God's Blessing on this Wonderful Dungeon

By Icura and Special FX

~o~

Chapter 13: Expedition

~o~

The early morning sun cast a warm, golden hue over the quaint little café nestled on the corner of the street next to Babel. A gentle breeze ruffled the pages of the newspapers scattered across the outdoor tables, and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and baked goods hung in the air. At a corner table, beneath the shade of a large oak tree, four young adventurers fidgeted with their food and tapped their fingers in anticipation and agitation.

"They're late," Jiruna grumbled as she stabbed a muffin with her fork. Her dog ears twitched in irritation. "I swear, if they don't show up in the next five minutes, we're ditching them."

"Maybe they got scared and chickened out?" Vani questioned. Getting into the heat of the moment, he took a gulp of his coffee, only realizing too late that it was scalding hot. He stuck out his tongue pitifully. His lion mane of hair shook as he quickly breathed in and out to cool down his burnt tongue. After a few moments, he managed to get out another comment in between breaths. "They are–hah–only level one, and we're heading–hah–into the middle floors."

"They ain't regular level ones, dumbass," Bete pointed out. "Haven't you been reading the newspaper?"

"Huh!?" Vani slammed his hands on the table and stood up, his burnt tongue forgotten. "What'd you just call me!? You wanna go!?"

"Hah!" Bete cackled. "Did you already forget how badly I kicked your ass the last time already?"

"Oh boy, here we go again," Jiruna boredly replied as she popped a piece of a muffin into her mouth.

"If both of you don't quiet down, I'll quiet you myself," Selenia cut in with a smile that promised only ill-intentions. "They'll show up soon; I'm sure they just got side-tracked by something important."

Vani quickly sat back down while Bete rolled his eyes in response.

Selenia let out a sigh and shook her head. Boys. This wasn't the first time, and honestly, Vani was the older one here so he shouldn't have been baited by Bete yet again after all this time. Yes, Bete had a bad personality, but as one of the oldest members of Vidar familia and one of its first members, Vani should have been more mature. While she had been one of Lord Vidar's first children, Jiruna and Vani weren't far behind since they had joined up only a few months after her.

Vidar Familia was, overall, a strange bunch.

Most of Vidar Familia were animal people, and Selenia had been one of the very few exceptions. Just like how homogenous their racial composition was, their class composition wasn't any better. Nearly all of them were frontline fighters, which meant that the battles they participated in tended to resemble street brawls more than anything else.

In that way, Vani could be said to be the prime example of that.

Being a member of the lion people, he was the very emphasis of his race with lion ears sitting within a spiky and wild set of golden hair. Topping that off with his sleeveless muscle shirt that was lined with fur, he was practically the poster child for the Familia. Brash and reckless, yet somehow still being a teamplayer in spite of all that. His personality type could be said to be among the majority in the Familia.

Jiruna, on the other hand, was a chienthrope with short, but straight black hair and a significantly different disposition. Even though she was also a frontliner, she was decidedly more cowardly. Despite that, she was loyal to a fault and tended to be easily caught up in the pack mentality, joining in fights just because everyone else was in there. She was especially close with Vani, both backing him up and keeping him from overextending due to his recklessness. As a pair, they worked especially well with each other, and Selenia didn't miss the growing feelings between them.

And then there was Bete.

The werewolf hadn't joined until a year later, and yet he had already caught up to everyone's levels. Selenia could still remember the rainy day when Lord Vidar had brought Bete back to their home. She didn't know what had happened to him in the past that caused him to become so cold and antisocial, but as time passed, he slowly began to open up. In fact, because of him, they were starting to even push into the deeper floors, and that was something that couldn't be overstated.

Selenia knew that it wouldn't be very long until he surpassed her as well.

He had god-given talent and a keen instinct for battle that couldn't be taught. Vidar Familia was a Familia that was predicated on strength and its pack leader mentality, so she'd eventually have to pass the mantle of captain over to him. And yet, she found that she didn't truly mind. Leadership was a heavy burden, and she knew that she wasn't a strong enough person to shoulder it. Not for long, at least.

Bete sniffed the air. "They're here."

Selenia looked over to the direction that Bete was alluding to.

Kazuma walked down the street toward them while talking to one of his companions. He wasn't wearing his usual clothing and had on a set of high-quality light armor along with a red mantle. He had a bag swinging lazily over his shoulder while a sword hung loosely at his side. Darkness walked by his side, clad in pitch black full plate armor that was a stark contrast to the white armor she usually wore.

Trailing slightly behind them, she could see the rest of their party.

