Ugh...
Medic.


　Xeno managed to dodge the acid bullets fired from the slimes shaped like turrets just before they hit his face, but he was hit in the back of the head by a tentacle that was launched with terrifying speed, putting him in a stunned state. Tsutomu, who had anticipated this, applied a medic right after the blow hit to recover.


''Die!''


　Amira is practicing to use her breath to break off the position as Tsutomu instructs her to do against the turret slime that Xeno is hating on. A short distance away, Amy and Garum were battling the goblin army while recovering with potions of their own.

　The PT led by Tsutomu was exploring the ninety-one levels of the city, focusing on individual practice, just as they had done yesterday afternoon. And today, Zeno, not Garum, was practicing under Tsutomu's direction, but he seemed to be struggling a lot.

　He was sweating as if he had covered his head with a bucket of water, and his silver hair was moist and wet, and Zeno was breathing heavily with his hands on his knees. Tsutomu clanked the medic on Xeno at the end of the battle, then drank the surplus blue potion and put his hand to his chin.


The decision to avoid the acid bullets earlier was good, but the prediction of the tentacle attack is still lax. As I said in the morning, as long as you don't get hit in the head, you won't fall into a stun state, so it's a prerequisite that you get hit by something other than the head. Try to be aware of that next time.
I know that, but...
''Compared to yesterday when I was stunned for the rest of my life and had my equipment melted down, I'm doing much better, and at this rate, I'll be fine. So, let's move on.


　Yesterday, mainly Garum was practicing how to fight slime and goblins under Tsutomu's direction, but even from the side, the level of the tank he required was high. So Xeno, who was nominated by Tsutomu today, had a bad feeling about it, but as expected, he was having a moderate amount of hell.


(Still, it's better than yesterday's Garum-kun, though... well, how could he endure it?


　Yesterday Tsutomu had Galum on a suicide mission against a swarm of slimes and was happily practicing the extremely harsh battle style. It's not just a matter of time before you get to the point where you'll be able to get your hands dirty, it's also a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands dirty. It was horrible at the end.

　After such a hellish experience yesterday, I was prepared to be thrown into a swarm of monsters when I was appointed today, but the instructions for me were not that reckless.

　First of all, he started by preventing acid bullets that could kill him in one hit if they hit his head, which is a thin VIT endowment, and now he was tasked with training to avoid the tentacles that moved in all directions. Basically, you are left to make your own combat decisions by simply assisting and recovering in the middle of a battle, and afterwards you are evaluated on your movements and given suggestions for improvement.

　That method of instruction suited the headstrong, albeit overconfident, Zeno, and somehow resembled his wife's when she trained in the countermeasures against the seventy levels. Moreover, it seems that the God's Eye is also being manipulated in a disciplined manner to suit Zeno, and when times are tough, he makes you aware of the reflection of the God's Eye as if it were a mirror.

　After an hour or so of such training, the number of acid bullets being hit has certainly decreased drastically since yesterday, and the movements of the tentacles are becoming easier to see. Although it's a bit hard to do in some cases, as it demands a little more than my own ability, the results are steadily coming out.

　And while I was resting, Tsutomu was spinning Amy and Amira's skills and making Garum review the characteristics and attack patterns of the goblins. As he did so, seeing him crunchily writing down the clan members on a notepaper, Xeno sneaked up behind him and peeked at it.

　The memo paper, which was bundled up into dozens of sheets, was filled with a lot of letters and diagrams. When Xeno gasped and raised his eyebrows in surprise at seeing that, Tsutomu noticed us and turned around.


'Can we call it a break now?　I'll start again then. And the one at Amira's has been replayed.
(...How can you make room for so much thought and guidance for your clan members?　(Amy, you ridiculed Mr. Tsutomu for being dungeon brained, but I guess that's really true.


　There are some managers and labyrinth maniacs in Aldrete Crow who are like overseers who look at the divine table that explorers see reflected in and offer suggestions for improvement. While it is true that the PT would be more complete if such people were present, there are almost no active searchers with such abilities.

　A candidate would be Aldoret Crow's Luke, but I wonder if Stephanie would be a better candidate these days. Nevertheless, Aldrete Crowe also wrote in a newspaper article that most of the time the manager of each PT makes such a point, and that she also takes that opinion into account.

　But what about Tsutomu? Even though Oli, who can be said to be running the Clan House these days, has started looking at Kamindai, he doesn't seem to be interfering with Tsutomu. Besides, Tsutomu hadn't talked about it that much since the heat of breaking through the ninety levels had cooled down, but he had quickly reached the ninety-nine levels. He has not only maintained, but improved his abilities as an explorer, while also commanding the PT and offering improvements to his clan members.


(His background is still a mystery... but when you think about it this way, it's not an exaggeration to say that he was born exactly for God's dungeon. Instead, I haven't heard much good news about his humanity...)


