Inside the dungeon, in a dim corridor lit only by candlelight and magic-stone lamps.
For some reason, the silver-haired girl in gothic outfit lifted her skirt with a face full of disgust. Not only did it reveal the pale blue fabric beneath, it also exposed her clearly defined, flawless white abdomen, with distinct abdominal lines visible.
It made Ash even wonder if Lawine was trying to show him something nice before killing him… so her conscience would feel a little better afterward.
He stared blankly for a long time, thinking about it for a long time.
Finally, facing the girl's icy glare that looked ready to kill someone, he spoke with complete confusion: "What are you doing? Why are you doing this? Are you secretly in love with me? So you're deliberately trying to seduce me this way? But I don't have weird tastes. At the very least, could you stop looking at me with such a cold gaze? I'm not actually a bug…"
"Stop pretending to be some upright gentleman! Didn't you want to touch my stomach?"
"When did I ever say something like that?"
"'Like Kanne!' That's what you said, right?", Lawine, burning with shame and anger, looked like she was about to grind her teeth to pieces.
"Sorry, but you probably misunderstood. What I meant was, your attitude toward me has always been pretty bad, so I hoped you could be like Kanne in that sense. Just a little nicer."
While observing the girl in front of him, he carefully chose his words and explained, "To begin with, Kanne herself told me not to tell anyone about those things, so I've never heard that she told anyone else either. I also didn't know you wouldn't know about it…"
"S-so that means?", The sudden truth made the girl's shoulders tremble, along with the hands holding up her skirt. Her face turned so red it looked ready to bleed, and tears of humiliation gradually appeared in her eyes as she spoke in disbelief, "This… all of this… was my misunderstanding? All of it was just me?"
"Ah! Well, don't say it like that. At least I do appreciate your intention to repay the favor. But you should put your skirt down first. It wouldn't be good if you caught a chill."
One hand pressed her skirt down, and with the other he casually patted the girl's smooth stomach.
In that instant, Lawine jumped back as if electrocuted, clutching her stomach with both hands, tears shimmering in her eyes.
"Didn't you say it was all a misunderstanding? So you were lying after all?"
"How could that be? I just thought that since you already lifted your skirt, it would be a waste not to take the opportunity, right? Anyway you were going to get angry in the end. And… yeah, it didn't feel bad," Looking at his own palm, he nodded to himself.
"Don't reminisce about the feeling! I'll kill you!"
As Lawine spoke through clenched teeth, ice suddenly formed beside her, and the surrounding air temperature dropped sharply.
But Ash paid no attention. He simply reached out and smacked the top of her head lightly, finally putting on the air of an adult.
"You can do that sort of thing after we go back. Right now… are you planning to keep taking the exam, or go back?"
"Of course I'll continue."
"Can you still walk? Your thigh is injured too, right?"
"Y-you saw that?", Lawine, who had been about to slap his hand away, reflexively covered the skirt she had just lowered and glared at him with a murderous expression, "Pervert!"
"You were the one who showed me, weren't you? It's not like I wanted to see it," Though he didn't really mind seeing it either. After all, who disliked a little bonus? Ash, who considered himself perfectly normal, couldn't say what he truly thought because of his reputation, but he also didn't want to be overly misunderstood.
Lawine shot back in embarrassment and anger, "Didn't you say you're an upright gentleman? Some kind of gentle and kind uncle? Then why did you look?"
"I had no choice. If I didn't look, wouldn't you feel insecure?"
"I wouldn't!", The strange consideration nearly drove Lawine mad, "And you even touched… touched it!"
"You exposed it like you wanted me to touch it. If I didn't touch it, you'd feel sad, wouldn't you? In the end it's just a stomach anyway. Don't say it in such a weird way, people might misunderstand."
"S-so… I wouldn't! I definitely wouldn't feel sad or insecure!"
"You wouldn't, huh?", Compared to Lawine, who was so agitated she looked ready to die together with him right here, Ash simply nodded slightly and then looked her up and down. The girl had quite a few scrapes and cuts on her body.
"Can you still walk? Should I carry you on my back? Or just throw the bottle and give up the exam?"
"I can walk by myself!"
"Your knee is bleeding."
"None of your business!", Even standing was a bit unsteady for her. Being reminded of it made her realize she had spoken too excitedly, and the movement tugged at the wound on her face, making it sting. Yet her dissatisfaction with Ash made Lawine turn her face away resentfully.
After all, she really couldn't understand why the person who had just made her feel so humiliated could still remain so calm.
He even ignored her feelings in such a simple and rude way. It almost made her feel like the one getting so worked up was just a self-absorbed idiot. Her emotions were teetering on the edge of collapse.
