Is It Wrong to Explore the Dungeon Even Though I’m Overpowered? (Danmachi SI- WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 8: First Flaps of the Butterfly

In a place surrounded by mist where visibility was limited a figure could barely be seen running around the place while killing monsters left and right as if he could see through the mist.

No sneak attacks ever landed, projectile attacks would veer off course when they came within a certain distance of them and ambushes were just massacred in an instant by either sword, spear or magic attacks.

If one were to look closely, small tendrils would appear from the figure’s back from time to time and would pick up the magic stones and drop items that the monsters would leave behind after they were they were destroyed.

“Whew, I think we should call it for today. I’m starting to run low on magic and we still have to head back.” Finishing off a Silverback by cutting off his head with Est, I finally took a small breather.

“Reinhard. Food?”

Hearing the voice of Est in my mind I smiled and patted her handle. “Sure Est. What do you to eat today?” Figured she deserved a reward for sticking with me for the past 6 hours without a single complaint.

While I could have made my way down to the 12th floor much faster if I wanted to, I had taken my time to explore every inch and cranny of every floor making sure it was recorded in my Map that I had obtained from Yuuya’s template.

“I want Tofu.”

Chuckling at hearing that as it was her favorite food, I only nodded my head in agreement. “Sure thing Est.”

Without even turning around I swung my ‘Spear of Orion’ behind me taking out a few Imps that were trying to ambush me having felt their presence since a while ago.

“Reinhard is the best~” Est chirped happily sounding truly happy at my answer.

Turning in the direction of where the stairs to the upper floors were, my vision not being obstructed at all thanks to my Divine Protection of Fog, I got ready to leave the dungeon feeling accomplished for my first dungeon dive.

I suddenly paused though as I felt the ground rumble a bit and turned to the nearest wall where I saw the dungeon was birthing a new monster and feeling curious decided to wait for it to spawn. So far, the only monsters I hadn’t encountered thus far was an Infant Dragon and a Wyvern.

From the wall an orange lizard with a big neck crawled out with its gaze immediately narrowing in on me and roaring.

‘Hmm this seems the perfect time to test it out.’ From my Item Box I pulled out Aegis Eclipse, the Divine Construct I had received from my rewards after saving Artemis and nocked the Arrow of Orion into it before taking aim. ‘Here goes nothing.’

A moment later the arrow was released creating a sonic boom as it sped toward the Infant Dragon in an instant completely disintegrating it before hitting the wall behind it and causing a big explosion that rocked the entire floor.

When the dust settled down in showed that a huge hole in the wall about 20m deep that was already slowly regenerating.

‘Yikes, I think I should probably save the bow until the Lower or Deep floors if I don’t want to cause a panic with all the adventurers that no doubt felt that.’ Sweat formed in the back of my neck at the devastation the attack had caused and I immediately went to retrieve my arrow.

‘Now I should really get out of here. There’s no telling how many people felt that and it won’t be long before some get curious enough to come and investigate.’

Of course, this being the Dungeon and with me having just used a Divine Construct of all things, the dungeon took issue with that and that’s when I heard a crack in the ceiling.

Turning my gaze towards it I saw a Black Wyvern crawl out of the ceiling before screeching and focusing its gaze on me.

Silently cursing myself for not thinking about the possibility of the Dungeon mistaking my Bow for a Deity, I quickly gripped Est’s handle and readied myself.

“Get ready Est. I’m going to get a little rough with you.” I warned my spirit and started sucking a bit of mana from the atmosphere causing Est’s sword form to give off a soft white light.

“Mmn. Don’t worry, I can handle it.”

With Est’s reassurance that I wasn’t hurting her, I let a smile grace my face and slashed forward cutting the torrent of fire in half that was currently heading towards us letting it pass by my sides harmlessly.

“Since it’s my fault that you were summoned, I will end this quickly.” I muttered with my gaze focused on the Wyvern only hearing it screech in return as it dived towards us with his talons extended.

Once it got within 5m of reaching us I swung Est again, this time releasing the mana stored inside bisecting the Wyvern evenly down the middle.

