Chapter-04 · EP-064

Episode 64: Monster House

"No, that place is dangerous. Even senior explorers were in trouble there, let alone us."

Iori wanted to go to the area with many goblins to level up, but I stopped her.

I remembered what happened last week. One member of the party fighting the goblin group had been seriously injured, and I'd also been hurt when I went to help. I didn't want to put these three in danger.

"Who do you think is stronger, those people or Iori?"

"Well… Iori is overwhelmingly stronger."

That party had struggled to defeat goblins. But I couldn't imagine Iori struggling against mere goblins. In fact, Iori was probably far stronger than I was when I went to help last week.

Even so, that didn't mean I wanted to expose Yuno and Iori to danger, so I couldn't easily agree to go.

Then Iori asked me.

"Shirou, which floor are you on now?"

"Currently, the fourth floor…"

"You seem to level up quickly, Shirou. How do you raise your level so fast?"

"I think it's because I explore floors one level below the recommended and gain a lot of experience points."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Ugh…"

Iori hit on something I didn't want to be questioned about.

"Well, yes, it's dangerous. But I fight knowing the line of what's okay up to a point. So don't worry about me. Besides, you can't level up easily without overcoming a certain amount of risk."

"I see. Then how about we go to the place we're talking about now, but retreat the moment you judge it's dangerous, Shirou?"

"Huh?"

"Honestly, for me, fighting goblins one-on-one is just a chore. Even though we've formed a party of four, we haven't had a chance to show any coordination. Even if we level up like this, I don't think we'll grow as a party."

Iori was right. I was just a temporary member, but for Iori, Yuno and Maika were regular members she usually explored with. I understood her desire to grow through coordination with them.

"But with Yuno and Maika's current abilities…"

I still couldn't give the go-ahead.

"If we get in trouble, Shirou, you can save us!"

"Please…"

"Ugh…"

When Yuno and Maika said that, I was at a loss.

"Fine. Then let's at least go and see. But if I think it's even a little dangerous, we're retreating immediately."

Hearing my words, Iori smiled happily. Yuno and Maika also smiled innocently.

Hmm… I was worried…

And so, I headed again to the site of last week's fierce battle.

We passed through a narrow passage and emerged into a wide open space. This was the area where goblins seemed to spawn in large numbers.

Already, I could see three goblins in the distance.

"There they are."

Iori, who spotted the goblins at the same time as me, silently had a gleam in her eyes.

"Wait. First, let me explain our coordination. Iori and I will be the vanguard. Basically, the two of us will fight the goblins. Yuno and Maika will be the rearguard. Maika, if you have the chance, support us with magic from behind. And if anyone gets hurt, Yuno, that's your turn."

"Got it!"

The three nodded at my explanation.

Then we walked towards the goblins.

The goblins noticed us and attacked all at once. I targeted the goblin on the left. Gripping my wooden sword with both hands, I landed a blow that split its head, defeating it in one hit. I immediately turned my gaze to the right to defeat a second goblin, but Iori had already defeated both.

"Fast…"

Iori glanced at me as I muttered and smirked.

Wondering if there were only three, I looked around. Then, from a rock wall a short distance away, one goblin slowly walked towards us. Iori moved to go towards it, but I stopped her.

"Wait. I feel like there might be more."

Saying that, I checked the surroundings further. Then, several more goblins appeared from deeper inside.

"We'll hold them off here."

"Right!"

Iori responded enthusiastically.

Then, even more goblins appeared from further in.

This was indeed a monster house, a room where monsters kept spawning.

Slowly, over ten goblins gathered and approached us.

The numbers were so large that I felt tense. If we could defeat each goblin in one hit like before, it probably wouldn't be a problem. But what worried me was missing an attack and losing rhythm.

I concentrated.

Unlike the aggressive goblins earlier, these ones not only walked slowly but also didn't attack immediately, instead observing us. If this continued, the number of goblins would only increase.

