S-Class Dungeon's Mistress

Chapter 87

Her consciousness gradually drifted into a distant place.

She couldn’t move as if she was caught in a strong current. So she gave in to the flowing waves and blankly watched the passing things.

Memories flickered and flashed over and over again. It started with the most recent and flowed into the past.

The day she kissed Lisianthus. The day she faced the Sol Dungeon by gathering strength from her demons. The day Caladium was recruited. And until the day she inherited the Greenville Dungeon.

Memories of the warm and pleasant days passed by. Without stopping there, her memory went further into the past.

The waves that burned Adelaide’s consciousness soon stopped somewhere. And from then on, time began to flow smoothly.

***

“Adelaide.”

An unfamiliar yet familiar voice called out to her. Who was it? Where had she heard the voice? Adelaide closed her eyes as she moaned.

“Adela!”

A loud voice rang in her ears and Adelaide opened her eyes. A boy’s face appeared in her hazy vision. It was a face she knew well. Her lips moved on their own.

“Lupin…?”

“…Calling my nickname as you please.”

The boy grunted with a frown on his beautiful face. The tone that did not match his youthful voice was astonishing.

“Until when are you going to sleep?”

“I… Did I fall asleep?”

“Yes! As soon as you arrived, you hugged me and jumped into bed!”

When he explained that Adelaide acted like a fool, the boy raised his voice and his face blushed.

As she heard his cute voice, her memory gradually returned. Yes, that was correct. She was tired because she had so much work today. So as soon as she arrived, she laid down with the child.

After organizing her thoughts, Adelaide stared at the boy with a blank expression on her face.

Bright blonde hair, ice blue eyes. He was such a slender child that she wondered if he was a girl. It was Adelaide’s friend, Lupinus.

‘My friend.’

Adelaide smiled bashfully. Although they had a huge age difference of 90 years, to the 10-year-old child and the 100-year-old her, age didn’t matter in their friendship. Not even their races.

Lupinus was human. A human with a father who was a warrior. On the surface, he was an enemy, but that didn’t make Adelaide concerned.

Needless to say, Lupinus was Adelaide’s only friend.

The other succubi in Morpheus hated Adelaide. They were jealous of her unrivaled power, loathed Maximilian’s favoritism of her, and soon came to shun her.

Most of the succubi participated in the bullying, led by Camilla, an A-Class succubus.

Some succubi declared that they would not do such childish things, so they were stamped by Camilla and were never given jobs.

The Incubi were no exception. They flattered her, whom they saw would soon rise to new heights, yet stabbed her in the back, and cursed at her when Adelaide didn’t show much of a reaction.

Sometimes they threatened her in large numbers. Of course, Adelaide did not let the id*ots go unpunished.

But in the end, she chose to be alone as she didn’t want any misfortune to befall unto others because of her.

Even after she became a loner, Adelaide still made a sizable income, she was loved by Maximilian, and she got everyone’s attention.

But she wasn’t happy at all.

That was what her life as a loner was like. Whether something pleasant or sad happened, she had to overcome it alone with no one to listen to her. Even though she pushed herself with a busy schedule, her heart was always empty.

Lupinus, who appeared in front of her like a shining light one day, was a miracle.

She first met Lupinus in a back alley in Mediar.

Adelaide, who was very frustrated in the Association dormitory, went out for a walk in the Mediar area as a part of reconnaissance.

No one suspected her because she was wearing human attire. Sometimes, some of the brave or high level warriors with good senses noticed, but in those cases, she just had to kill them or run away.

As she walked down the street after looking for junk in a famous shop, she heard a strange noise coming from a back alley.

It was the voice of a young human.

“The father is a warrior, but the son is just a human. Isn’t it embarrassing?”

“If it were me, I would be embarrassed and run away! Don’t muddy the Mediar water and just go back to the human world, huh? After all, you don’t even have any friends!”

“Let go of me!”

“Puhaha, look at this b*stard’s talking! If you say it like that, people would think you’re a warrior or something!”

Wahaha!

The boys who looked about fifteen years old burst out laughing.

Adelaide squinted her eyes and stared at them. There was a child who looked less than ten years old surrounded by boys and being humiliated.

Judging from their demeanor and energies, the boys looked like warriors, and the child seemed to be just an ordinary human.

‘You bully a helpless child when you’re warriors.’ Adelaide snorted.

Humans pretended to be just, she thought that every one of them were the same no matter where they were.

She slowly stepped into the alley. Normally, she would have overlooked affairs between humans, but somehow, she couldn’t do that today. Saying that he didn’t have friends may have brought forth sympathetic feelings.

