CH 42

It’s been two years since I’ve started living in the capital. At first, I was worried about living with Lutie, but she was a wonderful girl and was mostly worried about me.

Regarding the championships, I have been the champion for 3 straight years now, and Vanil Mirth-san, who was too strong when I fought him the first time, seems to be training more and more, and challenged me every year.

My adventurer rank has also increased to C in two years. It was thanks to Vanil Mirth’s words saying: 『  She should have no problem subjugating monsters, but she still needs to learn about what an adventurer is like and see how other adventurers handle requests  』, which prevented me from suddenly raising my rank and thus helped me learn many things along the way.

Because of that, I was able to slowly learn more about survival techniques, names of tools used, and different roles that one can take in an adventurer party.

Ornica-san also trained me on how to prepare traps and how to make a simple camp.

Ornica-san was a former adventurer, as I have expected, now working as a knight. He used to be a B Rank Treasure Hunter in his adventurer days.

He said that he was making decisions, and was not good at fighting competitions where he had to fight directly, but at that one time he still managed to defeat Virgilio-san, who was higher rank than himself, and an active adventurer called Cliff.

Oh, and speaking of adventurers, you can have snacks in the adventurer’s guild, gather information, recruit parties, settle rewards, and there are a variety of other uses.

That’s why, in the adventurer’s guild, various stories come in, like how Cliff-san seems to be reaching his limits, and has not received many requests recently. It is possible that he will retire soon, and that is making me feel a little lonely.

On the other hand, Ceres-san has been improving her ability and now seems to be B Rank, nearing A Rank.

「 Ane-san told me that it was annoying and would be a waste of time  」

Although she was laughing cheerfully, she seems to be working hard behind the scenes, and even though I’ve never seen her at a party, I could feel that she’s much stronger than before.

At another time a guild staff member told me that the 《 Rookie 》 Ars-san reached shortly after the competition, and was given a new title 《  The Fastest Man 》, which was by popular vote and something that you would hear of in a shōnen manga.

I, too, got the title 《  Real S Rank 》, about which I complained, 「  Don’t call me with that title  」 and was bothered for a week. They probably got scared because I denied it too much, even though I was only asking.

I mean, if people called a D Rank adventurer 『  Real S Rank  』 it just won’t make any sense, but right now 《  Undead Eyes 》 Toto is what  I’m called. I’m still only a C Rank myself, and I’m not too happy to be given a title.

Well, that’s what the current situation is like.

As I entered the adventurer’s guild while thinking about that, a familiar brown-haired girl was waving from a table while calling me.

「  Toto-chan! 」

「  Ah, Lety-shi  」

Two years ago, she was a member of the three-person party that escorted the carriage which my mother and I rode. Helvetia muttered about 『  Becoming Stronger  』 before, and the three did suddenly rise in rank, and now they are called 《 Eresbell’s Three Ladies 》.

When I first met them, they were calling me 『  Toto-san  』, however I didn’t like to be called as if I was older, and because of that they changed to 『  Chan  』.

When I asked Lety how I should call her, she said 『  You can just take away the honorifics  』 in response.

Lettie, Felicy, and Kanna were sitting around a table when I arrived, so I ordered some fruit juice while taking a seat at their spot, and then asked them.

「  So, what happened? 」

「  Would you like to join us going to Berger’s Cavern? 」

「  Nn, Berger-san? 」

「  No, not that Berger-san  」

As I felt a bit nostalgic hearing that name, Lety continued the explanation.

「  A short while ago, a new dungeon was discovered nearby, and it was Berger-san who discovered. That’s why it was named Berger’s Cavern 」

「 So that’s why 」

Dungeons, I’ve never explored one before, but I’m also interested in knowing what they are.

「 Is it okay for me to go? 」

「 Un, um, Toto-chan is good, maybe 」

「 When you are around, the security is better after all 」

I’ve also been asked several times in the past. I was treated more like an ornament most of the time, but it was fine because all I thought about was getting paid.

Oh, and if I was with a higher Rank party, my low Rank limits can be ignored. Vanil Mirth-san told me that if I join high Rank parties on quest, it will be fine, and I would be able to ignore the restrictions, but I can’t get the rank up points, which was also talked about in the adventurer’s guild of Aries.

