Avalon's Dungeon

「Ugh, damn. It's a very heavy load...」

「Patience, patience. Looks like it's a full plate of armor made of various materials. No wonder it's so heavy.」

「Full plate. Weapons and armor fetch a good price.」

「And we brought back a girl too. Don't complain.」

There was a lot of chatter among the crowd.

But after a while of rocking, the voices outside finally stop.

The place is quiet.

And a tapping sound can be heard.

Following that, a knock, knock sound was heard again.

But, after the sound was repeated several times.

With a bang, the lid of one of the crates opens.

「Okay. Looks like nobody's here.」

It was Alexis who crawled out of the crate.

He then looks around.

He saw a bare earthen ceiling and mud walls. Around him, crates, clothes, and furnishings are piled in tight rows.

「...They're amateurs, aren't they?」

Alexis murmurs in a whisper.

「Amateurs, what do you mean?」

Maria also opened the lid of the crate and came out.

On the other hand, Eden also lifted the lid and quietly came out.

「Look, the product has scratches on it because they put it in a mess. It's going to ruin the product's value, isn't it?」

Alexis pointed at the furnishings around them.

「—What, you mean like that?」

Maria sighs, looking disappointed.

「...Anyway, what are we going to do now?」

She continues to ask the question as if she is urging Alexis to do something, to which he replies.

「This is probably the deepest part of the hideout. There is no way to put the precious cargo so close to the outside where anyone can come and get it. The shortest distance from here is to the place where the boss in charge of this group would be, and we'll eliminate him. If there are any bandits you encounter along the way, do not let any of them escape. They'll know we're in here.」

「—Do we have to take care of them?」

Maria's eyes widened in surprise.

「But they're human, aren't they? Prince-sama, do you understand?」

「Yes. Is this Maria's first time killing a human?」

Maria was stunned by Alexis' question.

Maria is puzzled, but Alexis urges her to "go."

Eden nods "...hmm" and follows Alexis.

Maria is the only one who is puzzled at this point.

「......」

At this point, Maria gulps.

But she can't just sit here. So, she hurries to follow them.

* * *

Alexis quickly plunges his spear sword into the throat of a bandit he encounters at a corner.

A gasp is heard as his breath escapes his throat. But Eden's spear finishes the job by piercing the man's heart.

「...But still...」

Looking at the man lying in the pool of blood, Alexis raises his spear sword vertically.

「...So narrow. Very narrow. It's only about a meter wide here. It makes it hard to handle the spear kind.」

Eden nodded in agreement.

「Hey, why are you guys so nonchalant?」

Maria complains with a pale face.

Alexis sighed.

「...You know. If it was your first time in person, you could have told me, and I would have left you behind.」

「No, that's not possible!」

Maria is getting more animated, and Alexis wonders, "Why?"

「B-Because...」

Maria closes her mouth, and her cheeks turn red.

「I'm the secretary. I'm your assistant.」

After that, she can do nothing but keep silent.

Alexis stares at Maria for a moment and then says, "...follow me."

「If that's what you're going to do, follow me. Don't fall behind. It seems these guys have a thing for the ladies.」

「By the way, where's Ilaana-san?」

Maria asked as if she had just remembered, and Alexis fell silent.

Seeing the silence, Maria realized things were not going well and exclaimed, "Why is she taking on this role?"

「I wonder too, why she took on this role.」

Alexis said quietly. But then urged the two girls, "...let's go."

「There's something up ahead.」

Alexis's finger pointed to a door with a lighted light.

From there, the smell of alcohol and the sounds of men and women can be heard.

「......」

Maria raises her eyebrows and exclaims.

「Still, Ilaana-san was helpful. Thanks to her, we could locate the boss sooner than we thought.」

Saying this, Alexis creeps up to the door and listens.

「...I'm sure. One of the voices is Ilaana.」

「W-W-What makes you so sure she's with the boss?」

Alexis replies to Maria's confusion.

