Chapter 95: When the Car Reaches the Mountain, There Must Be a Road; I'm Lying, I'll Still Walk Even Without a Road! (Patreon)

The Dungeon.

They were finally back to regular exploration, but the Supporter girl couldn't hold back her curiosity any longer and looked at Rozz walking ahead of her.

Lili's mouth twitched. "So... what exactly happened?"

"It's a long story."

"Then make it short."

"At last night's banquet of the gods, Apollo invited me to convert to his Familia. I turned him down, so he'll probably come after me for it."

"So I temporarily converted to the Hephaestus Familia."

Whether that was even legitimate procedurally, Rozz hadn't really considered. But it was absolutely a way to buy himself time to grow.

He hadn't hidden any of it from Lili, and he quickly added, "Once the Apollo Familia problem is dealt with, I'll probably convert back."

"?"

The expression on the girl's youthful face grew stranger and stranger.

The main reason Lili had chosen to join Hestia's Familia was that she wanted to help this guy, Rozz.

But she'd never expected...

Damn it.

Forget whether she could pull off stealing the home. Now that Rozz had converted to the Hephaestus Familia, the home was gone altogether!

Looking at his earnest face, Lili could tell he wasn't joking with her.

As for the Apollo Familia, she'd lived in Orario for so many years that she naturally knew of that powerful Familia with its long record of misdeeds. They used every despicable method imaginable to force Adventurers to convert.

Seen that way, Lili suddenly understood why Rozz had chosen to convert to the Hephaestus Familia at this critical juncture.

To buy time to grow stronger.

From an emotional standpoint, the girl would probably have felt abandoned. But the environment she'd survived in made her think instead...

"The best choice."

Especially when she thought of the pressure Rozz was carrying now, Lili felt a deep guilt at not being able to help him.

She raised her head, her eyes worried.

"Are you really sure about this?"

"I've lived in Orario a long time. The Apollo Familia is one of Orario's mainstay Familias, and its strongest member is a Lv3 Adventurer."

"And they have plenty of Lv2 Adventurers, too!!"

"..."

Rozz crisply kicked the monster in front of him to death like a stray dog, then answered lightly, "Depends on whether you want the truth or a lie."

"Let's hear both?"

"Honestly, it's hard to say. Even if I break through to Lv3 in this time, the gap in numbers is huge. Unless I can take out their leader directly..."

"Otherwise, it'll be pretty difficult."

If he could level up to Lv3 and then beat Senior Ryuu, a Lv4, in the "Pure White Dream Room"...

Then...

Rozz really wanted to stomp on their heads and ask who held the Big and Little Jokers now!

He wasn't worried about his stats at all. Maxing out every attribute was only a matter of time. If there was a real headache, it was this:

"Great Feat."

It seemed all he could do was hope to run into the Floor Boss, Goliath, on Floor 17 in the Middle Levels.

When the fight ended, Rozz walked over to Lili. Whatever happened, he had to look after the mental health of his Familia companion.

He reached out and ruffled the girl's head.

"Don't worry. There's a saying in my hometown: 'When the cart reaches the mountain, there'll be a road.' It means that when you run into trouble, don't get anxious."

"If you keep looking forward, you'll always find a way."

Feeling the warmth spread from his palm, Lili suddenly felt reassured. But the pessimism ingrained in her bones didn't change a bit.

She took a deep breath. "And if there's no road... um, if you can't find a way, what then?"

"Just kidding. If there's no road, I'll walk it anyway!"

They reached Floor 12.

Rozz looked at the stairs ahead, the ones leading down to the "First Dead Line." They meant his long journey was only just beginning.

He turned to Lili. "Are you ready?"

"Of course!"

...

The rest of the Dungeon run went without a hitch. With every stat at SSS rank, Rozz looked absurdly overpowered for a Lv2.

Not only that, but with the boost from Mana Burst, he kicked even newly encountered monster types to death with ease.

Against the Minotaurs, the greatest threat to Adventurers in the Middle Levels, the experience from his dream training with Senior Ryuu, a Lv4, shone at its fullest. The monsters' movements looked like they'd been forced into slow motion.

