VIP Chapter 229: The Eyepatch
“Why are you looking at me like that? H-have you never seen an Empress of a Dungeon cry before?”
Lucifer wiped away her tears.
“No… I really haven’t…”
With her eyes still red, Lucifer put on a brave face before her impending doom. “What’s wrong with crying a little before you die?”
“No, the main thing is that we actually…”
Will’s words were cut short by Shuna from behind him. “We’re not going to kill you—isn’t that what we agreed on before?”
“Huh? I… I thought you were just spewing trash talk before the battle?”
“Where did you even learn that ridiculous phrase!?”
“Ever-ever-ever since I can remember, Adventurers always spout inspirational trash talk before challenging a super strong BOSS!”
“Sometimes… inexperienced Empresses are indeed difficult to deal with…” Shuna sighed. “Also, Will… thinking about it, since we joined Shining Star, haven’t we actually never killed any Emperor who held a clue?”
She seemed a bit more tired than before, as if she had just woken up from a long dream.
“Let me think. For example, the cold joke old man from Rock Fire Iron Wall, we didn’t do that. Hmm… Clodell from Moonlit Ice Extreme was also cleared by us two weeks after we entered.”
“Yes, that’s right. We used all sorts of painful tortures to make them obediently spill everything they knew.”
Lucifer stopped crying out of sadness. She took two steps back, and in her eyes, the two of them now looked like fierce villains glaring at her.
“M-m-my heart is yours, sob… What are you going to do? Don’t lay a hand on a powerless Empress!”
But in the next second, she realized that these two, whom she had only recently met as “friends,” were teasing her.
Otherwise…
If they truly wanted to kill her and clear this Dungeon, they would have done so a few minutes ago.
“Such an interesting Dungeon, of course, we have to keep it, so we can come here for vacation from time to time, right? Shuna.”
Will smiled, closed the box containing her heart, and handed it to her.
“I feel like… this… this is like some sort of relic. And… gifting your Fiancée with the sincere heart of a friend is a bit of a dark joke.”
Lucifer carefully took the box holding her heart, her face full of surprise.
“How about you put your heart back? As for what kind of sword to make, how about some other things from here?”
She looked at the box with overwhelming emotion, her recently dried tears seeming on the verge of falling again.
“Are… are all Adventurers as good as you guys?”
“Uh… don’t think that way. I’m afraid you might get hurt.”
Will felt that this “special” Dungeon and this strange Empress were like peculiar works of art, too precious to break as they continued on their journey.
A Dungeon of this level wouldn’t even add much to the Adventuring Team’s points. It was better to consider it making friends.
Having a Dungeon as a friend seemed like a useful and rare thing?
“But… hearts can grow back, right?”
“…” Will looked at the child’s exasperating smile, tears still in her eyes, and for a moment, he didn’t know whether to be angry. “Then give it back to me.”
“No, no, you already took it. You’re not giving it back.”
“However, Lucifer, I actually have something I want to ask you.”
Shuna finally managed to voice her ultimate question.
“Mhm…”
Lucifer took out her heart. Although she didn’t know what she did, it seemed to have been put back in place.
“Go ahead?”
“Actually, I should have asked last time. Between Dungeons, are there… any trades and interactions that we, as ‘outside’ Adventurers, wouldn’t know about?”
“Hmm? Shuna, you…”
Will was a little surprised that Shuna would ask this question.
In fact, Shuna seemed to have inferred this conclusion last time, but Will had brushed it off to hide the fact that it was from the Original Work. However…
She was determined to investigate further.
Moreover, she was more determined than before. Was it because the secrets behind the Dungeon system had ignited her fighting spirit?
“Hmm? Why do you ask that?”
“Dungeons should have an internal network, otherwise, Witches wouldn’t be able to trade certain things… even Clodell from Moonlit Ice Extreme mentioned it.”
Shuna pondered for a moment.
“Because… I was thinking, even with the isolation caused by the Adventurer’s Guild, you might still be able to get some help from other Dungeons.”
Lucifer fell silent at the question.
“This… I… I think originally there was. I used to receive letters from other Dungeons, but they haven’t contacted me for a long time.”
“So… this is essentially an isolated island, isn’t it?”
“Sob… I know Tenth Demon City is ve-very lonely, please stop talking about it.”
Lucifer covered her head.
“Actually… I still haven’t figured out why until now. I only realized that Dungeons actually depend on Adventurers to explore after I started becoming lonely.”
“…”
Shuna seemed to be thinking about something but didn’t press further.
“Are there any other questions? I’ve told you everything I know, but let me know if there’s anything else you want to know that I haven’t thought of?”
“I don’t think so. If that’s the case, I don’t really have a target for my next step. I’ll leave it at that for now.”
She stretched lazily.
“Then… are you leaving next?”
“Mm. I need to head to the Capital. Princess Treya’s situation might not be good…”
“I… I’ll think about it more…”
“Then… would you like to have dinner here tonight?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Will looked at the fish and chips on the table, lost in thought.
Although it still looked ordinary, at least it wasn’t a black lump anymore. It seemed that in just one day, Lucifer’s cooking skills had improved somewhat.
Or perhaps…
Her disguise technique had improved?
No, Will decided to believe what he saw was what he tasted.
More importantly…
The salad placed on the side seemed to be actual salad, as it didn’t look like batter or a black mass. Its texture and taste were like salad.
“How is it? If it tastes good, can you tell us some things you usually can’t talk about at the dinner table?”
“You invited us to dinner just for this, didn’t you!”
“Because they say humans discuss important things at the dinner table.”
“What do you want to hear?”
“…Your Fiancée, Princess Treya, right? Is she… is she the silver-haired Half-elf Princess from your fearful memories?”
Lucifer blinked.
Perhaps this was also a characteristic of demons; she never gave up on things that involved human “deep emotions” and pursuits.
“The ability to peek into memories is quite useful, isn’t it?”
“No, no, you’re mistaken. I can actually see memories, but only the ones you have clearly experienced. I can’t see memories you don’t remember or just your thoughts.”
“No need to explain so much!” Will ate a french fry. “Mm. It’s her. What do you think? Isn’t she very beautiful?”
“Oh, here we go again, proudly introducing his Fiancée.”
Shuna snatched a french fry from his bowl, poked his face with it, and said.
“Mm. Actually, I’ve also seen Princess Treya as everyone imagines her, but…”
Lucifer rubbed her chin.
“What I’m more curious about is…”
“Why, in your fearful visions, is her left eye… covered with an eyepatch?”
Author’s Note: Something more significant than a heart will appear. Let me give you a little something first ( )
