Chapter 107: Giant Hunting

“You two, wake up now. It’s time to move.”

I barely opened my eyes at Raphael’s voice. I still wanted to sleep more, but you can’t oversleep in the labyrinth.

Above all, the porter responsible for breakfast must wake up in sync with the companions’ rising time.

“Raphael-ssi. Do you know how long it’s been since we entered the central district?”

“I don’t know either. I just woke up too.”

“I see…”

Raphael said that the Saint seemed to have stayed up all night alone without waking the night watch.

Thanks to that, everyone’s fatigue had been somewhat relieved. The Saint appeared to have spent time meditating alone.

She says enormous divine power is needed to deliver one big hit.

“By the way, you two. You’ve gotten quite close.”

“Yes. Well, being together constantly…”

“I’ve never seen Rosie cling to a man like that. She must like you quite a bit.”

“Raphael..! What are you saying!”

“Hahaha. Why are you getting angry, Rosie? Huhuhu. The little one is looking for a man now that she’s of marriageable age.”

“….”

As Raphael teased her, Rosie blushed.

Then Raphael, who was laughing while teasing Rosie, told an interesting story.

“Hey Porter, did you know? This one, when she was young, she always used to charge at me.”

“She charged at you, Raphael-ssi? Really?”

“Raphael..! Please, not the childhood stories..”

“What do you mean ‘please’? Hahaha. This one had such a fiery temper when she was young. Such a small build but so feisty. She always kept charging at me even though she got beaten up every time.”

“Ugh..”

Rosie, embarrassed, covered her face and lowered her head.

“I, I’ll go prepare too.”

Then she hurriedly left, saying she needed to put on her armor.

She has a cute side.

“Huhu. Did she confess to you first?”

“Ah, well. Haha.”

“She’s an honest child. A serious one too. She’ll be reliable.”

“She certainly seems so.”

“Treat her well. It’s hard to find a woman like that outside.”

“Yes. Thank you for the advice.”

“It’s nothing. That one is like a little sister to me. I hope things work out well. As a spatial pocket holder, you should earn good money. You won’t have to struggle with poverty and destitution. Haha.”

Raphael briefly made a sad expression as if recalling some past moment, then looked at Rosie fondly. Then he nodded as if understanding something.

“Now you prepare too. The Saint said we’re having a strategy meeting.”

“Yes. Thank you, Raphael.”

Raphael headed towards the bonfire in the central plaza.

Sasaro and Paramel had already woken up and were checking their equipment near the bonfire, and the Saint, who seemed not to have slept at all, was sitting in front of the bonfire chewing on dried beans with a blank look.

The tension was evident on the faces of my companions.

Today we have to hunt Quiklops, a mid-boss level monster from the 7th floor. It’s not just a 7th floor demon, but a mid-boss level demon. It’s natural to be tense.

Only the Saint seemed to have no thoughts at all.

“You’re up.”

“Ah, Halsi.”

As I was taking out food from my inventory to distribute to my companions, Helena approached.

“You two. How noisy you were, chattering for so long.”

“What? Don’t tell me you were listening to everything Rosie and I were saying?”

“It was interesting. Telling such stories to a virgin who knows nothing. Hahaha. You perverted scoundrel.”

“Damn it.”

Helena laughed as she tore into some jerky. This damn old hag was listening to everything.

It’s embarrassing, but what can I do about someone with good ears?

“Huhuhu. I’m enjoying this. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a party hunt like this.”

“What’s so enjoyable about going to hunt a giant? We might die.”

“Well, death has always been by my side, so I’m not afraid. I’m just happy. Going on a drive hunt with such young friends. It would be strange not to be happy. Don’t I seem younger too?”

“That’s a comment that shows your years of experience.”

“Well, I am actually quite old.”

She was busy giggling, looking around at the companions, finding something so amusing.

“What about Roy?”

“He woke up 4 hours ago and has been swinging his sword non-stop. He says the performance is much better than his previous body, and he might be able to overcome the gold badge barrier this time.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s what he said. It seems he wasn’t very fond of his original body. It must be joyful to think he’s completely broken through his own limits.”

“That’s true.”

Roy seems very satisfied with the heretic’s body.

‘I should start preparing too.’

The being we’re facing today is a monster on a different dimension from the heretics.

We have to catch the giant that crawled up from the 7th floor.

‘The one-eyed Quiklops.’

Wide-area fear effect targeting sentient beings, curses, and monstrous strength and undying vitality.

To kill it, we’ll have to use every means and method we have.

“The easiest method is to break its legs.”

Before entering the garden district, we had a strategy meeting. Saint Fria, who was staring at the bonfire, emphasized that we need to break the giant’s legs.

“We should mainly aim for the ankles, right?”

