The Curious Rumors and a Sweet Reminder
“Look at this! It’s such an amazing piece of news!”
Reina placed the document that had arrived on the table in the document storage room.
“What is it?”
Cynthia, who had been studying the list of newcomers who wished to join the meeting beside her, leaned forward to take a look.
The two women had naturally fallen into the role of older sister and younger sister.
And their appearances had changed quite a bit.
Just a few weeks ago, there had still been a sense of restlessness in Reina because she had come to a new place to find a person she loved and was at a loss.
But now she seemed much more settled, as if she had grown accustomed to the fortress.
Cynthia’s change was visible in her outward appearance rather than her attitude.
She used to dress so modestly that she looked almost shabby, but now anyone would see a wealthy purifier.
This was thanks to the money she had received after selling the transparent ring.
Cynthia had immediately changed rooms and purchased fresh, clean clothes.
Her knight, Rick—known as her pair—was the same. He had completely replaced the old weapons and armor that she had thought were a bit worn out with lighter, stronger ones.
As a result, her skills had improved, and the bond between her and Cynthia had grown even closer.
“I might even stay paired with Rick next year as well.”
Cynthia hid the red marks on her neck as best she could and spoke with a hint of embarrassment.
There was no longer any trace of the dark shadows in Cynthia’s appearance.
Irene thought it was wonderful change, but then Reina waved the paper in front of her and spoke with an even bigger voice.
“They observed a space distortion! It’s so strange that they saw a different landscape on the other side!”
Irene let out a soft gasp at the words. Cynthia’s expression darkened as well.
“Why…?”
Reina, who still lacked knowledge about dungeons, could only stare at the two of them with a bewildered face.
“Dungeons normally appear suddenly. If a space distortion appears first like this, it means a massive-sized dungeon is about to appear soon.”
“A massive dungeon? Does that make this an upper-grade dungeon too?”
“I don’t know. What’s certain is that its scale is enormous. But why…?”
“What?”
“Never mind. Just keep reading it for now.”
At those words, Reina began to read the content written on the paper.
It was a description of a space distortion that had appeared yesterday in the middle of the mountain range, about four hours from the fortress, where the landscape of another region had been visible on the opposite side.
“There have been three detected distortions so far, and I will report them as they are observed. I am also receiving applications from pairs who wish to participate in the upcoming distortion dungeon… Wait, what exactly is a distortion dungeon?”
“It’s literally a dungeon that appears in the place after a space distortion phenomenon. Could you read the coordinates written on the paper?”
Irene brought out a map and marked the points at the coordinates that Reina called out.
The three points formed a large triangle that included three mountain peaks.
Upon confirming it, Irene let out a deep sigh.
‘The range is exactly as I remember… but why has the timing of its appearance changed?’
According to her memory, this distortion dungeon should have appeared in about a month.
The sixth space distortion observed in the history of the fortress should have created the largest dungeon in the entire history right in its place.
“But what is the meaning of these three points?”
“These three locations will become the entrances to the dungeon. It might expand even further.”
In truth, there was one more entrance that would expand. But she could not say that at the moment.
“The entrances to the dungeon? Does that mean three separate dungeons will appear at once?”
“No, these three are the entrances to a single dungeon.”
“What?”
Reina exclaimed in surprise.
Even though she had only arrived at the fortress this year, she had been quite busy dungeon hunting for the past few weeks.
Thanks to that, she also knew the general sizes of dungeons by rank.
When hunting monsters, lower-grade dungeons took about thirty minutes round-trip, mid-grade dungeons around two hours, and upper-grade dungeons more than four hours.
But a size that covered multiple mountain peaks?
The size itself was already huge, but the scale of it defied description.
“The scholars say that dungeons are from another world and move to this world for unknown reasons. So before a dungeon appears, the two worlds briefly mix, and that mixing appears to us as this space distortion phenomenon.”
Reina quickly picked up the paper and pen beside her and her eyes sparkled as Irene continued her explanation.
