After walking to the campsite, Lilith looked around.
The cavern was more spacious than expected, but apart from a crackling campfire, it was virtually empty.
There were no beds, no furniture, not even a decent storage container to be seen.
The firelight flickered against the rough stone walls, stretching and shrinking their shadows.
She couldn't help but wonder: how exactly had Greg survived living here?
What puzzled her even more was how someone with Greg's trouble-seeking nature in the past could possibly endure this dark, quiet dungeon where there was no one to talk to except monsters.
Meanwhile, Greg looked around the camp, seemingly searching for something.
His gaze swept across the corners of the rock walls, the edges of the fire pit, and even up at the stalactites hanging from the ceiling.
His posture didn't look like he was checking the perimeter for danger, but rather confirming whether something was still there.
However, he quickly turned back, his expression returning to calm.
“Find a spot by the campfire to sit. I'll go prepare the ingredients first.”
His tone was completely natural, as if he were entertaining a schoolmate in the academy's common room rather than standing in a dark dungeon cavern.
With that, Greg dragged the charred beast carcass toward the underground river.
Lilith found a spot neither too close nor too far from the fire and sat down to dry her soaked clothes.
Water vapor rose from the fabric under the heat of the flames, carrying the faint fishy smell of the river water and the dungeon's distinct scent of moss and minerals.
Watching Greg skillfully dismember and wash the beast's corpse by the river with smooth, practiced movements, Lilith could at least be sure of one thing: he hadn't been lying about knowing how to cook.
The dagger originally used as a noble status symbol turned nimbly in his hand, trimming away inedible parts and cutting pieces of meat suitable for roasting. His movements were clean and efficient, looking not like a pampered young noble master, but like a veteran who had lived in the wild for years.
The fire was warm, and her clothes were gradually drying, but Lilith's thoughts drifted away.
She couldn't help but wonder how shocked her elder sister would be if she knew Lilith was currently sitting like this with her former fiancé.
After all, both she and her sister used to thoroughly despise Greg Sass; neither of them could have ever imagined a day like this would come.
With nothing to do, Lilith's eyes wandered across the ground.
Suddenly, she noticed something on the ground nearby reflecting the firelight now and then—not the harsh glare of a mineral, but a softer, finer sheen.
She reached out, picked it up, and examined it closely in her palm.
It was a few strands of hair.
Gray, medium length, and seemingly of very good quality.
This should have been a trivial detail, but an inexplicable feeling surged within Lilith. Pinching the gray strands between her fingers, she asked Greg, who was still preparing the ingredients by the underground river:
“Senior Greg, could it be that someone else has been here besides me?”
“How did you know?” Greg asked, briefly puzzled before continuing, “Anyway, they were first-year freshmen just like you.”
As he spoke, he skewered the cleaned pieces of meat onto makeshift wooden sticks, stood up, and walked back to the campfire.
“Their names are Victoria and Silvia. You've probably heard of them.”
His tone was casual.
He had no intention of hiding the fact that Victoria and Silvia had been here, nor was there any need to.
In Greg's eyes, “Lily Carlo” in front of him was merely a kind mob character. Even if she learned this information, it wouldn't cause any waves.
It was actually them?!
Lilith was shocked to her core, barely able to control her expression.
Victoria and Silvia were the very people she had originally intended to look for today!
Why were they here? And with Greg, no less? Didn't the three of them have huge grievances with each other?
Countless questions exploded in her mind, but Lilith suppressed her shock, striving to maintain the reaction appropriate for a wealthy merchant's daughter.
She blinked, showing a perfectly measured look of surprise. “But as far as I remember... aren't you guys completely at odds?”
The conflict during the school opening was common knowledge throughout the entire academy.
Greg had publicly humiliated Victoria, and Victoria had slapped him in the face with her astounding talent during the magic test.
“Oh, you mean those past incidents.”
Greg sat down by the fire and placed the meat skewers onto a makeshift grill.
Grease began to drip, crackling softly in the flames as a savory, roasted aroma gradually filled the air.
“Actually, we've reconciled now.”
He said it nonchalantly, as though the conflict that had stirred up the entire academy was nothing more than a minor spat between classmates.
Regarding the reconciliation, he even hoped this girl might help spread the news once she left.
After all, he really had no reason to oppose the main protagonists now. Just finding a way to survive was exhausting enough—who had the energy to play a classic villain?
In that case, it was better for everyone to develop peacefully together.
Once the heroines cleared the game, he could ride their coattails and find a safe corner to spend the rest of his life.
A perfect plan.
“They could reconcile after he did something so terrible? How on earth did he pull that off?”
Lilith felt as if the man before her was shrouded in mist.
Whenever you felt you had seen through him a little, a new contradiction would immediately appear, preventing you from ever grasping his true shape.
The campfire crackled, flames licking the meat skewers as grease dripped into the fire, giving off waves of appetizing, roasted aroma.
The cave was filled with the warm scent of food, forming a strange contrast with the dungeon's usual cold dampness.
Lilith's stomach growled betrayingly once more, louder this time than before.
Her face flushed hot. She quickly straightened her back, assuming the reserved composure expected of a wealthy merchant's daughter and pretending the sound hadn't come from her.
“Ahem.”
She cleared her throat, trying to regain control of the conversation. “Then what do you think of Victoria and Silvia?”
Although Greg's changes surprised her, what she cared about most right now was naturally how strong those two were.
As fellow competitors in the Placement Exam, any piece of intelligence could prove crucial.
Greg replied immediately, “Honestly? They're both very beautiful.”
Lilith: “...No, that's not what I meant.”
After taking a deep breath, she rephrased her question: “I mean, how do you think those two compare to Princess Lilith?”
This time, Greg didn't answer immediately.
He turned the skewers, falling silent for a few seconds.
Firelight danced across his golden eyelashes, casting faint shadows.
At that moment, Lilith actually felt a surge of nervousness. It had been a long time since she had felt nervous about someone else's opinion.
Finally, Greg spoke up.
“They each have their own strengths.”
“Their own strengths?” The phrase caught Lilith's attention. She pressed further, “In what aspects specifically?”
Greg spoke rapidly, almost like rattling off a jingle:
“Silvia is well-endowed up front, Victoria has legs for days, and Lilith is a more balanced combination of both. So, each has her own strengths.”
Silence abruptly settled over the cave.
The crackling campfire, the flowing underground river, and the distant, faint lowing of unknown monsters...
All sounds receded in that instant, leaving only Greg's words echoing repeatedly in Lilith's mind.
She froze.
Stunned through and through.
A few seconds later—
“I ALREADY TOLD YOU I WASN'T TALKING ABOUT THAT AT ALL!!!”
Lilith's scream nearly blew the roof off the cavern.
She stood up abruptly, her face flushed crimson—half with embarrassment and half with rage.
This guy!
This guy really is still a scumbag!
Checking me out with those filthy eyes!
Utterly unforgivable!
Rate on N.U.
