Chapter 14

As they approached the town where K's house was located, Horen's expression gradually changed to one of "Hey, how much further into the backcountry are we going?"

From the perspective of Tokyo, Sapporo is considered a rural area, but to those who truly live in the countryside, it's just an imitation, a fashion rural area.

Don't be surprised by this level of ruralness.

My town is way more rural!

With a mix of pride and self-deprecation, Seiki drove the car while humming a tune.

"Wow. There really is a dungeon in the garage. Wow..."

Horen was intently observing the entrance to the dungeon, as if it were something incredibly rare.

No, no. In your city, the underground pedestrian spaces were like dungeons, weren't they?

There's no need to be surprised just because it's in a garage.

"It's nice to have a dungeon just a short walk from home."

"Yeah, it is."

Having one nearby is a huge advantage.

You can hunt during your commute time.

Since there's no commute, you can sleep in! But you need to be careful not to end up in a bad state...

"By the way, where are the material buyback shops in this town?"

"There aren't any."

"...Huh?"

"There are none."

Horen looked at Seiki with a "You've got to be kidding me" expression.

"I thought there would always be buyback shops where there are dungeons..."

"It's just been recently established. They might appear eventually."

"Could there be weapon shops too!?"

Don't ask without looking at me.

Talking about convenience makes me sad.

Ah.

I miss the days when I could shop in the internet jungle.

"Shall we take a look inside?"

"Yes!"

Horen was equipped with a robe and a slender cudgel.

Her shoes were ordinary sneakers, which didn't look like safety boots at all.

Her light equipment made her seem unprepared.

But as a beginner, there was no choice.

To improve her equipment, she would need money and experience.

Beginners often lack one or both.

However...

Seiki observed her equipment closely and thought,

"Interesting."

Her equipment was very intriguing.

First, the cudgel.

It had the same power no matter where you hit, and unlike bladed weapons, it required almost no maintenance.

It was the easiest weapon for beginners to handle.

Yet, few adventurers chose to use it.

This was because monsters were skinned after being killed, and their materials, such as leather, claws, shells, and scales, were concentrated on the outside.

Using a cudgel would damage these valuable materials.

Therefore, adventurers chose bladed weapons from the start, despite their difficulty to handle.

Horen, who often browsed 'Narou' blogs, was not exactly an information novice.

This meant that the cudgel was a weapon she chose based on her personal taste.

The cudgel was made by 'IBI', a brand known for its difficult-to-handle entry-level models.

It was a niche product.

To make matters worse, her armor was a robe, which offered low protection.

She had abandoned efficiency and survival rates in favor of her own sense of style.

That's why it was so interesting!

Seiki was drawn to her sense of style, which chose such a niche weapon.

Perhaps it was because Seiki himself chose short swords and knives as his main weapons, making him particularly attracted to her.

It was a kind of special camaraderie.

After equipping his own weapons and putting on his backpack, Seiki passed through the turnstile with Horen.

"Do you know what kind of monsters appear here?"

"Gegeji, right?"

"Oh, right. You read my blog."

Seiki scratched the back of his head to hide his embarrassment.

"There's no danger to your life, but be careful as your armor might be destroyed."

"Okay."

As soon as they descended into the dungeon and saw the first Gegeji, Horen's pale face turned blue.

Seiki continued to move forward, but Horen remained still.

...No, she couldn't move, could she?

"What's wrong? Gegeji mainly attack by breaking armor, so there's no danger to your life."

"No, my heart is in danger more than my life..."

It seemed she was afraid of insect-type monsters.

Wait, but insect-type monsters also appeared in 'Chikaho', didn't they?

Well, never mind. Let's just take them down quickly.

Since this was a good opportunity, Seiki decided to let Horen do the hitting.

She was supposed to be an experience point refugee in 'Chikaho'.

She must be hungry for experience points.

Seiki wanted to give as much of the Gegeji's life force to Horen as possible.

Thinking it would be helpful, Seiki pinned the Gegeji down with his foot.

Thanks to the skill points he had allocated, the Gegeji was easily restrained.

It struggled, but there was no chance of it escaping.

"Ah!"

Horen was frightened by the Gegeji's violent movements.

Seiki didn't think it was that scary, though.

Seiki cut off the Gegeji's antennae and turned to Horen.

"The weak point is the head. Go ahead and attack."

Horen cautiously approached and hit the head multiple times with her cudgel.

She was hesitant and kept her eyes averted.

"Look at the Gegeji properly."

"I can't! How can you be so calm about this?"

"Huh?"

"Isn't it disgusting?"

"Disgusting..."

Seiki tilted his head in confusion at Horen's words.

What was this girl talking about?

