Ch.6161. Bright-Eyed Maniac

When I said “lie,” I didn’t mean that the young lady was incompetent.

Rather, it would prove her competence.

‘I still have plenty of stamina left.’

Not just me, but Shiro’s condition was also much better.

She could probably use about 20 more 4-5 star spells.

This wasn’t just because of our high rank, but also because the young lady’s prayer was quite powerful.

…Of course, Airi’s prayers were much stronger.

Whatever the case, the young lady’s potential seemed top-tier.

“Then I’ll start entering now.”

After completing our battle preparations, we stood in front of the portal.

“Okay.”

“Yes, Adel.”

“…Heehee.”

Shiro nodded with a serious expression, Airi’s smile bloomed more brightly than usual, and the young lady was in a good mood because of my recent lie.

And me as well.

Our party stepped into the boss room.

…

After a momentary darkness that obscured our vision.

“…We’re unlucky.”

Airi muttered quietly.

For good reason, as a completely different space from what we’d seen until now was spread out before us.

“Where is this…?”

The young lady looked around in confusion.

A vast prairie, a forest spread out below the cliff.

It was quite different from what we had seen just moments ago.

“This is the hidden room on the 6th floor.”

Airi spoke up.

Being part of a guild, she seemed to know about this hidden room.

“Sometimes you end up here if you keep going after the tenth trial… of all times, it had to be now.”

“What happens here?”

The young lady’s voice was trembling as she asked.

“…”

Airi’s expression became extremely serious as she maintained silence for a moment.

“When you come in here…”

“When you come in…?”

…Gulp. The young lady swallowed.

“Actually, nothing special happens. I was just joking a bit.”

“…Airi.”

The young lady, suddenly deflated, puffed her cheeks.

She seemed a bit upset.

Airi apologized with a slightly amused expression.

“I’m sorry. When I was in the guild, it was common to tease party members who came here for the first time.”

“That’s scary, I’m easily frightened so don’t tease me!”

The young lady wasn’t really angry; it just seemed like a bit of WWE.

They must have gotten quite close since they often chat and sometimes share a tent at night.

‘That’s a bit surprising.’

Even though it was just WWE, it was refreshing to see Airi joining in the banter.

Given her usual image, I would have expected her to speak calmly and seriously, but she had this side to her too.

She seemed brighter than I thought.

“…Still, we should be a bit concerned.”

After finishing her back-and-forth with the young lady, Airi returned to her usual serious demeanor.

‘Did she deliberately try to lighten the mood just now?’

With the stamina we had told Airi about, it would be difficult to defeat the Lesser Griffin.

We’d barely be able to take it down even if we pushed ourselves to the limit.

Knowing this, she probably wanted to lift the mood before everyone fell into despair.

“Airi. Is this place where the Lesser Griffin appears?”

“…That’s right.”

I spoke up to move things along quickly.

Since the room where the Lesser Griffin appears is better known than other hidden elements, it wouldn’t be strange for me to know about it.

“…It’s a bit dangerous. It’ll be touch and go with our current condition.”

Shiro nodded at my words.

“I agree.”

The Griffin has specs not much different from a regular boss, so with our actual stamina, we could defeat it about four times easily.

The reason we spoke like this was because Shiro and I had already coordinated (not physically kissing, but in another way).

‘We need to deceive him.’

That was all we could do right now, not knowing the exact capabilities of our pursuer.

“Hmm.”

The young lady approached Shiro and said something.

And Airi looked up at the sky with a troubled expression.

As a mid-level priestess, she must have been active in the Labyrinth for quite some time, so it made sense for her to have many thoughts.

From her perspective, even just the Griffin would be extremely troublesome.

‘I’m sorry.’

I apologized sincerely to her in my mind.

Deceiving her like this was unavoidable.

“For now, staying still is dangerous. If we remain in high places, the Lesser Griffin might come.”

Everyone agreed with my words.

Except for the young lady, everyone seemed to know this space thoroughly.

But what was strange was that the young lady just agreed and moved along.

‘I thought she would ask.’

I could understand Airi and Shiro, but it was unexpected that the young lady would follow right away.

I thought she would have questions since she didn’t know much about this space.

‘Did she actually know already?’

But if so, why was she teased by Airi?

“…Adel.”

“Ah, yes, Shiro.”

While continuing my thoughts and climbing down a large rock, Shiro whispered in my ear.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing like that… just something about the young lady.”

