Chapter 201 ⤞ The Anomaly in Keele's Dungeon

A few days passed, and the 『Hero』 Party remained idle as usual, occasionally browsing Wiz's Magic Item Shop when they had nothing else to do.

They thought the coming days would continue peacefully, but they soon found themselves embroiled in trouble.

"Kazuma Satou! Is Kazuma Satou here—!"

While they were chatting in the guild, Sena, the kingdom's Royal Prosecutor whom they hadn't seen in a while, burst in shouting Kazuma's name at the top of her lungs.

"W-what is it now!" Kazuma, clearly intimidated by Sena's forceful attitude, shrank back, "Let me state this first: I've been staying at the guild these past few days without taking any quests. Whatever happened has nothing to do with me!"

"How could it not be related to you!" Red-faced with anger, Sena wouldn't listen to his explanations. Just as she was about to continue her tirade, she spotted Adam sitting among the crowd.

In an instant, she transformed from a fierce lion into a gentle kitten.

She spoke in a soft voice, "Actually, I just wanted to ask you something, please don't be nervous."

But this only made Kazuma more afraid, "What's wrong with you? Why did you suddenly become a different person? This is actually more frightening."

"Oh ho ho, what are you saying? I've always been like this, haven't I?" Sena laughed artificially, then feigned surprise at noticing Adam, "Oh my, if it isn't Adam! Long time no see, you're back."

Fake! So fake!

She had been fuming with rage moments ago, but upon seeing him, her demeanor changed completely.

Her affected mannerisms perfectly displayed the demure and delicate behavior of a young lady.

However, this contradicted her usual character entirely. In Adam's eyes, she was more like Chris — sharp and competent.

This behavior would only make people want to keep their distance.

Nevertheless, for politeness' sake, he still returned her greeting.

"Long time no see, Miss Sena. I haven't seen you around lately, I thought you'd returned to the Capital."

He expected her to mention being busy, but instead heard her whisper, "How could that be possible? I haven't achieved my goal yet, so I can't possibly leave so easily!"

"..."

Still thinking about marriage — just how persistent are you?!

Left with no choice, Adam pretended not to hear.

"Miss Sena?"

"Ah, sorry. I've been busy with various matters lately, so I haven't had much free time."

Mm, that's better, that's how it should be.

He nodded in satisfaction. This was how a normal reunion conversation should go. There was no way he'd let her mention marriage proposals in public — that would certainly become the talk of the town.

Fortunately, Sena maintained enough composure not to make such an embarrassing request in front of everyone.

"So, Miss Sena, what business do you have with Kazuma-kun?" Steering the conversation back on track, he continued, "He has been with us these past few days and hasn't acted alone, so he couldn't have caused any trouble in Axel. As the lord, I can vouch for him."

"That's right! I haven't gone anywhere — it has nothing to do with me!" Before she could explain, Kazuma hastily tried to distance himself from the situation.

Sena calmly replied, "It's about the dungeon."

"The dungeon...?"

As everyone looked on in confusion, she nodded.

"Didn't the Hero party explore Keele's Dungeon near town before? Adventurers are reporting that mysterious monsters have appeared there in large numbers. I came to ask if you knew anything about this."

"Keele's Dungeon...?" Adam thought for a moment, "You mean the dungeon built by the purified Lich Arch-Wizard Keele?"

"Yes, that's the one." Sena continued, "That dungeon was supposed to have been fully explored, but somehow monsters have appeared again recently — they're even escaping from it."

"Wait a minute! That has nothing to do with us!" Kazuma shouted, "Sure, we did go into that dungeon, but why does everything that goes wrong get blamed on me? Who could put up with that!"

"Mm-hmm."

Hearing his pitiful defense, the other party members nodded in agreement.

Hmm... Keele's Dungeon.

If that's the case, the one who invaded the dungeon must be Vanir.

"Be that as it may, I heard you were the last group of adventurers to enter that dungeon. And going by precedent, there's a high chance you're responsible, isn't there?"

"What kind of twisted logic is that!" Sena's attempt to pin the blame on the party completely infuriated Kazuma. He roared, "Every single time, it's like this! Even though we're innocent, you always blame us. Hey, we're Heroes who saved Axel twice — can't you trust us a little more!"

"If it were Adam, that would be true, but when it comes to the 'Perverted Scumbag', one can't help but be suspicious."

Sena's merciless comment broke Kazuma's heart, leaving him completely speechless.

"Well, Miss Sena, please calm down." Adam said soothingly, "Kazuma-kun has been with us this whole time — there's no way he could have caused any trouble."

"No, that's not what I meant. The Hero party leader is certainly trustworthy, it's just..." Sena looked somewhat embarrassed, lowering her head and speaking softly, "I rashly assumed you were responsible without considering other possibilities. Now I'll have to hire someone to investigate..."

As she spoke, she kept stealing glances at the rest of the party, winking playfully as if hinting, "Wouldn't it be nice if someone who's free could help out?"

"I see, I understand." Adam nodded, "Then we'll take this request as the Hero party. Does that put your mind at ease, Miss Sena?"

"Really? That's wonderful!"

But before she could finish celebrating, he added, "However! The reward can't be too small."

"Yes, don't worry about that. As a Royal Prosecutor, I do have some authority. I'll raise this to an A-rank quest."

"Thank you very much." Seeing Sena being so cooperative, Adam nodded with satisfaction.

It worked out well — he had been thinking of investigating anyway, so he might as well do someone a favor and accept this quest.

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