"Then, Young Lady, Rei. Please take care. I pray for your safe return today as well."
Following Tsufal's farewell, Rei and Elena stepped out of the inn. They made their way toward the stables where Set and Iero were waiting.
This was their third day since arriving in the labyrinth city of Exil. Naturally, their objective for the day was to continue their conquest of the dungeon.
Fortunately, while their first day of the challenge had involved an unexpected encounter with Vyune, they hadn't faced any significant danger. Consequently, Rei and Elena had agreed to push through B2F today and head toward B3F.
(Though, the commotions after leaving the dungeon have been far more troublesome.)
Elena stole a sideways glance at Rei as he walked beside her, muttering to herself inwardly.
The image flickering through her mind was that of Vihera—a woman dressed in a manner that could only be described as suspicious. She had been draped in layers of sheer fabric so thin they were practically translucent over what looked like underwear, with gauntlets and greaves protecting her limbs.
(Honestly, setting aside the fact that Rei was approached by such a woman, he should have responded with more resolve. ...C-Could it be that Rei actually prefers that kind of clothing? But for me to wear something like that... Wait, I recall Ara mentioning once that men enjoy seeing women in provocative attire. If that is the case... d-do I have to wear something like that? Something that can barely even be called clothing!?)
Though her expression remained largely unchanged, Elena was in a state of absolute internal turmoil.
Rei didn't necessarily sense her distress, but he cast a brief look her way and spoke up.
"Elena, our goal today is technically B3F, but about the traps... Elena?"
"No, but... but if so, then where... yet, for a duke's daughter to do such a..."
Elena didn't seem to hear Rei's voice at all, whispering something under her breath.
Wondering what was wrong with her, Rei reached out toward her shoulder, which was clad in white metal armor, and spoke louder.
"Hey, Elena. Were you listening to a word I said?"
"!? A-Ah, yes. Of course. We are aiming for B3F today, correct? I have no objections."
Despite her inner agony and confusion, the fact that she had managed to catch the gist of the conversation with a corner of her mind was perhaps due to her experience as the Princess General. Or perhaps it was simply a stroke of luck.
At any rate, while she managed to give Rei some sort of reply, the two of them stopped by the stables to pick up Set and Iero before heading out into the city.
The gazes directed at them from the surroundings were roughly seventy percent fear and twenty percent curiosity. As for the remaining ten percent, those were looks of pure adoration directed toward Set.
(To think the nature of their stares would change this much in just one day. I suppose that’s the power of Set. Well, Iero isn't losing in terms of cuteness either... but since the initial shock of seeing Set is greater due to his larger body, Iero tends to be overshadowed.)
Rei turned his gaze to Iero, who was perched on his left shoulder looking around curiously, and stroked the creature's back as they walked down the street.
Just like the previous day, they bought Lizardman skewers from a stall. The owner’s expression was a complete departure from before; he no longer seemed afraid of Set.
Of course, it wasn't as if his fear had been entirely dispelled. However, he had clearly come to understand that Set wouldn't attack without reason. Even Elena could see that he now possessed enough composure to keep his trepidation from showing on his face.
"Are you heading to the dungeon today as well? You only just went yesterday, didn't you?"
"Yeah, that's the plan," Rei replied.
The skewer stall owner nodded with an expression of admiration... mixed with a hint of concern.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, well, since I sell skewers near the dungeon, I hear a lot from the adventurers. Most ordinary adventurers spend one day in the dungeon and then take one day off—sometimes even several days if it was a long haul."
"From a physical standpoint, that's probably the right call... but can they survive like that? Especially on the shallow floors where beginners go, the income can't be that good, right?"
"I don't really know. Maybe they manage somehow, or maybe they find other work when they aren't in the dungeon."
At the owner's words and shrug, Rei tilted his head and thought for a few seconds.
However, he immediately decided that they should just proceed at their own pace. He paid for the skewers, thanked the man, and they left the stall.
"As expected of a shop right near the dungeon, these are delicious."
Rei muttered as he took the last bite and stored the wooden stick inside his Misty Ring.
Elena nodded in agreement, though her hands were already empty. She had also eaten a skewer, but since she'd only had one, she had disposed of the stick on the spot.
"Guruuu."
Set gave a cry as if to agree. They passed through the gate leading to the dungeon and arrived at the plaza near the entrance...
"Wait! Won't you form a party with us!?"
"No, please, join us instead!"
"We were here first!"
"Wait, wait, wait! It's definitely going to be me! I was the first one to call out!"
"It's not 'first come, first served.' We should decide based on pure ability!"
"It'll take a while since those people are like that, so first, hear me out..."
"Hey, you! Don't you go trying to jump the line!"
"That's right! Besides, you're the one who snatched away the person we were going to invite the other day!"
The moment they entered the plaza, they were swarmed by three different groups. Two men and one woman continued talking over each other, giving the duo no chance to get a word in.
Rei watched the exchange with a momentarily stunned expression, but the reality of the situation soon set in.
Now that people realized Set was much better behaved than expected, and that Rei—the one who commanded him—wasn't quite the savage depicted in the exaggerated tall tales, they were likely trying to capitalize on their strength.
"..."
Elena must have reached the same conclusion, as she let out a small sigh while looking toward Rei.
