The Illicitous Dungeon

When Jake returned to his room, Princess Zoerina was already waiting for him. She was instructing a pair of maids to make changes as she saw fit. The bed sheets were exchanged with a new, red set, and at least half of the clothes in the wardrobe were taken away, to be replaced with different ones later.

"Hero, I believe I gave you very specific instructions."

"You will have to be more specific, princess."

"Call me Zoerina, or just Zoe, there is no need to be so formal in private."

"…What can I help you with?"

"I am just checking in after hearing that you are still together with the Holy Maiden. I take it that she is no longer a weakness?"

Princess Zoerina's voice was flat and even toned, but Jake felt a deadly threat of daggers at his throat from the question.

"She is not a weakness."

"So… if I told you I was going to go remove her head, would you stop me?"

"…I would stop you."

"You would betray your future wife for this girl, throw away your best chance at power and strength, yet you would not call her a weakness to you?"

"…"

"That simply isn't good enough, hero."

Zoerina combed her fingers through his hair before grabbing a large clump of it and pulling his head backward, causing him to wince in pain. She glared at him with a gaze that was colder than ice.

"As my future husband, I will not tolerate it, do you understand?"

"…Yes."

"Excellent!" Zoerina's expression instantly turned into a smile, as if her previous icy façade was a lie. "I know you won't disappoint me."

She leaned in and gave him a small kiss on the corner of his mouth before giggling and covering her mouth with her hand as if in embarrassment.

"I am also here to inform that you heroes will be going on an expedition in three days time. It will be your first public debut as you march through the main thoroughfare out of the castle. There will be quite the crowd, so you must ensure that you look your best."

"Where are we going?"

"Naturally to get first hand experience. Fighting the demons on the front line, that is."

"What!? It is far too early for us. We have only been training for a week and are all <Lv. 1> still. How can you throw us directly into the heat of the battle? Weren't we more valuable than that?"

"Get over it. Did you think you would be able to train for as long as you want before going to battle, fighting in a comfortable and easy manner? We are already at war, and our villages and citizens are dying or being abducted every day."

"That… well… I know…"

"Don't worry, you are still incredibly valuable to the kingdom, but a blade that isn't used is a useless blade, no matter how expensive it is. You will be deployed to low level skirmish areas around the outskirts in which your opponents will be below Second Step except for a few leaders. There will be guards in the shadows to ensure deaths are kept to a minimum as well, but we can't be too obvious."

"Will you be coming?"

"Idiot," Zoerina pinched the bridge of her nose as if unable to comprehend the sheer idiocy of the question. "If the princess of the enemy kingdom shows up on the frontlines, what do you think will happen? I'm sure you all would have a great time when an entire special forces group of Third Step rankers shows up, you will have a blast. I doubt any of you heroes would return alive."

"Sorry… I was just asking."

"Now, now, don't get cold feet on me when I'm not there to give you support and advise. You have done a good job leading the heroes so far, keep up the good work."

The princess with a dragon bloodline swished her long silver hair and left Jake's room to inform all the other heroes of the upcoming expedition.

Just outside the room, Jessica, Jake's girlfriend and the Holy Maiden, stood outside his door with a face as pale as a ghost. Jake couldn't see her from inside the room as she wasn't in the doorway, but Zoerina saw her the moment she stepped out, not acting surprised to see her standing there at all as if she knew the entire time.

Jessica wanted to say something, but the words were caught in her throat. Zoerina merely gave her a smile which wasn't hostile, but empty of any positive emotions, as she soundlessly walked pass her.

~~~~~

The heroes were leaving the castle for the first time under the escort of royal guards in a long procession, their destination the frontlines where demons were reportedly having small skirmishes and abducting the kingdom's population, all the while their offensive line encroaching further into human territory.

The heroes were on open carriages, so all the residents of the royal city who line the roads could see them. They all cried out the hopes and grievances, wishing the heroes a successful trip and to repel the demons back into the lands they came from.

This was a pipe dream after all as the heroes were all base level, with the exception of a few craftsman class heroes who could gain some experience by creating things.

Jake was on the forefront carriage, standing in polished mithril armor and smiling and waving to the crowd. He cemented the smile on his face, even if he didn't mean it. His wellbeing was dependant on his impression as a hero.

It wasn't just people on the side of the streets either. They hung out of windows and off lamp posts as they waved unknown flags and praised the heroes.

At the back of the group, Alex was trying his best to blend in among some other heroes. The crowd weren't cheering in his eyes, but were just hiding behind facades, false expressions of people judging and looking down upon him.

Despite that, Alex did his best to understand this fantasy world. He had expected a medieval type fantasy setting, and while that appeared to be true at first appearance, their applications of magic were highly advanced. They also had high quality clothing and other items. Even the craftsmanship of the carriages were exquisite.

~~~~~

Carriages pulled by demon bisons, the standard mule for pulling carriages or carrying packs in this world, were tireless beasts that could run day and night for seven days straight. Their endurance marvelled all the heroes and their class teacher, who had never even imagined it possible for any creature.

They passed through one city, village and town after another, slowly heading toward the eastern border of the kingdom.

Eventually, they found the general population becoming more and more sparse, and a faint smell of sulfur and volcanic ash in the air.

"Students, do what you can to cover your mouth up with a wet cloth," Ms. Greenwood, the honors English teacher and now a hero with the Guide class, spoke up as she smelt the volcanic ash in the air.

"Jessica, Susan, Vivian, please cast healing spells over us periodically. The more ash you breathe in, the more harmful it will be. Thankfully, we have magic to treat it."

This was a combination of her Guide class' intuition, which told her it would be harmful for her students, and her common knowledge of its dangers from the previous world.

Faint black specks of ash could be seen drifting in the air the further they entered the deadly landscape. A Second Step hero could resist the effect with just their body resistance, and certain races were immune to it as well, but weak humans would suffer continuously growing damage to their bodies as they breathed it in.

The royal guards who were to ensure protection had already split off from the hero party, keeping away and well hidden. This meant there was some response time to save them should they land in a crisis, and the heroes would have to protect themselves until the guards arrived. They may only take ten minutes, but life or death could be decided in only a moment.

"That village is Godoza Village, our destination! It is close to where the front line is and under constant threat of attack," Jake stated and pointed his sword toward a worn down village that only had wooden walls, some parts of which had been destroyed.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jessica asked beside him, whom had stuck closer to him than ever once they left on this trip.

Jake didn't believe she was aware of the full relationship between him and the princess, but his girlfriend had brought it up more than once on the trip. It was bound to come up sooner or later, but he simply kept smiling and brushed off the question whenever it came up.

As the heroes got closer to the village, they found that everything was too quiet. There was also nobody in a tall wooden watchtower in the village, indicating that the village was currently in dire straights or worse.

"Everyone, stay alert," Ms. Greenwood informed everyone as she moved to stand at the front of the party with Jake and Jessica, the unofficial leaders of the heroes. "My skill is giving me an ominous feeling about this town."

"Vanguard and defenders, move into position and prepare to defend so the mages and other damage dealers can kill anything hostile if it appears."

Everyone moved along with Jake's commands, quickly getting into formation before they pushed through the worn down gates and entered the town in battle condition.

"This town…" Jessica said in a sad tone, "…has already fallen."