Chapter 45 While the Master is Away
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
In a dungeon, adventurers place immense trust in a “safe area.” It offers rest from terrifying monsters and harsh places, serving as an important spot to sleep and build strength for the next trip. Of course, everyone feels the same, leading to crowds at popular floors. While free from the dungeon’s dangers, this can sometimes cause fights among people.
The Familial Workshop—a magical base—was, in the end, like having a private “safe area.”
To think that alone was already very unfair, but when a dish of meat on a hot plate arrived, Suzuri was left speechless, finding it too much even to feel angry.
”I-I can’t believe we’re enjoying fine food this deep in the dungeon…” she muttered.
The moment the scent of the sauce, with its sizzling sound, reached her nose, her empty stomach made a sad noise. Such a rich dish, pleasing all five senses, would only be served at a few famous places in the royal capital.
Marina smiled, her voice warm. “Hehe, I’m glad you like it. The Familial Workshop is restored just like the dungeon, so the ingredients are also restored, meaning you don’t have to worry about meals anymore.”
”What! Ugh… I truly feel the sheer unfairness of your skill right now!” Suzuri exclaimed.
In a dungeon, food is a key part for gaining energy.
During exploration, one must carefully balance the quality of meals with the supplies one can carry and the difficulty of the areas ahead. Of course, if such a need disappears, one’s skills and senses will slowly weaken.
Bound to the workshop like a tied animal, fed such fine food, Suzuri could not help but see she was being shaped only to be a useful tool for the master.
Even while keeping much of her old self before becoming a servant, this way of changing her into someone who clearly cannot live without the master—what else could it be but unfair?
Marina chuckled. “Ahaha, I understand, I understand. Just being around Yuuri means you get delicious food, right? It’s bound to make anyone lazy. That’s why we have a rule to leave the workshop once a day… But to worry more about being tempted by food than about having your soul bound—Suzuri, you’ve truly become a fine servant.”
Marina, sitting close despite the spacious two-person bench, grinned at her.
She had hit a weak spot, but there was no denying the truth. The moment Suzuri started thinking about how to be useful to the master, it was already too late.
But what was even more troubling was the presence of her “older sister” figure, who was now quietly tracing the line of her undergarments through her uniform, her closeness making Suzuri more and more nervous.
”M-Marina-dono…? I heard such things are forbidden outside the bedroom,” Suzuri stammered.
”Eeeh? Oh, come on! I won’t be happy unless you call me ‘onee-chan’,” she pouted.
Suzuri felt a pang of guilt for bringing up her own strong feelings in the changing room earlier. However, unlike her own true respect, she couldn’t shake the feeling that this free sister’s actions were mixed with a lot of desire.
Where had the sister she looked up to, the one who had built a bond with her and returned her beloved sword, gone?
”I won’t call you that unless you give me more reason to respect you! Right now, Marina-dono is just a careless senior!” Suzuri declared.
”Muu, how cold. But well, this is the kind of girl I wanted to join us. See? It pays to look for those who have fallen. …Fine, I shall try to earn that title again,” she conceded.
Marina moved away, just as their hips were about to touch, showing a glimpse of the admirable sister Suzuri remembered. Her feelings softened a little, but she kept a cool, distant look so as not to show it.
A short silence fell as the talk paused.
Suzuri had planned to help Ashley, who was in charge of the meal, but today she was told to simply sit and build friendship with Marina. Now, she found herself with nothing to do, facing Marina’s meaningful gaze. Perhaps the plan was for them to talk and grow closer.
So, she couldn’t fully push away Marina’s moves.
As Suzuri carefully looked back, she met Marina’s eyes. Marina was leaning her elbow on the backrest, a gentle smile on her face.
Unable to look away again, Suzuri found herself staring into her golden eyes. Her “younger/older sister” figure, who could almost inspire respect, then spoke as if worried.
”How does the undergarment feel?”
For a moment, Suzuri thought her intentions were improper again, but Marina’s face stayed gentle. Though it was confusing, she understood Marina was asking if the undergarment, a copy made with the Yami-Matoi skill, was working well.
At first, Suzuri had said her shinobi attire was perfectly fine, but inside the workshop, she had been told to change into more comfortable clothes.
Indeed, resting and recovering in their hidden base was key for smooth trips outside. This led to the need for undergarments to support her chest and private areas, which had before been covered by her shinobi suit. Marina had shown her one herself.
”Yes, my shoulders feel lighter. Before, I felt a pulling in my chest, which was hard when I jumped…”
Suzuri had thought of protection as just a need, but the design Marina made, which held and fixed her chest to her body, allowed for a steady balance and was very comfortable.
