「W-Who goes there!」

After a day of traversing the labyrinth, Yuna and I were finally out of the labyrinth. It was late afternoon, but the first thing that greeted us wasn't the gentle sunlight nor the rustling of the leaves, rather, they were iron spears pointed towards us.

They must have done it out of caution because when the soldiers noticed us, they quickly raised their guard and pointed their weapons against us.

Haah... Talk about a warm welcome...

Well, I should probably calm them down before the misunderstanding gets worse. I don't want to punch another guard in the guts, after all.

「Don't worry, we're just adventurers who got lost while traveling the labyrinth.」Grey

That was a lie, and a big fat one at that. But I'd rather say that than tell them the truth. It would be troublesome if they found out that the reason why we came out late was because we came from the eighth floor.

Hearing our reason, the soldiers quickly relaxed and retracted their spears. Well, they were relaxed until one of them figured out our identities.

「I apologize for our rude behavior, Count Grey-sama, Countess Yuna-sama, please forgive our insolence!」

The soldier quickly apologized and bowed before us, seeing him doing that, the other soldiers also followed suit.

Ahh... I haven't heard that line in a while... But I can't say I miss it, it's more like I just remembered how annoying it is to deal with it.

「Please rise up, we don't really mind it. Rather, it's good to see that you are doing your jobs well.」Grey

「W-We don't deserve such praise. Like your excellency said, we were just doing our jobs so it's really nothing special.」

Your excellency...? That's something new...

「Then keep up the good work. We'll be heading out now.」Grey

「Ah! Please allow us to escort you.」

「Thanks, but we'll be alright on our own.」Grey

After the soldiers did a final bow, Yuna and I headed back to Moterno, and since it had been a while since we've been there, I felt a little excited in going back. But while heading there, I noticed something off with Yuna.

「Is there something wrong?」Yuna

「No, I just wondered why you haven't held my hand ever since we came out of the labyrinth.」Grey

Ever since three weeks ago, Yuna had been a bit clingy and started holding my hand every time she had the chance to. It just felt a little off that she didn't try to do it.

「Dummy. That's because it's embarrassing to do it in public.」Yuna

Ah... That does make senseー

「Also... you're the only one I want to see that side of me...」Yuna

When Yuna said that with a beet red face, my heart started to race faster and I felt a little feverish. It was a super destructive surprise attack.

With us both super embarrassed, Yuna and I continued traveling to Moterno, and when we arrived there, the first thing we did was visit Fritz's mansion.

「Who isー Oh, Grey-sama, Yuna-sama, welcome back!」Marcus

When we arrived at the gates, the first one to greet us was Marcus-san, one of the guards who escorted Liz when we first met her.

「Can we go inside?」Grey

「O-Of course! I'm sure the young lady will be delighted.」Marcus

「Young lady... you mean Liz-chan?」Yuna

「Ah, yes. She was pretty worried when she heard that the two of you still haven't exited the labyrinth. So I'm sure she'll be happy to see you safe.」Marcus

Wait, this sounds familiar...

Ah, right... It was the same when I recaptured Algerio and Gabal. Liz was pretty worried that time too. Will she go bawling again?

Wanting to see Liz again, the two of us headed to where she was. Apparently, she was at the training grounds, practicing her skills.

When we arrived there, Liz was brandishing her sword against a dummy. She swung left and right, up and down, and diagonally, with all blows hitting the target. She then backed away from the dummy, and when she was some distance away, she fired a spell towards it.

「《Geyser》!」Eliza

Water quickly surged from Liz's palm and fired towards the enemy like a cannon, destroying the already tattered dummy completely.

So Liz can already cast low-level magic, huh... I wonder how strong she got...

『Appraisal』.

-----------------------------------

【〔Anthronoid〕】

【Name】Eliza Landevar

【Race】Human

【Sex】Female

【Age】10

【Status】Healthy

【Mana Capacity】154 【Mana Quality】G

【Combat Power】41 【Threat Level】G

【Attribute】Water 【Spell Proficiency】12%

【Class】Swordsman 【Art Proficiency】13%

【Physical Enhancement】13%

【Ability】...

