Gather Divine Coins and Gacha! - Chapter 276

 "It's been a while, but it seems your skills haven't dulled. That's a relief."

Minea-san said this with a cheerful smile.

Though she said it had been a while, I had actually stayed here for a few days on my way back from the capital, so it had only been a few months... Well, even though Flora-san didn’t show it much on her face, she seemed satisfied, so if they’re happy, I guess that’s what matters.

Now, we are currently in Minea-san’s room.

After finishing my conversation with my father, I was shown to the room where we'd be staying. It had been prepared inside the mansion.

Though there’s a guest house outside, I suppose since we’re Seriana’s guests, we’re being treated like family.

It's a familiar place, so it's comfortable, but I feel a bit disappointed because I kind of wanted to check out the guest house. When I lived here, I was a maid-in-training, and the guest house was off-limits to me... Well, it's a noble’s building, so I guess that can't be helped.

"Just like when you were here, I’ve been practicing on the people working in the mansion—aside from Lady Seriana and Elena, of course. Honestly, I think I’ve gotten even better!"

I said this with confidence, puffing out my chest a little. Since the manor was upgraded from a steward's residence to a lord’s estate, the number of servants has increased, so I’ve had no shortage of practice partners. It's not harmful to the body, so I try different methods every day, experimenting bit by bit.

"But this might be the first time I've done something like this properly with Teresa..."

"That's right. There were times when I asked for your blessing while drying my hair or applying nail polish, but..."

After finishing treatments for both Minea and Flora, I decided to treat Teresa as well, in the usual style, with her sitting on my lap.

"Oh? Even though you've done this casually for others close to you... you haven't done it for her?"

Minea-san seemed puzzled, knowing that I’ve performed these treatments for the servants here and at the royal capital's mansion.

"Well, she's working during the day, and I’m often in the forest... She takes care of me, drying my hair and cutting my nails, but we don’t actually spend much time together."

And perhaps it’s her sense of pride or something, but it feels like she’s been avoiding having me do anything for her. It’s not like there’s a sense of distance between us, but since it’s not something I would force her to do, I’ve just never gotten around to it until now... I don’t fully understand, but the three of them were getting excited about skincare and hair care, so this turned out to be a good opportunity.

◇

The second morning of our stay in Zelkiss arrived.

Last night, we had dinner together with my father and the others. It wasn’t exactly a welcome party, more like a debriefing session. They asked me about the progress of Riana Territory’s development, the investigation of monsters, the results of exterminations, and so on. Of course, Zelkiss had been gathering their own information, but there were some discrepancies here and there.

This was probably due to secondhand information rather than anyone deliberately distorting the facts. For example, they misunderstood the construction of the underground training facility as an expansion project, which suggests the information might have come through merchants. Since the areas people can access and the information they can obtain differ based on their status, seeing things firsthand is still the best way...

Anyway, enough about last night.

"Princess, are you ready?"

While applying nail polish, Teresa confirmed with me again.

"We're only going to the location indicated in the exploration report. If I sense anything unusual, we’ll return immediately. No overexerting ourselves... Right? I’ll be fine."

"Yes. Please take care not to overdo it."

Today, we’re finally going to dive into the dungeon, though our lieutenant might be a bit of a worrywart. Well, the goal isn’t to slay monsters or explore the dungeon; it's to put the Thread of Dunlem to practical use. It’s the first time I’ll be handling this item seriously in a dungeon by myself, so I can understand her concern, but...

For the record, I’ve never been hit by a monster’s attack. The only injury I’ve sustained in a dungeon was when I hurt my foot while kicking a demon.

Today’s target is the mid-level Ogre gang. While they’ve startled me a bit before, I’ve already taken them down without a scratch. I’ll start with long-range attacks, and if I mess up, I’ll just take them out as usual.

Piece of cake!

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Sera・【Hideout】+1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】・【Floating Orb】【Shadow Sword】【Scarlet Bee's Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Dragon's Lung】【Amber Sword】【Thread of Dunlem】・1 card

Seriana・【Area Identification】・【】・35 cards

Elena・【】・【Green Fang】・5 cards

Alec・【】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horn】・12 cards