Chapter 78

After completing the request, Haruki returned to K-town.

K-town, which he hadn't seen for a week and two days, was overgrown with vegetation due to the summer sun, heat, and rain. The greenery was deeper than before.

Stopping his car in the driveway, Haruki carried his luggage into the house. Then, peering into the prefab, he said,

"......They're dead, huh."

Inside the prefab were two corpses. The lifeless forms of Kuren and Shion lay there.

It felt like he had seen this scene before...

Haruki pressed his temple with his finger and opened the prefab door.

"I'm back."

"......"

At Haruki's voice, Kuren and Shion only moved their eyes.

This won't do.

My brain is melting from the heat.

Knowing that he would be in trouble if he got heatstroke, Haruki quickly opened the windows wide.

"So, what happened this time?"

"......Ahahaaan!"

When he asked, it seemed that Shion's past memories resurfaced. She began to cry, trembling violently.

"Could it be that you're still struggling with Lutz?"

"No... Ah, it's been a while, Aozora. Welcome back."

"Thanks. So, what happened?"

"It's that..."

Kuren, who had regained her composure, began to explain the situation.

They had overcome their fear of Lutz and reached the 11th floor. From the battles with the werewolves, Kuren's level had risen significantly. Fighting Cha-cha was no longer a challenge for her.

Therefore, they decided to hunt on the 15th floor.

On the way there, they stumbled on the slimy eels on the 14th floor.

Or rather, only Shion stumbled.

"Ahahaaan!"

Shion's cries seemed to reject reality.

"It's not like physical attacks work, what can you do about it!" a voice seemed to say.

Indeed, even Haruki's sharp dagger was ineffective against the slime, its power greatly reduced. For Shion, who used impact weapons, it was almost impossible to fight. The matchup was the worst.

"So, you're stuck on the 14th floor?"

"Yes... I'm sorry."

Kuren apologized, probably feeling sorry for herself.

Kuren's lightning attacks were effective against the slimy eels. The fact that they couldn't pass through was due to her lack of power.

However, advancing with only a backliner was a tough battle. This was because, whether with a bow or magic, the time to charge an attack was longer compared to a frontliner.

While the attack power per shot was high, the rate of fire was low. If multiple monsters appeared, they would be forced to retreat after being easily surrounded.

Without a frontliner to keep the monsters at bay, it was difficult to advance through the dungeon with only backliners, unless there was a significant advantage.

Kuren had gained the strength to fight well against Cha-cha alone. Therefore, it wasn't that Kuren lacked power.

"It's Shion's fault, isn't it?"

"Aah, it's not my fault! It's the slimy eels that are the problem!!"

"......Oh, okay."

Shion's tone made Haruki flinch.

The slime was so sticky that even the eels it released couldn't move. It was understandable that Shion, who used physical attacks, would be immobilized.

However, Shion's eyes held a light that contradicted the look of a loser.

(Perhaps she stumbled on purpose.)

This was also a way for Shion to help Kuren grow. Haruki couldn't quite see what Kuren was trying to cultivate, but...

For a split second,

(Should I help?)

Haruki's gaze met Shion's, who slightly tilted her chin.

"There's no choice. I'll help you break through the 14th floor."

"But..."

Kuren bit her lower lip at Haruki's offer, probably feeling guilty about causing trouble.

But Haruki shook his head.

"Don't worry. Breaking through the 14th floor isn't just for Kuren's sake."

When they descended to the middle floors of the Nakasatsunai dungeon, Esta didn't receive a blessing. So Haruki had planned to head to the middle floors from the first floor of the garage dungeon to make Esta's blessing appear.

The stronger Esta became, the better the protection for the house. There was no option to not give her a blessing.

While it wasn't necessary to make Esta as strong as possible to protect the house, the strongest was a man's romantic ideal.

Even in a rural house where there were no burglaries, one might want a tank for the house.

"Isn't it better for Shion to go to the 15th floor?"

"Of course. I have to raise Kuren!"

"Isn't the one raising her a hindrance?"

"Sniff..."

When Haruki pointed this out, Shion's eyes welled up.

No matter how high her aspirations, her pitiful state remained unchanged. However, further criticism would be like kicking a corpse. Feeling sorry for her, he decided to leave her be.

*

With Esta, Haruki took three days to break through the 9th floor.

This time, he also leveled up Esta. He instructed her to avoid rare monsters as much as possible.

As a result, the hunting speed was much slower compared to Nakasatsunai.

The reason was the lack of attacks and Esta's characteristics.

Esta was protected by a very hard shell. She was so hard that she didn't take any damage even when she rammed into monsters from Haruki's stomach.

Additionally, her hard shell collided at terrifying speeds, giving her high attack power.

However, since she was a monster that destroyed weapons rather than taking lives, Esta had no sense of attack. This was reflected in her skill board, which had no attack skills.

