Chapter 44
――The next day.
Today, too, we spent the whole day on the first floor wiping out Goblin Colonies one after another.
Monsters in the dungeon respawn after a certain amount of time, even after they're defeated.
The goblins in Goblin Colonies respawn when the day changes, so there's no problem with hunting them in huge numbers.
Yesterday, besides gauging Rinka's strength, I also wanted to give her confidence, so I left the fighting to her alone.
Today, we practiced fighting together.
I could instantly kill them by firing off Fireballs, but I deliberately held back and fought alongside Rinka in close combat, combining my dagger with Fireballs.
Rinka moves so fast that it's hard to keep up with her.
One day wasn't nearly enough to get our teamwork down.
We plan to keep practicing against goblins tomorrow, too.
But I could clearly feel that if the two of us worked well together, we could become much, much stronger――.
In the evening, we called it a day in the dungeon and headed to the Guild.
After selling today's spoils, we made our way to the tavern attached to it.
We'd made plenty of money again today, so we could have gone somewhere nicer, but we had plans for later.
The night was still young, but nearly eighty percent of the tavern's seats were occupied, and it was bustling noisily.
We blended into the clamor and raised a modest celebratory toast.
All three of us were famished, so we ordered so much food it nearly covered the table.
Rinka and I both went with, "Meat first," and dug into some wild boar thigh meat.
As I chewed the hearty, gamey meat, its rich juices nearly spilled out.
I chewed, then washed down the sweet fat with bitter ale.
――Yeah. This is the best!
MP was engrossed in the Guild's famous Guildian Dog.
It was a junk food made by skewering an orc-meat sausage, wrapping it in a thick, wheat-flour-based batter, and deep-frying it.
A classic flour-based treat.
After falling for the charms of flour-based foods like takoyaki, okonomiyaki, and taiyaki, MP had been eating little else for the past few days.
The proper way to eat one was to take a big bite, but MP was nibbling at it with a tiny mouth.
MP still hadn't made it to the sausage, but already looked satisfied with just the batter.
"You've got ketchup on your face."
MP was biting into it with all their might, so their whole face was smeared with ketchup and mustard, but they were so absorbed that they hadn't noticed.
No, maybe MP had noticed, but just didn't care.
When I wiped MP's cheek with a clean cloth, MP let out a "Mmmmmm."
It seemed like a thank-you, but MP's mouth was so full that the sound didn't come out as words.
MP might have looked more serious than when we were fighting monsters.
Still, it looked hard to eat.
"Want me to cut it up for you?"
The Guildian Dog really showed its true worth when you ate the sausage and batter together.
But MP's tiny mouth made that impossible.
"Hm?"
At my question, MP stopped moving.
"It tastes better if you eat the sausage and batter together."
"... (Nod, nod, nod!)"
Unable to speak, MP nodded with all their might.
MP's eyes were shining brightly.
"Just a moment."
I took the Guildian Dog off its skewer and chopped it into tiny pieces on a plate with a knife and fork.
"This should make it easier for you to eat, MP."
"Thank you, Master~"
It seemed MP's mouth was finally empty, and MP thanked me before clinging to my face――but...
"Yeah. Your hands are all sticky, so let's not hug right now."
After wiping the grease from my face, I mixed the chopped pieces on the plate with ketchup and mustard, then handed the plate to MP.
The moment MP saw it, MP's eyes sparkled and MP charged at the plate.
Just like Rinka charging into a horde of goblins――.
"Phew."
Having finished one task, I turned my gaze back to Rinka――.