A cross-dressing anime, starting with Kaguya-sama: Love Is War.

Lynn stopped as soon as he rounded a bend.

Several simple traps made of rope and stones were cleverly arranged on the ground ahead.

In the shadows not far away, a middle-aged man leaned against the rock wall, arms crossed, quietly keeping watch.

He was physically fit, and his face was marked with the signs of age.

Lynn pulled Chunji along, carefully avoiding the area of ​​traps.

"First time in the dungeon?"

The middle-aged man guarding the trap suddenly spoke, his voice somewhat hoarse.

Lynn shook her head. "No."

Lynn certainly wouldn't tell the truth; it's essential to be wary of strangers in the dungeon.

The middle-aged man glanced at the badges on their chests.

"It's the Astrea Familia? That makes sense."

"Usually, some new members from other clans will casually dismantle my traps when they pass by."

It's been demolished?

Lynn turned his head and glanced at the traps that had been placed; they weren't blocking his way.

He asked curiously, "Why?"

"No reason," the middle-aged man chuckled self-deprecatingly, "because of competition."

"Don't underestimate the goblins on the first level just because they're not worth much. There are plenty of people who want to make a living off them."

"First of all, those large clans on expeditions would wipe out a large number of monsters every time they passed by."

"There are many cautious guys like me who spend their days on floors 1-3, where even a small mosquito bite is still a bite."

"This has led to a situation where, when some new members of the clans come down, there aren't enough goblins to kill."

"Of course they'll be unhappy."

"However, many large clans do not do this, such as your Asteria clan."

Upon hearing this, Lynn asked curiously, "Have you encountered members of the Astrea Familia before?"

The middle-aged man smiled upon hearing this.

"Of course."

“I am 47 years old this year and have been on these 1st to 3rd floors for more than 20 years.”

"I'm not ashamed to say it, but in the past twenty years, I've used these goblins to buy a house, get married, and have children."

Seeing that this man was about to start recounting his glorious biography, Lynn knew that it would never end.

He quickly interrupted, "Have you met anyone from the Astrea Familia?"

The middle-aged man, unperturbed by the interruption, continued, "I once met a red-haired man with a fiery personality."

"Don't let her current status as a renowned troupe leader fool you; that girl was incredibly reckless back then."

"Back then, the goblins stole my sword, so I could only throw stones at them, which resulted in the goblins chasing and beating me up."

"If I hadn't run fast, I would have been injured."

Lynn's eyes lit up instantly upon hearing this.

The group leader, Alexie, actually has such a little-known past?

The middle-aged man continued, "And there's that pink-haired little person named Lyra."

"She even wanted to learn how to make traps from me back then!"

"As it turned out, Lyra was incredibly clumsy at making traps. She didn't manage to trap a single goblin, but instead pinched her own foot until it swelled up and she had to rest for a whole week to recover."

"Later, there was another one from the Far East, who now has a particularly awesome nickname, something like Yamato Rindou."

Lynn knew immediately that it was Kaguya.

He quickly interrupted, "Uncle, wait a minute!"

He turned to Chunji and asked, "Do you have paper and pen?"

Haruhime shook her head: "I only have the booklet that Lord Kaguya gave me, but no pen."

Lynn looked around, picked up a colored stone, moistened it with some moisture from the rock wall, and handed it to Chunji.

"Write lightly, it's barely usable as a pen."

The middle-aged man chuckled upon seeing this, "Young man, you really enjoy listening to stories?"

Lynn smiled expectantly, "Tell me in detail, I really want to hear it."

So the middle-aged man cleared his throat and continued speaking.

"Kaguya came with Lyra and Alexie at the time."

"When she attacked the goblins, her skills were nothing like those of a novice."

"And guess what?"

"She's actually afraid of insects!"

"There was a bug crawling on her shoulder at the time, and Kaguya went crazy, jumping and hopping around, almost hurting her teammates with her sword."

Lynn almost burst out laughing when she heard that.

Kaguya is afraid of insects? That's wonderful!

Then, the middle-aged man seemed to start talking non-stop.

They really told every member of the Astrea Familia their embarrassing stories from their first time going down into the dungeon.

