Chapter 76

Milk quickly put the gun away in her bag.

Even though we have the necessary permits, it would be a big problem if someone else saw it.

"Hime, you used magic continuously. How is your mana consumption?"

"Since they're both beginner spells, the mana consumption isn't too high. However, you can't use magic continuously; you need to rest for about 30 seconds after each use, but the power should be more than doubled."

Milk answered Hime's question.

"Still, it's impressive that you could make something so amazing so easily."

I said, impressed.

"It's not easy. I had a misfire when I tested it in the Tensiba Dungeon."

"Misfire, you were being too reckless."

"It's fine. I had the substitution bracelet from Hime."

It seems she brought the substitution bracelet anticipating a misfire. The substitution bracelet, which would cost over ten million yen if sold, can be used quite freely by us. Hime seems to think that if we need one, we can just go to Shira-hama again, and in fact, we have a large stock in our inventory. Furthermore, after reaching the 11th floor, while Mimics may not appear as frequently as in the Shira-hama Dungeon, they do appear, allowing us to obtain substitution bracelets.

"In this floor, the gun is too powerful and would be overkill, and it's also troublesome if someone sees it. It's better to use regular magic from now on."

"Agreed."

When Hime suggested using a staff, Milk agreed. The holy water attack from potion magic is so powerful that it doesn't feel like regular magic. She meant to use firestone magic, fire magic, or earth magic. As we went deeper, a giant rat appeared again. This time, Ayame cast a spell. The compressed wind crushed the giant rat. The monster disappeared immediately, but for a moment, something incredibly disgusting was visible. The wind hammer, unlike a regular hammer, is transparent, which is a drawback as it can't hide grotesque things.

Then—

"Eh!?"

From the crushed giant rat, a giant flea appeared.

"Disgusting!?"

We, Milk, and Ayame exclaimed.

"It's a vampire flea. It occasionally hides among beast-type monsters. It's not strong, but it uses a skill called 'Vampirism' to absorb the health of its target."

"That sounds like a useful skill to learn."

"Hmm, I'm not sure if it can be learned, but why don't you try? If you use Learning before or after the enemy uses the skill, you can learn it. Use this."

Hime handed Ayame a substitution bracelet.

"Should I use Learning—"

Ayame put on the substitution bracelet and stepped forward. The giant flea approached her.

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"It's fine with the substitution bracelet. There's no record of vampire fleas having poison."

"What about strange bacteria?"

"I've never heard of regular monsters being carriers."

If that's the case, it should be safe. As the giant flea approached Ayame and tried to suck her blood through her jersey—

"Ugh, I can't stand it!"

Ayame swung her staff. The vampire flea was crushed. I had expected this.

"Sorry."

Ayame picked up the D-coin and apologized.

"Don't worry about it. It's like a training session for Learning anyway."

Unlike in games, the number of skills you can remember is limited. Currently, with her low proficiency, Ayame can only learn two monster skills. Vampirism might seem convenient, but it reduces the damage dealt by 20% and only restores 25% of the damage dealt. It's about the same as the reduced damage. Since we have Milk as a healer, it's not necessary.

We continued walking on the 7th floor. We nodded to an explorer uncle we met along the way. It's quite normal to see a middle-aged man with a big sword in a dungeon, but people from the generation without dungeons would be quite surprised.

"He seems like an uncle who comes to the dungeon because he's having family problems and doesn't want to be at home on weekends."

Hime said something quite rude. After hearing that, the uncle could only be seen as that.

"Is that why he comes to the dungeon?"

I thought dungeons were for work, but some people come to pass the time. It's much healthier than wasting time on pachinko or horse racing. However, I don't want to become an adult who finds it painful to be at home, even though they married for love.

Then, we sensed a monster. We walked in the direction of the presence and found it.

A ceramic figurine in the shape of a cat. A cat figurine.

"It's more like a maneki-neko than I thought."

I took out a maneki-neko from my inventory and compared it. It was indeed a maneki-neko.

"Taiga, why do you have a maneki-neko in your item box?"

"It's just a coincidence."

