70: The party’s all about teamwork, right?

Three ogres went down in a quick exchange of blows, rolling across the ground.

Even from my vantage point, the coordination of the three sisters—Casper—was flawless. I let my guard down just a fraction, thinking I wouldn’t need to step in.

“Ah!?!”

Eva suddenly lost her balance, mid-cast.

“G-g-gahhhhh!!”

The ogre, already down and bleeding, lunged up and grabbed Eva’s foot.

“Eva!”

Marilyn cried out, but it was too late—the ogre was already rushing toward her, raising its club.

Shit! No time for magic!

The massive club loomed so close over Eva’s head it cast a dark shadow. The sisters must’ve all imagined her skull cracking like a pomegranate.

But unlike me, my dependable comrade never let up for a single second.

"Whirlwind Phoenix Slash!"

I thought I’d seen a bolt of blue lightning.

"Divine Speed Counter-Slash!! Bonus move: Vacuum Soaring Slash!!"

The lightning was, of course, Raidock.

In a blur too fast to see, he’d shattered the ogre swinging the club at Eva into dust—then in the next instant, he’d split another ogre in two, grabbing its leg mid-motion.

As if on cue, Camille finished off the ogre she’d been facing in an instant.

The two that had been rolling on the ground, still alive, had already been put down by Jitarou and Solar with arrows.

Eva, slumped on the ground, slowly lifted her head. Raidock stood there, glowing faintly blue in the backlight, smiling with a refreshing ease.

"Alright?"

Raidock gently reached out a hand. Eva slowly took it, then pushed herself up with a grunt.

The momentum sent her crashing into Raidock.

“Ah…”

“Oops. Sorry. Maybe I pulled too hard.”

“No… I’m fine.”

Eva’s eyes had gone glassy without her noticing. She stared straight at Raidock, her hand already resting casually against his chest.

“Hey! Wait a sec! You’re okay now, right?! Look! I’m changing! See?!”

“Yeah, I’m counting on you, Solar. I’ll go collect the magic stones.”

Solar jumped back, yanking Eva away from Raidock as if she were on fire.

“Now that’s not how it works… not how it works, Raidock-san…”

“You weren’t after Camille, were you?”

“That’s a different story! Ahhh… am I the hero of some legend or what? Seriously, jealous.”

“Ah…”

Makes sense—just like Jitarou said, Raidock’s a real-life bard’s saga hero, isn’t he?

Damn it, break already!

Evah’s no different—just a lightweight!

Where’d that serious act go? All I could do was laugh at Sorar, struggling to peel Evah’s eyes off Raidock.

“Hey hey, Craft-kun. This is getting fun! Triangle!”

Leifan, acting oddly cheerful, made a triangle with his hands—again, all I could do was laugh.

Yeah.

Let’s get moving.

◆

“Lord Raidock… shouldn’t we start setting up camp soon?”

Evah had somehow started calling Raidock “Lord” without realizing it, and Sorar’s face had gone dark—but Evah herself was completely oblivious, glued to Raidock’s every move.

“Huh? Yeah... it’s the first day, so a bit early, but still. Jitarou. Find me somewhere wide open.”

“Got it! C’mon, Camille—let’s go look together!”

Camille didn’t seem to mind at all as she followed Jitarou.

Hmm… maybe there’s something there… nah, can’t tell.

They quickly found a flat, open space beside a small pond.

“Craft. I need you.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I pulled out two massive bundles from my spatial storage.

“Wha—?!”

“Whoa… amazing!”

Evah and Marilyn gasped in shock. I get it.

What I pulled out was a makeshift cottage—converted from a wagon’s cargo frame.

“What… what is this?!”

“This is a tiny mobile lodging—rebuilt from a wagon frame, courtesy of Leifan.”

“Hmph! Pretty cool, huh?”

“Y-yeah, really cool…”

"Alright, it's just a bed bolted to a wagon frame—roof too, pretty handy, right? Split it between guys and girls."

"Ugh... seriously?"

Ignoring Evia's deadpan look, we quickly set up the makeshift stove. All we had to do was pull them out of the space-storage. Easy. Wood, water, cooking gear, ingredients—everything was already there.

Leifan finished setting it all up and looked up.

"Alright, what do you all wanna eat?"

"Meat! Meat!"

"Jitarou's a hunter, ain't he? Don't you get sick of meat?"

"Never! Meat's justice!"

