Haah…
With a small sigh, Emilia pulled her knees close, wrapping her arms around them as she sat near the modest bonfire crackling in the center of their temporary camp.
The fire's warmth was comforting, but it barely eased the fatigue in her body.
The shadows of the forest beyond the clearing seemed to press in, their edges softened by the flicker of orange light.
She had known—of course she had—that dungeon clearing would be exhausting. But she hadn't expected it to feel so… surreal.
It wasn't just the constant threat of monsters, their snarls echoing in the dark.
It was the way the air itself seemed to change from one step to the next, the abrupt shifts in temperature and atmosphere—like walking through a string of miniature worlds stitched together, each obeying its own strange rules.
The dungeon was alive in its own way, and it seemed to take a quiet pleasure in testing them.
Her mind wandered back to before they entered.
"Saintess, please let us come with you…!"
