"Mnnn… Do come again next time you're in the city," Cassie chuckled while Lisa and I carried the huge number of boxes out of the store since I left my Pack of Folding with Katsuki.
Katsuki looked at me with a neutral gaze, "Is Mistress intending on changing your wardrobe?"
I scratched my cheek sheepishly while I started to put the small mountain of boxes filled with new clothes, shoes and accessories into my Pack of Folding.
"Ehehehe… Umm… Putting aside the questionable clothes, there's actually some really nice ones being sold there so I ended up buying them… They weren't that expensive either!"
Lisa peeked over my shoulder, "Ooh~ That's a noble lady's sense of money for you! That's three hundred Creas, Aster!"
Katsuki bowed her head, "Please be careful that you don't spend all your money in one place, Mistress."
I won't!!
Umm… Unless it's a really nice sweets shop… Then in that case I can't guarantee anything.
Anyway! This time was all because of Lisa! She's the one who went around picking up all the different clothes and modelling it for me! How was I supposed to resist after that?
Especially when she gets all shy after I started kissing her in those outfits! Ahhh~ She's so cute~
Ahem…
Well… Alright, I may have gone a little overboard and bought a bunch of stuff but they're all really nice clothes!!
Ok… The clothes might all be for bedroom use but it still doesn't change the fact that they look really nice!
"Mmm~ Do you think you can use some of them in the bedroom tonight, Aster? I really like those new heels that you got~ They really accentuate your legs and I'd spend the entire night worshipping them if you'd let me~" Lisa giggled.
"Fufu~ I really can't get used to seeing this version of Lisa, though I have to admit it's pretty alluring in its own way," Cassie mused while blowing out a plume of smoke while leaning against her store's door.
I quickly packed up the rest before handing my pack to Katsuki, my maid receiving it gracefully from me.
We then bid farewell to Cassie before finally leaving the place.
"Umm… I guess we should be going back?" I suggested, seeing that we spent quite some time inside the store that the sun was beginning to set.
"Ehhh?! Isn't it still early, Aster? Even if we go back, we'll be stuck inside the ship anyway! How about we explore a bit more?" My Infrid protested.
Katsuki narrowed her eyes slightly, "Miss Lisa, Mistress is tired from all the events of today. Please understand if my Mistress would like to rest instead of going further."
Actually, I wasn't that tired, I just thought the next plan of action was to return back to the ship which was why I suggested it. If there's still things to do around here then I'm all for it.
Oh wait… Katsuki must have thought Lisa was trying to bring me somewhere to have more intercourse… Though I think she didn't actually have that in mind?
"I'm fine Katsuki, though what do you have in mind for us to do, Lisa?"
Lisa giggled, "Ehehe! I thought you'd never ask! Truth be told, there's actually a dungeon on the outskirts of this city and I've wanted to go there since I first came here. Unfortunately, as you might know, I'm not a Dungeoneer so I never dared to venture there. I was wondering if Aster would like to go there with me?"
"Oh?! There's a dungeon here?! I wanna go see it too!" I gasped.
"That's perfect! Follow me!"
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Katsuki sighed but she did not offer any protests, she just simply followed behind us as Lisa led the way out of the city.
As we got closer to the main gate of the city, I quickly realised that this particular part of the city had quite a number of Dungeoneers and Mercenaries hanging around.
"Is there some kind of event going on here?" I asked, curious.
Lisa shook her head, "Oh, not at all. The dungeon here is pretty popular actually, since it's quite close to a major city and also has quite the substantial rewards, most Dungeoneers from other towns and cities would also come here to challenge it. Not to mention the fact that they can always go to the Narrow District for some fun afterwards, it's quite an attractive location for people to start off their Dungeoneer careers."
We continued out of the city alongside several of the Dungeoneers, presumably also aiming to enter the dungeon like we were.
Barely a minute's walk from the city's main entrance, we reached what looked like a small military camp with its own guards and walls surrounding a ruined building. That should be the entrance to the dungeon.
