In the end, after some discussion, Riezel and the others decided to stay in the royal palace—or rather, he would stay here with Euryale under Lizbeth's care, while Yuri would temporarily return to the Frenzel residence.
As for why they made that decision, the reason was simple.
"Well, I really wanna see what kind of monsters are gonna crawl out this time."
Back when they discussed their next course of action, this one line from Riezel determined the direction of their next steps.
It was also connected to a request Hendrick made after Riezel and the others left the throne room and came to Lizbeth's palace.
Hendrick had asked Riezel to let Lizbeth remain in the royal palace for now and cooperate with the royal family's investigation.
As long as Riezel agreed, Hendrick was willing to publicly apologize afterward and allow Lizbeth to continue holding Jinas's hereditary swordsmanship—the War King Sword Style.
Since Lizbeth had already been proven to be a member of the royal family no longer, she technically had no right to keep practicing that proud royal swordsmanship of Jinas.
But to uncover the truth behind what had happened to himself and to find out whether any unknown forces were still at play within him, Hendrick was willing to go that far—even at the cost of the royal family's treasured swordsmanship.
He even promised Riezel that afterward, he could enter the royal treasury once more and choose one treasure to take away, which alone showed how seriously Hendrick took this matter.
Riezel, however, neither accepted nor refused the offer.
He, too, wanted to know what kind of monsters were behind all this, yet at the same time, he respected Lizbeth's wishes and wanted to hear what she thought.
As a result, after meeting Lizbeth in person and confirming that she also wished to cooperate—to uncover the mystery of her own birth—he finally agreed.
And thus, Riezel and Euryale began living in Lizbeth's place, which made her quite happy and at ease, though her personal maid, Luna, looked utterly displeased.
'Unbelievable! How can Her Highness just let an unrelated man of the same age sleep in her bedchamber?'
With this mindset, Luna found Riezel intolerable no matter how she looked at him, which caused her to glare at him behind his back several times and even refuse to leave Lizbeth's room afterward.
Why?
It was because earlier, Lizbeth had suddenly said something that left everyone stunned.
"Master can stay here with me, along with Miss Euryale."
A single man and woman sharing the same room?
Luna, having momentarily forgotten about Euryale's existence, immediately protested in outrage, refusing to leave, but...
"It's alright, Luna. Master and I have already shared a room before. We even slept on the same bed."
When Lizbeth tilted her head and innocently said this, Luna froze.
Her first reaction was dumbfounded.
Her second reaction was utter heartbreak.
Her third reaction was an accusatory glare thrown straight at Riezel.
Ultimately, after those dramatic reactions, Luna staggered out of the room like a defeated soldier, looking as though all hope in life had left her.
"…Your maid's really something else." Riezel muttered, unsure what else to say.
"Luna's a good person." Lizbeth replied cluelessly.
Later, Lizbeth led Riezel and Euryale around her entire small residence, introducing every corner of it like a child showing her friends the playground she'd grown up in, which made her mood improve considerably.
Needless to say, it indicated that Lizbeth didn't take the father–daughter issue with Hendrick too heavily, at least not to the point that it would ruin her state of mind.
Still, one had to admit that as a father, Hendrick had truly failed in many ways.
Of course, Lizbeth's emotions hadn't completely recovered yet, since something still weighed on her heart.
Time passed like that, and soon, night fell.
===
"...Why did it end up like this?"
Late at night, lying in bed, Riezel stared at the ceiling and muttered quietly.
"What's wrong?"
Lying on his left side, Lizbeth, wearing pajamas, lifted her head and asked curiously.
"?"
Euryale, also in pajamas and lying on his right side, raised her head and tilted it slightly, a question mark practically appearing on her forehead.
"It's just..." Riezel, surrounded by a faint, sweet scent, found it hard to stay calm as he spoke with effort. "Do we really have to sleep in the same bed?"
