ch221-ch240 · 231-ch231

Chapter 231: Strategy Meeting

"Aren't those kids a little TOO strong? At this rate, we'll reach the 'Gate to Floor 20' before you get a single turn."

Tell me about it.

The next morning, on the road from the campsite toward Floor 20.

Soushi, Aikawa, and the newbie are still fighting as a trio, and there isn't a hint of trouble anywhere.

"Fuyutsuki-san is amazing, isn't she."

I think the newbie is quite the performer.

Soushi and Aikawa are Level 27 and the newbie is supposed to be 20, but she's strong enough that you'd never guess it.

Isn't she the one taking down the most orcs?

Well, Soushi isn't using his self-buffs and should be fighting on the reserved side, but still.

The way she twirls her spear around in wide-open spaces does bother me, but she handles the staff-wielders with her bow, and her awareness of her surroundings is sharp.

And this is without her even touching 【Charge・Spear】 super mode.

The fighting up through Floor 17 was sporadic, and from Floor 18 onward we've been taking the detour route to avoid the watchman orcs, so Aikawa has barely spent any MP.

Everything's settled within a minute, so 【Dance・Let's】 alone is plenty.

As for the newbie, I'd bet her consumption is still zero.

Even in terms of MP management, I'd say they're doing well.

Soushi was grilling meat yesterday, though......

Wasting MP counts against you, you know.

"Soushi—when somebody's itching to take point, don't force your way out there. If you know what they can do, trust them with it. If the distance is open, you can reset your stance at the back with 【Dance・Let's】 instead of 【Dance・Stage】, right? Then switch back to the front. If you don't conserve MP like that, you won't last on the 20s floors."

Hmmm.

Anego-san is soft on Soushi.

So grilling the meat earned him points......

But it is good advice.

Honestly, they could probably just split cleanly into a front line and a back line.

It'd mean Aikawa spends the whole time dancing in the back, but it would keep MP use down.

"Dancing is the BEST, ssu!"

The newbie comes twirling back, spinning her spear like a rhythmic-gymnastics baton again.

That's like pen-spinning—it's become a habit, hasn't it.

That big two-handed circular swing that traces an arc was actually useful to see, but this twirling business makes no sense to me.

Can you block arrows doing that, I wonder?

Oh—looks like we're about to have a fight with the orcs on the next hill......

"That staff-wielder's coming down, isn't it."

"Leave it to me, ssu. Nacchan, over to you, ssu."

"Okay, okay! 【Strength Up・Dance】【Endurance Up・Dance】【Agility Up・Dance】【Magic Up・Dance】【Weapon Enhancement・Dance】! And then—【Dance・Stage】!"

With Soushi joining in, the three of them do the box step.

""And POSE!""

"How many times do I have to tell you—quit the Miyako pose! Why does every last one of you do that pose?!"

"Anego-san, you've received box-step buffs before too, right? What kind of pose do you do, out of curiosity?"

Aikawa asks Anego-san.

I'm curious about that one myself.

Maybe we'll all switch to that pose next time......

"Mine's...... wait, you're planning to copy it, aren't you? No way I'm telling you. Don't need buffs either! Ah—idiot, don't shoot yet!"

While all that was going on, the newbie loosed an arrow.

Before dancing, the newbie had planted her spear in the ground and taken an arrow in hand.

In other words, 【Weapon Enhancement・Dance】 had gone onto the arrow.

The enhanced arrow buried itself in the staff-wielding orc's brow as if drawn in, and pierced clean through.

Between the brows again. Splendid.

"Direct hit, ssu!"

Without a bow skill, that's incredible.

But......

"You dummy! Kill it on top of the hill and you can't pick up the magic stone!"

The hill—or rather, the moment you step even one foot into the watchman orc's range, it'll blow its horn on the spot, and you'll have to take on every orc on the hill at once.

Fortunately, even if you kill the orcs on top of the hill, the watchman orc won't sound its horn so long as we stay out of its range.

"Right, ssu......"

And she can't recover the arrow either.

There's a limit to how many arrows you can carry, so a bow user has to manage arrow count on top of MP.

Running out to retrieve every missed arrow takes time—and leads straight into new fights.

If she were with me, she could resupply arrows from Floor 1 with 【Gate】, but still.

"Anego-san, if you shout like that, the orcs will......"

"Ugh—right. Moving on."

Soushi smooths Anego-san over.

So she really is soft on Soushi, huh?

Come to think of it, that goes for Mia-san too—and Shiraishi-san as well.

And Aikawa too, while we're at it......

Is this another effect of the 【Cooking】 skill?

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"So, how are we fighting this thing? Got a strategy? I can pitch in too, you know."

We've reached the front of the 'Gate to Floor 20,' and we're holding our strategy meeting before going in.

"I'd like Fuyutsuki-san to get some real experience fighting an Orc General. It wouldn't be good for her to stay a Double-Rank in name only, after all. Think she can manage it?"

"I'll do it, ssu."

"Huh. So you were thinking that far ahead. Good on you. And what do you want me to do?"

This is what Kasumi-san asked me to have you do, you know.

It was Kasumi-san who was properly looking out for the newbie.

"You do have the shield skills, right? Could you keep the General occupied until we finish off its Knight entourage? Leave the melee-weapon Orc Knights to the three of them, and I'll take the bow- and staff-wielders. Once every Knight is down, reapply the dance buffs, and then you fight it one-on-one. Until then, Anego-san—if you can manage it, I'd like you to just draw its attention without attacking."

"Got it. I'll take one bow user and one staff user myself—squash 'em quick before we engage the General. I'll take the right; Haruki, you take the left. Good? You three all right over there?"

If they show off too much, other problems crop up, so I'll leave them to it.

"Yeah. I get to use my skills now, right? Then no problem at all."

"If the Knights drag on, I'll reapply the buffs—so when I shout 【Dance・Stage】, look our way."

If Soushi uses his 【Staff User】 self-buffs, I can leave guarding Aikawa to him.

Though it'd be bad if those two went all-out too.

"Understood, ssu. I'm fighting with the spear alone this time, so don't expect bow support, ssu."

The newbie should have super mode too.

At Level 20, her max MP is 300.

It's completely untouched, so she should be able to hold it for a good five minutes.

More than enough.

"Then let's go in. I'll enter first. Anego-san, you're last."

The strongest goes last, in other words.

"Got it. Just keep an eye on the clock, you hear?"

The boss spawns one minute after the first person enters, after all.

That's the first entrant's job.

On to Floor 20.