Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

Page 116

"...Lord Crozzo!"

"I told you not to use that name... damn it."

Hearing Lily's cry, he initially wanted to shout back, but then he noticed her voice.

Two monsters, unlike the orcs, had already quietly approached and surrounded Welf.

Silverback monkey.

With its bulging muscles and white fur, it resembled a monster reminiscent of a wild ape. Only its hair was a dark silver, growing all the way down its back like a tail.

This monster, which Bell once faced off against in the "Monster Philia," is known as one of the signature monsters of the 11th floor, along with the Armored Rat. Unlike the Orc, it doesn't have a huge difference in strength and agility; its physical abilities are well-balanced and generally high, which means it's extremely powerful.

Just as Welf's expression twitched involuntarily, a particularly large dead tree behind him made a sound. With a "thud," another silverback ape landed on the ground.

"..."

"Chirp..."

"Oh no," Welf muttered to himself.

A situation where there are many against one, and the enemy is even surrounded. This is one of the scenarios you absolutely cannot encounter in a dungeon.

(What a blunder... Isn't this just like when we explored alone?)

Welf felt sweat beading on his forehead and cautiously glanced around at the three figures.

The memory of being ostracized by my faction members, giving up on myself, preparing a bunch of elixirs (recovery potions), and challenging the 10th floor alone... only to be nearly killed in a few moves, has returned to my mind.

(I have no choice but to run away... no, can I even escape?)

As the circle surrounding him gradually shrank, Welf felt anxious and racked his brains.

Roughly estimating, Lily's strength was about slightly greater than that of the silverback ape, and the difference wasn't significant. She knew she'd be overwhelmed by the other monsters after taking down one. Standing at a distance, her expression stiff, Lily dared not act rashly. Asking for help from a supporter would be too cruel.

It was a dead end. But Welf decided to ignore the conclusion in his mind. He slung his weapon over his shoulder and glared fiercely at the silverback ape in front of him.

He decided to disregard the danger and fight his way through the encirclement. A hissing sound filled his ears; the unpleasant tension he'd experienced countless times in the dungeon burned through Welf's body. At that moment, he made up his mind.

The atmosphere at the scene was tense and saturated.

The silverback ape, staring at Welf, flashed a fierce light in its eyes.

The monsters have made their move.

The next moment.

"One—two!"

“Guga!”

"!"

An unexpected obstacle appeared out of nowhere.

Bell charged forward with astonishing momentum, like a javelin, and delivered a powerful flying kick to the silverback ape's cheek. The monster's face contorted at an unsettling angle as it was kicked to the side of its companion.

The unexpected turn of events left Welf and the silverback ape frozen in place, while only Bell drew his dagger from its sheath.

"Mr. Welf!"

His gaze met those deep red eyes, and he understood almost reflexively.

He shifted his upper body to the side, leaving the throwing track.

Bell immediately made his move, firing a short sword with his right hand, which he had raised behind his head to gather power.

"Ugh!"

"——!"

The short sword struck the silverback ape behind Welf in the left eye.

With a scream, the monster staggered, and Welf spun like a top, turning around and slashing his greatsword upwards.

The silver flash struck the enemy's body beautifully, defeating him.

"..."

The monster's knees buckled, and it collapsed to the ground. Welf remained rooted to the spot, still wielding his greatsword, and slowly raised his head to look back.

Just then, I saw Bell defeat the second silverback ape.

Welf stared at his retreating figure for a long time, then smiled slightly and slung the greatsword back over his shoulder.

"It's really great to have teammates."

The white-haired boy who turned around also smiled broadly, as if he genuinely agreed.

◆

"But you're incredibly fast. I didn't even know when you flew over."

"I...I'm actually a little confused too..."

Having finished our battle with the monster army, we are now taking a short break.

The location remains the cavern at the starting point of the 11th level. Scattered across the grassland, bearing the marks of a fierce battle, are fragments of the underground city walls and uprooted tree trunks, creating a somewhat gruesome scene.

I had a relaxed conversation with Mr. Welf, who had sheathed his sword on his back and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Having someone a level above you in strength with me makes fighting much easier. But I can't rely on you too much, though."

"However, I also felt that the burden was much lighter during the battle than before."

"That's the advantage of teaming up. Whether it's physical or mental strain, less burden leads to different actions. The same applies to dealing with monsters."

Mr. Welf was talking about the practicality of team play. It seemed like he had been exploring dungeons in teams not long ago, so he knew much more about it than I did.

