Leon found Eunice, who was in tears after the battle was over. The rest of the members continued to gather around and the atmosphere was swift and swift.


''Een-een.''
This guy....!


　And Tsutomu almost gnashed his teeth at Eunice, who started crying and mimicking here and there. The PT members of the infinite circle were whispering to each other as they watched, and the golden investigation looked like they had guessed. Then Leon instantly came up in front of him and grabbed him by the shoulders with a gasp. Tsutomu's face involuntarily tensed up at the seriousness of his expression.


''........Are you going to pull it out again?　Tutum.


　I thought he was going to hit me with his momentum, but Leon said that with a smile as if the prank had been successful. As a gold wolf man, Leon's hearing was good, so he listened to their conversation during the battle. And from the look on Eunice's face as if she had been possessed, he knew that the tears were not sad.

　Tsutomu patted his chest as if reassured by Leon's mischievous words and quickly returned the words.


'It's not,'
León!　It's not. We don't care about this guy.
No, you can rest assured that I'm not thinking about it.
'Huh!　Stop crunching people's lines!　You stole my bun heist!　I'm not embarrassed to keep cracking up!
I don't know what you're talking about.


　They laughed bitterly at the two who started arguing, and the situation was settled in a roundabout way. And after that, we will continue to proceed with the search jointly with the golden investigation.

　I'm sure you're not going to be able to find out what's going on, but I'm sure you'll be able to find out what's going on.

　After that, Diniel acted as a spotters and gathered more and more monsters, and continued to cooperate with the golden investigation to continue the battle. Amy and Hannah were talking more and more to the others with their natural cheerfulness, while Xeno was being asked by Leon to elaborate on the Golden Ember Aura.


'You're not managing the seconds very well. You're three seconds off.
It's too loud. Don't talk to me because it disrupts my concentration.
''The juniors behind me are better at the basics than you are. You're up there with Eunice as long as you can learn the bun heist, so good luck with that.
'Huh!　You have to beat it!
''Senpai...!　It's not good!　God's eyes are watching you!


　And the two healers were bickering and doing supportive recovery, stopping Eunice, who was about to be hit by a junior fox man. In the midst of all this, the joint search for the infinite circle and the golden investigation continued into the evening.


'So, when is Tutom going to take on the Winter General?


　After the search was over, Leon asked Tsutomu while looking at the PT members who had defeated many monsters and split the dropped magic stones in half.


It's a good thing that you've stopped challenging the Silver Beast lately, because if it continues like this, Aldrete Crow will eventually break through to you.
'Yes. The rest of the time, Melcho-san could do it too, couldn't he?
'Oh well. I'm going to be in a lot of trouble. I'm in a bind.


　Leon shook his head, dear. Leon seems to have an extraordinarily strong opinion of Melcho, perhaps because he knew him before the God's Dungeon was created. Tsutomu had also seen Melchow's activities in newspaper articles, so he couldn't dismiss the possibility.

　Besides, like the rotten swordsmen of the forty levels, the strength of the Winter General also seemed to vary depending on the number of people he was challenging. That had been pointed out in the articles of Solit Company and Labyrinth Mania, so as long as they could secure the magic stones used for the Fist of the Demon Stream, they really had a chance to break through.


''We haven't even decided on our own members yet! I just want to make sure we don't let Aldoret Crow run alone, though.''
Oh, yeah. I see.
What about you?
We'll be leveling up for a while. If it's the same as before, we'll be able to get it up to ninety levels.
Yeah it's going to take a long time, isn't it?


　Unlike in games, you can dive into dungeons as much as you want without worrying about time, but there are no paid items such as doubling experience. And since the time it takes to defeat monsters is different, it will take quite a bit of time to get up to ninety levels.


'What can we do?　That guy is really tough. It's not as bad as the dragon's, but it's the second worst thing I've ever seen. You know what I mean? If I say it feels like a fire dragon I don't know if Tsutomu can understand it.
'Oh, yes. Yes.
Ha, I'm gonna miss seeing this baby die.
Don't be such a pussy.


　Tsutomu tiredly retorted to Leon, who was cheerfully getting involved, and it seems that the distribution of the magic stones was finished. Since Amy's appraisal of the magic stones was able to accurately distribute the magic stones, they both look amicable.


''But, I think there are actually a lot of people looking at the divine table just to see the annihilation of the infinite circle.
Uh, what is it?
'Everyone's looking forward to seeing Tsutomu wearing the loser's clothes, right?　And I've also heard that the Winter General is a betting machine that he'll die or not die on first sight.
''Heh........ By the way, which one did you bet on, Leon-san?
Me?　Of course I bet you're going to die!
Hey.


