Evan D. Sherden, Preparing for a journey. (3)

“We want to see the ocean, too.”

“Take me, take me too! Master!”

“I’m sorry, but I’ve brought you to the dungeon city for times like these.”

Evan made a really firm declaration to the witches, who had lit up when he said he was going on a trip to Pellati.

“I’ll give you a chance to go out later, but not now. Even if I’m not around, you must protect the dungeon city with your life.”

“Master Evan, can’t you just take me secretly?”

It was Selune who had returned after completing her three-month Menaton dispatch work and flirted with Evan. However, Evan snorted at her and pushed her away.

“If I take you secretly, the other witches will come to follow you. Do you think I’m crazy?”

“How did you know?”

“Master, nothing will happen. Let’s all go together!”

“No. From now on, I’ll explain how to behave when I’m not here, so everyone will see this and memorize it.”

Before leaving for this trip, Evan first made a thorough plan for the dungeon city’s security.

Of course, in Sherden, there was Mikhail, leader of the Iron Wall Knights, currently the strongest player in the dungeon city, who cleared the Sherden dungeon up to the 70th floor with Leo’s party. But he was one person, and the city is wide.

Moreover, as Ironwall Knights would be dispatched as escort troops on this trip, the city’s gap would be much larger.

“And this is something I hate to assume, but the deputy lord who leads the city’s troops when his father is absent… my brother doesn’t have a long career yet. We don’t know when he’s going to make a mistake, so you move separately and fill in my brother’s gaps.”

“Your brotherly love is deep.”

“Aren’t you just not believing in your family?”

“I’m preparing for an emergency situation.”

Evan’s worries might have decreased if Eric had been a bit more serious, but now Eric was enjoying his honeymoon. So, it was not strange if a screw or two would now be missing from his head.

However, he couldn’t do this to his brother. He couldn’t pressure him to be nervous. He was at the peak of his life right now, so Evan was moving underwater.

“I have also separately contacted the Paradise and Phoenix Guild, so, in case of emergency, you can move with them.”

“Well, are there a lot of handsome men there?”

“A man named Alan, the guild master is very good. Many women aim for him.”

“Master Evan! We’ll try hard!”

Every single witch that belonged to the Bloody Apple liked Evan very much, but there was a group of witches that were specifically devoted to Evan (for example, Selune). The other group also liked Evan, but were willing to search for other excellent men (usually the elders, including Melonia).

So, while Melonia’s group was excited about working with men belonging to the dungeon city’s excellent guild, Selune’s group was not pleased with the fact that they had to remain in the dungeon city without Evan.

“So please take good care of the place. I’ll bring you presents when I come back.”

“When are you going?”

“In July. Until then, we’ll be doing joint training a few times, so be aware. Melonia will deliver specifics, so follow along.”

“Of course, Master Evan. Anywhere.”

Evan informed Melonia about the details of the security operation in Evan’s absence and the schedule and training method.

“Okay, well, this should be enough.”

“Hmmm, got it. Master Evan is amazing. It’s like you used to have a job at an organization directing people for quite some time.”

Concisely summarized data, a plan that accounted for everything, and the movements that follow. As Melonia herself was wise, she could see how detailed Evan’s short-term plan was.

“I’m just good at games.”

“Hehe.”

When Evan answered the admiring Melania with a proffered face, she laughed, saying, “Even a humble man is attractive.” Perhaps Evan was charming for doing nothing. He shifted the subject with a shrug.

“Is there any problem? Everyone seems to be doing well.”

It had already been more than 10 months since the witches were brought to the dungeon city. Like the Dungeon Knights, the guild house of the Bloody Apples was located in the center of the street. Witches who were members of the guild had already become famous in the dungeon city.

However, as he did not know what was going on in a place he did not know, Evan had regular report sessions through Melonia and Ctheasil to help resolve the witches’ current situation or grievances.

“There is a witch who is pregnant.”

“Here, too…”

Evan sighed at the calm report of Melonia. The boy felt like he was having a hard time reacting to the news.

“Then what are you going to do? You’re going to get her married?”

“She says she doesn’t know who the father is.”

“Wow.”

Such simple words could make a man despicable. Evan was surprised. Of course, the way of life was free, but…!

“Then what should I do? First of all… do you want me to take her out of the operation?”

“Not that. It’s still early. But when her stomach starts to growl, I’d like to give her a break. I’m thinking of sending her to Menaton. Whether the child to be born is a witch or not, a witch’s pregnancy is hard. I’ll have to let her relax.”

“Why did you treat a child that came from such a hard pregnancy as a servant?”

“Because the survival of the species was the top priority. Even now, our ideas haven’t changed much, but I just follow Master Evan’s instructions. There’s also a calculation that even if we waste 50 years here, it would still be a gain if we can get Master Evan’s seeds.’

“Don’t say such a sneaky and scary thing.”

Evan stood up from his seat. He didn’t know what to say if he stayed here longer. However, there was one last question left.

“Ah… yes. How about the dungeon?”

“There have been constant attempts to build a hideout. Of course, I’m crushing them as soon as I find them. At this point, I’m sure their strength is pretty low.”

“We’re drawing criminals from the outside. I think we’ve got other guilds besides the Thunderbird… perhaps they’ll move in while we’re gone. That’s why I asked you to do what you’re doing now.”

“Of course, I know. But I also feel like I’ll be able to ruminate that in my heart if I get a kiss from you.”

Evan kissed the cheek, and not the lips, of a 130-year-old grandmother just to get this over with. Fortunately, Melonia seemed to be satisfied with it.

“Default, are you ready?”

“Yes, Master.”

