Chapter 176

It was sometime later when I finally returned to the place we had been given after leaving the alchemist's building. Since the girls had abandoned it weeks ago, it was quite dusty. Without asking, the girls immediately went to work cleaning it up. I told them to just make it nice enough to stay a few nights. It looked like we'd be leaving the city soon on a new adventure. I still had questions to ask the guild master on this new quest, but that could wait until the morning.

This would be the first night I could sleep in a bed since I had entered that dungeon, and I planned to really enjoy it. Since I had such a storage ring, maybe I should get some kind of portable bed. It'd take up a third of the ring, but it would totally be worth it. I was pulling out items from my ring and going through all the riches we had gained.

I made sure to not be clear to the Guild Master and Mayor how much I brought home. It felt a lot like lying, but at the same time, I suspected if I told them how much riches I had, they might give me some sob story about how the city lord was responsible for helping his people rebuild or something. The two men weren't bad men. They meant well and I didn't believe they were trying to screw me over, but they were also a bit singularly focused when it came to their decisions.

The door opened and I looked up to see Celeste stepping into my room. Since she had grown in size upon her evolution, I had noticed her walking a lot more. It would be awkward if she was floating around the room even though she was the size of a normal girl. Now that I could see her at full size, I could truly appreciate her beauty. Her glittery pink hair, her soft features, her ample bosom… Celeste was a very beautiful woman, much like her mother had been before she had turned dark.

"What is it, Celeste?"

Celeste looked down, holding her hands in front of her nervously. "The other two girls told me they were busy cleaning. They said I should… um… entertain Master for the night, since we had previously not done so."

"Ah.. sorry, I'm not really in the mood to play games…"

"M-master… that's not what they meant…" Her face flushed and she grew even shier, "I mean… you and me…"

"Ah!" I sat up. "You mean… ah… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you. You want to… I mean, are you sure?"

"Y-yes… since I first met Master, I've wanted to…"

"Well, I mean, you kept calling me a pervert and I kind of had the impression sex wasn't that interesting to you without fairy dust."

"Th-that was when I was a fairy, master." She said nervously. "Rather, fairies are actually very provocative, but we lack the basic understanding of how to satisfy these wants. Plus, I was channeling my mother's own disgust when it came to Lord Karr, I mean father."

"So, what you're saying is that the real you has always been hidden?"

She blushed and nodded. "For twenty years, I wandered the halls of that dungeon, half-ghost, half fairy… my mind was a muddled mess and I had no grasp on anything. I was in a prison of my mother's making, and I didn't even know it.

"Then, Master appeared… and you were kind and silly, and stern, and caring… and you were like a light in the darkness. My mind started to work again. I started to shake the influence of my mother, and come to understand my own individuality.

"But… as we got farther down, closer to the Fairy Queen, her anger and jealousy affected my fairy half. When you finally ordered me to be myself, my ghost half fused with my fairy half, and Mother's call completely ruled me. However, even then, I felt compelled to follow you, to be by your side. You may say it was just the collar, but I feel it was more. When mother saw my collar, she grew furious and almost killed me. You transported me up to the 9th floor. Away from mother's influence, I could finally regain my thoughts. That was when I realized I had to protect you. Yet, to protect you, I had to challenge my mother, and that lead to my current state."

"So, now you're a Fairy Queen?"

"I'm still a fairy, or rather a half-fairy. My true form is actually larger than normal fairies. A normal fairy is about six inches in size. I'm much bigger because of my humanity. Fairy Queen is more like an acquired subspecies. However… I am still incomplete… because…"

"Because your human half is gone!" I stood up. "Wait! Your ghost is still inside you, you carried it outside the dungeon and the curse is now broken! If that's the case, then resurrection…"

"That's right, Master… you can restore my life to me."