I want to eat ice cream.

You will find a lot of people who are looking for the best way to get the most out of their lives.

No, to be precise, the reason I shivered was not because the air was cold. The main reason was that Liz had somehow changed her job from a treasure hunter to a mere hunter.

Tino is flying around on the stone pillars, searching for something that doesn't exist.
Liz, who instructed him to do so, was just piling up the heads of sand rabbits in front of me.

He is quicker than any other beast living in the vicinity, and since he is not hunting for food, his hands never stop.

There was only one sandrabbit that I noticed, but apparently there were many sandrabbits in the vicinity, as they were supporting the ecosystem.
When Liz caught them and brought them to me, she decapitated them and piled them up in front of me as a matter of course.
The dull eyes shining in the darkness, even after death, were very eerie. I turned away in the middle of the scene, but I could not eliminate the sound of thundering. It was fortunate that the rabbit did not make a loud cry.

Are you going to eat that? You're not going to eat it, are you? Stop it, you're torturing animals. No, it's classified as a demon, but it's just like an animal.

I'm a philanthropist. I don't like to be violent, and I don't like to be violent either. Defeating demons is not a crime, so there's no reason to stop Liz, but it's too much.

Tino said to watch her, right? You should watch her. I can't see her.
I sighed deeply and decided to complain.

They've always helped me since I became a hunter. I owe Liz and the others a lot.
But that's not the same thing.

'Liz......, why don't you just leave it at that?'

'What? Really?

The sound stops. I don't know how many of them I've hunted, but I can smell the strong scent of blood even when I turn my head away.
It's a terrible smell that makes me nauseous, even though I'm used to it to some extent.

'...... I'm a ...... philanthropist.

I didn't fail to see that. The bond between me and Liz is not so weak that it can be overlooked at this level.
But I can't stop my words from becoming sloppy. At my words, Liz walked around in front of me and tilted her head.

Her eyes look genuinely curious.

'? Are you saying I should hunt the body instead of hunting the device?

What? I have no idea what you're talking about. Is it another hunter's term?

But even if you say "terminal", the terminal seems to be unaware that it's even being used, so even I might not know where the source is. They seem to be very cautious. I'm sure Lucia or Shito know more about this kind of thing.

Liz put a finger to her lips and spoke quickly. I'm struggling to understand what she's saying, so I don't know what she's saying at all.

For the time being, I'll leave the first half, which I couldn't understand at all, aside and just think about the second half.

Are you being warned? That's because they've killed so many of their own. Sundrabbit is a herding creature, so it would at least be wary. Well, that caution seems to have been for naught at this point.

And Lucia and Citly know a lot about rabbits. ....... I've never heard of them before, but mages and alchemists have a lot of weird knowledge, so I suppose it could happen.
If the three of them were to get serious, there would be nothing left but rabbits. You don't have to hunt rabbits that seriously.

Yeah. I think I understand about 80% of what you're saying. The important thing is to get her to stop the slaughter.
I wandered my gaze into the darkness, where I couldn't see anything, and said, trying to look cool.

'For now, there's no need to hunt any more rabbits. I don't really care if they're wary of me or not.

'Well done, Cry. Nice! But we haven't destroyed the source yet, and I think we need to make them regret messing with us. If they think they can survive in hiding after antagonizing us, it will ruin their reputation. If we don't crush them in the name of Lamentations, ...... they'll think we're trash who can't even be located. It's not a good idea for us to be left like this. I'm not sure what to do. I'm sure Lucia and Shito will say the same.

Liz's eyes glittered. I don't think she really understands what I'm saying.

Aren't you going too hard against a rabbit?
You're dealing with a sand rabbit. I don't care if it's a human, it's a sand rabbit.
I don't think being licked by a rabbit is a badge of honor, and in the first place, they were just living modestly in this world of the weak and the strong without bothering anyone. They haven't even touched us.
The beauty of Liz is that she always does her best, but she should choose her opponents.

And I don't know what you think of Lucia and Cicely.
I won't say. They don't like to waste time. If she insists, they'll go along, but if not, they won't want to destroy a harmless rabbit.

When I think about Liz's words seriously, the content is so ridiculous that it makes me smile.

Then I realized my mistake.

Liz has her hands folded behind her back and is looking up at me as if she's excited to see me.

That's right. Liz is a little shallow, but she's not stupid. She's rough, but she's got a sense of humor. She's a good friend to me.

So Liz's words - they were probably meant as a joke. Maybe she's trying to make up for the lack of communication lately.
It's not a joke to make a pile of dead sand rabbits, but it's not something to get upset about.

I'm brilliant today.

'No, I honestly don't care about rabbits in the first place. ...... And you can't locate them? Daigen? The king? The king of the rabbits is in the rabbit hole, of course. I don't have to think about it.

Maybe he's out there, but basically he's in the den. It's quite doubtful that there's a king in the Sand Rabbit herd in the first place. .......



Liz's expression brightened as if she were blossoming at my flippant reply.

'Liz, it's bad that you try to find everything with your eyes. You need to think with your head.

'Yeah, I'm thinking too. ...... I see, in the burrow. ...... There are many similar burrows around here, and it might be the perfect hiding place for a timid rabbit owner... ...'

What's an owner? Sundrabbit doesn't have an owner.

