We quickly set up camp screens against the wall, bringing out beds and tables to establish our base camp. Since we had done this many times before, the task was finished in just about ten minutes. There wasn't much to do in the first place, so we could probably get that under ten minutes once we were a bit more practiced.
Setting that aside, it was time for a meal. Usually, it would have just been freeze-dried or retort-pouch food.
"There are no other explorers... beyond the door," Hiiragi-san confirmed.
"There weren't any on the floors above either, so we should be fine. With that said... Daiki."
"Yeah."
I opened my Spatial Storage and began pulling out ingredients and cooking utensils. This wasn't something we could do if other explorers were nearby, but if the coast was clear, there was no reason to force ourselves to eat emergency rations.
Besides, unlike the 30th floor, open flames weren't strictly prohibited here.
"Portable stove, pot, pre-cut vegetables, and hot pot soup base. Then..."
"Daiki, don't forget the rice and the small bowls. Also, the ponzu," Yuji added.
"Don't forget the tofu and sesame sauce, Kokonoe-kun," Hiiragi-san reminded me.
"Got it... though I think the soup would be delicious on its own."
A brief tension filled the air over our differing condiment preferences, but I continued preparing the pot without paying it any mind. If I delved too deep into that, it would lead to a massive argument. It was best to leave personal food preferences alone—forcing your tastes on others was never a good idea.
Once I had finished bringing everything else out, I produced the main ingredient.
"And finally, this."
"That's a huge pile... Is it pork?" Yuji asked.
"It's orc meat. I still have plenty of sliced portions, so let me know if we need more. I'll add them as we go."
The plate I brought out was piled high with about a kilogram of thinly sliced orc meat. It looked like a literal mountain of pink meat.
That said, this was only a tiny fraction of what was stored in my Spatial Storage. Because of Hiiragi-san's family circumstances in the past, we had hunted them in massive quantities, and a huge amount of processed meat was still sitting in storage.
"Well, now that preparations are complete, let's eat."
We sat in chairs around the table and lit the portable stove.
As we picked at the hot pot, we discussed our plan for tomorrow. Since we were short on time, we wouldn't be able to carry out the exploration as originally scheduled. We could technically make time by returning later, but if we stayed too long, it would cause unnecessary worry for our families—they'd think we had been seriously injured in the dungeon or something.
I figured it would be fine as long as our return wasn't delayed by more than a day, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
"If possible, I don't want to be too late getting home..." I said.
"Which means the only other way is to cut into our sleep to squeeze out more exploration time," Yuji noted.
"But there's the possibility of losing concentration due to sleep deprivation," Hiiragi-san pointed out.
"Yeah. Well, we didn't have any combat today that would leave us exhausted, so I don't think cutting a little sleep would be an issue. But..."
As Hiiragi-san worried, a decrease in cognitive ability due to sleep deprivation could sometimes lead to fatal errors for explorers. If our awareness dropped, we might miss traps or signs of a monster attack.
Furthermore, there was the question of exactly how much to cut. Our original plan used a three-shift rotation with six hours of sleep and three hours of night watch. If we cut one hour from each, exploration time would increase by three hours, but we'd only have four hours of sleep and two hours of watch. It wasn't ideal, but considering this was a two-day, one-night trip, it was decent for a nap. Then again, compared to the training we did at Genya-san's place, it was practically a luxury.
"...Yeah. How about we reduce sleep by one hour each to gain exploration time and just take frequent breaks while monitoring our condition? I think we'll be fine for a single day if we can get about four hours of sleep."
"One hour each, huh... Hey, couldn't we just cut thirty minutes each for a ninety-minute extension? I'd like to secure as much sleep as possible," Yuji countered.
"I think we should cut forty minutes each so that the extension is a clean two hours," Hiiragi-san suggested.
Three people, three different opinions. I wanted to maximize exploration time by cutting as much sleep as possible, Yuji prioritized sleep over the extension, and Hiiragi-san's proposal was the middle ground.
