"I don't need your weird explanations! You're so bad at explanations!" Rafe grumbled.
"Your brain is too small to understand! You stupid ancient human!" snapped an annoyed Hayato.
"Huh? You're just lucky he didn't attack you sooner! One hit and you'd be dead!" sneered Rafe.
"Huh? You think traveling with you can bring luck back to me? I've had so much bad luck since we met! There's no way my luck can come back to me! This is all down to my own strength," Hayato snapped as he drew his sword at Rafe's neck.
"He's the one who got fooled by you earlier!" snapped Rafe as he drew his lightning knife at Hayato's neck.
"Damn it, you've been fooling me all along!" the swordmaster shouted, his face flushed with anger.
"What are you saying, the only one who tricked you before was me, you asshole!" snapped Hayato as he glared at the swordmaster.
"That's right! Don't lump me in with cheaters like him!" snapped Rafe as he glared at the swordmaster.
"You two are the same!" the swordmaster shouted as he jumped back.
"Let's finish them off!" shouted the swordmaster as he looked around for help from his friends.
But his face turned pale as he saw the bloodied corpses of his friends lying on the ground. Meanwhile, an angry-looking Rafe and Hayato approached him with grins on their faces, and the swordmaster's body began to shake with fear as he realized he was the only one left in his group.
"Call your friends all you want, you bastard," Hayato said as he tapped the blade of his sword.
"You should realize you're alone, you idiot," Rafe said as he played with the lightning knife in his hand.
"Please forgive me," the swordmaster said as he knelt down after realizing the situation.
"You bastard, you think I'm going to let you off the hook after insulting me earlier?" snapped Hayato as he stroked the swordmaster's head guard.
"Tell me, who ordered you to ambush us here?" asked Rafe, glaring at the swordmaster.
"Will I be allowed to live if I tell you?" the swordmaster asked.
"That depends on your answer," Rafe replied.
"The person who paid us to kill you is a teacher at Elexia Academy, her name is Nia," the swordmaster replied. But his body collapsed to the ground with his head cut off as soon as he finished saying Nia's name.
"Tch. It turns out that not only did he want to ambush us, but he also wanted to pit us against Nia," Hayato said.
"He must have realized that even if he told us who told them, he would still die. He doesn't seem like a gullible person," Rafe said.
"Hahaha... see, no, that means he was fooled by my own skills," Hayato said proudly.
"Hehehe... but you can still be fooled by a noodle merchant," Rafe taunted as he burned all of the adventurer's corpses lying on the ground.
"That's because he took advantage of my kindness! I wasn't fooled!" grumbled Hayato unhappily.
"Yes. But I'm surprised you weren't as upset when I killed them all," Rafe said as he looked at Hayato.
"They deserved it. Besides, you wouldn't have stopped yourself from killing them even if I hadn't, so there's no point in going against your principles," Hayato said as he approached his big bag.
"I'm sure he has his own reasons for having such principles," Hayato thought.
Rafe turned his eyes to the ten bodies burning in the flames. The area where they had fought seemed to have been damaged, although the dungeon could restore its own form, it would still take a long time to recover from the battle scars.
"You better not try to escape after you overheard our conversation," Rafe said loudly until his voice echoed in the area of the fifth floor where they were.
"Huh? Who are you talking about?" asked Hayato as he approached Rafe.
"That guy who was watching our fight from behind the dirt wall, he must have thought he was hiding his mana well. But he doesn't know that I can still sense his presence," Rafe replied loudly.
"Is there anyone else here, Rafe?" asked Hayato as he looked around.
"You better show yourself in front of me, unless you want to ambush us like those ten adventurers," Rafe said as he turned his gaze to the dirt wall that bordered their area on the fifth floor.
Hayato also looked in the direction Rafe was looking. Slowly, a black shadowy figure emerged from behind the dark dungeon passage. Rafe used the fireball magic in his hand to illuminate the area they were in.
Now they could clearly see the figure of a girl with long brown hair, her face hidden by a cloth mask. She seemed to be carrying a larger bag than Hayato's, and a shield was neatly tied to her backpack as well. Her skin was tanned, but there didn't seem to be any scars, even the armor he was wearing was still clean.
"Child?" muttered Hayato, looking surprised. Judging by her posture, she was probably the same age as the two of them.
"Who are you, why are you here alone?" asked Rafe, staring at the masked girl.
"You're from Elexia Academy?" the masked girl mumbled softly.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop and watch your fight, I just happened to be working here," the masked girl replied, lowering her head.
"Working? What are you doing?" asked Hayato while sheathing his sword.
"I'm just a scavenger, I go into the dungeon every day to pick up leftover mining materials that the miners didn't bring in. Sometimes I also pick up materials from monsters that adventurers don't pick up in the dungeon, I deliberately wait until the miners go home so that I don't get scolded by them," the masked girl replied.
"What's your name?" asked Rafe as he stared at the masked girl.
"Never mind Rafe, she's just an ordinary girl," Hayato said when he heard Rafe ask in a high tone.
"Why are you being stupid at a time like this? Look at her clothes, she's not dirty at all, even though she's been hiding in this dungeon waiting for the miners to return. Do you think an ordinary girl would dare to enter the dungeon alone?" asked Rafe while looking at Hayato.
"You're right. I just realized, especially if she's hiding from the miners, then she's probably hiding on the sixth floor where there are no mine guards. There should still be monsters roaming around," Hayato said while giving the masked girl a sharp look.
"My name is Sonia Vismaya. You're right, it's impossible for a little girl like me to dare to enter the dungeon alone and be on the sixth floor without getting hurt," the masked girl said while taking off her cloth mask.
"I did it out of necessity because no one would give me another job after I was expelled from Elexia Academy, my parents are gone, and all my other relatives have shunned me. So please don't tell the miners that I'm the one who always takes their leftover materials, nor will I say anything about this incident," Sonia said, looking down.
"She is, so beautiful," Hayato murmured with wide eyes after seeing Sonia's face.
"Please. I can't survive without it, there's nothing more I can do," Sonia continued stuttering.
"Expelled from Elexia Academy?" muttered Rafe, remaining alert even though he didn't sense any dangerous intentions from Sonia.
"Hahaha... finally this event has happened, meeting my future harem in the dungeon. Turns out the plot is okay too," Hayato said with a big laugh.
"It started again," Rafe muttered.
Meanwhile Sonia looked confused by Hayato's words.
"Sonia Vismaya, your name is very beautiful. Your face is so charming, I'm happy to meet you in this dungeon, fate seems to have brought us together here," Hayato said as he stepped on his feet to approach Sonia.
"Don't come near her!" shouted Rafe.
"Don't come near me!" shouted Sonia, echoing Rafe's call.
"Huh? Why are you both yelling at the same time?" asked Hayato as he stopped his steps. He looked confused, his gaze alternating between Rafe and Sonia.
"Don't tell me you've met her, Rafe! She was supposed to be part of my harem later," a visibly annoyed Hayato grumbled.
Continued...