However… contrary to her expectations, Ash didn't leave.
Instead, he stood there looking at her with a slightly puzzled gaze.
That inexplicable pause felt like a gentle force touching her taut nerves. She pursed her lips unconsciously, yet still spoke instinctively with words that were somewhat insincere, tinged with the usual prickliness.
"What now? Normally wouldn't you just leave?"
"Alright! Alright! Then I'll go first. Be careful. If you can't manage it, remember to break the bottle."
He seemed like he still wanted to say something, but under the girl's displeased glare, he simply nodded and quickly left the scene.
His departing back carried no hesitation or pause. Yet the final reminder he left behind clearly carried a trace of concern.
Lawine involuntarily reached out, wanting to stop him, but under the urge of her pride, she slowly lowered her hand again.
———
The dim corridor returned to silence.
Before she knew it, only Lawine was left there alone, along with her heavy breathing and the occasional hiss of pain when her wounds were tugged.
"I… I'm really troublesome," She squatted on the ground, hugging her knees tightly, as if that might give her a little warmth and comfort.
"Even though Uncle is much better than I first thought… but I…"
Her words were full of regret and self-reproach. Because she also realized that her behavior might truly have been inappropriate.
But her strong pride would not allow her to show weakness right now.
Even though she had long regretted saying those things, her pride wouldn't allow her to take them back. And even if she wanted to say something now, there was no one left to hear it.
She even wanted to stand up and leave this place, but the consumption of her mana and the injuries on her body wouldn't allow it.
Left alone in this dangerous dungeon, covered in wounds… wanting to give up but unable to, struggling even to stand.
All of these factors together nearly drowned this strong-willed girl in waves of anxiety and regret. She could only bite her lower lip tightly, trying not to let any weak sound escape.
But just as Lawine's unease grew, tears starting to swirl in her eyes, even a sob almost escaping her, an unexpected figure broke the silence.
The person she thought had already left, Ash, had actually come back.
His footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, each step seeming to land on the strings of Lawine's heart, making it beat faster.
"W-what? Didn't you leave already? Did you come back just to laugh at me?"
'Did I seriously say something like that again? What am I even doing?', Honestly, she really felt like crying now.
But Ash simply crouched down in front of her so their eyes were level and smiled helplessly.
"That's what I'd normally do. But right now you look pretty badly hurt. Leaving you here would be a bit inappropriate for an adult."
"Now you're talking about adult responsibility?"
"How is it only now? I've always been fairly responsible, you know?"
"I wouldn't believe someone like you is an adult."
At first, Ash really had thought about simply leaving and letting this awkward kid experience how harsh the world could be.
But he hadn't walked very far before feeling it wasn't quite right. After all, why would an adult argue with a child like that? It felt rather disgraceful. And their relationship was… somewhat special? In any case, she wasn't a stranger.
So he didn't dwell on it much.
He simply patted her head. While she showed clear dissatisfaction, he slipped one arm behind her knees and lifted her up in a princess carry.
"Ah! W-wait? What are you—"
The sudden movement startled Lawine, making this boyish, stubborn girl who hated to lose let out a surprisingly girlish sound for the first time.
"You're in this condition, so having you lie on my back wouldn't be appropriate. So… well, just think of it as me taking advantage of you and you can't resist. That's fine, right?"
"If it's like that… then there's nothing I can do…"
Perhaps the regret from earlier made her hesitate for a moment. She finally accepted his help in a stammering whisper so quiet that almost no one besides herself could hear it.
When he lowered his head in surprise to look at her, she closed her eyes tightly in embarrassment and avoided his gaze.
Under normal circumstances, Ash might have teased this stubborn girl a little more. After all, someone so proud and a little tsundere was much more fun to tease.
Unfortunately, seeing her like this, continuing to tease her didn't seem very appropriate.
———
Holding the suddenly obedient Lawine like that, Ash passed through the narrow corridor and arrived at a spacious hall.
On both sides of the entrance to the next passage stood stone gargoyles. Just as they were about to transform from their statue state, several glowing orbs appeared beside him first. With dense killing magic, they instantly blasted the gargoyles and the wall behind them to pieces.
Amid the thunderous explosion, Ash walked through the smoke and dust, yet his steps never faltered in the slightest.
His calm, leisurely demeanor made Lawine stare at him blankly. After quite a while, she murmured, "Uncle… you really are amazing…"
"You can praise me a little more, you know?"
"Hmph! I don't want to," Though still not exactly polite, the girl's attitude had clearly changed a lot from before. Right after speaking, she asked without thinking, "Seriously though, you're already this strong, why are you still taking the exam?"
