Chapter 467 – Episode 467 – A New Party!
“You idiot!”
Whack!
“Ouch!”
Gracia’s face turned bright red as she smacked Lyfa on the back of the head.
“What are you doing, Gracia? That hurts!”
“I told you not to say unnecessary things!”
“What do you mean, unnecessary? It’s all true, isn’t it?”
“Even if it’s true, you should be a bit more discreet! It’s fine that I’m smitten with, with Master’s strength, but don’t go around saying ‘exclusive female’ so carelessly!”
“But it’s true, isn’t it? What’s there to be embarrassed about?”
“Even if it’s true! Just say I’m Master’s lover or future wife, that’s enough!”
“But isn’t it a bit weird not to emphasize the ‘female’ part when you’re born in Bridan?”
“That’s just you! What if Master’s reputation gets ruined because of that!”
“Master is already the strongest male! Do you think he’d care about such things?”
“You should care a little, Lyfa.”
“Oh, r-really? Ah, then… S-sorry, Master.”
“No, it’s okay. Actually, I was happy because what you said just now sounded like a grand love confession.”
“Really?”
“Is that really true, Master!? Th-then I also…”
Gracia was about to shout like Lyfa, gathering her courage, but I stopped her.
“Gracia, you don’t have to force yourself. I know your feelings even without you saying it.”
“Master…♡”
“More importantly, let’s go to the reception desk.”
“Okay!”
“Yes!”
And so, we approached the reception desk and greeted Leni.
“Hello, Leni.”
“Yes, Rent. You want to add Gracia and Lyfa to your party, right?”
Leni had already guessed what I wanted.
“Yes.”
“I’ve already registered both of them to your party, Rent. Gracia, Lyfa, please take these.”
Leni handed each of them a magic tool that confirmed their party location.
“This is…”
“Master and the other adventurers were all wearing these, right?”
“Yes. It’s called a Link Recorder. If you wear it and link it with your party members, you can see which direction your party members are in and which floor of the dungeon they are on.”
“Oh, that’s convenient?”
“Do we not have to pay for this separately?”
“No, it’s all supported by the Adventurer’s Guild, so it’s fine.”
“Gracia, Lyfa, put your fists close like this and say ‘link’.”
Lyfa and Gracia linked their magic tools with the rest of the party, and then I left a clone at the Adventurer’s Guild.
And with Gracia and Lyfa added to our new party, we headed towards the dungeon.
On the way, I told everyone our plan for the day.
“First, I’ll make a clone and have everyone hunt ogres on the 17th floor. I’ll move Lyfa and Gracia with telekinesis and be there soon.”
Everyone agreed with my plan.
After lining up at the dungeon entrance, I made a clone and went to the 17th floor with Elsie, Noah, Ninya, and Tikia.
“Then let’s go. Put your hand on this crystal ball and say ‘1st floor’.”
“Okay.”
“Got it.”
Gracia and Lyfa put their hands on the crystal ball with me and said “1st floor,” and I moved to the 1st floor.
“Uwaaaaaa! Dieeee!”
Kieeeeee!
“Fireball!”
Kikikikie!
“You dodged it even though you’re just a goblin!”
“Maybe your accuracy is just terrible!”
“What, wanna die!”
“Hey, don’t fight and focus!”
It had been a while since I’d been on the 1st floor.
There, F-rank adventurers were fighting goblins diligently.
“This is the dungeon…”
“Oh, the goblins are more agile than I thought. Is it because they’re dungeon monsters?”
“Dungeon monsters are said to be stronger than the same species of monsters that live outside.”
“The rumors seem to be true. Hmm… hey, Master. Can we fight the monsters on each floor once? I’m curious how strong they are.”
“Since we’ll be moving quickly anyway, that’s fine. But let’s move a bit so we don’t bother the other adventurers.”
“Yay!”
The 1st floor was cave-like, so if I used telekinesis from the start, it would get in the way of other adventurers. So, I walked.