“With the sincere attitude of a student, Irene kept explaining.
“Normal dungeons have narrow distortion ranges and short durations, making them hard to observe. But when a massive dungeon crosses over, it’s different. Because of its scale, distortion phenomena have appeared for days now.”
“Aha, so unlike other dungeons, everyone who applies gets to enter without following a strict order?”
“Exactly. Because it’s so massive and has multiple entrances, it’s best to enter as quickly as possible and in as many numbers as possible to finish the hunt. However, there is one problem.”
“A problem?”
“Because of the enormous scale, the reward areas exist in multiple locations, not just one. According to the records, they even appeared between rocks.”
“So there was a fight over claiming the rewards first?”
“Of course there was. If there’s an expensive-looking box right in front of you, how could anyone not look away?”
Irene herself had been full of that thought the moment she spoke those words.
One week ago, the auction house had returned the stone of quiet to her.
The transaction had been voided according to continental law because the bidder had died without completing payment, and the item had returned to its original owner, Irene.
During that time, she had also received a notice to pay the auction house fees.
They were truly vicious.
Anyway, because the artifact had not sold, Irene was left with only the auction house fee and the bill for using the Hand of Appraisal during the inspection.
She had not accumulated any money at all—only debts remained.
Fortunately, because she was Michael’s pair, the fortress had granted her a one-month grace period.
It seemed they believed she could earn enough money in that time.
But that was a huge miscalculation on their part.
‘I haven’t even seen his face for two weeks.’
Ever since the day after the night she had been held in his arms and kissed, Michael had not shown even a single strand of hair.
‘When I came to my senses, I must have become too embarrassing for him.’
That night, Michael’s actions had been unimaginable even for a paladin.
No matter how addicted to demonic energy he was, one could only guess how deep his self-loathing had sunk.
‘He must have been humiliated.’
Even if no one knew the truth, he was not someone who worshipped a god.
So he probably knelt in a deep prayer in the innermost room of the temple, unable to raise his head to the god who always watched over him.
While Irene was lost in thought, Reina and Cynthia continued to discuss the distortion dungeon.
“Reina, this is one of the unstable dungeons anyway. If the surroundings become hazy or the ground shakes, you must exit the dungeon immediately.”
“Now that I think about it, what happens if you cannot exit before the unstable dungeon vanishes?”
“That’s… I’m not sure. Wait a moment…”
As Irene searched her memory for any record of it, the answer came from another place.
“You will turn into their world inside the dungeon. And you must survive there until the dungeon returns to our world.”
A low, gentle voice from behind made Irene jolt up in surprise.
“Michael!”
When she turned her head, there stood Michael, dressed neatly in his usual white robe.
Of course, it was only natural. Under the bright light, his eyes still held their original deep blue color.
“Please forgive me for being away from your side for so long without a word, Irene.”
Michael spoke and bowed his head to her. Then, in the old knight’s etiquette, he placed a kiss on the back of her hand.
Reina and Cynthia rose from their seats with flushed faces at the polite appearance that belonged in a fairy tale.
“We’ll be going now.”
“Enjoy your conversation. Then… I’ll be off…”
“Reina! Cynthia!”
Irene called after them with a flushed face, but the two hurried out of the room.
The moment they left, the room fell into silence.
The memory of the last day she had seen him—the night she had taken everything from his mouth—made Irene’s cheeks tingle again.
At the same time, embarrassment surged over her.
“Paladin Michael. Where did you go all this time…?”
“Irene.”
He stepped directly in front of her.
“You can just call me by name.”
“But…”
“When we last met, you didn’t call me by name, did you?”
The moment Irene realized that last night was the day she had been thinking of, her face turned as red as an apple.
“But at that time…”
Before she could finish, embarrassment silenced her words.
Then his hand gently cupped one of her cheeks, and he said in a serious voice,
“Irene, welcome back your long-absent pair.”
While saying that, he smiled and gently stroked her soft lips with his thumb.
It was far too clear what he wanted.