Chapter 152 Expedition Retreat꞉ Forging Trust in a Dungeon Crisis
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The Master ran beneath the vast, dark canopy, following the black-robed figure shadowed by the faint, eerie light. He kept his attention sharp on the slick, mossy rocks as Suzuri, his nimble shinobi girl, led the way straight toward the Safety Area. Yet, he just couldn’t close the distance between them. It was as if she had eyes in the back of her head, maintaining a frustratingly constant gap.
What truly astonished the Master was Suzuri’s agility, which simply ignored the superior body ability of her Master, a body that was bolstered by divine favors. True, they both received a speed boost by sharing her Servant’s Agility skill—a classic fantasy setup—but the Master was practically tripping over his own needlessly enhanced speed. Suzuri, however, mastered it with pure reflex, keeping a smooth, consistent pace even while focusing on this specific kind of disengagement. She still had so much more in reserve than he did.
But realizing that fact was proof enough that this tactical role reversal was the right call. If Ashley had been his retreat companion, he might have actually fled faster by carrying her in his arms. Of course, blocking his own hands during such a crisis—a move as dangerous as plunging the King into checkmate—was unthinkable. His Servant must also be ready to throw herself into harm’s way if they stumbled upon a stray monster; otherwise, she couldn’t fulfill her duty as a bodyguard. Inevitably, the plan for their retreat training, centered on utilizing the ‘Return to Workshop’ ability, had to be changed. The partner for his hasty escape was switched from the originally scheduled Ashley to Suzuri, who was now undeniably faster than his full-out sprint.
”Suzuri, we’re going back to the Workshop! We’re far enough from the main conflict now! A few enemies might still be around, but it won’t change much no matter how much farther we run!” the Master declared, his voice holding a hint of anxiety.
”Aye, Master. Please, go on ahead! I shall serve as your gatekeeper until then!” Suzuri voiced, her tone formal and unwavering.
The Master let Suzuri neutralize the Ligia (the giant woodlouse-like creatures) and the Golems blocking their path, treating them as mere dust and refuse, all while he focused on gaining distance from the chaotic battle raging far behind them. Once he judged that they were too far for any serious threat to pursue, and that no other monster could launch a surprise attack, he triggered their escape and vanished into the Workshop.
”—Honestly, the real question is how far we should run, isn’t it?” the Master mused out loud.
”Indeed, Master. When facing enemies that necessitate a full retreat, one would wish to put as much distance between us as possible… but the time we spend fleeing and the probability of the two Ladies remaining unharmed are difficult to reconcile,” Suzuri agreed, her tone measured and analytical.
The guilt of leaving his two beloved women behind, even for training and with a guaranteed return, weighed heavily in his chest. Perhaps that was why he felt the need to make a roundabout excuse to Suzuri, who appeared in the lobby immediately after him. Her agreement, sensing his inner feelings, bolstered his resolve, and he instantly prepared the Servant Call. He kept it as only a pre-call notification at this stage because Ashley and Marina might be in the middle of wielding their Holy Sword or similar skills.
To prevent those skills from exploding accidentally inside the Workshop, the pre-call was the signal for them to establish their rear-guard position and initiate their own voluntary return.
—A short wait later, Ashley materialized, followed moments later by Marina, who was clad in only a minimal layer of her Holy Armor.
”—You two, thank you for holding the rear guard. I’m glad you made it back safely,” the Master declared, relief surging through him.
”Yeah. I was a little bit scared, but it seems like we pulled it off,” Ashley conceded, her usual reserve slightly cracked by the tension.
”I am back, Master. …Even with the defensive skill on, it’s shocking that the Princess habitually faces monsters at such close range,” Marina voiced, a slight tremor in her tone.
During the retreat, the two of them, holding the line, were naturally surrounded by a tide of monsters. Normally, Ashley would have her bodyguards so she could focus solely on offense, but those two had already left the scene. This meant the only safe place was inside Marina’s Holy Armor. The moment the order to retreat was given, Ashley had to move close enough to touch Marina, the unmoving pillar holding back the strongest enemies. The sheer courage required in that moment was undeniably far greater than anything before.
Indeed, though Ashley maintained her usual refined composure upon returning to the Workshop, her beautiful complexion was drained of color, and her words carried a slight tremble.
”—Even so, Suzuri, it really helped that you figured out the return distance limit. It let us focus on the rear guard without worrying about the escape window,” the Master admitted.
”Hmph, I am honored. But this strategy only works because my Lady, my older sister, stood as the immovable wedge to hold the line, wouldn’t you say?” Suzuri returned, respectfully deflecting the praise onto Marina.
Compared to Ashley, the two women who were already accustomed to front-line combat were incredibly composed, easily congratulating each other on a job well done. The Master suspected that Ashley had unconsciously carried an arrogance until now—the belief that the enemy’s blade would never reach her as long as Marina and the others stood. The sudden change of position forced her to feel the killing intent and the claws right next to her, separated only by a thin shield.