With a large wizard's hat that covered her head and a red mantle that draped over her small figure, the short girl was most likely their famous mage, Megumin. The final member of their party must have been Aqua, and she almost caused her to do a double take. The girl was so ethereally beautiful that she had almost mistaken her for a goddess at first. With her long flowing blue-hair and perfect hourglass figure, Selenia couldn't help but feel a tang of envy bubble up inside of her. However, she was quick to stamp down on the feeling.

When Kazuma met her eyes, she saw him say something to his group before they all began to make their way over to their table.

"Sorry that we're late!" Darkness apologized. "Some of us wouldn't wake up on time."

"It's alright; it's not a big deal," Selenia quickly replied. "We didn't wait for long."

"See!" Aqua pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I could have slept in longer!"

"Just ignore whatever she says," Kazuma dryly stated. "There's probably never going to be anything of substance in there."

"Kaaazuuumaaaaa!" Aqua yelled before she attempted to tackle Kazuma, only for him to slide out of the way at the very last moment. She ended up crashing into Darkness instead and bouncing off of her. "Ow!"

"...right," Selenia slowly replied. Were these really the same people from the newspapers? "A-anyway, how about we get introductions out of the way really quick? That's Jiruna over there." The black-haired girl casually waved in response. "The blonde one's Vani, and that's Bete sitting across from him. Oh, and I'm Selenia."

"Yes, yes, I'm Kazuma," the only male in Eris Familia montonely replied with a raised hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you. I'm Darkness," the blond knight said with a smile as she helped Aqua up. "And this is..."

"I'm Aqua," the blue-haired girl interjected as she continued to glare at Kazuma all the while.

The last member of Kazuma's party suddenly moved off to the side and stood in front of everyone.

"Fufufu…" She darkly chuckled as she pulled her wizard hat over her eyes. "For your party to be able to ally with us, you must have the blessing of the gods on your side! For I am Megumin!" She flapped her mantle into the wind and struck a victorious pose with her staff. "The greatest of all the crimson demons, the one who defeated the mighty 'Nine Hell', and the one who wields the strongest offensive magic of all, Explosion!"

"..."

Selenia and everyone else in her party could only stare with wide eyes. It was in stark contrast to Kazuma and the rest of his party who only watched on with dead eyes instead.

"I can't blame you for being rendered speechless in my presence," Megumin continued as she held a hand in front of face. "For only those who have the resolve to peer into the deepest of the dark abyssal realms can hope to stand by my side as an ally. Now tell me, do you too have that resolve?"

"Hahhh!?" Bete suddenly rose up from his seat with a fire in his eyes. "Like you even need to ask!"

"Of…of course I do!" Vani shouted as he stood up as well.

"M-me too!" Jiruna chimed in.

Selenia could feel her own heart pumping. Spurred on by those words, she stood up as well. "You can count on me as well!"

"Eh…?" Kazuma blinked in disbelief.

For a moment, even Megumin looked surprised. However, that quickly passed as she regathered herself and struck another pose, bellowing out her cape into the wind.

"Then stand tall and proud as an ally of the greatest arch-wizard in all the realms!" Megumin excitedly announced. "And remember, for those that dare to gaze into the dark abyss, never forget that the abyss also gazes back!"

A small crowd that had gathered around the table–most likely because of all the noise–started clapping and cheering.

Kazuma could only blink again in disbelief. Even Darkness and Aqua only had sour expressions on their faces.

No way…

Was everybody in this world a chuunibyou!?

~o~

The answer to the previous question was a resounding 'yes'.

There was no doubt in Kazuma's mind that Megumin had done similar introductions in this world before in her own delusional way, but the main difference here was everyone's reaction, and that was due to her newfound fame. It was the same difference between words spoken by a nobody and ones coming out of a famous actor's mouth.

Most people in Belzerg would have just ignored her even after they had become famous. Though, that was probably because she had an infamous reputation back then as the 'psycho explosion girl'.

Here though?

They were eating it up. It was as if everyone here was a crimson demon as well. In the end, Kazuma had to drag Megumin away, mostly on account of the latter getting too invested due to her growing audience. While he did that, Selenia's party paid for their food, and they all left the restaurant together, in spite of Megumin's protests.

"Why did you bring us to an alleyway, Kazuma?" Selenia asked, befuddlement apparent on her face. "We need to head into the dungeon soon if we want to make it to Rivira before nightfall."

"Riveria?" Megumin asked in confusion. "What about her?"

"No, Rivira," Selenia corrected. "The town on the 18th floor."

