「That is fine and all, but we are going to go to the sixteenth floor first. Just Like Roxanne said, Vesta has yet to experience a fight with a Floor Boss, so we might take care of that first after allowing her to have a taste of the battles against the normal enemies from the sixteenth floor. Oh, and Vesta, you don’t have to allow the Floor Bosses to hit you, okay?」
「Understood, master.」
It seems that we still have some room to spare, and even though I wa still reserved about going to the eighteenth floor, Sherry does not object to the idea at all, so it should really be alright.
And so, we warped from the tenth floor all the way to the sixteenth floor.
「Roxanne, do you know the location of the Floor Boss room on the sixteenth floor?」
「Yes. If I am not mistaken, it’s this way.」
「Then, let’s head to the Boss Room. Guide us to it. We’re also going to be facing the monsters along the way.」
I ask of Roxanne to guide us. There is no identifiable difference inside the cave for me to be able to memorize the way back to the Boss Room even if we’ve already been here, but apparently Roxanne can lead us there just fine, most probably thanks to her superior sense of smell.
「Along the way, there is a group of Clam Shells to the left. There are several of them. On the right, there is just a single Clam Shell and a group of Bitch Butterflies.」
「The right way should be fine, then.」
「Understood.」
I see. Clam Shells and Bitch Butterflies both have a different set of weaknesses, which would make it pretty difficult to defeat both of them fast enough to keep Vesta out of harm’s way.
Is that what Roxanne is suggesting here? That if you’re going to be allowing the enemies to hit you on purpose, it’s better to do it against a single type of monster?
However, although I intend to receive just one attack, if I receive successive attacks, we will be in a pinch, and it’s going to be troublesome to kill them one by one by using single target magic attacks.
It is also not a good idea to let the battle drag on, since we are on the sixteenth floor now, where enemies are going to be stronger than the ones on the twelfth floor were.
We advance under Roxanne’s guidance until we eventually come across a group of one Clam Shell and two Bitch Butterflies.
I cast 「Breeze Storm」on them. If I focus on attacking Bitch Butterflies, whose weakness is Wind Magic, with Wind Magic Spells, only the lone Clam Shell will remain, and that’s going to be a perfect opponent for Vesta.
As expected of Roxanne, she really knows what’s going through my mind.
「Can’t I just go forward ahead of time?」
「No, wait until I take out the Bitch Butterflies first. Then you’ll be free to go.」
「Wouldn’t it be better if I headed to the front as well?」
「Ah, I guess. Sherry, change places with Vesta.」
「Yes, master!」
「Okay!」
「I will do my best!」
Sherry and Vesta swap positions with each other.
It would have been better if she just kept on observing us as we fight all the way until the eighteenth floor, but since she herself proposed it, I guess it would be alright.
Being motivated really is great, as long as you won’t allow it to go over your head of course.
Since Sherry uses a spear, she can attack even from the back.
「Since you are going to the front, take this.」
「Okay. Thank you very much.」
Sherry covers Vesta’s head with Hardened Leather Helmet, which she was wearing herself up until now. Vesta lowers her head and receives it gratefully.
It is indeed better for them to exchange the gear that they’re wearing it if they are to swap their positions.
Starting from the left, the current lineup of the vanguard consists of Roxanne, Vesta and Miria from left to right.
We are ready and waiting for the monsters to arrive. Staying in front of me like that, all three of them are looking pretty spectacular.
You can really see how powerful my vanguard is, especially with someone as big and reliable as Vesta.
At some point in the future, I think it might be worth a try to place Vesta in the center of the vanguard to see how she’d perform there. Right now, Roxanne is staying half a step in front of the other two, because she needs to focus the monster’s attention on herself as she evades their attacks.
It is not certain whether they recognize her as the main vanguard or not though, but since she’s the one who’s in the most frontal position, I guess that would be a logical conclusion, right?
「Here it comes.」
Roxanne’s voice resounds, giving us a warning once more. I wonder if it’s going to be a water spit attack or the bite attack from the Clam Shell.