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Not Strong Enough 

Satou here. Everyone makes mistakes. However, I think it’s a waste to live your life in fear of making them. In my opinion, mistakes are the fertilizer that fuels personal growth. 

“Seems like we caused you some trouble yesterday…” 

“We’re so sorry.” 

The two Lovely Wings winced through the pain of their hangovers as they apologized for their behavior the previous night. 

They said they normally didn’t drink to the point of blacking out in bars, but between me paying for their drinks and their pent-up frustration over Silverlight and Besso, they weren’t quite able to restrain themselves. 

I gave them some potions that would help with the hangovers and invited them to breakfast. 

“L-look, Iruna, white bread!” 

“Jena, this is a noble’s breakfast. Of course they have wh-white bread.” 

Today we were having bread with breakfast instead of the usual rice, which seemed to impress the pair. 

“This yellow stuff must be eggs, right? …Holy smokes, it’s so good!” 

“I guess you just drink this amber soup from the bowl… W-wow, it’s way too good!” 

After Iruna tasted the cheese omelet and Jena drank some of the consommé soup, they smacked each other on the shoulders to express their joy. 

We get it already. Calm down and eat, please. 

They continued singing the food’s praises as they tried all the available dishes. 

Lulu and the others who had made breakfast looked sheepish but proud of themselves. 

Once the meal concluded… 

“We swear we’ll repay you once we’re back on our feet, mister.” 

“Yeah, we’re good for it, I promise.” 

“I trust you. Just don’t push yourselves too hard, please. I don’t want you getting hurt.” 

With that, the pair headed off to the labyrinth. 

“You’re sure giving those two an awful lot of help. Are they your type?” Arisa accused. 

“No, not particularly,” I answered honestly. “I just can’t help wanting to support someone when I see them working hard.” 

“If you say so.” 

I’ll take your word for it, her expression seemed to say. I ruffled her hair. 

“H-hey! What if my wig falls off?!” 

“Relax, it’s fine.” 

Laughing among ourselves, our group headed for the labyrinth gate as well. 

“Huh? Is that Zakorin? He’s with a pretty big group—I wonder if they’re going after the floormaster.” 

Arisa pointed at a party of nearly seventy explorers, with an equally large pile of supplies next to them. 

Zarigon’s party, the Hellfire Fangs, was leading them. 

I listened in on their conversation with my “Keen Hearing” skill. 

“Sounds like they’re taking on an areamaster first.” 

Not only that, but they had already failed once, so this was their second attempt. 

“Wow. I didn’t realize that normally took so many people.” 

“That’s quite a lot of baggage, too.” 

Arisa and Lulu seemed impressed. 

“Master, over there…” 

Liza pointed out Besso, the man we’d encountered right before rescuing Mr. Koshin’s crew. 

Since he was standing next to Zarigon’s group’s bags, it looked like he was participating in the areamaster challenge, too. 

“I hope he’s not planning to cause another chain rampage…” 

Arisa seemed to remember him, too. 

“Don’t worry. Rumors about him have spread among explorers. I’m sure Mr. Zarigon knows to be on the lookout.” 

This information came from little Luram, who was holding a plate of takoyaki in one hand. 

Is he trying to become an information broker or something? 

“I’m impressed you know all that.” 

“Well, you hear a lot of things when you’re doing market research.” 

I guess his hobby of wandering around buying and eating food had its benefits. 

“Take this as thanks for the information.” 

“Oh-ho, I like the way you think.” 

I handed Luram a little bag of handmade konpeito, a star-shaped candy. 

Zarigon and the others didn’t seem to be going into the labyrinth yet, so we parted ways with the smug-looking Luram in order to enter before their giant party blocked our path. 

“Wow. That’s the labyrinth village?” 

“Looks that way.” 

We were paying a visit to the labyrinth village, a place explorers used as a stopping point during expeditions. 

We didn’t really have any business there; I was just curious to see it. 

“In the aaaair?” 

“Rope bridges, sir.” 

As Tama and Pochi observed, the village appeared to be made with the remnants of spider monsters’ giant webs. It was supported by long, narrow stone pillars that extended to the floor and ceiling and connected by a series of suspension bridges to form a circle. 

The size of the rope bridges ranged from wide enough for a carriage to so small that one person would barely be able to go across. 

“There are lights up there, too.” 

“Looks like spiderfolk live in the area.” 

As Lulu pointed up at the top of the village, which looked like a fragmented spiderweb, I relayed some information from my map. 

Since their eyes saw well in the dark, there were spiderfolk soldiers patrolling above the rope bridges. 

“Did those people make the village, then?” 

“Apparently not. From what I’ve been told…” 

I repeated what I’d heard from Polina and Sumina, two of the tenement girls, to Arisa and the others. 

According to them, the village had been built during the demi-human war sparked by King Gartapht. The ones who built it had been trying to avoid the persecution aboveground. These people included fairy races, such as rockfolk and mudfolk, and a group of human monster tamers called “bee tamers.” 

“Dark.” 

“I cannot see the bottom, I report.” 

Mia and Nana gazed down into the moatlike pit that surrounded the village. 

According to my map, the donut-shaped hole was a hundred feet deep and about a hundred and fifty feet across. 

Though I couldn’t see them from above, mudfolk doing some kind of work at the bottom showed up on my map. 

“There don’t appear to be any monsters.” 

Liza’s observation was right. 

Much like the area with our labyrinth vacation home, there weren’t any spawnholes here, so in order to make this a safe area, they had probably sealed up any passages monsters might take. 

