「So this is the sixth floor……it’s quite different compared to the upper floors.」

Rei muttered as he looked around the small room where the stairs and magic circle was.

Although it was a small room, the surroundings were clearly different to the cobblestone environment of the upper floors.

His Shoes of Sleipnir stepped onto the exposed ground.

Unlike the fifth floor, the environment was like the inside of a cave. As could be seen from feel of the ground they stepped on, it was bare soil. There were also rocks scattered around.

「I’m not sure how to describe it, but this has more of the dungeon atmosphere……」

「Well, you can think of it as a cave if you’d like. There are places where you can mine ore as well as many Golem type monsters. ……That said, the Golem type monsters, such as mud or stone Golems, are only the same size as Rei if not smaller.」

「Mm.」

Byune grabbed Vihera’s arms as she pointed at the ceiling. Noticing what was up there, Vihera nodded.

「That’s right. There are also Wind Bats that can use wind magic. Unlike the Golems, those are what you need to be careful of……」

Saying that, Vihera turned to look at Rei, Set, Elena and Yellow, who was sitting on Elena’s left shoulder.

「……But that goes without saying for Rei and Elena, you’re not ordinary adventurers. Rather, I want to tell the monsters to watch out for you.」

「Isn’t that underestimating them? We haven’t seen any Golems yet, but this is the first time we’ve seen Wind Bats.」

「But, in the end, they are still low ranking monsters. Will the General Princess struggle against such enemies? In that case, my expectations of you must have been wrong.」

Vihera asked with a bullish, provocative smile, but Elena didn’t falter as she replied with a smile.

「Of course I’m confident. But since it’s a monster we’ve never seen before, it’s natural to be careful. Or did you just rush headfirst into monsters you saw for the first time?」

Although Elena wasn’t aware of it, the fact that she was properly talking with Vihera was a sign that she was finally beginning to accept interacting with her.

Vihera nodded naturally at Elena’s question……

「Of course? You mean when meeting a monster for the first time? If you want to learn how to deal with an enemy like that, you have to fight them directly and feel it with your body.」

「……I see.」

The combat fanaticism that came from Vihera’s words made Elena give a sigh of resignation.

「Mm.」

It was an impressive sight for Rei to see Byune patting Elena’s waist to cheer her up.

「Anyway, as for fighting Golems……oh, that’s right.」

As he said that, Rei recalled Vel’s Golem, which they had fought at the Altar of Inheritance.

(There was no magic stone in that GOlem at that time because it was made using alchemy……would monster Golems have a magic stone in them? Well, we’ll find that out when we fight them.)

「Heh, have you fought a Golem before Rei?」

「No, I’ve only fought a golem created using alchemy, so I think it’s different from a monster Golem. That’s right, I wanted to ask, do you know if the Golems in this dungeon, or any other similar kind of monsters, have magic stones in them?」

Rei was a little worried that if Golems didn’t have magic stones, it would be a great loss of effort and rewards. Fortunately, Vihera nodded as if it were a matter of course.

「They have magic stones. Golem are basically juicy prey for this kid.」

「Mm.」

Byune nodded without hesitation at Vihera’s words.

Seeing Byune nod, Elena was confused.

「Are Golems that good to kill? Are their proofs of subjugation worth a high price?」

「Unfortunately not. Of course, you can get some money for them, but the important parts are the materials. The bodies of Mud Golems are used in alchemy and the bodies of Stone Golems are used as building material at a slightly higher price due to the magic power it retains. It’s not all that good though. Since the Golems just turn to mud and stone after being killed, their magic stone is their proof of subjugation. In other words, compared with ordinary monsters, there is no additional reward from proofs of subjugation. That said, they do add a small amount to the price of the magic stones.」

「……Mm.」

For Byune, who was looking for ways to earn more money, it was a shame. She looked down in dissapointment, agreeing with Vihera.

「In addition, there is usually so much mud and stone that it’s hard to bring it back unless you have a porter. ……Fortunately, Rei is here today.」

Vihera glanced at Rei as she said that. It was clear what she meant.

Rei wasn’t unwilling to let others use the space in the Misty Ring. However, if it was a typical noble which Rei hated, he might have refused.

「I meant to say this earlier, but while we’d normally need to be careful about Wind Bats getting close, we won’t need to worry about that with Set around.」

「Getting close?」

「Yes. Wind Bats are bats, so they are good at moving stealthily. They are also hard to find because they can use wind magic……normally that is.」

「Ah, I see. No matter how good the Wind Bats are, it’s not enough to hide from Set’s eyes, ears and nose.」

「That’s right. There are also some other monsters like Orcs and Goblins, but we won’t have to worry about them. I’d like to make some money on this floor for Byune, would that be okay?」

「Mm.」

At Vihera’s words, Byune gave a small nod as she turned to look at Rei and Elena.

「I don’t mind. Anyway, we only have maps down to the fifth floor. I was thinking of buying maps for the sixth floor after we were done for the day, but if we can reach the seventh floor, that would be great.」

「Well, I have no objections to Rei’s opinion.」

「Guru~」

「Kyu!」

Rei and Elena both nodded while Set and Yellow gave cries of agreement.

Now that everyone had reached an agreement, they immediately stepped into the cave like dungeon floor.

There were stalactites growing from the dimly lit ceiling, which was still brighter than the even darker walls. In some places the ground was covered by puddles. As the ground was basically dirt, the footholds were even worse than the stone pavements that had been seen up until the fifth floor.

