Finally, the group arrived at the entrance to the second floor, where the first golden door awaited them.
In the Gold Rock Dungeon, the start of every new floor was marked by a massive golden door, sealed by the powerful mana of King Midas. This also ant that the deeper you went into the dungeon, the more reinforced each magically sealed door would beco.
However, the only person who knew this was Sadim, and he didn't plan on informing the others, not wanting to raise unnecessary questions about how he had such knowledge.
There was silence as everyone looked at the door.
Princess Luciana adjusted the magic staff in her hands and rested against it, frowning.
"I still don't understand the whole point of this. What exactly are we looking for in this dungeon?"
"I'd like to know that too…" Sadim added, also frowning.
The young lord didn't answer and just kept staring at the door in silence.
[Ding! The hero's hatred for you has reached 3 stars!]
[He is aware that you know his secret. Has the host planned how to utilize this information?]
Vritra simply shook his head in response.
『Sadim is quite an interesting character… but just like the previous hero, and the future ones I hope to et, I have to make sure they never reach their pri.
『It would make things unnecessarily difficult for , especially since I haven't thought of a proper plan to corner Arcellion either… after all, he's still deeply affiliated with Divine General Ravenblade. If I were to kill him, it would bring unnecessary political inconveniences I'm not ready for.
『I'm a villain, yes, but I'm also a political figure who can't afford to do stupid things.』
Vritra gestured at them with a small wave of his hand.
"Co on, let's go…"
Just as they were about to step forward, Vritra studied the interlocked bricks on the floor beneath them and stepped on a specific one.
The instant that happened, Sadim panicked.
"NO!"
He darted forward, trying to save Rosemarie before anything even happened.
Monts later, sothing actually did.
The ground beneath Rosemarie parted, and several spikes jutted out with intent to riddle her with holes. Prince Vritra swooped in, saving her faster than Sadim could perceive… and he made the first move.
Tension rushed through the group.
Sophia quickly unsheathed her sword and stood defensively in front of Esralda, while Luciana held out her magic staff and Ghislaine conjured scorching balls of fire.
"Hrmm, that was a close one…" said Sophia.
Ghislaine dispersed her fireballs and shrugged.
"I an, are we really going to act like this isn't a dungeon? We should expect traps. It's a good thing the young master was quick enough to save that nun… although if it were up to , I'd say let her fall and burst that perfect butt of hers so we'd have less competition."
There was absolute silence after this.
Everyone looked at Ghislaine as the awkwardness grew louder and louder.
The small-bodied woman turned red with embarrassnt.
"I-, I was joking!"
But of course, they all knew she wasn't.
Prince Vritra looked at Rosemarie in his arms and smiled.
"Are you alright, lovely Rose?"
Princess Luciana imdiately tightened her grip on her staff and marched forward aggressively before pausing halfway.
Sothing was stopping her from doing or saying anything. While she originally thought it was her self-control, it was also the possibility that the young lord might know what he was doing.
She shook her head, trying to sort out her thoughts.
『There's never really been a ti when the young lord made feel unloved… so what would be different here? I think I just need to calm down and see what he's trying to do… right? It's not like he would even listen to if I told him how I really felt about having all these won around him, would he?』
Luciana's face turned very sad.
anwhile, Rosemarie saw this from the corner of her eye and imdiately hopped out of Vritra's arms.
"I-, I'm fine… thank you, God Dionysus…"
The nun gently swept her hair to the side.
Sadim's eyes sparked with rage when he saw this.
『This son of a… bitch!』
He should have been happy that Rosemarie wasn't hurt, since all that really mattered was her safety and not who saved her. But in this case, it was different because he knew that Vritra was fully aware of what he had just done.
『Is this guy really a spawn of Dionysus?! Grr, he has to be! He purposely risked Rosemarie's life just so he could act like so stupid hero and save her! No one here knows where most of these traps are besides … and none of them were anywhere near the bricks that can trigger these traps, but sohow this son of a bitch knew exactly where to step to activate Rosemarie's trap specifically.』
He placed his hand on his sword and tried to pull it out so he could behead the young lord and be done with it.