“It seems very close to the entrance to the labyrinth, though.” 

“That’s only because we took a shortcut.” 

We had climbed over a sheer cliff, fought our way through a colony of monsters with special abilities, and finally made our way through a spawnhole to get here. 

It took about three hours in total. In comparison, it would take half a day for garnet-badge explorers to follow the dangerous route here, while people carrying baggage on the safe route would need about three days. 

“Give up your weapons and show us your explorer badges!” 

The men standing in front of the first rope bridge crossed their spears and shouted at us. 

They wore unusual tasseled clothing beneath their scale armor and had oddly pale skin, perhaps from living underground for a long time. 

“Will this do?” 

“Never seen you around before… A garnet badge? What are you, some noble’s brat?” 

“Bought this with gold, I bet.” 

The men checked our garnet-explorer badges, then tossed them back at me. 

One of them was looking us up and down in great detail; he had the Urion-faith gift called the Eye of Judgment. 

“Go on in. Just don’t cause any trouble up there.” 

“The village chief’s word is law around here. He’ll tear you apart, noble or not.” 

Sounds like a dangerous village. 

For some reason, they gave me a puzzled look when I thanked them for the warning. 

“Weird smellll?” As we crossed the bridge, Tama pinched her nose. 

“Yeah, really. What is that?” I asked. 

“It smells like monster repellent powder, sir,” Pochi said, pleased with herself for knowing the answer. 

“Good job. You two have sharp noses.” 

“Hee-hee…” 

“Aw shucks, sir.” 

I patted Pochi’s head as a reward for her identifying the smell, and I patted Tama’s head for being the one who noticed it first. 

Finally, we crossed the bridge and arrived at the gate to the labyrinth village. 

A small window opened in the side door, and a man poked out his head. 

Like the men who had been guarding the bridge, he was wearing clothing with distinctive tassels. It was probably the native garb around here. 

“If you wanna come into the village, you gotta pay the fee.” 

The thuggish declaration made Liza narrow her eyes sharply. 

According to my AR, he was the Village Tax Collector . 

I motioned to Liza to stand down and addressed him myself. 

“How much is the fee?” 

“One silver coin for nobles, one copper coin for explorers. If you’ve got outside food, we can take that instead.” 

It was unusual to hear nobles getting this kind of treatment in this world. 

“Would liquor do?” 

“That’d be more than welcome, for sure. One cask of ale or a bottle of red wine would do nicely.” 

I produced a bottle of cheap wine from my Garage Bag. 

I couldn’t remember when I bought it, but it was unopened, so it should be fine. 

“Ooh, this is Lessau’s Lifeblood, ain’t it?!” The collector exclaimed in delight. “If you got any more, sell it to the drink vendor outside the pillar, will ya? It’s in high demand. They’ll buy it for a good price.” 

Thanking the suddenly kindly tax collector, we entered the labyrinth village. 

“Monsterrrs?” 

“It’s Mr. Meat, sir.” 

Seeing the barn on the other side of the gate, Tama’s and Pochi’s eyes sparkled. 

It was a place called a “monster mount shop,” which couldn’t operate outside the labyrinth. 

“No, those are mounts, so you can’t eat them.” 

Most of the mounts were for battle, but they still had some for carrying bags and such, like go-cart-size bug monsters and four-legged beasts with suction pads on their feet, reminiscent of geckos. 

The former were being stabled there by monster tamers, while the latter were for sale. 

Using my “Estimation” skill, I found that the battle monsters were around ten gold coins, and even the pack monster prices started at three gold coins or more. 

“You there, young man! How would you like to try some monster-meat skewers? They’re a labyrinth village specialty!” 

“We’ve got mystery-meat stew over here, too!” 

“Goblin liquor, two penny coins a cup!” 

At the food stalls near the barn, some bearded men were loudly hawking their wares. 

I didn’t really want the goblin liquor or the self-proclaimed mystery stew, but the skewers looked tasty, and I bought enough for the group. 

As we munched on the skewers, we wandered the narrow passageways of the labyrinth village in a single-file line. 

There were lots of suspicious characters around with crimes in their bounty columns, so I kept a close eye on our walking order. 

Of course, there was no one in the village who could take my party head-on. We were able to keep out of trouble without difficulty. 

Before we had even walked thirty feet, we saw two fights break out. 

“Blocking the waaay?” 

“He’s sitting in the middle of the path, sir.” 

Tama and Pochi tilted their heads at a man who was sitting right in the center of a narrow passageway. 

“Only villagers are allowed beyond this point,” he informed us gruffly when he noticed our expressions, and he shooed us away like someone warding off stray cats. 

According to my map, this path led to an underground area where the villagers lived. 

I couldn’t blame the man for sending us away, then. Giving him a cordial wave, I ushered my group off. 

“There are all kinds of stores here.” 

“Yeah, no kidding.” 

Some ladies waved from a brothel down a side street, and I waved back. 

They seemed wilder and more vulgar than the ones in Labyrinth City aboveground. 

“Mrrr.” 

“No sneaking peeks!” 

I think brothels are pretty useful for information-gathering, but I decided not to say that out loud. 

“Ah-ha-ha. Sorry, sorry.” 

Apologizing, I continued down the path, peering at the shops along the way. 

Most of them were street stalls, with the occasional storefront. Aside from food, there were mostly weapon and armor shops, as well as repair places. 

