From that point on, our progress through the dungeon with Ageha went perfectly.
I truly felt as though the two of us could take down any monster as long as we worked together.
"Let’s use this hideout for today," I suggested.
"Okay, sounds good!"
I gestured toward one of the hidden rooms Vampire Eudite had shown me in the past. Fighting monsters was exhausting work. While we probably could have pushed ourselves to go deeper, it was better to stop and rest while we still had energy to spare, especially with Ageha in tow.
"Wow, this place is huge!" Ageha exclaimed as she stepped inside.
It was certainly more spacious than the other hideouts we'd used. There were tables, chairs, and several plush sofas. It even had a toilet. When I peeked in to see how it worked, I found a Slime living inside the mechanism. With facilities this refined, it was barely different from a proper house.
Come to think of it, Vampire Eudite had always been a woman of particular tastes, right down to drinking blood from teacups. She must have put a great deal of effort into preparing these retreats.
"Oh, right! I should get started on dinner," Ageha said, hopping off the sofa where she’d been relaxing. She pulled several cuts of monster meat out of her <Item Box>.
"You're tired, Ageha. I’ll take care of it, so just relax."
"No, I’d feel bad doing nothing. Let me help!"
She was persistent, and since this was our second night together in a hideout, she’d already become quite efficient at the routine. The cooking itself was simple. We used a Magic Stone harvested from a monster to spark a fire and placed the meat on an iron griddle found in the hideout. I seasoned it with salt and pepper from the pantry.
As a bonus, I added some medicinal herbs I’d gathered earlier that day. While usually sold for their healing properties, they were also frequently used as aromatics in cooking. I decided to test that out.
"This is actually really good!" Ageha said after her first bite.
"You think so? I thought the seasoning might be a bit too basic."
"Not at all! Getting to eat a big portion of meat like this... it makes me feel so happy~"
Ageha beamed at me. It was strange; watching her eat with such genuine relish made me feel like the food was something special too. To me, it was just the same mundane meal I’d eaten a hundred times, but today, it tasted better than ever.
◆
"Now, if only there was a bath, this would be perfect," Ageha mused as she leaned back on the sofa after dinner.
The place had beds and furniture, so the lack of a bath was indeed the only glaring omission. When I had been clearing the dungeon with Puppeteer, we hadn't bothered with such luxuries, but what about when I was with Eudite?
"Wait... there might actually be one," I realized. Thinking back, I had a vague memory of taking a bath a few times while staying with the vampire.
"R-Really!?" Ageha’s eyes sparkled.
"I can’t guarantee this specific hideout has one, so don't get your hopes up too high."
Even as I said that, I began searching the room. I eventually found a door tucked away in a corner. When I opened it, I found a large wooden tub.
"Oooh! It’s a bath!" Ageha cheered, peering over my shoulder.
To get it ready, I needed to use a Water-Attribute Magic Stone and a Fire-Attribute Magic Stone. Most Magic Stones harvested from monsters fell into four categories: Light, Fire, Water, and Wind. Light-Attribute Magic Stones provided illumination, Fire-Attribute Magic Stones generated heat, and Water-Attribute Magic Stones produced water or ice. Because of that, Water-Attribute Magic Stones were indispensable for things like baths or refrigeration. Wind Magic Stones, meanwhile, acted as power sources for various machinery.
I set to work preparing the water.
"Ageha, you can go in first," I told her once the tub was full and heating.
"Oh, I couldn't! Kiska, you should go first."
"Don't worry about it. Just get in and relax."
"Well... if you're sure, then I'll take you up on it." She nodded shyly and headed into the bathroom.
I didn't have much to do while I waited, so I sat back on the sofa to rest.
"KYAAAAAAHHHH!"
The moment I sat down, a piercing scream echoed from the bathroom.
"Ageha! What happened!?"
Panicked, I threw the door open. I found Ageha slumped on the floor.
"Ah, no... it's just... the water was a lot hotter than I expected. It startled me."
"Oh. Is that all?" I sighed in relief. The way she’d screamed, I thought something catastrophic had happened.
"U-Um... Kiska? This is... a little embarrassing."
"Ah, sorry!" I immediately looked away. I hadn't meant to stare, but the image was already burned into my mind. Her slender frame, her breasts—not exactly large, but looking quite soft to the touch—and all those other things I wasn't meant to see.
"I mean... I don't really mind if it's you looking, though," she murmured.
What was that supposed to mean? I felt a desperate urge to ask, but I kept my mouth shut.
"I must have messed up the temperature," I said, trying to force a change of subject. I’d clearly overdone it with the Fire-Attribute Magic Stone. "If I use a Water-Attribute Magic Stone, I can bring it down to something comfortable."
"Could you... do that for me? I don't really know how to use them yet."
"...Sure. No problem."
I gripped a Water-Attribute Magic Stone and manipulated its internal Mana to generate a chill. If I submerged it in that state, the temperature would drop quickly. However, it wasn't an instant process. I had to wait by the tub, and the silence was excruciatingly awkward. After all, a naked Ageha was right there next to me. I tried my best to look anywhere else, but I was hyper-aware of her presence.
