The next day, seeing Loretta act completely nonchalant, I decided to give up asking her about what happened with Desert Scorpion. Instead, I asked her the other question I had. If Desert Scorpionâs guild master told me not to get involved with this person, I figured that Loretta knew about her as well. However, as soon as she heard what I said, she took out her axe and smiled.
âSo, whoâs that woman, Shin-nim?â
âIâm the one who asked! Also, arenât you taking that axe out way too often lately!?â
âBut Shin-nim is the bad one for asking about other women knowing how I feel.â
âWhatâs bad is Lorettaâs head! Didnât I explain!?â
âThen, Iâll stop joking andâŚâ
âYou were really joking, right? You wonât use that axe, right!?â
â⌠Huhu.â
Loretta simply answered with a bright smile. That meant she wasnât joking, right..?
âSorry, Shin-nim. I canât tell Shin-nim even if I want to. But I think Shin-nim already has somewhat of an idea who she is.â
âI do⌠yeahâŚâ
I didnât know exactly who Daisy Ectradion was. However, the only thing he knew about me was that I had a godâs true name and that I was Beyondâs explorer. In other words, this Daisy Ectradion was likely to be Beyondâs second explorer. It was the strange woman who offered to take my corpse.
I was concerned about her. Just like the first explorer, it seemed she didnât want to leave her mansion. Why wasnât she exploring the dungeon? Perhaps, Desert Scorpionâs guild master had something to do with it.
âThen do you want to stroll through the Residential Area and asked around?â
âWhy are you linking your arms with mine?â
âTo make the best use of our time, huhu.â
In the end, Loretta dragged me off to the First Dungeonâs Residential Area. However, the people that saw us together acted rather⌠strange.
âHey, is that guyâŚâ
âRevivalâs guild master, right? The holder of Evil Eyes.â
âEvil Eye holders are even rarer than holders of godâs true names⌠There are less than ten of them!â
âI hear he has a godâs true name too.â
Ah, my Evil Eyes gave away my identity! They had to be talking about me since I was probably the only one who recently gained Evil Eyes. However, their following words made me drip with sweat.
âI only found out with this incident that administrative guilds also have ranks.â
âLook at him! He looks like a natural women magnet. Itâs not surprising that he could even seduce the Fairy Gardenâs famous queen.â
âTheyâre walking around quite publicly. Did Desert Scorpion not know about this?â
âHe doesnât appear often in the Residential Area. It looks like heâs trying to show off right now.â
âHe sent Desert Scorpion to their death so itâs understandable.â
âDesert Scorpion simply paid the price for their deeds. Theyâre the ones who bribed an administrative guild to try to destroy an innocent new guild. They got what they deserved.â
I looked back at Loretta. She was happily humming as she pressed her body against me. I sang the national anthem inwardly and asked Loretta.
âLoretta, tell me honestly. Whatâs your goal for walking around this?â
âIâm advertising to everyone so other women wonât bother Shin-nim!â
âAnd?â
âIâm warning others who might bother Shin-nim or Shin-nimâs guild!â
She was brutally honest. It seemed she wasnât really avoiding the matter with Desert Scorpion.
âReally, I didnât think there would still be such a dirty guild remaining in the First Dungeon! I got slightly angry and ended up being a bit overzealous. The administrative guild almost became four, huhu.â
âF-Four!?â
âDonât worry, Shin-nim, it was resolved peacefully. All administrative guild masters are close friends!â
Thereâs a liar here! It seemed Loretta understood what I was thinking, as she put her hand on her mouth and smiled with her eyes curled to a crescent shape.
âThereâs nothing to worry about. Everything I did was within my authority, so there wonât be anyone who wonât acknowledge it. Harming other guilds or explorers for the benefit of oneâs own guild is strictly forbidden in the dungeon.â
âThatâs good, then.â
All the attention we were getting was starting to get annoying. When I glanced over them, they seemed to have thought I would attack with my Evil Eyes as they all turned away scared.
âHuhu, Iâm so happy.â
âThatâs⌠good.â
Seeing the extremely happy expression on Lorettaâs face, I could only smile wryly. Since she did it for my sake, I decided to enjoy this moment as well.
Soon, however, a man stood in front of us, blocking our way. It was Desert Scorpionâs guild master!
âWell⌠done.â
âYeah, really. You made it sound like you could do whatever you wanted with the First Dungeon, but it seems there are proper laws in this place, huh?â
âThis wonât be the end of it! No, this is only the beginning!â
He gritted his teeth and shouted. Of course, purely in terms of strength, he was stronger than me. I could feel him already trying to overwhelm me with spirit. Trying to kill me my spirit in the middle of the Residential Area⌠This guy had to be nuts. I held Loretta back, who was about to step forward angrily. I made up my mind to try out the Evil Eyes.
