"You left me…" A voice suddenly came from behind me as I left the castle.
I felt like my spine had been goosed. I glanced back to see Shao standing there. A few moments later, there was a clamoring noise and I saw the other girls through a break in the crowd coming to meet up with me. I guess they had all gotten lonely waiting in the mansion.
"Where has Master been…" Shao sniffed. "Hmm… smells like that princess."
"I didn't even meet with the Princess, though?"
"D-D-Deek?" I glanced to the side to the see the Princess there, with a blush on her face while she held her hands.
The other girls stopped a way off, seeing the Princess and realizing that she seemed to want to speak to me in private. Well, every girl except Shao who glanced at me with a raised eyebrow.
"Ah… well, you can't hold me responsible for that," I responded back to Shao defensively.
"If Master keeps cheating…" She walked away to join the other girls, leaving me with Eliana.
She didn't finish what she was going to say. I wasn't sure if that made it better or worse.
I took a few steps away from the other women and joined Eliana. She also had a few guards around her who backed a distance away on her order. Although Eliana had taken a quick glance at Shao, she didn't have any recognition on her face. The guards didn't even look at her that much. She was the demon lord, though? Actually, that wasn't the case anymore. For reasons I didn't understand, Demon Lord was unavailable.
{Name: Shao
Class: Shadow Magic
Job: Gladiator (Slave) – 45
Unlocked Jobs: Brawler – 25, Shadow Knight – 1, Thief – 10
Unavailable Jobs: Demon Lord – 100
Race: Demon}
Well, her Demon Lord job unequipped itself and is now marked as unavailable, which is different from unlocked. Actually, Shadow Knight sounded like a good job to have that matched her class well. I might work on leveling it up for her. Well, Priests probably wouldn't like it, but I had Dark Priest so it looked like we all had secrets we needed to keep from the Church.
"Lord Deekson, I heard my brother wishes to send you into the Widow's Dungeon," Eliana responded uncertainly in a whisper, taking care not to be overheard.
"That's true… you heard already?"
"Mmm…" She nodded. "I was keeping watch, so as soon as you arrived, I made sure to find out what was happening."
"What?"
She looked away. "I-it's not like I'm stalking you or something! W-we're not even married yet!"
"Are you implying you'd stalk me if we were married!"
"P-please find Father…" She ignored what I said and continued on. "Only he can offer my hand…"
"Ah… you're worried about your father," I sighed. "Wait… what was that last part!"
"N-nothing!" She immediately waved her hands. "I said if you're going to find my father, you're going to need a hand!"
"Is that what you said?"
"O-of course!" She shot me a look through her long eyebrows. "Rather, I hired someone to meet you at the Adventuring Guild. They are a skilled Dungeon Diver. Have you heard of those?"
"Ah… like that girl in Dirage… huh?"
"Ah, you know! Please use them to remain safe." She explained. "You absolutely must return! If I lost the person most important to me, my life would end!"
"Ah… so your father means that much to you…"
"Father? Eh… if you can save that old pervert, that would probably be for the best- I mean, yes, absolutely. Father is important!"
I scratched my head. Eliana was constantly changing what she meant and she kept blushing and mumbling to herself. I decided that talking to Eliana was exhausting. Therefore, I promised her I'd return, causing her to blush even more. Looking a bit flustered, she retreated back into the palace with her soldiers beside her. When I returned to my group, I found myself receiving icy looks from Shao and encouraging looks from the other girls.
"Let's get out of here before more trouble arriv-"
The sound of thudding armor filled the courtyard in front of the palace. Before we could move, a group of twenty men in shiny armor surrounded us. A man in robes stepped forward.
"Deek Deekson?" He asked in a haughty tone.
"Ah… yes?"
"We're the Church. You will come with us!"