"There's a town on the 18th floor?" Kazuma asked, perplexed. "Inside of the dungeon?"

"If you wanna call a bunch of shoddy cabins and sheds a town, then sure," Bete answered with an annoyed look on his face. "Are you done yapping so we can finally get going?"

"Alright, alright already," Kazuma replied. "Everyone, gather up."

"Wha–"

Bete didn't have time to finish his question before Darkness grabbed his arm and pulled him close to the group. Kazuma did the same to Selenia and the rest of his party with their party. Once everyone was huddled close together, he activated his spell.

"Teleport!"

Why would he want to walk down the dungeon floors when he could just teleport to the marker he put down from their last dungeon run?

~o~

When the light finally faded, what stretched out before the group was the cavernous walls of the 15th floor. From the walls all the way to the ceiling was bedrock, solid slabs of stone that allowed no deviation from the set path. It was dimmer than the upper floors, and the air was moist despite no water being in sight.

"Gah!" Vani shook his head, his wild mane of hair trailing just a split second behind him. He looked wild-eyed all around him. "Where are we?!"

"Fifteenth floor," Megumin helpfully supplied.

"Really?" Jiruna looked around with wide-opened eyes. "We're really inside the dungeon! This is amazing!"

"Only the fifteenth? Thought you'd have gotten further by now," Bete gruffly said, even as he reoriented himself.

"We wanted the full dungeon experience so we didn't ask for a map," Kazuma replied with a casual shrug.

Though, that was actually a lie.

In reality, they just hadn't visited their Guild advisor in a long while. The last time they had talked to her, she had more than a few choice words about their speedy progress. Rose could be really scary when she wanted to be. Because of that, they had avoided her, though that had led to them being lost frequently in the circular mazes of the middle floors. The previous 13th and 14th floors were like this, and the 15th floor was looking to be more of the same except longer.

"Che," Bete scoffed. He immediately began heading into a direction. "Just follow me then. I'll lead you out of here."

"You mean us," Selenia corrected, stepping up beside Bete. "We'll lead them out of here, right, Bete?"

"Whatever."

Bete tried to set an overly fast pace, but Selenia was quick to tamper down on it, forcing him to settle for a much more reasonable one. Whenever monsters showed up, Bete's party was quick to slaughter them, not allowing enough time for Darkness to intervene and leaving the blond-haired knight feeling backed up. It was obvious that she was even starting to get a little frustrated with how quickly and efficiently the Vidar Familia was clearing out the mobs.

Going through these floors must have been a routine thing for them.

For Kazuma, besides firing off a few arrows on the occasional stragglers that tried to run away, he didn't have much to do. Megumin was annoyed that she couldn't unleash her Explosion, but he wasn't going to let her cast in such a narrow area and risk a cavern collapse. Honestly, to him, it was pretty nice since he could just be lazy and relax in the back. Aqua seemed to share the same mindset as him.

They did have to help the Vidar guys out with taking the magic stones out of the corpses, but that was only fair. It would have been faster to just leave those behind, but that ran the risk of monsters accidentally eating them and gaining a taste for magic stones. That would only lead to monsters becoming unique creatures that were smarter and higher leveled for their floor, which would result in many deaths for unsuspecting adventurers. Rose had made extra sure to beat that fact into his head during one of her primers.

Kazuma might have been lazy, but even he wouldn't go as far as to endanger others just because he was too lazy to dig out some magic stones.

After finding a landmark, Bete was able to quickly lead them to the stairs down to the 16th floor. The landscape was the same for this floor, though it was much larger in size. The main differences were in the variety of monsters, though those were easily taken care of by Vani and Jiruna who took the lead this time. There were technically monsters that were roughly around level 2 that had started appearing on these floors like the minotaurs, but Bete's team seemed to be used to them, quickly taking them down like it was routine.

It was only when they went down the stairs to the 17th floor that things started to be a little different. The maze-like floor design from before had shrunk down to just one straight tunnel. From what they had told him earlier, the floor after this one should be a safe zone, and where the dungeon town of Rivira should be located.

"Just a heads up, we might run into the Goliath further up ahead," Selenia mentioned as she led the way down the corridor. "I don't think that it should be spawning any time soon, but you never know."

"Goliath?" Kazuma repeated from his position in the back of the line. "Is that like a boss?"

"You really must not have paid attention during your guild primer, huh?" Jiruna asked with a sly grin, her dog ears twitching with amusement. "Who was your advisor?"

"Rose."

