Brokenhearted

While a dungeon with two bosses wasn't that surprising, the fact that two parties consisting of Gold-Rank Adventurers were able to clear it was unexpected news.

It had only been ten minutes since the double boss dungeon was cleared, but everyone was already talking about it. The hot topic reached the ears of neighboring kingdoms and nearby cities affiliated with the Caharsa Guild.

Somehow, Albrecht expected this to happen, that's why he told everyone not to include his name on the report. If anything, he wanted to hide his contribution to the dungeon clear. After all, the other heroes might hear about his feats and target him.

Fortunately, Yulie Rosethorn handles the Grapevine Party and the Paladin's Hand Party. She was the guild master of the Caharsa Guild, after all, and he could omit a couple of things in the report without receiving any backlash from the higher-ups. There were no higher-ups, since she assumed the highest-ranking position as the guild master.

Some of the adventurers could've sworn that Albrecht helped out, but they might've remembered wrong, and Albrecht was said to be in the vicinity when the incident happened, so he might just be lingering around instead of helping out in the dungeon.

Once the double boss dungeon was cleared, Albrecht and the Grapevine Party separated from the group. They have another dungeon to clear, and time was running out so they had to hurry.

"Albrecht..." Yulie Rosethorn bashfully called out as she tugged at Albrecht's sleeve the moment he turned around.

"Y-yes?" Albrecht nervously uttered. He was half-expecting Yulie to bring up the 'happy accident' that happened in the dungeon, but on the other hand, he also hoped that she won't say anything about it in front of everyone.

It was an embarrassing moment, after all.

"Please be careful out there... and thank you for saving us." Yulie bashfully said.

In the background, Asvi Winefield clenched his teeth and fists as he watched their sweet interaction. 'That should be me. It was supposed to be me, not him.' Asvi complained in his mind.

Then again, now that he had time to ponder about it. He realized that it was his fault Yulie was this close to Albrecht.

He got too complacent, too comfortable with their current relationship that he never thought of moving forward. Since they were childhood friends, he got used to the fact that Yulie was always there, and it gave him the fixed mindset that she won't go anywhere.

After all, where else could she go when he was right there? Turns out, he was wrong.

'If I'd told her my feelings... things would've turned out differently. This was all on me...' Asvi solemnly concluded in his mind. His shoulders slumped as he was overcome with sadness, trailing behind Albrecht while they headed back to the Hidden Dungeon.

'I should man up. I shouldn't continue blaming Albrecht for something that wasn't his fault in the first place.' Asvi thought to himself while stealing a glance at Albrecht. He wanted to tell him to take care of Yulie in his place, but he was just a childhood friend, and he felt he wasn't in the position to say such things.

"They said there were plenty of fishes in the sea... but why's there only one Yulie? Ugh~ it hurts." Asvi sniffled as he wiped the stray tear off his face.

Seeing their leader's shaken disposition, the Grapevine party members wanted to ask if he was all right. In hindsight, he didn't look okay so they didn't bother asking him anything. They just casually trailed behind their party leader while they followed Albrecht to the Hidden Dungeon.

Meanwhile, Albrecht had no idea what was going on behind him. He was too preoccupied with the System windows that appeared in front of him.

[Emergency Quest Rewards, obtained]

[Additional Rewards, obtained]

[System Shop Points, obtained]

So far, Albrecht hadn't availed a couple of Quest Rewards. In total, there were three Quest Rewards that he hasn't opened, including the Emergency Quest Reward that he got right now.

'Doesn't matter. I'll open them later.' Albrecht said to himself. Right now, he was tempted to open up the System Shop since he just received a hefty sum of System Shop Points. Then again, he knew he was going to waste more seconds if he opted to do it.

One at a time. Albrecht received to deal with things one at a time. If worse came to worst and he didn't have any free time, then he could just claim his rewards an hour or so before the raid attempt of the Seventh Outerlayer.

—

—

"Leader, is something wrong?" Craig concernedly asked after seeing the troubled expression written on Yulie's face.

"Mhnn," Yulie gently shook her head. "I'm just... worried, that's all." She continued.

"About Albrecht? Ah right, leader, are you dating him?" Sasha Clifford brought up out of the blue, causing Yulie to turn her head around, vehemently denying it.

"Eh?! You aren't dating? Even though you kissed a while ago?!" Sasha continued.

"EH?!" Yulie exclaimed. Sasha said it so casually that she didn't know how to properly react. In her mind, the kiss she exchanged with Albrecht repeatedly played. Her face reddened automatically, and she helplessly covered the redness that reached up to her ears.

And she didn't just remember the second kiss. Even the first kiss replayed in her mind, which made her let out a soft exclamation of embarrassment.

"Don't put her in a spot like that, Sasha. We all know that that was just an accident." Craig said, softly giving Sasha a whack on the head before he heaved a sigh. "In any case, that must've been frustrating to see... for Asvi, I mean."

"Asvi Winefield? Why would it be frustrating for him?" Sasha asked. "Ah! Was it because he liked our leader for the longest time?"

Yulie clearly heard what Sasha said, and it was a first for her to know that Asvi actually liked her. "EH?!" She exhaled in surprise.

"Eh?!" Sasha returned. Now that she thought about it, she probably mentioned something that shouldn't have been brought up.

"Sigh~ you should really learn how to control that mouth of yours, Sasha," Lance stated while Garam nodded in the background.