Since it was necessary to defeat the boss on a previous floor to advance to the next, the settlement on the third floor was much less crowded than the second and first.
Knowing that anyone who had reached this floor barehanded preferred fighting that way, the few merchants selling weapons were mostly those trying to make a name for themselves.
This only made the high number of alchemists selling healing potions and antidotes even more apparent, as well as the healers offering their services.
Some even did it for free, which Beatrice was happy to accept since, according to her, her feet hurt.
While we had only gotten a few bruises, the girls and I could use a few minutes of rest. I let them explore as much as they wanted within the settlement, even though there wasn't much to see.
Licia: "This is another surprise..."
She sat beside me, our backs resting against a wall while we kept an eye on the girls.
Miwen: "Is it different in your world?"
Our arms were touching, but our hands were not.
It was a little awkward; I didn't know the correct distance to keep from her when the others were around.
Though I often felt like she didn't suffer from the same problem, as she'd always lean closer to me, even resting against my body sometimes.
Licia: "Mm. Since our Dungeons were connected to other worlds, you'd see busy settlements on every floor."
I wanted to take the initiative.
My hand slowly reached beneath hers, and I intertwined our fingers.
She tilted her head, softly smiling at me with her eyes.
Miwen: "Really? I always thought it made sense for deeper floors to be less populated. After all, everyone here, with help or not, has defeated two first bosses."
Claire threw her weight on the ground next to me, an audible thud resonating.
Her stretched arms wrapped around my shoulders, the girls' gentle pull slowly turning me into a tug-of-war rope.
Claire: "That's because the first floor in one world might actually be the third, fourth, or any other floor in another world."
I wrapped my hands around the girl's shoulders, and pulled them toward me, ending their tug of war.
Seeing that Claire's words had confused me, Licia interjected.
Licia: "You know how if you go deeper into a floor, you'll find more dangerous monsters?"
I nodded, excited to see Licia enter her teacher mode.
Licia: "Well, who's to say if you go deep enough, you might not find the monsters from the next floor?"
That almost made sense, but...
In all of our history, it had never happened.
Licia: "Mm. In my world, adventurers would often say that there's no such thing as 'Dungeons'. They had this theory that all Dungeon Gates connected to different parts of the same Dungeon."
To illustrate her point, Licia ran her fingers across my chest.
Claire also joined her, which only made it more confusing for me.
Licia: "You'll have to take my word for it since this world's Dungeons don't connect to other worlds, but... The third floor of this Dungeon could very well be the first floor in another world."
Despite how distracted they got, it actually started to make sense; I could almost map it in my head.
Claire: "The interesting thing is... If you enter the same floor through different gates, after defeating the boss, you'll be sent to a different floor. You have to enter through the same gate to form a party with otherworlders."
Their words made me think that maybe Earth wasn't disconnected from other worlds. Maybe it was just too far away from them.
Miwen: "Man... I wish I had seen a Dungeon in Mia's world."
Hearing her name, even from a distance, the coat covering her ears twitched.
She instantly turned around, approaching us with narrowed eyes.
Mia: "Are we camping here?"
Her hands rested on her waist; she leaned closer, bending forward, but she had to be careful not to make her tail too obvious.
Miwen: "Why? Are you looking forward to sleeping together-"
She kicked the wall next to me, her foot cutting deeply through the stone until it reached the ground.
Beatrice and Ellie were still exploring, but since we'd probably have other opportunities...
Miwen: "Anna, how are you feeling?"
Anna: "Ah... I'm good."
She was still a little awkward, sitting a few feet away from us, drinking her water.
Since Mia was this excited and everyone seemed to have recovered their energy, we started exploring the third floor.
Compared to other "deeper floors", this Dungeon's third floor was still on the popular side due to a monster species known as Lunar Glowstrikers.
The lizard-like monsters had glowing tails that illuminated the Dungeon's dark corridors in a silver glow resembling the moonlight.
They made our exploration slightly easier since they were so easy to spot, but when it came to fighting, they were a headache.
On their own, most Lunar glowstrikes were weaker than a hobgoblin.
