I had finally obtained the Priest job.
Since arriving in this other world, my days had been spent defeating monsters in the Labyrinth, but the difficulty of the battles ramped up with every floor we ascended. To counter this, I had been searching for a job capable of using All-target Healing Magic.
Given our current combat situation, as long as I could perform All-target Healing, things weren't likely to go catastrophically wrong. With this, I could keep pushing forward for a good while longer. I would be able to continue climbing the floors until the pressure became unbearable once more.
Of course, looking at it from another perspective, it meant I would be forced to keep going up. Simply because someone was very intent on taking me there.
"Since you successfully obtained the job, does that mean the 36th Floor Boss Battle is next?"
The culprit behind my lack of rest asked the question, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. I wondered if I even had the courage to say no at this point.
"W-Well, first I have to test a few things. We're already out of time for today, so once I've confirmed there are no problems, let's challenge the 36th floor boss tomorrow."
"So, tomorrow will be an entire day dedicated to the 36th Floor Boss Battle."
I was fairly certain I had included the condition "if there are no problems." Moreover, the way she said it made it sound like the 37th Floor Boss Battle was already a given for the day after. If I pointed that out, she would likely just tell me that it wasn't a possibility, but a certainty, so I kept my mouth shut.
"Yes. That sounds like a good plan," Sherry added.
Sherry, please, I really need you to clarify exactly which part of that you’re agreeing with.
"Yes, Master."
"I think it will be fine."
I, for one, did not think it would be fine. I dreaded to think what was in store for us from the day after tomorrow onward.
In other words, there was nothing to be done about tomorrow. What would happen, would happen. I decided to tell myself that I had successfully managed to extend my peace for at least one more day. Though in this world, it might be my life I was extending, not just my peace. That was a very real possibility here.
Conversely, there was always the chance I would eventually fall into a true crisis. If that happened, I might regret having spent my time idling. I might wish I had pushed into the higher floors sooner and trained myself more rigorously.
The monsters grew stronger on the higher floors. Fighting stronger monsters provided more experience, which in turn allowed us to grow stronger. Advancing wasn't a bad thing. To gain power, there was no choice but to train. If that was the case, fighting the strongest possible monsters to grow as quickly as possible was the most logical choice.
I couldn't bring myself to refuse Roxanne's proposal.
"T-Then, we'll do the 36th Floor Boss Battle tomorrow."
In the end, I had no choice but to ride this massive wave.
I spent the rest of the day testing the Priest's All-target First Aid. Even though I call it a "test," it wasn't anything special. It was just healing magic, after all. I really did just try it out once or twice. It worked exactly as advertised, leaving me with a simple, "Well, that's that."
When I let out a serious-sounding "Hmm," neither Roxanne nor Sherry said a word. They might have just been exasperated with me.
"It is almost evening."
"Shall we wrap it up, then?"
We finished the Canaria Camellia Boss Battle for the day. We had harvested plenty of Camellia Oil again. This was the one thing you could never have too much of.
"Master, in addition to preparing dinner, could you provide some boards?" Sherry asked.
"Boards?"
I wondered if something in the house needed repairing.
"I will use the boards as raw materials to craft Kyosaku. It is a countermeasure for the Beep Sheep."
She was referring to the Boards that dropped from Love Shrubs.
"Kyosaku?"
"They are wooden sticks with flat ends. Technically they are weapons, but they deal almost no damage. They are used to wake people up when they fall asleep."
I remembered the name now; they were the sticks used to whack people who dozed off during zazen meditation. Zazen might not exist in this world, but the concept was clearly similar.
The boss of the Quratar 4th Floor was the Beep Sheep. Since bosses reappeared as normal monsters thirty-three floors higher, Beep Sheep would start appearing as regular enemies once we cleared the 36th floor. They were monsters that used a strange sound to put their targets to sleep.
"I see. You'll use those to wake us up if we drop off."
"We might not need them for everyone, but I would like at least two—preferably three or four."
At that point, wasn't that basically one for everyone? Still, if we only had one, we’d be in trouble if the person holding it was the one who fell asleep. At least two was necessary. Considering the possibility of two people falling asleep simultaneously, I could see why having more would be better.
Since Sherry was the one making them, I figured I might as well let her make enough for the whole party. We made a quick stop to collect boards from Love Shrubs before heading home.
Sherry crafted the Kyosaku for us. They were simple, flat wooden sticks. They didn't look particularly dangerous, but they definitely looked like they would sting. I found myself wishing she could have made a Harisen or maybe a Piko Piko Hammer instead.
After watching her work for a bit, I left the rest to Sherry and went to draw the bath. I also prepared the Camellia Oil. Since today was the last day we would be gathering it in such large quantities, we might as well get some use out of it.
After dinner, I let them treat me to an oil massage, the slick Camellia Oil dripping as they worked it into my skin.