Chapter 9

Led by Kotachi, we aimed for the stairs leading down to the second level.

It apparently wouldn’t take an hour to reach the stairs.

The dungeon was so vast that it would take a whole day to walk around the entire first level, but the stairs were surprisingly close.

However, before we reached the stairs, we encountered some monsters.

Or rather, Kotachi was the first to notice the presence of the enemies.

"…Rokusou, I sense monsters coming from ahead. Two of them."

"Kobolds?"

"I can’t tell the type of monster with [Presence Detection], but since we’re on the first level, they should be. We can’t be caught off guard. They’re coming."

At the same moment, two kobolds appeared from the curved tunnel ahead.

Both of them raised their short swords and ran towards us.

Kotachi held a short sword in each hand, crouched low, and prepared to face them.

The cave passage was wide enough for two people to fight side by side.

I also readied my spear and shield, waiting for the kobolds to come within range.

Kotachi moved just a bit earlier than I thought.

Kicking off the ground, Kotachi approached one of the kobolds at an incredible speed.

"──Ha!"

The short swords flashed.

The kobold, struck twice in the blink of an eye, disappeared in a cloud of black mist.

She’s strong.

She took down one of the kobolds in a single move.

Of course, I didn’t just stand there watching.

A bit later than Kotachi, I stepped forward towards the other kobold and thrust my spear.

The attack hit the kobold’s chest, but unlike Kotachi, it wasn’t a one-hit kill.

The one I missed lunged at me.

I deflected the short sword the kobold thrust at me with the shield I had just bought.

Then, I delivered another spear attack to the off-balance, dog-faced monster.

That kobold also disappeared, leaving only a magic stone behind.

Kotachi picked up the magic stone from the one she had defeated, and I picked up the other one.

Then, Kotachi smiled at me.

"Rokusou, you’re surprisingly steady for your level. I don’t think I could have done that well when I was level 3."

"Kotachi, you’re incredibly strong. Using two short swords at the same time is really skillful. I don’t think I could do that."

"Hehe. But the secret is the [Dual Wield] skill. Once you learn the skill, your body just knows how to move."

There’s a skill like that.

And, Kotachi’s bashful smile is really cute.

"Should we split the magic stones fifty-fifty? No matter who picks them up, we’ll divide the total equally later."

I nodded at Kotachi’s suggestion.

I don’t want to argue over who killed what.

Parties can be troublesome in that regard.

Solo play is more relaxed because there are no such conflicts.

We had one battle, but otherwise, we had no particular issues on the first level.

As Kotachi said, we reached the stairs leading down to the second level in less than an hour.

The stairs were a large rectangular hole in the ground at the end of the cave, leading down at an angle into another cave, with stone steps carved into it.

I couldn’t help but wonder who built this dungeon.

The very existence of a dungeon is a mystery and a supernatural phenomenon, but really, it’s only now that I’m thinking about it.

Kotachi, who knew the way, went down the stairs first, and I followed.

Now, we’re finally at the second level.

As a characteristic of the dungeon, the monsters get stronger the deeper you go.

I have a reliable senior explorer, but I need to stay focused.