Chapter 156.2

156 – The Attack and Defense of the Hardest Dungeon by the Strongest Group of Adventurers Part 2

The Hervor party’s Summoner and heir to a large company.

The pure-seeming woman with a gentle demeanor, warm smile, and serious attitude, despite also having the audacity to get fully naked for a moment, even if it’s just to change outfits.

She can summon not only living creatures that she’s formed contracts with, but also her own possessions.

A rare kind of Summoner who occasionally summons suitable equipment in order to fight.

As such a woman, she has the intellect to match her equally intellectual appearance, and this was the bane of the seventh stratum.

All the riddles that the Floor Boss the Eloquent Thrush Lord Caim happily, and sometimes laboriously, thought up were relentlessly and efficiently solved by her.

『「The tears falling down from heaven flow alongside it, those bound to the firmament fantasize about its peak…」…I see, Sister Herv, please destroy the third and fifth ones. Yes, if we destroy only the mountain art pieces, we can continue forward. Hm? Oh, the second one is not a mountain, but an ancient tomb, and the seventh one is a hill. What’s the difference between a hill and a mountain? The definition is vague, but the buildings to the side of the hill depicted in the seventh one actually exist and the residents there refer to that as a hill so we can exclude that one as a mountain.』

And so on.

『「Those who believe they can be saved without asking the heavens, step forward. Those who do not qualify…」…I got it. Sir Wraith and Miss Fran, please go through that gate. Sir Ewan and…myself shall head to the same place.』

And so on.

『「Live for ten days in search of a better tomorrow…」…I got it. Monsters will start to appear from here on. I shall give you all instructions, so please defeat them as and when I say. You must not get carried away and defeat more than is needed, Sister Herv.』

And so on.

『「Stop the hands of time and force them back…」…I got it.』『「Rend judgment…」I got it.』『I got it.』『I got it.』『I got it.』…and just like that, Margret would find a solution for the riddle in almost no time at all after she sees it.

Incidentally, the first riddle had nine numbered art pieces and a stone plaque with the riddle written it, and you cannot proceed unless you do the right thing.

When you read the whole sentence, you would realize that you need to move or destroy something, but when it’s written in such a long and poetic fashion, it becomes difficult to fully grasp the meaning.

The correct answer is to break the mountains. As a trap, there were actual existing hills mixed in the bunch.

The second riddle was themed after a gate from a famous legend which roughly goes like this『Innocent children can ascend to heaven without having their eligibility checked.』.

There are many who know of that legend, but I wonder how many know that『Innocent children』is actually an anecdote referring to height.

In other words, if you correctly interpret this long and poetic sentence, it actually means『Those who are shorter than the height of the innocent child in the legend must pass through the gate, and those who are not must wait.』.

It is a puzzle that tests a lot of your knowledge.

In the third riddle, a timer is set and Monsters will land here and there in a limited space but simply defeating them all will result in a failure.

Once the timer expires, it is reset and counting begins again.

The total number of countdowns is ten and the correct way to solve this is『Defeat more Monsters in the second countdown than you did in the first one. Defeat more Monsters in the third countdown than you did in the second one, defeat more Monsters in the fourth-』and so on until the tenth and final countdown.

This may be a little mean, but there aren’t enough Monsters standing on the Field, so they also have to defeat the Monsters that are flying around their surroundings to reach the numbers they need.

In this way, the seventh stratum, which normally takes Adventurers a long time to Clear, is Cleared in no time at all thanks to Margret’s efforts.

Of course, there are many instances where strength is needed to fight Monsters, which is where the other party members shined.

Those who could contribute to solving the riddles were Wraith, the Hunter Suuri, and the Wizard Michelle.

However, it seemed like Aerial was holding himself back from speaking up.

Despite being in a little trouble for only a moment, the seventh stratum was Cleared just like that.

Caim said『What an impressive intellect…but still, how vexing it all is.』praising Margret while realizing his own inadequacy due to his failure to defend his stratum.

…You weren’t inadequate, Caim. Those puzzles were really difficult.

Your puzzle solving system is surprisingly well-received by the viewers.

I wonder if they feel like it’s a quiz show where those watching along can also try and solve the riddle together with the contestants.

Also possibly because it is a rare spectacle these days.

