The Strongest Villain Sets Out: Reincarnated into a Merit-Based Clan, I Become the World's Strongest Swordsman - Chapter 48: Lucia's Acting Strange

“…………”

Lucia, who had received the ice flower from me, was frozen in place for some reason. With a face red like a rose, she continued staring at me intently.

“? Hey, what’s wrong, Lucia? No response?”

“Y-yes!”

“Yes?”

Something was wrong. Lucia’s behavior was clearly strange.

The moment I called out to her, her gaze shifted away. Her face remained bright red, but she was restlessly looking this way and that.

Should I describe it as confusion? Had there been something in my earlier words that could cause misunderstanding?

No, there wasn’t. I declared that with certainty.

I had definitely said:

‘I’ll use you, so you can use me too. Lend me your strength.’

Nothing more than that. Surely Lucia had misunderstood—or I was the one misunderstanding that she’d misunderstood.

I reached out without worrying about it. When I grabbed the arm of the still-restless her, I forcibly pulled her close.

“I’ll take silence as an agreement. Now you can’t leave my side anymore. Let’s get out of here quickly and do some magic training.”

“Y-yes…”

“?”

What was really wrong with this girl? She’d suddenly become meek.

Watching her stirred up strange anxiety, but there was no point worrying deeply about it. Right now I need to search for a way to escape this cave.

Thinking that, I started walking while still gripping Lucia’s hand and arm. I thought that if I walked along the path randomly, I’d eventually reach an exit.

But reality wasn’t so sweet. It felt like we were gradually moving farther from the exit, though that might have been my imagination.

The reason was that when I compared the position of the hole we’d fallen through with the direction we were facing, the path leading into the cave’s depths continued perfectly in the opposite direction.

Could it be that we couldn’t get out without taking a detour?

Such thoughts crossed my mind. However, there was no other path. The choice available to us had been a detour from the start.

“Tch. That lizard really caused us trouble. When I get back to the surface, I’m definitely going to kill it.”

The day’s greatest killing intent leaked out. If that bastard hadn’t shattered the ground and made us fall, I could have torn the dragon to shreds by now.

…Ah, that’s right. Speaking of dragons, I should tell her something. I called back while walking.

“Lucia.”

“! Wh-what?”

“I’ll protect you. So the dragon is mine. You knew from the start you couldn’t win, right?”

“That’s… y-yeah. I understand. Do your best, okay?”

“Do my best?”

I shuddered. Where had the battle maniac who challenged me to a fight the moment she saw me gone? Why was she so docile and obedient?

It seemed creepy in reverse. However, I was grateful she was yielding. Being attacked from behind would just be annoying.

“—Hm?”

My feet stopped abruptly.

Lucia also stopped moving. We both cast our gazes toward the same thing. Simultaneously, we felt doubt.

“Is that… a monster?”

“A monster, yes.”

I was surprised. Genuinely surprised. Ahead of us as we walked through the cave was a skeleton monster. It was definitely a type of undead monster—a skeleton.

It wasn’t particularly strong, but it was a troublesome opponent with abundant resistances. It had few weaknesses too. But if there were skeletons, that meant…

“Did someone die around here?”

“It’s a mine, so it wouldn’t be strange for people to have died.”

“True. Personally, I’d be happy if it became a dungeon… well, whatever. Lucia, defeat that thing.”

“Me?”

“I want to conserve my strength.”

“I-I understand. Leave it to me.”

Lucia raised the corner of her mouth slightly as if pleased, then raised one hand and shot light. Undead monsters mainly disliked light and flame.

Sacred things and heat. Using fire in a cave would be dangerous, but light posed no problem. Based on that judgment, the light bullet pierced through the skeleton’s bony body.

Well done.

“As expected. Good skill.”

She had pierced the target without the slightest deviation. I clapped my hands

“Missing something like that would be harder.”

“I see.”

A genius from a distinguished family said things differently. Thinking that, I was about to start walking again—at that moment.

Clatter. Clatter.

Some sound echoed from deep in the cave.

Gradually, that sound approached.

Footsteps?

I had a bad feeling.

And such predictions were usually accurate. From the darkness, several skeletons appeared.

The moment she saw them, Lucia exclaimed loudly:

“What?! Multiple skeletons?! How many humans died here…”

“Haha. This is getting a bit interesting.”

Could it possibly be? Just as I wished, had this mine become a dungeon?

While watching the monsters gradually approach, I unconsciously raised the corners of my mouth. If it had indeed become a dungeon, I’d want to conquer it after killing the dragon. At worst, it might be a situation where I’d have to conquer it before defeating the dragon.