I put the maneki-neko back in my inventory after telling Milk. In stories, saying "it's just a coincidence" usually means there's a significant plot point or backstory, but in my case, it really just came out of a D-can.

"Ayame, step forward!"

"Okay!"

Ayame stepped forward. The cat figurine jumped and approached Ayame. Don't smash it this time. Tension filled the air. The cat figurine's mouth opened. It looked like a nutcracker doll, and the next moment, a disgusting cat voice was heard. This must be the silkworm guardian. Even though it only seals part of the ability and is not particularly harmful, the voice is still disgusting.

However, unlike before, it didn't seem particularly harmful, so—

Ayame fell over.

For a moment, I didn't understand what happened. What just happened? I didn't get it. She fell forward. Why? Why? The silkworm guardian only seals part of the ability and shouldn't cause someone to fall—

"Ayame!"

Milk was the first to rush over. She laid Ayame on her back. She was sweating profusely. Did she have a fever? She used magic to create a potion and applied it to Ayame. The potion was absorbed into Ayame's body, but there was no change in her condition. The next moment, something broke. Hime had destroyed the cat figurine. Ayame's condition improved slightly. We could either let her rest here until she felt better or take her back to the surface.

"I'll carry her. Let's go back to the 1st floor."

I made the decision. Hime and Milk nodded. What happened, Ayame?

We headed to the infirmary on the 1st floor. Ayame apparently woke up while being examined by the infirmary staff.

"Ayame, are you okay?"

"Yeah... I'm okay."

She was able to answer clearly. Her status was checked, and both her health and mana were fine, with no signs of a curse.

"Sorry, Milk. I felt dizzy. Maybe it was anemia."

"Anemia... it wasn't that."

"...I'm really okay."

Ayame looked at Hime.

"Oshino, it seems you successfully learned the silkworm guardian."

"That's good."

"Really good."

"I caused trouble for Ichino-san too."

Ayame bowed deeply from the bed.

"I didn't do anything."

Honestly, I was the slowest to react when she fell, and it felt uncomfortable to have her bow so deeply.

"That's not true. Taiga carried Ayame all the way here."

"That's true. If it was just me and Milk, it would have been difficult. So, Taiga, go outside."

"Huh?"

"You need to wipe Ayame's sweaty body and help her change. Do you want to watch?"

"I'll wait outside."

I turned around and went outside the infirmary. I was relieved that Ayame was okay, but what caused her to fall? It couldn't just be anemia.

～if If we all explored the Fushimi Inari Shrine together ②～

After passing through the Senbon Torii, there's a stone called the Omo-karu Ishi in front of the Okumiya shrine. You make a wish in front of the stone placed on a lantern and try to lift it. If the stone feels lighter than expected, your wish will come true soon. If it feels heavier, it will take more effort to achieve your wish.

"There's a similar stone at Sumiyoshi Shrine too."

I remembered the three Omo-karu Ishi stones at Sumiyoshi Taisha in Osaka and mentioned it to Milk and Ayame, but they were both focused on something and didn't hear me. Still, the idea that the weight changes based on whether your wish will come true is truly mysterious. As I was thinking this and waiting in line,

"The Omo-karu Ishi has been treated with antiviral and antibacterial processing."

I saw a sign. The mysterious atmosphere was instantly ruined. I understand it's necessary for the times, but it's a bit of a mood killer. I put a ten-yen coin in the offering box and made a wish. My wish, of course, is to become a great explorer like Ushizou.

Hmm, it feels lighter than expected. This means I'll become a great explorer soon—no, it's just reflecting my status. Next, it was Milk and Ayame's turn.

Both put in a five-yen coin and tried to lift the Omo-karu Ishi on the lantern.

"Eh..."

"Ah..."

It wasn't a matter of whether it was heavy or light; neither could lift the stone. They were both dejected. I remembered their goal was to obtain the Holy Maiden's Elixir, a legendary elixir that isn't easy to get.

"Cheer up, Ayame, Milk. The five of us—no, the five of us, including Hime and Mizuno, can surely make our wishes come true if we work together!"

I encouraged them—

"Five of us... Taiga..."

"...Ichino-san, you really don't get it... We have a long way to go."

They became even more dejected. Why?