"They're all gone."

Peeking through the gap in the wooden floor, Arezu watched from the attic, where he and Lynn were hiding, as the rampaging locals cleared out the building's second floor.

They were safe, for now—free from imminent danger. But their dire situation, trapped inside a town swarming with rampaging locals, still hadn't changed.

Regardless, they now had time to talk things out.

"You have an explanation for this, right, Lynn?" Arezu asked with concern, looking at Lynn, who was sitting in the corner of the attic still in a daze.

The fact that he was worried about her pleased her more than she expected, bringing back a faint cheerful smile to her face. And though she was still feeling depressed, Lynn tried to lighten her mood with her usual mischief.

"You should be the one explaining... dragging a young lady into a dark place, what exactly are you planning to do, Mr. Arezu?"

Feigning ignorance of her teasing remark, Arezu at least felt at ease hearing Lynn back to her usual mischief.

"Why not give us a bit of light, then," he said in his usual laid-back tone, taking the chance to relax and recover from the exhaustion and stress of what they had just escaped.

"Hmph!" Though a bit disappointed that Arezu didn't even get flustered by her teasing, Lynn still complied with his request.

"Light"

Clasping her hands in front of her chest and whispering a prayer to the goddess, Lynn cast her divine blessing, conjuring a small wisp of light that illuminated their surroundings just enough for them to clearly see each other, along with the things around them.

"So this place is a furniture store?"

"More like a woodcarving store."

The wooden studs scattered around the building—even in the attic—and the ornate frame of the large mirror on the ground floor, from which the reflected adventurers had come out to attack them, made Lynn's assumption more reasonable than Arezu's.

It was fortunate they had escaped into a woodcarving store, where there were no mirrors or glass ornaments except for the one large mirror. If it had been any other building, there would likely have been more, considering Mirare was called the town of mirrors and glass.

As their thoughts drifted back to the town once more, Arezu returned to his earlier question.

"About what's happening to the town and the townsfolk... You have an explanation, right, Lynn?"

"Like I said earlier, the town has become a dungeon..."

As Lynn began to explain her assumption, Arezu grabbed a wooden stud, drew the dagger sheathed at his belt, and began carving the wood while listening to her.

For Mirare Town to have become a dungeon, Lynn could only think of two possible ways.

Most likely, the Crystal Mirror Dungeon beneath the town had acquired a strong Master capable of manipulating the Core, expanding its Domain, and extending its Boundary until it engulfed the town.

"As to why the townsfolk are rampaging—"

"Wait, you said two possible ways, right?" Arezu interrupted.

Lynn gave Arezu a disapproving look, refusing to answer what she foresaw as his next question. But even though he understood her reluctance, he still asked, knowing it was important to learn everything that might help them survive their dire situation.

"What about the second one?"

"Would it hurt you to be a little bit sensitive and reasonable, Mr. Arezu?" Lynn muttered, looking away and pouting before continuing her explanation.

Setting aside his annoyance, Arezu kept carving the wood while listening.

"Remember the Dungeon of Abandoned Cursed Weapons we conquered during the orc-hunting quest?"

"Of course I do. We almost died in that dungeon, after all."

"What about the incomplete dungeon during the goblin-slaying quest?"

"As if I would forget when we almost got buried alive back then."

Like the Dungeon of Abandoned Cursed Weapons, which was a remnant of the ancient Dungeon of Pride, the Crystal Mirror Dungeon was also a remnant of another ancient dungeon—the Dungeon of Envy. Its Core could have been buried underground in some ruins, inactive for thousands of years, only to awaken in the present day and form a dungeon out of nowhere.

As for the incomplete dungeon, it wasn't a remnant of the ancient dungeons but rather a replica. In other words—

"It was made by someone—"

Arezu quickly understood what Lynn meant.

If the expansion of the Crystal Mirror Dungeon wasn't the cause of Mirare Town becoming a dungeon, then it meant someone had replicated a Dungeon Core and turned the town into a dungeon.

But that wasn't the only thing Arezu understood.

The moment Lynn paused her explanation, her murderous aura flared again.

For the first time, Arezu comprehended her animosity and hatred, realizing that her rage wasn't directed at dungeons or monsters, but at the people who had replicated a Dungeon Core and turned the town into a dungeon.

After calming down from her outburst, Lynn continued explaining her assumption about why the locals were rampaging and attacking everyone from the Annual Caravan.

Or at least, she tried.

"Everyone... was probably turned into something no longer human." she said, ending her explanation there before wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her face.

Lynn hadn't noticed the curse within the locals at first, even with her eccentric eyes that gave her the unique ability to detect the corruption of curses more sharply than a priestess.

But after she injured the adventurer with her arrows, the one who had attacked Arezu, Lynn saw a curse—similar to the Curse of Envy—leaking out of his wounds. That made her realize he wasn't human anymore but something closer to an undead.

And even though she was sure they couldn't be saved once they became undead, putting the other adventurers to rest before they could hurt Arezu was something Lynn still felt guilty about.

You really are a good person, Arezu thought, realizing how guilty Lynn truly felt for cutting down the three rampaging adventurers.

"You can feel guilty, but it wasn't just your fault—it was mine as well," Arezu said, drawing Lynn's attention to lift her head and look at him.

"If only I could have stopped them... If you hadn't done what you did, we wouldn't have been able to escape and hide before being swarmed by the townsfolk."

"That's very kind of you, Mr. Arezu..."

Though her wistful smile made him flustered, it also made him feel guilty.

If only he had resolved himself to cut down those adventurers with his weapon, then she wouldn't have to bear the guilt at all.

As the light faded from the horizon and darkness covered the sky, Lynn and Arezu prepared themselves to make their next move.

"As much as I'd like to check what's happening inside the Crystal Mirror Dungeon—or find the Dungeon Entrance, or rather the exit, so we can escape the town—we still need to find something first."

"Don't call them something. We need to find Beatrix and your students."

Aside from his complaint, Arezu was at ease seeing Lynn back to her usual self.

"But that's what I said, Mr. Arezu."

"Seriously, Lynn."