In the world of "SSS-Class Ragnarok Legend", dungeons were ancient buildings and also monsters' lairs. They came from nowhere, bringing monsters inside. Eventually, the monsters would come out of it and go occupy someplace else.
In the worst case, they will attack civilians, destroy cities and cause mayhem. In other words, monsters are pests that should be eliminated. And we, adventurers, are the exterminators.
After a few minutes of walking into the woods, we could see the entrance of the dungeon. Each one of them is aesthetically different, and in this case, the F-Rank dungeon was built with yellowish stone bricks arranged in a diagonal pattern.
The entrance had a circular shape, but only that was in our sight. The rest was underground. Right inside the circular structure, a set of stairs went deeper into the earth, inviting us as if into a monster's throat.
"So, let's go!" said Leo. Clearly, he was the most motivated of the bunch.
"Y-yeah…" I reluctantly said.
"H-Hum." Sarah nodded halfheartedly.
After our talk, after she said that she wanted my response, Sarah was quieter, even though she was very excited before, and she avoided looking at me since we were at the inn.
Well, she said that we would talk after the mission, so I decided to give her some space. She had to work on our frontline, and the last thing that I wanted was for her to lose focus in a crucial moment. But as a result, the mood between us was awkward, with a freezing silence permeating the party.
Leo stared at us with a suspicious look. There's no way that he didn't notice that we were acting weird. Probably, he thought of something to say about it, but he kept it to himself. With no more words to be shared, we walked down the stairs heading to the first floor.
Inside the dungeon was surprisingly illuminated by torches fixed on the walls. We had mapped a good part of the first floor, but we needed to be careful because there is one thing that can change in every dungeon visit: the presence of monsters.
These creatures would appear continuously because of the dungeon's core at the bottom of the building. The only way to stop these things from coming to the surface, and to close down the dungeon for good, is to destroy the core.
Rick was the guy mapping the floors, and following his footsteps, now I was the party's guide. Leo was still by my side, paying attention to see if some enemy would attack from behind, and Sarah was a few steps ahead protecting the front, conveniently staying away from me.
The blond guy used the opportunity to talk to me without her hearing. "Is something strange between you two?" he asked me in a low voice while we were walking down the hallway.
"W-Well…" Words escaped my mind. That question was difficult to answer, because I would have to tell Sarah's confession and my interest in her. And another reason was that I was still thinking of it early at the inn. I still was irritated, because he got in my way, but I got off guard with his sudden concern.
"Probably she is just nervous. You know how much she gets worried about nothing." I said this, trying not to sound angry.
"It's that so… But I think she is different from other times, but I can't point out what." he said, looking at Sarah.
Figures. Leo Ashford was very sharp when it came to battle. At this point in the story he still was weak, just a bit stronger than Sarah, but he had good instinct. It's said in SCRL that Leo had a natural talent for battle thanks to it, but that was only useful in combat. When it came to girls he was completely clueless.
Even though the story progressed, and more and more girls entered his party he would continue to be so out of touch in regards to the potential harem right in front of his face. In the main story he was impervious to all the heroines' offerings.
"What a waste." I carelessly mumbled.
"Hm?"
"Eh, nothing. I was just thinking that we should hurry to the second floor. We can go back to the city as soon as we finish here. Maybe have some drinks."
"Oh, I never thought of you as a drinker, Rick."
"Well, I don't see a problem in having a drink or two."
"You are right. Nothing beats a fresh beer after a dungeon." He smiled just from the thought of tasting the cold beverage, but suddenly his expression changed. "But now that I think of it, I don't remember seeing you drink."
Rick probably didn't even drink. Every moment passed, I think that Rick lived a pretty boring life. Now I had to think of a way to change the subject.
"Well, I was thinking that it wouldn't be a problem to start drinking a bit and have some fun from time to time." I tried to act as casual as I could and from the looks of him, Leo seemed to have bought it, so I continued. "I could even try my luck with the ladies."
"Try your luck?" he genuinely asked me.
"You know, try to get a girl into bed." I said bluntly, to be sure that he would understand what I meant.
"Oh!" he said in surprise, for the first time he understood something from the lewdest side of life, and he got flushed right away.
'Why did you get red only to talk about sex? I only know you for a few minutes, but you know Rick for ages.' I thought, looking at him with disbelief.
"Hey, you don't need to get embarrassed, we both are guys here. I'm sure you have an interest in some girl in town." I said, trying to change the mood. But now he was avoiding my stare.
"Don't tell me that… You have an interest in dudes?"
"Of course not!" he responded to me, louder than his voice from before. Sarah turned, and her cold gaze was fixated at us as if we were a bunch of maggots.
"By any chance, you guys are trying to call the monsters attention?" she said with a killing intent. "Do you guys have a death wish?" I wasn't certain if this was a question or a threat. Maybe both.
"Sorry, Sarah. We'll try to keep it down." I said with a frail smile. Sarah didn't respond to me. For just an instant her expression softened, but then she turned her head and continued walking. I sighed, thinking that it was still too soon to establish a conversation with her.
"She got mad at us." Leo whispered.
"And who is at fault?" I responded immediately.
We stayed a few minutes in silence roaming on the first floor, but we didn't find any monsters, so we decided to head to the second floor. While we were looking for the stairs, I started to think about the hundreds and hundreds of chapters and how frustrating his interaction with the girls was. In the story, he never had a romantic interest, even with a harem in it, and now he was embarrassed talking about it. 'So what was his deal?'
I'm a fan of SCRL, but there are things the author didn't care to answer, or probably he just forgot them in the end. But I had an opportunity that no other reader had. I could ask directly to the characters. Sarah was avoiding me, so Leo was the only option to kill some time until the battle.
"So you just don't have any romantic interest at all?" I asked without beating around the bush. But he stayed in silence, pensive. If I didn't know, I wouldn't guess this guy would become the tough MC from SCRL. Maybe I was a bit rude.
"Sorry, it is not cool to meddle in others' personal lives."
"It's ok. You're my friend, but I never told you before." His expression became more eased. "A long time ago, there was a girl. Even though we were kids back then, we made a promise to marry when we grew older."
This was news to me. That info wasn't in SCRL. I wouldn't be surprised if he told me that he was gay, or even a eunuch, but he had, in fact, a childhood sweetheart.
'Wait a second… He said a childhood friend, it could be…' I looked at Sarah in front of us. 'She was a childhood friend for both of us, so it could be her?'
"Leo, who could this girl be? Is she living in town…?"
"Rick, about that, I would like to keep it for me, at least for now." He said, closing his eyes with a smile, as if he was remembering something pleasant.
'Hey, hey, you're not in love with Sarah, are you?' I thought inwardly, but I only said, "I understand. Don't worry."
As a fan of SCRL, I was curious about the hidden story of the characters, however, I didn't want to be forceful, even if the girl could be Sarah.
'But Leo, don't even think that I will just let you have her.' I thought.
That's right. Sarah was fair game. She is single, and if she continues to follow Leo she will still be for a long time. There's no romance conclusion in SCRL, so chances are that she will become a cat lady, even though he likes her.
'No hard feelings, Leo. Sarah is the best girl and you would do the same if you were me.' At that moment a thought crossed my mind. 'Now that I think of it… It means that I would snatch the girl and his powers away from him.'
"Leo! Rick!" Sarah shouted, catching our attention. She was staring at the end of the dark hall while slow footsteps were coming in our direction.