The next morning.
Ermes was eating breakfast with the other three, just as he had the night before.
"…………"
Something was off about Katia.
Throughout the meal, she kept glancing his way. Her expression carried — a trace of dissatisfaction.
Her cheeks were slightly puffed out, which wasn't frightening in the least — if anything, it was downright adorable — but she was clearly in a somewhat sour mood.
On top of that, she would occasionally flush a little, looking somewhat bashful,
"...I can't believe you went and did all that..."
she would mutter under her breath.
Honestly, he was dying to know what had happened.
It wasn't as if he had no idea. In fact, chances were nine out of ten that his master had whispered all sorts of things to her last night.
The problem was — what exactly had she been told?
"...Um, Lady Katia. You're making me rather uncomfortable, you know..."
"I-I'm sorry. It's just — I know it's not your fault, but..."
When he gently pointed out that this was no way to have breakfast, Katia looked down with a guilty expression.
"You're right. It was something from when we were ten, so I suppose there's nothing to be done... Although, ten is still pretty borderline, isn't it...?"
She continued mumbling to herself in this fashion.
He was even more curious now about what she had been told. Yet at the same time, he almost didn't want to ask — he was somewhat afraid of the answer.
For the time being, he glanced over toward his master, who was watching the whole exchange with eyes gleaming with amusement. Yep — this was exactly the kind of person she was.
"—Yes, yes. I hate to interrupt this somewhat awkward atmosphere, but would you all hear me out?"
The one who, in a sense, extended a helping hand amid all this was Yurugen. He clapped his hands once to draw everyone's attention, then began to speak.
"First things first — today's business. ...Rose, you're free today, right?"
"Hm? No, I have the important schedule of lounging around with El all day."
"...Well, if you insist on calling that a schedule, then I suppose it is."
Rose had declared so unhesitatingly — that she was "busy lounging around" — that Yurugen couldn't help but show a trace of exasperation, yet still,
"Unfortunately, it isn't the same for me. So — I have a request."
He put on the face of the Duke's head of household and delivered his words.
"—Rose. I'm sorry about this, but would you go to the Dungeon together with Ermes and Katia?"
"...Excuse me?"
He wanted her to go to the Dungeon.
Upon receiving this request, Rose tilted her head slightly.
"Hey now — asking a guest to handle a Dungeon conquest? Are you out of your mind? I thought you were the one person who wouldn't do something like that."
"I had no intention of asking at first either. ...But, you see..."
In response to Rose's question, Yurugen lowered his gaze slightly and pressed his palm to his forehead.
"...You really have been too reckless..."
He said it in a rare, genuinely earnest voice.
"You treat the servants like pets, you use the Duke's daughter as a body pillow to sleep with — that's all pretty outlandish, but I can live with that. It's a matter that stays within our walls, and I'd steeled myself for it to some extent. But..."
"......"
"Picking a fight with Ermes out of the blue yesterday — what was that about?! You call out to him to find some random empty lot on the spot, with the casualness of picking up everyday groceries —"
Ancient Magical Tool
"...—you'd bring out ancient magical tools! And on top of that, you said 'it won't affect anyone around us, so it's fine' — but it very much did affect them! Why on earth would you cast a spell powerful enough to shatter a barrier when you'd already gone through the trouble of setting one up?!"
"Well, it's just... El had grown more than I expected, and I was so happy I got carried away..."
"Could you please not commit environmental destruction in such a lighthearted mood? Noble families nearby have already sensed the unusual magic power and started poking around — try imagining how I feel, having spent an entire night coming up with excuses!"
"F-Father is raising his voice..."
Elsewhere, Katia was wearing an expression that hovered somewhere between awe and admiration.
Perhaps his daughter's shock brought him back to some semblance of calm, as Yurugen lightly caught his breath.
"...Regardless, this is clearly going too far. You'll need to compensate in some form — it affects my reputation, after all. So I'm having you clear the Dungeon. With you along, there's zero risk of failure."
"Ugh."
"None of that 'ugh.' Do it. Honestly, I'd say this is getting off cheap."
Yurugen's tone left no room for argument, and Rose's expression soured into a scowl.
"What's that supposed to mean? Yurugen, you know I basically hate being ordered around by anyone, right?"
"I know. That's precisely why I phrased it that way."
"So you understand that I won't comply even if it kills me, right? Or what — are you going to try to make me listen by force?"
She flashed a fearless grin and let a trickle of magic power slip free.
But the force behind it was immense. The tableware rattled, and even Katia, watching from the sidelines, broke into a cold sweat.
The implication was clear: brute strength could never be used to control her. And that was an indisputable fact.
Yet even faced with her intimidation head-on, Yurugen's cool expression didn't so much as crack.
"That's right. If you still won't comply—"
He smiled faintly and delivered his words with perfect composure.
"I'll expose all your embarrassing childhood deeds to Ermes."
"Stop riiiight there!!"
Rose screamed with tremendous force.
"What kind of horrifying ideas does this demon cook up! A devil! A heartless, spectacled monster!!"
"Of course you'd hate it. And on top of that, I can wipe all the damage clean with a single act of benevolence, so shouldn't you think that's a pretty good deal?"
