“Even if you say that…” I responded after a moment of silence, scratching my cheek awkwardly.
Lord Reign let out a dark chuckle. “I mean no offense. It isn’t about your ability as a fighter. Rather, it’s more about your age and disposition. I had given King Aberis a similar warning, but he ignored me.”
“What do you mean?” I asked cautiously, but there was a flash in my eyes.
It appeared like Lord Reign did know about the King’s disappearance. That also meant he knew exactly why I was here. I was slightly surprised he decided to give that information away. Originally, the Prince only presented me as a noble set to check on the results of the raid on Widow’s Dungeon, and, if necessary, to defeat the dungeon so that the mine can resume.
The Prince wasn’t sure if Lord Reign knew that the King was part of that party. Given the distance, it was understandable that some facts were hard to ascertain. The King could have very well slipped into the dungeon raid unnoticed by the local lord. Considering Lord Reign knew, but hadn’t mounted an immediate rescue, it already made the likelihood he was a traitor even greater.
Of course, I wasn’t in a position to denounce him as such. Instead, I could only hide my expressions and continue to listen to him talk.
“Since you’ve been in a couple of dungeons, you probably are aware that most dungeons follow a theme. Depending on who the master of the dungeon is, and how the curse came to be, dungeons can spiral off in all kinds of new directions.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen a ghost and an undead themed one so far,” I responded simply.
“Of course…” Lord Reign smiled, but it held a slightly condescending feel to it. “Well, this dungeon’s theme is temptation.”
“Temptation?”
“Yes, temptation. It is a dungeon full of traps, mimics, succubae, and desire demons. It traps a man’s mind and heart, not allowing him to leave. That is why it is so dangerous.”
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“Ah… we have a guide who is familiar with the dungeon, so…”
“A guide, is it?” He raised an eyebrow, looking slightly amused. “A guide can help, but for a man to not succumb, he must have a body and mind that can resist… temptation.”
“Are you saying that the king fell to temptation?” I asked.
“I believe that would be likely.”
“Then, there is a chance he’s alive!?” My eyes brightened.
Lord Reign blinked, taken aback by my comment. He probably intended to intimidate me, but I actually couldn’t have heard better news. Knowing that this dungeon wasn’t simply mobs, but temptations, there was a chance the king was still down there.
“Tcht…” He made a displeased noise, “Even if the King is still alive, he’s likely no longer fit to rule the country.”
“Even so…” I shook my head. “The Prince has entrusted me to try. Thank you, my Lord, you’ve given me a bit of hope in this endeavor.”
I said that last part mostly to catch him up. If he was smart, he’d know that I was suspicious of him. Perhaps it wasn’t wise to tease him like this, but I wasn’t skilled enough at diplomacy to do much more than that. I could see his mind working through, trying to understand what my ploy was. The one thing I understood about Lord Reign the most was that he was a schemer. He took every action to mean something and constantly obsessed about words to the point of paranoia.
In that case, the person he couldn’t handle the most was someone like me. I met him with genuine words and a slight smile. I wasn’t hiding anything.
“Ah, my lord, before I forget, a gift…” I pulled out a magic artifact from my storage ring and handed it to him.
It was actually something none of the girls wanted and I wasn’t interested in it. It didn’t sell well in the stores either, so I figured I’d give it away. I heard it was custom to give a gift when visiting another noble’s land. This was just a small necklace that resisted illusions. Actually, given the Widow’s Dungeon, it was probably a really important magic piece, but with Miki in our party as a spiritualist, illusions weren’t that big of a problem for us.
When Lord Reign looked at the object, his body shuddered for a second. I had turned to leave, but suddenly his hand jutted out and he grabbed my arm, stopping me.
“Y-you…” He said, his eyes suddenly changing, and the previous condescension leaving his expression, “You’re playing a dangerous game.”
“I always do.”
I shrugged off his arm and left with my girls, leaving the man with a stunned expression on his face. Yeah, I had no clue what that was about. He definitely thought I knew something I didn’t. Actually, it was kind of scary. However, the girls were all looking at me like I was cool, so it’s probably fine. If I needed answers, I had a feeling I’d obtain them in the dungeon.