"Right, then how about some spicy walnut sauce with chicken thigh—Diavola style?"

"Perfect! Please, do it!"

Leifan's food’s good. Whatever it is, I’ll eat it.

"Di... diabolus style... walnut sauce... campsite..."

Evah was frozen in place. After eating dried meat every day, she’d get sick of it, right?

"Can’t exactly do that in a dungeon. When we can eat outside, we always do it like this."

"Y-yeah... I can’t tell if it’s Craft’s skill, or the Goldendown adventurers... who’s the real star..."

Goldendown adventurers are all hard workers, that’s all!

Everyone’s amazing.

Feeling good. Yeah. Evah’s a great girl! Even if she is older!

Suddenly felt like I was being pulled toward Maina’s doll.

And so days passed like that.

◆

"Is that dowsing?"

"Yeah, that’s right! Craft made it for me! Evah, you know this well!"

Deep in the forest, where few ever stepped, Leifan pulled out a dowsing tea drop to search for ore.

He was looking for rare metals in general—no clear image to guide him—so the accuracy was low, but he could still tell roughly which way to go.

"Can’t say I’m an expert. Just heard about it. You’re good at everything, Leifan."

"Ehehe."

Leifan blushed like a kid. Strange how he looked his age.

After walking in circles for a while, the direction finally settled.

"Feeling a faint reaction. Rare metal, probably. Can’t tell if it’s a vein or an item."

"Either way, that’s reason enough to check it out."

Raidock didn’t hesitate. He set the course.

We moved through the forest at a speed that felt unnatural. We ran into monsters along the way, but Eva followed Raidock’s orders without hesitation, so our coordination was smooth—clearing them out one after another with ease.

Me and Leifan jotted down monster types, Sorar made a face, but nothing went wrong. We pushed forward without a hitch.

And then, we found it.

“This…?”

Raidock circled the thing at a distance, eyeing it carefully.

“Yeah. No doubt about it. A dungeon. I can feel a faint distortion in the magic. Probably an extradimensional space.”

“Hm.”

Raidock rubbed his chin, lost in thought.

There were two main kinds of dungeons. One was natural—caves or ruins where monsters had settled in.

The other was a place where the inside had become warped, twisted into another space entirely.

“Leifan.”

“Yeah. The dowsing reaction’s definitely pointing to this dungeon.”

"Ah. So it’s not the ore veins—must be the item then."

"Alright, Raidock? What do you want to do?"

"Whatever. Craft, how big do you think this dungeon is?"

"...No. I don’t think it’s that large. What about you, Eva and Bardack?"

Bardack was the mage of Raidock’s party. No sigil, but still better to ask.

"Sorry. Can’t say. But it doesn’t feel particularly dangerous… I think."

"That’s right. I can’t tell the danger level, but the mana feels like the kind you’d find in ancient magic ruins."

Eva’s “kind you’d find” meant remnants of an old magical civilization.

Multiple levels. Each level connected by rooms that always had a decent-sized boss. And deep inside, the final boss.

Most of the time, there was treasure waiting at the back.

Don’t know why we even need dungeons like this, but they’re popping up all over the continent, no matter what.

Some say they were ancient vaults, but that doesn’t quite add up when you think about the cost versus the payoff.

But us adventurers—no, wait. To someone like Raidock, none of that matters. Monsters inside. Treasure waiting. That’s the only thing that counts.

“Alright, we’ll camp here tonight. Dive in first thing tomorrow morning.”

Dungeons are dangerous.

So when a new one’s found, it’s standard procedure to report it to the Adventurer’s Guild and claim the reward.

“Raidock. You really don’t care if you go in without backup?”

“This is deep in the backwoods. In the end, it’ll just be our party getting the job.”

“Yeah, fair point.”

Raidock’s the strongest B-rank adventurer in the Golden Dune Adventurer’s Guild. In the end, it’ll be Raidock’s party taking the investigation request.

“Would’ve been way safer if Craft or Leifan or Casper had come with us instead of some other group.”

“Yes! We’ll do our best! Raidock-sama!”

“Hey! Eva-san! I get you’re pumped, but you don’t gotta cling like that, right!?”

“No! This is the perfect way for you to feel my determination…”

“Just back off already!”

“Jealous! So jealous!”

“You guys….”

Making a ruckus right in front of the dungeon.

“Triangle!”

You’re enjoying this, aren’t you, Leifan?

Book One now on sale! (´ω｀)