~ Chapter 9: The kind and gentle tyrant ~

[Tuberculus’ point of view]

A relationship built on lies was one that would often find itself crumbling down faster than a tower of cards during an earthquake. The truth always had the uncanny ability to poke its head out of even the most forgotten sealed tombs. Even if thousands of years would pass, in the end, some way or another, it would reveal itself.

In a similar manner, my old age and wisdom was also once revealed and expressed towards the world by my magnanimous beard that was lost to the ages, forgotten like a majestic hero that once ruled the battlefields... ah, my poor beard!

Even if you took the beard away from the man, you could NOT take away the man out of the beard! Or so they say...

Now, more than a week has passed since I met that unfortunate Reiss in the middle of the forest leading towards the entrance to the upper floors.

During this time, I tried to keep a low profile and observe what I had once brushed over without a care, while at the same time I trained my skills. In my now young body, I could move better and had more energy, so it was no excuse for acting lazy. At the same time, I tried to strengthen my relationship with Yandrea and get to know her better, something that I had ignored before as well.

If I wanted her to trust me, she would need a reason to do so, I had to become someone important to her, but the main reason behind me wanting to do this had a different root.

I got married on a whim to a Dungeon, but this did not mean that I could take my relationship with her for granted and if I, her husband, did not take the first step towards getting to know and understand her better, who would?

Of course, I made sure to steer clear of any sensitive subjects. I spoke to her about the things I learned in her dungeon, and I asked her to tell me stories about the things she saw or was interested in. Every time, she would rush over and speak with a cheer in her voice.

Yandrea, despite being the most powerful entity here, the leader of all the monsters and undeniable force that could bring havoc to all of them with a single spell, was actually a very kind and cheerful woman at heart. She was strong, powerful beyond anything I had seen before, true, but she was also cute and delicate.

This apparently tyrannical Dungeon had a very nefarious reason for allowing so many animals to roam free through the many forests and plains that surrounded the center pyramid of the floor. Well, that was the way she made it sound when she began to speak about it. The truth was that she was just shy...

“Well, Tuby, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you... it’s just that this is embarrassing and it... would kind of ruin my image... Do you understand?” she asked me while peeking from behind a giant pillow she got from who knows where.

Meanwhile, I was trying for the love of all that was holy to hold in the nosebleed that threatening to spray her Inner Mind in the color of blood. With her blushing cheeks, upturned eyes, and hiding herself like that, she was without a doubt the biggest threat I had ever seen! The biggest threat to my own sanity and morality that was.

“Yes, but please do tell me, you can trust me!” I pushed my chest forward to appear more manly to her.

“Well, true... Alright! I’ll tell you!” she said with a cheer and showed me a bright smile.

Pink hair, milky white skin, a beautiful body, and a cute face was enough to make my heart go racing with the dragons! Her long ears twitching cutely were just adding fuel to the fire.

“C-Cute...” I said as I pinched my nose to prevent the bleeding.

“So, the reason why I have brought them over here... is because I like them. I find those animals to be cute. I know they are good as livestock and can also maintain the forests and plains, but they are just so adorable with their wiggly nose and fluffy ears! I just want to hug them and pet them, but I can’t do that because I don’t have a fleshy physical body, so I can only just watch them from afar... Hehehe~!” she giggled and now was off into her own little dream world.

I waited patiently as I burned this image of her cuteness into my mind. What was the advantage of having a young body? The main one was that I was not going to look like an old perverted creep if I stared too intensely at a beautiful woman. As a young handsome man, I simply appeared as charmed by her.

“I also secretly made a hidden grove at the very edge of the Border Plains where I gathered all of my beloved animals! No one can get in there, not even the slaves or heroes or anyone else! I can just go there to be healed by watching them munch on grass or happily prance around. I have albino rabbits, spotted deer, long fur boars, birds of all kinds. Ah! The birds are the only ones that can just fly around everywhere. No one will bother to catch them anyway.” she said and without realizing revealed something that put a stop to my excited stare.

She just said heroes and slaves as if they were the main concern and not some wondering ornak huntsman or a malfunctioning automaton... She fears them more than the others? No, that can’t be... I thought and then shook my head, trying to ignore this weird thought.

“But, you know, Yandrea, I don’t think this is such a bad thing.” I told her with a soft smile.

