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nChapter 23: Defense Specialized and Exploration Resume

nAfter the two walked through the grasslands for an hour.

nThey could already see the forest ahead.

nThe two regained their liveliness and increased the pace they were walking.

n「W-We finally made it!」

n「What a deep forest…」

nThe two entered into the forest.

nThe dense forest was not letting most of the light pass from the sky, and was very dim.

nAnd, it has a lot of bushes making it a terrain well suited for the surprise attack from monsters.

n「I will protect you alright〜!」

n「Really, I can count on you more than anyone else」

nThe attack that would make Kaede collapse, anybody wouldn’t be able to endure it. Risa, while being cautious of the surroundings, hid in Kaede’s shadows while moving ahead of the forest.

nAnd after 30 minutes.

nThere wasn’t one surprise attack that the two was worried about after all, and their exploration continues peacefully.

n「Nothing’s coming out?」

n「Instead, it’s too eerie that nothing’s coming out」

n「Ahaha… that’s true…」

n*Shin*, the forest that was very silent was as Risa had said, very eerie.

nThe more they move deeper, the sounds were really disappearing.

n「C-Can we talk about something?!」

nBecause of the anxiety beyond description, Risa shouts.

n「Eh?! I-It’s okay though? Uhmm…」

nAt the time when Kaede forcefully started to talk to change this atmosphere.

nThe two heard *Po*, a sound of igniting a fire.

nBecause it was the first sound since they came here, the to sensitively reacts, and looked towards where the sound came from.

nAnd, the two saw a few blue supernatural fiery balls, floating, and approaching them.

n「This is a game, this is a game, this is a game……!! Yosh, it’s okay, it’s okay……」

nRisa mumbles to herself.

n「That’s not okay at all, right?!!」

n「You want to run? Let’s run? Let’s do that?」

nIt was proven that it was not okay.

n「Well, using【Akujiki】is also a waste, so……」

n「T-Then remove your equips! I will let you ride okay!! It’s coming you know!」

nKaede left Shingetsu equipped just in case, and rode on the back of Risa.

nThat instance, Risa started to run without saying anything.

nAfter that supernatural fiery balls appeared, the monsters also became lively, and.

nFloating skulls, supernatural fiery balls with different colors, zombies, and transparent humans, various kinds of ghosts and specters started to appear.

n「Khuu……! We shouldn’t have entered this forest!!」

n「Oh〜! What a beautiful flame! There’s also a green one there!」

nThe two who have an intense difference in temperature just as a desert and a tundra, ran around the forest without fighting.

nAnd, they finally found a crumbling deserted house, and jumps in it like an emergency escape.

n「It’s crumbling… you want to search around?」

n「I’ll leave it to you」

n「Well, you’ve always been bad with ghosts right〜」

n「That’s impossible getting used to that. It’s inside the game, so it’s better since we could run away from them……」

nRisa, seemingly very exhausted, sat on the chair in the deserted house. Kaede started to search around, but in the first place, there wasn’t many furnitures inside the deserted house.

nThere was only a worn out table, and the worn out chair that Risa was sitting on.

nThe dirty carpet placed beneath the table.

nAnd an old chest of drawers.

nIn this room that there wasn’t even a bed, a person couldn’t live in it.

nThe windows are shattered in some parts, it was barely closed shut with the remaining shards of glasses.

n「Inside the chest of drawers if… there’s nothing huh〜」

nKaede had a faint expectation that there might be a medal, but it couldn’t go that easy.

nKaede opened her status, and checked the current time with the clock that was with it.

n「What do you think? It’s already past 6 in the in-game time… it’s evening soon」

n「Ah〜… maybe that’s why the ghosts came out… we had the wrong timing to enter…… we have some food that we had brought so we can do something about it though. I think I’d hate to stay here〜…… but〜」

nRisa silently took a glance outside of the window.

nThere were silhouettes that were clearly not of the players outside.

nSince the monsters were not entering the deserted house, it seems to be safe.

