Chapter 46
The teleportation stone on the twentieth floor glowed blue-white.
Felicia and I stood before it.
"Come to think of it, we didn't know how to use this when we reached the tenth floor."
Felicia looked at the teleportation stone.
"We just touched it, then walked all the way back."
"We even ran into a Black Ogre on the ninth floor."
"This time, let's use it."
"Of course."
We already knew how it worked.
When we both touched the stone, its blue-white light grew brighter, and our vision went completely white for an instant.
The next thing we saw was the familiar scenery of the first floor.
"...That was easy."
"It took us straight from the twentieth floor."
Felicia smiled.
I thought it was convenient when we were able to use the teleportation stone on the tenth floor, too.
But having one on the twentieth floor made a world of difference.
We didn't have to walk back down nineteen floors of stairs.
My body had been restored by Full Recovery, but Felicia had used a lot of mana.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm perfectly fine to walk. I just don't want to cast any more magic today."
"Then you should get some rest."
"You seem full of energy, Allen-san."
"I recovered."
"That's not fair."
"It's my Skill, though."
We chatted as we made our way out of the dungeon.
It was already evening outside.
We'd been making our way through the floors beyond the tenth since morning, and ended up fighting the Mithril Golem.
It felt like we'd come a long way in a single day.
We headed straight to the Adventurers' Guild.
◇
"Welcome back."
The receptionist we usually saw noticed us.
The guild was full of adventurers returning from their expeditions in the evening.
"How did it go? Did you make it to the twentieth floor?"
"Yes."
The receptionist nodded, looking a little relieved.
"Then, did you confirm the Mithril Golem was there?"
"We did."
"So it was still there. You shouldn't fight it if it's too dangerous. Just come back—"
"We defeated it."
The receptionist stopped speaking.
"...You did what?"
"We defeated the Mithril Golem."
Felicia nodded beside me.
The receptionist looked back and forth between Felicia and me.
"The two of you?"
"Yes."
"Just the two of you?"
"That's right, but..."
A voice called out from a short distance away.
"Hold on."
I turned around.
A party of four adventurers was looking at us.
All of them wore well-worn gear.
One of them approached.
"The Mithril Golem is the boss of the twentieth floor that appeared today, right?"
"Yes."
"You really defeated it?"
"We did."
The man looked at his companions.
"That's the one we found this morning."
"Huh?"
Apparently, these people were the B-rank party who had reported the Mithril Golem's appearance.
Another man spoke up.
"We turned back as soon as we saw it."
"You did?"
"Yeah. We tried attacking it, but couldn't even leave a proper scratch."
The first man looked at me.
"And the two of you beat it?"
"We had a pretty hard time."
"You call that a hard time...?"
The man scratched his head in disbelief.
The adventurers nearby who'd overheard us were looking our way, too.
The receptionist cleared her throat.
"Do you have any proof that you defeated it?"
"We brought the body."
"The body?"
"It's in Storage."
The receptionist fell silent for a moment.
"...Let's go to the butchering area."
◇
We headed to the butchering area behind the guild.
The staff member in charge of butchering, who'd helped us yesterday, was there.
The staff member gave me a slightly displeased look as soon as they saw me.
"You're back again."
"I am."
"What did you bring today?"
"Monsters from the eleventh through the twentieth floors."
"You made it all the way to the twentieth floor?"
"Yes."
"...All right. Take them out."
I moved to an empty spot.
"Okay, I'll start taking them out."
I took the monsters out of Storage one after another.
Steel Lizards, Iron Wolves, Armored Apes, Metal Scorpions, Crystal Horns, Cave Wyverns, and Blade Mantises.
Then came the Aqua Serpents, Rock Turtles, Iron Ogres, and Storm Wyverns we'd defeated on the floors from the sixteenth onward.
Even though I took them out one at a time, the empty space in the butchering area filled up in no time.
"Hold on a second."
The staff member stopped me.
"Yes?"
"Are there more?"
"There are."
"How many?"
I glanced at Felicia.
"We haven't counted exactly."
"You haven't counted?"
"We defeated quite a lot today."
"...I see."
The staff member stared into the distance.
"Go ahead, then."
"All right."
I moved to another spot and took out the remaining monsters, too.
