The door creaked at its hinges and slowly swung ajar. A bright, round eye peeked inside, its thin, delicate, eyelashes whipping up and down as it flickered curiously.

Across the room was a plain bed, atop which laid the figure of a woman, as hinted by the curve of her hip.

Thank goodness she's still here, the girl behind the door thought to herself, I was afraid she'd really make a run for it last night. Then again, given the state of her leg, she'd have to make a 'limp' for it.

She soon pulled away, closing the door just as carefully as she opened it.

Haaah.... she sighed, sweeping the locks of hair from her eyes. now that the adrenaline's worn off, it's not very funny anymore. Actually, I feel kind of sorry for her...

The rush of sobriety saw her most recent deeds flashing before her, such as terrorizing Eris and having fun doing so.

Almost in reflex, she slapped both hands onto her face and cringed.

Uhaaaah...! I can't believe I said all that!

Her knees wobbled until she slipped down to her hips. "I'm such a massive edgelord...!"

I just got so pissed and couldn't help myself!

At this rate, even once I turn her around to work for me, it's going to be so awkward!

The further she continued her introspection, the more the shadow of guilt weighed over her shoulders.

Her leg's broken, too... I might have gone a bit too far.

Ever since the first incident in Eddingset, she had considered getting rid of her entirely. However, working alongside her these past few days, she had come to realize how diligent and dependable her secretary was. At this point, she knew no one, especially not herself - as she outright refused to deal with menial labor, who could take her place. As such, she continually forced herself, to the point of delusion, against the possibility of her own secretary's involvement in recent events.

And even when evidence piled up against her, I just... sort of gotten fond of her anyway.

Her eyelids pressed down, further accenting the regretful expression that had formed over her face.

I wish I didn't have to do this, but I can't let her off scot free, either... She's the type who, if she can get away with screwing with me a bit now, will cook up something much worse next time.

She nodded, in agreement to her own reasoning.

Still... I guess I could be nice to her from now on. It's not like I wish to torture her for the rest of her life. As she is, she probably wouldn't even be able to work very well, which is the whole reason I even want her around.

It's a good thing she doesn't know how the kobolds actually work.

...yet.

Later that morning, Sylphia took Eris for a walk. Their bags were packed, and they expected the carriage to arrive at around noon, having sent a request for it the day before. As such, they had some time to spare.

The aftermath of the festival was immediately obvious the moment they stepped out of the inn. Trash, spilt food and unconscious drunks littered the streets in greater density the closer they came to the market street. But their path led them away from the center of the village and out into the woods, following the trail leading to the dungeon.

Ever since its subjugation, guards had stopped patrolling the area, and  recent events saw them redeployed along the trade routes instead. This isolation imparted a serene atmosphere, that made both girls keenly aware of each other's presence, to the point of self-consciousness.

Given what had happened between them, a conversation was not forthcoming from either side. Eris' head tilted far down, her eyes, vacant, and mind, absent. In fact, her glasses had begun to slip down the ridge of her nose and was on the brink of falling off. On the other hand, Sylphia also felt somewhat anxious, no longer sure how to act in front of her, only that she could not keep acting all smug and self-righteous without turning red. She couldn't even offer to help her secretary walk, when the thought crossed her mind several times, seeing how she limped with her cane on uneven terrain.

After pausing to catch her breath, Eris spoke,  "M... my Lady...?" She hesitated for a moment after addressing her with that familiarized title. "Where are we going...?"

Happy enough that the silence had now been shattered, the girl brought her finger over her lips and giggled. "It's a surprise, but don't worry, I'll show you something amazing. Promise!"

She looked on, expecting something along the lines of 'Surprise? Amazing? How so?', such that their conversation would carry on until their destination, but to her dismay, as soon as she gave her deliberately vague non-answer, Eris returned to her passive state.

Conflicted and just a bit frustrated, the little girl scratched her head.

I never thought I'd say this, but now that she's like this, I sort of miss her bitchy personality...

After a while, Sylphia skipped ahead, yelling, "Ah, we're here!"

