"Well then, here we go."
Our boss runs remained as steady as ever.
Everything was going well.
Wonderfully well.
Exquisitely well.
It was the perfect balance of tension, physical activity, and training. While it wasn't quite the "complete piece of cake" Roxanne claimed it to be, we were never in any real danger. The stability was so absolute that I didn't even have to worry.
There was no slacking, yet no crushing pressure.
It was a journey through the Labyrinth characterized by crystalline clarity and unwavering stability. Even Roxanne was calling out cheerfully as she entered the Boss Room, so she couldn't possibly have any complaints.
If this wasn't the definition of "going well," I didn't know what was.
It was going well.
Very well.
It was pleasant.
Almost frighteningly so.
To the point where there wasn't a single negative element in sight.
And, of course, once the day was done, the supreme moment of healing my fatigue and releasing my stress awaited me. If this wasn't joy, what was?
It was going well.
It was comfortable.
It was the best.
Bless the Sex Fiend job.
Well, I felt like I could probably manage without Sex Fiend, but doing this every single day would be exhausting. There were definitely times when insurance was necessary. That was why this arrangement was perfect.
As we stepped into the Boss Room, smoke coalesced, and two Silver Caterpillars manifested. They were massive larvae with skin that shimmered like platinum. Roxanne and Vesta each moved to confront one, taking their positions at the front.
Sherry planted herself firmly at the midpoint between the two, slightly forward, gripping the Steel Spear of Authority. She glared down the bosses. The Steel Spear of Authority was a weapon capable of canceling the activation of skills and magic. With it in her hands, the monsters' most powerful attacks were effectively sealed.
Even for a boss, all that remained was to wait for the end.
If it was just a matter of physical attacks, Roxanne and Vesta could handle whatever came their way. Rutina unleashed magic from where she stood, while Miria and I circled around the outside to approach the monsters.
My workload was high. Moreover, since Miria would pick a target first and I had to decide my own position after confirming hers, I inevitably ended up taking the long way around. I had to move a lot.
After all, the core of this strategy was Miria's Petrification skill. Naturally, she was the first priority, and I was secondary. It was only logical that she came first.
I was second priority—or maybe third. I felt a bit like an errand boy. Like a programmer right before a major release. I was being run like a workhorse. Like a demon.
I was being run like a freshman baseball player who had no real track record in middle school but managed to join a powerhouse team that regularly appeared at Koshien through sheer luck.
But hey, I was a utility player. I could cast magic, I could heal, I can use a sword—I could do a little of everything. I was a man of many talents. Yes, a man who didn't stay in one place. That was me. I had a broad perspective. I was built differently.
Because I could handle anything, it was only natural that I would circle even further out than Miria to reach the boss. It was a role only I could fulfill. A feat only I could perform.
And by circling around, I gained the benefit of being able to attack from the rear. Since I wasn't facing the monster head-on, I could strike freely. However I pleased.
Gah!
The Silver Caterpillar lashed out with its rear. Even for a caterpillar, this thing could move.
"I did it!"
Oops. Looks like Miria petrified it. It had stopped moving entirely.
Because its focus was shifted to weird things like trying to attack behind itself, it had taken Miria's blow head-on and succumbed to petrification. In other words, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that this victory was thanks to me.
"Good. Well done."
I'm pretty impressive.
Then I moved to attack the other one, once again circling around Miria. It couldn't be helped. It was just the way things had to be. Miria joining the attack as quickly as possible was the highest priority.
"I did it!"
See? Once again, Miria petrified the Silver Caterpillar. All of this was thanks to me. Well, maybe a little. Ten percent, perhaps. Probably.
Our boss runs on the 44th Floor of the Quratar Labyrinth continued to maintain this state of perfect stability. Since there were two bosses to begin with, the front line stayed secure as long as Roxanne and Vesta stood before each one, and no interruptions ever entered the Boss Room.
It was safe and secure. It was great. Truly great. It was a boss run filled with nothing but positives.
However, the end was steadily approaching. Our supply of Mithril Thread was piling up. Up until now, even the eager Roxanne hadn't pushed to move up. Since we were doing this to make the stockings she wanted, that was only natural.
What I feared was the recoil—that once we finished gathering the materials and were released from this task, she'd want to climb higher and higher.
No. Next time, we wouldn't be in the Quratar Labyrinth where we had a map, but an unknown labyrinth where we had only been shown the entrance. Even Roxanne shouldn't be able to do much about that. We wouldn't be able to climb easily. She'd probably explore with great enthusiasm, but that would be the extent of it. That much was fine. In fact, I welcomed her exploring enthusiastically.
There was a chance we could do boss runs on the 45th floor as well until we got used to it. Probably not, though. Well, it didn't cost anything to try suggesting it. No, wait—I might be seen as weak-willed. I wondered what the right answer was. I had so many worries.
