Raised in Dungeon

As Felicia huddled near the bonfire with Allen in the cold, dark cave, the thought of the succulent rabbit meat roasting over the flame filled her with anticipation. Her hunger had grown to immense proportions as she saw the rabbit meat on the fire. With gusto, she devoured the rabbit meat, not caring about its bland taste, but only thinking of her great hunger.

Allen somehow didn't feel too hungry; he just ate it little by little while watching Felicia, who devoured it quickly. Allen somehow feels happy and unhappy at the same time. Allen's melancholy feelings were the satisfaction he felt after giving someone else food and the feeling of displeasure because it reminded him of Lavinia when he first gave her soup.

'I should have brought green flowers and white fruit; it will make the meat more delicious." Allen muttered while eating his meat.

Felicia had finished eating and now had no more worries about her body. Now that her worries were gone, she remembered the things that happened upstairs.

"...Your treatment of the monsters today... it's no different from how you treated me. Those eyes... you look at me the same way you look at these orcs. You didn't kill them because you felt sorry for them. You also care for me out of pity..."

Those were the words Allen had said to her before. She told herself that it shouldn't be a big deal. After all, she was a noble, and he was a peasant; it was only natural for her to feel pity for him.

'Allen's eyes at that time... he really looked very angry... there's no mistaking that he was trying to take out his anger on me,'

But still. Even though he was just venting his anger, the words Allen said back then were true from his heart, making Felicia unhappy.

Then she recalled Allen's other words.

"...All this time, I've been thinking... why do you care so much about me? Why do you want me to stop harming people? Is it the fact that I am a human being like you?"

Felicia, at that moment, wanted to answer...

"Because I want to be your friend, Allen."

"What?"

"Eh?!"

Without realizing it, Felicia said it out loud.

"You want me to be-"

"FORGET! NOW! FORGET IT!" shouted Felicia as she pushed Allen's head to the other side again.

"I see..." replied Allen, expressionless.

Felicia realized it was the perfect moment to be honest with Allen. If she didn't share her true feelings and just stuck to this relationship, then his loyalty to her would result from their agreement, not any emotional connection. She couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he met someone more promising. Would he remain with her? Or maybe he will leave her?

Steadying her heart, Felicia said

"That's right!... I want to be your friend, Allen."

Allen glanced at Felicia again, looking at her as she lowered her face, which was flushed to the ears.

In fact, they were currently only wearing underwear under one blanket, but that already didn't embarrass her at all. She was even more ashamed of saying a simple but deeply meaningful thing, which made her feel low for asking someone else.

"Sure..." Allen replied.

Felicia immediately raised her head and looked at Allen, who was now also looking at her. Their eyes met, and their heads were very close.

"A-a are you sure?!" said Felicia excitedly, moving her head forward slightly. Allen immediately spontaneously move his head back a little, then nodded,

"Y-yeah."

Felicia smiled, then suddenly realized their faces were too close,

"Don't look over here!" Felicia again pushed Allen's face to look at the other side.

"Would a friend hit a friend like this?" protested Allen, who was getting fed up with what Felicia was doing.

"Friends don't peek at others!" Felicia's face was angry, but her heart felt very happy.

Finally, she had the friend she really wanted.

Something she'd never get with her arrogant personality.

Felicia was baffled by Allen's quick acceptance of her; after she had said those terrible things to him, she couldn't quite fathom why he had given her such an effortless 'yes'.

'What was Allen thinking?' she wondered.

Allen's thoughts when Felicia asked him to be her friend were... a curiosity about relationships and his mother's last request to him.

Every time he saw a human, Allen's blood seemed to boil,

He hated seeing the nobles.

He hated seeing maids smiling.

He hated seeing the faces of the humans he killed.

and he hates everything about humans.

Then, what about his mother's last request? She had wanted him to live and not hate humans. But if he hated humans, that meant he was trampling on her last wish—a thought that gave him a headache just thinking about it.

After he met Isabelle and the people in her house, his hatred for humans should have slowly disappeared, but Isabelle was dead, they were all dead, and they were also killed by humans, making him hate humans even more.

Then he woke up in Boldenville's house with a deep hatred for humans. But at that moment, he felt a hand grasp his tightly. He looked up to see Felicia's face, with gratitude and relief washing over her features. Showing her face that she was glad he was alive.

Felicia was the only human that Allen could not hate. And by becoming Felicia's friend, Allen gained hope. Hope to fulfill his mother's last words.