She twirled around in all cheer, delivering a brilliant smile to her companion, who had just trundled out of the treeline behind her. She expected at the very least a confused look, though hoped for one with a sense of wonder, but what truly awaited her was Eris, trembling in panic.

It was only in that moment that she realized a potentially horrible interpretation of the current situation, especially when taken from the point of view of anyone other than herself.

"Ah." Her eyes flickered. "T-this isn't what it looks like! Okay? Haha. Hahaha...! Don't worry, it's not as if I'm going to feed you to monsters or anything!"

Alas, her choice of words only made things worse, as the woman fell on her hip and almost broke into tears.

Uwah!

It took a while, but she was eventually able calm her down enough to coax her into the dungeon.

Deeper and deeper they went, into the bowels of the cave bored into the side of a hill.

The social situation between them not improving, Sylphia simply retreated inwards, and occupied herself with her thoughts, regarding how to manage the growth of both tribes once the farms were repaired.

She would have attempted a deeper dive into the thought too, but her slowly cramping arm soon fished her right back to reality.

Urk...

Due to Eris' lingering anxiety, Sylphia had no choice but to tug her along. But given their disparity in size alone, even a token resistance would see her tossed about like a ragdoll. Lucky then, that the former hadn't yet tried openly resisting.

She likely thought that she was still being monitored.

In any case, Sylphia's body was not made for this sort of prolonged physical exertion and soon, her back and shoulders began to ache.

As it happened, a pair of black-furred kobolds emerged from the distance. They dragged, behind them, the carcasses of giant rats.

Oh, some hunters from the village? Great timing! We could take a break while I should introduce them to Eri-

But even before Sylphia could so much as wave to them, her face contorted from the crushing pressure suddenly imposed upon her hand.

"Owowowowow!"

Eris, absolutely terrified of the monsters before her, had placed a vice grip over her frail little fingers.

"Eris, Eris!" she screamed as she tried to pry her hand from the death grip, "Calm down, they're not going to hurt you!"

But her words paled against sheer traumatic stress.

Moments later, she heard a crack propagating from her wrist, followed by a wave of pain.

She cried, "Igyaaaaaa!!"

Her hand would remain sore hours later.

After a short exchange of pleasantries, each group went their separate ways without incident. Eris had even calmed down this time before the kobolds had disappeared from view.

Hm. Progress?

"M-my Lady..." she asked, still with a slight tremor to her voice, "may I ask something?"

"Oh...? Sure."

"These... monsters..."

"Kobolds."

"... t-they... have the ability to vanish, don't they? Not just their black coat blending in the darkness, either. When I entered your room yesterday, I did not see even a silhouette until it appeared right in front of me."

So she's already figured that out? The girl smiled. "Yes."

Her expression filled with dread, as if confirming her greatest fear.

"T-then why were we able to see those two, just now? Can they control it...? Does it have a condition?" She bit her tongue and turned away, apprehensively. "I mean- if you had these monsters who could disappear at will, why didn't you  use them to begin with and stopped the bandit attacks from the start?"

Hmph. So she could still make a thorough analysis even under duress? And as expected, she's keen on the details. At this rate, she might even figure out the trick behind the kobolds' abilities before I could pop the big reveal!

Giddy, she balled her hands and brought them over her mouth to suppress her grin.

Aaaaah! I really want to tell her now, but...!

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Eris stared at her for a long while, expectant of an answer that never came. Eventually, she hung just her head and apologized, "I-I'm sorry, I won't pry any further."

"No, it's not like that!" she placed her hands on her waist, "Well, it's a bit complicated, but it's also part of the surprise!"

"S... Surprise?"

"Hm... let's see..." She rubbed her chin. "Ah! How about I give you a clue?"

The woman's eyes flickered.

"Have you noticed how deep we are into the cave now?"

"Um... I believe we've been walking for about ten minutes..."

"Right! And have you noticed we still aren't using a torch?"

Eris' eyes widened. She turned all around her, as though she were searching for the very last piece of a puzzle laid out in front of her.