He had no objection to sharing the same room with Lizbeth, considering they had often stayed close while traveling, so it wasn't a big deal.
However, he hadn't expected Lizbeth to actually invite both him and Euryale into the same bed, which was a bit too much for him.
"Well, this bed's huge. I mean, three people can sleep here without it being crowded, right?"
Lizbeth, unaware of what Riezel was thinking, tilted her head like Euryale and replied cluelessly.
Hearing her reply, Riezel didn't even know how to describe his current feelings.
"Does Master not like it?" Lizbeth asked nervously, her voice soft.
"No, that's not really it..." Riezel muttered awkwardly.
"Mm, that's good then..." Lizbeth whispered. "I... I just feel safer sleeping beside Master..."
Such a sudden line was a critical hit for Riezel's youthful heart.
Now that she said that, what could he possibly do but give up?
"Fine..." Riezel sighed and smiled wryly. "If you'd like to, then let's just sleep together. It's not like it's the first time anyway."
Indeed, back when he had traveled across dimensions to the world of Overlord, Lizbeth had taken the chance to sneak into his bed and sleep beside him for a night while embracing him.
"Yay..."
Lizbeth, relieved by Riezel's words, cheered quietly, then snuggled back down beside him and wrapped her arms around one of his.
In an instant, Riezel's hand was caught in a very pleasant kind of captivity.
In the next moment, seeing Lizbeth do that, Euryale blinked once, then promptly did the same, hugging his other arm.
Now, Riezel truly understood the meaning of being caught between two women—or rather, being sandwiched between two women.
"Master…" Lizbeth buried her face in the crook of Riezel's arm and spoke softly. "Master… do you ever miss your family?"
Such a sudden question instantly killed all of Riezel's stray thoughts, plunging him into silence.
As he heard Lizbeth's question, what came to his mind wasn't the despicable family of the original Riezel, nor his family from his previous life, but the members of the Loki Familia.
"I do..." Riezel, after being silent for a moment, answered at last.
"I see, so Master does, huh…" Lizbeth murmured to herself.
"Alright, go to sleep..." Riezel said gently. "Don't overthink it. Rest first—whatever comes next, we'll handle it later."
"Mm..." Lizbeth nodded obediently, her eyes slowly closing on their own. "With Master here... no matter what happens, I..."
She didn't finish the sentence because soon, she drifted off, looking exhausted, as if to tell him that she hadn't slept a wink the night before.
"Hoaamm..."
For some reason, Euryale, who always seemed especially lively at night, let out a big yawn after seeing Lizbeth fall asleep.
A moment later, Euryale also drifted off, sleeping soundly beside Lizbeth—one on Riezel's left side and one on his right—both clinging to his hands as they sank into their dreams.
Riezel stared at the ceiling for a while before shifting his consciousness inward, diving into the transparent cube within his mind.
[Dimensional Energy: 366]
Back when he had just returned to the Akasha Continent, he still had 352 units of dimensional energy left.
After that return, he had gone to the Neutral Territory, spent several days in Sinielle, and then headed to the ancient ruin of Reinnail. Counting the days spent in the royal capital, it had been just under half a month—about fourteen days.
Gaining one unit of dimensional energy per day, he now had 366 units stored.
However, next, he was going to spend them all on a designated world's dimensional travel.
He had already decided beforehand that after finishing his dimensional journey in Faerie Britain, he would visit the world of Danmachi once more.
Now, with his memories stirred up by Lizbeth, he suddenly felt that this was the perfect time to go back.
'It's been about a year and a half, hasn't it?'
Indeed, that was how long it had been since Riezel left the world of Danmachi.
Thinking about it, he really did miss it.
Besides Yuri, Lizbeth, and the others, the only ones he truly considered family were the members of the Loki Familia—that warm, chaotic familia that had left such a lasting impression on him despite their short time together.
In the end, Riezel made up his mind.
