After the library, I let the guests sleep in my manor. I didn’t necessarily have to sleep, but the next day would be a big one. The preparations would happen, and the journey to the dungeon would start. So sleep found me rather quickly.

The next day I opened a portal in the adventurer’s guild, and we left my domain. There was even more bustle when we arrived than usual. The guild was packed to the brim.

“Today we are making preparations,” Mary said. “The lower ranked adventurers are going to be handling much of the loading. Carriages are already prepared. The ones that have been selected for subjugation will meet upstairs.”

“Aren’t I a low ranked adventurer?” I asked. “Shouldn’t I also be helping the others with loading?”

Mary grinned and chuckled. “No, as of today, you are being promoted to B-rank.”

“Wait a second! Why?”

“It seemed that was the decision of the guild master and the king.”

I sighed as we began our journey up the stairs. Sine held my hand the whole time. She’d been holding my hand so often that I’d even forget about it sometimes. I was surprised she didn’t try to sneak into my bed for a cuddle session.

We entered a large room where many adventurers were already waiting. There looked to be twenty people, including the King, who would join us. The King sat at the end of the long table, waiting for us to be seated. After taking our seats King Tallow began.

“For this endeavor, I will serve as your raid leader.” He looked over the room and nodded. I could’ve sworn his eyes lingered on me for too long. “All of us will be divided into teams. We will stick together. However, one can never be too cautious in a dungeon.”

I nodded along to his explanation. Meanwhile, Mary began to pass around maps.

“As you all know—” King Tallow continued. “This dungeon is twenty floors. The first eleven have already been mapped.”

“How come no one has made it further?” An unrecognized adventurer asked.

“That’s the thing. The tenth floor boss is an A-rank wyvern, and floor eleven gets even harder from there.”

“A wyvern? I see…Then, the theme of the dungeon?”

“This dungeon is lizards. The upper floors are comprised of lizardmen. That’s the reason we assembled the S-rank party ‘Lion’s Heart’ to help.”

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I looked where he gestured. There were lions there. Well, they were people with two legs, but their ears were fluffy and rounded. The leader of the group was ginormous, and he was different from the others. He had a lion’s snout. He had menacing yellow eyes with slits and a large mane. His muscles threatened to rip the armor from his body. In the center of the plate armor there was the crest of a lion.

There were four members of the group, each with their own unique look. Lion’s heart, the seven heroes, Mary, King Tallow, myself, three nameless adventurers, and lastly, Hela, Wood, and Tank who grunted. All of us were to take down a dungeon. The leader of Lion’s Heart cut off my internal musing.

“Indeed,” he said with a deep and growly voice, “my team will lead the raid with King Tallow. With the exception of our healer, who will remain at the rear.”

“Of course,” The healer lion said, “I just need some muscles to take care of me in the back.”

“That’s where we come in!” The nameless adventurer leader grinned. “Our party is A-rank, and we are ‘The Wall,’” he said proudly. “All of us specialize in some type of shielding. The healers in the back can rest easy!”

I slowly raised my hand. “Um, where do I fit in this?”

King Tallow laughed heartily. “You will go wherever you want. It will likely be better that way.”

“Your Majesty, pardon me,” Lion’s Heart leader said. “But who is this woman?”

“Oh? You don’t know?”

“They weren’t here until yesterday,” Mary whispered to him.

“Right. Well, consider her the ace of our team.”

Cold sweat formed on my brow with the release of a mass of magic power. I turned towards the leader of Lion’s Heart. A ginormous orange aura burst out of his body. Then he began walking over towards me. I looked around the room for any potential saviors, but they were shrunk in their seats. Even the heroes slumped in fear. The only ones who didn’t were Mary and King Tallow.

“So, you are stronger than me, are you?” The Lion asked.

I noticed Sine quivering in my lap, so I turned and glared at the bully Lion.

“Can’t you see you are causing trouble for this one?” I asked.

“Causing trouble you say?”

“Yes, calm down that magic. O-or I am afraid, I will have to get serious!” Of course, I had to bluff my way out of this.

“Hoh?” He released an even larger aura, causing Sine to pass out.

I gently placed Sine on the ground. “I guess you leave me no choice.”

“What are you goin—”

I summoned a wave of magic power in my hand before releasing a punch towards his chest.

“Stop, Eerie!”

My fist stopped inches from the Lion, but that was enough. He was sent rag dolling across the room until his head collided with the wall. Pieces of rubble collapsed, crashing into his head. For a second, I thought I killed him before he energetically burst out of the debris.

He grinned widely and ran over. “Please, marry me,” he said with a bloodied face and his arm extended.

“Huh?”

Despite my obvious confusion, he dropped to one knee. “This is how humans do it right?” He asked after taking a knee. He grabbed my hand and gave the back a kiss. “I ask again. Please, marry me.”

“No way!” I got loud, yanking my hand away.

“Fine, after the raid, I will ask again,” He said, standing up. “However, by then, I will prove myself a warrior in your eyes.”