“Yes. But it won’t wait for bugs to approach its ankles. Unless you can hide well enough to avoid its eye or the bait can definitely draw its aggro, you’ll definitely be crushed to death if you enter its attack range.”

“Are you saying ranged attacks are the only answer?”

“Ranged attacks aren’t the answer either. Most arrows can’t penetrate its skin, and even if they do, it’s hard to inflict a big wound. And if we try to tear it apart with magic, giants are famous for their disgustingly high magic resistance.”

“This is driving me crazy.”

Sasaro sighed and covered his face with his hands. He must be thinking what a predicament this is in his later years.

“Actually, the best weapons for dealing with giants are siege weapons.”

“Siege weapons?”

“Yes. That’s what was written in the documents I read…”

Paramel, recalling his memory, explained the most effective way to hunt giants.

If you deal with giants as if attacking a castle with siege weapons, you can reduce human casualties.

“The important thing is that we can’t bring siege weapons into the labyrinth…”

“It’s impossible by normal methods.”

But I can do it.

Here, we were divided into two opinions.

First, we find a way to attack the giant on our own as much as possible.

Second, we bring siege weapons down and deal with it.

“The problem is whether we can prepare siege weapons right away or not.”

“Labyrinth City is far from war. There’s no reason to make and keep siege weapons.”

“If we unleash about three platinum badge adventurers, they themselves are siege weapons.”

“Then wouldn’t it be faster to just bring down platinum badge holders?”

“Among the current generation of platinum badge holders, the only ‘normal’ ones are all retired. They won’t try to enter the labyrinth again.”

“In the end, we have to catch the giant on our own. If we drag on too long, we don’t know what tricks the Black Saint might pull.”

The Saint made the conclusion.

We certainly had to deal with the giant quickly and decisively.

If we waste more time and the Black Saint and Yeti tribe chief manage to tame the giant, it would be a disaster.

“Raphael and I will attack the giant’s legs. Paramel, support Raphael with all your power. Sasaro and Roy, take care of the trolls and heretics that might be nearby.”

“Yes, Saint.”

The Saint would break the right leg. Raphael and Paramel would break the left leg.

Sasaro and Roy would handle all enemies except the giant.

Rosie would do her best to protect me.

“Halsi. How skilled are you in magic?”

“Me? Well, I can do pretty much anything moderately well.”

“So, how far can you go?”

“Hmm. What kind of magic do you want?”

“Magic that can destroy the giant’s eye.”

“There are about 7 types of magic that can destroy the eye in one hit. Of course, this body lacks magical power, so I’d collapse right after destroying the eye.”

“….What?”

The Saint looked at Helena as if she was saying something crazy.

“Porter-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“Is this person perhaps a braggart? Being able to use 7 9th tier magic spells… That means her magic skills are superior to the Tower Master’s?”

“Uh, well. It should be possible.”

“Can I believe this?”

“Yes. You can believe it.”

“Huh. This is ridiculous. To think you put a platinum badge soul in a heretic’s body. The difficulty level will drop sharply.”

The Saint grinned.

We have two definite platinum badge holders and four platinum badge-level inquisitors.

Furthermore, we have one enthusiastic swordsman who’s only silver badge but…

“And we have a porter with scrolls.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You have a role too. You’ve already done the work of 10 people just by making a platinum badge-level magician our ally. But still, if the situation goes awry, we’ll have to rely on your scrolls.”

“Ah…”

The three scrolls I have.

Spirit summoning, teleportation, object transfer.

Using spirit summoning against a giant would be meaningless.

The scrolls the Saint is talking about must be teleportation and object transfer.

“If the situation goes wrong, struggle to the utmost to kill the giant.”

“Will I… be able to do that?”

“By the time you move, I’ll probably be half dead, and the rest of the companions won’t be in a normal state either. You kill the giant, recover our corpses, and escape the labyrinth.”

“…Crazy.”

“Ah, of course, with me and Halsi here, there shouldn’t be much to worry about. It’s just assuming the worst-case scenario, so don’t be too scared.”

“That’s right! Don’t be scared. I’ll kill the giant.”

“Raphael.. your confidence is overflowing…”

“Paramel. You’re the one lacking motivation!”

Watching Raphael looking so confident, I somehow feel like things will work out well.

“Alright, let’s go then. We’ll probably have to run fast. Since the forest has been burned down, the giant will discover us more quickly.”

The garden district, which was once lush with trees and all kinds of plants, was now mostly burned, full of ashes and dust.

Since all the terrain features have been burned away, making cover impossible, it was better to run towards the giant as fast as possible.

If we’re too far, it will throw rocks or debris from collapsed buildings like catapults.

WHOOSH-!!!

“Damn it! It’s already flying at us!!!”

A boulder came flying.

The giant hunt has begun.