"Are you sure this is the way?"

"Oh dear, Mr. Ken, have you been fooled all your life? Or do you just not trust me?"

"Uh… sorry."

Since the date, Diena and I have grown close like friends.

Perhaps it's because we shared honest feelings with each other, or maybe we just try to ignore the feelings by insisting we're just friends.

Anyway, we've become comfortable enough with each other to speak informally.

Diena now seems to just consider me a fellow escapee from prison.

'But my heart still aches.'

If I had been rejected by Raphne, Emily, or Mary, I would have felt as if my heart was being torn apart.

Especially if the reason for the rejection was a misunderstanding about gender.

"...Why are you looking at me that way?"

"No, it's nothing."

"Don't let your mind wander. You might trip over a tree root."

Diena, though still a woman, was leading the way like a man.

Currently, Diena and I are walking through a forest.

The reason is that at the end of this path, there is a ruin where Diena's great-grandfather supposedly hid the method to craft the Demon Sword.

And so, we traversed an unidentified forest.

For reference, this forest is near a village two days away from the village where I had the date with Diena.

I've asked the other three to wait in the village.

Since a group of five would stand out too much, we decided to go just the two of us.

After all, we're only here to look for the crafting instructions.

Raphne grumbled a bit, but ever since we promised to marry, it seems she's less resistant to being apart from me.

Thanks to that, I'm peacefully walking through the forest with Diena.

‘I'm glad I left all three behind.’

The mountain path was quite rough.

It seemed right to come with just Diena, as I wouldn't want my fiancees to walk such a path.

Diena doesn't mind the rough terrain anyway.

"Why the cheeky smile?"

"Huh? Is that so? I was just normally smiling."

"It's like you don't care what happens to me..."

A woman's intuition is terrifying.

"Uh, well, I'm a man, so it feels like we're just friends, Diena."

"Uh, well, that's true…"

To avoid any unnecessary hurt, I emphasized my gender again, and though Diena agreed, she turned her head away.

She glanced at me, and her cheeks flushed slightly.

Uh, wait a minute?

I’m a man!

"We're here."

"Oh, this is it."

Ignoring the awkward atmosphere that had suddenly arisen, we continued through the forest until we reached the ruin Diena had mentioned.

"It looks just like a temple."

"It's not just like a temple; it is a temple. It's a temple of the now-forgotten Goddess."

Hearing Diena's additional explanation, I noticed the symbol of the Goddess, the national religion of Lillias, displayed prominently.

The temple was made of magnificent white marble-like material.

However, its entrance was set into a cliff, making the temple itself not appear very large.

"But why is it forgotten? It's a temple, isn't it supposed to be maintained?"

"That's because it wasn't built for the Goddess in that way."

Like an expert in treasure hunting, Diena skillfully crafted a torch, lit it with magic, and handed one to me.

Then we cautiously entered the dark interior of the temple.Only the wavering light of the torches gently illuminated the surroundings.

"Temples like this are scattered throughout the Lillias Kingdom. Traditionally, they served as places to hide items related to the Goddess."

Indeed, there were quite a few such locations in the game. Initially, I thought they were simple dungeons, but upon clearing them, rare items related to the Goddess would often appear.

‘So that's how it was.’

The development team loves hiding settings for players to discover, so it's not surprising to learn facts like this.

Wait a minute, does that mean...

"…Could it be that there are monsters inside the temple?"

"Oh, wow, you know your stuff? Yes, monsters artificially created using the Goddess's power guard the treasures."

Just as I expected.

If this is indeed the same type of rare item dungeon frequently appearing in the game…

At the end of the dungeon, there's always a special monster guarding the items.

‘Should I have brought all three of them?’

I thought I'd only have to pick up a manuscript, but it seems like there's going to be more combat than I anticipated.

‘Oh well, I guess I can handle it alone if I must.’

Though I can't let my guard down, I'm capable of handling anything but a major Boss Monster on my own.

After I slimmed down, I could handle higher-floor monsters from the Tower of Tarlos with ease.

So, monsters from a dungeon in a remote corner like this should be easy opponents.

━Whoosh!

As expected, when we began descending from the temple entrance to the underground, simple mazes, along with monsters, started to appear. I swiftly dealt with them using my familiar sword.

"Oh, is that a Bone Sword? The craftsmanship is excellent. Where did you get it?"

"Oh, I made this myself."

"You made it? This?"

After dealing with the monsters and wiping the blood off the sword, Diena looked at me in amazement upon checking the sword's condition.

"Ken, do you have crafting skills?"

"Yes, recently I've become quite well-known as a craftsman. Didn't you hear about it in prison?"

