I want to see her.
I really want to see her.
Fíliya's mind was completely focused on her thoughts. Anyone else would have given up immediately upon realizing the person they wanted to meet had lived a thousand years ago.
But Fíliya didn't. She just kept thinking, pondering what methods she would need to achieve her goal.
If I used that... it might just work?
In this mental storm, she had actually found a glimmer of possibility.
Having made up her mind, she didn't try it right away. Instead, she collected her thoughts and turned to look at Solitär beside her.
"Hmm... Let's call it a day. I'm a bit tired."
Fíliya said, taking a few more steps forward before grabbing a handful of gold coins and putting them in her pocket.
But to Solitär's surprise, Fíliya only took that one handful. The remaining pile of gold, like a small mountain, seemed to be completely ignored by her.
It wasn't just her; Aura also came closer with a curious look, asking Fíliya why she didn't take it all.
"Mmm, if I took it all, those who come later would surely be disappointed, right? To go through all the trouble of exploring a dungeon, only to find the treasure was already taken by someone before them... Besides, you only need enough gold. Taking too much just takes up space."
Fíliya said with a calm expression. This way of thinking—'considering those who come later'—was clearly influenced by that human sage. This was Miss Fíliya's form of 'tribute'.
Not only that, but after giving up on the shimmering sea of gold before her, Fíliya took out a grimoire from her personal bag.
It was the very one she had created herself, 'Pain Control'.
It seemed she felt that since she had taken the personal notes of the great mage Flamme, as well as another grimoire, she might as well leave something of her own as 'compensation' for future adventurers.
Whether the two were of equal value was clearly not part of Fíliya's consideration; she just wanted to satisfy her own conscience.
After placing her grimoire inside the treasure chest, Fíliya put the chest back in its original spot.
Then she led Solitär and Aura back to where the five autonomous Golems lay.
She reinstalled the five gem cores into the Golems' eyes and then waited quietly for the Golems to reboot.
Of course, during this process, Miss Fíliya also did two things.
First, based on the magical formulas she analyzed from the gem cores, she adjusted the mechanisms of the five Golems. Now, these five Golems would treat her commands as the highest priority, preventing them from re-entering attack mode after rebooting.
The second thing was... she beckoned to Aura. When Aura obediently walked over, Fíliya decisively reached out, grabbed the soft flesh on both of Aura's cheeks, and pulled outwards hard for a good while.
"Hiss... What are you doing... What's gotten into you now!"
In pain, Miss Aura struggled violently and quickly freed herself from Fíliya's demonic grasp.
Fíliya ignored Aura's complaints, simply letting out a breath with a look of satisfaction.
Mmm, that feels good. A great way to de-stress.
After that moment of reflection, she finally spoke to Aura.
"Aura, have you not noticed anything... off?"
Aura looked at Fíliya in confusion, rubbing her cheeks.
"Sigh... You really aren't perceptive at all. If it were Solitär... she would have noticed long ago."
Fíliya couldn't help but shake her head at Aura's clueless expression.
But Aura still looked completely lost.
"I've already broken your curse."
Huh??!
Aura wore a shocked expression and hurriedly tried to sense the mana within her body.
It's true! That girl broke the curse while she was pinching my cheeks...
...I was so busy rubbing my face and complaining that I didn't notice at all.
But... why??!
After the shock, Aura quickly fell into confusion. She thought she'd have to toil like an ox for who knows how many years to get her magic back... and yet, she got it back? Just like that? So casually?
"You... what are you thinking? I really don't get you... It makes no sense..."
"Why did you suddenly give it back to me?"
Aura's tone was a little unnatural.
"Well, because Aura has been very well-behaved recently, so there's no need to restrain you with such methods... Besides, 'magic' is something that should be used freely."
Fíliya said with a light chuckle.
...Seeing Fíliya like this, a strange feeling suddenly arose in Aura's heart. She just felt... that this person wasn't so bad after all. Yes, when Lady Aura rules the world, she'll promote her status from slave to butler.
Miss Aura thought to herself with glee.
Just then, the five Golems had more or less finished rebooting and were all standing up.
Looking at the scratches and noticeable dents on the Golems' bodies, Miss Fíliya suddenly felt a pang of pity.
So, she injected a great deal of mana into their cores, almost completely draining herself in the process.
The core engravings of the Golems contained a method for self-repair: absorbing mana. As long as they could absorb mana, the Golems could fix themselves.
Watching the dents on the Golems' bodies fill in at a visible rate, Fíliya finally nodded in satisfaction.
'As expected of Flamme's creations, they're so convenient and easy to use,' she thought.
"Aura, try and see if you can control these guys with your Magic of Obedience (Auserlese)."
After the Golems were repaired, Fíliya immediately called out to Aura.
Fíliya herself had already gained complete control of the Golems; the reason she had Aura try was simply because she wanted to conduct an experiment.
"Eh?? Oh... right away."
After an initial moment of surprise, Aura immediately carried out Fíliya's command. It was clear that following Fíliya's words had become something she was very 'accustomed' to.
Aura used her long-dormant magic, but the 'flame of the soul' never emerged from the Golem creations.
"Alright, that's enough."
Fíliya stopped Aura's actions.
So Aura, quite cooperatively, withdrew her mana.
"Mmm, as expected. Golems can't possibly have 'souls'."
Fíliya nodded, confirming her own thoughts.
Then, she let her body float up, flying onto one of the Golems. While controlling the five Golems, she and the three demons left the dungeon without looking back.
Standing at the dungeon's entrance, Miss Fíliya pondered for a while. Then she cleaned up all the obvious traces of human activity at the entrance.
By doing so, the dungeon regained its 'exploration value'.
___
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