For this alone, she almost felt it would be fine to call her “onee-chan” again, but Marina looked unusually shy, so she decided not to.
”Yes, I’m glad you say so. Suzuri, thanks to your skills, you seem good at understanding clothing shapes. You might end up making clothes for everyone someday. I’ll mention this later, but the workshop has very few supplies beyond what was here at first.”
”Ah… I apologize for disappointing you, but while I am good at creating garments for myself with my skill, I am, sadly, not skilled with needlework…”
The Yami-Matoi skill could not make items that others could use forever.
Suzuri tilted her head at Marina’s unclear remark about mentioning it later, just as Ashley finished serving the last dish and sat down. The mood no longer allowed more questions, and they all sat straight to face the meal.
”Ashley, thank you for preparing the meal. Yuuri didn’t need any care this time, so I could have helped you,” Marina said.
Ashley replied with a smile. “You are welcome. The kitchen itself is rather small for three people. If the Princess helped, Suzuri would be left alone. You were given the important task of building friendship.”
”Ah, as a servant still learning, I am grateful for your guidance,” Suzuri replied.
She thanked Ashley, her eldest sister figure, who had taken the hardest task.
She truly wished to bow more deeply, but the fixed bench and table made even that hard. She couldn’t bury her face in the meal that had been so carefully made, so she could only lower her eyes and bend forward a little.
”Hehe, that’s good to hear. Then, shall we begin?” Ashley said.
”Let’s eat!” Marina exclaimed.
”Yes, let’s— Eh?” Suzuri began.
She paused, a piece of meat in her mouth, and met Marina’s gaze, which had frozen.
Why was Marina, a native of the Kingdom of Restea, using a pre-meal greeting in the style of Suzuri’s homeland? Marina herself seemed to notice. She quickly swallowed the meat, took a polite sip of water, wiped her mouth, and then, with a brief “I’ll do that later,” she began to eat the next piece of meat without pause.
Upon closer look, the main food served alongside was clearly a bowl of cooked grains. Suzuri had never seen such pure white grains before, yet the way of eating simple grains with side dishes was very similar to her homeland’s customs.
In fact, she even thought these pure grains might be the very thing her homeland had been seeking.
Her chopsticks moved faster.
She decided to stop overthinking. The elders in her homeland always said that a good meal could solve most problems.
She put the steaming white rice into her mouth, adding another piece of cut meat. The rich juices seemed to mark the very center of her being.
She reached for the fresh greens and then enjoyed the miso soup that sat on the table as if it were a key part of the meal.
To think she would find the peak of flavors sought by her ancestors in this prison of souls…! As she ate with full focus, her eyes began to water without her noticing.
”Hey, Suzuri? Why are you crying?” Marina asked.
”Hehe, it has been so long since I last had a proper meal. Please forgive my poor display,” Suzuri replied.
Her strong emotions and the delicious food were too much.
The tears kept flowing down her face. As she reached the point of sniffling, the caring sister could not just watch.
Marina offered her a handkerchief from beside her, and Suzuri couldn’t keep eating while holding it. She put down her chopsticks and took Marina’s hand. Burying her face in the handkerchief, she waited for her tears to stop while watching the eating habits of the two sisters.
It was then she realized that Marina was the one most familiar with her homeland’s customs.
Ashley, on the other hand, seemed to have adapted to this place later. She used cutlery, like knives and forks, as much as possible, following the deep manners of a noble from the Kingdom of Restea.
Marina, in contrast, used chopsticks for everything except cutting the meat, her movements smooth and natural. Her actions, whether picking up meat or scooping rice, were very skilled.
It was a truly strange sight.
Ashley, who was close enough to become a servant, could barely use chopsticks, yet Marina, who was younger and supposedly less experienced in the world, handled them with full skill. The same could be said for her earlier greeting. It seemed the master, who was likely involved in making this workshop with Marina, still held many secrets.
Thus, the happy time passed. After the meal and the cleanup, as they took a moment to rest, Marina started the long-waited talk.
”Now then. We will discuss future plans, but perhaps it would be best for Suzuri to ask any questions she has first?”
”Understood. I shall ask my questions in order.”
Suzuri nodded, meeting Marina’s golden eyes.
Whether talking about the good points of future plans or not, they could not decide without sharing the current situation. And at this moment, Suzuri, who had been cut from the human world by petrification, knew the least.
Honestly, she was scared to learn about the changes in her absence. However, in the end, she could not build a future without facing them.
