Chapter 689

TENKEN 689 Katley's Changes

Ten minutes after the Sibylla and Biscot left.

「Haah!」

「Gshaah!」

Katley's sword cracked the Lesser Ogre's head open and took its life.

The Lesser Ogre died with various things dripping from its head. It's a pretty gruesome sight, but Katley is smiling.

「I did it!」

「Nn」

She was so scared of the Lesser Ogre a while ago, but she's ready to go at it from the start now.

It seemed that she had been agitated by all the things Sibylla had said to her. Also, after experiencing Sibylla's intimidation, she didn't seem to care much about the Lesser Ogre's power now.

As a result, she was able to grow rapidly by defeating Lesser Ogres.

The other thing that seemed to have a lot to do with it was her high level of trust in Fran.

It seemed that from telling Sibylla about Fran's exploits, she remembered that Fran was indeed a great adventurer. And she must have suggested to herself that if Fran said it was okay, then she should be okay.

Oh, Fran also tried to correct her about the super amazing story about her. But that didn't go well.

「But still, I wonder what those people were! They're so suspicious! Should I report them to Grandfather or Uncle Diaz when I get back?」

「I'll do it」

「That was of course! If oneesama was the one to tell them, I'm sure they'll believe it! Aah! But what if they've already run away?」

「Urushi is still following them」

「I-I see! As expected of Fran-oneesama」

The conversation between the two continued like this the whole time.

There was hardly any conversation between the two at first, but Katley suddenly became much more expressive. This seemed to be the result of the tension that had been relieved by her ranting to Sibylla.

I thought she might have been pretending all this time, but that doesn't seem to be the case. She's certainly a timid and reserved kid. She's the usually quiet type, but when it comes to her favorite things, she won't stop rambling about it.

And now that she's with her very special person, Fran. It's no wonder she'd be like this.

That's why Fran couldn't really handle her at all. She had tried her best to clear Katley's misunderstanding, however――

「To not brag about her achievements, oneesama is so humble!」

「...」

Well, it looks like it'd be hard to clear the misunderstanding.

I thought we could convince her that the story has been exaggerated. But Fran gained a new reputation as a humble person instead.

She looks at Fran with a great deal of respect. If it were me, I'd definitely say something like, "Don't stare at me with those sparkling eyes! I'm gonna melt!" But Fran doesn't seem to mind.

We ended up spending the next hour or so defeating magic beasts and experiencing the thrill of opening treasure chests before turning back to the surface.

「We're done, let's back to the surface」

「I-I see... Thank you very much! I've learned so much today!」

「Nn. But it's too early to thank me. We haven't made it back in one piece」

「I-I see! So, there's still adventure until we made it to the surface too!」

「Nn」

Besides, we're not going back immediately.

「Let's take one last break. You shouldn't push yourself too hard」

「Y-you're right! If we're tired, we might be caught off guard」

「I agree」

「Yes!」

Katley looks really happy that Fran agrees with her. Her tail is waving merrily. Looking at her reminded me of Urushi.

「Let's have our dinner here」

「Dinner?」

「Nn. Take out the meat in your bag」

「Y-yes」

Eating in dungeons or in the wild is also one of the most exciting parts of the adventure. But depending on the people, it can be a time for fun or a time of torment.

It's not always a fun time for most fledgling adventurers. After all, if they can't catch anything, they'll often just make off dried meat.

We let Katley roast the rabbit meat she got from the upper floors by herself. But since there was no salt and the meat was handled poorly, it must have been dry and not very tasty.

Still, Katley seemed to be pleased with it. She was surprisingly tough, isn't she? Well, it must have been new for her to cook and eat her own prey that she had hunted herself.

And so, after having Katley enjoy the beginner's dungeon to the fullest, we left the dungeon and returned to Aurel's mansion.

「Oh, you're back!」

「Grandfather! Are you done with your work?」

「Yup」

It was Aurel himself who greeted us.

Well, what can I say, he was probably worried about his granddaughter. He put a smile on his face, which resembled that of a yakuza boss, and patted Katley's head as she ran over to him.

「How was it? You didn't get badly injured, did you?」

「Yes!」

Aurel should've known how the dungeons for beginners are built. He must have known that if she were to get caught in a trap, she should be able to escape with just some scratch in there.

But I guess he's more concerned about whether or not she got badly hurt in battle.

「She defeated 3 Lesser Ogres and didn't get hurt」

「Hou? Even in her first fight?」

「Umm... There's something I need say about that」

「Looks like something has happened, huh?」

「Katley did her best. I can guarantee you of that. It's just that we met some suspicious people in there」

「Suspicious people?」

As expected, there's no way we could say in front of Katley that Sibylla and her companion might be spies for the Kingdom of Raidos.

Fran's quick glance at Katley should have given him an idea. Aurel then asked to change the places and left Katley to the maid.

「So, what happened?」

「We met some people who might be from the Kingdom of Raidos」

「What!? Raidos you said?」

「Nn」

「But you don't have any clear evidence, do you?」

「Yes. But they were really suspicious people」