I left the dungeon and met up with Neptune outside.
We boarded the carriage and made our way back to Cyclo as planned. Along the way, he asked me, “How was it?”
“They were strong.”
“Yep. I was no match for them, really.”
“Even stronger than you. What’s the deal with that?”
“Originally, they weren’t like that.”
That made sense. Monsters that looked like humans came in various forms, but they shared one factor: all of them had originally looked like normal monsters.
“Shadow, slime, or gas. Which type?” I asked.
“Shadow,” he immediately replied.
I didn’t bother asking him how he knew, and he wouldn’t have to answer even if I did.
Neptune and I had a ton of experience in dungeons. He’d been fighting in dungeons for many years now, and I had the advantage of gaming knowledge from before I came to this world, so we were both knowledgeable. Neither of us was especially surprised or confused.
“When I first went in, they were all shadow-like monsters,” he explained. “When I was fighting them, I ended up taking a hit…and that’s when it happened.”
“Why are they stronger than you?”
“This is just a hypothesis, got it?” he said. I nodded back, and he continued, “I think that’s my limit.”
“Your limit?”
“The limit of my innate talent, you could say. After a while, you tend to realize where your strength lands, right?”
“Yeah, I get that. Though there are exceptions sometimes.”
“Right, there are exceptions. But I think those monsters are my limit, so of course, they’re stronger than me.”
“I see… Well, I can see why it’s too much for you to handle,” I agreed.
Neptune smiled the same as ever. “By the way, the second and third floors are Lil and Ran. They’re not that strong.”
“Really?”
“Both of them specialize in supporting me, so they aren’t much of a challenge on their own.”
I suddenly remembered Leia─someone who had once been human, but had been reconstructed to someone else’s whims.
“You didn’t do anything weird to them, did you?”
“Not what you’re imagining, no.”
“What did you do?” I felt my eyes narrow.
Not what you’re imagining? That means he’s done something.
“Kisses and sex,” he replied flatly.
“…Bwuh?” I was stunned.
What the hell is he talking about?
“I said, ‘kisses and s─’”
“Bwaaargh! But how does that answer my question?!”
“Lil, Ran, and I are bound by fate. That’s how our love takes form.”
“Okay, okay, no more. I get it.”
I felt a headache coming on, so I held up my hand to stop him. Indeed, he hadn’t done what I was thinking.
Right… They’re H2O, of course.
“Okay. What about floor four and onward?”
“Untouched.”
“Okay.”
“And be careful,” Neptune added. “If they take your form… Oh?”
“What’s up?”
“Look.” He rolled up his sleeve.
His inner arm had star marks on it. I counted, and there were eight in total.
“What about it?” I asked.
“There were twelve just before. There had been for a while now, actually.”
“Four disappeared, then… Hey. I killed four monsters.”
“I see!” He smiled. I nodded back.
Once again, this was neither surprising nor confusing to us.
“That must be it,” he said.
“Yeah. I agree,” I replied.
We’d come to the same conclusion without even saying it.
I’d defeated four monsters, so he’d lost four stars.
“It’s gotta be bad if it goes down to zero,” Neptune hypothesized.
“For sure.”
“And that means…”
“Down to one should be fine.”
We both nodded.
“Yeah, I knew I was right to count on you,” he said with a smile. “I wouldn’t have figured this out on my own.”
“Leave the rest to me. I’ll bring it down to two; if you see anything unexpected happen, let me know immediately.”
“Ahaha! Impressive as ever, choosing not to go down to one.”
“You’d have done the same thing.”
“Would I? Goodness, you’re really amazing.”
“Just making sure. Do Lil and Ran have twelve, too?”
“Yep. Keep it to two, please.”
“Okay.”
“Well… Good luck, friend,” Neptune said. Despite the reduction in his stars, however…
“Why are you not acting any more serious about this?”
“Haha! Because I know you’re taking it serious enough for the both of us, of course. Why should I flounder when you’ll do all the work?”
He had full confidence in me.