About ten minutes into our return trip to the surface, just before reaching the staircase plaza on the 21st floor, we encountered two minotaurs. They had already spotted us and were both letting out intimidating roars; combat was unavoidable.
For our part, we wanted to see how well Mika and Saori-chan could fight while weighed down by their haul. Since we wanted to confirm that, there was no reason to avoid the encounter.
"Alright, Mika, Saori-chan, do it just as we planned."
"Got it."
"Yes."
Before the minotaurs could act, the girls gave short replies and lunged forward. We were simulating an unexpected encounter during a return trip, so they were fighting while still wearing their luggage. Their approach was slightly more sluggish than usual, granting the minotaurs a brief window to brace for the impact.
As proof, unlike when they started combat after putting their luggage down, the minotaurs were waiting with their clubs fully cocked back for Mika and Saori-chan to enter their range. If they charged blindly from the front, they would likely be met with a calculated, powerful counterattack.
"Gumooo!"
The moment the girls entered the range of the clubs, the minotaurs stepped in quickly and swung down with all their might to crush them.
Watching the movement of the descending clubs, Mika and Saori-chan's faces tensed as they tried to dodge at the last second, just as they had in previous battles.
"Hrk!?"
The moment they moved to evade with the same sensation and strength as before, they realized they couldn't move the way they usually did. The cause was obvious: the fully loaded cooler bags they were carrying. The weight of the dropped mino meat had hampered their initial acceleration, and with their center of gravity shifted to one side, their balance was completely off.
In other words, Mika and Saori-chan were unable to perform their usual maneuver: reading the club's trajectory and dodging with minimal effort to eliminate openings.
"Eek!?"
"Wah!?"
"Whoa, watch out."
"Oh dear, it seems they underestimated the presence of those cooler bags," Hiiragi-san remarked.
The moment they realized their mistake, they let out small yelps and scrambled to leap far away from the range of the clubs. We couldn't help but let out a few grumbles while frowning at their clumsy evasion.
Fortunately, the clubs didn't strike their bodies, but their stances were heavily disrupted and the distance between them had grown, making effective coordination difficult.
"Huff, puff..."
"Gumooo."
Mika and Saori-chan's breathing was erratic, and expressions of panic crossed their faces. The minotaurs, having seen their clubs evaded, grew more cautious and quickly repositioned themselves to divide the girls and force them into one-on-one fights.
The first exchange went to the minotaurs, who had successfully mounted a defense and split the party, while Mika and Saori-chan had failed by underestimating the presence of the full cooler bags.
"Ugh... these cooler bags are such a nuisance!"
"You're right. Just because they didn't feel that heavy even when full, we underestimated them. I didn't think the shift in the center of gravity from lopsided luggage would interfere with combat this much..."
While maintaining their guard against the minotaurs, Mika and Saori-chan shot resentful glances at the cooler bags hanging from their shoulders.
"Since it’s a single-shoulder strap, they swing and shift my center of gravity if I move too violently, and my acceleration is slower than usual! I just want to toss this thing somewhere..."
"You can't do that, Mika-chan. No matter how much of a hindrance it is, this is the result of today's exploration. I'm sure it'll be fine, but if a stray shot hits it during the fight and it's blown to bits, or if we can't recover it during a retreat, we'd be guaranteed to end up in the red. Survival is the priority, but I can't stand the thought of a major deficit."
Saori-chan used a realistic argument to stop Mika, who was ready to decisively discard the element that was disadvantaging her in combat. The mino meat in a single full cooler bag would be worth a price that would make anyone hesitate to throw it away.
Indeed, Mika, whose hand had been reaching toward the shoulder strap of her cooler bag—likely unconsciously—stopped her movement upon hearing Saori-chan's opinion.
"Aah, jeez! I really should have left it in a safe zone before the fight or tied it down tight so it wouldn't move!"
"You're right. Next time we do this, we're definitely doing that!"
Realizing the importance of pre-combat preparation once again, Mika and Saori-chan resolved to implement improvements.
Since large luggage is a hindrance, securing it is a given, but it’s probably best to find a safe place to set it down. For a general explorer, the ideal would be to only take as many high-value drop items as will fit in a backpack. Corporate-type explorers can afford dedicated porters for drop items, but for a small team like ours...
"Gumooo!"
The minotaurs, having successfully split their coordination, charged in with expressions that seemed to say they had already won. I suppose they gained confidence after being able to divide them so easily with that first strike.
However, for Mika and Saori-chan, who had already gained plenty of experience fighting minotaurs, a one-on-one situation was no longer a disadvantage. Therefore...
"Shut it!"
"Gumo!?"
Having already corrected for the difference in sensation, the girls avoided the minotaurs' attacks with minimal movement and thrust their spears, piercing their necks on the counter.
Unless they were caught off guard or suffered a significant surprise, it seemed neither of them would lose to a minotaur in a one-on-one fight anymore.
"..."
After finishing their attacks, Mika and Saori-chan quickly moved away from the minotaurs. Their movements showed no sign of the balance issues caused by the cooler bags; they were perfectly controlled.
"...Whew."
Confirming that the minotaurs' bodies had begun to undergo particleization, they let out small sighs of relief. Then, quickly pulling themselves together, they drove their skinning knives into the bodies before the particleization could finish.
"...Hm?"
