Raised in Dungeon



"Fufu, you said that Alicia is your smartest sister, but I'm sure she's completely unaware of this matter."

Almost all the Noctem Dolls members were gathered in that dim room. Busy with their own businesses. Some were playing chess and cleaning their armacar, and some were doing nothing like Arthur and Clarissa.

One of them was Leofric Regina Wildenhall, the 4th prince of the Wildenhall kingdom, as well as the number nine member of the number one criminal organization in the kingdom. Next to him, Heit, slept soundly with drool coming out of her mouth.

"It would be better if you didn't underestimate her; even a slight mistake would make her suspect us. Her appraisal was very dangerous; she could have realized that my corpse was just your doll at that time. It almost happened because someone went against the plan," said Leofric, glancing at Ralph playing chess with Norman.

"Aaah! So you're blaming me! Just so you know, this is all because Adam didn't let me join the fight! I don't have the same speed as you guys! That Isaac guy won't let me off the hook if I leave there!"

"Why dwell on the past? I understand we are out of plan; what's important is that we make it in time to get the body before the princess can see it," Adam replied.

As Adam said, there was nothing more to worry about what happened in the past; there were things that interested Ivaylo more,

"Competition for the throne; due to your death, nobody will know that you will participate in this competition. The princes will probably engage in a brutal contest for the throne and end up killing each other. You just need to kill the last prince to secure the coveted position of king. Nevertheless, I assume you made this plan because you knew earlier about the upcoming throne war and Eldritch's involvement. You already knew everything from the beginning. You really hide all this information by yourself and manipulate all of us to do what you want.'

"Oya oya oya? Isn't this that kind of group? We utilize each other, hide everything from each other, but still work together. You created this group to utilize us, we knew about it and followed you anyway. From the beginning, we didn't care about each other's business. What matters is the result. Your goal was to obtain the symbol of the kingdom, the spectre. I don't even know what you used it for, and I don't care. Now you have it and have replaced the spectre with a fake one."

"Unfortunately, I stole it; I should have gotten that thing from the queen; the loss from this incident is trust, so the queen won't hire us anymore. But that loss is already gone because of this throne war, and as you said, everything went smoothly. But I'm asking because I'm curious, not because I'm angry or anything. Just… When did you already know all of this event would happen?"

Without thinking, Leofric immediately answered.

"When Heit touched the crown."

"Hoo..."

"That crown is not just a mixture of gold and minerals. It is an adfeqtus reliqua. Since you already have one, you must know that fellow adfeqtus reliqua can sense each other's existence. When Heit touched it, she knew it was an adfeqtus reliqua. And I guessed Eldritch's plan from there."

"That's a bit too far. Just because you guessed Eldritch's intentions doesn't mean you can come to an ending like this. I'm curious about when did you know that Eldritch was coming to the kingdom?" asked Ivaylo curiously. And at that time, it wasn't just him, the others were also watching him. Because Leofric this time actually controlled all the members of the Noctem Dolls without Ivaylo realizing it, and that made their mission almost failed, and many of them were injured.

"Fufu... That's easy... The answer lies in the incident that killed Lewin," Leofric answered honestly, making everyone resume their activities.

"Suicide together in prison," Ivaylo muttered.

"Right, the culprit of that suicide incident is Kallen; I've heard about her from Eldritch. When that suicide happened, I asked my subordinates to spread rumors throughout the kingdom so that sooner or later, Eldritch would come back home."

"I see... When we faced off, he also asked me about Kallen."

"Unfortunately, I don't know who Kallen actually is either. What's certain is that as long as we know his goal, we can also control Eldritch's move."

Leofric thought, 'Well… There's no way I'm going to tell him how I know the exact time when he's coming. Since I'm already dead, I have to move stealthily. Noctem Dolls is the most profitable group for me to get stronger. They will be able to help me clear the dungeon with only 10 people. I still need more relics.'

"Thank you for answering; I appreciate it," Ivaylo replied.

"You really should appreciate every second you have with me."

Ivaylo then asked again,

"I wonder, why is this throne war important? Why doesn't the council just choose a king without using the crown?"

"You were in the room during the announcement, weren't you? Inserting your doll into one of the soldiers. Did you not guess it at all?"