However, their sizes varied greatly, and as we made our way deeper into the floor, we found tamed lunar glowstrikers used as mounts by other monsters.
Mia had no problem defeating them. Her level was high enough that she could blitz through everything bar the monsters at the floor's level cap with ease.
The rest of us had to be extremely careful.
The glowstrikers were slippery and fast, while their riders varied between orcs that required strong or multiple strikes to be taken down and hobgoblins that sometimes employed crafty strategies.
Whenever we attacked their mounts, we'd be exposed to the "raiders" on top.
Focusing on the raiders themselves also left us exposed to the mounts.
The best way to deal with them was to attack in pairs, but Mia and Claire were more interested in competing than cooperating, while Licia, Anna, and I were left behind to deal with whatever got past them.
Beatrice and Ellie were also struggling since we needed their help more often than not, and our coordination still wasn't exactly high.
The fight with the Boss of the second floor and the tiresome battles started taking a toll on us, and once each of us had leveled up twice, I decided it was enough to call it quits.
For a first day on a new floor, that was plenty.
Before making our way back, we searched for a larger area to rest on.
Miwen: "Ahh... I'm beat."
Even though it wasn't our longest exploration, it certainly felt like it.
Claire: "Eh? You're already done?"
She provoked me with a cheeky smile, covering her lips and giggling.
Miwen: "Well, last night you were the one asking for a break-"
Claire: "S-Shut up! I don't know what you're talking about!"
Her face flushed red, and she turned her head, pouting hard.
We still had a long way to go before reaching the exit.
Especially since we were using unusual routes to avoid other adventurers, face more monsters, and keep Mia and Ellie's identity hidden.
Licia: "Mia's working you to the bone, huh?"
She reached a hand over my head, stroking my hair as if a mom protecting her boy from a demanding teacher...
Miwen: "Yeah... There's also that..."
I had no idea why Mia was so interested in helping shape me up, but I couldn't complain much.
If anything, I was glad to see her enthusiastic, regardless of reason.
However, whenever she had an edge over Claire in their competition, she'd have me face monsters all by myself, calling it "real combat" training.
Adding those to the monsters I had faced with the rest of our party, I might've actually killed more than Claire and Mia.
Licia: "Ehehe~"
That giggle was scary.
It was too adorable.
Licia: "Maybe she's seeing potential in you?"
Claire: "Or it's payback for always teasing her..."
She leaned against Licia's arms, the two sharing a laugh.
Claire: "It does give me ideas."
Her eyes flared up, a smug smile plastered over her face.
Licia: "Ehe~ That's also a possibility."
Licia's theory was more comforting, but considering Mia's personality, I'd wager Claire was on the money.
If anything, I'd bet on it.
Licia: "...I was thinking about what happened in the morning. Do you want to talk about it?"
She dragged me toward her lap, still messing with my hair.
Her voice sounded gentle, but the slower cadence concerned me a little.
While gentle, she'd only beat around the bush when something weighed on her mind.
Miwen: "...You're not talking about the boss battle, are you?"
I already imagined the answer, and she confirmed that wasn't the case by quietly shaking her head.
Licia: "No. I'm talking about the thing with that man we met..."
Her hands hesitated, her eyes growing soft and her lips curling into a warm smile.
Claire: "I was wondering about that, too. It's not that I'm worried, but... You seemed heated. That's unusual for you."
I had tried my best to avoid that guy from the AOTG.
It was true that I wanted to come to the Dungeon and make the best use of the time we had before the next Event.
Beatrice's inviting body language also annoyed me when I noticed that, just like the man she targeted, my eyes were following her hands, landing exactly where she wanted them to.
However, I also had a personal problem with the Army of the Gifted...
Miwen: "...I see some of the AOTG's points. I agree with them on a few things; I disagree with them on others. As far as ideologies go, I have nothing against them, but..."
I lowered my gaze, staring profoundly at one of the Dungeon's cave-like walls.
The AOTG wasn't a topic I liked discussing.
But it was one I'd always pay attention to.
Miwen: "I used to live with my sister. But a little over a year ago, when she got her Gift, she joined the AOTG."
