That day, Alexis and the others set out for the dungeon.
The members were Alexis, Fransisca, Eden, Dorothea the engineer, Lily the healer, and Fatima, the conjuror.
「So, Sara is seriously not going to follow us after all...」
Alexis let out a sigh. He really wanted to be fully prepared for the challenge...
「I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't help you as much as Sara-sensei did. ...But I'll do my best...!」
Lily said in a panic, so Alexis knew he had misspoken.
「No, that's not what I meant. Your support has been great. You were very supportive last time.」
「R-Really?」
Alexis nods and holds out one hand.
「Of course. I'm looking forward to working with you, Lily」
Lily's face tightened, and she took Alexis' hand.
「Yes... I'll do my best to be of service to you, prince...!」
「Yeah.」
Alexis nodded and looked around the group.
Then he tells them again, "Well, let's go!".
* * *
It had been about a week since they had set foot in the jet black again.
The scenery was as gloomy and foggy as ever.
There were often only grassy areas, but on this day, unusually, there were a series of stone walls as soon as they arrived.
「Where are we?」
Looking at the wall in front of him, Alexis wonders to the other members behind him.
「I don't know...」
Fransisca nodded and turned to the others, "Fatima, do you know?".
Fatima seemed to know what she was talking about and looked up at the wall.
「Well... a big building must be a castle or a temple. Since it is relatively large, it could be the Sagrado Castle... no, but it does not have such plain walls. Then the other possible candidates are Cortes Castle in the east or Adelmira's Castle in the north, or... if it is a temple, then Adelmira Temple or Theodora Temple. Ah...yes, there was one big private residence as well. It is called Los Rios' mansion...」
Alexis was surprised to see Fatima speaking so eloquently.
「You know a lot about geography, huh?」
「...Well. As a priest, I've travelled to many places in the world」
「Hmm, so you've moved around a lot...」
「Yes, there were at least 10 other princesses besides Her Highness. In the first place, what if I didn't talk to Her Highness about other places? It would bore her.」
「I see」
The bottom line is that Fatima actively studied geography regularly. And that too with the motive of keeping Fransisca occupied.
「Really, she's such an idiot princess...」
Alexis whispered, but Fatima didn't seem to have heard it and asked, "Hmm?".
「...No, it's nothing...」
Alexis shakes his head and then says to Fransisca.
「So, does this dungeon look familiar to you?」
「...No, I've never been here before.」
「Well then, we have to start walking again without knowing where we are...」
Alexis lets out a sigh.
Even if they know the building in front of them, they can't use it as a landmark.
「Well, in any case—」
Alexis' mouth tightens.
「...Our priority is to take down Aniki. Wherever we are, we're still going to have to walk around. But perhaps this is just a guess...」
Alexis turns and looks around at the group.
「...He must be looking for us, too. After all, he was chasing us, and we were running away. In other words, the encounter rate should be relatively high」
Hearing that the encounter rate is high, the members become tenser, and each of them becomes silent.
「Be ready for anything」
The members nodded their heads in response to Alexis' words.
* * *
For the next few moments, they wandered around the dungeon but took a break without encountering Jerome.
The mage's box garden was brought out just as usual, and they rested.
(We did not know when we would encounter Jerome. It would be better not to do anything too tiring...)
Alexis thinks so but decides to go to the bathhouse to cleanse himself.
But then, four women were standing in front of the bathroom door.