"Hey, Kiska."
"W-What is it?" I stammered.
"Your heart is racing because you saw me naked, isn't it?"
She’d caught me.
"So what if it is?" I replied, trying to sound indifferent to hide my embarrassment.
"If you want to look, you can look more, you know?" she whispered right into my ear.
Something inside me snapped. I turned around and stared directly at her. I placed a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye.
"Don't blame me for what happens next," I growled.
Ageha gave a small, slow nod.
Wait, was she serious? Now that I’d said it, I was the one getting nervous. What was the protocol here? Should I just kiss her?
I looked at her lips—and froze.
Her mouth was trembling. Her face was a deep crimson, and she was staring at the floor. She was clearly terrified.
What am I doing...?
I regained my senses. I was about to do something incredibly stupid. I reached out and gave her cheek a playful pinch.
"Don't go teasing your elders too much."
"Fueh?"
Startled by the pinch, she let out a strange little squeak. By then, the water had cooled down perfectly.
◆
"Well then, Kiska. Good night!"
"Yeah. Sleep well."
After tucking Ageha into the bed, I stretched out on the sofa. I should have been exhausted from the dungeon trek, but sleep refused to come. Maybe it was the lingering tension from the bathroom.
Actually, there was a bigger reason. I was remembering the nightmare from a previous loop. Early in our journey, Ageha had tried to throw herself at me. When I rejected her, she’d fallen into such despair that she committed suicide.
I was terrified that the moment I closed my eyes, she would crawl over to the sofa and try again. And if she did... I knew I would probably accept her. If I rejected her and she killed herself again, I’d truly lose my mind this time.
Besides, I’d thought she was beautiful from the very first moment I saw her. Nothing had ever struck me as more breathtaking than Ageha when she was still sealed inside that Barrier. Our relationship was good now. I had no reason to turn her away.
I kept repeating those thoughts to myself, tossing and turning in an agonizing loop of self-reflection. I never did get any real sleep, and before I knew it, morning had arrived.
In the end, she never came to my side at all.
"Kiska, you have dark circles under your eyes. Did you not sleep well?"
"Yeah... I was just busy thinking about our strategy for the deeper levels."
"I see. But you shouldn't push yourself if you're tired. Why don't you sleep a bit more?"
"Maybe you're right. Let me close my eyes for just a little longer."
"Sure. Sleep tight."
I collapsed onto the bed, feeling like a total idiot. I’d spent the whole night in a state of high alert and romantic delusion while she’d slept like a baby. How embarrassing.
◆
"Waaa! Look, Kiska! I did it!"
Ageha was literally hopping with joy after finishing off a monster. She ran over to me and stood perfectly still, looking up at me expectantly.
I knew that look. It was the "please pet me" signal.
"You did great, Ageha."
"Ehehe~"
She leaned into my hand, her face relaxing into a blissful smile. She really was like a small animal sometimes.
"We’ve made a lot of progress. We're already at the Boss Room," I noted.
"Yeah, it feels like it went by so fast!"
The two of us stood before the massive doors that sealed the dungeon's final guardian.
"Are we going in now?" Ageha asked.
"Not yet. There's one place I want to stop first."
"A stop?"
I searched the nearby wall. I was sure there was a switch for a hidden room around here. There—that was it.
"Whoa! A hidden room! You really do know everything, Kiska. You're quite amazing, indeed!"
Ageha’s excitement was so high her speech was starting to sound a bit formal and strange.
"Hey now, don't overdo the praise. You'll give me a big head."
Truth be told, I was feeling pretty pumped up myself.
"But it's true! I've never met anyone as incredible as you."
"You've got amnesia, remember? You literally don't remember anyone but me, so that’s not saying much."
"Oh... that's right. I don't know anyone else, do I?"
"You little scatterbrain."
Joking around, we reached the center of the hidden room, where a Treasure Chest sat waiting. Inside was a <Crystal of Brilliance>, an item that granted a random Skill.
"Opening this will give you a Skill. Do you want to do the honors?"
I had opened the chest with the <Crystal of Wisdom> and gained <Swordsmanship>, so it was only fair to let her have this one.
"I'm okay. You take it, Kiska."
"You don't have to be polite."
"It's not that. I just have a feeling... that I can't learn any more Skills."
"Oh? I see."
It was a known rule that a person could only hold five Skills at once. Since Ageha was the Hero, it made sense that she was already at her limit.
"Well, in that case, I'll take it."
"Go for it!"
I opened the chest.
▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽
You have acquired the Skill: <Covenant>.
△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△
"Huh?"
<Covenant>? What kind of skill was that?
"What did you get?" Ageha asked.
"Something that definitely isn't going to help in a fight," I muttered. I wasn't sure of the specifics, but it definitely wasn't a combat Skill.
"Oh, that’s a shame."
"Well, it’s a random draw. It is what it is."
Honestly, I was happy with my current setup. With Ageha by my side, I was confident we could take down the boss without any trouble.