Chapter 133 - Ryuu was Abducted!
"Next time, if you have time, how about exploring the dungeon with me and Ais?"
"Huh???"
Luke's words made Ryuu, who had been bowing, straighten up and look at him, surprised.
"Exploring the dungeon together means... you want me to join your team?"
Ryuu was a bit troubled.
She originally just wanted to receive the 'punishment' she deserved.
How did it suddenly turn into a team invitation?
Stare——!
Luke ignored the piercing gaze from the side and said to Ryuu with a smile:
"I'm not asking you to completely leave the Astraea Familia to join my team."
"I just hope that Ryuu-san can join us to explore the dungeon occasionally."
Stare——!
Luke once again ignored the increasingly stinging gaze from the side and explained the reason for inviting Ryuu to his team.
"I saw you using magic in the dungeon before. Ryuu-san, you can use both attack and healing magic, right?"
"About my and Ais's situation, you must have some understanding of it during our previous joint operation."
"With just the two of us, it's a bit inconvenient in the dungeon."
"That's why I really hope that someone like you, Ryuu-san, who is also good at high-speed combat, can join us."
Stare! Stare! Stare——!
Luke felt the burning gaze from Alise and added, after thinking for a while,
"I think the captain of your Familia, representing 'Justice', will definitely not restrict your personal freedom, right?"
As soon as he said this, the piercing gaze disappeared from Luke in an instant.
Ryuu listened to Luke's explanation.
In fact, she was also very hesitant.
To be honest, his invitation was still quite attractive to Ryuu, who had intuitively felt the strength of the two during the previous joint operation.
She was indeed interested in the extraordinary strength of Luke and Ais.
This invitation might be an opportunity to get to know them better.
Maybe even she herself could become stronger because of this.
What's more, she was the one who made the mistake, and Luke's reason for inviting her seemed very reasonable to her.
Since she had wasted the other party's time, repaying them with her own time was obviously the most appropriate compensation measure.
At this point, according to Ryuu's own thoughts, she had already planned to accept Luke's invitation.
If it weren't for that piercing gaze that shifted over.
Stare——!
Alise's gaze made Ryuu a little embarrassed.
However, out of curiosity about Luke and Ais, and the elven customs that stipulate that those who make mistakes must be punished,
In the end, Ryuu agreed to Luke's invitation.
"I accept your invitation. Please give me your guidance in the future."
And the moment Ryuu agreed to Luke, Alise fell down comically.
She prostrated herself on the ground in a dispirited posture and kept muttering,
"Lion abandoned me!"
"Lion is heartless!"
"Lion doesn't want me anymore! Sob sob sob!"
Alise's performance made Ryuu blush.
She was both embarrassed and a little shy to shout at Alise:
"Who abandoned you!"
"No, we weren't in that kind of relationship in the first place!"
"What do you mean by me being heartless!"
"I didn't leave my Familia; I just agreed to occasionally join Luke's team to explore the dungeon."
However, Ryuu's words didn't help.
Alise just lay on the ground and looked at Ryuu resentfully, muttering to her constantly.
The elf girl, who was helpless against her captain, was too embarrassed to leave their guest and run away.
So, she could only stand there awkwardly and look at Luke with pleading eyes.
Bystanders are clear.
Compared to Ryuu, who was entangled by Alise, Luke, who was on the side, could see it more clearly.
He knew that Alise didn't intend to oppose this matter.
On the contrary, Alise seemed quite happy that Ryuu could make new friends.
The reason why she made a fuss was to use this method to prevent Ryuu from having a sense of resistance to joining his team.
The several most likely negative thoughts that Ryuu could have were all spoken out by Alise in the form of jokes.
In this way, after Ryuu subconsciously denied them, these thoughts would not arise again.
Seeing the elf girl's face getting redder and redder, based on his usual experience of 'provoking' Riveria, Luke knew that it was almost time, so he said:
"Okay, Alise, I didn't really abduct Ryuu-san from your Familia."
"And you told me to think of a solution, didn't you?"
"You're acting too exaggerated," Luke sighed.
"Humph, talking big while poaching people from our Familia? You don't take me seriously, huh!"
Hearing Luke speak, Alise immediately stopped making a fuss.
She stood up angrily and said to Luke 'viciously':
"I hinted to you to find a way to calm Lion down. Who knew that you would take her home directly!"
"I didn't plan to let her convert to our Familia, Alise, you're exaggerating."
Luke sighed helplessly and waved at her.
"Besides, this is Ryuu's own choice. As the captain, shouldn't you bless her?"
"Ugh..."
Alise stared at Luke, seemingly intending to kill him with her eyes.
No matter what, Luke's words made sense.
This matter was ultimately Ryuu's own choice.
Even though Alise was Astraea Familia's captain, she had no right to interfere with Ryuu's freedom.
It is not uncommon for members of different Familias to team up to explore the dungeon.
Many Familias do this, and Luke's invitation is also reasonable.
However, the conversation between the two of them confused Ryuu, who was standing aside.
She listened to their discussion and felt something more and more wrong, but she couldn't tell what was going on.
What's the situation?
Abduct? Poaching people?
Why did Alise mention taking her home directly?
Even the blessing is out!
Aren't we talking about forming a temporary team to explore the dungeon?
Why does it feel so wrong after listening to their conversation?
But when Ryuu thought about it carefully, she found that what they said seemed to be fine.
Also, Luke had directly called her by her first name before, right?
And if she joins his team, it is indeed inappropriate to use honorifics...
Then should she call him by his first name too?
Eh???
Looking at the elf girl who was no longer struggling about the issue of her mistake, Luke and Alise looked at each other and nodded tacitly.
Then the two of them threw Ryuu, who was lost in thought, aside, and prepared to proceed with today's business.
Alise opened the large backpack on the table and took out a purse full of gold coins from it.
"The drop items and lower rarity materials we collected basically have a fixed market price, so we will handle them uniformly."
"Of course, if you have any item that you want to keep, you can tell me. Our Familia has stocks of many useful dungeon materials."
Handing the purse to Luke, Alise smiled and said, "How about it, do you want to count and verify?"
"No need, if I don't even have this bit of trust, I wouldn't have chosen to cooperate with you in the dungeon."
Luke took the purse and put it aside, signaling to Alise not to worry too much.
After the 'frolic' just now, Alise also got to know Luke a little better.
Her question was just a 'routine' one.
Seeing that Luke had no objection, Alise opened the backpack completely and revealed the contents.
"These are the valuable items we got this time, including the 'Under Coral' and 'Labyrinth Pearl' that brought us together in the first place."
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