CH 153

This is my first time in a dungeon.

We heard a lot from Sera and Sora when we reached Majolica and reunited with them. What Sera’s been doing, Sora’s experiences… And about the other two girls who are with them and seem to really like Sora.

Now I understand why I felt like there was a sort of wall between us when we first met. He was summoned into this world and thrown out into it by the people that summoned him, so his position was probably pretty unpleasant.

I wish he had talked to us, but at the same time I understand why he couldn’t do that right after meeting us.

And from what Hikari told us, it sounds like we might have been dragged into something if he did talk to us. It’s not like we had a lot of time to spare while traveling either.

If it was me in that position, I probably wouldn’t know what to do. Chris says she’s able to move forward because I pull her along with me, but that’s not true. I’ve been trying hard all this time precisely because I have her with me.

That makes me think that Sora is great. He was thinking about things and taking action all by himself. And he even risked himself for other people too, even if there were also times when he got a bit careless and put himself in danger.

He says he has a lot of things he hopes to accomplish by exploring the dungeon. He also says he will free Sera for us so we can keep looking for Eris together. There’s still that monetary contract, but that will probably be settled too.

Chris, Sera, and I have been talking about where to go next, but I want to take this opportunity to try to get a little stronger, especially after hearing about Sera’s incredible experiences.

There’s also the fact that traveling has been getting rougher with each passing year. We’ve been hearing a lot more about monsters that used to be pretty rare. There are always experienced adventurers with us when we accept escorting quests to go from country to country or town to town, but we’ve come across monsters that even they couldn’t defeat a few times. There have been times when those monsters were just barely driven away.

And the last country, the Dragon Kingdom of Hafre, is apparently pretty rough too.

I also really want to see how much Sora’s grown since the last time we saw him, because I was the one who taught him the basics, but I’m keeping that part to myself.

His four person party has already reached the tenth floor.

We were thinking about maybe joining other people looking for party members, but since Sera and the others agreed to come with us, we’re going to explore the dungeon with them. I’m sure it’s just as much because they’re genuinely concerned, and because they want to see how strong they are on their own.

What do I mean by that?

I asked them more about it, and they told me some crazy things about Sora. How he manages equipment in his Item Box, stores materials from defeated monsters in it, defeated an A ranked monster, got through a boss room on his own… It all sounds made up. And apparently when things got really dangerous on the road, he intervened and solved everything in the blink of an eye. It doesn’t even sound like the Sora I know.

That’s why they want to see if they can really get through the dungeon without him, even though they’ve already reached the tenth floor.

Sora was reluctant to accept, but finally grudgingly accepted Mia’s compromise solution for him to meet us on the fifth floor.

I feel like that girl’s pretty good at dealing with him.

We’ve had some trouble getting ready too, so we entered the dungeon a day later than we hoped.

We have two item bags given to us by Sora, and different kinds of potions. The item bags are surprising enough, but he has a lot of potions. Did he buy all these? I feel like that would cost a lot.

Sera doesn’t seem phased by this at all. I mean, it’s important to have good quality potions for safety’s sake, but am I even going to be able to use this?

It’s kind of scary. They’re just potions, but I can’t help but see the money they’re worth when I look at them.

The surprises don’t end after we enter the dungeon. Sera said she wasn’t too confident but… Isn’t she a bit too strong? Sure, she’s a beast person, and her physical abilities are different from mine on a fundamental level, but she’s swinging those heavy things around like they’re nothing. I don’t think even A rank adventurers can move like that.

And Hikari too. I asked Sora again and again if it was a good idea to send a little girl here, but she’s actually strong. I hear she received some sort of special training, but she might even be able to beat me. Maybe I’ll ask her for a mock battle later.

Mia’s fighting style is normal. She’s a healer, so she’s staying back like healers usually do. Sometimes she shoots a Holy Arrow when necessary.

She seems to have good control over her magic, and she’s using Holy Arrow

sparingly like she knows her own limitations. She’s not that used to fighting physically, but she can handle herself.

“You really are strong, Hikari.”

“Yes, but master’s stronger. And he taught me lots of things.”

Like how to make magic energy flow and how to use that to their advantage. I don’t really know what they’re talking about when they first start talking about magic energy, but they hand me something called magic energy seeing glasses and explain it to me.

I don’t say anything about the name they gave to that magic item, and I think that’s pretty nice of me.

It’s strange too how Chris doesn’t look surprised by this at all, but apparently Sora already explained all this to her before. When did that happen?

So making this magic energy flow to weapons increases their power. Hikari is giving me a live demonstration, as she’s been cutting down enemies left and right with one slash each. Even hard bones don’t stand a chance.

She says at this point she still only uses it when she’s fighting relatively easy monsters. But why’s that?

“You have to be careful not to use too much magic energy, or you will faint.”

Says Mia, telling me what happens when you run out of magic energy.

I don’t know how well I’m going to be able to use it, but Hikari says she’s going to teach me later. I ask Sera if she can use it too, and she says she can’t use it the same way as Mia and Hikari, because she doesn’t have a lot of magic energy.

But she’s practicing using it in a different way that she learned from Sora.

Sora… Just how much did you grow in these few dozens days we’ve been apart?

I feel like I’m going to be learning that soon, but now, it’s time to make dinner.

Sera is keeping watch while the four of us cook.

Hikari, stop staring and cut those vegetables.

Those seasonings don’t go well with that, so don’t use them now.

Eating only meat isn’t good for your nutrition…

I feel like I shouldn’t tell them this, but cooking has been the most tiring part so far.