"Hah!" Jiruna laughed as she slowed down until they were walking adjacent to each other. "I'm sure she'd be happy to hear that none of you were listening."

Kazuma sweatdropped at that.

Rose could be pretty scary when she got angry. It almost felt like he was a student again and the teacher had caught him skipping class.

"Anyway, the Goliath's the Monster Rex of this floor," Jiruna explained as she let her spear rest lazily over her shoulder. "It's a giant monster that's the size of a large building. I'm talking like seven-meters tall, at least."

"Oh?" Megumin perked up at that. "Kazuma! Can I blow it up?"

Kazuma made a sour face.

"K-Kazuma," Aqua nervously pulled on his cloak. "That sounds really scary. Maybe we should turn back."

"Don't worry, it's much more likely that the Goliath's already dead," Selenia replied with a calming smile. "The top Familias in the city usually make it a priority in order to clear the way to Rivira."

"It's not something that we'd try to fight anyway," Vani chipped in. "A party of level twos and ones like us wouldn't stand a chance."

Kazuma raised an eyebrow at that. "Is it really that strong?"

Wasn't that the first boss of this dungeon? Normally, in RPGs the first boss was nothing more than a glorified tutorial boss.

"What? Are you kidding me?" Vani looked at him as if he had suddenly grown two heads. "It's a Monster Rex, man. I wouldn't even think about fighting it unless we had a first-class adventurer with us. Maybe even a couple of them."

Now, even Kazuma was starting to get a bit nervous.

"There's no point in talking about it, chances are it'll already be dead," Selenia waved off. "And if it does spawn, we can just go on another day."

"A-a crusader doesn't flee from an enemy!" Darkness suddenly blurted out as her face took on a deeper shade of red.

Kazuma already knew what she was thinking about, and it didn't have anything to do with being a crusader.

"Yeah, I want to blow it up!" Megumin chimed in. "This 'Goliath' wouldn't stand a chance against my mighty Explosion!"

"Hahaha!" Bete cackled in response. "So even a midget like you can howl, huh?"

"Who are you calling a midget, you mangy wolf!?" Megumin glowered.

Kazuma tuned out the rest of the brewing argument between the two as they continued to make their way down the corridor. Eventually, they finally reached the end of the tunnel and what awaited them was a huge open area. The entire area was more or less barren, with nothing but dirt and stone serving as the main highlights. A massive wall that looked like it was made of marble or something similar stood in front of them.

To the side of the wall was another corridor and a staircase, probably the area that led to the next floor.

"That's the stairs to Rivira," Selenia pointed out. "Come on, let's get go–"

A loud crack cut off the rest of her sentence. Kazuma looked over to where the source of the sudden noise was coming from. Cracks had begun appearing on that massive marble wall that stood off in the side of the open area.

"H-hey now…" Vani nervously stuttered out. "You've got to be kidding me, right?"

Bete's eyes narrowed as more cracks started appearing, lengthening and multiplying in a matter of seconds.

Any adventurer who had been down to Rivira enough times knew what cracks on the Wall of Grief meant: that the Goliath was coming. More cracks began to spread through the wall and soon, pieces of the wall itself began to fall off, revealing a large glowing red eye peeking out from within.

"Uwaaaa! Kazuma, it's looking at me!" Aqua grabbed him and hid behind him.

"It's not looking at you," Kazuma commented, rolling his eyes. Despite saying that, he still took out his bow.

The rest of the wall shattered apart, releasing a towering humanoid that was several stories tall from its confines. Resembling a giant human with bronze skin and a head of black hair, the hulking figure's red eyes locked onto them as it took its first step out of its former prison. The moment its foot touched the floor, a quake rippled across the ground, shaking the entire cavern.

"Damn it!" Selenia clenched her fists. "We're going to have to turn ba–"

"A crusader doesn't run away!" Darkness interrupted as she charged at the monster that was currently breaking its way out of its marble shell. "H-have at thee, foul beast!"

Kazuma didn't fail to notice her reddened cheeks and the slight trail of drool hanging from her mouth. Honestly, that hopeless woman…

"Is she crazy!?" Vani shouted.

Selenia froze. There was no way that they could fight the Goliath with their current party, but they couldn't just leave Darkness behind either. She didn't want to end up on bad terms with Eris Familia by abandoning one of their members, and even more importantly, Darkness was her friend.

She bit down her lower lip. As the party leader, what should she do?

"Don't think too hard about it, Selenia," Bete replied with a savage grin on his face. "I'm not gonna let myself get shown up here!"