His first impulse was to rush over and comfort her for the mental exhaustion she suffered, but Marina, his other Master, had faced a similar terrifying ordeal. Although he often declared Ashley his number one, that was strictly in terms of romance. In a life-and-death team, favoring one over the other would destroy the entire cohesion. As a result, he could only praise Ashley for successfully fulfilling her role, just as he did Marina.
”—So, now that we’ve seriously tried this method for the first time, what’s your assessment, Marina?” the Master asked, turning to the golden-haired girl.
”Hmm. On the surface, it looks very effective… maybe. But we’d only use this when we have no other options, so it’s hard to say. Could I truly hold back those enemies? Could I even survive? Plus, we don’t know if the place you and Yuuri fled to is truly safe. There are too many unknowns for me to raise both hands and call this a full success. If I were to suggest improvements, it’s that Yuuri’s disengagement and Ashley’s advance must be simultaneous. Even a slight moment of exposure would prompt any intelligent monster to attack the vulnerable one first,” Marina cautioned, her voice clear and precise.
”Y-Yes!” the Master instantly responded.
”There’s an option to include Lady Ashley in the retreat group, but the difference in our speed is just too great. If we increase the number of visible targets, we can expect more pursuers, so keeping her with Lady Marina to draw the enemy’s attention is still the best option,” Suzuri conceded.
Ultimately, this struggle came down to the limitation that the Workshop’s exit was fixed to the skill holder’s location. Having a completely isolated safe zone was already an unprecedented advantage, and the Master feared that asking for more might make the goddesses abandon them. Therefore, he drove all those soft, easy thoughts from his mind and committed to doing their best. They then repeated this embarrassing fleeing drill many times.
***
…Later, by the time they reached the Safety Area, everyone could instantly execute the actions assigned to them.
Looking at the results, the biggest gain was the newfound mental space everyone possessed. The security born from repeating the experience had wiped away hesitation. The guilt of leaving his beloved women, the anxiety of staking one’s life on someone else’s skill—their cultivated mutual trust washed it all away. Even the vanguard team, who had appeared completely calm, must have been relieved once the rear-guard’s hesitation was gone. They, too, were freed from having to overthink things and could concentrate solely on their assigned roles.
”Wow, training really is important, isn’t it? You can understand something in your head, but your emotions might not catch up. Even I was just, just a little bit worried if Yuuri would actually be able to recover us,” Marina confessed during the debriefing in the Workshop lobby.
”That is true, My Lady. While I was honored to be entrusted with escorting Yuuri-dono directly, my heart was pounding like a war drum,” Suzuri agreed, her voice now light and cheerful, as if she had just finished a simple hike.
Their open self-reflection, voiced in a slightly relaxed manner, was merely a personal emotional hurdle and offered no reason to blame the person who had contributed the most to the success. Furthermore, Suzuri’s cheerful agreement was clearly meant to comfort the ashamed rear-guard team, encouraging them not to worry about the mental gap that had already been closed. Nodding at their unspoken encouragement, the Master took it upon himself to offer a closing lesson as the leader of their party.
”You’re right. Running away and leaving allies behind felt difficult, but now that we know it can work as a tactic, we must be ready to use it. Since our movements on the 57th Floor seem flawless now, we should make this our foundation for exploring the deeper levels, prioritizing survival above all else. …Listen up. I’ll say it again: Survival is the first priority. At worst, if a truly unstoppable enemy camps right outside the Workshop’s exit, as long as every one of us gets back alive, we win. We can always come up with a new solution by getting new skills and trying different things later. Retreat to the Workshop rather than push too far and suffer a fatal wound,” the Master declared.
”Yes. If you die, that’s the end of the line, after all,” Marina agreed, her tone serious.
No matter the difference in their strength, no one short of a god could breach the Workshop’s isolation. If that fundamental truth were ever overturned, a retreat would be pointless, and the Master’s final words felt like he was reminding himself not to force his wives into unnecessary risk. Ashley, who had been forced to trust Marina and jump into a crowd of monsters without hesitation, nodded quietly, accepting his intent.
”Alright, anything else, Marina?” the Master asked.
”—Just one final thought. As Yuuri said, it worked on the 57th Floor, but below this, we don’t know what kind of traits the monsters will have. So truly, coming back to the Workshop is priority one if death is the alternative. Information only matters if you bring it back. —And though the training continued all day because Suzuri requested it, I want to reiterate the maximum return distance limit to everyone,” Marina concluded, taking over the flow of the conversation.
To be honest, despite his bravado, all the Master could manage was an emotional declaration disguised as a lesson. He realized that speaking his thoughts had made him confront how shaken he’d been, so he willingly passed the baton of the discussion to Marina. It felt a little inadequate to always rely on the younger princess, but the mentally mature golden girl smiled and cheerfully took the lead.
