Chapter 40

We learned a painful lesson and spent some time gaining experience in battling humanoid monsters by fighting the goblins on the 7th floor. We finally understood the reason why new adventurers in fantasy games and manga put so much effort into goblin hunting.

Indeed, if we hadn’t built a solid foundation in fighting humanoid monsters with goblins, we wouldn’t be able to fight any stronger enemies.

“Phew. I’m done here?”

“Me too.”

“Me as well.”

At our feet lay several goblin corpses, their necks gushing blood. If we could handle this calmly, it wasn’t too difficult.

While I and Yuzi were cleaning our weapons and keeping watch, Shizuka was stripping the goblin corpses and stabbing them with her skinning knife one after another. However...

“Still no good, not much drops. Just a few core crystals and minerals.”

“Got it. So, it’s just goblin meat then.”

“It’s bought at a very low price, you know.”

As Yuzi said, goblin meat is bought at a very low price. When we brought the goblin meat we obtained from our second battle with goblins, we were told it was 50 yen per kilogram and protested. I quickly withdrew my protest, though.

“Well, if there’s no demand, it won’t be sold at a high price. With its strong flavor and tough texture, it’s not suitable for stewing, so there’s no demand for it as food.”

I recalled the taste of the smoked goblin meat I was given to try by the receptionist when I protested. It was truly awful. The indescribable gamey taste that spread in my mouth and the texture that rivaled the hard bread I received as a souvenir from Kitakyushu. I certainly didn’t want to taste it again.

“What about using it as feed?”

“Feed? Even animals would avoid eating it, I think.”

That awful taste would probably be avoided even by omnivorous animals. I doubt producers would adopt it.

While Yuzi and I were discussing the uses of goblin meat, Shizuka finished collecting the dropped items and handed them to me. I quickly stored the dropped items in my spatial storage.

We resumed our dungeon exploration and walked for a while, arriving at the stairs leading to the 8th floor, which we had discovered in our previous exploration.

“Let’s go down then.”

Encouraged by Shizuka’s voice, we descended the stairs leading to the 8th floor.

I swung my sword, Notare, and slashed through the goblins that kept attacking. I think I’ve killed nearly 10 of them. The area was already piled with goblin corpses, hindering our movement.

“Yuzi! Are you okay!?”

“Yeah! I’m fine!”

“Shizuka!?”

“I’m fine too!”

I checked on Yuzi and Shizuka, who were also killing goblins, and their voices, still full of energy, reassured me.

“Damn, what a monster room!”

“Yeah, exactly!”

“Really, no mass respawn or anything!”

While exploring the 8th floor without encountering any monsters, we discovered a slightly open room-like space, about 20 to 30 meters square. As we were exploring the room, goblins suddenly started appearing from the floor.

Unfortunately, the room’s exit was on the opposite side, blocked by the respawned goblins. In other words, to escape the room, we had to defeat the goblins that appeared.

“Well, I guess we just had bad luck!”

I thought it might be the effect of the bad omen I drew on New Year’s Day, but I shook it off. I needed to focus on the battle to avoid any unexpected setbacks.

As I was slashing another goblin with Notare, Yuzi called out.

“5 left! Don’t let your guard down, let’s finish them off!”

“Yeah!”

“Okay!”

We were finally seeing the end. We recharged our energy and attacked the remaining goblins.

The blade of Notare, now coated with goblin fat and unable to cut properly, I aimed for the goblins’ throats and thrust. Notare easily pierced through the goblin’s throat, causing a large amount of blood to spurt out. I quickly twisted Notare to finish the goblin off and kicked its body to pull out the sword. Then, I swung Notare horizontally at the throat of another goblin that was approaching me with a club. The blade, coated with fat, didn’t cut into the goblin’s skin but broke its neck bone, and the goblin was thrown to the floor, motionless.

Looking around to see if there were any other goblins, I realized the battle was over, and the goblin I had just killed was the last one.

“Phew... It’s over. Are you both okay? Any injuries?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m a bit tired, but no injuries.”

“I’m tired too, but no injuries.”

“So, everyone’s safe. Well, we look pretty bad, though...”

We had killed the goblins without considering the splattered blood, and we were all covered in goblin blood.

“Well, there were just too many. It couldn’t be helped.”

“True. But I want to wash it off quickly.”

“Then, shall we collect the dropped items from these goblins and head back?”

“Agreed.”

“I agree too. I’m tired today.”

With everyone in agreement, we quickly prepared to leave. Shizuka stabbed the goblin corpses with her skinning knife, I collected the dropped items into my spatial storage, and Yuzi kept watch. When Shizuka stabbed the last goblin, something unusual dropped.

“Kukuri, can you check this for me?”

“Huh? Did something unusual drop?”

“Yes, a skill scroll. I don’t know what’s inside, so check it.”

“Got it, just a moment.”

I quickly finished collecting the remaining dropped items and performed an appraisal on the skill scroll Shizuka held. The result was immediately clear: the skill scroll contained the “Purify” skill.

It felt like a convenient coincidence. I shared the appraisal result with Shizuka and Yuzi.

“The ‘Purify’ skill!”

“Another pinpoint skill.”

“I agree.”

Shizuka was excited and jumping around with the skill scroll, but Yuzi and I exchanged glances with a somewhat awkward expression.

“Hey, can I use this?”

“I don’t mind, but what about Yuzi?”

If we sold the skill scroll, we could get several hundred thousand yen. When asked if it was okay to use it, I hesitated to answer immediately.

