48-Different promises
It was past two o'clock in the afternoon when I descended the tower, so I decided to fill in the map of this floor.
I walked around for about an hour to make sure I hadn't missed anything.
As for the general structure, the north and south towers had only passages with many turns, and the only monsters that appeared were shadows.
On the other hand, the tower in the center is skeletal only, and although it is undead-bound, it is unevenly placed.
There are no other interesting places other than the tower, and there seems to be no materials to collect.
If I hadn't gotten the doorbell, I would have branded it as a bad floor.
The boss is a skeleton. The boss is a skeleton, and then there's Shadow and his cronies.
In the large room in front of the stairs was a rather large skeleton with four arms.
In each hand he held a sword, a shield, a mace, and a dagger, and looked surprisingly strong.
There are four shadows walking around the boss.
If you don't have a way to kill the shadows quickly, the combination of a boss with physical attacks and cronies with weak attacks is quite threatening.
But one Kuu should be enough.
"Koo!
Perhaps he understood the praise, he jumped up and landed on my shoulder.
He then rubbed his fluffy feathers against my cheek eagerly.
When Yoru saw this, he ran up to me and climbed up my body to the other shoulder as well.
It's nice to feel the soft touches from both sides, but it feels a little too indulgent.
What's wrong? What's wrong? Are you hungry?
"Hmm, it's because you have a new servant and you must be lonely.
"Oh, that's why.
I pull them apart and hold them in my hands, straining under the weight.
"You know, without you, the search itself would be useless. That's how useful you are, and even without you, Yoru and Kuu are very important to me.
"Aruji-dono!
Kuu!
I nodded to them as they hugged me, their eyes shining with joy, and lowered them to the ground as my arms reached their limit.
Then, in a gentle voice, I said to them.
But this time, I want you to take a break. I want to train the others.
A trump card (ace) is essential for a team, but it is also true that relying on it all the time can be dangerous.
In Dracula 2, there were events in which the first team members could not participate.
Also, I'd like to see how good the skeletons are.
"Goshaw.
"Koo-koo!
While stroking the bellies of the two skeletons that were lying on the cobblestones, I gave them a brief explanation of my plan.
The blue slimes will act as walls this time.
However, Paula will be in charge of the sharp dagger, as it may break the skin of the slime.
Don't worry about the sword, because it is rusty and almost like an iron rod.
In the meantime, I'll have Fairy Yo and Gobbler follow up on the boss skeleton side.
And as for the four Shadows surrounding you...
"I'm counting on you, Bone Boy #1 and #2!
This is the first battle of the cute maid bone unit.
However, the skeletons, which only have physical attacks, can't defeat them, so they're just decoys.
They were also numbered, but I couldn't tell them apart.
When the skeletons come around from the left and right, the Shadows react to them and attack them in pairs.
Then, just before the boss skeleton started to move, a flash of blue light rushed across the floor.
Using their bouncing bodies, the blue slimes move at high speed and instantly enter the boss's feet.
The skeletons quickly thrust out their shields and daggers.
The skeletons seem to be faster than the bosses, perhaps because their bodies are only made of bones.
Suu-chan is hit by a sharp thrust.
But then comes the sound of a whip cutting through the air.
The wrist holding the dagger is struck hard, and it turns in the wrong direction.
The shield succeeded in repelling Ra-chan, but Gobbledygook, who was waiting for him, shot an arrow at him.
This time, the swung sword deftly knocked away the flying arrows.
I guess the four arms aren't all they're cracked up to be.
But as expected, swords and hammering pikes can't penetrate the blue slime's skin.
Two of them acted as walls, bouncing around and deflecting attacks.
Gobbler's accurate shooting and Paula's perfect whip-handling are also working well together.
Yeah, it seems to be going well.
And the shadows were doing just as well.
The boneys were surrounded by black shadows, but they were completely unharmed.
Then Mia's
It took less than a minute to clean up the cronies.
"Okay, now for the boss! Bone Boy!
The maid bone troops lifted their rusty swords and challenged the large skeleton.
The maid bone troops lifted their rusty swords and challenged the large skeleton, but despite their best efforts, they didn't seem to be taking any damage.
Then, with a swift blow from the side of the sword, they shatter into pieces and blow away together.
"No.1! No. 2!
I don't know who it is, but I shout it anyway.
I'll ring the doorbell and have it replay on the spot.
Well, it's my original role to reduce the number of moves the boss has to make.
