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After Master Felicia tried to avoid the question and flee back to her room, Aquarina’s mother lost her temper.

"Where are you going, you damn lazy bum?!" Nepheline screamed, summoning a brick on the spot and hurling it at her. It struck Felicia squarely in the head.

"Ouch! Why did you throw a brick at my damn head?!" Felicia shouted, her composure shattering.

"We’re all fighting to help your country, and this is how you repay us?!" Nepheline yelled. "Help us out!"

"I-I am helping in my own way! Who do you think has been researching the curse, exploring the dungeon, and watching over the people? Someone has to stay behind..." Felicia protested.

"Aren’t you our strongest fighter? Your powers are completely insane. Why don’t you at least handle one dungeon?" Nepheline insisted.

"I already told you I’m safeguarding the country while you’re all busy! What if an enemy attacks?!" Felicia snapped angrily.

"You’re just making excuses because you’re lazy!" Nepheline shot back.

"Oh, shut up!" Felicia retorted.

Wow.

This?

I never expected it.

Honestly, I could not remember ever seeing them act this way.

My mother crossed her arms and shook her head. My father did the same.

It was oddly funny.

"Forgive them," my mother said. "Sometimes they regress to their teenage years, when they were always fighting like this."

"They never got along very well," my father added.

"Yeah..." Aquarina’s father sighed. "Their personalities are complete opposites, so they clash a lot. But I thought that now that Nepheline has grown up and become a mother of two girls, she would be more mature about it. Hey, Nepheline, that’s enough. You’re embarrassing your daughters. Besides, Aquarina is Felicia’s apprentice. We owe her that favor."

"Eugh..." Nepheline groaned, lowering her head.

Despite how dominant she usually seemed in their relationship; it was clear that Shade was the one who quietly took the reins and knew exactly when to stop her.

Which was kind of cute.

"But honey..." Nepheline protested, revealing a surprisingly soft side for her husband.

"Come on now, dear. That’s enough," Shade said gently. "It’s not good to fight with an old friend, is it?"

"Uhh... really?" Nepheline asked, still glaring at Felicia. Master was giving her the cockiest smile I had ever seen.

"Heh."

Wow. That was cruel.

"Grrrr! You damn midget!"

Nepheline lunged forward, but Shade’s shadows swiftly wrapped around her, stopping her from doing anything reckless.

"Enough... You’re not a kid anymore..." Shade facepalmed. "I’m sorry, Felicia..."

"It’s fine, Shade," Felicia shrugged. "Nepheline, you’re incredibly lucky to have married someone like Shade, you know? With your attitude, I doubt you could ever land someone like him again."

"Eh?!" Nepheline gasped. "W-Why would you say that, you damn little— And you’re nobody to talk! You’re single!"

"By choice!" Felicia shot back, walking into her room and slamming the door.

But then she opened it again and looked at us.

"My disciples, don’t forget you must gather proper materials to forge your cauldrons. That test is still ongoing, and the deadline is approaching."

With that, she quickly retreated into her room once more.

An awkward silence settled over the group.

"Um..." I muttered. "So that was... something."

"Anyway!" my mother said brightly, trying to dispel the sour mood. "Let’s forget about my friend’s meltdown and get back to the point. About the dungeons. So you want to complete them, right? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why not? We can handle it," I nodded.

"Sylphy, I know you’re strong. You’ll probably be fine, especially with literal gods as your familiars now," she said. "But your friends don’t have that advantage. I think you should form bigger teams and conquer the dungeons more slowly. Why not clear two today instead of four? There’s no need to rush."

"Ugh..." I groaned. "Are you guys sure?"

"Hmm, well, I am really strong. We breezed through the dungeons ourselves!" Lara said confidently, surrounded by her many spirits.

"But there was still a noticeably big jump in power levels," Mist added.

"I agree..." Even my brother nodded. "To avoid accidents and stay cautious, it would be better to proceed carefully and form larger teams."

"Yeah..." I nodded. "Well, Aquarina and I will be fine on our own, right?"

"I honestly don’t want anybody else with us. This is our date," Aquarina said firmly. "But you guys could form one giant team, no?"

"Sounds fun!" Lara nodded enthusiastically.

"I guess that’s fine. We can explore with friends," Celica said.

"Ah, Aquarina and Sylphy really don’t see us as equals anymore, huh?" Celeste sighed. "This is some insane power scaling."

"What sort of nonsense are you talking about?" I sighed. "I see all of you as equals! You want me to go with you? Fine, I’ll go."

"No, no, it’s fine," Mist said. "This isn’t just for fun. We’re solving a problem, so we must do it efficiently. We shouldn’t prioritize staying together, right?"

"I want to explore with Sylphy, Aquarina, and everyone else together like before, but this isn’t the time yet," Celica nodded.

"We’ll do it once we finish these small dungeons and move on to the bigger ones," my brother added.

"I agree!" Mist said. "So no problem, Sylphy. Don’t listen to Celeste. She’s just jealous that Aquarina gets you all to herself, hehe."

"W-What are you talking about?!" Celeste blushed furiously. "I-I haven’t said anything like that!!!"

"Wow, so obvious. Look at her blushing face," Celica teased.

"Do you like Sylphy, Celeste?" Ruby asked curiously.

"W-What?! Of course not! She has a girlfriend!" Celeste panicked.

"That doesn’t really matter, right? You can still like someone even if they’re in a relationship—"

"Shut up!" Celeste cried, covering her mouth before running back to her room.

"Ah... uh, maybe I shouldn’t have said anything," Ruby muttered.

"Um, so anyway," I said, clearing my throat. "Let’s get back to the main topic..."

"Right," my brother nodded. "Enough drama for now."

"I agree," Aquarina said. "What do we do next?"

"We should get ready," I replied. "Aquarina and I will head to the Burning Forest Dungeon. You guys can take the Stone Cathedral. That seems fine?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Yeah, sounds good," Celica nodded.

"Okay~!" Lara cheered. "Umm, I wonder if Luck is coming today?"

"Perhaps tomorrow or the day after, depending on the weather," my mother said. "Arafunn... I don’t know if he’ll bring them himself or send an airship."

"Given the long distance, he’ll probably skip coming on his own and just call for an airship," my father added.

"True," Nepheline agreed. "Anyway, that’s settled. Let’s get ready to depart."

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