Twenty levels.

　A multiple of five levels where there are rooms where guardian species are blocking the path of the guardian species.
　It is said that many of the candidates will graduate without being able to defeat the guardian species of this level.

　When we entered the guardian species room, humanoid demons wearing carrion armor and helmets appeared in front of us.
　And three of them.

　Their height was about a head taller than me, the tallest of the attack team.
　The muscles feel like a tearing ham.
　The pulsing blood vessels doubled their apparent toughness.
　The carrion warriors each hold a sword, an axe, and a spear in their hands.
　All weapons are in one hand.
　In the other hand they held a shield.

　I can tell from their stance.
　Probably a demon that has the 《technology》 of battle.

　Cecily-san draws her twin swords.

''Ghoul Knight, right--to draw another demon that is considered to be the most troublesome of the twenty-level guardian species...''
Any troublesome features?
'I've heard that that shield has almost no effect on jutsu techniques. All of the attack techniques are nullified, so it's a natural enemy for candidates who are mainly attacking techniques. Moreover, he's also skilled with weapons and is good at interlocking them.

　It's a reputation that predicts a struggle.
　But

'Gggeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...'

　We took charge of one by one, and all three of us were able to defeat them without suffering a single wound.
　Currier-san says nonchalantly while worrying about the Revelgate's blade.

''The Four Deadly Disasters were ridiculous monstrosities that were hard to effect, even with that fighting ability, right? Compared to that one, it's not too much trouble.''

　Seriously, it looks like the early spur-of-the-moment events have raised the level too much.
　Again, to use an RPG game-like metaphor, that's about it.
　If this is a game, then there's no step-by-step dynamic, no shit.
　The balance breakdown is a good thing.

'Eeeee........ku, Kurohiko........'

　A voice with a voice that is typical of beautiful girls.
　Ms. Cecily is wailing and posing like a ghost.

'Ah.'

　White, blue, and black carrion that splattered when he dismembered the Ghoul Knight with his twin swords.
　A large amount of it was attached to her.

　That's right--I had witnessed the scene where she was directly exposed to carrion because she was appealing to me with a sneer, right after she had cut the demon into small pieces.

The actuality of this is that I want to go home.....

　Cecily-san's classy points are at the bottom.
　On the other hand, Currier-san brushes away the carrion on her arm without a care in the world.

''If it's a demon within the ruins, it will eventually melt away, right?

　The carrion is beginning to dissolve, as the word suggests.
　But I don't think this is a good idea in terms of pictures.
　I don't know if the smell will linger or not, but I don't want to just let it go like that.......
　It's a good thing that Cecily has suffered unnecessary mental damage.

　I quickly took out a clean cloth from my backpack and decided to wipe my clothes and body with it.

　Wiping.

''Ko, is this okay?''
"I'm sorry, Kurohiko........but I made a mess........
Don't talk like that.

　Currier-san cowers his shoulders.

'Good grief, I didn't realize the damage would be worse after I beat him.


　　　　　*


　Although Cecily-san temporarily suffered mental anguish to the extent that she broke down her character, what the twenty-level Ghoul Knight battle showed was our overwhelming growth in battle.

'In the first place, Kurohiko defeated the Ghoul Knight while carrying a backpack. In other words, even if the range of motion of the arms is limited, there was no problem with the power difference.

　Oh, by the way.........
　I forgot that I was carrying a backpack.

　Well, if it comes down to it, there's also the forbidden spell.
　The forbidden spell itself can be activated at worst, even if you can't use your limbs.
　I think this is a powerful trait.

　After breaking through the next 21 levels, we kicked out the demons at each level and defeated the guardian species Ogre Lord at the 25th level - we reached the 26th level.

''Is it possible that traps have been confirmed from here?
Oh, Kurohiko!　Those different colored floors--
"Huh?

　Click.
　A small, lilting sound.
　Huh?
　It felt like the floor was sinking in--

What?

　Crunch.

　I grabbed the arrow that flew from the side wall hole.
　The arrowhead stopped in front of my ear.

'Huh, that was close.'

　I look at the hole the arrow came out of.

'This trap could be used to work on your reflexes.
No, no, that wasn't a trap set up for training purposes...

　Cecily smiles bitterly and drops her breath sorrowfully.

"The traps of the holy ruins are also treated as training tools for the current Kurohiko... Ah, they are now incomparably stronger than they were when we met... I'm strangely nostalgic for the old days when I was in a position to be relied upon. .....

　Cecily was steeped in sudden nostalgia like that, but her success in reaching the thirty levels was more than enough to make it to the thirty levels.

　She encountered more than a dozen traps until she reached the thirty levels.
　Half of them were bounced off with a forceful push.
　But the other half was disarmed by Cecily.
　He used wooden sticks and weights to activate them in the air, and predicted the existence of the traps from prior knowledge.
　Some of the traps were pitfalls disguised on the floor.
　We should be especially careful about these traps that divided the attack team.

