Chapter 147

The plan devised by the Eastern Empire’s mages was as follows.

“What happened inside this gate is something only we know about, right?”

He exchanged glances with the other mage and knight.

One of their comrades who had been scheming just one floor below had died, but they didn’t feel much camaraderie anyway.

They hadn’t been teamed up from the start, and that mage wasn’t even from the same magic school.

They were just rivals who’d have to share the glory if they made it out together.

So there wasn’t much to regret. They just had to make sure it didn’t happen to them. And besides…

“As long as Lady Maiden doesn’t find out, we’re good, aren’t we?”

The mage’s eyes gleamed.

“This is a mansion, after all! The Tower Master won’t be able to cut loose too much.”

It was common knowledge that Clona Eisen, the Tower Master of the Western Empire, specialized in large-scale destructive magic.

Which meant she was relatively weaker with smaller-scale spells.

In other words, unless she planned to blow up the entire mansion, most of the Tower Master’s go-to spells would be off-limits.

Because if she destroyed the mansion with magic, they’d fail to clear this gate.

Then the powerful monsters infesting this gate would swarm and slaughter everyone from both empires indiscriminately.

Of course, the Western Empire’s Pope, Emperor, and Tower Master weren’t your average fighters.

But from the moment they’d barely escaped the coachman who had turned into a monster after entering this gate…

And the moment they’d seen Lady Maiden send that monster flying with a single flick of her fan…

They knew the beings in this gate possessed power far beyond human limits.

One wrong move here, and they wouldn’t even leave bones behind!

Just like that guy who died on the third floor!

“Exactly. And besides, one of the four should be easier to handle, don’t you think?”

Another mage chimed in.

He was referring to the leader of the Guardian Knights.

Sure, he probably had solid sword skills, but so did they.

“I can handle the Guardian Knight leader.”

The knight boasted confidently.

If he couldn’t avoid playing a part in this plan anyway, better to take a key role and earn some praise later.

That left the Pope and the Emperor.

“I’ve heard the Pope can’t even wield a sword.”

The first mage to speak said with a bright smile.

Ariensa Xian Demar was rumored to be so mild-mannered he couldn’t even squash a bug properly.

It was old info, but they had no way of knowing that.

“But I heard he recently released the heretic inquisitors…”

The relatively well-informed knight mentioned, but the mages dismissed it in unison.

“That was probably just political pressure!”

“The Western Empire isn’t full of idiots who constantly undermine themselves fighting among those three, are they!?”

Having swiftly rationalized it, the mages reached a conclusion.

“We just need to tie up the Emperor.”

The problem was that the Emperor was also an incredible powerhouse.

But if the Emperor swung his sword properly in a fight, the mansion would collapse.

He wouldn’t be able to perform at full strength either. And besides…

“I’ve heard the Emperor uses that huge red greatsword. He won’t swing it recklessly if it risks breaking the walls, right?”

“Well…”

The knight wanted to disagree.

Users of greatswords were often misunderstood as having crude movements, but the knight knew better.

In fact, wielding a greatsword that required such large motions demanded even finer control over one’s actions.

“Got something to say?”

But the mages seemed unwilling to hear him out.

With a curt response, the knight shook his head.

“No.”

“Then let’s make a plan!”

The mages’ eyes sparkled.

The knight eyed them coldly.

If they planned to take them out one by one, it was obviously a stealth operation, but could these mages really pull off something like that?

Sure enough, the plan they came up with sounded utterly ridiculous to the knight.

“It’s do or die anyway!”

“Right!”

Right my ass! The knight wanted to clutch his head.

“We’ve got two warnings left anyway. Die because we didn’t prepare the gift properly, or die fighting them—it’s all the same!”

The knight sandwiched between them had only one warning left.

“They seem to be preparing something, so we’ll quickly steal it and head to the study. No need to kill—just tie their feet down. Got it?”

The mages grasped each other’s hands with resolute expressions.

Shin Jae-heon quickly sketched away.

“How much time do we have left?”

Of course, he didn’t forget to ask about the deadline(?).

They couldn’t afford to be late with the gift.

“Until midnight tonight.”

So Yeri the hunter replied.

Lady Maiden had sent word that she’d meet them at midnight—noble-like, operating at night.

“Not much time.”

It was already dark outside.

Despite his troubled expression, the painting was rapidly filling in with details.

A few simple lines forming Joo Yian’s face gained color and depth, becoming three-dimensional.

The landscape unfolding behind him followed suit.

Sunlight pouring down brightly and rustling trees came alive with vibrancy.

“Wow…”

So Yeri’s eyes sparkled.

I stared at the canvas in wonder too.

I’ve seen it a few times, but it’s always amazing.

How does someone draw this well?

“The details might be a bit lacking. Not sure if it’ll be okay.”