The occasional general stores primarily sold flash bombs, smoke bombs, monster repellent powder, and other such consumable goods. There was an apothecary, too, but rather than potions they carried more bandages, veria salves, and other such first aid items. Surprisingly, there were a lot of stalls that sold clothes, underwear, and other essentials. 

All the prices were relatively high—anywhere from two to five times more than what you would pay in Labyrinth City. 

“Golemmm?” 

“It’s a kind of mount, apparently.” 

Unlike the magic tool–like golems the elves made, this golem was made on the spot by an Earth Magic user. 

The name of the golem creator and the person using it were different, which was why I concluded that it was a kind of mount. 

“Everyone’s sorta dirty.” 

“Well, there probably aren’t any baths or showers in the labyrinth.” 

I searched the labyrinth village, but the only watering hole was near the pillar that supported the structure. 

The pit that surrounded the village contained a few bogs, which seemed to be where the village drew its water from. 

“You got some kinda problem with us?!” 

I heard a familiar voice from the direction of the pillar. 

On the other side of a crowd, I found Mr. Dozon and a scantily clad beauty arguing. Both of them seemed to be drunk. 

“It’s Sir Dozon and Mahiruna from the Owlbeard party.” 

“Those two again…” 

While Dozon looked infuriated, Miss Mahiruna wore a very amused expression. 

Her party, Owlbeard, consisted entirely of female explorers. 

“Of course not. The prey we were hunting just happened to line up with yours a few times, that’s all.” 

Her clearly insincere tone only enraged Dozon further. 

“‘Just happened’? But it happens practically every other time!” 

I think 50 percent of the time could still be a coincidence. 

“Look, Dozon. You seem to think we go around snatching requests from you, but you’ve stolen more than a few requests from us, too, you know.” 

Miss Mahiruna seemed to enjoy toying with Dozon so much that she couldn’t help herself. 

“Mahiruna! We’ve got all the supplies we need, plus a few hard newts from the monster mount shop.” 

“Excellent! Well done. See you next time, then, Dozon. The golden scarab is ours!” 

“Tch, so you’re after it, too…” 

Miss Mahiruna walked away with the female explorer who’d come to get her. 

“Don’t screw up and get eaten by a wanderin’ elder lance beetle!” Dozon yelled after her. 

“As if! Thanks, though, Dozon! Let’s settle this in bed another time, eh?” 

Mahiruna smirked over her shoulder as she fired a parting shot. 

“Guess you can’t beat your ex-wife, either, huh, Lord Dozon?” 

“Shut it!” 

The friend who teased Mr. Dozon was rewarded with a fist. 

Ah, so those two used to be married. 

“…Hmm? Hey, it’s my old pal Pendragon!” 

Noticing me, Mr. Dozon waved us over with a yell. 

The last time I saw him was when we’d fought alongside each other against the Plunderer King Ludaman near the west guild. 

“If you’re here, are you beetle huntin’, too?” 

“No, we just wanted to see the labyrinth village.” 

“What a strange lad!” Dozon chuckled. 

He told me more about the labyrinth village over some spring water, which was a copper coin per glass. 

Evidently, some particularly tough explorers used this place as a base to hunt beetle monsters for months at a time. 

There were necromancers living here in secret, too; they sold skeletons for breaking curses or creating monster mounts. 

Finally, I learned that there were branch offices of a few religions in the village chief’s house, like the Zaicuon and Karion faiths. 

“Dozon! We finally got ahold of a guide who knows the beetle area inside and out.” 

“Great! Then let’s get goin’!” 

Mr. Dozon’s comrade came over with a young spriggan guide in tow. 

Before he left, Dozon gave me one last piece of advice. 

“One more thing, friend. The plunderers might not have been completely wiped out after all. Be careful, y’hear?” 

Wondering if a new group had cropped up, I searched the nearby area on my map, but there didn’t appear to be any plunderers in the labyrinth at present. 

“I thought the guildmaster and the Hero’s follower purged all of them.” 

“Maybe some new baddies came outta the woodwork.” 

According to Mr. Dozon, his group had been attacked a few days ago at the first area boundary by an unusually large swarm of monsters, hence his suspicion. 

He said the monsters had gathered in a different way from a normal chain rampage. 

“I wonder…” 

“What, ya know somethin’?” 

With the disclaimer that I couldn’t say for sure, I told him the rumor that someone had been getting unlicensed alchemists to make Monster Incense. 

“Tch. There’s always some damn idiots up to no good, huh?” 

Dozon’s grumbled remark reminded me of the guildmaster’s similar complaint. 

To be safe, I checked the nearby areas on the map, but I didn’t find any Monster Incense. 

“I’ll get the village guards and gossips to spread the word about this Monster Incense stuff. Be careful out there, Pendragon. If ya think ya sense a chain rampage, don’t question your gut—just get outta there.” 

With that, Mr. Dozon left the bar. 

“Let’s continue our sightseeing, shall we?” 

We went to look at the giant pillar in the center of the labyrinth village and the village chief’s house, which enclosed the pillar. 

“Bonesss?” 

“So big, sir.” 

The village chief’s roof was decorated rather nastily with some giant monster bones, which seemed to impress Tama and Pochi. 

I guess that sort of thing is cool to them. 

“Are they giving out rations over there?” 

“Drinking water, it looks like.” 

Some villagers were lined up at a spring in the village chief’s garden, showing wooden tags and getting big jugs filled with water. 

“Master, I have located the drink vendor, I report.” 

Nana pointed at a bell-shaped shop next to the village chief’s house. Inside, it was packed with barrels, bottles, and so on. 

