The Pink-Haired Priestess
"W-wait a second! How can you just spring something like that on her out of nowhere?"
The moment I sent the party invite, Adelaide rushed forward and blocked my path. She immediately launched into what was less an explanation and more a frantic attempt to smooth things over with the healer.
"We're just a normal party clearing the Underground Tombs. We're not suspicious people, so please don't worry."
"U-um...?"
"My name is Adelaide. And this person is... the Tin Knight."
Not only did she cut off what I was about to say, but while she properly introduced herself, she simply referred to me as the Tin Knight. I looked at her with a hint of displeasure and tilted my head slightly.
"My name isn't the Tin Knight. It's Dojun..."
"Your name is too unfamiliar. So for now, please just stay quiet."
I opened my mouth to protest, but Adelaide spoke up again as if she'd expected it, once more cutting me off.
"Adelaide..."
"I'm sorry for startling you. We're not here to hurt you, so please don't be too tense."
I'd meant to be kind, but it seemed I'd skipped too much explanation in my rush to save time. At this point, it looked like I'd have to leave recruiting the healer entirely to Adelaide.
"Now, please stand up. We can talk about the rest slowly once you've calmed down..."
"Aren't you... the young lady of the ducal house?"
Just as Adelaide was roughly smoothing over the situation and gently extending her right hand toward the healer—
"Adelaide von Lohengrin. That's you, isn't it?"
The healer, who had recognized Adelaide's identity at a glance, widened her eyes and asked carefully.
"Ah, it seems you know me."
"Of course. How could I not recognize one of the most prominent figures in the empire?"
"Thank you. But I am no longer..."
"I've already heard about that. So you don't need to go through the trouble of explaining."
The healer was surprisingly eloquent. She'd just been abandoned by her party and should have been in rough shape, yet not only did she recognize Adelaide's status immediately, she even treated her with appropriate respect. It seemed not every pink-haired person had a prickly personality.
"I heard you were exiled to a monastery. How did you end up in a dungeon like this...?"
"There were some circumstances. I'll explain the details later, so for now, please stand up."
"Ah, yes. Understood."
Only then did the healer take Adelaide's hand and slowly rise to her feet.
"Let's start with simple introductions. If we're going to move together, we should at least know each other's names, right?"
The mood had lightened considerably. Adelaide didn't miss the opportunity and immediately asked for the healer's name.
"Oh, I was late with my own introduction. My name is..."
The healer, who had finally collected herself, took a calm breath. Then she carefully opened her mouth to reveal her name.
But only for a moment.
"We'll do the rest while we walk."
The delay had gone on longer than expected. I finally couldn't hold back and firmly cut the healer off mid-sentence. Recruiting was important, but we couldn't let it interfere with our main goal of clearing the dungeon.
"I'll take the lead and draw aggro, so you two stay close behind me and talk."
. . . . . .
Underground Tombs, Basement Floor 2.
"My name is Renya. I'm a priestess, and I haven't been an adventurer for very long."
"Renya. That's a really pretty name."
"Compared to Lady Adelaide's name, mine is just ordinary."
"Thank you for the compliment, but you don't need to be so humble. There's no such thing as a good or bad name."
Underground Tombs, Basement Floor 3.
"Ah, so that's why Lady Adelaide is in a dungeon instead of a monastery..."
"If it weren't for the Tin Knight, I wouldn't be alive right now."
"You were incredibly lucky."
"Indeed. He's a truly strange person. At first he was just scary, but the more I learn about him, the more reliable he seems..."
Underground Tombs, Basement Floor 4.
"So... all the rumors spreading about you in the empire are completely baseless?"
"Yes, that's right. I've never once framed or harassed the Saintess."
"That means you were driven out after being framed with false accusations, right?"
"That's correct. But just feeling wronged won't change how people look at me overnight. That's why I'm trying to prove it myself."
I walked briskly, mercilessly cutting down any monsters blocking our path. Before we knew it, we'd descended all the way to the fourth basement floor.
"I roughly understand the situation now. And I get why you want to recruit me."
"I'm glad you caught on so quickly. I was worried the explanation would drag on."
"But... why are we already on the fourth basement floor...?"
"Who knows. We just kept walking while I was explaining and ended up here."
I paid no attention whatsoever to whatever the two were talking about behind my back. I simply focused on reaching the fourth basement floor. I trusted that Adelaide would handle recruiting the healer well.
"This is impossible. No one has ever reached the fourth basement floor before..."
"I told you. He's impossibly strong."
"I didn't expect it to be this bad. At this rate, there's no reason for you to recruit me, is there...?"
The moment I heard Renya's bewildered question, I turned my head and looked straight at her pale face.
"It's an investment for the future. We don't know what kind of dungeons we'll face later."
"An investment... for the future...?"
It went without saying that this dungeon wasn't suited to my level. Not once during our descent to the fourth floor had a monster strong enough to make me break a sweat appeared.