“Haah I think I’ve had enough for today.” Collecting the magic crystal that it dropped, I stored it away before finally making my way up the dungeon.

As I did so I heard the frantic voices of several people coming from coming from stairs leading to the lower floor and walked faster thinking that it was probably people coming up to check what had caused that huge explosion earlier.

It was not to be however as I caught some of the words, they were saying making me halt in place at the words ‘bleeding too much’ and ‘get help’ reached my ears.

Turning towards the voices I finally caught a party of six adventurers looking distressed and not even turning my way as they quickly crossed the floor heading towards the stairs leading to the 11th floor.

As they passed me though, my eyes caught the sight of the person in the middle carrying someone in their back. A female Chienthrope with brown hair to be exact, that had bloody bandages around her arms and legs or what was left of them anyway.

‘Is that…Naaza!?’

I quickly shook my head and pulled out a vial of Cure-All potion made from the Cure-All Herbs and took off in a sprint towards the retreating party.

“Excuse me! I have an Elixir, please let me help!” I caught up in a few seconds due to my speed and offered my assistance raising up the potion vial so they wouldn’t think I was lying.

The party came to a stop at my mention of the word Elixir and turned in my direction with confused looks on their faces. “Who are you!?” A regular looking human teen asked me with narrowed eyes.

“W-wha? An Elixir!? Isn’t that super expensive though?” One of the girls in the team spoke next looking at the potion in my arms with hopeful eyes.

“My name is Reinhard and I belong to the Hestia Familia but never mind that. Your friend looks like she needs urgent medical attention, please let me help.” I urged them looking at Naaza in concern who managed to catch my eye even through all the pain she was currently in.

The leader of the party, a male human with brown hair, seemed to come to a decision and bowed his head at me. “We would welcome any help. Thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I shook my head dismissing his thanks and turned to the one carrying Naaza. “Can you please set her down on the ground?”

“Of course.” Quick to heed my words the male Cat People gently set Naaza down on the ground as his party made a circle around us in order to protect us from any monsters.

“Hang in there, it’s going to be okay.” Kneeling down on the ground I offered Naaza, who had not stopped watching me, a reassuring smile and poured the potion vial over her wounds.

I then watched in amazement as Naaza’s wounds immediately started sizzling before her limbs regrew ripping off the bandages, she was wearing to stem the blood flow shocking the others around us. That was not all though as her pale face regained its original color instead of still looking very pale like she was a moment ago.

“…What?” Naaza feeling energized again, suddenly blinked and slowly sat up inspecting each limb with a look of wonder and disbelieve on her face. After she was done making sure that each of her limbs worked as intended, she finally turned towards me.

“How are you feeling Miss? Do you feel any pain anywhere?” I smiled at the girl, sincerely happy that I had managed to prevent Naaza from permanently losing a limb.

That’s not even mentioning the whole mess that happened afterwards with her Familia going into debt due to her prosthetic arm Miach had made for her and everyone other than Naaza leaving the Familia.

Naaza’s face suddenly turned a deep red as she fidgeted in place and her cute dog ears twitching nervously as she opened her mouth. “I-Ah-Um I-I-I’m okay. T-Thank you!” She finished with a bow of her head hiding her face from my view.

Chuckling at her cute antics not missing the way her brown tail was wagging behind her back I waved her off. “Hahaha there’s no need to thank me Miss. I just happened to be nearby. It’s your friends that deserve most of the credit for carrying you here all the while protecting you. I’m just glad that you’re all better now.” I finished giving the girl a small grin and closing my eyes out of habit.

There was silence for a moment before the girl spoke again. “…N-Naaza. My name is Naaza Erisius. Thank you again for using something so expensive on me Reinhard-san. I promise I will pay you back somehow.” She declared.

Opening my eyes again, I got back to my feet and extended my hand towards Naaza making her blink in confusion. “Pleasure to meet you Miss Naaza and please don’t worry about that. I’m just happy I could help, now I think that we’ve kept your friends waiting long enough don’t you think?”

