Hearing Takashina Kai's words, everyone in the adventurer team couldn't help but cast sympathetic glances at Lili.
He had slaughtered an entire floor of monsters. Just thinking about the killing intent required was terrifying. Monsters in the dungeon, aside from providing experience, only had magic stones that were worth anything. Yet despite killing so many, Takashina Kai hadn't stopped once to collect them.
If he only wanted fast experience, someone with his strength could easily farm higher-level monsters on the lower floors. But instead, he had chosen to linger on the third floor, relentlessly butchering the weakest of creatures. This led the adventurers to assume he was a bloodthirsty maniac. Naturally, they couldn't help but pity the girl he had specifically asked to stay behind.
Some pitied her, but others were clearly gloating.
Before the group left the third floor, Airi deliberately lagged behind a bit, sidled up to Liliruca, and said mockingly, "Oh my, little pallum girl, you sure are lucky. To think someone this powerful would take a liking to you. I'm green with envy."
"If you're really envious… Airi-sama could stay behind with me…"
Clutching her sleeves, Liliruca lowered her head. Her whole face was hidden under the hood of her oversized robe. Her slightly bitter voice came from within the shadows: "Or Airi-sama could go ask that person if he'd like to keep you instead. I wouldn't mind."
"Hahaha… Me stay in your place? Are all pallums as funny as you?"
Airi clutched his belly and laughed exaggeratedly. Then, without another glance back, he turned and headed for the stairs leading up, waving dismissively as he walked. "Oh, and about your share of the loot… Come find me for it once you make it out of the dungeon alive."
Of course, if Liliruca didn't make it out alive, she wouldn't be able to ask for anything.
In Airi's eyes, being singled out by Takashina Kai to remain behind was as good as a death sentence.
That poor little thing would probably be used to test a sword once all the monsters on the third floor were wiped out, right?
But that death would be quite fitting for someone of her status. A useless Pallum could at least bloom with a final bit of value before dying—by serving as a sword testing stone for this bloodthirsty maniac...
Thinking this, Airi's mood lifted considerably, and the frustration from arguing with his teammates over the Pallum supporter completely vanished.
After Airi left, only Lili, standing at the stairwell, and Takashina Kai, who was weaving through the monster horde, harvesting their lives, remained on the third floor.
"Um… Sir…"
Lili stood dazed for a while and, seeing that Kai wasn't paying attention to her, had to speak up herself: "Why did you want me to stay… What do you plan to do with me?"
The moment she asked the question, her heart tightened.
As a naturally short-statured Pallum, lacking the strength of dwarves despite being similar in height, and as a girl with no powerful attack skills, Lili had always been bullied—first by her peers as a child, and now by other members of her Familia.
This ingrained mindset made her instinctively believe that Kai had no good intentions by making her stay behind.
"What do I want you to do? That's kind of a dumb question, It doesn't sound like something someone as clever as you would ask."
Casually slicing a moth-like monster in half, Kai continued slaying creatures as he spoke. "As a supporter, you should already know what your job is."
A supporter's primary role was to help the team by extracting the magic stones from slain monsters. If not done promptly, the dungeon would reclaim the corpses, and with someone dedicated to that task, the others could focus solely on fighting, greatly increasing efficiency during exploration and hunting.
As a professional supporter, Lili of course understood all this.
But still...
"That's all?"
Lili had mentally prepared herself for unreasonable demands—even something absurd like "use your body to test my sword"—but to her surprise, Kai only asked her to do a simple job.
"What else? Did you think I was keeping you here for something nefarious, Liliruca?"
Kai kept mowing down monsters, and seeing Lili hesitate, he urged, "If you don't hurry, the dungeon will reclaim the bodies, and I'll have to make you compensate me for the lost magic stones."
"Compensate?!"
Although these were just low-level monsters, the number Kai had slain in mere moments was staggering. If those magic stones were converted into valis, it would be a substantial amount.
Panicking at the mention of compensation, Lili immediately pulled out a special knife from her cloak and began harvesting the magic stones.
Even while working, her mouth didn't rest.
"Why do you know my name, sir? We've never met before. With your rare black hair and black eyes, I'd definitely remember seeing you."
"I've only heard others talk about you. A small Pallum girl wrapped in a cloak, a supporter... and a notorious shapeshifting thief, known for conning many Lv.1 newbies and even some veterans. Pretty distinctive. I doubt there's another like you in all of Orario."
"You…!"
Lili's face turned pale. Her well-kept secret had been exposed so bluntly, and she even forgot to address him respectfully.
"No need to be so tense. I don't care about your past," Kai said calmly. "I just want you to understand that I have no ill intentions. You don't need to put on an act in front of me—just be yourself."
"...I see. Well, thank you, sir, for your… kindness."
Taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart, Lili looked up and gave him a faint smile.
Though the words were courteous, they lacked sincerity.
After all, it was unpleasant to have someone dig up an embarrassing part of your past so casually.
