Chapter 210 Cozy
Zach, Yanael, and Alzara had finished a defensive structure in time. But they hadn't had enough time to make a big house. In the end, they had to squeeze themselves into a tiny igloo of stone bricks that had all three of them rubbing their knees and shoulders together.
Yanael and Alzara did their best to limit how much space they took since they wanted Zach to be comfortable. But it wasn't easy, especially for Alzara.
Fortunately, Zach didn't mind. If anything, it was only a pleasure to be squeezed in so closely with two beautiful and nice-smelling maids. Alzara carried a fragrance like a mix of herbs and sand. It was surprisingly pleasant. Yanael smelled like iron and sunlight.
They were both also very soft to the touch.
Zach didn't act inappropriately. He just enjoyed the situation.
"So, uh, how soundproof is this thing?" Zach asked. They had finished just in time for the ten-second message to pop up. The water should have come crashing down a long time ago. They hadn't heard it, but maybe the igloo was just that good.
Alzara and Yanael shook their heads.
Alzara even had a wry smile on her face.
"Master, the protective dome wasn't shielding the city–the underwater city, from the ocean. Ugh, I really don't like tricky questions like these. Everything can be interpreted in twenty different ways." Although that's what Alzara said, Zach could see a fiery glint in her eyes like her fighting spirit had been ignited. "It's an underwater city from the beginning.
Why would it need a protective dome?" Alzara muttered to herself.
"It was meant to hide and defend the city against some type of enemy, Master." Yanael filled in Alzara's explanation.
"I can't sense what kind of enemy, but there's a lot of them. And…they're moving toward us." Alzara finished the explanation.
As soon as he heard that they were dealing with hostile beings and not mere water, Zach already got a bad feeling.
Zach sighed and hung his head.
He naturally and passively attracted monsters just by existing. He had even done it in the Labyrinth of Jira. There was no reason he couldn't do it in the Labyrinth of Syst.
"Will this thing hold up?" Zach looked at Alzara.
She shrugged. Not a good sign.
"It would have held up against the water unless it had been two or three times as heavy as normal water. Against monsters? No idea. It's a little hard to tell their individual strength due to the stones and their numbers. We'll just have to wait and see," she said, much more at ease than Zach. She had already realized something.
And now Yanael did so too.
"Master, since they are monsters, we might not need to hide here."
Zach looked at Yanael. He didn't even need to think about what she said. The look on her face told him everything he needed to know. Her suggestion was that they fight. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that it was her desire.
"...But what about the Trial? Weren't we supposed to find a way to survive?" He asked, worried.
In response, he got a light chuckle from Alzara.
"Yeah. 'Find a way to survive.' That was the apparent goal of this Trial. Tell me, Master, did you not find a way to survive?"
Zach tilted his head.
"Technically, I found several ways to survive." He wasn't sure where she was going with this.
"Exactly. You've already completed this Trial's goal, Master. Honestly, this kind of makes me want to join Yanael."
"Really?" Zach hadn't expected Alzara to express a desire to fight. But looking at her, he could tell that it wasn't so much a fight she wanted as it was a slaughter to vent her grievances against the Labyrinth.
"Well, if both of you want to fight, I don't see any reason to stop you. Besides, there's no reason for me to stop at level twenty, is there? I can always summon the third at a higher level." Zach shrugged and gestured for Alzara to take down the bricks around them.
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However, both Alzara and Yanael looked at Zach with tense gazes.
"...I would like it if we hold a conversation regarding that matter at a later time, Master." Yanael said with a cold but polite air around her. It was like the familiarity he had built with her over the last almost two years had vanished.
"...Of course?" He wasn't even sure what matter she was talking about. That attitude didn't match anything he knew about authority-related discussions. So, it shouldn't have anything to do with his level and if it was a problem to level up first. Besides, he had already done that once. He leveled up past level ten before summoning Alzara.
But when Yanael flashed a blinding smile that didn't reach her eyes, Zach recalled a familiar sensation. That smile looked like the one she had shared with Alzara when she clung to his arm upon their return from the Wishing Key's summoning room.
'Ah…'
Yanael was the jealous type. She had been against him summoning Alzara, and she had been against Alzara herself even after she was summoned. Since they had started getting along and were even fighting side by side, Zach thought things like that were in the past.
Evidently, they were not.
If anything, since Alzara seemed to hold similar feelings based on the way she looked at Zach, things like that had only gotten worse. Instead of one jealous maid who was against him summoning more familiars, he now had two.
Suddenly, being trapped in a stone igloo with barely enough space to sit up did not feel as cozy as before.
Zach cleared his throat and gestured for Alzara to open the igloo again. She did so without breaking eye contact for even a moment. She put her hand against the sloped stone wall and, with a faint purple light emanating from her palm, pushed it down.
The wall collapsed and let them back into the city.
Alzara finally broke eye contact. It was to look at all the fishpeople surrounding them.
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