Morning comes early in this world.
By the time the sun rises, you hear noises from downstairs, probably breakfast getting ready.
I went to bed early last night, and now I’m wide awake.
I can just go back to sleep, but I’m wide awake now and so I got up early.
As I try to get out of bed, Euphy, who was lying next to me, gave me a hug.
「 What’s up? 」
「 Daiki-sama’s so warm… 」
Still half-asleep, Euphy mumbles with her eyes closed.
It’s cute, and I have nothing to complain about it either since I get the taste of the soft skin of a beautiful girl right in the morning. It fills for the heat.
I woke Euphy up, we packed up and left the inn.
「 Ah, he’s here 」
Nia, who was sitting in front of the entrance, noticed us and stood up.
「 You were waiting 」
「 Of course. Breakfast? 」
「 Hmm, let’s see. What do you want to eat, Euphy? 」
「 I think Nia can have whatever she wants today 」
「 I see. Then, Nia can pick 」
「 Huh? Me? Eeh, which should I pick. Oh, there’s something I’ve been wanting to try! 」
Nia looked like he came up with a great idea, and so he took us to a food stall with his messy hair.
「 Can’t we eat here? 」
「 Nia wants to eat meat? 」
「 Yes, that’s right. It’s a little expensive here, so I wanted to try it at least once. It looks delicious, see? 」
A copper coin for two skewers of barbecued meat sure is expensive.
The meat is big and has a tasty sauce on it, and I think it’s tempting too. But if I’m going to feed the guy, then I’d prefer a decent meal.
「 We’ll buy it on our way back from the dungeon today. Therefore, let’s eat at a restaurant for breakfast 」
「 Me too? 」
「 Yeah. Let’s go. Euphy, can you look for a restaurant? 」
「 Yes, I’d prefer fish in the morning 」
You sure love your fish.
The three of us went to the restaurant Euphy picked and ordered three river fishes for our breakfast.
Euphy sat next to me, meanwhile, Nia looked uncomfortable.
「 Nia, have you entered this restaurant before? 」
「 Yes, this is my second time 」
「 Nia, your family isn’t that well off? 」
「 Hmm? My house is the church. My parents died in the dungeon 」
There wasn’t any sense of tragedy in her tone.
Maybe he’s hiding it, but it seems unlikely from the unconcerned look he had.
Well, I get that.
「 I see. Are there a lot of kids in the church without parents? 」
「 Hmm, about 10 right now? 」
I guess social service is involved in the religion in every world.
It’s only been a short time, but this world seems to be a far light on human life. There are a lot of kids like Nia.
As we were talking, the meal set had arrived.
It’s bread, boiled vegetables, meaty soup with potatoes, and some salted fish.
The fish is a little salty when eaten as is, but it’s just right when served with bread.
Nia smiled and began to chow down on the set meal given to him.
「 Just take it slow, it’s not running away. Nia, what do you usually eat at the church? 」
「 Mostly potatoes and bread 」
「 Seems like it’s tough in church too 」
「 We get to eat every day so it’s still better. The lord’s paying for it 」
For someone who thinks that only bread and potatoes are good, this world is poor.
No, is it even sane to sell children to slavery?
Right, a shota-lover would buy Nia right away, he has a cute face.
Even a man like me sees him as cute that I even fed him.
After eating breakfast, we headed to the dungeon.
Yesterday, it was well past noon, and I didn’t encounter that many people, but at this time of the day, there were quite a few guys who look like adventurers.
The three of us headed to the stairs and some of them stared at us.
Stop checking on the newbies.
Oh right, Gonz did mention that some are hunting newcomers.
Gonz-senpai, I’ll be careful
「 Let’s head to the third floor right away. Nia, can you do it? 」
「 Yes, leave it to me! 」
Euphy leads, and Nia’s in the middle. Then I follow them at the end.
Slimes do come out naturally, but my Euphy-chan slices them into two.
As expected, Nia picks up the magic stones and we continued further.
「 The second layer doesn’t seem different. What do you find in this place? 」
「 Rats. Big rats 」
Nia said, and we descended to the second level, going further, and rats came out in packs.
Furthermore, their height is reaching my knee.
I’m more afraid of the diseases they bring if they bite us, but it doesn’t seem to be the case here.
Well, Euphy’s matchless in this place so I don’t need to worry about it.
We reach the third layer at once, and we found some green swarms.
A crowd of laughing goblins got cut down in an instant and turned to magic stones.
I’ve seen this scene so many times.
「 Hey, Euphy. Is this dungeon an easy one? 」
「 I heard that the higher levels are easy to conquer, but this might be the least difficult of them all. My knowledge was only based on hearsay, and it’s my first time being in one, so I don’t know the details 」
Well yeah.
Euphy didn’t have combat skills before this, and she was a young lady back then, so she wasn’t going into dungeons.
「 Nia, how far have you gone before? Do you have experience in the lower levels? 」
「 No. I’ve only gone as far as the fourth floor, the people I’ve been with couldn’t beat the zombie horde so they left soon. Besides, I can’t fight. I’m told to never go further than that, even if I’m with stronger people 」
He looked like a cheeky and energetic kid so far, but now he’s looking depressed.
This is a world with skills, where it’s everything, and where your life changes depending on whether you have one or not…
「 I see. But, you know what’s next, don’t you?
「 Right, the fifth one has spiders, the sixth one has skeletons, and the seventh floor has wolves, while the eighth has snakes. I don’t know what’s on from the ninth onwards. I never heard people talk that far. I never heard about the eighth floor directly from the people 」
「 I guess the monsters on the lowest levels are strong. This place has a guide, right? Do you have any other information? 」
Yeah, this dungeon has already been conquered.
The conquerors were the ancestors of the lord in this place, and they’ve maintained the dungeon for generations.
I guess it’s like the oil fields or coal mines on Earth.
Therefore, first-timers can’t get the grace, but if you reach the lowest level, you’ll get it.
「 Maybe the lord knows, but they think that it’s a place of grace, so we’re supposed to conquer it ourselves 」
「 I see 」
If there’s none, then there’s no helping it.
We’re not having problems with monsters of this level, so let’s head to the fourth level.
「 Okay, I’ll be the vanguard in this layer. Take care of the rear 」
「 My stamina can still keep up, leave it to me 」
「 I’m thankful to hear that, but I have to get accustomed to fighting 」
「 That’s true. Then, I will be protecting us from behind. If there’s any danger, I’ll come to help so please don’t worry 」
「 I’ll try not to get to that 」
Euphy the peerless and the two had stepped into the fourth layer after getting through the third.
「 Nia, do you remember the layout of this floor? 」
「 No. I hardly go this far 」
「 I see. Then, just focus on enemies and traps. That’ll be a lot of help 」
「 Yes, sorry. I’ll memorize it by the way we go back 」
「 Please do that. Let’s go 」
We started exploring the fourth floor.