Shadow Monarch: Heroines Could Hear My Thoughts?!

Chapter 21- Rin Vs Aria (Part 2)

In a split second, while Rin was already about to smile as his plan seemingly worked, something that was unexpected occurred.

Aria's body tilted to the back before she jumped in the air. Then, in a terrifyingly swift move, used Rin's extended leg as a support for her to jump even higher. Rin didn't even think that was a possible thing to do yet here he was, looking at his big sister as she landed on him.

"Ugh!" He clenched his teeth as he collided with the hard soil under him.

But, his eyes turned a degree colder as he plunged his daggers into the ground. The impact lessened and he was able to spring back up on his feet.

"I didn't know that was even humanly possible." He said with a grin.

Aira merely nodded her head as she asked.

"Can you still fight?" She asked.

Rin knew that she wasn't trying to mock and was just worried that she overdid it. But, at that exact moment, Rin was already extremely engrossed in the fight with his whole being.

Picking his daggers, he smiled even more widely and replied.

"This isn't enough to make me surrender."

*Swish*

Dashing toward her again, Rin's hands changed their grip on the sword. Aria noticed that change and tried to predict what he was trying to do.

'This is the best trick up my sleeve. It better work.'

Taking a deep breath, he threw the dagger at Aria with his whole power. The dagger cut through the air swiftly as it reached Aria the next moment.

The latter merely parried it with her sword. But, Rin was waiting for that exact moment. Looking at the dagger that was falling down, he threw the other weapon at it.

*Clang*

"Wha-" Aria was very shocked by the weird attack and was very late to react.

The daggers hit each other making the first one change direction and instead regain some momentum and fly down, aiming toward Aria's leg.

Now, this trick was obviously impossible to pull off by normal humans as it needed an inhuman brain to calculate the exact moment and the exact point at which the second dagger should hit the first dagger.

But, Rin didn't only train this trick back in his old world to perfection which made it easier for him to execute it but also had senses that were superior to those of normal humans.

Yet, even with all of that, he seemed to have made a small mistake in his calculations. The dagger was aiming slightly off the mark.

Aria noticed that and pulled her leg away at the last moment.

Clicking his tongue, Rin sighed at his failed surprise attack and then smiled.

"It didn't work. Hehehe!" He scratched his head awkwardly.

"..."

"..."

Both Aria and Selina looked at him silently with widened eyes. The last thing they expected was for Rin to do such a thing and laugh casually after that.

"Where… did you learn that?" Selina asked after a long period of silence.

'Oh, shit! I was so focused on the fight that I forgot not to do any extreme things. Dammit! How should I explain this now?'

He searched in his head for a good excuse but couldn't find any. But, surprisingly, Aria was the one to answer.

"I saw him train with them in his room."

"Really?! Why would you use them inside a closed space? What if you got hurt?" Selina asked with an angry look.

'How did she believe that?' Rin blinked a few times at his mother's oddly simple mind.

Or maybe she blindly believed her children so she didn't think much about it. Rin didn't know the answer to that.

"Sigh. Anyway, this should be enough. I had my hand on my chest the whole time from worry."

Both of them nodded their head in understanding. After that, Aria approached Rin and whispered in his ear.

"You owe me an explanation for that."

"I guess I do." He lifted his hands up in defeat before putting the daggers away and returning with his mother and sister inside the house.

"So, are you convinced?" He asked.

"Well, I was actually quite shocked. But, still, a deal is a deal."

"Thank you, Aria." A smile appeared on Rin's face.

"Y-You have nothing to thank me about."

"No, I have to. I appreciate how much you all care for me. I value it a lot."

Aria looked at her brother with a complicated gaze. At that moment, an overwhelming curiosity took over her mind as she wanted to ask him about what he was hiding and what she could hear from his thoughts.

But, at the last moment, she closed her mouth and contemplated again. She didn't think Rin was not trustworthy but the fact that he hid this from them had to be good.

So, trying to corner him now would be stupid. Instead, she wanted to give him time till he freely tells her about his secrets. That was how she wanted them to become. She wanted Rin to slowly connect with her and trust her with everything.

But, that doesn't come in mere days but across years and years. That kind of bond is something that she will try to work for.

After that, Rin went back to his room to prepare himself. He had to get some food, water, and even spare clothes in case the ones he was wearing were torn apart.

The next thing he did was go back to his father. The latter was waiting for him at the office with a bag.

"Take this."

He handed him the heavy bag. Rin heard the sound of viles hitting each other inside and could only tilt his head confusedly.

"What's this?"

"Potions for mana and health and some other useful things in emergency cases. Your mother made sure to prepare them for you."

"But, isn't this too much? I won't be staying for that long inside the dungeon. Maybe one or two days at most."

"It's better to be safe than sorry. Besides, we can't stop worrying if you just go with the bare minimum."

Sighing, Rin put the bag on his back before following Damian outside.

"Where should we go now?"

"Just follow me." He said with a mysterious look and started walking.

'Wait, is the dungeon not far away from here?' Rin could only wonder.

The two walked in silence toward the northern part of the mansion. There, a small living room was built that no one used at all and was merely there to fill the empty space.

In the middle of the room was a huge chandelier that hang down from the ceiling while being eerily close to the ground. Rin thought it was some kind of decoration so he didn't ask but it still looked too close to his eyes.

Reaching the chandelier, Damian extended his hand to it and pulled one of the parts gently. Instantly, the whole place shook violently and a hole appeared just under the chandelier.

The whole had long stairs that led to some dark place under the house.

"This way."

"Wait, do you mean…"

"The dungeon… is under the mansion." Damian pointed at the hole with a calm look as he clarified.

'Damn…' Rin thought to himself.

He never expected a dungeon to literally be under his feet the whole time. He had many questions but he kept silent till he saw the place with his own eyes.

'This place is really weird. I am actually surprised that it didn't follow a cliché in this. Like, for example, the dungeon could've been inside the fridge or the closet. Maybe even under my bed for all I care.' His mind wandered to a weird place as he walked into the darkness with his father.

(A//N: Short chapter, 1.3k… couldn't write more than that for the night cause I'm dead tired. Anyway, this is the start of the dungeon arc. It has many interesting twists so keep in tune :) )

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