"Cute, right?"

"What!?"

"The way it moves its legs and body—"

"Stop it! I'm getting goosebumps and I might die!!"

Even if she rejected it so strongly...

But, I see. Some adventurers react this way to Gegeji.

The adventurer who wrote on the WIKI probably felt a strong aversion like her.

But that's a problem as an adventurer.

"When a disgusting monster appears, will you turn away like that, Horen? It might be okay with Gegeji, which has no killing power, but it's different with others. If you turn away because it's disgusting, you'll die."

"..."

"Which are you? A girl who turns away from disgusting things or an adventurer who faces reality?"

"..."

Seiki's words made Horen finally look directly at the Gegeji.

Her face was still pale, and her lips trembled every time the Gegeji moved.

But the light in her eyes was growing stronger.

It almost seemed like a strange light... but it would be fine.

As Seiki had predicted, she hit the Gegeji's head dozens of times with her cudgel.

It was a barrage of attacks like when Seiki first fought a Gegeji.

It took a considerable amount of time for the Gegeji to die.

When Seiki first fought one, he couldn't penetrate the shell.

It was understandable that it would take time for Horen, who was still a beginner, to defeat a Gegeji.

After defeating the Gegeji, Horen seemed to have experienced level-up dizziness and collapsed to her knees.

Seiki disassembled the Gegeji while glancing at her.

"Ugh..."

Hmm.

Was the level-up dizziness that severe?

Horen groaned and pressed her hand to her mouth.

Thanks to his increased strength, disassembling the Gegeji was easier than before.

The shell peeled off easily.

The disassembly time was probably halved.

Being able to shorten disassembly time was fantastic!

It would allow for longer battles with monsters.

Although, he was done with battles like in Monpalé.

"By the way, how many years have you been an adventurer, Akihoshi-san?"

"Ah, just this year."

"Huh? You're my senior!?"

Since she was 18, she probably obtained her license this year.

Seiki also started this year, so they were indeed seniors.

"Yeah, that's right."

"..."

She shook her head slightly, as if she couldn't believe it.

"Did you practice martial arts before?"

"No, I was in the track and field club in high school, but I haven't done any physical activity since then."

His physical fitness from high school had been completely drained by his job at a printing company.

It was almost like a hermit-like job.

Being a hermit might be healthier.

You can sleep when you want and wake up when you want.

"Then why are you so strong? I'm still so weak..."

"Hmm..."

Feeling a mix of admiration and self-deprecation, Seiki instinctively turned away.

He couldn't be proud of his strength, as it came from magical equipment, not effort.

He couldn't face her gaze directly.

"...If you defeat a lot of Gegeji, you'll get stronger."

That's all he said.

But it was true.

Seiki himself had grown stronger that way.

"Since my house is nearby, you can hunt as much as you want."

If you defeat a lot of Gegeji, you'll get stronger.

Horen smiled strongly at this, with a hint of strangeness in her eyes.

"Then I'll work hard to eradicate them completely."

"No, you don't have to go that far."

If they were eradicated, he wouldn't be able to see the Gegeji anymore.

Just looking at their legs was so soothing...

Seizing the opportunity to freely attack monsters, Seiki thoroughly trained Horen.

Specifically, he made her defeat nearly 100 Gegeji.

At first, it took her about 5 minutes to defeat one, but by the end, she could break the shell in about 1 minute.

However, it might still be dangerous for her to face them alone.

Seiki didn't fall behind even in a one-on-one battle.

Perhaps it was due to the difference in gender or equipment.

It was probably the difference in Gegeji love.

At this rate, Horen might need to defeat 200 more Gegeji before she could fight them properly alone.

"I thought 100 would be enough..."

Seiki had grown a lot after defeating 100, so he had expected the same for Horen.

It seemed that the growth acceleration had significantly boosted his growth rate.

"Huff, huff... Um... Can we take a short break..."

"Ah, sure. Let's take a break."

Horen slumped against the wall, her forehead still sweaty.

Seiki had adjusted to his own stamina, so he had forgotten to take breaks.

From now on, he needed to be mindful of the difference in stamina.

Seiki lightly reflected on this and took out a water bottle from his backpack.

"Wow, you're amazing."

She seemed so exhausted that she didn't even hear Seiki's comment.

She weakly sipped from the water bottle.

Despite not taking any breaks, Horen never once complained.

She had a lot of grit.

Seiki disassembled the Gegeji he had just defeated.

When Horen's back was turned, Seiki secretly took out his skill board.

If she could work this hard, he wanted to give her a little help.

First, he needed to check her skills.

"---!"

When Seiki pulled out the board and called up Horen's skill tree, he was taken aback.