Envying Her to the Point of Molecular Separation

The battle ended quickly.

Amid that ultimate storm of slaughter, not a single monster survived. All of them were reduced to mangled limbs and shattered remains, leaving Riezel victorious.

"What is it?"

Riezel returned with rapier in hand, only to find Lefiya standing there with a blank expression, which made him feel puzzled.

"N-Nothing!"

Lefiya snapped back to her senses, shaking her head while looking at Riezel hesitantly.

"If you have something to say, just say it."

Riezel noticed Lefiya's hesitation and said so.

Lefiya immediately began to stammer. Only after a while did she finally ask, "Do Mister Riezel and Miss Ais know each other?"

Apparently, after seeing Riezel's fighting style, which was almost identical to Ais's, Lefiya had begun to wonder about their relationship.

She even recalled that when their expedition party had returned not long ago, Ais seemed to have noticed the newly joined Riezel and paid quite a bit of attention to him.

The Elf girl could not help but read too much into it, and the way she looked at Riezel changed.

In response, Riezel merely raised an eyebrow and asked with a faint smile, "Do you care a lot about what kind of relationship Miss Ais and I have?"

At those words, Lefiya first nodded without hesitation, then hurriedly shook her head.

"I-I just find it a little strange!"

For some reason, Lefiya's face turned red, and she looked guilty as well.

Seeing that, Riezel smiled and answered Lefiya's question.

"I asked Miss Ais to teach me magic, and by coincidence, I learned some of her sword techniques. Other than that, we do not have any other relationship."

Rather than putting Lefiya at ease, Riezel's explanation only left her stunned.

"You asked her about magic?"

Lefiya looked completely confused.

"That's right." Riezel nodded. "I have a magic spell whose nature is roughly the same as your Elf Ring."

"Ah." Lefiya instantly understood.

But precisely because she understood, Lefiya was even more astonished.

"Mister Riezel has magic like mine?"

Lefiya was extremely surprised and taken aback.

"More or less."

Riezel did not elaborate and simply went along with Lefiya.

"So Mister Riezel learned Miss Ais's magic?"

Lefiya murmured, and the first thought that arose in her heart was not a sense of closeness toward Riezel, who possessed the same type of magic, nor a better impression of him. Instead, it was an instinctive cry.

Damn it, I'm so jealous!

Lefiya suddenly looked at Riezel as though she were so envious she had undergone molecular separation.

"...Why isn't Miss Ais an Elf?"

Unable to learn magic limited to the same race, Lefiya could not help puffing out her cheeks.

"Alright, let's keep moving."

Riezel gave a dry laugh, quickly changed the subject, and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Lefiya hurriedly stopped him. "We haven't collected the Magic Stones yet!"

As she spoke, Lefiya jogged over to the War Shadows Riezel had defeated, took out the small knife she carried with her, and dug out the tiny crystalline stone lodged in each War Shadow's chest.

Those were Magic Stones, crystallized Magic that could be obtained from Dungeon monsters.

They could be used to make all sorts of incredible Magic Stone products. For example, the Magic Stone Lamps installed in the fountain of Twilight Manor's courtyard and atop its Magic Stone lamp posts were made by processing such Magic Stones.

Because it possessed the Dungeon, that mysterious realm, Labyrinth City Orario had practically monopolized this resource. The Guild that managed the city was specifically responsible for purchasing it, processing it into Magic Stone products, and exporting them to other countries beyond the city in exchange for enormous profits. That was why adventurers actively explored the Dungeon, trading the Magic Stones obtained from monsters to the Guild for money.

It was said that the stronger the monster, the larger and more valuable the Magic Stone in its body. Among the spoils the Loki Familia had brought back from the Deepest Floors during its last expedition were Magic Stones dozens of times larger than the ones Lefiya was digging up now. Every one of them could sell for tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of Valis.

Compared to those, Lefiya would probably be lucky to sell a Magic Stone obtained on the 6th Floor for a thousand Valis.

Still, even a little money was money. Lefiya enthusiastically dug out the Magic Stones, while the monster corpses that had lost their Magic Stones—their cores—rapidly lost their color and scattered away as dust.

That was the final fate of monsters that lost their Magic Stones, their cores. They could not even leave corpses behind, as though they had never existed in the first place. Only occasionally would some particularly well-developed body parts remain.

Those parts were called Dropped Items. They could be used as materials for weapons, armor, and potions, and could likewise be exchanged for money at the Guild or sold separately to merchants who needed them.

Besides Magic Stones and Dropped Items, the Dungeon also contained special minerals, plants, natural products, and other resources with unique effects. These were the spoils sought by adventurers entering the Dungeon, the wealth they craved. Some particularly precious and rare items could fetch astronomical prices on the surface, allowing someone to become rich overnight.

It could be said that most adventurers entered the Dungeon for this very reason: to become rich overnight. Exploration Familias like the Loki Familia also regarded these resources as an important source of operating funds.

