Chapter 83 \nChapter 83 – Let's Camp\n
「Hoi. Do you know what this is?」
With a click Kazane fastened the clasp.
「Uwaa, this is the thing we always use as a futon, right?」
Sieg looked at the Indestructible Cloak that Kazane fastened for him and happily shook it. The texture was very good, with better material than any cloak he had ever seen.
「Yeah, that's right. It's useful for things like breath attacks and magic. Physical attacks can't pierce it, so it's also reasonably effective against them. I think it's convenient that you can also camp and sleep at night without having to change anything.」
And Kazane prepared an Indestructible Cloak for Tatsuyoshi-kun. She decided to have it equip it by stuffing it under the helmet.
「Umu. Today I'm in great form.」
Zinray said. Although his appearance didn't change much from the 10 year rejuvenation, it seemed the「Panacea Drop」was as effective as expected.
「Zinray-kun, why not test your youth a bit with your Onee-san?」
Louise said「come on」and Zinray replied「I'm fine.」He could not make any more mistakes. However, Louise's eyes had changed into aiming at prey, and it was unknown if Zinray could protect himself in the future.
◎ Rock Hold Cave 6th Layer – Afternoon
「Starting today I think we will stay overnight in the dungeon. I don't want to feel as hurried as we were today to get here by this time.」
Kazane said while looking at the clock displayed in the Window.
「It's ok to not go and return, but you can't make a cottage inside the dungeon, right?」
Kazane nodded at Yumika's words.
「This place is quite narrow.」
「Well, once we go beyond the tenth layer there will be plenty of spacious locations where you can build, but there is also the possibility of monsters generating inside the cottage.」
When Zinray said so, Yumika made a「uwaa」face.
The monster generation process was similar to summoning, and the generation points were random. Their security wasn't guaranteed even if they were inside the cottage.
「What is usually done?」\n
「Because monsters don't appear in discovered hidden rooms it's common to rest there.」
Louise answered Kazane's question.
「Ah, that's why discovered hidden rooms are marked on the dungeon map.」
Yumika was examining the map as she listened.
「That's right. When inside a hidden room only the entrance needs to be guarded. 」
「If I use Nurikabe-kun I could block the entrance as well.」
「That is certainly so. Well, a guard should be posted anyway just in case.」
「Ummm」
Sieg raised his hand and interrupted Kazane and the others' conversation.
「What is it, Sieg-sama?」
「I was just wondering why we aren't using Hippo-kun to travel?」
「Because horses are unsuitable for travelling inside a dungeon … mm, but, wouldn't there be no problem with those stone horses?」
Zinray made an「oh」face while he talked. Hippo-kun was certainly an inanimate object, so it wouldn't be frightened by monsters and could push through without a road in places like the forest. It felt like there was no reason why they couldn't ride it inside the dungeon.
「Well, that's right. That certainly may have been a blind spot. Sieg, you noticed that well.」
Sieg was embarrassed when he was praised by Kazane. On the other side Tiara grumbled「if only I had said that.」Tiara was starting to feel that recently her turn had been coming up less often than the days she had competed against Yumika.
「But I wonder if we should only use them for return trips. I'm uncertain about using them on roads we haven't been down, since even though we haven't encountered any so far there are traps, right?
「There are. Don't ask me why there are.」
「For now we'll use them for the return trip and see their usability.」
Everyone nodded at Kazane's words, and they continued advancing.
They encountered 10 Worker Ants and 6 Dart Boars on the way and easily repelled them. They were not strong opponents for Kazane's experienced party, and they quickly descended through the seventh, eighth, and ninth layer, and reached the tenth layer without pausing.
◎ Rock Hold Cave Tenth Layer – Evening \n「Hmm. Will it be nighttime soon?」
The ceiling had the appearance of the sky, and Zinray muttered when he saw it turning darker.
「It seems like we can advance a bit further, but will everyone reach their limit soon?」
Kazane turned around and checked everyone's condition. Louise, Zinray, and Yumika could go further, but Tiara and Sieg were sinking to the floor. They were also fatigued from their low ability and their lack of practice in dungeon conquering, but the main reason was that the constant pace was too hard on them.
「Well, it's dangerous to look for a camping spot after dark.」
「Then let's go to a hidden room. Where is the nearest one, I wonder.」
By the way, Kazane had not found any hidden rooms on the way here. They advanced using the dungeon map to find the shortest path, since her Intuition didn't seem to work unless she had visited a location with her own feet.
「Oh, it looks like there's a group already there.」
「Oh?」
When they got close to the hidden room Kazane noticed there was another party ahead of them.
「It's an unknown scent. They seem to have a female human with them, though.」
「Well, they are fellow travelers. Don't be rude to them.」
「Eh? Why say such a thing?」
Kazane was not really the type to pick a fight, but Zinray seemed to be under the impression that she was dangerous. Perhaps it was due to the door washing incident?
And when Kazane and the others entered the hidden room, there were two Lizardman warriors, a female wizard, and a male healer.
「Oh, are you the rumored child that beat the Guardian Beast to death?」
「Is that false rumor still spreading!?」
Kazane's eyes filled with tears and everyone laughed. The dialogue with the Lizardman warriors was more pleasant than she had imagined, and Kazane immediately warmed up to them. The Lizardman party was also surprised when Kazane blocked the entrance with Nurikabe-kun, but they thanked her for defending against monster invasion, though they would still take turns keeping watch.
And in the morning, Kazane and the others planned to advance deeper. The Lizardman party said they planned to explore this layer, so they made plans to meet up again on the surface and then parted in front of the hidden room.\n\n「This is also a path traveled by adventurers.」
Zinray said, but he crushed the emotions he was feeling and wore an expressionless face. Kazane and the others were wrapped with the aftertaste of unpleasant emotions as they stayed overnight in the hidden room in the tenth layer. They returned to the surface the next day.
On the way back Kazane handed the guild cards of the dead adventurers over to the administrator and observed his dreary face.
(I guess this person always has to think about such things)
With that feeling she was able to settle her own heart.
Name: Yuihama Kazane
Occupation: Magic Swordswoman
Title: Ogre Killer
Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Two Handed Sword『Black Fang』, Silver Breastplate, Silver Gauntlets, Silver Sheep Clothes, Carapace Bull Trousers, Berserk Ogre Greaves, Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, War Spirit Summoning Ring
Level : 25
Health: 85
Magic Power: 143+300
Strength: 42
Agility: 33
Endurance: 24
Wisdom : 43
Dexterity : 27
Spell : 『Fly』 『Torch』 『Fire』 『Heal』『Firestorm』
Skill : 『Warrior's Memory』 『Night Vision』 『Crushing Blow』 『Dog’s Sense of Smell』 『Golem Maker: Lv2』 『Rush』 『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』 『Healing Principle: Second Chapter』 『Air Jump: Lv2』 『Killing Leg』 『Fear Voice』 『Invisible』 『Tiger Eye』 『Wall Walking』 『Intuition』 『Cheat Death』 『Nimble』『Charge』『Material Shield』『Information Link』
Yumika:「It's good that we were able to save Tiara at that time.」
Kazane:「Yeah.」