Chapter 62

When the D-Can opened, the listeners also got into a festive mood.

Princess looked at the contents with an excited smile.

However, her smile quickly turned into an obvious look of disappointment.

"It was a miss. It was just a single candy."

Princess said.

[Are you licking the contents of the D-Can! Just a candy!]

[Beta's luck doesn't reflect in the contents of the D-Can]

[Just opening the D-Can is lucky enough]

[An unopened D-Can costs 1000 yen, but a candy is only 10 yen, so you lost by opening it]

The festive mood quickly turned into a funeral mood.

However, just one candy must mean something.

"Ah, Princess, I'll take the candy."

"Huh? I was thinking of grinding it up because I'm so frustrated."

"No way!"

Milk couldn't help but shout loudly.

"What's wrong, Milk? Why did you shout so loudly?"

"Well, you know, if you bite a candy, you might get a cavity. Plus, we need to submit everything we find during this survey, so make sure to hand it over to Taira properly."

"That's right. Taira, please take it."

"Sure, I'll take it."

Upon detailed inspection, it turned out to be a skill orb.

I'll swap it with a regular dungeon drop later.

Since they look the same, it should be fine.

Now, what should I do with this skill orb?

Since it's related to agility, it's likely a skill that Princess should have.

I'll store it in my inventory for now.

The enemy that appeared on the 11th floor was an old nemesis.

An Ogre.

In the Expo Park Memorial Dungeon, we encountered Evil Ogres, which apparently appear on the 13th floor, but this one is a regular Ogre. Its skin color is red, unlike the black skin of the Evil Ogres.

It's holding a black wooden club, not an iron rod.

"This could be dangerous if we get hit. Ayame, use the Wind Speed—Ayame?"

Ayame's behavior was strange.

She was staring at the Ogre, but her face was very pale.

She must be remembering the attack by the Evil Ogres in the Expo Park Memorial Dungeon.

Even though she continued to explore dungeons afterward, the shock of witnessing death wouldn't easily fade.

Milk's magic had little effect.

Considering the worst-case scenario, Princess couldn't get close to the Ogre without support magic.

I'll take care of it.

No—

"Ayame!"

I called out to her.

"Mr. Ichino?"

"You should take it down."

"But—"

"Normally, I would say, 'Leave it to me, I'm a man,' but right now, I want to be a companion who fights alongside Ayame, not just a protector."

The Ogre approached.

Princess was drawing the Ogre's attention, dodging its attacks while shouting, "Do something, quickly!"

"I'll definitely protect Ayame. So, Ayame, just focus on landing a big hit! Your magic won't lose to the Ogre."

I said this and readied my sword.

"Princess, step back!"

I switched places with Princess, who was starting to show signs of fatigue.

She must have been using a lot of stamina to dodge the Ogre's attacks.

I blocked the wooden club with my sword.

It was quite heavy.

We were already well beyond the safety margin.

This is what dungeon battles are like.

I heard a sound like skin being slapped.

Looking back, I saw that Ayame's pale face had regained some color.

"Mr. Ichino, jump to the side!"

"Got it!"

I jumped to the side.

Immediately after—

"Release: Great Wind Bow! Three shots!"

Three invisible wind arrows were fired.

The wind pressure pushed me against the wall, even though I had jumped to the side.

And—

"Huh?"

I couldn't help but exclaim.

The three magical wind arrows had created three holes in the Ogre's body.

Literally, wind holes.

The overkill magic made me smile dryly.

"Haha, it was weaker than I thought."

Ayame said, sitting down.

"Ayame, are you okay?"

"The tension just snapped."

"Good job."

I said, took her hand, and helped her up.

After the battle with the Ogre, Princess suggested we end the survey.

Ayame had used up all her magic power.

Considering the Ogre's attack power, Milk would likely suffer damage that would break her armlet if she got hit, so we decided to end the survey here.

The plan was to survey up to the 15th floor, but that was the deepest case. Surveying up to the 10th floor was sufficient.

Since this was a video stream to promote safety, getting seriously injured would make the survey a failure. Princess's suggestion was made with safety in mind.

We accepted it.

Of course, the exploration isn't over until we return to the surface. We aimed for the 1st floor without letting our guard down.

We finally reached the exit safely.

"This concludes the survey. Thank you to all the viewers for staying with us until the end."

Princess thanked the viewers.

[Good job, Alpha]

[Can we get a 'Zaako-Zaako' at the end?]

What kind of comments is Mr. Ako sending?

Princess sighed deeply.

"I'm not a schoolgirl. What are you trying to make me say? If you want that kind of thing, go to a concept cafe."

She gave a sincere warning.

[Thanks for the lecture]

A viewer thanked her.

Our viewers are always like this.

"So, our survey is over. If the government requests it, there might be a second or third stream, so stay tuned!"

Just as I was about to end it, a member of the Self-Defense Forces waiting on the 1st floor handed Princess a piece of paper.

"The Dungeon Bureau updates new dungeon information and official dungeon streams daily. Please subscribe to the official Dungeon Bureau channel for more details—"

[Provided by the Self-Defense Forces]

[Subscribed]

[Is the know-it-all princess being taught by the government at the end?]

The stream ended here.

"That dungeon stream was a bit interesting."

"Yeah, but it's not something to skip school for."

"I don't want to worry my mother too much, so I'd prefer not to do this kind of emergency work again."

"I'm sorry for dragging you along. It might be because I had some contact with the Minister of Defense before."

Princess apologized, but it's not her fault.

It's all the fault of Danpon, who is probably playing Pokémon Silver at home. Danpon, with a name and appearance like Pokémon.

And a little bit my fault too.

After that, we had a meeting with a Defense Ministry official.

We handed over all the streaming crystals and dropped items, and our job was done.

It's already 3 PM.

We ate some portable food in the dungeon, but it wasn't enough, and I'm starting to feel hungry.

"We ate a little in the dungeon, but do you want to go somewhere for a meal?"

"But there's not much time until dinner, right?"

"Then let's go to a takoyaki stand. Taira, wasn't there a takoyaki stand on the Ishi-kiri approach?"

"I think it was near the Ishi-kiri Buddha... or was it an Akashi-yaki stand? I think it was only open until noon."

"Not that one, the one near the shrine. It's an Akashi-yaki stand, but it should be open until the evening."

"I've never had Akashi-yaki! Akashi! Arrange a car."

"Princess, understood."

We went to an Akashi-yaki stand near the Ishi-kiri Shrine.

Princess seemed satisfied with her first Akashi-yaki.

We also visited the shrine to pray for the success of future dungeon explorations. We bought a turtle statue called a Kikkuri and placed it in the pond, and finally, we drew a cute white horse fortune.

The fortune results were: Princess and Ayame got a medium good fortune, Milk got a bad fortune, and I got—

"Of course, a great fortune, right?"

"Great fortune, right?"

"Great fortune."

It was a great fortune.

Milk: "Taira, can I tie my fortune next to yours?"

Taira: "Sure, I'll take a little of your bad luck."

Milk: "Thanks. But I'm not a kid, so I don't really care (because being next to Taira is a great fortune)."

Next time, it's (the author's) long-awaited turn with Mizuno.