"Ryu was sprayed with hallucinogenic poison by the mutated goblin, and she clung to Maru's leg, calling for her mother incessantly."

"Nizzy the werewolf was poisoned and thought she was going to die. She cried and begged to find a man, not wanting to die without experiencing anything."

"Amazonia got goblin slime in her hair and burst into tears. She cried so hard that no one could stop her."

"The bespectacled elf Celty mispronounced the spell when casting magic, and a goblin smashed her glasses with a stick, leaving her with a black eye."

"And then there's that dwarf Astaire, who buried his whole body in his shield and got a goblin sit on his head."

"The healer Maru, in her panic, treated the wrong object and restored the goblin's strength."

"Human mage Leyana failed in her research and development of new magic and injured herself in the explosion."

"Human warrior Noin slipped and was surrounded and kicked by a group of goblins."

Upon hearing this explosive news, Lynn laughed so hard she almost fell over.

Chunji covered her mouth, her shoulders swaying as she chuckled to herself.

37. I just love swords.

The middle-aged man smiled broadly, his wrinkles etched on his face, as he saw them listening with great interest.

He hadn't had such a pleasant conversation with anyone in a long time.

You should know that those young adventurers who think too highly of themselves...

Most people looked down on him as an "old good-for-nothing" who just coasted along on the first floor and didn't want to talk to him at all.

These two seemingly extraordinary young men were actually willing to chat with this old geezer for so long.

He was truly delighted.

Just then,

A trap he had set not far away suddenly made a crisp "crack" sound.

A goblin has taken the bait.

The relaxed expression on the middle-aged man's face, which had been casually chatting, vanished instantly.

He made no move to get any closer, but instead took a small crossbow from behind his back.

He skillfully loaded a poisoned crossbow bolt and aimed it at the goblin struggling in the trap.

"Whoosh!"

The crossbow bolt pierced the air and struck the goblin precisely in the body.

He was very patient, just watching from a distance.

Only after the goblins convulsed and fell completely silent did he slowly walk over, carrying a short knife.

This time the harvest was quite fruitful, with a total of six goblins.

The middle-aged man deftly dissected the goblin's corpse and pulled out six magic stones.

He casually stuffed five of them into his breast pocket.

He carefully placed the last one into a separate leather bag at his waist.

Lynn watched the whole thing, and asked curiously, "Uncle, why did you separate them?"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man smiled wryly and explained:

"This last one is for protection."

"Otherwise, do you think I could just sit here peacefully setting up traps and waiting for goblins to come to me?"

Just as Lynn was about to speak, the middle-aged man seemed to know what Lynn was about to say.

He waved his hand, stopping him;

"It's all for the sake of making a living."

"Thanks to my old face, they were kind enough to take care of me and only asked for one."

“I haven’t suffered any losses. At least I’m satisfied with the current situation. I can still save five pills every day, so the income is not bad.”

As he spoke, a look of longing appeared on his weathered face;

"My son is doing quite well in the school district."

"Perhaps when I graduate, I'll be noticed by some clan, and then I'll become a true adventurer just like you."

"That way, you won't have to live this kind of life like me anymore."

Upon hearing this, Lynn swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

I don't really understand the specific situation, so I can't act rashly based solely on enthusiasm.

If it backfires, that would be a real bad thing.

Lynn could only truly salvage the situation, like a broken cup of wine, its contents tattered and its contents scattered.

"Haha, thank you for your kind words."

Before parting,

Lynn asked the middle-aged man his name.

But the middle-aged man said that his name was not important and that he had forgotten it.

Since she was unwilling to tell him, Lynn couldn't force her.

After saying goodbye to the optimistic uncle, Lynn and Chunji didn't wander around anymore.

Instead, they quickly found a reorganized goblin.

"Boo—!"

The rock face in front of them writhed again, and three goblins roared as they burst out.

Lynn gripped the sword hilt with his right hand.

Right now.

He drew his longsword.

Kojiro used a long sword for his Swallow Return.

But Lynn's return was a system reward, and she had already mastered it.

Such skills, once understood and mastered, yield roughly the same results whether using a long knife or a sword.