"Alright! No more clues! You get no guesses, either!" Tugging once more at her secretary's arm, she said, "Let's get going!"

The cave path narrowed.

The tiny girl hardly noticed, marching on with a a soft tune in her tongue. But the crippled woman she pulled along hunched forward, as not only the walls but the ceiling, too, was sloping inwards, though not enough to graze her scalp.

And soon, the tunnel itself came to an end. A blinding light marked the precipice to the cavern beyond. The tiny, slit passage was no more. The sides had been dug out to a wide breadth, with stone supports marking the corners, akin to a makeshift gatehouse.

The warm glow shone ever brighter as they came closer, the white overtone dissipating into a myriad of colors that sparkled from floor to ceiling.

And, as if the light itself had swallowed them whole, they stepped beyond the threshold.

Their eyes, still sensitive after the long trip across the dim passage, took their time to adjust to their new surroundings. Rings of light coalesced into points, and contrast slowly returned. Shapes and contours formed until finally, the full image emerged, in vivid technicolor.

Eris' eyes watered as she gazed upon the otherworldly landscape. The crystals jutting out of the walls, the mushrooms towering dozens of feet into the ceiling, the vast pillars holding everything over their shoulders; these scenes bombarded her consciousness to the point of paralysis.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Sylphia stepped closer, patted her on the back and said, "That's exactly the same reaction we had when we first saw it."

She tilted her head upwards, to the glittering jewels adorning the cavern's ceiling. It shattered even the deep-seated glaze in her eyes. And when she turned to the girl beside her, those dull, empty has had gained a soft, bright innocence.

"By the gods..." she muttered with a breathless voice, "my Lady, what is this place?"

A kind smile formed upon Sylphia's lips. "Do you like it? Welcome to the Mythril Cave. It's where these guys live."

"M-Mythril...!?" Once more, she glanced upwards. "You mean... no, this can't all be..."

Sylphia nodded. "Yep. All Mythril."

Her lips fell and locked agape.

The windswept grasslands were now dotted with small stone shacks. Fences ringed countless patches of new farmland where tiny mushroom buds sprouted. Kobolds, spread across this vast expanse, tended to the fungi as diligently as monsters could - tilling, watering and all other chores that a subterranean nursery entailed.

"Unbelievable..." Only at this point did she finally cover her mouth. "Can... can something like this truly be possible?"

"Possible or not, here it is." She winked. "Come on, that's not all-"

The two were just about to continue their tour when, out from the distance, they heard a loud voice, very different from the voices made by the kobolds. "Why, if it isn't Miss Sylphia and Miss Rika!" it said.

A large man approached them, waving his arms gleefully at them. He strutted in front of a cart which was, itself, being pulled by a pair of block-headed monsters with small, floppy ears.

Eris's eyes widened. "D-Dante!?" she shrieked.

"Huh?" the stout man squinted. "That's not Miss Rika... just who... eh?" The moment he realized who it truly was, he jolted up and froze in place like a modern art sculpture. "Eeek! M-M-M-Madame Secretary!?"

"That means..." Eris' bewilderment soon erupted into blazing fury. "You!?" She practically frothed at the mouth as she cast her cane away and limp-rushed him, pulling him up by the collar, saying, "You fat, smelly, son of a-"

"Eeek! I'm sorry! I'm sorryyyy!" Dante could only scream like a little girl and take it.

Meanwhile, Sylphia stepped between them, yelling, "Eris! Eris! That's enough!"

The woman finally broke her death grip, allowing him to scurry away and hide behind the actual little girl. Though his massive girth hardly fit behind a mere child's body.

"Now, now," the girl said, "I need you two to calm down."

Though her fury did not seem to abate, as evidenced by her continued glare, Eris soon relented.

"Look, Eris, okay. Dante was the one who sold you out."

"M-M-Miss Sylphia!" He squealed, bringing his arms around her forearm and squeezing them desperately.

