Chapter 42

Chapter 42

The girl, Alisa, knew many things about the duke’s deceased lover—things only her daughter would know. The head of the orphanage and her current guardian backed up the girl’s claims with bits and pieces of evidence as well.

The duke had no way of knowing who was telling the truth. After some time had passed, the duke decided it didn’t matter who his real daughter was. He resolved to love them both equally. But the manner in which the grand duke treated his daughters was drastically different. It was astounding to see how much Alisa took after his late lover. She seemed delicate and fragile, as though she might just fly away if the wind blew too hard. The duke could not resist the urge to protect and shelter her.

At any rate, Elthea had already established a solid foundation as his successor. He decided there was no need to have Alisa go through the same trouble with her weak, frail body. He had somehow convinced himself that he could atone for not being there for Elthea by coddling Alisa. But the duke had made a terrible mistake.

“Hmm, so you’re telling me Alisa was a fraud?”

“That’s right. It was all part of a malicious scheme concocted by swindlers who were after my family name and wealth. The orphanage director, the girl’s guardian, and Alisa herself... They were all in on it together.”

“Oh, um, so what you’re telling me is that you were harsh on your real daughter and you pampered a con artist? And you did all of this openly for your daughter to see?”

“Y-yes, I suppose you could say that.”

“You said that you didn’t find out the truth until after she ran away. Then what made her run away in the first place?”

“You see... I made an announcement earlier that day about how I was going to officially induct Alisa into the family registry. Elthea burst into my office sobbing later that evening. It was my first time seeing her like that. I was shocked and didn’t know what to do. I knew I had to calm her down somehow, but I had a slip of the tongue...”

“What did you say?”

The grand duke took a deep breath. “I scolded her and said she’d be disqualified as the future head of the family if she kept being petty and narrow-minded.”

Ailette gulped down her lemonade angrily and looked up at the duke with a cold stare. “Let me just say one thing.”

“W-what is it?”

“Even I would’ve run away from a house like that, you old fart!”

The duke sputtered in shock and embarrassment.

“Maybe she wouldn’t have run away if you treated her better while she actually lived with you!”

“You said you were just going to say one thing!”

“Ah, whatever!”

It was upsetting to be criticized so harshly by someone with Elthea’s face. The grand duke was growing old and soft-hearted. Ailette’s condemnation was just too much for him to bear and tears began to well up in his eyes.

“It was when I was aware of their plot, b-but I sincerely thought of both of them as my daughters.”

Making excuses was not the right way to go about this issue with Ailette.

“You can only say harsh things like that after you’ve established close bonds with your family and they have complete faith in you. And you said you announced Alisa’s induction into the family out of the blue? From your daughter’s perspective, she probably thought you’d made up your mind about who your real daughter was. She was upset because you practically branded her as a fraud publicly! She was distressed and terrified at the thought of being ousted from her position and run out of town.”

The duke cleared his throat uncomfortably. There was nothing he could say to refute that. A haunting memory of Elthea’s anguished cry resurfaced in the duke’s mind.

“Is this your final verdict for me, Father? Whatever am I to do? I’ve become useless to you now, yet you are unable to cast me away for fear of dishonoring the family name. What a predicament you’re in. Why are you angry? This is what you wanted all along. You never once thought of me as your daughter! You probably wouldn’t shed a tear even if I were to drop dead right here before you. You wish I was dead?! Fine. I’ll disappear. I’ll disappear from this place and from your life, sparing you from having to do the dirty work so you can preserve the family’s honor! Is that enough?! Are you happy now?! I can only imagine how happy you are inside! My humblest congratulations, Your Royal Highness!”

As the scene played out vividly in his head, the duke wondered, Is that why she stormed the dungeon all by herself?

Two months of wandering around the Black Salt Desert was more than enough time for the grand duke to observe the traces of Elthea’s unique aura and markings left behind by her sword techniques. Elthea was alone when she entered the dungeon to stop the burst. There was no doubt about it.

She died an honorable death. But for what? Yet there was no one to blame for this tragedy other than the duke himself. He, the villain, exerted relentless pressure on his own daughter, driving her to believe she was nothing but a mere tool in service of the family. The grand duke blew his red nose into a handkerchief.

Ailette seemed to deliberate over something before announcing in a resolute tone, “Grandpa. I’m headed to the temple.”

“What?!” The grand duke was already emotional enough as it was from discussing his daughter’s terrible fate. “Don’t talk nonsense! Your father is probably worried sick! Little girls shouldn’t be in dungeons, to begin with!”

“I know how to use a sword. A C-class dungeon with no boss monster is nothing. Most importantly, I know the direct route to the boss’s zone, so I’ll be in and out in no time.”

“Is what you say the truth? You know the way?” The duke’s stern demeanor quickly changed into interest and curiosity. To think, this little girl had the ability to navigate through this perilous salt storm!

Ailette quickly made a suggestion before the duke had a chance to say anything else. “It only takes about an hour to the temple if we hurry. We should go together, Grandpa.”

✠

Traveling with the old guy was convenient, to say the least. I wasn’t sure how he did it, but he blocked out the salt-sand from buffeting us by using his aura, as if we were under an umbrella—an extremely secure one, at that. That wasn’t even the best part.

“My child! Your pace is too slow!”

“Eek!”

The man hoisted me up and sat me down on his shoulders. He took off in a sprint as soon as I was situated. I was a little disconcerted at first but got used to it.

“Amazing! This is so much fun! Faster, Grandpa, faster!”

