As they returned to Greenville Dungeon, Adelaide took some of the mined Serpium and packed them.
“Caladi, can you divide the remaining Serpiums into two in the battle area and stack them up? The good ones should be inside and leave the bad ones outside.”
She asked in a gentle voice. However, Caladium,who had fallen for it once, did not want to do it again.
“Didn’t you see I just worked so d*mn hard? Get someone else! It would be perfect if you made that skinny a**hole do it.”
Caladium insisted, pointing to Lisianthus. Lisianthus responded with a cold expression. Amid the tension, the Skeletons’ captain hurriedly opened his mouth.
“We will do it! We haven’t done anything until now and just rested.”
He looked like a peace evangelist. Adelaide, moved by his noble appearance, hugged him tightly.
“What do you mean you did nothing! You did the most important thing. Defending the dungeon!”
“The adventurers didn’t come anyway. Don’t worry and just order us. If it’s what Master Adelaide wants, we’ll do it.”
“Right! We’ll do anything!”
“Let us do it! Let us!”
As the Skeletons cheered, they raised their bony fists and agreed.
However, the Skeletons were particularly thin, perhaps they didn’t eat well in their past lives or maybe they were just skinny. They were once adventurers so although they were just bones now, they were still weak like regular humans. That’s how Caladium’s saw them.
“Tsk, what can you even do with those thin arms… It’s fine! I’ll do it, so get out of my way!”
Haish! Caladium grabbed as much Serpium as he could, and picked them up. The devil’s speed carrying the ores was undoubtedly fast. He looked very passionate, running around saying that moving his body was faster than doing it with magic.
‘Why get mad when you’re going to do it anyway?’
Adelaide let out a short laugh. Whenever he behaves like a child, which doesn’t match his size at all, she gets the urge to strangle him. But it was cute to see his soft side like this.
What did she mean the devil was cute? Once again, she was surprised by her change. It was an idea she would never have thought of if she was her former self.
“Then, Master. Shall we go?”
Lisianthus’ friendly voice woke Adelaide from her thoughts.
“Yes, let’s go! Oh, wait.”
She approached the Skeletons and informed them of the upcoming mission. Then, she returned to Lisianthus again.
“Lisian, you have to stay away this time. I have to pretend to be alone.”
“I will do as you say.”
“As expected of Lisian. If I say it, he’ll do it at once! It’s good that you listen to me well.”
When Adelaide smiled, Lisianthus also responded with a smile. However, he didn’t look like a person who was happy. Not realizing this, she added in a low voice.
“Unlike someone else.”
“You just insulted me.”
Caladium appeared in the blink of an eye and whispered in Adelaide’s ear. Adelaide flinched and flapped her arms. Caladium teased her by asking if she was mimicking a ladybug flapping its wings.
“Were you planning on leaving without me?”
“No, no.” He muttered playfully and put his arm over her shoulder.
But his arm, firm with muscles, fell within a few seconds. Lisianthus struck it at once, abandoning the nobleness that was deeply ingrained in his body with this rough action. There was never a time when his attitude toward Caladium was friendly, but this time, a cold silence fell in the dungeon for a moment.
“Ha?”
Caladium furrowed his eyebrows. He raised his large eyes menacingly and wrinkled his forehead. The brilliance that gleamed over his silver-gray eyes was terrifying, as if the annoyance up until now was a mere prank.
“Look at this f*cker.”
His voice was also ferocious. His fire magic leaked out and the Skeletons in the distance were on the verge of collapsing.
“Look at your rude attitude too.”
Lisianthus answered in an uncomfortably cold tone.
Adelaide was also shocked at the sudden fight. She fidgeted as she stood between them, extremely bewildered. Lisianthus and Caladium had always been at odds with each other, but this time, it was somehow different. They were about to start a real fight.
If this goes on Lisian will be in trouble!
Adelaide quickly intervened, lest the precious manager get injured by the devil’s antics.
“Why are you fighting? Huh? You should get along well with your co-workers!”
She wanted to stop them with a moving speech, but the words that came out of her mouth were boring. Realizing that her vocabulary wasn’t very rich, she threatened them.
