Chapter 38.2

Haruki put down his bag and started to prepare.

“Karen. Sorry, but I’ll need you to carry this as we move.”

“Oh…yes. Uh, what…”

What Haruki had taken out was black, long, and slimy.

Karen looked at it and shrank back.

“What is that?”

“Just a slimy eel.”

“…What?”

“I said it’s a slimy eel.”

Karen looked at him suspiciously.

“Huh. Karaboshi. I didn’t know that you had a thing for making girls carry such things.”

Her cold stare was rather painful.

No. No. It wasn’t like that, okay?

“Apparently, it keeps monsters away. It’s effective for one day.”

“…A monster repellent. But then, why didn’t you use this from the beginning?”

“Because I thought that if it was possible to kill them quickly and advance, it would be better. But now I know that the Owners take too much time to fight.”

It had been five minutes. Seven minutes if you included the time they rested.

As they were currently searching for Oiso, they could not spend so much time on each fight.

“I doubt the effect is perfect, so we should still remain cautious.”

“…Yes.”

Karen sounded depressed.

Apparently, just touching the slimy eel was enough to chip away at your mental strength.

Why was she so upset? It was just a little slimy, that’s all.

Haruki tilted his head in puzzlement. As for himself, he thought that two were bound to be more effective than one, and so he carried slimy eels in both hands.

“…So…”

Karen said hesitantly from behind him.

“Why are you, uh, carrying Rhea?”

“Hmm?”

During their break, Haruki had taken Rhea out of the magic bag.

And now he was carrying the planter in his own bag.

As there was a pot in his bag, half of Rhea now stuck out of the bag.

“I thought she could be like a shoulder cannon.”

“…Haah…”

Karen sighed with exasperation over this answer.

If the slimy eel didn’t work on the Owner, they would be forced to fight.

Of course, as they had been able to defeat it before, it was likely that they’d be able to do it again, as long as they weren’t taken by surprise

Still, it wouldn’t be an easy fight.

And so that’s where Rhea would come in.

Rhea’s throwing was strong enough to pierce the enemy. With this, it would be even easier to take out the Owners.

And since the pot was at the bottom of the bag, Rhea could continuously replenish her bullets.

That meant she could use her throwing attacks without the worry of running out of ammunition.

As for Rhea herself, in spite of the possibility of fighting a monster being very real, she was grabbing Haruki’s shoulder with her vines and swaying her head around.

She was not bothered at all.

“Besides, I’m carrying eels in both hands, so I can’t exactly attack at a moment’s notice.”

“And I suppose there was no option for you to keep one hand free?”

“Exactly!”

No argument.

When it came to safety, it was better to be excessive!

Karen gave him a look that seemed to say, ‘see, I knew it was just your fetish.’ But Haruki ignored her and continued to search for Oiso.

After walking for some time, a monster appeared in front of them.

“Be careful. Rhea, don’t attack just yet.”

“Okay.”

“(Nod)”

Haruki held his breath and observed the Owner and the Silver Wolves.

Just then, one of the Silver Wolves noticed them.

Their eyes met.

It was just as Haruki thought this.

“Hyaaai!?”

The Silver Wolf let out an adorable sound as it turned around and ran away.

The Owner looked at us in surprise.

“Gya!?”

Just like the Silver Wolf, the Owner took one look at them and then turned around and ran as if to chase after the Silver Wolf.

“The slimy eels sure are amazing!”

“Uhh… I don’t think that it’s just them.”

“Hmm? What else could there be?”

“…If you haven’t noticed… Never mind.”

Could there be any other reason for them to run away?

He had no idea.

As Haruki tilted his head to the side, Karen shook hers and sighed.

After that, it was almost funny how monsters would run away at the sight of them.

“I feel like I’ve become a really strong boss.”

“A boss or maybe a mortal enemy…”

Haruki continued to map the area in his head as he watched the monsters run away frantically.

The 8th floor was about double the size of the first floor.

It would take three hours to get through it without fighting.

On top of that, the grass that had started appearing since the 6th floor was now tall enough to reach their waist.

They would have to keep up their concentration, or they could miss Oiso.

If she was still alive, it was possible that she was using some kind of magic tool to avoid being detected by the monsters.

And if she were using such a tool while hiding in the grass, then even Haruki would be unable to find her.

And so he kept his concentration up and avoided traps while moving through the dungeon.

＊

Oiso Saika was hiding in the grass on the 8th floor.

If she could, she would have escaped a long time ago.

However, her broken left foot would not allow it.