Moments later...

"Hmph..."

Lyra ended up clinging to Gray like a pissed-off cat who'd claimed her territory after a territorial war.

She wasn't saying anything, just burying her face against his chest, arms wrapped tightly around him, cheeks puffed out in a silent "I hate everyone except you".

Her legs were still half-submerged in the water, but her upper body was plastered to him, refusing to move even an inch.

Gray stroked her damp hair with a lazy, amused motion.

"You done?" he asked softly.

She huffed into his skin.

"…No."

Across the lake, Selina and Selene sat on the dry stone ledge beside the small campfire they had managed to make using Lyra's lightning earlier.

Their clothes were drying on rocks around them, dripping quietly as the flames flickered warmly, painting their faces in shifting orange light.

Both girls had their arms crossed. Both girls were glaring and looked like they were trying very hard not to stomp back in there and restart round two.

Selina's foot tapped aggressively while Selene's eyebrow twitched with every passing second.

"…I'm just saying," Selina muttered, staring directly at Lyra's snuggled form, "some people don't know how to fight fair."

"You literally elbowed me in the ribs," Selene shot back with a deadpanned expression.

"You pulled my hair!"

"You splashed water in my nose!"

"Pfftt... You deserved it," Selina scoffed.

"Both of you deserved to lose," Lyra snapped from Gray's chest without lifting her head.

"YOU DAMN BITCH!"

They shouted simultaneously, causing Lyra to grin almost proudly as if their words were actually a compliment instead of an insult.

Gray gently tapped Lyra's forehead.

"Hey. Be nice."

"No," she replied immediately, squeezing him tighter.

Selina leaned forward, voice dripping with irritation.

"Can you stop cuddling him like that? It's annoying."

Lyra lifted her head just enough to glare over Gray's shoulder.

"This is MY lap," she hissed, "and SOME people forgot their place."

"Oh, please, if he wanted me on his lap, you think you could stop me?" Selene scoffed loudly.

Lyra's grip tightened, causing Gray's eyes to flinch lightly.

"God dammit..."

'I didn't know this was going to be such a big problem... But well, it's not my problem that I was born with such a handsome face.'

[....]

Gray sighed softly, as if he were listening to children argue.

"…Girls," he said calmly, leaning back a little, "we're supposed to be making a camp, so we then can prepare to actually clear the dungeon."

Selina and Selene tore their eyes from Lyra and looked at him.

For a moment, they both straightened, both trying to look composed.

"Ahem," Selina cleared her throat, lifting her chin.

"…We already started," she muttered. "Your girlfriend wasn't helping."

"Someone was too busy… hogging you," Selene nodded.

"HOGGING?!" Lyra snapped.

Her voice echoed through the cavern, bouncing off the crystal walls.

Gray gently cupped her cheek.

"Lyra."

She froze, her pout softening lightly.

He stroked her cheek once, and her shoulders relaxed despite her angry expression.

"…Fine," she mumbled, still clinging to him.

"I'll help. But I don't like them anymore..."

"You don't have to like us," Selina retorted coolly, hands warming over the fire. "You just have to cooperate."

"And maybe stop screaming every time we breathe near Gray." Selene rolled her shoulders.

Lyra glared again, but Gray pulled her back against him before she could leap across the lake.

"Work first," he murmured, "fighting later."

Lyra sulked.

"…But I won round one."

"No, you didn't!" Selina and Selene snapped at the same time.

'Fucking hell...'

Gray let out another tired sigh.

With no interest in babysitting a round two, he pushed Lyra gently to the side and stepped out of the water.

His wet footprints echoed softly as he walked deeper into the luminous chamber, stopping in front of one of the larger pink crystals embedded in the wall.

He unsheathed his rapier and swung with one clean motion.

CRACK!

To his surprise, the crystal was split perfectly. Its edge was incredibly smooth, clean, and almost polished where the blade had cut.

Gray blinked, then glanced at his rapier with a satisfied smile.

'...Most expensive and valuable metals, huh...?'

Without wasting any more time, Gray spent one and a half hours "mining" the rest of the ores, as they probably cost a fortune.

By the time he was finished, a literal mountain of precious ores sat behind him.

He flicked his fingers.

FWUUM...

A swirling mass of black-purple energy opened in the air like a small storm.

He lifted a hand, and every last piece of ore vanished inside.

"What was that?" Selene's eyes widened.