“Or why don’t you use that girly appearance?”

“Hey, strip him!”

The boys’ behavior went too far. Adelaide, who saw the struggling child, jumped forward.

“Argh!”

There was no need to use energy against these sc*mbags. Her fist alone was enough to subdue them. The young warriors, who had been struck by Adelaide’s fists in the stomach, screamed and fainted.

“Bad children. Why are you harassing one child?”

“And the way you talk is worse.” Adelaide turned her head away, clicking her tongue.

For a moment, his blue eyes that looked like jewels caught her eye.

Adelaide, who thought she only had to deal with the boys and return, stopped for a moment to look into the child’s eyes. The child, whose beauty was enough to give most incubi a run for their money, was staring intently at her, with eyes twinkling.

Grrgrr.

At that moment, Adelaide’s stomach suddenly made a sound. She had skipped a meal because she wanted to leave her dorm as soon as possible. Her cheeks heated up in embarrassment. She looked cool as she saved him but now she looked like a beggar.

“Perhaps.”

The kid, Lupinus, carefully spoke.

“Together… Would you like to eat together?”

Adelaide’s eyes widened in bewilderment.

It was the first time a human had offered to eat with her. To her, humans were just a means for her regular consumption.

The kid must have thought that she was a good samaritan passing by.

No.

Adelaide, who was about to say this, looked at Lupin’s expression and closed her mouth. Somehow, his gaze towards her was desperate. To the point where she answered unwittingly.

“Okay, let’s eat together.”

The kid’s face brightened. He looked so happy smiling with a messy face that Adelaide couldn’t retract her decision.

Lupin guided her to his own house. It was a small log cabin in the outskirts of Mediar that looked very old. Adelaide was nervous that she might run into the child’s father who was a warrior, but according to the child, it had already been a week since his father had not returned.

“My father doesn’t usually come. Sometimes once a month. So sit comfortably.”

‘You left this little kid alone?’ Adelaide frowned in disbelief.

Even amongst demons, there weren’t many who were this irresponsible. They usually cared for their children until the age of twenty because their bodies were not yet fully grown. Of course, Adelaide didn’t belong to the norm because she was abandoned as a newborn.

Lupin moved his cute little hands here and there to prepare the meal. He was very good at moving the frying pan, as if he hadn’t only done it once or twice. Adelaide, who sat in front of the table, quietly stared at the child. And with a vague sense of guilt, opened her mouth.

“By the way, the truth is… I am a demon.”

‘Is it really okay to eat together?’ She swallowed her words.

The child’s body hardened in an instant. She could see his pretty eyes quivering. But after a moment, Lupinus shook the frying pan again. He looked as if she hadn’t heard anything.

Soon, the child served pancakes with raspberries in front of Adelaide. It looked quite appetizing for something made with just a few ingredients.

“Eat.”

Lupinus said with a faint smile. Without a word, Adelaide picked up a fork and cut the pancakes. A comfortable meal followed.

This kid was lonely too.

Whether it be a demon or a monster, he just wanted to eat with someone. The corners of her eyes strangely heated up at the sudden thought. Come to think of it, it had been about 20 years since Adelaide had eaten food while sitting face to face with another being.

The pancakes Adelaide ate that day were the most delicious she had eaten in her 100 years of life. Therefore, she suggested without hesitation.

“Can I come again?”

The child was startled and opened his eyes wide. Soon, his cute face was colored with overwhelming joy.

“Of course.”

After that, Adelaide went in and out of Lupin’s house like it was her own. From eating then leaving, to chatting while eating, their relationship turned into something fun.

The lonely two became each other’s only friends.

“Lupin, did you sleep well?”

Adelaide hugged the kid from the back and rubbed his head like a cat. Chu. She also poured kisses on his chubby cheeks.

“Don’t treat me like a child!”

Lupinus, whose cheeks were both dyed pink, grumbled. But Adelaide showed no signs of stopping.

“If I don’t treat a child as a child, then what?”

“If it’s unfair, then don’t be a child.” She made fun of Lupinus by sticking out her tongue playfully.

“You’ll see… When I grow taller than you, I will get revenge twice as much!”

“Okay. Since I’m taller right now, I can do whatever I want, right? Our* Lupinus, do you want big sister to give you a bath?”

[T/N: Used as an affectionate/cute term]

“Let go! You p*rv!”

Lupinus punched Adelaide with his cotton-like fist. However, to her, who was a fairly strong demon, it only felt like a massage.

‘I will get you back for this…!’

Lupinus vowed, as he glared at Adelaide who was smiling.