Even the "Forced Stop" Skill, which has no wind-up at all, set off an alarm inside Rozz. He opened the distance and braced in advance, and what followed was a massacre of the bull-headed monsters.

"If only we could run into a Monster Party."

"I can't even imagine how fast my stats would climb. Too bad I still haven't figured out the trigger rules."

He crisply finished off the Minotaur in front of him.

The fight put no pressure on Rozz at all. It was the situation he was in now, needing to grow stronger fast, that left him truly at a loss.

"It really is like walking on thin ice..."

"Lili, at our current scale, could we take down the Floor Boss Goliath on Floor 17?"

"..."

There he went again, muttering strange things.

The Supporter girl picked up the drops from the kill. For once, she didn't try to talk Rozz out of the idea the way she usually did.

Because...

Lili could truly feel the pressure the Apollo Familia put on him, forcing this guy to rely on risky ways to get stronger.

Faced with the question, she carefully recalled what she'd read in books. "Honestly... I think it's a bit hard. Goliath's strength is around Lv4."

"That's the Adventurer Guild's assessment."

"More importantly, it's rare for anyone to take on the Floor Boss Goliath alone. A lot of Orario's Familias want to piggyback on the Great Feat that way."

"Next is the matter of respawn time."

"Once an Adventurer clears the Floor Boss Goliath, it won't spawn again for at least half a month."

"Hm?"

"So I'd suggest that, since there isn't that much outside pressure, you level up step by step. As for the Apollo Familia..."

"I think there's no need to rush."

The Supporter girl rattled on with her explanation.

Lili wasn't worried that Rozz would simply abandon her. She had already waited through so many years of torment to leave the Soma Familia. This was only a brief separation, and besides, they were still exploring the Dungeon together.

"So there are that many restrictions?"

"..."

Hearing Lili's detailed explanation, Rozz's face filled with regret. The Guild rated the monster at Lv4. If he could kill it, the Great Feat would be no problem.

After that, all that remained was to use his own talent and scribble freely within the Adventurer's "Falna" system.

In plain terms:

Whatever numbers he wanted to reach, he could fill in himself!

---

Mikoto Yamato believed that what an Adventurer needed most was to keep going even after seeing the gap between herself and others.

Never faltering.

And in the special "Monster Party" incident that day, she had witnessed with her own eyes the outrageous strength with which Rozz swept through the monster horde.

That had stirred up her competitive spirit instead. At the very least, she didn't want to be left too far behind by a rookie Adventurer. With Rozz as her goal, she kept strengthening the foundation of her stats.

If there was anything that puzzled her...

It was probably that on that day, Rozz had mentioned he was extremely interested in her "Futsu no Mitama" magic.

Gravity magic.

It was truly rare in Orario. To be exact, Adventurers who had magic at all were rare there.

The reason was simple.

To gain magic, you either relied entirely on an Adventurer's own talent, or you needed an extremely expensive, one-use grimoire.

So...

Could Rozz's curiosity mean that he wanted to learn her "Futsu no Mitama" magic?

Learning another person's magic was impossible.

That was absolutely common knowledge among Orario's Adventurers. But considering that he'd only just arrived in Orario and had been an Adventurer for half a month, it somehow started to make sense to her.

"Mm."

Mikoto found herself looking forward to meeting him again. "I wonder when I'll see Mr. Rozz next."

"At the very least..."

"At the very least, I have to make up for the apology I owe over the 'Pass Parade' incident."

She gathered her thoughts.

Armor-Donning Book

The black-haired girl soon threw herself into battle.

She coordinated with her Familia members, and once they had thoroughly cleared the monsters blocking their way, she stopped and looked at the stairs ahead.

Because...

In the years since coming to Orario to make a name for themselves, the Takemikazuchi Familia's Dungeon record had at last advanced to a brand-new floor.

"I feel..."

"Today's run went pretty smoothly. I never thought that with our current lineup we could actually reach Floor 17."

"Why don't we rest on the safe floor tonight?"

Kashima, the Familia's vice-captain, was surely the most moved of them all. He couldn't say he'd carried the team forward on his back, but he had certainly gone through a great deal of hardship along the way.

