Chapter 86: A Monster Feast, Gravity Magic, and the Nurturing Goddess (Patreon)

There was no denying it: running into a "Monster Party" in the Dungeon this time was, without question, the most exhilarating fight Rozz had experienced since arriving in Orario.

Credit to Hestia's foresight, he thought. He'd kept switching between the Mana Burst and Chidori Skills, and the drain on his mental strength had been truly absurd. But with the Development Ability "Stamina" backing him up, he could feel that deficit being refilled fast.

That was what being an Adventurer meant: having the strength to hold your own fate in your hands. And on top of that, killing so many monsters meant a solid haul.

So how had they pulled it off, anyway?

Seriously. Rozz was curious. If he could trigger a Monster Party reliably, it would ease the Familia's money troubles for good. His Stats would probably go through a qualitative leap across the board, too.

He looked over at Lili, his Supporter, who was cleaning up the battlefield. As far as he could tell, there was nothing dangerous nearby.

Then he noticed Kashima and Mikoto approaching. Their faces looked off somehow, as if they were weighed down with guilt.

"Hm?"

Rozz frowned slightly and quickly worked through the reason. Lili's awful expression earlier, in particular, pointed straight at the Monster Party.

It wasn't hard to understand. Any ordinary Adventurer chased down by a tide of monsters like that would probably hate the Takemikazuchi Familia's Adventurers to the bone. One slip and they'd have died in the Dungeon.

Only Rozz was a special case. He'd wanted to use a Monster Party to test his strength under extreme conditions.

And things went just as he'd expected.

The rough-looking young Adventurer and the tall, black-haired girl with straight hair beside him walked up to him of their own accord.

Ouka Kashima bent at the waist, so low it was almost a fold, and his voice was thick with apology. "I'm sorry."

"We dragged you into this incident without asking."

"If you hadn't wiped out every one of those monsters, Mr. Rozz... I can't even imagine what would have happened."

"Whatever compensation you want, just tell us."

The pretty black-haired girl, who hadn't said a word yet, bowed in apology as well. Attitude-wise, at least, there was nothing to fault.

"..."

If anything, Rozz was the one left flustered.

If he'd been weaker, the consequences would truly have been unthinkable. And when the Monster Party was about to hit, the black-haired girl had even been ready to cover the retreat and buy them time.

Judged on the facts, from an ordinary Adventurer's point of view, they hadn't dodged responsibility and had made up for it well enough. Their character wasn't bad, that much was certain.

If they'd caused trouble, bolted without a word, and left him in the pit, he'd have demanded an explanation for sure. Some compensation would be fair then, right?

Besides, Rozz couldn't act like a stranger here. He'd gotten this far smoothly thanks to the help Takemikazuchi had given him.

Verbal thanks alone could never repay that kindness. So when a member of the Takemikazuchi Familia hit trouble in the Dungeon that they couldn't handle, he could just lend a hand. That could count as repaying Takemikazuchi's help.

"Hmm... I don't think it needs to go that far. Lord Takemikazuchi helped me a ton back when I first became an Adventurer."

Rozz shrugged, his tone easy. "If I can lend a hand when you're in a jam, that pays back some of his help. Call it returning the favor."

"..."

Even after hearing that, Kashima held his ground, stubborn as a bull. "Those are two separate matters."

"Your friendship with Lord Takemikazuchi doesn't erase the mistake we made. Lord Takemikazuchi taught us that, too: it's the responsibility a warrior must bear."

"Fine, fine..."

Rozz really was at a loss. They'd put it so plainly that it was obvious they wanted to make amends for the mistake.

Hard-headed. Still, if Orario had more Adventurers like this, the place would probably be better for it.

After a moment, he asked the thing he was most curious about. "Actually, how did you two end up running into a Monster Party?"

"..."

Ouka Kashima straightened up. He scratched his head, never having expected Rozz to ask that. His cheeks burned, and he was about to explain when he heard Rozz's offhand add-on.

"I'd really like to learn how."

"Then I wouldn't have to wander the Dungeon and go through all the hassle of hunting for monsters."

"?"

