CH 42

A girl named Elisa knew information that only the daughter of her dead lover would know.

The orphan director and her guardian also gave evidence that she was his real daughter.

This is why he raised them together because he didn’t know who his own daughter was. Later, he felt like both were like the first and second daughter, so it didn’t matter who the real daughter was.

However, the Prince’s attitude toward the two was remarkably different.

Elisa resembled his dead lover very much.

For that reason, her delicate figure, which was so delicate that he thought would fly away when the wind blows, was particularly painful to his eyes, and the Prince could hardly control the protective instinct that came from his gut.

Anyway, Elthea will be strong as his successor, and Elisa, who has a weak body, he decided to raise her carefully without making her suffer. He also had a desire to play the role of the father, which he had never been able to do for Elthea. But….

“Huh, you said Elisa was a fake?”

“Yes. It was a scam for my family and fortune. The orphanage director, her guardian, Elisa herself… they were all together in the scam….”

“Oh, well, so you’re hard on your real daughter and full of love for your fake daughter? In front of your real daughter? 

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then what was the reason for your daughter to run away from home? The truth was revealed after she run away, right?”

“That……at a family meeting, I announced that I would join Elisha into the family, but that night Elthea came to my office and wept sadly. I was embarrassed because I’d never seen her like that before. I thought I needed to comfort her, but I didn’t know how….”

“What you said……?”

The Prince took a deep breath.

“For being so petty, I scolded her as a disqualification as the next head of state…….”

“…….”

Ellet gulped the carbonated water, and she opened her mouth.

“Can I just say one word?”

“Wh-what?”

“I’d run away from home, too!” 

“Ung!”

“You should’ve done better and been nicer while she was there!”

“Kuh-huh! You said you’d only say one thing!”

“Who cares!”

It was very hard to have the little girl lash out at him with the same face as Elthea. The old Prince, who had many tears, stole the wet tears from his eyes.

“So, it’s a story of when I deceived, but I really thought of both of them as daughters…”

Excuses were not a good choice in this situation. 

“You can say such words only when you have given enough faith as a family. Didn’t you say that at the family meeting, you declared your own desire to make Elisa officially a family member? From the real daughter’s point of view, ‘Oh, you judged me as a fake daughter and publicly branded me! Then I will be kicked out soon!’”

“Ugh….”

There was nothing to refute. Just before Elthea ran away from home, the words she spat out like coughing blood came to his mind.

-Is this father’s decision?

-What should I do. Now that I am useless, you will not be able to let me go because of the honor of the family, so you must be very uncomfortable.

-……Why are you mad? It’s something you’ve been wishing for. You never thought of me as a daughter! Even if I die, you won’t shed a single tear! I’d rather die!

-That’s why I’ll disappear so that you won’t become a stain on your family’s honor! That’s good, right! Are you satisfied? You must feel better now! Congratulations, Duke!

‘That’s why you went into the dungeon alone?….’

After roaming the Black Salt Desert for two months, the Prince could see traces of his daughter’s unique aura and skills carved into the rocks and bones.

Obviously, Elthea was the only one who came in here and stopped the dungeon burst.

What the hell. An honorable death, is this what she wanted? But who is to blame? The Prince himself pushed his daughter to think of herself as a tool for the family.

The prince sniffed his nose on his handkerchief.

After thinking for a while, Ellet said as if she had made up her mind.

“Grandpa, I am going to the temple.”

“What!”

The Prince was in tears and had a blocked voice, thinking of his daughter who had defeated a dungeon burst alone

“Don’t make your Dad worry and go home! In the first place, the dungeon is not a place for a child like you to come!”

“I know how to use a sword. A C-class dungeon without a boss is nothing. Above all, I know the way to the boss zone, so I can get there quickly.”

“Really? Do you know the way?”

The Prince’s attitude changed.

The little girl had a knack for finding the way even in a salt sand storm where even the compass stopped working!

Before the Prince could say anything, Elle suggested first.

“If we hurry to the temple, it’ll only take an hour. Come with me, Grandpa.”

✠

It was very convenient to take this grandfather. I wonder what he did with Aura, the salt sand did not touch my body as if he had opened an umbrella. Furthermore.

“Child! Your steps are too slow!”

“Kyaa!”

Grandfather gave me a shoulder ride and sprinted at high speed. I was confused at first, but soon got used to it.

“Wow! This is exciting! Grandpa, faster!”