The boss skeleton, perhaps annoyed by everyone's concerted attack, suddenly raises its three arms holding its weapons wide.
"Yo, it's a distraction!
In response to Paula's instructions, the fairy flashed a light.
The boss skeleton, which had been planning to unleash its special skill, was frightened and stopped its movement.
The blue slimes attacked without pause.
The rest is just a repetition of this.
The four-armed skeleton, whose leg bones were quickly damaged, feigned agony as it unleashed its second special move, the Blade of Darkness.
It is a nasty technique that sucks the strength out of the person it slashes.
But conversely, the activation of this technique is also a sign that you are low on energy.
"Okay, let's kill them all at once. Mia!
"Woohoo! I'm going to burn you all up!
The boss, who had been stopped by the blindness again, was hit with a series of fireballs.
The large skeleton, its entire body ablaze, crumbled and broke into pieces on the spot.
Then, slowly, the bars lifted.
"Yes! You guys are amazing!
"Good job, Mia!
Baboon!
"Geeheeheehee!
A chunk of black magic stone was recovered from the burned out body of the boss skeleton.
The wooden shield was burnt to a crisp and useless, but the other three weapons were put away in the item list.
It seems that you can use them without Yoru and Kuu, even against higher-ranked demons.
But you have to take into account their affinity.
And the maid bone troops don't look promising in terms of offensive power.
Well, decoys and diversions are important roles, and they can be used in many other ways.
Finally, Yoru and Kuu, who were lying face down on the ground sleeping, were carried by the bone boys, and we proceeded to the next floor.
The eighth floor was a deep forest.
Big, thick trees that looked to be three digits old stood in a row like pillars.
Their trunks reached far into the air, forming a green corridor.
The ceiling was obscured by the trees, and although there was sunlight filtering through the trees, the whole place was dimly lit.
There was also a lot of undergrowth and the visibility was not very good.
This looks promising.
"Really? I'm feeling a bit woozy and uncomfortable.
Yeah, that's true. Well, let's save the fun for tomorrow.
I'll just check today, and then I'll leave.
There was no trouble on the way back, and I was able to reach the ground easily.
Today's harvest.
The first four floors are almost the same, so I'll skip them.
I didn't kill any demons on the fifth basement floor, but I did get some tribute from the goblins.
Wild rabbit leather armor, top and bottom. Leather armor of a fearsome bird, top and bottom.
A saddle of a fearsome bird.
Fifteen wild rabbit horns.
Smelted.
Sixteen bundles of silk thread. Four barrels of jade oil.
Some silk thread, tanned rabbit skin, and rabbit meat have been given to the goblins.
Sixth basement level.
1 small blue demon stone. 20 blue demon stones.
2 giant crab shells. 8 giant crab meat. Two sea turtle shells. Two sea turtle meat.
Wrought.
8 bags of labyrinth salt.
Some of the labyrinth salt, giant crab shells and meat, and giant turtle shells and meat have already been given to the goblins.
Seventh basement level.
One black magic stone lump (small). 51 black magic stones.
1 Underworld Bell (4 stars).
Twenty-one sluggish iron swords. Twenty ragged wooden shields.
One lazy hammer and pike. One lazy dagger.
There is a shortage of humpbacked hides, so there is not enough tanning for the supply of hides.
However, as for the processing of the goblins, I have given them many other things, so they should be fine.
As for the levels, they have been steadily increasing due to the number of battles.
Kuu and Yoru are still at level 23, but Paula and Mia are now at level 22.
The blue slime Su and Ra, and the fairies Yo and Gobbler are now level 21.
When I returned to the village in high spirits after reaching the eighth floor in one go, I found someone lying in front of the tavern.
I rushed over to find that it was Heimo, a beast of a man with cute bear ears and a bushy beard.
From the way he was snoring in his sleep, it seemed that he was already drunk.
I took a detour into the bar and called out to Mr. Ute at the counter.
I'm back. Is everything all right?
Yeah, I've had a rough day.
What's going on?
In response to my question, Mr. Ute let out a deliberate sigh and cocked his chin toward the entrance.
You've forgotten all about it, haven't you? See, you were sleeping there.
Yes?
As soon as he said that, the memories came flooding back.
............ That's right. I had promised the blacksmith.
He said he'd take me to the labyrinth when I finished making the white lightstone pedestal.
"I've been flailing around in there all day because I found out you left me. You'd better apologize to him.