Greg didn't understand why Nightmare was so enthusiastic about this. It was as if he weren't heading out to conquer the dungeon, but rather to settle her old grudges.
After a silent internal jab, Greg didn't bother to delve deeper into why this unreliable Goddess was so obsessed with clearing the dungeon.
He did a final check of his waist bag and belongings, slipped out from behind the camouflage once more, and returned to the cavern where Vivian was waiting.
"Sorry for the wait. I've got what I need. Let's move out," Greg said, patting his noticeably bulging waist bag.
Vivian's gaze lingered on the bag for a moment. A flicker of faint curiosity crossed her ice-blue eyes, but she didn't ask what was inside.
She simply gave a slight nod and followed Greg as he resumed their journey.
The two continued through the dim, winding underground passages.
"First that pink-haired hussy, and now you're so devoted to this ice-faced human woman... You certainly are a busy man," Nightmare's voice rang in his mind again, sounding leisurely and teasing.
Greg remained unfazed, retorting internally, "Heh, what's this? Is our noble Goddess... jealous? I recall you saying you were quite fond of this face of mine."
"Hmph!"
Nightmare's response was full of disdain and pride. "I am the Goddess of Night. Why would I be jealous of a human woman? You underestimate my magnanimity."
The corner of Greg's mouth twitched in an imperceptible smirk as he continued the mental banter. "Is that so? To me, you're just a Hajimi who spends most of her time acting cute and making snide remarks. Maybe once you start being actually useful, I'll truly consider you a Goddess."
While the man and the cat bickered silently in their minds, their pace didn't slow.
Greg knew the path to the first layer's Boss room like the back of his hand.
Furthermore, Victoria had recently swept through the area, clearing out most of the elite monsters at the spawn points, and they hadn't respawned yet.
As a result, aside from a few low-level Goblins that jumped out from corners to "offer up" experience points—only to be casually dispatched by Greg—they encountered no significant obstacles.
It was so smooth it didn't feel like they were exploring a perilous dungeon; it felt more like a stroll in their own backyard.
This unusual ease caused a growing sense of surprise and confusion to well up in Vivian's ice-blue eyes.
She clearly remembered the many difficulties she had faced not long ago when she led several elite Student Council members here to investigate mana anomalies.
Although her level and strength meant she had no trouble handling most monsters in the first layer one-on-one...
The monsters generally possessed various strange resistances, weird attack patterns, and tenacious vitality. More troublesome was their tendency to attack in groups, using the complex terrain for ambushes.
Even with a well-prepared team, they had faced several close calls and spent a significant amount of potions and stamina just to reach the Boss area.
Yet today...
Watching the golden-haired youth's back as he walked ahead with such casual confidence, Vivian gained a concrete impression of Greg's recent changes for the first time.
At the same time, a vague suspicion in her mind grew clearer, like ripples from a stone thrown into a deep pool, finally coalescing into a thought she found hard to believe.
This level of familiarity with the dungeon, combined with the news that he had defeated the Undead Knight alone...
Could it be... the mysterious person who defeated Lady Eight-Legs last time...
Vivian's ice-blue pupils constricted slightly.
"...Was him?!"
Once the thought took root, it grew like a wild vine, connecting many previously ignored or inexplicable details.
From Greg's recent personality shift to his sudden spike in strength, his extraordinary knowledge of the dungeon, and even his confidence in bringing her here in the middle of the night...
Everything seemed to point toward this seemingly absurd yet logical answer.
Her ice-blue eyes fixed once more on the golden-haired back ahead, which seemed both familiar and utterly strange in the dim light.
An indescribable, complex emotion quietly spread through her heart.
Just when... did he become like this?
And why did he work so hard to change...?
Suddenly, the youth's words—spoken amid the noise of the crowd on the tree-lined path that morning, sounding almost like a confession—echoed in her ears.
"Because... I have actually always admired you, Lady Vivian."
Vivian unconsciously raised her hand, her fingertips lightly touching her pale pink lips, as if she could still feel the slight flutter of her heart skipping a beat. She murmured softly, "Was it for me...?"
Vivian felt a hint of doubt. Was she being too conceited?
If Greg truly harbored such feelings for her, why had he treated her that way in the past?
Why had he never once reached out to explain himself during their first year at the academy?
However, the moment that self-doubt arose, a new word flashed through the fog like a beam of light—
Tsundere.
She had learned this word while processing the morning's events. She had described Lilith's behavior to a few close and worldly maids, and they had given her this term with stifled smiles.
It meant saying one thing while meaning another; an inconsistency between one's words and heart.
Clearly caring deeply, yet insisting they didn't care at all. Or acting cold on the surface while being deeply concerned inside.
It was a stubborn and... somewhat cute personality trait.
After confirming that Lady Lilith was indeed quite a tsundere, the maids had exchanged glances. One of them had gathered her courage and added in a small voice:
"Actually... Lady Vivian, in some matters, you seem... a little bit like a tsundere yourself."
Vivian hadn't been angry. Instead, she had tilted her head and seriously considered it for a moment.
Ultimately, she reached a calm conclusion: on certain levels, she did indeed fit the description.
Since understanding and accepting this concept, Vivian felt a heavy, stagnant part of her heart loosen, as if a light breeze had been injected into it.
However, when she thought about how Greg had seen through Lilith's tsundere exterior to her true feelings even before she had, the indescribable complexity and gloom in a corner of her heart seemed to deepen.
But for now, those cluttered thoughts were temporarily suppressed by a new idea.
"If the essence of a tsundere is saying one thing while meaning another, being cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and using contradictory actions to hide one's true feelings..."
Vivian's ice-blue eyes reflected Greg's amber gaze as he occasionally looked back in the darkness to make sure she was keeping up.
"Then, those hurtful words, the resolute distancing, the long silence... and now this change that could only be achieved by risking his life..."
"Could it be... that Greg is also..."
This hypothesis was like a stone cast into the lake of her heart, creating ever-larger ripples.
"...a tsundere?"
This discovery, carrying a strange sense of rationality and subversion, quickly took root in Vivian's calm and intelligent mind. It grew more certain with every step of Greg's awkward guidance.
Rate on N.U.
