Chapter 72

This story is a work of fiction.

The characters, organizations, and names are all fictitious and have no connection to any real entities.

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067＿Royal Capital Dungeon 6th Floor

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Upon reaching the 6th floor of the Royal Capital Dungeon, I returned to the Duke's mansion and was summoned by the Duke.

After cleaning myself in the bath, I had dinner with the Duke.

"Did you enter the dungeon?"

"Yes."

I answered briefly, and the Duke asked about the number of monsters inside.

"Didn't you feel there were that many monsters?"

"That's true. Since it's only the day after yesterday, you probably only reached the 1st or at most the 2nd floor."

I didn't say that I was actually on the 6th floor. I kept it a secret that I can move using Dungeon Move, as it could cause unnecessary trouble if it were known.

"The king is currently bedridden due to illness. The audience with the king is scheduled for the 25th of the 1st month, but it will be conducted by Princess Elmerda, who is acting as regent. Don't do anything reckless and get injured before then."

Hmm, the king is sick. I don't hear much about the king. Is it intentional, or is he just a low-profile person who doesn't attract rumors?

I plan to receive the reward for demon extermination on the 25th and attend the New Year's greeting audience on the 30th. I hope it ends quickly, as it's a bit of a hassle.

"I won't do anything reckless, so please don't worry."

After all, I managed to avoid the Monster House, so I should be fine.

"The reward includes a national medal, 10 million grils, and a magic sword. Your wife and vassals will also receive medals, 2 million grils, and either a magic sword or a magic spear."

It seems Annelise is considered my wife. I'm totally okay with that. In fact, I welcome it, but I haven't asked for her permission, so there might be a complaint. If there is, it would be a bit of a letdown...

"Can I get a magic sword too?"

"For Baron Futsickle, it will be a designated treasure sword, but for your vassals, it will be a few steps lower."

Gundalban and the others have magic swords and spears that I enchanted. I wonder what kind they will receive? I hope it's not the ones I enchanted... No, I shouldn't jinx it. It might be too late, though.

However, this meal is rather bland. It's not bad, but the flavor is too light. Recently, I've been making Japanese dishes or having Zoppa make them, so the seasoning is a bit stronger than what the Duke's family uses. Curry rice, for example, is a good example of this.

By the way, the hearty dishes of the dwarf Bacchus were well-seasoned and delicious. They were mostly hearty dishes, but the seasoning was to my liking. Bacchus is a good guy, except for how he keeps trying to get me drunk. Thanks to him, I ended up getting the job of a heavy drinker.

Since there's still some time before the audience, I'll enter the dungeon today.

I entered the dungeon and immediately used Dungeon Move to go to the 6th floor.

The first monsters on the 6th floor were Little Elephant Level 17 and Little Eye Level 18.

The Little Elephant is a small elephant-type monster with six tusks and eight legs. Its trunk is about three times its body length and is used like a spear. It has high DEF and MDEF, making it a well-balanced offensive and defensive monster.

The Little Eye is a monster with a bat's wings and a large eyeball. Despite being "little," its eyeball has a diameter of one meter. I wonder if there are even larger ones?

The Little Eye fired a beam from its black pupil.

Gundalban intercepted it. It was quite hot, but Gundalban didn't flinch.

"Haah, Triple Slash!"

Jojok used the skill Triple Slash on the Little Elephant, which disappeared without a trace.

"Thrust, Power Lance!"

Rin, who had flown over Gundalban and Jojok, used the skill Power Lance. The agile Rin used her spear like a pole vault, performing acrobatic movements.

The Little Eye disappeared instantly. It's a high-damage, long-range attack, so its defense is low.

The drops from the Little Elephant were rare tusks, and from the Little Eye, it was normal eye drops.

The tusks can be used for crafts and weapons like swords and spears. The tusks in this world seem to be made of a material similar to metal.

The monsters on the 6th floor always appear in groups. They come in sets of Little Elephants and Little Eyes. Sometimes it's one of each, and other times it's multiple Little Elephants with one Little Eye. I've seen up to four Little Elephants, but there was always only one Little Eye.

I think it would be difficult to handle if you're at a low level, but we didn't have much trouble.

I, Annelise, Gundalban, Rosalina, Jojok, Rin, and Solidia can take them out one-on-one. Only Bartz is a bit of a challenge, but since there were never more than eight, it wasn't a problem. Even if there were more, we have Rose and Solidia can summon multiple familiars, so it wouldn't be an issue as long as it's not a Monster House.

The boss room on the 6th floor has Fang Elephant Level 25 and Evil Eye Level 27. There is one Evil Eye, but there are three Fang Elephants.

The Fang Elephant has eight tusks, ten legs, and is about three meters tall, making it much larger. It has much higher DEF, MDEF, and HP than the Little Elephant. It seems their strategy is to hold us off with the three Fang Elephants while the Evil Eye deals damage.

We won't let that happen.

"Can you restrain the Evil Eye and keep it from looking at us?"

Rose nodded. If she can do it, there's no problem.

"Then, I'll leave the Evil Eye to Rose."

Rose floated around me, nodding.

"We'll take out the three Fang Elephants first. They have high defense, so be careful of their trunk attacks."

Everyone nodded. I raised my right hand and brought it down. Gundalban, Jojok, and Rosalina charged forward.

Annelise supported Gundalban with the fire magic Firestorm. The flames burned the Fang Elephants, and Gundalban's magic sword struck them.

Bartz shot arrows at the Fang Elephant Jojok was handling. The Attack Arrows from his poison-infused bow pierced deeply, dealing damage. Bartz doesn't have bow skills, but using the poison-infused bow and Attack Arrows gives a +100 ATK bonus, which is the best among our equipment.

The poison effect didn't activate or was resisted, but I didn't expect debuffs to work on bosses anyway.

Solidia summoned three ghosts. When she combined them with the skill Familiar Synthesis, they turned into a modified ghost with a human-like black shadow body.

"Terror Hand!"

The modified ghost touched the Fang Elephant, which reared up in fear. The panicked Fang Elephant attacked randomly. Rosalina didn't miss the opportunity and attacked.

"Frost Breath!"

At Solidia's command, the modified ghost breathed frost, which didn't deal damage but worsened the Fang Elephant's movements.

Since it's not an additional effect of a weapon, it seems to be less likely to be resisted.

I also joined the attack, and the three Fang Elephants disappeared in about a minute. Only the Evil Eye remained, but it was restrained by Rose's thorny vines and couldn't move. Rose is impressive, but the Evil Eye is too foolish...

We all stabbed the Evil Eye's eye with swords, spears, and arrows, and it disappeared quickly. The Evil Eye was useless.

The drops were two Fang Elephant tusks and one Fang Elephant leather armor.

The tusks are awkward elephant trunks. They look unappealing, but their performance is not bad.

The rare leather armor looks like ordinary leather armor, so there's no visual issue. As expected of the high-defense Fang Elephant, it has good performance.

The Evil Eye dropped a Strengthening Eye Drop, which temporarily increases AGI by 10. Considering the volume, it can be used dozens of times, making it an interesting item. I'll use it when fighting fast monsters.

I immediately used Dungeon Move to the boss room of the 6th floor after entering the 7th floor. I attacked the 6th floor boss five times to get Strengthening Eye Drops, obtaining four and one Eye Staff for a sorcerer.

The Eye Staff can be used as a catalyst for 100 heat ray beams and will disappear after 100 uses. I haven't received any heat rays from the Evil Eye, so I don't know the power, but it seems to be a good item.

Thank you for reading.

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