“OK! Hold on tight!”

Feels like riding a train in an amusement park!

I grabbed the grandfather’s head with both hands. If the angle changed from the northeast side of the temple, I pulled the left and right hairs to drive his direction.

“Stop pulling! It will fall!”

“You have a lot of hair, so I think it would be okay if it falls out a bit. You don’t have to worry about baldness for the rest of your life.”

“Hmm! That’s right!”

The run at a phenomenal speed continued. In this way, the arrival time seems to be greatly shortened.

I spoke in admiration of the grandfather’s physical abilities.

“Grandpa, you must have been a really good knight in your old days.”

“What do you mean about the old days!? I am still on active duty!”

“Yes, yes. Here. You need to take supplements before muscle loss occurs.”

“Hm……? Wait! Isn’t this Rodel’spills? How can you have something that is out of stock and even money can’t buy?!”

“My dad and I made this.”

“What?! Was Alchemist Rhodel your father?”

“Exactly, Dad and I. Rhodel is the Rhodel of Leonard Rodellaine and Ellet Rodellaine.”

“I see, I see. You and your dad are a miracle. To get a performance like this in a dungeon!”

“But what’s grandfather’s name?”

“Hm, just call me Grandpa Jake.”

“Oh, Grandpa Jake. It feels very friendly.”

It was when we had about 10 minutes to get to know each other a little more.

[ You have escaped from the ‘Barrier of the Black Temple’.]

The salt sand storm cleared and the sky was clear.

Crrrie! Crrrie!

There was also a monster that came to meet us as a commemoration of entering the new area. I could feel two desert gargoyles wandering through the air, staring at me.

“Tsk, annoying things.”

Grandpa looked like he was trying to put me on the ground, and I said quickly

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Come to think of it, you said you knew how to use a sword. Do you want to try it?”

Grandpa smiled with delight. He looked like he wanted to see a cute talent show. A disgruntled voice was heard from my necklace.

Yes! I answered inwardly and grabbed the wooden sword.

Shh!

I waited while riding on his shoulders. Finally, two desert gargoyles came rushing in with their wings tilted back.

As soon as they came into the gap, I drew two sharp lines. 

Kyeeee!

The Gargoyles flew left and right, making a tearing sound. It was a shriek filled with death.

“Oh! Child, that’s pretty good!”

For some reason, Agnes seemed to be more proud.

“Oh, we are here.”

[ You have entered the ‘Black Temple’ boss zone.]

It was a temple building with an eerie energy that seemed to fit a fallen god. The walls and ceiling were full of cracks. Relying on the light that leaked in, we slowly went inside.

Possssh.

The inside was not clean.

Heaps of salt sand piled up and flowed down everywhere we could see. The size varied from the size of a small mound to the size of a hill. The floor was also made of salt, so every time he walked, the grandfather’s feet sank.

“There is a lot of salt inside.”

“That’s strange. I don’t think there was a salt sandstorm in this area.”

“I know, right. It’s like it was moved on purpose. Does anyone have any salt farm business here?”

The question was answered when we reached the end of the hallway.

There were no more heaps of salt. Instead, stone statues of salt in the form of monsters greeted us.

Countless hyper-realistic salt statues.

Each one was not a standalone work but harmonized with the other. It was a scene of being tangled and trampled in a mess as if trying to scramble out of the area.

I could guess the identity of the artist who expressed such a creepy level of vividness.

I said, getting off Grandpa’s shoulder. 

“It looks like they are beasts caught in stone statues. I guess that was the boss’s ability.”

For example, a monster like Medusa.

“Elthea….”

Grandpa was depressed. But my thoughts were different.

‘In this case, there is actually hope.’

We broke down the salt statues blocking the entrance and entered the huge hall. The scenery that looked like ruins told us that there was a fierce battle here.

Tentacles like thorns wrapped around the temple pillars supporting the ceiling.

Ours eyes raised along with the place where the tentacles were gathering.

The dome ceiling was visible only when our neck was bent all the way, and at the tentacle’s ends, there were huge eyes split in half.

[‘The Eyes that watch over the chaos of all things’ says it seems to hurt, and he caresses his own eyelids.]

Don’t have empathy for a disgusting monster.

Those tentacle-like eyes seem to have been the boss here. As it was subjugated, the salt powder fell down as if to show that it was also petrified.

It was then.

“El-Elthea!”