Compared to the sharp-nosed Yamato Mikoto, Hitachi Chigusa—also from the Takemikazuchi Familia—was relatively slow-witted in temperament, and in terms of strength could only be considered an ordinary adventurer.
As for Ron's exploration objective today,
it was to challenge the aberrant Floor Boss of the first floor, the "Goblin Guard."
The dungeon upheaval that had been triggered was bound to give rise to all kinds of powerful monsters. If Chigusa were to run into a Goblin Knight, it would essentially be putting her in harm's way.
"Recently, the dungeon's exploration environment has been very unstable. Miss Chigusa, do you have any thoughts about forming a party?"
There was no reason to accept so much help from Takemikazuchi, only to then drag Chigusa into the calamity caused by the dungeon anomaly. Moreover, the issue of handling dropped items meant that the team was in urgent need of a supporter.
Faced with Ron's proactive invitation,
and the approving gaze of senior Mikoto, the already unconfident girl stood in place. After hesitating briefly, she lifted her head and replied timidly: "Then I'll be in your care, Mr. Ron."
Recalling the battle from just now,
Chigusa did not believe that she could play much of a role in the team. She spoke softly, "It's just that I might… not be able to help very much."
"But taking on the duties of a supporter should be no problem."
Even before Ron needed to think about how to broach the topic, the girl had already taken the initiative to state her position, saving Ron a great deal of effort. He smiled, nodded, and added: "As for the specific distribution of exploration gains, we'll follow the standard party split."
"Welcome."
"Miss Chigusa."
...
As Ron's ability values continued to rise, the dungeon exploration proceeded extremely smoothly.
High-intensity combat was very helpful for improving one's strength, and moreover, having long since figured out the patterns of the monsters, they posed no threat at all.
However...
These explorations that Ron had long since grown accustomed to appeared, in Chigusa's eyes, to be filled with mystery and the unknown.
'These monsters…'
'Could they all be rare variants that appeared after the dungeon anomaly?'
The girl suddenly came to realize why Ron had extended the invitation to her—because she understood that, at her current stage of strength, encountering these special monsters meant she truly could not defeat them.
She could not help recalling their first meeting, when Lord Takemikazuchi had even instructed them to give Ron some assistance in practical combat techniques and martial training.
'Who, exactly, is helping whom?'
'Thank you.'
While silently offering her thanks in her heart, Chigusa gathered all of the battlefield's dropped items into her backpack. This amount of weight was nothing to her.
And even—the armor and weapons dropped by the Goblin Knight might fetch a decent price!
Although her ability values had not received effective training, merely witnessing Ron's way of fighting was enough to completely refresh the girl's understanding of technique.
Could it be that true technique is, in fact, having no technique at all?
She could not understand it, yet her heart was deeply shaken. After this dungeon exploration ended and they returned to Orario, perhaps she would have a chance to seek guidance from Mr. Ron.
Then, the girl followed Ron and Mikoto into a spacious chamber.
The slanted cave stairway descending inward indicated that this was precisely the passage connecting to the second floor. Just as Chigusa thought they would continue deeper into the dungeon, the party stopped.
She lifted her head and asked tentatively, "Are we resting here?"
"No."
"Our exploration objective this time is right here."
Ron shook his head lightly, his tone relaxed. As he was considering whether the Floor Boss would spawn here, the result did not disappoint his expectation.
Along with a fleeting sensation of dizziness, he could clearly feel the disturbance transmitted by the dungeon, and his mind was seized by an intense sense of danger.
A familiar feeling.
As he remained alert to his surroundings, the distant wall ahead violently collapsed, and thick green arms gradually stretched out from the rubble.
Then—forcing its way directly out from within the wall and appearing before Ron was a massive figure rarely seen on the beginner floors, and also an old acquaintance of his.
"Goblin Guard."
"I finally found you—good thing I didn't give up!"
"This is the guy you were looking for…"
During the dungeon explorations over the previous few days, Mikoto had already encountered this creature in the cave passage. However, due to the large number of monsters present, she had not acted rashly.
Now that they were meeting again...