The Dungeon was such an incredible place. It was both a Demonic Lair and a treasure trove.

As long as one could make even a small name for oneself here or obtain some treasure, word would spread throughout the world in an instant, bringing both fame and fortune.

Watching Lefiya collect the Magic Stones and toss them all into the large backpack on her back, Riezel rubbed his nose.

He did not dare tell Lefiya that he had never collected any Magic Stones or Dropped Items in the Dungeon before.

"Can I say that I completely forgot about that?"

A certain young master who, the moment he entered the Dungeon, could not wait to slaughter monsters and only knew to charge deeper down had never developed such a habit of "diligently managing the household."

Now, seeing Lefiya collecting Magic Stones so eagerly while the huge backpack on her back swayed about, Riezel could not help saying, "How about I carry the backpack?"

However, Lefiya shook her head without hesitation and refused.

"Mister Riezel is the vanguard. You're even taking on the role of the middle guard, so your duty is to charge into battle and kill enemies quickly. How can you fight while carrying such a large backpack?" Lefiya said seriously. "In the Dungeon, if there is no dedicated supporter accompanying the party, it is common for the rear guard, who does not need to move around as much, to double as the supporter. Mister Riezel only needs to stay nearby and keep watch."

The supporter Lefiya spoke of referred to someone dedicated to recovering and storing Magic Stones and Dropped Items.

Such people were usually noncombatants with little strength. Their purpose was to free adventurers' hands and bodies, so they would not have to fight while carrying heavy backpacks or equipment.

In Orario, some people with little combat ability specialized in working as supporters, accepting employment from adventurers. In large Familias, where overall combat strength was generally higher, lower-level juniors or rear guards usually served as temporary supporters.

Lefiya was a rear guard, so she had no intention whatsoever of letting Riezel take over the supporter's work.

"But your level is higher than mine."

Riezel emphasized this point anyway.

"But I don't need to charge into battle, so it doesn't matter even if I carry a backpack." Lefiya refused to yield. "On the other hand, a vanguard like Mister Riezel absolutely cannot add too much weight to his body. Please don't compete with me for this."

As for whether it was appropriate for a young girl to run around carrying such a huge backpack, Lefiya did not mention it at all.

Even as a pure rear-guard Mage with little close-combat ability and poor physical strength, Lefiya was still a Level 3 Second Class Adventurer. Carrying a backpack was more than manageable for her.

"Fine."

Seeing Lefiya's utterly uncompromising expression, Riezel could only give up.

If not for the difficulty of explaining it, Riezel would have suggested putting the backpack inside the Storage Space of the Dimensional Cube.

With Storage Space, Riezel did not need to worry about carrying weight at all.

Unfortunately, he could not mention it, so he could only watch Lefiya recover the Magic Stones and continue bustling about with the huge backpack on her back.

"Alright."

Only after some time did Lefiya run back.

"Then let's go."

Riezel turned and left.

"W-Wait for me!"

Lefiya could only hurry after him, temporarily casting another question in her heart to the back of her mind.

Yet that question continued to echo in Lefiya's heart throughout the entire day.

"He's clearly a newcomer who only received Falna not long ago, so why is Mister Riezel so strong?"

As she watched Riezel speed up ahead of her, charging into a group of monsters, the question lingered in her heart, rising and falling without fading away.

While Riezel and Lefiya fought together as a party and continued making their way deeper, neither of them knew that shortly after they left, an abnormality appeared in the place where they had slaughtered so many War Shadows.

"Crack."

At first, it was a faint sound of splitting.

A crack appeared on the labyrinth wall without any warning, and a faint glow seeped out from within.

"Thump. Thump."

What seemed to be a heartbeat emerged from within it, growing louder and louder.

This scene was not particularly rare in the Dungeon.

Any adventurer had seen this phenomenon to some extent.

Because this was the sign that a monster was about to be born.

Yes, this was how monsters in the Dungeon were born.

They were not living beings that had existed in the Dungeon from the beginning. They were species nurtured by the Dungeon, hatched from within it.

Like birds breaking out of their shells, monsters emerged from the labyrinth walls at regular intervals. This ensured that the monsters in the Dungeon could never be completely killed off and their numbers would never decrease.

That was also why the types of monsters appearing on every floor were usually fixed.

It was simply because they were races that were born in fixed locations on different floors. Unless something unexpected happened, they would only appear where they were born and would not go to other floors.

Of course, that was only the case when nothing unexpected occurred.

Exceptions always existed.

And now, an exception was being nurtured on this 6th Floor.

This was the so-called Abnormal Situation.

"Crack, crack, crack."

Amid the teeth-grating sounds of splitting, the labyrinth wall broke apart inch by inch, allowing a gigantic figure to crawl out from within.

Before long, an earthshaking roar rang out across the floor, making the labyrinth tremble slightly, as though it were offering blessings for the creature's birth.

The new book has only been out for a short while! I hope everyone can support it!

Please bookmark it! Please vote!

ヾ(@^▽^@)ノ