The reason for establishing this system is that people with high ranking abilities would be able to compensate for other’s lack of ability especially on monster subjugation, while in my case is the exact opposite, that other adventurers wanted me to join as a fail-safe that could reduce the threat during a subjugation quest.

That’s why I would usually work with them. Letty is a vanguard that uses a shield, Kanna is a middle guard using a spear, and Felicy is a mage in the rear guard, while my role is either Felicy’s guard or luggage carrier.

They always say 『 We can feel safe if Toto-chan is around 』 but they are actually overwhelmingly strong enough to defend their own and I can hardly imagine a situation that could be considered dangerous for them.1

If the three are working together, even if I do my best, I don’t think I would be able to win against them in a fight.

「 Toto-chan, would you like to join our party? 」

「 Uhh, that’s…… 」

There were also many times that I’ve been asked like this, but I always dodge or vaguely answer the question.

There is no problem with them in terms of atmosphere, strength or credibility, but they were a little too touchy for me, and it feels like if we stay in an inn together, I’d rather be in a different room from them…….

Anyway, it feels like my chastity would be in danger.

『 Felicy, although the magic operation that she learned is still unstable, she was able to properly teach her friends on how to use it, I see 』

It seems like Helvetia is impressed about something, I don’t know what though?

As expected of a Demon King, the way she views things is different from mine.

As usual, it ended up with me answering the same way as before, and Letty replied with a sigh while muttering 「 Well, it couldn’t be helped 」.

For now, I’ve been telling everyone 『 There are others who are better than me 』, and I guess, they are also trying to be more considerate of me and not forcing me to join them.

They are not the kind that I want to avoid, and they are fun to be with. They are also the type that I could be friends with, and I could normally relate to, which is good when establishing connections.

「 So, would you like to go to a Dungeon? 」

「 Ah, yeah, I would like to go to a Dungeon, please take care of me 」

「 That helps. Well then, we will go buy the tools needed later, after all it’s Toto-chan’s first time in a dungeon. I will also teach you the necessary tools to use 」

「 Nn, thank you 」

I then asked more questions about it while sipping the fruit juice that I’ve ordered. After all, I just can’t leave without drinking what I’ve asked for, and it looked like everyone was also finishing their meals. Besides, I don’t really know anything about the dungeon.

「 Can I hear more about the dungeon? 」

「 It’s alright, but even we don’t know too much about it 」

「 Then, um, what exactly is a dungeon? Is it something that you can’t find normally? 」

First, I need to verify the information, since the dungeon I know of might be different from the dungeon they know.

「 From what I know, Dungeons just suddenly appear, even from places where there was nothing five minutes ago 」

「 Eh, is there a reason why 」

「 They do say that it might be caused by magic of some sort, but we don’t really think deeply about it, and we don’t know the exact cause 」

「 Even though without knowing ―― 」

『 It is said that if a certain amount of magical power accumulates in a certain area, it creates a door to another world, and that’s what a dungeon is like 』

Helvetia crossed over my conversation with Kanna. Although I missed the last part of it, it wasn’t really a big deal.

「 Do they come out in towns too? 」

「 I did hear of a dungeon becoming town in the northern regions, but I’ve never heard of an actual town becoming a dungeon 」

「 If something like that happens ―― 」

『 There was one case of that happening, a dungeon called the labyrinth of Toento, a mining town which disappeared along with its mountain overnight. What remained was one huge gate, and beyond that gate was a massive dungeon 』2

I was about to hear something very important but Helvetia interrupted again. I wonder why she keeps on interrupting Kanna, maybe she dislikes her?

「 Just a little…… 」

I whispered to Helvetia to quiet down for a bit, I then put my fingers on my lips while whispering 「 Later 」. She put her hand on her waist and looked at me with a rather displeased look, then disappeared.

I wonder if she just wanted to join the talk, but it couldn’t be helped because I am the only one who can hear her voice.

「 Umm, Toto-chan? 」

「 Ah, eh, it was nothing…… 」

After showing an awkward smile, I immediately finished my remaining fruit juice. At the same time as I finished my drink, Letty stood up, looked around us and declared.

「 Yosh, let’s move out, if we waste too much time, we won’t be able to hunt treasures 」

Three people including me replied with yes and got up. Our first destination is the tool shop, right? Tools are great, and I have my own Item Bag now, which is unrivaled.