I watched as Justinia stepped through the portal with Mary to be teleported back to the capital city, leaving just Mother and I remaining in the tent.
Mother placed her cup down before turning to me to pat on her lap.
I understood what she wanted and went over to her to sit down on her lap.
Mother immediately pulled me into a tight hug with her arms wrapped around my waist.
"Ufufufu~ Mama missed you, my little one~"
"Mmm... Didn't we just see each other on my birthday?"
"Fufufu~ That still means Mama did not see my dearest child for a few days~ And that's enough to make Mama miss you~"
She went ahead to spin me around so that I was sitting sideways on her lap instead and planted a kiss on my forehead before pulling back with a smile.
"Now... Does my little one want to follow Mama to do the inspection?"
"I... Ermm... What about school?"
"Ara, ara? Hasn't my little one found out that you are already ahead of the syllabus by a large margin?"
Well... I guess Mother has a point... And I'm currently trying to explore a little bit more about Eromancy anyway so it would be a good idea to practice it somewhere else.
I mean... Sure, I could just practice at home but having Mother here to make sure I don't do anything stupid would be a better option.
I guess I wouldn't mind... Since I also want to see how Mother worked as well. The way she was fighting those monsters just now was really cool too so if I could see more of that, I would not mind either.
But I suppose I should tell someone back at the man--
"Mary will take care of telling your harem, my little one~ I'll get Mary to bring Katsuki along as well~" Mother told me as though reading my mind.
Well, I guess there's no reason to say no now then~
I gave Mother a nod and she immediately pulled me into another hug where she smothered my face with her chest.
"Ufufufu~ My little one really is the cutest~"
Mnnnggh... Is this really going to be alright?
Whatever... I guess we'll just have to see--
An explosion came from somewhere, causing the ground beneath us to shake and something outside the tent crashed onto the ground.
I jumped up on my feet while Mother furrowed her brows to stare at a specific direction, which I assume was where the explosion originated from.
It took me a moment to realise she was looking in the direction of the Dungeon.
"What's going on?" I asked.
Mother stood up and picked me up in her arms, "It seems like... This Dungeon is different from the other Dungeons, my little one."
"Eh... Eh? How is it different?"
"Mmm... Mama will need to check. Would you follow Mama?"
The monster girl roared at Mother, "What does it look like I'm doing! I'm clearing out the bastards who are trying to steal my home from me!"
Mother finally decided to let me stand on my own so that she could approach the monster.
"Your home, you say? This Dungeon is your home, yes?"
"That's right! And you bastards are messing up the front of my home! What are you doing here?!"
"Did you release the undead outside?"
"Undead? What... What undead?"
Mother frowned slightly, "Are there no undeads in this Dungeon?"
The Ifrit seemed to be slightly confused by the question, "Undead... That is... But Master did not make any?"
Mother caught on to that word immediately, "You have a master? I see. This dungeon has been conquered by someone. Why don't you go and tell your master that I wish to speak to them?"
The Ifrit immediately puffed up her chest and the fire around her blazed threateningly, "Ha? Who do you think you are? If you want to speak to my master, you have to go and meet him! Not ask him to come out and meet you like some kind of mongrel!"
"Ara, ara? So I have to go into the Dungeon to find him at the very end then?"
"Ha! That's right! Only people who are worthy enough to fight their way into the Dungeon to the lowest level have the right to meet my Master!"
I noticed Mother's hand twitch slightly before she relaxed and turned around to me, "That sounds like a lovely idea, my little one~ Why don't we take a little detour and meet this little Dungeon conqueror?"
Eh? We're actually going in? I thought for sure Mother would demand that she bring that guy outside here instead.
Then I realised that Mother was really just using this as an excuse to go Dungeon diving with me, isn't it?
"I don't mind I guess..." I told her.
Mother giggled, "Ufufufu~ That's perfect~ Then we shall go and meet this little master of yours~ In that case, you can stop burning this place and return back to your little home now, I'll tell them to set up a little further away from here~"
The Ifrit scoffed, "That's not good enough! I want all of them gone! Leave this place at once!"
"Hmm... That's not possible I'm afraid. Since it's clear that you weren't aware, but an undead horde came out from your Dungeon about an hour ago and we were attacked by it. We have to make sure that it doesn't happen again for the safety of our own homes you see~"
"That's impossible! There's no way such a thing can happen! I do not remember seeing any undead in my home!"
"Well, even if that's the case, we still have to make sure that it doesn't happen again, right? I'll have a talk with your little master and if we can come to an agreement, we'll stop building the walls~"
The fire around the Ifrit flared up again, "I said I want all of them gone! Anyone who isn't here to challenge the Dungeon should get lost!"
Mother tilted her head, "Ara? Is that what your master said?"
Her fire died down instantly, "Master... No, he did not say that..."
"Then perhaps you should not speak for him, yes? I shall ask him about this myself and get an answer from him instead~ No run along now~"
The Ifrit was obviously not happy about this but decided to return to the Dungeon, probably because she was afraid of upsetting her master.
Once the Ifrit went back into the Dungeon, Mother turned to me with an excited smile, "Ufufufu~ Shall we, my little one?"
We're going in right now?
Ah whatever, let's go then.