I digested what Celeste was telling me. In short, Astria wasn’t firing on all cylinders. I could accept that. In all honesty, her daughter didn’t seem to fire on all cylinders some of the time, so it wasn’t too hard to imagine. However, that still left me a bit confused.
“Why did she try to kiss me then?” I asked, diminishing the roll the both of us took.
Astria was still looking at me and even licked her lips as if she wanted another taste. I was pretty certain she had used some spell on me prior to cause me to temporarily lose my reason.
Celeste looked at her mom helplessly and shook her head. “I don’t know. Perhaps, she confused you for my father, and in her simple state, she tried to reignite the love she had for him? Or perhaps, the appreciation she felt for you protecting me somehow warped and this is the only way Mother knows how to express herself?”
“We can’t ask her ourselves?” I asked.
Celeste shook her head sadly. “Unfortunately, although she seems to have recovered all of her fairy queen powers, she hasn’t spoken a word since she’s returned.”
“Well, I guess it’s fine then.” I finally relaxed, accepting Celeste’s answer, even though I had a feeling like there was something off about Astria. “I just wanted to check. Since the fairy spring looks good, then there is no need to worry.”
“We’ll be going soon, so I’ll be returning to the mansion.”
As I said this, Astria looked very disappointed. Celeste gave a helpless smile and nodded in affirmation. As I walked away, Astria continued to look at me. I still had a feeling like she wanted to eat me up or something like that. Had it been any of my girls, I would have been extremely turned on. However, Astria wasn’t young and innocent. She was a full-grown woman, and I had a feeling she could teach me a thing or two.
Shaking off those lewd thoughts, I met up with the girls. Celeste met up with us only a few moments later. Of course, we had resupplied, gotten our armor and weapons maintenance, and everything else. We were on the final, but also the most difficult leg of this journey. It was time to finally unlock the secrets of this dungeon.
“Has everyone done their prep?” I asked.
I nodded and then opened up a portal. We stepped back into the room on the 25th floor. If I wasn’t immune to miasma, the place would probably feel very oppressive. Compared to the higher floors, the mana here would be much, much thicker.
“Master, what happened next?” Lydia eagerly pointed to the murals.
That was right, I had forgotten to look at them before. We were interrupted by the soldier with the letter. Thankfully, he was the only one to come, and there was no one else here waiting for us. I registered with the kiosk just in case and then held my light up to the murals.