Seeing a stratum where the Adventurers can’t simply fight their way through with pure combat ability feels fresh.

「If I recall correctly, it was mainly Lily and Fenix who was in charge of solving riddles in the Fenix party. Bella’s free-thinking was also quite brilliant.」

Said Milla. Her words were somewhat more gentle than before.

「Thank you very much. Although, it was a Clear that came with a lot of regrets.」

Fenix replied with a smile.

「Since I lived in the forest for such a long time, I became very interested in the world beyond the trees. Investigating various things became a sort of hobby of mine. That lead to me being surprisingly useful in that stratum. Although it did take us quite a while to get through…」

Lily certainly does have a voracious appetite for knowledge.

However, solving riddles also requires flexible thinking.

Fenix looked at me.

「The difficulty of the Demon King Castle has gone up since the last time we challenged it, right?」

「It’s all for the Raid Battle. Let’s just say that you and Lily are in that category.」

I don’t expect many people to reach the tenth stratum, but I can’t call these two every time they appear. The Fenix party is very busy.

「Whenever you call for my help, I will always answer it.」

「Sure, sure. It’s fine. I don’t want to cause trouble for your allies. Just this time is fine.」

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「Ahaha.」

Fenix laughed.

At that moment, both Fenix’s and my stomach growled at the same time.

Before we realized it, some time had passed. It’s already time for dinner.

「I shall start making dinner.」

「Ah, sure. Thanks.」

「If it pleases you, would you two like some as well? …In all honesty, I actually bought enough ingredients for all of us.」

「If that’s the case, then I would gladly accept.」

「Th-then I will as well…if it isn’t too much trouble.」

Hearing Fenix and Lily’s positive replies, Milla smiled broadly.

「Shall I help you with the cooking?」

「Oh my, thank you very much. Do you cook, Lily?」

「During trips in between towns, Lark and I would be in charge of cooking for the others. If you don’t think I’ll be in the way…」

Milla’s whole body shook.

「…! Th-that means that you…you’ve been serving Lem hand-made cooking for years?」

Lily was flustered. The curly hair on her head was flapping frantically.

…I’ve actually been curious about it for a long time, does it respond to her emotions? Her hair, I mean. Just how does that work? Or am I just seeing things?

「N-not at all, it’s not like I served Lem individually. I prepared food for everyone in the party to eat…」

I can almost see flames flickering in Milla’s surroundings.

「Please cook with me! …Also if you happen to know Lem’s favorite flavors and cooking, I shall pay handsomely for such information.」

「P-pay…? Uhm, I… What should I… For each of the party members, I believe there was a dish that they somehow responded well to. For Alba, he is a simple man who is satisfied as long as there is a large serving of meat.」

「How much for the information on Lem?」

I don’t really have a specific cuisine that I like. All of Milla’s cooking is delicious, so I always tell her the same thing when she asks, but it seems like that isn’t exactly what she wants to know.

「I-I’m not going so far as to ask you for money. I think I’ll recall while we cook, is that alright with you?」

「Ufufu.」goes Milla while smiling.

「It would appear that I have misjudged you, Lily.」

Looks like those two have gotten closer, I think.

I put a hand on my chest, relieved, and when I turned to look at Fenix, he suddenly laughed.

「What’s so funny?」

「Oh, nothing.」

「Just say it, man.」

「You really care about her, don’t you?」

「Never mind, don’t say anymore.」

There is no way I’m gonna talk about romance with this guy.

He’ll discuss it super seriously and I don’t want to say anything related to that anyway.

The only way to get out of this is to change the topic.

「Anyway, have you been giving it some thought?」

「Hm? …Ah, about him, right? Hearing your story, I think I can give an answer in my own way. I think with this, we’ll be able to knock some sense into him.」

「Hmm, when the time comes, you think you can win?」

I wasn’t doubting him.

I was merely lighting a fire under him.

Perhaps knowing my intention, Fenix answered cheerfully.

「I won’t lose. I always win in the end. That goes for you too, Lem.」

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「Oh? I’m looking forward to both encounters.」

We kept on talking about silly things while the girls carried on cooking in peace.

Oh, I was allowed to take care of putting out the dishes as well as taking care of them after the meal.

After this and that, four people enjoyed a meal together on that day.

The eight stratum Clear approaches.