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

Belle was left alone, but she returned quickly. She was holding three thin, elongated pieces of paper, which looked like some kind of ticket.

"Bell, this is for you."

"This is……"

"A discount coupon for 'Fire Spirit Cloth'. Just take this to the Tower of Babel and you can get a discount."

Seeing Bell's puzzled expression, Eina explained to him:

"I grant you entry into the middle level. There's only one condition: you must prepare a 'Fire Essence Cloth' for all team members."

"Fire, fire spirit weaving cloth?"

"It's the fairy's protective cloth. Listen carefully, you absolutely cannot step into the middle level before equipping this! Understand?"

"Yes, I understand!"

Eina raised a finger and braced herself on the table; her approaching presence made Bell quickly agree.

The half-elf girl with her eyebrows raised in anger breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down in her chair.

"Bell, don't push yourself too hard. If there's any danger, turn back immediately. Okay?"

"……yes!"

Under the gaze of those emerald-green eyes, Bell nodded in agreement.

He gleaned from Eina the tension he felt about the unknown territory of the middle level.

He kept Eina's words in mind.

"Keep it up!"

It was a smile with slightly drooping eyebrows, yet beautiful and captivating.

Bell imprinted that smile in his eyes and headed to the dungeon where his companions were waiting.

●

"Ooh-ga!"

The red slash rendered the "Silverback Ape" unable to fight any longer.

He swung the red dagger in his left hand with great force. The blade, gleaming like it was burning, carved a bright red trail in the mist of the dungeon.

Without a moment to breathe, another monster attacked from the depths, and this time Bell used the Hestia Blade in his right hand to fight back.

"drink!"

"Ugh!"

He seized the initiative with speeds exceeding Lv.1 and launched a high-speed counterattack.

The felled "little devil" screamed as it collapsed on the grassland.

"We're about to break through the dense fog!"

In the thick fog far beyond the 10th floor, Bell heard Lily's voice beside him.

The destination of the 12th floor of the dungeon is the interlevel chamber leading to the 13th floor.

The thick fog covered exactly half of the square space. Once you crossed that boundary, nothing obstructed your view.

Since the little dwarf Lily, with her excellent eyesight, made such a statement, it means the finish line is just around the corner.

To avoid getting separated, the three of them, including Welf, stayed together and ran "shush shush shush" across the grassland where the grass was as tall as their calves.

"!"

As the white mist dispersed like smoke, the view suddenly opened up.

What came into Bell's view were scattered groups of monsters, and then the deepest part of the underground city where the rock walls formed.

Although the surrounding walls were all dark wood-colored, only that one was made of gray rock. A huge hole was cut out in the very center of the wall.

—That's the one!

The entrance to the middle level.

My heart pounded heavily in my chest.

"call!"

Bell left Lily and Welf behind and charged forward first.

Bell uses his "agility" to launch a surprise attack on the horde of monsters that are making threatening noises.

"——!"

The red dagger's strike reduced the "Armored Rat" to ashes.

Although he aimed his attack at the area slightly below the chest, the impact spread outwards, shattering the magic stone.

〖Ushiwakamaru〗.

A single-edged weapon with a blade length of approximately 150 cm. Crafted by Welf from the horn of the Minotaur, unlike the Hestia's Blade which cuts through iron like butter, it possesses ferocious destructive power.

Blue-purple and crimson, two different flashes of light from the blade.

By skillfully using his two powerful weapons, Bell caused the monster's corpses to continue piling up.

"Well done... Ah!"

"Eek!"

Watching Bell show off his creation, Welf couldn't hide his smile and swung the large sword he was carrying at the monster. With a single blow, he felled the two little devils that Bell had missed.

"Ooh o ...

"Is it coming...?!"

Its enormous body shook the ground as it charged forward in one go.

Welf prepares to confront the orcs equipped with natural weapons made of deadwood.

"—Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp!"

"!"

However, just before entering the orcs' attack range, a terrifying, piercing scream assaulted Welf.

The sound came from above; it was from "evil bats" flying in the air.