”…Marina-dono, how long have I been sleeping beneath the water?”
Gathering her courage, she asked the question that weighed most on her mind.
Marina responded by slightly raising the corner of her mouth, as if she had expected the question, her face both gentle and sorry.
She did not answer right away.
Also, upon hearing her introduce herself with a name Suzuri had never heard before, she had already half-believed that her sleep had lasted not ten or twenty years, but much longer.
”Suzuri. I am sorry, but please answer this: Who was the King of Restea when you entered the dungeon?”
Suzuri had no thought that she was avoiding on purpose. The fact that she tried to check the truth in a round way, instead of saying it straight, was Marina’s way of giving her support, making sure she wouldn’t be fully broken by the revealed truth.
From the depths of her memory. A commoner would not usually remember the king’s exact name. However, after gaining fame and being allowed an audience as an attendant to a noble, she had no choice but to remember his name.
She clearly recalled hearing his name when she received words of support for the great task of exploring the unknown parts of the Royal Capital’s dungeon.
”…I recall it was King Ancestor.”
”That is my great-grandfather’s name. Two generations have passed since then; my father, Padre, now serves as king. …Suzuri, you waited there for eighty long years, seeking rescue.”
—Her vision went dark for a moment.
She thought she had been ready.
But the moment the truth came out, the strong feeling was without doubt denial. Yet, her thoughts stayed calm, unable to stop their terrible images.
—How much had the capital changed? Her homeland?
Her friends, with whom she had some contact, her parents who had promised she would return someday—they were likely no longer alive. She felt as though she were the only one left in this world, and her upper body swayed before Marina, standing beside her, caught her.
”Allow me to introduce myself again. My name is Marina. I am the First Princess of the Kingdom of Restea, Marina Twai Restea.”
Within the gentle hold, Suzuri looked up at the noble face of the princess. With a skilled attendant by her side and giving off such presence in her warrior clothes, it was easy to understand.
But then, why was such a person in the depths of the dungeon? Even if she were seeking the throne, the end of the shallow layers was far above, and to give one’s soul to another would surely lose any claim to the throne.
Marina’s grin turned shy. “I messed up. There was an assassin among my guards. I accidentally triggered a random warp trap, landing on the fifty-seventh floor. To survive, I had no choice but to ask Yuuri to make me his servant. So, right now, before being a princess, I am your dear onee-chan.”
When Suzuri asked the clear question, Marina burst into laughter and put on a playful act.
Through this, Suzuri felt she understood Marina a little better. At times serious, at times light. It was likely that from the very start, she had been trying her best to be a source of comfort so that the new friend would not be crushed by the cruel passage of eighty years.
”…Thank you, onee-chan.”
”Nfuu, I can’t get enough of that! Don’t worry, the capital is still full of life even after eighty years. When we return to the surface, I’ll show you all the best spots. I do sneak out of the castle to explore the town below almost daily—”
While Suzuri accepted that she likely did such things with her easy manner, she glanced at Ashley, thinking it was perhaps too risky for a princess. As expected, Ashley gave her a look that showed quiet concerns.
Suzuri guessed that this face wasn’t only Ashley’s but likely the shared view of Marina’s attendants.
”A-anyway, for that reason, we need to clear the dungeon—” Marina said, waving her hand in a hurried try to change the topic.
As she spoke, Suzuri’s nose brushed against her soft chest, and she caught a familiar scent that brought deep memories.
—Ashley silently stood and walked toward the kitchen.
Suzuri looked up at Marina, who wore a proud face and gave a small nod in return.
”Shouldn’t we go to greet our master?”
”That’s tempting, but in the bedroom, Yuuri’s command is absolute. You’ll likely be pulled in together,” she replied.
Though still a new servant, Suzuri understood that the master had woken from his sleep.
Despite being held back, she felt a familiar ache in her lower belly. The idea of being drawn into the bedchamber after his waking and feeling his strong care was something she hoped would one day happen.
—With the master’s waking, the meeting to discuss future plans was paused for now.
However, the next talk would likely include the master himself, allowing for more detailed plans.
As Suzuri pictured that moment, she waited, fingers linked with her beloved sister, until the heavy bedroom door opened.
Notes:
• Suzuri – A scout who braved the labyrinth and lured a petrifying monster to protect her friends, she endured long isolation while frozen in stone and relied on inner magic to preserve her sense of self.
• Marina – First Princess of Restea—needs labyrinth escort.
• Ashley – Count’s daughter, royal attendant, has a crush on Yuuri.
• Restea – Yuuri’s homeland.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply