a级黑粗大硬长爽猛出猛进

Hmm… It could be the Fire Drake that we fought yesterday and I wondered if it was back to take revenge.

Unfortunately, it didn\'t look like it was here to pick a fight with us and merely continued its flight path over the mountains.

Pity… I wouldn\'t have minded a round two.

Also, Lisa never did tell me what potion she was making in the end…

We got back to the village and it was back to its usual bustle as I spotted people in both maid and butler uniforms training within the village.

Emilia, Crystal and the other ninja wannabes were looking at the scene with an odd look on their faces.

If I didn\'t know any better, I would have said they look traumatised.

But that can\'t be it, right? It\'s not like they have been here before and experienced all the training… Right?

Sebastian was waiting for us at the entrance of the village and he bowed when we reached him.

"Welcome back, Madam, Aster."

It\'s worth noting that I was wearing a maid uniform now, which was why he was addressing me by name.

"Ufufufu~ How are things, Sebastian?"

"Everything is running smoothly, Madam. I have also made the necessary preparations for the newcomers."

The moment those words left his mouth, I noticed that several members of Crystal\'s family shuddered in unison.

Right… Now I have a feeling Katsuki did something to them.

As we started to move into the village, Sebastian stopped me at the entrance with his hand on my shoulder.

"Please wait here, Aster."

I was a little confused but I stayed by his side, nevertheless.

The other girls also stopped in their tracks but Sebastian nodded at the village to indicate that he only wanted me and me alone.

They hesitated but I shook my head at them before they relented and went inside with the others with Mother and the rest.

Sebastian waited until everyone was gone before he turned to me with a serious look on his face.

"Aster. I\'m afraid your training will be a little different from now on. You will be training somewhere else away from the others."

I blinked at him, "What\'s with the sudden change?"

"Because we figured out that there\'s a better way to train you now that you have a literal army of Shadow Guards hiding in your shadow who are on par with you in ability."

I blinked again, "Wait… You aren\'t suggesting that I…"

"Yes I am. Please follow me, I have the perfect place for you."

Seriously?

I mean… I can see that it makes sense if I think about it… My Shadow Guards are basically me without access to my Unique Skills but aside from that, they are pretty similar to me in every way.

So if I fought against them, I could improve myself from learning my own patterns and recognising my own weaknesses.

Truthfully, the thought did cross my mind but I never really got around to doing it… And I blame Lisa for that because all she had been doing was trying to get me to use them to gangbang her…

Which… To be honest… Was quite tempting and I would like to try it one day.

Putting that aside, I guess since they\'ve given me an opportunity to try it, I don\'t see a reason why I shouldn\'t just follow along.

I nodded at him, "Alright… Lead the way then."

Sebastian then turned to the side, "Mary will be the one to lead you there."

I turned to the side to see Mary already standing there.

She reached out her hands to me, "Forgive me, Young Mistress… The place is a little far so I will have to teleport us there."

I realised she intended for me to let her princess carry me there.

I guess she was serious since she even called me \'Young Mistress\' instead of my name like what Sebastian did.

Giving her a nod to go ahead, she picked me up in her arms before a portal appeared and she carried me through it.

Only when we stepped through the portal did I realise that she did not need to carry me at all and I could have walked through the portal on my own.

Why was that even necessary?

I looked around us and found that we were standing in a cavern of sorts with what looked like the entrance of a Dungeon at one end.

We weren\'t the only ones around here as well. There were other people of different races hanging around the cavern and their gear suggested that they were Dungeoneers.

"Where are we?" I asked as Mary set me down.

"A rather popular Dungeon located in the southern part of the Frostiminir Kingdom, Young Mistress."

I noted the number of people gathered outside the Dungeon who were checking their gear before they entered the Dungeon.

"I can see that… But I was under the impression that I would be sparring with my Shadow Guards, not diving into a Dungeon."

She shook her head, "We did not have that in mind, Young Mistress. But you will be diving into the Dungeon solo with only your Shadow Guards accompanying you. Naturally, there\'s a catch to this.

You are to make them transform themselves into your usual party and they must occupy the same role as the person they have transformed into and you are to direct them from the back without participating in the fight directly."

Eh?

I frowned at her, "I don\'t understand… What purpose does this training serve?"

"Mistress, with all due respect, you have very talented people around you but you have not been making use of their talents much."

I tilted my head, "What do you mean?"

"I meant that you have always primarily played a support role in your party and allowed your members to do as they pleased. While they are capable of taking care of themselves, they would perform much better if you were to direct them instead of just watching over them."

"Yes… But isn\'t being a good support enough?"

"You are enabling them, Young Mistress. Because they know that you will be able to cover up their mistakes should they make any, they are less careful than they should and more prone to being reckless."

I opened my mouth but she held up a hand, "I know what you are thinking Young Mistress. The answer does not lie in you being a better support to cover up for them. While that is certainly a solution, it would not solve the problem at its root. And while I fully believe that you can keep up with them even if you have to support that many people, it would be detrimental to the other\'s growth instead."

Ah… I suppose I could see where they were coming from…

Truth be told, I haven\'t really thought about it as well but I suppose as the one that usually stands at the back, I\'m in the perfect position to coordinate everyone but I have not been doing that at all.

With my Shadow Guards, they might be autonomous to be able to fight on their own without my constant input but I would be able to direct them how I liked to increase the team\'s cohesion without shouting out commands at them.

With just a thought, they would be able to respond and adapt to my directions which should prepare me for directing my own team in the future.

I shrugged, "Alright I guess. So what do I need to do? Go all the way to the bottom of the Dungeon and beat the Dungeon boss?"

She shook her head, "You do not need to, Young Mistress. This is not a training where we want you to clear the Dungeon but for you to get used to the new position of being the leader. The training for this would be that you have to spend exactly a week inside the Dungeon and maintain your role as an observer and commander throughout the next seven days."

"Sounds simple enough… I can do that. Though… Seeing that there\'s so many people around, wouldn\'t it be unsafe for me to use my Shadow Guards since it might be exposed?"

Mary shook her head, "Worry not, Young Mistress. The Madam has already packed several spare maid uniforms for you inside your Pack of Folding. You can instruct your Shadow Guards to put them on which will have the enchantment of preventing them from being recognised."

Ok, first of all… When did Mother put them in my bag because I certainly do not remember her doing that.

Second of all… They already planned this ahead of time I see…

I nodded, "Alright then… Will you also be following me into the Dungeon to watch over my progress?"

"Unfortunately not, Young Mistress. You will be on your own for this."

Right, that means that someone would probably be watching me from a distance. That\'s fine I guess.

Alright, I guess it\'s time to go Dungeon diving again~

It\'s been a while since I\'ve gone to one on my own, eh?