They had half-expected this to happen once their true abilities became known. The day before, only one person had approached them directly, likely because it was still unclear what kind of people Rei and his companions were. The fact that Rei and Elena had been seen buying food and socializing in the city had probably helped humanize them, which in turn accelerated this commotion.
"..."
They exchanged glances as if trying to push the task of dealing with the crowd onto each other, but in the end, Rei was the one who lost. He lightly patted Set's head and approached the bickering trio.
In the short time he had looked away, what was supposed to be an argument between leaders had somehow devolved into a dispute involving their entire party memberships.
"Your group snatched a promising member away from us last time." "If you're going to bring that up, your group took more than their share of materials when we killed those monsters." "You tricked us into giving up those ores we found," and so on.
From the leaders' perspective, there was no doubt that their combat strength would increase significantly if they could recruit Rei, Elena, and Set. Because of that, they were arguing loudly, refusing to back down... but that only resulted in killing Rei and Elena's motivation entirely.
"Sorry, but for now, we have enough members. We have no intention of teaming up with anyone, not just you lot."
"That's—no matter how strong you are, it's dangerous for only two people to enter a dungeon. You should have a porter and at least five people on average."
Following Rei's words, the female adventurer continued to press him. Rei let out a sigh, looked at Elena, and as if suddenly struck by an idea, he gave a small nod. He showed the Misty Ring on his right arm to the woman—and to everyone else present.
"Do you know what this bracelet is?"
"...Some kind of magic item?"
The one who answered was not the woman, but an adventurer man who still had some boyish features, though he appeared to be in his late teens and older than Rei.
Rei nodded to the man and pulled the Death Scythe out from within the Misty Ring.
As the massive weapon suddenly appeared in Rei's hand, the surrounding clamor went silent for a sharp, definite moment. Even the members of the Holy Light Religion nearby were momentarily stunned.
"You know that magic items created through research into the Item Box exist, right? The amount they can store isn't that large—you could call them simplified Item Boxes—but this is one of them."
Rei declared this as he gave the Death Scythe a light swing.
In reality, he could have just said it was a genuine Item Box. However, judging that doing so would lead to unnecessary trouble, Rei's eyes had settled on the pouch at Elena's waist—the Magic Pouch created using space magic—and he decided to borrow its description.
Of course, since space magic itself was a highly difficult school, the Magic Pouches that utilized it were equally valuable. However, he judged it was still a safer claim than an Item Box, of which only a few were said to exist in the world.
"And it's not just me. The pouch at Elena's waist is a similar magic item. In short, we don't need a porter. Do you understand now?"
"Then what about combat strength!? Our party focuses on combat. You can never have too much fighting power!"
The next to speak was a man in his twenties. He was the first of the three who had approached Rei.
He was clad in half plate armor and held a pole-axe in his hand.
(I'm not one to talk, but isn't a long-handled weapon like that hard to use inside a dungeon?)
Rei muttered this to himself, setting aside the fact that his own Death Scythe was an even more difficult weapon to handle. He glanced at the man and slowly shook his head.
"Unfortunately, as far as combat strength goes, we have absolutely no problems. Not as long as Elena, Set, and I are here. Now, it might be a different story if something like an A-Rank monster showed up, but we're only operating on B2F. If we ever absolutely need the extra strength, I'll rely on you when an A-Rank monster appears. How's that?"
"...No, as expected, facing an A-Rank monster would be..."
The man was at a loss for words.
He had a fair amount of confidence in his party's combat abilities. That was exactly why he had told Rei that you can never have too much power. However, that was only combat strength in comparison to those of his own rank; he understood that they wouldn't stand a chance against an A-Rank monster, or even a B-Rank monster.
Furthermore, that was likely why they were aiming to bring in someone with extraordinary combat power like Rei or Set in the first place.
If they had realized that Elena was the Princess General, their recruitment efforts would have likely reached a fever pitch.
(No, surely they wouldn't have the nerve to try and put a duke's daughter in their party?)
While thinking that to himself, Rei spoke the final words.
"The only thing we absolutely need right now is a thief. ...Provided they are skilled enough to not be a burden in combat, that is."
At Rei's mention of needing a thief, a spark of hope flickered in the man's eyes for a moment, but it vanished into a disappointed sigh when he heard the caveat about combat. The same was true for the other two who had thieves in their parties, as well as for those watching the exchange from the sidelines.
Some let out sighs, while others cast blaming looks at their own party's thieves, as if asking why they weren't that skilled. The thieves who received those looks glared back at their companions, not even bothering to hide their annoyance.
Leaving those exchanges behind, Rei gave a small shrug toward the three who had spoken to him.
"You understand now, right? Then, sorry, but we're about to enter the dungeon, so we'll be going."
"A-Ah..."
"Understood."
"...I guess it can't be helped."
The trio could hardly press him further after that, and they quietly let the group pass.
Among the crowd, several thieves from the Holy Light Religion looked as though they wanted to say something, but they remained silent.
In their minds, they considered themselves quite skilled and likely wanted to pitch their services. However, since their religion maintained the stance that they only provided salvation to those who sought it, they could not bring themselves to call out first.
While vaguely sensing the presence of the Holy Light Religion, the group of two people and two creatures—Rei and Elena, Set and Iero—touched the teleportation device and vanished toward B2F.