A Comfortable Dungeon Expansion

In the evening sky over the Royal Capital, birds were flying back to their nests.

The castle at the center of the Royal Capital was surrounded by high walls and a deep moat.

Its white walls were dyed red by the setting sun.

In one of its rooms, furnished with luxurious décor, the hero Marius sat at a table with the priestess, flipping through documents.

He exaggeratedly furrowed his handsome, actor-like face as he looked over the papers.

“We have already defeated the Evil Serpent… A chimera in an old mountain castle? Hmmm, that would not draw many spectators to praise us.”

Seated opposite him, the priestess let out a sigh.

“I do not think this is the time to be picky. You failed to defeat the Wyvern, so you need to choose something you are absolutely sure you can subjugate, even if it is lower rank.”

“If I do that, it makes it sound like the mighty hero—that is, me—is unreliable! I want something more like this: a mission no one else can steal, that only I can complete, and then I get a standing ovation.”

“Alec-san never cherry-picked quests.”

“He did not pick at all! Just taking assignments from the top of the stack in order like that! The strange one is that someone like that worked as a hero for so many years.”

“He said, ‘Everyone is struggling in the same way, so except for emergency requests, I will just clear everything in order.’”

“Do you not think that is pointless if he fails?”

“Sigh… That is true. You chose the Wyvern because you said you absolutely had to complete your very first job as the new hero.”

Marius stopped turning the pages and lifted his head.

He frowned and glared at the priestess.

“Do you have a problem with how I, the hero, do things?”

“You keep saying ‘hero, hero,’ but for the record, I am currently ranked first in line to be the next Archbishop, you know? When you fail, it affects me too, so could you please try a bit harder?”

“That is exactly what I am doing right now!!”

Marius glared at the priestess in anger.

She merely shrugged loosely and let out another breath.

“Sigh… It feels like your mask is starting to slip. Alec-san never yelled, and he quietly and sincerely carried out his missions for the people.”

“What exactly is so great about Alec! A no-name middle-aged guy who does not even know how to speak properly! His success rate on missions kept dropping, and the number of monsters he defeated just went steadily down! He is a man whose time is over!”

The priestess tilted her head. Her shoulder-length blue hair slid smoothly along her shoulders.

“…Number of monsters defeated?”

She murmured that, but the moment was interrupted when the door suddenly opened.

A knight in armor entered the room, his red cape swaying.

“So you were here, Hero Marius. An emergency has arisen. Will you join the strategy meeting at once?”

“An emergency?”

“Yes. We have learned that a dungeon has invaded all the way under the Royal Capital.”

“A dungeon! The capital in danger! —This is it!”

Marius’s blue eyes sparkled as he leapt to his feet.

Then, guided by the knight, he left the room.

The priestess left behind shook her head from side to side, thinking, her blue hair whispering.

“…Number of monsters defeated? Number of monsters defeated… number of monsters defeated?”

She rose, her robes swaying, and left the room while muttering to herself.

Evening in the south-eastern forest of the Royal Capital.

Liricia and I were hunting monsters.

Lesser monsters disappeared the moment I approached, so first Liricia used her angel skills to scout.

After that, we targeted only the stronger monsters and took them down.

We cut off the parts needed for proof of subjugation and had the sub-device absorb the rest.

All we had to do was press it against the corpse and it was drawn in.

While we were at it, we also pressed the sub-device against any rocks or fallen trees nearby and had it absorb those as well.

Each time, the sub-device’s screen flickered merrily on and off.

We kept at the monster extermination until the sun set and we could no longer see each other’s faces clearly.

“Whew… Think we have enough materials now?”

“Yes. We must have quite a lot stored up by now… We have also collected the items needed for our missions.”

Liricia reached a hand back and patted her backpack with a light thump.

While we were defeating monsters, she had also been gathering medicinal herbs, mushrooms, and insect eggs.

I nodded.

“All right. Let us rinse off and then head back. It might be a little cold, though.”

“Y-Yes.”

Liricia and I returned to the cabin, set down our gear, and went around to the pump well behind it.

I gripped the handle and pumped it up and down several times; clear, fresh water gushed forth.

Liricia held out both hands to catch the water.

She splashed her face with it and smiled in obvious delight.

“Ahh, I feel alive again…”

“Not just your face—take off your clothes too. It is dark enough that you cannot really be seen.”

“O-Okay…”

Blushing in embarrassment, Liricia took off her leather armor and priest robes.

Then she exposed her bare body to the water surging from the pump.

Her white skin shed the pure water in sparkling droplets.

A thought occurred to me and I voiced it.

“Do you not need to wash your wings?”

“They are fine, but… I suppose I should.”

Liricia bent forward, hugging her shoulders.

Her white wings spread wide into the evening gloom with a soft rustle.