「……Seeing all this, this is really different compared to the fifth floor.」

「Mm. Like the dungeon we entered previously, the environment changes from floors to floors.」

「Hmm, well you’re half right.」

Vihera, who had been listening into Elena’s words, spoke up.

「To be exact, until the fifth floor, it’s the basic dungeon environment. From the sixth to tenth floor, it’s a cave like environment, same as where we are. From the 11th floor, it’s a desert and so on, changing roughly every five floors. ……But, after the 16th floor, it won’t be every five floors anymore, the environment changes floor to floor……it might be a bit early to tell you two though.」

Elena frowned unhappily at Vihera’s words, but there was no point arguing back. It was a fact that she and Rei were not used to the dungeon yet.

They continued walking for another 30 minutes while conversing with each other. Eventually, Byune, who was walking at the front, gently stretched out her hand to stop them.

At the same time, they heard a dirty squelching sound.

(This kind of sound……it reminds me of the Zombies I encountered in the dungeon with the Altar of Inheritance.)

Although Rei thought of that, he didn’t sense the bad smell that he had previously encountered.

Glancing sideways at Elena, who was walking beside him, he saw her frown slightly, as if she had thought of the same thing.

Elena seemed to have felt his gaze and turned to look at him.

When their eyes met each other, the two of them, who were thinking of the same thing, gave a wry smile towards each other when they heard a soft 『ahem』.

The two of them turned to look at Vihera, who was looking at them with a dumbfounded expression as she spoke.

「It’s nice to flirt with each other, but could you wait for after the fight ends?」

「No, Rei and I aren’t……」

「Look, it’s fine, it’s fine. Considering it’s footsteps, it should be a Mud Golem approaching. ……Well, do you want to try fighting it Rei?」

「Me?」

「Yes. It should be a lone Mud Golem based on it’s footsteps, so it would be good to gain some combat experience. ……Do you mind, Byune?」

「Mm.」

Byune nodded in response to Vihera.

Personally, Mud Puppets could earn her a lot of money, but she couldn’t fight them with force. Rather, she thought that it would be more convinient for Rei and Elena, who had never fought a Mud Golem before, to gain some experience in fighting them, considering the future.

From the dark passageway, the squelching sound gradually approached. And, eventually, a muddy figure became visible to Rei’s eyes……

「Is that a Mud Golem? It’s just like its name.」

It was roughly 1.5m in height. You could call it a humanoid figure, but as Rei said, it was just a rough humanoid. It had arms, legs a body and a head. It looked just like larger version of something a child made out of mud.

Its head had no eyes, nose or mouth and was almost completely flat. But even then, it must have had some way of sensing its surroundings. As soon as it sensed Rei and the others at the other end of the passageway, it started walking at a slightly faster speed than before while making squelching sounds.

Every time it moved, mud would spill from its body and into the cave.

Rei frowned his eyes slightly as he saw the Mud Golem walking towards them while polluting its surroundings.

(For now, it would be better to avoid fighting it in melee combaat using the Death Scythe. In that case, should I use magic?)

Thinking that in his mind, he muttered an incantation while focusing his magic power.

『Flame, burn the enemy according to my will.』

The magic Rei used had high magic power for the short incantation it had. As he spoke the incantation, a fireball about 30cm in diameter formed at the base of the Death Scythe’s shaft.

『Fireball.』

Along with that word, the magic was activated and the firaball that was created was shot out……

「Ah.」

Just before the fireball hit the Mud Golem, Vihera unintentionally raised her voice.

However, it was already too late. The fireball hit the Mud Golem. The next moment, the 1.5m tall Mud Golem was wrapped in flames, drying out in the blink of an eye before burning up. The mud that formed it collapsed to the ground in under a few seconds. ……’No’, Byune seemed to murmur in sadness when she saw the remains of the Mud Golem, whose water had completely evaporated and dirt burned up due to Rei’s fireball.

「……Mm.」

Only a single sound was heard from Byune, but it was enough to make listeners feel her regret.

「Ara~, I didn’t think you’d go that far. I thought you were just going to take it down with your Death Scythe. ……Well, I guess this is also an experience.」

「……What do you mean?」

All that remained was a pile of burnt dirt. Rei look confused at Vihera’s words as he looked at the pile.

「I told you that the mud that makes up the body of Mud Golems is a useful material in alchemy, right?」

「yes. I did hear you say that.」

「Conversely, if it’s not mud, it can’t be used in alchemy. The water that makes up the mud seems to be the important thing.」

Twitch. Hearing Vihera’s words, Rei’s eyebrows twitched involuntarily. At the end of his line of sight was a pile of dirt that had been half turned to glass by Rei’s magic after all the water had evaporated. If what Vihera had said was true, that meant that this dirt, which had lost all its water content and was no longer mud, was now useless for alchemy.

「I’m really sorry.」

Rei bowed his head after realising that his use of fire magic had been a mistake.

However, Byune and Vihera both shook their heads as if to say it couldn’t be helped.

「This is also an experience. It’s true that Rei’s magic is powerful and can be used to eliminate enemies. But, it’s also good to remember that it means you won’t be able to collect materials from some monsters.」

「Mm.」

Byune nodded at Vihera’s words.

「Guru~」

「Kyu!」

Set tried to cheer Rei up by rubbing his face against Rei with a cry. Yellow also sat on Rei’s shoulder and tapped him with his foot with a cry.

The whole group couldn’t help but feel softened up by the sight.

「I can’t say much about it since I didn’t know either, but don’t worry about it too much.」

After receiving words of encouragement from Elena, they collected the Mud Golem’s magic stone before continuing to move through the cave like dungeon floor.

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