Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety-Six: Confirmed
The tenth floor, enclosed on all sides by towering walls of ice.
Karen was gently shaken awake by Julius. The moment she opened her eyes, she squinted against the brightness.
“Oh…”
“Good morning, Karen.”
“Good morning, Mr. Julius.”
Karen answered, and once her eyes had adjusted, she looked around and let out a soft breath of wonder.
“This is incredible…”
“This floor is at its most beautiful at this hour.”
Whether it was the angle of the light filtering down from the distant sky above, or some quality of the ice walls and pillars themselves, reflections scattered in every direction, and the whole space sparkled in rainbow colors like a crystal cavern.
“I thought if we were going to pray, this would be the right time.”
Karen followed Julius, still wrapped in his coat. He stopped at the far left side of the open area before the boss room, in a corner nestled between ice columns along the wall.
He crouched down and poured holy water over the spot in silence—the kind of purifying water sold at temples. Then he set one of the sachets Karen had given him on a dry patch of ice.
Karen blinked at the sachet being used as an offering for the dead, then rummaged through the pockets of the cloak and her pouch. After a moment, she pulled a bottle of dried herbs from her rucksack—herbs kept for potion-making—and selected the ones that had kept their shape, gathering them into a small bouquet.
She set the little bouquet softly on the ice, and Julius whispered:
“Thank you, Karen.”
“They might be resting here as brothers- and sisters-in-law I never had—of course I would.”
Karen stood straight and closed her eyes before the ice grave marker that had been there from the beginning. In this world, one prayed for the soul of the departed to ascend the steps and reach the goddess. Would those souls be reborn? If there truly was another life awaiting them, Karen prayed that it would be a peaceful one.
If their next life was a blessed one, perhaps the souls did not even need to reach the goddess. Karen herself had no memory of arriving in this world by way of the goddess.
After finishing her prayer, Karen went for a walk. As she moved through the ice that gleamed like crystal in the beautiful morning light, Julius—who had fallen into step beside her without her noticing—spoke:
“Karen, you are to be my fiancée. Would you call me Julius?”
“? Mr. J—”
Karen had been about to say that she already did—but Julius cupped her cheeks in his hands and kissed her, and Karen closed her eyes.
When the knights led by Alban rejoined them and entered the tenth-floor boss room, they let out sounds of astonishment at the sight of the wendigo and the black dragon lying side by side.
“To have defeated a black dragon… was that not the feat accomplished by the very founders of the Ehlertt Earldom?”
“I think this was a weaker specimen among black dragons, Alban. It was an extraordinarily old individual—it could have died of age before too long, regardless.”
“Even so, the fact that you accomplished the same feat as the Ehlertt ancestors remains unchanged. As a knight of the Ehlertt order, I am proud of your achievement, Master Julius.”
Julius spoke as though trying to calm the excited Alban down.
“The black dragon’s defeat was made possible with the help of Licht and Karen.”
Karen gave a wry smile at Julius’s modesty. By any honest measure, not one person in a hundred would believe she had contributed anything. What she had done amounted to dodging the black dragon’s attack once. She had also initiated the conversation with it, but how that had counted as experience enough for her to be in the process of ascending a step was a mystery even to Karen herself.
And yet Alban nodded with an oddly convinced expression.
“I suppose it wouldn’t be strange at all for Miss Karen to have contributed to the black dragon’s defeat.”
“Eh? You actually believe that?”
“I have had occasion to witness your abilities more than once, Miss Karen.”
Alban looked down at the wide-eyed Karen and grinned, then turned to Julius.
“More importantly, she was sincerely concerned over nothing more than you entering the tenth floor despite being someone capable of conquering the twentieth. She came to us with every justification she could think of, laying bare all her cards, asking for our help so she could go and find you. It may not have been the ideal behavior expected of a knight’s spouse, but it was dazzling to witness. How could I not trust her?”
“Karen…”
Julius looked deeply moved for a moment before suddenly leaning closer—and Karen grabbed his face firmly with both gloved hands. Trapped between Karen’s fingers, Julius lowered his brows pitifully.
