What the hell is this guy ......?

　It was on the way to the 20th level, after I went off the 'right path' of the 14th level and hunted the boss.

　I found a monster moving at high speed within the 《Dimension》.
　The monster was moving at a speed that didn't look like it was on the 14th level approximately. I thought it was a powerful enemy and 'watched' it from a distance.


[Monster] Line Skitter: rank 1.


　Contrary to expectations, it's an unusually low ranked boss monster.
　In the opposite sense of speed, it doesn't resemble the 14th layer.

　The figure looks like a small mouse with a blue glow.
　However, its glow is not normal.

　I'm intrigued and decide to go after that one.
　The Snow behind me looks like it's about to fall asleep, but I leave it alone and turn my attention to the Lineskitter.

　Despite being the boss, the Lineskitter runs around without fitting into the area. Approaching it was not an easy task.
　However, as he chased after it, he gradually understood the laws of the Rhineskitter running around.
　And I'm convinced that we won't be able to encounter them on foot for any length of time.

　I have no choice, so I make Snow wait on the "right-of-way" and start acting alone.
　This is because if I run seriously, Snow won't be able to follow me.
　This is a status trait, so it can't be helped. I specialize in speed and Snow specializes in endurance. That's the difference.

　After telling Snow not to fall asleep on the "right-of-way," I start chasing the Lineskitter with all my might.
　I anticipate the corridor that the Lineskitter will go down and gradually close the distance.

　A few minutes later, I have a successful encounter with the lineskitter running with the wind.
　Immediately I pull out my sword from my 'belongings' and slash at it.
　However, the moment I slashed at him - the lineskitter increased its speed and dodged my sword.

''Wha--?

　All I was allowed to do was that one sword.
　The lineskitter dodged the sword and passed by me, disappearing into the darkness of the corridor.

　I tried to chase after it - I stopped, remembering how fast I was when I was able to avoid the sword.

　Probably, that line skitter's top speed is faster than mine.
　I realize that I can't just chase him and put the sword back in my 'possession'. I then seek other means from my magic and 'possessions'.

　My most confident 《Dimensional Winter (Di Winter)》 is not effective. That's a magic to intercept the enemy that's coming towards me. Even if it interferes with the fleeing enemy's actions, it won't have much of an effect.
　The same goes for Die Overwinter in the Overcrowded Dimension. Even though it has a deceleration effect, it's difficult to fit a line skitter within its area first. You could spend magic to expand the area of effect, but even then, the chances of success would be low.
　I'm not going to be able to get the best out of it.

　--You will be able to find a lot of people who have a lot of experience in this field.

　I took out water from my "possessions" and made a large puddle on the path the line skitter would take. I place one of the "Dimensional Snow" on it. Of course, I won't let it pop just yet.

　Any line skitter running on the ground would likely fall into this trap.
　Furthermore, the information that he was a rank 1 suggested that he could be caught in this chutzpah trap as well.

　After making about five of the same traps, I figure out the position of the lineskitter.

　With my preparations finished, I approach the line skitter in the same way as before. This is to gradually limit the direction of the enemy's escape and drive them into this group of traps.

　I need to hurry as much as possible.
　The base of the puddle trap is the Dimensional Snow.
　If it is broken by another monster, the trap is useless.

　And after chasing the Lineskitter around again and again, the Lineskitter finally stepped into the area where the trap was located.

　I stop chasing it and focus all my attention on the timing of the trap's activation.
　The moment the Lineskitter steps into the puddle, I make the Dimensional Snow (Di Snow) pop. The cold air popped, and in an instant, the puddle froze in place. Of course, it was the entire foot of the line skitter.

　I confirm that I've captured it with Dimension and hurry to the frozen puddle.

　There was a Lineskitter there, beeping and trying to get out of the ice. It seems to be a monster with speed, but no power.

　My conscience ached a little.
　However, repeating the weak and strong in my mind, I slash the Lineskitter with my sword.


[I've acquired the title 'Brilliant Line Skitter'
　Speed will be corrected by +0.05


　'Gaze' at the dropped magical stone.


[Crescent Pectrazi]
　A collection of magical power that makes the flashes run
　Rarely dropped from a monster that is cursed faster than anyone else.


　The description shows that they are scarce, and I am relieved that I got something worth the effort.

　With my goal accomplished, I head back to Snow's place.
　I make it to "The Right Path" and search for it.

　However, despite all my warnings, Snow is meditating at the edge of the "right-of-way". Although he was not breathing in his sleep, it was still too much for me to see.

'Snow, I told you not to go to sleep. ......
...... Mm. Mm-hmm?　No. I haven't slept, I haven't slept.
Now that was a delayed reaction.
Don't worry about ....... For that matter, did you get the example down?

　Snow tries to digress.
　Her annoyance is hardcore, so it would be useless to pay any more attention to her.

'Yeah, I caught him in a trap and took him down. I dropped this thing.'
"...... Oh, wow. This is a rare one that may or may not turn up one a year in the five allied countries. As I recall, 'Crescent Pectolazuli'?
That's right. That was a lot of work.
"Even if you defeat the ...... thing, you don't necessarily drop it. That's why they're so rare. Good for you, Kanami.
'Really?　Then you're in luck.

　It looks like I got lucky this time.
　In fact, it's almost a coincidence that I was able to detect the line skitter with Dimension.

''Welcome to ....... We've got some good stuff, let's move on.

　Snow pretends to be motivated and tries to advance through the labyrinth.
　It's entirely clear that he doesn't want to get petty talk from me for taking a nap in "The Right Way".

'Right. Let's proceed.

