CH 152

Hikari’s fully equipped, and does a little spin.

Is she showing off because it’s brand new?

Everyone else is waiting, but it feels like she’s expecting something.

Should I give her a compliment? If I should, of course I will. Not making waves is the secret to a nice life. I’m learning too.

I’m not going with them, at least not at first, so I pay special attention to the items. I base my preparations mostly on Rurika and Chris.

Everyone’s taking potions on the specialized pouches around their waists, and the spares go in the item bags. They also have monster repellent, a few sheets, food in pots, and more.

Of course, that includes water. Chris can create it with magic, but they should take it anyway in case anything happens to her. And they’re taking spare clothes too.

I made two item bags, and Hikari and Chris will each carry one. Sera and Mia will also be taking backpacks they bought, which are small enough that they won’t hinder their movements. They’ll be taking preserved food in those.

Rurika insists that it’s common sense to divide things between everyone, so they’re all set even if something happens. I agree, but is she speaking from experience? Maybe I should start doing the same.

Because of all this, they end up going to the dungeon a day later than they planned.

It looks like they already have their cards, so now we just have to register as a party. If we don’t do this, we won’t be able to communicate through our cards when it’s time to meet up.

We know from our last time in the dungeon that we won’t be able to reunite in there.

We enter the adventurer guild, and people’s eyes immediately focus on us. Actually, they’re only looking at me.

It could be many things, so I don’t actually know what it is. I figure it’s a waste of time to bother with that, but then I see Fred standing in front of the entrance to the dungeon. He has two others with them, and I remember their faces. I’m pretty sure they’re survivors from the hunt on the fifth floor.

“Sora? Are you headed to the dungeon? And do you have more people with you this time?”

He kind of twitched when he saw us. Why?

“Yes, we just happened to bump into two childhood friends of Sera. And now we’re going to challenge the dungeon together, so we have to start from the first floor.”

“You look pretty lightly equipped, Sora.”

“Yes, I’m going to the sixth floor, and I’ll be waiting for them on the fifth floor when they get there.”

“I see. So that’s why Miss Sera and the others are carrying stuff.”

Rurika and Chris have weird reactions to him saying Miss Sera. Rurika in particular has this evil smile on her face, like she just found a new toy.

Let’s pretend we didn’t see that.

“Are you going to the dungeon too?”

“We’re not. I guess I should say we still feel a sort of lingering attachment. We actually want to go, but our partners are gone, so we just sort of came here even though we’re still figuring out what to do. Ah, these are Gown and Edel, but we weren’t in the same party.”

“I just sort of came here without thinking too, and bumped into them. Sora, right? Sorry about those weird rumors. If an adventurer dies while doing a quest, it’s no one else’s fault but their own. And it’s even more shameless to pin the blame on someone that didn’t even accept the quest.”

I’m pretty sure Edel’s a magic user. The big guy next to him is nodding along. Is that a spear he’s holding? I think I remember him using a sword then.

“Ah, Gown doesn’t talk a lot. He used a sword during that fight because his spear was broken during the first encounter. That’s why he used a sword even though he’s not really used to them.”

“No. I can use a sword too. I’m just better with a spear.”

It does sound like he’s not a great talker. But judging by how well they understand each other, I think it’s safe to assume they used to be in the same party.

“Fred.”

Edel moves his hand to tell Fred to come closer, and the tree huddle near each other and talk. It’s mostly the other two who talk, and whatever they’re saying seems to surprise Fred.

“Sora… If it’s all right with you, can we accompany you in the dungeon? We won’t get in your way or anything. We just want to see how a party that defeated a shadow wolf explores the dungeon.”

I must have made a pretty weird face, because he rushed to add that second part.

That is pretty sudden. I can’t help but suspect that there are ulterior motives involved. Despite what they say, a lot of their partners died. They must resent me at least on some level.

“I don’t mind if you enter the sixth floor with me. I’m going to meet up with them on the fifth floor, and then we’re heading to the tenth floor. Is that all right? It would be hard to reschedule even if you tell me you need time to prepare, so…”

I offer a compromise. They don’t have items or anything, and I don’t think they could accompany them from the first floor.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“Then let me check with the girls too. If they say no, then it’s a no from me too.”

I’m talking with them on my own, but if the girls have a problem with this, I’ll refuse.

But they say they don’t really mind, even though I think it will be kind of a pain.

The three guys register in the party, and the others enter the dungeon.

They’re going to come back once they register on the fifth floor, but will they be all right going through a floor each day?

“We’ll meet up here in seven days, in the morning. Is everyone all right with getting their own items?”

“Yes, that’s fine. Thanks for listening to our request, I know that wasn’t very reasonable. And… You should be a bit more careful.”

“About what?”

“Those rumors, and that stuff that happened on the tenth floor. Hikari was blasting me with an aura of bloodlust when I talked to you, and Miss Sera is probably watching out for anything too.”

Is that why he reacted that way?

“I think so too. I don’t think anyone will actually go after you, but… Who knows what’ll happen if someone starts feeling cornered.”

Is he saying that because we conquered the tenth floor so fast?

I guess it’s true that we got through the boss room pretty fast, even compared to parties that went in before us.

“That’s all I wanted to say. See you later.”

Fred and the others bow a few times, and head to the reference room here in the guild. Apparently they’re going to study the dungeon from scratch again.

And me? I head to the merchant guild to see if I can buy something, and it turns out I can. I have to compress it in the Item Box, but if it all goes well, it’s going to help us explore the dungeon in the future.

I also sell potions, and get ready to sort the items in the Item Box.

I follow their advice and keep an eye on Presence Detection in the meantime, but don’t see any signs that anyone is following me.