It’s Dangerous Outside the Dungeon, Master

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– 1 –

Clatter.

As soon as Evangeline arrived in Libertus’s private room, she pulled out three sets of teacups from the cupboard.

It was for the three of them, excluding Xue.

Of course, they hadn’t excluded Xue on purpose.

She simply chose to bring out wine instead of tea.

She preferred alcohol over tea. Originally, she couldn’t drink at all, but now she had reached the point where she could enjoy it.

Though it was amusing that it was tea spiked with alcohol.

Click.

“When did it start?”

The question from their master began after they had each drained their cup.

“From the moment I met you, Master.”

“Since I was born from the core.”

“Since two years ago…”

The three answers to the question were each different.

“Two years ago?”

Among them, what was especially surprising to Libertus was Xue’s answer.

She had come to this world and summoned Evangeline exactly 136 days ago. Also, Lan and her core had appeared in this world three months ago.

It was a considerably longer time than the other two.

“I needed more time than others… But don’t worry. I didn’t suffer more because of it. I just needed time to prepare.”

“Prepare, huh…”

Libertus looked at Xue, wanting more answers, but she remained silent.

She couldn’t reveal more to her master.

“Alright. You don’t plan to tell me everything, do you?”

Noticing that expression from Libertus, they exchanged glances and looked at her with an apologetic feeling.

The reason they couldn’t explain further was purely due to the agreement they had made among themselves.

If their master demanded strongly, they would certainly be willing to explain everything, but they wished it wouldn’t come to that.

“Let me tell you about what happened before.”

“We might start having a hierarchy or biases among us…”

“We promised not to talk about it until everyone gathered.”

So for now, they could only ask once.

Their loyalty to her was the top priority, but their loyalty to each other was also important.

“In order to give each other as objective an explanation as possible… I understand, roughly.”

Still, at least that was one thing she was told. That excluding them, there are still a few ‘scheduled vassals’ remaining.

Libertus decided to be satisfied with this much.

Her curiosity grew, but she didn’t want to put them in a difficult situation.

Besides, she had already obtained almost all the answers.

“Then, I would like to know this. How many are left?”

Curiosity about the remaining people had emerged as well.

Seeing that they were trying to maintain such loyalty meant that at least they weren’t ‘bad’ people toward her.

Isn’t it natural to be curious about such ‘good’ people?

“There are two.”

Hearing Xue’s answer, it seemed there weren’t too many left.

Thinking it was worth waiting, Libertus nodded.

“I don’t know what they’re doing or where they are, but I hope we can meet as soon as possible.”

“Meeting them should not be difficult.”

“Oh really?”

Libertus raised an eyebrow at Evangeline’s unexpectedly good news, pressing her lips with her finger and tilting her head.

The reaction was immediate.

Thump.

Lan pressed down on her heart.

Fidget…

Xue, having mindlessly tried to drink from her already empty cup, realized it was empty and set it down again.

“…”

Evangeline wore a deliberately expressionless face.

Her master generally exuded an aura of ‘elegance’ and ‘grandeur,’ but this occasional unconsciousness brought elements that made their hearts flutter.

Particularly harmful to their hearts.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

The first to snap out of panic was Lan.

Originally, in such awkward situations, the calmest would be Evangeline, but she was also the most foolish when it came to her master.

Feeling a subtle sense of victory, Lan continued with her words.

“However, the difference is that the two must be approached by you, Master.”

After hearing Lan’s words, Libertus looked at her with a puzzled expression again, soon understanding the meaning and nodding.

“I don’t know how you came to have memories of me, but it means the condition isn’t met unless you meet or get closer to me.”

“That’s right.”

“So that’s why you didn’t keep it a secret until the end.”

“Indeed, you are very wise.”

Listening to Lan’s flattery, Libertus took a moment to organize her schedule.

Since there weren’t many fixed plans immediately following this, it shouldn’t be difficult to move.

“After the meeting with the queens, it would probably be good to raise Xue and Fortuna to elite status.”

However, the three wore troubled expressions at her decision.

While it was true that meeting the remaining two wouldn’t be hard, there were other obstacles.

“Naturally, the master’s safety comes first, so it is a good timing…”

“But… it will still be difficult then.”

“Why is that?”

At Libertus’s question, the three women exchanged awkward glances.

Evangeline soon provided the answer.

