Chapter 684

TENKEN 684 Adventurer's Rules

Fran came to the west dungeon of Ulmut with Katley, and promptly put her through the ordeal.

「You go first」

「Eh?」

「You won't learn anything about the dungeon if you stay behind. So, you go first」

「B-but what about traps and magic beasts...?」

「They're not a big deal here. So it's fine」

Maybe, Katley was planning to let Fran take the lead and follow her like an observer.

But Fran had no intention of making it easy for her. Rather, the purpose of this request was to show her the reality of being an adventurer. So, she wanted her to actually experience things.

Before entering the dungeon, she has told Katley that 「If it's just a torn arm, I can heal it with my magic. So it's no problem」. And that was not a joke, Fran was very serious about it.

In fact, she even thought that getting some injury would make her feel like being an actual adventurer.

Fran is just like a spartan trainer, isn't she?

Well, she might look like a spartan to others, but from Fran's point of view, if Katley really wants to be an adventurer, she should be able to handle this much.

People are beings that think based on their standards.

Fran was a battle junkie who is willing to get hurt or go through a lot of hardship to become stronger, but Katley was just a young lady who had been focused on her studies until recently. The contrast between the two was beyond anyone could imagine.

At any rate, I'll at least make sure she doesn't die.

「Let's move」

「Y-yes!」

Prompted by Fran's words, Katley began to advance through the dungeon.

Her steps were surprisingly steady. Curiosity and excitement seemed to have prevailed over her fear.

She walked through the seemingly empty passage while looking around incessantly. It seems that besides her interest in the dungeon, she probably intends to look for traps.

Well, that was all for nothing though.

Clack!

「Ah!」

She accidentally triggered a trap under her feet. It wasn't much of a trap, however.

She activated a trap that uses strong winds to slam pebbles to her feet. It wasn't the kind of tricky trap that harass and tire people, but a childish trick to make the beginner aware of the traps around them. As expected of a dungeon designed to teach.

「Uu~」

「Don't stop. Keep moving」

「Y-yes」

Katley, who had stopped and was rubbing her feet, started walking again with a slightly frightened expression returning to her face. It seems that she remembered once again that she was in a dungeon.

Her dog's ears, which were originally droopy, seemed to have drooped even more. Her tail, which had been wagging, had lost all of its energy. What an easy to read girl.

The way she moved was slower this time. It was as if the energetic steps she had a while ago had been a lie.

She proceeded at a very slow pace, wary of traps that she couldn't even see through. So slow that even the other adventurers who came from behind kept overtaking us.

「...So slow, go faster」

「Uu... Yes―」

Katley's eyes welled up as Fran urged her to hurry. Even though she is frightened, she doesn't talk back to Fran. I wonder if this is another effect of her admiration for Fran.

After that, Katley made her way through the dungeon, getting caught in traps, finding them and avoiding them.

Well, we're only about halfway through the first floor though. If this were in a game, I'd say that we're still at the beginning of the tutorial.

Katley seemed to have exhausted herself quite a bit. Even though she's just a small young lady, she is still a beastman and had received some training. She shouldn't get exhausted by this distance under normal circumstances.

However, the unfamiliar environment, the need to be wary of traps and the fear of magic beasts. These factors seemed to have caught up with her mind and quickly tire her.

「Hafu-...」

Even so, Katley continues to walk without complaint and seemed to have no intention of giving up on being an adventurer. She seems to understand that anyone who gives up over something like this won't fit to be an adventurer.

「Let's take a break here」

「Yes...」

Fran decided to take a short break at a place where the passage was wide enough for multiple adventurers to pass.

As the two sat down alongside each other, Katley began to ask a number of questions to Fran.

Fran can't talk about what she can't openly talk about, but she could tell her about our adventures. Though it was a bloody and horrific story, the light of admiration that shines from Katley's eyes only increases in intensity.

As she had no experience in combat, she could not imagine the harshness of adventure and battle, only the thoughts of how cool and amazing it was could come to her mind.

And when she asked about her recent encounter with magic beast, Fran told her about her struggle with the Thunderbirds she encountered in Crystal Cage.

Until now, Fran stories had been about how she managed to defeat formidable magic beasts. So, Katley was surprised to hear that Fran escaped from them.

「E-even onee-sama can't defeat that magic beast called Thunderbird?」

「I could have defeated them if I used my strongest move」

「Then why did you run away?」

「I could end up in a bigger mess if I were to use my strongest move. I'd normally go all out, but when adventurers are on a request, completing it should be our top priority. Remember that」

「You can get a lot of materials if you defeat them though...」

「Nn. I could have leveled up too. But what if I meet a strong enemy after that? I can't be sure there won't be any. So, there's no point in wearing myself out unnecessarily」

It's as Fran says. We could have won against those Thunderbirds if she were to use the Sword God Transformation or Potential Release.

But doing so would surely wear us out. After all, our strongest move has a terrible backlash that could render us incapable of fighting properly for a while, and if things didn't go smoothly, we might not be able to participate in this year's martial arts tournament because of it.

From Fran's point of view, wearing oneself out in unnecessary battles during a request is not what a full-fledged adventurer is supposed to do.

「Be more cautious and always play it safe during a request. If you were to fail, you could get people in trouble」

「I-I see」

Fran prioritized making sure that the request was accomplished over her desire to level up.

But I never thought that this very Fran would tell a younger girl about the importance of being cautious. Somehow, I was very impressed.