Chapter 268: Family Man (2)

"We've arrived."

When we passed through the mysterious portal and arrived in front of Dagon's cave, Elsi and AA were looking at their surroundings with the exact same expression. What a bunch of country bumpkins who hadn't even experienced a teleport before, I thought as I chuckled and stepped out of the carriage. Elsi, who had been sitting demurely in the coachman's seat with her ears and tail standing stiffly, belatedly came to her senses and looked at me. Then, she jumped down from her seat with an excited face, grabbed my hand, and spoke.

"Cleric! That's amazing! Is it magic? The smell is completely different! How far did we come?"

Eve, who had ridden the carriage once during our return from the Western Coastal Region, gave a snort of derision and leisurely stepped out of the carriage. I played pat-a-cake with Elsi while listening to her admiration. She was in an excited state, thinking I had used magic.

"Cleric! Amazing! The cleric uses magic now too! So cool!"

It was annoying to explain the principle behind the Carriage of Alio Festa, so I decided to just quietly listen to her cheers. AA, who belatedly came to her senses, walked out of the carriage and smiled. She spoke.

"This is amazing. Is it a carriage you received as a gift from Ahildern?"

"Yes. The Queen gave it to me as a gift."

"The Queen..."

AA trailed off. A shadow briefly fell over AA's face before it returned to normal. I could understand her complicated state of mind. The fact that the Queen had gifted a carriage to me, the other man, instead of her own son-in-law, must have carried a great meaning for her. I didn't intend for it, but seeing her complexion change was quite a sight.

"What's wrong?"

"O-Oh, it's nothing."

She erased the shadow from her face again and formed her usual bright smile. Eve drew her curved sword and spoke.

"Fuck, the grass has already grown back."

Just as she said, the vegetation in the surrounding forest had grown lushly, just like when we saw it previously. Perhaps it was Dagon's influence, but we had to advance while cutting down the vegetation again. This time, there was no need for me to annoyingly use my sword. It was because there were three people who used bladed weapons. AA, Eve, and Elsi took turns cutting down the vegetation as they advanced. AA asked me as she walked.

"Sir Priest. By the way, where are we going right now?"

"There will be a fierce battle in the Eastern Plains Region soon, so we need to equip ourselves properly. An acquaintance I know is acquainted with the Owner of the Treasure Vault here, so I'm planning to get some weapons today."

"Weapons, huh... I'm perfectly fine with this sword I'm using."

I casually glanced at her sword.

[High-Quality Iron Sword

A dull iron sword favored by mercenaries

Store-bought

24/24]

It was a decent weapon, but it was a husband's desire to want to equip his woman with a better one. Eve asked.

"What, groom, so is that the reason you brought Elsi and me too?"

Eve asked. I nodded my head. Elsi perked up her ears at the mention of better weapons and asked.

"Cleric. Then can I use that giant claw too?"

She was talking about the claws that mercenaries carried around. Since she used her own claws, she would often show subtle envy toward those claws that were harder than hers. Originally, I had thought about getting armor to protect Elsi since she charged into battle, but if she wanted a claw, I was willing to try bringing it up. However, would there be something like a claw in that storage room?

"Well, I'm not sure if they have claws. I don't know what's inside there either."

"Still, to think you'd even prepare my weapon. I'm always receiving help from you, Sir Priest."

AA said that, looking as if she felt ashamed. I replied shamelessly.

"Because you are my woman."

"Seriously, please stop saying the words 'my woman'. Even I'll get mad, you know?"

AA's face was dyed red. I smirked and gave a wink. The moment AA saw that, she threw a punch without a word.

Thwack!

"Eok!"

"Cleric!"

The bridge of my nose was crushed. At the stinging sensation, I grabbed my nose and collapsed. AA was startled even though she was the one who hit me, and she approached me, saying,

"A-Are you okay? I'm sorry. I saw you wink and unconsciously just..."

"Groom, I think you deserved to be hit this time."

Eve defended AA. Elsi grabbed my shoulder and spoke.

"Cleric, does it hurt a lot? Should I get revenge for you?"

"I'm okay, Elsi. It's an expression of love between us."

At those words, AA shook her head in disbelief and let out a sigh. Eve giggled and spoke.

"It really is an expression of love."

"No, it's not!"

"If you say so."

And so, we entered the cave again. Eve, who had faced that massive entity previously, scrunched her face the moment she took a step, as if coming into the cave itself made her uneasy. Not understanding her reaction, Elsi asked Eve.

"Mermaid. Are you scared?"

"Yeah."

Eve was very honest. At her confident attitude, Elsi scanned the inside of the cave and spoke.

"I didn't know mermaids were afraid of caves."

"I'm not afraid of the cave, I'm afraid of what's inside it."

"Bats?"

"Fuck, seriously."

"I see. Does a bear live in this cave too?"

"Yeah. Fuck, I'm fucking terrified of bears."