“Neither of the two is in this region, Master.”

“Not here?”

Hearing Evangeline’s answer, Libertus’s face once more bore the same puzzled expression.

Thanks to getting a preventive injection moments ago, the three managed to avoid falling into a stupor.

“Ah. I see. You didn’t say it would be quick to meet them.”

“That’s right. The two are not in this kingdom right now.”

“Where are they?”

Evangeline, Xue, and Lan exchanged glances for a moment.

But coming to a conclusion was quick.

Since they had started discussing this ‘slight future,’ it was appropriate to talk about it up to this point.

“One will be at the Grand Shrine, and the other will be in the Blan Kingdom.”

Libertus’s face turned slightly incredulous.

“They’re on opposite sides, huh?”

“Indeed.”

The two places mentioned by Lan were exactly lands located on opposite sides of the Kaisen Kingdom.

To move to meet one side, you would inevitably have to distance yourself from the other.

Moreover, since they said they had no memories, they couldn’t even hope for these people unknown to them to arrive.

“What’s fortunate is that they have separate times to reach this vicinity.”

“I get it roughly. Then, I must certainly sort things out around here at least.”

“That is the priority.”

Nodding, Libertus calculated what to tackle going forward.

With that, the three were finally able to dispel the worries they had in case their master said she’d go find them in that far-off place.

– 2 –

Having driven the decision to throw a small party among themselves, the three left to prepare food.

Left alone in the room, my eyes chased the open magic book, but in reality, I was unable to focus on it at all.

“I get it to some extent now.”

The answers to understand the situation were all obtained from today’s conversation.

It seemed certain that the three had returned to the past or transmitted their memories to their past selves in some way.

If only memories had been transmitted, their behavior wouldn’t make sense, so it was definite that it was at least a ‘regression.’

“Maybe they figured that much hidden would be enough to be regarded as merely a possibility.”

For them, regression was something possible but ordinarily not achieved due to lack of time and materials, while for me, it was something originally impossible but became possible in this world.

If their chances of regression were originally 0.00001%, then for me, a little possibility emerged from 0.

Essentially, the difference in the world they had lived in created this difference in perspective.

“The problem is…”

They hadn’t given the most important answers.

They didn’t provide the reasons for ‘why they needed to come to the past’ and ‘what they sacrificed to return to the past.’

Yet the rationale for the first question was easy to guess.

“They must have come to protect me.”

The three wanted to act proactively toward me, their master.

Not only Eve, who had returned to the time of the summoning, or Xue, who could act independently, but even Lan, who had been more constrained.

The other two I had to find had a system set up for me to obtain their memories, after all.

Those who could completely send their memories among the five must be kept by my side to feel at ease.

What could that reason be? ‘Protection’ or some other reason including that.

“The fact that only three of them arrived fine is probably due to lack of strength.”

For it to fulfill specific conditions and amplify the effect or efficiency of power, it’s a trigger commonly found in various media.

Though it’s unclear how powerful the force used for regression was, it must have been insufficient to send all five entirely to the past.

The problem lay in the method of regression and how that insufficient strength was compensated.

“In the worst-case scenario, it could be ‘external,’ but that’s something I wouldn’t want to touch.”

Whether it was ‘time,’ ‘soul,’ or broadly defined as ‘world.’

After causing such a monumental phenomenon as regression, it was clear that the cost would not be small.

And unless it was ‘external,’ the offerings needed to enable this magic could be pulled from the realm of knowledge.

“Magic ultimately applies mental images. The offerings for that must be ‘valuable’ to the drinker, becoming more potent while also needing to ensure high magical efficiency. Yes, that much is correct.”

The knowledge of necromancy drilled deep in my mind supported this idea.

Necromancy, after all, is the study of handling souls.

There were studies on ‘overlaying a soul onto one’s past self,’ so it wasn’t difficult to deduce that much.

However, the next part was in the realm of leaps of logic and imagination.

Thinking about what materials would be most valuable to the three and potent enough to trigger a major spell at least five times…

“… Ah.”

After a moment of contemplation, I lowered my head to look at my body.

There it was.

The material most valuable to all five, and the most magically efficient in this world.

Perhaps it was the body of the future ‘Dungeon Lord Libertus’—elevated to a much higher level than now.

“I’m dead, aren’t I?”

‘Probably for sure.’

I felt my mouth firmly seal into a straight line.