After checking, it turned out to be an active skill that consumed a minimal amount of EP, so there was no problem with Shizuka using it. I looked at Yuzi, wondering what to do.

“I think it’s fine to use it. Considering the need to deal with splattered blood in the future, having Shizuka with the ‘Purify’ skill isn’t a bad choice.”

“True, Yuzi has a point.”

Considering our continued exploration of the dungeon, having Shizuka with the ‘Purify’ skill wasn’t a bad idea. We were still in the shallow floors where we could easily return to the surface, but in deeper floors, it would be a struggle just to move around. If we got covered in blood in the deeper floors, it would be a problem. We could bring spare clothes in my spatial storage, but our current clothes were armor, and we couldn’t easily change them.

Given these considerations, it made sense for Shizuka to have the ‘Purify’ skill.

“So, Shizuka, you can use the skill scroll.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, of course.”

With Yuzi and I nodding in agreement, Shizuka opened the skill scroll with a happy smile. The skill scroll glowed, and particles of light entered Shizuka’s body.

“Purify.”

Shizuka immediately used the Purify skill, and the goblin blood on her face and hair disappeared. However, that was it. The blood on her clothes and armor remained.

“Huh? Why? Kukuri?”

“Ah, I think it’s because the proficiency isn’t high enough.”

Shizuka gave me a sharp look, as if to say, “That’s not what you said.”

I stammered and tried to explain the possible reason for the incomplete purification.

“Proficiency... meaning, to clean items or others, you need to use the skill multiple times to improve?”

“Probably. I think the range of purification will gradually expand as you use it more, like your body, equipment, and others.”

“I see. So, it won’t help us clean up now?”

“Unfortunately, I think that’s the case.”

“Sigh... That’s the punchline.”

Shizuka, who had been listening to Yuzi and me, sighed deeply and looked disappointed. While it seemed like a convenient coincidence, it didn’t work out as well as we hoped. We moved from the spot where goblins might respawn in large numbers and used kitchen paper to roughly wipe off the blood from our bodies. The sight of the kitchen paper turning red was quite shocking, but we had gotten used to it recently.

After finishing the cleanup, we took a break, then climbed the stairs and headed for the exit of the dungeon. The return trip went relatively smoothly, with only a few battles with monsters.

When we emerged from the dungeon, there was a moment of commotion around the gate. It seemed that the new explorers were surprised by our blood-covered appearance. Looking in the direction of the voices, I saw various gazes directed at us, especially at me and Yuzi, including fearful and disgusted looks.

“This place is uncomfortable.”

“Let’s hurry up and go.”

“Wait, hold on.”

Yuzi and I quickly headed for the changing room, with Shizuka following behind in a hurry.

Once in the changing room, we first threw our blood-soaked clothes into the coin laundry. We needed to wash them quickly to prevent the blood from setting. We also used a coin-operated high-pressure washer to clean the blood off our armor. The high-pressure washer worked quickly. After washing, we wiped the armor with a cloth and stored it in the lockers.

Finally, while the laundry was running, we washed our bodies. The shower room turned red with the blood and sweat we washed off. We needed to add more coins to wash thoroughly.

Feeling refreshed after washing off the blood and sweat, I, still shirtless, bought a bottle of coffee milk from the vending machine in the changing room and drank it in one go. It felt good to quench my thirst.

“Phew, finally feeling better.”

“You sound like an old man, Daiki. You’re still a high school student, you know?”

“Huh? You can’t talk, Yuzi.”

Yuzi, standing behind me, was also shirtless, drinking a fruit milk while leaning on his waist.

“Still, today’s battle was tough.”

“Yeah, I never expected so many goblins to respawn at once.”

“True. But thanks to that, we saw various issues.”

The large-scale encounter with goblins was unexpected. We had never faced more than 5 to 6 monsters at once, so we were unprepared for a battle with over 30 monsters.

While it was a matter of being caught off guard, it did highlight various issues.

“Using a sword that cuts in a battle with that many monsters is not practical.”

“True, we could cut 7 to 8 monsters, but more than that, the blade gets coated with fat and stops cutting. In the end, we had to use it as a blunt weapon.”

“My wakizashi was in a similar state. It could cut again after cleaning, but we couldn’t take the time to clean it during the battle.”

“Considering that, wouldn’t it be better for us to have the Purify skill too?”

If we could clean our weapons during the battle, the issue of decreased cutting ability in consecutive battles would be resolved. The Purify skill seemed more important than some combat skills.

“True, but how do we get it?”

“...Maybe check the guild’s auction site?”

“...Buy it with money? It would cost at least several hundred thousand yen.”

As Yuzi said, skill scrolls cost from several hundred thousand to several million yen. We might not have enough funds to buy one.

“But, at least...?”

“Well, it’s fine to just look.”

“Then, let’s check.”

We accessed the guild’s homepage on our smartphones and looked at the auction site. A Purify skill scroll was listed for about 870,000 yen. At this price, we couldn’t afford it immediately. Yuzi and I sighed in unison. We could only rely on Shizuka’s Purify skill for now. We concluded that there was nothing we could do and spent the time until the laundry was done discussing other issues we felt during the battle.

When the laundry was done, we collected our clothes and left the changing room. After waiting on the sofa for a moment, Shizuka came out of the changing room, and we held a brief debriefing, including the content of the conversation with Yuzi. Shizuka shared similar concerns and agreed to improve the proficiency of the Purify skill.

After cashing in the dropped items, we concluded today’s dungeon exploration. Phew, I feel more tired than usual today.

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In a large-scale battle with a group of goblins, if the sword can’t cut, it can only be used as a blunt weapon, right?