It seemed Eve had given up on explaining it to Elsi. Seeing is believing, so it was a natural attitude since it was better for her to see it directly. AA smiled at the banter between Eve and Elsi and spoke.

"You two have a really good relationship."

"Looks like it, right? You're right. She and I are in a relationship where we sweat together every day. Isn't that right?"

Eve said that while tightly wrapping her arms around Elsi's side. Elsi, whose cheek was pressed against Eve's chest, nodded her head and spoke.

"That is correct."

"W-What?"

AA's face turned red. Eve saw that, chuckled, and spoke.

"We do physical training together. You didn't get any weird ideas, did you?"

"N-No."

"How lewd, Sir Hero."

"I said I didn't!"

AA shrieked. Elsi looked at AA's attitude and asked Eve.

"Mermaid. What do you mean by lewd? Is sweating a lewd thing?"

"Don't make me out to be a strange person and just keep your mouth shut. Got it?"

"Understood."

We arrived near the lake. The lake was emitting a faint blue light over its calm water surface. This light was so soft and mysterious that it felt like you'd get food poisoning the moment you drank the water. Eve asked.

"Groom. Are you sure this water is safe? Can I really go in? It looks like I'll get a skin disease if I do. It didn't glow like this previously."

AA looked around the lake and spoke.

"It's a glowing phenomenon caused by mana filling up. It occurs when there is a catalyst emitting mana... What could it be?"

"A fucking huge monster."

"Pardon?"

I leaned my head over the water surface. The shimmering water shone transparently. The water, filling up without limit to the bottom, revealed everything down to the point where the floor was covered in pitch-black darkness. I held the jewel Ati had given me and fell into thought.

Should I try throwing this? Or should I tell Eve to go in and show this jewel? Since it only needs to see the jewel anyway, couldn't I just throw it in? I didn't want Eve to unnecessarily risk going in. For now, I tried throwing a pebble rolling around on the ground.

Plop

With a light sound, the pebble sank to the bottom. I could see a pitch-black shape squirming down at the very bottom. Its appearance was like a hair shadow, or like the silhouette of a stir-fried octopus. Convinced that Dagon was awake, I threw the jewel Ati gave me toward the bottom of the lake with all my might.

Splash!

This time, the wave splashed violently as a loud noise echoed out. AA, who reflexively turned her body to dodge the splashing water, spoke.

"That startled me. What did you do? Is there something down there?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"A fucking huge monster."

Eve looked at me with an anxious face. Perhaps to relieve Eve's anxiety, Elsi stood in front of her and spoke.

"Do not worry, mermaid. I am of the Marimba Tribe, who even hunts bears."

"...Groom. This is... a surefire method, right? It's not that I don't trust you, it's that I don't trust that monster."

"It's fine. It's Ati's Friend. She said we just have to show it that, so won't we get some kind of reaction?"

Contrasting with Eve's anxious expression, AA didn't seem to feel any sense of danger at all from my reaction. She had a confused look in her eyes, wondering whose tune she was supposed to dance to. AA asked me.

"U-Um, is it really dangerous?"

I shook my head. Then, puffing out my chest, I spoke.

"It's safe."

"I understand."

AA nodded her head with a doubtful face and sheathed her sword again. Eve held tightly onto her curved sword's handle, gripping Elsi's shoulder with the intention of tossing her backwards if things went south. Whether Elsi felt that Eve's posture expressed fear, she smirked and spoke.

"Do not worry, mermaid."

"Yeah."

Eve gave a short reply and stared at the water surface. However, even after waiting a long time, nothing came up. AA, who was still slightly tense, relaxed when nothing happened and looked at me. Eve also looked at me with a peculiar expression. Elsi asked.

"Cleric. Did you trick us?"

"Hmm... Why isn't it coming out?"

I was equally flustered. She said it would come out if I showed it that, didn't she? Why wasn't it coming out? Could it have not seen it? I scratched my head and fell into thought. To talk with Dagon, I first had to go retrieve that. Wearing the most apologetic expression possible, I spoke to Eve.

"Eve. I'm sorry, but could you go in and fetch what I just threw?"

"Groom, are you crazy?"

Eve twitched her eyebrow and argued.

"No, I mean..."

I opened my mouth to make some kind of excuse.

Boom!

The lake exploded right behind me. Startled, AA drew her sword, grabbed my hand, and dragged me back. Elsi reflexively blocked Eve's front, and Eve grabbed Elsi's shoulder, pushing her back. We once again made eye contact with the massive monster.

It was a shaft with too grotesque a shape to say it resembled any specific form. The shaft was covered in eyes and mouths, gasping and moving like gills. The largest of the eyes looked at us, and the largest of the mouths stuck out its tongue and pointed at us.

A voice rang inside our minds.

[This jewel. Did you give this to me?]

I nodded my head. Ati's Friend, Dagon. It was the moment I once again came face-to-face with that terrifying entity.