Double Play
Fwoosh!
Moments later, every torch installed throughout the cavern flared to life at once.
The pitch-black darkness receded, and the situation inside the cavern came into sharp focus.
A perfectly straight black scorch mark ran from the muzzle of the musket all the way to the far wall. Scattered around the midpoint of that line were the shattered fragments of bone.
Fortuna, Dohwa, and Rebecca, who had followed him into the boss room, took one look and voiced the exact same impression.
“There was one!”
“There was, indeed.”
“There was.”
“There was. Not anymore, though.”
Agreeing with his wives’ assessment, Jun lowered the musket from his shoulder and checked its condition.
…I won’t be getting a second shot out of this.
Even after reinforcing it with Aura and Realize, the musket was in rough shape. Nothing was broken or cracked, but the metal parts had begun to melt and the wooden stock was charred black. One more use and both metal and wood would almost certainly give out.
I’ll have to ask Pirbyon to make me one.
Thanks to the musket, both the efficiency and power of his Railgun had skyrocketed. Yet the mana consumption hadn’t been all that high. It was more than good enough to serve as a mainstay technique—no, it was overkill.
A velocity faster than sound, the crushing physical force that came with it, and the frictional heat… that was not the kind of power you casually threw around as a regular attack.
And that was with a blank. If I start using solid metal rounds…
Wouldn’t that reach the level of a true finishing move? The kind that demanded intense concentration and a massive amount of mana for a single decisive strike.
No need to keep forcing Compression into an offensive role.
The reason Jun had clung so stubbornly to attack magic until now was simple: he lacked a proper long-range technique of his own. He could manage ranged combat with a bow or javelin, but he wanted something as devastating as his sword technique Lightning Slash—only with a ranged weapon.
Anyone else would have called it greedy excess, but once he had settled into a versatile all-rounder role, he wanted to push that role all the way. And now, as if rewarding that stubbornness, he had a technique so powerful others would scream, “That’s not fair!” Compression could be repurposed for something else entirely.
Ziiing—clang!
Just as Jun finished organizing his thoughts, the fragments of what had once been the boss glowed gold, coalesced into a single mass, then split into three pieces that clattered to the floor.
When the light faded, a massive greatsword, a skull, and a magic stone swirling with mixed purple and navy remained. Fortuna couldn’t hide her disappointment.
“Huh? That’s it? Just this?”
“Even if we sold everything, it would barely cover our snack money.”
“…They’re actually pretty valuable in their own right, but if you two say so, then they must be.”
Rebecca, who had adapted splendidly to life as the youngest, picked up the greatsword and handed it to Jun.
“This is the main weapon of the boss mob Skeleton Warrior—‘Warrior’s Greatsword.’ No special abilities, but it gives a modest boost to strength and stamina. Beginner melee adventurers pray for this thing to drop. Weapons don’t come as rewards very often, so we got lucky.”
“That’s thanks to you and For being here. I’ll need you again when we open the treasure chest. Want to open it with For instead of me?”
“No. Just let For open it alone. If a re-challenger even touches the chest, the rewards shrink.”
“That too? This place is ridiculously strict.”
“They must really want to discourage re-challengers from appearing.”
Re-challengers.
Those who, for reasons of insufficient skill, a companion’s desertion, a commission, or whatever else, had climbed back down from the upper floors to the lower ones. The Labyrinth—more precisely, Bright God’s blessing system that granted rewards to adventurers—was extremely stingy toward them.
The drop rate fell by the amount of damage a re-challenger dealt when killing a monster. Various Easter eggs turned negative. After defeating a boss, the re-challenger received none of the reward, and the total amount was reduced by the damage they had contributed.
That was why Rebecca had announced she would sit out the boss fight before Jun opened the door.
According to the Church, the restriction was a measure Bright God had put in place so that humans wouldn’t grow so obsessed with the gains from the Labyrinth that they neglected actually clearing it. Whatever the reason, most adventurers dreaded becoming re-challengers and, unless forced by circumstances like Rebecca, never set foot on a lower floor again.
“Rebecca, how far up did you say you’d climbed?”
“The tenth floor. I never cleared the tenth-floor boss, though. Once you clear the tenth-floor boss, the party is essentially locked in, so every party I’d joined until then kicked me out right in front of the boss room. I’ve been through it so many times I can’t even remember how many.”
Rebecca spoke lightly, as if it were a joke. She was trying to say she was fine, that he didn’t need to worry.
To take something like that so casually… even if it happened more than once, that’s too much.
She was putting on a brave face. He didn’t even need the emotions flowing through the soul bond; the sorrow filling her eyes told him everything.
Without another word, Jun pulled Rebecca into a tight embrace. Then he leaned close to her ear and spoke with complete sincerity.
“Rebecca, let’s climb past the tenth floor together. Definitely.”
“…My love, am I actually helpful to you? As much as my sisters?”
Rebecca rested her head against his shoulder and asked anxiously. Her long ears drooped, as if she were afraid of the answer.
After exploring together and growing used to Fortuna and Dohwa, she seemed to have suddenly felt intimidated by their higher caliber. Completely unnecessary.
