113 - - One hundred and eleven verses.

Labyrinth 16th layer. Let the power leveling of Mel begin.

"Belle. Take me to the demon. Rain, Tulu, Tamamo, I need you to watch the perimeter.

Yes... cue... cue... cue...

The belles spread out in force. I'm glad that they seem to enjoy doing what I ask them to do. The bells follow behind, with Rain, Tulu, and Tamamo protecting them on the left, right, and rear. Dolly looks on with a smile.

Well, I know how you feel. It's kind of cute that they are playing bodyguards. Actually, I think they are more reliable than ordinary bodyguards, but I can't help it, they look so cute.

"Yuta. There."

Belle points with her tiny finger in the direction she wants to go, and through the trees, she sees four orcs walking steadily. Oh, they've noticed us. They come running toward us, shouting and pounding with joy at having found their prey.

"Attack their limbs when they come near. Make sure they can't move."

"Yu, Yuta. Are you all right?　Orcs are running."

Mel makes an impatient sound as she tugs at my clothes. Maybe she's scared because I'm taking it easy.

"It's okay. You heard what I asked the genie to do. But more importantly, you're my master."

Since Mel told me to do this, I need you to protect me. I'm ready to grin in front of Eunice.

"Oh, that's right. No, the demon, the chanting?"

Mel is flustered. The sight of a tiny girl fidgeting is as funny as a small animal making a fuss. She is an adult, though.

I usually beat her before I came here.　......Ah, I was so nervous and stiff at first, and I traveled the shortest distance in the beginning, so I didn't see any demons, maybe they were killed by other adventurers.

I was exhausted in the middle of the trip and panicked when Sylphy started to carry me. Maybe he was too busy. We have to be a little more careful. Well, I guess it's all right... as soon as he's strong enough he won't have any use for the labyrinth anymore.

"Well, it's all right. Just watch."

As the orcs approach, Belle and Raine use their wind and water blades to cut off the orcs' limbs. Tulu and Tamamo manipulated earth and grass, rolling the orc and then encasing it in earth and grass so that it could not move.

"Hssssh!"

I can hear Mel freaking out. I'm sure he's been in the labyrinth to improve his magic, but he still hasn't gotten used to the demons.

But I think it's a bit harsh to cut off his limbs, since he usually ends up decapitated or crushed in the head. Good job. He pats and praises them as they fly by like he's praising them, then turns his attention to Mel.

"Well, Mel. Stab them in the back."

Mel is serious?　He looks at me with an expression that says, "I'm sorry. I nod with a serious look on my face. Mel's expression tightens as he remembers his role, and he swings his hammer down on the orc's head.

Oof. I don't really care when I do it myself, but smashing someone's head with a hammer is a pretty nasty thing to do. And since a girl is doing it, it's even more bizarre.

"I'm going to repeat this kind of thing, can you do it?

"I'm fine, but are you sure you want me to do this?"

"Well, since the goal is to raise the level, it's no problem.

"I see. And master. Don't you do any chanting, Master?

"Chanting?　I've never done any chanting. Does Mel chant?"

Yes. It's been in my family for generations. I learned it the hard way.

Come to think of it, I've never heard of proper chanting since I came to the other world. Deane said something about it once, but she gave up halfway through.　I don't think I need it anyway, but I'd like to hear it.

"Mel. Can you try that chant? I've never heard what it's like."

"Okay. I'll try chanting the simplest chant.

Hmph!　Mel got fired up and started chanting.

Great Spirit of Fire. The great spirit of fire, the guardian spirit we worship. Show me your power and lend me your great strength.

Mel chants as if she were singing with her hands outstretched. How do you like it when the chanting is over?　Mel looks at me a little uneasily.

...... Well, I said, fire spirit, lend me your power, didn't I?

"Thank you Mel. Hold on a second. Um, did you understand what Mel was chanting?"

"I don't know. But I like it. Western Day?""" Coo?"

I don't think he got the point. But the bells don't feel so bad. He likes the atmosphere of the chanting.

How was Dory?

"I understand what you want me to do."

Dolly smiles. That much I understood. If this is how a necromancer chants, there will be plenty of misfires and duds.

"Well. Mel. What happens when I say that chant?"

"The temperature of the furnace will rise."

There is no mention of a furnace. This is a chant that only Meral can understand. So she's a meral-specialized necromancer. Does that make sense?　Oh, in the case of a fight, the chanting has the effect of making the movements of the spirits more difficult to understand. But Mel is a blacksmith.

