Back in the alley, Alice still hadn’t moved. She replayed the entire conversation several times in her head, carefully examining every point Celia had raised. Unfortunately, the more she thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.
She still felt embarrassed by the idea. Even imagining herself entering that situation made her ears feel slightly warm. At the same time, if there really was even a small chance Selene could get hurt, ignoring it didn’t seem right either.
"...I’ll think about it," Alice quietly muttered to herself.
With that, she took one last breath before leaving the alley. Her figure disappeared as she accelerated back toward the expedition team, though her thoughts remained occupied by the problem Celia had left behind.
...
Isaac POV
Present
"Emily, take this," Isaac said as he removed the spatial ring from his finger and placed it in her hand.
Since Punpun had fallen asleep after eating, this seemed like a good opportunity to take care of a few important things. There was no reason to wait until later.
Emily looked down at the ring before looking back at him with curiosity.
"What’s inside?" she asked as she examined the storage artifact. Alice also glanced over while gently supporting the sleeping bunny in her lap.
"It has the corpses of the monsters I killed in the Great Dungeon. Everything up to the Boss Monster on the Fourth Area is inside. You can try summoning their spirits, though I doubt it’ll work after so much time has passed. If it doesn’t, just let your spirits eat the corpses instead. That glutton slime should be thrilled," Isaac explained.
"He’ll pout if he finds out you’re calling him that," Emily said with an amused smile. Even she couldn’t completely deny that the description fit him.
"Am I wrong, though? Eating is the only thing he knows about," he said.
Emily just shook her head. She would’ve been angry, if someone else called her spirits name, but this was Isaac. Moreover, the slime was Isaac’s summon. Although it was weird Emily could take him in her Soul Space, he was still Isaac’s.
Moreover, the glutton slime had become infamous among her spirits. Whenever monster corpses appeared, he somehow always reached them first, and the others had long since accepted that competing with his appetite was pointless. Even Emily occasionally wondered where all that food actually went.
Isaac smiled before changing the topic. "Right, how did the tournament between your spirits go? I wanted to ask earlier, but we got distracted."
"From my point of view, it was a complete disaster. But seeing everyone talking together happily afterward and asking when the next tournament would happen, I suppose it ended up being a success." Emily sighed wryly as several memories resurfaced.
Isaac became interested and pulled a chair closer. Alice quietly listened as well while absentmindedly stroking Punpun’s soft ears. The little bunny remained completely asleep despite the conversation around him.
Emily began describing the tournament from the beginning. She explained how the early matches had gone, the unexpected upsets that nobody had predicted, and the various accidents that somehow kept happening throughout the day. Looking back on everything now, it almost sounded funny.
Isaac listened carefully without interrupting too often. Battles between monsters always interested him because they rarely fought according to human expectations. Even two monsters with nearly identical abilities could develop completely different fighting styles.
Alice listened just as attentively. Monsters fight were valuable experience for any combatant because it revealed unusual ways of using familiar abilities. Many techniques of theirs looked strange at first, yet they often worked surprisingly well.
As Emily continued explaining each match, Isaac occasionally asked for more details whenever something caught his attention. Alice sometimes added a question of her own, turning the conversation into a relaxed discussion rather than a simple report. The atmosphere inside the mansion became calm and comfortable.
After hearing about the final match, Isaac suddenly remembered the ring he had handed over earlier.
"You should use some of those stronger monster corpses as prizes next time. The winner would probably appreciate something they normally couldn’t obtain," he suggested.
Emily thought about it for a moment before smiling helplessly.
"Oz might refuse if I hand him a raw monster corpse. But if I cook it first, he’ll definitely accept it without hesitation," she said.
She could already picture Oz politely declining the reward before immediately accepting it once it became a proper meal.
Isaac chuckled as well. While the conversation continued, he took out two Skill Rank Tickets from his inventory and handed them to Alice.
Alice accepted the tickets with a curious look before storing them away for later use. Isaac still had ten Skill Rank Tickets remaining, including the ones he had obtained earlier that day. He intended to distribute them among his wives first before giving the rest to the subordinates who had been working tirelessly for the city.
His wives naturally came first, but that didn’t mean he would neglect everyone else. The city continued growing because countless people worked behind the scenes every single day, and strengthening those people would ultimately strengthen the city itself.
As the conversation shifted to another topic, Isaac spoke inwardly.
’System, copy the Soul Evolution Potion Sis got today!’
Two white lights appeared inside his mind almost immediately.
A satisfied smile appeared on Isaac’s face. Counting the potion Catherine had previously given him, he now possessed three unused Soul Evolution Potions. Ever since the System had upgraded, he had gained the ability to copy dungeon loot and bonded equipment.
Potions still couldn’t be copied because they weren’t considered equipment. However, the Soul Evolution Potions Catherine had acquired were classified as dungeon loot, allowing the System to share them without any issue. It was another advantage that would become more valuable as time went on.
"We have to visit the Calloway Mansion tonight for Selene’s advancement celebration. Before that, though, I think both of you should use these," Isaac said as two potions appeared in his hands.