With my eyes I signaled to her fellow Familia members who were still protecting us from any monsters that got too close. Naaza immediately became aware we were still in the dungeon and nodded her head before taking hold of my hand and letting me pull her up to her feet again.

“NAAZA! I’m so glad you’re okay waaahhh!”

As expected, as soon as she was back on her own feet again her friends immediately crowded around her and starting fussing over her.

Seeing the heartfelt scene in front of me I only smiled before turning around and tried to sneak away wanting to give them space. As I did so I made sure to kill any monster on my way wanting to thing out the monsters so they could have an easier time making it back to the surface.

Before I was out of earshot, I heard my name being called and turned my head seeing Naaza with a teary smile on her face as she thanked me again. “Thank Yooouu!”

Raising my hand in a wave I offered the girl one last smile before continuing on my way.

‘I hope Hestia and Artemis don’t get too angry with me for revealing my Cure-All potion my first day down in the dungeon.’ I thought nervously.

=====

Half an hour later I was making my way back home with Est beside me after checking in with Rose and trading in some of my magic crystals at the Guild. Though because I didn’t want to attract attention with hundreds of monsters I had killed and all the dropped items I got, I only chose to trade in enough for 10 thousand valis.

Then using Yuuya’s system I sold everything else netting me 1,100,000 valis.

‘Yikes, I’m glad I have Yuuya’s system that converts items into the local currency without affecting the world’s economy or else I would have painted a huge target on my back this being my first time down in the dungeon.’

Shaking my head of such thoughts I stopped when I heard my name being called and turned around to find Syr waving at me from down the street with a cheery smile on her face making me blink.

“Reeeinhaaard-san~”

‘Did I accidentally wonder into the Hostess of Fertility?’ Looking around at my surroundings while I waved back at the girl, I noticed that I had indeed taken the path that passed through the pub.

“Good afternoon Syr-san, how are you doing today?” I greeted the girl with a smile coming to a stop in front of her noticing that once again she hadn’t even noticed Est standing by my side.

“Mou~ I told you that you could just call me Syr you know?” She pouted cutely.

Chuckling at her pout I nodded my head. “Very well Syr, then please also just call me Reinhard then. I’m not too much into formalities either.”

“Reinhard it is~ And I’m doing good thank you~ Did you just come back from the dungeon?” Syr looked truly happy at my answer as she looked up at me and fluttered her eyelashes cutely.

“Yeah, it was a good first day.” I nodded feeling a small blush on my cheeks at her blatant flirting before turning to the pub seeing that it was still currently serving the citizens since there was still daylight outside. “We are not interrupting you while you work right?”

Syr only giggled at my question as she shook her head. “Don’t worry, I’m currently taking a break but thank you for asking~ By the way Reinhard, I would really appreciate it if you would pay us a visit tonight. You did promise after all. You will, won’t you~?”

I felt a nervous smile grow on my face at her blatant attempt at guilt tripping me into visiting the pub before I let out a sigh and turned down to look at Est who had remained silent until now just observing Syr with a blank look on her face.

“What do you think Est? Want to come and eat here tonight?”

“Mmn. Smells yummy.” Est just nodded her head in agreement with her face never changing expression but I could tell she was tempted going by the feel of hunger I could feel from her.

Blinking and finally taking notice of Est by my side, Syr finally gave her more than a passing glance and just stared silently for a moment before seeming to lose interest and focusing back on me. “Hihihi I can promise you that the food is really good here.”

“Well, there you have it. Looks like we’ll be seeing you later Syr.” Patting Est in the head once and smiling in amusement as she immediately melted under my hands, I gave Syr a nod.

“Wonderful~ I’ll make sure to reserve a spot just for you~” And once again either ignoring or forgetting that Est was here, Syr spoke as if I would be the only one coming clapping her hands with a happy smile and her grey eyes glittering in joy.

‘If only this was your true self, then I have no doubt that I would have eventually fallen for your charms Freya.’ I thought silently with a wistful look on my eyes that I quickly dismissed.

