The ninth dungeon level was empty, not a single prisoner in sight. We jogged forward by the sparse light of candles, lit only every other one.

“Why is there no one here?” I muttered, hearing our footsteps echo in the eerie silence. The howling wind sent chills down my spine.

“Most prisoners here are heinous criminals,” the Hero explained casually. “They’re disposed of within days. No one stays long.”

Ahead of us, Caiwen closely followed Mochu, but it wasn’t she who was leading. Mochu navigated the labyrinthine dungeon with practiced ease. Who exactly was this Mochu? Why did a mere maid know secret passages unknown to the Church?

Moreover, she gave off a dissonant vibe—she was too perfect. Her jogging steps were precisely measured, and she could navigate the darkness effortlessly. I could manage the latter if I regained my strength, but the former... How many years of training had she undergone? She looked like a young girl, yet she carried an air of ancient weariness. Could she be an absurdly powerful expert? But even power couldn’t reverse time to make her look this young. If I recovered a little more, I could uncover her secrets.

“Yikes!” I suddenly stepped on something round and rod-like. I slipped, tumbling forward and crashing hard onto the ground. “Ow... that hurts...”

“Are you okay?” They stopped and crowded around me.

I rubbed my sore spot and opened my eyes. Before me lay a slightly yellowed skull, staring with hollow, lifeless eyes. What was a skull doing in this godforsaken place?

“Heh~” Luckily, I wasn’t afraid of such things. But staring at each other was awkward. I flashed the skull a bright, innocent smile. In response, it grinned back, missing a few teeth...

“Ghost!” “Ghost! Nyaa nyaa nyaa!” I screamed in terror, rolling away frantically.

Whoosh! A cold gleam flashed. A playing card sliced the skull in half. A large gray rat with a broken tail squealed and darted out, vanishing instantly. The card, driven by force, embedded halfway into the ground before crumbling to dust.

“Just a rat,” Mochu said coldly.

“Huh? Just a rat... scared me half to—” I sighed in relief. Ghosts? Impossible. This wasn’t a horror story. Wait, where did two people go? I looked around. In a corner, a man and a woman crouched with heads covered, trembling like frightened rabbits.

“Ghost... there’s a ghost...” — Lott

“Rat... there’s a rat...” — Caiwen

“I can understand Princess Caiwen fearing rats! But you, Hero Lott, afraid of ghosts? It was just a rat! A rat!” I pointed at him, exasperated.

“Aren’t you the Dark Lord? Why fear ghosts? You screamed louder than me just now!” Lott jumped up, retorting fiercely.

“I’m a girl. Is it weird to be timid?” I shamelessly played my trump card.

He stared blankly, then slapped his thigh. “I... am speechless.”

“Heh heh~”

“Deep down, he’s a man...” His muttered words didn’t escape my ears.

“We’re through!” I retorted instantly.

“What new position is that?”

“You... exploiting wordplay again! I’m so mad!! Idiot, idiot, idiot!”

“Heh...” He glanced at Caiwen, whom Mochu was helping up. “That was quite a fall. Shall I carry you?”

“Trying to grope me? No way! I can walk on my own.”

“You sprained your ankle.”

“No I didn’t...” I admitted sheepishly. I tried to stand, but halfway up, I collapsed back down. Furious, I kicked the white thigh bone that tripped me. “It’s all your fault!”

“Don’t push yourself.” He ruffled my hair and squatted down. Suddenly, I felt weightless, then lifted into the air.

“Waaah! Let me go, you perverted otaku lolicon!” I struggled, but it was useless.

“If we don’t hurry, we’ll be caught. Do you value dignity or survival?”

“Put me down! I want dignity, you damn pervert!”

“I want you alive! Let’s go!”

I didn’t see what happened elsewhere, but Mochu hoisted Princess Caiwen onto her back. She glanced at us, confirmed we were fine, then said, “We need to hurry. Follow me.”

So Caiwen and I were the ones holding everyone back. I’d always thought I was fast enough, but now I realized I was slow too. Accelerating my massive magic flow came at a huge cost—it drained my stamina, already hard to recover due to the cage’s magic array. If I could, I’d rather take a nap first. Even if I could use levitation magic, I could avoid being princess-carried, escaping “nestling” against this “solid chest”... I’m not gay!

By the way... “Why must it be a princess carry!?” I finally nailed the key point.

“There’s hidden hard armor under my clothes on my back. Do you want your small body to test it?” he said with a smile.

“Why do you have such a weird thing!” I grumbled, curling up into a ball.

“If you curl up more, you’ll slip through!”

“My fault?”

“Who told you to be so small!”

“My fault?”

“My mistake...”

“This is it.” Mochu slowed to a stop and let Princess Caiwen down from her back.

It was an utterly ordinary dungeon cell. Dark, but not damp—dampness rusts iron and increases escape chances, so dungeons are kept dry. Candles were lit abundantly on both sides—was it to mark this place as special? Why wasn’t anyone moving? I followed their gaze into the cell. Through the locked door, a disheveled woman crouched in the corner. Oily curly hair hung to her shoulders, hiding her eyes, but a triangular eyepatch on her left eye was clear. She wore tight, snakeskin-like nightwear that accentuated her figure, with a tattered short cape on her back. Her suit had several tears from knife and whip wounds, but they had stopped bleeding. Heavy shackles cuffed her wrists, imbued with sealing magic. She lifted her head with difficulty. Her single eye, visible through her hair, held the gaze of a wounded wolf—wearied yet unyielding. She scanned each of us, then lowered her head. “Princess and Hero visiting this tiny cell to see a palace intruder?” she said with a self-mocking tone. “I’m honored. I can die content.”