Bete pulled out his knives and ran after the blonde-haired knight. How was he going to get stronger if all he did was run away at the first sign of trouble? The fang on his face burned just from thinking about it. No, he wouldn't run away, not when the rookies were willing to stand and fight in his stead.

"Kazuma!" Megumin looked over at him with anticipation in her eyes. "Can I!?"

The open area in this room looked big enough that it shouldn't cause a collapse if she used her explosion. He was pretty sure that the only reason the pantry room had collapsed on them before was because she had blown up that crystal, especially since it hadn't happened in the times before and since, so blowing up the boss should be fine. This was as good of a place as any for her to get her daily explosion in for the day anyway.

"Yeah, sure, go for it," Kazuma mildly said as he gave her a thumbs up.

"Yes!" Megumin happily replied before she held out her staff. "Hear my call, flames of the deep crimson mire…"

"Have you guys all lost your minds!?" Vani shouted in exasperation. "We need to get out of here, like right now!"

"Got to agree with Vani, but…" Jiruna trailed off, her eyes looking over to where Darkness and Bete were currently engaged in fighting the Goliath. They were dodging the slow attacks from the monster, though maybe the fear was finally starting to get to Darkness since the blond knight kept missing her attacks. "What should we do, Selenia? You're the leader."

Selenia frowned.

Bete had already charged in after Darkness so the question was pointless now. She watched as the Goliath swung its massive fist at Bete, who deftly jumped out of the way and slashed at it with his knives. Darkness tried to chop at its legs like a lumberjack before it kicked her into the wall. The blonde-haired knight emerged from the rubble unphased, just before she immediately charged right back into the fray.

"We're going to fight," Selenia replied as she drew her sword. "Kazuma, we'll buy time for Megumin to chant."

"Uh…I think it'll be better if you guys just wait here instead. You'll just get caught in the blast otherwise," Kazuma explained before he turned his attention back toward the Goliath. "Darkness! Bete! Get out of there! Megumin's explosion is coming soon!"

"Go on and leave this to me!" Darkness ordered as she stood in front of the Goliath once more. "I'll hold it off!"

"Huh!? Do you got a death wish, woman!?" Bete shouted back and grabbed her arm. He could already see the magic circles forming from Megumin's spell. "We need to get outta the way!"

Bete had been one of the spectators on the wall that day when Nine Hell and Megumin had their contest. He had been on his way to get his daggers repaired when he saw the sudden commotion and decided to take a look at what it was all about. He had seen first-hand how destructive that midget's magic could be, and he didn't plan on getting caught in the blast zone just because some stupid woman wanted to show off.

"Darkness! Bete! Hurry up already!" Kazuma shouted. "She's almost done!"

Well, technically, she was already done, but she couldn't shoot it off with them in the way so she was spending the time being more dramatic about it. Having been with her for so many explosions, he could tell when she was artificially extending the chant. He wasn't even sure if that added power to the spell or not anymore.

"Ugh… Fine!" Darkness relented before she turned around and ran away with Bete, the werewolf dragging her by the arm all the while.

"...and let the star of destruction descend! Explosion!"

Bete spared a second to glance back and saw that the magic circles had already started to ignite. Damn it, were they even going to make it out in time?

"Watch out!" Darkness yelled as she pushed him from behind to the ground.

Bete fell forward, hitting the ground face-first before he felt something press down on his back. A deafening roar suddenly filled his ears, drowning out all other sounds. Rubble and shrapnel flew in every direction, creating a hellish storm of destruction. Bete's heart raced with adrenaline as he felt the heavy gusts of wind cut into his hair and skin. It felt as though the very air itself had ignited.

And then, just as suddenly as it arrived, it all became quiet.

Bete felt something warm splash onto the back of his neck as the weight on his back lifted. Slowly, he rolled onto his back and saw Darkness hovering over him. Her hands were dug into the ground next to his head. He could see a streak of blood roll down her forehead as it dripped onto his face. This woman…

She had shielded him from the brunt of the blast.

"Oi…" Bete slowly began. "You alright?"

"I told you before, didn't I? I won't lose to anyone when it comes to being in the vanguard," she panted, her face slightly red. "And this...is nothing for a crusader!"

"...heh." Bete couldn't help but smirk. However, that smirk soon fell off his face when he looked past her shoulder.

Only the bottom half of the goliath remained, the burnt edges of its exposed stomach being the only thing that remained of that section. There was nothing left of the upper half except for a pair of severed arms that were on the floor, but even those were starting to dissipate. The magic stone that should have been at the center of the body was mostly gone, and even the little remnants that remained were fading into particles along with the rest of the body.