Although her attack power was sufficient, it took time to finish off monsters. She would fly out, return to Haruki's stomach, and fly out again.

Sometimes her attacks would miss, and she would bounce off the ground and spin around.

Maybe it's better not to let Esta attack much?

Haruki conveyed this with his gaze to Rare.

But Rare looked at Esta with soft leaves, as if to say, "Let's give her a little more time."

Attack techniques can't be learned overnight. But if she continued to attack, she would eventually improve. Haruki decided to follow Rare's advice and observe for a while longer.

"Well, what blessing did she get?"

Upon descending to the 10th floor, Haruki immediately took out his skill board.

Defense, protection, or perhaps fire?

While guessing the blessing Esta received, he swiped the board.

Esta (0) Gender: Male

Skill Points: 2 → 4

Evaluation: Hard Shell Bug

Blessing: Bug (??)

-Special

Weapon Destruction 3

Blessing 1 NEW

"......It's the same."

The straightforward text made Haruki's shoulders drop.

Is the god targeting Gejigeji, or is it a bug god who blesses Gejigeji?

"Esta, I'm going to allocate points to your blessing, okay?"

Haruki confirmed just in case. Esta responded with a sharp "Hai!" and raised one leg.

Esta (0) Gender: Male

Skill Points: 4 → 2

Evaluation: Hard Shell Bug

Blessing: Bug (??) → Evil-Averting Deity (Divine Bug)

-Special

Weapon Destruction 3

Blessing 1 → MAX

"Hmm? Another minor deity appeared."

The Divine Bug was one of the deities depicted in the national treasure scroll "Evil-Averting Scroll," which depicted benevolent deities. However, it was so minor that there were almost no documents about it. Perhaps it was a product of imagination rather than an object of worship.

However, the Divine Bug was said to keep away diseases, making it a perfect match for Esta, who was a beneficial insect.

"Huh?"

As Haruki was about to put away the skill board, he noticed a new skill.

-Vitality

Stamina 0

Natural Recovery 1

Disease Prevention 0 NEW

"It's similar to the skill the old man Takahashi had, but different."

The old man Takahashi, who was active in "Chikaho," had the skill "Immunity." While "Disease Prevention" and "Immunity" were slightly different, ...

Disease Prevention 0 (Prevents status abnormalities) MAX 5

From the effects of "Disease Prevention," it was clear that this skill appeared due to the blessing of the Divine Bug. However, at present, there were few monsters that used status abnormalities. Even among the few that did, most used poison.

It was said that having an antidote was enough to deal with poison. Haruki didn't think this was a useful skill at the moment.

It wouldn't be too late to allocate points if something happened. After some hesitation, Haruki decided to leave it as it was.

While leveling up Esta, Haruki took three days to reach the 14th floor from the 10th floor.

During this time, Esta was eaten by Lutz and hit back by Cha-cha's fists.

Thanks to her hard shell, Esta didn't receive a single scratch. She was just like Shion in that regard.

However, while her body was unharmed, her heart seemed to be quite wounded.

When Haruki tested the slimy eels, Esta was trapped in the slime and looked dejected as she struggled to free herself. This scene appeared somewhat sad to Haruki.

The next day, Kuren, who was full of determination, and Shion, who looked somewhat frightened, gathered in front of the dungeon entrance.

"Is it really going to be okay?"

Being immobilized by the slime must have been a traumatic experience. Shion asked Haruki, trembling.

"I think it will be fine."

They had cleared this floor before. If there were no major problems, they could clear it again.

As Haruki predicted, they were able to clear the 14th floor without any fatal issues. However,

"Ahahaaan!"

Minor problems occurred frequently. Shion was often trapped by the slime, and Esta became the prey of the slime.

Indeed, the two were quite similar. Shion would cry and struggle, while Esta would look dejected when trapped by the slime.

The difference was whether they could escape from the slime. No matter how much Shion struggled, she couldn't escape. In contrast, Esta could slip out smoothly.

While looking at the two with a blank expression, Haruki quickly dispatched the eels one after another.

Last time, Haruki had struggled more with the slime. However, due to the increased skill proficiency from fighting Shizukana, he was able to handle the eels more smoothly this time.

Additionally, Kuren's support was excellent. Her lightning attacks consistently knocked the eels unconscious.

Why couldn't Kuren and Shion break through the 14th floor as a pair, even though they had the power to do so? Haruki scratched his head, but he couldn't figure it out.

Indeed, it was important to have a frontliner continuously attracting the monsters. Thinking this, Haruki looked down at Shion, who was crying and trapped in the slime, with a warm gaze.

"Hey, stop looking and help me already! Gyaah! The eels, so many eels are looking at me!! Air-san, help me, Air-san! Nooooo!!"