That day's dungeon exploration began at the twenty-one level of the swamp and ended when the swamp's hierarchical lord, the Queen Spider, was defeated. Looking at the spider webs stretched across the sky above where the Hierarch Lord had disappeared, Amy slashed and peeled away the spider webs that stuck to her body with her twin swords.

　Particles from the still hierarchical lord's annihilation wait in the air, glittering in that dimly lit cave. Amy finished peeling off all the spider silk, touching her two arms, which were slightly protruding after being healed by Tsutomu. Garum is still struggling with the threads that have gotten into his large tail.

　In the midst of all this, Tsutomu, who had held a large, colorless magic stone in his hands, brought it underneath Amy.


''How do you like this?　It's pretty big, and it's going to cost about 300,000.
''Hmm. Even by the looks of it, it's of poor quality, maybe 150,000.


　Amy, who described the magic stone as being large but cracked in places and containing many air bubbles, gazed at Tsutomu, who was hanging down with a wow.

　A lucky boy who had drawn an extraordinary treasure on one level. He has a white mage job that isn't highly valued from the black cane auction, and he's being pointed backwards to see if he's not a lucky person there. In fact, Amy thought so too.

　White mage is a job where if you revive someone on the front line, the rest of the job is just to be abandoned and die. A white mage who made sure his particulate allies were fully equipped with the recovery skills of Raise and High Heel, would be intensively targeted by almost every monster and abandoned by his friends. The time the white mage is targeted is the time for the revived to pick up the fallen equipment and change clothes.

　The crowd's opinion of him is terrible because he is usually the first to die, even when he is on the monitor, and he doesn't receive any advertiser appointments - or sponsorship requests - from big stores or nobles. White mages don't get any fame.

　The only income they receive is from dungeon rewards, unlike the others. Furthermore, when they die, the PT may not be able to collect their equipment. Of course, major clans would be compensated for this, but since there is no way to compensate for goods from dungeons, they will only be compensated in gold.

　Amy, who was popular as a twin swordsman in a major clan at the time, pitied the white mages and even looked down on them somewhere in her heart. She didn't want to be the one to throw away her pride and pick up the money.

　He also felt sorry for Tsutomu, the white mage, but he was reluctant to take on Tsutomu's protection under the orders of the guild leader. Just when I was thinking of killing time to relax in the meantime, I reached the 40th level.

　And Amy was beginning to understand what Garum had said during this swamp exploration.

　Tsutomu's flying heel. She didn't understand how great it was because she didn't get injured much the last time she received an attacker, but after receiving a tank today, her perception of it had changed.

　First of all, we can lower the cost of potions. Green potions that instantly heal injuries are in high demand from frontline melee attackers, and currently they are quite expensive and popular potions are often out of stock.

　In comparison, the blue potion that restores mental strength is only used by black mages to defeat hierarchical masters. Mental power doesn't die unless it's too exhausted, and it recovers naturally. It's not essential for non-life-threatening purposes, and since it's currently not in demand, it's cheaper than green. Amy visits the potion shop on her own to check it out after Tsutomu gives her a medium magic stone.

　And since green potions are expensive, many searchers think it's a waste to drink them due to a few injuries. So most of them are either forced to continue fighting with an injury, or they leave the battlefield to drink a small amount. It's not uncommon to see deaths in the PT as a result of these injuries and desertions.

　However, Tsutomu's flying heel can recover from a few injuries quickly, so it won't interfere with combat, and he won't have to leave the battlefield to drink potions. The probability of dying is also reduced, since you can face the monsters in a perfect state.

　Amy felt that the battle now was easier physically and mentally, to the point that it felt ridiculous to have fought until now while desperately enduring the pain while having a means of recovery in the form of potions. In fact, Amy thought that Garum must have felt the same way.

　During their time as explorers, the two of them belonging to a major clan had been surpassing each other as if they were fighting over who could update the highest tier. Amy had seen Garum on the giant monitor at the time, and he was in worse shape than she was.

　She would continue to fight the monster, spitting blood and wielding her sword, no matter if her arm was broken or her internal organs ruptured. And when he really reached his limit, he would be allowed to use potions. Amy guessed that it was because Garum had experienced such a thing that he admired Tsutomu so much.


'Oh, Amy. Is your arm okay?　Could it be that you haven't been healed yet?
"Huh?


　She was unusually surprised by Tsutomu, who unconsciously called out to Amy, who was unconsciously holding her two arms as if he was worried about her, and she was unusually plain.


'No, no!　I'm fine!　I just feel like my skin is sticking out a little bit!　Look!　........or rather, it's back to normal once we get back to the guild in the first place.
'I see. But I'm really sorry to have caused you and Amy so much pain.


　Tsutomu lowered his eyebrows apologetically at Amy, who wagged her flapping white tail. Then Garum, who came from behind, placed his palm hard on Amy's head.


'Hm. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to get rid of this guy who can't even do you justice, Tsutomu.
'Uh ... Amy. The tank was tough, wasn't it?　You're going to be facing the most monsters relative to your PT, and it's going to be a painful experience. In fact, Amy, you're getting significantly more bullets than last time, right?


　Tsutomu continues to talk to Amy, who is sweltering as she pays off the hand placed on the garm and chooses her words.


'With Tank taking the pain on his shoulders, Amy-san is relatively free to attack. Because the tank is gathering hostility, my skills can be used to their fullest extent. Of course the attacker is an important role (role), but the tank is just as important.
...hmmm?