To be honest—she still had no confidence that she could defeat it.
But noticing the boy beside her, visibly eager to try, with an emotion called "anticipation" even flowing in his eyes, she inexplicably felt a bit more reassured.
Maybe this guy could actually do it?
Mikoto realized that there was still a nonstandard combatant present at the scene. When she turned her head to look at Chigusa, she discovered that the girl's hands gripping the bow were trembling slightly.
She took a deep breath and instructed her: "Chigusa, you don't need to get involved in the upcoming battle."
"Your task right now is to ensure your own safety as much as possible. The strength this big guy possesses is absolutely at the level of a Floor Boss."
"O-okay… I… I won't cause trouble for you."
The sudden turn of events left Chigusa's mind somewhat blank, but she still trusted Mikoto's strength, as well as Ron, who dealt with ordinary monsters as easily as cutting grass.
It should be safe, right?
And as the "Goblin Guard" appeared right on schedule, what followed was the formulation of a strategy to deal with it.
Ron only felt his whole body heating up, his hands itching with impatience, yet he also understood the existence of a Floor Boss. With his current strength, it would be very difficult to kill it alone.
He turned his head to look at Mikoto.
"What do you think?"
"I want to try." The girl stood fully on guard, gripping her samurai sword with both hands. In her resolute eyes there was no hint of retreat, only a dense fighting spirit.
Only through battle could she become aware of her own shortcomings, and besides, there was no reason to surrender right from the start!
When the Goblin Guard fully manifested before them, the girl's figure decisively dashed forward. Light as falling cherry blossoms, she launched the first attack.
Like a sudden rainstorm, dense slashes continuously landed on the monster's massive body.
Even though they were sharp enough, they still could not break through the Goblin Guard's thick hide, instead completely arousing the ferocity of the Floor Boss.
"￥!...##@!"
The monster's roar, like a furious bellow, echoed throughout the empty chamber.
Not only did it shake loose the dust from the wall, it even carried a special effect of "Forced Stop," causing Mikoto to stand frozen in place for a brief moment, as if dazed.
The Goblin Guard's thick arms swung a massive axe, bringing it down to completely crush the human adventurer who was trying to provoke it. And just at this critical moment, accompanied by the sharp whistling sound of an arrow tearing through the air—
Whoosh!
It struck the monster's eye socket with perfect accuracy.
The intense pain caused the Goblin Guard's attack to miss, and at the same time the giant axe slammed heavily into the ground, buying Mikoto a brief window to escape.
Ron turned his head back.
He saw the short-haired girl, her bangs shading her eyes, the hand holding the fully drawn bow trembling slightly.
Meanwhile, Mikoto, who had successfully withdrawn, wore an expression of unprecedented seriousness. None of her consecutive attacks against the Goblin Guard had produced any effect.
This meant that the monster's defense was extremely formidable.
"It's a bit hard to deal with."
"My attack methods don't have much effect on the Goblin Guard. If I use magic, at best I can only restrain its movements."
"But—"
"With the Floor Boss's size, buying you time to withdraw won't be a problem!"
"Now isn't the time to be saying discouraging things."
"I think it's worth a try."
Hearing Ron's response, Mikoto could not hide the surprise in her heart. She turned her head and saw the boy's refined features and those exceptionally resolute eyes.
Maybe there really was a chance?
After forcing herself to calm down, she asked, "What do you need me to do?"
"Help me buy time."
The girl nodded decisively.
As long as she was not restricted by the "Battle Roar" that forcibly stopped movement, circling the Goblin Guard to buy time did not seem particularly difficult to Mikoto.
But just as she was about to ask in detail how to deal with this Floor Boss—
She turned her head.
And then she saw the boy's refined face filled with a grave expression. There was no fear in his eyes at all; that trace of resolve inexplicably moved Mikoto.
Immediately after—
Her pupils suddenly contracted, as she saw Ron, gripping the rapier in a reverse hold, plunge it without hesitation into his abdomen. Strange, eerie patterns instantly spread across the boy's refined face.
Combat Art - Seppuku.
"What is this?!"
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