「Of course. If the boss was me, I wouldn't let my subordinate play such a delicious role as 'tasting' a new woman. Especially if she is as beautiful as Ilaana.」

The voice at the door is not a friendly one too. Alexis thought.

But Maria couldn't help but spit out as she saw Alexis' face as he spoke, combined with the fact that she had just witnessed so many deaths.

「...Prince-sama. Y-You're such a scum...」

「......」

Alexis does not answer. He seems to be peering through the door's keyhole, watching for the right moment to sneak in.

「P-Prince-sama...」

Maria tries calling out to him when he doesn't seem to listen. Just then, she receives a tap on her shoulder.

She turns around, and there is Eden.

「......」

Eden shakes her head slowly and silently.

「Master... He's not. You know that, don't you?」

She says it with few words.

「...—」

Maria bites her lip.

She looks again at Alexis' face.

She saw he had no expression on his face, but she could see his lips were tightly pursed.

He was holding back his frustration and disappointment.

「—Maria. Prepare your magic」

Maria gasped as Alexis called out to her.

「I...I understand.」

She nodded, pushed down nausea, and readied her staff.

「First, I'll break through the door at once. At the same time, you cast a "Glint" magic into the room. And we go in at once. The positions are confirmed. Then, Eden, you'll go in at the rear. —Let's go」

After saying this, Alexis waits for Maria to finish chanting, then slams his feet, covered in magical crystal armor, against the door.

Maria waved her staff in front of the door, which snapped off its hinges and opened.

「Glint!」

A ball of light shoots out from the staff's tip and shines on the top of the room.

「Whoa, what the...!?」

A man's voice comes from inside the room, sounding upset.

Alexis urged them and entered the room without saying a word.

The room has a wooden chair, a table, and a large bed. This must be the boss's private room.

On the bed, Ilaana, who was also wearing no clothes, was lying on her face, being pushed down by a completely naked man.

She closes her eyes and runs through the blindness, relying on the memories pounded into her head.

Meanwhile, surprised by the flash of light, the man had raised himself up.

This made it easy for Alexis to pull Ilaana's hand.

And from the sound of Ilaana's small voice, he confirms that she has indeed pulled him.

Before long, Ilaana's vision opens up.

Inside the room is a big guy on his backside, and Alexis and Eden are holding weapons against him.

「Who the hell are y...!?」

The man lost his voice mid-sentence as Eden speared him through the throat.

Alexis covers Ilaana's eyes with his hand. But he continues, piercing the voiceless man right between the eyes with his spear sword.

「...Humans are so fragile...」

His voice came out.

Compared to the monsters he had faced in the dungeons of Avalon in the past, this is a very poor opponent.

Their weakness was much greater than he had expected.

And he realized the weapons and armor he now held in his hands were too much. —They are too much for a human.

In his arms, the woman is trembling.

The brown-skinned, clear-skinned woman who gave him the same impression when he first saw her is not here.

She is only trembling with fear.

Her lower body turns to mud, and her whole body is covered with bruises. Her inner thighs are covered with blood and bodily fluids.

（...She was a virgin?）

When Alexis realizes this, he feels even more pity for her.

「...Master!」

Eden called out to him. What do you want to do? She seemed to want to say so.

Alexis nodded and motioned to cover Ilaana with a sheet close at hand. All the while, he kept covering her eyes with his hand.

This is so that the corpse will not be seen. It is too strong for ordinary people.

The one who covered Ilaana with the sheet was Maria. When she sees that her body is hidden, Alexis picks her up, holding her head so that her face is against his chest.

Just to be sure, he checks what is inside the room and the clothes that have been taken off to ensure that he is the organization's boss.

Unfortunately, Ilaana's clothes were torn to shreds and were useless.

「The job is done. With the loss of the leader, all that remains is to disperse. Let's go back.」

Alexis urged them to leave. And they nodded their heads ""Yes.""