“Thank you, Syr.” I was about to continue when we heard Syr’s name being called turning to see Ryu by the door to the Hostess who upon taking notice of us offered us a polite wave that I happily returned before she turned Syr’s way again and informed her that she was needed inside.

“Haah seems my brake is over.” The disguised goddess looked truly sad for a moment at having to cut our moment short before she pulled herself together and winked at me. “Well, I’ll be waiting for you Reinhard. See you later~” With a skip in her step she headed back inside offering me a last wave as she did so.

“Come on Est. Let’s go home. I still owe you some Tofu.” Grabbing Est’s small hand in mine again we resumed our walk towards the church putting what just happened in the back of our minds for now.

=====

“Rein-kun~ What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Yes Rein, we are waiting.”

‘But of course, this day couldn’t just end smoothly.’

After arriving at the church instead of being greeted by the customary ‘welcome home’ or a smile, I had found the forms of Hestia and Artemis with their arms crossed and a sweet smile on their face. Thanks to our connection I could feel a mix of exasperation and worry coming from the two.

Behind the goddesses, I spotted the Miach Familia with their patron deity sitting around a recently purchased table from the look of things all looking at me. Naaza in particular had a bashful look on her face and when our eyes met for a moment, she turned her eyes away from me with her blush increasing in size.

Once I was led inside the first thing, I did was bow my head towards Hestia and Artemis. “I apologize for breaking my word but I just couldn’t stand back after seeing Miss Naaza in such a state. I’m ready to accept any punishment that you deem fit.”

“…”

“…”

“Haah, we are not mad at you Rein-kun. Just worried about you.” I felt soft hands wrap around my head before being led to a pair of soft breasts being held back by a white mini dress with a blue ribbon.

Just by the height alone I could tell whose chest it was and felt myself unconsciously relaxing as I felt Hestia’s soft hands playing my hair gently.

A moment later I was pulled away from Hestia’s embrace by another pair of arms by a slightly pouting Artemis. “This is no time to do that you two. Have you already forgotten that we have guests?”

“Hahaha please don’t mind us. I’m in fact beyond happy to see that Hestia has found such a kind and selfless young man.”

The voice of Miach brought our attention back to our guests to see that they were now all up and standing in front of us before they all bowed as one. “Thank you, young man. Thank you for saving one of my children when you didn’t have to. Rest assured that you will be compensated fully for what you have done for us. You have my word.”

Stepping forward and away from Hestia and Artemis I spoke up. “Please there is no need to bow to me. Like I already mentioned to Hestia-sama, I just couldn’t stand by and do nothing when I saw Miss Naaza needed help.”

“I also don’t require any compensation. Just knowing that Miss Naaza is alright now is enough reward for me.” I continued.

Letting out another chuckle, Miach raised from his bow with his Familia following his actions a few seconds later. “Thank you young man but I must insist. For now though, there is someone here that has been wanting to talk to you.”

Miach then turned to Naaza who only blushed in embarrassment and fidgeted in place for a moment with her eyes facing the ground. A moment later the dog girl took a deep breath and walked up to me coming to a stop in front of me and fidgeting again.

“I-Umm R-Reinhard-san? I-I was wondering if I could maybe accompany you to the dungeon for a while m-maybe? It’s dangerous going alone into the dungeon even with that potion you used before and I want to help you at least until another member joins your Familia.” Naaza started out softly gaining more courage as she talked even managing to properly look me in the eyes now that seemed to be pleading for me to accept.

‘Guh! Too cute! Dog girls are too cute!’ I mentally flinched back at seeing the way her ears would wiggle and her tail was wagging.

I let out a sigh knowing I couldn’t say no to such a face and let a smile grace my face. “Thank you, Miss Naaza. I would be a fool to not accept the help from someone that is more experienced than me with the dungeon. I’ll be under your care.”

‘I could use this opportunity to check and see if Naaza developed any fears of monsters as she originally did and possibly help her. The only problem now is…’

Looking at the pouting forms of Artemis and Hestia as they threw Naaza jealous looks I couldn’t help but let out another sigh. ‘I have a feeling this will bring its own set of problems.’