“Rebecca, you’re a wonderful wife. Taking you as my wife is one of the greatest strokes of luck in my entire life.”
“…One of several, is it.”
“…Sorry. There should be a cooler way to put it, but nothing better is coming to mind.”
Jun’s face flushed. He was embarrassed that he couldn’t comfort her with the elegant words of a gentleman.
“Heh. It’s fine. I prefer one sincere word over a long string of praise. And you don’t need to whisper sweet things to me. You’re already far too sweet without them.”
Fortunately, Rebecca didn’t mind that shortcoming at all. If anything, she seemed to like it very much; she smiled deeply and gently stroked his cheek.
Love and affection for each other were shared and amplified. Without either of them taking the lead, Jun and Rebecca naturally pressed their lips together.
Chu…
While they exchanged soft, innocent kisses that only brushed lips, Rebecca’s tongue tapped against his, asking to be let in. He wanted to open for her right then and there, but the two pairs of burning gazes he felt from behind forced him to gently ease her away.
Rebecca locked her arms around his head and pressed her body flush against his, determined not to be separated, but she couldn’t overcome his strength.
“Ah…”
At last the two lips that had been thoroughly rubbing together parted. Rebecca let out a regretful sigh and made a pouting face. Jun quickly stroked her hair to soothe her.
“The rest later. You can hold on, right?”
“…You really are too sweet. Dangerously so.”
Rebecca muttered with her face flushed bright red. She was so adorable that Jun gave her plump rear a light squeeze. Leaving her trembling for some reason, he turned to the other two wives who had been sending him heated stares and kissed each of them just as thoroughly.
After loving his wives equally, Jun looked at the treasure chest that had appeared at some point before the statue of Bright God in the corner of his vision and spoke.
“Shall we put the finishing touch on this? Angel, if you would.”
“Mm-hmm! Leave it to me, Jun!”
Still floating on the high of Jun’s kisses, Fortuna scampered over to the treasure chest.
“Oh wait, wait. Look at me. I need to prepare first.”
She had been about to fling the lid open immediately, but she stuck her tongue out a little and tapped her own head. Then she closed her eyes and began taking calm, deep breaths.
Fwaaah!
A halo and angelic wings of pure holy power formed above her head and behind her back.
Hummm~
The halo shone brilliantly, converting the surrounding mana into holy power. At the same time, a pure-white wheel that had appeared in Fortuna’s golden eyes began to turn.
“…Ugh!”
After a short while, Jun let out a small groan. Maintaining angel mode and activating her authority had pushed every one of his cores into overheat.
“Jun, does it hurt a lot? I’m sorry—just hold on a little longer.”
Realizing his condition, Fortuna made a pained face but did not stop the authority. If she could weave just a little more luck, she could draw the absolute best possible result from the treasure chest.
She could have substituted the luck she had carefully saved up in daily life, but she wanted to save that for a moment when it was truly needed and use it all at once.
Still a long way to go.
Jun clenched his teeth. Even after growing this much, Fortuna’s angel mode and authority activation were still almost more than he could handle. The quiet pride that had built up from being called a monster or hero candidate melted away without a sound.
“Done!”
Pop!
With Fortuna’s cheer, the lid of the treasure chest flew open. Multicolored rainbow light clusters burst out and painted the air in beautiful patterns.
“…They show no sign of coalescing.”
“That’s a good thing, Sister. Even if a platinum effect appears, this is only a fifth-floor treasure chest. The performance of whatever comes out won’t be that different. Better for everything to turn into experience—it’s far more beneficial for our husband.”
Light clusters that did not become items—blessings—turned into experience and granted adventurers all sorts of beneficial effects. Rather than having the amount of blessing reduced by becoming unused items, it was far better for Jun if everything was absorbed as experience.
Everyone nodded at Rebecca’s explanation. At that moment the floating light clusters all rushed into Jun at once. He waited calmly until they were fully absorbed into his body.
A short while later the light completely faded. Jun first tried spinning up his cores.
Hummm~
The cores that had reached overheat now spun vigorously as if nothing had happened. Even at top speed, the rotation lasted longer than it had before overheat—long enough that he could clearly tell the difference.
“How many monsters did you three slaughter while I was out of it? The growth is insane.”
The quality of the treasure chest reward after a boss depended on luck; the quantity was decided by the level and number of monsters slain while exploring the five floors. That was why adventurers rarely went out of their way to avoid monster fights. It was also why Jun had never chosen the option of skipping floors—and another measure Bright God had put in place.
“Yep! I worked hard for Jun!”
“For my lord, this humble one would do anything.”
“If you wish to thank us, then smile for us. Your smile is the greatest reward of all.”
The words were so loving and so endearing that Jun, unable to contain the surging emotion, moved to pull them into a tight embrace—
Tickle-tickle
—only to freeze at a strange ticklish sensation deep in his mind.
While his wives, who had been about to hug him back, stared at him oddly, Jun closed his eyes and focused his mind on the center of the itch: his Psychic Core.
“…Oh you little treasures!”
Jun turned into a kissing machine and rained kisses all over his wives’ faces.
Two months later—
“…You reached which floor?”
“The tenth.”
News that would leave everyone stunned came from Jun’s own mouth.