-----------------------------------

Oh! An average adventurer's combat power is at 35, and she's already well past that. Liz sure has become stronger...

「Liz-cha～n!」Yuna

When Liz finished her training, Yuna immediately called her out while waving her hand. Seeing us, Liz unconsciously dropped her sword and then ran towards us.

「Uuu... Yuna-oneesawa... Gwey-oniisawa...」Eliza

When Liz tightly hugged Yuna, tears started flowing from her eyes, and she started bawling in an unrestrained manner.

「I... hic... I... hic...」Eliza

「We know, we know... You were worried, right? It's fine now...」Yuna

Yuna gently caressed Liz's head as she consoled her. It was like I was watching a mother console her child.

I wonder... Will Yuna act like this towards our future childreー

Embarrassed by what I just thought of, I quickly landed a slap on my face. Luckily, neither Yuna nor Liz noticed it.

Ugh... What was I thinking...

Liz's bawling continued for more than ten minutes, and when she finally calmed down, she let go of Yuna and then hugged me thereafter. Of course, I consoled her just like Yuna did, but needless to say, I didn't do as good as Yuna did.

「Are you fine now?」Grey

「Un... But I'm still mad...」Eliza

「Then what can we do so that you can forgive us?」Grey

「Pizza... I want to eat one...」Eliza

Pizza, huh... Pfft... She really is similar to Yuna.

Anyway, should I really cook pizza for dinner...? Well, as long as it makes them happy, I guess...?

「Then what meat topping do you want?」Grey

「I... can't decide...」Eliza

「For me, I'll have Bulldeer.」Grey

「Ah! Then I'll the same as Yuna-oneesama.」Eliza

「Alright, Bulldeer it is.」Grey

After deciding on what meat to use in the pizza, Liz grabbed her sword and we then headed back to the mansion. But as we were traveling there, Yuna asked me a peculiar question.

「Grey, why did you slap yourself a few moments ago?」Yuna

So she noticed... Just how observant can she be?

「Um... There was a mosquito, that's all.」Grey

「A mosquito, huh...」Yuna

「Yep, a mosquito.」Grey

After that simple response, Yuna didn't inquire any further about the topic and we continued heading towards the mansion.

When we entered the mansion, our first destination was the kitchen. There, with the help of Rhodes-san, I cooked the pizza that both Yuna and Liz were craving for.

With the chefs bringing the dishes, everyone headed to the dining room after the pizza was finished cooking. There, we met Fritz and Sebastian-san again after a month, but sadly, Gustav-san wasn't there.

「Oh, Grey, Yuna, you're safe. The labyrinth closed about two days ago, where have you two been?」Fritz

「Ah, sorry. We were training so we didn't notice the labyrinth closing.」Grey

「Training, huh? Well, I suppose you would lose track of time if you were focused on your training.」Fritz

Yep, we were training on the eighth floor, but I won't mention that part. It would be troublesome if they learn of it.

「Welcome back, Grey-sama, Yuna-sama.」Sebastian

「Ah, thank you. It's good to see you as well, Sebastian-san.」Grey

「I feew the shame...」Yuna

Yuna, you should choose between eating and talking...

I gestured at Yuna while thinking of such a thing, hoping that Yuna would understand my intention, but it was all for naught, she just kept eating her pizza without a care about the world.

Seriously, this girlfriend of mine...

「By the way, I don't see Gustav-san, did he leave already?」Grey

Giving up on Yuna, I asked Fritz a question I've been meaning to ask, and in response to it, Fritz gave me a silent nod and an explanation thereafter.

「They always depart a week before the labyrinth's closing. It's so that they arrive at the capital early on schedule. They should be halfway from the capital now.」Fritz

「Did they get a lot of treasures?」Grey

「Well, including the drops they got, they should earn more than a hundred million kiels.」Fritz

100 million, huh... I wonder how much we earned. Just from the treasures alone, we should already surpass that amount.

「That's a lot of money...」Grey

「It is. Already enough to run a town for a few months... But enough about that, why are those two eating pizza? Is pizza something you can eat for dinner?」Fritz

Fritz asked as he noticed Yuna and Liz happily eating their pizza.

