n

n

nThe rest of the fifth floor, while a fair bit tougher than the rest thus far, was cleared easily within the next few hours. Having that special map with them really helped find the best path. But that in itself seemed a bit weird.

n

"Seriously, how'd that guy manage to make a map of this dungeon if it was never even cleared?

" Octer asked out loud as the group was taking a break in a relatively safe area, and Lynol quickly replied before Kyla could,

"My guess is that he has a special skill of sorts. Is that not so, Kyla?

"

n

"Yup~! He's a Cartographer with a special mapping skill! It's kinda... like clairvoyance of sorts? By connecting his consciousness to a dungeon, he can map it out! Although, it does take a while. I think... he spent a week out here by the dungeon to map everything, day and night? If he had gone inside it might've been faster, but y'know...

"

n

"What, why would he make a map for a dungeon that nobody ever enters?

" Foster asked with a wry smile, but Kyla shrugged,

"That, I don't know. But he has a big collection of maps, apparently. Although he can't use combat magic, and although he can't fight at all, he keeps hiring adventurers to bring him deeper into dungeons so that he can map them out easily. But since nobody wanted to head in here, he had to spend a week alone.

"

n

"That's some dedication, though. If I didn't know how to fight, I don't know if I'd take the risk. I'd just find another job.

" Foster pointed out, whilst Aster was quickly nodding his head while sitting on top of his contractor's.

nTo the surprise of everyone, the ever-emotionless Lynol was the one that seemed to understand him the most,

"If you have a passion like that, would you really let arbitrary dangers like that stop you? If he has the money to hire capable adventurers, then let him do it. It's part of our job to assist people like that in the first place. And he doesn't seem dumb, so he probably stays out of danger otherwise.

" Lynol pointed out, and his arguments did make a lot of sense to Foster and Octer. Slowly, the three of them were feeling quite some respect for this man that they didn't even know. Meanwhile, Kyla turned away awkwardly. She grew suspiciously silent, to the point where Foster was sure she was hiding something.

n

"...What're you leaving out?

" He asked with a frown, and Kyla silently scratched her cheek, trying to find proper words for what she was about to say. The group fell silent, as she soon revealed,

"Erm... actually... as it turns out, he never works with the same party twice... because they refuse to work with him after the first time... I don't know why though, s-so it might not be his fault at all, you know?

"

nThe other three simply stared at Kyla, and soon, Foster stared at the ceiling,

"I know plenty of people like that, then... His kind... they're just absolute **ing idiots...

"

n---

nAfter making their way further through the fifth floor, all the whilst silently judging the man that had created the maps that they were using to so easily get through this dungeon, they finally reached the final space within this dungeon.

nThe boss room. A large arched double-door stretched up all the way to the high ceiling. The door was covered in ornate structures, seemingly all made of bone. For now, the party of four chose to take a quick break before entering the boss room. While it was a beginner dungeon, they still had to be extremely careful.

n

"So, what do we do if the monster in there has an aspect of those bothersome slimes as well? We can't just let foster fight it alone.

" Octer pointed out, addressing something that everyone had been thinking about for a while. They had concluded that the boss monster probably didn't have too much of a connection to the slime, but they couldn't be completely sure about that either.

n

"I mean... I doubt we have to anyway.

" Foster pointed out,

"I mean, let's say there's just a huge slime in there as a worst-case scenario... I'll distract that while you guys take out the crystal orb. It's not like it can just not be there, right? Like, shouldn't the boss monster at least follow the rules of the dungeon? And so far, the rule was that the slimes could be taken out by destroying their source. So you guys just do that, and we're good.

"

n

"And what if it's not like that? What if it doesn't have a source?

"

n

"Well... then you guys just give me some emotional support?

" Foster replied with a slight grin,

"Come on, let's not chicken out now! It's gonna be fine, we'll be able to fight against it, with no problem. We managed the rest of the dungeon, right?

"

nLynol slowly pushed himself up with his sword, and stepped up closer to the boss room's door,

"You all already dragged me this far. If you back down now, I'll be pissed.

" Lynol said in a cold voice, although Foster was convinced that he was actually quite excited at this point himself.

n

"Exactly. He's gonna be pissed, and we don't want that, do we?

" Foster said as he leaned onto Foster's shoulder with his elbow, grinning lightly.

n

"Are you making fun of me?

" Lynol asked with a slight frown, but Foster just grinned in response,

"I'll tell you after we've killed the boss.

"

n

"So that means we're going now?

" Kyla asked, clearly quite excited, stepping up to the other two standing by the door.

n

"I guess it does...

" Octer sighed as he quickly followed behind her. They all placed their hands onto the door, and pushed it open together. This in itself was quite a struggle though. But at some point, once they've pushed it a certain amount, the door simply opened by itself.

nAnd there, on the other side of this large circular room, stood the boss. It wasn't a slime, luckily. But it also wasn't a simple skeletal soldier like they had hoped. Rather than that.... It was a giant frog's skeleton, eerily staring at the group that just entered this room.

n