"Because I still want those privileges."
"No, I mean, if you're already this strong, what do you need privileges for? I'm starting to wonder if you're planning to kill a god or conquer the world or something."
"Actually, I do want to conquer the world," He casually stated one of his goals.
"Huh?", As expected, Lawine was dumbfounded, "Why?"
"There are all kinds of reasons. At first it was just some personal ideas. Later there were some wishes left by friends. And plans for the future… something like that. Anyway, at this point I can't really stop anymore."
"You even brought up a friend's dying wish?"
Although he sounded fairly serious, Lawine frowned slightly, completely treating his words as another lie he casually made up to tease her.
'Wait… thinking about it carefully, Uncle doesn't seem to have lied to me before? But even so, there's no way he's serious about something like this, right?'
Looking up at him from below, Lawine pondered for a long time but still couldn't figure out what he was thinking. In the end she simply shook her head and gave up worrying about it.
And they hadn't gone much farther when they unexpectedly ran into three people, Ubel, Wirbel, and Kanne, who were being chased by Duncan, Richter, and a tall female mage clone.
When the three saw him, their eyes lit up with hope.
In response, Ash simply, quietly turned around with Lawine in his arms and walked away, leaving them completely dumbfounded.
Lawine, still in his arms, widened her eyes.
"You really aren't going to help them?"
"They don't look like they're in life-threatening danger. Besides, interfering too much isn't good either. I mentioned that earlier."
"I thought you'd give Kanne special treatment."
"I like Kanne, but excessive pampering isn't good for a child's growth."
"..."
Hearing him casually say he liked Kanne made Lawine hesitate, as if she wanted to say something, but she soon gave up.
After all, she understood that there was definitely no strange meaning behind it.
———
The two continued deeper underground.
Along the way they encountered quite a few people, some being chased by clones and monsters, others fighting them, and others avoiding traps.
Ash ignored them all.
Until they reached the deepest part, where they ran into Duncan's team again, along with the tall female mage's real body and Ehre.
Being in a place with so many people made Lawine's embarrassment surge again. Even while trying to act tough, she still got down from Ash.
Fortunately someone there carried a holy scripture and kindly stepped forward to help treat her wounds. After all, the more people there were, the more strength they had, because—
"Sense's clone is guarding inside right now," Duncan said with a troubled expression, carefully peering along the wall at the clone girl standing at the center of the ruined ground in the deepest chamber.
Edel, who had previously struck a deal with Ash, was there with her two companions as well.
Seeing that familiar clone again made Edel gloomily point at him.
"Didn't we agree you'd deal with that thing? Why is it still here?"
"You only said to deal with it. I did help keep her occupied so you could escape safely, didn't I?"
"That's fraud! Cutting corners!"
"Think about it yourselves. You came all this way smoothly, and you only need to get past Sense to pass. I already helped you get past her clone once. That's definitely a huge profit for you."
"But you still didn't solve the problem! And that thing is a monster!"
Edel couldn't deny his reasoning, but she also refused to be misled by it. The sight of Sense's clone alone was enough to make people shrink back.
Even if it just stood there doing nothing, Duncan, acknowledged as the strongest here besides Ash, had no confidence in defeating it.
Even if everyone here fought together, it would probably be the same.
But just as everyone was at a loss and couldn't think of any way to defeat Sense, Duncan suddenly turned back toward Ash and suggested,
"Come to think of it, you want all sorts of magic, right?"
"You're planning to make a deal too?"
"How about Wind-Flame Magic, and Judgment Light?"
"I'd really like to say that I'm also someone with principles. If I get bought off like this, what will happen to my reputation? But…", Ash lowered his head slightly with a troubled look, "My reputation and principles aren't always that important. What's important is that everyone can go back happily. But Duncan, are you really okay with that? Even if you pass this way now, there's still the third exam. Someone might die if you're not careful."
"Even the most powerful mage is still weak if they only know how to fight. I've seen far too many mages more talented than me lose their positions and be persecuted."
"What are you trying to say?"
"It doesn't matter what method you use, as long as you achieve the result. A court mage will struggle ugly to the very last moment. Even in the third exam, I will definitely pass," Duncan openly stated his belief. He didn't care about the methods and trusted in himself.
Since he had already said that much, Ash couldn't really stop him. Instead he turned to look at the others.
"What about the rest of you? Are you the same?"
"Wait… you're not planning to trade with everyone here, are you?", Edel suddenly had a bad feeling, "I don't have anything else to trade. Don't go too far."
"You were the one begging me to make a deal earlier, weren't you?", He shook his head speechlessly and sighed.
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