Chapter 30: The Former Miss

It was not until Arlet returned to the base that Merlo informed him that she would be representing the Crystal Thorn Adventurer Group in the Dragon Slaying Competition.

“Tomorrow evening…”

The current time was two o’clock in the morning.

At this moment, Arlet knew nothing about this so-called Dragon Slaying Competition.

In other words, the time he had saved through Vivian’s help—time that was originally meant for rest and recuperation—had now been compressed because of this sudden turn of events.

Normally, after emerging from a dungeon, the group would have a recovery period of about three to four days.

Arlet had intended to use those days to heal the deep-seated internal injuries that had yet to fully mend.

But now, it seemed there was no time for that.

“Don’t daze off, Arlet. Perk up!”

A rare glimmer of pleasure danced in Merlo’s eyes as her slender hand lightly tapped the tabletop.

“You don’t know what the Dragon Slaying Competition is yet, do you?”

“Tell you what, I’ll be merciful today and explain it to you personally right now.”

Following that, Merlo began to state the details of the competition, and even the rewards, word by word to Arlet.

As she spoke, she would occasionally raise the quill pen in her hand and wave it in the air, as if pointing at something.

Throughout this process, Arlet remained silent, only nodding from time to time.

He felt somewhat dazed.

How long had it been since the Lady last spoke to him like this?

Since they began adventuring, aside from matters related to service, assigning tasks, or discussing action plans, the Lady almost never spoke much.

And even when she did speak, she would compress the dialogue to an extremely brief degree to save time.

Arlet had almost grown accustomed to this “superior-subordinate” style of conversation.

However, the Lady before him now allowed Arlet to see shadows of the past.

The Lady from before she had fallen into the dead end of “wanting to be recognized”—the one who would talk to him about anything, just like family.

This was exactly the version of Merlo that Arlet had always wanted her to return to.

“My Lady…”

“Arlet? Arlet!”

It wasn’t until Merlo issued two slightly irritated calls that Arlet was pulled back to reality.

“When did I ever give you permission to space out while I am speaking?”

Merlo had been talking for a long while, only to turn around and see that Arlet hadn’t reacted at all. For a moment, it felt as though she had been doused with a bucket of cold water. Her expression immediately soured with a hint of displeasure.

“My Lady, I am listening.”

“It is just that the road back from your territory is quite long.”

“Rushing all the way back, it is inevitable to feel some fatigue, which led to a momentary lapse in focus.”

Hearing Arlet’s explanation, Merlo’s brow barely managed to relax.

“Fine, I will forgive you this once.”

“If you are tired, go rest early. Get yourself into better condition so you don’t ruin tomorrow’s competition.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

Arlet nodded slightly, then placed the bottle of dark red liquid on the dining table.

“Also, My Lady, this is the Blood Brew I retrieved for you.”

“Not bad. Leave it there; I will drink it before we set out tomorrow.”

After the conversation ended, Arlet went to wash up as quickly as possible and headed back to his room.

On the way to his room, he even heard the sound of Merlo softly humming a song.

“The Lady… she is truly happy today.”

“It is probably because of that ‘Dragon Slayer’ title.”

Arlet knew.

This competition was likely the closest the Lady had ever been to realizing her wish.

Although her original goal was to descend to the tenth floor of the dungeon and become a “Legendary Adventurer.”

But currently, if you added up all the adventurers on the entire continent, the furthest anyone had reached was only the eighth floor. They hadn’t even found the entrance to the ninth floor yet.

Even without considering the cost of time, that goal was far too difficult.

One had to understand that with every floor passed in the dungeon, the threat level of the monsters underwent a qualitative change.

The Crystal Thorns had only just reached the sixth floor, and they were already starting to struggle.

The journey ahead would only become more difficult with every step.

And now, while the title of Dragon Slayer wasn’t exactly within easy reach, compared to that unreachable tenth floor, the Crystal Thorns at least had a chance to compete for it.

Thinking of the smile on Merlo’s face just now, the fatigue in Arlet’s body seemed to lighten considerably.

“Compressing some rest time is nothing…”

“It is just a few injuries. Even if I have to force myself through them, I will stand by the Lady.”

“I will definitely help the Lady seize the Dragon Slayer title.”

Thinking this, Arlet removed his armor in the changing room, changed into casual clothes, and walked into his room.

Immediately after, he jumped in surprise.

He saw a humanoid dark shadow sitting on the chair by the window in his room.

For a moment, he thought some forest monster had broken into the base and instinctively reached for his weapon.

It wasn’t until the figure on the chair woke up due to the sound of the door opening that Arlet could vaguely see the other party clearly.

It wasn’t a monster, but a petite elven girl with emerald-green hair and long ears.

“Fluff?”

“Why are you in my room?”

“Ugh… Ah—”

It wasn’t until Arlet called her name that Fluff opened her eyes groogily.

“What time is it…? Oh, Sir Knight?”

“Sir Knight! You’re finally back!”

The moment she saw Arlet, Fluff’s entire body jolted, and she jumped up on the spot.

Then, like a child asking adults for candy on Halloween, she ran to Arlet’s side with a patter of footsteps.

“Sir Knight, did you eat dinner? I bought a steak for you!”

As she spoke happily, Fluff lifted her clothing.

At this moment, Fluff was wearing a white turtleneck sweater, and below it was her tender, fair belly.

Sandwiched between that belly and the sweater was a bulging paper bag.

Seeming a bit embarrassed to be showing her stomach in front of Arlet, Fluff’s small face turned slightly red.

“Hehe, because I was afraid it would get cold, I kept it like this…”

“I’ve been sitting here waiting for you, Sir Knight. Who knew I’d fall asleep while waiting…”

“Ehe.”

She scratched her head sheepishly and stuck out her little pink tongue.

“It was all my fault that you received such a heavy punishment yesterday, Sir Knight…”

“I hope you can forgive me!”

As she offered a sincere apology, Fluff bent down forcefully and bowed. She held out the small paper package toward Arlet.

Looking at the Fluff before him, Arlet couldn’t help but feel caught between laughter and tears.

“I never blamed you.”

“You don’t need to apologize for anything. I told you, it wasn’t your responsibility.”

Listening to Arlet’s cold tone, Fluff’s heart began to thump with anxiety.

She was terrified that he would reject her sincere gesture.

Even if it would be reasonable, Fluff would still feel dejected because of it.

“However, I truly haven’t eaten dinner yet… So, thank you.”

As he spoke, Arlet gently took the paper package.

After feeling the item in her hand being taken away, Fluff’s eyes instantly lit up.

“Hooray! Thank you, Sir Knight!”

“Alright, alright. Hurry back to your room and get some sleep.”

“If the Lady catches us again, we’ll both be in trouble.”

As soon as she heard Arlet mention Merlo, Fluff’s face turned pale. she hurriedly bid Arlet farewell and slipped out.

It wasn’t until she left that Arlet turned his attention back to the steak in his hand.

It felt warm to the touch. It was obvious that Fluff had been keeping it warm against her body the whole time.

“I really don’t know what to say…”