The Next Day
We had breakfast as a family...
Then, once we were ready, we headed out to the dungeon.
The dungeon my dad mentioned was about an hour away from the village.
It was a relatively undamaged ruin.
At one corner of it was the entrance to the dungeon.
"So instead of going underground, we’re climbing a tower?"
A massive tower pierced the clouds.
Not only was it tall, but it was also wide.
It looked almost like a small castle.
"Huh, what a strange dungeon. This thing must be really old."
"You can tell?"
"Who do you think I am? I’m the ultra-genius miracle-magical fairy, Licorice-nya!"
She stumbled over her words, ruining the effect completely.
By the way, Aisha and Snow weren't with us.
Since we weren’t traveling and our home was nearby, we wanted to keep them away from danger.
So we left them in the care of Mom and Dad.
There’s a slight chance Aisha might be a priestess and could become a target because of that…
But my dad is far stronger than your average adventurer.
I could trust him to keep them safe.
"According to the information from your uncle, it seems there are five floors. However, each floor is large, and we have no idea where the mithril is located… It’s a pain."
"Worst case, we’ll have to walk all the way from one end of the tower to the other."
The tower seemed pretty huge.
If we had to explore the whole thing, it might take us a week.
Ideally, we’d find the mithril before it came to that…
But that was going to depend on luck.
"Don’t worry! With the miracle-wonder-lucky girl Licorice-chan here, we’ll find that mithril in no time!"
"Haha, I’m counting on you."
"Hehe, leave it to me! Alright, let’s go!"
Licorice energetically opened the tower doors—
"GRUUAAAAHHHH!!!"
"Gyaaaaahhhh!!!?"
Suddenly, a beast-type monster leapt out, and Licorice screamed with tears in her eyes.
"Watch ou—"
"That was dangerous."
I tried to jump in front, but Sofia moved faster.
Her hand had already gone to her sword’s hilt…
With a ching sound, she returned it to its sheath.
She had already drawn and cut.
The monster was sliced in half and died instantly.
"That scared the crap out of me… Seriously! Getting attacked out of nowhere like that—who expects that?! That was so annoying!!!"
Her fear seemed to transform into rage, and she started kicking the tower wall to blow off steam.
"Sofia, you’re amazing. I wouldn’t have made it in time."
"Not at all. I think you reacted just fine, Fate. In my case, I had anticipated something like this, so I was ready."
"Did you sense the monster from behind the door?"
The monster had probably been waiting near the entrance to ambush anyone coming in.
"No, not exactly."
"Then how did you know…?"
"Well, things like this tend to happen whenever Licorice starts acting cocky."
"I see."
"Hey! Why are you just accepting that!? That’s not normal!!"
Well… it’s Licorice.
That one sentence seemed to explain everything.
And so, we began the dungeon crawl.
I moved forward beside Sofia.
Licorice floated along a little behind us.
"Gwah!?"
"Gyaoooon!?"
"Guh…"
It seemed like the dungeon had been left untouched for years, and as a result, the monsters had proliferated at an alarming rate.
Before we had even made it ten meters, monsters were attacking us from all directions, but we managed to fend them all off.
Sofia took care of about 80% of them, while I handled around 20%, I think?
My share was overwhelmingly small... but I wasn’t discouraged.
In the past, I wouldn’t have been able to defeat even 10% of them.
Now, I was able to manage 20%.
Yeah.
It might be a small improvement, but I can really feel myself growing. I’m happy to realize that.
"Still..."
Sofia moved as though dancing, dealing with the monsters.
She didn’t take a single hit, and instead, she landed critical blows on the monsters.
Her expression was a little weary.
"Aren’t there too many of them?"
"Yeah… It might be a little strange."
Monsters, like animals, reproduce.
So, if left unchecked, their numbers would naturally increase, but…
The question that lingered was, how were they getting their food?
Monsters need to eat to survive too.
Where did they find enough food to sustain this many?
I hadn’t heard of any attacks on the village… Hmm?
While pondering this, we continued to defeat the monsters and clear them out.
It took quite a bit of time, but I think we’ve cleared out most of the monsters on the first floor.
"Is this the end?"
"Please wait a moment."
Sofia closed her eyes to concentrate.
After a moment, she showed a bright expression.
"The evil presence has mostly disappeared. There might still be a little bit left, but for the most part, we can consider the first floor cleared."
"That’s a relief. Alright, let’s start our exploration from the first floor."
"I’d be really happy if we found the mithril quickly. I don’t want to be stuck sleeping in the dungeon like poor, it's too hard for cute little Licorice-chan."
"Let’s go already."
"Fugyaa!?"
Sofia grabbed Licorice and started dragging her along.
Lately, it seemed like Sofia had been treating Licorice even more roughly…?
But, it’s Licorice, so it can’t be helped, right?
While thinking that, we continued the search...
And then, I found it.
TL Note: Already?
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