"Geez, take it easy!" She then shoved her palm in his face and pushed him away. "She'll figure it out sooner or later anyway!" She sighed. "But you should understand what I meant now, don't you Eris?" she said as she swept her arms to their surroundings, "I don't know how much you paid to have him in your pocket. But there was no way in the world you could compete with me. It's that simple. So, I'll say it now to be clear: Dante works for me now. Alright? That means you can't touch him."

"M..." The man snivelled, "Miss Sylphiaaaa-"

He almost threw himself at her, if not for her keeping him at bay.

Geez, What a pain!

Begrudgingly, Eris lowered her head and responded, "Y-yes... my Lady."

"Oh, what's this?" Dante smirked and got up from his grovelling stance. "Did the vicious Secretary of Dellwick finally meet her match? Hee hee hee!"

In a way, Sylphia was impressed with his ability to do a full 180 between pathetic and smarmy within seconds.

Sporting a contorted grin, he trotted out from behind the little girl and rubbed it in. "Now that I think of it, that obedient face suits you quite well, Madame Sec-!"

Or, at least, he tried. For as soon as he inched his jeer in, he was quickly met with a deathly glare, silencing him once more.

"Eeeek!" Once more, he scurried back to his safe space behind the young lady. "Miss Sylphia! Miss Sylphia! This woman aims to kill me!"

The girl in question winced.

Get a grip, will you!? You're a grown man hiding behind a little girl, aren't you ashamed!?

"Geez, calm down, Dante," the girl said, "she won't do anything."

"T-thank you, Miss Sylphia... but, are you sure it's going to be okay?"

"Sure, sure! It'll be fine," she then averted her eyes. "probably."

"Miss Sylphia...!"

Once they had all calmed down, Sylphia went right down to business.

"So, how are the sales coming along?" she asked Dante, though deliberately said it loud enough for Eris to hear.

"Hoh?" Picking up on this, he also spoke without reservation. "Of course, Lady Sylphia's Mythril Wares is proving to be the most profitable venture our humble group ever invested in!"

Sylphia snuck a glance at her secretary, and was thoroughly amused when their eyes met for an instant, before the latter quickly broke off and turned away.

Hihi, how cute! Don't mind if I continue teasing you for a bit...

"Oho, is that right?" she said, "And you did follow through with the pricing I set, right?"

"Of course! Dante de Salvatore always keeps his word!"

"Hmmmm...?" She then leaned in and glared at him.

"It's true, I say!"

"Well, in that case, I'll be expecting around..." she smirked as she snuck another glance at her secretary, "15 gold in the coffers by now."

Eris' face contorted, muttering to herself in shock, "F-fifteen...!?"

While she wore the smuggest of grins in her heart-of-hearts, Sylphia bottled it up and kept it from appearing in her expression.

Hehe. That's got to hurt. I originally priced each item to match your yearly salary, after all! You'd have to work for decades, just to get this much money I'd already made! If you never have to eat, that is!

"Yes, yes," Dante rubbed his palms together. "No more, no less!"

Finally, Sylphia let out a light chuckle. "Good to know. Oh, and can you do me a favor?"

"Of course! And what would that be?"

"I'd like to know what our customers are saying about our product. The smiths are really good with their hands, but none of them have a shred of creativity in that massive skull of theirs, so unless I tell them to do something different, they'll keep doing the same things over and over."

"Ah, splendid! As expected of the Lady of Dellwick - always wise in the matters of business! As it happens, I was just thinking of some ways to improve the quality of our merchandise."

"Hmph. Flattery will get you nothing. Especially not a discount. But I'll be happy to hear you out."

"Gyahaha!" He produced a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Were my intentions so obvious?"

"A bit."

The two laughed in concert.

Dante excused himself a little while later. He still had a cartload of goods to deliver to his caravan. It was for that reason that the entrance was dug out - so it would be large enough to fit a merchant's cart.

Apparently, his sith helpers would pull the cart up the tunnel's incline and leave him at the mouth of the dungeon where he would call his own men and bring it into the village.

Meanwhile, the ladies returned to their tour of the Mythril Cave.