I hadn’t particularly been looking for it, but since it was right there, I figured we might as well take a peek. 

“Buying some water, Sir Noble?” 

“No, we have enough. The tax collector told me that if I had extra wine, I could sell it at the drink vendor…” 

“Selling, are we? We don’t want just any wine, you know. It’s gotta be red wine from Lessau County—Lessau’s Lifeblood, to be precise.” 

That was the only kind of red wine I had from Lessau County, so I nodded, produced five bottles from my Garage Bag, and handed them to the shopkeeper. 

“Ah, that’s it—Lessau’s Lifeblood, the genuine article! Now, we’ll be fine anytime the Blue People come through.” 

“…Blue People?” 

I had heard this phrase before. 

They were a mysterious race said to appear to people who got lost deep in monster territory. We’d used their existence as a cover story for the people I rescued from the plunderers, to explain where they had been when they returned to society. 

“Do they come often?” 

“Heavens, no. A few times a year at most.” 

That rarely, huh…? 

I was interested in meeting them, but it sounded unlikely unless I got extremely lucky. 

I couldn’t find them on my map search, either. 

“So do they come to sell things or what?” 

“Yeah. Unusual produce, rare monster parts, that kinda thing.” 

The shopkeeper answered Arisa’s question easily, but he wouldn’t specify the type of produce. 

The monster parts, he said, differed every time. 

We thanked the shopkeeper and took our leave, walked around the rest of the labyrinth village, then left through a different way from where we’d come in. 

Once we left the village, we found an empty area and used Return to teleport to the hunting ground. 

Today, we were hunting in the rodent area. 

Looking around the cavern, I could see all kinds of plump monsters. 

“Squishyyy?” 

“Lots of meat, sir.” 

“These will certainly be worth hunting.” 

There were maze rabbits and flame rabbits, poison mice and flame mice, though sadly no electric mice to be found. 

Aside from the monsters, even the vegetation was largely flame-themed: fire grass, flame flowers, sulfur seeds, and other valuable alchemy ingredients grew scattered throughout the area. 

One small room full of ice rabbits contained plants like freezing flowers and snow grass, which were effective for burns. 

Once we were done hunting in this room, we could all go harvest some together. 

“Master, we wish to challenge the areamaster, I report.” 

None of the other kids had objections to Nana’s proposal. 

The areamaster here was called the “king burning bunny,” while its spawn were called “prince flame bunnies.” 

Because both were covered in flames, breathed fire, and had flame resistance, Arisa’s Fire Magic and Lulu’s Fireburst Gun probably wouldn’t have much effect. Only the king burning bunny could actually use Fire Magic, however. 

It didn’t seem like the best type matchup, but they were close to my party in level. I wasn’t worried. 

“We can try it once we clear out this big cavern and make a place to fight, then.” 

Everyone nodded, so once I used my Earth Magic to create trenches and a simple encampment, the battle began. 

As I watched over everyone from behind, I tested out the scrolls I’d acquired the day before. 

First, Stone Object. 

My creations were pretty shabby when I used it with the scroll, but with the magic menu, the stone statues and temples I made were so impressive that the girls turned to look at them mid-battle. 

The amount of magic and effort required seemed to vary based on the size and complexity of the creation. 

It was a bit of a pain, but adding detailed carvings definitely made them look nicer. 

This spell seemed like it would be useful for a lot of things: making targets for shooting practice, decoys to confuse opponents, constructing concealed structures to put Return seal slates outdoors, and so on. 

I was even able to use it on stones from my inventory or use glass and crystals to make cut glass and things like that. 

It was even possible to use it on jewels, although it took a lot of magic power. For some reason, even diamonds worked. Carbon, huh? 

The spell also worked for making weapons, so I played around with creating glass swords, sapphire daggers, and things like that. Testing out all the different functions was a lot of fun. 

I’ll have to be sure to thank Baronet Dyukeli for giving me this scroll. 

I was so grateful that I would even be willing to give him bloodpearls or elixirs next time I found some. 

The second scroll was for the spell Create Earth Servant. 

According to one of my spell books, it was an intermediate Earth Magic spell, the least powerful of the golem-creating magics. 

The book also said its creations could follow only simple orders, like Ghost Magic skeletons, with no ability to think for themselves. 

On top of that, it said they were so fragile that they could barely serve as shields, never mind fight in battle. 

So I wasn’t expecting much as I used the scroll and added the spell to my magic menu. 

The small golem I made with the scroll was about four heads tall, similar in stature to Pochi and Tama, with a simple, rounded body. Its face was very simple, too, essentially just two dots and a line. 

This must be the most basic model. 

According to my AR, it was level 1 . 

Even making this weak golem still took a relatively high amount of magic. An ordinary mage would probably have to be at least level 20 to have enough MP for it. 

Next, I tried using Create Earth Servant from the magic menu instead. 

When I activated the spell, the ground suddenly rose at an alarming rate and started constructing a human form. 

It’s huge. 

The form was the same, but it was almost twenty feet tall. 

My AR told me that this golem was level 30 . 

“MVA.” 

The golem’s mouth produced a strange sound somewhere between “MA” and “VA.” 

“What is that?” 

“A golem I made with magic.” 

I had made only one this time, but it looked like I could make several at once if I wanted, just like my Magic Arrows. 

“Golemmm?” 

“It’s very big, sir.” 

“And it looks quite strong, too.” 

The rest of my group, having finished up their battle moments before, gathered around with interest. 

