Chapter 82

After receiving the key from the Transcender, I headed towards the original purpose, which was to retrieve the troublesome dog Frederica.

The back door of the building was pointed out by the Transcender, Aiba.

I walked out of the mansion and continued on for a while.

Soon, I arrived at a corner of the dungeon.

"…………"

There, an icy world spread out, surrounded by thick ice on all sides.

Here and there, the monsters of the dungeon were frozen in ice.

"……What a hassle."

At the very back of the room, there was an ice pillar, from which I could sense Frederica's presence.

It was likely that the cold air emitted by that woman had frozen both the dungeon and the monsters living there.

"What are you doing here…?"

I heard Frederica's voice. She was indeed inside that ice pillar.

"I'm taking you back."

"I don't want to."

"What are you sulking about, you?"

"Hmph. You care more about the hero than me. You left me here for so long."

It seems she was quite upset that I hadn't paid attention to her.

"If you want to go back, go by yourself. I have no intention of going back."

She's such a troublesome woman.

"Let me tell you, I don't recommend entering this room. Look at the frozen monsters around you? If you step in, even a master like you will be frozen."

I took a step forward.

The moment I did, the soles of my shoes froze.

I forcibly pulled them free and continued forward.

I headed straight for the woman.

The cold air tried to freeze my skin and eyes.

But I didn't stop.

Eventually, I reached Frederica.

"…Why didn't you leave? I warned you that you would be frozen."

"There's no reason for me not to bring you back."

I touched the ice pillar.

At that moment, it shattered into pieces.

Frederica, in human form and wearing a maid outfit, knelt before me.

"Of course, Master. You must have seen through my intention not to hurt you."

The divine wolf can control ice freely. I knew she wasn't hostile without using my appraisal eye.

In other words, she was testing me.

She wanted to see if I would bring her back even at the risk of hurting myself.

"I'm happy, Master. You care so much about me."

Her dog ears and tail appeared and wagged.

"There's no way I can refuse such passionate pleading. I'll take you back."

The dog, now in a good mood, wagged her tail and clung to my arm.

"Let's go."

"Yes! ♡"

I took Frederica and returned to the Transcender's mansion.

"Oh? Frederica, are you in a better mood now?"

Aiba, lying down, looked at us.

"Yes. Master was so lonely without me that he came back crying. Hehe ♡ It can't be helped, can it? ♡"

"I didn't say any of that."

Frederica poked my cheek.

"You're blushing ♡"

"You're wasting my time. Really…"

I glanced at the corner of the room.

"Ukyu~…"

Vivur was lying on the ground, eyes rolled back.

"Vivur, what did you do to him?"

"I just raised his latent abilities and gave him a little lesson on how to use them."

"What do you mean by 'a little'!"

Vivur jumped up and moved behind me.

"Act! This guy is crazy! He's even more Spartan than you!"

She pointed at Aiba and shouted, tears streaming down her face.

"Is that so? I just made the mansion an otherworldly place and had him train for about 10,000 years."

"Ten thousand years! I thought I was going to go mad!"

Thanks to that, it seemed Vivur had leveled up significantly.

"Sorry for taking so long."

"No problem. Your disciple is like my disciple."

Aiba smiled.

"Vivur, you have great talent. As expected of a gem discovered by Act. How about coming to train under me seriously?"

"Absolutely not!"

Vivur clung to me and said,

"Act is a million times better!"

"Is that so? What a pity."

I looked at Aiba with Frederica and Vivur.

"Then, I'll be going."

"Sure. Good luck."

I turned and left the room.

"Frederica."

"…What is it?"

Aiba, with a very happy look, said,

"I'm glad you can serve such a kind master."

Frederica snorted at her former master.

"…Hmph. Even without you saying it, Master is the kindest, best person in the world."

And so, I retrieved the troublesome dog and returned to the surface.

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"A High School Student Who Time-Looped and Confessed to the Senior in the Literature Club He Liked Back Then, Making Her Happy Instead of Meeting a Bad End in the Future"

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