"…Did you just throw a fortune into a… vortex?" Selina also stepped closer, her eyebrows raised in disbelief.

Gray waved his hand dismissively and closed the dimensional rift.

"Dimensional Storage," he said calmly, wiping dust from his rapier. "A skill I picked up in one of my little adventures."

"Dimensional Storage?! That's a Special-Rated Skill!" Selina's jaw almost dropped as she exclaimed excitedly.

Selene nearly tripped over her own feet. "Right, because it's infinite! And locked! Only the owner can access it! Those abilities are practically extinct!"

"I didn't expect you to have something that rare!" Selina added, her eyes gleaming.

Gray rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish shrug.

"…Ah. Just luck, I guess…"

If they knew that he wasn't the one who had gotten the skill... they probably wouldn't compliment him so much.

But Lyra, on the side, just raised her chin.

It was clear that she was saying something like this, "See! This is my boyfriend!".

Gray ignored everyone's reactions and stretched his shoulders.

"Alright. We should go out and start killing some monsters. Maybe even find the boss room."

"Mhm! On it!"

Lyra grabbed his arm immediately, linking with him as if she were making a public announcement of ownership.

Both Selina and Selene's killing intent flared so hard it practically shifted the air.

Lyra looked over her shoulder and then stuck her tongue out while pulling down the skin under her right eye.

"Bleeehh~"

A throbbing vein appeared on both girls' foreheads at the same time.

"…Should we just kill her?" Selene asked while cracking her knuckles.

"...Agreed," Selina had already conjured multiple water spears, prepared to pierce Lyra's body in a single instant.

But before they could throw anything, Lyra spun around, clung to Gray like a starving cat, and pressed her face into his chest.

Gray chuckled, slid an arm under her knees, and lifted her into a full bridal carry.

Lyra let out a delighted little giggle, soft and smug.

"Hehehe~"

Her eyes peeked over Gray's shoulder just long enough to give Selina and Selene a look that said:

Try me, bitches.

They went through the narrow passage, and in just one minute or so, they arrived outside, feeling the wind slap against their faces with a cold hiss.

Snowflakes clung to their eyelashes, and the cold bit at their cheeks, yet none of them shivered.

The wolf pelts draped over their shoulders trapped enough warmth that the mountain air felt more like a bothersome chill than a threat.

"Mhm..." Gray scanned the surroundings.

The slope, the scattered pines, the jagged rocks, everything looked so damn similar to the area around their cave that it felt like the mountain was looping.

"Hah..."

He approached a massive boulder near the narrow passage leading back inside.

Then, he placed his palm on the rock's surface.

A faint swirl of threads glowed around his fingers, and in a single smooth motion, he carved a long, deep mark into the stone.

Then he moved the boulder, just enough to cover the cave's entrance, leaving a hidden but reachable gap.

"What are you doing?" Lyra stepped closer, raising her eyebrows.

"Marking your territory already?" Selene tilted her head, her expression soft but suspicious.

"Mayhaps," Gray dusted his hands off and shrugged.

"You'll understand when we come back."

The three girls reacted instantly, practically rolling their eyes at Gray's words.

Gray walked past them without further explanation.

They followed.

Their boots sank into the powdery snow as they began descending the mountain path.

The forest below seemed darker than before, with thick pine trees, shadows stretched, air heavy with the scent of frost and even... the scent of blood.

Lyra looked down the path, her breath forming faint steam.

"Think there's a boss down there?"

"Hopefully not. I don't think we'll be able to beat a boss with our group's power level," Selina added while keeping watch over their surroundings.

Selene walked beside Gray, her eyes half-lidded but alert. "All that matters is finding something edible. Even a single monster is enough."

"We'll just take whatever shows up. Quantity doesn't matter." Gray nodded.

"Right… forgot you can just stuff an entire forest in your storage," Lyra let out a small laugh.

For a while, they didn't find anything, which was quite strange considering that this was a dungeon, a place where countless monsters spawned out of nowhere.

But instead, they saw a small trail of smoke rising through the fog.

"...Is there someone camping there?" Selene asked curiously, unconsciously walking faster than normal.

"Perhaps, we should check it out!" Lyra added as she too started running towards the trail of smoke.

Selina and Gray nodded and followed them.

And just then... both of them heard a shout that caused Gray's lips to twitch slighly.

"BROTHEERRRR!!!"

It seems that they had found... Adrian's group.

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