CH 229

Episode 229 – Review Meeting

“…Sigh. It’s been a while since I’ve been this tired. I might drift off at any moment.” (Lewin)

“S-Since we started clearing the Dungeon, i-it’s been s-smooth sailing. It’s b-been a long time since my entire body was this tired.” (Rosalie)

“I’m fine.” (Aruna)

“That’s b-because using a bow doesn’t tire out your m-muscles as much.” (Rosalie)

“Mm. I don’t like moving so I chose the bow. But I’m surprisingly mentally worn out.” (Aruna)

There was a mellow, soothing music playing in the background, making me feel even sleepier. If I were to zone out for a second I felt like I would fall asleep, so I bit my lower lip hard to try and endure it. But before long, the sleepiness soon washed over me once again.

“…So why did you come here? How good of you to show up like it’s nothing.” (Araku Village Owner)

As the three of us sat there in low spirits, the shopkeeper woman brought over some water and addressed us reproachfully. The place that we chose to hold today’s review meeting was none other than Araku Village, the place where Aruna worked.

“Sorry to show up so suddenly like this.” (Lewin)

Even though it sounded absurd based on what I was hearing from the shopkeeper woman, I was frankly quite amazed at this point since Aruna was the one who chose Araku Village as the location for our review meeting. Plus, she wasn’t even pretending to look guilty whatsoever, and this situation was making me feel so uncomfortable that I felt like running away.

“That’s probably also my fault as well. I knew that Aruna was working here, but I still increased the pace of our Dungeon-clearing. On her behalf… I apologize.” (Lewin)

Unable to sit still any longer, I apologized and bowed to the shopkeeper woman, who was scowling at Aruna with her arms crossed.

“―Sigh. I wouldn’t have complained if you had told me in advance that you were quitting. But coming here and acting like nothing happened with a nonchalant face, I had to say something about that attitude… I don’t know how you put up with it, kid.” (Araku Village Owner)

“I s-see. She’s doing her job really well in the Dungeon, so there’s no problems.” (Lewin)

…At first, I thought they had a terrible falling out, but maybe this was business as usual for the two of them.

“We’re about to have a discussion, so go away.” (Aruna)

“Such a cheeky girl. For the time being, at least try not to bother the customers around you.” (Araku Village Owner)

“We understand. Thank you!” (Lewin)

“T-Thanks.” (Rosalie)

“…….Even though the customers are always the weird ones.” (Aruna)

The shopkeeper woman had a terrifying smile on her face when she heard her snide remark. She suddenly drew close to Aruna, who was still blowing bubbles in her water, and gave her a light flick to the forehead before returning to the counter, looking satisfied. She looks flashy and her tone is a bit harsh, but she’s still a good person, isn’t she?

“Aruna-san. Since we’re being allowed to stay here, you should be a bit more careful about your attitude.” (Lewin)

“It’s not really optimal, but… we’re here anyway, so let’s start the review meeting. First up are the points of reflection from today.” (Lewin)

“Clearing the D-Dungeon takes too l-long. But… it’s n-not like we got held up by anything in particular. It seems that we need to think about what to do for the 17th layer and onwards.” (Rosalie)

“Mhm. We simply don’t have enough people. If we had 5 people, we could get down to the 20th layer in no time.” (Aruna)

It’s a problem of numbers after all, huh? The topic of the number of party members had been brought up several times before, but we continued to clear with only 3 party members at my own one-sided insistence.

Since Aruna also didn’t want to have any weird people in our party, she didn’t strongly voice any opinion until now. But under a deadlock situation much like today’s, I felt that a firmly worded proposal was on the table.

“It’s really because of my circumstances alone that we need to clear as 3 people. I’m very sorry for causing extra trouble.” (Lewin)

“Well, you said this before, too. I’m b-being hired to be here, so I can’t strongly voice my opinion, but… I got the feeling from today that clearing all the way to the 20th floor in one go with just the three of us will be difficult.” (Rosalie)

…Aside from that, there was the option of taking a break on the 10th layer to regain our bearings without worrying about time when challenging the Dungeon. But considering the amount of time and effort involved, I really wanted to make the 20th layer our first resting point no matter what.

“If we choose the cliff route, we’ll have to increase the number of party members. But if we’re going to increase the number of party members, we should just take a break at the Safe Area on the 10th layer and take our time when clearing.” (Lewin)

“B-Based on the feeling I got from today’s Dungeon attempt, resting on the 10th layer might be the best move.” (Rosalie)

“That’s the lowest efficiency. The luggage is going to be heavy, so I wanted to make it to the 20th layer.” (Aruna)

“I’m with Aruna on that one, but… for now, let’s keep trying to clear like this for another three days. If we become convinced that it’s not possible, then we can go with the rest option.” (Lewin)

Now that we had finished discussing what we would do for our future Dungeon attempts, we briefly reviewed the battle at the 17th layer and the battle against the Demon Arachnid. After talking about the drops and plant-gathering, we ended the meeting so that our Dungeon attempt wouldn’t end up spanning multiple days.

Since there was nothing much we could do about it at this point, we had no choice but to try a few more times to see what happens. I should seriously think about whether I can use plants and potions to break through this situation, huh?