nBut if they go outside, it would sure be a pandemonium of hell for Risa.

n「It can’t be helped… I should bear with it……」

nKaede who finished searching around sat beside Risa. Because there wasn’t a chair, directly on the floor.

n「Re-equip just in case, there… large shield is, Snow White is good huh…… after that, you want to play trump cards?」

nInside the game, a few simple entertainment items exist. That was one of those.

n「It might distract us for a while, but… we’re only two so it will end fast you know?」

n「Ah! I-I see! I was not thinking of that!」

nRisa saw that Kaede, *Fufu* laughed.

nIt looks like she regained herself a little, and received the trumps card that Kaede was reaching out, and begins to distribute it.

nThe night had just started.

n「Yo〜sh… it’s this!!」

n「There, too bad, it’s joker desu」

n「Gugugu……」

nKaede groaned.

nThe two were playing games, trump cards, Othello, and chess that Kaede brought out one next to the other.

nIn the middle of it, they ate dinner, and continued the game.

nIt has no problem even if they didn’t eat inside the game, but Risa said that she wouldn’t be at her best if she didn’t eat just like in the real world while in spending time inside the game, so they brought a lot of food.

nRisa gave food to Kaede, and the two ate.

nWhat Kaede brought was only about entertainment items.

n「n〜… this one! Yosh, I won!」

n「Damn it〜…」

nIt was like a scene cut out from a school trip, but it was a sea of trees around the, and they were inside a deserted house.

n「That took plenty of time huh… it’s already 10」

nKaede checked the time, and returned the trump cards and the rest into her inventory.

n「They’re still eagerly walking around outside, so… this is, sleep the night here huh〜…」

n「I think that’s good. I think that there’s probably medals or equipments inside this forest, so… isn’t it okay in the morning after the monsters disappeared?」

n「I’m sorry, we couldn’t explore」

n「It’s okay, right! But, you should do your best tomorrow!」

n「I understand!」

nThe two took out their sleeping bags, and spread it on the floor.

nThey said greetings to each other, and got on the floor.

nBecause the possibilities of monsters attacking weren’t zero, the two slept two hours alternately.

nFirst, it was Kaede’s turn to sleep.

n「It’s quiet〜…」

nInside the deserted house where Kaede’s sleeping sounds could only be heard, Risa sat on the chair and got cautious of the surroundings.

nTheir worries were only a pointless concern because the monsters didn’t attack.

nAnd at the time when it’s 12, when she was about to wake Kaede up.

nA low, unclear voice was heard near the table.

nIt was intermittently, but it can be clearly heard.

n「Uuuwwwaaaaaaaaa!!」

nRisa who stood up to wake up Kaede, fell towards where Kaede was.

nKaede was sleeping because of the defense powers that she had even with that, but she woke up with the triple combination of the loud sound of the armor hitting the floor, Risa’s shouting voice, and the low voice.

n「What happened……?」

n「I-It came out!! In the table! In the table!」

nLeaving Risa who had lacking vocabulary because of the fear and impatience for the meantime, Kaede approached the table.

nShe really could hear a voice from there.

nKaede focused on hearing to find out the place where the sound comes from.

n「The table… beneath it?」

nThere, was a tattered carpet spread.

nSince Risa had curled in a corner, she moved the table with full force.

n【STR 0】means something like that.

nAnd she flips out the carpet and checks what’s below.

n「This is… there is underground?」

nThe floor had a cut in it, and had a handle.

nKaede immediately opened that.

n「It opened easily! …stairs huh」

nThe voice was getting louder, the source of it was below there for sure.

n「I’ll go exploring okay?」

n「I will…also go. It would be bad if Kaede got defeated…」

nRisa stood up slowly, and stuck closely to Maple from behind.

n「Ahead, leave it to me〜!」

n「Thanks… yosh…! Let’s go!」

nRisa regained her fighting spirits, their destination is where the echoing voice from the underground comes from.

nThe two went down the stairs.

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