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

I feel that the fierce battle and defeat with that "formidable rival" made me more diligent.

It even made me start to re-examine and study the "magic" or "skills" that I only know how to use directly until now.

Especially the "hero's wish".

Ever since I entered the dungeon today, I've been secretly conducting verification.

Several key points were learned. First, the maximum charge time for [Hero's Wish] is four minutes. Previously it was three minutes, so leveling up to Lv.4 extends it by one minute. The charge effect is limited to attack-related actions; whether it's a slash, punch, or "magic," the power of the area where the light particles gather will be enhanced. Furthermore, you cannot charge two areas simultaneously.

Charging and simultaneous charging will be canceled when attacked by an enemy or when distracted. Furthermore, the stamina and mental energy required for charging will still be consumed. This is similar to a mage's incantation. For example, right now, I used my will to make the light particles in my right hand disappear, and a strong wave of fatigue washed over me. Although it can be restored with items, it's best to use it only when a decisive battle is needed, and not to use it continuously.

Based on these verification results, my focus is on the unique attributes of "cohesion" and "convergence" of the "hero's wish".

In that case—

(The dagger's high magical energy conduction... the convergence of "skills"...)

I am self-aware.

I know I'm not smart enough.

Currently, it's Lily and the others who are helping me and making up for my shortcomings. Without the support of my companions, the title of captain would just be a laughing stock.

I will use all the brainpower I have that I don't have enough of.

Otherwise, Bell Craney wouldn't have been able to achieve anything.

It's impossible for her to reach the same level of talent as Miss Ais, who continuously learns new sword techniques, or Mr. Finn, who develops various clever tactics.

Without using all of your thinking abilities, there is simply no way to make new "inventions".

So I thought, thought, and thought some more—just as a possibility was about to flash into my mind…

"Everyone—! It looks like the food is ready—"

"!"

Lily called out to us from the other side of the tent.

"Did you hear that, Bell? Let's go, the weapons are all serviced."

"……Um!"

I took the Goddess's Blade, ended my previous thoughts, and stood up.

Welf and I walked toward the center of the cave where Lily and the others were waiting.

Before dinner... no, before supper, there's one last task waiting for us.

We used daggers or longswords to scrape off the bluish-green moss from the walls and ceiling of the cave, lowering the overall brightness of the room. The green space surrounded by vegetation instantly transformed into a scene resembling a nighttime forest.

One reason was to synchronize our biological clock with the surface, but the biggest reason was monster control. While it also depends on the species, monsters seem to perceive areas different from the usual dungeon environment—in this case, areas with lower light levels—as abnormal and become more wary. Under the guidance of Miss Aisha and Miss Daphne, who have extensive expedition experience, we worked diligently.

Everyone collected the scraped-off moss and put it into bottles.

Placing this in the center of the cave is like having a glass lantern illuminating the camp at night.

"Alright everyone, please enjoy! Feel free to take more if you need more!"

"I hope it suits everyone's taste..."

We formed a circle around the pot placed next to the glass lamp and began to eat.

Miss Mei and Miss Chigusa cooked rice (stewed rice)... no, it should be Far Eastern "salty porridge".

The mixed porridge, topped with tender, golden-yellow egg flowers, finely shredded dried meat, green herbs, and tree fruits, easily whetted the appetites of adventurers.

They helped everyone serve the steaming hot savory porridge into wooden bowls, and then everyone used the same wooden spoons to put it into their mouths.

"We asked Lady Aisha and tried adding some edible food from the dungeon... I wonder how it tasted?"

"The flavor is quite unique, but... it's delicious. The herbs smell wonderful, and the berries have a peculiar sourness. I've never tasted anything like it outside of the city (Orario)."

"Even in the Far East, there is no such ingredient. It truly lives up to its name as an underground city."

"Sakura-sama, we should praise Mikoto-sama and the others' cooking skills at a time like this... especially Chigusa-sama."

"Miss Lily! I'm alright! ...But I'm glad you like it."

Lily read aloud the lines about Welf and Sakura wolfing down their food, and Miss Chigusa breathed a sigh of relief. "Miss Mei lives in the manor, so I know she's an excellent cook," she said, "but it seems Miss Chigusa, who grew up in similar circumstances, is no less so." Aside from Welf and the others, everyone seemed to give positive feedback; Miss Aisha even said:

"I think you should stop being adventurers and start selling food to make a living; that would be better for you."