Just like I'd never asked the girls about their past, they never asked about mine.
My relationship with Claire and Licia had evolved, though.
After they told me so much about themselves, I felt comfortable sharing a little about myself with them, even if it wasn't all that interesting.
Of course, they seemed surprised.
Their eyebrows twitched, and for a second, it was as if the entire Dungeon had grown silent.
Miwen: "Seems like she got some notoriety in there, and even managed to become quite strong."
Sis was incredibly special, so that was a given.
She was one of the first people to receive a Gift among the Giftless generation, and though I felt slightly jealous, above all, I was always happy to see her doing well for herself.
Miwen: "After joining the AOTG, she started to return home less and less. Nowadays, she rarely tries to make contact... Although the last time I saw her, she was doing okay..."
I avoided looking at the other girls.
But even staring at the two was a little harder.
This wasn't something I was planning on sharing with them.
Sis was too important to me.
Licia: "I see, so it's personal for you."
Her hands somehow seemed even more delicate, her touch almost weightless.
Claire was slightly quieter, but her eyes were fixed on me.
Miwen: "Hah... Yeah, I guess. Sis and I were very close, so I don't particularly like the guys who stole her from me."
Even though I knew that was inevitable.
If it weren't the AOTG, it would be something else.
Sis and I couldn't stay together forever. She didn't want that.
And well... She was always headstrong; her heart was filled with a sense of justice and empathy that even her brilliant mind couldn't contain.
An organization like the AOTG fit her like a glove.
If anything, it was a miracle that she hadn't yet gotten involved in trouble...
Miwen: "It's not like I hate them or anything either; I just hope they are treating her well and that she's not caught up in something dumb or dangerous."
Even though they were childish, these were my true feelings.
But somehow, I ended up speaking like Claire, and she noticed.
Claire: "Your parents give you a lot of liberty, huh?"
Her smile was slightly forced.
Or rather, it felt a little jealous.
I couldn't blame her, but we had more in common than she might've realized.
While my parents weren't dukes training me to inherit their position, I might've ended up following in their footsteps all the same.
Miwen: "Mm... My parents are adventurers. Pretty good ones, too. They've made lots of guides and maps for Dungeons."
I always admired them, even though...
Miwen: "They travel a lot for work, and sometimes, they spend months inside a Dungeon. We never spent much time together."
I chose to rent our current home not only because being close to a Dungeon Gate made rent that much cheaper, but because I wanted to be able to go back home every day after a Dungeon Raid.
It wasn't as effective as spending weeks inside a Dungeon, nor as heroic as braving it as far as possible, but...
I was never a hero.
That was a title reserved for the previous generation.
They were the ones who saved our world and paid the price for it.
The Giftless generation simply watched from the sidelines, and when our time came, the crisis had already been dealt with.
In a way, it's ironic that [Gacha Kingdom Building] seemed to agree with me.
Its ability to share experience between citizens basically meant I'd never need to spend that much time inside a Dungeon like everyone else.
Even the universe recognized that I wasn't-
Licia: "So you only had each other to rely on ?"
My mind was wandering somewhere it shouldn't when her voice brought me back.
That gentleness of hers reminded me a lot of my sister.
Miwen: "That's right. My parents tried to visit as much as they could, but there was only so much they could do. They hired babysitters, gave us a good allowance, but..."
I took a deep breath before continuing.
It wasn't that I hated the past.
It was that I loved it, despite the problems.
Miwen: "Yeah. Since we were always moving out for their work, SIs and I didn't have many friends. For most of our lives, it was just the two of us."
Before Sis left, that was my everyday life.
Then I was all by myself, until the girls came.
All that I knew was how to take care of someone I loved.
Thankfully, that was what they needed most.
Miwen: "Let's get going, alright? We can talk more back home."
They always talked about how they valued everything I did for them.
But I had my own selfish reasons for it as well.
They gave me a chance to be myself again, the person I had always been for Sis.
I enjoyed it.
And I already thought of them as part of my home.
Licia and Claire were my family.
As much as Sis was.