“Master, this small one is cute, I report.” 

“Mm. Simple.” 

Nana and Mia seemed to prefer the golem I’d made with the scroll. 

“I want to see how it fights a little, so I’ll be taking one of these monsters.” 

Without further ado, I chose a level-30 flame rabbit. 

“Golem! Attack that flame rabbit!” 

“MVA.” 

“A.” 

Both golems turned toward the rabbit. 

I guess I have to give them names, otherwise all the golems I’ve made will respond to my orders. 

“I will protect the golem larvae, I report.” 

The small golem started to totter toward the monster, but Nana lifted it up from behind. It flailed its short limbs but couldn’t escape her grasp. 

While I was watching this charming scene unfold, the large golem began to battle the flame rabbit. 

“Fire doesn’t seem to work on it much.” 

“Well, it is an earth golem, after all.” 

“It appears to attack rather slowly, though.” 

“Yesss…” 

“Yeah, you’re supposed to move splickity-lick when you fight, sir.” 

Pochi probably meant to say lickety-split. 

The beastfolk girls watching must have thought the giant golem’s fighting style was considerably clumsy. 

That went without saying, though, since the spell was meant to create only noncombat servants. 

“Master, can’t you synchronize your vision and movements with the golem like in a manga?” 

“Hmm, I’m not sure.” 

The golems made in the elf village didn’t have features like that, but… 

“Oh, hey, I did it.” 

“For real?!” 

“For real.” 

I tested a few things out of curiosity and found that if I used magic and mana as an intermediary, I could see through the golem’s eyes or display its vision in a window on my menu. 

> Title Acquired: Golem User 

And as for movements… 

“Ooh, niiice?” 

“It started moving a lot better, sir!” 

There was a bit of time lag before it obeyed commands, and it didn’t move very well, but I managed to control the golem. 

> Title Acquired: Golem Operator 

However, the golem possessed only vision and hearing. There was no way for me to sync up with its other senses. 

I figured that out through the small golem, which Nana was holding tightly. 

…Putting that aside, the default-mode golem could hardly defeat a monster weaker than itself, but if I was synced with it, it could just barely beat a monster around the same level. Since its body was brittle, it probably wouldn’t be able to deal with anything stronger. 

Once the golem was no longer needed, releasing the spell would turn it back into clumps of earth. 

According to the spell book, they would fall apart on their own once the magic that was put into them ran out. In a labyrinth or near a source, though, they could draw on outside magic and continue to move without running out of power. 

If the creator was nearby and had the “Magic Manipulation” skill, it was also possible to give the golem a continuous supply of magic. 

The book further stated that when the golem was first created, it could also be equipped with a magic-power supply like a magic-filled core. 

“Hey, master. Is that round shape the only kind you can make?” 

“There are form parameters, so I think I can change it.” 

Aside from adjusting the parameters, it turned out that the spell could also be used on preexisting targets. 

So I tried using Create Earth Servant on a stone statue I’d made with Stone Object earlier. 

“Ooh, wow!” 

“How does it walk when it doesn’t have joints?” I wondered aloud. 

“Are you serious? The round ones don’t have joints, either.” 

Arisa rolled her eyes at me. 

Oh, I guess not. 

“Looks like using a preexisting statue costs less magic.” 

“And as a bonus, they’re pretty strong.” 

When I sent the statue golem to attack a new flame rabbit, it proved to be much stronger than the previous giant golem. 

It fought relatively well even without me controlling it. 

I went on to make more statues and use Create Earth Servant on them, and I found that they could be preinstalled with a few basic movements when they were made into golems. 

I was able to make other shapes besides humans, too, like stone wolves and horses. 

“Birds don’t work, huh?” 

“Yeah, since they’re made of stone.” 

The stone and earth were too heavy to create any flying golems. 

 

“No more monsterrrs!” 

“Guess we’re finally done cleaning up.” 

Arisa stretched in response to Tama’s report. 

My golem experiments had gotten in the way, taking all my time until evening to clear the cavern of monsters. I regretted that, to be honest. 

“Want to fight the spawn tomorrow instead?” 

“No, no! Let’s do it before dinner! Right, guys?” 

The rest of the group cheered in response. 

I put a seal slate in the center of this cavern, and we headed for the large expanse where the areamaster waited. 

Sure enough, the king burning bunny was sitting imposingly on a boulder in the center of the uneven, grassy field. 

There were five of its spawn, the prince flame bunnies, all of whom were lined up in a circle below the areamaster. Protecting the king, they seemed more like knights than princes. 

There didn’t seem to be any queens or princesses, as I’d noted with curiosity on the map. 

Noticing me, the bunnies all let out a howl of warning. 

“That one should do.” 

I set my sights on one of the prince flame bunnies and used “Flashrunning” to get close to it instantly. 

As soon as I had grabbed the bunny monster, I used Return to teleport back with it to the room where my party was waiting. 

Then I used Magic Hand to fling it across the room and switched out with the girls for combat. 

“Lulu! This guy’s strong against fire! The Fireburst Gun might not do much, but aim at its face to distract it! No living thing likes that! Liza! I think those bumps on its head are for attacking. They look extra tough. Be careful!” 

“Got it, Arisa!” 

“Understood!” 

Investigating the prince flame bunny’s abilities, Arisa shouted warnings at the rest of the group. 

“GRAAAAH!” 

Its fur standing on end, the prince howled with rage, and a flaming aura formed around its body. 

