“Really, big sisters, will you not share your secret to how you care for your face and body? You were also in the dungeon, waiting in line right after us today. What is your job? You both looked so focused!”

  The voice belonged to the young elf girl, Elaris. She was practically vibrating with enthusiasm, her large, expressive eyes darting back and forth between Woya and Wyn as I approached the group. I slowed my pace slightly, keeping my footsteps light on the stone floor of the Dungeon Raider Guild, taking a moment to observe the scene. From a distance, her constant stream of questions sounded like the high-pitched, rhythmic rambling of a child, but the intensity with which she spoke was undeniable. She seemed genuinely fascinated by the sisters, who were standing somewhat stiffly under the weight of her scrutiny.

  “Umm… My job? The thing is…” Woya began, her voice trailing off.

  The girls looked visibly troubled. It was a strange contrast; despite their wolfkin heritage, which usually meant they favored the cold, they seemed to be sweating under the pressure of the elf’s relentless curiosity. They clearly didn't want to be rude to someone who was acting so friendly, but they were also well aware of my instructions regarding our private information. They were trapped between their training in etiquette and their loyalty to my secrets, glancing at each other for a way out.

  “Girls, I am done. Everything is settled,” I said, stepping into the circle to intervene. I offered them a small nod of reassurance. “Do you know these people?”

  “Ah, master! You worked hard,” Woya greeted me, her face lighting up with a mixture of relief and affection. She quickly moved to my side, her tail giving a slight, subconscious wag. “These people are the ones who were waiting in line just like us in the dungeon earlier. They were the party right before us at the fifth-floor boss room.”

  She spoke with a hint of hope in her voice, clearly seeing my arrival as a rescue from the elf’s inquisitive nature.

  “Oh, I see. My apologies for the interruption,” I said, turning to face the other group. I maintained a neutral, professional mask, acting as if I hadn't spent the last few minutes observing them. “Nice to meet you. I am Han, the leader of this party. It is not that frequent for me to meet with other dungeon raider parties in such a formal setting.”

  The man who seemed to be their leader stepped forward. He was the bulky vanguard I had noticed earlier. “The pleasure is ours. I am Paul, the leader of this party as well. This is Sarya; she handles the rogue duties for the team. Over here is Tarkhond, he is a swordsman. And lastly, this energetic young one is Elaris; she is our archer and the cheerleader of the party. Elaris was quite eager to chat with your party members, so I hope we haven't caused any offense to you.”

  Paul spoke with a surprising level of deference, his tone suggesting he was addressing a superior rather than a fellow delver. I did not quite understand the reason for his formality yet, but I took his greeting with a simple, practiced nod.

  “Come on, Elaris. They were just some slaves,” Tarkhond, the swordsman, interjected. He stepped forward, his eyes scanning Woya and Wyn with a look that was both derisive and unpleasantly lingering. “I was a bit intrigued by them, too, I’ll admit, but I did not know they were just the toys of a pervert. Hahaha! Although I must admit that you have good taste as a fellow man. To have two of them like this... quite the luxury.”

  He spoke with a sneer, his voice dripping with an arrogance that he hadn't earned. I could see it plainly in his eyes—he clearly lusted after my girls, and his insults were a clumsy attempt to mask his own jealousy. He just couldn't bear the thought of me having them to myself. He was exactly that type of man: small-minded and driven by a fragile ego. Well, at least that is how it seemed to me.

  “And who might you be?” I asked, my voice dropping to a cold, flat register. I fixed him with a glare, making it clear I was not amused. “I don't think that we are close enough for you to talk to me with such familiarity. Also, you'd better watch your mouth if you don’t want to cause trouble for yourself. That is at least what I can advise you as a ‘fellow man.’”

  Tarkhond’s face turned a blotchy red as he bristled. “W-what the hell, what did you just—”

  “Smack!”

  The sound of a hand striking flesh echoed through the hall. Sarya, the rogue, had delivered a sharp blow to the back of Tarkhond’s head.

  “Hey, Sarya! What was that for!?” he shouted, spinning around while clutching the back of his head.

  “Shut up, you complete idiot,” she hissed, her eyes wide with a mixture of anger and genuine concern. “You will drag the rest of us into the trouble you created, too. Do you even know who he is?”

  She turned back to me, her posture shifting into something much more defensive and respectful. I had heard that some people in the guild were talking about me before, but I did not think that I would be famous or anything. That aside, I did not think I had done anything particularly noteworthy.

  “Hmm? You know me?” I asked curiously. The others also looked at her as if they wanted to hear it too, their interest piqued by her reaction.

  “Aren’t you the one who everybody is talking about, the Wolf? I heard that you have reached the twentieth floor,” she said, her voice filled with a weight that suggested she believed the rumors.

  “S-so what if he reached the twentieth floor?” the man, Tarkhond, stammered. He seemed a bit taken aback when he heard the floor I had reached, but he acted like it was not a big deal. “You don’t have to treat me like a dog just for someone like that.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Huuu… You really are thick-headed,” Sarya sighed, shaking her head. “Do you know why people call him the Wolf? He reached the twentieth floor alone. No one saw him together with anyone before today.”

  The silence that followed was absolute.

  “Wow, the master is truly amazing,” Woya whispered in a low voice, her eyes shining with amazement. Wyn nodded silently beside her, a look of pride crossing her features. Even for them, hearing the confirmation of my reputation from a stranger seemed to solidify their view of me.

  Tarkhond looked terrified, his mouth hanging open as he struggled to find a single word to speak. To a party delver, the idea of soloing that deep was bordering on the impossible.

