Chapter 84

"Delicious food, delicious food!"

Yuri-senpai sat in front of me, watching my hands.

In the midst of this, I calmly continued to prepare the meal.

She had requested this as a condition for answering my questions.

"Here, this is the sirloin steak sandwich we had just eaten."

"Wow, it looks delicious. The juicy part is great. Usually, in the underground labyrinth, we can only eat dry things. It’s really nice to have something with moisture! Let’s dig in. ...Yeah, it’s good! The ingredients are great, but the cooking is even better. The way it’s grilled and the amount of salt are perfect. I might want to marry Soji. Would you come to my place?"

Yuri-senpai winked at me.

Kuna and Anne reacted to this.

"Yuri-senpai, please don’t make jokes like that!"

"Right, Soji might take it seriously. That would be dangerous."

"Hmm, I’m serious. I don’t mind getting married."

Yuri-senpai said this casually while munching on the sirloin steak sandwich.

As a result, Kuna and Anne’s panic worsened.

"W-When did you and Soji-kun get that close!?"

"Close? What kind of relationship are you imagining, Kuna? You’ve always been more interested in that kind of thing."

"Kuna! Stop saying such ridiculous things. Besides, Yuri-senpai doesn’t even know me."

"Not really. I know a lot about you, Kuna."

Yuri-senpai said this with a meaningful tone.

"Kuna, Anne, calm down. You’re just giving Yuri-senpai more reasons to tease us."

As soon as I said that, both of them glared at me.

"I get nervous because Soji is so fickle."

"Right. Soji-kun could be flirting with girls anywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a child with some unknown woman somewhere."

"Hey, that’s a shock!?"

Despite my unwavering affection, this is a harsh accusation.

It makes me sound like a sex beast who would go for any woman.

"Thank you, it was delicious. Now that I’ve finished eating, let’s get to the main topic. So, Soji, what do you want to know?"

Yuri-senpai wiped her mouth and asked.

"First, why did you set us up? The rampage of Clanel. That was your doing, right?"

As soon as I said this, Kuna and Anne looked at Yuri-senpai in surprise.

They hadn’t realized it.

"Huh? You really figured it out. That’s strange. I didn’t do anything that would make you suspicious."

"Sure, you did. It was on purpose."

We were left in a state where we couldn’t escape on our own after the battle with Tiran. A Rank 2 exploration party, sent by Yuri-senpai, rescued us, allowing us to return to the surface safely. While this was a considerate act, there were too many suspicious points. There’s no way Yuri-senpai could have known about our predicament. Moreover, there were signs that the Rank 2 party had been influenced by mind control magic. Even a fool would suspect her. It was probably on purpose, to test me.

"You figured it out? Yeah, I left some unnatural clues so you could notice."

"Why did you do that?"

"Out of kindness. If I hadn’t, Anne-Lotta Oakley wouldn’t have reached Rank 2. You should be grateful."

In a way, she’s right.

The battle with Tiran helped us overcome the Rank 1 barrier.

But...

"We could have died. And involving Clanel was not commendable."

"At least you’re alive. If you had died, it would have been a party of that level. Besides, Clanel would have used even more malicious methods if left unchecked. He was already quite twisted. The enemy changed from Tiran to his Rank 3 subordinates. That would have been even tougher."

A Rank 3 subordinate.

Indeed, that would be tough. Even one might be a challenge, but multiple could be a real problem.

"Even so, I didn’t ask for this. It’s meddlesome."

"True, but it doesn’t matter whether you wanted it or not. I didn’t do it for your sake at all."

Yuri-senpai said this without any remorse.

"I set up the situation because I need you to win for my own purposes. I don’t expect gratitude, but if I need to do it again in the future, I will. For my sake."

So that’s how it is.

Quite troublesome. If she says this, the only way to dissuade her is by force.

"...Then, at least tell me what your purpose is. Why did you want us to win?"

"I can’t tell you that."

"But I fed you. Keep your promise."

"I promised to tell you why you were fighting the Goblin King. The rest is a bonus."

"Then, answer that. The Goblin King seemed to be artificially created, like Tiran. I’m really worried that you might be up to something."

As I said this, she puffed out her cheeks.

"What do you mean by 'up to something'? This is a kind act of volunteer work!"

"Volunteer work?"

"Yes, volunteer work. Understand this: the current underground labyrinth is not consuming enough miasma. The miasma is building up and could explode, causing phenomena like the Tiran incident or a mass spawn of low-level monsters. It’s not unusual for this to happen even in the shallower levels."

"That’s true."

Indeed, in the game era, the number of such incidents increased year by year.

"But by artificially causing bursts occasionally, the risk of a major explosion decreases. It’s like venting gas. Additionally, special materials can be obtained from the monsters created this way, making it a win-win situation."

For a moment, I was convinced, but I realized I hadn’t received a fundamental answer.

"That’s not your purpose. It’s a means. Why do you have to be the one to do this venting?"

As soon as I asked, Yuri-senpai’s face broke into a grin that could only be described as a smirk.

"Wow, you’re asking the right questions. My goal is to create many strong explorers. I want to avoid talented individuals being cut down by accidents in the lower levels."

"But why?"

"Sorry, I can’t tell you that. Can you forgive me for this?"

"Even if I don’t forgive you, you won’t tell me, right?"

"Of course not."

Using force is not an option.

Yuri-senpai’s power, as shown in the battle with the Goblin King, was on par with a Rank 3. What’s even more terrifying is that she can disguise her strength to be at a Rank 1 level, and I can’t detect it. This suggests that her true strength might be above Rank 3.

"Well, as a final bonus, I’ll tell you this. Your cooking was better than I expected, so I’ll make an exception. ...You should go home today. I have a bad feeling."

"Bad feeling?"

"Yeah, a feeling. I can’t give you a reason, but I get this tingling sensation. My feelings are usually accurate. It’s best to go home, especially in your current state."

My heart made an unpleasant sound.

Does she know that I’m unwell because of Kuna’s abnormal magic power?

"See you, I’m leaving. Oh, I almost forgot. Saving a princess from a bad spell always requires a prince’s kiss. See you. I’ve finished my quota, so I’m going home."

True to her words, Yuri-senpai left like the wind.