“If it’s purely for money, Siloque, your approach is a bit too extreme, too reckless, and too lacking in common sense…”
“Hooh…are you insulting me?”
“No, no, no, no! Of course not! I would never question your methods, Siloque. I was just a little curious. It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it.”
Cass shook his head vigorously in denial.
Actually, Cass was half right.
Is that so… Why do I want to go into the Dungeon?
For money… I’d already mentioned that to Bried.
Siloque knew the root of this question—
It was about why he became a Pure Love Warrior.
Was it really necessary to go this far?
The thin veil of a minotaur was indeed the foundation of Siloque’s actions.
Then why such hatred?
Why go so far as to risk his life?
While putting the final seasoning on the dish he was preparing, Siloque spoke casually:
“This is a story of a friend of a friend…”
“A friend’s story?”
So, it was Siloque’s own story.
Cass wisely chose not to expose it.
“When he was in second grade, his mother left him and his father for another man.”
“Uh…”
Cass was at a loss for words.
“And that man was the principal of their school.”
“Eh?”
“A year later, his father died of a heart attack.”
“Ugh.”
“The funeral was hastily handled by some distant relatives he didn’t even know. Since then, he hated men who stole others’ spouses—the so-called ‘minotaurs’. The games he played also turned into ML types…”
“…I see. It must’ve been tough. I’m really sorry about your father…”
Cass didn’t understand the ML part, but he understood Siloque’s pain.
“Cass, let me remind you, this is my friend’s story.”
“I know, Siloque, no need to explain.”
How pitiful.
He didn’t expect Siloque to have such a painful past behind his cheerful exterior.
Truly strong.
Cass—Katia—felt a surge of compassion for Siloque.
“Let’s not talk about these depressing things. The food’s ready.”
“Yeah, thanks. Smells great…”
He took the dinner plate, piled with flatbread, roast chicken, wild vegetable soup, and fruit.
Since Siloque didn’t care, I can’t act too concerned either.
Cass bit into the crispy skin of the roast chicken—
“So good!”
The chicken was crispy on the outside, tender inside, the flavor lingering in his mouth.
All worries and negative emotions vanished as he ate heartily.
Watching Cass devour the chicken leg with oil smeared over his mouth, Siloque proudly sipped his wild vegetable soup.
As expected, my cooking is delicious.
With the micro-manipulation of the Heating Skill, the texture rose to another level.
“Delicious… Siloque, would you like to be my house chef? You can name your price.”
“I refuse. Cooking for beautiful girls is one thing, but cooking for men feels terrible. This time is an exception.”
“I see… Wait, does that mean…!”
Cass downed the wild vegetable soup in one gulp, his voice rising several pitches:
“If it was for a girl, you’d be happy to cook?”
“Yeah. I’d act indifferent on the surface, but inside I’d be thrilled.”
“Then, if a girl invited you to her house to cook, you wouldn’t refuse either, right?”
Cass hesitated for a moment, looking directly at Siloque.
He seemed a little hopeful.
But Siloque didn’t look at Cass, focused on his meal, and replied offhandedly:
“Depends on my mood.”
“Eh…how can you say that…”
Ignoring the dejected Cass, Siloque remembered the LINE message he hadn’t replied to and opened the Ring Chart—
Hill: Got my Explorer License daze! Praise Hill! (｡ò ∀ ó｡)! (Attached: a photo of Hill holding the license, smiling clumsily and cutely, with a deep blue PS4 game box in the background.)
Looks like she bought a new game as a reward after getting her license.
Siloque: Awesome, awesome, amazing. (Saved the image.)
He scrolled down to check another message.
Bried: I met a good person. I’ve been treating you badly these past days. I’m sorry.
Siloque: (A black cat emoji with a question mark over its head.)
Judging from Bried’s words, it seemed she had reconciled with him.
Although Siloque thought it was better for their relationship to remain cold.
Her quick surrender ending the “cold war” made Siloque shiver inexplicably…
Finally, he found Beiren’s message, sent much earlier but buried by other messages.
Beiren: Met a big eater. Too bad I forgot to take a photo.
Beiren: Reply soon when you have time. Don’t pretend you didn’t see this.
Siloque: My bad. As compensation, can I get a lap pillow?
Beiren: In your dreams.
Siloque: Let’s compromise. I’ll give you a lap pillow. You can lie on me.
After a while, a single word came.
Beiren: Scram.
“…Siloque, who are you chatting with? You look so happy.”
“Ah? No one.”
***
31 Crystal Core Fragments worth 100R each.
6 Crystal Cores worth 20,000R each.
1 Crystal Core Block worth 100,000R.
12 pieces of high-quality Purple Crystal.
