Chapter 23 - At least something has evolved. (Patreon)

I closed the distance to the Minotaur in an instant.

It managed to keep up with my movements and swung its arm at me, trying to strike me, but I slashed it with my sword first. The wound wasn't particularly severe, but it was enough to make it feel pain.

Its anger was palpable.

I had never seen a monster so enraged in my entire life.

I smiled and began rapidly cutting different parts of its body as I circled around it. The more I ran around it and attacked, the slower the Minotaur's reactions became.

And, of course, its patience was running out as well.

But I didn't care.

I continued carving wound after wound into its body, slowly draining its life away.

If there had been an HP bar above its head, the percentage would have been steadily decreasing.

I was basically toying with it.

Then, I finally decided to end the fight.

I aimed for its neck.

The Minotaur realized my intention and immediately raised its arms to protect its throat.

In the process, several of its fingers were sliced off, and its arms suffered even deeper wounds.

It was a rather gruesome sight.

Then, at last, I struck its neck.

The moment my blade bit into its throat, the Minotaur began crawling across the ground in a desperate attempt to escape.

Well, it was far too slow to get away.

Its attempt was pointless.

I leaped into the air and put all my strength into my next strike.

My sword cut through its neck as though it were slicing through soft butter, and its head was severed cleanly.

The moment the Minotaur died, I waited for a system notification.

Sure enough, it appeared.

[The skill "Swordsman LV1" has evolved into "Swordsman LV2"]

But that wasn't the message I had been hoping for...

Well, at least something had improved.

####

After the Minotaur died, I noticed that, besides its magic stone, it had also dropped an item.

Item drops aren't particularly common. Not every monster drops one.

I had gotten lucky.

An item like this could certainly be used to forge a sword.

I noticed Bella staring at both the magic stone and the Minotaur's horn that I had just picked up.

Her eyes were shining.

'If the Hestia Familia is in the same situation as in the original story, she needs these more than I do.'

Besides, I could always kill plenty more Minotaurs with my party.

"Do you want these?" I asked.

Bella's eyes lit up even more.

Even so, she immediately grew suspicious.

"That's strange. Why are you offering them to me? There's got to be something wrong."

"Hm? Of course not. You need these, don't you? The Hestia Familia isn't doing very well right now."

"How do you know that?"

"Everyone knows the Hestia Familia didn't have any members until recently."

I chuckled.

"Here, you can have them. But I want something in return."

"I knew there was a catch."

"It's not a weird request or anything."

"Fine. What do you want?"

Bella stood up with some difficulty and brushed the dust off her clothes.

I handed her the magic stone and the Minotaur's horn before saying,

"I want you to have dinner with me. I'd like to get to know you better. Of course, I'll pay for everything."

"I knew it would come to this. Just like Goddess Hestia said, you're an idiotic womanizer."

"The goddess? Hestia?"

"It's nothing..."

"Now you've made me curious. Come on, accept my invitation. It'll be fun. I promise I won't do anything weird."

"Tsk."

Bella looked at the items in her hands and clicked her tongue.

After thinking for a moment, she sighed.

"Fine... but only because you're paying for everything."

"Great."

Suddenly, I heard Ais's voice.

"Rui? What are you doing here?"

I turned around and saw Ais, Tiona, and Tione.

Their clothes were dirty, so they had obviously been fighting.

"Rui, weren't you supposed to be resting at home? What are you doing here?" Tiona asked as she approached.

She looked genuinely worried about me.

Then she finally noticed Bella.

"That girl... Who is she?"

Bella instinctively took a step back, visibly nervous.

"Don't tell me you're hitting on some random girl inside the Dungeon..." Tiona said, looking at me suspiciously.

"That's not it. I just helped her. Isn't that right?"

"Yes, he helped me. He killed the Minotaur that was chasing me..."

Bella let out a small laugh before clearing her throat.

"Well, I should get going now. I need to let Goddess Hestia know that I'm safe."

Before I could say anything else, Bella disappeared.

There goes my date...

"It's a good thing you were here," Ais said.

"If you hadn't been, that girl would have died."

"Do you know why that Minotaur was here?" I asked.

"We found that Minotaur on the tenth floor, where it shouldn't have been. We don't know how it ended up there. We tried to kill it, but it disappeared before we could. We've been searching for it ever since."

"How could a monster like that escape the three of you?"

I was genuinely surprised by her answer.

All three of them were high-level adventurers.

Adventurers like them could sense an enemy's presence from dozens of meters away.

"I don't know how it happened either. I'm still trying to figure it out."

Ais looked visibly troubled.

"First the monsters started acting more aggressively than usual, and now this. I'll report everything to the goddess."

"You're thinking too much about it, Ais~~," Tiona said.

"This is serious, Tiona," Tione replied.

"I'm more curious about that girl."

Tiona turned to me with a murderous glare.

"So... who is she?"

Didn't you say you weren't the jealous type?