'Yeah, yeah. No, they don't. It doesn't matter, just watch your apprentice's courage.'

I can't see anything, but I'm sure he's working hard.
For some reason, her lips twisted into a cruel smile, and I grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her toward the pillar. I don't know if you're serious or not, but you need to stop obsessing over rabbits.

Under the dim moonlight, a black blur is blurring. All I know is that it's fuzzy.
I feel like I'm watching a monster as it jumps between two pillars several meters high.

'You've become a great ...... bandit already.

'Oh, really? You haven't trained enough yet. You'll have to grow up quickly to be my kumite partner. ......'

I think I've done enough, but Liz is still not happy. Well, one of the purposes of her taking an apprentice is to make Tino stronger than her so that she can use him as a training partner, so I guess it can't be helped.
I mean, I've been thinking, isn't it contradictory to raise someone stronger than you? How do you do it?

I'm so eager to eat ice cream that I try to calm Liz down. By the time Tino finishes his investigation, he must somehow convince her of the reason why he came to this treasure house.

'I wanted to come to this treasure house to see Tino grow up. I may have bothered Liz in the White Wolf's Den, but that was just bad luck.

'Yeah, Tee is great, but I want you to see me grow up too.'

Liz lifted her head as high as she could while holding my shoulders and looked up at me from below.

I can't see it. I think I'm already strong enough.
Lizzie and the others are already too much for me. Tino's not really in control either. You can watch, but I can't give you advice. .......

I decided to muddle through.
I ran the palm of my hand down her healthy tanned neck. Liz's eyes watered, her shoulders relaxed, and her body trembled.
Her body temperature seemed to have risen considerably.

Liz's engine has been tuned for high performance.
Energy is, simply put, heat. When she is at her best, Liz's body temperature rises to an unbelievably high level.
This is different from Luke, who uses his superior skill and fighting spirit as weapons, or Anthem, who is all about physical toughness.

'Don't worry, don't worry, Tino's growth will show you how hard Liz worked. You're too uptight. Let's loosen up a bit.'

'You mean we should be natural and handle every situation? Hmm, we've been through our fair share of rough spots, but we're not quite there yet. Now that Krai-chan is gone to take care of the scum, exploring has become boring.

'Yeah, yeah, right?

...... I don't know what you're talking about, but I hope you're having fun.
Liz nodded loudly as if to convince herself and leaned towards me.

'Yeah. But I think I'm feeling better now. Thank you, Crye. I'll do my best. I don't want to disappoint you, Cry-chan.

'...... won't be disappointed.'

I'm more worried that Liz and the others will be disappointed in me.
At that moment, Tino's voice, a mixture of relief and (unusually) excitement, came from the top of the column.

'There it is, the treasure trove! The treasure trove, there it is! It's in the form of a bracelet! I found it, mastera! Masutaa! Sister!

You're good.

It's not every day you find a treasure in such a low-ranking treasure house. Maybe it's good that there are few people here.
You must have a good routine. You're so different from me.

I'm sure Liz would be happy with the results.
When I looked down, I saw that the happy expression on her face had disappeared. She frowns and clicks her tongue.

'd*mn you, Tee. You let your guard down! There's no way Cry-chan would come this far just to find a single treasure trove. Don't you feel this tremor?

...... hmm?

I don't know. I'm not sure what to do, but I'm sure it's a good idea.
It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're doing.

The only one who remained calm was Lizzie.

It wasn't an earthquake. The shaking showed no signs of stopping.
Too confused to say anything. I can't even scream. I can't move.

Liz takes me by the arm and hugs me tightly as if to calm me down. That calms me down a little.

And then I was silenced by an unexpected sight.

The source of the sound and vibration was in the center of the group of cylinders. In a large space surrounded by columns, a large black mass rises up.
It was about four meters high, the same height as the surrounding columns. At first glance, it looks like the same pillar, but if you stare at it from a distance, you can see that it has 'limbs'.

In the darkness, you can see a strange pattern on its head, like an upside-down triangle, glowing red.

What is that?

She puts her index finger to her lips and mumbles with a serious expression.

'Golem. Metal armor. Boosters on the legs. Artillery on both arms. Long sword on shield. No wings. An advanced land-based golem? I'm not sure what to make of that. I'm sure you'll be able to find something that will work for you. ............ This is what Kry wants. ...... Yeah, it's definitely strong.



A golem? Oh, I see. I thought this place was supposed to have illusions too.
I pretended to know something about it as I listened to Liz's analysis of the battle situation.

'Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a big sand golem.

Like the Lair of the White Wolf, the situation in the Treasure House these days is quite disturbing. It may be a boss, but isn't its level too high for the difficulty of the Treasure House?

Big is the same as strong. A dragon can slaughter countless hunters with its size alone.
Well, the sand golem in front of you isn't that big, but it's way too big compared to Tino.

The giant sand golem turns around and looks back at you. You can't see the details, but from the silhouette, you can tell that Liz was right and that the giant humanoid is carrying a large sword and shield.
If I could afford it, I would have run away right now. I can't move my legs.

Liz has an unusually grim look on her face.

'Hmm. I don't think Tee can do it yet. We're not very good at fighting, and Crye's estimate is a bit harsh, even if it is light.

'...... It was Tino who chose it.

I think I'm going to vomit.