After leaving the staircase plaza, we joined the flow of the traveling queue to reach the midpoint of the 15th floor. We could have taken a different route, but following the queue was the fastest way to cover the distance safely. Since the number of people in the line had decreased significantly compared to the upper floors, our movement speed had improved.
It wasn't quite a run, but we maintained a brisk walking pace.
"Is this around the middle?"
"Yeah, I think it's about time."
Walking at the front of the party, Mika and Saori-chan looked around as they discussed when to leave the queue. Since I had left the route decisions for today’s exploration to them, it was up to the two of them to decide where to break off.
Depending on where they exited, both the encounter rate with monsters and the time required would change, so they seemed to be weighing their options carefully.
"You're right, Saori-chan. Okay, Onii-chan, we're going to leave the queue here. Is that all right!?"
"Yeah, that’s fine. I’m leaving those judgments to you. If you two think this is the spot, let’s break off."
"Got it. Then let's turn at that passage ahead and leave the line."
Mika declared our departure from the traveling queue, pointing toward a passage on the right side of a crossroads just ahead.
"Understood. Yuji, Hiiragi-san, are you okay with that too?"
"Yeah, no problem."
"It’s fine with me too."
Neither Yuji nor Hiiragi-san opposed leaving the queue, and they quietly began preparing for the transition.
When we reached the crossroads, we left the traveling queue as planned and stepped into the passage on the right.
"Good, we broke away cleanly."
"True. More importantly, as planned, the three of us will be following behind you from here on, so move however you like."
"Got it! Well then, this time for real—let's start the dungeon exploration!"
After the final confirmation, Mika and Saori-chan began walking toward the depths of the passage with high spirits.
Now then, I wondered how long it would take to encounter a monster.
About five minutes after we started heading deeper into the passage while avoiding traps, we discovered monsters immediately.
From beyond a bend in the dimly lit passage, I could hear the groans of writhing monsters.
"..."
Sensing the monsters' presence, Mika raised her right hand horizontally, silently gesturing for us to stop.
At the same time, Saori-chan pulled a telescopic inspection mirror out of her backpack and extended it around the corner to check the path ahead.
"There are... one, two... five orcs."
"Five? Well, that should be fine. Saori-chan, are there any traps in the combat zone?"
"Traps... none within the range I can see with the mirror. With that many orcs loitering around without triggering anything, there probably aren't any pitfalls, but I'll have to check more closely as we approach."
"I see... same as always, then."
Mika muttered that and looked back at us to discuss their next move.
"Well then, as planned, Saori-chan and I will handle the orcs."
"Got it. Just to be sure, do you need any help?"
"We're fine. We've fought that many plenty of times."
"Okay, then we'll watch from back here."
Mika and Saori-chan checked each other's equipment to ensure there were no issues. Since it was the first battle of the day, it was better to be thorough.
Once their preparations were complete, the two of them regulated their breathing and heightened their focus. Then...
"Okay, Saori-chan, let's go."
"Yeah."
Mika whispered in a slightly stiff, quiet voice, and Saori-chan gave a soft reply.
Taking a single breath, the two of them leaped from the shadows of the passage and closed the distance to the orcs all at once while keeping an eye out for traps.
"Saori-chan, we'll take out the two on the front right first. I'll take the one on the far right!"
"Roger, Mika-chan! No traps found, so let's make it quick!"
"Yeah!"
As they closed the distance, Mika and Saori-chan quickly scanned the area and assigned their targets.
Yeah, they looked quite practiced. They were cautious but decisive, and their choice of initial targets clearly considered their positioning for after the kills.
"Ei!"
"Ha!"
"Gu-gah!?"
The orcs noticed their approach and prepared to let out a roar of intimidation. However, before they could roar, the spear thrusts from the girls pierced the throats of the two orcs on the front right.
The orcs struck by their attacks let out short screams before their knees buckled and they collapsed.
"Good, that's two!"
"Mika-chan, here comes the next one!"
"Yeah, let's finish this before they can recover! I'll target the one on the right again!"
"Roger. I'll take the one on the left. Leave the middle one for last!"
Facing the orcs who were shaken by their comrades being killed before they could even react, Mika and Saori-chan attacked to settle the fight before the monsters could regroup.
They quickly closed the distance to the orcs, who were swinging their clubs haphazardly in their agitation. Mika and Saori-chan calmly read the trajectories of the clubs and unleashed their attacks, not missing the massive openings created by those panicked, big swings.
"Ya!"
"Sei!"
"Gu!?"
The orcs let out short screams of agony as their chests were pierced. They tried to take a step forward to chase Mika and Saori-chan—who had already retreated out of club range—but their strength failed them, and they crumbled to the ground.
An accurate strike to the vitals... Excellent work.
"One left!"
"Mika-chan, please!"
"Leave it to me!"
The orc that had seen all its allies fall in less than a minute went wild, letting out a roar that was almost a shriek. It swung its club even more violently than the previous ones. Being in a panic state, its movements were erratic, making the trajectory of its attacks hard to read.
That was why Saori-chan, who had left the finishing blow to Mika, made her move first.
"Ei!"
"Guo!"
The spear Saori-chan thrust out pierced the orc's arm. Strength left the orc's hand, and its club flew far away.
And once the swinging club was gone...
"Mika-chan!"
"Leave it to me, Saori-chan! Sei!"
"Gu-gah!?"
Mika quickly closed the distance and thrust her spear into the center of the chest of the orc, which had been left defenseless. With its attention diverted by the loss of its weapon and the injury to its arm, Mika’s strike to the vitals landed perfectly.