“If you keep fighting, I won’t take you!”
“… I’m sorry, Master. For a moment, I lost control.”
Lisianthus quickly regained his composure. His gesture of apologizing with his head bowed brought back his usual elegance.
Caladium ruffled his hair without saying a word. They heard a grinding sound. He seemed to be trying to calm his anger.
“Okay. Let’s go.”
Caladium said in a low voice.
He couldn’t believe that he was holding back his anger. He also wanted to look good for someone! Considering his past, it was truly quite surprising.
Of course, if we’re talking about his past, it wasn’t very common either.
“Alright, make up. Make up.”
Adelaide made a girly suggestion.
“Just like me and Caladi did last time, a hug of reconciliation!”
The sound of Skeletons shrieking could be heard. The thing they joked about last time came back like this.
The situation turned even more astonishing. Lisianthus opened his arms without saying a word.
‘You foxy bastard, if I refuse, you’ll go back to Adela and make a fuss again. You thought I wouldn’t know?’
Not willing to lose, Caldium stretched out his arms and hugged him tightly. At the same time, Lisianthus’s face also distorted.
In order to make his opponent suffer, he himself also had to suffer. It was a difficult thing to do with an opponent he disliked.
Clap Clap
“Wow!”
Adelaide, who did not see their faces, clapped her hands saying it was a warm sight.
***
When the commotion was over, Adelaide immediately rode the portal to Mediar.
This destination was referred to as the ‘Border of the Demon Realm’, and it was the midpoint between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm. It was also a place where a lot of portals leading to various dungeons were installed.
The location of the portal changes automatically depending on the dungeon level, and the lower the level of the dungeon, the closer it is to the Human Area. Most of the F-Class dungeons did not have the conditions to install a portal in Mediar, so there were a lot of E-Class dungeons in front of the Human Area. The portal of the E-5 Class Greenville Dungeon was the first among them.
And Adelaide continued to wander in the street lined with E-Class and D-Class dungeon portals. The blue light from the portals illuminated her vividly.
Dressed as a succubus, she hid her wings. She also held a large sack in her slender arms.
“What the hell is she thinking?”
Caladium murmured, watching her from afar. Of course, there was no reply from Lisianthus.
As Adelaide had asked them, Lisianthus and Caladium kept their distance from her. Fortunately, most of the powerful adventurers were near the High Level dungeon portals, so there were not enough people around to detect them hiding.
As the confused Caladium scratched his head, he felt a presence nearby.
“Haa, there’s no place to go. There is nothing to earn.”
“Why are D-Class dungeons so hard these days? There’s nothing worth getting in E-Class…”
“Ugh. I wish I could go to some C-Class dungeons. Gehrig, why don’t you ask your brother?”
“Well, that’s what I want too.”
They were adventurers. Judging from what they were talking about, and the energy that could be felt from them, they seem to be at a low level.
Adelaide heard their voices and raised her head. She took a deep breath, as if preparing her heart.
Suddenly, she started running. The staggering steps continued toward the side of the adventurers, and then she tripped on her own.
Caladium was startled and tried to get up. But Lisianthus put his arm in front of him and stopped him. Just as Caladium was about to curse, Adelaide sat down and opened her mouth.
“Oh no! Oh no, I spilled everything!”
At the same time, she quickly moved her hand and unwrapped the bundle of fabric. Thanks to this, the Serpium ores scattered all over the place and rolled to the floor. Some rolled to the place where Lisianthus and Caladium were, and the others to where the adventurers were.
Adelaide, who received everyone’s attention, continued her words calmly.
“Should I pick them up? They are all over our dungeon anyway.”
Her voice was too loud and sounded like an act in a play. Even her movements were quite awkward. She slowly turned her head and jumped up as if she had just seen the adventurers.
“Hey! You! The adventurer! Help me!”
Caladium covered his eyes with his hands. He didn’t want to see any more. He felt embarrassed.
“Hold!”
“Stay still!”
The adventurers who briefly exchanged glances rushed to Adelaide. Adelaide appeared to try to fight them off, but she was quickly captured by their hands.
