"Alright, we've reached the dungeon. It's your cue now, Evelyn. After all, you're our 'strategist,' so... 'strategize' or whatever the word is for that," Ylya says with little confidence in me as we stand before the dungeon's first wall.

Although her confidence in me is low, her gaze is highly critical, and it really seems like she's ready to criticize anything I say.

"Okay... well, I don't really know the dungeon's climate or how it will progress, but considering it's a bit cold, I think it would be good to advance for 6 hours and pause for at least two hours before moving again for another 6 hours, and then we'd stop to eat and sleep for the next 7 hours. How does that sound?" I propose.

This strategy deals with rest and advancement in a balanced way. It's not the best strategy, but it's what I can think to do in a dungeon I know almost nothing about.

"...That's... strangely good." Ylya seems surprised and even disappointed. I thought she was going to criticize the decision, but when it comes to dungeons, I know how to act; after all, I know a lot about the game.

This was a strategy I used a lot, since you need to be balanced between rest and advancement so we don't stay still for too long, because we have limited resources and we'll have to get the rest from the dungeon itself.

"Of course it is! I understand dungeon and monster behavior in general!" I say with immense confidence in what I believe as we start walking through the first area, which is a plain with light green grass that's quite beautiful.

I don't see any monsters, which makes the walk extremely peaceful and it doesn't even feel like we're in a dangerous place.

"Okay, okay... I admit you're showing some experience with this first decision... even though it's not the style I like—I'd prefer we advanced much more—but I'll accept it anyway," Ylya says while quickening her pace, passing in front of us and moving ahead a little.

"Evelyn, don't mind Ylya's blunt way. She's actually complimenting you; she's just not used to going at such a balanced pace. Since we're a duo, we can go much faster and with fewer breaks," Yter says, moving a little closer.

"Yeah... I think I understand a little. At least she tried to compliment me instead of criticizing my decisions! I know what I'm doing! So, no fighting is for the best!" I murmur, knowing I do similar things sometimes.

"..." He falls completely silent, creating an uncomfortable silence for me. I look at him, confused by the sudden quiet.

"Aren't you going to say the reason?... I mean, the reason she acts like that?" I look at him, surprised, and ask. Normally, I thought he would explain why she's like that since he mentioned she was complimenting me.

"Why? I don't even know you. Why would I talk about Ylya's past? Do you have some strange interest in the past of strangers? That's... kind of weird." He makes me embarrassed with that statement.

'H-He called me weird? I'm not weird!!' I'm shocked by this; I can't believe I was called weird just like that.

"N-No! I just... I just meant... never mind... forget it!! I'm not weird! I was just curious!" I move away from him out of embarrassment, getting closer to Eve.

'D-Damn it, it's not like I wanted to know her past!! Hunf' I can't admit that I really expected a reason; normally, when someone says something like that in various games, the person explains the other's past.

Of course, I'm aware it's not a game anymore, but even so, I can't get rid of the thoughts or fall into game tropes. I thought he would say why Ylya is kind of arrogant and all rebellious like that.

'If it were Grace, I'm sure that would happen!! Damn protagonist plot armor!! All I got was some unnecessary hatred that fate has for me!!'

"Evelyn-chan, you look funny from this angle," Syl'Vyr says with a little smile while her tail moves actively, as if she's pleased about something.

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny, Syl'Vyr... it's not like I wanted him to talk!! I just... jumped the gun a little, I was hasty, I admit! But it was obvious that I... I mean..." It wasn't that obvious; I was too quick, but I won't admit that.

"D-Don't look at me with that expression like I'm some funny curiosity! What's the problem with me thinking he'd talk about Ylya's past? I had my reasons for thinking that!!! And they were good reasons..."

"Hahahaha," Syl'Vyr laughs at my confusion.

"Hey, you three back there, hurry up!! Stop with the little jokes and useless side conversations! We need to get as far as possible before the first break!" Ylya shouts at us, as we've fallen behind because she walks too fast.

