Fransisca stood alone in her room,
staring at the mirror.
It was the first time in her life that
she had ever wanted a man's thing like that.
（H... here...）
Fransisca's hand was placed on her
lower abdomen, which was covered by clothes.
（Alexis-sama's, hit me... I, I...）
Fransisca's cheeks were flushed in the
mirror.
Every time she looks at her reflection
in the mirror, she is reminded of her lasciviousness.
Now, she understood that Alexis had
seen her like that the last time and the two times before.
And Fransisca thought.
**a
（If this is his way of punishing me for
my fault, then Alexis-sama is...）
The next moment, Fransisca's cheeks
turn bright red.
「Awawa. I-I don't know what I was
thinking...」
She puts her hand on her cheek, her
eyes teary with embarrassment.
Klang! Klang!
The bell rings, signaling that it's
time to get up.
「Oh, I shouldn't have been in a daze...」
Fransisca hurriedly opened her closet
to get ready for the day.
* * *
Today's attack on Avalon will take
place again.
「Hey Alex, I brought what you told me
to bring」
Lorenzo called out to Alex as soon as
they arrived at the meeting place.
In his usual large sack, there were
several sticks of about two and a half meters in length, and a thick cloth was
wrapped around them.
「Thank you. Let's go」
Thus, the group was in the dungeon.
* * *
Today, they continue their search,
picking up items as they go.
Unlike the previous one, which was
just a rocky surface, the current dungeon has gems growing here and there, and
when they go out into an open room, they find a fountain, a tree, and some other
changes in the scenery.
「――Kuha, I'm thirsty...」
After a while of exploration, Lorenzo
suddenly opens his mouth.
「「......」」
All eyes turned to the fountain that
was just beside it. The water in the fountain is very clear and appears to be
very cold...
「No, no, no, no, no! There are many
things in Avalon that we don't know. Didn't you bring drinking water?」
Fransisca said hurriedly. And Lorenzo
nodded his head, hurriedly, and then he put down the bag on his back by the
fountain.
「...――But...」
Just in time, Alexis opens his mouth
as he sits down to take a rest.
「If we're going to spend a few days
camping and diving, we might want to consider at least getting some water
locally. The spring itself seems to be seen quite often」
「It might be poisoned」
At Fatima's point, Sara opened her
mouth.
「What if we just check to see if it's
poisonous or not? I know exactly what to do, okay? I used to be a mage doctor
before I was recruited by the castle, after all. Back then, there was a stick
that I used to examine people with poison symptoms」
Sara has an innocent smile on her
young face, but she was a mage doctor before she was scouted...what kind of
background does she have? Is she as old as she looks? It's a mystery. Alexis
couldn't help but thought so.
「Hey, how old is Sara――」
Before Alexis could ask, Fransisca
held up a finger in front of his lips in a “shoo” gesture.
「Alexis-sama, you are royalty, don't
you? It's not polite to ask a woman her age, is it?」
「......」
Alexis was silent.
（Seriously, how old is Sara?!）
Sara is as mysterious as this Avalon
dungeon.
* * *
After a short break, the search begins
again.
That day, they set up camp right after
descending to the third layer.
「Okay, this is what Lorenzo brought for
us!」
Alexis pointed to the sticks and thick
cloth that Lorenzo had brought with him, which he had newly stuffed into his
bag.
Every dungeon in Avalon is basically a
four-meter wide passage, which is connected to an open room-like space at some
important places.
In addition, it is not unusual to find
dead ends here and there in the dungeon. Consequently, it is also not uncommon
to find a junction here and there.
「This is just right」
Alexis pointed to the end of the
four-meter-wide passage.
「We know that monster will never come
from the wall, so we only need to be on the lookout in one direction. ――That's
why」
While explaining the situation, Alexis
put up the sticks he had received from Lorenzo on either side of the corridor
and put thick cloths on them.
「One guard will stand in the open
direction, and the rest of us will rest in a room separated by a curtain? Now
we can separate the men and women, can't we?」
So Alexis, in cooperation with
Lorenzo, set up a series of poles and stretched thick cloths to create a place
to camp.
