"The 44th floor of Quratar isn't a bad choice. The conditions are favorable, and it's not excessively difficult."
"Most certainly, Master."
"We've had Mithril Thread drop a few times before, but we sold all of it. We'll have to start gathering it from scratch now."
"That is true."
Good.
Complete and total victory.
I felt like running around brandishing a banner with the word 'VICTORY' emblazoned on it. I wanted to dash out of the Labyrinth exit and hoist it high for the entire world to see. I wanted to proclaim my absolute correctness to all of society.
By the way, the opposite of a victory in court isn't necessarily a loss—it's an 'unjust verdict.'
When we win, it’s thanks to me. When we lose, it’s everyone else’s fault. This is the simple, elegant truth of the universe.
"It says here that three pieces of Mithril Thread are required to make the stockings," Sherry informed me.
Three pieces? That was even better.
Mithril Thread was a rare item; even if we spent an entire day performing boss runs on the 44th floor of Quratar, we might only see one or two drops. Since it wasn’t a food item, the Cook job’s drop-rate boost wouldn’t apply either.
In other words, this was going to take days. We would be holed up here for a long time.
It was perfect.
"Well, it can’t be helped. Naturally, we’ll be making a pair for everyone."
"Understood."
Honestly, I wouldn't have minded if the instructions had demanded ten threads instead of three. Wouldn't a craftsman usually ask for that much as a processing fee?
Wait. Maybe it actually only took one thread to make the stockings, and the other two were the craftsman’s margin? Even better. That was more than convenient.
Then there was the question of whether one pair per person was even enough. It was becoming more and more ideal. We had been rushing through the Labyrinth floors at a breakneck pace lately. This was the perfect excuse to take our time and build up our strength.
To build our strength, we would entrench ourselves on the 44th floor. We would repeat the boss battles over and over until we had a mountain of rare drops. That effort would become our power for tomorrow.
"Will do, yes!" Miria chirped.
"I believe that is a sound plan," Vesta added.
"It will be beneficial for the Council of Lords as well," Rutina agreed.
With the three of them on board, it was unanimous.
"Alright. Since that’s settled, let’s move to the 44th floor of Quratar. Sherry, do you have any other business here?"
"No. If I scrutinized every detail, I might find more information, but I don’t believe it’s necessary to go that far."
Sherry didn't seem to have any lingering attachments to the archive, so we transported ourselves to the Quratar Labyrinth. We emerged in the staging room near the 44th-floor boss room and hurried toward the battlefield.
Well, I wasn't particularly in a hurry. Roxanne, on the other hand...
"Hmm. I can smell monsters over that way, but it would be a bit of a detour. We should proceed directly to the boss room," Roxanne suggested.
"Isn’t it fine to take a little detour?" I asked.
We could take it slow. There was no need to rush or panic.
"Is that so? Well, there seemed to be quite a large number of monsters, so I did want to fight them. I'm glad. That works out perfectly."
"..."
Damn it.
I’d been played. Because she acted like she was willing to skip them, I assumed the numbers were low. This was Roxanne—she usually dove headfirst into any area with a high density of monsters. It was the classic 'don't push the button' routine.
'Listen, everyone, whatever you do, do NOT push that button.'
"Will do, yes!"
"I think it will be fine."
The girls were already egging her on. Led by an enthusiastic Roxanne, we performed our boss runs while engaging in plenty of combat with the local monsters along the way.
I suppose it couldn't be helped. Detours took time. Taking more time meant the rare drops would be gathered more slowly. That meant our period of grinding would be extended.
It wasn't a bad thing. Besides, since Roxanne was the one leading the charge, I couldn't exactly complain. It wasn't as if we were in any danger of being overwhelmed by monsters on the 44th floor.
Right?
I had wanted to ascend the floors slowly specifically to gauge that kind of thing. Still, these weren't opponents we couldn't beat. They weren't so weak that we could win with our eyes closed, either; they provided just enough tension to keep the fights engaging. They were exactly the right level of foe.
"As expected, it was an easy victory," Roxanne remarked after a skirmish.
No, no. It wasn't quite that easy. It was actually fairly nerve-wracking.
"The basics are important. It’s crucial to steadily build experience against opponents like these," I said, offering her some nonsensical support.
I really wouldn't mind if she took even longer detours.
"You’re right."
"Exactly."
Oh? Did they actually understand?
"From now on, let’s continue to seek out areas where the monsters are numerous."
"U-Umu."
That was a little different from what I meant.
"Though, the boss room is right there this time."
So no detour for this one?
It couldn't be helped. We entered the boss room to face our prey. The Quratar 44th Floor Boss consisted of two Silver Caterpillars. They were likely formidable, though I say 'likely' because we never actually gave them a chance to show what they could do.
And the reason for that was simple.
"Did it, yes!"
Miria neutralized them almost immediately.
Since only two bosses appeared in the rooms from the 34th to the 44th floor, and Roxanne and Vesta each took one on, we probably would have been fine even without the status effect. Still, relying entirely on Miria’s petrification felt a bit risky. Eventually, we would reach floors where enemies were immune to it. I wanted us to be able to handle prolonged, stable combat without shortcuts.
"Simply amazing," Roxanne praised.
To Roxanne, it seemed like an easy win because it ended so quickly, but that wasn't guaranteed to happen every time. I wanted her to at least consider a scenario where things went wrong.
While Roxanne muttered to herself, I busied myself with finishing off the petrified bosses using Durandal. Since I was hacking away at frozen targets, our HP and MP stayed nearly full at all times. It was hard to imagine a 'worst-case scenario' under these conditions. It wasn't as if I’d be forced to spam healing magic until my MP ran dry.
Actually, it was almost certain that would never happen. Maybe it really was fine to move up to higher floors sooner.
No.
This is bad. My logic is being corroded by Roxanne’s influence. I'm being contaminated by her battle-lust.
Filth must be sanitized.