Even the black-haired girl's exquisite face filled with deep confusion at Rozz's words.

What the hell. What was this guy even babbling about?

How do you run into a Monster Party in the Dungeon so you don't have to go through the hassle of hunting monsters? Damn it, was that even human speech?

The corner of Mikoto's mouth twitched. Looking at Rozz's perfectly confident face, she got the feeling he wasn't joking.

"Are you serious?"

"Yep."

Rozz answered honestly. "Killer Ants on the 7th Floor can set off a whole swarm just through their monster traits. There's no way a Monster Party doesn't have trigger conditions, right?"

"?"

Right then, Mikoto gave up completely on the idea of catching up to Rozz. Somehow it suddenly seemed perfectly reasonable that this guy had finished his level-up in just half a month.

Every Adventurer in the Dungeon runs from abnormal situations, and he goes and embraces them on purpose. Who was she supposed to complain to about this?

Her expression was strange. "Um... maybe we should go back to talking about how we compensate you for the losses?"

After all, they were members of the Takemikazuchi Familia, and they'd apologized first. If Rozz kept pressing the point now, it would feel so much like being a drama queen.

Then again, that description wasn't quite right either. Some drama queens, even when they're in the wrong, can steer things into false accusations and screaming tantrums.

After a short chat, Rozz had gotten properly acquainted with Ouka Kashima and Mikoto Yamato of the Takemikazuchi Familia. Both were Lv2 Adventurers.

If he had to name what intrigued him, it was Mikoto, who had still chosen to cover the rear when the Monster Party crisis hit.

He looked at the black-haired girl and asked, curious, "What were you thinking back then? You weren't planning to hold off all those monsters yourself, were you?"

"I was."

Mikoto nodded frankly.

"I actually have a gravity magic," she explained softly. "It can restrict the monsters' movement and buy you time to get away."

"Once you were clear, Kashima would come back to pull me out."

Hearing that, Rozz's eyes filled with surprise. She was only the second Adventurer with magic he'd met since transmigrating to Orario.

And on top of that, it was gravity magic!!

From a transmigrator's point of view, gravity powers were absurdly overpowered in any story, mechanics maxed out. Think of the Rinnegan's Universal Pull, or the Zushi Zushi no Mi that Admiral Fujitora wields in One Piece.

Rozz felt his own Myriad Phenomena magic starting to stir. If he could borrow Mikoto's magic...

Wouldn't he be flying high from here on?

Unable to hold back his curiosity, he pressed the girl. "Yours is gravity magic?!"

"Yes."

Mikoto nodded lightly.

Compared with the trouble her Familia had caused Rozz, she saw no reason to hide her own magic.

"It should help with Dungeon exploration," she explained quietly. "If there's a floor boss you're aiming to take down, you can come straight to me."

Her face was set with a firm resolve that brooked no refusal. "I want to make up for what we did to you this way."

"You really don't have to..."

He felt a bit like he was taking advantage of the situation. But Rozz also knew it was hard to meet an Adventurer with magic in Orario, let alone one with a gravity-type magic.

After some hesitation, he rubbed his hands together and hinted, "I'm really interested in your magic... maybe we could find some time to compare notes?"

"No problem."

The girl wasn't good at lying. Especially after seeing Rozz's overwhelming fight with her own eyes, she'd realized he was a goal she couldn't even reach the back of.

She let out a relieved breath, and a smile bloomed on her delicate face. "If I can help you, I'd count it an honor."

"Thanks~"

With that settled, Rozz said a quick goodbye to Kashima and Mikoto and carried on with his exploration plan. His Stamina was holding up just fine.

Which meant he'd definitely be fighting. Raising his Stats couldn't wait!

Lili, his Supporter, on the other hand, had a sour look the whole time. Clearly she still held a grudge over the Monster Party.

Rozz noticed, of course. He reached out and gently ruffled the girl's head. "Lili, do you think I handled that badly?"

"No."

The girl hummed softly.

Honestly, Lili had already let it go when Rozz answered back there. The god in question had helped this guy, after all.

What she really resented was this: the kind of character he had, rare as it was in Orario, was seriously attractive to the opposite sex!