Even so, the reason I continued grinding this dungeon was—
"In other words, I'm gaining experience while also power-leveling you. Since we've formed a party, I want to do it properly."
"Power-leveling?"
"If my prediction is correct, the boss of this dungeon won't be anything special either. So don't worry and just stay close behind me."
It was different from playing the game through a monitor. In this reality, a single moment of carelessness could lead directly to death. That's why repeated practice was necessary.
Learning the monsters' attack patterns with my own body, pushing my reflexes to the limit so I could respond to any variable.
I had no intention of becoming an idiot who relied solely on levels.
"He sounds so blunt, but he actually takes good care of us."
"Takes good care... He seems like the type who'd abandon us without hesitation if we got in his way...?"
"Well, that's not entirely impossible, but at least he seems to properly protect his own people."
Since we'd safely reached the target fourth basement floor, there was no need to rush anymore. We could take our time farming while searching for the boss room.
If I distributed the equipment that dropped here to Adelaide and Renya first, we'd have roughly the specs needed to clear a dungeon one level higher.
"Like Lady Adelaide said, he really does seem reliable, but why do I keep feeling uneasy...?"
"It's because he's the type who loses all sense of reason when it comes to dungeons. Even if he seems a bit strange, please be patient and try to understand."
After roughly finishing our preparations, just as I was about to take a step forward to begin properly exploring the fourth basement floor—
Thud. Thud. Thud...
From the end of the corridor where thick darkness had settled, the heavy footsteps of something massive echoed.
Thud. Thud. Thud...
The instant I heard that sound, I immediately gripped the handle of the greatsword slung across my back.
"Something huge is gradually approaching us."
"It seems to be on a completely different level from the monsters we've faced so far."
"Don't tell me... a corrupted monster...?"
What exactly was this corrupted monster Adelaide mentioned? As I calmly mulled over its identity in my head—
Rumble rumble rumble...
The entire corridor suddenly shook violently with a dull vibration. It wasn't just one. There were multiple sets of footsteps. Anyone could tell this was the sound of a horde rushing toward us.
"I-isn't this a pretty big problem...?"
"Why?"
"What do you mean why? They're swarming toward us."
"Isn't that actually better? It's a chance to take them all out at once."
Being able to handle them all together without having to search for them one by one—where could you find more efficient hunting than this?
"It's even better that they're only pouring out from one passage instead of attacking from both sides."
At my indifferent remark, Renya immediately made a dumbfounded face.
"As I mentioned earlier, he's the type who loses all reason when it comes to dungeons... so please understand even if he acts a bit strangely."
"A bit...?"
But that only lasted a moment. From beyond the dark corridor, the monster horde finally revealed itself before us. Orcs shuffling forward grotesquely, emitting a nose-stinging stench. Their rotting flesh was grotesque to the point of being utterly repulsive, yet I felt quite good.
Because anyone could see that this orc was a named mob.
"Instead of being scared at the sight of a monster horde, he actually looks happy?"
"Yes. I'm definitely happy."
Unlike regular mobs, named mobs gave quite generous rewards when defeated. If things went well, we could get items comparable to boss rewards. How could I not be happy seeing that?
"This goes beyond strange and into straight-up madness, doesn't it...?"
"It might seem that way at first, but eventually you'll realize there's no back more reliable than his."
Leaving Adelaide and Renya, who seemed to be discussing something, lightly behind, I raised my greatsword without a shred of hesitation and kicked off the ground toward the monster horde.
Even though the space was far too cramped to swing a greatsword freely, I didn't care in the slightest. I smashed through the corridor walls haphazardly as I cut down the oncoming monsters one after another.
"So, Miss Renya, have you given it any thought?"
"...Yes? Thought about what?"
"About joining our party."
My armor was already drenched in the monsters' blood in the blink of an eye. Behind the decaying orc, countless more monsters squirmed hideously, but I didn't stop swinging my crude greatsword for even a second.
The thought that all of this was experience and items made it impossible to stop my hands.
"Honestly, I don't really understand what's going on either. I'm just following along because you told me to trust you and follow."
"Ah, that's a relief. So I'm not the only one who doesn't understand..."
"No one can understand that person's behavior. I've never seen anyone who likes dungeons this much in my life."
I wondered what kind of item this Champion Orc-looking guy would drop. Since it had been leading the monster horde, I'd killed it first, but with the endless stream of monsters pouring in afterward, I hadn't been able to check what it dropped.
"Well, anyway, the choice is yours. I don't really care whether you join our party or not, Miss Renya."
"...Why?"
"Because I don't feel like anything is lacking. Even going around as just the two of us doesn't seem to cause any major problems."
I wanted to finish this quickly and check what items had dropped.
"If anything, being alone with just the two of us feels more comfortable..."
I hoped some useful equipment had dropped for those two. Especially since healers relied quite heavily on good gear.