Alon was outside the camp, looking at the gate as it opened. Two trucks emerged from the gate and approached him. To the right of the camp, a provisional field hospital was built. He walked toward it and arrived when the trucks stopped outside the cluster of tents.

  Bartel jumped from the back of one truck and saluted Alon. Soldiers with white helmets got out and transported the injured inside the tents of the field hospital. Others looked up or down, scratching their heads and the backs of their necks like they were reflecting on something ?deep in thought.

  ‘Report Lieutenant.’ Alon spoke in a firm tone.

  ‘Yes, everyone is alive but in various grades of injury. To be honest, sir, if we didn’t have our Saintess Eliza, the majority would just die in a couple of hours.’ Bartel sighed.

  ‘I forgot to ask Edmund if the things entering the dungeon return, like the ones in the city; we can’t just send one squad inside.’ Alon looked at the gate of the dungeon in the distance.

  ‘We can do it, sir; give me one truck as support, and I will make a path for us.’ Bartel fixed his sight on Alon.

  ‘Very well, when you are ready, report back to me. Take care of your men. In my experience, praying helps.’ Alon turned around and walked back to camp, his sense of duty guiding his every step.

  ‘Yes, sir.’ Bartel saluted Alon?, going back to his man.

  After some time, Alon was outside the duchess's tent; it was in the middle of the camp, and compared to others, it was bigger and had to guard outside. Looking at the two, he noticed they had smiles; however, he thought little about it, and before entering, he announced himself.

  ‘Your Highness, this is Alon Agron with a report from the scout of the Dungeon.’ He got some dust off his uniform.

  ‘You can enter, Captain.’ Alya pulled the curtain so he could enter.

  Alon entered the tent and saw Edmund upside down, moving from one side to the other. Ariadne sat in her chair, observing, clapping, and smiling while looking at the young white-haired man balancing books and other things on his foot.

  ‘?Kill me; I can only resist the slave magic for a moment. Take the shot.’ Edmund looked at Alon.

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  ‘Don’t be dramatic, peasant; we are just having fun for a moment.’ Ariadne shook her hand?. ‘Captain, did everything go well? I hope nobody died.’ She turned her attention towards Alon.

  ‘We had injured, but thanks to Eliza, nobody will die, but there were some strange developments.’ Alon saluted Ariadne like always, closing his eyes for a moment.

  ‘Very well, I would be sad if anyone were to die, but what strange developments?’ She took a fan that was on the table next to her.

  ‘Hey, did you guys ignore me? I’m still upside down. Hello!’ Edmund was still trying to balance things with his feet.

  She sighed as she looked at him, not because she found him annoying but because she was genuinely having fun watching him perform tricks. His tricks were a distraction that made her forget who she was and what she was doing.

  ‘You can rest now, peasant. We can play more later.’ She wavered at him while chuckling and tried to hide the expression with her fan.

  'Alon, could you believe Alya was just there watching me being used as a joke?’ Edmund, go up straight. 'And I know you guys were laughing,’ he said, raising his voice and directing to the outside.

  Alya glanced at the young man and returned to her usual position. Outside, the guards looked at one another and smirked. The scene amused Alon, but Ariadne ignored it as if nothing was happening.

  ‘So, what was strange inside of the dungeon?’ She began to fan herself.

  ‘Yes, the squad was almost whipped out by creatures similar to mages but larger; I don’t have a proper description. This was what the radio operator told me during the operation in the hallway.’ Alon walked toward the table next to the duchess and pointed at the hallway on the map.

  ‘So the remnants of the demon lord army are inside the dungeon; the stories are true.’ Ariadne closed her fan, looking at the map.

  ‘Impossible, how did they get inside on top of that? The golems should have been able to dispatch all of them as they can regenerate.’ Edmund scratched his head with his index finger while walking closer to the table.

  ‘They also reported an enormous hole on the wall with no end in sight and destroyed golems that they used as a cover in the battle against those creatures.’ Alon put his finger in the middle of the map of the hallway.

  ‘What? That doesn’t make sense; after the dungeon is conquered, yes, the golems will break, but not before.’ Edmund was looking at the map, deep in thought.

  ‘They destroyed the golem's ability to regenerate but didn’t conquer the dungeon.’ Ariadne tapped the table with her fan.

  ‘Yes, if the dungeon were conquered, the gates would be permanently open, and only the hero could turn it back into a dungeon. That is why the sword is there.’ Edmund crossed his arms.

  ‘Why turn it back into a dungeon? It doesn’t make sense at all.’ Alon held his chin while thinking.

  ‘The demon lord army can’t open the door. This is where the A-Dam hid themselves after the hero failed; I don’t know what happened next.’ Edmund shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘The A-Dam were already fighting the remnants of the Demon lord when the Shafran arrived from the mountains, so I don’t know either.’ Ariadne looked at Edmund.

  ‘Anyway, a whole platoon will go in with a truck acting as support to scout the rest of the hallway when they are ready.’ Alon walked toward the tent's entrance before turning around and facing the duchess.

  ‘Alright, I will be at the command tent with you when that happens.’ She nodded at the captain.

  ‘Yes, your highness.’ He saluted her before turning around and exiting the tent.

  ‘So Alya, can you bring some food for us? I’m hungry.’ Ariadne looked at the maid.

  ‘As you wish, your highness.’ Alya left the tent.

  ‘I thought you would make me do those things again.’ Edmund showed a sigh of relief.

  ‘I was just toying with you, peasant, a harmless joke.’ She covered her mouth with her fan as she laughed.

  ‘I’m speechless...’ sat on a chair across the table.