Chapter 32

I came to receive my second training session with the knight order.

Currently, I am sparring with Knight Lamp.

I receive the sword that is swung down at me in the proper form, but the damage from his two-handed sword seems to travel up my arms, making it quite tough. Can’t I just deflect it?

If I get the angle wrong, it looks like my own sword might hit me on the head.

My strikes are apparently fast and I was praised for it, but since they follow the form, they are easily received. Maybe I should try an attack that deviates from the form, given his relaxed attitude?

While thinking that my arm strength is lacking, we continued sparring until my EP dropped below 10%, and then today’s training ended.

I drink tea in a corner of the training ground. I’d like to eat a sandwich, but I’ve never seen anyone eat here. Well, the barracks are nearby, so there’s no need to bring food out here.

Lamp came and, while drinking tea, explained the training of the knights.

《Announcement: Roy, Shira Yurii, Akatsuki, Kaede, Momiji, and Crow have discovered a special dungeon.》

《Information is now disclosed.》

《This world has many dungeons, including special dungeons that recommend two parties or more, and dungeons that recommend solo play.》

《Enjoy clearing various dungeons.》

Wow, Roy and the others are doing well. It’s nice to see familiar names.

《Leo has caught the boss of the ‘Alreik’ dungeon.》

I laugh when I see familiar names! It’s rare for Leo to still be awake after twelve, so he must be having a lot of fun.

While listening to the world’s voices and settling the loot at the guild, I received an email.

‘Want to go to a dungeon?’

It was from Roy.

So short! Where is the dungeon?

‘Good morning, I think you got a message from Roy. We found a dungeon that recommends two parties, about two hours northeast of Fos. If you’re not sleeping, do you want to go?’

Then a follow-up email came from Crow.

I also received a message from Ochazuke, and we decided to gather at the temple. The meeting time is in two hours. Leo is probably still out, right? Well, can Leo come back? He’s in a dungeon, right?

While thinking about how to get a ‘Teleport Stone,’ I buy spices and vegetables and fruits. I bought more than last time because we ran out. Thanks to moving items to storage, there’s plenty of room in my item pouch.

The used bookstore wasn’t open yet, probably because it’s early. Even though it’s been a while since the sun came up, the owner seems to be the type who reads until late at night, so it doesn’t open until the afternoon. And it’s not open now.

I borrow the kitchen at the production facility to cook.

I roast the lamb and venison I bought at the bazaar, make a stew with brown sauce, and put it in a pot and cover it with a pie crust.

Thanks to having silver, I also bought recipes 10 and 11 from the restaurant.

I learned ‘Pickling’ with pickles, honeyed nuts, and berry syrup, and ‘Freezing’ with ice cream, sherbet, and ice candy.

I got a rating of 10 for the roasted lamb and pot stew.

The bonus effects of a rating of 10 are a 2% increase in arm strength for 15 minutes and a 4% increase in cold resistance for 20 minutes. I still have some in stock, but when I made tea and coffee, I got a bonus of increased intelligence.

It seems the percentage depends on the level of the ingredients and the complexity of the recipe. The highest so far is a 20-minute, 4% increase in cold resistance from the pot stew made from processed venison. The cold resistance is a bit of a downside.

Since there’s still plenty of time, I hold a solo equipment appraisal contest in the square while drinking tea. I bought the cup, but I mostly drink it outside, so it’s not getting much use.

I thought using a skill would make ‘Shadow’ disappear, but using ‘Appraisal’ and ‘Concealment’ didn’t cancel the effect of ‘Shadow.’

When ‘Concealment’ reached level 5, I could intentionally hide skills.

I tried hiding just ‘Pierce.’ Hidden skills can’t be seen even with ‘Animal Monster Appraisal,’ but if someone uses ‘Pierce’ and their ‘Animal Monster Appraisal’ level is more than 10 levels higher, they can see it.

My ‘Animal Monster Appraisal’ is still level 5, so I can only see names, levels, and ranks. If I keep leveling up ‘Concealment’ now, I probably won’t be seen through.

When I arrived at the temple, it was a bit early, but everyone except Shin was there.

“Isn’t Leo in a dungeon? How did he come back?”

“I came back from death!”

“Wow, is the penalty okay?”

“It’s still on!!!”

“It’ll disappear in two hours, so we’ll be fine by the time we reach the dungeon,” Ochazuke said.

“In Leo’s case, falling asleep is a concern.”

Shin arrived on time, and we headed to Fos, meeting at the east gate.

“Ah, crap. I didn’t consider the travel time in Fos.”

