With Sumire’s help, I’d defeated the Boss of the 10th Level.
“Thank you! Thank you so much! You saved our count— Urgh...” The captain of the Tormore Kingdom explorers broke down into tears.
“It’s no trouble,” I said. “I’m just glad I could defeat it.”
The captain was a very emotional man. At the Grenflare Empire’s military academy, our instructors had taught us to separate our emotions from our actions. As someone who always strove to live up to that lesson, I could never have cried this openly in front of other people. Besides, my father’s opinion had been that “Men should never shed tears in front of others!” That old man had always believed in mind over matter.
The Satellite System was broadcasting the fight, which meant that people on the outside could see us as well.
“Eugene, Sumire, we will never forget what you’ve done for us today. I promise to pay you the reward for saving us from the Boss as well as helping us slay it. Here is a Goddess’s Memo.”
The comparatively calm vice captain handed me a piece of paper with a signature on it. The memo bore the crest of Althena, the Goddess of Justice, and was an enchanted contract. Those who broke their promise would suffer divine punishment, apparently. Judging by their reaction, though, I doubted that I needed to worry about them skipping out on the reward money.
“Hey, look, Eugene! There’s treasure over there!”
“Huh?”
Sumire was pointing at a brown chest. That’s...
“It dropped some treasure?”
On rare occasions, these spoils appeared after the defeat of a Boss. I’d never seen it happen before, so my body was thrumming with excitement as I opened up the chest. Inside lay a massive hunk of metal, its surface shining dully.
“What’s that?” Sumire asked, cocking her head.
“Hmm, it’s probably some kind of magical alloy. I’m not versed in metallurgy, so I can’t identify it.”
I would’ve preferred a more obvious prize, like a magical weapon or a jewel. But I supposed this was what I should have expected from the 10th Level. It looked heavy, and we couldn’t haul it around with just the two of us, so I supposed we had no choice but to leave it here.
“All right, Sumire. Let’s head back to the academy.”
“Huh? You don’t want to check out the 11th Level?”
“You want to keep exploring?”
“After watching you fight, I’m raring to see what else lies in this dungeon!”
Wow, she’s enthusiastic. “You’re not tired?” I asked.
“I still haven’t fought a single monster,” she replied.
Oh yeah, she’s right. I hummed in thought. Over the past week, I’d repeatedly gone over what she should do in the event that she came across a monster. However, once we’d actually gotten into the dungeon, I’d been the only one who’d had to fight. Since this was Sumire’s first time in Babel, I wanted her to experience a battle firsthand.
“All right, then, let’s go check out the 11th Level. Only for a little bit, okay?”
“Okay!”
“W-Wait, are you two heading to the 11th Level?” the vice captain hurriedly asked us when we made for the stairs.
“Yes, that’s right,” I replied.
“What about the treasure?! And you haven’t even stripped the Boss of its materials. I believe they’re quite valuable.”
“You can have everything.”
“R-Really?!”
“Go ahead and take them.”
Hauling them around would slow down our progress through the Last Dungeon, and anyway, I planned on accepting the reward money from the Blue Sea Union explorers, so I was still earning income. Of course, the biggest prize is learning that I can fight and defeat a Boss. Granted, the criterion I needed to meet in order to accomplish that was “absorb Ifrit mana.”
Nonetheless, this realization was an unfathomably valuable reward. I should have been the one thanking them. In comparison to this newfound knowledge, the heavy magical alloy and the Boss’s materials were worth pennies. Letting the Blue Sea Union explorers take them was my way of showing gratitude.
“Y-You’ve helped us with so much. I don’t know how we can ever repay you.” Even the vice captain began sobbing. Apparently, he’d just been holding back his emotions this whole time. Was everyone from the Tormore Kingdom prone to tears?
“Ah.” At that moment, I remembered what I had borrowed from them. “I’ll return this sword to you. Thank you for letting me borrow it.”
“Eugene, if you want to use that sword while exploring, I’m happy to give it to you,” the vice captain offered.
“Really?!”
“Of course! You defeated the Boss for us as well as giving us the treasure and materials! That’s pretty much the only thing we can offer you.”
I decided not to refuse his offer. “Thank you so much. I’ll take care of it.” The sword would serve as a souvenir of my victory over the 10th Level Boss. I slid it back into my belt, the weight of it already familiar. “Take care, everyone.”
Sumire added her own farewell to the explorers from the Tormore Kingdom. “Be careful on your way out!”
They waved their arms at us, bellowing their goodbyes as they saw us off. I felt a little embarrassed by the attention.
“Thank you! Thank you! We will never forget what you did for us!”
“If you ever have the chance to visit the Blue Sea Union, drop by the Tormore Kingdom!”
“Eugene, Sumire, please keep your guard up!”
“Wargh... Thank you!” The captain was still crying. He wasn’t as bad a person as he seemed at first glance.
“Hey, Eugene! It feels good to help others, doesn’t it?!” Sumire said, grinning as she hugged my arm.
For a second, I felt bashful at the sensation, but then I processed what she’d said. “As an explorer, it’s not good to show kindness to others.”
“Is that so?”
Kindness left openings for others to exploit. Explorers should strive to be more cunning. That was what Lykeion taught us.
“But I agree,” I said. “It’s a pretty good feeling.”
“Right?!”
We were only on the 10th Level, so I doubted anyone was paying attention to us. Everything was fine. And with that, we headed up to the 11th Level.