Chapter 41: 41. Jang Ryu-o Refund Expedition

The moment Ryu-o had just left.

Still basking in the lingering bliss, Arin gently waved to Ryu-o.

"Have a safe trip, honey."

"Yeah, I’ll be back."

Watching Ryu-o, Arin thought to herself.

She had no choice but to admit it now.

Even though I’m his master, I love that man so very much.

Arin rose to her feet, fondly stroking the liquid filling her belly.

It bothered her to send him to Cheon Hwayeong, but he was so completely taken with her like this...

"Hehe♥"

Her heart brimming with ease, Arin stood up with trembling thighs.

She had heard that men were not all that lustful, so how could he have fucked her so brutally?

Her body, having reached such a realm, had suffered no damage, but it was troubling how it kept stirring up that sensation of her mind floating away.

"Sigh, I need to get a grip... Hngh!"

As Arin stretched deeply, her expression abruptly changed.

It was a solemn, cool-headed expression.

The pride of a woman who wanted to do many things for the man she loved.

He was working so hard despite having a man’s body, so as his master... as the person who would become his p-partner, she wanted to support him as much as she could.

He was far too precious to be confined in this small house.

If only he had no talent...

"I should at least change clothes..."

Arin put aside the foolish thoughts in her head and took out her gear, putting it on.

Whenever she dressed like this, it meant she was either entering the labyrinth...

"Or I need to have words with the duke’s daughter."

To rough someone up.

She did not actually intend to rough her up—only to threaten her.

She had received favors from the ducal house, but she had repaid them all long ago.

With nothing to hold her back, Arin kicked off the ground, determined to pave the way for her disciple.

Tap!Whoosh...

She ran through the air, using the sky itself as a foothold.

Arriving at tremendous speed, Arin saw a servant stabbing his own neck and spraying blood everywhere.

Bwahahahahaha!

Stab!Splaash!

"Huh?"

She had no idea what this situation suddenly was.

"I never heard that the duke’s daughter had such vile tastes..."

Naturally, the servants fell into a panic, and knights came pouring out of the mansion.

"Catch the infiltrator... Damn it!"

"That crazy bastard..."

"...Report this to the young lord."

The knights gritted their teeth and approached the corpse.

Then, in that instant...

Hummm!Bubble, bubble...

Light began to shine from the corpse as its body steadily swelled larger.

Flesh overflowed as if boiling, churning together into a grotesque mess.

Crackcrackcrack!

"Damn it! Everyone, prepare for battle!"

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Arin quietly watched the Corpse Golem, a monster that normally appeared only on the fortieth floor.

Arin decided that she needed to keep her disciple away from the duke’s daughter.

Seeing the state of things inside, she knew this was no ordinary matter.

Rooooaar!

Arin looked at the Corpse Golem raising both hands high and let out a sigh.

"Ha..."

She drew her sword, but there was no sound of the blade leaving its sheath.

Nothing could be felt from Arin as she raised her sword into a high guard.

No internal energy, no fighting spirit—she merely looked at it with the indifferent gaze one would give trash.

For a brief moment, sunlight gleamed at the tip of her white sword.

Rooaar... Slaaash!

Arin’s arm, which had been raised high, was already pointing toward the ground.

Thud!

The charging knights blinked at the Corpse Golem, which had been split in half.

To their eyes, the Corpse Golem had simply divided in two without any warning.

Standing atop the Corpse Golem, Arin slowly descended as though stepping down invisible stairs through the air and spoke.

At the mysterious, beautiful sight, the knights of the ducal house stood with their mouths agape.

"I came to see the duke’s daughter."

*

I tried my best to ignore the smooth skin beneath my hand.

After taking a deep breath, I calmed my pounding chest as much as possible.

I thought that if this went any further, I might lose my reason.

"I’ll splash some water on you."

Unlike before, Cheon Hwayeong spoke in a quiet voice.

"Okay."

As though what I had heard was nothing but an auditory hallucination.

Splaash!

She simply splashed water on me like that...

"Want me to wipe you down?"

"Okay."

Holding a thick towel, she patted my body dry.

With an expressionless face, Cheon Hwayeong spread her arms toward me.

"Carry me."

Her tone was strangely cold.

I did as I was told, picked up Cheon Hwayeong, and laid her on the bed.

Looking into the air, Cheon Hwayeong spoke.

"All right, we’ll end it here for today. You may leave."

"Huh? We only practiced qi circulation and meditation?"

Cheon Hwayeong lightly closed and opened her eyes, then curled up the corner of her mouth.

"Why? Do you want to do what we just did again?"

"Didn’t you say that was training...?"

"Pwahahaha! Yes, I asked whether you wanted to do ‘that training’ again."

The way she laughed while placing strange emphasis on those words annoyed me.

"Fine, forget it! I’m really leaving, okay? I was going to make you something to eat..."

"I’m not hungry, so hurry and go."

When she said she would not eat, I found myself worrying and asked once more.

"Are you really okay not eating anything?"

"Heh heh heh. Once my energy starts circulating, I’ll eat on my own. Go now. I need to rest a little."