"Oh."
While I was mulling over these thoughts and shaving down the petrified monster with Durandal, the boss dissolved into smoke, leaving behind a Mithril Thread.
"Ah. That's the last of them."
"Y-Yeah."
Roxanne was the first to pick it up and bring it over. This was the fifteenth Mithril Thread. She seemed to have a perfect grasp of the count. I wouldn't be able to fudge the numbers. I guess this was as far as I could keep Roxanne held back.
"I'm looking forward to it."
"Right."
"Shall we move to the new labyrinth immediately?"
What she was looking forward to was the new labyrinth? Not the stockings?!
"No. The time is a bit awkward. We can have breakfast, visit the shop in the Imperial Capital, and go after that."
"Is that so?"
"Y-Yeah."
She looked dissatisfied. Well, she probably was.
"I see. If we only have a little time left, I suppose repeating the 45th Floor Boss Battle here is also an option."
Wait, did the conditions just change? Apparently, repeating the 44th Floor Boss Battle wasn't an option. Was that off the table? Really?
And for starters, could she not speak as if she were the one being forced to make a massive compromise? It was the complete opposite. She wasn't compromising at all. In fact, she was being incredibly pushy.
"No, no. Since there isn't much time, we should just stay on the 44th Floor..."
"If there isn't much time, shouldn't we be on the 45th Floor?"
What kind of logic was that? There wasn't even a hint of compromise in that statement. I was the one who wanted to say I was compromising here. Even if the actual reason for staying on the 44th Floor had vanished.
However, good things did happen while we were cooped up on the 44th Floor. My Monk reached Lv 50. I then obtained the job Saman Lv 1. It seemed Saman was the advanced job for Monk. With this, I'd be able to fight even more effectively.
I wondered if the next one to reach Lv 50 and gain an advanced job would be Hero or Priest.
"Um. Things are going well right now, and momentum is important, isn't it?" Sherry intervened.
Tsk. She had sided with the other camp. However, since it was Sherry, I had a way to persuade her.
"That's what you call the Gambler's Fallacy."
"The Gambler's Fallacy?"
As expected, she didn't know the term. Well, there was no way she could.
"Assume that when you toss a coin, the probability of heads is one-half and tails is one-half. This remains unchanged regardless of the situation. For example, whether heads came up last time, or three times in a row, or even if heads comes up ten times in a row, the probability of the next coin toss being heads is still one-half. However, people often tend to think that because it was heads last time, it'll be heads again, or because heads has appeared many times, it's finally time for tails. This is called the Gambler's Fallacy. Even if heads has appeared frequently lately, it doesn't mean the probability of heads appearing next increases."
"Hmm. I see. However, if heads continues for as many as ten times, shouldn't one instead revise the initial assumption that the probability of heads appearing is one-half?"
...Bayesian Inference?!
I went in to hit her with a logical argument, only to get countered with a better one. This was why I could never win against Sherry.
Michio's spiritual pressure vanished.
In fact, with real coins, factors like the engraving or the portrait can influence the weight, creating a bias in the probability.
"N-No. The point is that people tend to make mistaken judgments like that. The Gambler's Fallacy is considered the same as the Hot Hand Fallacy."
"The Hot Hand Fallacy?"
"It's the fallacy of thinking that someone who has succeeded is more likely to succeed again. Suppose you gather many Master Smiths and have them fuse Skill Crystals. You keep only those who succeeded and have them perform a second fusion. Then, only those who succeeded there go on to the third..."
"That's a mistake. Whether one succeeds in the first trial or not, the probability of succeeding in the second fusion does not change."
Sherry denied it instantly.
Exactly, exactly. Since when did I fall under the illusion that we were fighting on equal logical ground?
Sherry's spiritual pressure vanished.
It was wrong to walk a .200 hitter who got a hit in his first at-bat because "he looks like he's in good form today," and then choose to face a .300 hitter who grounded out. Whether he got a hit in his previous at-bat or not, a .200 hitter was still a .200 hitter. Whether he failed before or not, a .300 batter was a .300 batter.
Incidentally, from MLB records, it was known that the outcome of a situation with no outs and a runner on first was better than one out and a runner on second. The same applied to Japanese professional baseball statistics, which was why one shouldn't use a sacrifice bunt for a runner on first with no outs. If a precious no-outs-on-first situation became one-out-on-second, the statistical expected value for scoring decreased.
"I don't quite understand, but I understand."
"Umu."
Roxanne seemed to understand as well. This was the essence of Sabermetrics. No sacrifice bunts; let's take our time with the 45th Floor.
"Both the 44th Floor boss and the 45th Floor boss are the same in that we can win without any problems. In other words, there's no problem at all."
