Did she already know what I would ask her for?

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"Emir, say something to her!" Delia urges me to, noticing that Alessia is now crying uncontrollably and unable to continue speaking.

"Alessia, forgive me. You are right to call me a hypocrite; of course you are..."

'Although you could've kept the ‘immature’ thing to yourself.'

"...But I didn't lie to you when I said I liked that you had your secrets; it's just... It really bothered me to see you suffering like that. But I shouldn't have talked to you like that. I... what can I do to make it up to you?" I say, not knowing what I can do in this kind of situation.

As I speak, I see Delia look at me with an encouraging smile, silently cheering me on but still hugging Alessia.

'- At least, in that sense, I know he doesn't lie. He really cares about me. Besides, this kind of attitude from him isn't really surprising... Why did his question irritate me so much in the first place? Haa... I think what really bothered me was the fact that, ever since we entered the labyrinth, he's been criticizing me much more than Delia. But it's just... how can he think that a religious person can be better than me as a partner in the labyrinths?!... Agh, I don't want to be that kind of person! Delia is not to blame for my failures; only I am. Lately, my mind has been in chaos.'

"Haa... y-you don't have to do anything. I accept your apology, and you're partly right to be angry… I should have explained better about what I knew about the teriars..." says Alessia, pulling out of Delia's embrace to wipe the tears off her face.

".... simply... let's just forget this ever happened."

"Hmm, well, if that's what you really want..." I say, letting the sentence hang in the air, because I don't know if this is the typical situation where women say one thing but think something completely different.

'I feel very much out of my element in this conversation…

For now, it's best not to say anything more about it. I'm afraid of saying something that will make her cry again...

But the doubt remains...

Was I the one who crossed the line by getting angry with her, or was she the one who overreacted to my recriminations?'

Alessia doesn't seem to have any intention of saying anything, and she simply remains crestfallen and silent, looking thoughtful, so I decide to keep talking.

"... Erm, well, I think we'd better leave the exploration of the no-man's zone for today. We've come a long way."

But, at my words, the blonde girl looks me straight in the eye like a child who has had a toy taken from her hands.

"I want to go on," she simply says, but you can sense that there is much more behind that simple sentence.

'- I've been dreaming of reaching the no-man' zone for years. I'd at least like to be able to explore it for a few hours before I have to retire... Furthermore, considering this magic object that Master has, couldn't we stay here for a while? It would be great to adapt to this new kind of environment'

"Don't contradict me, please..." I say in a tired voice.

"... Don't you think we'd better go back home after what happened just now? Do you really feel like going on in this condition?"

'It's true that I'm not physically tired, since Delia's magic took away all the fatigue accumulated from our time exploring the labyrinth, but this discussion with Alessia has completely drained me of mental energy....

Moreover, Delia seems a bit exhausted after using so much magic, though she's probably not going to say anything about it.'

"Haa.... Alright, we'll do as you wish. As you command, Master" says Alessia in a monotone, emphasizing the last words.

'- I don't like it, but this time I understand his point perfectly... Maybe Master and I could go along with my idea without any problem. But Delia, as a religious person, must not be so used to this kind of environment... It's annoying, but it's like Master said a few minutes ago. Beyond being a couple, here in the labyrinth we are a team, and we must think about what is most efficient for the team when we act or decide things'

At Alessia's last words, a shiver runs down my back.

Her words sound hollow to me, like those of a puppet rather than a person.

The kind of slave who lost all her spirit due to an irresponsible master's orders.

'What the hell is happening to us lately? Why is everything so difficult?'

"No! I want to hear the reasons for your opinion! Please tell me why you feel like going on," I say, and I can't help but feel a bit of frustration seeping into my voice.

"I... My opinion doesn't matter. Besides, Delia is probably tired," Alessia says evasively, looking off into the dark area of the forest.

'- But I'd like to know what's off the trails, under those trees'

"I'm not tired!" exclaims Delia with her characteristic stubbornness, but says nothing beyond that sentence.

"Of course your opinion matters!...." I exclaim, with some desperation, at this new submissive side of Alessia.

I approach her and kneel down to hold her face with my two hands, forcing her to look me in the eyes.

"... never hesitate to tell us what you think."

"Well, I already said my opinion. I want to continue exploring..." says Alessia, exasperated.

"...The reasons for that are not very complex. I'm just really excited about the idea of finally reaching the no-man's zone after so long, and I'm sad to have to leave as soon as we get here…"

Then Alessia looks away to watch Delia and adds.

"... But Delia looks tired, and you were right when you said we have to think as a team."

"I want to continue exploring too..." says Delia, looking fondly at Alessia.

"... don't worry about me; I'm tougher than I look," she finishes while flexing her arm to try to make her muscles stand out, which only serves to accentuate how adorable she is.

' - You certainly look anything but tough yourself, dear.'

