Avalon’s Dungeon

　For some reason, Alexis is in a bad mood on the second day of the exploration.

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「……」

　Fransisca is perplexed to see Alexis looking glum and silent all morning.

「A-Alexis-sama, what's the matter…? Ah, umm…
If you are not feeling well, would you like to come back?」

　When approached like that, Alexis answered, “No, I'm fine.”

「Besides, Lorenzo's condition is…
well, his horns are as usual, but he seems to be okay, so we'll continue our search today.」

「I…
understand…」

　Fransisca nodded and said, “But please take it easy, okay? If you need anything, please let me know right away.”

　That's how it goes.

「Will you do something for me if I tell you?」

　Alexis asked, and Fransisca is puzzled, but said, “Yes, of course.”

「Does that mean you will do anything for me?」

　Fransisca nodded in agreement at the next words.

「Well, if it's what Alexis-sama wants…」

「…Okay.」

　Hearing this, he decided to go for it for the day.
That's what Alexis thought.

　Seeing the exchange between him and Fransisca, Fatima is thinking, “…is it my fault?”.

（Is it true that Alex really wanted to do it last night…?）

　Her cheeks turned red thinking about it.

（…did I make him strain himself by taking advantage of Alex's gentleness?）

「Hmm…
Fatima-chan, what's wrong? Your face is red」

　Sara asked suddenly and Fatima came back to herself.

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「I'm fine.
It's nothing.」

　She answered with a blank expression on her face, and Sara nodded, “Hmmm…?”.

「Anyway, let's go!」

　Alexis says, and the group decides to fold up the camp and move on.

* * *

　On the second day, they set up camp near the end of the fourth layer.

「As expected…
it's bigger than the previous dungeon…」

　Alexis sighs tiredly.

「Haah…
I'd like to go home soon.」

　Fransisca let out a weak cry like this.

「I want to take a bath and sleep in bed…」

　This was her same complaint as usual, and Alexis is thinking secretly that she's a lousy person.

「If you want to take a bath, there's a spring over there…」

「Ah…
Alexis-sama, do you want me to be like Lorenzo?」

　Fransisca hurriedly refuses.

　”Me?!”, Lorenzo said, and stroked his horn.

「I just examined it for a moment and it seemed to be safe from the poison.」

　Sara responded.

「But there is a possibility that although there is no poison, it could be a mutation spring again…
I wish there was some way to determine this…」

　Fatima put her hand on her chin and groaned.

　However, the reality is that there is no way to determine the mutation.

　On the other hand, it would be unbearable to make the princess, who has been raised like a butterfly and a flower in a greenhouse, feel uncomfortable.
Fatima thought so.

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「…If it comes to this…」

　Fatima eventually made up her mind and got up from where she was sitting on the floor.

「All right, Your Highness.
Then I will test the water to see if it is safe.
This is easy.
Someone else will try it.」

　Seeing Fatima's determination, Fransisca panicked.

「Huh, Fatima?! D-Don't bother.
If I could just put up with this…
just put up with this…」

　Seeing Fransisca getting flustered, Fatima finally made up her mind.

「One moment, please.
I'm going!」

「Hey, Fatima?! Don't be hasty!」

　Fransisca hurriedly grabs the hem of Fatima's robe and holds her back, while Fatima tries to leave.

「I told you I'm fine! You don't have to worry about me!」

　But Fransisca is probably unaware that her true feelings are revealed by her facial expression.
Fatima stares at Fransisca and then says, “I will go, after all”, not wavering in her decision.

　”Don't worry, I'll be fine!”, says Fatima.
But Fransisca says, “No, it can't be all right, don't bluff!”.

（Fatima, she is so overprotective…）

　Alexis can only watch with this thought.

「Lorenzo-kun, you're the only one who can do this.」

　Sara suddenly suggested.

「Lorenzo-kun has already mutated, and even if it turned out to be the spring of mutation, it would be the same whether yohe mutated once or twice, right?」

　Sara smiles like a demon.

　But the people around her seemed to think it was a reasonable theory.

「I-I see…!」

　Fatima's expression of surprise comes to her face, as if to say that it was a good idea and Alexis felt that she was also a person who was easily persuaded.

「Are you sure it's okay…? I mean, how can you be sure that the mutation won't affect anything other than his appearance, like his horns?」

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「Don't worry, Alex, I'll take care of it.」

　With that, Lorenzo himself stood up.

「Sara is right…
there is still some room in my head.
Two or three more horns would have little effect.」

「…Are you not thinking of anything other than the horns as a possible mutation?」

　Alexis muttered to himself, but apparently Lorenzo did not hear him.

「Well, I'm off.」

　With these words, Lorenzo left his bag at the camp and went away to the spring.

「Oh…
it would be unwise not to keep a lookout while he bathes.
Alex, why don't you go with him and leave us alone?」

　Fatima suggested hurriedly, but Alexis wanted to politely decline.

「I don't want to.
What's the fun in watching him bathe?」

「Well, Alex-kun? I think it's more of a problem to watch women bathe.」

　Sara pointed out smilingly.

「You guys, of course I'd rather see naked women of the opposite sex.
I mean, what's the fun in seeing the same gender naked in the nude…!」

「I dunno…」

「I don't really understand…」

「Yes, I don't understand too…」

　The women responded in the same way to the questions.

　”Is this what you call a gender difference…?” Alexis stood up reluctantly.

「I have no choice…
I will go now.
But I will need to see you bathe to make up for this.」

「Eh?! Ehs…
t-that's…
w-what should I do?」

　Fransisca immediately turns red and her eyes drift to the floor.

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「Your Highness, you can't be like that! As a citizen of the priesthood, you should refuse the offer.」

　Fatima hurriedly added, looking at Fransisca, who asked “Is that so?”.

「Yes, that's right.」

　Fatima nodded her head, but Alexis thought to himself, “She shouldn't have said that.”.

　However, he did not intend to say anything at all.
After all, he had already assured Fransisca that she would do whatever he wanted later, so there was no need to be in a hurry.

「Well, I'm going to go.
I'll leave the rest to you.」

　After saying these words, Alexis left the place.

* * *

　Lorenzo seemed to have finished his bathing without any problems, so the ladies also took a bath.
Alexis naturally had to watch over them, but in the end, he was not allowed to look at them, which was not a very nice thing to do….

（Does anyone think it's too late for that?）

　He thought so, but well, he has better things to do later than to die a death just looking at women's bodies.

　So, he decided to turn his back to the spring and wait for them to finish their bathing.

　And the last one to bathe is Alexis.

「I'll watch over him」

　Fransisca said, and no one objected to this.

　It's only natural that the watchman should be her.
After all, Fransisca is an attacker.

　As one of the two main front line forces, she is the most qualified to deal with the approaching monsters.

　Lorenzo, the engineer, can also provide a certain amount of physical combat, but he is not a mainstay, and the healer and the conjurer have difficulty even in completing their magic chanting without a shield.

　If they are just a camp watchman, they can quickly unite as a party by shouting and calling for help, but the location of the spring is some distance away from the camp.
Therefore, someone who can cope with the situation on his/her own is needed.

（As for me, at worst, I could endure without a bath for a week or so…）

　Alexis is used to such a situation of no accommodation, since he used to live as an adventurer.

「Normally, Alexis does this for me.
Today I am returning the favor!」

　Fransisca is also excited about the situation, so she decided to give it a try.
So Alexis decides to go for a dip.