“Okay, but you have to hold on tight!”

It was like riding a rollercoaster at the amusement park! I grabbed a hold of his hair with each of my hands. Every time he seemed to be veering off course, I pulled his hair left and right to get us back on track.

“Stop pulling! My hair’s going to fall out!”

“You have such thick hair, I don’t think it will make that much of a difference. You’ll probably never have to worry about going bald.”

“Ahem! That’s right!”

We sped along at a remarkable pace toward our destination. We were going to arrive much earlier than what I’d originally estimated.

I marveled at the old man’s physical abilities and complimented him, “Grandpa, you must’ve been a pretty decent swordsman back in the day.”

“What do you mean back in the day?! I’m still on active duty!”

“Yes, yes, of course. Now say, ‘Ahhh.’ You need to take your supplements before you have muscle loss.”

He obligingly drank what I offered him. “Wait a minute! Isn’t this one of Rodel’s potions?! How did you manage to get your hands on this? Everyone’s been struggling to find a store that hasn’t been emptied out!”

“My dad and I made it.”

“What?! The alchemist Rodel is your father?”

“More specifically, it’s both me and my dad. The name Rodel represents both Leonard Rodeline and Ailette Rodeline.”

“Yes, yes, of course. You and your dad. Goodness! To think I’d encounter Rodel in this dungeon. What a curious coincidence this is!”

“By the way, what’s your name, Grandpa?”

“Hm, you can just call me Grandpa Jake.”

“Oh, Grandpa Jake. That sounds very friendly and intimate.”

We both used this time to get to know each other a little better, but it wasn’t long before the system chimed in.

⟬«System» You have escaped the [Barrier of the Black Temple].⟭

The salt sandstorm gradually subsided to reveal a bright and clear sky. Perhaps it was their own strange way of welcoming us into a new area of the dungeon, but a couple of demonic monsters screeched high above us. Two desert gargoyles swooped through the sky, clearly wary of our presence.

“Tsk, how bothersome.”

Before he could set me down to take care of the creatures himself, I quickly interjected, “I’ll handle them.”

“Ah, you mentioned you could use the blade. Yes, please, give it a try.” Gramps smiled indulgently as if he were about to watch me perform in a school play.

An irritated voice muttered out from my necklace, «This guy rubs me the wrong way. His face reminds me of someone I once knew. He’s in for a surprise... Let’s show him what you’re made of, Cadet Ailette.»

Of course! I answered softly inside my head.

I patiently bided my time on the old duke’s shoulders. It wasn’t long before the two desert gargoyles threw back their wings and sliced down through the air toward us. I drew my blade out and through the air in two sharp bursts, swiftly tracing an arc as the two airborne creatures came within my range.

Shrieking violently, the gargoyles veered off in two different directions away from my attack. The creatures let out one final scream as they both crashed to the ground.

“Ho! Not bad! Not bad at all!”

«Hmph. Of course. After all, she’s my student.»

For some reason, Agnes seemed to be more pleased with the results than I was.

“Oh, we’ve arrived.”

⟬«System» You have reached the boss’s zone, [Temple of the Black Desert].⟭

The temple emitted a terrible, wretched aura as if it were created to worship a fallen divine being. There were large cracks and crevices in the temple’s ceiling. We proceeded very slowly, relying solely on what little light bled in from outside.

The inside of the temple was not all too well kept. There were mounds of salt sand piled up everywhere that was within my field of vision. Some mounds were the size of graves, while others were large enough to be small hills. The floor was also littered with salt sand. The duke’s feet sunk into the ground with each step he took.

“There’s a lot of sand inside.”

“This is very strange. I don’t even think the sandstorm can reach this deep into the temple.”

“You’re right. It’s as if someone transported all this sand inside on purpose. Maybe someone’s starting a salt business from all the salt in this dungeon?”

Our questions were answered when we reached the end of the hallway. There were no longer any mounds of salt, but instead, humongous salt statues of demonic monsters greeted us. Tens, if not hundreds, of hyper-realistic salt statues littered the room. What was even more surprising was that each of the statues did not seem to have been created individually, but were made in harmony with one another.

The statues all seemed to form one large, collective scene that portrayed legions of demons who were in a frenzied scramble to evade a holy war. I had a pretty good idea about who would be able to create this intricate masterpiece that captures such vivid expressions.

I leaped off of the duke’s shoulders and explained, “These look like demonic creatures that have been petrified. That must’ve been the boss monster’s power.”

You know, like Medusa.

“Elthea...” Grandpa appeared devastated upon hearing the news, but my perspective on the matter was entirely different.

This actually gives us all the more reason to be hopeful. We shattered the large, salt statues that were blocking our path and entered a great hall. The room was in ruins, and evidence of a great, intense battle was etched into the walls. Thorny tentacles wrapped around the pillars supporting the hall. We traced the tentacles back to their source, high up in the ceiling. The only way to look up at the entirety of the dome ceiling was by tilting our heads all the way back. We were both shocked to find a gigantic eyeball split in half and plastered to the ceiling.

⟬The Eye Overseeing All Chaos rubs his eyes and says that must’ve hurt.⟭

Please don’t empathize with disgusting demonic creatures. This eyeball with tentacles must’ve been this dungeon’s boss. It must’ve undergone petrification when it was defeated because bits and pieces of salt occasionally crumbled away from the eyeball’s lifeless form.

As I wandered about some more, I heard the old duke shout, “E-Elthea!”