　Tsutomu narrowed his eyes accusingly at Leon, who smiled and gave a thumbs-up.


''Kekekke. You can't do it this time~. You can do your best~''
Well, I don't know for sure. I'll do my best.


　As I saw Leon leave for the PT members with a thief-like motion, Tsutomu left as well. And as it was, the two PTs went back to the black gate from which they came out to return respectively.


　-Oooh-.


　The next day. When he changed members from yesterday and was leveling up and checking the coordination at the seventy-nineth level as usual, Diniel found Aldoret Crow's PT in the search for the enemy. So Tsutomu immediately headed towards Aldoret Crow, but he was unable to catch up with him.

　Then Diniel said with a troublesome look while shooting arrows.


''I think it's obvious that this is being avoided.
'What?　Really?
"There's an arrow over here, and there's an arrow over there. We can't keep up with them. Hate me, Tsutomu, I don't think he likes me.
Yes. Did I do that?
'Master!　I'm going to come clean.　If you do that, I'm sure Luke will forgive you, too!
Oh, I'm pretty sure I did something.


　Tsutomu chuckles at Hannah, who looks up at him like she's scolding a child. But to begin with, it's hard to imagine that she doesn't like Aldoret Crow, since she hasn't even interacted with him recently.


(The experience distribution isn't any different from the game, so we can't even talk about it interfering with leveling, right? What is it?)


　Even if Aldoret Crow defeats a monster from the side where they are fighting, the experience value is still given to all of them. There may be an intention to not give experience to the Infinite Circle, but Tsutomu believes that Aldoret Crow is not that thorough of a clan, even though it focuses on efficiency.

　There would be no reason to force himself to approach Aldoret Crow, which just seems to be avoiding the infinite circle. He was a little concerned about Stephanie, but Tsutomu changed his mind and gave the persistent Hannah a deco-pin, saying it was okay.


'I want to!　Master!　A shot is a shot!
Look, Garm is watching you.


　When Tsutomu said with a clear face to Hannah, who was holding her forehead and protesting with tears in her eyes, she turned back with a huff.


''Ha!　Master Garum, I'm sorry!　I'm going to explore seriously!
No, that's all right. No, that's all right and don't talk to me like that.
No, no, no!　Garum-sama is Garum-sama!
I'm not one to be feted. Can you tell him that, please?


　On Garum's shoulder, with his eyebrows bent into a figure eight, was a small earth spirit gnome resting a bit on his shoulder. It is an earth spirit gnome, which is contracted by the spirit magician, Leleia, who makes him contract a spirit spirit spirit.

　Unless you have a mu or unique skill, the status that goes up with the spirit contract is a half-step. Therefore, the spirit contract is not that necessary for Garum, but he is trying out different things.


''Well, Daryl's calling me by my name after all too. I'm not going to force him to call me by my name.''
Then it's Master Galum!　And Mr. Tsutomu is a master!


　Hanna points at them with a smile as she says that. Garum has his dog ears folded back as if in trouble, and Tsutomu also has a somewhat subtle look on his face.

　Then Leleia, who was behind him, called out to Tsutomu.


''Tsutomu. May I have a moment?''
'Oh, yes. What is it?
Can I get a one-time contract with Norm?　As it is, I feel sorry for you...


　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this in the future. The way the haniwa-like apparent earthenware form is moving is a slightly distracting sight.


''Eh.''


　Seeing Tsutomu's disgust at being told that, the gnome makes a shocked motion. Undine is useful because it increases his mental power, Sylph can be used to double as an avoidance tank, and Salamander can be used to double as a sub-attacker. But Tsutomu didn't feel the need to sign up for another contract, as he believes that only gnomes with increased VIT are worthless to him.


''Please, please. He said he would work hard in return.''
Well, you can sign up for it. But I usually use Undine most of the time, okay?
Yes, sir. Okay, contract-norm.


　As soon as Tsutomu hadn't changed his mind, Leleia began the spirit contract. Then the apparent clay figure that looked like a haniwa on Garum's shoulder crumbled, and a new layer of dirt rose up in front of Tsutomu.


''..........''
..........


　As if she had been watching the earlier exchange, the gnome transformed into a girl who was no taller than Hannah. She has human-like skin that doesn't look like it's made of earth, and she wears clothes with ornaments made of earth. And in her hands she was holding the earthen figure I saw earlier, which looked like a haniwa.


''Isn't that a strange direction to work hard in?''
''Well there's a lot about the spirits that I don't know much about yet.


　I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get it right, but I'm going to be able to get it right.