She praised it highly, half-jokingly.

Incidentally, the eggs were a gift from our leader, Mr. Perth, when we made our way to the inn town (Rivera) half a day ago, to celebrate our "first expedition." He said the townspeople had apparently brought over a few chickens from the surface. For adventurers who were desperately craving surface food, these were truly "golden eggs."

The only drawback is that they are difficult to preserve.

"Um... is it alright to use so much water...? Isn't the most heartbreaking thing about an expedition being forced to turn back because of running out of water...?"

"There's plenty of water on the lower floors, so don't worry too much. Besides, this team isn't like the large families you've been with (the Apollo Clan); there are fewer people, so there won't be any water-grabbing issues."

When Miss Cassandra expressed concern about using too much water in everyone's drinking water or cooking, Miss Aisha simply waved her hand dismissively.

Perhaps recalling their painful expedition experience, or perhaps because their thoughts had been guessed, both Daphne and Cassandra, former members of the Apollo Familia, groaned simultaneously, "Ugh!"

Miss Cassandra was quite right; in the dungeon, ensuring hydration was perhaps the most important thing.

Clear streams like those on the 18th floor are rare, so calculating the water supply for each floor and collecting water in advance is the primary key to an "expedition." In the case of this "tree maze," Miss Aisha and Miss Ming had already gone to the spring area to fetch water before camping, so there are no problems so far.

As expected of someone accustomed to "expeditions," Miss Aisha not only fights, but even in places like this, she displays the demeanor of a senior.

"Bale Craney is well-suited to center-back. When I first heard about his 'charge attack,' I was puzzled, but if it's that kind of power, it's perfectly applicable to defense as well. And his speed is impeccable."

"Given Lord Bale's personality, his aptitude as a defender seems rather low..."

"Indeed, he might be getting impatient... Ah, speaking of which, you've done a great job directing him all the way."

"thank you."

After the meal, everyone gathered in their own circles to reminisce about the day, chatting animatedly. Miss Daphne and Lily, it seemed, had somehow become like master and apprentice, one bowing her head in thanks, the other accepting them.

"Unlike last time, we didn't even get to use the level-up. The 'Demon Sword' is still sitting unused."

"With more people, joint operations and situational responses become faster. Of course, another reason is that we have Lady Bell or Lady Aisha supporting the front lines..."

"Complementing each other's weaknesses to face difficulties... that's probably what group maze exploration (team operations) should really be like."

"But I've accomplished nothing, I only bring trouble... Hah~"

The order of speaking is Welf, Miss Mikoto, Mr. Sakura, and Miss Haruhime.

Surprisingly, Ms. Chigusa and Ms. Cassandra started chatting about treatment or first aid, indicating that even though the team was hastily assembled, there was no problem with the atmosphere.

Everyone was chatting and laughing together.

"Hey, [Lijie]. This is my first time on the 24th floor. But is it really this easy? I'm worried I might become careless if I make too many mistakes."

Miss Daphne's words sounded particularly loud.

She was probably trying to get everyone's attention on purpose; Miss Aisha, who was sitting on one knee, shrugged at her.

"As long as you watch out for the monsters' 'abnormal attacks' and gather enough people, you can manage to get through the 'Great Tree Maze'. Well, if everyone is Lv.2, it will probably be very difficult. ... People who are not used to going through this floor often encounter traps that are not present in the 'Cave Maze', as well as the strange attacks from the ghosts, and often don't even know how they died. Of course, it also depends on resources."

To conquer the deepest level 24 of the "Middle Layer," it is generally believed that you need to be at least Lv.2 in terms of ability (stats).

However, the "guild's" setting of these standards is supposedly to guard against beginner traps—of course, the monsters in this area are stronger, and the difficulty is higher than that of floors 17 and above—

The most distinctive feature of the "Great Tree Maze" starting from the 19th floor is that monsters frequently launch "abnormal attacks," primarily using "poison." Furthermore, the monster spawn intervals are shorter than on the upper floors.

The most terrifying thing about dungeons is their seemingly limitless resources. This applies to every floor.