We discussed it further to reach a compromise.
"Since the time we need to start heading back is fixed, wouldn't it be better to have more time? Since we changed our goal to surveying the floors we've already opened up, things might take longer than expected due to traps or monster battles. If we survey with time to spare, we can do it without rushing."
"True, a time buffer would mean we don't have to rush while worrying about the return trip," Yuji admitted. "But is cutting sleep that much really okay? I still think we should secure as much sleep as we can..."
"But isn't a ninety-minute extension a bit awkward?" Hiiragi-san added. "Besides, if the survey finishes early, I think we can use the remaining time to explore a new floor."
If we were only surveying the floors we opened last time, Yuji's plan would leave us with room to spare, but it wouldn't be enough if we wanted to explore new floors. Conversely, my plan would give us enough leeway to explore multiple new floors.
Besides, the original goal of this expedition was to break ground on new floors. If we hadn't been summoned by the Association, we would have been hard at work exploring new floors by now.
"If we're going to create exploration time without overdoing the sleep deprivation, Hiiragi-san's plan is probably the best balance..." I said.
"I suppose... so."
As a result of our discussion, Yuji and I gave in and adopted Hiiragi-san's proposal. Accordingly, tomorrow's goals shifted slightly to a survey of the existing floors followed by exploring one or two new floors.
Just surveying existing floors would be monotonous, especially since we were going through the trouble of staying overnight.
"Well, since we're done eating, let's get to sleep early. The night watch will be in the order we decided earlier."
"Got it."
"Then I'll take the first watch," Hiiragi-san said. "I'll handle the cleanup, so you two go ahead and rest. Please collect the gathered trash when it's your turn for watch, Kokonoe-kun."
"Understood. Then Yuji, let's take her up on that and get some rest."
"Yeah, let's. Sorry, Hiiragi-san, but I'll leave the cleanup to you."
"Don't worry about it. Good night, both of you."
Accepting Hiiragi-san's offer, Yuji and I went to rest. Even though I called it cleanup, it just meant putting leftover food in plastic bags, wiping moisture off the dishes with paper, and finishing up with disinfectant spray. Even alone, three people's worth of dishes would take less than ten minutes.
Sensing Hiiragi-san cleaning up, Yuji and I crawled into our beds and closed our eyes.
Our short seven hours of rest ended, and after packing up the base camp, we stood before the great doors leading to the hall where the ogre waited. Having slept, our mental fatigue had cleared, and the pessimistic thoughts I'd harbored since the Association's summons had vanished.
As expected, even a short amount of sleep was vital.
"Well then... shall we go?"
"Yeah. It feels like it's been a while since we fought the ogre," Yuji said.
"Since we don't have any crimson gems on hand, we can't skip the ogre battle this time," Hiiragi-san noted. "I doubt it will be a difficult fight, but let's not let our guard down."
"Right. Given our past mistakes, we can't be too careful."
I inserted a Core Crystal I had obtained along the way into the indentation in the great doors. The doors slowly swung open, revealing a pitch-black space.
Alright, Ogre-san, we're short on time today, so we're going to finish this quickly and head through! I entered the hall with renewed determination, but...
"...Huh?"
Even after advancing near the center of the hall, the ogre was nowhere to be seen. Just to be safe, I used light magic to create a light source near the ceiling, illuminating the entire room, but I still couldn't find him. Since we hadn't used a crimson gem at the entrance, we should have had to fight.
Faced with an unprecedented situation, we looked around in confusion while staying alert for an ambush. After a short while, the ground in the center of the room where the ogre usually sat began to glow faintly. Thinking it was a trap, we instantly jumped back and took a defensive stance.
After waiting a few seconds, several items emerged from the glowing ground.
"Are those... crimson gems?"
When I used Appraisal Analysis on the objects, the results confirmed they were crimson gems. Not only had the ogre not appeared, but he had left crimson gems behind. Five of them, at that.