The flow from the feint to the killing blow was so natural that it was clear these two had performed this kind of coordination many times before.
"..."
After defeating the orcs, Mika and Saori-chan maintained their distance and waited for them to particleize, wary of any counterattack in case they hadn't been fully finished off. Even if you felt certain you had killed them, you couldn't let your guard down until particleization began.
Even if someone called it being cowardly or overly cautious, a momentary lapse in focus could lead to a fatal mistake, so zanshin was vital.
"...Phew, it's over."
Only after confirming that the last orc had begun to particleize did Mika and Saori-chan finally let out deep breaths and relax their tension.
Though less than three minutes had passed since the start of the engagement, it felt as though they had been fighting much longer.
"Good job, you two. That was an impressive fight."
"You've become much more efficient at handling multiple monsters."
"Your coordination was very smooth, Mika-chan, Saori-chan."
The three of us, who had been watching the battle from behind, offered our praise.
It wasn't a brutish display of raw physical strength granted by a level up, but an excellent performance based on refined skill. Part of it was because we had taught them the basics, but this was a fight they couldn't have pulled off if they had grown complacent with their enhanced stats.
"Thanks, I'm glad it went well."
"I was a bit nervous knowing everyone was watching."
"Is that so? It was such a smooth fight that I thought you were just doing as you always do."
"That’s not true, I was actually pretty tense, you know?"
Mika and Saori-chan wore expressions of relief at our evaluation, though they claimed they could have done even better if they were as relaxed as usual. Specifically, they reflected that after killing the first orc, they should have used a projectile to harass the last one to keep it at bay. If they had, they might have finished it before it fell into a confusion state.
Well, while taking out the third and fourth targets allowed them to bring it to a two-on-one fight, the last orc had been left alone for a bit. It might have been good to throw in a distracting move to keep it occupied.
"Well, you might have points to reflect on, but I think you did great for the first fight of the day."
"Yeah, thank you."
"Thank you very much."
When I complimented them for doing well, Mika and Saori-chan looked a little bashful.
"Aside from that, look over there. Something dropped."
"Eh? Ah, you're right."
"Are there... three drop items?"
Three items lay where the orcs had vanished. Three drops out of five monsters—that was a decent start.
After gathering the drop items, they turned out to be things we could identify even without an appraisal skill.
"Um, it's two Core Crystals and one orc block meat."
"The Core Crystals aside, I guess the meat is a bit of a win?"
"Meat buyout prices have dropped a bit lately, so I'm not sure if it's really a big win."
While better than drops from the surface floors, the price of orc meat had decreased due to corporate explorer teams systematically harvesting it, which increased the supply. Even so, it maintained a buyout price comparable to certain brands of pork, so it was still in the "good" category among common drop items.
"Well, it's better than nothing. For now, why don't we just keep it unless our bags get full? If anything, we don't have to sell it; we can just take it home and eat it ourselves."
"That's true, yeah."
"You're right, orc meat is actually quite delicious."
Nowadays, dungeon food is commonly found in supermarkets and eaten in regular households, so taking it home as a souvenir is usually appreciated.
Orc meat goes quite well in stewed dishes like curry or stew.
"All right, let's put the meat in a bag and then into the cooler bag."
"Onii-chan, you're so practiced at this."
"Well, there was a period where I focused mainly on gathering meat, so I got used to it."
"Heh, is that so?"
I had been gathering orc meat for Hiiragi-san's shop for a while at her request. In an industry with fierce competition, it's a disaster if you can't keep up with the needs of the times and lose your clientele. Nowadays, monster meat is distributed normally, so she sources it through meat wholesalers and I don't do it anymore.
Back then, it was a time when monster meat wasn't being distributed properly, so you either had to harvest it yourself or buy it regardless of the cost. Thanks to the efforts of Hiiragi-san and us, the shop managed to pull through its most difficult period.
"Now that we've collected the drops, shall we move on?"
"Yeah, I think we should fight a few more times to get used to it, so let's go."
"Right. If we take too long, we'll run out of time for the main event. The encounter rate here doesn't seem bad, so let's move through quickly."
Having finished collecting the drops, we started walking toward the deeper parts of the dungeon again with Mika and Saori leading the way.
As Saori-chan said, the encounter rate seemed surprisingly good, so we might reach our target, the 20th floor, earlier than planned.
As we searched for more monsters, we encountered them every five to ten minutes. When we ran into a pack of orcs at their maximum simultaneous appearance number, Mika and Saori-chan couldn't finish them off quickly; they took their time, whittling down the numbers as they fought.
Fortunately, though it took time, the two of them managed to get through it without any injuries.
"Mika, Saori-chan, is that enough for a warm-up?"
"Yeah, I think so. My body is warm and I can move well, and I feel like my combat instincts are perfectly sharpened."
"I was able to confirm my coordination with Mika-chan, so I think we're ready to move on."
After several battles, Mika and Saori-chan were exuding a sharp aura, quite different from when we first entered the dungeon. It would be better if they could enter this combat mode more quickly, but I suppose that’s something they’ll pick up as they gain more experience.
Still, it seemed they were fully prepared to take on the main event.
"I see. In that case, shall we go?"
"Yeah!"
"Yes!"
With the warm-up finished, we began moving toward our target floor.
Just you wait, mino meat... I mean, Minotaur!
With combat capabilities allowing them to handle multiple opponents with ease, they were undeniably mid-level explorers.