According to my AR, it was a barrier that reduced flame damage taken and weakened other physical attacks as well. 

Getting anywhere near that thing would probably result in some painful burns. 

“Gather round, everyone! I’ll cast Enchant: Resist Fire on all of you! Help me out, please, Mia!” 

“Mm. ? Aqua Protection Ryuusui no Mori.” 

Once they had finished setting up various resistance and protection buffs, the group went into battle against the monster. 

I was pleased to see them being so careful. 

“Flame rabbit! Come back when you have become a grilled hare, I declare!” 

Protected by Flexible Shield, Nana shouted with the “Taunt” skill from the shadow of her giant buckler. 

That dish name sounded a little familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. 

“It’s about to breathe fire!” 

“Scatterrr?” 

“Roger that, sir!” 

As soon as Liza sensed the oncoming attack and shouted a warning, all the vanguard except for Nana dodged to the left and right. Nana used “Blink” to charge forward. 

The prince flame bunny was nearly as big as a house, and its size was all the more apparent up close. 

“Shield Bash, I declare!” 

Shouting an attack name for some reason, Nana attacked the rabbit with her shield. 

Hit square in the chest with the giant shield, the bunny monster flinched back a little, but it didn’t stop charging its breath attack. 

“Bwah-ha-ha! Your own fire breath shall be the cause of your defeeeeat!” 

Judging by Arisa’s weird shout, she must have used some kind of magic. 

Ignoring her, the prince flame bunny opened its mouth—or at least tried to. 

But its mouth wouldn’t open, so it spurted flames from its nose and ears, roasting itself from the inside. 

That didn’t seem to cause much damage, though; the rabbit monster’s HP gauge barely went down in my AR display. 

Arisa must have used Space Magic to keep the prince flame bunny’s mouth closed. 

“… ? Paralyze Water Hold Mahi Mizu Shibaru!” 

Mia’s Water Magic wrapped around the rabbit’s back legs. It seemed to be too big for her spell to restrain its entire body. 

With the enemy’s movements slowed, the vanguard team went on the attack. 

On top of being huge and covered in a fiery aura, it also had a tough hide. Slashing attacks slid right off its fur, making it difficult to do much damage. 

“Switch to thrusting attacks, you two!” 

“Aye-aye?” 

“Roger, sir.” 

On Liza’s command, the pair used “Blink” to charge in with jabbing attacks. 

Tama’s twin blades didn’t pierce very far, but Pochi’s Magic Sword went in about halfway. 

However, as she was stuck there, the rabbit’s paw smacked her away. 

“Waaah, sirrr!” 

Pochi didn’t sound too upset as she tumbled into a corner of the room thanks to her armor protecting her from its slashing claws. 

“Take this!” 

The prince flame bunny was about to go after Pochi, but Lulu interrupted it with a barrage from her Fireburst Gun. 

The glowing red bullets hit the bunny head-on, sending its flames scattering, but all it did was dye things red, failing to burn the fur at all. 

Instead, the monster angrily turned toward Lulu. 

Since elemental rods and guns weren’t usually affected much by the difference in level between the user and the target, I had expected the Fireburst Gun, an advanced version of the Fire Rod, to have more of an impact. 

Still, it at least bought enough time for Pochi to pull out her spare Magic Sword and return to the front lines. 

“Mia, time to rain on its parade!” 

“Mm. ?…? Intense Cold Stream Gokkan Ryuusui.” 

Just as Mia completed the spell, the vanguard jumped aside to give her a clear shot. 

Pale-blue water gushed out of the end of Mia’s staff, connecting with the prince flame bunny and turning its glowing red fur a deep blue. 

“GRAAAABBBUH!” 

The bunny’s muffled roar echoed through the room, and steam rose off its body. 

Its health bar in my AR display had been depleted by half. That attack seemed to have worked well. 

Lulu’s attacks stood out all the more since most of the vanguard except Liza weren’t having much luck dealing damage. 

“Again.” 

Puffing determinedly, Mia started to chant another Intense Cold Stream. 

“Mia, the paralysis is wearing off.” 

“Mrrr.” 

At Arisa’s warning, Mia dropped that chant and switched to the Paralyze Water Hold chant instead. 

In the meantime, though, the bunny recovered from paralysis and regained its speed, leaving Nana and the rest of the vanguard in the dust. 

Even with their speed, further enhanced with “Body Strengthening,” they couldn’t keep up with the speedy prince flame bunny. 

“GRAAAAH.” 

Once it put some distance between itself and my group, the rabbit monster howled, bringing back the flame aura around it. 

“Deracinator!” 

“… ? Paralyze Water Hold Mahi Mizu Shibaru.” 

Arisa’s Space Magic wall helped hold the monster in place so that Mia could aim more easily. 

Her spell activated and surrounded the prince flame bunny’s lower half with blue water, but then it quickly dispersed. 

The bunny must have resisted Mia’s spell. 

“Mrrr. Again. ?…” 

“Nana! Stop that bunny, at least for a second! I’ll hit it with a Dimension Pile.” 

“Understood, I reply.” 

Undaunted by the mishap, my group moved on to their next strategy. 

Lulu and the beastfolk girls threw in attacks to distract it, and after a few more failed attempts, they finally managed to land some de-buffing magic. 

Spawn enemies like these seemed to have a high resistance to de-buffs. 

The back-and-forth battle continued for a while, and though the girls took damage a few times, they finally started to wear down the prince flame bunny, which had no way of healing. 

“? … ? Intense Cold Stream Gokkan Ryuusui.” 