“Hey, this is Serpium!”
“Hey, what kind of rice cake is this?”
[T/N: Luck]
The adventurers cheered as they saw the pile of Serpium. Eyes full of greed turned to Adelaide. Sensing their gazes, she begged with tears in her eyes.
“Adventurer, please don’t kill me! Instead, I will guide you through our dungeon. There are a lot of Serpiums in there!”
It looked more natural than before. It wasn’t surprising because in the past, she always had to beg with tears in her eyes.
Adelaide continued with a pitiful look on her face.
“I will help you avoid all the dangerous rooms and go straight to the treasure room. Please don’t hurt me!”
At her earnest voice, the adventurers exchanged glances again. Even though they doubted that it may be a lie, when they saw the Serpium in her hands, they became drawn to it.
“Hey, let’s go.”
The adventurer named Gehrig spoke first.
“Something seems strange, though? What kind of demon would want their dungeon invaded? Isn’t this a trap?”
“Even if it’s a trap and we die, we will come back to life, we can just take revenge. I’ll take my brother.”
“It’s a waste of my soul…”
“It’s Serpium. Serpium! Didn’t you just say you were dying because you didn’t have any income these days? You just came out of a D-Class dungeon without getting anything. Are you going to miss this opportunity to save just one piece of soul?”
Gehrig persuaded his colleague with an energetic voice. The adventurer, who hesitated for a moment, then nodded his head. In a recession like these days, there is no reason to give up if you can make money from traps or anything.
“Hey, succubus. Guide me. If you don’t, you will die.”
“Yes, yes! Do not worry! The demons in our dungeon are extremely weak.”
Adelaide nodded her head up and down.
The adventurers followed their guide and walked to the portal of Greenville Dungeon. In the midst of walking, Gehrig’s gaze turned to Adelaide’s face and body. Adelaide noticed this, but didn’t really care. It’s not like it only happened once or twice.
“Wait.”
Nearly reaching the portal, Gehrig suddenly stopped. Then, he grabbed Adelaide’s shoulder.
“Are you playing with me?
As they returned to Greenville Dungeon, Adelaide took some of the mined Serpium and packed them.
“Caladi, can you divide the remaining Serpiums into two in the battle area and stack them up? The good ones should be inside and leave the bad ones outside.”
She asked in a gentle voice. However, Caladium,who had fallen for it once, did not want to do it again.
“Didn’t you see I just worked so d*mn hard? Get someone else! It would be perfect if you made that skinny a**hole do it.”
Caladium insisted, pointing to Lisianthus. Lisianthus responded with a cold expression. Amid the tension, the Skeletons’ captain hurriedly opened his mouth.
“We will do it! We haven’t done anything until now and just rested.”
He looked like a peace evangelist. Adelaide, moved by his noble appearance, hugged him tightly.
“What do you mean you did nothing! You did the most important thing. Defending the dungeon!”
“The adventurers didn’t come anyway. Don’t worry and just order us. If it’s what Master Adelaide wants, we’ll do it.”
“Right! We’ll do anything!”
“Let us do it! Let us!”
As the Skeletons cheered, they raised their bony fists and agreed.
However, the Skeletons were particularly thin, perhaps they didn’t eat well in their past lives or maybe they were just skinny. They were once adventurers so although they were just bones now, they were still weak like regular humans. That’s how Caladium’s saw them.
“Tsk, what can you even do with those thin arms… It’s fine! I’ll do it, so get out of my way!”
Haish! Caladium grabbed as much Serpium as he could, and picked them up. The devil’s speed carrying the ores was undoubtedly fast. He looked very passionate, running around saying that moving his body was faster than doing it with magic.
‘Why get mad when you’re going to do it anyway?’
Adelaide let out a short laugh. Whenever he behaves like a child, which doesn’t match his size at all, she gets the urge to strangle him. But it was cute to see his soft side like this.
What did she mean the devil was cute? Once again, she was surprised by her change. It was an idea she would never have thought of if she was her former self.
“Then, Master. Shall we go?”
Lisianthus’ friendly voice woke Adelaide from her thoughts.