As the skinning knives were thrust in, the particleization accelerated, and two pieces of block meat dropped. However, upon seeing that meat, Mika and Saori-chan tilted their heads slightly before their faces filled with shock and they let out surprised cries.
Hm? What happened?
"Wait, is this!?"
"No way, really!?"
Seeing how agitated they were, the three of us approached with puzzled expressions. Then, those very items that had just dropped came into our view as well.
"Wait, seriously?"
"Oh!"
"I suppose things like this really do happen..."
Everyone stared in shock at the items that had just dropped—they were marbled minotaur meat.
Despite my words being intended only to comfort the disappointed Mika and Saori-chan, they had actually hit the jackpot.
"We did it!"
Mika and Saori-chan raised their hands in joy, while we looked on in admiration at their incredible luck. Even for a party challenging minotaurs for the first time, having already gathered three in a single exploration was lucky enough, but to get the very last one they were wishing for right at the end... that was amazing.
"Now we have enough for everyone!"
"Yeah, we can take it home for everyone."
With beaming smiles, Mika and Saori-chan quickly gathered the regular mino meat and the marbled minotaur meat and stuffed them into the cooler bag Hiiragi-san was holding. Then, with satisfied grins, they shared their joy with a high five.
"Well, I guess that means you can head back to the surface without any lingering regrets?"
"Yeah!"
"Yes!"
"I see. That’s good."
A radiant smile was exactly what the two of them were wearing right now. Having obtained the long-awaited final piece, Mika and Saori-chan's steps became light, and we were able to return to the vicinity of the surface much faster than originally planned. It didn't feel like they were just floating on air; it felt more like the heavy burden they had been worrying about was finally gone.
"Phew, finally the exit is in sight. I really wish it wouldn't stay congested even on the way back."
"You're right. We're already tired, so this traveling queue is a psychological grind. I understand the benefits of the queue, but I wish the way back could be a bit smoother."
As the exit to the surface appeared at the end of the line, complaints about the congestion leaked from Mika and Saori-chan. Since they had been strengthened by level ups, it wasn't a physical problem, but a seemingly endless queue really takes a toll on the mind. Especially when you've finished your exploration activities and are exhausted.
"Now, now, the exit is already in sight, so don't be so impatient. We made it back a bit earlier than planned, so I think today's congestion is on the milder side, don't you?"
"That might be true, but..."
Perhaps because it was close to the end of the year, the many explorers in the traveling queue seemed a bit eager, and their pace was slightly faster than usual. Thanks to that, the overall movement speed increased, and we were able to get back here about thirty minutes earlier than scheduled. Well, the congestion itself was still there, so the mental strain wasn't all that different.
"Anyway, once we're out of the dungeon, we'll get changed and go to the purchase counter, so make sure to organize your cooler bags before then. Given the number of items we're submitting, if we don't sort them first, the appraisal time will get pushed back."
"Ah, right, got it. Since the only thing we're taking home is that—the marbled minotaur meat—the sorting itself should be over quickly. Right, Saori-chan?"
"Yeah, I don't think we need anything else."
After Mika and Saori-chan looked at each other, they nodded and synchronized their plans. If you don't share a clear understanding, it leads to squabbles at the counter. If an explorer party is fighting at the counter, they really stand out in a bad way. While cases of people actually coming to blows are rare, loud arguments are quite common.
"I see. Then it doesn't look like sorting will take much time."
"Yeah."
"Yes."
As they nodded, we passed through the dungeon exit and returned to the surface. We stayed with the flow of traffic, passed through the check gate, and stepped outside the building where the entrance gate was located. I gave a light stretch to loosen my body. Yeah, bathing in the sunlight really feels good.
"Alright, let's head to the purchase counter once we're done changing."
We went straight to the changing rooms, and since we didn't need to do any heavy organization, we finished quickly and headed to the building housing the purchase counter. The building was packed with explorers, and when we pulled a ticket, it turned out there were thirty groups ahead of us. Even with multiple purchase counters set up, we might be stuck here for forty to fifty minutes.
"What do you want to do? It looks like we'll be waiting a while. Should we wait here until we're called, or go to the vending machine corner nearby? I think they have a pretty good selection..."
I suggested ways to kill time. There's a vending machine corner on the premises where you can get light snacks, so it's possible to kill time while filling your stomach. Though, since there are many users, getting the more elaborate retort-pouch items might be tight.
When I asked, the reaction from the four of them was lukewarm.
"Hold on now," Masaru said. "Appraisals have been finishing surprisingly fast lately, so even with thirty groups waiting, it might not take that long. If we get called while we're at the vending machine corner and they skip us, it'll just be double the trouble."
"He's right," Hiiragi-san added. "I think it's better to just wait here quietly. We made it back earlier than planned; it would be a waste if we had to rejoin the back of the line and ended up with a major delay."
"Onii-chan, why don't we just wait?" Mika asked. "The counter here can be really fast sometimes."
"All the temporary windows are open today, so let's wait here. It probably won't take that much time," Saori-chan noted.
"I see. Then let's just wait here to avoid the extra trouble."
Since everyone's opinion leaned toward waiting, we decided to look for empty seats and kill time with small talk so we could respond whenever we were called. Indeed, numbers were being called at fairly short intervals, so it seemed like we might not have to wait that long.
With it this crowded, finding empty seats for all of us wouldn't be easy... Oh, some just opened up. Yeah, let's go sit over there.