The other side of the communication went silent for a moment, followed by the gentle and calm voice of a young girl.
“I am sorry, but Joker has not returned to Nightbright Town.”
“Fine…”
Letia did not seem too surprised by this result.
“Then where are you? Since I have already come to this place, stop hiding, okay?”
“…Keep walking forward and push open the second wooden door. After you enter, move the cabinet aside. I am right here.”
“Wait for me.”
Following the instructions, Letia continued walking forward.
She carefully observed her surroundings, and after reaching the second door, she stepped inside.
It appeared to be an abandoned pipe management room, but inside the room sat a strange cabinet.
After pushing it aside, Letia entered the space hidden behind it.
Compared to the outside, the space within was truly a hidden wonder.
Bookshelves, an enchanting table, Magic Lamps, and all sorts of equipment for Magic research were present.
This space was divided into four areas: a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a laboratory.
In terms of decoration, it was even more exquisite than her own house.
As for the person she was looking for… Ella was currently sitting there, quietly leafing through a Magic book regarding Creation Spells.
Her image, combined with her temperament, appeared extremely tranquil and peaceful in this setting.
It almost made one feel guilty for disturbing this moment of serenity.
“Lady Holy Maiden, welcome to my humble abode.”
Ella closed the book and bowed slightly toward Letia.
Letia did not want to engage in much idle chatter.
She looked at Ella and immediately spoke.
“I thought you would stay by Otto’s side… Where is he now?”
“My apologies. Regarding that, I cannot speak plainly.”
Ella bowed again with an apologetic expression and continued.
“However, please rest assured, Lady Holy Maiden, he has always been someone standing on your side.”
“He’s on my side?”
Letia rolled her eyes in annoyance.
“If he were really on my side, the first thing he should have done was let me live a peaceful life instead of making me this miserable Holy Maiden! I have to work overtime every single day! Even a beast of burden isn’t used this hard!”
“The exhaustion is only temporary,” Ella said with a faint smile.
“As the saying goes, you just have to get used to it.”
“Give me a break.”
Letia’s gaze sharpened slightly as she questioned Ella.
“Those Monsters that escaped from the Dungeon—was that your and Otto’s doing?”
“My apologies… Please forgive me, for I cannot inform you of that.”
Just as Ella was about to bow and apologize once more, Letia’s Communicator Crystal rang.
This time, Otto was the one initiating the call.
“Oh?”
Letia picked up the call, sounding almost laughing in anger.
“I thought you were going to hide from me for the rest of your life.”
“Well, I saw you were making things difficult for Ella, weren’t you?”
The man on the other end of the line spoke with a mocking tone.
“It has been a long time, Letia. Does that Saint’s Robe fit you well?”
“It… fits quite well!”
Letia practically ground her teeth, reciting each word with venom.
“Give me back my days off! You damned capitalist!!”
“When Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a person, it must first—”
“Stop, stop, stop!”
Seeing that Otto was about to start a long-winded lecture again, Letia hurriedly interrupted him.
“I don’t want to hear your philosophical nonsense. Let’s talk business directly, do you understand?”
Saying this, Letia crossed one arm over her chest while holding the Communicator Crystal in her other hand.
“Otto, you should know very well that I have always been on your side. Even when you did those inhuman things, I still protected you. So, I hope you can tell me the truth. The Beasts currently wandering the outskirts of Nightbright Town… did you release them?”
Otto was in no hurry to answer Letia’s question.
He seemed to have only heard the first part of her statement and spoke as if flattered.
“I didn’t expect you to trust me so much, Letia. I thought you would be furious… It seems your personality is much more mature than your appearance… How is Red’s current situation?”
Letia was stunned for a moment, and her expression softened slightly.
Her eyes then drifted toward the light of the Magic Lamp.
“Rest assured. Things didn’t develop as poorly as you imagined. Red hasn’t been blinded by hatred because of your betrayal. He didn’t blindly pursue strength and lose himself on that path. He is… doing well now. Better than you expected.”
“Is that so?”
Otto gave a faint laugh.
“Then I am truly a bit jealous of Red. To have someone go to such lengths for him…”
For some reason, Letia always felt that much of what Otto said was insincere.
But this sentence… always felt like his true feelings?
“What do you mean by that?”
Because she could not figure it out, Letia spoke directly.
“Both Red and I were made miserable by you, and you still have the nerve to say you’re jealous? Believe it or not, I’ll rush over right now and plant you head-first into the ground.”
“It’s hard to explain that part,” Otto said, maintaining his elegance despite Letia’s harmless threat.
“In any case, I am very happy to see that you are still the same as always.”
“I don’t care whether you’re happy or not…”
Letia’s lip twitched.
“I just want to ask clearly: were those Beasts that ran to the surface released by you? If so… why did you do it? What benefit does it bring you?”
“Sigh.”
Otto let out a helpless sigh.
“Even though you are the Holy Maiden and possess such a powerful Observation Ability, you still insist on grilling an old man like me for every detail. Is that appropriate?”
After Otto’s lament, his tone became a bit more serious.
“Letia, I want to ask you a question. How do you view the Dungeon?”
“Why are we suddenly pivoting to this?”
Although frustrated, Letia still answered Otto’s question truthfully.
“In my view, this Dungeon… feels more like a game than reality.”
“As expected of Letia. It seems you and I think alike.”
A satisfied smile appeared on Otto’s face, and he continued leisurely.
“Indeed. Rather than a bloody struggle in reality, the Dungeon is more like a game. When people are killed, they cannot be resurrected, but when Monsters are killed, it doesn’t matter. They simply respawn normally after a period of time… It truly is inconceivable.”
“Furthermore, no one knows where the true entrance to this Dungeon is. People have tried digging downward, but even after digging nearly 1,000 meters, there is still no trace of the Dungeon. Two hundred years have passed, and even now, if people want to enter the Dungeon, they can only do so through Teleportation Anchors.”
“If the Dungeon truly existed in our world, from the 1st Floor to the 40th Floor alone, the area and scale of each floor grow at an almost exponential rate… I’m afraid the underground of our entire world could not contain such a massive existence.”
“Not to mention that after the 40th Floor, space and time completely collapse. The area of the entire Dungeon can no longer be measured. It is filled with chaos and void everywhere, like…”
“So, in my view, this Dungeon perhaps does not exist in our world at all. I call it…”
“Subspace.”