Mia’s second Intense Cold Stream spell hit, dispelling the monster’s flame aura. 

“Dimension Pile!” 

Arisa’s Space Magic attack quickly followed, pinning the rabbit’s forelegs to the ground. 

They were almost there. The prince flame bunny’s remaining HP was less than 20 percent. 

“I’m going on the attack, too. Liza, lead the charge, please!” 

Arisa focused on preparing an advanced Space Magic attack spell. 

“Right!” 

Liza’s Magic Spear pierced the bunny’s hide, cutting into its flesh. 

Without the flame aura, attacks seemed to hit more effectively. 

“Nana!” 

“Your flame has been put out! Hurry up and get on our dinner table, I declare.” 

“GRABBBAAAARGH.” 

The monster roared at Nana with fury in its eyes, but the flame aura didn’t reappear. 

It must not have enough magic to produce it anymore. 

“Tama, Pochi! Let’s finish this!” 

“Aye-aye, sirrr!” 

“Roger, sir!” 

The beastfolk girls charged at the prince flame bunny from either side. 

“Dimension Cutter, cross-style!” 

As Arisa shouted, a cross shape cut deeply into the rabbit’s forehead, and its HP dipped below 10 percent in my AR display. 

“Brain Crusherrr?” 

“Gotcha, sir!” 

Tama’s and Pochi’s Magic Swords jabbed into the cross-shaped wound. 

But it wasn’t quite enough to bring it down. 

Flames coalesced in the monster’s mouth to burn the pair away. 

“I won’t let you, I declare.” 

Just as it was about to breath fire, Nana used “Blink” to jump in with a Shield Bash, striking the prince flame bunny on the nose. 

The cracked shield broke in two, and the halves clattered across the floor. 

Flames still escaping its mouth, the bunny pulled its head back. 

But then— 

“‘Blink’! ‘Triple Helix Spear Attack’!” 

A trail of red light followed close behind Liza as she sped forward, stabbing the monster in its unguarded throat with her Magic Spear. 

The spiral blade whirled around, piercing deep into the prince flame bunny’s head and destroying its brain. 

“GRAHHH…BUH.” 

The light faded from the monster’s eyes, and it collapsed to the ground with a loud thud. 

It took quite a while, but they managed to win without sustaining any serious injuries, so I was glad for that. 

“Looks like we won.” 

“Victoryyyy?” 

“Let’s all strike a victory pose, sir!” 

The group posed in front of the prince flame bunny. 

That encounter was a lot more challenging that I thought it would be. 

Maybe it was time to remodel all the vanguard’s armor. But if she got stronger armor, the gap between Liza’s strength and the rest of the vanguard would probably get even bigger. 

Maybe I should go back to Bolenan Forest and get some advice from the elf teachers. 

“Master, now that we’ve learned the fire bunnies’ attack patterns, let’s fight the areamaster next!” 

Arisa came running over excitedly. 

But after spectating that narrow victory, I wasn’t about to give them permission to fight an enemy ten levels higher than they were. 

“Maybe after you’ve leveled up a bit more. You have to be able to beat the spawn easily before you can take on the areamaster.” 

“Awww, all right. You’re so overprotective, master.” 

This isn’t a game. It’s important to value everyone’s lives. 

 

“Yesss, that was perfect! Spawn have nothing on us anymore!” 

One morning, three days after the initial fight and after a lot of training in four different areas nearby, I let the girls fight more spawn to celebrate reaching level 42. 

They had become considerably stronger, but the difference in skill between Liza and the rest of the vanguard was getting that much clearer. 

The rear guard had started focusing more on attack magic than de-buffing magic, since the latter was easily resisted. 

Part of the reason was that Tama’s and Pochi’s attack powers were particularly insufficient, so if the magic users focused on de-buffs, the battle would get drawn out and lead them to run out of MP. 

“Finally! Let’s take on the areamaster next!” 

“Mm. Let’s.” 

“I will exhibit my best skills for master, I declare.” 

“Tama’s gonna wiiin?” 

“Pochi wants to get praised by master, too, sir.” 

“We mustn’t let our guards down, everyone. Just take it slow and steady.” 

“Hee-hee. You say that, Miss Liza, but you’re the one who does most of the winning.” 

I was a little bit concerned by how excited the group was. 

Since fighting the areamaster had been their goal for a while, I understood that they would be looking forward to it, but it might be best to get them to calm down a little first. 

“Everyone, the areamaster is a notch above the spawn, so make sure you take it seriously. And you’ve been putting a bit too much focus on offense lately. Please be extra careful. Your safety is the top priority.” 

Just to be safe, I put Enchant: Magic Protection on them as well as the usual Enchant: Physical Protection and even the rarely used Enchant: Shield. 

“We know, we know. Ohhh, master, you’re such a worrywart…” 

Arisa’s lighthearted response only made me even more worried. 

If it looks like someone’s about to get hurt, I’ll step in right away. 

“Okay, want to try it once everyone’s ready? I’m going to beat it myself if it gets too dangerous, though.” 

Once the group was prepared, I went to the king burning bunny, which was the size of a hill, and brought it into the room with Return. 

It was far larger than the prince flame bunnies, which were the size of a house. The distinctive bumps spread from its head to its shoulders. Some of them even sprouted into gray spikes with reddened ends. 

According to my AR, it was level 50 —eight levels higher than my group. 

Maybe I should have waited another five levels or so before letting them try this… 

“MRRRABBBAAAARRRH.” 

