Deep in the darkness illuminated by a red ball of fire.
　The face of a gigantic rat, its eyes flickering, unexpectedly appeared.

　The eerie creature, with the head of a beast on a human body, let out a short, grating squeal and bent down to ward off the flying fireball.
　Two arrows pierced its breastplate with a thud.

　The rat's face widened as if startled.
　Then another flying mass of heat hit it.

　In the blink of an eye, the upper half of the wererat's body is engulfed in flames.
　But it doesn't seem to be over yet.

　Waving its burning arms around, the demon struggles to move forward.
　A sharp whip struck the knee of the leg that was in front of it.

　The wererat's legs were swept away, and it tumbled over, flapping its arms and legs on the ground.
　Then, after about ten seconds, he quieted down.

"Yeah, we're working together perfectly now.　
"Hmmm!　I know, I know!
Don't be too proud, Mia.
Yes!

　The girl smiles and jumps into Paula's arms, too softly for attention.
　And then she asks me secretly.

"......, what do you mean by 'manshin'?
"It means don't get too carried away.
Oh, I know. I've been there. Yeah, yeah, I do.
"I can't help it, Mia.

　Mia, who had been gently coaxed again, smiled happily and snuggled up to Paula.
　They're like sisters now.

　But we can't help but be a little careless.
　Once you get used to the Warrat, it's not so threatening.

　Mia would draw their attention with her fire bombs, and Etan would quickly shoot arrows at them.
　If they came close enough, Paula's whip would check them and they would attack again.

　With this strategy, it was almost impossible to stop them.
　Since the tunnel was not very wide, we had a great advantage in that we could not move around much, and we had the means to attack remotely.

　However, there was one major problem with this way of fighting.
　Some of the members of the team would lose their roles.
　It was unavoidable to keep an appropriate distance from them, because it would be troublesome if they were infected by the disease. .......

Sneeze, sneeze, sneeze.
"Kuu Kuu.

　Thanks to this, both Yoru and Kuu are completely at home in their blue slime beds.
　They are lying on their backs, sloppily showing off their bellies.
　Well, it's almost evening.



Oh, there it is. Master Nino, over here.

　Mr. Ettan, who was eagerly searching his surroundings, seems to have found the Warrat's treasure trove.
　He waved at me cutely to let me know.

　Incidentally, I've asked him to be more casual about calling me "sir", but he said he couldn't call me that lightly, since he was the one who healed me.

　I immediately approached the pile of junk and retrieved it, but again, all I found was ore.
　I only found one piece of equipment the first time, and it was the eighth time in total that I struck out.
　I did find a broken pickaxe, though.

　When I shook my head, Mr. Etan's shoulders slumped in disappointment.

It's hard to find.

　It was strange that a grown man should be so particular about his jewelry, but in Mr. Etan's case, it could not be helped.
　The tree race, which inhabits the Dragon Arm Forest, excels at cultivating plants because they have the blessings of the earth, and they are also skilled at becoming one with the trees to mask their presence.
　They are also skilled at becoming one with the trees and masking their presence. So far, they are just like any other race with long ears, but they are a monogamous, female-dominated society.

　The females are the largest of the six races with dragon blessings, while the males are the smallest and most slender.
　The men, being in the position of being chosen, have a habit of dressing up and prefer to wear prettier clothes.

　Then it occurred to me, and I asked him about it.

I asked him, "By the way, Mr. Etan, is there anyone you like?　You know, someone you could invite over here?

　The young man looked troubled for a moment, then blushed and turned his head.

I'm not sure what to say. I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.

　Oh, that's right, there is such a setting.
　Women of the arboreal race basically do not go out of the forest in order to protect the trees.
　Men, on the other hand, have a tradition of wandering around the country to broaden their horizons as a bridegroom's apprenticeship in order to train themselves and be seen.

But if I tell her about this interesting place, maybe she'll come. She likes unusual things. ....... Oh, but this place is a secret, isn't it?
No, if you're a man of your word, I'm happy to tell you.
Are you sure?　Yeah, I'm not very talkative, but I don't talk much, so I think I'll be fine!

　Basically, the arboreal race is only interested in the forest, so it won't be a problem.
　And they're not the kind of species to let their greed get the best of them.

　As I continued down the tunnel, hoping for new recruits, I easily arrived in front of the stairs.
　It was past noon when I started to kill the wolf on the eighth floor, and I had already been exploring the ninth floor for an hour and a half.
　It was probably getting dark on the ground.

　I should just check the tenth floor and call it a day.
　We turned our attention to the boss monster, thinking...

"Hmm?
"Huh?
"Oh?

　"Hmm?" "Huh? 　


　A rather large space in front of the stairs.
　There were the familiar warlocks.

　Seven of them in all, walking hurriedly here and there.
　That's all.

"Where's the boss, ......?
Yeah, there's nothing but cronies.

　The height of the warrats moving around is almost the same, and there is no one that looks particularly strong.
　They look exactly the same as the ones we've slaughtered so far.

"Oh, they're hiding somewhere, aren't they?　"Oh, maybe it's hiding somewhere, and at the end it comes out with a bang.
"Oh, that sounds likely. Well, let's get rid of the small fish first.

　But the narrow passageway, where arrows and firebombs are difficult to dodge, is the reason why our strategy has worked so far, and in such a large space, it is certain that they will move around freely.
　Then we have no choice but to play our trump card (ace).

　I took out a piece of green tangerine fruit that I had secretly left behind, and held it out to the sleeping Kuu.
　Immediately, the bird child's eyelids twitched and its mouth opened, drooling.

　At the same time, the fairy that had been perched on Paula's shoulder jumped up and down, laughing excitedly.
　Yoru, who had been sleeping on the slime next to her, woke up with his eyes closed and headed straight for me.

　I guess he sensed that the fairy and his sister were about to steal him away, but just as he was about to do so, Kuu's eyes fluttered open.
　He flapped his hands just in time and sucked in the blue berries, sending them flying into the air.

　And Yoru, who had lost sight of the blue tickle, licked my fingers absentmindedly in his sleep.
　As for the fairy, she burrows into my clothes and starts searching hard for any leftovers.

Hmmm, you have a big appetite. Or maybe it's just an obsession with sweetness.

　I took out two more grains and gave them to Yoru and the fairy.
　While patting the heads of the gleeful beasts, I ordered Kuu to fly around.

"Alright, Kuu. Clean up a little. "Kuuuuu!

　The abbreviation seems to have gotten the point across, and Kuu leaps in front of the seven warrats, beating the air violently with his wings.
　The small, wind-covered wings spread out to the left and right, and the purple whips rapidly gathered.

　--
　As the blizzard of feathers mercilessly swept over the ground, the mouse faces all let out a high-pitched scream.
　One by one, they fell to the ground, blackened and charred.

　With Kuu back in our arms, we stared at the space in front of the stairs, keeping our guard up.
　But nothing happened.
　No, there was a surprising change.

　The ............ bars were going up quietly.

"Oh, is that it?
"Oh, that's it?



　I searched through the corpse of the demon and recovered a lump of red magic stone.
　Apparently, this nondescript wererat was the boss.
　I don't understand it, but it seems to be the end.

　We walked down the stairs to the tenth floor, unsure of what to expect.
　Then, our eyes widened at the unexpected sight that spread out before us.

"Oh no, we're outside!