CH 241

Episode 241 – Dungeon Interaction

“Ahahaha! What the heck, so you were attacked by a Peak Gorilla? You guys are way too lucky!” (Xenia)

“…Is that really something so strange?” (Lewin)

“Of course! I’ve come to the 20th layer several tens of times, but I’ve never seen one even once before. The drops it gives aren’t that great, and it’s strong. Plus, it always brings along a bunch of Canyon Monkeys to attack you. It really doesn’t bring you anything other than pure suffering.” (Xenia)

When I told Xenia of our fierce fight and how we had ended up at the 20th layer, Xenia clutched her sides in laughter. We had somehow managed to pull the 1 in 100 chance of encountering one, and we had been run so ragged by the experience that she couldn’t help but laugh.

“So that’s how it is. Well, thanks to that we got all tattered up.” (Lewin)

“If you weren’t lucky you could have died there, so I really shouldn’t be laughing, but― ahahaha, I just can’t.” (Xenia)

“To us, it really was no laughing matter though.” (Lewin)

“I’ve heard that it’s even stronger than the Boss on the 23rd layer, so it is what it is. On the surface, you guys are probably the hot topic of the town again.”

“Well then, we’re going to go get some rest. Thanks for the valuable information.” (Lewin)

“Likewise, thanks for talking with me and keeping me company. We’re going to be resting a bit more before departing, so we probably won’t meet each other in the Dungeon another time. But hopefully, we’ll see each other on the surface again.” (Xenia)

“Yes. Take care now.” (Lewin)

After saying our farewells, Xenia waved goodbye to us with one hand, and I bowed in return before we headed back to the tent.

It’s been a long time since I last talked to an adventurer, and I’m glad that she had been a good person. Like she had said, it would be nice if we somehow met again and kept in touch outside the Dungeon.

“Phew. Finally the talking is over. Did you get any good info?” Aruna blurted out lazily, just as I was feeling refreshed by the fact that I was able to have a positive social interaction. I had noticed during our conversation that she looked bored to death. Aruna’s party restrictions used to be limited to only female adventurers, so I thought that she would at least try to get along with Xenia, but that didn’t happen in the slightest.

“It was only alright. I’m on good terms with a reporter, so I don’t run into new information all that often.” (Lewin)

“Then it was a waste of time. Instead of talking, we might as well have been sleeping.” (Aruna)

“It wasn’t a waste of time. They provided us with a place to sleep, and it doesn’t hurt to be on good terms with a fellow adventurer. Aruna-san, you should try to be a bit friendlier.” (Lewin)

“Hmm. Anyways, I want to eat then sleep.” (Aruna)

Aruna wormed her way out of my oh-so-desperate attempt to persuade her with a simple ‘anyways’. She seemed to not have any desire to befriend someone unless she was absolutely forced to.

“Ah, I’ll have some food, too! What should we do? Should we cook?” (Rosalie)

“I’m tired and it’s a pain, so let’s just go with preserved foods.” (Aruna)

“Alright. I can’t really move the way I want to, so I think something simple would be fine. We left the cooking utensils behind, so we can’t do much cooking anyway.” (Lewin)

We ended up having jerky, biscuits, and some dried fruit. After a short rest, we went into the tent, laid down side-by-side and got ready to sleep. At first, I was worried about whether or not I was going to be able to fall asleep since I was next to two women in such a small space. But due to my fatigue and accumulated injuries, I ended up immediately falling asleep like a log.

The next day soon arrived.

I had applied Medical Herbs to my wounds and painful areas before sleeping, so I had recovered enough to be able to move normally. While I realized all over again just how important sleep was, I also sorely felt that a sleeping bag was an absolute must, especially if we were planning to sleep in an uncomfortable place like this during our clears. As for food, it would be nice to eat well if we could, but being able to sleep well was a higher priority.

As I thought about this and that, I woke up Aruna and Rosalie, and we had breakfast. We then tidied up the tent and got ready to head back to the 10th layer.

The tent belonging to Xenia and the others had been cleaned up, and they had already departed, just as she had mentioned yesterday. Thinking to myself that it would be nice to see her again on the surface, we also left the 20th layer.

I kept thinking of yesterday’s Peak Gorilla, leaving me a bit nervous as we cleared our way back through the canyon area. But as expected, there was no way we would encounter it twice back-to-back. Although we were forced into a slightly troublesome battle against a pack of Thrust Buffalos, we managed to safely make our way out of the canyon area. We also had no problems with the Demon Arachnid, and we returned to the 10th layer safely.

“Looks like we made it back safely. Since the monsters are getting weaker, you can really feel that going back is a lot easier than heading down.” (Lewin)

“Hmmm? Wasn’t that because of the Peak Gorilla though?” (Aruna)

“Of course it had to do with there not being a Peak Gorilla this time, but I also felt that, too!” (Rosalie)

Everything was shown on the projections, which also seemed to serve as a way to prevent criminal behavior. Apparently, in other Dungeons, there were cases of adventurers intentionally luring a large number of monsters to attack other adventurers, so this Dungeon was one of the best in terms of public order.

“The plants that we gathered are also safe! There’s still food remaining, so should we eat?” (Rosalie)

“That sounds good. Let’s eat food and take a break and then pack up our things and head back. We were originally planning to stay here for a night, but are you guys good enough on stamina to head back right away?” (Lewin)

“I’m fine. As we’d said earlier, the way back is much easier after all!” (Rosalie)

“I’m good, too.” (Aruna)

“Then it’s decided. First let’s all cook a meal together.” (Lewin)

Having moved our plans forward, we took a break for now to have some food. The three of us proceeded to prepare our meal together.