The sixth floor of the Death Dungeon.
The enemies were Bad Shadows and Butterfly Shadows,
meaning flying types were swarming in large numbers.
“Ah, and their magic resistance is pretty strong too.”
It was only now that we all became busy,
with no time to babble about gas magic stones with physical attacks.
Natsu-nee, who was only supposed to observe, was also wagging her tail like a rabbit, finishing off any stragglers.
“Seriously, an assassin’s movements are incredible.”
But this wasn’t the time to be staring.
If I let my guard down, two Bad Shadows pounced on me!
“Uwah!”
At that moment, an Ent Succubus swung her arm and took them down!
She did it with her bare arms, without using weapons. There was a risk of her arms being absorbed, but she forcefully defeated them by turning her own arms into weapons before they could absorb her.
“Ah, thank you.”
“PLEASE BE CAREFUL.”
Was it because the Ent Succubus was tall that I was saved, or was it because I was short? In any case, I need to be careful about the shadows at my feet too.
“These shadows are shrunk to a perfect, compact size.”
After defeating them one after another,
and still managing to obtain a reasonable amount of gas magic stones,
Nina-san spoke up when we found the entrance to the seventh floor.
“Let’s go back!”
Yes, no one had any objections. We’d had enough.
Since Anju wasn’t here, we couldn’t use teleportation,
so we all decided it was time to retreat rather than push our luck.
“One, two, three… Yep, all 8 succubi are safe.”
Of course, the party members were too.
Nastasia-san was lying on her back in the rest area.
Nina-san was chugging water,
and Clarice-san was checking everyone for injuries.
“I’ve heard stories where people suddenly realize their arm is gone without even feeling pain. That’s how dangerous shadow-types can be.”
“Fuu, it’s getting tough even for us.”
“Yes, Nina-san. If Anju-chan were here, we probably could have managed a bit longer.”
“Natsu-nee, you worked hard too. As expected, you’re quite the figure around here.”
She was lying face down a little ways off.
Her tail was twitching, seeming to beckon.
Or maybe I was just imagining things. Was it just a fatigue spasm?
“My party would definitely have failed.”
Helen-san was using Goddess Succubus to heal everyone.
After a while, when everyone had calmed down, she expressed her thoughts anew.
“We really need to level up more.”
“Yes, and in terms of combat power too. I’m truly grateful we had Natsu-nee with us today.”
“It was a valuable experience for me too~”
“What do you think, Clarice?”
“Well, I’m still curious about how Houkra-sama actually obtained the gas magic stones.”
Is there still no clue about that?
“Ah, that’s right, Natsu-nee, you’ve met Houkra-san, haven’t you?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Did you notice anything about Houkra-san when he went to the Death Dungeon to fight shadows?”
She tilted her head slightly, deep in thought.
“Ah, speaking of which, he was going in and out of Lizard Village quite a bit.”
“Eh, with an invitation?”
“He said it was because he helped a lizardman who was injured.”
“So that’s another way to gain their trust.”
“Alright, I get it. When Anju returns, we’re going to Lizard Village.”
“Yes, we still have a little time.”
“Let’s head back to the Adventurer Guild for now. We need to sort out Natsu-nee’s share of the gas magic stones.”
Carried by the succubi, we flew to the Adventurer Guild.
After organizing the gas magic stones for now, we found we had 78 of them. Amazing!
“So, Natsu-nee’s share is 13.”
“Whoa! Thank you ♪”
“Then, let’s go to the reception.”
At the hero reception, we checked Nastasia-san’s level.
She was so amazing, she must have broken past level 50 already, right?
“Congratulations, Nastasia-san! You have reached level 43!”
Still, that’s incredible.
“At level 40, you learned the hero magic, Holy Ball! This is a projectile of light magic…”
Huh? While she was explaining, Natsu-nee discreetly handed me a piece of paper. What could it be?
“Th-this, this is—!!!”
I quickly put it away. I’ll look at it again later, but this—this is—!!
“An invitation to an inn that looks like a castle has arrived!!!”
“…And that’s why you should keep up the good work.”
“Yes, I’m approaching 50, which is a bit scary, but I’ll do my best.”
“Nastasia, you’ll be fine… What is it, Deles?”
Oh no, she noticed the note?!
“N-no, it’s just, when I reach level 50, it might be a problem if Anju-chan isn’t with me.”
“That’s true. We don’t know if it will happen tonight, though.”
And so, we parted ways with Natsu-nee.
“Please invite me again anytime. That’s all for today.”
Natsu-nee left the Adventurer Guild.
After such intense combat, she’d probably rest today,
or was she perhaps preparing for something…
“There’s still an hour and a half until I meet up with Anju. What should we do?”
…No one answered. Ah, was she asking me?
“Um, well, let me see.”
If it’s free time for everyone, I might just go according to the note?!
“…Clarice-san, what should we do?”
I should just toss it!
Ah, saying “what should we do” sounds so awkward!!
“Well, I want to go to the Church of the Goddess.”
“Then let’s rest for a bit. I’m going to the Lord’s estate.”
“Master, I’ll accompany you.” “Then me too.”
The two slaves seemed to be going with Nina-san.
“Deles, you’re doing that?”
“Ah, yes. Um, um, I…”
Thump thump thump thump!!
“W-well then…”
What will my decision be!
