“Would you like to aim for the second floor today?”
It was the first dungeon run with Hotaru in a while.
Her first words were an invitation to a deadly place.
“Do you know what the second floor is like, Hotaru?”
Since staying at the entrance increases the likelihood of encountering other mercenaries, I decide to speak while walking.
“Well… it’s a place that separates the serious from the casual, right?”
“Well, that’s a harsh way to put it, but you’re basically right. To add to that, only the top 15% of registered mercenaries are considered ‘serious.’ Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”
“Are you saying that people like us, as rookies, can’t possibly be in the top 15%? That going to the second floor is dangerous?”
Hotaru throws me the magic stone of a slime she just defeated in one swift motion.
“That’s exactly it. You’re strong, Hotaru, but that’s not enough. Serious mercenaries always form parties of at least three. It’s not just about combat. If someone gets injured, another has to carry them. In that case, two people end up unable to fight. If we go to the second floor, we’ll need at least one more person, ideally two.”
“I want to go with just Kuro and me to the second floor.”
“That’s what I—”
“I don’t want to go into the dungeon with anyone else. This is my selfishness, but it’s the first time I truly felt fear in a dungeon. I worry about what would happen if I had to run away in the middle of a fight. What if I get slashed from behind? I can’t help but think about that.”
I can understand that feeling. One of the reasons I started solo was because I felt the same.
If Hotaru were just a classmate, or a complete stranger, I would never go into a dungeon with her.
“When I first met Kuro, I couldn’t trust him. But no matter how weak the monster, Kuro was always ready to help me. Even when I showed him my strength, he didn’t change.”
“…I see.”
I felt a bit happy that she had noticed.
“We won’t force ourselves to go to the second floor, we’ll just make it our goal for today. Is that okay?”
“Well, if it’s just a goal, then fine. But promise me that if it gets even a little dangerous, we’ll retreat immediately.”
“Yes, I promise.”
Hotaru then extended her pinky finger.
“What’s that hand for?”
“It’s a pinky swear. Don’t you know it?”
“Well, I do know, but… whatever.”
I hook my pinky with hers.
“Pinky swear, if you lie, I’ll make you drink a thousand needles, pinky cut.”
After finishing her little song, Hotaru swung her finger away with a lot of force, causing my pinky to hurt a little.
“Why’s your face so red?”
“…Because it was more embarrassing than I thought.”
“You’re the one who started it…”
I said, my voice mixed with exasperation, and Hotaru quickly walked into the depths of the dungeon.
“Hotaru! We just promised! Don’t do anything dangerous!”
I rushed to follow her.
“Take care of the rear, Kuro!”
“Got it.”
I took out a magic stone from my pocket and tossed it. I kept different types of magic stones in different pockets, and the ones I just threw were all from slimes.
In other words, those magic stones turned into weapons to kill monsters.
“Gagya,” “Gugya,” “Gugya,” “Giju,” “Bagya,” “Gagya.”
Three hours into the dungeon.
We had ventured deep into it and encountered a group of goblins—human-shaped monsters—for the first time.
“This group is quite large.”
Up until now, we had fought several groups, but they were never more than 10-20 monsters. This time, however, there were easily over 50.
No matter how many we defeated, it felt like there was no end.
For some reason, this time, there were reinforcements for the goblins. Just when we thought we were almost done, another group would appear.
Earlier, we got separated while fighting when a new group came from behind. The group I was handling only had around 10 monsters left, while Hotaru was fighting about 20, but that should be manageable.
It was time to finish this.
“Here comes the grand finale.”
I muttered as I threw a magic stone into the goblin horde.