"Evelyn-sama, isn't it a bit dangerous to walk so fast?" Eve says with some dungeon experience she gained in our first dungeon, knowledge she's read, and knowledge I've mentioned to her.

"Well... it's just the beginning. I don't think it's a problem, and she's a paladin, so she has high physical resistance and should be able to handle relatively high damage as long as it's not from someone much stronger than her."

"Now let's quicken our pace! Let's try to increase our strength as much as possible! If we can do well in this dungeon, maybe I can get you two firmly into the B-Rank position." The two of them have B-Rank strength, but it's not solid yet.

So I'll use this dungeon to solidify them at that power level, which will be very good for our future.

...

...

...

"Do you need something, Marie?" I ask, holding a plush doll tightly, annoyed that she's here. She just showed up out of nowhere, asked to talk, and now she's here at my dinner, bothering me.

"Don't look at me like I'm trying to kill you, Augustus. It's not like I'm going to attack you, so you don't need to be so strangely cautious," she says, moving her hand in an exaggerated way.

"...What do you want here?" I ask sharply, looking around. She's somehow isolated me from everyone; of course I'm going to be paranoid about it.

"Tsk, you're so paranoid. I know you're thinking about escaping through the window. Do you think you could escape me if I tried to kill you, you idiot? Can you pay attention to what the fuck I'm telling you?" she says angrily to me.

"..." I look at the door, a place she's too close to for me to exit in case of an emergency.

"Why did you cut off my escape routes? You know I don't like that," I say sternly, preparing magic to blow up the entire room if necessary. Marie is problematic; I don't want her near me.

"Well, obviously it was... by chance," she lies. Lies upon lies, as always. Everyone is a liar, and she's one of the ones who lied to me the most in the past.

"If you don't leave, I'll kill you. I don't want to argue with someone who lies so brazenly to my face." I threaten her. The table freezes up to near her; the plates, cutlery, and everything on the table freezes and shatters.

"...Threatening me? Do you think you can, you brat!" She stands up from the table. The room begins to grow hot, and the window glass starts to melt.

"Who knows? Maybe I can kill you. You came to ask for a favor, but you just tell lies. Do you think I'll accept anything you offer or propose?" I say furiously while half the room freezes completely.

"Ah, you brat!" She makes the room so hot that the frozen table melts completely, leaving the room a little emptier.

"Get out of here. I won't help you with anything, you liar." I release my plushie, getting ready to fight, magic prepared to be fired at her, while I'm prepared to summon all the people I control if things get dangerous.

"You're a little shit!! When it was Evelyn, you were doing charity and even sharing your time with her, and now when I try to get your help with something important, you treat me like I'm going to kill you without even hearing what I have to say."

"Is it because you know that failure can't kill you? You trash." She starts insulting me, just like in childhood. I never got along with her because she's so spoiled like this.

"I already told you to get out of here! NOW!" I don't even know why she mentioned Evelyn. After Evelyn challenged me to that friendly representatives' duel and won, she just stopped visiting me, and even when she did visit, it was mostly her talking nonsense with me.

I never gave her anything or helped her. I don't know what kind of relationship Marie thinks I had in the brief time I spoke with Evelyn, but she's completely deluded.

"..."

"I'm leaving. I didn't expect much from a useless person like you anyway," she says, leaving the room, but not before carbonizing everything in the room with flames hot enough to destroy the ice completely.

"...What a joke," I murmur, irritated. She comes to ask for a favor, treats me like trash, and then gets angry when I refuse whatever she was going to offer me.

'What did she want that she needed my help for?' Marie has been having a lot of confrontations with everyone lately—first with Lucien, then with Laplace, and now with me. It's obvious she's after something, but I didn't try to find out what she was going to say.

"Servants, come fix this room. And reinforce the security; I don't want Marie popping up out of nowhere in the parts of the castle that are mine." I give orders using my blessing to command the people I control.

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