It's not really boasting, but in the Lillias Kingdom, if you mention Ken Feinstein, anyone interested in weapons would have heard of me at least once.

However, since Diena was in prison during that time, she seemed to be hearing this for the first time, and her eyes glistened with curiosity.

"That's amazing. To craft such a sword and be so young..."

"Ha ha, impressive, right?"

Feeling pleased with her compliment, I put my hands on my hips and puffed up with pride.

But then, Diena suddenly seemed downcast.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing..."

Then I heard a quiet sniffle coming from the darkness.

"I just thought it would have been so nice if Ken was a woman..."

It seems she has a preference for skillful women.

As her feelings surfaced once again, I tried my best to ignore it and continued onward.

In times like these, fighting is the best solution.

Once I start moving my body and working up a sweat, bad memories fade away, leaving only the satisfying sensation of exertion.

Thus, Diena and I descended the temple confidently to obtain the manuscript.

'It's deeper than I expected.'

Just like in the game, these dungeons typically lead further underground.

And upon reaching the final floor and defeating the boss, you return to the surface via the warp statue.

The dungeon's difficulty can usually be judged by its depth.

And this temple we're advancing through feels like a dungeon one would tackle around the mid to late game stages.

Of course, with my enhanced abilities, it's not particularly demanding for me.

Thanks to Diena's outstanding scouting abilities, she detected all the traps, allowing us to move forward without any hindrances.

When we reached the entrance of the fourth floor:

"Ken, there's a Guardian of the Temple on the next floor. It's quite different from the usual monsters, so be careful."

"Yeah, don't worry."

In our hastily formed two-person party, I'm primarily responsible for combat, while Diena handles the reconnaissance.

This means that if I fall, our party will be defeated.

Since we're about to enter the boss area, Diena was particularly cautious.

'Well, even if it's a boss, it shouldn't be too hard.'

Boss battles in simple dungeons generally fall into two categories.

One is a pattern where the fight relies on pure stats.

The second is a puzzle pattern that requires meeting certain conditions to clear.

I'm confident either way.

Given the countless times I've cleared this game, combat is no problem, and puzzles are straightforward for me.

With that confidence, I left the worried Diena behind and headed down to the lower floor.

Then,

[A commotion above, it seems we have intruders….]

A voice with an echo slightly different from a human's spread throughout the fourth floor.

'This seems like a puzzle pattern.'

Ordinarily, bosses with a straightforward battle approach don't have lines. They just engage in combat as soon as they're encountered.

However, when a monster has dialogue like this, it usually indicates a puzzle pattern.

'I can afford to use less force.'

With that thought, I lit a torch to brighten my surroundings and continued forward.

At that moment.

━Geeeeing.

"Uh, what?"

"Ah! K-Ken!"

A transparent barrier, like a purple force field, spread from where I stepped.

I was trapped in a space about one square meter in size.

"That's why I said to be careful!"

"Ah, hahaha. Sorry…"

Having fallen into such an obvious trap, I bowed my head apologetically to a flustered Diena.

But it's okay.

In a puzzle pattern, it's possible for Diena to solve it, even if it's not me.

Besides, my voice still reaches her.

In that case, I can just give her advice from the side when we hit a stumbling block.

[ Welcome, foolish humans… ]

At that moment, it seemed like having one party member trapped was the trigger, as the dungeon boss's voice continued.

[ I am the guardian commanded by the Goddess to test those who have fallen into temptation… ]

Then, torches installed on the dark walls lit up one by one.

Revealing a wide space centered around me, who was trapped.

And in front of me, pressed closely to Diena, a gigantic statue with three glowing eyes was looking down at us.

[ I will present you with a trial, and if you pass, I will grant you what you desire. ]

'This is an easy puzzle.'

Puzzles that come with trials like this generally aren't difficult.

"U-uh, what do we do, Ken? I, I'm…"

"Don't worry, Diena! Since no one is hurt and I can still help with my voice."

"K-Ken…"

Diena looked at me with flushed cheeks in response to my attempt to reassure her.

Hmm… I feel like I've seen that look before.

Then, the Boss Monster's speech continued.

The words were the final puzzle to clear this dungeon.

And they were:

[ Woman, I can see the desires in your heart… ]

"Huh, wh-what, me?!"

The statue, with its three eyes, spoke to Diena, and when she was suddenly mentioned, she pressed right up against me in surprise.

As the statue continued speaking, Diena's face hardened.

[ If you give up the treasure, I will grant your wish. ]

…Huh?

[ I will make that man… become your woman. ]

“Hmmmmm…”

"…What?!"

In that moment, Diena's voice suggested she was tempted, and I looked at her in astonishment.

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