Trust you… enough?
Iris was silent for a moment, then spoke.
"With your divination, you probably could've inferred a long time ago that this place is connected to my father. And you chose to tell me earlier—so in your heart, you already have the right answer, don't you?"
Leon smiled faintly. When Iris needed to be sharp, she really was sharp.
"The fact you thought of that means you're not stupid."
Iris laughed.
"I'm a cultivation genius from the Elven Holy Land! I don't fail to understand things because I'm dumb—I just didn't bother thinking hard about them."
"Fine," Leon said. "You're not dumb."
He could tell Iris had eased up.
"So?" Iris asked. "Your answer?"
She lightly punched Leon with her small fist. "Do you even have to ask? Of course I trust you! I've already entrusted my wish—and myself—to you, Captain."
It was the first time she'd called Leon "Captain."
And her voice sounded unexpectedly sweet.
She didn't ask a single question about what Leon would do when the time came.
Leon withdrew his hand from her cheek, his expression turning serious.
"Then follow me. Don't worry."
"Mm."
Only then did Iris seem to realize just how close their bodies were—and that the distance between their eyes might be no more than a blink.
She blushed, quickly looked away, and pretended to stare into the distance.
The sound of her heartbeat suddenly drowned out the crisp wind moving through the castle.
[Iris Affection +4%. Current Affection: 83%]
She thought: I only trust Leon as a reliable teammate. That line definitely didn't mean anything else! Definitely not!
…
On the narrow staircase leading down beneath the castle—
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The two of them moved down one after the other.
"Didn't expect this passage to be so cramped," Leon muttered.
The tunnel ceiling was so low they couldn't stand straight.
Leon held his silver sword, crouching as he descended while staying on guard.
Behind him, Iris carried a torch, half-squatting as she followed.
They were very close.
In a place like this, even a small monster ambush could be more dangerous than encountering a third- or fourth-tier monster.
High-tier monsters tended to be large; they rarely hid in such tight spaces.
Low-tier monsters, on the other hand, were stealthy and numerous. Even though Leon and Iris together had already beaten a weak fourth-tier monster, they could still get killed in a cramped environment like this.
Because terrain could easily restrict their agility and defensive magic.
The dense aura of low-tier monsters in the passage also proved this place wasn't normal.
Ants can bite an elephant to death—that wasn't just a saying.
And since an Elemental Magic Ring likely existed here, even if it was well sealed, its four-element balance effect would still influence the surrounding creatures. Mutated skills wouldn't be surprising.
"Careful, Iris," Leon said. "Your knee hit me again."
"Sorry. But since touching you is unavoidable no matter what, I can only choose my knee."
"If not your knee, then what?"
"I… I think you should ask less."
Leon could hear the tension in Iris's voice.
In his mind, he pictured descending these low stairs. If Iris didn't brace with her knee, the alternatives were probably her pelvis or her feet.
So Iris chose: stepping on him would be rude, pressing her pelvis against him would be… rude to herself.
Interesting.
Leon shook his head hard, tossing the thought away. This was danger time—no room for nonsense.
"Why are you shaking your head?" Iris asked. "Did you get attacked?"
"Uh… you could call it a certain kind of attack."
Leon thought: a 'sexy' attack.
"Wait—movement!"
And right then—
Squeak-squeak-squeak!!!
Perhaps because they had descended far enough, a swarm of black-skinned, coarse-furred rats—each the size of a large cat, eyes glowing crimson—rushed up the stairs.
In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen of these unranked giant rats surged up, and three were already near Leon's feet.
Freeze! ×3
Mana: -3.
A wave of icy cold swept down, freezing the steps below.
The front-line rats were instantly frozen solid.
But this was still beginner magic. The freeze range was only about ten meters.
And only because he stacked three casts did it fully lock down the nearest dozen rats.
Below, it looked like hundreds more were still pouring in.
Now Iris had a bit more room. She pressed one hand to Leon's back to keep balance, and swung her staff with the other.
Mana gathered—and she cast without chanting.
Light Instant Spikes! ×8
In an instant, over a hundred fist-sized cones of light formed out of nowhere and rained down like a storm.
Sh-sh-sh-sh!!
A continuous chorus of shrieks and splattering blood rose from below.
Classic Iris—one move, brutal execution. She clearly hated these black sewer creatures.
A suffocating stench surged up.
Leon covered his nose and mouth.
"Iris, next time before you strike, take a second to read the situation. If you turn the floor into a blood swamp, it'll be a pain to search for anything afterward. In this situation, Light Illumination would've solved it cleanly."
Iris blinked. "Light Illumination works on them?"
"You didn't notice? These rats aren't even ranked, yet they've grown this big. That's the influence of foul energy. And Light Illumination is perfect for purifying foul energy."
"If there's foul energy, why can't we see any trace of it?"
"Because rats have strong affinity with foul energy," Leon said. "They can absorb it without leaking it."
"I see. Learned something."
Iris accepted his reminder humbly.
They continued descending.
Whenever they passed frozen rats on the stairs, Leon smashed them with his sword hilt and kicked the pieces back down.
About a minute later, they reached the underground space.
The floor was covered in blood sludge; stepping on it, plus the rotten stench and the rats' own reeking musk, made both of them feel miserable.
Now Iris truly understood how important Leon's reminder had been—and she felt she would never forget that lesson for the rest of her life.
The room wasn't large—about the size of an ordinary house.
Three walls were lined with bookshelves. The fourth held a hidden door.
A place like this breeding so many rats—Leon didn't even need to look to know the books were probably long since gnawed to scraps.
Still, he checked each shelf in case something had survived—or a book that rats simply couldn't chew through.
"Huh?"
In a compartment at the very top of the shelf opposite the stairs, Leon found a black-covered book case.
It had dustproof and insect-repellent enchantments on the outside—remarkably well preserved.
~~~
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