Upon arriving at the training ground, what welcomed me was the very picture of tragedy. All of Father's knights were down, with only Miranda remaining standing in the middle of it all.
"Master...?"
Slowly, Miranda turned in my direction... though her eyes were lightless, and a bit scary. I felt a shiver run down my spine—different in meaning from the usual one.
"Y-Yeah..." I nodded as I stepped closer, observing the fainted knights. "But... what's with this situation? Did you...?"
Despite my ambiguous question, Miranda nodded.
"Yes, Master. I knocked them all out, one way or another."
"...Heeeh..."
This girl... might be dangerous.
Anyway, without lingering, I dragged Miranda away from the crime scene.
The reality of the situation was revealed to me along the way to the dungeon, though.
Apparently, the knights had been accompanying her training since two nights ago... nonstop.
Fatigue and sleep deprivation piled up, leading the knights to lose their sparring matches against Miranda and faint from exhaustion, creating that... disastrous and easily misunderstood scene.
As for why Miranda's eyes looked so lifeless... it seems she took an experimental potion that drives away sleepiness. But its side effect was that she wouldn't be able to sleep for the next 48 hours afterward.
She was currently 45 hours into her self-made hell, so despite how sleepy she felt, she couldn't fall asleep at all. That resulted in such a lifeless, killer gaze.
"I see..." I nodded after listening to her explanation. "Then, after the potion's side effect fades—and if your Fencing reaches level 10 successfully—I'll let you sleep on my lap!"
A little carrot and stick is important in maintaining a master-servant relationship!
Given that she'd already reached level 5 in Fencing in just a week, I was sure she could reach level 10 easily in the dungeon!
"A lap pillow..."
Miranda whispered, her lifeless gaze locking onto my legs. "It would be an honor, Master..."
"..."
Is it my imagination?
I felt something cold pass through my legs for a moment.
As if a blade had cut through them...
Yeah. Definitely my imagination.
---
The Grendel Viscounty's only dungeon was located on the outskirts of town.
And no, it wasn't outside the walls, but rather, inside them.
Thankfully, the Royal Mages identified this dungeon as a level 1 dungeon—the weakest dungeon category to ever exist. Because of this, the people were relieved of their fear.
Inside it, monsters would have strength equivalent to knights with level 3–5 swordsmanship, at least. In short, its difficulty should be perfect for Miranda at the moment.
"Oh? Sir Rex!"
As we approached the dungeon's entrance, the guard greeted us immediately.
"Are you entering the dungeon? With a... maid?" The guard muttered, more as a question than anything else, before shrugging. "Well, it is the young master, after all. It should be fine. So, how long will you be inside?"
I really like this guy—he's not one to pry.
Anyway, despite being the lowest-level dungeon, it was still filled with danger.
Thus, anyone entering needed to declare their planned dive duration to the guard. In case someone went overtime, the guard would call for a rescue team to extract them.
Of course, more often than not, the cause was simply missing the return timing due to monsters blocking the path. Until now, no fatalities had been recorded in this dungeon, though severe injuries from letting one's guard down were a dime a dozen.
For us, the plan had already been decided.
"Three hours!" I declared. "We should be back by then!"
"Three hours, huh..." the guard muttered, writing down my name, my party member (Miranda), and the time limit, before smiling. "Alright, I've recorded it. Please come out before the designated time, or I'll send the Viscount himself to pick you up!"
"Oh, don't you dare..."
The guard chuckled, clearly thinking he'd made a good joke... but I could still vividly recall the hell I went through when Father had to come pick me up after I lost track of time in the dungeon. That was something I'd rather not experience again.
Ignoring the guard's laughter, I pulled Miranda by the hand and headed inside.
The dungeon's entrance didn't look much different from a normal cave. It was simple, seemingly manmade, and it gets quite dark as you head further in.
My appraisal, which is always active, quickly revealed the dungeon's name without me even trying.
[Beginner's Dungeon #912730550008]
[Difficulty: Level 1]
[Type: Insect]
Right... this dungeon was an insect-type dungeon. To be specific, an Ant Dungeon.
Of course, not normal ants.
Each one was at least as big as a baby and appeared in groups of three to five.
With this tendency of ants to make small groups, technically, as long as we didn't dive too deep and reach the Queen Ant's chamber, we should be safe.
"Master, please stand back."
As soon as we entered, Miranda let go of my hand and stepped forward.
In her hand was a real rapier, not the blunted one used for practice.
Seeing her stand in front of me like this really made it feel like a real adventure~!
"Don't worry. This is your place to train," I said. "I won't interfere unless you're in real danger."
Miranda turned toward me and nodded respectfully.
"Thank you for this opportunity, Master. I'll make sure to meet your expectations."
"Good attitude!"
Seeing her act so mature, it's hard to imagine she's just 10 years old! As expected of a former noblewoman!
At that moment, I took a light stone from my pocket, using it as a lamp and pushing back the encroaching darkness. It was bright enough to clear about 10 meters around us, excluding those blocked by our own shadows.
The reason I brought a light source was simple—up ahead, three names were already floating in my vision thanks to my appraisal.
[Worker Ant A, B, and C appeared!]
If this were a game, that announcement would've popped up for sure.
Thankfully, Miranda noticed the ants' presence and readied her weapon in an elegant stance.
"Then, let's begin!"
"Yes, Master!"
With my words acting as a signal, Miranda rushed forward with her rapier.
WHOOOSH!
Her hand blurred as a flurry of stabs rained down on the closest ant, turning its head into a honeycomb of holes almost instantly.
"Whoa... merciless..." I couldn't help but comment.
Anyway, with her skill, it didn't take even thirty seconds to wipe out all three ants. I expected that result, but...
'Isn't Miranda a bit too strong compared to what her stats would suggest...?'
No... this is probably just my bias talking.
Something like that couldn't be true... right?