A Steady Advance

The second floor was a labyrinth where grass grew on the floor and ivy twined around the walls.

The ceiling was actually brighter than the first floor's. The plants were probably photosynthesizing.

"There are many beast-type monsters on the second floor. The same monsters from the first floor also appear, but there are fewer insects."

The steady advance continued.

They progressed along the shortest path, breaking through walls as they went.

Wolves, tigers, and bears—wild animals that had become monsters—attacked them. Some had poison, others had grown horns.

They split into the same groups of four and two to defeat them.

As always, Ria tore off the beasts' limbs while Maal delivered the finishing blow with her crossbow.

Serge had noticed this as well—it was so-called power leveling, a method to raise Maal, who had the lowest level in the party.

The coordination of the group of four was also becoming more polished.

Basically, Carlos would block the enemy's first strike with his shield, or the rear guard would use magic to halt their movements.

While Gig used his power to hold them in place, Carlos's sword would pierce their vital points or Serge's magical blades would cut them down.

Since many of the monsters had fur, stripping it off was actually the more laborious task. Maal was quite skilled at this too.

Serge stored the pelts away, but there was still plenty of room in his storage.

"Still, just how much can that space of yours hold?"

"More than a hundred rocks bigger than Gig. I tested it before."

And apparently that storage capacity was constantly increasing.

"… If Serge died, what would happen to everything inside?"

"Probably, it would stay as is. I don't know about inside this labyrinth, but it would disappear into the space between spaces."

He seemed to understand this intuitively.

"So that means we need to prioritize protecting Serge above all else."

"Please do."

As they progressed through the labyrinth's passages, they emerged into a vast space.

Giant trees stood in rows, with birds flying between them.

"There are several large spaces like this on this floor. Be careful—there are strong monsters here."

Maal's previous party had apparently avoided these giant spaces. But she judged there would be no problem for this group of six.

"Visibility is limited. Let's advance in close formation."

Since this floor had few traps, Ria took the lead. They formed an arrowhead formation.

"Just watch out for ambushes. Especially from above!"

Even as she shouted, she had already drawn her katana.

The target of her iai strike was a leopard that had attacked from the treetops. Its face was cleanly bisected.

While the others stripped its fur, Ria maintained her katana. The blade given to her by the Ogre King had cut down many monsters, yet it neither chipped nor dulled.

(What a fine blade～)

Ria wore a grin as she wiped down the blade, looking every bit the dangerous person she was.

Just before reaching the center area with the mirror, Serge raised his voice in complaint.

"Sorry, I'm sleepy and tired. My magic power is at its limit too."

Just like outside, the light inside the labyrinth had dimmed slightly. It felt like dusk.

"It's already night outside. This floor won't get any darker than this, so we should start preparing to camp soon."

Here, Ria made an outrageous suggestion.

"Let's take a bath."

Those who had known her longer wore strained smiles, while those who hadn't looked puzzled.

"… There's no water or hot water springing up around here though…"

Maal's response was the most reasonable, but it didn't get through to Ria.

She gouged out the dungeon floor with earth magic, then hardened the walls of the resulting basin. She filled it with water using water magic, then heated it with fireballs.

"Behold, a pseudo open-air bath!"

Ria was pleased when Maal gave her soft little applause.

For now, she tossed the men, along with the half-asleep Serge, into the bath while she prepared dinner.

Maal took charge and cooked. Thanks to the magic bag, they had no shortage of ingredients, seasonings, or cooking utensils.

"Maal, you're quite good at cooking."

"Am I? I'm just average."

Lulu could only make the bare minimum of meals, and Ria didn't care as long as she could eat it. To those two, Maal's skill was like a mother's home cooking.

After finishing dinner, they raised the bath temperature again and the women got in. Ria was holding Maal.

"Taking a bath inside a labyrinth is crazy～"

Maal said while going completely limp.

"I'm fine, but everyone else sweats and gets dirty. If we can keep our bodies clean, we shouldn't neglect it."

Ria was fully intent on making baths whenever possible from now on. Though she herself hadn't been splashed with blood nor had she hardly sweated.

Having been Japanese in her previous life and raised in moderate luxury in the capital, she simply loved baths.

"Hey, no peeking, you guys!"

There was no way they would do something with such scary consequences, but Ria said it anyway as a matter of form.

"Ah～, Lulu's breasts really are big and beautiful, huh～"

"Hey, they can hear you!"

"It's fine, isn't it? These lovely bowl-shaped breasts. They say elves usually have small chests, but half-elves really are different, huh?"

"Don't say that while groping them… hey!"

The men hunched forward from the sounds alone.

Ria readily volunteered for night watch duty. The Sleep Reduction gift was convenient.