　However, we now have a ring-type magic tool that gives us some idea of each other's positions.
　Originally, this is the magic tool that Cecily-san used with Zeke and Hyrgis-san.
　When activated, a streak of light will appear and indicate the direction of the other ring wearers.

　However, there is also a problem.

　You have to inject the holy element into this ring in order to activate its effect.
　And I can't knead the holy element into it.
　So I can't charge it myself.
　The amount of holy elements saved in the ring is not much.
　It's only about ten minutes at most.
　In short, I need Currier or Cecily to inject the holy grail into the ring periodically.
　That's why it's difficult for me to join them if I'm the only one who's strayed.
　Even when I fell into a hole filled with blue goblins, joining up with Currier-san was mostly a matter of luck.
　That was one case that made me realize how well-developed the means of communication were in the previous world.......
　Or rather.

This.... this is a record for Mr. Deales, isn't it?

　Before I knew it, I had reached the 30th level.

　The previous record for the highest level of climbing was twenty-nine levels, so they had already broken the record.

　According to Cecily, Diares and the others had decided to turn back before they reached the 30th level.

　The difficulty of the twenty-sixth to twenty-ninth levels had definitely increased.

　We've encountered different species several times since the 26th level.
　From the twenty-sixth level to the thirty-third level, we had a day's stay in a small room on the way.
　It was a shorter span of stay than before.
　The reason for this was because of the large number of different species.
　The number of them appeared more and more per floor as we went up through the layers.
　When you deal with the numbers, the problem of fatigue comes into play.

　The other side was full of energy and attacked us.
　On the other hand, on the attack team side, fatigue was accumulating with each battle.
　Even if you don't struggle against them one by one, the situation will change if they come in groups.
　If they were to be attacked by even a few hundred demons, as expected, the difficulty of intercepting them would increase.

　This area may have been a factor that caused Diales and the others to turn back.
　Moreover, it seems that at the time, Diales's attack team was carrying a wounded man.
　It was understandable that they decided to return home.
　Fighting while sheltering the wounded is difficult when dealing with a large number of demons.

　Currier-san stood next to Cecily-san, who was pouting.

''What's up?''
Oh, no I didn't really feel...

　Cecily smiled vaguely.

''As you know, when I entered St. Renowthred Academy, my goal for graduation was to cross the twenty-nine levels. And now that I've reached it like this, without as much difficulty as I expected.......I can't really feel it, I'd say.

　We were standing in the corridor after kicking the demons away.
　From the three of us, there is a door that seems to lead to the guardian seed room.

　Cecily smiles bitterly.

''I have my doubts as to whether or not this is really what I accomplished on my own.
"You know, you know, there's a side of me that's ruthless in my judgement because of my focus on reality.

　Currier-san places her hand on the hilt of the Revelgate.

''This Holy Ruins attack in particular is an important factor in our future... therefore, if I felt that it was baggage in terms of attack, I would have made the decision to cut it off mercilessly.

　Her eyes soften, and Currier looks at Cecily.

'But I have not made the decision to cut you off. The bottom line is that I feel I need you in this attack - not in a warm-hearted way, but in a realistic way.
Currier...

　Not out of camaraderie, but because of the need to attack.
　I think that's what Cecily-san needed to hear right now.
　Well, in fact, we are more dependent on her than Miss Cecily realizes.

If it weren't for Cecily-san, it would have taken more time and effort to prepare.
But in terms of combat, we're nowhere near as good as the two of them.

　Cecily-san looks at her shoulders.
　Currier-san looks dumbfounded.
　It was like she was dumbfounded, whereas her perceptions were at odds with each other.

'You didn't struggle to get here, did you?　Then you were able to break through even if you were dealing with the demons of the hierarchy up to this point. Have more confidence, Cecily.
I have a feeling that the two of you were very supportive...

　Cecily-san doesn't seem to be quite convinced.
　At some point in time, there seems to be some kind of attraction to us....

'Even if there's a slight difference in combat ability, Cecily-san's presence is important in a group battle. I've felt it before coming here, but the number of demons one person is in charge of also changes the level of physical exhaustion. And because we can divide up the workload, we can reduce the amount of breaks.

　Or, in fact, it is true.

'And as I've said before I need Miss Cecily. Regardless of what you think, Cecily-san.

　She achieved her goal more easily than she had imagined.
　I think that feeling of ease turned into a sense of insecurity.

　However, Cecily's growth in terms of combat has been remarkable.

　Surprisingly, this person may not be the one who is aware of his own growth.
　I stood in front of Cecily to ease my mind, tsking between my collarbones and jokingly said, "Sometimes I don't know what to do with myself.

''Sometimes you say things like your self-esteem is too low for me, but I think Cecily-san is the one with too low a self-esteem~''

　Fluffy.

'....Huh?

　No.

"Uh--

　I tried to tweak the area between my left and right collarbones.

Kurohiko...

　I was tweaking Cecily's chest, for some reason.