"A dungeon......?"
Martin tilted his head as though he did not understand.
That reaction was only natural.
This world did not even have the word dungeon.
"Follow me. It will be quicker to see it for yourself than to hear an explanation."
With that, Lloyd entered the Gate.
As Lloyd suddenly vanished, a flustered look appeared on Martin's face. He did not want to go into such a suspicious place, but what else could he do?
He could not send Lloyd, whom he had now decided to serve as his lord, in alone.
"W-Wait for me!"
Martin hurriedly threw himself into the Gate after Lloyd.
The instant he stepped into the Gate, an unbelievable sight unfolded before him.
A blue sky and a vast, open field.
A tower rising high into the sky.
Only a moment ago, it had certainly been an ordinary room, yet the landscape around him had changed in an instant.
"Is this...... outside?"
Martin rubbed his eyes in disbelief, but the scenery before him did not change.
"H-How did this happen? It was certainly a room only a moment ago......"
Lloyd had decided to trust Martin, but he could not tell him the complete truth.
Therefore, showing him the key, Lloyd gave the answer he had prepared beforehand.
"I bought this key by chance long ago, but as you can see, it was not an ordinary object. I believe it may be an Ancient Relic."
Ancient Relics were artifacts from an era when magical civilization had been highly developed.
Since they contained mysterious and powerful magic, they were the perfect excuse to explain the dungeon key.
There had often been stories of things thought to be simple antiques turning out to be Ancient Relics.
Martin's eyes widened as he listened to Lloyd's words, unable to hide his surprise.
Fortunately, Martin seemed to believe him.
"Then the Spatial Storage Artifact from earlier......"
"It is one of the key's abilities."
Since it would make no sense for an illegitimate son like himself to possess a Spatial Storage Artifact, Lloyd made the excuse that the Inventory was also one of the key's abilities.
Once again, Martin believed Lloyd without the slightest doubt.
He spoke with pure admiration.
"Ancient Relics truly are amazing, just as the rumors say. But why did you not tell anyone about this?"
"If I had, this key would not still be in my hands."
Only then did Martin nod, as though he had realized something.
Ancient Relics were extremely valuable artifacts coveted by all nobles.
There was no way they would leave an item like that in the hands of Lloyd, an illegitimate son without mana!
'It certainly would be better not to tell anyone. By the way......'
Martin looked at Lloyd anew.
'He is still young, but he is quite cool-headed. If I had acquired an Ancient Relic, I think I would have bragged about it everywhere as soon as I got it.'
Having outstanding swordsmanship despite being known as incompetent was unexpected enough, but he also possessed such cool judgment.
It was the moment Martin thought that he had done well to choose the illegitimate Lloyd over the legitimate Hailed.
However, at the same time, he felt a small sense of regret.
If Lloyd had only possessed mana, he would have had a high chance of surpassing Hailed and becoming the heir of House Bled......
No matter how little he cared for power or status, he could not help feeling regret.
Then, Lloyd's voice pulled him from his thoughts.
"Are you listening to me right now?"
"Pardon? Ah, I am sorry. So many things happened at once that......"
Lloyd frowned as though displeased and spoke again.
"At an important moment...... I told you to keep it a secret that I possess an Ancient Relic."
"Y-Yes! I will keep the secret even if I die!"
"......If you understand, let us depart now."
"Yes!"
Lloyd and Martin began moving.
Their destination was the tall tower visible in the distance.
***
The inside of the tower was much darker than they had expected, and the humidity was so high that it felt damp.
"What on earth is this place?"
However, Lloyd only looked around as though searching for something and gave no answer.
"Young Master Lloyd?"
"Quiet."
At Lloyd's short, firm words, Martin tightly closed his mouth.
The moment Martin fell silent, the surroundings became quiet.
'There does not seem to be anything nearby, so why......'
It was then.
Drip, drip.
The sound of small drops of water falling.
Perhaps because it was so quiet around them, Martin could hear it clearly too.
'That is strange. There should not be any water nearby...... Is water leaking from the ceiling?'
Thinking that, Martin casually raised his head and looked up, only to be startled.
Something green and transparent was clinging all across the ceiling like bats!
"T-Those are Poison Slimes!? But why are Poison Slimes in a place like this......"
At Martin's startled words, Lloyd recalled what he had read in a book not long ago.
'Poison Slimes in this world are said to live in swamps, right?'
The monsters of this world and the monsters in dungeons were not exactly the same, but they were surprisingly similar in many ways.
The Poison Slimes were no exception.
Other than their habitat, they were no different from the Poison Slimes of his original world.
'Does that work out well for me?'
He would not need to wait for Martin to adapt to the dungeon, nor explain each monster's traits and weaknesses separately.
As he thought that, Martin spoke in a quiet voice.
"Let us get out of here before they discover us."
Poison Slimes reacted to loud noises, so there would be no problem if they slipped away quietly.
However, Lloyd shook his head.
"We will eliminate them all here."
"Pardon? That is impossible. There are too many for the two of us to handle!"
"I said we will eliminate them all."
At Lloyd's cold eyes and voice, Martin closed his mouth without realizing it.
'Why are a child's eyes so sharp?'
In the end, Martin gave up on persuading Lloyd. With an inward sigh, he drew his sword.
SHING—.
