"...I've been scammed."
The words slipped out before I could stop myself. I was seriously annoyed. That damn spectator god wasted my time chatting and even lied to me.
But there was nothing I could do. The spectator god had already reincarnated—where was I supposed to vent my frustration now? Whatever. Teleportation only shortens the time needed to collect Brave Power. If I go down level by level instead, I can even collect new thousand-year magic cores along the way.
"Huh? Mr. Karen, who scammed you?"
Alice asked curiously about the identity of the spectator god. I answered casually, like it didn't matter whether she knew or not.
"A god."
"Fatelis!? That's impossi—"
"No, no. There are plenty of gods in this world. Like the God of Crime, or the Spectator God."
I cut Alice off immediately. The moment she heard "god," she assumed it was the Goddess of Fate. That made sense—people in this world only knew about the Goddess of Fate. Their religion revolved entirely around her, and they had never even considered the existence of other gods.
"The God of Crime? The Spectator God? Those are such strange titles."
Alice tilted her head, confused by the nicknames I'd come up with. But I didn't feel the need to explain. She could just treat it as useless trivia.
"Don't worry about it. Let's go to the plaza and meet up with Jacob and Grace."
We started walking toward the plaza. On the way, I noticed that time here was a few hours ahead of my pocket watch. As expected of a parallel world. I immediately adjusted the time and told Ethefelis and Alice to do the same.
It was now 4:47 when we arrived at the meeting point. Jacob and Grace were standing under the general's statue, looking at a stone monument, chatting and laughing. The atmosphere seemed pretty good.
When we walked up to them, both Jacob and Grace looked at me in confusion.
"Karen, didn't you say you wouldn't be out until tomorrow?"
"I got tricked. They said I'd be teleported to Level 100, but I got sent out instead."
I replied helplessly. Jacob stared at me in shock.
"You got tricked!? Who told you that?"
Wow, what a rude reaction. Sure, I'm careful and don't trust people easily—but that doesn't mean I can't be deceived.
Then Alice answered for me.
"Mr. Jacob, it was the God of Crime and the Spectator God—not Fatelis! Fatelis would never lie."
As a devout follower of the Goddess of Fate, Alice was quick to defend her reputation. Not that it mattered to us. Those who understood would understand.
"The God of Crime? The Spectator God? Mr. Karen, what kind of gods are those?"
Grace asked about the origin of those names. Of course, I wasn't about to admit I made them up, so I just shrugged.
"No idea. They didn't say what they do."
Then Jacob asked, puzzled,
"But Karen, shouldn't you be going back into the dungeon? Why are you here?"
I glanced at Grace and answered calmly,
"I came to bring Grace into the dungeon with me."
That was the reason I came. Otherwise, just like Jacob said, I would've gone straight back in instead of wasting time talking.
"Why?"
"Why?"
Jacob and Grace asked in perfect sync. Pretty good teamwork. But what was so confusing? It was just a good opportunity for Grace to gain experience and get what she wanted.
So I explained the benefits to her.
"Grace, didn't you want to obtain a magic core that's over ten years old on your own? Those are incredibly rare outside the dungeon. It's much better to go inside. And didn't you say you wanted a dog plush? You can pick whichever one you like."
"Really!? I want go!"
Grace agreed instantly, clearly excited. Then Jacob asked with a teasing smile,
"So what convinced you? The magic core? Or the plush?"
Obviously the plush. Jacob wasn't stupid—he was teasing her on purpose. And sure enough, Grace's pride kicked in immediately.
"O-Of course the magic core! Owning a sword embedded with a magic core is every knight's dream!"
"..."
I stared at her in silence. If I didn't know she wanted a plush, I might've actually believed her.
But I didn't expose her. That was Jacob's job. I'd just enjoy the show. As for Ethefelis, she had no interest in joining in—food was far more appealing to her.
Unfortunately, Alice completely failed to read the room.
"Huh? Wasn't it the plush? Ms. Grace said before that she wanted—mmph!"
Alice was cut off halfway as Grace hurriedly covered her mouth. Blushing bright red, Grace lowered her head in embarrassment.
"Ms. Alice, please don't say it…"
She looked like she wanted to dig a hole and hide. An adult who still liked cute, girly plushies.
I could understand. I liked cute plushies too. But to maintain my masculinity in front of Lina, I avoided toy shops as much as possible. Even if I went in, I'd pretend not to care while sneaking a few glances.
"Hahaha, so it really is the plush."
Jacob chuckled—not loudly, but with a soft smile. Still, to Grace right now, it might as well have been mockery. She looked at him with teary eyes and asked in a trembling voice,
"...Mr. Jacob, is it strange that I like plushies?"
Seeing her like that, Jacob seemed to realize he messed up. He quickly shook his head.
"N-No, it's not strange! Grace, I wasn't laughing at you—I was just surprised."
"What's so surprising about it?"
Grace asked, sounding a little hopeful. Jacob suddenly blushed, avoiding her gaze as he scratched the back of his head. It took him a while to gather the courage, but eventually he said,
"I-It's... surprisingly cute."
Whoa. This pure-hearted guy actually said it. He even covered his face with his hand, but his ears were already bright red. How adorably inexperienced.
Grace must have realized he meant it sincerely. She should've been happy—but instead, she froze. Still holding Alice hostage, she slowly stepped back, then turned around and started muttering to herself.
What was going on?
Jacob, still too embarrassed to look at her, didn't notice her reaction. So I quietly leaned closer to listen.
"...C-Cute? Me? No way. I'm a knight. I'm not like those delicate noble girls—I'm a sword-loving brute… N-No, that's not it. Mr. Jacob must mean I'm like a child. Yeah, that has to be it! But still..."
Total misunderstanding.
Grace lacked confidence, but deep down, she wanted his words to be a compliment. Hearing that, I could only scream internally:
(So only fragile girls get to be called cute? Female knights don't? Even guys can be cute, you know!)
Of course, I kept that to myself.
At this rate, their relationship still had a long way to go. And Jacob was still too flustered to recover. Looks like a third party had to step in to break the stalemate.
Ethefelis had no interest, Alice's mouth was still covered—so that left me.
I stepped back to my original spot and spoke sincerely,
"...Um, while this is a beautiful moment, the timing's a bit off. Maybe you two can save it for later?"
I chose my words carefully. I didn't want to ruin the mood.
Jacob snapped out of it, looking at me with a hint of regret before nodding.
Grace, on the other hand, looked like she'd just been saved. She let go of Alice and quickly walked toward me, her voice unusually high, like she was trying to escape.
"That's right! Mr. Karen, we don't have much time—let's go!"
Before I could react, she grabbed my arm and dragged me away. Normally, I'd resist—but her sudden move caught me off guard, so I just went along with it.
As I was being pulled away, I didn't forget to call out to the others,
"We'll be back tomorrow. Contact me if anything comes up."
I watched as Jacob left in another direction with Ethefelis and Alice. Meanwhile, I took beginner-level Grace to buy the equipment she'd need to challenge the dungeon.