Starting from the end of the passage,
the women's room, the men's room, and then the outside of the room.
It is easy to build here because there
is no need to pay attention to the ceiling because it does not rain here.
**b
「――Okay, it's done!」
The women clapped their hands when
they saw the finished camp.
"It's good!" said Fatima.
"Wow, isn't it great? It's
great!" said Sara, who was excited.
"It looks more like a room than I
thought," says Fransisca, who is smiling.
Although the ceiling is impossible,
the walls are also covered with thick cloth, so that the visitors do not have
to face rock surfaces and crystals.
This will alleviate some of the stress
of being in a dungeon.
Thus, for the first time, they spent
the night in a dungeon.
* * *
At night, when everyone is asleep...
Alexis was standing guard in front of
the camp, leaning his back against the wall beside him.
His eyes caught sight of a crystal
growing out of the wall, still shimmering in the air.
（Hmm. Is this an item? Is it enchanted
or something?）
As he thinks so, he hears a rustling
sound coming from the camp.
He turned around and saw Fransisca
coming out of the camp pulling the curtain to the side.
Upon seeing her, Alexis remembers that
Fransisca is the next shift change.
But it seems to be very early for
that.
「What's wrong? Can't sleep?」
「Y-yes. The floor is hard, I can't take
off my armor, and I feel sweaty and uncomfortable...」
Seeing Fransisca let out a sigh,
Alexis remembered that there was a fountain just outside the corridor.
（Well, there is only the end of the
corridor...）
Alexis checks the shield on his back
and the sword at his waist.
「You want to give it a try?」
「Eh?」
Fransisca was puzzled, but Alexis
said, "Well, it's a dead end, but I'll give it a tray..." and started
to walk away with Fransisca, who hurriedly followed him.
* * *
Eventually, Alexis came to a place in
front of a fountain.
He squats down at the foot of the
fountain and throws a stone near the fountain.
After confirming that the stone sank
into the bottom of the clear spring, he took off his gauntlet, stuck his hand
into the spring, and started to stir the spring.
「U-umm? Alexis-sama, what are you...?」
「Well, I don't think it's safe to use
it for drinking, but it might be safe for bathing, right?」
As he talks, Alexis smells the water
scooped into his palm and murmurs.
「It's odorless. My hands don't feel
rough or sore or anything like that. Well, it looks like fresh water to me.
Would you like to try it?」
Alexis says with a finger pointing to
the spring.
「Mmm...」
Fransisca pondered for a while.
However, Alexis actually seems to be
okay with it. So...
Fransisca squatted down and dipped her
fingertip into the water, and felt a pleasant coldness. It certainly looks like
fresh water, but just to be sure, she pulls out the sword of wind from its
scabbard and dips its hilt into the water.
「...What are you doing?」
Alexis asks curiously.
「You see, this part is made of silver,
so it should be able to detect some poison... though it may not be as good as
the device Sara was talking about...」
Then Fransisca pulled up the sword
herself and smiled, saying, "Oh, it's all right".
**c
「And, thank you, I'll go in」
Fransisca tells Alexis.
「Yeah. But be careful, just to be safe」
With that, Alexis put his gauntlet
back on and stood there.
「...uh, Alexis-sama?」
Fransisca asks him shyly, keeping her
hands on her armor.
「Your Highness, you are not going in?」
To Alexis's question, Fransisca's
cheeks turned red.
「Eh? Well, if Alexis-sama turns back...」
「What? Why would I turn back?」
Alexis said as if it were obvious.
「I mean, you're unprotected when you're
bathing, right? So, I'm sure we'll have to keep an eye on you」
「Eh?!」
Fransisca's eyes went black and white.
「T-then, maybe we should call Fatima...」
「No」
「......」
To Fransisca's exclamation, Alexis
again said clearly.
「No, I don't like it. Now, come on, get
it off, okay? And show me everything you've got as you take off your clothes」
Alexis folded his arms, and Fransisca
shouted, "Ehh?!".
