CH 213

Episode 213 – A Flawless Duo

Author’s Note: This chapter is from the POV of Rosalie, the Guild employee.

After joining the party as a fill-in, the second day of Dungeon-clearing with them as a new party came to an end. Yesterday, which was the first day, was the first time I had gone to the Dungeon in a long time. I had been inspired by the strength of Aruna, one of the party members, and I was able to demonstrate my abilities without getting nervous.

…But today was no good. I was so nervous during the Boss fight that I couldn’t move properly, and I had to rely on Aruna. Even more than that, when the Boss shifted its focus to me, I ended up putting us in a pinch.

I need to pull myself together—or rather, I feel like I might have underestimated them a bit. Our three-person party was a beginner’s party, so I totally thought that we’d end up stuck on the 3rd layer or something, but we were somehow clearing at a pace even faster than when I used to challenge the Dungeon.

While Aruna’s strength was really a cut above the rest, Jade’s abilities were about good enough to join a mid-level adventurer party. And just like that, we ended up arriving at the 7th layer on the very first day. I really have to give it my all tomorrow, otherwise they might ask for someone to replace me.

“Haaa… It’s fun, but it’s so difficuuult…” (Rosalie)

Lying down on my bed, a sigh unconsciously escaped my lips, giving vent to an idle complaint. For me, who had kept making mistake after mistake, if I failed at this party-fill job, I would surely be fired from the Adventurer’s Guild. Despite the anxiety and frustration I felt, I forced myself to go to sleep in order to prepare for tomorrow.

The next day, just like the day before, we easily arrived at the 7th layer once more. I managed to devise a way to fight up to the 7th layer so that I wouldn’t be nervous during the fight against the Two-Mino… But when we finally got to that crucial Boss fight, I was told that Aruna would be battling against the Two-Mino alone on the vanguard.

It wasn’t that surprising considering how we fought yesterday, and although it was frustrating, I knew that this formation was the safest and easiest way to defeat it. I wish they’d just give me another chance. I wish I could say that out loud, but I was just a fill-in, so I wasn’t supposed to be saying that.

In the end, I stood in the rear guard on standby next to Jade, according to the strategy. But I had only been on the vanguard up until this point, since there was no support that I could offer from the rear guard. All I could do was stand there and pray, watching Aruna as she defeated it.

Even though it was basically a two-person party in this fight, they conducted themselves perfectly. The moment that Aruna incurred the slightest damage, Jade would appropriately provide healing, allowing Aruna to attack incessantly without having to worry. Just like that, without taking a single loss, they dominated the Two-Mino in such an overwhelming manner that I found myself captivated by their performance.

“Aruna-san, you fought really well. You dominated even harder than yesterday.” (Lewin)

“Yeah. I’m in good condition today.” (Aruna)

“I think you might even be on par with the higher-ranked party members challenging the Dungeon. Watching your battles makes me want to fight too, Aruna-san!” (Rosalie)

“But if you say that, then Lew―. Hm. Nevermind. Let’s go on ahead.” (Aruna)

After watching Aruna fight, I found myself itching to fight as well. The inspiring figure of her overpowering her opponents with such free, unrestrained movements was an ideal I aspired towards, since I always got so nervous that I could hardly move properly.

“Okay. F-From the 8th layer and onward, I’m also in the vanguard, is that right?” (Rosalie)

“Yes. Let’s continue with the same positions as we had on the 6th layer, with you two in the vanguard. The number of low-level adventurers stuck on the lower floors will decrease from here on out, so we’ll also be facing a sudden increase in monsters. Let’s focus up.” (Lewin)

If I enter a state of excitement such that I won’t be so conscious of my surroundings, I should be able to bring out my usual potential. With those thoughts in mind, I boldly asked if they would let me back on the vanguard… And fortunately, they didn’t seem to have given up on me.

Once again back in formation, I proceeded down to the 8th layer side by side with Aruna. Just as Jade had mentioned, since the low-level parties who couldn’t defeat the Two-Mino weren’t around, the probability of running into monsters had increased drastically.

It was still the same circumstances as before, but having to fight alongside two people, neither of which was a tank, was quite tough. Even with the powerhouse that was Aruna, we were taking hits from monsters more and more frequently. When that happened, we couldn’t move as we wanted, so we would fall into a bad loop where we would be open to take even more hits.

Something flew from behind me and stuck to the area where I had gotten injured, and the pain quickly subsided. I hadn’t been able to check behind me, but it was probably the support from Jade. During the fight against the Two-Mino earlier, I thought that I had seen some things fly at Aruna, but now I realized upon closer inspection that the support she was receiving at that time was actually this flying recovery medicine.

Thanks to the recovery medicine, the pain subsided and I could move my body once again. Without taking any breaks, I constantly fought onwards, taking on one monster after another.

Just having a means of healing in combat makes things so much easier. My old party didn’t have a healer… Rather than that, healers were such rare existences that they were hardly seen even amongst top-level Dungeon-clearing parties.

Many shied away from healers since they could be a burden if they couldn’t do damage, and it was way too costly and financially demanding to use recovery items like the ones Jade could provide in the middle of battle. That was why most parties had a tank; in general, they would only use healing methods after the battle if the tank wasn’t able to handle an attack and suffered a serious injury.

As a result, I was very surprised to find myself in a situation where my body was continuously able to hold out as I fought. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt like my fatigue was decreasing as I kept being healed, making me feel like I could continue to fight forever in this state.

We continued moving on smoothly like this as we proceeded through the Dungeon, allowing us to arrive easily at the 10th layer.