For a Kingdom in the middle of a dungeon, the mood all around was definitely not one Adrian expected.

For people running on a timer, they looked pretty satisfied.

Adrian was not the only one surprised, even Marion had a frown on his face as he looked around.

Yes, his wall had been a genius idea, but it still couldn’t keep all the corrupted mana out, which meant that the people in here were slowly getting corrupted over time.

Which was exactly the case the last time he came here, but now?

Right now, it seemed as if all that corruption had been reset and only the smallest of amounts could be found in them.

On their faces was also something he hadn’t seen in years.....hope.

Which was strange for this bunch of cowards that had decided to lock themselves in here years ago, giving up on finding a way out.

"How peculiar," Marion muttered

Adrian, on the other hand, spotted a familiar mana type hanging around the people, so he wasn’t too surprised that they weren’t corrupted.

Instead, he focused on the houses around him.

The architecture couldn’t be called one done by a professional, but the houses were at least stable enough to live in.

They were arranged in a way similar to houses in the capital with a few shops here and there.

[My lady?]

After a moment of looking around, Adrian mentally called out, hoping that she was close enough for the bracelet to start working again.

But after a while, there was no response which caused him to bring his wrist to eye level and look at the bracelet.

’Is this thing broken?’ was what he wondered, after all he was certain that this was the city his lady was talking about, and although he could sense that she was close, it seemed he couldn’t reach her.

If the founder heard him right now, he might’ve considered taking his gifts back, after all, those bracelets were more durable than the Royal Capital itself.

So it wouldn’t just break.

"What’s that?" Marion suddenly asked, curiosity evident in his voice, as he looked at the bracelet on the Butler’s wrist.

It had not been noticed before.

"A gift," Adrian calmly put his arm down and looked up at him before answering, "now, do you know where I can find my lady?"

"Hmm," Marion placed a hand on his chin, "I’m certain she’s at the pala—"

Before his words could be completed, the people walking around suddenly paused as they heard the gates open again and they immediately started gathering at the sides of the cobblestone road bumping into both Adrian and Marion in the process.

And they started cheering?

"I-it’s our saviors."

"They’re back."

"Lord Dragon, please look this way."

"Lady Saintess, I’m a big fan!"

It was chaos, but a controlled one, as none tried to rush into the streets.

Curious, Adrian calmly walked through the crowd, subtly moving the people in his way with his shadow until he got to the front only to freeze.

Marion, on the other hand just tapped on a random man before asking, "What’s going on?"

"You don’t know?" The man turned around and also asked, "You new here or what?"

"You could say that," Marion answered with a smile.

The man looked at him with a bit of suspicion before he finally answered, "A month ago, a group of students appeared within the city."

Marion’s brows rose slightly, "Students?"

"Yeah," the man nodded, his voice filled with excitement as he leaned in slightly, lowering his tone like he was sharing something important, "at first, we thought they were just like the others... you know, people who would eventually give up and settle in."

"But they didn’t," his eyes lit up as he continued, "they turned out to be fighters, and they did not just fight the beasts outside, but the corruption itself."

"Go on," Marion said, now genuinely interested.

"There are seven of them," the man continued, raising his fingers one by one. "A strange group, honestly. But monsters... all of them."

He pointed toward the open street ahead.

"You’ve probably heard the names already."

"Red Dragon."

"Lightbringer."

"The Ice Empress."

"The Saintess."

He paused before adding with a grin, "And the others too, though they don’t try to stand out as much as the four did."

"Explain," Marion said and the man gladly complied.

"The Red Dragon was the first to make a name for himself," he said, "honestly, that guy might just be insane."

"He appeared exactly when a horde of corrupted beasts were targeting the walls and without hesitation, he drove straight in."

The man’s eyes were now glowing as if a fanboy talking about their favorite actor or something.... Which wasn’t far from the truth.

"He came out all bloodied, but not a single drop of it belonged to him."

"Oh, and he also uses fire mana like a beast," he added, clearly impressed," though he doesn’t care about strategy half the time, he just burns everything in his way."

Marion nodded, calmly listening as the man spoke.

"Then there’s the Lightbringer," the man continued, his tone sounded a lot more respectful now, "the prince."

"Prince?" A frown appeared on Marion’s face as he repeated.

"Yeah, the Prince of Avera himself" the man nodded, "at first, we didn’t believe it either, but there is only one family known for using light mana..."

"And he doesn’t just use it for battle," the man’s voice lowered slightly, "he even cleansed the corruption within every single one of us."

Realization suddenly dawned on Marion as the man finished, and he finally realized why the corruption within the people here was so low.

They had found someone capable of cleansing them.

"How interesting," he muttered with a small smile on his face, though he quickly caught himself before the man before him could notice.

"And then there’s the Ice Empress," the man continued, "all I can say is, she’s terrifying even when compared with the other monsters she entered this dungeon with."

"Finally, the Saintess," a smile appeared on the man’s face, "she’s the only one I’ve ever seen, capable of using multiple elements."

"What an interesting bunch," Marion muttered.

"Exactly," the man agreed before lowering his voice and adding, "I didn’t tell you this, but I’m pretty certain that the Saintess and the Prince are dating."

"...." Marion looked at the man for a while before saying, "I see."

***

Adrian, meanwhile, stood at the front of the crowd and looked towards the direction of the gate where he and Marion had previously come from.

He lifted his gloved finger and wiped off the blood that dropped from his nose with a grin before he said,

"My lady."