Chapter 54

Today, I was exploring the labyrinth.

It has been about two months since that duel. There are less than two weeks left until Anne's duel.

A week will be taken up by moving to the capital and preparations. In effect, we can only go on two more expeditions, including this one.

We are currently on the seventh floor underground, where we hardly see any explorers.

The seventh floor remains a lush, jungle-like field, just as it has always been.

"Kuna, Anne, let's be more cautious than usual. The monsters from the seventh floor onward are not only strong but also numerous."

In floors where no explorers are present, the number of monsters does not decrease, so the encounter rate is high.

The deeper the floor, the stronger the monsters become, and the more frequently they appear.

That's why high-ranking adventurers take on more risks and earn more rewards.

"I understand, Soji. But don't worry too much. There's no enemy that can stand up to the powered-up Kuna."

"Kuna, Soji is probably giving us a warning based on our growth, don't you think?"

Both of them were joking, but they were also very focused.

Until now, we had been stationed on the fourth floor underground, continuously hunting monsters on the fifth and sixth floors.

Their confidence must have grown from this experience.

Still, the danger level increases sharply from the seventh floor onward, and ideally, we wouldn't have come here until we reached Rank 2.

But we can't afford to wait. Anne is still at the top of Rank 1, and there's no time left before the duel to reach Rank 2.

The cause is clear. We've used a large amount of magic stones to raise the necessary "Dignity" to become Rank 2. What's lacking is the extreme combat that puts one's life on the line. Only then can the vessel to accept "Dignity" be completed, and one can become Rank 2. The method of forcibly raising "Dignity" by pouring in excessive magic stones would take too much time.

"Anne is right, even considering our current strength, it's dangerous. This is a goblin's nest. Do you remember the Slock Chimpas we fought before? They'll attack with even better coordination."

"Ugh, trauma."

Kuna recalled something unpleasant and her tail bristled.

Kuna, with her ears perked up, was on high alert. At this rate, we won't be caught off guard like last time.

We moved forward slowly and steadily.

"By the way, Soji, you seem to be in a strangely good mood today. Did something good happen?"

"...No, nothing."

That was a lie.

Today is the day for our regular acupuncture treatment, and by night, I can enjoy the two of them again.

"Soji's eyes, they're the eyes he gets when he's thinking about something naughty."

"Oh, it's the day for the acupuncture treatment."

The two of them realized the reason, which was rather sad. ...But they seem to have arrived at the right answer.

"I can feel how much stronger I've become from the acupuncture treatment, but it's embarrassing to be seen completely naked."

"Yes, it would be perfect if it weren't for that... I'm grateful that my magic has become much easier to use since Soji treated me."

Both of them were blushing, but Kuna, in particular, was blushing and hugging herself.

The acupuncture treatment is going well. The adjustment of the magic circuit is almost perfect.

What surprised me was the state of Kuna's magic circuit. It was in a terrible condition. It was a mess, with most of the main circuits out of function, and magic power was constantly leaking. She was using magic with the few, thin, and distorted sub-circuits that had survived.

Under normal circumstances, she would have been too weak to use magic, let alone survive. The fact that she could handle such powerful magic made me feel a chill.

As a result, it's taking longer than with Anne, but I can't even imagine how much power Kuna will have when she's fully healed.

"Kuna, have you ever let anyone else tamper with your magic circuit besides me?"

"You're being persistent. No, I don't have such a memory."

I asked because the way the circuits were damaged felt very deliberate.

Such severe damage could not have occurred naturally. Someone must have intentionally destroyed Kuna's magic circuit. But why?

"Soji, you look scary. Are you thinking of something bad again!? Are you going to do something even more embarrassing than before? I can't take any more embarrassing things."

She misinterpreted my serious consideration and raised her guard against me.

"Kuna, we've done this over ten times. You should get used to it by now."

"That's not the point. I lose consciousness every time because it feels so good, and that's scary."

Sensitive Kuna can't handle it and becomes extremely flustered each time, eventually passing out.

Her circuits are in worse condition than Anne's, so the treatment should be more painful, but it seems to be an accent that increases her pleasure.

"Are you afraid of feeling good?"

"No, it's not that. It's being naked and unconscious in front of Soji. ...If I suddenly got pregnant one day, I wouldn't be surprised. I would even accept that it's Soji's child."

"No, Kuna, you should be surprised! How much of a beast am I!?"

She says whatever she wants. She doesn't even know how hard my rationality is working every time.

I might touch or lick her while she's unconscious, but I'm not doing anything cruel. It's a terrible accusation.

"Don't you realize? The first time, I woke up in Soji's bed with my head on his arm. The moment I sat up, Soji put his hand on my shoulder and, with a smug look, sipped his tea and said, 'Kuna, last night was wonderful, wasn't it?' Can you imagine how I felt then!?"

"That's the first I've heard of it. Soji, even I can't defend that level of creepiness."

"...I admit it was wrong. I wanted to try a morning coffee once."