“Yes, let’s go! Oh, wait.”
She approached the Skeletons and informed them of the upcoming mission. Then, she returned to Lisianthus again.
“Lisian, you have to stay away this time. I have to pretend to be alone.”
“I will do as you say.”
“As expected of Lisian. If I say it, he’ll do it at once! It’s good that you listen to me well.”
When Adelaide smiled, Lisianthus also responded with a smile. However, he didn’t look like a person who was happy. Not realizing this, she added in a low voice.
“Unlike someone else.”
“You just insulted me.”
Caladium appeared in the blink of an eye and whispered in Adelaide’s ear. Adelaide flinched and flapped her arms. Caladium teased her by asking if she was mimicking a ladybug flapping its wings.
“Were you planning on leaving without me?”
“No, no.” He muttered playfully and put his arm over her shoulder.
But his arm, firm with muscles, fell within a few seconds. Lisianthus struck it at once, abandoning the nobleness that was deeply ingrained in his body with this rough action. There was never a time when his attitude toward Caladium was friendly, but this time, a cold silence fell in the dungeon for a moment.
“Ha?”
Caladium furrowed his eyebrows. He raised his large eyes menacingly and wrinkled his forehead. The brilliance that gleamed over his silver-gray eyes was terrifying, as if the annoyance up until now was a mere prank.
“Look at this f*cker.”
His voice was also ferocious. His fire magic leaked out and the Skeletons in the distance were on the verge of collapsing.
“Look at your rude attitude too.”
Lisianthus answered in an uncomfortably cold tone.
Adelaide was also shocked at the sudden fight. She fidgeted as she stood between them, extremely bewildered. Lisianthus and Caladium had always been at odds with each other, but this time, it was somehow different. They were about to start a real fight.
If this goes on Lisian will be in trouble!
Adelaide quickly intervened, lest the precious manager get injured by the devil’s antics.
“Why are you fighting? Huh? You should get along well with your co-workers!”
She wanted to stop them with a moving speech, but the words that came out of her mouth were boring. Realizing that her vocabulary wasn’t very rich, she threatened them.
“If you keep fighting, I won’t take you!”
“… I’m sorry, Master. For a moment, I lost control.”
Lisianthus quickly regained his composure. His gesture of apologizing with his head bowed brought back his usual elegance.
Caladium ruffled his hair without saying a word. They heard a grinding sound. He seemed to be trying to calm his anger.
“Okay. Let’s go.”
Caladium said in a low voice.
He couldn’t believe that he was holding back his anger. He also wanted to look good for someone! Considering his past, it was truly quite surprising.
Of course, if we’re talking about his past, it wasn’t very common either.
“Alright, make up. Make up.”
Adelaide made a girly suggestion.
“Just like me and Caladi did last time, a hug of reconciliation!”
The sound of Skeletons shrieking could be heard. The thing they joked about last time came back like this.
The situation turned even more astonishing. Lisianthus opened his arms without saying a word.
‘You foxy bastard, if I refuse, you’ll go back to Adela and make a fuss again. You thought I wouldn’t know?’
Not willing to lose, Caldium stretched out his arms and hugged him tightly. At the same time, Lisianthus’s face also distorted.
In order to make his opponent suffer, he himself also had to suffer. It was a difficult thing to do with an opponent he disliked.
Clap Clap
“Wow!”
Adelaide, who did not see their faces, clapped her hands saying it was a warm sight.
***
When the commotion was over, Adelaide immediately rode the portal to Mediar.
This destination was referred to as the ‘Border of the Demon Realm’, and it was the midpoint between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm. It was also a place where a lot of portals leading to various dungeons were installed.
The location of the portal changes automatically depending on the dungeon level, and the lower the level of the dungeon, the closer it is to the Human Area. Most of the F-Class dungeons did not have the conditions to install a portal in Mediar, so there were a lot of E-Class dungeons in front of the Human Area. The portal of the E-5 Class Greenville Dungeon was the first among them.
And Adelaide continued to wander in the street lined with E-Class and D-Class dungeon portals. The blue light from the portals illuminated her vividly.
