86 - 87. Brave, recognized as an S-rank party

A few days after we brothers defeated the evil god Aqua Element.

One day in early August.

In the dungeon boss's room.

"Gowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowow!"

In the room was a giant made of rock.

It was a golem.

It is a SS-rank boss monster.

The Golem raises its thick arm that reminds us of a big tree.

Sakura, give me a talisman!

I'll take care of it!

At the instruction of her brother Gaius, Sakura pulls a bill from her pocket.

When she throws it, it forms a holy ward in the air.

The rock giant's powerful blow collides with the ward.

Elise, are you ready?

I'm ready, Gaius!

"Okay, Sakura, we'll push back. Just hold on till then."

Yes, sir!

Like that, Gaius, Sakura, and Elise are fighting a boss monster.

Meanwhile, my brother-in-law and I were watching from a distance.

"Ani-ue!"

"Hmm?　What's up, Mika?"

I'm sitting by the wall.

Michael is sitting cross-legged on my lap.

"Why are we staying at home?　I want to fight too!

"This time it's a dungeon at the bottom of the sea. If we get out of control, we could get submerged in water.

But~!　That's not fair!　All three of us are having so much fun!"

Gaius and his team are dominating the boss monster.

Looking at their fluid coordination, it's not hard to see why they seem to be enjoying themselves.

"I don't want to be left out!　I'll do it too!

"Yes, yes, I'll be quiet."

I pat my brother-in-law on the head.

"I'll be quiet...so I want you to pet me more..."

Mikhail squints like a kitten when he is patted on the head.

"This is a good thing because I get to monopolize you. I'll be patient!

"Oh, great job, Mica. Oh, it's almost over."

The rock giant was already in a shattered, dying state.

"Gowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowow!"

In a last ditch effort, Golem disassembles his right arm and ejects it at Elise.

Elise concentrated her mind to cast a spell.

In the past, she would have been scared.

But now she is not.

"I'm sorry, but I won't let you hurt my friends!"

Gaius stands in front of Elise and swings his twin swords.

Spap, spap, spap, spap, spap!

The rock is shattered by a series of blows with divine speed.

"The warding is ready!　Elise, shoot me anytime!"

"Yeah!　Here we go, the most powerful magic [Nova Strike]!"

At that moment, a magic circle unfolds right above the rock giant.

A huge fireball crashes into the rock giant.

BOOM!

A violent explosion.

But it was surrounded by the wards that Sakura had put up.

The heat and shock waves stay within the boundaries and do not harm the dungeon.

The rock giants melted into mush and disappeared.

"Phew...... good job, you two!

Gaius says, and Elise and the others smile.

"Good work, you too."

"Thank you, Gaius!　For protecting me."

"No, it's ...... only natural for a leader to protect his friends."

Gaius turns away.

Elise reaches out and shakes her brother's hand.

"Thank you for everything. Now that you're here, Gaius, I'm not afraid of enemy attacks anymore."

"Oh, oh, yeah. ......"

The battle is over, and I go with my brother-in-law to join Gaius and the others.

"Well, good work, good work. "Good job.

"Ni, bro!"

Bam ......!　And Gaius pays off Elise's hand.

"You know, this ...... handshake with Elise doesn't mean anything deep!　Don't get me wrong!"

"Gaiasu, what are you upset about?　Oh, okay!　I don't want you to think I'm cheating on you?　Your true love is Aniue, right!"

"Ba-ba-ba-ba Mika!　Heh, don't be weird!"

Gaius turns red in the face and Sakura smirks at him.

"You've got a crush on Julius, don't you~"

"No, I'm not!　Really, I'm not, brother!　Don't get me wrong!"

Elise and her friends giggle.

Unlike before, the atmosphere among the party members is more relaxed.

As a big brother, I was happy to see Gaius getting along with the girl's team.

"Well, let's go home, guys."

"Oh, wait a minute, little brother. It won't take long."

I walk to the human-sized crystal at the back of the room.

I use the void sword to rip open the space and put the crystal into the void.

What are you doing?

"I was retrieving the [labyrinthine core]."

"Me-kew-kaku?　What is it?"

My friends are approaching me in droves.

"Oh, by the way, you were always collecting these after every boss battle, weren't you?"

"Yeah. There's a heart in the labyrinth. That's what these crystals are for. As long as it's here, the labyrinth will continue to produce monsters. It is customary for adventurers to retrieve it after defeating a boss monster.