　He opens his mouth to conclude while Garum, feeling uncomfortable with Tsutomu's words, tilts his head.


'I know there are parts of you that are incompatible with Garum, and I'm not saying that you should get along. But I do hope that you will understand that you are performing the role that hurts the most in the PT, and that you will be able to respect each other.
'Well, it's the same thing. Amy. Now you know what I'm talking about.
"...Shut up. I know.


　Amy looked down and whispered in a small, unusually whispery voice. Then she turned away sulkily, and Tsutomu fumbled with his hands as if in a panic.


'No!　Of course, attackers are important too!　If we lacked DPS, we wouldn't even be able to explore the dungeon in the first place!
Tsutomu's talking incomprehensible language again. Come on, let's go home, let's go home!


　Tsutomu looked at Amy curiously as she walked out to the black gate with a change of heart, while Garum looked at her with his chin up proudly.


　--Oooh--


　The next day, Tsutomu and his PTs had made their way to the forty-ninth level. From the beach, Tsutomu was bracing himself for the game to require a little ingenuity, but he felt a little overwhelmed.

　Many of the enemy monsters are also based mainly on creatures that live in the sea, and even though they are on the beach, their characteristics are often troublesome. However, the firepower to eradicate Amy's enemies to Garum's totally unbroken tank. It was trivially excessive on this level. Tsutomu followed them even though he was puzzled by the dungeon exploration that was advancing at almost the same speed as the forest on the tenth level.

　When he saw the black gate to the 50th level, Tsutomu had Amy search around it and when she confirmed that there were no enemy monsters, she heeled the two of them. Then they took a break until Tsutomu's mental strength naturally recovered.


''Well, can we make it this far?''
...hmmm, yeah.


　Amy and Garum looked at the Black Gate with distant eyes, holding the snack sandwich that Tsutomu had given them. They had challenged and defeated the hierarchical lord of the beach here, Shellcrab, many times.

　The Shell Crab has a habit of diving and moving to other places to regain its strength when it is drained of a certain amount of strength. So you have to anticipate whether they will lose their energy all at once or where they will dive.

　A lot of potions are needed to cut down on the four attackers, and a black mage with a large amount of firepower at once is essential. The clans of Amy and Garum did not have enough black mages to shave off the hierarchical masters in one fell swoop.

　If that was the case, they would have no choice but to predict where they were hiding, but if they couldn't find them quickly, they would recover their strength. And if they were searching the vast beach beyond the black gates for a lullaby, they wouldn't be able to find them at first.

　Most of the time, you'll find them when they've recovered 80% of their health, and the attacker is dead, and the healer is often already dead, so that's where you get wiped out. After spending a large amount of potions and continuing to get wiped out repeatedly and going through recklessness, their clan has disbanded.

　The Shell Club is a huge barrier for them. They attacked and attacked, but they were able to duck and recover and fight again. Following Tsutomu's warfare methods, it certainly became easier until now, but even so, the hierarchical lord here wouldn't be able to get past it. A kind of feeling of resignation was floating around.


''Tsutomu. Do you have a plan?


　Garum, who was slightly dog-eared down, turned his clinging gaze to Tsutomu. Tsutomu licked off the sauce dripping from the sandwich onto his fingers, but looked curiously at Garum, whose mood was sinking.


'As usual, Garum is the tank and Amy is the attacker. If the crab doesn't get caught in the forceps from the looks of it, I don't think Mr. Garm will be killed instantly. Amy should be able to attack as she normally does. Oh, it might be more effective to aim at the joints and such.
'Certainly attack and defense will be fine. ........But when the shell club wears out to some extent, it dives and goes away. Is there anything we can do to counter that?
'If it's just Amy, it's not enough fire power to make a run for it, so I'll probably be able to escape at least once. But since I'm going to set a trap in one of the three nests myself, I can probably determine the place of escape the first time. Amy's been getting better lately, and she should be fine with the first escape.
"...what do you mean by a trap in the nest?


　Garum grabbed him by the shoulders, and Tsutomu unintentionally spilled his sandwich. He looked at Garum blaming him for the sandy sandwich, and spoke up with a puzzled look on his face as Garum didn't let go of his shoulder at all.


'The shell club goes back to its own nest to eat to regain its strength and armour. We can narrow it down to roughly three nests, since we can tell how much wear and tear is on them by the foam color of their mouths and the peeling of their shells. Based on Amy's firepower, I think I can escape in the first stage, so I'll set a trap in that nest. Don't force yourself to attack while you're setting the trap, but keep your attention on it while you both drink the potion.
..........
'Oh, but these are not yet confirmed information. I think my guess is correct from what I've seen live, but if you don't go to the designated nest, you should retreat immediately. If you do, we'll bring more potions the next day to deal with it.


　After nodding his head curiously at the two who had expressions of incredulity, Tsutomu remembered that their highest level did not exceed fifty levels. If you just look at the level alone, a five-man PT would be the proper level for a volcano attack, but their status cards are blue. The two of them had only seen the scene beyond the fifty levels live.

　No wonder the beach hierarchy attack should have been unusually fast, Tsutomu thought now. If he had raised the beach to level fifty-nine, he would have defeated a considerable number of monsters and explored the beach many times. And even so, he could guess that the shell club had not been able to get past it.


'Well, for now, let's just try as much as we can this time. I've already recovered myself, so I can go.
..........
Hmm, yeah.


　Amy, with a rare divine look on her face, remained silent as Garum returned the clipped words. Tsutomu then confirms the approximate actions of the shell club to the two of them, then opens the black gate and takes the lead.