[Adventurer, Anastasia - 08]
[Adventurer, Anastasia - 08]
"Saintess."
"Yes, Gram-nim."
"If you're just here for a field trip, turn back now. Clearing a dungeon isn't easy. If it's a field trip, you'd be better off doing some requests at the guild."
During the final 10 minutes of preparation, Gram, the party leader and the A-rank adventurer who had spoken to me before, said this.
Sober, he had strong eyes, and while his tone was rough, his gaze was filled with concern.
If I had to describe it, he looked at me like a father worried about his daughter.
He looked old enough, and I saw a ring, so maybe he has a daughter?
It seemed he wasn't as bad a person as I thought.
'I still have a long way to go.'
They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but it was hard to think of him as just a "good person" with that appearance. He looked like he could be a mountain bandit somewhere.
The greatsword he was carrying also seemed well-maintained.
Eris also always took good care of her spear.
I heard Ed nagged her often, telling her that if she wanted to use a weapon, she had to take care of it as well as she took care of her own body.
'Anyway, how should I answer?'
I pondered briefly while maintaining my smile.
I could probably get away with pretending to be naive and having a head full of flowers.
But that was just a mask to avoid troublesome matters, prevent making unnecessary enemies, and make people underestimate me.
It was merely a means to prevent potential enemies or situations that might become annoying.
But there's no need to do that with someone who doesn't require it.
It means I can take off at least one of the many masks I'm currently wearing.
"I want results."
"......."
"And dungeons are full of threats, making people anxious. Why should I hesitate to go and deal with that as the Saintess? When it's time to fulfill my duty, I must fulfill it. Sitting at a desk just pointing fingers isn't my style."
"......Hmph, is that so? You're more of a tomboy than I thought. Different from what I heard."
"Are you disappointed?"
"No, I actually like it. That's Adrian Valtus (Ed) over there, right? I didn't expect to see him in person."
There's no one who doesn't know Ed.
Even if people didn't recognize me sometimes, quite a few recognized Ed.
Ed's black hair wasn't something you saw often, and if you mentioned a black-haired holy knight, it was easy to identify him as Ed.
Ed said he stood out wherever he went, so he often changed his hair color entirely when he needed to hide.
Well, after spending 10 years in war and performing countless feats, rumors were bound to spread among people whether he liked it or not, and with bards and such turning stories into songs, it was bound to spread through the world even faster.
Stories from the battlefield were, in a sense, perfect for turning into songs.
They were stimulating, tragic, and great for instantly grabbing people's interest.
"I just headed to the battlefield, and you to the dungeon. My name just happened to become famous by chance, and there's almost no difference between you and me."
"......It's a happy day to hear that from a hero. If there's an opportunity someday, I'd like to spar with you."
"Yes, let's do that when we have time later."
"Alright, then let's get going. If Adrian Valtus (Ed) is there, it should be fine for the Saintess's side to have a small number, right?"
"No problem."
Actually, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that even if it were just me, Ed, and Eris, there wouldn't be any major problems.
Alright, let's do this.
Dungeon exploration.
I'm a little excited, aren't I?
"It's just a cave."
"It doesn't necessarily change into a different environment."
"I thought I'd be able to see bizarre and rare sights. I really wanted to see a volcano erupting since I've never seen it in person."
"Don't act spoiled. There are adventurers following behind us."
"I know, it's obvious they're nervous just by looking at them."
No one there wasn't nervous, but the adventurers behind us right now seemed particularly inexperienced.
Setting aside the tension in their hands gripping their weapons, their stances were awkward.
This was probably their first dungeon experience, and their combat experience was likely lower than Eris's.
Still, they had formed their party members in a standard way.
"You know, they don't look that skilled, so why did they bother coming as the dangerous vanguard, those kids?"
Though, calling them "kids" when they all looked older than the Saintess was a bit much.
"As I told you, the dungeon vanguard is definitely life-threatening. We're entering a dungeon where almost nothing is known yet. But in return, they get paid more, and they might get their hands on good materials inside."
"Besides magic stones?"
"Yes, because there are materials other than magic stones."
Ores are the most famous, but depending on the scenery, you could find rare medicinal herbs or various other rare materials.
Therefore, those entering for the first time could get more opportunities to obtain them than others.
And you get paid just for entering, and if you bring back various information about the dungeon, you get extra money, so in terms of efficiency, it was several times better than a normal request.
Therefore, for those who need money urgently, are aiming for a windfall, or want to make a name for themselves, this dungeon vanguard role serves a good purpose.