We were supposed to meet Roy and the others in two hours, but we set our meeting time for two hours as well. Thanks to Ochazuke’s words, we jumped into a carriage and rushed to the east gate.

“Sorry!”

“Kept you waiting!”

“Sorry!”

“Hahaha, sorry!”

“I couldn’t calculate the time.”

“We’re late!”

“Hey, you’re here.”

“Let’s move right away.”

“‘Dungeon, dungeon.’”

We apologized and joined Roy and the others, then immediately set off.

“Can’t we open a new town?”

“No, we can’t find the boss.”

I walked with Crow. In front were the fast-footed Peter, Leo, Momiji, and Kaede, who are thief derivatives.

...Except for Peter, they’re all small, so Peter looks very much like a cute young boy, and I can’t stop giving him a warm, amused look.

Peter shivered and turned to me. Of course, I smiled and mouthed the words.

“Loli-shota”

When Peter looked dejected, I said to Crow,

“Is it because you haven’t defeated the boss of the dungeon yet?”

The boss of Faina wasn’t that far from the capital or in a hard-to-find place, so the reason I could think of for not finding it was that.

“Ah, I see. I’ll tell Roy later.”

“Still, there are some hidden or unusual jobs.”

“Yes, I was surprised to change jobs so early.”

Crow’s job was ‘Hermit.’ I’ve never seen this job, even though I’ve been appraising a lot in the square.

The way to become one is a mystery, and if I ask, I might not be able to become a ‘Hermit’ or get a weaker version, so I didn’t ask. But he said he changed jobs quite early. He also has the blessing of Tasha, the god of magic, alchemy, and law.

When I said he would be powerful if he became a magic user, he said it didn’t suit him.

His equipment is probably good from the first kill reward, so I think it’s a bit of a waste, but from the short time I’ve known him, I can feel his laid-back, peaceful atmosphere. It fits him.

It’s fun to use attack magic, though.

Fos has a lot of forests. After passing through the forest and a gentle plain, we gradually came to more rocks, and the entrance to the dungeon was hidden among the rocks at the beginning of a larger hill. And there were already people there.

“Oh, you found it, but you haven’t cleared it yet? It’s tough with a small party, so you have to team up with a weaker one. I’ll clear it first.”

As soon as she saw us, she said this and disappeared on a plate.

“What was that, did she wait just to say that?”

“That’s too much free time.”

“Sorry to drag you into this.”

In the entrance room of the dungeon, there were two plates on the floor. According to Roy and the others, two parties can enter the dungeon by standing on the plates.

“We tried 3-3 and it was tough, so we died and came back.”

“So that’s why you invited us.”

“Yeah.”

“So, the right dungeon has enemies like Reis and Slimes, which are good for mages, and the left has enemies like ghost mushrooms and skeletons. How do you want to split the parties? Should we mix magic and physical attacks?”

Me → Magic Swordsman (Mage → Swordsman)

Ochazuke → Holy Mage (Healer → Fighter)

Kikuhime → Warrior (Swordsman → Thief)

Shin → Magic Fighter (Fighter → Mage)

Peter → Spy (Thief → Mage)

Leo → Spy (Thief → Healer)

Roy → Warrior (Swordsman)

Shira Yurii → Holy Mage (Healer)

Akatsuki → Fighter (Fighter)

Crow → Hermit (Mage)

Momiji → Spy (Thief → Healer)

Kaede → Archer (Thief → Mage)

After discussing and sharing our jobs, we decided on the following party split:

Roy, Ochazuke, me, Akatsuki, Leo, Momiji

Kikuhime, Shira Yurii, Crow, Peter, Shin, Kaede

Kikuhime’s party headed to the dungeon with Reis.

Crow has enchantments, and Peter, Shin, and Kaede have mage as their second job, so they can use magic. I’m on the mushroom side just in case Reis appear in the mushroom dungeon.

When the party leaders stood on the plates and formed an alliance, the area around the plates was enveloped in white light, and when the light faded, we were in a cave that looked like it had been worked on by human hands. The walls and floor of the cave were faintly glowing, and the walls were reinforced in places.

“Hmm, it’s not too narrow to walk, but it’s too narrow to fight. If there’s a room, let’s try to fight in there. If enemies appear in the corridor, I’ll lure them and take the target, so hold back on attacking until I turn them around.”

“Understood. It’s narrow, so I’ll stay back and use magic.”

“Roy, move a bit to the right. If the three physical attackers form a wall behind, it’ll be hard to fight, so I’ll fight on the side.”

“Yeah, Leo, be careful!”