”Now, first, I want to thank Suzuri again. Without you, we would never have been able to trust the Workshop’s return ability like this—” Marina began, expressing her gratitude.
As the Master watched Suzuri respond to Marina’s thanks, he slumped back onto the sofa. In the first place, today’s training was only supposed to be Suzuri’s solo trip to the 56th Floor. The whole retreat drill spiraled from there because Suzuri hadn’t broken a sweat even after finding the limit of the return distance. With an exhausted-free Suzuri and the rest of them completely sedentary, he worried about their bodies growing dull, so he moved up the schedule to the next test.
This all happened because Suzuri’s shuttle run concluded in only three trips. She had sprinted at full speed, leaving all the monsters in her wake, and reached the 56th Floor’s Safety Area in less than ten minutes. From there, she returned from just outside the 56th Floor, then moved the Workshop’s exit to the 58th Floor side to restart the test. She found that she could still return from the 57th Floor, past one Safety Area and twice the previous distance. Finally, when she returned to the 56th Floor again, she discovered that a return was impossible there.
Since she could return by moving down the stairs to the 57th Floor side, they concluded that the Workshop’s return ability was likely effective across two staircases separating the Safety Areas, regardless of the physical distance.
”—So, since we added more to the schedule today, and the training was based on a crisis scenario, I’m sure everyone is more tired than they think. Make sure you all get plenty of rest. That’s the end of the debrief! Ashley, take care of Yuuri. …You too, Yuuri,” Marina concluded, turning to the Master right at the end.
The Master was startled to hear his name called right as he was mulling over Marina’s summary; the debriefing had ended without his realizing it. Ashley, who had been nominated as today’s attendant, came over to his side. By a cruel coincidence, the two people left alone were the two elders who had been the most shaken by the unfamiliar ordeal. Marina’s final call to him was likely a request for him to look after Ashley, even as he was being comforted by her in turn.
The Master looked up at Ashley, who was standing beside the sofa. Her composed face showed no sign of change, yet the fact that she looked so serene—compared to the usual slight excitement she couldn’t hide when it came to bathing duty—made it clear that the failure during the retreat still weighed on her. He made up his mind, slowly stood up, and turned to face Ashley.
His usual habit was to walk briskly to the bedroom door, so his standing and facing her now must have felt unusual, as her emerald eyes widened just a fraction. His heart fluttered a little at the change. He took the hands she held clasped in front of her, a moment that reversed their roles from their early days in his hometown. As he led his beloved wife—his former tyrant—toward the bedroom, he could feel the slightest skip in her footsteps behind him.
—
Summary:
Following a successful but harrowing training exercise, Yuuri and his party finally master a critical retreat tactic that utilizes Suzuri’s superior agility and the immediate return to the safe Workshop. The high-stakes role-reversal—forcing Ashley and Marina into a terrifying rear-guard position—successfully breaks Ashley’s unconscious complacency and forges an unbreakable bond of mutual trust in survival between the team members. After a tactical debriefing led by the composed Marina, the emotional weight of the day leaves both Yuuri and Ashley mentally exhausted, leading to a tender moment where Yuuri takes the lead to offer comfort.
—
Character Insight:
Ashley, known for her composed and beautiful demeanor, confronts her own vulnerability and arrogance when faced with imminent danger outside the protective screen of her bodyguards. Her usual serene face and emerald eyes conceal a deep emotional tremor from the crisis of the retreat. This moment of weakness ironically brings her closer to Yuuri, making her step a little lighter as they head off for intimate comfort, highlighting her reliance on him after a period of intense stress.
—
Behind the Scene:
The primary focus of this chapter was the successful validation of a new, key tactic for survival in the lower dungeon levels. This required Suzuri to repeatedly test the limits of Yuuri’s ‘Return to Workshop’ ability across the ‘Safety Area’ staircases on the 56th, 57th, and 58th Dungeon Floors. The discovery that the return ability likely functions across two Safety Area gaps, regardless of physical distance, is the major world-building breakthrough that allows the team to confidently move to deeper, more dangerous expeditions. The continuation of the training into a full retreat drill was a spontaneous decision based on Suzuri’s unflagging energy.
—
T/L:
1 [This is a Japanese shogi (chess) term, nyuugyoku (入玉), meaning the King has entered the opponent’s territory, which is usually a dangerous move signaling desperation or an extreme situation. It implies Yuuri would be in a very risky, cornered position.] ↩
Notes:
• Suzuri – A scout who braved the labyrinth and lured a petrifying monster to protect her friends. Tall, statuesque, flawlessly pale skin, powerfully toned yet soft and feminine, with long, flowing black hair identical to Marina. Her body is exaggerated hourglass—strong, trained muscles in her core, shoulders, and limbs paired with extremely generous curves. Her breasts are very large, full, high-set, and overtly described as “too big for her frame,”
• Ashley – Count’s daughter, royal attendant, has a crush on Yuuri.
• Marina – First Princess of Restea—needs labyrinth escort.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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