Before, she'd only had to watch out for the waitress at the restaurant. Now she'd have to add Mikoto to the list.

"I think... making a mistake isn't the scary part. The scary part is not daring to face it. Honest Adventurers like them are..."

"Yeah, pretty rare, right?"

Rozz shrugged. Of course, he couldn't rule out that it was because they knew him. But everything else? He wasn't some Amerrrican, so why police the whole world!

"Oh."

Lili said "oh" with a blank face.

She glanced around. Monsters kept spawning in the Dungeon, or she really would have wanted to... devour this guy whole.

Watching his back, she couldn't hold in the emotions surging inside her and muttered softly, "Why are you so darn likable, you..."

*

Hephaestus's weapon shop

Having finished the Familia's endless purchasing chores, Hephaestus reached up and gently rubbed her forehead.

In the past, the red-haired goddess would have found that kind of work deeply satisfying. But ever since she'd met Rozz and officially started the Hero Cloud-Raising Plan, she felt distracted and absent-minded, and her focus slipped easily.

She kept wanting to check the Exploration Log for Rozz's progress, to see whether he'd run into danger in the Dungeon.

"Makes sense."

"If I remember right, Hestia was in this same daze every single day at the start."

"Once the novelty wears off in a couple of days, I should be back to normal."

Big Sister in Leather Pants.jpg

Hephaestus sighed softly.

After all! She and Rozz were just having fun. She just didn't want to miss out on the sense of achievement that came with raising a "future Hero" with her own hands.

She couldn't exactly go stealing Hestia's husband, could she?

It made no sense. She could even picture Hestia crying her eyes out when it came to that, so she had to keep her relationship with Rozz in check.

Of course, Hephaestus figured that following Hestia's method of raising Affection through close contact absolutely didn't count as cheating.

She decisively opened the translucent screen. "Let's see what changed today."

"Having fully adapted to his elevated strength, Rozz set out on a new Dungeon adventure, reaching the middle floors he'd never stepped on before."

"Facing a much harsher exploration environment,"

"Rozz stayed vigilant, using Hellhounds as stepping stones to hone his strength and develop the Chidori Skill he had created."

"…"

"During the exploration, Rozz and his Supporter Lili met a fleeing Adventurer party and ran into a special event: a Monster Party of an enormous number of monsters."

"Hm?"

When the Exploration Log's entry reached that point, Hephaestus pictured exactly what that Adventurer party had done.

"Pass Parade."

Put simply: when you hit a crisis you can't possibly handle, you pass the danger on to unrelated Adventurers and buy yourself a chance to escape.

"Rozz could handle it for sure, right?"

Even knowing that, Hephaestus was still a little irked. She couldn't even tell where this groundless feeling was coming from.

"Faced with the Monster Party,"

"Rozz felt only impatience, eager to use the countless monsters before him to test the strength he possessed."

"He began to fight."

"Even surrounded by countless monsters, Rozz showed superb combat sense and made flexible use of the Skills he had developed."

"…"

"The fight was a complete rout. Rozz crushed the monsters with ease, and as he looked back on this exhilarating battle,"

"he conceived the idea of using Monster Parties to improve his strength."

Having read through the entire Exploration Log, Hephaestus pressed her hand hard against her stiff cheeks. Her eyes were fixed on the last line of the log.

"Rozz conceives the idea of using Monster Parties to improve his strength."

Silence.

She truly didn't know how to describe what she felt. Part of her thought she needed to set Rozz straight on this wildly dangerous idea.

But when she thought about their relationship, that was supposed to be the duty of his patron goddess, Hestia, and Hestia clearly wasn't doing it!!

Hephaestus gritted her teeth, though most of what she felt was a natural, almost fitting anticipation. "A qualified goddess should take responsibility for her Familia."

"Since..."

"you've decided to just let Rozz run wild, don't blame me for stepping in as his big sister and guiding his path by the hand, got it?"

[Author's Note: PS: First update. Although there's no bounty plan, the author still wants to beg for a few monthly tickets. The author knows what to do over the National Day holiday!]