The bat monster's deadly sonic waves instantly disrupted Welf's sense of balance.

His knees buckled, disrupting his posture, but the orc ignored it and continued forward, raising his exceptionally thick club to strike.

"Lord Welf!"

"!"

Hearing Lily's scream, Bell realized that Welf was in danger.

A sudden intuition arises while assessing the situation. Because Welf is also in the trajectory of the shots aimed at the orcs, he cannot use [Fire Lightning].

He made a judgment immediately.

Bell started like a bullet, sprinting across the shortest distance in a straight line.

"Lily, the greatsword!"

He exclaimed excitedly.

Lily understood what Bell wanted to do as soon as she heard that.

She leaped away as if she were bounding, reaching for the greatsword that was firmly mounted on the outside of her backpack.

Lily unfastened the clasp, allowing the sword to be drawn, then manipulated the side strap to make the hilt protrude horizontally to the side. Her petite frame and the greatsword formed a perfect cross shape.

She slipped into the path the boy might take, turned around, and faced away from him.

Then, Bell used Lily as a scabbard and drew the silver giant blade with a "whoosh".

"——!"

Maximum acceleration.

He used all his strength to launch an attack on the orcs who were about to attack Welf.

"Ooh o ...

“Aa ...

The monster used a sweeping attack, while the other side countered with a diagonal slash.

The club, used for horizontal beatings, was struck by the extremely thick greatsword and shattered instantly.

"Pfft!"

The monster groaned as it shook.

The orc's arrogant attack, fueled by brute force, failed to unleash its power, causing a look of astonishment to cross his eyes.

Bell, with the help of acceleration, unleashed a powerful slash that surpassed the orc's brute strength.

In an instant, Welf, now free, flew over Bell's head, flashed sideways, and chopped off the orc's head with his greatsword.

"...Oh, I'm sorry."

"No way...we're comrades."

Bell gave a embarrassed, wry smile to Welf, who was scratching his head.

Welf first widened his eyes, then couldn't help but laugh.

Soon after, a "snap" was heard.

The crisp sound of Lily shooting down the evil bat with her arrow echoed all around.

"Now, let's have one last discussion."

After clearing the cave of monsters, Bell and the others knelt on the ground in a small circle.

Standing before the fragmented rock face on the grassland, Lily drew a simple picture on the ground and began to speak:

"Starting from the middle ranks, we will form ranks according to standard procedure. First, Lord Welf will lead the charge."

"Can I do it?"

"Or rather, it should be said that this is the only place Lord Welf can be responsible for. No, actually, Lily isn't qualified to say that about you... I'm sorry, Lily, please continue."

She stabbed one of the three circles with her dagger.

"Lord Bell will play center to support Lord Welf. You will have to handle both offense and defense, which will be the heaviest burden... Is this acceptable?"

"Yeah, no problem."

Seeing Bell nod, Lily concluded, "Let's use the elimination method, Lily will play as the defender," and pointed to the circle at the very end.

"I think you two should understand that our team is very unstable. Having support players in the back row leads to insufficient firepower, so once we get into trouble, it's very difficult to regroup. You two should be prepared for that."

"So, a single misjudgment can be fatal? That's really harsh."

"Should we tuck our tails between our legs and go home? Is it still not too late?"

"Stop talking nonsense. I need to become a master blacksmith as soon as possible. The shortcut is right in front of me, how can I turn away?"

Bell watched casually as Lily and Welf bickered, a habit that was becoming commonplace.

He wasn't paying much attention to their conversation when he suddenly noticed them turning to look at him in surprise.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Huh... am I laughing?"

"Yes, all smiles... Lord Bell, aren't you a little too lacking in suspense?"

Touching my face, my cheeks were indeed loose.

Bell quickly apologized to the two.

"Don't mind it, but what are you laughing at? I'm curious."

"Uh, well... I just feel the atmosphere is really lively... or rather, it's starting to feel more and more like a team, and I'm really happy about it."

With a blush, Bell first looked at the ground, then glanced at Lily and Welf.

"And don't you guys find this situation exciting? It's about everyone working together and taking risks."