The sa ti she let out a shrill scream, Cherry threw the knife she had been holding directly at Axel. It spun a few tis before hitting its target—Axel’s chest.
Tang!
The knife rely bounced off before falling to the ground.
It caused him no harm, but...
"Cherry... That’s dangerous," Axel reprimanded. "If it were soone else without our level of stats, that could have been fatal."
"S-Sir Axel...!" She paled. "I-I’m sorry for my misbehavior. I swear it wasn’t intentional!"
"Really..."
He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the poor maid up close.
Axel had noticed that for the past few days, Cherry seed to be avoiding him. When others were around, she acted normally, but whenever they were alone, she would quickly make an excuse to leave.
He understood the reason behind her behavior.
Cherry was embarrassed about her actions during their "first ti" together. Her behavior had been a bit too aggressive by her standards, leaving her feeling awkward in his presence. More than that, she felt embarrassed.
Every ti she saw him, mories of that night replayed in her mind like a high-quality video.
"Anyway," he decided not to press her too hard. "Co to the courtyard. Everyone’s already there. You can leave cooking for later."
Cherry, confused but compliant, quickly nodded.
"Y-Yes!"
A short while later, in the castle’s courtyard, all the girls gathered, chatting idly as they waited for Axel. Nina, Arianne, Beatrix, Maria, and Cherry were present.
Once everyone was assembled, Axel wasted no ti explaining the situation.
He discussed the ancient dwarves’ kingdom, Nidavellir, and the significance of the Hearthfire of Nidavellir, the flas necessary for forging Mithril and higher-grade tals. He also revealed that a dragon was responsible for the downfall of the dwarven kingdom.
Axel outlined his desire to obtain the Hearthfire and the potential need to confront a god-level entity—a dragon—in the process. He shared his plan to "defeat" the dragon should it interfere with their mission.
"I see... I understand now," Nina said, nodding. "So, you want to set up traps to weaken the dragon, giving us an advantage in battle, correct?"
"Exactly," Axel confird with a nod.
This task was one that only Nina, the most skilled witch among them, could undertake.
Ria might be able to cast basic curses, but her knowledge paled in comparison to Nina’s, who had been fighting on the frontlines for years.
"Setup-type curses, huh..." Nina mused, placing a hand on her chin. "Even at my fastest, it would take a couple of hours to finish them. Is that alright?"
"Of course. There’s no need to rush; the completion of the traps is essential before we can even attempt to unseal the dwarves’ kingdom," he replied, smiling and waving his hand lightly.
"Additionally, we still need to locate the actual ruins. Eve and the others are already working on it, but given the vastness of the land, they’ll need more assistance."
Even now, while Axel was gathering the girls as backup, the three were already diligently searching for the ruins. They were working in parallel to maximize speed and efficiency.
The rest of the group had a singular task: to defeat the dragon after it had been weakened by the cursed traps.
"Alright, then! Any questions?"
Before concluding the briefing, Axel decided to ask, just in case. It was more of a formality, so he didn’t really expect anyone to raise their hands... until Maria did.
"Uhm, Sir Axel... Cherry and I aren’t very skilled at fighting... Do we really need to join?"
Her question was valid.
As maids, they were not equipped for battle. If they participated, Maria could only foresee a future where both of them perished without making any aningful contributions to the fight.
"It’s fine."
Axel had anticipated this question.
"I didn’t include you two as fighters, anyway," he clarified.
"You both are here to sneak into Nidavellir and locate the Hearthfire while we deal with the dragon. It’s still dangerous, but it should be better than facing a dragon directly, right?"
Of course, Axel had no intention of losing.
However, since they would be confronting a dragon—an entity as powerful as gods—he needed to consider other asures for the worst-case scenario.
Maria and Cherry needed to secure the Hearthfire, which would allow everyone else to retreat if necessary. This approach would help minimize the impact of the worst-case scenario and reduce the overall danger.
"Anything else?" he asked again to confirm.
This ti, no one raised their hand to ask questions. Everyone understood their roles and what they needed to do.
Axel smiled.
"Then, let’s go!"
...
With a Return Scroll registered to the spot where they had previously stopped, Axel brought everyone along with him. Upon arrival, the three girls were already there, waiting.
"My King," Eve began without delay. "We have found the entrance to Nidavellir."
"Oh! That’s great, but..."
Axel noticed the girls’ grim expressions and asked, "What’s wrong with it?"
This ti, it was Fenrir who stepped forward to explain. "Master, it would probably be faster for you to see for yourself. Please follow ."
Without saying much else, Fenrir turned and started walking.
Axel was puzzled but followed her, the girls trailing behind.
Fenrir gradually increased her pace, ensuring she wouldn’t leave Axel and the others behind. They reached their destination within a minute.
They stood atop a mountain in a range labeled "Raven’s Beak Mountain Range" on the map. It wasn’t the tallest or the smallest mountain, but it was difficult to rank without asuring all the peaks.
At the summit, there was a plateau with a long crevasse. It was narrow at the edges, growing deeper and wider toward the center.
"Down here," Fenrir said as she jumped into the dark crevasse.
Axel hesitated to follow.
"Don’t worry, my King. This isn’t a straight drop; it’s more like a slide going down," Eve clarified, easing his worries.
"Oh, so that’s the case."
He whispered before jumping down, trusting Eve’s words.
About five ters in, he landed on a smooth surface, resembling a slide. He continued sliding down until he reached the bottom, hundreds of ters below, deep within the mountain.
Although it beca quite dark halfway through, as he arrived at the end, everything was well lit.
"No way..."
With the view now clear, Axel realized why Fenrir had wanted him to see this for himself.
Before him stood a large, tallic, ornate gate. At a glance, he recognized it as the entrance to Nidavellir. However, the concern lay in what was positioned in front of it.
A massive creature with four limbs, two wings, and a long neck, its scales shimring in shades of night. Axel, of course, recognized what it was imdiately.
It was a shape that felt both familiar and unfamiliar.
With a mix of fear and confusion, he whispered,
"A... dragon."
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