"No." Lucius answered flatly, and Ayela swallowed hard at the immediate rejection.
"W-why?" she asked as her voice trembled visibly. "Don't you… want to explore over the water?"
Lucius didn't even slow down.
He floated over her calmly, shifting Minerva's bound body on his shoulder as though she weighed nothing.
He was already turning back toward the crabs; he needed to finish roasting the rest, bring some for Vanessa and Erika, then start scouting for the staircase to the next floor.
The problem was simple but irritating: as far as the eye could see, the Blood Sea stretched endlessly.
There was no hint of a staircase. It didn't make sense for a dungeon floor to have no visible exit, which only meant it was hidden in a way that annoyed him already.
Ayela, however, followed him anxiously.
"I-I can pay you," she blurted, floating beside him despite Minerva still thrashing muffled curses in his grip. "I don't earn a lot but I can spare some to pay you for this whole thing."
