Chapter 33

In the fifth floor of the Tenshiba Dungeon, I was accompanying Milk as she leveled up.

I guided her using my presence detection.

If the monsters that appeared were goblins or lizardmen, I would defeat them with my blunt sword, and if it was a cube, I would leave it to Milk.

The experience points from cubes are higher than those from goblins or lizardmen, so Milk should be getting more experience points than I am.

Although I'm moving around busily, it feels a bit boring to me since I'm used to the five times higher spawn rate in the private dungeon.

Milk, dressed in sports wear, extended her hand forward,

"Release: Fire Bullet"

Milk used magic. The fire bullet hit the cube directly.

Milk can use fire magic, earth magic, and combined fire and earth magic, but she seems to be focusing on fire magic right now.

Probably because it's easier to learn support magic with fire magic than with earth magic.

Although it's a weak magic, it consumes less mana, but after using it multiple times, her mana seemed to be running out, and she started fighting with a crossbow in the second half.

The sub-space arrow quiver provided by the princess seems to be coming in handy.

However, since arrows are not cheap, she can't waste them.

She recovers and reuses the arrows if they are not broken.

The next one that appeared was a goblin.

"Sure-hit Sword"

I immediately defeated it.

Yeah, goblins are just rust on the sword.

Well, when monsters are defeated, the blood and other things disappear immediately, so they don't cause rust.

"Taiya, you've really gotten stronger, haven't you? The way you level up --"

"Yeah, it's a method that no one else can use."

"You won't tell me the details, huh?"

"I'm not doing anything illegal."

"You've always been like that, Taiya. Even when we made the secret base, you never told us where it was, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

When we were kids, we often played up to the Nara Mountains and made a secret base there.

I intended to complete it and surprise Milk.

My goal was to build something like a treehouse, but what I ended up with was a creepy art piece.

I couldn't show such a thing to Milk, so the secret remained a secret.

You're digging up my black history.

"No, I think you haven't changed much, Taiya."

"You've changed, right? You grew a lot in high school."

"Yeah, you're about 170 cm tall, right?"

"172. I'm about 1 cm taller than the national average. Milk hasn't changed much, has she?"

"Ayame is a bit taller, but you're bigger than the princess, right?"

"That's a different level. She's probably around 140 cm tall. I think she weighs about 35 kg."

"Don't talk about a girl's weight. That's the kind of insensitivity that hasn't changed."

"Is it bad to be light?"

"Yeah, it's bad."

It's complicated.

But this feeling is nostalgic.

And we continued to defeat cubes in the dungeon.

Milk's level seems to have risen to 11.

I'm starting to find it difficult to level up on this floor.

I want to go to the seventh floor soon.

And before we knew it, today's exploration time was over.

It's already 6 PM.

Even though we started late, if we change and take a shower now, it will be night.

After that, we'll have dinner with the four of us and go home by taxi.

For now, I'll head to the meeting place with the others.

"Taiya, do you have any plans after this?"

Milk asked.

"Probably just go home and take a walk with Kuro."

"Kuro? You have a pet, Taiya?"

"Yeah, recently. We run together in the morning."

"That's nice -- I want to work a bit harder."

"Huh?"

"Because my level is low, and I've been holding you back today."

"No way. Let's go home. I was told by Ushizou to take care of you. Your level is low because you started late. You can't use your phone in the dungeon, so your mother might be wondering why she can't reach you."

It's probably around 7 AM in New York because of the time difference.

So it wouldn't be strange if she called.

"But..."

"No way. You're obviously tired. Your accuracy with the arrows dropped in the second half."

Milk is trying hard.

I understand that.

But the results aren't matching up.

If there was a better method, that would be great.

We met up and reported our results.

"Taiya, you got an amazing amount of magic stones and D-coins. Is it thanks to your presence detection efficiency? We felt like fewer monsters were coming our way."

"Is the treasure box only one?"

Ayame pointed out.

Yeah, I defeated about 30 cubes, but only one dropped.

They say that one in ten should drop even if the minimum luck value isn't met.

It's not impossible statistically, but it's a bit disappointing.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. The treasure box's cash value isn't included in the ranking. I'll take all the dropped items and distribute them later. Since Milk isn't a full member yet, your share will be paid separately."

"Huh? I don't need to --"

"Handle the money transactions properly. If you want to maintain an equal relationship."

The princess spoke the truth.

"Then should I pay for the lunch too? You prepared it, right?"

"What are you talking about? With the card you have, meals, hotels, and dungeon entry fees are all free. For the entire party."

"Oh, that's right."

Sure enough, the black card from Oshino is amazing.

As long as the Oshino Group doesn't fall, I won't go hungry no matter how much I fall.

"Then, was the ramen the other day all paid for by Ichiya!?"

"I didn't even pay for the dungeon entry fee. Thanks, Taiya."

"Don't worry about it. The princess can be grateful too."

"By the way, I didn't get the transportation fees that time."

"Thank you."

I immediately changed my attitude when I realized she was talking about the helicopter.

I checked how much it costs to charter a helicopter, and there was a plan to fly over the cherry blossoms in Yoshino from Nara Airport, which cost 280,000 yen for 80 minutes.

If we consider going to Shizuoka, it might be in the hundreds of thousands of yen.

"No way. Milk is still in high school, right? What time does high school end? And when you come here, what time will it be?"

"But if you're 18, you can work at night, right?"

"We are an EPO corporation. It's a new system, and of course, there are opposing opinions. We don't want to cause any rumors about letting high school students, even if they are 18, go into the dungeon late at night. Wait until you graduate from high school."

"…Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

"Taiya and Ayame are the same. Since you are already full members, you are prohibited from going into the dungeon at night, even in your private time. If you really want to go, we can go together on Saturdays, so be patient."

"Um, our high school has classes on Saturdays too."

Ayame raised her hand and said.

What? Even salaried workers have a two-day weekend, but high school students only have one day off!?

I was sulking because "There are no holidays in June... It's tough... Well, we have a day off for the school anniversary...".

I want to blame myself for that.

"I'll take a day off."

"Take a day off? Weren't you aiming for perfect attendance? Is it okay to take a day off?"

"I already took a day off last Monday. Besides, Kiriyo High School has completed the required curriculum by the second year, so it's fine to take Saturdays off."

"Is that the issue?"

To complete the three-year curriculum by the second year, how much time did you spend studying?

No, I'm afraid to ask, so I won't.

"If Milk says so, I'll talk to the school and see if we can arrange it as an extracurricular activity for Awakened individuals. I have connections for that."

"Thank you."

"What about Ayame?"

"W, I'll work hard on Saturdays too! Even if I fail the university entrance exam, I can earn enough for a lifetime with this!"

The princess seems more convenient than Doraemon.

You're asking for too much.

But if we keep this up, we might become dungeon slaves instead of salarymen.

Well, if we're going to the dungeon on weekends anyway,

"If we go to the dungeon on weekends, it's a hassle to go home every time, so a training camp might be a good idea."

"......!"

The moment I said it, the atmosphere seemed to change.

Thank you.

We are currently ranked 2nd in the Low Fantasy monthly ranking.

We've come this far thanks to the accumulation of points from each of you.

Next, the training camp story?

Where will the stage be?

Hint: "Sea", "Hot Spring", "Panda"