"Finally, we're here..."
The girl wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked at the castle ruins in the distance.
"Say... do we really have to go in there?"
"It's not like we can refuse. It's an order from the guild... They want us to scout out the situation with the first-floor boss..."
Hearing the girl's question, a heavy-axe warrior wearing Leather Armor spoke in a low voice.
"But doesn't the Survival Handbook recommend being at least level twenty before coming here? We're only level sixteen. Isn't that a little too low?"
"Can't be helped. It's the Princess's order, and we're only scouting, not fighting. As long as we avoid the monsters'... what was that called again..."
"Search range!"
"Right, search range, search range."
The heavy-axe warrior scratched the back of his head and gave a helpless, bitter smile.
"I'm getting old. I really can't keep up with you young people anymore."
"Anyway, I'll leave the rear to you. I'm going to take a look..."
As she spoke softly, the girl lowered her body and slipped through the bushes. Then she poked her head out and looked toward the ruined castle. A moment later, her eyes widened in surprise.
"Huh?"
"What is it? Are there a lot of monsters?"
"No..."
The girl shook her head, rubbed her eyes, and stared ahead once more.
"There aren't any monsters."
"None? Are you sure?"
Hearing that, the heavy-axe warrior hurriedly poked his head out and looked ahead as well. Sure enough, the wilderness before the gates of the enormous abandoned castle was completely empty—not even the shadow of a monster could be seen. The two of them were quite surprised. They looked at each other, and after a moment, the heavy-axe warrior asked.
"What do we do?"
"We..."
"Look over there!"
Before the