Akatsuki suggested, and Ochazuke warned Leo, but I’m more afraid of accidentally hitting my allies with my magic.

“Yeah! By the way, can Momiji use ‘Sneak Attack’?”

“I can.”

“Good, let’s use ‘Sneak Attack’ with ‘Shadow’ from Homura!”

Leo seemed to have enjoyed the power of ‘Sneak Attack’ in the battle on the way to Fos.

“Sure, but I want to level up other magic too, so let’s do it every other time.”

Darkness, in addition to ‘Shadow,’ learned ‘Silence Field’ at level 3 and ‘Enchantment’ at level 5, but didn’t learn anything else until level 10.

It’s easy to level up because it increases even when used during normal movement.

I was hoping it would learn something at level 10, but it didn’t. Light learned ‘Silence’ at level 3, which also has a silence effect. Darkness targets a field, while Light targets an individual. Darkness is effective against multiple enemies, but the effect disappears if enemies leave the designated field, while Light’s effect remains even if enemies move, but it only affects one enemy.

When will it learn the next magic?

Considering the case where only one can be chosen, will it learn similar effects with light and darkness?

While thinking about this, the battle began.

Four ghost mushrooms appeared.

Roy ran at them and hit them with his large shield in his left hand, causing the ghost mushrooms to chase him and turn their backs to us.

“[Hide in Shadow]”

“[Tiger] ‘Leg’”

Akatsuki’s kick, a supple movement that reminds one of a tiger, despite his large body. The same technique, but very different from Shin’s, which reminds one of a large canine.

I need to improve myself.

“Water Spirit ‘Ruru’ ‘Enchanting Water Sound~’”

“Shadow on Leo”

Since it’s the first time with three of them, I declare my actions so they know what I’m doing.

Leo seems to be waiting.

“Whoa, spirit summoning!”

“Wow, that’s intense.”

“It’s beautiful but looks like a villain.”

The three were surprised by the ghost mushrooms starting to fight each other. Ochazuke didn’t seem to hold back from the start.

“Hahaha, [Sneak Attack]!”

“Oh! So you can use [Sneak Attack] with ‘Shadow’?”

Roy was impressed while fixing the target on the second ghost mushroom, but when the ghost mushroom was stopped by [Sneak Attack] and fell, it scattered spores, and four melee attackers, including Roy, were poisoned.

“Oof!”

Ochazuke, who was about to throw something, hurriedly cast a poison removal spell on Roy.

“Shadow on Momiji”

I thought the healers had a tough job, but then I saw the spores floating and understood why the cave was lit. The spores from earlier were glowing on the floor.

“Ugh!”

When two more were defeated, Leo, who was still poisoned from the first one, was in trouble. It seems this poison can stack. His HP was dropping significantly.

We defeated the last one before Leo’s life ran out, ending the first battle.

□ □ □ □ □

・Increase・

Cooking

【Pickling】【Freezing】

□ □ □ □ □

Homura Lv.27

Rank D

Job Magic Swordsman Alchemist (Assassin)

HP 818

MP 1034

STR 40

VIT 22

INT 51

MID 17

DEX 21

AGI 29

LUK 18

NPCP 【Galahad】【－】

Titles

■General

【Communicator】【Circulating Power】【Mystery Solver】

【Economic Pioneer】【Lone Adventurer】

■Blessings of the Gods

【Blessing of Val】【Blessing of Verna】

■Slayer Series

【Lizard Slayer】【Bug Slayer】

【Beast Slayer】【Gel Slayer】

【Dragon Slayer】

■Master Ring

【Sword King】

Skills (7SP)

■Magic

【Wood Magic Lv.4】 【Fire Magic Lv.5】【Earth Magic Lv.5】

【Metal Magic Lv.4】 【Water Magic Lv.4】【☆Wind Magic Lv.5】

【☆Lightning Magic Lv.5】【Light Magic Lv.4】【☆Dark Magic Lv.11】

■Swordsmanship

【Swordsmanship Lv.15】【Slash】

【Katana Lv.11】

■Summoning

【White Lv.1】

■Spirit Magic

Water Spirit【Rufa Lv.3】

Dark Spirit【Kurokagayaki Lv.2】

■Talent

【Body Techniques】【Evasion】

■Production

【Alchemy Lv.11】【Alchemy Synthesis Lv.2】【Cooking Lv.8】

■Gathering

【Gathering】【Mining】

■Appraisal & Concealment

【Item Appraisal Lv.4】【Plant Food Appraisal Lv.5】

【Animal Monster Appraisal Lv.5】【Skill Appraisal Lv.4】

【Weapon Armor Appraisal Lv.5】【