Feeling suspicious, we cautiously closed the distance. On the ground where the gems lay, a message was carved in pictographic drawings. The content was...
"Is this... 'Going on a journey for training'?" I muttered.
"Then does this one mean... 'Please don't look for me'?" Yuji added.
"Following that logic, this would be 'Please forgive me with this,' right?" Hiiragi-san finished.
"...Wait, WHAT!?"
What was carved into the ground was an apology note from the ogre, and the five gems were apparently his apology gifts. Once the reality sank in, we couldn't help but shout in bewilderment.
I mean, come on... can you blame us? There was no way to predict this. A monster that served as a floor boss had offered apology gifts and refused to show up for the battle.
"Hey, hey, is this even allowed?" Yuji asked.
"Well, I mean, not fighting an enemy you can't beat is a valid strategy, but..."
"A boss character guarding a floor not even showing up to the battlefield is just too unexpected," Hiiragi-san said.
We stood there stunned, staring at the pictographic apology and the gems.
Honestly, if we had been ambushed at that moment, there was a high probability we wouldn't have been able to dodge the first strike. The thought that he might have used this as a decoy for an ambush instead of a total withdrawal made my blood run cold.
"Ha, haha... what should we do with these?" I asked.
"What do you mean? We should just take them," Yuji said.
"I suppose so," Hiiragi-san agreed. "It's not like we can just leave them here, so we might as well take what's being offered."
After staring at the five crimson gems for a while, I hesitantly put them all into my Spatial Storage.
That was deeply unsatisfying.
We finished the "battle" with the ogre and descended the stairs to the 30th floor. In stark contrast to the cavernous areas before, this place was bright, with a blue sky projected onto the ceiling and a vast grassland stretching as far as the eye could see.
I thought this during our last exploration too, but it was hard to believe this was actually underground.
"As usual, this doesn't look like it belongs in a dungeon."
"Yeah. More importantly, Daiki, let's get ready for that. We don't have much time."
"Right. Hold on a second."
I took out the camera-equipped drone I had purchased from my Spatial Storage.
"Yuji, are you okay with the controls?"
"Yeah. I've looked through the manual, so I can at least fly it. Just don't expect any acrobatics."
"I won't. I'll leave the drone preparation to you. In the meantime, I'll measure the height to the ceiling with the laser distance meter."
"Please do. It has propeller guards, but if I know the ceiling height, I can avoid hitting it."
"Got it. Hiiragi-san, could you keep watch on the surroundings?"
"Understood, leave it to me."
While Yuji was getting the drone ready, I used the laser distance meter to measure the ceiling. I turned it on, placed the base on the ground, and pressed the button. A small red dot appeared on the blue sky of the ceiling.
I had been worried it might not work due to light reflection, but the laser was usable.
"Phew... At least we cleared the first hurdle. Alright, let's start measuring."
Relieved, I pressed the button. The device emitted a short beep, and the measurement was completed instantly. It was so much more convenient than a physical tape measure.
And the distance to the ceiling was...
"Approximately ten meters."
That was about the height of a three-story apartment building. Looking at the concrete numbers made me realize just how high I had jumped last time.
I recalled the massive leap where I had slammed my head, and I felt a bit overwhelmed by the extent of the physical enhancement granted by my level up. I was basically a superhuman now.
"Alright, preparation complete. Daiki, did you get the measurement?"
"Eh? Oh, yeah. I got it."
"Then let's try flying it."
Yuji placed the drone on the ground and gripped the controller with a tense expression. The tablet connected to it displayed the camera feed.
Taking a breath to steady himself, Yuji gave the signal.
"Here we go, launching!"
The drone's four propellers began to spin at high speed with a high-pitched whir, and it lifted off the ground with a light, effortless movement.
Ooh!
Hiiragi-san and I let out voices of admiration, while Yuji silently gripped the controller, letting out a small sigh of relief.