Over by the entrance to the open area, Megumin had a satisfied grin on her face.

"See! That Goliath was no match for the power of Explosi–" she didn't finish her sentence before she suddenly fell forward from using too much mana.

Kazuma reached out and caught her before she fell face first onto the rocks and pebbles.

"...thanks, Kazuma," Megumin mumbled.

"Aye, aye," Kazuma replied before he put his free hand on Aqua's shoulder. "Give me some mana, Aqua."

"Wah!? Kazuma, stop draining me! Use your own mana!"

Selenia could only stare at the spot where the Goliath was still fading away in disbelief. Vani and Jiruna had similar looks on their faces.

"Kazuma, don't tell me the score. I can feel that it's a bad one!" Megumin was still unsteady on her feet, but she turned to address Selenia and the others. "I'm having an off-day! Forget that one. I'll show you a real explosion next time!"

Kazuma chopped down on the top of Megumin's head. "You did it way too early."

Megumin rubbed her head. Even though she wanted to glare back at him, it was still her fault so she settled for sticking out her tongue at him when he turned his back to her.

"No, Kazuma, it was the right timing," Darkness said with a slight blush on her cheeks as she made her way back over toward them. "In fact, if she did it a little sooner, it would have been even better!"

"Who do you think has to repair your armor?!"

Did this hopeless woman even realize how much that armor had cost?! If it weren't for that stipend that Hephaestus had given them, they would have really been in trouble. Shaking his head, Kazuma just let out a sigh. This nobleman's daughter really had no sense of money at all.

Vani and Jiruna glanced at each other in confusion, while Selenia could only blankly stare at the arguing members of Eris Familia.

In the midst of all this, Bete simply bursted out into laughter.

~0~

There wasn't any loot to be had since Megumin had destroyed the magic stone in the Goliath's body. When Kazuma apologized to Bete and the rest of them about it, they just brushed it off, saying that without Megumin, they wouldn't have even beaten the Goliath anyway. Selenia mentioned that it might be enough of an achievement for Megumin to level up, but that was something that they wouldn't be able to find out for sure until they go back to the surface.

For now, they headed down to the 18th floor, the Under Resort.

The reason for the name was because the eighteenth floor of the dungeon was a safe zone where monsters did not spawn. It consisted of a forested area that was large enough for a massive city to exist with accompanying villages and farmland. Despite that, only a tiny portion of it was ever used for a ramshackled town that was made up mostly of shoddily-made shacks and sheds, all created out of wood from the surrounding forests.

Why the town's inhabitants had never made the place sturdier was simple.

While no monster could spawn on this floor, that didn't mean that monsters couldn't ascend the stairs from the floor below. Every so often, a wave of monsters would erupt from the stairs, forcing the residents of Rivira to temporarily abandon the town like it was a natural disaster. In a way, it was. By the time that they returned to the town, they would have to rebuild most of the structures again.

After so many iterations of the town, people just didn't care to spend all that much effort on something that would eventually be destroyed time and time again.

Even with all this information from their tour guide, Selenia, it didn't quite prepare Kazuma for what he actually saw. Quite frankly, he didn't think he ever saw a sorrier looking sight than the adventuring town of Rivira. It looked more like a slum than a town, being a collection of buildings that looked like they were hastily constructed by war refugees and surrounding a single-layered wood fence that seemed more likely to ward off nosy neighbors than monsters.

When they entered the town, Kazuma was half-expecting to see slum dwellers, but no, nearly all of the adventurers here were far better dressed and equipped, providing a stark contrast in comparison to the buildings that they resided in.

Now that he thought about it, it didn't seem like they were that lacking in wealth. Maybe he could teleport better building materials in for bartering purposes. After all, back in his homeworld, areas with chronic disasters like hurricanes and tsunamis would usually have buildings and structures that would withstand them. The only reason that they didn't exist here was that it was hard to bring enough material here, and that was something he could profit off of.

Still, that was just something to think about for later.

Because of his teleportation magic, they had arrived in Rivira earlier than expected. Selenia's original plan had been to arrive at Rivira before nightfall and to spend the night in the safe floor before moving out to the middle floors. She didn't want to challenge the middle floors without being at full strength, so even though it was only the late-afternoon, they were still going to spend the rest of the day in town before moving out the next morning. Not that it was easy to tell with the artificial sky on the ceiling of the floor.

Kazuma didn't mind either way; the Goliath hadn't been as big of a deal as they made it out to be, but it was still better to be safe than sorry.