And when we reached a section where other adventurers were no longer visible, I stopped.
“This should be fine.”
Kikikikie!
“And there are goblins right in front of us.”
“Alright! Then let’s see how strong the dungeon goblins are!”
Lyfa took out silver gauntlets from her inventory, the same color as her hair, and instantly equipped them. She then charged towards the goblins.
“Haaap!”
Thwack!
With one punch, she blew off a goblin’s head.
“What, that was easy.”
“Ha, Lyfa. Even if it’s a dungeon, the opponent is a goblin. There won’t be that much of a difference in strength.”
“Hmm, is that so? Hey, Gracia, why don’t you take one out to celebrate?”
“I’m fine. Master, let’s hurry to the 17th floor.”
“Okay.”
“What~ that was easy~.”
“If you want to have fun fighting, it’d be better to fight the monsters on the floor where everyone else is. I don’t want to waste unnecessary energy.”
I walked a bit further until we were out of sight of other adventurers and stopped.
“Okay, now that there doesn’t seem to be anyone around, I’ll move us with telekinesis.”
I used telekinesis to lift the two of them into the air.
“Wow, it, it really lifted us!”
“This feeling of flying in the air… it’s amazing.”
Lyfa was very excited as I moved at my usual telekinetic speed.
“It’s so fast! Ahahaha! Gracia, it’s so fast! Our Master is the best, the best!”
“At this speed, we’ll definitely arrive quickly.”
And so, I went down the dungeon with Lyfa and Gracia.
Unlike the 1st floor, the other floors were not caves, so when I saw the next floor after going down the stairs, I immediately flew with telekinesis.
Lyfa fought one monster up to the 3rd floor’s kobolds, but from the 4th floor, Gracia also seemed curious and hunted one monster each.
As expected of someone with skills comparable to an A-rank adventurer, they mostly took out the monsters in one hit.
Since we were only hunting one monster each near the stairs leading down, it didn’t take much time.
While moving through the sky on the 12th floor, Lyfa said,
“Master is really convenient. At this speed, we could reach Bridan in a day, right?”
“I arrived in Canole in the morning after leaving in the morning.”
“Ah, come to think of it, Master was the one who defeated the ogres, right? How many hours would it take to get there at this speed?”
“I went a bit faster back then.”
“Ah.”
“It took us a month to get to Flodan. With Master’s power, we could introduce you to my father whenever we want.”
Introduce.
Noah and Elsie were orphans, so they didn’t meet their parents, but I had met each of my companions’ parents.
Nino’s parents, Melasa’s mother and father from the same hometown, and Chainber, who was like Tikia’s father.
I wondered what kind of people the two of them’s parents would be?
“What kind of people are your parents? Are they knights of the Round Table of Bridan?”
“That’s right. Ah, but I’ll explain after we join the others on the 17th floor. It’ll break the flow if we keep stopping to fight monsters.”
“Okay, let’s do that.”
Let’s join them quickly and hear about the people who will become my mothers and fathers.
I increased the speed of my telekinetic movement.
◈
“Welcome~.”
When I arrived on the 17th floor with Gracia and Lyfa, Noah waved her hand and greeted us.
“I heard you hunted one monster each on the way? How were the dungeon monsters?”
I had told the other four in advance that we would be late because Gracia and Lyfa were hunting monsters as a preview.
“Everything up to the Wolf Fang was a one-shot, but the Lamia was a bit troublesome.”
“They were definitely much stronger than the monsters we encountered outside. It’s no wonder the adventurers in Flodan are more skilled than in other regions.”
“And there were so many monsters around, we’d gain a lot of experience. When I looked down from above, I was surprised at how many monsters there were.”
“And the dungeon was very mysterious. How… can such diverse environments be created…”
“Hehe, we were surprised when we first saw it too.”
“In the magic city, there were rumors that it wasn’t created by a powerful legendary magician at first. Well, they were quickly dismissed.”