Evan, coming out of Melonia’s room, soon found Default. Ctheasil, who was with Default, glared at Evan with a sullen look, but he ignored it and took Default to the training camp.

Because Default had already been more obedient to Evan than Ctheasil (even though he was older than him), Ctheasil dared not stop Evan.

“How’s the Heaven’s Press?”

“I can’t get a grip.”

Evan was trying to pass on Heaven’s Press to Default, as the Knight Commander did to him in the past. He believed that if Default was indeed the protagonist, then it wouldn’t be all that bad to pass onto him his skills.

“I think it’s about time you got it.”

“You don’t have to worry about me. Thanks to you, my fighting skills are growing very fast.”

“But if a Magician learns Heaven’s Press, he’ll be much stronger than I am.”

“I can’t be stronger than you.”

But for more than half a year since he took in Default and started to teach him Heaven’s Press, he had yet to master it. However, as he said, his fighting skills were increasing rapidly, so this was not entirely a bad thing.

“Then should I remodel this to fit you? It’s impossible for me to imitate Grandpa Leo.”

“I’ve received enough from you so far. I’ll go down to the dungeon myself and get the rest!”

Default was like a bright shining star—a talented boy who alone retained innocence in the midst of decadent witches. Evan worked hard to educate Default, but he thought for a moment that he might have brought him out of his guild.

“Default, will you join the Dungeon Knights?”

“It’s a very attractive offer, but… That’s all right, Master,” Default said with a clear smile. “Ctheasil needs me.”

This was the real hero’s force! Evan avoided his gaze because of the noble spirit of sacrifice that extras could not dare to encounter.

“..Tell me if anything happens.”

“Thank you for your attention, Master.”

Default greeted him with sincerity. Evan couldn’t help but look at him and think again about what love was.

That afternoon, Evan visited the Brotherhood Pharmacy. While still crowded with countless explorers, Evan burst into laughter at Hannah sitting alone at the counter and playing by herself, as Bernard did.

“But it’s going better than I thought, noona.”

“Did you think this place would be ruined without Grandpa?”

Hannah gave Evan a curt reply. He couldn’t tell if she was upset… that was a lie.

“You look as if you’ve heard about your stepmother’s pregnancy, who just remarried your father.”

“Oh, no. It’s just that I don’t like that he left this busy pharmacy to me and ran away.”

Hannah opened and closed the counter drawer for no reason. Evan grinned and gave her a piece of paper. This was why he had come here.

“What is this, Young Master?”

“Orders. It’s time to exchange the potion we have in stock for the Dungeon Knights.”

“You haven’t even officially launched them yet, and you’ve already been paying attention to that? Oh, this is the original order you gave Grandpa Leo.”

“The Dungeon Knights always use the best potion.”

Hannah was a little pleased to see Evan grumbling for no reason. Because now, without Bernard, Hannah seemed to admit that she was the best.

…However, for a moment, Hannah’s eyes grew bigger as she received the order and checked the contents.

“Why are they so diverse? What ancient demons are you hunting?”

“Considering the dungeon frequency speed of the Dungeon Knights, you’ll get the answer soon. Besides, we’ve been working hard to stop the bandwagon with these members during the spring.”

This spring, in commemoration of Evan’s age of 15, the Dungeon Knights entered the dungeon once again. There, the junior team completed the breakthrough to the 30th floor and the senior team to the 40th floor, but the people of the dungeon city were still unaware of this.

An overly heterogeneous achievement was indeed a way of arousing negative emotions such as jealousy, exclusion, and fear beyond admiration. However, it was time for Evan to announce the name of the Dungeon Knights to some extent and show his abilities little by little in the face of monsters in the high tide.

“Well, that’s true, but… I see. You have to invest this much to get these results.”

“It’s a secret, but the senior team is already holding two or three artifacts.”

“I know that because Raihan already told me. He bragged about getting his shield from Master as a gift, and I almost got jealous.”

The love affair between Raihan and Hannah was also progressing smoothly. After a slow but continuous attack on Raihan, she succeeded in taming him so that kisses could be accepted as greetings.

But the problem was, at the same time, the relationship with Serpina seemed to be progressing smoothly; Raihan hadn’t come to ask Evan how to train his abdomen yet. He asked Hannah with a worried look.

“Are you, uh, okay with Serpina?”

“Now I feel like I’m just a comrade with her. A comrade who cooperates to cross the high and thick walls of Raihan. And the most dangerous rival is actually Master Evan, not Serpina.”

What? Evan’s back broke into a cold sweat. Hannah had replied while glaring at Evan gently.

“When asked who’s more important between you or me, he looked very sorry towards me. Do you know how I felt? What? Do you know?”

Hannah folded the purchase order and glanced at Evan. Evan turned away from her gaze in a cold sweat.

“Huh. Anyway, we’ll buy it cheap if you have any leftovers in stock. You’re not planning to use it anytime soon, are you?”

“Oh, no.”

“No?”

Evan said with a playful smile.

“I told you I’d be out of the dungeon city this time.”

“Yes.”

“So I’m going back to the dungeon to boost the remaining team’s strength. I have to break through at least 35 floors. Oh, this is a secret. I’m going to tell the public that it was just up to the 20th floor.”

“Taking the team to the 35th floor…”

Hannah’s jaw hung open at Evan’s words.

As a reference, she had been stuck and unable to penetrate the boss on the 30th floor with Serpina.

[Hey guys, I’m moving apartments tomorrow morning at 5 AM, I have to sign off early so I can have the energy to lift the furniture. I’ll upload the missing chapter along with the scheduled chapters tomorrow. Sorry for the last-minute notification, I didn’t realize how late it was.]