After exchanging a few words with the powerful girl, Luke felt his vision dim and tunnel. Suddenly, her face was far, far away. In the end, he fainted.
When he finally woke up, he looked up and realized he was no longer in the cave. On his left side, there was a faint orange light, which Luke immediately turned his face to observe.
The light, which came from an almost extinguished fireplace, illuminated the face of a beautiful woman, whose golden strands were easily recognized by the half-beast, as was the strong sweet smell coming from her.
The dim light of the fire and the smell relieved the half-wolf, who barely had the strength to move but was still too stubborn to be convinced of it. Ayumi Yamazaki seemed to be in a deep sleep, sitting in a red leather armchair.
As soon as Luke got up, instead of waking her up, he preferred to cover her with the beige linen blanket that was covering him before.
Then, even with the severe pain in his back, the man went to the fireplace and knelt down to get some pieces of firewood. After placing the wood on the natural coals created by burning the previous wood, he blew carefully.
'I could try using the <Vind>, Right? Yeah... but that might spread soot all over the room... I think I'd better do some tests when I can, but for now, I have to recover.'
Now the half-wolf was feeling what it was like to be a real Adventurer and how challenging this risky profession was. Every week, unexpected things happened that could kill you without you even having a chance to reflect on the very life you had lived up to that point.
That girl said that thing was a demon. I feel like I need to start understanding more about these things if I want to stay alive.'
Luke had many worries in his head and no visible solution. He was at the point of wanting to drop everything and run far away; however, he took on the responsibility when he decided to apply for this infiltration.
Deep down, he judged himself and thought that other people like Ynosuke or Matthew would have some clue about the theft by this point, and since he had nothing, it was beginning to weigh on his shoulders.
With a series of light puffs, he finally managed to ignite a considerable amount of embers, and after a few seconds. Fluuf! The fire rose in the fireplace.
"Oh! Are you up already, Guard? Are you really all right?" Martha's voice echoed in the room.
Luke stood up with difficulty and looked back. The servant girl was looking at him in admiration, and Luke admired her too because she was wearing white satin pajamas, and his eyes fell well under her breasts.
Inexpressive, he answered her, "My whole back is still sore. I don't think it's a big deal, anyway. Can you tell me how I got here?"
Martha nodded and, with a single gesture, called him out of the room.
When they left the living room and entered the reception room, filled with many paintings and plants, the moonlight coming in through the large window under the main double door was responsible for illuminating them.
The entire mansion was dark and silent, as all dawns at the Strogueher Mansion were. As soon as the door to the living room closed, Luke raised his eyebrows as a signal for Martha to start counting.
"Sigh... You stayed inside the Dungeon for three days, Luke. Which got not only Ayumi and Nathalia worried but everyone in the house as well."
"Three days? What do you mean?"
How could it have been three days when he had just hours ago been wandering around town in Nathalia's company? As soon as he wondered about this, the answer appeared on the tip of his tongue.
"The Domain of.... Hugh! Never mind, that doesn't matter now. Do you know if it was a horned girl who brought me here?"
"Actually, it was Nathalia and Shiro who brought you from the Building under the Dungeon this afternoon, but you're not crazy, it was a horned girl who actually rescued you."
"Did she tell you where she would stay in the city or which city she would go to?" The man rested his back on one of the enclosures and crossed his arms.
The servant girl looked down the silent corridors and meanwhile pulled a piece of paper from a side pocket in her pajamas. The paper was rectangular and yellowish in a way that didn't look like ordinary parchment paper.
She held the paper out to Luke, and he took it, looked at it, and saw a bunch of letters that to him didn't make any sense, except for the patterns he recognized: 239 Alameda Street. Even someone as illiterate as Luke could discern what an address was.
Not wanting to abuse the goodwill of the maid, who was usually serious and barely exchanged sentences with him, he didn't dare ask her to confirm his perception and just thanked her with a smile.
"Khum!" The sound of a throat clearing startled Luke and Martha. "May I ask what you two are doing so close together?" Ayumi, who opened the door quietly, questioned angrily.
The half-wolf turned around, wondering how he hadn't heard her. The Matriarch stood with her arms crossed, wearing her everyday wool sweater, and had a stressed expression on her face that Luke had never seen before.
Martha had seen it a few times when the woman returned from stressful meetings; however, she never expected to see it directed at her.
"Are you two going to just stare at me, or are you going to open your beaks soon?"
Luke didn't want to let the maidservant have the proactivity to explain, so he explained that he was confused about everything that had happened and decided to ask the maid how he got there. As soon as he told this, Ayumi's expression changed instantly, giving way to a loose, shy smile.
"Ahh... I'm sorry, then. I thought you two were having a more... intimate talk."
Martha's face flushed when confronted with this idea. She had to turn around so that the Matriarch wouldn't notice. "I am going to my room; I advise you to go to sleep as well, especially you, Guard." Then Martha disappeared into the darkness.
'What was that reaction?' Luke wondered, confused.
The half-wolf turned his attention to Ayumi, and as soon as he looked into her eyes, he felt the lasciviousness she had in mind. If not for the pain, he would have indeed attacked her at that moment. However, just after deciding that he would not have sex that day, Ayumi pulled him by his shirt, causing him to press her into the wall.
'What are a few more bruises going to change?' In the end, he couldn't resist the temptation.
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