"Haha, no need to thank me."
Kai accepted her thanks with a big smile, unfazed.
"And one more thing, Liliruca—my name is Takashina Kai. Drop the 'sir,' it sounds weird."
Weird? That's the point!
Lili glanced sideways at his back, still dancing through monsters, and drawled, "Got it, Takashina sir."
"I said, don't call me 'sir'... it sounds so awkward and embarrassing."
Kai sighed. Was this little girl actually more mischievous than she looked?
Lili ignored his protest and focused on harvesting stones.
"What's wrong with calling someone 'sir'? I wish people called me 'Lady Lili' all the time."
"Well then, Lady Lili, please stop talking. It's too embarrassing."
"Sure thing, Takashina sir."
"Ugh… fine, do whatever you want…"
…
Half an hour later, the entire third floor had once again been swept clean by Kai.
Over a thousand monster corpses littered the ground, and though some were reclaimed before Lili could extract the stones, she still filled three large leather pouches.
"Takashina sir, that's everything. Can I leave now?"
Handing the bulging bags to Kai, who was leaning on his black sword and panting, Lili clearly wanted to get away from him.
Though Kai had treated her decently, having someone who knew your deepest secret right beside you was nerve-wracking.
But Kai wasn't about to let her go so easily.
"As my supporter, those bags include your share too—but it's not time to divide the loot yet. Get ready."
"Get ready for what?"
Lili tilted her head, confused.
Just then…
"They're coming!"
Kai gripped his sword, and his gaze sharpened.
"Guwawawawawa!!!"
The screeches of monsters echoed through the floor once more.
"W-What?!"
Lili's face twisted in disbelief as a goblin emerged from the wall.
"Didn't we just clear this floor? Why are new monsters spawning so fast?"
"I guess… it's because of me."
Kai charged forward again, answering without concern.
"After all, I'm a full-fledged [Outsider]…"
"Outsider? You're from outside Orario?"
"In a way, yes… This dungeon sure knows how to treat guests. It's almost overwhelming."
Smiling bitterly, Kai dove into the monster pack again.
His strength was nearly exhausted, and his attributes were starting to drop, but his swordsmanship—sharpened through relentless combat—was reaching new heights. Like an uncut gem, the more it was honed, the more brilliant it shone.
It was thanks to that skill that he could stay in this "overly welcoming" dungeon.
…
By dusk, two figures—one tall and one short—stumbled out of the dungeon's entrance.
Takashina Kai and Lili.
Well, it was more like Kai, nearly collapsing, was leaning entirely on Lili for support. The height difference made it look like they were leaning on each other.
"Thanks for the hard work, Lili."
Kai smiled and reached to pat her head.
"Don't!"
Lili ducked and grumbled from under her hood, "You're covered in blood. I'm being generous letting you lean on me for the sake of today's haul, but a head pat? That's gross."
Gross…
Kai's hand froze. He looked down and realized he was indeed soaked in monster blood.
It hadn't bothered him during the fight, but now that he'd relaxed, even he couldn't stand the stench and stickiness.
Seeing his awkward expression, Lili offered, "I remember there's a bathhouse in Tower of Babel for adventurers. If you want, I could show you… as thanks for sharing today's loot."
"Please do, Lili!"
…
Babel Tower, 7th floor.
Splash—
Kai sank into a private bath. The hot water relaxed his body, washing away the dungeon fatigue.
'System.'
Leaning back, he opened his system interface.
[Name: Takashina Kai
Race: Human
Profession: Adventurer Lv.1 (1000/1000) - Hestia Familia
Age: 23 (150)
Height: 176 cm
Weight: 64 kg
Mind: 10 (10)
Strength: 10 (10)
Agility: 10 (10)
Endurance: 10 (10)
Constitution: 10 (10)
Class Inheritance: [Black Swordsman]
Energy: 220.05 / 1,000,000]
His base stats hadn't changed, but his EXP bar was maxed out. One more significant victory or [Feat] and he'd ascend to Lv.2, breaking the stat limit.
But what caught his eye was a system prompt.
[Detected absorbable energy. Proceed with collection?]
It had appeared while he was fighting, but he was too busy then to respond.
Absorbable energy…
Kai pulled out a faint purple crystal—the magic stone from a monster—and didn't hesitate.
"Absorb!"
[Collecting energy…]
The thumb-sized stone rapidly shrank and vanished into the air.
His energy bar climbed from 220 to 251.37.
Just one magic stone gave over 30 points of energy.
When the bar hit 1,000,000, the system could execute a dimension jump!
He'd thought only the system could gather energy passively—but it turns out he could accelerate it himself.
Suppressing the urge to throw in the whole bag of stones, Kai opened the [Black Swordsman] skill tree.
Of the six bottom-tier skills, three were still white. But now, they glowed faint gold.
He ran his finger across each.
[Skill "Balance" unlocked. Current Level: Lv.1]