But to Shin Jae-heon, something seemed off about his own work.

What’s wrong? What’s missing? Need more detail here?

“Hunter Joo Yian, you can rest now.”

Shin Jae-heon beckoned to Joo Yian. It was already the fifth time.

“Really? It’d be hard to hold this pose again.”

“Really. For real. If I ask you to pose again, I’ll hand over Maletia’s sword.”

Only after he said that did Joo Yian finally look my way.

As if checking if it was truly okay.

No, do you really need to stay frozen like that? You’ve got S-rank core muscles too?

“Nope!”

I finally approached Joo Yian and gave him a light smack on the back.

Only then did he straighten up.

True to S-rank form, standing in the same pose for hours hadn’t stiffened him up, and he walked naturally to Shin Jae-heon’s side.

“I hope the lady likes the gift.”

At his words, I pointed to Shin Jae-heon’s painting.

“It’s a painting she’ll love.”

Joo Yian’s eyes widened slightly at his own image on the canvas.

“…Well, it’s a work by Hunter Shin Jae-heon, after all.”

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one mesmerized; none of us could tear our eyes away.

“You’re gonna burn a hole through the canvas.”

Shin Jae-heon paused at that, but we still couldn’t look away.

His face looked a bit troubled, but he was clearly showing off his skills.

He probably never imagined he’d be painting in a dungeon.

A few hours later.

Having finished the painting, he placed it in a breezy spot to dry.

He secured the easel firmly so the canvas wouldn’t fly away.

“Just wait until it dries. It’s almost done, but better safe than sorry.”

Shin Jae-heon stood up, stretching.

True to his S-rank core muscles, not a single crack or pop.

Hey, I used to have those too? Gone now.

Ugh!

Even reaching A-rank would make my body feel worlds better. I smacked my lips in regret.

“Shall we take a break?”

Joo Hunter Yian, who had slipped into the next room at some point, beckoned us from inside.

Steaming tea was already prepared. When did he…?

“At least until midnight, we’ve got free time…”

So Yeri entered the room with a bright smile.

Shin Jae-heon and I followed, giving thanks as we went in.

“We should have a meeting too. We need to take down at least one boss anyway.”

At my words, everyone’s expressions turned serious.

As we each took seats, I checked the favorability levels.

As long as this stays steady, he won’t turn into a boss.

The explanation from when the favorability window first appeared said that below -50 turns into an L-rank boss, -49 to +49 into an SS-rank boss.

Above +50, no transformation.

A sigh of relief.

“The problem is Lady Maiden.”

Joo Hunter Yian spoke up.

At this rate, she’d inevitably become an SS-rank boss.

And considering this dungeon was L-rank difficulty disguised as SS-rank, that would be a total disaster.

“Any way to rack up points?”

I rubbed my chin.

“Maybe the painting will score us some~?”

So Yeri’s eyes sparkled. It was definitely painting-worthy of points.

But Shin Jae-heon shook his head.

“I doubt she’ll give it 80 points.”

True, she wasn’t that generous with scores.

We needed to raise Lady Maiden’s favorability by 80 to prevent her boss transformation.

Ugh.

Guess we have no choice but to fight.

“Take down an L-rank boss…?”

With one of us still B-rank?

The rewards… would be insane…

If we survived, that is. I pressed my forehead.

“I’ve been thinking about skills she might use. From what I saw earlier…”

Shin Jae-heon gathered his thoughts before continuing.

“She seemed really comfortable with teleportation magic or trapping people in special spaces.”

No need for further explanation. We’d seen plenty in the third-floor banquet hall.

“And her strength is no joke either?”

So Yeri grimaced, pointing to her forehead.

“This spot where I got beaned still kinda hurts.”

Whether Lady Maiden had done it herself was unknown.

But if debuff conditional damage hit that hard, direct hits from this dungeon’s boss would be unimaginable.

“That’s true, but…”

I picked up their words.

She totally gives dealer vibes! Don’t ignore instinct! This one!

“I bet she’ll summon a ton of monsters.”

At my words, all three sighed in unison.

“Ah…”

But they couldn’t deny it.

Wouldn’t she call in the butler and every servant under her?

This was an SS-rank dungeon with ramped-up difficulty, so essentially an SS-rank monster horde incoming.

Layer upon layer of mountains to climb.

As we smacked our foreheads…

“…?”

So Yeri suddenly glanced toward the door.

Almost simultaneously, Shin Jae-heon and Joo Yian turned to look.

“Huh?”

And I definitely felt it too.

Beyond So Yeri’s soundproof barrier, which blocked our voices from leaking out but let external sounds through.

The sounds from outside reached our ears clearly.

—Rustle.

The sound of clothing brushing… footsteps.

Who’s there?

I raised an eyebrow.