“No, I will not allow it.”.

 

After I went and asked my father permission to enter the dungeon in our territory, he said the above.

 

“But father, it would be good to get experience…”, I tried to argue.

 

But father shut me up saying, “No means no, if you try to make excuses like before, I will tell your mother about your training with the [Shadows]. I will not allow you to get yourself in unnecessary danger.”.

 

After this I couldn’t say anything and left. A felt a bit depressed that day, but I couldn’t really blame my father as I was the one being unreasonable.

 

“Is everything alright, Sweetie?”, my mother asked during dinner.

 

“Yes.”, I lied. Mother didn’t look convinced but she let it go. Which was for the better, I couldn’t tell her the truth anyway.

 

After that I went to bed. As I was about to go to sleep, I heard a knock on the door.

 

KNOCK! KNOCK!

 

“Whose there?”, I asked.

 

“Young master, it’s me Sieg. I know it’s late but can we talk?”, came the reply.

 

What does he want at this hour? “Come in.”, I replied.

 

Sieg entered the room.

 

“What is it, Sieg?”, I asked.

 

“Young master, I..um…accidently overheard that you wanted to explore the dungeon in this territory.”, said Sieg nervously.

 

Ah, so he heard that, well, anyway it doesn’t matter.

 

“Ah, yes but father said no.”, I replied.

 

“Yes, about that,……..if you want…..I can help you.”, said Sieg.

 

This piqued my interest. “Help me? How?”, I asked.

 

“Well, I can…um..arrange for you to enter the dungeon, without knowledge of the duke…that is if you want, said Sieg.

 

“You are saying that you are ready to betray the duke.”, I said.

 

At this, Sieg was flustered and he quickly said, “B-Betray is a strong word,,I was just..no never mind, I will leave.”.

 

“Wait. I was just joking. Anyway, may I ask, why do  you want to help me”,  I said.

 

I mean, even if he is an old and loyal employee, I have no reason to believe him blindly, this could be a trap.

 

“Well, because I have been teaching you, young master. And I thought that you will improve a lot if you go to the dungeon early and have some experience. After all, I have been to the academy and the dungeon there is very tame compared to outside. It’s good to have outside experience.”, said Sieg.

 

Huh, he also went to the academy? He must be a noble then or maybe someone sponsored by nobles? Well, doesn’t matter.

 

“Alright, I understand. Well, I wanted to go to the dungeon for exactly the same reason as you said. But I would need escorts as well. So, am I going to be accompanied by the shadows?”, I asked.

 

“Well, young master it cannot be done by the shadows alone. It’s not just about protecting you, to go to the dungeon with the duke knowing isn’t easy. The shadows alone won’t be able to do it.  I need to ask for help from others.”, said Sieg.

 

“Others? Who?”, I asked.

 

“You’ll know tomorrow. I will talk with them and convince them in the meantime. So, please don’t worry and go to sleep. Leave everything to me.”, said Sieg.

 

“How can you be sure they will agree?”, I asked.

 

“They will. Cause I know them and they themselves have seen your growth, so they won’t refuse.”, said Sieg.

 

Who is he talking about? Forget it, I ‘ll know tomorrow anyway.

 

“Okay, then.  I’ll leave it to you.”, I said.

 

“Yes, I will not disappoint you.”, said Sieg and left.

 

I went to bed and fell asleep excited for tomorrow.

 

The next I got up and went for training.

 

Today was swordsmanship training under Kent.

 

As I made my way to the training ground, I saw that Sieg was there with Kent. They wwere talking with each other.

 

Seeing them together surprised me as Kent didn’t seem to like Sieg’s profession.

 

As they saw me approaching, they both said together, “Good morning, young master.”.

 

I said, “Good morning, both of you. Though, I have to say, I am surprised seeing the two of you together.”.

 

“We are childhood friends.”, said Sieg with a smile.

 

“No, we were childhood friends.”, said Kent sternly. This made Sieg’s smile fall a little.

 

“So, what’s the reason you two are together than?”, I asked.

 

Sieg replied, “Ah, it’s the reason I told you last night, young master.”.

 

Hearing that made me surprised.

 

I looked at Kent and said, “Kent, I am surprised you are ok with this.”.

 

Kent replied, “Well, you see, young master, I have seen your growth and agree with Sieg. That’s all.”.

 

Hearing that made me really happy, I could finally be ahead of the protagonist.

 

I smiled and said, “Great, then let’s do this.”.

 

Sieg replied, “Ah, yes but before that we need to do something.”.