to set out for Sonataph.

“Take good care of Lan. Axe.”

– Clatter!

We decided to leave Axe in Lan’s dungeon.

He would send the nobles we had corralled here through the dungeon gate, and afterward, he would guard Lan’s dungeon to assist in her growth.

Looking at what she had shown so far, this was a worthy investment that would yield great returns.

“For now, focus on your growth. Axe will help you tidy up the surroundings.”

“I am grateful for your generosity, my lord. I will grow quickly and become a woman who will not hold you back.”

As I said this before leaving Lan’s dungeon, the two-tailed Fox Yokai, Lan, bowed deeply with eyes that seemed like they might cry again.

Regardless of her original nature, that bow was still heartfelt.

“The important thing is that you must not be disheartened.”

“That will never happen! The most important feeling for me is my love for you…!”

“Right… I look forward to what you will bring.”

I grabbed her hand, which was determined not to rise, and had to tidy her clothes once again.

… Is she doing this on purpose?

“Who is your lord? Your lord is…”

– Snap.

I shot a glance at the disgusted Xue and the displeased Eve, signaling them to rein it in, and after retrieving the soldiers back into the shadows, we left Lan’s dungeon.

From here to Sonataph, the western gateway of the Kaisen Kingdom, it was less than two days by carriage.

Following behind me as I departed from Mozakar were Eve, Xue, and about half of the troops we had taken from the dungeon.

“Don’t try to eat the people we encounter.”

“Do you know who I am?”

… And there was also Serika, the blonde Vampire woman, along with two maids attending her.

– 2 –

“Rita!”

“Serika. I’m surprised you came in person.”

“Of course! I found my core!”

I reunited with Serika less than an hour after I had contacted her through Xue.

She was in such a hurry that she came directly to Lan’s dungeon, so I had to come out to greet her personally.

Seeing Serika again…

“You’ve gained a lot of weight.”

She had a much healthier face compared to before.

After losing her strength right after losing the dungeon core, she was quite skinny, but now she had gained a bit of chub, giving her a cute appearance that suited her looks.

“What?! I gained weight?! Really?! That’s not good!”

“I mean you’ve become much cuter.”

“A… is that so? Hehe.”

Serika, who burst into a bright laugh, seemed much brighter now that her health had improved.

I had thought she might not be treated well in the family due to being a bastard, but perhaps no such incidents had occurred.

Or maybe there was another reason I was unaware of.

“What’s with this dungeon being so impoverished? It’s not your dungeon, right?”

“It’s my person’s dungeon that had to be reclaimed due to circumstances.”

“Ah… is that so? Now that I see it again, it looks quaint!”

…

By emphasizing ‘my person,’ she changed her opinion about Lan’s dungeon quickly, which seemed to indicate that she wanted to become closer to me.

Hmm. There’s no concrete evidence for now.

“Master, who is this young lady here?”

“This is Lan. Say hello. She is Serika, the youngest of the Baritra Marquis House.”

“Hello! Are you the owner of this dungeon? Then you must be Rita’s maid? Let’s get along, okay?”

“… Hello. I’m called Yuran.”

With Serika greeting brightly and extending her hand, Lan, who had once glanced at me, took it.

While still smiling, I could sense a slight discomfort in her expression as she looked at me.

‘Does she dislike me?’

Given how she had treated me, she might be feeling jealous.

She certainly had a cute side.

“By the way, did you say you found my core?”

“It’s still just a possibility… but yes. I’ve found some clues.”

After finishing their introductions, Serika approached me and interlaced her fingers, swinging her arms around as she spoke.

She didn’t seem to have received any emotional scars from people at all.

… But just because she wasn’t wounded doesn’t mean she felt loved.

“It seems you’re adjusting well to the family.”

“Adjusting? I’m bored to death. It’s all about refinement and education every day. I told you in our communication chat!”

Right. She did mention that.

However, she had never talked about any other ‘close entities’ before. While she often spoke of her maids, that was about it.

