Chapter 56

"Is it true that Ichino is a wanderer and that the experience points gained from the divine favor are twenty times normal..."

After I finished explaining to Caro, she repeated my explanation as if to digest it.

A wanderer—meaning a person from another world.

Regarding this, Caro didn't seem to have any particular aversion.

"Didn't you notice when you leveled up to 10 as a commoner by defeating Minotaurs?"

"At that time, I was so excited about the change in my job that I didn't think much about it."

"Yeah, I was also hyped up at that time."

While reflecting on what happened just the day before yesterday, I looked at the slime on the floor.

It was purple and jelly-like, but I definitely didn't want to touch it.

"I don't want to touch this with my bare hands."

"It's poison slime. When your Gatherer level goes up, you'll get a skill to pick it up with your bare hands, but for now, it's impossible."

Haru explained. Poison slime. Just the name sounds dangerous.

Apparently, there's a Gatherer skill called "Dangerous Item Collection" that allows you to safely collect dangerous items when they drop or are gathered.

"By the way, what happens if you touch it directly without the skill?"

"If you touch it directly, the poison will seep into your skin, and you'll be poisoned. Once poisoned, you can only be cured with a poison treatment potion or the Cure spell used by an Apprentice Mage. If you get poisoned here, you'll have to rush back to the village."

"Ah, so Cure is a spell that can cure poison."

It was a spell I had just learned, but it seemed to be useful right away.

I sat on the floor, opened my item bag, and took out an empty bottle that was left over from the potion I drank earlier and placed it on the floor.

Then, I spread my hands.

"Master, what are you doing!?"

Haru shouted, but I scooped up the poison slime with both hands and poured it into the empty bottle.

Collection complete.

Then, my hands started to tingle.

Looking closely, my hands were turning purple. If this was a symptom of the poison, it was quite serious.

"Hurry and treat it! Let's go back to the village!"

"Don't panic, Cure!"

My hand was enveloped in a pale yellow light.

[Ichino's level has increased]

Using the recovery spell raised the level of the Apprentice Mage to 11.

The treatment was successful.

Since I was treated immediately, my HP didn't decrease.

I securely capped the bottle and put it in the item bag.

"Master, please don't take such risks."

"It's not a risk. Rather, if I don't test it here, I might not be able to treat myself if I get poisoned deeper in the dungeon, which would be a problem."

"Well, at least let me do it for you."

"Hehe."

I laughed and brushed it off.

If I had to make Haru do it, I wouldn't have tried to pick up the poison slime in the first place.

"Anyway, this was just an experiment. I promise not to do such risky things again."

"Absolutely."

Yeah, I can't promise that.

I changed Caro's job from Farmer to Gatherer,

and we started walking deeper into the dungeon.

On the way, we defeated various monsters, including a spider with very long legs, a snake-like creature like a Tsuchinoko, and a scorpion.

"There are a lot of monsters with poison."

Items like spider silk, snake fangs, and scorpion stingers can be touched with bare hands, so there was no need for Cure.

Of course, there were also many monsters without poison, and we accumulated a decent amount of experience points.

Incidentally, I picked up most of the items. Only I can put items into the item bag, so if Haru or Caro picked them up, it would be a double effort.

They seem to understand this, but they also feel quite uncomfortable making me do the work of picking up items.

Incidentally, my level-ups are going quite smoothly.

First, the Apprentice Mage reached level 35 and learned the "Light Magic" skill, then at level 40, the "Dark Magic" skill, and the Apprentice Mage maxed out. I also got the title of the ultimate Apprentice Mage, but I don't really understand what it means.

The Mage level reached 25, and the Lightning Magic skill became Lightning Magic II. Since both the Mage and Swordsman levels were over 25, I obtained the job of Magic Swordsman, which appeals to my middle schooler heart. The Apprentice Alchemist reached level 20, and I obtained a recipe, and the Alchemist job was unlocked.

The Apprentice Mage level reached 16, and I obtained the Mace Equipment skill.

Finally—though I should have mentioned it first—the Unemployed level reached 75.

For now, I changed the Apprentice Mage to an Alchemist, and then I reached the boss room.

"Thanks to Haru."

I smiled and said that.

The time to reach the top floor was significantly shortened.

"The monsters in this dungeon mostly had poison, so the smell was unique."

Yes, Haru guided us to places with smells of monsters she had never smelled before.

And most of those smells came from monsters on other floors—meaning the upper floors.

"The boss here is a three-headed snake."

"A three-headed snake...?"

The final monster still seems to have poison.

"It apparently breathes poisonous gas from its mouth, so if you can defeat it from a distance in a short time—well, that doesn't apply to you, Master."

"Yes, it doesn't apply to Ichino."

"Can you stop saying it like that?"

I opened the door to the boss room with a sigh.

A large room. In the center, there it was.

A giant snake.

Its body split into three, and three heads opened their mouths.

It had a fierce look.

A three-headed snake—like a Hydra.

A Hydra has nine heads.

If it's not a Hydra, is it a King Ghidorah?

It doesn't have wings, and its color is purple, not gold.

The three-headed snake opened its large mouth.

I could see purple gas inside.

It seems ready to breathe poison.

"Fire! Wind!"

I cast the fire and wind spells simultaneously.

The wind formed a tornado, which enveloped the fire, creating a fire tornado that blew away the poison breath and swallowed the three-headed snake.

And—

[Ichino's level has increased]

[Apprentice Mage skill: Magic Defense Boost (Minor) obtained]

[Job: Mage unlocked]

[Alchemist skill: Alchemy upgraded to Alchemy II]

[Recipe obtained]

...Indeed, the strategy Haru and Caro mentioned was irrelevant.

The three-headed snake disappeared, leaving behind a large magic stone and, strangely, a golden snake skin, even though it was purple.

Was it actually a King Ghidorah?

"It really ended in an instant..."

"...Is it really okay for Caro to gain experience from this?"

They were both stunned.

Well, I also wonder if it's really okay for me to grow so easily.

For now, I stored the snake skin and magic stone in the item bag.

"Still, Ichino is impressive. Is that thanks to the Unemployed skill?"

"Yeah, it's thanks to being Unemployed."

Thanks to being Unemployed, I became this strong.

Yeah, long live Unemployment! Unemployment is the best! Saying it feels hollow.

"Of course. Normally, you can only use one type of magic at a time."

—Huh?

Caro, what did you just say?

Just as I thought that, a door behind the boss room, leading to a statue of a goddess, opened.