"...blegh. I'll fold," Vani said as he tossed his cards onto the table.

There wasn't much to do in Rivira so after Kazuma had repaired Darkness and Bete's armor–a process that had only taken a few minutes and had awed the members of Vidar Familia–he had gone with Bete and Vani to the only pub in town. In the meantime, the girls had decided to head over to a nearby lake in order to clean up, though it was mostly for Darkness' benefit since she had been the one covered in blood and soot.

"Raise." Bete tossed in a few more coins to the growing pile in the middle of the table. Instead of taking a shower, he had simply just wiped off the dust and blood.

Kazuma had to admit that the werewolf had a good poker face, at least compared to the usual people he played against. Aqua was definitely the worst offender; the expressions on her face were usually so obvious that the first time he encountered it, he had initially thought she might have been double bluffing. Of course, that turned out not to be true.

"Raise," Kazuma repeated, tossing some more coins into the pile.

Kazuma and Bete stared at each other for a brief moment in a showdown before the werewolf exposed his cards with a confident smirk.

"Straight Flush."

It was too bad for him that his opponent was someone who had never lost when it came to luck-based games. Well, except against Eris, but that didn't really count. She was the goddess of fortune after all.

"Royal Flush," Kazuma said with a victorious grin as he revealed his cards. "Looks like I win again~."

"That's bullshit!" Bete slammed his fist on the table. "You're cheating!"

"How? You can check my sleeves if you want," Kazuma replied as he raised up his hands to show that he wasn't hiding anything. "Sounds like a skill issue to me. You guys want to play again?"

"Haah!?" Bete growled. "Fine then, let's go again!"

"Spare me, dude." Vani groaned. "In fact, I got a better idea."

"Oh?" Kazuma raised an eyebrow. He didn't mind playing cards, but it was getting a bit boring.

"Hey! Don't go chickening out now!" Bete yelled as he plopped a bag of coins on the table. "I'm winning my money back, damn it!"

"Give it a rest already, Bete." Vani waved it off with a devious smirk. "It's time for something more exciting than card games."

"Stop stalling and just tell us already," Kazuma dryly said.

"Man, where's your sense of theatrics?" Vani frowned, just before he regained his smirk, though with a slight mischievous edge. "...I know where the girls are bathing."

"Hah…?" Bete had an exasperated look on his face. "Are you an idiot?"

"Hang on, I want to hear this. It might have some merit." Kazuma had a glint in his eyes as a smirk slowly formed on his face. Though, whether it was in consideration or amusement was left up in the air. "What's your plan?"

"Hehehe… I was the one who discovered that lake and told Jiruna about it after all," Vani replied with a devious chuckle. "I know a good hiding spot we could use too."

"How safe is it?"

"No way they can spot us there. I checked from every angle I could think of and then triple-checked it.

"...you guys are both idiots," Bete dryly stated.

"Come on, Bete." Vani gave him a look. "You don't want to take a peek at Selenia?"

"W-why the hell would I want to look at that gorilla woman!?" Bete quickly replied red-faced.

"We have a name for this," Kazuma stage-whispered to Vani. "It's called a tsundere."

"A 'tsundere'?" Vani repeated the foreign word.

"Someone who acts like he hates you, but deep down, he actually likes you."

"Oh, that fits him perfectly."

Bete stood up abruptly, knocking over his chair. "I'll kill you!"

"Alright, it's settled then! Forget the cards. It's time to pursue a much greater goal!" Vani pumped his fist in the air before standing up from his chair. He rushed toward the exit of the establishment, ignoring the curious looks of the other patrons.

"Might as well." Kazuma stood up as well before he took off after Vani.

"Hey! Hang on, you idiots!" Bete said as he grabbed his pouch of coins off the table. "Wait for me, damn it!"

~o~

Jiruna stretched out her arms as she sat on the shoreline, dipping her legs into the lake while enjoying the water's slow moving embrace.

The 18th floor was mostly made up of forest with lakes and rivers scattered throughout, a scenic environment that wouldn't have been out of place on the surface. Underground though? The fact that it could even exist this far below just made the dungeon feel all the more mysterious, and that wasn't even getting into the ceiling that depicted an artificial sky. Still, despite being fake, it was hard to really tell unless she squinted, especially with its constant springtime conditions.

Vani had originally been the one who had pointed out this particular lake to her on one of their trips in the past. It was a quiet little place, hidden within the forest and far away from the hustle and bustle of the town. With Evilus lurking about, there was a bit of a risk, but the privacy and enjoyment more than made up for that. Still, if they called for help here, it was unlikely that anyone would be able to hear them.

