"Mm, a safe landing."
Fíliya looked at the crushed stone and dust covering the hall, evidently quite satisfied with her masterpiece. After admiring it for a few seconds, she slowly walked over to Edel.
"Edel, you're not a child anymore, right? How can you still get lost?" Fíliya said in a teasing tone.
"It's... it's because you guys walked too fast..." Edel pouted, looking aggrieved.
"Eh? Is that so?"
Fíliya paused for a moment, resting her chin on her right hand to think for two seconds. "Seems you're right. Well then... let's do this."
Saying so, Fíliya directly took Edel's hand and led her towards Sense. As for Miss Edel, she naturally followed along in a daze, being dragged away by Fíliya, her thoughts during this spaced-out moment unknown.
Next, Fíliya led Sense and Edel to wander repeatedly through the shallow and middle layers of the labyrinth. This behavior puzzled both Sense and Edel greatly.
"Fíliya, you seem to be looking for something? Why not continue deeper?" Edel asked.
"Looking for treasure, of course. This is a genuine, large-scale labyrinth. Clearing it is important, but getting '100% Collection' is also very important, do you understand?"
Fíliya smiled and looked at Edel, but Edel shook her head blankly. "I don't understand."
"Umu... looks like we have a dull girl here who doesn't understand romance." Fíliya helplessly placed her hand on Edel's head and rubbed it vigorously. "Compared to the sense of accomplishment from clearing the dungeon, the process of exploring it is also worth enjoying... Mm, at least that's what I think. So, let me waste a bit more of your time."
Fíliya blinked at Sense and Edel as she spoke.
Wasting time?
Edel subconsciously shook her head at Fíliya's words. She didn't feel that being with Fíliya was 'wasting time'. Although she couldn't understand Fíliya's interests, this wasn't bad at all.
...Fíliya indeed had quite the haul. At the very least, she had opened several treasure chests, swept the rare items inside clean, and stuffed them all into her own bag.
And during this process of exploration, she inevitably bumped into that white-haired elf who shared her interests.
"Ah! Fíliya, you guys are here too... Perfect. Can you help pull Ms. Frieren out?"
Mm? Pull?
The moment she heard that word, Fíliya raised an eyebrow, but she immediately understood. Because she also saw the white-haired elf who had been swallowed by a Mimic.
"Oh, let me see."
"Eh? Fíliya is here too? Then hurry up and save me! It's so dark inside, it's scary!" Frieren struggled, crying out for help.
This sight made both Edel and Sense subconsciously reveal expressions of confusion. After all, even someone like Edel could tell at a glance that the chest was a Mimic in disguise. How did an expert like Frieren fall for it? She was very curious.
"A Mimic, huh? No wonder Frieren got caught... Then, what about this one next to it..." Fíliya looked at the unopened chest beside Frieren, clearly tempted.
"That chest has also been checked. The 'Magic to Detect Mimics' indicates that it is also a Mimic," Fern said slowly.
In response, Fíliya immediately extended her index finger and wagged it at Fern. "Heheh, Fern, you know that magic only has an accuracy of 99%, right? For that one percent possibility, it clearly holds value worth gambling on!"
As she spoke, Fíliya reached her hand directly towards that chest.
"Wait... how could you also—!"
Seeing she was too late to stop it, Fern immediately covered her face with her hand, wearing an expression that said 'I can't watch'.
How could she forget? She thought a savior had arrived, but long before this, Fíliya had been swallowed into a Mimic's belly just like Frieren on more than one occasion.
Could the compatibility between these two get any better? Why don't you two just sleep together... Wait, they actually have slept together... Tsk, so annoying.
Even Fern was becoming a bit impatient with the disgraceful appearance of these two, so she turned to look at Sense and Edel. "Can you help me..." Fern asked for help with an awkward expression.
"Um... but what do we do?" Edel immediately responded.
In contrast, Sense just stood there frozen in some shock, not lifting a finger. Firstly, because her identity was that of an examiner; she had said long ago that no matter what predicament the examinees encountered, she would not intervene... After all, she fundamentally didn't believe there would be any problem capable of troubling Fíliya before reaching the deepest depths.
Secondly, she was genuinely stunned by the scene of Fíliya and Frieren being chomped on by Mimics. She had long known that her little sister was someone with intense curiosity, but this was indeed the first time she had witnessed such a scene.
"Anyway, let's pull Ms. Frieren out first, then save Fíliya," Fern instructed Edel.
The two of them each grabbed one of Frieren's legs and began to pull backward with force.
"It's ripping... I'm going to rip! Stop pulling, Fern! Have you forgotten my teachings? In this situation, you can't pull; you have to push me into the Mimic's throat instead. Make it gag, and it will spit me out."
"Tsk... can you cause a little less trouble?" Fern complained, but she still followed Frieren's instructions.
She and Edel began to push on Frieren's waist, shoving her violently into the Mimic's mouth.
Urgh!
Everyone was startled. Did they just hear the Mimic gag? Regardless, Frieren was successfully saved.
The instant she broke free, Frieren fired a magical blast, sending the Mimic to heaven. Only after completing this motion did she begin to clean the slime and saliva off her body.
"...Thank goodness there are no boys here," Edel couldn't help but mutter softly as she watched Frieren's movements.
"Oi, oi? Don't just stand there, there's another one here! Where are my teammates? Teammates? Save me!"
Fíliya also began to struggle; after all, it wasn't pleasant inside a Mimic's mouth. She could, of course, break out on her own, but if she blew up the Mimic from the inside, she would end up covered in soot, and this uniform she liked—matching Sense's—might get damaged. So it was better to let the Mimic spit her out.
Thus, Fern and Edel cooperated once again, mimicking the previous operation to get the Mimic to spit Fíliya out as well.
"Phew... saved."
After catching her breath, Fíliya immediately used magic to clean her hair and clothes, restoring her body to a pristine, brand-new state.
Fern could only shake her head silently at this, thinking that if she told anyone these two powerful mages were solo-killed by the most inconspicuous Mimics, surely no one would believe it.
For the period that followed, Fíliya naturally traveled together with Frieren. After rapidly clearing all the loot in the shallow and deep layers, the two finished dividing the spoils and finally arrived at the deepest part of the labyrinth.
This was a considerably spacious area, and in the most conspicuous position of the hall, a giant gate dozens of meters high blocked the way.
Fíliya's expression was somewhat puzzled. Because in front of that slightly ajar gate, a large crowd of mages was gathering. It seemed all the mages who managed to reach the depths had assembled here, yet those guys all tacitly wore expressions of utter speechlessness.
Mm?
So, Fíliya led the few people behind her to regroup with them.
"What's the situation? We're at the deepest part, why not go in?" Fíliya asked impatiently as soon as she walked up to someone.
"You'll understand once you look."
It was Denken's helpless voice. As he spoke, he made way for Fíliya.
Fíliya approached the giant, slightly ajar gate and squinted to peek inside.
"Oh... I see. No wonder no one dares to go... This really is a heavyweight."
Fíliya spoke, lightly licking her lips.
Because she clearly saw the figure of another 'Frieren' inside. Although that texture, resembling gray clay, clearly indicated it was merely a replica, Fíliya could distinctly feel that this 'Replica' possessed power absolutely on the same level as the original body.
____
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