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

Chapter 49: Into the Water City

After making a quick stop at the Hostess, where I greeted Syr and Ryuu and picked up my usual bento from the former, we continued on our path, receiving well wishes of good luck before finally reaching and entering the dungeon.

Since our teamwork had practically become second nature by now, it didn’t take long for us to reach the 17th floor, where we found a pleasant surprise. The Monster Rex, the Goliath had just respawned and there were no adventurers near us.

“Alright, this should be a good way for you girls to get some excelia,” I said, turning to Lili and Naaza, who looked at me for a moment before paling at my words.

“B-But Reinhard-sama,” Lili exclaimed, panicked as she waved her hands in the air. “You seriously can’t expect Lili and Naaza-sama to take on the Goliath by ourselves, right? That’s a Level 4 monster!”

“Yeah,” Naaza agreed with a nervous nod. “While we might be able to defeat it given time, neither of us are main attackers, we mainly support the others.”

Smiling reassuringly at them, I placed a hand on each of their shoulders to calm them down. “Don’t worry, that’s why Rem will be helping you out.”

“Leave it to me, Reinhard-kun~” Rem said, puffing up her chest with a big smile.

Hearing that, both Lili and Naaza let out relieved sighs and visibly relaxed.

“Thank goodness. You almost had Lili worried there for a moment,” Lili muttered quietly, with Naaza nodding in agreement.

Amused, I turned to Rem to get her attention.

“Rem, try to hold back as much as you can. This fight is mainly for those two to gain experience. With some luck, they might even be able to level up by the end of this expedition. Me, you, and Ram will focus on the stronger monsters on the lower floors and aim for the same.”

“You can count on your Rem~” she said, giving me a thumbs up.

“Alright everyone, whenever you’re ready,” I said, looking to Lili and Naaza, who both gulped nervously but still stepped up with Rem covering their rear.

Ram and I stayed behind at a safe enough distance that we could intervene if anything went wrong.

“Are you expecting trouble, Reinhard-sama?” Ram asked, standing beside me with her arms crossed. One eye was on the fight ahead, the other on me. “Is that why you want all of us to level up?”

Blinking at her question, I smiled softly and patted her pink head, causing her to melt under my hand. “You’re as sharp as ever, Ram. I can never hide anything from you, can I?”

Ram blushed before puffing up her chest, which I noticed now matched Rem’s in size, and placed her hands on her hips proudly. “Heh, that’s because your Ram knows Reinhard-sama better than he knows himself at this point.”

Chuckling at her haughty demeanor, I leaned down and kissed the top of her head, exactly where one of her horns was. She shuddered and let out a surprised squeak.

“R-Reinhard-sama! W-What are you doing?” Ram stammered, her confident act instantly melting into something shy and adorable.

“I’m just really grateful to have you in my life, Ram. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you, or your sister,” I admitted gently. “You two have no idea how much peace of mind you give me. Rem always caring for our home and being so supportive... and you, always watching over everyone quietly and keeping me grounded.”

“R-Reinhard-sama…” Ram murmured, her voice soft as she looked up at me, her face flushed, those striking red eyes shining.

My smile widened as I cupped her cheek gently and kissed her lips. She closed her eyes and returned it without hesitation.

When we finally pulled apart, I rubbed her cheek softly. “So thank you, Ram. Truly. For always being someone I can rely on.”

Surprisingly, my words brought tears to the corners of her eyes, which she quickly wiped away with her free hand. “It’s us who should be thanking you. You rescued us from certain death and gave us everything from food, shelter, and even your affection. Things I’m not sure we deserved, but we’re endlessly grateful for.”

Ram gave me a beautiful smile then, eyes closed, head tilted. It made my heart skip a beat. “So for that, and for so many other reasons, you’ll always have my loyalty and love, Reinhard-sama.”

I stood there quietly for a moment, recalling a nearly identical moment with Rem. Then I smiled fondly. ‘They are twins, after all.’

“I see… I truly am lucky,” I muttered with a smile before shaking my head and focusing again. “Anyway, to answer your question, yes.”

Blinking her eyes open, Ram shifted to a more serious expression and gave a small nod. “Care to share your thoughts?”

“Of course,” I replied, turning my gaze back to the fight. It had already begun. Lili and Naaza were working together to hit the Goliath from a distance, while Rem kept its attention fixed on her.

“To be honest, it all started the day I volunteered to help Emma find her sister. Ever since then, I’ve had this growing feeling in my gut… like something big is coming. That’s why I want all of us to level up,” I explained quietly.