Well, some people back on earth do that, but most people I know eat it only for lunch or as a snack. Well this is another world, so the logic might not be the same.

Anyway, even if it is, I don't think I can use that explanation for Fritz.

「Well, I promised Yuna to make her one the moment we are out of the labyrinth. As for Liz, I made one for her as a token of apology.」Grey

「Well, she was really worried about you two after all... Oh, speaking of pizza, the tomato sauce you made for it was really amazing. Rhodes has made a lot of dishes using it.」Fritz

「Yeah, he told me a lot about them.」Grey

Rhodes-san was really amazing, he was able to recreate some of the dishes back on Earth, including spaghetti. It really shows how amazing of a chef he is, but... when he starts talking about cooking, it's impossible to stop him.

I was already tired from continuously running inside the labyrinth for a day, but after dealing with Rhodes-san, I became even more tired.

After talking about tomato sauce, we talked some more about some things. Fritz also offered us to stay in the mansion for the night. Yuna and I were about to head into our rooms, when...

「Sorry, Grey. Liz-chan wants to sleep together tonight, so I'll be staying over in her room.」Yuna

「Sure. But you don't have to ask for my permission, you know.」Grey

「I know that... I just wanted to let you know... Also...」Yuna

Before I realized, Yuna did yet another surprise attack. She ran up to me and when she was close enough, she stood on tiptoe and kissed my cheeks, making both of our faces beet red.

「Good night.」Yuna

Shyly, Yuna quickly ran away from me while hiding her embarrassed face. As for me, I was standing in daze, still recovering from her surprise attack and just as red as Yuna was.

Seriously, that girl......

After that, I went inside my room and prepared the bed. It has been a while since I slept alone, so I busied myself with organizing the items we got from the Labyrinth of Gale.

In total we have 1 sun crystal, 6 moon crystals, 21 sky crystals, and 98 platinum coins... And if I convert that to kiels, we arrive at a total of 190,800,000 kiels.

I haven't really thought about it, but now that I totaled the crystals and coins, we already reached an amount that's almost equivalent to 10 billion yen in japan.

Just how did Yuna and I reach this amount......

Well, there's no use thinking too much about it. For now, I'll just set the crystals and coins aside.

After storing the money in my 『Storage』, I then retrieved the treasures that Yuna and I collected from the labyrinth, but even though I only retrieved about 15% of them, the room was already full.

It was at that moment that I realized that it's going to be a long night.

One by one, I appraised the items we collected, and one by one I organized them painstakingly. After that, I organized the drops we got from defeating monsters. It took me about 3 hours, but I finally finished organizing all of them. It was very tiring.

All in all, the items we got from the Labyrinth of Gale totaled about one and a half billion kiels, or about 75 billion yen.

I was about to lie down on bed because of tiredness, when I noticed an emerald-green pearl sparkling by the corner of the room.

Hm? Did I miss it?

Whilst asking myself that question,I walked over to the said corner and picked up the pearl-like item. And when I took a closer look at it, I realized how enchanting it was.

This Gem of Gale is really pretty...... Wait...

"Grey, can I have it?"

"Sure. But I'll store it in my『Storage』for now. I'll give it to you when we get out of the labyrinth."

... didn't I say something like that to Yuna? I wonder if she still remembers that promise...

No, whether she remembers it or not, I should probably prepare it for her. I wonder what her reaction will be if I give her an accessory made from this...

Hm... Speaking of accessories, what would look good on Yuna? Should I go with earrings? Or would bracelets better? Or should it be a ring? Nah, either of the three would stand out if she were to wear it outside...

Ah! Then how about a necklace! If it's a necklace, she can just hide it inside her shirt so that no will notice! It would surely be a nice gift to Yuna!

But wait! Wouldn't this be my first gift to her as her boyfriend?! Back on Earth, first gifts really matter. I need to be much more careful about this!

Because of such a thought of mine, I pondered over the perfect first gift for Yuna. And after I was done pondering, I started making it. It took me a lot of time, but I was able to finish it.

「It's done! Finally!」Grey

I was celebrating happily as I completed my gift, but just as I was doing so, I noticed something I forgot to consider.

Ah... It's already past 4 o'clock...

CHAPTER 48 END