Chapter 533 - 533: The Judgment

At the entrance to the 59th Floor, stifling heat filled the passageway.

The portable Magic Stone lamps that had been left here beforehand glowed brightly, illuminating the deep, ancient staircase.

The elite squad was taking their final rest here.

When conquering the Dragon's Vase, Level 1 Adventurers could simply jump down through the floors and prioritize dealing with the Valgang Dragon on the 58th Floor.

The return trip was entirely different. Even after defeating the Valgang Dragon and continuing onward, the Dungeon would simply spawn new monsters. For the entire party to make it back together, they would have to keep moving without stopping.

That was why everyone needed to recover at least some of their stamina, or they risked holding the rest of the party back.

At the same time, the Fallen Spirit's main body was a threat they could not afford to ignore. Finn had therefore limited their rest to only a few minutes. Gareth, whose [Endurance] was exceptional, stood alone at the top of the stairs, keeping the Viola and Virga from attacking the others.

The monsters' wails echoed through the stairwell. Tsubaki pulled out her tools and used the brief respite to maintain the weapons of the Level 1 Adventurers, while Finn, Bete, the Amazoness sisters, and the others leaned against the walls to catch their breath.

The other women remained near Bell, chewing on the jerky they had brought with them as they chatted.

"Cranel-san, did you hurt your neck?"

Ryuu blinked her blue eyes and asked in confusion.

There was no blood on either side of the boy's neck, but the left side bore a faint reddish mark resembling a lip print, while the right side had a remarkably distinct bite mark.

Ryuu could tell that the marks were unusual and definitely had not been left by monsters. Still, she had no desire to think too deeply about them, so she simply treated them as injuries caused by some accident.

"It's nothing. The marks should disappear after a while."

Bell answered without attempting to hide them.

During their retreat, the golden-haired elf had suddenly become angry and bitten Bell on the neck.

She had not explained why she had lost control, nor had she actually bitten down hard. She had used just enough force to leave a clearly visible set of teeth marks without causing Bell any pain.

Bell naturally understood what had happened. Lefiya must have seen Riveria's overly bold behavior and become worked up, which was why she had done something that resembled punishment.

The Elf princess, despite being the one who had caused all of this, showed no intention of reflecting on her actions.

"Lefiya, you actually bit Bell Cranel on the neck while we were retreating. Are you some ill-mannered hamster? There is a limit to how reckless you can be."

Riveria lectured her with a stern expression.

When they reached the staircase on the 59th Floor, she had reluctantly left the boy's embrace. Riveria had been looking at the mark from her kiss on Bell's neck with a slightly playful smile, but the moment the bite mark entered her sight, her expression darkened.

There was no doubt about it.

This was a challenge directed at her.

The position of the official partner allowed one to keep everyone else in check through sheer presence, preventing pointless quarrels from breaking out. Riveria was determined to claim that position for herself.

That was also why she had been encouraging Bell's relationships with the other elven girls. Lefiya's behavior this time, however, clearly seemed to have crossed a line.

With only a few questions, Riveria got the entire story out of Lefiya and promptly moved on to lecturing her.

"Um... it's because the permanently horny rabbit made Riveria-sama do that... so I couldn't help biting him a little..."

Lefiya lowered her head, looking thoroughly aggrieved.

In the past, whenever anger got the better of her, she could hardly even catch the boy, so she had never managed to do anything excessive.

This time was different.

Bell had happened to be carrying Lefiya on his back, giving her the perfect opportunity.

Considering that they were in the middle of an emergency retreat, and because she did not want Bell to dislike her, the golden-haired elf had already chosen the gentlest possible way to deliver her judgment.

Strictly speaking, it could hardly even be called punishment.

It was more like a somewhat bashful warning.

"I see. So you bit him deliberately. And what exactly do you mean by 'that'? Stop mumbling and explain yourself properly."

Riveria folded her arms and stared sternly at Lefiya.

Whether Lefiya had acted rashly because she wanted to defend Riveria, or whether jealousy and rivalry had driven her to leave a bite mark in the corresponding spot, would determine how Riveria treated her from now on.

"I-it's just that Riveria-sama's lips... seemed to touch Bell Cranel's body... I thought the permanently horny rabbit was acting up again, so I... Ah, no! I wasn't saying Riveria-sama was in heat! Um..."

Lefiya lowered her voice and tried to explain what had happened, only to make an extremely disrespectful insinuation instead.

She had actually said something so outrageous!

Lefiya fell silent at once, like a kite whose string had been cut, completely losing the ability to speak.

Her shocking remark also drew the attention of the other girls.

"How dare you slander Riveria-sama like that? You have no shame at all! If anyone here is 'in heat,' it's obviously you! Blonde elves really are all like this!"

Ryuu recalled Laurier kissing the boy on the lips in front of everyone and immediately passed judgment on Lefiya.

"U-um... I-I'm not!"

Lefiya immediately remembered herself kissing and licking his finger, causing her to hesitate for a moment.

The girls' argument was completely drowned out by the monsters' wails, never reaching the ears of the others.

Before long, the rest of the girls joined the fray as well.

"Exactly! Riveria-sama is a noble Elf princess. Lefiya, what are you even saying?!"

Alicia looked like a kitten whose tail had been stepped on as she angrily added, "I heard from Elfy that on the day Bell Cranel brought you back, you were alone on your bed squeezing your own breasts."

"Waaaaah! Stop talking!"

Lefiya hurried over and covered Alicia's mouth.

She had only been wondering what the boy had felt when he carried her back after her Concurrent Chanting practice. She absolutely had not been doing anything strange!

The heat of her embarrassment spread all the way to the golden-haired elf's ears, turning them bright red.

And it still was not over.

"Lefiya... biting people... bullying Bell?"

Ais approached with the Desperate Sword in her hand, staring at Lefiya without even blinking.

"Ais-san, you've misunderstood! I only wanted to punish him. No, wait, um... I just wanted to play with him a little, and I accidentally bit him..."

Under the invisible pressure bearing down on her, Lefiya frantically tried to rearrange her words.

"Accidentally? In that case, were you originally planning to kiss him instead?"

Riveria immediately seized on the flaw in her explanation.

She already understood Lefiya's position. The girl was not trying to compete with her for the position of official partner. She had simply believed that the boy had pressured Riveria into doing something embarrassing, which was why she had reacted that way.

Faced with Riveria's questioning, Lefiya gave her an aggrieved look and replied,

"Um... I wasn't... Besides, Riveria-sama was the one who did it first..."

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