Chapter 74 - meet with Astrid again.
I sat down heavily on the floor as Amy slowly walked over to me.
Throughout the entire battle, she had gripped her sword tightly, ready to intervene at any moment.
There had been several times when she had almost stepped in.
But she held herself back.
She knew I could handle myself.
More importantly...
She knew that if she never gave me room to grow, I would never become truly strong.
So she endured the urge to protect me and trusted me instead.
Now that every monster was dead, she finally relaxed and walked over.
She took out a bottle of cold water and tossed it toward me.
I caught it, opened the cap, and drank the entire bottle in one go.
"Ah..."
A long sigh escaped my lips.
Immediately afterward, I touched the giant spider’s corpse with Eclipse.
The sword absorbed its blood, and a warm feeling spread throughout my body as most of my wounds gradually healed.
Amy watched the scene before smiling.
"Hmm..."
"That was a really good fight."
"I enjoyed watching you."
"You came up with several clever ways to deal with that spider, and you controlled the battlefield surprisingly well."
"Of course, you still got injured more than you should have."
"But this was your first real boss battle."
"So I’d say you did a great job."
She folded her arms proudly.
"Of course..."
"You still can’t compare to your amazing big sister."
I simply smiled.
After resting for a few more moments, I stood up.
"Alright."
"Now comes my favorite part."
"Let’s go see what loot the boss dropped."
Amy immediately palmed her forehead.
"Why are you so excited?"
"You already have everything you could possibly need."
"If there’s something you want, just ask Mom."
I looked at her and snorted.
"Hmph."
"You don’t understand."
"The thrill is finding unknown treasure."
"And getting free loot."
Amy raised an eyebrow.
"...Free?"
"You almost got yourself killed for it."
I nodded seriously.
"Yeah, yeah."
"But the loot is something extra."
"So it basically counts as free."
Amy could only shake her head helplessly.
"...Your logic is hopeless."
Even so...
She was just as curious as I was.
The two of us walked toward the giant spider’s nest.
Inside, we found the boss’s collection of loot.
* E-Rank Giant Spider Mana Core
* High-Quality Spider Silk
* Venom Gland
* Giant Spider Fangs
Those were the materials harvested directly from the giant spider.
However...
My perception told me there was still something else.
I slowly searched around the chamber before discovering several piles of gold and silver coins hidden beneath layers of webbing.
With a single touch, I stored all of them inside my Space Storage.
"Not bad."
A satisfied smile appeared on my face.
Then Amy and I strolled out of the dungeon together.
As usual, we spent the entire walk bickering.
Amy kept insisting that I call her my "amazing big sister," using the fact that she had full authority over me inside the dungeon as leverage.
I immediately snorted.
"The dungeon is already over."
"So your authority expired."
Amy puffed out her cheeks.
"Hmph."
"That doesn’t matter."
"I’m still your amazing big sister."
I looked at her with complete disbelief.
"I don’t remember agreeing to that title."
"You don’t need to."
"I already approved it myself."
"...That’s not how it works."
Our argument continued all the way to the dungeon exit.
However...
The moment we stepped outside...
The bickering stopped instantly.
Amy’s playful smile disappeared, replaced by her usual calm and dignified expression.
She once again became the elegant young lady of the Starlight Family.
Seeing her change, I also relaxed my expression and returned to my usual calm, nonchalant demeanor.
Outside the mansion, we could fool around as much as we wanted.
But in front of outsiders...
We both naturally carried ourselves as members of the Starlight Family.
The moment we stepped outside, Astrid immediately walked over to us.
Without saying a word, her crimson eyes carefully examined me from head to toe.
She checked every part of my body, making sure I hadn’t suffered any serious injuries.
After a thorough inspection, she finally relaxed.
My clothes were torn and covered in blood, but thanks to Eclipse’s Lifesteal ability, almost all of my injuries had already healed.
Satisfied, Astrid finally spoke.
"So..."
"How was your first dungeon?"
"Did everything go well?"
I nodded with a bright smile.
"Yeah."
"It was a little difficult..."
"But I managed."
"And honestly..."
"It was really fun."
Astrid stared at me for a moment before pinching the bridge of her nose.
"...Fun?"
"Gray..."
"It’s a dungeon."
"Not a vacation."
I could only smile sheepishly.
Before I could respond, Amy joined the conversation.
"He’s telling the truth."
"From the look on his face, I think he enjoyed the dungeon more than he should have."
She folded her arms proudly.
"And I didn’t even have to step in."
"He handled everything himself."
Astrid’s eye twitched slightly.
Normally, adventurers conquered dungeons as teams.
Although experienced adventurers could challenge dungeons below their own rank alone...
Gray had just cleared his very first dungeon.
And it had been one of his own rank.
That wasn’t something she had expected.
Remembering something, I suddenly looked at Astrid.
"Oh, right."
"What should I do with all the loot?"
Astrid blinked.
"...Loot?"
I scratched my cheek awkwardly.
"Uh..."
"I have four wolf corpses..."
"More than twenty goblin corpses..."
"One Goblin Lord..."
"And all of the boss monster’s loot."
I smiled sheepishly.
Astrid was silent for several seconds.
Then she let out a long sigh.
"...Gray."
"Why did you bring all of that with you?"
I shrugged.
"I don’t know."
"It just felt wrong to leave them behind."
"So every time I defeated a monster..."
"I put it into my Space Storage."
Before Astrid could reply, Amy spoke again.
"That’s not even the surprising part."
"Every time he killed a monster, he immediately stored the corpse before the others could notice."
"He was basically sneaking around the dungeon like an assassin."
She shook her head with a helpless smile.
"Honestly..."
"I almost forgot he was only eight years old."