Dressed as a succubus, she hid her wings. She also held a large sack in her slender arms.
“What the hell is she thinking?”
Caladium murmured, watching her from afar. Of course, there was no reply from Lisianthus.
As Adelaide had asked them, Lisianthus and Caladium kept their distance from her. Fortunately, most of the powerful adventurers were near the High Level dungeon portals, so there were not enough people around to detect them hiding.
As the confused Caladium scratched his head, he felt a presence nearby.
“Haa, there’s no place to go. There is nothing to earn.”
“Why are D-Class dungeons so hard these days? There’s nothing worth getting in E-Class…”
“Ugh. I wish I could go to some C-Class dungeons. Gehrig, why don’t you ask your brother?”
“Well, that’s what I want too.”
They were adventurers. Judging from what they were talking about, and the energy that could be felt from them, they seem to be at a low level.
Adelaide heard their voices and raised her head. She took a deep breath, as if preparing her heart.
Suddenly, she started running. The staggering steps continued toward the side of the adventurers, and then she tripped on her own.
Caladium was startled and tried to get up. But Lisianthus put his arm in front of him and stopped him. Just as Caladium was about to curse, Adelaide sat down and opened her mouth.
“Oh no! Oh no, I spilled everything!”
At the same time, she quickly moved her hand and unwrapped the bundle of fabric. Thanks to this, the Serpium ores scattered all over the place and rolled to the floor. Some rolled to the place where Lisianthus and Caladium were, and the others to where the adventurers were.
Adelaide, who received everyone’s attention, continued her words calmly.
“Should I pick them up? They are all over our dungeon anyway.”
Her voice was too loud and sounded like an act in a play. Even her movements were quite awkward. She slowly turned her head and jumped up as if she had just seen the adventurers.
“Hey! You! The adventurer! Help me!”
Caladium covered his eyes with his hands. He didn’t want to see any more. He felt embarrassed.
“Hold!”
“Stay still!”
The adventurers who briefly exchanged glances rushed to Adelaide. Adelaide appeared to try to fight them off, but she was quickly captured by their hands.
“Hey, this is Serpium!”
“Hey, what kind of rice cake is this?”
[T/N: Luck]
The adventurers cheered as they saw the pile of Serpium. Eyes full of greed turned to Adelaide. Sensing their gazes, she begged with tears in her eyes.
“Adventurer, please don’t kill me! Instead, I will guide you through our dungeon. There are a lot of Serpiums in there!”
It looked more natural than before. It wasn’t surprising because in the past, she always had to beg with tears in her eyes.
Adelaide continued with a pitiful look on her face.
“I will help you avoid all the dangerous rooms and go straight to the treasure room. Please don’t hurt me!”
At her earnest voice, the adventurers exchanged glances again. Even though they doubted that it may be a lie, when they saw the Serpium in her hands, they became drawn to it.
“Hey, let’s go.”
The adventurer named Gehrig spoke first.
“Something seems strange, though? What kind of demon would want their dungeon invaded? Isn’t this a trap?”
“Even if it’s a trap and we die, we will come back to life, we can just take revenge. I’ll take my brother.”
“It’s a waste of my soul…”
“It’s Serpium. Serpium! Didn’t you just say you were dying because you didn’t have any income these days? You just came out of a D-Class dungeon without getting anything. Are you going to miss this opportunity to save just one piece of soul?”
Gehrig persuaded his colleague with an energetic voice. The adventurer, who hesitated for a moment, then nodded his head. In a recession like these days, there is no reason to give up if you can make money from traps or anything.
“Hey, succubus. Guide me. If you don’t, you will die.”
“Yes, yes! Do not worry! The demons in our dungeon are extremely weak.”
Adelaide nodded her head up and down.
The adventurers followed their guide and walked to the portal of Greenville Dungeon. In the midst of walking, Gehrig’s gaze turned to Adelaide’s face and body. Adelaide noticed this, but didn’t really care. It’s not like it only happened once or twice.
“Wait.”
Nearly reaching the portal, Gehrig suddenly stopped. Then, he grabbed Adelaide’s shoulder.
“Are you playing with me?
