episode_0018

Walking, fighting, taking a brief rest, then walking and fighting again—for a whopping five hours.

The exploration of this underground level was now complete.

“Whew… looks like it’s getting dark outside….”

At the entrance leading down to the third floor, Bolton muttered these words while wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead.

This relentless battle seemed to have taken its toll on him.

“It’s wider than I thought.”

Amy’s response also carried the weight of fatigue.

Unlike warriors who were practically lifeless without their physical strength, it must have been quite demanding for priests or mages to endure this forced march.

Looking at both of them, it seemed even more challenging to continue fighting.

“Let’s stop here for today and investigate the third floor tomorrow.”

We need some rest then. It would be better to venture into the underground third floor with our exhausted selves rather than hastening the clearance only to get caught up in a snag.

If luck wasn’t on our side, someone might end up losing their life.

There’s a saying that goes, “Those who leave first will arrive fifty years earlier.” It wasn’t just a proverb used when driving.

“That sounds good.”

“I agree. We’re running low on usable spells anyway.”

Bolton and Amy seemed to nod in agreement, breathing out sighs of relief.

Despite their hesitant stance, it seemed they were silently pleading to take a break, but they couldn’t bring themselves to voice it.

“Already going to sleep? Human sleep is too swift!”

Kikel’s response was somewhat disappointed. He felt he still had a long way to go before feeling tired, yet we were already preparing to camp.

It was slightly amusing.

It seemed as though he was debating whether to choose between a deep sleep or a light one if his cloak were stolen.

“We need to rest. We easily cleared the first floor, but this one was a bit more troublesome, right? So, the third floor will likely pose an even greater challenge.”

I explained the reason to Kikel.

“So, we should be fully prepared for anything.”

With a few exceptions, dungeons tend to become more difficult the further you descend. This place was likely no different.

Just before descending to the next level, it was always common sense to take sufficient rest. That was the norm for dungeon exploration.

◆◆

And so, with the entrance to the underground third floor right before us, we began preparing for our camp.

Preparing for camping wasn’t anything grand. It was just a matter of roughly tidying up the surroundings, having a simple meal, using a cloak as a sleeping bag, and then lying down. For long or outdoor missions, one would prepare a proper sleeping bag, but it was rare for someone to bring one for a lower-level dungeon dive. That’s all about the baggage. Carrying cooking utensils, preserved food, and even a sleeping bag is not much different from carrying a military backpack… Who do you think would fight better between someone who carries that kind of load and someone who doesn’t? The weight of the baggage itself isn’t much, but the very act of strapping something onto your back is absurdly cumbersome. Therefore, for adventurers, a sleeping bag was nothing more than a luxury item. There are people called “porters” who carry such baggage instead… Knowing that this world is a fictional world, the occupation of a porter was my number one aversion. Why, you ask? Well, because I am a former warrior party member. A former warrior party member and a porter in a shabby novel. Just hearing about it gives off an uncomfortable feeling. It’s too scary to employ them. After all, the porters in a warrior party are people who wouldn’t seem out of place carrying brainwashing apps. If I were to bring those people into the party, I would end up experiencing things that couldn’t even be described in an all-ages novel. …Well, for that reason, I avoided porters. As a result, it was extremely rare for me to lie down in a sleeping bag… But well, that’s just how it is, and there’s no point in feeling unjust about it since other adventurers are in similar situations. “Hey, am I the only one who brought a sleeping bag?” “Oh, I have one too. It’s a bit worn out though.” Of course, this is a story limited to warriors for whom speed and stamina are practically their lifelines. Priests and mages who just cast spells from behind have no problem even if their luggage is a bit heavy, so they tend to carefully and thriftily take care of my belongings. …Am I being taken advantage of here because I’m a warrior? ◆◆ After filling our stomachs with dried meat, we found a corner in the dungeon corridor to make our beds. “What about the watch?” “Not necessary. I have a warning spell, so if I lay it out before sleep, it’ll hold until tomorrow morning.”

Amy proved the excellence of a magician.

The spell of warmth.

Among the reasons why magicians are admired by adventurers, this spell ensures a comfortable sleep by eliminating the need for a campfire.

“We’ll be fine, but what about Kikel… Should we light a bonfire or something?”

Bolton, laying out sleeping bags on the ground, glanced briefly at Kikel and said, with an expression that seemed to suggest, “Isn’t he going to freeze to death while he’s asleep?”

“Here? That’s awkward.”

It was an embarrassing suggestion.

“They say you can just pick up a shield or spear to burn, but… it’s also a hassle to keep it from going out.”

Because a campfire isn’t something you can just stick in the ground like in a game and have it blaze for six hours.

“It’s okay!”

Kikel nodded.

“Just hug Bolton and sleep!”

He proposed this bizarre solution as if it were the answer to everything.

“…What?”

Bolton asked in disbelief.

“What on earth…?”

His face showed that he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It was the expression of a pope denying a celestial phenomenon.