"Damn it, now that you mention it, this guy really was always like that..."
"What do you think, Ermes? About hearing stories from Rose's childhood."
Rose glared at Yurugen while grinding her teeth. In other words, Yurugen judged that she still harbored some defiance, so he sought confirmation from Ermes to press his advantage.
He considered for a moment... and ultimately decided to answer honestly.
"...Honestly, I'm quite curious."
"Come on, El, there are things even I don't want people to know about! ...Fine, fine, I get it! I'll do it, okay? I'll do it!"
"That's all I needed to hear. Katia and Ermes, you're fine with this too?"
"...Y-Yes. It's something we ought to do."
"I have no objections either."
In the end, Rose relented, and since Ermes and Katia had no particular reason to refuse, they agreed as well.
Though he was beginning to vaguely understand the dynamic between those two, the three of them set off for the Dungeon.
◆
"...Just you wait, you four-eyed freak..."
And so, the three of them headed into the Dungeon.
At the entrance to the Dungeon near the Trachea territory, Rose was already grumbling about what had just happened.
"Be careful around that guy too, will you? Yurugen might look all nice and gentle, but he's pitch-black on the inside, you know? Don't let yourself get sweet-talked into doing something weird by accident."
"...Well, I more or less got that impression from everything since we came to the Duke's estate."
Depending on how you put it... no, actually, there was no question that Yurugen was the type to keep things buried deep in his gut, regardless of how you phrased it.
But perhaps such skills were necessary for surviving in noble society. Ermes was unfamiliar with that sort of thing due to his time away from the Royal Capital, and Katia simply wasn't cut out for it temperamentally. It was certainly Yurugen's doing that they were able to remain at the Duke's estate at all.
That said, Ermes thought, having him even manage to pull the strings on their master was something he hadn't expected. What was it about Rose that made her reluctant to talk about her childhood? If that was the case, his curiosity only grew further — but it was probably best not to poke his nose into that.
"...Um, Lady Rose. I have a question that might be a little late to ask, but..."
While Ermes was thinking all this, Katia spoke up toward Rose.
With a slight look of bewilderment, she said in a somewhat hesitant tone.
"In the first place... is there even a point in us coming along?"
"...Yeah."
He understood what she was getting at.
In short, it boiled down to this: if the goal was to conquer the Dungeon, Rose could handle it perfectly well on her own.
Indeed, anyone who wasn't familiar with the details of her magic might well wonder the same thing.
"Lady Katia. This is probably the one weakness of Master's magic, but..."
"— It's terribly unsuited for Dungeon conquest. My magic, or rather, my Bloodline Magic."
Rose picked up where Ermes left off.
"...Huh?"
"Just think about it. My Bloodline Magic consists of 'flying through the sky,' 'rain of light,' and 'some kind of super attack that I don't really understand.' The first two are practically unusable inside a cave, and as for the third, even I don't fully understand it myself, so controlling it is really difficult."
"Master, that description of the third one is way too vague."
"I actually tried using it once, and made a small mistake —"
Dungeon and All
"was blown away."
"Yes..."
Setting aside that outrageous episode, I understood the content and was convinced.
"But as long as I'm here, you'll never lose to the Dungeon's Monsters. Think of me as insurance. I'll leave the basic clear to you two, and if by some chance things go south, I'll step in. That's probably the kind of calculation Yurugen had in mind."
"I see..."
Indeed, with Rose around, they could afford to disregard a certain level of risk and push forward with a far bolder strategy. In a sense, just having her there made her an incomparably reliable presence.
At that point, her frustration about being forcibly dispatched by Yurugen had likely settled down.
Noticing that Katia was convinced... Rose, in her usual manner of having come up with something, made her declaration.
"...Right. Since we're at it, I think I'll stay out of it as much as possible. The basics — I want you two to handle the clearing."
"Huh!?"
"Wait, you're not going to provide support with Enhanced universal magic either?"
"Yeah. This is training too, after all. I want to see your Dungeon clearing after so long, and I'm curious about Katia's magic as well. ...I'd really like to see you two clear it."
"!"
As she spoke, Rose cast a sidelong glance at Katia.
In that gaze — the emphasis on the word "two" from just moments ago. Katia read the embedded message loud and clear.
—Show me how your bond with El compares to mine with El.
Yesterday's events, and the master-disciple story she'd heard all about last night.
To top it all off, this proposal.
—For her to take the bait, it was more than enough.
"...I understand."
"Oh?"
"I'll show you! Even without borrowing your power, just me and Ermes alone! We can conquer a Dungeon, I tell you!"
It seemed all the resentment toward Rose that had been building up since yesterday finally surfaced, as she declared this with heavy breaths.
"Come on, Ermes, let's go!"
"Eh, ah, yes!"
"Ha-ha-ha. What's this, Yurugen? This girl is cute, unlike you."
In the order of Katia, riding in spiritedly, Ermes following in confusion, and Rose watching amusingly from behind, they stepped forth.
With all sorts of mysterious intentions still lingering, the long-awaited Dungeon conquest began.
Intermission last episode begins. We hope you enjoy it until the very end!