The instant Martin drew his sword, the Poison Slimes stuck to the ceiling descended to the ground.
There were more Poison Slimes than they had expected.
Stepping forward, Lloyd took out all the iron swords he had stored in his Inventory.
With a clattering sound, dozens of iron swords poured out of the air.
Martin looked at them with an expression that seemed unable to understand.
'What is he going to use so many swords for?'
He was curious why Lloyd had suddenly taken out so many swords, but he no longer had the room to focus on that.
The Slimes that had slowly been approaching them began attacking.
More than twenty Poison Slimes spat green mucus all at once.
"This is no joke......"
The instant the Slimes' mucus was about to pour down over Lloyd and Martin's heads, something incredible happened.
The mucus pouring toward them stopped in midair.
As though time itself had stopped around them.
"What in the world......"
As Martin looked around with a bewildered expression, he saw Lloyd extending his hand.
"Young Master Lloyd?"
"I will block the poisoned mucus, so use this opportunity to defeat them."
Did that mean it was Lloyd who had stopped all that mucus in midair?
Martin had many questions, but for now, he decided to first defeat the Slimes as Lloyd had ordered.
With agile, flexible movements, Martin's sword swiftly and accurately aimed for the Slimes' cores.
Watching him, Lloyd was quite impressed.
'He is different from our last sparring match. He is quite good.'
Now, Lloyd could understand why Hailed had wanted to make Martin his knight so badly.
'I cannot just stand by, either.'
After dropping all the Slimes' mucus to the ground with Telekinesis, Lloyd used Telekinesis again to move dozens of swords.
The swords that had been floating in the air flew all at once toward the Poison Slimes at Lloyd's gesture.
Dozens of swords that sped through the air pierced the Slimes' cores precisely.
CRUNCH.
With the sound of cores breaking, dozens of Poison Slimes lost their shape and melted away in an instant.
At that very moment, so many messages appeared that they made Lloyd's eyes swim.
[Poison Slime defeated.]
[Poison Slime defeated.]
[Poison Slime defeated.]
.
.
.
[Level increased.]
[Received 8 stat points from leveling up.]
[Sticky Mucus x23 acquired.]
[C-Rank Magic Stone x8 acquired.]
[Antidote Potion x4 acquired.]
Lloyd's eyes widened slightly as he checked the messages.
They had been written clearly in familiar letters, unlike usual.
'Could the System be activated inside a dungeon?'
With that possibility in mind, Lloyd hurriedly opened his Status Window.
[System synchronization is 3.2% complete.]
[Some System functions cannot be used until System synchronization is complete.]
Messages appeared in place of the Status Window.
Lloyd fell into thought as he ran a hand over his smooth chin.
'Synchronization......'
When he had seen the number in the message change, he had once thought that it must mean something. It seemed that it had been the progress rate of synchronization.
'Either way, there is a gain.'
Even if he could not use it right away, he would one day be able to use the System fully if he waited.
That fact alone was a great gain.
'For now, it would be better to raise my level and gather stat points first.'
As he thought that, Martin, who had defeated all the remaining Poison Slimes, approached and asked in a somewhat excited voice.
"Young Master! What was that technique just now? It was not enough that the mucus stopped; the swords moved on their own and defeated the Slimes!"
No, before that, how could Lloyd, who had no mana, display such an advanced technique?
However, he could not get the answer he wanted from Lloyd.
"Keep this ability a secret too."
After saying that, Lloyd closed his mouth and only silently continued down the path.
'It seems he has no intention of telling me.'
Having followed Lloyd around and grasped his personality to some degree, Martin decided not to ask further.
He knew well that once Lloyd closed his mouth, no answer could be heard from him.
'Still, one of my questions has been answered.'
One thing Martin had wondered was why Lloyd, who had never learned swordsmanship, had suddenly become strong.
'If he has been coming and going through a place like this, it is only natural that he would grow stronger.'
Martin thought that Lloyd had become strong because he had trained in secret while facing dungeon monsters here.
***
After Lloyd defeated a wolf-like monster with Telekinesis, blood began dripping from his nose.
Startled at the sight, Martin asked with concern in his voice.
"Young Master Lloyd, are you all right!?"
"Do not make a fuss. It is only a nosebleed from accumulated fatigue."
Just because Telekinesis did not use mana did not mean that it could be used without limit.
Just as skills and magic consumed mana whenever they were used, Telekinesis consumed mental energy.
If he used Telekinesis excessively, mental fatigue would build up and cause things like the nosebleed he was having now.
Lloyd faintly furrowed his brow.
'With my original body, I would not have gotten a nosebleed from this much.'
Perhaps because this body was still young, he had not used Telekinesis that much, yet he felt intense fatigue.
"It seems that I cannot go on any longer. We will finish here for today and return now."
If it were physical fatigue, he could drink a Stamina Recovery Potion, but there was no choice but to rest when it came to mental fatigue.
Martin, who was beginning to feel his own inadequacy, felt regretful but had no choice but to follow Lloyd's words.
Lloyd clearly did not look well.
Having decided to leave the dungeon, Lloyd and Martin used a Return Stone to exit.
However, Lloyd had no time to rest.
As soon as he returned to his room, a knock sounded, followed by Anna's urgent voice.
"Young Master Lloyd, I apologize for disturbing you, but Count Bled is asking for you."