It's not working?!
Listen to what I'm saying! Roxanne, that's your problem.
"I see. If we can win both without issue, the probability of winning both is one, so no fallacy can possibly occur."
Sherry, you're wrong too!
"There isn't, desu."
"I think it will be fine."
Because of those two, the other two had been dragged in as well. I wasn't expecting anything from Miria and Vesta, though.
"In any case, we have to go eventually for the sake of the Council of Lords."
What was she even talking about? I didn't understand her reasoning, but it seemed even Rutina had joined the other side.
"Now, let's go."
While I was reeling from the overwhelming defeat, Roxanne promptly set off. It was only a matter of time once I failed to win over Sherry.
As if it were even possible for Roxanne not to know the location of the 45th Floor Boss Room. And so, we arrived at the 45th Floor Boss Battle all too easily.
"From the 45th Floor onward, two bosses will appear, along with two other monsters," Sherry explained in the Waiting Room.
On the 11th Floor, there was only one boss. From the 12th Floor Boss Rooms, in addition to one boss, one monster that appeared on that floor would show up as a support monster. Since the 44th Floor had two bosses, the 45th Floor would have two bosses and two support monsters.
I see.
"Doesn't that make them quite strong?"
"Yes. It would be nice if they've become stronger."
Only Roxanne could think that was a good thing.
"Well, the numbers increase, but the opponents themselves have nothing special about them. If we handle them calmly, it shouldn't be a problem."
Sherry was cold-blooded as always. However, there were times when quantity transformed into quality.
"That might be true, but..."
"Yes. Leave the bosses to me. Vesta and I will be able to suppress them perfectly."
"I think it will be fine."
"U-Umu."
Vesta, don't let yourself be swept along by Roxanne. Well, I suppose this was business as usual. I'd take it positively and assume there was no strange tension.
"Vesta, and everyone else, you can push the monsters onto me if you have the chance. Monsters on the level of the 45th Floor... they'd need to come at me in a bunch to even stand a chance."
That was one of the three great lines one wanted to say before a battle. "Come at me in a bunch," "Come at me if you want to die"—what was the third one?
A woman who could dismiss the monsters she was about to fight as "mere" things was something else entirely.
"Since there are four monsters, I will also move to the front. I'll hand this spear to Rutina, so could I have the mace?" Ignoring Roxanne's comment, Sherry made her request to me.
"O-Oh."
"If a monster begins an incantation, please thrust at it with this spear. Focus primarily on the bosses. It's also an option to ignore the incantations of the other two support monsters. However, be careful as the White Caterpillars may spit silk. You can ignore other offensive magic to some extent. Unless you have absolutely no leeway, there should be no need to move significantly from a position where you have the boss in range."
Sherry gave advice to Rutina while handing her the Steel Spear of Authority. She really was calmly analyzing the battle. And since she was saying it wasn't a problem, I guess it really wasn't.
"I understand."
"Ah. If you're able to fight, it's also necessary to once purposely let a boss's magic through and receive it. I'll leave that judgment to you."
"Y-Yes."
Don't go thinking everyone can make cold-blooded judgments like you, Sherry. Rutina looked like she was recoiling a bit. Well, I felt like I might have been the one to first suggest we should try taking a hit. After all, what would happen if we just kept climbing floors without ever knowing our limits?
Umu. It was necessary. It really was. It was important to test our durability.
"It's all right. You won't be in danger from an attack on the level of the 45th Floor boss."
Even Sherry saw them as being "on that level"? Had she been influenced too much by a certain someone? She needed to be more calm.
"That's true, isn't it?"
"Taking the magic is a precaution for when we go to even higher floors."
"Yes."
Because there was someone who would take us to higher floors the moment there was an opening. So this was the result of calm thinking? I see. Umu. I'd say nothing.
"So, I'm not saying we should do it right this instant. It's something to do while observing the situation eventually."
"I understand."
"Then, let's go."
Since the discussion was settled, we charged into the Boss Room. Four monsters appeared. Roxanne and Vesta took on the two bosses, while Sherry and Miria handled the others. Each took their stance in front of a monster. A chaotic battle was expected...
"I did it!"
...but it didn't happen. Because Miria went and petrified them all.
No, I guess it was a chaotic battle. Just not a fierce one. Even so, it was way too fast. I was trying to apply Status Ailment Resistance Down to the monsters Miria was aiming for, but I could barely keep up.
Well, you could say they were petrified quickly because I applied the debuff. But still, it was too fast. Once the first one was petrified, we stopped facing them from the front and just hit them however we liked from the side, which increased the number of hits and made petrification even more likely.
It wasn't always going to be this easy.
"Miria, well done."
"Yes!"