"Don't be silly. I can tell you're exhausted..." says Alessia, looking sympathetically at Delia.

"...Besides, we wouldn't even be able to keep exploring if it weren't for you. So, since we are partly responsible for your exhaustion, we are also responsible for you recovering properly and not overexerting yourself."

'- Delia, we both know you'd rather be anywhere else than go on another minute in this stinking labyrinth. Why don't you take the opportunity to retire?'

'- Because Alessia, Emir, and I are a couple. And if Alessia's so keen to go on, I'd feel really bad if we had to retire because of me.'

"Haa... okay, now I get your point..." I say, stroking her cheek tenderly and giving her a kiss on the forehead, whereupon the blonde girl blushes slightly.

"... Well, we'll go on for a few more hours. But please don't say again that your opinion doesn't matter...."

And, due to the doubt and fear that her previous comment has given me, I add, "... this is not an order; I just want you to know that I care very much about your opinion. As much as mine or Delia's."

"But Delia-" starts to say Alessia, but I interrupt her.

"Delia already said her opinion, didn't she?..." I say, giving Delia a quick glance as I smile.

"... Delia?"

"Yes, I want to continue exploring the no man’s zone" says the little fox girl, giving me a beaming smile back.

'That's my girl!'

"And since all three of our opinions are worth the same, and we all want to keep exploring, why not do it?" I say, still smiling.

"Haa... okay..." says Alessia, and a smile blossoms on her face too as a single tear furrows down her cheek, but this time of happiness.

"... you're both very goofy... but thank you. I... thank you."

 

…

 

Before continuing, I gave Delia a mana potion to recover the MP she spent on healing us.

When her MP pool was full again, most of her fatigue disappeared after a few seconds.

So, after I outfitted myself again with my chainmail and damaged clothes, we continued exploring for a few hours and encountered a few groups of monsters along the way.

We only saw teriars, wind cheetahs, and a few armored boars, like the one I had faced a while back on old Gerald's errand.

These swine monsters seem to be especially common in the no-man's zone, as most of the monsters we encountered during our exploration were of that type.

But the Armored boars in the no man's zone are much smaller compared to the one I faced that time and are the size of normal boars.

However, despite the reduced size, they have the same strength and speed as the enemy I faced that day, from which the material to make Delia's spear came.

But no matter how much strength and speed they had, we were still superior if we coordinated correctly, which fortunately happened.

Alessia, as if to make up for what happened before, now always asks us about our opinions before deciding to do something.

And it was only after we had decided on our strategy that she would launch out to confront the enemies.

This perfect coordination and planning allowed us to get rid of all the enemies we encountered without giving them much of a chance to put up a fight.

So we never again had a problem with the combination of Teriars and Wind Cheetahs.

Now that we know about their ability, Delia and I can focus on them with both Blue Wind and my arrows with runes and let Alessia take care of the enemies that come close to us, thanks to her incredible reflexes acquired from years of experience.

Before deciding to leave, we came across a group of two male adventurers along the path.

One of them appeared seriously wounded.

The two adventurers were barely holding their own against four armored boars.

Alessia and I did not plan to intervene.

Firstly, we didn't know them, and we both thought it made no sense to risk our lives for strangers.

Secondly, we were concerned that intervening might cause them to become angry, as it could be seen as an affront to their pride as adventurers.

But Delia had completely different ideas, and, very much out of keeping with her typical shy personality, she jumped in to help them while shouting for us to follow her.

Between the two adventurers and the three of us, we quickly disposed of the enemies.

Once the danger passed, Delia, again without asking us what we thought about it, rushed to heal the wounded adventurer.

As she healed his wounds, the two adventurers kept thanking Delia for her kindness while hiding their true colors.

But, after receiving healing, the two began to look at me with envy and observe the curvaceous bodies of Alessia and Delia with a certain lewdness.

After that, they suggested to Alessia and Delia that they should leave me and join their group.

The stupid reason they gave was that, being more people, if they joined them and left me, Alessia and Delia would be able to defeat the enemies appearing in the no-man's zone more easily.

I was very surprised at the nerve of them making such a proposition while I was present, but I supposed it was to be expected, since stupid people have stupid thoughts.

Delia politely refused this ridiculous proposal, but Alessia openly mocked them, insulting them with a repertoire of words I did not know she possessed.

At Alessia's words, the adventurers' attitude became rather petty and hostile.

But knowing they were outnumbered, they said nothing and went on their way while looking at me with silent resentment.

Under other circumstances, I would have broken several of their bones for looking with such foul intent at my girls.

But, since Delia had spent her valuable time healing them, I didn't want to be the one to blame for messing up her work by re-injuring the people she had just healed.

After that, as we had been exploring in the no-man's zone for several hours by then, we finally decided to leave the labyrinth.

So, using space travel, I opened an illusory door directly to our house in the capital, and we went to take a shower.