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nThe dungeon in the royal capital, how do I say it…really feels like an abandoned mine.

nWooden pillars and beams were placed at equal distances apart within the wide passage.

nOccasionally, there were ores that seemed to protrude from the walls, but those were the dungeon’s treasures. There also seems to be a treasure chest left somewhere unnoticed, but its source hasn’t been investigated.

nIt’s futile to ponder seriously about this game-like reasoning.

nThere’s no point in thinking hard about it.

nOlivia was taking the ores that were buried in the wall.

nShe’s come across iron ores or something like that. To begin with, it’s odd that the iron coming out already seems refined.

n“Eheheh, I found one.”

nOlivia looked delighted, but was so absorbed in it that when she wiped her sweat with her hand, the tip of her nose would get dirt on it.

n“Congrats. That one’s definitely one hundred dia.”

nI take the heavy lump of metal and toss it into my luggage.

nThe monetary currency here consists of “dia” and “dil”.

nOne dia is…well, in terms of my previous world, I suppose it’s worth about one hundred yen?

nGold pieces and silver pieces also exist as money, but they’re aren’t seen very much due to there being bills and coins.

nOlivia looked at her surroundings.

n“What’s wrong?”

n“Well, you see…I’m wondering why a phenomenon like this is happening in the dungeon. I’ve even heard about there being a treasure chest, and it’s a little strange. It’s almost like someone arranged this.”

nThere’s no purpose in having feelings of unease about that.

nAfter all, the dungeon is the kingdom’s treasury of materials and funds that help support it.

nIn the first place, there’s no point in asking for an explanation since this is the result of the game’s setting, a lackluster setting at that.

n“How strange. Alright, let’s keep going.”

n“W, wait a moment! Leon, are you not concerned about it?”

nI sighed.

n“Not particularly.”

nOlivia’s spirits waned.

n“You’re cold, Leon.”

nShe’s opened up quite a bit, but…unfortunately, this girl descends from commoners. Eventually, she’ll be recognized as a saint and become an untouchable presence.

nI shouldn’t get married to such a partner, so I’m going to limit it at just being friends.

nIt’s really regrettable.

nIf Olivia were a noble, people would get a little pushy in trying to confess to her. The reason being that she’s a person with a kind heart among other things, but most importantly, she’s practically the ideal partner.

nShe’s from the countryside of an isolated island. She seems to be thinking about returning to her home in the future, though I wouldn’t mind if she stayed over at my house.

n…Really regrettable. If she wasn’t both the protagonist and a commoner, I would’ve given her a marriage proposal.

n“I shouldn’t get depressed so quickly──whoops, perhaps it’s better to end things here.”

nShe’s an honor student that will rise to power.

nWe didn’t get along well with the other group members, so us two had gone ahead.

nI moved back to be behind Olivia and drew out my sword from my waist. Perhaps it’d be more accurate to call it a broad katana.

nLuxon talked about how a katana would be better for someone with a Japanese soul. It seems that Luxon is the kind that wants to try something out if it can.

n…I’m neither a descendant of a samurai, nor do I practice kendo, but I took it with pleasure.

nHowever, the Japanese sword it created was a fantasy sword.

nIt’s something that resembles it.

nOlivia trembled from behind.

n“That’s a…monster.”

nA giant ant had appeared. It was a giant insect that spanned about seventy to eighty centimeters in length.

nHowever, things will turn grave if one gets bitten by its large jaws.

nOnce it came out, several more appeared within the dungeon.

nThey could be called the cleaners of the dungeon since there’s rumors that they carry away dead adventurers and whatnot.

n“I can’t use the rifle in a passage like this, so this is going to be troublesome.”

nEven though I was raised in the country, my father trained me.

nI remember my father saying that I would probably have to earn money through dungeons in the future, so he would train me in fighting.

nIt seems my father also went through hardships in the dungeon.

nThe giant ants noticed us and headed towards our direction, one after the other.

nThere were five of them.

nI slashed the neck of the first enemy right in front of me.

nI moved around, swung my sword down, and had aimed at its relatively thin neck.

nOnce its neck separated, black smoke appeared from the giant ant as it vanished, but I didn’t pay attention to that and started my attack on the next one.

nGiant ants are nuisances, but the joints connecting their head and torso is pretty fragile.

nTheir chin and head are more or less sturdy, they’ll withstand an unskillful slash of a sword.

nFor that reason, I made sure to slash at its weak point.

n“Alright, that’s two! Now for the third!”

nThe katana I held tore through and killed one after another.

nBeing careful about their strong jaws, I took a roundabout path while continuing to swing down my blade, and then the battle finished once I sliced the neck of the last giant ant.

nIn the game, the turn-based combat meant that one would have to receive the enemy’s attacks, but in reality, one can avoid them if they make good use of their positioning.

nHowever, it goes to say that the opponent can do the same.

nIt’s really hard to deal with them when one is surrounded. Death is likely.

nI placed the katana over my shoulder as Olivia approached. Seeing the monsters, which had now let out black smoke and vanished, scared her a bit.

n“You’re strong, Leon. One by one, you were able to defeat those frightening monsters.”

nIndeed, a girl would hate the appearance of a giant ant.

nAnyone can shoot a gun. The important part is the hitting the right spot.

nIf you know the right way to kill them, they’re easier to deal with.

n“That’s because I know their weak points. Once you get experience, you’ll be able to defeat them with ease as well.”

nWhile looking Olivia, who had a troubled expression, I sheathed my katana and suggested that we move forward.

n“Leon, you’re reliable.”

n“It’s just that this place is easy enough. There’s only small fries that appear. Ah, gotta watch out for traps. Al~right, let’s hurry and go!”

nI was concerned about the mixed feelings Olivia was showing.

n“If you don’t feel like it, then there’s──”

nI then quickly draw out my katana, pushed down Olivia from behind, and held out my left arm. There was plating on the back of my hand to protect it, and a monkey-like monster that had jumped at us then bit at it.

n“Shoot! I got careless.”

nI stabbed the monkey with the katana, but it kept strongly biting at my arm until it disappeared. It turned into black smoke and vanished, but when I looked at my arm, its teeth had broken through the plating and reached my flesh, causing blood to appear.

nOlivia, who was sitting on the ground, sprung up and got into a panic when seeing my arm.

n“I, I’m sorry. It’s because you were protecting me──”

nSeeing Olivia getting teary-eyed and worried about me made me think about how a guy would probably protect this child when seeing her like this.

nIn the game, I thought that the protagonist had deceived those five guys and made them meat shields that would sacrifice themselves, but…I don’t feel anything ill now.

n“I got negligent as well, so it’s fine. An injury of just this much is fine, so──”

n“N, no! We need to treat it right away!”

nOlivia took off the plating covering the back of my hand, rolled up my sleeve, and held her hand over the location of injury.

nA faint, white light came from her palm, and it felt very warm.

n“…Curing magic?”

nThere’s lots of people that can use magic, but only a few can use curing magic.

nI recall the protagonist being one of the special ones who can do it.

nOlivia smiled while looking at my arm.

n“That’s a relief. The wound closed.”

n“Th, th, thanks.”

nThis is a fantasy world with magic, but the rarely seen curing magic gave me a bit of a surprise. Olivia’s smile then turned towards me.

n“This has been my strong point for a long time. After a traveling scholar taught me a lot as a teacher, I’ve been doing self-study.”

n“…How amazing.”

nWas there such a setting? I can only remember the part about curing magic being the protagonist’s pride.

n“I’m glad that I was useful for you, Leon”

nI had a single thought when seeing Olivia delighted like that.

nThere really is something special about this child.

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