Chapter 275 - At Long Last
She saw right through me, and showed me her concern—Sora's wordless suggestion was exactly what I needed.
It was time for a breather. With one task after another piling up, I was, to be frank, at my limit.
Sora must have had things she wanted to talk about too, but she saw how I was doing and took my feelings into consideration—inviting me to 'just play.'
…I truly am blessed with a good partner.
"—So that's the gist of it… I'm in a bit of a weird spot with a lot of things right now."
"………………Um… are you planning to switch over to being a mage…?"
And so.
To take full advantage of her kindness, I forced my mind to switch gears to 'adventure' mode.
There were a mountain of things to think about, but for now, I'd pass them all off to my future self. With that settled, the first order of business was to share all the recent changes.
"Nah, I actually think it's a pretty good decision. You know, since we'll be tackling dungeons as a pair again…"
"—Ah… I see, that makes sense."
On our way to our temporary 'destination,' I explained my stat adjustments. At first, Sora looked exasperated, as if to say 'doing something extreme again,' but…
"Right? I'd even say it might be the best possible move."
"It's true… In your current state, it makes both strategies possible, doesn't it?"
What we were talking about was our coordination, something we hadn't used much recently—
"—Ah, there it is."
We passed through the forest, ran across the plains, and after crossing valleys and hills for some time, I spotted our destination in the distance. Our talk of information sharing was put on hold for the time being.
We were currently in a rocky, mountainous region to the west of the Safe Area in the [Garden of Divine Creation]—one of the spots I was told we could find 'gems.'
"A cave… is it?"
Following my gaze, Sora looked towards a wide, flat opening of darkness. That was the entrance to the 'mining site.'
[Great Rock-Eating Hive]—a super popular spot coveted by production classes, and a place of screams and agony shunned by combat classes. It was a high-difficulty dungeon that bore both of these reputations.
Our objective, of course, was high-quality gem materials. It was something I needed, having to re-evaluate my build, and something Sora needed too, as most of her accessory slots were still empty.
It was the perfect place to start our serious dungeon crawling.
"Alright then—Sora-san. Before we challenge that dungeon, there's one thing I need to confirm."
"Yes?"
It was a factor I couldn't ignore, one that would determine whether the battle ahead would be 'hell' or 'super hell.'
For the record, we were charging in regardless of the answer. I simply prayed in my heart that my partner, a real-life ojou-sama, had some 'resistance'—and asked.
"This is sudden, but… are you afraid of 'bugs' by any chance?"
"——————————"
Her cute, curious face instantly froze solid.
"………………"
"………………"
"…Alright, let's get this over with."
"I refuse."
The hand that gripped my sleeve was stronger than ever.
But too bad for you. Back in the [Trial Spheres of Partition] era, it might have been an issue, but now, my STR is higher than yours.
"It's fine. They're not just any bugs, they're monster-sized, so they're just monsters, right?"
"I said no."
"Besides, with your magic swords, you could probably slaughter them all with ease."
"No."
As I dragged her steadily closer to the dungeon entrance, Sora's resistance grew more intense.
"I said no! Wh-Why…! You should have said something sooner…!!"
"It's fine, I'm telling you! You can do it! I'll be the vanguard, I won't let them get past me!"
"You have a prior conviction for that line!"
My partner, who then started to seriously struggle, displayed the fiercest resistance I'd ever seen and ultimately declared war on me—or rather, demanded a duel to decide whether we'd enter the dungeon or not.
After some negotiation, the duel was decided by a tense game of 'Look-That-Way'…
"And I wiiiiin!!"
"N-No…! I don't want to! I don't want to goooooo—!!"
The result was as you see.
By uselessly applying the perception skills I'd honed during my training with the Sword Saint, I flawlessly won every round, from the best-of-three to the tearful final rematch.
And so, the motion to conquer the [Great Rock-Eating Hive] was passed.
◇◆◇◆◇
"—I hate you, Haru."
"I'm sorry. Can you stop being mad at me soon?"
Ten minutes after beginning our conquest, which had started with a girl's echoing screams.
After a completely messy start, we were now proceeding smoothly, as if to blow away that initial stumble.
[Great Rock-Eating Hive]—also known as the 'Ant's Nest.'
This dungeon, which began from a flat entrance on the surface, was in reality a massive underground labyrinth composed of countless branching, narrow passages.
'Narrow passages'… was relative to the overall scale. The path that continued endlessly downwards at a constant width was a respectable tunnel over ten meters in diameter.
Now, as for the monsters that appear in this 'Ant's Nest'—it goes without saying, it could be nothing other than ants.
"Here they come again."
"Uuu…!"
The warning was a faint vibration coming from beneath our feet.
And what appeared moments later was… a great swarm of light, brilliantly illuminating the dim underground.
Enemy Name: [Gemlant Army, Rock-Eating Soldier Ant]—the giant ant-type monsters that guard this great hive, and a living, moving mountain of treasure.
To put it simply, they were 'something like ants made of glowing rocks and gems.' Their body structure was undeniably ant-like, but their bodies, which looked as if they'd been carved from stone, were blocky right down to the joints, making them feel less 'bug-like.'
Still, their movements weren't entirely un-bug-like, so those who disliked them would dislike them. However, their 'grossness' factor should have been somewhat reduced.
It's not like I just forcefully dragged Sora into hell for no reason.
I trusted Nia's words that 'I don't like them either, but those are barely safe,' and went in on the premise that we would leave immediately if Sora gave it a failing grade.
As a result, Sora's judgment was a pass. Although she was still sulking a bit, it seemed she had no problem fighting them.
…Well, they were still creepy, apparently, as she was adamantly refusing to get close, her magic sword control incredibly tense.
"Haaah… —Vanguard, if you please."
"Okay."
Sora took a breath to calm herself—and once her resolve was set, her voice became serene.
"[Samidorizuki]."
I drew the jade blade I'd summoned and stepped forward to face the approaching swarm, their advance shaking the ground.
It had only been about ten minutes since we started—but thanks to the ridiculous frequency of attacks, my avatar was already completely warmed up.
On top of that, we had more than enough battle results and enemy intel.
My impression of the 'Ant's Nest,' which typical combat players apparently call 'hell'—the high-difficulty dungeon that Sora and I were challenging together, was…
"—Come on, you grunts. I'll turn you into a pile of rubble."
"Honestly… If you get careless and get hit, I'll be angry—《Schwert Kreis, Sword Ring》."
So far, it's one step short of being a cakewalk—now then, let's start this fun monster-mashing game.
'Normal Player' = 1/10th of Mr. Elephant
'Veteran Player' = 3/10ths of Mr. Elephant
'Normal Istian' = 5/10ths of Mr. Elephant
'Veteran Istian' = Mr. Elephant
'Ranker' = A herd of Mr. Elephants
I defined this super randomly, so just take it as a vague reference.