I would get in huge trouble if I accidentally turned bystanders into stone, but I suspected that the magic resistasnce of an S ranked guildâs guild master wouldnât be lower than SS+ rank. Even if the petrification went through, I could always cancel it, so there was no worry. In the first place, the spirit he emitted was also threatening to people with low abilities, so we were doing the same thing.
I poured mana into my eyes, and the golden Evil Eyes began to shine brilliantly. Even I could tell that a bright light was coming out of my eyes. Desert Scorpionâs guild masterâs spirit immediately subsided. He gritted his teeth to hold his stance.
âKuk! You⌠You can already wield the Evil Eyes so freelyâŚ!â
âSorry, but Iâm a lot stronger than you think. Iâm warning you now. Iâm already busy with everything going on in my world, so donât bother me. If you do, Iâll make you regret it.â
âHaâŚ! I already lost everything because of you. I have nothing left to lose!â
I smirked.
âBecause of me? If someone overheard, theyâd think I was the guild master of a large guild that bribed an administrative guild to harass and threaten small guilds that got in our way.â
â⌠Mark my words. Youâll regret what you did! Remember that you made an enemy of the holder of Scizarnathâs true name. Iâll kill you one day, Earthâs Hero!â
Heâs saying that knowing that Iâm Earthâs Hero? How can he act like heâs the victim when he simply paid for the crimes he committed? I guess the dungeon has people like him too⌠No, perhaps, being an explorer for dozens of years is what made him change.
In any case, I wasnât afraid of him whatsoever. I saw his strength during the raid. I knew that he had a godâs true name and that he was currently much stronger than me. However, the time we spent was different. He said heâd kill me one day? Fool, you already lost your chance when you said âone dayâ instead of âa weekâ or âa monthâ!
I deactivated the Evil Eyesâ power with a smirk. Only then did he pick himself up properly, still glaring at me intently. It was then that I remembered something. He was the best person to ask about Daisy Ectradion.
âWhoâs Daisy Ectradion?â
âIf youâre Beyondâs explorer, you should know that deserter wench. I already warned you. Donât get involved with her. Donât think about helping her either.â
âDeserterâŚâ
âThatâs right, sheâs a filthy deserter! A deserter that dared to defy meâŚ! Just like you, I will kill her too.â
He turned around, leaving me behind. However, Loretta caught him with his words.
âHold on, customer. How can you just leave?â
âFairy Gardenâs masterâŚ! Youâre not satisfied with taking everything from me? What else do you want?â
âOf course thereâs something I want.â
Loretta tilted her head like he just asked the most obvious question.
âYou announced that youâd kill another worldâs explorer. You canât be expecting me to gloss over it. Plus, you mentioned another worldâs name and threatened to kill its Hero⌠As the dungeonâs administrator, I cannot let that slide.â
âSo what, youâre going to kill me?â
âNo.â
Loretta smiled brightly.
âFrom this moment on, you are no longer a dungeon explorer. Moreover, youâll have to promise that youâll never do anything to hurt Shin-nim. Through a Soul Contract, of course.â
âD-Donât be ridiculous! You canât do that to me! What right do you have toââ
At that moment, a door suddenly opened up. He tried to enter it, then screamed. The door was closing before he could pass through it. Loretta said with a slightly lowered tone.
âI can see how much Sipua is looking out for you. Threatening another explorer is a grave offense that is strictly forbidden in the dungeon. When that explorer is a Hero, the punishment becomes unimaginably heavy. Dungeon explorers are expected to help each other. Didnât Sipua teach you properly?â
âY-YouâŚ!â
âYou freely oppressed others with Sipuaâs backing, so you have expected that the same could happen to you. It seems you prevented explorers that went against your guild from using the Residential Areaâs facilities? You should be glad you arenât being punished by the Lord personally. If it wasnât for me, you wouldnât be able to keep your life.â
âYou. Who are⌠Kuk!â
He knelt on the ground. I widened my eyes. I could feel that his strength disappearing. His soulâs league, his powerful constitution, and boundless mana, they were all disappearing! Now, he only had the strength of a level 30 explorer. It was probably the mana and strength he built up through training outside of levels. Most of it should be from the godâs true name.
A sparkling piece of paper appeared in mid-air. Loretta caught it and took out a pen.
âNow, letâs see⌠What should I write to make you suffer more⌠Huhu.â
âLoretta, was the reason we strolled around the Residential Area todayâŚâ
âDonât ask me that. Just think of it as a good wife helping her husband!â
Loretta expected us to run into him. No, she baited him to come. Once he saw us, he would undoubtedly threaten me, and Loretta would then punish him thoroughly.
