Hmmm ... I'm tired today.

That's true. It's hard to keep track of time in there, sir.

You're in there more than I thought.

　After our labyrinthine search, we returned to the inn.
　Sure enough, we couldn't use the beacon, so we had to make the long walk back to the entrance again.
　By the time we got outside, it was already nighttime, and we managed to get back to the shting using the beacon.
　If it wasn't for the beacon, we would have been in the field.

'But then again, I can't believe someone like that is out there.

No wonder they call it at least a "B" grade.

　The first time I entered the labyrinth, the result is indescribable.
　I was more mentally exhausted than usual by the number of demons that were coming to kill me than I had imagined. My lack of experience due to the fact that I had pushed my rank up until now was very impressive.
　If even the slimes that are on the upper levels lag behind, it might still be dangerous to go deeper.

''Hmmm, it looks like we haven't done enough to get to the labyrinth. I'll have to do that after all...''

Don't tell me you are planning to play the lottery again?

Hmmm, well, it happens.

Oh, you're kind of a jerk for a brother, aren't you?

　I'm sure I'm missing a lot of things myself, but there's also a different set of issues that came up.
　Against small fry, we can fight enough to say we're good enough. However, the last Aulum Slime we encountered this time.
　When it comes to defeating that thing, it's definitely not enough.

　So we'll make up for it with gacha, but....

''No, I'm willing to get on board with being able to play the gacha. If I'm going to strengthen my party, it'll narrow down the next profession I want, so it's a bit of a stretch.

"...?　What is this all about, sir?

　Unlike the previous gacha, the conditions are a little different this time around.
　In the end, the conclusion to turn it in remains the same, but it is because the number of times until you get the desired hit is significantly different.

I think we're pretty good as far as equipment is concerned right now. What we're lacking is the strength to do party combat.

'I still think I've done well enough, but I certainly feel like I've been a bit disorganized when it comes to strong opponents.

　Yes, we are lacking in the strength to fight a battle by party.
　Right now, thanks to their overwhelming status, we are able to manage it. But this is a battle that relies on individual strength.
　If there are enemies that are out of our control, it will be difficult to fight them.
　Well, most of the disturbances up to now are my fault........

''To be honest, I'm not the most subtle of forces.......and then the only ones who can fight properly will be you two.''

'Oh, you are concerned about that, aren't you? We've got that covered, and we want Okura-dono to take his time getting used to it.

But that doesn't mean we can't let our guard down in front of the enemy like before, does it?

Oh, yes. I'm sorry.

　Esther smiles at me in a very gentle way and says it to me, but her smile is scary in reverse.
　I was also scared when she said it with a straight face during Asterios. I got cold feet during the steel slime, too, because he had a slight expression on his face at that time....
　I felt as if my teacher or boss was watching me all the time.
　In a way, that made me nervous and I've been paying attention since the steel slime.
　Let's be careful this time, because I'm afraid of what would happen if I did it........

''So, I'm sure we're short on strength, but what we're definitely short on is a wallflower.

Are you at the Wall?

　I didn't actually fight them, but if I was going to defeat the Auld Slime, it was dangerous in my current state.
　There was a chance that we could win, but we weren't in such a hurry, and I didn't feel like forcing myself to do it.
　If we were to fight, it would be like walking a tightrope, and if we were to do poorly, we could have been wiped out by our skills.

'The slime that was on the tenth level, if we're going to defeat it, we'll need a role that can hold it.

'Does that mean you want a job with high defense, like heavy armor?'

　An existence that can withstand that demon's attacks with little damage. As a profession that can play such a role, heavy armor is an ideal job.
　However, heavy armor alone is useless as a wallflower.

''You'd think, right?　That's true, but number one is the priest. It doesn't matter how good your defense is, if you can't recover, you can't do anything about it.

Can't you just drink the potion?

　It's not as if the high defensive power is enough to make the wall role work.
　It's true that if you have potions like Noll says, you're fine if you're doing a normal wall.......

'Nole, can you drink potions anytime while under attack?

I don't think that's possible.

　If they attack you with no time to use potions, no matter how much heavy armor you have, they will melt.
　That's the kind of thing I want a priest in my party the most right now who can heal from long range.
　Now that I think about it, Dius's party would be a pretty good party if only he had a mage.

As long as we have a priest, we won't have to worry about that kind of thing, and even Nol can play shield to some extent.

Hmm, I'm sure you're right.

　If you have a priest, the worst thing you could do is have a Norr play the wall.
　But that's just the Auld Slime, and if we want to capture the labyrinth in the future, both of them are essential.

But then we'll have to protect both Esther and the Priestess this time.

This is getting difficult to talk about, isn't it...

　Even if only the priests come, now there will be two to protect.
　The only way to do that is for me or Nol to protect them, but I'm not sure I'll be able to protect them and I want Nol to protect them.
　But even if I was the main attacker... If I was strong, it would be easier to talk about this, but I'm still miserable.

"That's why, if possible, a priest would be the first priority, and then heavy armor would be helpful, but here's the problem.

Is there anything else?

　Esther made a gesture of tilting her head curiously as if she thought the conclusion had already been settled.
　It's true that the conclusion is to draw the priest's heavy armor through a lot of gacha, but....

''The problem is the gacha.''

　When I say this, the girls look at each other and don't understand.

The biggest obstacle in gacha is getting a specific character. To be honest, if it's just UR, it's more than you might think.

　I've been obsessing about UR and going crazy, but what I'm aiming for now is far tougher than that.
　How hard is it to get the unit you want out of the many URs out there....
　If the odds go up through pickups and the like, that's fine, but if they don't, you'll be stranded for quite a while.
　There may even be a large number of other units that will be scrambled before you can pull them out.

So if you have the right strength, it's pretty tough to hit them in the gutter.

It's hard to get the UR that you're after.

　If we don't get them all together soon in the future, we may have to look at getting some of the people in this world into the party.
　Then we'd have to talk about the mess and all that. It's scary if it's not someone I can trust.
　But I haven't even made any horizontal connections until now... I don't know many people in this city, and I may have been too disinterested in other things.
　Now that I've reached a dead end, should I try to accept requests other than hunting while collecting magic stones?

''Well, if it's just hunting for magic stones, it's still good enough for me. Exploring the labyrinth is going to be impossible for a while.

'You will. But when it's that hard to get going, I'm curious to see what's in the back.

Perhaps there is a clue that will lead to Lord Okura's return.

　It's such a labyrinth. What is in the deepest part of it all?
　That unnatural entrance, and the abnormality inside. There's a good chance that the clue to my return is in there.
　From now on, with the goal of capturing the labyrinth, I'll be working hard to strengthen my forces for a while.