"Up to the floors below this... up to the monsters near the 27th floor, I think Lv.2 abilities are still barely usable. Compared to the monsters, the terrain there is much more troublesome. The reason it's called 'Lower Floor' to distinguish the boundaries is supposedly based on this reason."

Then, the battle-hardened Level 2 adventurer tells everyone that the Lv.3 standard for reaching the "Lower Level"—the realm starting from the 25th floor—is actually based on challenging terrain.

"From the 30th floor onwards, it really requires a high level and high ability (stats). From there on, there are monsters with extremely high potential abilities, such as the 'Blood Dragon' everywhere. That's the 'mid level' for a level 1... a place that a level 2 team could never conquer."

"...The 30th floor. Just thinking about having to climb six more floors to get there makes it impossible to imagine what kind of place it is."

"Speaking of which, it seems that the 'guilds,' starting from the 'lower levels,' haven't released any detailed information...?"

Everyone listened attentively to Miss Aisha.

Just as Miss Fate tilted her head to match Welf's topic, Lily said in a calm tone:

"Information about the 'lower levels' and 'deeper levels'... especially below level 50, will be controlled by the guild."

Why do this?

"It's said that... once you find out, you might become disheartened because the world is so different."

This reply to Miss Ming caused an eerie silence to fall over the room.

"Ah, hahaha... It can't be that bad..."

"Well, at least the guild hasn't... hasn't revealed any information about floors below 50 to us or the Ishtar Familia."

Miss Cassandra tried to brush it off with a smile, but Miss Aisha coldly retorted.

Lily's words suddenly seemed plausible. It appeared that one had to reach a nearby floor to obtain "qualification," otherwise the guild would not provide any information about the "deeper" floors.

"Rumor has it... that dragons can fly over the floors and out? And their strength is equivalent to that of the floor master, and there are a lot of them."

"...You're lying, right?"

"Who knows? But even if it's a misunderstanding, it means it really is that scary."

The camp fell silent after Ms. Chigusa gasped in surprise.

Everyone trembled at the unfathomable depths of the underground abyss and labyrinths they had never witnessed before.

In the dim light, the lantern illuminated everyone's silent faces.

"Seriously... what good will it do to be scared now? A bunch of cowards! It's still early days!"

At this time.

Miss Aisha spoke loudly, as if trying to change the atmosphere.

"Haruhime, bring me some wine!"

"Huh!? Sister Aisha, I didn't bring any wine..."

"I secretly put it in your luggage!"

Deeply shocked, Miss Haruhime rummaged through her backpack... and actually found it.

The liquid in the thick glass bottle immediately caused a commotion among the people.

"Hey, you stinky men! Want a drink?"

"...After being provoked like this by the Amazons, we have no choice but to go along with it!"

"Lord Welf!"

"What's wrong with having a little? Little Lizi! It'll replace your bedtime drink! Big guy, you want a drink too?"

"A moderate amount? Only a moderate amount?"

"You sound like you're talking to yourself, Sakura?"

"Is it okay to enjoy the first day of the expedition like this...?"

Lily scolds Wilfred's companion, Mr. Sakura, who seems to have an unexpected fondness for alcohol, and is questioned by Miss Chigusa. Miss Cassandra's final whispers disappear into the clamor of the impending banquet.

Miss Haruhime, who was forcibly dragged to drink with Miss Aisha, was probably like a beautiful courtesan serving drinks because her battle clothes resembled a shrine maiden's attire and she had experience in the red-light district.

A dumbfounded Miss Daphne and a twitching Miss Fate were also dragged into the fray by Miss Aisha. Miss Cassandra, who tried to sneak into a tent for refuge, also couldn't escape the ordeal.

Soon, someone couldn't help but laugh, and everyone began to laugh joyfully.

"..."

I stood outside the circle, gazing at this bustling scene.

At this point, I was on guard duty, sitting on the tree stump where Miss Aisha had been sitting since the start of her meal until her shift ended, watching the entrance and exit of the cave. However, while I was on guard against the monster, I was also listening to everyone's conversation.

I took a bite of the mixed porridge in my bowl, squinting as I watched my companions.

I found myself laughing without even realizing it.

"Lord Bell! Would you like another bowl?"

"Ah, Lily, thank you."

Lily, who had barely escaped the clutches of evil, came to my place for refuge, carrying a pot.