'Dimensional Magic Cube, initiate the designated world's dimensional channel.'
Riezel gave the command to the transparent cube within his mind.
At once, the silent cube began to spin gently inside his consciousness.
It was a familiar sight—but the next part wasn't.
[Instruction received—initiating the activation of the designated world's dimensional channel.]
[Sufficient dimensional energy—initiating the construction of the dimensional channel.]
[Please select the designated world.]
Receiving this mental prompt, Riezel didn't hesitate.
'Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?'
As soon as Riezel said it, the Dimensional Magic Cube responded with new messages.
[Instruction received—constructing the dimensional channel.]
[Attention! A designated world's dimensional travel will consume ten times the usual dimensional energy, and the user will receive three privileges.]
[One: Unlike normal dimensional travel, the time ratio for the current dimensional travel will be doubled compared to normal.]
[Two: In this dimensional travel, the user will not consume additional dimensional energy to assimilate special items. Except for a few special exceptions, the user can freely assimilate all carried items once for free, and the same privilege will apply upon return.]
[Three: In this dimensional travel, the user can bring back up to five living beings that share a special connection with them.]
[All these privileges are exclusive to designated world's dimensional travel and do not apply to normal dimensional travel.]
As soon as this information registered in Riezel's mind, he froze.
'Wait, designated world's dimensional travel actually comes with privileges like these?'
Riezel was both surprised and delighted.
Especially that second one—it meant he no longer had to spend dimensional energy to assimilate every item he brought along, since the Dimensional Magic Cube would do it for free.
Needless to say, considering that he was carrying quite a lot of special items right now, that alone would save him a massive amount of dimensional energy.
Among them were the ancient relics he had taken from Euryale's tomb—he had already given two to Lizbeth, two to Euryale, and one to Yuri, while the rest he still carried with him.
Some of those relics possessed effects so powerful that even he couldn't help but covet them, and he wasn't about to leave them behind, so naturally, he would want them assimilated for dimensional travel.
He had been prepared to spend his remaining 66 units of dimensional energy to cover that cost, but to learn that the designated world's dimensional travel came with free assimilation, even upon returning, was an unexpected blessing—it spared him from depleting all his dimensional energy.
'I can even bring living beings back, too?'
Riezel continued reading through the privileges, frowning slightly.
'Special connection… what does that even mean?'
Unfortunately, the Dimensional Magic Cube didn't give him time to ponder because soon, it fragmented into countless transparent cubes that spun together, forming a luminous stairway of light that extended deep into his consciousness.
[Dimensional channel successfully constructed.]
[Connected World: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?]
[Time Ratio: 1:200]
[Attention! Dimensional travel is the descent of consciousness in which the user's consciousness is materialized in another dimension. While the death of the consciousness after materialization will not affect the user, the dimensional travel will conclude at the time of death.]
Not much had changed from before—except that the time ratio had indeed been doubled.
He remembered that when he first traveled to the world of Danmachi, the ratio had been 1:100, but this time, it was 1:200.
It meant that a single day in the Akasha Continent would equal two hundred days in the world of Danmachi, which made his spirits lift.
'One day here… nothing serious should happen that quickly, right?'
Riezel glanced at the two breathtaking women sleeping beside him, and after a brief hesitation, he decided to be cautious and quietly invoked a summoning magic.
"Summon Monster 7th."
As before, the ones summoned were the invisible Eight-Edge Assassins.
More numerous than before, they emerged silently from a faintly glowing magic circle, spreading throughout the area and vanishing into the shadows to guard the three sleepers.
Having these monsters—roughly equivalent to Level 4 adventurers—standing watch, even if something happened, they could wake Lizbeth and Euryale immediately.
And with these two around, even if he didn't wake up in time, they would handle it.
Satisfied, Riezel finally closed his eyes, and in that instant, his consciousness took form and stepped onto the stairway of light.
Before long, he vanished at the end of that radiant path.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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