The king burning bunny howled, and like the prince flame bunnies, a fiery aura appeared around its body. This aura was more violent and a deeper red. 

“Begin.” 

Mia started a chant. 

The vanguard had already scattered, wary of a charge from the rabbit. 

Naturally, they had already applied support magic and used magic recovery potions to fully restore their MP. 

“MRRRABBBAAARGH.” 

The areamaster howled again. 

“… ? Intense Cold Stream Gokkan Ryuusui.” 

Mia’s spell activated, and bluish-white water burst from her staff. 

I’m sure everyone was expecting its fur to turn blue, just like the prince flame bunnies’ had. 

“…It didn’t work?” Lulu murmured. 

The king burning bunny’s fur was still covered in the flame aura. 

Looking closely, it was evident that the flames had died down, but my panicked party members didn’t seem to notice. 

The giant rabbit gathered its strength in its rear legs. 

“Dimension Cutter, slash-style!” 

But Arisa’s Space Magic attack only cut through the king burning bunny’s afterimage. 

The ground behind the giant rabbit burst open, sending up clouds of dust and dirt. 

That second howl appeared to have been a Fire Magic strengthening spell to enhance its charge. 

“Tallyhooo?” 

“Hi-ya, sir!” 

Tama and Pochi used “Blink” to leap into the dusty battlefield, catching the rabbit as it landed, but their strikes couldn’t pierce its defenses. 

The king burning bunny ignored their attacks and took another leap. 

No, it might have been dodging Liza, who was charging in with her spear at the ready. 

“Ouchiiie?” 

“Owie, sir.” 

Tama and Pochi were sent tumbling across the ground. 

Liza’s Magic Spear skimmed against the rabbit’s back leg but didn’t quite reach it. 

Then the monster used its third jump to spring toward Mia. 

Shocked by the speed and suddenness of the attack, Mia and Arisa were rooted to the spot. 

They were in the area with the trenches, but just to be safe, I teleported over to their side with “Warp.” 

“I will protect Mia, I dec—” 

Nana jumped in front of Mia and tried to use “Taunt” but was struck squarely by the king burning bunny’s head-butt. 

The Flexible Shield protecting her shattered in an instant, and Nana was sent flying, shield and all. 

This areamaster was considerably more powerful than the spawn had been. 

“Not on my watch!” 

Using “Blink,” Liza slammed into the monster from the side, knocking it away from Mia. 

But before Liza could regain her posture, the raging king burning bunny lashed out at her with its forelegs. 

She managed to block the claws with her spear and jump away, but seeing the flames building in its throat, Liza put power into her Magic Spear with a do-or-die expression. 

She was probably planning on an all-or-nothing attack, but that was way too reckless. 

“Master, help us!” 

“On it!” 

Calling back to Arisa, I jumped into the battle. 

Using “Warp,” I teleported right in front of the areamaster’s eyes, kicked it in the head before it could breathe fire, and used Dimension Cutter to slice right through its exposed neck, cutting its head off in one blow. 

Fire started to spurt out of the top of its neck, but I put the corpse into Storage, fire and all, before it could burn my clothes. 

Incidentally, I had learned the Space Magic spell Dimension Cutter from a scroll just recently. 

“Is everyone all right?” 

“Nana’s okay!” 

This report came from Lulu, who had run over to Nana when she was sent flying. 

Tama and Pochi, who had also been knocked away, were getting to their feet while drinking recovery potions. 

“Looks like it was a little too soon to attempt to fight an areamaster.” 

I healed everyone with Water Magic and handed out some bittersweet carbonated drinks. 

With another five levels under their belt, they should be able to hold their own a little better. 

“I didn’t expect it to be such a beast,” Arisa murmured into her drink. 

“Agreed.” 

“Oui-oui!” 

“We got our butts kicked, sir.” 

The other three younger kids nodded in agreement. 

“What did the rest of you think?” 

“It moved even more quickly than ‘Blink.’ I never had a chance to use my ‘Triple Helix Spear Attack.’” 

“It broke through my Flexible Shield and my physical shield, I report.” 

“I couldn’t really keep up with my Fireburst Gun, either.” 

The older girls all voiced their assent. 

Maybe this was a good time to make my suggestion. 

“What do you think, everyone? Should we go back to Bolenan Forest for a while and get the teachers to train us again?” 

“Training?!” Arisa turned to me in surprise. “A training montage! It’s the training montage section!” 

Her eyes sparkled with flames—she must have created some fire behind me. 

You don’t need to use Fire Magic just for effect. How dramatic can you get? 

Arisa wasn’t the only one who seemed enthused about my proposal. 

“Yes, sir! An excellent suggestion.” 

“Retraining is a good idea; I agree.” 

“Mm. Spirit Magic. Stronger.” 

“I’d like to work on my aim, too.” 

Liza, Nana, Mia, and Lulu were all on board. 

“Secret training under the waterfaaall?” 

“We’ll break falling logs with our heads, sir!” 

Tama and Pochi seemed to be willing, too, though they were taking things in an odd direction. 

“The elf village is great and all, but I’d love to train on a mountain with immortal wizards or in a giant library in a city-size academy, too.” 

Ignoring Arisa’s nonsense, we decided to leave the labyrinth to start our retraining. 

The time allotted for our stay wasn’t quite up yet, so instead of going aboveground first, we went directly to Bolenan Forest using Return. 

I had to use the spell a few times in succession, since we couldn’t reach there in one go, but it was still a lot easier than traveling by boat. 





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