Ram looked thoughtful for a moment before her eyes narrowed slightly.

“I see. You believe your current level won’t be enough to handle what’s coming… and to avoid drawing attention to the fact that you, Rem, and I are stronger than our statuses suggest, you want us to level up naturally.” She nodded. “That way, our strength won’t seem suspicious.”

I smiled and nodded, pleased at how quickly she’d pieced it together. “Exactly. There’s also Wiene. Ever since we brought her out of the Dungeon, I’ve had this persistent feeling that someone’s been watching us. The truth about her origins might go deeper than we expected.”

“I’ve had the same thought,” Ram muttered, her red eyes narrowing as she focused on the fight. “If we found Wiene, then logic dictates there are others like her down here, some, maybe, as kind as she is. Others… not so much.”

“That’s actually the second goal of this expedition,” I said softly. “I want to see if we run into another like Wiene, a monster that can be reasoned with.”

“Understood. I’ll keep my eyes open,” Ram replied with a nod.

“Thanks, Ram. I knew I could count on you. We’ll let Rem know later too, but keep this from Lili and Naaza for now. I don’t want to burden them with this yet.” I said, giving her another gentle pat on the head.

“No problem.”

With that, our conversation ended, and we watched in comfortable silence as the girls slowly but surely wore the Goliath down. A few final strikes later, the monster let out a final roar and collapsed, defeated.

Lili and Naaza dropped to their knees, both panting hard.

“W-We did it…” Lili gasped, her eyes wide as she tried to catch her breath.

“I-I can’t believe we just did that,” Naaza echoed, stunned.

“Hihihi, told you it wasn’t that hard~” Rem chimed in, looking as fresh as when she started. She rested her hands on her hips with a playful smirk. “Still, good job.”

“Indeed,” I added, walking over and handing each of them a vial of Ambrosia. They drank them gratefully, their injuries healing and their strength returning as they stood up straighter.

“Well done, Lili. Naaza. I knew you two could do it,” I said with a proud smile, patting their heads.

“Hihihi… i-it was nothing,” Lili replied shyly, looking down with a small smile.

“Y-Yeah… piece of cake,” Naaza added, though her twitching ears and happily wagging tail gave her away.

“Come on everyone, let’s head down to the 18th floor for a quick rest and meal before we move on. You earned it.” I said helping them back on their feet before leading the way to the floor below after depositing the magic stone in my inventory from the Monster Rex.

“Food sound really good right now.” Lili muttered before blushing as her stomach growled a second later.

“Especially since it was made by Reinhard.” Naaza said her stomach joining Lili’s moments later causing us to chuckle.

Talking animatedly between ourselves we made it to the 18th floor before taking a small break before pushing on, this time me Ram, and Rem taking the lead.

=====

Several Hours Later

It took us a few hours to get used to the Large Tree Labyrinth that made up floors 19 through 24, but we eventually found our rhythm and started making steady progress. It helped that I had a map that updated in real time as we explored, a massive advantage over the average adventurer, who would waste hours backtracking or trying to find the right path.

As the name suggested, these floors were more like a maze than anything else. If you didn’t know what you were doing, getting lost was almost a guarantee.

The biggest hurdle here was the abundance of poison, but thanks to a combination of our Company Defenses and a healthy supply of Ambrosia, that issue turned into a non-issue pretty quickly.

Finally, after about six hours of dungeon crawling, we stepped foot onto the 25th floor… and stopped in our tracks.

“Whoa~ It’s beautiful,” Rem breathed, blue eyes sparkling as she took in the view.

The Water City. Spanning floors 25 through 27, it was a stunning subterranean paradise filled with cascading waterfalls, shimmering pools, and a near-constant, serene sound of flowing water. It didn’t look like part of the dungeon, it looked like something out of a dream.

“Lili can’t believe we’re still inside the dungeon,” Lili muttered, her head swiveling from side to side in wonder.

“I think this is the most water I’ve ever seen in my life,” Ram whispered, momentarily forgetting her usual third-person mannerism as her gaze wandered across the vista.

‘That’s right,’ I mused. ‘Re:Zero’s world doesn’t have oceans. The closest thing they have is the Great Waterfall.’

Shaking off the thought, I brought myself back to the present.

“Just remember to stay clear of the water,” I warned, recalling everything I had learned from my studies with Rose. “Monsters often lie in wait beneath the surface, just waiting for prey to get close, or fall in.”

“And now Lili is suddenly less impressed with the view,” Lili muttered, eyeing the water with sudden suspicion, her hand going to the crossbow mounted on her wrist.