“The most popular theory is that the god of destruction, Bane, created it for entertainment.”
“A den of monsters created by the god of death and destruction… that sounds plausible?”
“If you’re curious, there’s a book that details the study of the dungeon! If Lyfa is interested, I’ll borrow it from the library!”
“Ah… I don’t really like reading.”
“I, I see…”
Elsie lowered her head sadly.
“Ah, no! It’s not that I dislike it! I’m actually interested, so lend it to me!”
“Yes!”
“Elsie, do you happen to have any books about the legends of Bridan? I’m curious how other regions tell the legends of Flodan.”
“Of course, there are plenty! If you’re okay with it, would you like to go to the library with me, Gracia? I was planning to go with Tikia after lunch.”
“Then I’ll do that.”
Elsie’s eyes sparkled with joy at the mention of Gracia going to the library with her.
“Lyfa, let’s go to the training grounds with us in the afternoon. I’ve sparred with Gracia, so this time I want to spar with Lyfa too♪”
“Oh, really? I’ve wanted to spar with Ninya too.”
“After you spar with Ninya, let’s spar again, Lyfa! This time, I know your movements well, so it won’t be easy, you know?”
“You seem confident, Noah? But just because you’ve seen my movements once doesn’t mean I’ll be so easy to beat.”
Before we knew it, Gracia and Lyfa’s afternoon schedules were set.
Of course, I would be making a clone to follow everyone, so I wouldn’t be lonely.
I wanted to hear about Gracia and Lyfa’s parents, but there was something I had to do first.
It was to check each other’s skills while watching them fight ogres.
Of course, I could get an idea of their skills by watching them spar, but there was a clear difference between sparring and fighting monsters.
Besides, Elsie and Tikia didn’t know how strong the two of them were, so checking was an important step.
The place we were in was a place where there were no other adventurers and only ogres around, thanks to telekinesis.
Of course, we had hunted around while waiting for Lyfa and Gracia, so there were no ogres visible yet.
So, I got rid of one of the clones I had made and used telekinesis to move everyone to an area where there were ogres.
Uga uga!
Ugaaaaa!
Ogres that lived in the dungeon.
Their appearance was similar to the ogres we had met in Canole, but their agility and brute strength were much stronger.
So, it was impossible for Noah and Ninya to take them out instantly like last time.
However, it had been three days since we arrived on the 17th floor, so if they worked together, they could take them out quickly.
After landing, I looked at the three ogres nearby and asked,
“First, we need to check each other’s skills, so Noah and Ninya, and Gracia and Lyfa, please take one each.”
“Master, what about the last one?”
It was Tikia, who was riding on my neck while I was moving with telekinesis, who answered Lyfa’s question.
“I’ll take care of that one. So, don’t worry and show me your skills.”
“I’ll cast support magic!”
Elsie gave everyone power, speed, and barrier buffs, and we were all ready to hunt ogres.
“Hehe, we’ll hunt first! Let’s go, Ninya!”
“Okay, Noah♪”
“We can’t lose either! Gracia!”
“This isn’t a competition.”
The four of them simultaneously rushed towards the ogres they were in charge of.
Uga!
Ugagagaga!
Ugaaaaa!
The ogres roared as they saw the four of them approaching and swung their axes.
“Haaat!”
“Huuup!”
Clang!!!
Ninya and Lyfa deflected the ogres’ axes with their spears and gauntlets, causing two of the ogres to lose their balance. Taking advantage of the opening, Noah and Gracia swung their swords towards the ogres’ necks.
Just as the two ogres were about to lose their lives at the same time.
“Twinkle Buster!”
Thwack!
The remaining ogre’s neck disappeared without a trace due to Tikia’s magic.
“Ah.”
“What!?”
And a beat later, Noah and Gracia cut off the ogres’ necks.
“I did it first! Uahahahahaha!”
Tikia’s cute victory laugh echoed from my shoulder.
Tikia also has a hidden competitive streak.
I think that’s cute too.