"Unfortunately, I didn't have Mary with me at the time. My disguise would have been blown if one of the Eldritch relics could sense her presence."

"Fair enough, I didn't think about that."

With a big smile, Leofric closed his book and looked at Ivaylo.

"The King's Crown is believed to be the first adfeqtus reliqua ever created. I did some research while in the castle but only found a little information about that. First, it can amplify the user's charisma, granting them control over the masses just by donning it. Second, the crown harbors the soul of the first king, William, thus allowing whoever wears it to be possessed by his spirit and continue his unfinished determination. The council will still do the election because some council members or possibly the Archbishop must be devout worshippers of the first king to ensure that the next king is chosen only with the crown's help.

Eldritch must have known about this, which was probably also why he didn't want to be king. The council would be overwhelmed by it because this way, King William would fall asleep again until a new king was decided."

Hearing that explanation, Ivaylo became aware of his conversation with the king in the room.

At that time, the king said he was also responsible for the Norttish assassination three hundred years ago. That is what it literally means: Ivaylo was not only talking with King Henry but also with the first king, William.

"How interesting... If we really manage to get the king's body, I should be able to get a little closer to my goal.

So? Even though you already knew about it, why did you still choose to become king? Wouldn't you just be controlled by the will of the crown?" asked Ivaylo again.

"Did you forget that I have this kid?" Leofric pointed at Heit.

"Oooh I see... with Heit, you can remove all the impact given by the crown."

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m nov𝒆lb(i)n.c(o)m

"I don't need the charisma the crown gives me; I already have plenty of it."

"hahaha... so confident," Ivaylo chuckled...

As the moon entered through a hole from above, Ivaylo stood up and posed one final question:

"One more question... That night, our battle ended in my victory. But who do you think would win if we were to fight more seriously?"

The smile faded from Leofric's face. The group fell silent, each member pausing in their activity to await his answer. After a moment of contemplation, Leofric replied, his demeanor calm and confident.

"Of course, I will win."

His words lacked any hint of arrogance, for he spoke with a certainty that only came from true confidence. The others cannot calculate it, and maybe Leofric too, but Leofric's confidence makes them think the same. Leofric was not told that without thinking; he even took a moment to reflect upon his own words before settling on his answer.

"Then what about me? It's been a while since we've fought. Do you want to fight once again?" asked Adam.

"it was just one year ago. I'm not interested in sparring with you, so no." Leofric's answer was sarcasm. Adfeqtus reliqua users had an advantage in combat because they could use parallel minds; there was no way ordinary weapon users could be evenly matched against them. So if he fought with Adam, the answer was obvious. Leofric would definitely win.

"Yep... It's about time; let's move out of here." Ivaylo said as he stepped forward.

The Noctem Dolls began to stand up and prepare to leave the place.

"Finally yes... It took so long to prepare; I was getting bored," said Ralph.

"Where are we going after this?" asked Norman.

"O hey, this little guy was sleeping yesterday so you didn't listen to him, right?" said Adam.

"OW SHUT UP! Don't piss me off! My body is still recovering!"

"Dungeon conquest... In order, we will do Leofric's request," said Ivaylo.

"Geh! I haven't gone in there for a long time. It's so lazy to go into that horrible place!" said Ralph.

Ivaylo chuckled and said

"Take it easy. This time, the conquest will be easier because we have Prince Leofric, Arthur, and finally... our new member."

From the shadows, two people could be seen walking towards them. One was an adult woman, and the other was a girl.

"Leader, you mean to leave before I arrive, right?" the adult woman was Elinor.

"How could I? I already knew you were coming, so we started preparing," Ivaylo replied.

Then standing with Elinor was a little girl. Her eyes were big and red; her skin was tan; and her hair was long and white down to her feet.

"Irritende! Dungeon: I don't like going there; my revenge plan could be hampered by it. But what else can I do? It's a member request," her voice sounded gruff, and at the beginning of each word she always mentioned her emotions in Norttish language.

"Don't be openly displeased; one day I will change the kingdom to your liking, princess," Leofric replied to her.

The girl was the new member of the Noctem Dolls, member number 10, and future queen of the Norttish, Illska Svanhild Utvalgtesrike.

'Allen, I will make our promise come true,' Illska thought.