*Chapter 21: Unexpected Guest*

Astaria spotted Charlotte knocked out in the corner of the room, utterly confused as she looked at the girl. The girl had lush, long brown hair, a beautiful Oneesan figure, and an equally beautiful face to accompany it.

"... It can't be, right?" Astaria questioned.

She knew that whatever happened to Charlotte, it could be the girl's doing, especially seeing the booze smell in the air. It made it even clearer that she should be careful. So she did. Slowly but surely, Astaria tiptoed her way to Charlotte, always looking back to make sure the "Beast" was still asleep.

The whole time, Astaria thought to herself, "Please don't wake up, please don't wake up. I have enough things to worry about, so please don't wake up!" Her hair was practically standing on end from sheer panic and fear that things would go downhill if the girl woke up.

Astaria continued walking slowly until she reached Charlotte and said, "Phew... all right, let's get you out of here and go rescue Kagami... if he's still alive. He's alive, right? I mean, he won't die so easily, right?"

As Astaria was mumbling to herself, she heard a sound coming from behind, that made her jolt. "... I will definitely get..." All scared, she figured out it was Charlotte talking in her sleep.

"Hey, heyy, Charlotte, wake up. We need to get out of here. Heeeyy."

"F... Forty-five more... hours."

"The heck do you mean hours? Each second counts, so wake up already."

As Astaria shook Charlotte "gently" and whispered, Charlotte didn't seem like she was going to wake up any time soon.

"Come on, please. Just wake up already! You're not under any spell or technique, and you're not under any poison effects. So just wake up!"

Astaria checked Charlotte's body, and Charlotte was basically "fine," but no matter how much she shook her, she didn't wake up. Behind Astaria, the "Beast" had woken up. Unaware of the approaching danger, she kept trying to wake Charlotte until...

"Boo!"

"Ahhh, Wha... what?!"

The girl woke up and went to scare Astaria; it was effective.

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"You... ah, you... you had a good sleep?"

"Ehehe, yes, I did. Thanks for asking. Ohhh, you have pretty soft hair and a cute face to accompany it. You're so precious! Oh? Why are you wearing these kinds of clothes? Are you an archpriest?"

The woman reeked of alcohol as she cheerfully talked and started playing with Astaria's hair and face, petting her as the two fell to the ground. The girl was in her early twenties with long caramel hair and an almost perfect body. She was tall with a slim figure. It felt weird seeing her in a dark domain completely drunk.

"E- excuse me, can you let go of me?"

"Ah, sorry, I got excited there... you see, I've been stuck here, and I kinda feel sad, and I can't find an exit. The darkness is scary, and... ah... and?"

The girl let go of Astaria's face and started mumbling random stuff. Astaria felt like she was talking to a toddler.

"I... I see, you don't have to be... ah, just forget it."

"Okay!"

Astaria was going to be supportive toward her, but she had a bad feeling that the girl might become emotionally glued to her, being all annoying. So she stopped. But the pure and cheerful smile the girl let after agreeing made Astaria feel like she was the worst person to exist in this world, truly becoming a useless goddess.

"Wait, who's the girl behind you? And why is she wearing a nun outfit? Hahahaha, with her small body, it's just hilarious... is that Charlotte? What is she doing here... did you knock her out?"

"You know Charlotte?"

"Of course! She's the guild Master's 'child.' How can I not know her? Oh, by the way, I am Gold."

Astaria gave a weird look after hearing her name and went silent before quickly realizing that she had seen her before, back when they ignored her sleeping on the ground... Gold was the one they were sent here to find and bring back.

"She's the guild master's pet, Don't get attached, Astaria."

"You're awake?"

"You don't want me to?"

Charlotte woke up and started to throw shade at Gold, who was completely in her dream world inside her head.

"No, come on, I didn't mean that."

"... Where's that guy? Is he... dead?"

Charlotte seemed heavy-hearted, thinking that she had killed him.

"N.. no, I don't think so. Actually, after you disappeared, he seemed to somehow get better, and I even healed him a bit... before he threw me out to safety."

"So he's alive!??"

"I.. I don't know, but he was-"

Before she could continue, Charlotte interrupted her.

"Let's go now!"

Her hopes were rising as she thought that if they hurried, they might be able to get there in time and save him. She was shaking Astaria to take her to that room.

"I.. I don't know where it is! I tried to look around, but this place seems to move around and change shape at random. I don't know if there's even an exit. I mean it keeps rotating around, it's impossible to know where's anything."

"Is that so? Even when our heroes finally find the treasure, and escape the impending death. They end up dying of thirst and hunger? That sucks."

As Astaria was sadly explaining, a "man's" voice came from behind, sounding relaxed and familiar.

The two turned around quickly, and it was Kagami. His appearance and body didn't seem bad; he had his shoes, and most of his clothes were intact. He was bleeding a little, but it looked like he had just fought a cat rather than a gruesome monster. A little pup was under his shirt, playing with him. With one hand raised and a cheeky smile on his face, he said, "Yo! Hope you didn't miss me too much."

The two didn't know how to react.

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