Chapter 72
The three who'd gone to the 〈Beginner Dungeon〉 came back that evening.
When I asked in the guild room, I learned that they'd all passed just fine (as expected) and had apparently stayed in the Dungeon to level up until now. Thanks to that,
"Look, I'm LV10! You'd better praise me some more!"
Rana crossed her arms, thrust out her chest, and declared proudly.
All three of them had reached LV10. That meant they could challenge Beginner Lower starting tomorrow! By the way, I'd already praised Rana plenty of times, but apparently she still wanted more.
How greedy! But I totally get it!
"All right, all right. Congratulations on reaching LV10. I've said that plenty of times already. Anyway, now you've met the requirements to challenge the Beginner Lower Dungeon."
"Yes. I followed your instructions exactly, Zephyrus-dono. Rana-sama is very pleased, too."
"It really is efficient, isn't it? Doing multiple runs in one day to reach LV10. We can go into the Beginner Lower Dungeon starting tomorrow. Why did I think we could only enter a Dungeon once a day?"
Estelle stood proudly as she reported in, while Shiera looked back on the day and tilted her head in puzzlement.
As Shiera said, for some reason, students in this world didn't make repeated runs at high speed. The idea that you were done once you left the Dungeon had become the norm. (The official exploit strategy isn't known, so this means ordinary repeated runs.)
As a result, leveling up was slow, and there were even people who claimed training was better than leveling up in Dungeons. That muscle party everyone's talking about probably reached the Beginner Lower Dungeon so quickly because of this, even without doing repeated runs. They must've been put through endless training by Instructor Davidef.
"We'll be taking on Beginner Lower starting tomorrow, so make sure you each prepare. If you're not sure what to bring, I'll tell you."
By the way, I planned to go with them, too.
With my support, they'd reach Beginner Intermediate that much sooner.
That wasn't the only reason—I also couldn't afford to wait for them to catch up.
"Then could you teach us?"
"I would be grateful for your instruction."
"Estelle, I'll leave it to you!"
"Rana, if you don't know what to do, you come too. I'll teach all of you from the basics."
As expected of daughters of royalty and nobility. They hadn't even taken a class on Dungeon exploration, so there was no way they'd know how to do it. I decided to drill it all into them from scratch. Especially Rana.
Shiera and Estelle were both strong in combat, but Dungeons seemed to be a little different.
Hanna helped me, too, taking all sorts of things out of her 〈Item Bag (Large Capacity)〉. Shiera, who got along with her fairly well, asked Hanna all sorts of questions, and Hanna answered, stumbling over her words here and there. It looked like Hanna would be able to get along with everyone just fine.
Meanwhile, I demonstrated everything while answering Estelle's questions one by one.
Rana was struggling with all the new things and having a hard time remembering them.
But she seemed willing and eager to learn, so I wanted to encourage her. Keep at it.
The next day.
At last, we were about to begin exploring Dungeons in earnest.
All five members of our guild, 〈Eden〉, headed for one of the Beginner Lower Dungeons, 〈Jungle Dungeon〉.
This time, our main goal was to help the three who'd joined partway through level up.
Gathering too many materials just means extra bulk for little return, so I planned to take it easy this time. Knowing when to skip gathering is important if it isn't profitable. Beginner Intermediate pays better, after all. If making money is the goal, that's where we should go.
"So, I'm aiming for you three to reach LV15!"
"Yeah!!"
"Yeah!"
When I announced our goal, everyone answered with a resounding "Yeah!"
Rana, Estelle, and even Hanna responded enthusiastically. Why was Hanna joining in? You're the highest-level one here, aren't you?
Oh, well. Motivation was really important, and everyone's spirits were high. Rana was genuinely fired up, while Estelle seemed to be matching her.
Shiera just gave me a cool, sidelong stare. You'll have to join in next time, okay?
LV15 was the level required to enter Beginner Intermediate.
In Beginner Intermediate, you could enter starting at LV15 and keep leveling up all the way to LV35 at the boss. There was another requirement, too: clearing three Beginner Lower Dungeons.
Since Beginner Intermediate was designed to be tackled by a party, I decided we wouldn't challenge it just yet and would focus on helping the girls level up.
So today, all five of us would take on a Dungeon together.
I wanted them to learn how to be efficient with my help and get the hang of clearing Dungeons quickly and leveling up.
The Dungeon entrance was deserted. It was a weekday morning, and nobody else was around.
We could even raise our voices a little to get fired up without bothering anyone.
"All right, let's go!"
I led the way into 〈Jungle Dungeon〉, followed by Rana, Estelle, Shiera, and Hanna, in that order.
It really felt like our party was finally getting started in earnest.
After passing through the gate, I looked around the jungle area we'd visited a few days ago.
As if drawn in by my gaze, Rana, Estelle, Shiera, and Hanna looked around with interest, too.
Hanna had been here once before, but this time she was holding a 〈Gentle Shovel〉 in one hand. She couldn't gain any more levels in this Beginner Lower Dungeon, so Hanna was in charge of gathering. In other words, she was looking for gathering spots.
"Dungeons really are mysterious, aren't they? One moment and you're in a whole different world."
"Rana-sama, we don't know when monsters might attack. You should be careful not to let your guard down."
"Don't worry. On the first floor, they only show up while you're walking along the path. If you stand still, they won't attack."
Rana exclaimed in wonder, and Estelle cautioned her. But staying on guard all the time was exhausting, so I planned to teach them when they needed to be alert and when it was safe to relax.
"Did you research that, too?"
"No, it's not really something you need to research... Anyway, Shiera, I'll make sure to teach you where you need to be on guard."
"...All right."
As the 【Shield Princess】 and the lynchpin of the party, Shiera had to lead from the front, so she needed to be especially wary of monsters and traps.
There weren't any traps this time, and all you had to do to stay alert was watch above you while walking, so it was easy. I explained that to Shiera.
As we followed the path, an anteater-type monster, 〈Quill〉, suddenly dropped down from above.
Shiera had already spotted it, so she calmly stepped forward and raised her shield.
"Taunt!"
Once Shiera drew its aggro, 〈Quill〉 set its sights on her.
After confirming Shiera had its attention, Rana cast a defensive buff.
"I'll support you! Blessing of Protection!"
Holding her talisman in both hands and offering a prayer, she cast a buff on everyone, myself included.
Next, Estelle stepped forward.
In her hands was a long, double-edged spear that could easily be mistaken for a greatsword.
〈Quill〉 bounced off Shiera's shield and staggered, and Estelle immediately attacked from the side with a Skill.
"Long Thrust!"
Estelle's thrust sank deep into 〈Quill〉, which was then enveloped in an effect and disappeared.
Long Thrust is a powerful Skill with piercing and slashing properties and greatly extended range.
I was having Estelle focus on the piercing-and-slashing Thrust Skills rather than the slashing-type Slash Skills.
"Looking good. You've got the idea down pretty well."
"Yes. But the monsters aren't putting up much of a fight, so I don't feel like I'm getting much feedback."
When I praised their teamwork, Shiera replied, sounding a little dissatisfied.
Rana, standing beside me, looked just as displeased.
"I'm a 【Saintess】, and I haven't even used a healing spell yet. I'm not saying I want anyone to get hurt, but I haven't had a single chance to be useful."
Estelle was undoubtedly the one contributing the most right now. As for Rana, it made no difference whether she was here or not.
"Well, that's true. But this is still a period for practice and getting used to things, so just bear with it a little longer. Starting on the second floor, multiple monsters will appear, and it'll gradually get harder."
"I'm looking forward to it."
Rana just wanted a chance to show what she could do, I was sure.