Then she crouched down and began wetting her wings.

“That looks hard to wash.”

Still working the pump with one hand, I used my free hand to stroke her wings.

Liricia’s cheeks flushed and her slender, bare body gave a startled shiver.

“If you touch them that much… you must not, Master…!”

“Why not? I think they are beautiful and lovely.”

“Ahh…!”

I gently washed her soft, fluffy wings by hand.

After we finished washing up, Liricia and I went into the cabin in the forest.

Inside the dim little hut, Liricia pressed herself against me while still naked.

Her soft, generous breasts pressed directly against my skin; her white wings wrapped around us both.

“It really is cold once it turns to night…”

“Then let us warm each other up—mm.”

“Mmm…!”

I covered Liricia’s lips with mine.

In the quiet cabin, soft sounds of our tongues intertwining—wet kisses, faint sucking—echoed.

Even in that situation, Liricia’s fingertips kept teasing my skin.

Just how cute could this fallen angel be?

I caught her wrist and guided her toward the bed.

“Let us have a little light exercise before dinner.”

“Ahh… Master…”

Lying on her back on the bed, Liricia spread her arms wide and invited me in.

I slowly embraced her body, chilled from the water.

And the body we had just washed ended up drenched in sweat all over again.

In the darkness of night,

Liricia spoke in a slightly sulky tone.

“Honestly. Now we have to bathe again.”

“It is pitch-black now, so the well out back is not an option. We will have to do it earlier than planned instead.”

“Yes.”

Without putting our gear back on, Liricia and I simply threw on light robes and got out of bed.

Then I pressed the call button on the sub-device and spoke to Kou.

“Kou, do we have enough materials from earlier?”

“Yes, everything is perfect.”

“Then remodel it.”

“Roger that.”

The one-room log cabin expanded.

Walls formed, and doors appeared.

In the end, it became a single-story residence.

According to the floor plan, it was roughly square.

The forest cabin had been incorporated into the dungeon.

Liricia and I stood in the entrance hall.

The magical lights on the ceiling bathed the interior in clear, pale blue light.

Kou spoke.

“Please check everything over.”

“Got it.”

Liricia and I walked through the residence.

It was roughly square, with a central courtyard.

Right past the front door was a space to store adventuring gear, with a reception room and lounge nearby.

In the back of the residence were the kitchen and dining room, connected to each other.

Since it was best to keep the water facilities together, we also had a bath installed near the kitchen.

There were also bedrooms, a living room, a library, a powder room, guest rooms, a storeroom, a storage room—

And a concealed dungeon entrance.

Clinging to my side, Liricia spoke in a delighted voice.

“As expected of you, Master… I never imagined you would use the dungeon’s functions to expand the cabin.”

“Once I heard about how dungeons work, I figured it would be possible. The original cabin was something Kou had prepared anyway. I am glad it worked.”

“It truly became a splendid home… just like the floor plan.”

“Yeah. For a former hero and a fallen angel’s home, we could not ask for better than this. I would have liked a second floor too, but if the roof stuck up above the trees, there would be a risk of someone spotting it.”

“You even thought that far ahead. You really are dependable, Master.”

Still naked under a single robe, she hugged me and burrowed her face against my chest.

Like a little puppy—adorably clingy.

When I patted her head, she happily fluttered her wings.

“It is the house we wanted, and because it is part of the dungeon, it will not be destroyed. We also do not have to worry about anyone seeing you in angel form, Liricia. It is perfect.”

“Though it turned out more spacious than I expected. I will have to work hard on the cleaning.”

“No need—Kou will handle the cleaning.”

“What an incredibly comfortable home… It is perfect… I suppose the only thing left to worry about is intruders.”

“Ordinary adventurers will not be able to fight their way this deep. We have a wall around it, and there are traps too… but we should probably have someone stationed here.”

“Let us ask Kou-chan about that later.”

I wrapped an arm around Liricia’s waist.

“Then shall we test how it feels to live here?”

“Yes, Master.”

Pressing her ample chest against me, Liricia snuggled close; her silver hair swayed, carrying a pleasant scent.

After that, we used the kitchen for the first time and made a light dinner.

The stove worked without firewood; all we had to do was turn a knob and magical flames appeared for cooking.

The soup Liricia made, a pot-au-feu-like dish of simmered meat and vegetables, had a very gentle flavor.

We also tested out the bath together, skin to skin.

White marble tiles covered the floor, and the tub was filled to the brim with hot water.

There was even a hose that sprayed warm water like a shower.

Finally, in the bedroom, Liricia’s skin flushed pink as she lost herself in pleasure.

Her white wings spread wide, scattering white feathers again and again over the soft bed.

Sweet, cute sounds filled our new home all through the night.