Right on cue, monsters began to rise from the water in big numbers, claws clicking and eyes glinting. We instinctively shifted into formation, weapons at the ready.

“Well, at least we can get started on that Guild quest right away with all these Blue Crabs,” I said, trying to lighten the mood while unsheathing Est from my waist.

“Yep~ And with Reinhard-kun’s special ability to get drops from every monster, this shouldn’t take too long,” Rem chimed in cheerfully, already swinging her flail beside her.

“Small mercies,” Naaza muttered, pulling back the string on her newly crafted bow, a gift I’d made her during my preparations to this floor.

“Too bad we can’t eat them,” Ram sighed, brandishing her wand. With her being so strong, she was already adjusting its power to avoid accidentally bringing down a ceiling full of stalactites.

It didn’t take long to clear out the Blue Crabs, and after that, we spent about half an hour gathering some of the new ores produced in the dungeon. I wanted to see what I could forge using better-quality materials, especially now that we were pushing deeper into the Dungeon. Everyone needed to be as well-equipped as possible.

Along the way, we cut through a wide variety of monsters: Drag Octopus, Carbuncles, Raider Fish, Harpies, Sirens, Aqua Serpents, Crystal Turtles, Devil Mosquitoes, Light Quartz, and even Crystaroth Urchins.

After several more hours of exploration and fighting, we decided it was time for a proper break. We retreated back up to the 24th floor, a safer zone, and quickly made camp. I then got to work on cooking immediately.

“That was exhausting,” Lili groaned as she collapsed onto a blanket and stretched out. “The quality and number of monsters ramped up drastically after we hit the 25th floor.”

“No kidding,” Naaza agreed, letting out a long breath. “It makes sense why so many Adventurers end up camping out here for days. The constant waves of monsters don’t just wear down your body, they drain your stamina and mind too. Eventually, you have to stop.”

“And to think we have it easy thanks to Reinhard-sama and his ridiculous abilities. Not to mention inventions like Ambrosia, which heals everything. Lili honestly shudders to think what other Adventurers go through.” She threw me a grateful look as she said it.

Speaking of hard things... “Actually,” I said, stirring the pot a bit more, “once we finish the Guild’s quest, I was thinking of taking on the Monster Rex of this area, the Amphisbaena. With Rem and Ram’s help.”

Naaza and Lili both froze at the news. Lili even choked on her tea.

“I-Isn’t that the one that can travel between the 25th and 27th floors!?” Lili gasped, eyes wide. “And doesn’t it fight in the water? Most Adventurers avoid that thing like the plague!”

“Don’t worry, Lili. Naaza.” I reassured them with a calming smile, stepping away from the stew just long enough to pat both their heads. They immediately started to relax. “Believe it or not, fighting in water isn’t an issue for me. I’ve got a Divine Protection that lets me walk on water as if it’s solid ground.”

They both stared at me in stunned silence before groaning and dropping their heads in synchronized surrender.

“Of course you / Reinhard-sama has such a ridiculous power…” they muttered in unison.

“Reinhard-kun has almost every ability you can think of,” Rem added proudly, puffing up with a smirk. “And if he doesn’t have it yet… don’t expect that to last long~”

“Reinhard-sama is loved by the world, after all,” Ram added in, giving them a cheeky smirk.

“Come on, you two. Let’s not exaggerate.” I laughed, scratching the back of my head. I was a little embarrassed… but deep down, I knew they weren’t wrong. I could feel it, soon, I’d unlock the ability to request even more Divine Protections beyond the ones I already had.

“…Right,” Lili deadpanned, clearly over it. “Anyway, Lili guesses she and Naaza-sama will wait for you on the 18th floor?”

“Correct,” I nodded. “Hopefully it won’t take more than a few hours. We’ll be using Bounty Tracker to find it quickly.”

“I can’t help but feel sorry for other Adventurers,” Naaza muttered, shaking her head. “They spend days, weeks even, tracking certain monsters or materials down… and you’ve got a map that tells you exactly where it is.”

“Ram personally doesn’t care what other Adventurers think,” Ram shrugged, entirely unbothered.

“Rem doesn’t either~” Rem chimed in sweetly.

“Alright, everyone. Enough chit-chat,” I said, grabbing the ladle and lifting the lid off the pot. “It’s time to dig in.”

And just like that, the teasing stopped as everyone immediately reached for their plates, eyes fixed on the food.

‘Hopefully without the worry of looking out for Naaza and Lili, we can concentrate to see if we can find any other intelligent monsters like Wiene.’