　I've heard from labyrinth maniacs that they beat the initiator down to a slum during the Solitte company riot and are still making it a living hell, and I've also seen Tsutomu's unusually coldness towards the people during the Stampede. Furthermore, Clan members Hanna and Leia also complained about Tsutomu's bad character, and the crowd's opinion of him as a human being is not very high.

　The turret slime that Amira had cut in half had regenerated from where the nucleus was located, so some of it had already been reanimated. Sending Combat Cry to such an oar slime, Xeno confronts it again while preventing the acid bullets with his arms covered in anti-acid equipment.


(No, but to me, it's a cold impression, but not that much--)


　The slime's thick tentacles approached from behind Zeno, whose movements had slowed down slightly as he thought about it, and slammed down on its head from above. Tsutomu didn't send a recovery skill to Zeno, who sank down by hitting his face on the ground as hard as he could with the impact, and called out to him.


'Xeno, your movements are much worse than before. You need to focus on the monster in front of you first. If you don't, you won't have anything to improve on.
Oh, uh, I'm sorry.
"Heels.


　Having been pointed out to him by the person in question, Xeno drove the thought out of his head for now and focused his attention on the giant turret slime crawling around in front of him with tentacles.


　oo


Guess it's a coincidence. Dear Mr. Tsutomu.
Oh, yeah.


　Stephanie, who had reentered the 91st level three times yesterday, but had no luck in not being able to join up with him, is holding both hands as if she was thrilled to finally meet Tsutomu on the second try today. However, the attackers and tanks behind them looked slightly dumbfounded, so Tsutomu had an indescribable look on his face as he guessed various things by their expressions.

　Nevertheless, the timing was just right. Since they are currently working on a schedule of practicing against the most important hierarchies in the morning and free exploration in the afternoon, it is best to meet up with them after the afternoon break.


''Then I guess we'll use the same conditions we talked about yesterday?
'Yes!　In exchange, I'll give you the Black Gate!
Yes, sir. Okay, I'll help you gather materials today. I'm still a little rusty on this one.


　Instead of helping Tsutomu and the others gather materials, Stephanie and the others will help them break through the ninety-one levels. The joining of the Infinite Circle and Aldrete Crow was smooth since they had promised to temporarily join forces under those conditions when they joined up when they spoke yesterday.


'Oh. It's a raw Amy.
What's a real Amy? You see it in the guilds and stuff.
'But after all, when I think of Amy, it's when she's in a dungeon. These days, though, it's more about strength than cuteness.
"Mmm-hmm.


　Amy turns her nose up in the air as if she's not full of praise from the attacker woman. With that, the two clan members take the opportunity to explore the ninety-one levels together in light conversation.


'Garum, are you here?'
Mm, let's have it.
'Hahaha!　I'll have one too!
Well that's okay. It sounds like you're having a tough time being a healer over there too, huh?


　Garum had been an old and famous explorer for a long time and had interacted with his peers to some extent, so he knew many of them. Xeno doesn't have a problem with it because he's not afraid of things, even if it's their first meeting.


Hey, Nix. You've broken through the 90 layers, too?
'Stephanie's doing a great job, though. I thought Mr. Tsutomu was going to get in there too, but I didn't know he'd break through on his own.
Isn't Colina a piece of work?　He looks like a cowardly guy, but he's got some guts, surprisingly.


　Even Amira, who was uneasy when it came to interacting with others, seemed to have no problem thanks to the presence of the reconciled former Clan member Nix on Aldoret Crow's side.

　Tsutomu, who was relieved to see such clan members for the first time, glanced back at Stephanie, who had turned her passionate gaze on him from earlier with a single mind. Then she looked away as if she was upset and began to play with her peach-colored hair with her fingertips in an embarrassed manner.


(I think she's better than before, but I'm still a little scared...)


　Stephanie's face and mood would be better than before. The shadows under her eyes, which had been a symbol of this, had disappeared once and for all, and she no longer looked burly. There was a slight flirtation in the gaze that was directed at him, but he felt like he was closer to the kind of thing he respected after his apprenticeship period.

　However, the fact that he acted horribly doesn't change the fact that he acted horribly, and he still remembers the feeling that sent a shiver down his spine when they met at the ninety-one level before. I'm not sure why it was not good for Tsutomu to deal with the situation afterwards, but for some reason it seems to be going in the right direction, so I don't understand.


''It looks like the 96th level is having a hard time getting through.
'Ha, yes!　That incomprehensible dragon is inexplicable...


　However, Tsutomu couldn't just keep quiet as a PT leader, so he talked to her about the dungeon. Then Stephanie, with a look of relief, went along with the conversation.

　The joint exploration of the Infinite Circle and Aldoret Crow began amidst such exchanges.