"I don't need your weird explanations! You're so bad at explanations!" Raff grumbled.

"Your brain is too small to understand! You stupid ancient human!" snapped an annoyed Hayato.

"Huh? You're just lucky he didn't attack you sooner! One hit and you'd be dead!" sneered Raff.

"Huh? You think traveling with you can bring luck back to me? I've had so much bad luck since we met! There's no way my luck can come back to me! This is all down to my own strength," Hayato snapped as he drew his sword at Raff's neck.

"He's the one who got fooled by you earlier!" snapped Raff as he drew his lightning knife at Hayato's neck.

"Damn it, you've been fooling me all along!" the swordmaster shouted, his face flushed with anger.

"What are you saying, the only one who tricked you before was me, you asshole!" snapped Hayato as he glared at the swordmaster.

"That's right! Don't lump me in with cheaters like him!" snapped Raff as he glared at the swordmaster.

"You two are the same!" the swordmaster shouted as he jumped back.

"Let's finish them off!" shouted the swordmaster as he looked around for help from his friends.

But his face turned pale as he saw the bloodied corpses of his friends lying on the ground. Meanwhile, an angry-looking Raff and Hayato approached him with grins on their faces, and the swordmaster's body began to shake with fear as he realized he was the only one left in his group.

"Call your friends all you want, you bastard," Hayato said as he tapped the blade of his sword.

"You should realize you're alone, you idiot," Raff said as he played with the lightning knife in his hand.

"Please forgive me," the swordmaster said as he knelt down after realizing the situation.

"You bastard, you think I'm going to let you off the hook after insulting me earlier?" snapped Hayato as he stroked the swordmaster's head guard.

"Tell me, who told you to ambush us here?" asked Raff, glaring at the swordmaster.

"Will I be allowed to live if I tell you?" the swordmaster asked.

"That depends on your answer," Raff replied.

"The person who paid us to kill you is a teacher at Elexia Academy, her name is Nia," the swordmaster replied. But his body collapsed to the ground with his head cut off as soon as he finished saying Nia's name.

"Tch. In addition to ambushing us, it turns out that he also wants to pit us against Nia," Hayato said.

"He must have realized that he would still die even if he told us who told him to do it. He doesn't seem like a gullible person," Raff said.

"Hahaha... see no, that means he was fooled by my own skills," Hayato said proudly.

"Hehehe... but you can still be fooled by a noodle merchant," Raff taunted as he burned all of the adventurer's corpses lying on the ground.

"That's because he took advantage of my kindness! I wasn't fooled!" grumbled Hayato unhappily.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Yes. Suit yourself," Raff said as he looked at Hayato. "But I'm surprised you weren't as upset when I killed them all."

"They deserved it. Besides, you wouldn't have stopped yourself from killing them even if I hadn't, so there's no point in going against your principles," Hayato said as he reached for his big bag. "I'm sure he has his own reasons for having such principles," Hayato thought.

Raff turned his eyes to the ten bodies burning in the flames. The area where they had fought seemed to have been damaged, although the dungeon could restore its own form, but it would still take a long time to recover from the scars of their current battle.

"You better not try to escape after you overheard our conversation," Raff said loudly until his voice echoed in the area of the fifth floor where they were.

"Huh? Who are you talking about?" asked Hayato as he approached Raff.

"That guy who was watching our fight from behind the dirt wall must have thought he was hiding his mana well. But he doesn't know that I can still sense his presence," Raff replied loudly.

"Is there anyone else here, Raff?" asked Hayato as he looked around.

"You better show yourself in front of me, unless you want to ambush us like those ten adventurers," Raff said as he turned his gaze to the dirt wall that bordered their area on the fifth floor.

Hayato also looked in the direction Raff was looking. Slowly, a black shadowy figure emerged from behind the dark dungeon passage. Raff used the fireball magic in his hand to illuminate the area they were in.

Now they could clearly see the figure of a long-haired girl with brown hair, her face not visible at all because it was covered by a cloth mask. She seemed to be carrying a larger bag than Hayato's, and a shield was neatly tied to her backpack as well. His skin was tanned, but there didn't seem to be any scars, the armor he wore was even still clean.

"Kid?" muttered Hayato in surprise. From her posture, she was probably two years older than them.

"Who are you, why are you here alone?" asked Raff, staring at the masked girl.

"You're from Elexia Academy?" the masked girl mumbled softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop and watch your fight, I just happened to be working here," the masked girl replied, lowering her head.

"Working? What do you do?" asked Hayato while sheathing his sword.

"I'm just a material scavenger, every day I go into the dungeon to pick up leftover mining materials that the miners didn't bring with them. Sometimes I also pick up materials from monsters that adventurers don't pick up in the dungeon, I deliberately wait until the miners go home so that I don't get scolded by them," the masked girl replied.

"What's your name?" asked Raff as he stared at the masked girl.

"Never mind Raff, she's just an ordinary girl," Hayato said when he heard Raff ask in a high tone.

"Why are you being stupid at a time like this? Look at her clothes, she's not dirty at all, even though she's been hiding in this dungeon waiting for the miners to return. Do you think an ordinary girl would dare to enter the dungeon alone?" asked Raff while looking at Hayato.

"You're right. I just realized, especially if she's hiding from the miners, then she's probably hiding on the sixth floor where there are no mine guards. There should still be monsters roaming around," Hayato said while giving the masked girl a sharp look.

"My name is Sonia Vhismaya. You're right, it's impossible for a little girl like me to dare to enter the dungeon alone and be on the sixth floor without getting hurt," the masked girl said while taking off her cloth mask.

"I did it out of necessity because no one would give me another job after I was expelled from Elexia Academy, my parents are gone, and all my other relatives have shunned me. So please don't tell the miners that I'm the one who always takes their leftover materials, nor will I say anything about this incident," Sonia said, looking down.

"She is, so beautiful," Hayato murmured with wide eyes after seeing Sonia's face.

"Please. I can't survive without it, there's nothing more I can do," Sonia continued stuttering.

"Expelled from the Elexia Academy?" muttered Raff, who remained alert even though he didn't sense any dangerous intentions from Sonia.

"Hahaha... finally this event has happened, meeting my future harem in the dungeon. Turns out the plot is okay too," Hayato said with a big laugh.

"He started again," Raff muttered. Meanwhile, Sonia looked confused by Hayato's words.

"Sonia Vhismaya, your name is very beautiful. Your face is so charming, I'm happy to meet you in this dungeon, fate seems to have brought us together here," Hayato said as he stepped up to approach Sonia.

"Don't come near her!" shouted Raff.

"Don't come near me!" shouted Sonia, echoing Raff's call.

"Huh? Why are you both yelling at the same time?" asked Hayato as he stopped his steps. He looked confused, his gaze alternating between Raff and Sonia. "Don't tell me you've met her, Raff! She was supposed to be part of my harem later," a visibly annoyed Hayato grumbled.

Continued...