Before long, the other butchering staff gathered around us as well.
"You took all of these down in one day?"
"From the eleventh to the nineteenth floors."
"Just the two of you?"
"Yes."
I felt like we'd been asked the same thing several times already.
At last, we'd taken out all the ordinary monsters.
"That's everything."
The staff member exhaled.
"Finally."
"As for the ordinary monsters..."
"Ordinary monsters?"
"There's one more."
The staff member looked at us.
"What is it?"
"It's large, so could you clear some space?"
The staff nearby exchanged glances.
They made room in a relatively spacious area at the back of the butchering room.
"This should do."
"Then I'll take it out."
I used Storage.
Thud!
A gigantic silver-white body appeared, and the ground shook slightly.
"..."
No one said a word.
The fallen Mithril Golem lay in the middle of the butchering area.
The B-rank adventurers from earlier had followed us, too.
One of them stared at the enormous body and muttered,
"...There's no mistaking it. That's the one we saw."
The receptionist slowly approached as well.
"You really did defeat it..."
"Yes."
The staff member in charge of butchering touched the silver-white surface.
"You brought the whole thing back?"
"It fit in Storage."
"Even the magic stone?"
"I think it's still inside."
"Wait. We can't just start butchering something like this."
The staff member's expression changed.
"What do you mean?"
"We need to check how much of the mithril can be used as material."
"The magic stone may be different from those in ordinary golems, too."
The staff member looked over the silver-white giant.
"We'll have a specialist examine it as well. We can't put a price on it today."
"Understood."
"As for the other monsters, there are so many that appraising them all will have to wait until tomorrow or later."
"Please do."
They'd said something similar yesterday, but the amount we'd brought back today was on a different scale.
Felicia spoke in a quiet voice.
"He really didn't get angry with us."
"They haven't finished the appraisal yet."
"Does that mean he'll get angry tomorrow?"
"I don't know."
"I can hear you."
"Sorry."
The staff member sighed in exasperation.
◇
We returned to the reception desk.
That confirmed the Mithril Golem's defeat as well.
"I'll process the completion of the emergency subjugation quest."
The receptionist took out some paperwork.
"Subjugation of the Mithril Golem. The completion reward is 1,200,000 Jenny."
That meant 600,000 Jenny each.
"Please deposit it in the guild bank, as usual."
"I'd like that, too."
"Certainly."
Just then, a display appeared before my eyes.
【Quest completion confirmed】
【You acquired 100P】
【Balance: 33,265P】
【Total P Acquired: 85,475P】
I'd gained a hundred P.
The receptionist checked another record sheet.
"This means you'll be recorded as clearers of the twentieth floor of the Belgrant Western Dungeon."
"We'll be recorded?"
"Of course. You've defeated the boss of the twentieth floor, after all."
I was a little happy about that.
When I'd first arrived in this city, I'd been cautious even about going to the third floor. Now we'd made it to the twentieth.
"Next is the twenty-first floor."
Felicia said.
I was thinking the same thing.
However, the receptionist shook her head.
"I'm afraid you can't do that."
"What?"
"B-rank adventurers are only permitted to explore up to the twentieth floor."
That's right.
When we'd become B-rank, they'd explained that we could enter as far as the twentieth floor.
"Then what about the twenty-first floor and beyond?"
"You need to be A-rank or higher."
"A-rank..."
We probably wouldn't be able to reach it anytime soon.
We'd only just returned from the war after being promoted to B-rank.
"What do we need to do to become A-rank?"
"It's not simply a matter of being strong."
"Your record on high-difficulty quests, your completion rate, your judgment as an adventurer, and your reputation are all considered."
"You'll also need a recommendation from the guild."
"Then it'll be a while."
When I said that, the receptionist made a peculiar face.
"Well..."
"What is it?"
"Please wait a moment."
The receptionist looked toward the back.
Just then, a staff member walked over to us.
"Allen Valdis-san, Felicia Roth-san."
"Yes?"
"Yes?"
"The Guildmaster would like to see you."
Felicia and I looked at each other.
"Us?"
"Yes."
The staff member nodded.
"The Guildmaster would like to discuss your promotion to A-rank."
Total P Acquired: 85,475P