No… I'm smarter than that… I can't let him get to . No matter how wickedly he wants to play this ga!
Sadim gritted his teeth harder.
『You really are Dionysus, aren't you, Vritra?』
He released his grip on his sword and quickly rushed to Rosemarie to check on her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and stood in front of her, effectively blocking Vritra from view.
"Marie, are you okay?!"
"Uh, y-, yeah. I'm fine…"
Rosemarie was still a little shaken, but she managed to reply with so certainty.
The young hero hugged her tightly.
"Stay close to , okay?!"
"Al-, alright…"
The nun's cheeks turned red.
Sadim glanced to the side, glaring at Vritra.
The young lord grinned maliciously, and for just that mont, it felt like only he and Sadim were in the room. Both of them had the sa thought in mind.
『I'll scar this son of a bitch…』
━ ━ ━ ━
The group made their way through the door to the second floor. This place was much darker than the last, but it also felt more spacious, cooler, and easier to breathe.
Vritra walked at the forefront, with Sadim just behind him to his left, holding Rosemarie very close to him.
"Sadim, I really am fine…"
"I know, but that doesn't an I shouldn't keep a close eye on you, you know? It's all for your safety."
"You say that like I haven't been in danger before!"
"Not this kind…"
Sadim's eyes narrowed as he glared at Vritra's back.
Sophia looked around, carefully taking steps and keeping her senses sharp.
The room was quite dark, and more than that, it likely wasn't safe. The fact that they couldn't see what they were stepping on was a cause for concern. But the young lord, who seed to be walking comfortably ahead of them, didn't seem to have that problem.
Ghislaine looked at Sophia.
"You really need to relax for once, glasses knight. The young master can see clearly, so you don't need to do all this. We just need to follow his footsteps, and if we sohow step into a trap, he's fast enough to save us."
The small-bodied woman folded her arms and nodded with great pride.
Sophia found this confusing.
What was there to be proud of?
"Maybe you're fine with doing nothing and leaving God Vritra with the task of saving us if we fall into trouble. But I can't say the sa for myself… I have to be useful, or I'll just be a burden to all of you."
She squeezed the hilt of her sword tightly.
"I'll go on ahead…"
Sophia marched forward quickly with a dark expression on her face, as though she felt a deep sorrow inside her.
『I-, I'm not useless. I'm not useless. I'm not…』
She kept telling herself this like a mantra.
Ghislaine folded her arms and lifted an eyebrow.
"What's her problem?"
"Ehhh…"
With no answer to provide, Esralda simply shrugged.
On the other hand, Luciana saw that Vritra was now free and rushed past Esralda and Sophia until she was standing side-by-side with her husband.
She gave Vritra a soft side-eye and smiled.
"It's really dark in here, isn't it? When I was a child, I used to be really scared of the dark, and I still am."
The princess edged closer to Vritra until she was intimately resting against him.
While the place was quite dark, Vritra could still clearly see Luciana and how beautiful she looked. Seeing her curvy, voluptuous body being contained in that slightly tight magic robe made him feel like tasting between her legs on the spot, but of course, he couldn't.
Rosemarie was the focus for now.
Because of this, the young lord cleared his throat and shifted away from Luciana.
"Did I say you could touch so casually? Focus on the little dungeon dive we're handling. If we're going to be married, then you should be capable of fighting for yourself. Trust , I don't like damsels in distress. My wife in the Hell Continent certainly isn't one either, so why should you be?"
These were very harsh words, but Vritra had to say them if he wanted to script this entire dungeon exploration better.
Luciana lowered her head to hide the little tears slowly falling from her eyes.
"It won't happen again, God Vritra. I'm sorry."
She walked back to join Esralda.
[Ding! You've hurt the heroine's feelings. Her affection for you remains unaffected!]
[You've acquired the nickna: Loving Asshole!]
Vritra's face flattened.
"Great…"
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