“You’ll have to learn what you need to live as a noble quickly and efficiently.”

“I know! But…”

Serika suddenly wore a somewhat glum expression.

The arms that had been flailing around in greeting had now settled down obediently.

I patted her head before the silence became awkward.

“You’ll do well, just as you have been.”

“… Yeah.”

“You’re much prettier now than before. Your walk, your face… everything.”

“Really? Am I really prettier?”

“Of course.”

“Hehe. Oh, right.”

As Serika gradually brightened up and smiled, she suddenly frowned as if something had come to her mind and returned to the main topic.

“We should talk about my core.”

“Right.”

“Where is it? Is it far from here?”

“About a two-day journey. It’ll take a little over five days to go there and return.”

“Oh…!”

With her eyes sparkling, Serika let go of my hands and seemed to ask her maids something, mixing in some childish temper tantrums.

The maids looked troubled, but eventually nodded, and one of them disappeared beyond the gate.

Are they going to report something back?

What that report is, I soon found out.

“Can I go with you?”

“You? Didn’t you have a lot to study?”

“I just got permission!”

It seemed she wasn’t going to ask for permission but was going to get it.

I felt awkward about her attitude, as if she believed her opinion would be accepted without question, but I had no particular reason to oppose it.

After all, Serika was a powerful talent capable of becoming a High-level Dungeon Lord on her own. Having her along would certainly improve safety.

Provided she followed the rules, of course.

“If you listen to me well, I’ll take you along.”

“Really?! I’ll listen!”

“But if you don’t, there will be consequences.”

“Punishment… I don’t want punishment.”

“What will you do?”

Serika, who had been pondering for a moment with her finger on her lips, finally nodded with a face that wasn’t entirely bright.

“Okay. Don’t give me anything too painful.”

“That’s something I’ll have to think about.”

“Aaaah! You don’t want me to be in pain either, right?!”

Serika clung to me, exhibiting something between cuteness and whining.

“Okay. I’ll make it gentle. Let’s go together.”

“Yeah!”

As I pondered briefly why this girl was showing me such familiarity, I accepted her.

And that was the reason Serika decided to accompany me.

– 3 –

“A girl I’ve never seen before beside my lord…”

Watching Serika cling affectionately to Libertus, a woman lurking in the corner revealed a fierce jealousy.

She was none other than the Dungeon Lord of this dungeon and Rita’s first subordinate Dungeon Lord, Yuran.

“What’s up with that girl? I’ve never seen her before…? What’s her deal…?”

– Snap (Now she notices us?)

“She dyed her hair and acted all coy, so I wondered if her real personality had changed… but it’s still the same…”

Next to her were Eve and Xue, Rita’s loyal followers.

“That’s not what’s important!”

– Clack (Because I’m right here, it’s only natural that Master stabilizes more quickly). Snap (There’s still a lot more to do.).

“So you’re saying that’s why that girl is sticking to him? That’s bad!”

“Don’t make a fuss… It just means Master’s power is growing. Be happy about that…”

Unlike Yuran, the two still seemed somewhat indifferent. They knew that their master’s feelings for Serika were only at the level of ‘a close younger sister.’

Someday that might change, but for the time being, it certainly wasn’t the case.

All they had to do was rejoice in their master’s influence growing.

Yuran disagreed with that sentiment.

“You guys probably liked it because you’ve been here longer! Lan has only just gotten the chance to catch the Master’s eye…! Rivals will only keep increasing from now on…! No one can ignore someone as charming as Master!”

– Clack (That’s true).

“I agree with that… But what are you going to do about it…?”

It seemed they acknowledged that Libertus was indeed charming, nodding their heads.

Among the two, Xue raised an eyebrow and questioned Lan.

“… I will catch his eye quickly. I’ll definitely sleep with him soon.”

And that answer was something the two could hardly imagine.

– Snap!

“Did you forget…? Until we gather, we agreed not to progress.”