Everything had gone as she planned.
âLoretta, I canât quite understand. How can someone lose his qualification as an explorer so easily?â
âDidnât I tell you? Heroes receive special treatment in the dungeon too. At the very least, they shouldnât be threatened by other explorers, should they? Of course, if someone threatens to murder a Hero, he must face a grave punishment. And the one who administers that punishment isâŚâ
Loretta pointed her pen toward herself. Her calm smile gave me a chill.
âIâm so glad that I could catch him before Sipua got to him! I was worried that she warned him beforehand!â
âYou⌠bitchâŚ!â
âDonât you know that cursing at an administrative guildâs guild master is also punishable? Regardless, Iâll be adding to your list of crimes.â
I came to understand that making an administrative guildâs guild master was disastrous.
Then, a woman appeared mid-air.
âLoretta, you! How could you do this to my Lodâ kyak!â
âYou need to be disciplined too, Sipua. Stay put in your guild house and wait for your punishment.â
She was instantly sent back by a wave of Lorettaâs hand. After taking care of her like swatting a fly, Loretta threw the contract in her hand at the man gasping for breath on the ground.
âQuietly read it and sign it. If you do, your punishments wonât increase any further. Do it for Sipua, who cares about you.â
âKuâŚ. Kuaaaaaaa!â
Just like that, he lost his qualification as an explorer and was kicked out. Furthermore, he was forbidden from meddling in my affairs in any way. Everything happened under Lorettaâs leadership. Seeing me stare at her blankly, Loretta said carefully.
âShin-nim is busy with clearing the dungeon and matters back on Earth, so I canât have Shin-nim distracted by trash like him. I can only do these types of things⌠D-Do you think I went overboard? I simply did what was within my authority to do, donât hate meâŚ!â
âN-No, I was just surprised because Loretta sent him away so cleanly. Thank you. Itâs just that⌠I didnât think heâd be threatening even if I left him aloneo.â
âShin-nim, that kind of thinking is naĂŻve.â
Lorettaâs expression suddenly became more serious.
âDonât think that Shin-nim is the only special person. Even after losing their power as a dungeon explorer, there are many people who can threaten Shin-nim. Not making any enemies or cleanly destroying all enemies. These are the only choices Shin-nim has. Of course, I think the former is much better. Though most explorers also think the same way, there are always outliers like that trash. So if Shin-nim makes enemies, make sure to tell me about them.â
Loretta continued with a firm voice.
âIâll take out the trash.â
â⌠From now on, Iâll take care of it, so Loretta doesnât have to do anything.â
She was right, I was naĂŻve. I had the Dimensional Travel skill. If I really wanted to harass another worldâs explorer, I could think of many ways to do so. Although I wouldnât do something so troublesome, there were many crazies in the world; ones that did things without thinking about the consequences, ones that only lived for revenge.
It seemed I relied too much on the assumption that personality was part of the qualification to be a First Dungeon explorer. I should have known that people could change. Only after Loretta took care of the dirty work did I realize this. Really, I was wasting my intelligence stat.
âIf possible, donât make enemies. If I do, destroy them thoroughly. Thatâs it, right?â
âIf possible, itâs better to use Soul Contracts to tie their lives down.â
⌠Still, Lorettaâs methods were iron-blooded!
âBy the way, the wisest thing Shin-nim could have done was to not participate in the raid. Although Shin-nimâs guild is strong, itâs still not in a position of absolute strength.â
âThen from nowâŚâ
âNo, itâs fine now. Fortunately, we crushed a guild and its guild master. I doubt anyone will try to be Shin-nimâs enemy. It really turned out well!â
Loretta smiled as if to ask for my agreement. I didnât know whether to laugh or cry.
âR-Rather than that, since I got the information I wanted, Iâm going to go.â
âTo Daisy Ectradion?â
âUh, mm⌠Yeah.â
âOkay, letâs go!â
Loretta linked her arms with mine again and shouted joyfully. I had somewhat expected she would do so.
With a bitter smile, I headed to Beyondâs Residential Area. It was time to meet Daisy Ectradion. Of course, my arm was still linked with Loretta.
Authorâs note:
The iron-blooded wife, Loretta. Sheâll destroy anyone who dares to touch her lover!
PS â The popularity contest is a popularity contest! Itâs not how the story will go. Itâs just something that will let me know which characters are popular. Feel free to vote however you want.
The popularity contest is still up! Iâll probably announce the results next Friday. Check out the announcement post if you missed the link!