(If only my backpack was bigger…)
One Shaman’s Wild Necklace.
Red Eye’s Drop Skill, .
A lump of Glowing Moss, dropped by a Cliff Stone Man.
While shoveling rice into his mouth, Siloque checked his inventory.
This was the haul from his “sightseeing” trip from the first to the second floor.
Most of the above were estimates. For exact values, he’d have to get them appraised at the Exchange, but they shouldn’t be far off.
The purchase price of Purple Crystal would triple next month according to game memories.
But best of all, of course, was the Lv.
Siloque pulled up the Status Window on his Ring Chart. He also felt his level was like something he’d picked up—
Siloque
12
—Potential Rookie—
—2nd Floor—
HP Max: 93→143
MP Max: 89→145
STR: 73→130
END: 92→142
AGI: 113→163
DEX: 110→160
INT: 93→143
—Heating—→—Heating (Range Increased)—
—Transform Into Rock—
Layer 1 Permission Unlocked
Teleport Function Unlocked—Can only teleport to locations already visited
White-hatting is awesome!
He’d just followed Myute all the way, picking up scraps, but even so, leveling up alone made it worth it.
“Potential Rookie” referred to someone who leveled up fast.
Siloque knew he’d exploited every loophole and shortcut he could, and his feelings were like drinking a spoonful of drain cleaner—refreshing, but it also hollowed him out.
Still, the happiness far outweighed any guilt.
With this level, a few tricks would be enough for him to switch to B Class.
Siloque’s lips curled up.
Swelling with pride, swelling with joy.
He also had plenty of money. With a few more months’ saving, he might really be able to buy an advanced Skill from the Demoness Shopkeeper at the Dungeon store!
Maybe he could even one-shot Cliff Stone Man!
“Hehehe, where would be a good place for a date…?”
Siloque muttered, the food tasting even better.
While he grinned at the Ring Chart, Cass sat in the corner against the wall, propping his face with one hand, looking at Siloque with eyes full of affection and envy.
***
After eating and drinking, all that was left was to wait.
At least until after midnight, when a certain mechanism in the church would activate, unlocking a hidden area and allowing them to retrieve the weapon.
But that was just a possibility; it might even be the next day.
If the mechanism hadn’t triggered by 12:30, Siloque planned to use some TNT to blast it open…
With nothing else to do, he could have downloaded a game to play on the Ring Chart, but his data plan wouldn’t allow it.
He hadn’t downloaded any good movies or anime either. It was all because he’d been preoccupied with Myute and the operation at the time.
Watching ghosts floating through the church, Siloque started making small talk with Cass to pass the time, and somehow Cass began talking about Light Pretty Cure again.
Just how much did he love this series…?
Siloque didn’t understand, so he just listened quietly.
More than an hour passed.
Cass sipped a cup of freshly brewed hot cocoa, satisfied.
Siloque had truly listened for over an hour.
“…Chatting with you like this, Siloque, you seem like a pretty normal person.”
“Why does that make it sound like I was a weirdo before?”
“Wasn’t it true? You fought the Maple Court Knight in such a reckless way; you knew they were Evil Cult but still calmly got along with them.”
Hearing his analysis, Siloque thought…
Eh? Am I actually pretty weird?
But so what.
“If not for my methods, you wouldn’t have gotten stronger so quickly. You should thank me, Cass.”
“Hehehe… Really, I wasn’t praising you.”
Cass giggled.
Maybe it was because he had been forced to look at Cass’s face so many times in the past hour.
That smile unexpectedly reminded Siloque of someone.
The hair color was almost the same, but paler blue.
Clearly, this ordinary yasashii boy was smiling stupidly, so why did I think of…
Cass’s sister?
Siloque lowered his head, deep in thought.
Come to think of it, in that DLC, that twisted DLC, Cass’s sister never woke up, and the only comfort was that she wasn’t conscious while suffering.
Right, I remember now.
At that time, I thought—if Cass’s sister hadn’t suffered, what would her smile be like?
Most likely like the one before me now, simple yet a little naive.
I remember her name was—
“Katia…”
Siloque blurted out the name without thinking.
Cass’s body instantly stiffened.
If you cleared the main story fast enough, maybe you could save Katia.
I’m curious, too.
In the game, I never got to see her awake, but now, in the real world, maybe I can witness Katia’s smile.
Siloque was about to ask about Cass’s sister, but when he looked up—
“Why are you crying again?”
Is Cass really such a sensitive person?
Thinking back to their days together, Siloque realized Cass cried easily.
So sensitive?
“Eh?”
Cass touched his face, his eyes moist, his nose stinging, tears streaming quietly down.