“Hm? Why not? I’m supposed to be mean, and scary; you know?” she titled her head to the left.

“Liking beautiful flowers, cute animals, and playing around with toys is not something that I would consider bad rather it makes you more lovable and attractive.”

“Ah... I... POOF!” she buried her head in the pillow but the tips of her ears were bright red. “I hate you, Tuby... you make me feel embarrassed.” she murmured.

“I do not want to apologize for that.” I happily nodded as I felt accomplished by seeing another cute side of her.

“...”

“Are you mad at me?” I asked after a whole minute had passed.

Poking her head out of the pillow and looking at me with upturned eyes, she replied with a cute voice “No...”

“Does this mean that you will tell me more about yourself?” I asked her with a smile.

“I will... as long as you don’t embarrass me again. Remember, I’m supposed to be a powerful meanie... a tyrant, not l-l-lovable and c-cute... but, thank you.” 

She showed me a weak smile at the end, but rather than feeling as though it was cute, the gaze in her eyes startled me. Yandrea reminded me of a woman from my past whom I had helped at one point. Back then, I foolishly failed to see the signs of abuse and sent her back to her family, only to later find out that she was beaten to death by her relatives... It was a weak smile accompanying a gaze that hid a pain she could not share yet.

Why she showed me this at this moment, I had no idea, maybe she was not even aware of it herself, however, it made my heart clench. Now, more than ever I wanted to make sure that she would feel safe and protected around me.

Without realizing, I reached out and pulled her into a hug.

“Tuby?” she was surprised by this, but she did not reject my hug.

This time, I had no perverted thoughts... I just wanted that weak smile and sad gaze to go away. They had no place on Yandrea’s beautiful face.

“Well... this... this is not so bad... It’s warm...”

We remained like this for a few minutes until I felt like it was alright to let go.

“It... it was embarrassing, but... not bad.” she said as she flew back a bit, her cheeks still radiating with an innocent red color.

“Yes, it wasn’t bad. You can always come to me if you want a hug!” I declared and felt relieved to see that her sad gaze was now gone.

“I... I will think about it, but... for this hug, I will tell you a secret.” she said and looked back at me.

“I’m all ears and my lips are shut! Your secret is safe with me!” I declared as I patted my chest.

“So, not long after I built the hidden grove and brought over a bunch of cute animals there, one day, I made an automaton bring one of them to my Crystal Body...  Then, I lowered my Magic Armor and ordered the automaton to bring him closer, he was a small white rabbit I later named Junjun. And you know what happened?” she looked up at me with bright eyes.

“What happened?”

“Junjun started to paw at my Crystal Body! Those paws were so cute and fluffy! They tingled! And his fur felt really nice to the touch, it was like I was being caressed by a bunch of feathers, but... the poor little rabbit must have thought I was an inanimate object. Junjun kept trying to get away from me and free himself of the automaton’s grasp... But! As a reward, I made him a special little house and burrow in the Hidden Grove. I watched over Junjun until he died three years later. I cried that day, but I was very thankful for having him. Junjun’s descendants are all over the Hidden Grove right now and many of them even populate the nearby forests.”

“So, Junjun legacy still goes on... That was a lovely tale.” I nodded.

We continued with our small talk until it got really late and then went to bed.

This was not the only time I discovered something cute or interesting about Yandrea. From time to time, I would see her fly around as a floating sphere of light and then play small pranks on her people. Whether it was simply by moving a chair a bit to the left or startling them during their hunt, such incidents would become a source of entertainment for her while becoming the basis of scary ghost tales for the unfortunate targets.

She even managed to scare me once by jumping out from around a corner. I got startled, true, but I found it cute when compared to some of Nanya’s pranks. It made me wonder, however, if by chance all Dungeons had such a strange sense of humor or if it was just the result of being stuck in one place for hours and hours at an end?

As the weeks went by, I was able to become closer to Yandrea and learn more about her personality. She never did show any of her cute side to the Ornaks or the Ellysarians, but she had no problem with the Automatons. This was probably due to them being artificial beings completely under her control?

Either way, I felt a bit proud to know that she had a side only I knew about. After all, who else had seen this powerful Godlike Dungeon hug a pillow and talk for hours at an end about what sort of cute animals or flowers or other delicate things she discovered?

One day, while I was practicing my spells by the edge of the moat, I saw a group of elderly Ornaks rushing over with two children in their arms, who appeared to have been greatly injured. Concerned, I stopped my training and approached them.

