“What? How is that possible?” I said, shaking my head. “I’ve put necklaces on you girls several times!”
The four girls suddenly wouldn’t meet my eyes. I gave them a glowering look until Lydia finally broke.
“It-it’s just that Master is Master, and we’re slaves, so it’s not like we took Master seriously!” Lydia cried defensively.
“We can’t marry as slaves…” Miki said, “But that is okay since, in this way, we’re more Master’s than even his wife!”
“Hehehe…” Celeste giggled, only half paying attention. “Married to master.”
I let out a sigh. Even being careful, it seemed like some complicated stuff happened. Either way, it was getting late and we needed to leave. My original plan was to just teleport out of here, but with the unconscious girl at my feet, that would lead to problems, especially if the guards knew that she was in here. Instead, we started walking to the entrance.
The kiosk would have cost money to enter and I didn’t register with the first one anyway. Since we were five levels down, the walk back would take almost an hour. By the time, poor Faenya would think I abandoned her. I had been walking for another fifteen minutes when I realized I could just portal to the 1st floor. I was still hesitant to do it since I didn’t want such a power to be seen by others.
Ah, well, it was fine. I’d make it work. I found a spot that looked secluded and then opened the Portal. While carrying the ninja girl whose name I never learned, I leaped up to the 1st floor, saving us a good chunk of travel time. My blessing worked just as described. This made me very happy. We quickly headed to the entrance and then walked out.
“Already had enough?” The guard chuckled when he saw me walk out of the labyrinth entrance.
“Ah… Raissa!” The other guard cried out when he noticed her in my arms.
“What happened?” The first guard demanded.
“There was a boss variant on the fifth floor. She held it off and ended up passing out.”
Well, I was fudging the truth a bit, but it would be a hassle if I said what really happened. Furthermore, I could have refreshed her and brought her back to consciousness, but that also seemed too troublesome considering how she had passed out. Although I planned to return to this dungeon, I’d be bypassing the entrance from now on. Simply put, I didn’t intend to run into Raissa ever again.
The guard’s face went white and he nodded as he took her. “She managed to face a boss variant. She’s truly an incredible dungeon diver.”
I nodded solemnly, not wanting to correct them. I mean, we had defeated it, but that was no big deal. Actually, listening to these guys, I felt like I was going to get a big head. I decided it’d be better if we left quickly, especially before Raissa woke up.
“We’ll be going then,” I said.
“Hey!” The guard stopped me after only making it a step. “Aren’t you being a bit selfish? She saved your life and you’re just going to leave without taking responsibility?”
My eyes twitched. It was those exact words that got me in this situation in the first place. However, after being stared down by the angry guards, I sighed and handed over about ten gold worth of silver and copper, basically everything I had gotten in the dungeon, to the guards to give Raissa. Trying to explain to them about the necklace wouldn’t do anyone any favors. This was the cost I had to pay for lying, I supposed.
It felt like extortion, but at least they let me leave once I paid her hospital bills, even though I had already healed her myself. It was time to return to the Capitol City.