Mm...

The Pass Parade incident was still vivid in his memory.

And considering Rozz's relationship with the god Takemikazuchi, Kashima hadn't hidden anything and had told the god the whole truth.

The answer he got was this:

Even if the other party forgave them, they still had to act in a way that left their consciences clear.

But as for what exactly to do, Kashima still had no clue. He could hardly hope Rozz would run into danger in the Dungeon, could he?

Besides, with the strength Rozz had, even if he really did run into danger, Kashima seriously doubted that he and Mikoto could actually help.

"No problem!"

"I heard Under Resort is really lively. We've been developing in Orario for so long, and we're finally going to explore it... I-I'm really looking forward to it."

The first to answer was the short-haired girl standing beside Kashima, bow in hand. Her bangs hid her cheeks, and her voice was timid.

"Then let's get going."

Kashima pushed his complicated thoughts aside. He stopped agonizing over how to make it up to Rozz and swept his gaze across the Familia members. After such an intense run, their exhaustion was plain on their faces.

The rough-featured young man said decisively, "We'll rest on Floor 18 tonight, recover properly, and head back to Orario tomorrow."

"..."

Mikoto had no particular objection to the plan. Serving as the party's rear guard, she habitually waited for the other Familia members to head for the stairs first.

Just then,

faint footsteps in the distance drew her full attention. Her experience from past runs was warning her.

"An Adventurer."

Mikoto knit her slender brows and looked toward the sound. Using the faint light along the wall, she made out the figure, and surprise flashed through her eyes.

And,

with an anticipation she herself hadn't noticed, she gazed at the black-haired youth ahead and murmured, "Mr. Rozz."

"I never expected..."

"To run into you in the Dungeon again."

"Hm?"

Even Kashima, who was leading at the front, followed her gaze after hearing her words and saw a familiar figure.

Rozz.

And the Supporter girl who always accompanied him.

...

"Under Resort."

Rozz was genuinely curious about it. By Lili's description a moment ago, it was an underground world full of crystals and natural scenery.

Its area was close to 50% of the Labyrinth City of Orario.

Most importantly,

its ecosystem and its day-and-night cycle were no different from the outside world. If you looked at a place like that through the lens of a fantasy novel,

it was a "cave-heaven blessed land."

There were no monsters on the floor at all, which is why it was called a safe floor. There was even a town of Rivira that Adventurers had built there.

"It should be just ahead."

Following the cave passage, Rozz reached the junction where all the forks met. In the distance ahead, he noticed several very familiar figures.

Mikoto Yamato.

And the other members of the Takemikazuchi Familia.

He hadn't expected to run into them in the Dungeon again after the "Monster Party" incident.

After exchanging greetings, Rozz looked at the black-haired beauty in front of him and asked with a smile, "Did you just finish exploring? Are you headed to the safe floor?"

"That's right..."

Mikoto nodded lightly. She didn't hide the Familia's next move, and Rozz showing up here didn't surprise her either.

She added, "We'll probably stay on the safe floor today and head back tomorrow."

"After all, with our party's average strength, safely reaching Floor 18 is already the limit of our exploration."

"..."

"You'll probably be staying on the safe floor today?"

The girl nodded honestly. "That's right."

Rozz caught that key piece of information and remembered the "gravity magic" Mikoto had mentioned earlier. His eyes lit up.

They had agreed that he'd come ask her for guidance when he had time, but raising his strength was urgent, and dealing with the Apollo Familia came first. So the idea of asking her had been shelved for the time being.

Now he'd met Mikoto and the Takemikazuchi Familia members again on a safe floor, and the party's brief rest here gave him the time.

Rozz seemed to see a chance of mastering "gravity magic."

He didn't yet know the effects of the magic the black-haired girl in front of him wielded, but anything gravity-type couldn't differ that much, right?

He looked at Mikoto again.

He couldn't wait. "Um... Miss Mikoto, since you're going to rest on the safe floor anyway, may I ask you about gravity magic?"

"I think..."

"This could very well decide my future!"