“I don’t think either the flonions or the stackmushes are worth going out of our way to harvest,” said Natsuki, “but if any are within reach as we descend, I do think it would be worth it for us to gather them. We can’t make a fair judgment until we actually try them out for ourselves, after all.”
“In any case, let’s walk back the way we came and look for places to climb down,” I said.
“Yeah, good idea,” said Yuki. “We didn’t really check under the edges of the cliff on our way here.”
As we retraced our steps, we tapped the side wall and leaned out periodically to check under the cliff. Given that the ground had yet to give way under us, there didn’t seem to be any traps, so we abandoned the rope that had linked us together; it had also inhibited our movements somewhat. We walked all the way back to the stairs that led up to the twentieth floor, but...
“As expected, no hidden doors,” I said.
“There were, however, plenty of spots from which we could safely descend,” said Natsuki.
Initially, we had kept close to the rock wall for fear of slipping, and we’d been focused on watching out for rock spiders, so there were actually a number of ledges below the trail that we’d failed to notice on our first traverse. If we descended from a spot above one of those ledges, we could probably make it to safety even if we slipped, and we wouldn’t fall all the way to the bottom of the gorge. Depending on how far we fell, we could still be injured, but the psychological hurdle, at least, would be more surmountable.
“As one would expect of a dungeon, there is a viable route after all,” said Haruka.
“Yeah. It would be great if there were things like vines that we could climb or hop down, but I guess that’s only in games,” said Yuki.
Vines weren’t as conveniently placed in real life as they were in video game maps, and the same applied to rope.
“Even if there were vines here, I don’t think they’d be much help,” I said. “They’d probably snap on us.”
“Yeah, agreed,” said Touya. “Rope ladders are pretty common in games too, but I wouldn’t trust something a stranger had left behind. It’s just too risky.”
Yuki, Touya, and I glanced at each other and nodded. Some aspects of the dungeon reminded us of games, but still, it was best to be more realistic in our approach.
“Well, that’s exactly why we prepared a ladder we know we can trust,” said Haruka. “In any case, we need to decide where exactly to descend from.”
“There were multiple rock shelters that looked reachable,” said Natsuki. “It’s possible that there is a single correct path. However...”
“...We don’t have any hints, so we might as well just start from the closest one,” I finished.
Assuming it would be more or less equally difficult to reach all of the shelters, we had no alternative but to check each of them one by one. If we started in order, it would be harder to lose track and easier for Yuki to map out our exploration.
“We might have to teleport back, so perhaps it would be best to start with the closest spot,” said Natsuki.
“I guess that means that spot right over there,” I said.
The ledge adjacent to the stairs was decently spacious. Walking to its edge and looking at the plank trail we’d just traversed, we saw another ledge, lower down and about fifty meters ahead. We immediately walked over there to look directly down. Underneath it was another ledge, about three meters in area—not wide, but wide enough for all seven of us to land on.
“Welp, guess I’ll have to go first,” said Touya.
“I mean, yeah, you’re always first.”
I felt a bit bad about the fact that it was always Touya’s responsibility to lead the way, but he was the toughest member of our party, so it was usually our most logical strategy.
“Yeah, I get it.”
“U-Um, I wouldn’t mind switching places,” said Mary hesitantly.
Touya laughed and shook his head. “Nah, sorry, but I can’t take you up on that offer.”
Mary was a beastgirl, so there was a good chance that her body was more durable than Yuki’s or mine, but rather than allowing her to put herself in danger, it would be better for me to take over. However, Touya was simply better suited to this role than any of us. There wasn’t much we could do about that.
“Yeah, sorry, but you’re the best at handling this kind of stuff, Touya,” said Yuki. “Just so you know, this isn’t, like, intentional gender discrimination...”
“Don’t worry, I get it. It would be dumb sending the healers down first, and if we exclude the sisters too, you and Nao are the only ones left. I’m way tougher than either one of you, so it makes the most sense for me to go.”
“I’ll support you,” I said. “Good luck.”
Our plan was to use a rope ladder this time. Normal ropes were better for faster descents, but rope ladders were more convenient for climbing up and down repeatedly. In addition, I firmly secured a lifeline to Touya.
“Do you see any rock spiders ahead, Nao?” Haruka asked. “It would be dangerous even for Touya if he were to be attacked while climbing down.”
“I don’t think there are any in this section, but I’ll double-check just in case.”
As before, my Scout skill failed to pick up any hostile signals. Mindful of how well rock spiders could camouflage themselves, I cast some weak spells at a few suspicious spots, but it seemed everything was all clear.
“Yeah, there shouldn’t be any nearby. All right. Enjoy your one-way ticket, Touya,” I said, pointing over the cliff.
Touya cocked his head. “Wait, what do you mean, ‘one-way’? Are you telling me that I’m going to die or something?”
“Nah, of course not. I’m just joking. I’ll keep a careful eye out for monsters. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“If you say so, dude. One last check...” He gave his lifeline a tug. “Okay, I should be good to go.”
Touya put one foot on the first rung of the rope ladder, but then Yuki suddenly piped up.
“Oh, wait, Touya!”
Touya flinched at the unexpected sound.
“Please gather any stackmushes and flonions you run into along the way!”
“...Are you seriously asking me to do that when I’m this nervous? Well, if the climb down turns out to be easier than I’m expecting, I’ll give it a shot.”
“Good luck, big bro Touya!” Metea exclaimed.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
At those words of encouragement from Metea, Touya began to climb downward. Based on the length of the rope ladder, the distance to the ledge below was easily over twenty meters, so it was going to take him a while.
“Man, that ledge is really far down there,” I said. “The distance is more than the height of a four story building, so I guess it’s taller than our high school.”
“Yeah, that’s a good comparison,” said Yuki.
The mist and haze rendered the gorge bottomless, but the ledge was still somewhat visible. It looked small from this distance, so even now that we knew that the ledges were fairly spacious, the prospect of climbing down was pretty intimidating. Still, Touya looked relaxed and was taking his time, collecting the stackmushes and flonions within arm’s reach. When he was about three meters below us, my Scout skill suddenly picked up some signals.
“Yikes, something is coming from above, and fast!”
Haruka was the first to react. “Is it a bird?!”
Three birds resembling hawks suddenly zoomed down from high overhead, beyond the range of my Scout skill. They weren’t flapping their wings, and so they swooped down in total silence.
“Attack!” Haruka exclaimed.
She herself was the first to take action. Powerful as my magic had gotten, it was no match for her bow in terms of range. Her first arrow flew directly at one of the birds. It attempted to adjust the angle of its descent, but the arrow pierced through one wing. It wasn’t killed instantly, since the arrow hadn’t struck its body, but incapacitated by the injury, it rammed into the cliff face and then fell into the gorge.