While keeping watch alone, she wore a grin as she polished her katana. That was a secret.

The next day, with everyone in perfect condition, they entered the guardian's chamber.

The guardian here was a Hellhound—a demonic beast known as the watchdog of hell, with a jet-black coat and crimson eyes.

"… A dog, huh… I feel a bit bad about killing it."

Only Ria could say something so carefree.

A dog bigger than a bear, drooling profusely—to call it cute showed a peculiar sensibility.

"It's level 45. No special abilities."

Based on the Identify results, Carlos with his high defense stepped forward.

He received Lulu's defensive magic, blocked the enemy's attacks with his shield, and slowly wore it down with his sword.

It was quite the stalemate.

"Can't be helped, then."

Without even drawing her katana, Ria walked over casually.

Naturally, the Hellhound turned its attack toward her, but when it lunged to bite, she punched it.

It let out a yelp but its fighting spirit remained unbroken as it tried to bite Ria again—but at the end of the day, it had the brain of a beast.

Catching its face between both hands, she threw it by force. When the Hellhound showed its belly, Ria pinned it down.

"There, there, good boy. Is this the spot? Is this where you like it～"

Under the merciless petting assault, the Hellhound went slack. Though she kept its fighting spirit from fading, a dog's instinct couldn't defy someone stronger than itself.

After playing with the hellish monster for a while, Ria finally seemed satisfied.

The Hellhound sat obediently in a "stay" position beside her.

"Alright, let's get going."

And so the party descended to the third floor without defeating the guardian.

The labyrinth's appearance was similar to the first floor. Stone-lined passages with trees growing here and there.

"The enemies here are mainly golems. Most are Wood Golems, and the floor guardian is a Stone Golem."

"My kind of enemy."

In contrast to the eager Gig, Lulu made an unusual request.

"Try not to destroy the golem cores if possible. They sell for a lot, and I can use them for experiments."

That's exactly what happened.

They reached the guardian before noon and charged straight in.

"Level 55～"

The two vanguards traded blows with it, boom after boom. In the midst of that, Carlos's sword—having endured too much punishment—broke.

"Ahhh! That was expensive!"

That's what happens when you don't maintain it properly, Ria thought as she handed him a spare sword.

It was a different sword than he was used to, but it was still a one-handed sword. He managed to hold his own against the golem.

But before long, Serge got bored.

"Gig, I'm going to cast acceleration magic on you, so finish it quick."

After a brief moment of concentration, he finally cast the magic on Gig, whose movements visibly quickened.

He slammed his warhammer into the stone golem. Carlos targeted its joints.

Before long, the golem collapsed. The golem core was safely retrieved, of course.

"Now I can make my own golem～"

As for what kind of golem she would make—apparently one useful for rearranging furniture and such.

The party entered the fourth floor.

It was a completely stone-built labyrinth. The only light source was unidentified torches placed along the walls.

Ria's group had heard from the Ogre King that the guardian here was a Minotaur.

The main difficulty came from the complexity of the labyrinth. Maal's previous party had been wiped out on this floor.

"Alright, let's go with the wall-breaking strategy."

When Ria declared this, no one could stop her anymore.

Ria destroyed the stone walls with her bare hands. The enemies gathering here were certainly stronger, but the party had raised their levels considerably through continuous battle.

Two-headed snakes, giant venomous spiders, the usual beast types—as long as they didn't have special abilities, they could be defeated without issue.

And enemies with special abilities were finished by Ria in a single stroke.

In fact, her Swordsmanship skill had risen to level 8 after the battle with the Ogre King.

Lulu used fire walls to check the mountain of spawning enemies while Carlos and Gig, now accustomed to defeating monsters with brute force, fought while shouting battle cries.

Serge and Maal continued picking off monsters that slipped past the vanguard with arrows and magic.

They took a short break to plan their next move.

"Maal, what's the fifth floor like?"

"From what I've heard, it's like a rocky desert. It's less of a labyrinth and more like a series of connected rooms."

"Alright, then we'll make the bath after we get there."

Ria never wavered.

The Minotaur's fate was pitiful.

Had it fought normally, it would have been a formidable foe that had turned many explorers into mincemeat—but this was Ria.

Far weaker than the Ogre King, she reasoned, and took it down easily.

Using her speed to circle behind it, she cut the backs of both knees.

She severed the tendons at the elbows of the arms that held its massive battle-axe.

After that, she had the two warriors finish it off.

"I wonder if Minotaur is edible…"

"Ria, Minotaurs are technically classified as demi-humans. It's probably best not to eat them."

And so the party descended to the fifth floor.

This was where explorers faced one of their biggest walls—though none of them knew that yet.