Friday night, Saiwa’s western sector.

There were two known entrances to the underground dungeon of the Siveshus Empire—one located here, and the other in the royal capital.

The capital entrance was restricted to students only, so the majority of adventurers came to the western dungeon.

Nearly every evening, this place glowed with firelight.

Felyn stood at the agreed meeting spot, gazing at the crowd in front of him.

The crackling of bonfires, the rhythmic clang of the blacksmith’s hammer, the raucous laughter spilling from taverns.

People in all kinds of armor passed by, talking loudly about which hunting spots offered the best rewards.

Every so often, a few girls in light armor approached to chat him up. The male members of their parties would glare at Felyn until he turned them down—only then would their tense expressions ease.

Felyn had to admit, this scene fit his fantasies perfectly.

Preparing with your teammates before heading into a dungeon, or bursting out from the depths only to dive straight into the nearest tavern for a wild night.

And dungeons? Well, they were best tackled with beautiful girls on your team.

Preferably ones who could fight, had great figures, stunning faces, kind but strong personalities—and were especially nice to you.

“Kept you waiting?” Zervanie tapped him on the shoulder, peeking out from behind with a bright wave and an irrepressible smile in her eyes.

“Not at all. I just got here myself.”

Was Zervanie his ideal teammate? Felyn thought about it casually.

She was definitely pretty, and her figure… yeah, that too.

But personality-wise? A little lacking. And could she even fight? When they practiced spell-seals during the registration period, he hadn’t seen her succeed once.

So the conclusion was clear—Zervanie wasn’t his ideal teammate, just the best available one.

Why best available? Because she was the only one willing to team up with him.

Thinking about it, he felt a little ashamed. No one else wanted to form a team with him, yet he’d still dared to nitpick Zervanie.

Sorry, Miss Zervanie.

“Why are you shaking your head, Felyn? Did I do something wrong?” Zervanie pointed at herself with a lifted brow.

“I was just wondering… are you sure no one’s going to recognize you dressed like that?”

Tonight, Zervanie was only wearing a mask, revealing carefully done eye makeup and blush on her cheeks. Her sky-blue eyes reflected the firelight, making them even more dazzling.

She wore a loose black jacket, a fisherman hat covering her hair, and long black boots.

Instead of her usual silver-white hair, she’d tied it into two ballet-style pigtails, each tied with pink ribbons.

Completely different from her usual sweet-girl image.

Since it was nighttime, Zervanie hadn’t wrapped herself up like she normally would.

“This isn’t the dungeon entrance area, so not too many people should recognize me, right? Besides…”

Besides, she wanted to show her real face as much as possible when going on a date with Felyn.

“You’re really underestimating yourself. If someone spots you, this place’ll erupt. I wouldn’t be surprised if you ended up attracting dungeon monsters too.”

Felyn was genuinely worried that her identity as a songstress might draw aggro from dungeon beasts—like how the undead went wild at the sight of a goddess.

But Zervanie hadn’t heard the last part at all. She’d only caught Felyn’s words about her being charming.

Felyn complimented me again! Yay!

“Let’s go. Didn’t you say you wanted to shop for gear?”

This dungeon’s surrounding area was called the Kaus District, where most shops catered to adventurers.

It wasn’t just a small market square either—it was massive.

“F-Felyn, weren’t there some girls talking to you earlier?” Zervanie asked casually, pretending to be nonchalant.

“They were just inviting me to their teams.”

“Th-Then what did you think?”

“Well, their team lineup was obviously better than ours. It’d be way easier if I joined them. Plus, the girls were pretty cute and seemed kinda into me.”

Zervanie kicked a stone on the ground with her toe and shoved her hands into her pockets, saying nothing.

“Why so quiet?” Felyn turned to glance at her.

“Me? I was just…”

“Wait, you didn’t seriously think I’d actually

leave, did you? Once I showed them my pitiful spell-seals, they completely lost interest. You think I’d defect… that’s kinda giving me too much credit.”

Zervanie slowly lifted her head, breathing a long sigh of relief.

It had taken so much to finally be able to team up with Felyn. If someone snatched him away at the dungeon gate, it’d be too cruel.

Then she realized something.

“Wait! You actually showed them your spell-seals?! You were thinking about joining!”

Felyn chuckled and quickly changed the subject.

He never had any intention of sneaking off. Since he’d agreed to be her teammate, he wouldn’t betray her like that.

But Zervanie… well, with her random events and responsibilities, there was no guarantee she’d always be free. And Felyn’s schedule was tight. He had to keep his options open.

The two of them walked toward the biggest spell-seal shop in the Kaus District.

Along the way, Zervanie kept yawning. She looked exhausted.

“Didn’t sleep well last night?”

“Just a little…”

Zervanie didn’t want to admit the truth.

She’d been too excited thinking about her date with Felyn today, and had stayed up all night!

Even the sleep-spell stored in her nightstand—no idea where it even came from—had been completely useless.

She’d used it before and passed out in seconds. But last night? Nothing.

Before long, the two of them reached the spell-seal shop.

A massive banner of the Church of Truth hung above the entrance, a bold declaration of the church’s authority.

Saiwa didn’t normally allow religious banners in public spaces—but the Church of Truth was the exception.

Without spell-seals, most people couldn’t enter the dungeon at all.

“Who knows how much money the Church of Truth has made over the years,” Felyn muttered.

If he could just get into the church, maybe he’d have an endless supply of spell-seals.

They even had special internal-use seals rumored to be nearly as powerful as divine arts.

He remembered that during his own divine revelation, the God of Truth had actually appeared to him…

…only to be driven off by Herlomir.

Of course, Felyn had no idea that the future Divine Child of the Church of Truth was currently living in his house.

Not really his fault. Who would guess that the cute girl sharing a tiny home with him was that important?

“Welcome.”

The voice that greeted him felt oddly familiar. Like he’d been here before.

Wait… have I? I don’t remember any of my clients shopping in Kaus District spell-seal stores… Am I just imagining it?

Felyn scratched his head and pushed the thought away.

But he wasn’t imagining it.

Right beside him, Zervanie froze. The same feeling struck her too.

It was a long time ago—back when Felyn’s contract hadn’t ended.

Zervanie couldn’t sleep one night, and dragged Felyn out for a late-night shopping trip.

She told the driver to just drive aimlessly, with no destination.

When their car passed this very shop, it caught her eye and she made them stop.

The two of them wandered around this store at three in the morning.

And now… here they were again.

Only this time, it wasn’t a good thing.

If the previous memory had been sweet, revisiting the place might’ve earned her points.

But back then… she’d hurt Felyn again and again. That memory had to be painful for him.

Thankfully, Felyn didn’t seem to notice.

It was half a year ago, after all. Maybe he didn’t remember.

“F-Felyn, maybe we should try a different store?”

Zervanie reached out to tug on his sleeve—but realized he was already chatting with the shop clerk.

“Felyn, why’d you go in without me?!”

If he remembered the bad stuff from before, this date would be ruined.

“Hey, Zervanie! What are you spacing out for? Aren’t you coming in to pick something out?”

(End of Chapter)