◆◆

After much struggle, Bolton and Kikel reached a dramatic agreement: they would sleep huddled together.

For Bolton, it was an unavoidable situation. If they lit a campfire, a third of their sleep time would be lost to fire management, and yet, as a clergyman, he couldn’t just abandon Kikel. Moreover, despite being a lizard, Kikel was undeniably male, so he couldn’t even ask Nana or Amy to cuddle with him.

So, what choice did he have? He had no choice but to close his eyes and make the sacrifice.

“Hoo…”

With a face resembling Jesus climbing Golgotha, Bolton walked over to Kikel, laid down beside him, and quietly lay inside the sleeping bag.

“Come in here. It’s warmer!”

Kikel, who had been lying down with his eyes closed, spread his fur cloak and suggested that Bolton come inside.

Certainly, it would be a bit warmer. As long as he could bear the discomfort.

“Well, that’s a bit… I’ll pass.”

Of course, Bolton refused Kikel’s kindness in a very disgusted tone. His face clearly showed that he was uncomfortable just lying next to him, let alone sharing a blanket.

I sat near Amy, watching the village play, leaning against the wall with my cloak draped over me like a blanket.

“Are you planning to sleep like that?” Amy asked as she tucked herself into her sleeping bag.

Well, I couldn’t blame her for being surprised. After all, it must have looked uncomfortable to anyone else, sitting there trying to sleep without even taking off my armor, let alone my helmet.

“This is comfortable for me.”

But from my perspective, this was a much more comfortable position. If I lay down on the ground with my helmet on, I wouldn’t be able to sleep comfortably at all.

Plus, if someone were to attack me, I could jump up and respond immediately.

Of course, when I returned to the inn’s bedroom, I would take off my armor and lie down on the bed to sleep, but when camping, sitting and sleeping was the best option since I couldn’t take off my helmet.

“It does seem quite comfortable. If you don’t want to lie on the bare ground, should I lend you my sleeping bag? It’s actually quite spacious inside. Enough for two people…”

Amy chuckled and slightly opened the entrance of her sleeping bag, saying it was okay to share if I wanted.

It wasn’t the first time I had heard such an offer. Most of the female adventurers I had met until now had made similar offers after seeing me sleep.

It seemed like women had no qualms about sharing a sleeping bag. Unlike the guys who were disgusted just by sleeping close together, like Bolton and Kikel.

Maybe it was because their race was used to going to the bathroom holding hands?

As someone who had originally been a man, it was a mentality that was hard for me to understand.

“I’ll just take it as a kind gesture.”

Of course, I had never accepted such an offer. As someone possessing a man’s spirit, it was not right for me to take advantage of the kindness of those who thought of me as a woman…

…It wasn’t for some sentimental reason like that.

“If I take off my armor and helmet, I can’t sleep due to tension.”

If I were to get into the same sleeping bag to sleep, I would inevitably have to remove my armor. So, it was an offer I couldn’t accept.

At least until Lady Brunhilda, the lord here, was completely forgotten by people.

“I wonder how much suffering she went through…”

Was the excuse I threw out to avoid further discussion.

Amy looked at me with a gaze resembling that of a hungry puppy, exhaling a shallow sigh as she firmly closed the saliva-stained pouch.

That’s how we slept. Roughly about seven hours.

There was no need to wake up in the middle, and it wasn’t that cold, so it was quite a pleasant sleep for camping.

“…No, Mr. Kikel. Don’t stick so close…!”

“Gag…Gaa…Grrrr….”

“Oh, Elianelle… Why must I endure such a trial…!”

…Or not?

◆◆

The next morning.

After having a meal in silence and spending about thirty minutes on personal maintenance, dealing with ‘menstrual issues’ and the like, we finally made our way down to the third underground floor.

“The flow of magic has intensified… I thought it would be around the fifth floor, but it’s surprisingly shallow.”

Amy, who had been wandering around since coming down to the third floor, declared confidently that this dungeon would end on the third floor.

It was a welcome sound to hear.

“Kra…Nariik….”

…Five minutes later, the visitors who arrived weren’t particularly welcome.

“Kao Lahrk…!”

Monsters crawled around us with a leisurely attitude, as if they hadn’t yet discovered us.

Unlike the skeletons that elicited involuntary admiration, these creatures boasted such repulsive appearances that one could feel nauseated just by looking at them.

Half-rotten skin teeming with maggots.

Their jaws were wide open, extending backward over their necks, and inside the gaping throat holes, huge snails writhed.

Their arms twisted and elongated like locust legs supported a torso where the ribs were exposed, while their legs were merged into one like a scorpion’s tail, coiled forward.

Crawling on all fours in such a manner, it was so grotesque that it was almost macabre.

“…Isn’t that a Wight?”

“It seems so…?”

Amy nodded.

“Wow, seeing so many Wights here….”

I exhaled a deep sigh.

To have Wights popping out from the beginning, it seemed like a tough road lay ahead.