　If truth be told, I'd like to preach for an hour or so.
　I'd like to explain at length from the ground up about the possibility of labyrinth monsters entering the 'right path', the possibility of being attacked by other searchers, and many contingencies.
　However, given Snow's personality, it's likely to be in vain.

　I had no choice but to go deeper into the labyrinth, trying to figure out how to correct Snow's personality.


　◆◆◆◆◆ ...


　I had declared that Snow wouldn't have to fight, but that promise was rebuffed halfway up the 19th level.
　After all, the maze is full of unforeseen circumstances, and once surrounded by monsters, Snow will have no choice but to fight.

　His opponent was a 19th layer monster, the Carmine Minotaur.
　However, the battle between Snow and the Carmine Minotaur was more one-sided than I expected.

　The iron great axe that Snow swung with one hand slashed off the Carmine Minotaur's right leg.
　The enemy screamed in defeat as well, and swung the axe back down. However, Snow lightly received the blow with the great sword he was holding in his other hand.
　With an ear-breaking metallic sound, the Carmine Minotaur is flung backwards.

　The Carmine Minotaur, which has a body several times larger than Snow's, was blown away in reverse.
　Seeing that scene, my eyes widened.

　And as it was, Snow cut off the head of the blown-up Carmine Minotaur and thrust his sword into its heart.

　I had just finished defeating the monster I was also dealing with.
　Relieved by his overwhelming physical strength, I muttered.

''I guess that's it.''

　I retrieve the magic stones from the monsters that have become light and look at the sword in my hand.

　On top of the bloodstained, spilled blade, I put the sword away in my 'belongings'. Then, as I was taking out my spare sword, Snow tried to hand the weapon to me.

'......n'

　Apparently, they want me to put a weapon in my 'possessions'.
　Snow knows about the 'possessions' system. In truth, it's an ability I don't want to tell anyone about, but I needed to teach her.
　It was partly because they would be working together for a long time to come, but most of all, Snow's "belongings" system was absolutely necessary for her to carry her weapons.

　Thanks to the correction of her race as a dragonborn (Dragon Newt), Snow has more physical strength than her status. Because of that compensation, she is strongest in fighting by handling heavy weapons. However, perhaps because she relies on her physical strength to attack, she also has a weakness in that her weapons wear out quickly.

　In general, the conditions under which she performs best are when she can carry a large amount of heavy weapons. Originally, due to the nature of labyrinth exploration, that best performance would not be demonstrated by Snow. However, with my 'belongings' system, I can ignore the nature of labyrinthine exploration, which is a weight limit.

　With such a huge benefit hanging in front of me, I had no choice but to let him in on the secret.
　I look at Snow's weapon and ask him about his intentions.

'What's up?'
....... It's heavy.
No, you can't beat a minotaur with a snowflake without it, can you?
When you're surrounded by ......, get me out again.

　However, after learning about the 'possessions' system, Snow seems to think it's just enough to be able to explore empty-handed. He's been trying hard all along to be as empty-handed as possible.

'You won't be able to respond to things on the spur of the moment, so keep it with you. Please.
...... muu.

　I clearly say no, and I step forward to the 20th layer.
　Once I give him a weapon, he has to make sure he doesn't take it. If I make my movements heavy and force them to fight the monster, Snow will fight properly. If you make him light, he'll try to scurry around and slack off.

"We're leaving you, Snow.
...... Yeah, my hands are tired.

　Snow reluctantly followed me with his weapons on both shoulders.
　I saw my chance, and on the way to the 20th level, I hit Snow with the monster several times to get him to fight.

　After repeated harassment like that to gain experience, we reached the 20th level.

　After descending the stairs, we found ourselves in the same desolate space as the 10th level.
　I set up the Connection at the corner of the 20th layer just like I did at the 10th layer. With this, we can go back and forth in the labyrinth at any time.

''Alright, this is the goal.
...... Okay, let's go back. And let's end the day.
It's not the end, but it's possible to go back. Let's have someone from Epic Seeker recover.
'...... or recovery?　Are you still trying to work me over?
You don't work enough. Let's just go.

　Me and Snow move to the office in the headquarters of the "Epic Seeker".

　Then, we immediately look for a member who can handle the recovery magic with the 《Dimension》. Perhaps because we had finished most of our work yesterday, it was easy to find members who were not busy.

　I called out to the members who were practicing sacred magic and asked them to heal their wounds. However, they didn't struggle too much, so all of them were only scrapes.
　It was eerie that the wizard who recovered me was grimacing as he healed my wounds. When I asked him why, he said that healing the wounds of strong people was his reason for living. As expected of an "Epic Seeker" healer. There's something wrong with his head.

　After confirming that Snow and I have fully recovered our HP, I try to go to the labyrinth again. However, Snow complains about the challenge of never taking a break.

"...... Kyu, take a break.
No, no. We have everything we need. No reason to go.
...... It's mental for a sequence like this. --I don't know. Bring out the 'Crescent Pectrazi' from earlier.
What's wrong with this?

　I take out the Crescent Pectolazuli from my 'belongings' and show it to Snow.

...... take it to our blacksmith. If you think it can be processed, ask for it and get a new weapon. If it's such a rare magic stone, it's going to be interesting.
'Oh, so The Epic Seeker has its own blacksmith? Sure, that sounds interesting.

　I agree with you about getting a new weapon.
　I broke a couple of swords today as well. I thought it would be no problem with a mass-produced item, but in the long run, I may need a more expensive one soon.

Let's go to ....... Let's get some things made. I'll be right next door.
You're sleeping next to me, aren't you?

　I chuckled and accepted Snow's suggestion.
　Then we headed to the workshop located on the edge of the Epic Seeker's headquarters.