"""Wow, I didn't know about ......."""

"What, this is common knowledge?"

"I guess it's ...... when your brother tells you, I'm not explaining ......."

Gaius sighs.

"Well, we're not adventurers by profession, so we don't really understand the common sense of adventurers."

"What are you going to do with the labyrinth nucleus after you recover it, Julius?"

The guild buys them back. Yes, the guild buys them. I've accumulated quite a bit of money, so I'll go sell it today.

""""Sansay!""""

I use the sword of the void to cut through the wall of space.

I pass through the rift and arrive at the outside of the dungeon.

"Every time I think about it, it's really amazing that I can transfer in a labyrinth where I can't use transfer magic. ......"

"That's what I'm talking about, Julius!　I really admire you!"

While chatting, we made our way to the Adventurers' Guild in town.

The guild has a bar in the front.

We weave our way among the adventurers to the reception counter at the back.

"...... Hey, did you hear that [rumors of a great party]?"

Suddenly, I overheard a rumor among adventurers.

"...... heard it. A tremendous number of dungeons have been breached in a short period of time.

"...... Yeah, and the same party, right?　Can you believe it?"

"...... is impossible. It's just a rumor with no basis in fact.

And just like that, we came to the counter.

The receptionist smiles at us.

"This is Mr. Julius. We haven't seen you since your guild entrance exam.

"Yes, it's been two weeks, hasn't it?　I'd like to make a purchase today."

Yes, sir. Which item would you like to purchase?

"One hundred [labyrinthine nuclei]."

The receptionist's smile was so ......!　Freeze.

"Uh, uh, ......, what did you just say?"

"Well, I've accumulated about 100 labyrinth nuclei, and I said I want you to buy them all?"

That's when it happened.

"Hey, hey, hey, brother, don't lie to me, okay?"

"Oh, I'm a thuggish adventurer. You see him around a lot?

A man with a bad character comes to us with his friends in tow.

"I'm not lying!"

"Ha!　How many adventurer ranks do you have?"

"F"?

"Kukku ...... ah ha!　This is hilarious!　How the hell are you bottom-ranked people supposed to get through 100 labyrinths?

The goons are laughing along with their subordinates.

"How do you mean? I've been clearing about five dungeons a day with this party.

"Yes, yes, that's just a pipe dream. You can't do that. It takes a lot of work to clear a single dungeon.　You can't clear five in one day, you idiot."

"Ani-ue. Is this guy even more naive than Aniue?"

I cover my brother-in-law's mouth with my hand to keep him from getting into trouble.

"Well, we're in the clear, actually."

"Ha!　Then show me the proof. What?　A hundred labyrinth nukes, huh?　If you don't show me, I'm going to eat spaghetti out of your nose, okay?"

What if they show it to us?

I'll take care of it then!

I will use the void sword to cut through space.

Zara zara zara zara zara ......!

The labyrinth nuclei that had been stored in subspace came out all at once.

"Do, do, do, do ～～～～～～!　So many labyrinthine nuclei... ～～～～～～?

The thugs scream with their eyes glazed over.

"Now you believe me?"

"Not yet!　It's a fake anyway!　Hey, receptionist!　Appraise me!"

"I'm going to get some spaghetti."

Some time later.

"The results of the evaluation ...... were all authentic."

"What the hell?

The thugs look at us with astonished expressions.

"That's ...... impossible. You guys just signed up for the guild like 2 weeks ago!　Clearing 100 dungeons is unheard of!"

"Oh, really?"

The adventurers gathered around nodded their heads in agreement.

"And surprisingly, there was even a labyrinth nucleus of an undersea dungeon that was considered impossible to break through. ......"

The receptionist gives us a look of disbelief.

"Oh no!　You know, 25 S-rank parties rallied there and couldn't break through in dozens of days!"

"Oh, really?　We left this morning and cleared it before noon, right?"

The others nodded in agreement.

"That's too much ......, what the hell, you guys!"

"""We're just a party of adventurers?"""

"You're lying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The receptionist approaches us, despite the yelling of the thuggish adventurers.

"I'll talk to the higher-ups, but I think Julius and his party will be given the S rank.

"What, that's the highest rank you can get in two weeks?"

"No. Since the founding of ...... guild, it is unprecedented for a party to reach S rank in such a short period of time. But you have done such a great job."

Thus, I don't know what happened, but at any rate, our party became S-ranked.