"Allen, now that you're my friend, do you want to tell me about yourself and why you hate so many people and Miss Lavinia?" Felicia asked.

Allen opened his mouth slightly. Felicia was now his friend, no different from Reig. He always told Reig everything, so he had to tell Felicia everything too.

But...

"Next time," Allen replied briefly. He still couldn't tell Felicia everything. He didn't want to tell her because it would only make him angrier, and he'd probably vent his rage to Felicia again.

"I see... No problem," Felicia didn't want to ask more either, her face looking very disappointed, to herself.

'I'm still not good enough to be trusted by others,' Felicia thought.

A few minutes later, the fire they had lit began to fade.

Allen got out of his blanket and held the clothes lying on the ground.

"They're already dry, let's get out of here," Allen said as he threw Felicia's shirt and armor at her.

"Don't throw it at me, and don't even look at it!"

"Haaah, what a hassle."

...

After they finished dressing, they started to leave.

"Are you sure you can destroy this?" Felicia asked Allen about the rock blocking them from getting out of that cave.

"Of course." Allen then used his foot to crush the sticky crystals on the wall.

"I-I know you're strong, but I didn't expect it to be that easy. I saw people pull them out with tools! Not with their leg."

"This is not the time to be amazed, quickly pick up the crystals and put them into the bag that Reig had prepared earlier."

"Alright..."

While picking the crystal, Felicia murmured, "I didn't expect to be ordered around by a peasant."

Felicia began to pick up the crystals and put them into the small pouch created by Reig. The small crystal shards were put into the pouch as much as possible while Felicia held the large shards.

"It's done,"

After Felicia was done, Reig pulled out a stone mace.

"Ah, that's the mace of the orcs," Felicia muttered.

Allen swung his mace as hard as he could towards the cave exit.

-BOOM!

The rocks covering the road were immediately thrown out, and Felicia could only gape at them.

After that, Felicia threw the small crystals in the pouch simultaneously all over the place. Of course, the crystals thrown were not enough to illuminate the dark dungeon. They planned to spread them all over the ground to at least illuminate the ground.

And then…

almost everywhere...

Spiders were crawling around, waiting for Allen and Felicia to come out of the cave.

"KYAAAAAAA!!!"

Felicia spontaneously screamed as she saw so many spiders, some even attached to the walls.

-SHOOT

One of the spiders shot its web at Allen's face. But Reig was quick to protect him.

"Wait inside until I finish half of it!" shouted Allen.

Felicia nodded.

Reig changed the texture of his scarf to crystal, and he immediately glowed. Allen, using the mace, came forward and slammed it into the spider bodies around the cave.

Because he was not carrying anyone this time, Allen could freely and quickly avoid the spiders' web shots. With agile and cunning movements, Allen jumped up and down quickly, his mace powerfully wielded in his grip.

Readying himself for battle, Allen prepared to dodge the spider's relentless webbed shots. Knowing that the spider could use its legs and head to attack him, Allen quickly plotted out a course of attack involving vertically destroying the spider's body.

Progressing steadfastly forward, Allen advanced upon the spiders, his devastating mace striking a crippling blow to any spider that would challenge him. Despite their urgent webbing of thick strands, the spiders could not make an advance against Allen's might. Instead, they simply stayed put and frantically fired webs at him from their location.

Felicia threw all the crystals she had in her possession all over the ground, especially on the dark side. Then, after a few minutes, the ground was filled with crystals, so the floor seemed to glow, making Allen could almost see every spider on the ground.

"This mace is already useless, Reig. Long sword, please."

Reig turned back into a normal scarf, and then Allen immediately pulled the long sword from inside his scarf.

Now he could jump onto each spider and stab them directly.

Amid the chaos around her, Felicia watched in awe as the dark blue floor suddenly changed to a glimmering green so striking that it was almost like looking into an emerald lagoon! It was the spilled blood of the spiders. Heaving and slicing, his blade tore through the air like a wild beast, piercing and shredding its way further and further through their ranks. It seemed with each subsequent lash of his sword, he gained more power and momentum, creating a tempestuous storm of steel and carnage. Because of Reig's crystal transformation, Allen looked glowing, so Felicia could clearly see what Allen was doing, and at that moment, she remembered Allen when killing the orcs.

"Why was I scared back then?" Felicia thought.

Allen had the same expressionless face when he killed the orcs and the spiders. But when Felicia saw him now, she no longer felt afraid of Allen.

Allen didn't look like a monster; instead, he now looked like

"a hero..."

Probably because Allen wasn't swinging his sword in rage and hatred at the time.

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