“What happened?” I asked as I looked at the two.

Their hands and feet were broken in several places with bones sticking out through their flesh. They were bleeding heavily both internally and from the opened wounds. They were in terrible pain and continued to cry while barely restraining their reflex to cough up the blood that flooded their mouth. Around them were three Ornak elders who were desperately trying to heal them with their spells, but the most they could do was cast a simple [Heal] spell to keep them alive.

“Back at village, two warriors argued with one another over Azur’Kar’s words. They fought hard and one of them struck the support beam of a tall building. Building collapsed, crushing those underneath. Shamans did their best. They saved many, but Magic Energy not enough. These two are the last. Azur’Kar’s follower said Mistress Yandrea won’t help. Too proud he said, but I do not believe that! I brought them here to be healed. I pray to you Master Tuberculus to help us! Call Mistress Yandrea to heal them, please!” the old Ornak fell on his knees as he begged me with tears in his eyes.

“I understand, I’ll call her over right away. You did great so far and so have your shamans. These two children, are they related to you?” I asked.

“Yes. Both are my grandsons. They were playing outside when the building collapsed on them. They were under a lot of rock, hard to breath and hard to hear their screams. If found earlier, shaman would have treated them first.” he explained.

“I understand.” I nodded and then looked at a nearby Automaton “Call Yandrea here.” I ordered him.

“I have already did so, Master Tuberculus. She is on her way.” he replied.

“Did you hear that? She is on her way here!” I told them and the ornaks showed a bright smile on their face.

Looking at the two children, however, I could tell at a glance that their injuries were very serious. They were lucky to have survived so far but they needed a miracle if they wanted to live without any disabilities. Personally, I only knew that some of the High Priests and Apostles of the gods could cast spells capable of healing injuries like this ones. Otherwise, we would need a Spell Crystal with a [Rejuvenation] spell stored in it.

Godlike Dungeons, however, if Illsyore could be considered an actual example of their kind, could use some very powerful healing spells. Miss Shanteya, according to her own testimony, was originally suffering from serious injuries before being picked up by Illsyore and healed by him. Even I was completely healed by Yandrea and even had my own youth restored, but was this ability limited to only Slaves and Spouses or could it be applied to just about anyone they wanted to?

Not even a minute after the Automaton sent the request, Yandrea arrived. The floating orb of pink light announced herself.

“I am here. Where are the injured?”

“Mistress Yandrea! We beg you! Help our young ones! We beg you!” the older ornaks began prostrating on the ground, foreheads stuck to the dirt to show their submission to her.

“Move aside. Let me see.” she ordered with a cold and stern voice, very different from the warm one she used with me.

As the other ornaks moved aside, she flew down and looked at the two.

“Status.” she spoke in a whisper.

I heard her cast this spell several times before. I wonder what it does? I thought as I watched from the sidelines.

After another half a minute had passed, Yandrea cast another spell.

“[High Heal] [Rejuvenation]”

Four spells, two for each of them. The first one closed their wounds and restored the position of their bones, while the later increased the natural healing ability of their bodies. The two children grew visibly skinnier, but they also recovered the color in their cheeks and showed an expression of relief as the pain was soothed away and their coughing fits stopped.

“Blessed be our Mistress Yandrea for saving the young ones! Blessed be!” the ornaks cried out as they bowed to her several times.

“It was nothing... you may go now.”

“We thank you! We thank you!” they said before getting up and leaving together with the two children.

Once they were gone, I looked up at my wife and asked her.

“Is something the matter?”

“No... I’m just glad I was able to save them. Sometimes, the injury is too great and even I can’t do anything about it. I’m powerful but definitely not almighty. If I was... I would have lived differently.” she spoke with a deep sadness and regret in the tone of her voice.

“Live differently?” I asked raising an eyebrow at her.

“Ah! I’m sorry... I didn’t mean anything with that! Erm... I’ll be heading off. I’m glad the children are safe now. I’ll see you later, Tuby!” and just like that, she fled.

I remained there and watched as the lonely glob of light flew away. With a glance back at the ornaks, who were now pretty far away from us, I could not help but wonder about what she said.

“Is she unhappy with her current life? Or... is there something else?” and I remembered that Reiss adventurer who died from bleeding out.