However, that was the last thing on their minds at the moment.

"So…" Jiruna began, pushing off the shoreline and dipping into the water. She waded through the lake toward the rest of their party. "Which one of you is aiming for Kazuma?"

"Haaah?" Aqua, completely naked, was idly floating on the lake's surface. Even Jiruna had to admit that the blue-haired woman was so beautiful that even the water around her seemed purer just from her being there. "That NEET? Pfft."

"NEET?"

"Not in employment, education, or training."

"Wait!" Megumin suddenly surfaced from underneath, breaking the water's surface and making a splash. "That's what it means?!"

"That doesn't seem right," Selenia commented from where she was washing Darkness' back. "Isn't he your captain?"

"You should have seen how he was before," Aqua commented with a snicker.

"His degeneracy began even back when he was a child?" Darkness eagerly asked, her cheeks turning slightly redder. "So starting young is a necessity…"

"He's not that bad," Megumin retorted. "...he has his moments."

"Yeah, he's even worse!" Darkness started breathing heavier as a lecherous grin appeared on her face. "The absolute lowest of the low!"

"Darkness?" Selenia had concern in her voice, even though she didn't stop washing the blond knight's back. "Are you okay…?"

"I'm fine! Better than fine!"

"Well, if you're sure…"

There was a slight cracking sound.

"Hey, did you hear that?" Aqua asked with a curious tilt of her head.

"Hmm…?" Selenia hummed in response. "No, I didn't hear anything."

"Huh… Guess I must be hearing things then–"

A sudden loud crash cut her off.

It sounded like something had fallen out of a tree. She turned her eyes toward the source of the noise and saw Kazuma along with the rest of the Vidar Familia boys spread out on the ground with a bunch of tree leaves and branches on them.

"Ow!" Kazuma winced as he rubbed the back of his head. "I told you to quit moving around so much, Bete!"

"Haah!?" Bete growled back. "It was Vani's fault for pushing me out of the way!"

"S-shut up!" Vani replied with an accusatory finger. "You didn't even want to come here in the first place!"

"...Bete," Selenia grumbled as a frighteningly dark aura seemed to exude out from her frame.

"K-Kazuma!?" Darkness said as she attempted to cover herself with her arms. "S-so you've finally decided to succumb to your debauchery!?"

"...Scumzuma," Megumin muttered with narrowed eyes.

"Kazutrash!" Aqua added cheerfully.

"It was Vani's idea!" Kazuma and Bete both exclaimed at the same time as they pointed at the boy in the middle.

"What!? Guys!? I thought we were brothers in arms!?"

"Is that so? Oh, Vaaaaniiiiiiiiii~" Jiruna called out in a sing-song voice with a dangerous smile on her face. "Care to explain what you're doing here?"

"H-huh?" Vani turned around and froze, as if he had just realized that all of the girls were now staring at them with disgusted expressions on their faces. Well, all except for Darkness for some reason. "O-oh, h-hey Jiruna! Fancy seeing you here!"

Jiruna's eyebrow twitched, but the expression on her face didn't change. She slowly stepped out of the lake and picked up a rock the size of a person's head.

"W-wait, wait, wait!" Vani quickly said as he held his hands up in front of him. "We have a totally valid reason for being here, alright!? Ain't that right, Kazuma?"

"...lurk," Kazuma whispered before he vanished into the bushes, disappearing completely.

"Kazuma? Hey, Kazuma! You're messing with me here, right? You wouldn't just abandon me like this, right? Right?!" Vani cried out before he turned his head to his other side. "Bete! You wouldn't…" The rest of Vani's words died within his throat.

The spot where Bete had originally been was now empty.

Bete Loga had been given the alias of 'Fenris' by the gods, and he was known as the swiftest adventurer in Vidar Familia. That was not only because of his high agility stat, but because of his unique skill, Fenris Wolf. It was a skill that drastically improved his running speed and one that greatly contributed to his title of swiftest in Vidar Familia.

But even then, Bete did not think he had ever run as fast as he did just now in his entire life.

"E-eh? Ehhhh!?" Vani looked around him in a panic. "Guys? Guys!?"

It was said that Vani's screams could be heard all the way to Rivira.

~o~

Author's Notes-

SFX: We have returned. Rest in pieces, Vani.

Icura: Phantom Liberty broke the camel's back. Aye, what a sad time.

Also, Vani and Jiruna are from the manga in the very brief flashback scenes.