I took absooooolutely every last second of the preparation period Prince Leonhart gave us to make sure we were ready for anything.
Now then, let's head into the Dungeon, Prince.
「Ah. I already cleared out all the monsters in the Dungeon beforehand-o. We need to get as far as we can before they Respawn-o!」
「Hey, Alto! You hogged all the Experience Points for yourself?! That's playing dirty!」
「Shut up-o! I’m the only one who didn’t get a Bonus Time for grinding production experience, so consider this my compensation-o!」
Kuh, she had a point.
The rest of us had made a killing on Experience Points... I actually felt a little bad for her!
「...You 'cleared out' the Dungeon monsters? Is such a feat even possible?」
「Just hurry up and get moving as far as we can, Prince. Based on my preliminary run, the Repop time is half a day-o.」
「You’ve already tested it once?! ...As expected of the Spirit-possessed, truly incredible...」
「And since we need to move fast, I had Penpen-shi prepare a Palanquin to carry you in-o.」
「A Palanquin...? You say?」
Waiting there was a Palanquin straight out of a period drama, constructed from square timber poles and bamboo blinds.
Am I supposed to start acting like a professional porter? "Outta the way, ya blockheads, I’m an Idaten!" or something? I wouldn't know.
「We’ll carry you in this-o.」
「I am perfectly capable of walking on my own feet.」
「You're too slow, and you'll just be a hindrance-o. Grab the ropes inside and hold on tight so you don't get tossed out-o.」
「...I see. Very well, I shall comply.」
Oh, they even have ropes in there. Huh, talk about authentic!
The Prince climbed into the Palanquin.
Honestly, rather than worrying about equipment, I figured that if he just stayed hidden inside a carriage or something from the start where he couldn't be seen, his skill wouldn't... oh, wait, it’s working. The moment the Prince stepped inside, a heavy sense of pressure—no, a "gaze"—started emanating from the Palanquin.
Yeah, there was no way he was going incognito. What an inconvenient skill.
「Now then, Toria, help me carry this-o!」
「Hmm? Is that some kind of pun?」
「There’s a saying about 'carrying one end of the pole,' right-o? One theory says it comes from the people who carried these-o!」
「Heh—you're so well-read. Okay, leave it to—ah, wait.」
I tried shouldering one of the poles. ...Hmm. Just as I thought.
「At Toria’s height, she’s too short. The whole thing tilts. Let’s have Gin-chan switch in.」
「Mu, now that you mention it, I completely forgot about the height difference-o. Okay then, Gin-chan—or rather, Penpen-shi—you're up-o. Toria can be our Skirmisher-o.」
「Got it.」
And so, with the Prince tucked away in the Palanquin, we set off into the Dungeon!
Excluding our escort target, the Prince, our party consisted of five members.
Penpen-chan was staying behind at the home base, while our porters were Nika-chan and Gin-chan (operated by Penpen).
Alto took point to guide us, while I acted as a Skirmisher to watch our perimeter. Miti-chan clung to the Palanquin, serving as the Prince’s personal guard and rear lookout.
「Nika-chan. Palanquin porters are supposed to chant 'essa, hoisa' while they run-o!」
「E-Essa, hoisa? Like that?」
「Exactly-o! Use it to synchronize your breathing with your partner-o!」
「S-So it seems, Penpen-sama. E-Essa! Hoisa!」
「Understood-ssu! Essa, hoisa, ssu ssu ssu!」
「Wait, you're adding your own remix?!」
They looked like they were having a blast. Honestly, a part of me kind of wanted to carry the thing too.
By the way, our movement speed was set to "full throttle."
If we hit a corner and the centrifugal force caused the Palanquin to swing out and smash into a wall, the Prince would suffer unavoidable compound fractures at this pace.
Fortunately, Miti-chan was there. Attached to the frame, she used her tentacles to shove the vehicle back into place with a "yoise!" whenever it drifted.
...Miti-chan is seriously top-tier!
Maybe we should have just shoved the Prince inside her body to carry him. ...No, he’d probably suffocate.
Suddenly, Alto fired her gun with a loud bang.
A moment later, I heard the sound of something hard being crushed, so she must have scored a hit.
「The monsters are starting to Respawn a bit-o.」
「Seriously? By the way, what kind of monsters are in this Dungeon again?」
「Bugs and spiders-o.」
「Yeah, Alto. You go right ahead and finish them off from long range. Don't let me stop you.」
「Nah, it’d be bad if I hogged all the points-o. Want me to leave a few for you-o?」
「No, it's fine! Seriously, it's fine!」
「O-o-o, is Toria scared of bugs-o?」
「On a flat screen it’s one thing, but in VR Mode, it’s a bit much... There are no mosaics over the gross or gory parts of enemies... even though they slap a 'mysterious light' over anything erotic.」
「True-o.」
I mean, I guess it’s better than being killed because a mosaic blocked your vision during a fight, but still...
...
「Hey, Alto. Do you think a Girl Zombie having a wardrobe malfunction would count as Erotic Judgment, or would combat priority make it Uncensored? Which do you think?」
「Hmm, I think it would be Erotic Judgment depending on the location-o. Or rather, if it were Uncensored, would that mean there’s an Attack Gimmick hidden there-o?」
「I see, the presence or absence of an Attack Gimmick. That’s a possibility... I wonder if any Girl Zombies will show up.」
「At the very least, they won't be appearing in this Dungeon-o.」
Tch.
Cracking jokes like that, we continued our high-speed charge into the depths of the Dungeon.