“Hmph. This is why only loyal wolves are…”

“What the hell are you talking about… you mischievous brat…”

With a sneer, Lan shot a glare at Xue.

The two had never had a particularly good relationship, to begin with.

Though they had gathered because of feelings for one person, the intensity, direction, and positions of those feelings were not the same, and personalities differed as well.

Still, there was some bond between them—a bond that tilted more towards affection and resentment.

That was evident in the next thing Lan said.

“What does it matter? If it’s going to be taken away by some other woman, then I’d rather not care about promises or anything. I’d rather die. You’d probably feel the same, right?”

“Ugh… um.”

A grimace filled with jealousy and anger spilled from her lips. Even Xue seemed to have nothing to say and clamped her mouth shut.

Unexpectedly, her words garnered agreement.

– Snap (That’s true).

“Evangeline?”

“Yeah. I’m sure you feel the same.”

From the usually reserved Evangeline.

However, Lan merely scoffed and nodded, as if she had anticipated that agreement all along.

She had a psychological basis for assuming Evangeline would feel that way.

“Pretending to be innocent, she was the first to leap onto the hearth, after all.”

– Clack Clack (That wasn’t my intention. I didn’t have the leisure to care about that).

“Anyway, Lan is never going to let that happen. You all act as you please. Master – !”

With that, Lan swiftly moved away and wove between Serika and Libertus, her gaze flirtatiously and adorably fixating on him, a sight that was all too visible to the two.

“Tsk… By the way, Evangeline…”

As she watched that scene with a raised tongue, Xue cautiously looked at Evangeline before speaking.

There had been something in what Lan said earlier that piqued her curiosity.

“Are you really going to do that…?”

– Clack (No). Snap Snap (If I were to come on strong, he’d definitely distance himself, so what’s the point of that?).

“Ah, I see.”

That answer was quite surprising.

It was hard to believe that she was always standing by Libertus like a knight, acting so cunningly.

However, Xue appeared impressed but not particularly surprised.

“You were like this all along. I’d forgotten about that…”

– Snap (After all, you value ‘firsts’ very highly, so there’s no need for me to rush).

Evangeline’s composure had its reasons.

She was well aware that Libertus cherished his ‘first soldier’ and ‘the first one to keep by his side’ more than anyone else and knew that even if she turned her attention elsewhere, he wouldn’t withdraw his affection from her.

It was also true that this extended to other ‘firsts’ like ‘first mercenary’ and ‘first dungeon lord’…

But she understood that nothing held more value than ‘the first one to keep by his side.’

– Clack (Above all, Master’s embrace is generous).

“That’s true… Wait.”

It seemed Xue had followed that train of thought, nodding her head as she remembered something and clenched her teeth.

“So… if Lan is pushing for it like that… it means I have to hurry…”

– Clack (That might be the case).

“‘Might be the case’? I’ll need to think about that…”

As Xue bit her nails, her eyes chased after Lan and Serika.

Though it didn’t show on the surface, Xue similarly wished to possess the title of Libertus’s ‘first one’ as much as possible.

She wasn’t satisfied with merely being ‘the first mercenary.’

‘Rushing isn’t beneficial.’

Despite their attitudes, Evangeline remained calm, even crossing her arms.

Because.

‘Master is probably realizing that we love him right now and is preparing for a conversation; complicating that preparation wouldn’t do any good.’

She was accurately guessing Libertus’s current state of mind.

And above all…

‘I’ve already gained his favor once, so there’s no reason I can’t gain it again.’

She had experience.

An experience of rising from the position of the most dreaded summon to the most beloved.

However, even she knew there was something missing that she had failed to consider.

‘… Eve is always behind me.’

That was because it was, after all, Libertus’s closest focus of concern at present.

A consideration formed and created layers of thought, yet the fact remained that she was his greatest concern.

‘Could it be that I… no way, right? Could it be…?’

And that would soon return as feedback that Evangeline hadn’t anticipated.