The several days following our turbulent battle on floor 21 passed rapidly. I was only just now settling down after all the chaos and excitement. You see, in order to recover after our impromptu expedition—both mentally and physically—the Arrivers had decided to take a short break from the dungeon. Today I’d done some light training to keep from getting rusty, taken a shower, and was now putting my feet up in the living room.
“Do you have a moment?” someone asked.
It was Sofie. I looked up to see her in her usual maid outfit, standing with perfect posture.
“What is it?” I asked back.
“I’d like you to come with me.”
“For what? You going to confess your feelings for me or something?” I joked as payback for last time.
Yet she replied dead seriously, “There’s absolutely no chance of that. Just think about it rationally. Why would I fall in love with someone like you? Are you actually a narcissist, Note?”
I stared at her blankly. I was only kidding around. I didn’t realize I’d be opening the door for her to tear me down like that... After being freed from her sense of obligation, Sofie had really stopped holding back with me. That was a good thing, of course, but at times like this, I kinda missed the old Sofie.
In fact, you’re the one who has the wrong idea here! I should be ripping you a new one!
“Well, all joking aside...”
Of course, I was too nice to raise any objections out loud. It totally wasn’t because I was afraid of upsetting her further and suffering whatever other abuse she had in store for me. Really. I wasn’t terrified of girls cutting me down to size. Honest.
“Where are we going?”
“Princess Leyfa summoned me. She said she wants to talk.”
“This doesn’t have to do with floor 21, does it?”
“No.”
Technically, the Arrivers had rescued the Princess’s Legion the other day. When that happened, it was customary to compensate the rescuing party with a reward, much the same way that Jin had paid the parties who’d joined in the search effort to save me and Erin when we were stranded in the dungeon. You could be a stickler about it, but it was socially unacceptable to slight a party you knew well.
That was why Force and I had handled the negotiations with the Legion after the fact. Surprisingly, Leyfa had agreed without protest. Given our history, I’d expected her to put up more of a fight, but she seemed genuinely grateful for what we did. She even ended up offering us several times more than what we’d expected. That included a promise to make us nobles when she took the throne, but we naturally turned down such an unsettling offer. In the end, we’d chickened out of accepting money from her and retreated after agreeing to take several nifty-looking magic artifacts.
We weren’t interested in any more bad blood with the Princess’s Legion anyway. So in order to convey the Arrivers’ intention for a clean slate moving forward, we put aside our greed. And, perhaps because of that, Leyfa no longer seemed to bear the same kind of ill will toward me or the party. If anything, it felt like she’d forgiven us after the events on floor 21.
It thus seemed safe to assume the discord between the Arrivers and the Princess’s Legion was now over, which meant Sofie had been summoned for a different reason altogether.
“I wonder what she wants to discuss...” I mused.
“I don’t know myself,” said Sofie.
“But she wants to talk to both of us, huh? I can’t imagine what about...”
“Actually, she only summoned me.”
Oh? Interesting. Why had Sofie invited me along, then?
“So where are you taking me?” I asked.
“To Princess Leyfa.”
“Why? She didn’t ask to see me, right?”
“I’m worried about going alone. I don’t know what she’ll say. So I’d like you to come with me, Note.”
Here I was getting dragged into another mess. No matter how indebted the princess felt toward us now, approaching her was still scary... Who knew what it would take to set her off again? If possible, I would’ve simply preferred to let sleeping dogs lie.
“Why me? Erin would go if you asked her,” I volunteered.
“If I took her, things would definitely get ugly,” Sofie countered.
“Good point...”
She was totally right. It seemed Sofie now had a pretty good grasp of the party and everyone’s personalities.
“Besides, you’re my accomplice. You’re supposed to help me out.”
“Awfully convenient for you to bring that up at a time like this...”
“It’s just that I feel like I won’t owe you anything for helping me out. We’re partners in crime, after all. There’s no one else I can ask.”
“Well, if you insist...”
I figured gaining Sofie’s trust was a good thing. I felt like I was going easy on her, but I couldn’t help myself. Maybe I was more of a softie than I thought.
“Good. Now get ready. We’ll leave as soon as you are.”
“Huh?! You want to go right now?!”
“Of course. Is that a problem?”
“I mean, it’s not like I have plans, but I need to prepare my heart for this...”
“You don’t. You just have to follow me and watch, and preferably provide support when I need it.”
“See, that’s not just following and watching...”
“And, if things end badly, I’d like you to console me while I’m down.”
“You even need support afterward?!” I had the feeling it was just Sofie’s pessimism telling her that things would go poorly, but as a pessimistic person myself, I didn’t have much room to talk. “Listen, if my role’s that important, I really would like time to prepare...”
“If we delay it too long, my heart won’t hold up. It’s better to get these things over with.”
“Ah, so you’re concerned about your heart.”
Sofie was going to see the liege who’d dismissed her. Of course she was nervous. I didn’t think things were going to be that difficult, but as earnest as Sofie was, she was naturally taking this all rather seriously.
“All right. Let’s go right away,” I suggested.
“Really...?”
“You’re the one who said we should, no?”
“I did...but going immediately is nerve-racking...”
“Which is it?!”
“Right away, please.”
After all her hesitation, Sofie chose to depart forthwith. Fortunately, I was ready to go in the clothes I was already wearing. Taking care of this sooner rather than later would be better for all of us, Sofie foremost.
“Let’s go,” I said.
“Wait a minute,” she replied.
“What is it now?”
Sofie grabbed my arm as I tried to walk off. “My nerves are giving me a stomachache. Can I go to the bathroom?”
“Do what you need to...”
We didn’t leave HQ for another half an hour.