I feel sorry for him, but let's not use chanting. How do we tell them?　I can't be so clever with words. Let's be honest.

"Let's see. Mel. Listen to me very carefully."

Yes. Yes, Master?

"Yeah. This is hard to say. You don't have to chant."　　

"What?"

You look like you don't know what you're talking about.

"You know what? Using complicated words only confuses the spirits and is counterproductive. And you didn't have to do that chanting you just did. If you sign the contract, Meral, all you have to do is ask them to increase the temperature of the fire.

"What?　What?"

I started to get nervous. He said he'd learned to chant the hard way. I'd be shocked if I were in Mel's shoes.

"But, master. My family has been practicing this chant for generations and it's worked well."

Mel clasps her hands in front of her chest and pleads her case. It must be very important to him.

"Yeah. Well, it's not completely meaningless. I think chanting has the effect of making it harder for the enemy to know what you're going to do. But you know, Mel's a blacksmith, right?　And since Meral can speak normal language, we can do most things just by communicating better and talking to each other normally."

"Oh, no. ......"

Mel crumples to the ground and nods off. This is the first time I've actually seen a real orz.

"Well, well, you're not totally useless, so cheer up. Now that you know this, you'll be able to do more things with Meral."

"Yes, of course. Thank you, Master.

Mel smiles weakly. My heart aches.

"Come on, come on, there's no time to dawdle. We've got to defeat the demons.

I forced myself to dispel the atmosphere by raising my voice, and Mel joined me with an air of cheerfulness, saying that there was no time to be depressed.

After that, seeing how easily he asked Belle and the others for help, I was almost depressed again, but somehow I managed to recover and continued to put a stop to the demons. However, I think the power of the hammer that he swung down on the demon's head had increased a little.

****....

I was amazed at the moving base that came out of the magic bag, I was amazed at the hot food, I studied hard how to communicate with Belle and the spirits, and after three days of crushing the heads of the demons, I finally rose in the rank of magical power.

"Master. Your magical power has risen to C rank!"

Mel raises her hands high in the air to express her joy.

"Good for you. Now I can make a contract with Meral. Congratulations Mel."

I had been worried inside that I might have stopped growing because I couldn't raise my rank in magic power very fast. We narrowed down our target to trolls and tried to be more efficient, and we managed. When the time came, I thought of having Sylphy take me to the 49th layer to kill the dragon.

"Congratulations, Mel!

Kikka hugs Mel. Kikka was very close to Mel, perhaps because they were close in height. Don't tell anyone I'm a little jealous.

"Congratulations Mel!

"Congratulations, sister Mel."

Thank you very much. Kikka, Sara, Marco."

Sara and her friends surrounded Mel, who was a little teary-eyed and seemed to be very happy, and threw words of congratulation to him. It's a nice scene. Maybe because they had been working together for three days and eating out of the same pot, Mel and Sara and the others quickly became good friends.

It took me a long time to be able to talk normally with Sarah and the others. I'm a little jealous. I felt a little lonely, so I called Belle and Fuchu over to pet them as much as I could. There's no better way to heal my heart than to play with the Belles. After playing with them until he is satisfied, he calls out to Mel and the others.

"Well then, let's leave the labyrinth now, just in time. Maybe we can get out of the labyrinth before nightfall.

I call out to them and they all nod their heads, so we quickly exit the labyrinth. Meral and Yunis are going to be waiting for us with a sense of excitement. No, Yunis is going to be waiting in frustration.

****

"Whew. Every time I think of this, it's a relief to get out of the labyrinth."

""Yuta-san!!!!""

Ofu?　Why do people call out to me when I leave the labyrinth?　For a moment, I can't catch up with my thoughts as I experience this for the first time. No one has ever called out to me before.

"Mel!"

While I was stunned, two shadows passed in front of me with great speed.

"Meru. I'm so glad you're safe! Did they do something strange to you?　Are you okay?"

Eunice is hugging Mel and giving him a cheek-to-cheek hug.

"Oh. He's growing!　Enough. Yuta, let's make a deal right away!"

"What?　Ah."

Yuta-san!""

I was. I was approached, too. Uh, Marie and Ertina?　...... I kind of got a feel for the situation. I guess they must have figured out that I was the one wholesaling the materials.

I've been waiting for this for a long time, I thought I was going to tell them myself at one point. I'm glad they found out.

Yuta. We have a contract!"

I don't know, Meral is excited too. It's all over the place. Just calm down. Thanks for the pat on the head, Belle. I'm a little calmer now.