"For a makeshift team, I think we've done pretty well. While we're not quite perfectly in sync yet, our movements are quite coordinated... I guess that's thanks to Riko."

"You mean Lily?"

"Yes. Although what she does is insignificant, it's very effective. And after we meet up, she coordinates between you and me to prevent conflicts during our operations."

It might not sound nice to say it this way, but to put it simply, we were like being pushed around by Lily.

Or perhaps it could be said that we were led astray by her. Lily, who kept her distance from the rear and surveyed the battlefield, used her occasional clever cover to keep our movements in sync.

"Lily is very familiar with the way adventurers operate," Mr. Welf said. "Ah, I see," I suddenly realized. Because Lily had been carefully observing adventurers, both as a supporter and a thief.

"But speaking of which, Riko is really diligent."

"At times like this, I feel a little embarrassed towards the supporters..."

"Yes," Mr. Welf said with a smile, and in front of him and me, Lily was busy collecting magic stones.

We've slaughtered a huge number of monsters, so the support staff are under considerable strain. We wanted to help, but she flatly refused, telling us to take a good rest while we had the chance.

She said this was her only job.

"Speaking of which, there are getting more and more people. What should we do? Should we change locations later?"

"Hmm—that's true..."

Just a moment ago, there was no one around, but now several small teams can be seen scattered in various places.

Because this cavern is located between two levels, it's a frequent haunt for adventurers. Furthermore, since it's fog-free, many teams use it as a base for exploration, making it potentially difficult to continue hunting here.

If they start fighting over the monsters that appear, it's no joke. If a conflict erupts and escalates into a problem between [Familia], it will be a truly unbearable sight. In fact, while we were fighting, a small team was indeed dealing with the remaining monsters. When exploring the dungeon, try to avoid areas with other people and strictly adhere to the principle of non-interference; this is an unwritten rule of the dungeon.

...By the way, Lily noticed the other teams' presence first and quickly gathered the monsters we had defeated into one place. This meant it was our share, and no one else was allowed to take it.

Is it meticulousness? Only a seasoned supporter could achieve such incredible speed.

"...In that case, how about we have lunch here? With so many people, we won't have to worry about monsters."

"I see. It would be a huge loss to just give up the location to someone else. Why don't we make use of it? Okay, I agree."

Although I felt it was a bit shameless, Mr. Welf agreed with my opinion.

We decided to wait for Lily to come back and then have an early lunch.

(But then again... no wonder it's the 11th floor, every team looks really strong...)

I glanced around and these thoughts came to mind.

I always felt that the teams that took good positions in various parts of the cave all exuded a calm and sharp temperament.

The same goes for weapons and armor. You can feel how sharp and sturdy they are without even touching them.

Orcs carrying broken bows, Amazons placing their massive battle axes on the ground, elves equipped with silver staffs and robes... these demi-humans seem to have their own unique characteristics at first glance, each hiding their true strengths.

(I wonder how many people have [leveled up]...?)

Many of the teams exploring floors 11 and 12 are likely planning to conquer the "middle floors" that are just around the corner, so some of these people should have already reached level 2.

...Am I really on the same side as those people?

I'm at least Level 2 now, so I should be more resolute, but... whenever I see a strong dwarf or something like that, I can't help but want to kneel and surrender. My goal is at a height that's unattainable, and I shouldn't cower in this place, but...

Those people must possess very strong "skills" or "magic"...

(Oh, right, my "skills"...)

I remembered that I had also learned a "skill".

[A Hero's Wish]. I've completely forgotten about it until now, never really given it a second thought, but...

(Nothing seems to happen during normal battles... I guess?)

The faster movements or greater strength are likely due to the [upgrade] effect; I don't think the skill was activated.

"Proactive action", "conscious action", "attack rather than retaliate".

I recalled my conversation with the deity and tried to pick out these key words and phrases, but I still couldn't figure it out.

I still don't quite understand. Come to think of it, I should have consciously taken action or launched an attack during the battle just now, but nothing happened. Perhaps this means that simply taking action is not enough.

Just like "magic" that requires chanting as a trigger, is there a certain key action required?

(To get to the bottom of it...)

...How did the skill "[Hero's Wish]" come about?

Is it because of the "upgrade"?

Was it because I defeated that monster—the Minotaur?

It's because I genuinely didn't want Miss Ais to see me in such an embarrassing state, and I didn't want to continue like that.

...Me at that time.

"I want to be—"

hero.

He made such a wish.

"..."

Just like the characters in a fairy tale.