"What should we do, Shirou?"

Iori asked me.

"We'll go to them."

And so, we stepped forward.

At the same time, the goblins attacked.

One, two, three—we defeated the goblins in order. Then, I saw reinforcements in the distance. How many were going to spawn?

Maybe I was getting impatient. The next goblin dodged by stepping back. After that, the goblins kept their distance and wouldn't come into range. Beside me, Iori was steadily defeating goblins.

"Tch!"

Impatient, I stepped forward to attack the goblins. Those within range were hit, and I defeated them in order. But…

"Are there more?"

The number of goblins surrounding us seemed to be gradually increasing.

If they would just come at us more aggressively, we could reduce their numbers.

Just then, I heard a scream from behind.

"Kyaa!"

It was Yuno. I turned around. Two goblins were about to attack Yuno and Maika from behind.

"Yuno!"

I instinctively ran towards the rear.

The moment I stepped back, the surrounding goblins all attacked Iori at once. …Damn, my hesitation was a mistake! Sensing that, I knew I'd messed up. But,

"I'll handle things here!"

Trusting Iori's strong words, I ran towards Yuno and the others again.

Yuno and Maika were fending off goblins with their wooden swords.

I dashed over and delivered a flying kick to one of the goblins.

The goblin, hit by my kick, flew back with force.

"Are you okay?"

I asked while cutting down the other goblin with my wooden sword.

"Y-yeah. We're okay."

Maika said. She had a scratch on the back of her hand.

"Did a goblin scratch you? Yuno, healing magic."

"O-okay. Heal!"

Yuno's healing magic was immediately cast on Maika's palm. After sparkling, the wound on Maika's hand disappeared.

"More importantly, Iori-chan!"

Maika's words made me snap back.

I turned around. Iori was surrounded by a group of goblins.

"Tch! Maika, attack the goblins further away!"

"Okay!"

I gave Maika instructions and ran back to Iori.

Over ten goblins surrounded Iori. In the center, Iori was swinging her katana, fighting hard. Was she injured?

I defeated the outer goblins one by one, getting closer to Iori.

Then, Iori came into view. Each time her sword flashed, one goblin's roar would rise, then fall silent. On that lonely battlefield, she cut down her enemies as if dancing. I saw her felling goblins one after another with flowing slashes.

"Ah."

I was momentarily captivated, but quickly shifted my gaze to the remaining goblins and defeated them.

And so, we somehow managed to defeat the entire group of goblins.

The goblins' groans, which had been constant until moments ago, ceased, and silence returned. …We stood there for a while. The tension that had been stretched taut slowly began to loosen.

"Haa… haa…"

"Are you okay, Iori?"

"Yeah."

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine…"

Even Iori looked tired. The consecutive battles had left her out of breath.

"Ioriiii! Are you hurt?"

Yuno and Maika rushed over.

"Ah… I'm fine."

"Heal, heal!"

Even though Iori said she was fine, Yuno cast Heal on her just in case. Yuno's magical power, allowing her to cast healing magic this many times, was also considerable.

"Um… I couldn't land my magic very well… I'm sorry…"

Maika apologized. She had been providing support with her magic but hadn't defeated many goblins.

"No, it was a chaotic fight, so you were being careful not to hit us with your magic, right? Hitting a companion is the scariest thing. Maika, you did a great job too."

When I told Maika that her support had been accurate, she nodded shyly.

"Yeah…"

Then, perhaps having caught her breath, Iori asked.

"Did we reach level 3?"

"Ah, yeah… Let's pick up the gems and count them."

The total number of gems collected was 33. Probably, after a few more fights, all three would reach level 3. When I told Iori that they probably hadn't reached level 3 yet,

"Well, that can't be helped. Then let's go."

Iori, who had regained her energy as if she hadn't been out of breath moments ago, said.

"Then let's head back soon."

"No. To the Floor Boss's room."

Iori's eyes were serious.