If you're lucky and it turns out to be nothing much, and you manage to clear the dungeon, your reputation skyrockets at that point, and you gain achievements that are a huge help in raising your rank.
That's why everyone comes to the dungeon vanguard even if it means risking their lives.
Of course, as I said, the risk was extremely high, so there were people who didn't bother joining the dungeon vanguard.
Beyond not joining, there were people who didn't want to come to the dungeon at all.
As I said, it's not just monsters, but traps too, so if you hit one wrong, even a skilled person could easily die without being able to do anything.
Especially for clerics, if they got caught in a trap that forcibly moved them and were left alone, they had no choice but to die.
Because of that, there were already few clerics among adventurers, and there were even fewer who wanted to come to the dungeon.
If there were two or more clerics clearing a dungeon, you could say that was a lot.
Given this environment, naturally, high-ranking adventurers are desperate to learn healing magic.
Gram, whom we saw earlier, must have definitely learned healing magic.
Of course, the battlefield I was on wasn't much different, so I learned it too.
The problem with this is that healing magic, annoyingly, is harder to use on yourself than on others; healing others can be learned if you have the aptitude, but healing yourself isn't easy.
Therefore, you needed at least two people to heal each other.
Healing your own body as casually as a click, like the Saintess does, is really not an easy thing to do.
"Saintess."
While walking inside, I called out to the Saintess, and she stopped as if she understood what I meant, and Eris drew her spear in sync.
"You guys should get ready for battle too."
"Ah, yes! Saintess!"
"Is it an enemy!?"
"Huu, let's calm down. Just calm down."
Judging by their skills, it looked like they had just reached D-rank.
I don't think they're skilled enough to come to a dungeon yet, but that's probably why they were attached to us.
It seemed they judged that if they were with us, at least these guys wouldn't die.
"I-it's a Black Wolf! There are so many!"
"The guy that the three of us risked our lives to catch......."
Still, the fact that they could catch a Black Wolf meant they could at least be called "no longer beginners," but they seemed too nervous.
The Saintess looked at them for a moment, smiled, and walked slowly.
The Black Wolves visible around us were ignoring the others and wary of the Saintess.
That was only natural.
She was openly emitting strong magic power.
"Huu."
"Huh? Is this magic power?"
"Is it the Saintess's magic power?"
That was the normal reaction.
It's not easy to completely dominate the surroundings as if it's burning just by releasing strong magic power.
I could do it if I wanted to, but it would consume a significant amount of magic power, whereas for the Saintess, it was basically just a deep breath.
She's getting stronger and stronger.
She's become absurdly strong, to the point where she's now playing in a different league all by herself.
Clap, clap, the Saintess said while clapping.
"Ed, take care of them."
"You strike a pose like that and then leave it to me?"
"Ed has the cool attack skills, right? It's a chance to show the fledgling adventurers something cool."
"Haa."
"Master, haven't you been sighing a lot lately?"
"You two are the culprits, you know."
I quickly grasped the positions of all the Black Wolves and gestured.
My shadow stretched out long and pierced right through the Black Wolves.
As the Black Wolf was pierced, the other Black Wolves got excited and jumped at me. Maybe they judged me to be manageable, unlike the Saintess.
I don't know if it's actually manageable due to the contrast effect, but at least compared to that monstrous magic power, it probably feels like if they bite, their teeth might actually sink in.
Like a beast, that part was an accurate judgment.
Kkaang!
All the rushing Black Wolves hit their faces against the walls that rose from their own shadows.
Ssuuk! Ssuuk!!
The following blades of shadow soon passed through, bisecting all the Black Wolves.
"It's finished."
That said, I didn't think there would be this many Black Wolves.
The evaluation of it being a B-rank dungeon seemed accurate.
Sometimes, if you're lucky, it's labeled a B-rank dungeon but turns out to be a C-rank one.
Unfortunately, it didn't look like that would happen here.
The Saintess smiled at the adventurers who had surprised faces behind her.
"Let's walk a little closer. We don't know when monsters might ambush us again. Don't worry, I'll protect you all."
"Ah, yes."
"As expected of the Saintess. ......And i-it's really Adrian-nim."
"A-Adrian-nim! Actually, I've wanted to greet you for a long time, by any chance, could I get an autograph......."
The adventurers looked at me with shining eyes.
When I smiled awkwardly and looked at the Saintess, she had a slightly proud look on her face.
I thought I'd see a scene of jealousy, but instead, her face looked like she was bragging, "This is my man."
"I'm not your man yet."