They had a brief conversation when we were on the prairie atop the cliff, so I wondered if something had happened between them.

“The young lady asked me about this space, so I told her a little.”

“…I see.”

She didn’t really need to tell her that.

“Thank you for letting me know.”

It was sudden, but not entirely unhelpful.

Now I understood why she didn’t ask questions when we left the prairie.

However,

“But why did she go ask Shiro? It would have been better to ask everyone.”

“About that, it’s for a rather peculiar reason.”

“…What is it?”

A somewhat serious topic—

“—She said exactly: ‘If I say I don’t know in front of Adel, I might look stupid and feel like I don’t deserve to stay in an explorer party.'”

Shiro seems to be the type to repeat what she hears without any filter.

‘That’s pitiful.’

This seemed excessively cruel to the young lady.

“I understand. Thank you for telling me.”

“Mm-hmm.”

After finishing my conversation with Shiro, I fell into thought.

‘I understand she wants to maintain her image in front of me.’

The young lady likes me.

So it makes sense she’d be reluctant to admit ignorance, but there was something else important.

Why did she specifically approach Shiro to ask?

Airi was right beside the young lady.

Of course, Airi seemed lost in thought, but something felt off.

‘…Could it be?’

Hmm…

An incredible idea just flashed through my mind, but I immediately dismissed it.

No way that could be it.

I slightly turned my head and looked at the young lady walking about 2 meters behind me.

“…Ah, Adel. Is something wrong?”

A somewhat light, cheerful, and also innocent-looking expression.

“It’s nothing. I felt something strange so I looked, but it must have been my imagination.”

“I see. Well, just in case, I’ll keep a good lookout.”

“Yes, thank you, my lady.”

“No need to thank me. I’m a party member too, so of course I should do this much.”

The young lady definitely appeared to be a cheerful girl.

But just now, I saw it.

The image of the intellectual noble young lady, looking at the back of Shiro’s head with an ice-cold expression, as if calculating something.

‘Is it really…?’

The thought I had dismissed earlier invaded my brain once more.

—Is the young lady still trying to win my favor?

‘Even that concubine joke.’

Was it actually a plan to break down the mental defenses of Shiro and me?

First becoming friends with Shiro, and then when Shiro starts thinking ‘she’s really a nice girl,’ she would make her move?

“…Hmm.”

I stopped my delusion.

No matter how often polygamy occurs among nobles (without permission), it was common sense that the young lady wouldn’t make such plans.

‘I feel bad now.’

To be honest, the young lady was a top-tier bride candidate.

She’s intelligent and has an excellent reputation in various social circles.

She’s especially known for being sociable yet sometimes cold.

“…”

Come to think of it, she’s never shown that cold side in front of me.

‘No, she’ll probably give up soon.’

Someone like her wouldn’t seriously covet the position of my second wife.

By now, her feelings should be cooling down.

“Adel.”

Just then, the young lady called my name.

“Yes, my lady.”

“…”

She made eye contact with me but didn’t speak for a while, and after some time had passed.

“It’s nothing. I just wanted to call your name.”

“…?”

I replied that I understood and looked forward again.

By the way, the “…?” just now wasn’t my action.

“…Young lady, can we talk for a moment?”

It was Shiro, who was beside me.

…

Time passed.

Shiro and the young lady walked while talking for a while after that, but fortunately, they didn’t fight.

As time went on and we walked through the forest.

I asked Shiro what she had discussed with the young lady, and,

“I’ll tell you in more detail later. It’s a bit awkward to explain right now.”

Shiro avoided answering.

‘…Did she scold her?’

Honestly, this was a reasonable suspicion.

Originally, Shiro had a passive yet simultaneously aggressive tendency toward others.

Recently, she hadn’t been that way with people around me, but that was ultimately because of me.

The young lady’s recent behavior looked like she was hitting on someone who already had a partner, so it would be natural for Shiro to be angry.

Of course, my suspicion that Shiro was angry was absolutely…

No, probably not.

Still, if by any chance the young lady’s mental state had deteriorated after talking with Shiro, I needed to be concerned.

‘Because she’s a party member.’

I glanced briefly at the young lady’s expression.

Far from being dejected, she was smiling brightly.

A look reminiscent of a clear-eyed maniac.

‘What.’

…Is the young lady also quite strong-willed?