The blonde man with the mane of a lion punched a nearby tree in rage. He had been searching for hours yet they were at none of their usual haunts.

“The bastards, a woman enters their group then they go and do this shit.” His voice oozed with contempt and his face had more in common with an evil spirit than a person. “Flogging isn't going to be enough. Stripping them of their positions isn't going to be enough…” He said while gritting his teeth. “I'll send them as bait the next time the adventurers get wary. Maybe then they'll-”

He was interrupted by the clopping of horse hooves. He looked ahead to see his subordinate riding along.

He was going to ignore him and search on his own but that unmistakable mane along with the blonde hair made him stand out like a sore thumb.

“Brother Leo!” He shouted.

“If you're that loud, I would have hoped you found something.”

He slowly came over on the horse and came off.

“What are you doing out here, Brother?”

“Searching, just as you are. Have you found anything?”

“No Sir. You don't think they left the barrier, do you?”

Leo stood in silence for a moment.

“Eugh, you have a point. With no one in the cabin, we wouldn't be able to tell.” Father Leo said as he considered the idea. “If they're being more brazen than usual they might have done something like that. Damn it, for the time being, go call the other guards and have them take over. Inform me when they notice something entering the barrier. And keep an eye on them, I don't want them covering for their buddies.”

“Yes, sir. What about you?”

“I'll keep searching. I'd prefer not to consider the alternative as I imagine Father Daniel would have them all killed if he heard of this.”

“Eh? Really!?” The subordinate responded with shock.

The man with the mane didn't respond and continued walking.

The man quickly got back on his horse and went to inform the others.

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Tibaut woke up to something warm by his side. They had quite a grip on him and although he enjoyed the heat in the chilly dungeon, he wasn't thrilled with what the likely thing beside him could be. Especially due to the fact he could feel two mounds of fat pressed against his chest.

(“Please don't tell me it's another one of the-”)

He quickly lit the room up and to his relief, it was just Agnes.

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“Phew, just her. I guess she must have felt chilly. I thought temperature resistance came with her magic but maybe heat resistance being another part of mine isn't the norm.”

He pushed her off him and a frown made a home on her face.

She could resist the cold. She just became more brazen the instant he fell asleep and used him like a body pillow.

He woke her up and they continued their journey.

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On the third floor.

“Well, that's strange.” He remarked.

He had travelled to the top floor and to his amazement not a single one of his lackeys had gone past the second floor. He even had a roll call of all that were present in the dungeon with a few exceptions like brother Leo, who seemed to be wrangling the guards (It was sad how often this happened as soon he retreated to the lower floors.)

He stood at the bottom of the third-floor stairway in thought. “It's unlikely the women triggered the trap. Is it an intruder? No, the guards would have noticed. They may be useless but the only reason I allow them to goof off as much as they do is because they do their jobs.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose having another walk through these floors shouldn't hurt. I haven't even mapped all the areas of the third and fourth floors yet. It seems the lord has given me a good excuse to finish this up.”

He pulled out a folded paper with clearly labelled traps and pathways on it and began walking to the nearest path that was left incomplete.

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This floor was HHHHUUUGGGGEEEEE. At least that was what Tibaut thought. In the hour they had been walking, there had been nothing but traps, corridors and empty rooms.

They had decided to go left for split paths and they hadn't yet encountered a dead end. Yet they didn't feel like they were going in the right direction either. The direction they travelled had gone on for so long that the map drawn on the outside of his shirt had to continue into the inside, with Agnes deciding to lessen the scale.

“How much longer are we gonna have to walk through this?” He wondered out loud.

“I-I have to agree, this seems a little ridiculous,” Agnes responded. “Who would even have time for something like this?”

(“I wonder how she'd feel if she knew her hobby was being ridiculed by humans of all things?”) The voice giggled before disappearing.

They continued further into the dungeon until they entered what looked like a barracks. Various rusted blades, alongside untarnished ones, were on a wooden rack. Various skeletons were strewn about inside. Tibaut was sure there were more here than there were outside of it. The space was also quite large so it wasn't hard to imagine a battle here.

As they explored, Tibaut nearly had his heart sink looking at something on the floor.

They had red skin and curved horns. There was a black stain surrounding them but he could notice movement when they breathed. Present on their back were bat-like wings, of a darker red hue.

He turned them around and saw their eyes had been glazed over. She had fur covering her lower half but her top half was as bare as the day she was likely born. Her face was surprisingly normal, so hey, at least there was that.

(“I never expected to see one of these rats here.”)

Tibaut jumped away from her but there was no response.

(“Worry not boy. This is not one of my sister's experiments.”)

(“Huh, then what is she?”)

(“A demon.”)