As always, Ariadne was training with Edmund at the back of the mansion. She was tired and held her hand up to Edmund. He looked at her, tired and sweaty, but he remained composure with the sword.

  As Ariadne walked back toward Alya, who was preparing a cup of water to give to her, she stuck her sword in the ground and kept walking. Alon was approaching her to the side with a tablet in his hand.

  ‘Your Highness, this is the list of people that said yes to going into the dungeon.’ He gave it to her.

  She picked up the tablet and looked at the list calmly. However, she found it strange that only “Angel Company” was on it. She looked at Alon, confused.

  ‘Why did you put Angel company here?’ She showed him the tablet, pointing her finger at the name.

  ‘Everyone will go, they accepted. The rest comes from volunteers from other units.’ Alon stood there, looking at her in the eyes.

  ‘I hope this much doesn’t leave the duchy unprotected, but from your report, having only a company is insufficient for this task.’ She returned her eyes to the tablet.

  ‘Yes, we need people for the field hospital, trucks, and battery recharging to say a feel.’ He continued to stay, still waiting for her to finish reading.

  ‘Fine, you want to create a base inside of the dungeon. Let’s see if that is possible after talking with the peasant; I know little; I wouldn't be surprised if he knew nothing.' As she finishes reading, Ariadne gives the tablet back to Alon.

  With the tablet in hand, he saluted her before turning around and walking back to the mansion. Edmund approached her from behind, passing her and going to the table, where there was a jar of water and two cups, one of which was ‘Something important?’ He drank a cup of water.

  ‘Yes, the list of people that are going to go with us on this suicide mission of yours.’ She walked towards the table.

  ‘Dying here or dying in the dungeon, some months would be the difference, but it will be fine. You are ?strong now. We can kill the dungeon guardian, I think.‘ He drinks another cup of water.

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  Alya takes the jar from his hands, looks furious, and pours water into the other cup. Ariadne smiles at her gesture and drinks the water. With her thirst satiated, she sits in a chair next to the table.

  ‘You don’t change, peasant.’ Ariadne relaxes in the chair, looking at the trees.

  ‘Don’t worry. I will explain how the dungeon works for you and Alon, which is simple.’ Edmund sat on the other chair, smiling at Ariadne.

  ‘You explained nothing about this place to me, even though you talked so much about it.’ She smirked.

  ‘My bad, duchess, honestly, I didn’t think you cared to learn.’ He relaxed his body a bit.

  ‘I thought we wouldn't need to go there, but unfortunately, our current state is not enough; giving weapons to the farmers can only do so much for safety.’ Ariadne looked at him and shrugged her shoulders.

  ‘Tonight, I will explain to you and Alon how it works, and we can draft a plan; we may even need more people than Alon had on that list.’ Edmund stroked his chin while looking at the sky.

  ‘We can’t; it will have to do.’ She spoke to him in a serious tone.

  ‘So, it will do.’ He nodded at her.

  Edmund got up and started to walk to his previous position, followed by Ariadne. On the way, she got her sword and prepared for her training.

  Later at night, Edmund, Ariadne, and Alon were in the command room, where Alon’s office is. They used the table as a map of the duchy. Edmund pulled out a map drawing and put it on the table; it wasn’t well drawn, not because he was terrible at it but because many parts were missing.

  ‘Well, this is what I remember from the books in the royal library: after a long hallway, there is a city inside of the dungeon, and there is where the battle will happen.’ Edmund pointed at the city on the map.

  ‘But maybe there are monsters or even traps in this long hallway; we must be careful.’ Alon crossed his arms.

  ‘No traps, no monsters but golems; inside all dungeons, golems are the ones protecting it, and...’ He stopped in the middle of the sentence as Ariadne raised her hand.

  ‘You are wrong. An old book I once read said that there were demons, not golems, inside this dungeon. We also have books about those; they are not the same peasant.’ She put her two hands on the table and looked at Edmund.

  ‘But even in the hero's records, it said he fought against golems inside the dungeons.’ Edmund stroked his chin.

  He tried to act as if all the information he had come from books or papers he had found in the royal library, but now, with this kind of pushback, it was becoming hard not to feel frustrated over this simple discussion.

  ‘Lavan did an expedition inside the dungeon, which the survivor told. These are texts from the military part of the Lavan library, not some fairy tale book. Don’t look at me like that.’ She slammed the table with her two hands, anger on her face.

  This took Edmund back, but it wasn’t her behavior but what she said. It didn’t matter what those demons were, but the fact remained that maybe the golems would not be there; that alone would make the expedition harder.

  ‘If that is true, things got a lot harder. I don’t know what those demons are, but golems have a crystal to their head or chest; one shot, and it will be over. I wonder if these are monsters that wandered in the dungeon somehow.’ Edmund frowned and looked at the map, thinking.

  ‘So... we don’t know what is inside? It didn’t change a thing to me; that was always in my mind.’ Alon smiled.

  ‘Not exactly...’ Ariadne looked at Alon.