Chapter 56

"Hmm, I slept well!"

The day after the labyrinth collapse at Kenzaki Dungeon.

Because I was quite tired, I went to bed earlier than usual yesterday.

Thanks to that, I feel completely refreshed now.

When I went to the living room, Hana had already started eating breakfast.

"Ah, good morning, Onii-chan."

"Ah, good morning."

I sat down and turned on the TV, where a morning news program was on.

It just so happened to be a special feature on dungeons.

Today, as usual, it was reporting on various incidents.

There was news about a new dungeon appearing in another prefecture, and they were recruiting adventurers over level 5000 for the first challenge.

There was also news about an excellent tamer with a unique skill that could control monsters, who had died mysteriously in a nearby B-rank dungeon.

Most notably, the news that a Japanese person had newly joined the world's top 300, surpassing level 100,000, was being heavily reported.

However, what I paid the most attention to was the news about the labyrinth collapse at Kenzaki Dungeon.

...Of course, it would be featured.

It's not like we've been losing to the final boss recently.

Well, to be honest, labyrinth collapses don't happen very often.

Most dungeons naturally disappear without collapsing.

In the reports, there were voices criticizing Fumimi and the others for their reckless challenge to the final boss, as well as voices praising their spirit of self-sacrifice.

However, the topic that came up the most was about the only surviving adventurer—though his name wasn't mentioned in the news, it was mostly about Zero.

Those who weren't there were saying all sorts of things, calling him shameless for just watching the battle without doing anything.

...I did a bad thing to Zero.

If he had told the truth instead of going along with my lie, the backlash would have been less severe.

I should apologize to him in some way.

At least we exchanged contact information.

While I was thinking about this, Hana was also watching the news with great interest.

"Kenzaki Dungeon is in the city center, right? It's scary to think something like this happened so close by, Onii-chan."

"Hmm? Yeah, that's right. Be careful not to get caught up in it, Hana."

"Leave it to me, I can run fast! But, but, more importantly, Onii-chan, get strong enough to defeat the final boss and protect me. The child of the Asakura family in the next town said they're already challenging A-rank dungeons, even though they're the same age as you. Onii-chan, you should try harder too!"

Hey, Hana, who the heck is Asakura?

...I want to say that, but,

I give her a sly smile.

"Ah, leave it to me. If anything happens to you, just call me and I'll definitely save you."

"Ah, what? That's not like Onii-chan at all? Huh, well, I guess that's fine. Still, to answer so quickly, Onii-chan is such a severe siscon. Ah, what a problem."

Hey, Hana.

Didn't you learn that there are good and bad things to say, even if they're true?

Well, let's set aside that joke (fact).

The breakfast time with Hana and me continued happily.

Next is a leveling chapter!