After dividing up the reward, we didn't disperse immediately as we usually did.
"Garm. Thank you so much. It's thanks to you that we were saved today."
"Seriously, man, thanks a ton, Garm!"
"It really is all thanks to Garm-kun. Thank you so much for staying alert."
We offered our heartfelt thanks to Garm, our savior.
"Gau~"
Hearing our praise, Garm wagged its tail vigorously with delight.
"Leticia-san, I'd like to treat Garm to something as a thank-you. What kind of food does it like?"
"Hmm, quite a few things, actually. It'll eat pretty much any kind of meat, and it's not picky about vegetables, either."
Hearing that from Leticia-san, I talked it over with Alan and Philia, and the three of us decided to chip in and buy some meat.
From there, we headed straight over to the annex of House Fortis.
We cooked the meat we bought in the kitchen and served it to Garm.
"Wau~!"
"Looks like Garm is thrilled, too."
"I'm glad to hear it."
Watching Garm eat happily out of the corner of our eyes, we pulled up chairs and began discussing what had happened today.
"To be honest, I think there were signs of something being off even before Garm noticed."
"With the number of monsters, you mean?"
"Yeah. We ran into ten horn rabbits right away so I didn't think much of it, but the encounter rate was noticeably lower than yesterday."
If we had spent three hours out in the grasslands normally, we would have fought quite a few more.
Today, however, the monster population was clearly thinned out.
"That was an oversight on my part. I ended up putting everyone in danger. I'm sorry."
"It's not just on you, Erik. I should have noticed, too."
"Me too. Besides, we're not even fully used to the grasslands yet. How were we supposed to realize the monster numbers were dropping?"
"Philia-chan is right. Even so, Erik-kun made the call to retreat right away, which makes you a dependable leader in my book."
Philia and the others quickly offered their reassurance in response to my apology.
"...There aren't any monsters in the forest right now, and we can't head out to the grasslands until that pack is subjugated. What should we do starting tomorrow?"
"Even if the wolves get wiped out quickly, the local ecosystem probably won't bounce back right away."
"If we want to go anywhere else, it's going to be pretty far, right?"
The western forest and the eastern grasslands.
Those were our current hunting grounds, but going anywhere beyond them would take us quite a distance from the royal capital.
Given our current capabilities, running up travel costs and other extra expenses would only push us further into the red.
"...I thought it was still a ways off for us, but our only real option might be entering a dungeon."
At my words, Philia and the others visibly stiffened.
"Are you sure about going into a dungeon?"
"To be honest, I'm uneasy about it too. But being unable to take on work is even worse."
We could scrape by on requests within the city, but doing only that would keep us from making any real progress.
With our hunting grounds cut off, I resolved to muster a little courage and push forward.
"I think it's a good idea. I feel like we've gotten used to fighting as a party of four by now."
"I believe we are more than capable of handling ourselves in a dungeon."
Philia and Leticia-san both voiced their support for the idea.
"Count me in too, of course!"
Alan chimed in a beat later, and just like that, we decided to tackle a dungeon starting tomorrow.
Next, we went over what we knew about the dungeon near the royal capital to make sure everyone was on the same page.
It was a deep dungeon spanning over a hundred floors, with lower-tier monsters inhabiting the upper levels.
The strength of the monsters scaled up the further down you went.
Philia had also picked up some intel that most adventurers pushed into the deeper sections, leaving the upper floors relatively uncrowded.
"I actually heard this from an adventurer I know. Everyone heads down deeper because that's where the real money is."
"I see. Still, we'll be sticking to the upper floors for the foreseeable future. I'm thinking we keep our activities within the first twenty floors at most. Does that work for everyone?"
When I asked, Philia and the others nodded in agreement.
Having settled our plans for tomorrow onward, we decided to call it an early day and get some rest.
Leaving the House Fortis annex and stepping outside the estate grounds, I parted ways with Alan and the girls and headed back to the inn.
The moment I stepped inside, Amanda-san greeted me from behind the front desk.
"My, you're back early today. Did something happen?"
"Actually, a powerful monster showed up around our usual hunting grounds, so we decided to wrap things up early."
"Is that so? Well, if you're standing here in one piece after running into a strong monster, that must mean you turned back without picking a fight."
"There was plenty of distance between us, so we decided to make a run for it."
Amanda-san smiled warmly at my response.
"Knowing when not to recklessly pick a fight is your best quality, Erik."
"I can't afford to put my companions in danger. I am the party leader, after all."
"Hehe, a leader who knows how to properly retreat is a great one to have."
After that, I asked Amanda-san for permission to use the backyard until dinner.
Heading into a dungeon tomorrow.
I had made that call and told the others to rest, but I had every intention of training.
"I need to prepare as much as I can so we make it back alive... But first, maintenance comes before training."
With that in mind, I took care of my gear before starting my workout.
Once my equipment was thoroughly cleaned and hung up to dry in my room, I grabbed my wooden sword, headed back out to the backyard, and devoted myself to training until dinnertime.