Well, she was not feeling well, and a lot had happened in more ways than one.

Will she be able to get up...?

"I said go?"

"Huh? Oh, okay."

Before I opened the door and left, Cheon Hwayeong spoke.

"Come again tomorrow. There is much I have to teach you."

"...Okay."

What would happen tomorrow flashed through my mind, but I shook my head and went outside.

"Get a grip."

Once the [Heavenly Demon Divine Art] became familiar to my body, there were many things I wanted to try.

I headed for the guild.

I intended to find out how my companions were doing, then have the church appraise the essence as well.

*

The inside of the guild was in chaos as one incident piled atop another.

"Is there still no information on what was found on the tenth floor?"

"We’ve requested an appraisal from the Magic Tower. But the dungeon will reset soon, so the evidence may be erased."

"Ha... You told them to come out with plenty of time to spare, right? If something unexpected happens on the tenth floor and the mages get hurt, we won’t be able to handle it."

"Yes, they’ll return before midnight today."

"Master... the reply from the ducal estate is taking a while."

"...Send someone to find out what’s going on."

"Yes!"

"Master! We haven’t been able to locate the Heavenly Demon and Lady Arin’s residence—"

"Ah, Meidel... bring me my pipe."

"S-smoking on the first floor is prohi—"

"Ah! It’s herbs! Just bring it!"

"Eek! Y-yes!!!"

Guildmaster Sylvia was handling her work with dark circles hanging heavily beneath her eyes.

The higher-ups were in an uproar, so how could things be for subcontractors like them?

They were simply being worked to death.

If it had been something that could be resolved cleanly, she would have worked hard at it, but mysterious strangers had inserted themselves into the middle of it.

They had compared them against the identities of every adventurer—nothing. They had even dug into the ducal estate’s past—nothing unusual.

Nothing. Sylvia was at a complete loss, with no answer in sight.

In this situation, Sylvia felt she could not endure without taking a puff.

As she rummaged through documents and waited for Meidel...

"M-Masterrr!"

"Huh? I’m already furious, so what is with the way you’re talking—Lord Ryu-oooo!"

Meidel had brought someone far better at relieving fatigue than a pipe.

Grabbing a sheet of scrap paper, Sylvia ran toward Ryu-o.

"Hello, I—"

"Thank goodness! You’re alive!"

Sylvia felt as though the boulder in her heart had shattered with a crash.

Going to find the Heavenly Demon would have been a problem, and going to find Arin would have been a problem...

"Lord Ryu-o! Here!"

"Yes?"

"Please, write down where you live... Please..."

He looked healthy, so that was okay. Now, all she needed was a way to contact him.

Adventurers did not normally list their residences, but she had decided to make an exception for Ryu-o.

This was already the third time he had gotten swept up in an incident and vanished.

She hoped it would not happen, but if it became truly urgent, they needed to be able to find him.

Ryu-o blinked at the sheet of paper Sylvia held out before him.

"I find my way there from memory too, so I don’t really know the exact address..."

"Ah..."

It was disappointing... No, her mind was spinning, but Sylvia endured!

"I’m glad to see that you are safe. Did you come here because of your master...?"

All she needed was for the problem with Arin to be resolved.

Ryu-o smiled and nodded.

"My master knows about it too."

"Whew... That’s a relief. Did the Heavenly Demon do anything to you, by any chance?"

"...Yes, there are some personal circumstances."

"Personal circumstances... I see... Since you say you are all right, I won’t ask any further."

Sylvia felt that she should not pry any more than that.

With so much work taken off her shoulders, she nodded.

"Ah, Lord Ryu-o. Your companions testified to your achievements. You truly, truly accomplished an astonishing feat."

Ryu-o’s expression brightened at Sylvia’s words.

"Then all of my companions are safe! Ha, what a relief."

Sylvia was touched by Ryu-o’s kindness.

Instead of boasting, he worried about his companions first.

They said handsome men tended to be temperamental, but that was all nonsense.

His face was so beautiful, and his heart was just as beautiful, so utterly lovely...

"Master?"

Having been absorbed in Ryu-o’s face, Sylvia came to her senses and explained.

"Slurp! Ah, my apologies. Ahem! Normally, we would issue your reward immediately, but the ducal estate is still investigating, so I apologize that our preparations are incomplete. And..."

Smiling with satisfaction, Sylvia continued.

"Your achievements will be reviewed, and you will receive an even better reward."

"Really?"

Seeing the happiness spread across his face, Sylvia smiled back.

"Lord Ryu-o, you accomplished something that is impossible to believe of an adventurer who has only reached the tenth floor."

"I-is that so?"

"You led everyone through a labyrinth in a dungeon break state. The result was that everyone survived. You even defeated an Orc Hero alone. This is unprecedented in the history of Labyrinth City Velanis."

Even the sight of Ryu-o standing there with his mouth hanging open looked adorable to Sylvia.

She felt full just looking at him, as though she were witnessing a single ray of light that would illuminate the darkness of the labyrinth.

"You may be confident. Labyrinth City is endlessly generous to those who create miracles."

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