There was a guard there sitting at a desk near the entrance who was inspecting everyone that was going in, a pile of coins stacked neatly in front of him.
The party in front of us went up to him and the leader handed him a few coins.
"Party of four."
The guard counted the coins, "I have indeed received twenty Decreas. Proceed."
Oh, so we have to pay money to enter this particular dungeon I see.
We went up to the guard as the party ahead of us entered the ruins after receiving the go ahead from the guard.
I greeted the guard, "Hello~ We're new here! What rank is the dungeon?"
"E rank," The guard informed me with a barely stifled yawn. "All the monsters on the first floor are weak ones so it's perfect for newbies to try it out. Be careful of the lower floors though. If you're not confident, don't go past the fifth floor."
"Oh, in that case, party of three, please~"
"That would be fifteen Decreas."
I took out a small bronze coin and slid onto the table in front of him.
He took that coin before placing a bunch of copper coins in its place.
I counted seven large copper coins and a single medium copper coin before pocketing it as my change.
The three of us then entered the ruins, finding a single staircase that led down into the bowels of the earth.
"Ohhh~ So this is how it looks like inside! How exciting!" Lisa squealed, her eyes sparkling.
We're not even actually in the dungeon yet and she's already this excited. So cute~
Oops, I realised it was a little bit late for me to ask this since we were already here but…
"Lisa, do you have a weapon?" I asked.
She giggled before flicking her wrist in the air, causing two daggers to appear in her hands as though out of thin air.
"Of course Aster~ I'm not inexperienced enough to not be armed when going outside, let alone a dungeon~"
I really wanted to ask her where she was keeping those knives but I had a feeling that it was a question that I didn't want to know the answer to.
We then moved down the stairs and into the dungeon proper, the first floor being the standard maze type of layout.
Katsuki quickly settled into her usual role of being my vanguard as she sniffed the air.
"Mistress, there's quite a number of people on this floor it seems. If you would like to fight against monsters, there's a few in that direction."
"Ohhh~ You can smell them just like that? That's incredibly helpful!" Lisa mused.
"Such a thing is natural for a maid like myself," Katsuki answered casually.
I cleared my throat, "So I suppose we should decide on how our party composition should be. Katsuki would usually be the vanguard while I cast magic from behind. What role would you like to play, Lisa?"
"Oh! I can be the vanguard too! I don't really have any offensive magic anyway."
Considering the fact that most of her close combat skills were at tier two, I wasn't surprised that she would pick that role for herself.
I then nodded at Katsuki, "In that case, could you lead us to somewhere where there's only a single monster so that we can test the dungeon's difficulty?"
"Of course, Mistress. Please follow me."
Katsuki went down one of the paths confidently with Lisa and myself following after her.
We didn't have to move very far before we found the monster that Katsuki was guiding us to.
[Name: Dungeon Rat
Race: Monster
Stats:
6 Strength
8 Dexterity
3 Endurance
2 Magic]
Oh, it's a Dungeon Rat. This wouldn't even be a challenge for any of us.
"Ohhh~ A Dungeon Rat! I've never seen one up close and alive before!" Lisa mused while looking at the monster with interest.
The rat sniffed at our direction before letting out a threatening snarl.
My Infrid turned to me, "So what do we do? Do we surround and kill it? Is there some kind of sequence for this?"
I scratched my head, "Umm… This is just like fighting a monster outside, Lisa. There's no special rules of engagement in the Dungeons… Well actually there might be but in this case there isn't since it's just us and it's a weak monster."
"So I can just attack it directly? No need to announce our presence or anything like that?"
I nodded.
Lisa then turned back to the rat before her figure disappeared.
I shifted my gaze to the rat and found Lisa behind it, her knife already in the process of slitting the rat's throat.
In less than a second, the rat had dropped dead.
"Oh, I did it! I killed a dungeon monster! Look Aster! Look!" She squealed excitedly while waving at me.
She somehow reminds me of a little kid that was visiting a theme park for the first time.
Really cute~
If you ignore the dead rat at her feet that is…