“Why do you refuse, Karen? Your brain no longer melts, does it?”
“Because we’re in front of people?!”
“Is one not permitted to exchange kisses in front of others? I was under the impression you were vain and rather enjoyed receiving my affections before an audience.”
“Listen, Julius, showing off in front of a group of knights who aren’t interested in men is—”
“Hey, are you two being lovey-dovey in a dungeon again?!”
—is pointless, she had been about to say, when Licht’s reproachful voice cut across her. That morning, Licht had stumbled upon Karen and Julius mid-kiss and waited with a deeply pained expression until it was over. His words were understandable given that.
However, because of the unfortunate timing, it instead sounded as though a man who was interested in men had barged in, and an awkward silence fell over the group for a moment.
Eventually, Alban cleared his throat and spoke:
“It is well and good to be on affectionate terms, but one never knows what may happen in a dungeon. Given that a black dragon crossing floors was extraordinary enough, should we not ascend to the surface with some urgency?”
“I agree with Sir Alban completely!”
“Then let us leave the dungeon quickly. Karen, may I carry you as I run?”
“No.”
Karen stuck out her tongue at Julius, then walked away from the disappointed-looking Julius and the wryly smiling Alban.
While Karen and Julius had been exchanging their playful back-and-forth, the knights had been moving briskly, making preparations to transport the bodies of the monsters Julius and Licht had defeated.
As Karen watched Julius reluctantly join the preparations after practically being dragged along by Alban, Gottfried approached her with a sigh.
“The way Master Julius looks at you is rather intense. Was it always that strong?”
“We’ve grown even closer than before.”
Karen had shared her secret with Julius, and he had invited her to join his private farewell. At Julius’s wish, Karen had already stopped using formal speech with him and had begun addressing him only by his name.
“—If you ever feel like running, come to me first.”
Karen had been about to answer with a smile that she had no intention of running anywhere, when her body was caught from behind.
“Running from what, exactly, Karen?”
His hearing was extraordinary. Gottfried had lowered his voice so Julius surely couldn’t hear—and yet he had apparently caught every word and closed the distance in an instant.
“Julius, this is a little tight.”
“Tell me what you were going to run from, and I’ll let go, Karen.”
Julius murmured in a voice that was somewhere between stern and sweet. Karen, firmly held and unable to move, stayed silent, and Julius turned his attention to Gottfried.
“Captain, what exactly were you planning to help Karen run from?”
As far as Karen could see from within Julius’s arms, he was smiling—but the atmosphere was anything but peaceful. The area around her ear began to warm, and Karen sensed magical power leaking from Julius.
Wearing a tense expression, Gottfried slowly began backing away. Before Julius’s magical power could shift into an outright threat, Karen tugged lightly at his sleeve.
“What is it, Karen—”
Julius glanced away from Gottfried and looked down at Karen with eyes that were somewhat sharper than usual. Karen stretched up toward his lips—but couldn’t reach them from inside his grip, and ended up pressing her lips to his chin instead.
“You were holding me too tight for me to stretch up to your lips. What a shame.”
Julius’s eyes went wide, and the moment his hold loosened, Karen slipped neatly out of his arms.
“Karen? The kiss?”
“I’m not in the mood for it anymore, so next time.”
Karen said it with a smile, and Julius’s expression shifted to one that clearly realized he had been outmaneuvered.
“Putting that aside, why is it fine when you kiss me in front of people?”
“It’s different when I do it, isn’t it? Especially for you, Julius.”
“That is… yes, fair enough.”
Julius had been talked into a corner, and Karen pressed her advantage.
“Kisses from you still make me a little melt-y, so I’d rather save those for when it’s just the two of us. It would be embarrassing to be seen like that by other people!”
“…Yes, and I would rather other men not see it either.”
As Julius nodded with a look of agreement, Karen glanced over at Gottfried and grinned.
“Loved to pieces—confirmed, right?”
“…Yes. Well. Given your boldness, Miss Karen, I suppose that is entirely as it should be.”
Gottfried looked utterly exasperated. Karen beamed back at him. Julius watched the two of them, and eventually the edge went out of his expression as well.
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