Chapter 41

Even so, the growth of the commoner's status is very poor.

Even though I've leveled up to over level 30, the rate of status growth seems less than when I went from level 20 to 30. Well, since I have level 70, I'm quite strong, but this is probably the limit of a commoner.

I decided to change my job to a balanced type: Unemployed, Swordsman, Apprentice Mage, Mage, and Fighter.

At the casino, in addition to items, you can also exchange medals for food and bento, so I bought dinner with the leftover medals, and we walked toward the dungeon.

The eldest son of the baron's family, Oregairu, hasn't returned after going east, according to the smell, but he's not nearby.

However, since the west wind is blowing, we are upwind, so his exact location is unknown.

Well, even if we enter the dungeon, there are many places to hide, so we probably won't run into Oregairu even if he's in there. Thinking that, we headed east.

"Trouble! Monsters are coming toward the town!"

"It's a Woolworm swarm! The wall is going to be broken, call the guards! Those who can fight, head east!"

A swarm of monsters!?

Haru and I looked at each other, nodded, and ran east.

We found what seemed to be the entrance to the dungeon, a staircase, but we passed it and climbed a ladder on a stone wall.

There, I saw hundreds of caterpillars, about the size of medium dogs.

These caterpillars were spinning threads to create a path up the wall.

A few adventurers and men who looked like soldiers were fighting, but things didn't look good.

There were also adventurers on the wall, stabbing and killing the climbing caterpillars, but at this rate, the monsters would definitely enter the town.

Without hesitation, I jumped down from the wall and used a "Slash" to cut two caterpillars that were spinning threads.

The heads of the caterpillars exploded, and green slime splattered everywhere.

I found an adventurer surrounded by caterpillars, and I cast a "Petit Fire" at them, then drew the steel sword from my waist. I have the skill for dual-wielding, but I find it easier to fight with one sword.

Glancing at Haru, she was not only skillfully wielding two swords, a Fire Dragon Fang and a short sword, but also using the Fire Dragon Fang's ability to turn physical attacks into fire, casting fireballs at caterpillars far enough away that the fire wouldn't spread to the forest.

Using swords while casting magic requires incredible judgment and technique.

I'll take them down one by one.

Some of the caterpillars surrounding the adventurer were killed by "Petit Fire," but there were still many.

I approached the caterpillars and used a spinning slash. The lower-cutting spinning slash caused the caterpillars to spew green bodily fluids and fall. The slime stuck to my face, and I really wanted to take a bath right away.

"Hey, sir."

The voice came from the adventurer I had helped. Looking closely, it was the adventurer who had tried to take the Brown Bear from us yesterday. He had an injury on his leg—

"...I shouldn't have helped you."

I muttered honestly.

"Come on, sir! But with you here, it's like having a hundred men!"

"More importantly, what's going on here?"

While slashing the Woolworms with my sword, I asked what had happened.

"I don't know, the Woolworms suddenly attacked. We were on our way to the dungeon... Woolworms are monsters that spin thread like yarn. They usually don't leave their nests and don't attack people. Humans take old nests and use them as a substitute for wool."

I see, that's why they're called Woolworms.

"So, the Woolworms suddenly went berserk... Petit Stone... and you don't know why?"

I said, hitting the Woolworms climbing the wall with earth magic. Since there were adventurers and soldiers gathering on the wall, it seemed they wouldn't be able to climb over.

Just then, the Woolworms stopped moving and fled into the forest. Did they realize they couldn't win?

[Ichinoshou's level has increased]

[Apprentice Mage Skill: Learned Healing Magic]

[Fighter Skill: Fist Attack has upgraded to Fist Attack II]

Oh, I learned healing magic. Apprentice Mage level 7.

The magic I learned is Petit Heal... Yeah, I'll try it out.

"Hey, don't move."

Sheathing my sword, I approached the man with the injured leg.

"Petit Heal!"

I cast the spell.

A faint light came from my hand. Applying the light to the wound, it gradually closed, and after ten seconds, the wound was completely gone.

Petit Heal can't be used on people far away, it heals faster than a potion but not instantly, and it can't heal a wide area... Got it.

[Ichinoshou's level has increased]

Oh, another level up for Apprentice Mage. Level 8.

"Wow, I've never seen healing magic before, and it worked so quickly... No, wait, sir, you can use healing magic! Could you be a noble!?"

"Of course not... Why would a noble be able to use healing magic?"

"Sir, don't you know? Many nobles can use healing magic."

I didn't know that.

Well, nobles have money, so they can pay a lot of taxes after becoming a commoner, raise their commoner level, and become an Apprentice Mage. And to use healing magic, they need to pay a lot of money, so the gap between the rich and the poor will only widen.

The gap in society is scary.

Speaking of nobles, Oregairu, did he go to the dungeon after all?

We didn't run into him on the way here.

"Sir, are you alright?"

"Yeah, how about you, Haru?"

"Thanks to the wind brooch you gave me, I don't have a scratch."

"I see..."

But Haru's hair is quite dirty.

I need to clean it soon.

"Hey, there was a bucket of water on the wall, right? Can you lend me one? I'll provide the water, just throw the bucket down."

I asked the adventurer on the wall, who probably had the bucket for fire extinguishing, to lend it to me.

The adventurer threw the bucket without hesitation.

"Petit Water"

I cast the spell, sending a ball of water upward.

The ball of water, unable to defy gravity, fell.

"Petit Fire"

The fire hit the water.

Even at high temperatures, it was just for a moment, so the water didn't evaporate and fell.

[Ichinoshou's level has increased]

[Mage Skill: Wind Magic has upgraded to Wind Magic II]

Oh, lucky level up. I learned the Wind spell.

The water collected in the bucket, though about half of it spilled out.

"It's a bit warm, but it's better than just water... Haru, here's a towel. Clean your hair and face, and any other gross spots. I'll clean myself too."

"Thank you, sir."

We wiped off the green slime with towels.

I need to clean my armor and sword later.

"Sir, can I use it too?"

"You're last."

"Last is fine. Thank you."

As we wiped off the green slime, the adventurers came down from the wall and collected the fallen Woolworms.

Dissecting Woolworms is different from regular monsters, as the thread needs to be extracted. The Spinning Guild usually does this.

In addition to the money from selling the Woolworms, the town will give a reward, which will be distributed to everyone who participated in the battle. We were told that the ten people, including me and Haru, who fought on the ground would receive a larger share.

Normally, in large-scale party battles, non-adventurers like me wouldn't receive monster-hunting rewards, only the rewards for selling the monsters they hunted themselves. But since I was part of Haru's party, she would receive the reward for my share. The system is tough for the unemployed, it seems.

Well, it's rare for non-adventurers and non-soldiers to fight monsters, so there haven't been many complaints about this system.

When I explained that I wasn't an adventurer, a man next to me said, "What, sir isn't an adventurer? You must be a noble in disguise," but I ignored him.

"Still, why did the monsters attack...?"

When I muttered this, I had a thought.

"Haru! Do you remember the smell of Caro!?"

"...Yes!"

Could it be that Caro was taken into the dungeon!?

If that's the case, her Seducer skill would have activated as soon as she entered the dungeon, and the pheromones from her body would have attracted the monsters. Could it be that the smell brought the monsters here?

And the monsters left because Caro left the dungeon, or because she went deep enough that the smell didn't reach outside.

If the latter is true, the same thing will happen again when Caro leaves the dungeon.

This point in my initial work, with the cheat code for my TUEEE otherworld journey, has surpassed my previous best evaluation. Thank you to everyone who bookmarked and rated it. Your reviews and comments are a great encouragement.

I hope you will continue to support me.