I watched Kuna all night with a cup of tea, just for that.

After that, Kuna slapped me with teary eyes, wrapped herself in the sheets, and ran away. She didn't speak to me properly until the misunderstanding was cleared up.

"Really, Soji, you'd be a great person if you didn't do unnecessary things and weren't so unfaithful."

Kuna puffed her cheeks and said.

Then, after saying it, her face turned red, and she waved her hands.

"Th-that, that was just a slip of the tongue. It's just a play on words. Soji, don't look at me with that smirking face."

"Okay, I understand. I get it, Kuna."

So, you think of me that way. It's cute how Kuna blushes and denies it.

"Kuna, it's good to be affectionate with Soji, but keep your guard up, okay?"

"Of course. I won't make the same mistake twice. I've developed a way to stay alert for monsters even while Soji is distracting me. I can see them. There are two small monsters hiding behind a tree 15 meters ahead."

"Good job, Kuna."

"Leave it to me, Anne. When they get a little closer, I'll surprise them with a counter-ambush."

Kuna walked confidently.

She seems to have grown. She was indeed using her body to sense the presence and detect magic power.

But she was still too lenient.

"Soji, they're close."

I walked behind Kuna, within reach. She kept glancing back at me, probably because her tail was about to hit me.

"There's a reason for it."

"...Ugh, Soji's serious eyes. Okay, I believe you."

Kuna regained her composure and walked straight. Her center of gravity shifted forward, and magic power gathered in her hands. She was in attack mode. Three more steps, and the line of sight to the monsters hiding behind the tree would be clear.

The moment Kuna was about to charge, I grabbed her collar. Kuna made a choking sound.

I had closed the distance for this very reason.

"Ugh... Soji, what are you doing all of a sudden!!"

"Kuna, monsters have intelligence too. Just following their presence is still too immature."

I said this and stabbed the ground in front of us with my spear. The ground collapsed.

A pit trap had been set.

Looking down, it was a hole about three meters deep, with two goblins, the size of children but emaciated with unnaturally swollen bellies, holding spears.

"Ugh!"

"Ugh!"

The goblins realized we had seen through their trap and let out strange cries.

If we hadn't noticed the trap, we would have fallen and lost our balance, and the two goblins would have skewered us.

"Monsters here!? [Flame Spear]!"

Kuna created a spear of flame and repeatedly struck the pit.

The goblins tried to escape through a side tunnel, but Kuna's [Flame Spear] was faster. It quickly pierced both of them.

"There's a side tunnel. There must be more of them. I'll burn them all. [Flame Storm]."

Then, she activated another spell. It was a powerful technique that took time to calculate. Thanks to her healing magic circuit, the leakage and loss of magic power were reduced, and she felt a surge of magic power that was incomparable to before.

Kuna thrust both arms forward and released a vortex of flames toward the pit.

The flames filled the pit and entered the side tunnel.

Twenty meters, thirty meters, fifty meters away, fire columns rose one after another. The flames, with no place to go, erupted from the exits of other pit traps.

There were probably multiple pit traps, and the goblins were moving through the side tunnels. The goblins on the surface were giving instructions to their underground companions to guide the prey into the trap. But this plan backfired against Kuna.

After a while, the torrent of flames finally subsided.

"This is the punishment for trying to trap me."

Kuna puffed out her chest with a smug look.

I lightly flicked her forehead.

"Soji, what are you doing?"

Kuna protested with teary eyes, holding her forehead.

"Kuna, you burned up all the magic stones, defeated enemies from which you can't recover magic stones, and let the goblins on the surface escape. Using so much magic for nothing is ridiculous."

The goblins Kuna had wiped out underground were probably burned along with their magic stones, and even if any remained, the goblin tunnels were too small for humans to retrieve them.

"Ah, I messed up. I got so angry that I forgot about the enemies behind the tree."

Kuna let out a silly voice.

"Well, while Kuna was focused on the pit, Anne circled around and attacked the enemies on the surface, so at least they were defeated."

In fact, I had anticipated this and instructed Anne to take out the goblins on the surface.

Thanks to that, we managed to secure two magic stones.

Looking in the direction where the goblins on the surface had been, Anne was extracting magic stones from the decapitated goblin corpses.

"Kuna's bad habit. Kuna is strong, but she tends to let her guard down. If she had been more careful, she would have noticed such a simple pit trap. The discolored soil, the unnatural break in the weeds, there were many signs."

"But I couldn't imagine that monsters would set such a trap."

"Kuna, if I weren't here, you would have died. From such a small goblin's trap. In the underground labyrinth, 'I couldn't imagine' is not an excuse. You have to consider all possibilities."

The deeper you go, the more malicious traps you'll encounter. Goblins are still relatively mild.

"...I'm sorry."

"Okay, try to learn from this next time."

Kuna will probably handle it properly next time.

After that, we hunted monsters until the sun began to set.

While hunting, I thought about how to get Anne to Rank 2.

But time passed without me coming up with a decisive method.