  “... But, mister Han… aren’t these unnies your companions?” Elaris spoke up after the brief silence, her face clouded with a perplexed expression. “I saw them with you at the dungeon. They were right there by your side.”

  “Ahaa! I knew it was a lie!” Tarkhond shouted, his excitement returning as he saw a potential hole in the story. “How can you stand there and deceive people like that? It's all a sham!”

  “Sorry, Ellie,” Wyn said, stepping forward with a calm that contrasted sharply with Tarkhond’s frantic energy. “We were still in the middle of our conversation, so we couldn't introduce ourselves properly. Woya and I are sisters—twins, more precisely. We have been accompanying the master in the dungeon for the last three days. Everything he achieved before that, he did by himself.”

  “Ohh, I see. So he really did reach the twentieth floor alone, then?” Elaris mused, her ears twitching. “But... you referred to him as ‘the master’... Then does it mean that you two are really slaves of him?”

  She was surprised by what she heard from Sarya turning out to be true, but she said it afterward with a reluctant voice, as if remembering the social reality just now. She did not sound like she was looking down at them at all; if anything, she looked a bit sad for them.

  “... It is okay, Elaris,” Woya said with a gentle smile. “The master is a very kind person, and he is awesome. But sorry, I actually don’t know exactly how many floors he reached...”

  She turned toward me, seeking confirmation since she didn't know the full details of the questions Elaris had asked about my progress.

  “I have reached the twenty-first floor,” I said proudly, seeing no reason to hide it from this group now. “But since the girls are new to the dungeon environment, we started together from the first floor. They completed the fifth floor today—just the two of them.”

  “Whoa! Is that true? Big sis Woya, big sis Wyn, you are awesome!” Elaris exclaimed with a cheerful, high-pitched voice. The others also looked amazed.

  It was understandable that they were shocked. It would normally take much more time for a new party to progress that far. Actually, even a regular person could technically kill monsters until reaching the mini-boss if they were given the high-quality equipment I had provided for the girls. But buying the gear is only part of the process. Being physically capable and mentally capable are different things. You have to get used to the visceral reality of killing monsters as you continue to delve into a dungeon repeatedly. To do it so quickly was a testament to their focus.

  “It is all thanks to the master,” Woya said, her eyes filled with an affectionate smile. “He bought us our equipment, let us practice beforehand at the house, and he assisted us whenever we were in danger.”

  Wyn nodded beside her, her posture straight and proud.

  With that, we said our farewells to Paul and his group and headed out of the guild hall.

  “You defeated a mini-boss today, so you deserve a celebration,” I said as we stepped back into the sunlight. “Let’s go to a good place and eat something delicious. It has also been a while since I ate outside, so I'm looking forward to it.”

  I wanted to reward them for their hard work, so I framed it as a desire of my own to ensure they wouldn't try to reject the offer out of modesty.

  We went toward the entertainment district of the city, a place filled with various eateries and taverns. We eventually found a good restaurant among the ones that had food to suit my taste and wouldn't be awkward to enter while still wearing our dungeon equipment.

  I ordered a soup and a steak, Wyn ordered a sautéed meat with vegetables, and Woya ordered the fried chicken. While we waited for our meal to be prepared, we sat and talked about their performance today. I gave them feedback on their fighting style and pointed out the small flaws I had noticed while they were fighting against the mini-boss.

  As soon as our meals were delivered, the conversation died down, and we focused completely on eating. The soup was refreshing, and the steak was juicy and prepared exactly to my liking. When I asked the girls, they also said that they liked their meal very much; their expressions were one of pure satisfaction.

  When we all finished what we had ordered, we sat for a few minutes to let the food settle before I paid the bill—3 silver coins—and we left. We did not have anything left to do in the city, so we went directly home.

  The remaining time of the day followed our usual routine. I left the girls at home to take care of the house chores while I went out to my private spot to practice my magic. It was a repetitive process, but it helped me deepen my control over the mana and test exactly how many spells I could manifest before reaching my limit. During these sessions, I began to truly notice the benefit of the Wisdom stat while I was continuously depleting my reserves.

  The increase in the Wisdom stat develops the thinking process and decreases mana consumption. To put it simply: if the Intelligence stat boosts your memory and the total size of your mana pool, the Wisdom stat boosts your processing speed and efficiency.

  Also, while the Intelligence stat increases the raw amount of mana you have, the Wisdom stat makes you consume less of it when using skills and spells. For every point above the baseline of 5, the consumption is reduced by approximately 5%. However, this is not a cumulative addition; it is multiplicative.

  If one’s Wisdom is 5, and they use a skill or spell that requires 100 mana, it consumes exactly 100 mana from their reserves. If their Wisdom increases to 6, it becomes 95 (100×0.95). In my situation, with a Wisdom of 11.8, the math works differently. Since the 5% reduction is applied multiplicatively for each point above the base, I consume nearly 70 mana (100×(0.95^6,8)) for a 100-mana spell, not the 66 that would result from a simple 34% subtraction (6.8×5=34).

  I continued using spells, pushing through the mental strain, until my head started to hurt from the exhaustion. I left the training area and returned home just in time for dinner.

  It was a routine evening, much like yesterday. We ate our dinner together, the three of us sharing a table. Afterward, we cleaned ourselves up and retired to the large bed together. The night was as fulfilling as the previous day had been. If there was anything different about tonight, it was that I informed the girls they would need to prepare extra provisions in the morning. Since we were going deeper, we would need something to eat in the dungeon at noon tomorrow.

  With those plans set, we surrendered to sleep, resting for the labor that lay ahead.

  [Edited]

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  Heroes:

  Aymeric Petiaux

  Knights: