Chapter 418: Falling Together
"Are you hurt?!"
"Are you alright?!"
"We’re coming! Just hang on!"
Joa and the others shouted anxiously from above.
Since the children were with them, they could not immediately climb down.
Albe waved to reassure them that both of them were unharmed.
This was the first time Albe had fallen into one of the dungeon’s water traps.
Qiong Xing, however, had managed to do it again.
"Well... at least you had the presence of mind to let go of Rui and the others."
"Yes. I’m actually pretty proud of myself for that."
Just like the last time, Qiong Xing had triggered a collapsing floor trap.
Albe had been walking directly behind him and instinctively reached out.
If he had managed to pull Qiong Xing back up, it would have looked rather impressive.
Unfortunately, the two of them were not very different in size.
Although Albe was still growing taller, he simply did not have the strength to haul an adult man back up on his own.
In the end, Albe was dragged down with him, and the two of them fell together into the trap, sending up a huge splash as they plunged into the water.
"If we stay like this, we’ll catch a cold. Can you dry our clothes? I’ll get a fire started."
Since Albe was not particularly skilled with magic, he asked Qiong Xing to dry their clothes while he built a fire to warm them up.
Figuring someone would come rescue them soon enough, Albe stopped worrying and looked around cautiously to see if there was anything nearby.
"By the way, why did the trap react only to me? Elias and the others walked over it first."
Albe understood exactly what Qiong Xing meant.
If this had not been a dungeon, he probably would have wondered the same thing.
But this was a dungeon.
The answer was simply that anything could happen.
"Um... I’m really sorry. Are you angry?"
Seeing Albe remain silent, Qiong Xing nervously apologized.
Albe gave a small, helpless smile.
"I’m not angry. If anything, I’m the one who’s sorry. I noticed it, but I still couldn’t save you."
If it had been Joa or the others, they probably could have lifted Qiong Xing out without any trouble.
But although Albe could use magic, he simply did not have the physical strength to do that.
"No, that’s not it. Thanks to you, I wasn’t hurt. And because I wasn’t alone, I felt much safer. Thank you."
"You’re welcome. It’ll be fine. Leander and the others are here this time, and so are Fenrir and Mayo. They’ll find us soon."
When it had only been Albe and Rohen before, there had been neither scent nor a familiar to guide anyone to them.
This time was different.
Fenrisúlfr and Mayo would almost certainly find them much faster than anyone else.
"I’m not angry, but please be careful not to get hurt. Honestly, I worry more about you than I do about Yue and the others."
The twins were beastmen, so their reflexes were excellent.
Even if something happened suddenly, they could react immediately.
Qiong Xing, on the other hand, constantly worried Albe.
They had lived together for a long time now, and among everyone in the family, Qiong Xing was by far the one who most often got sick or injured.
"I’m sorry. I really am trying to be careful. It just somehow... keeps happening."
Qiong Xing truly seemed to be doing his best.
Unfortunately, none of that effort had produced much in the way of results so far.
"Well, you’re Qiong Xing."
That one sentence alone seemed to explain everything.
"That doesn’t exactly make me feel any better. Besides, don’t you think this dungeon is being unusually mean to me?"
"Even after it’s given you so many things you wanted?"
"Ugh..."
Qiong Xing complained that he was the only one who kept falling into traps.
Yet he was also the one who kept pulling exactly what he wanted out of treasure chests.
Besides, considering there were traps in dungeons that could easily kill someone, the fact that he only ended up falling into water almost made it seem like the dungeon was going easy on him.
"You’re being mean too today, Albe."
"You’re acting like one of the kids."
Albe chuckled as he replied.
Qiong Xing turned away with a small huff.
Most of the time, he was a dependable mother in front of the children.
That was why Albe found it both amusing and comforting whenever this unexpectedly childish side of him appeared.
To Albe, Qiong Xing filled many roles.
He was a mother, a sibling, and a dear friend.
No matter how those roles changed, he remained someone irreplaceable.
"Then why don’t we visit a different one next time? You’ve never been to any other dungeons, have you? Mayo can shrink now too, so maybe we could travel to one that’s farther away."
"...There are other dungeons?"
Qiong Xing looked genuinely surprised.
Albe laughed, exactly as he had expected.
Sometimes Qiong Xing lacked knowledge of things that most people considered common sense.
Then, without warning, he would amaze everyone by explaining things no one else knew or by creating incredible dishes they had never imagined.
"I don’t know all that much either, but apparently there are lots of them. This one is mostly rock, but there are dungeons made of glass, and even ones underwater."
"It sounds like it’d be fun to explore all kinds of places together."
As Albe said that, Qiong Xing’s eyes lit up with excitement like a child’s.
"But before that, try to be a little more careful around traps."
"Then next time I’ll just hold onto you!"
"So your plan is to drag me down with you?"
That willingness to immediately accept things in his own unique way was also simply part of who Qiong Xing was.
"Big Brother Cari, what do we do? Mama fell."
Lian looked up at him with tears threatening to spill from her eyes.