Manowa

It gushed out.

The thing that gushed out was a hot spring.

「Ha, hahahahaha. I did it, I did it, I did it!」

And there was one girl laughing loudly. Well, it was Kazane.

The cause of this was a story she heard in the Marukuni Hot Spring Town. It was a rumor that the source might be dormant near Rock Hold Cave.

Rock Hold Cave was at the foot of the Argo Mountain Range and was halfway between of the Marukuni Hot Spring Town and Tolda Hot Spring Town. There was a possibility. So with the possible location narrowed down to some extent, Kazane started using the ancient detection method, dowsing.

The detection method was a pendulum made from hanging the Infinite Key on a chain. The reason for using the Infinite Key was because it was an artifact with the concept of『Releasing,』so couldn"t it release the location of the hot spring too? It wasn"t a well thought out idea, but it was a splendid success. It was probably due to the effect of her『Intuition』skill. When she discovered this place her eyes started sparkling.

After that she dug up the source with Golem Maker, used Tatsuyoshi-kun to draw water from a river just like last time, and created a hot spring cottage based on the one she had made with Yuuko-nee (although it was the simple version, since Magic Power consumption would be intense otherwise). She couldn"t stop smiling about how smoothly it went.

Her companions, including Tiara said「isn"t it impossible?」so they were stunned to see it when it was completed.

Anyway, they decided that this would be their base for the Rock Hold Cave exploration.

Hot springs banzai.

◎ Rock Hold Cave Entrance - Next Morning

They had stayed two nights at Marukuni Hot Spring Town, and Kazane discovered a natural hot spring near Rock Hold. Kazane and the others arrived at the entrance of the Rock Hold Cave, their destination.

「h.e.l.lo administrator-san.」

Kazane recognized his face and greeted the person at the entrance.

「h.e.l.lo everyone, it"s been a long time.」

The Rock Hold administrator also recognized the appearance of Kazane"s grouped and returned the greeting. It was a reunion for the first time in about a month.

「It has become somewhat noisier outside, right?」

「Yes, this dungeon has been raised from C rank to B rank.」

When a dungeon grew, fundamentally the enemies were strengthened and the amount of layers increased … but the chance of encountering treasure boxes and the quality of the contents also increased. So the number of adventurers would increase as a matter of course.

「A variety of people have been coming and going.」

「Which reminds me, the cleaning we talked about was done?」

In response to Zinray"s question, the administrator replied「it finished without a hitch.」

「But big game above anybody"s imagination appeared on the 32nd layer, so it seems like things have come to a stalemate.」

「It"s because of the dragon, right?」

「Oh, you heard? That"s right. I am told that it is the reincarnated body of a dragon defeated 600 years ago.」

「Reincarnated body?」

Zinray explained after Kazane"s question.

「Monsters in a dungeon don"t increase by breeding but are revived specimens that lived in the past. Because of that, annihilated monsters can show up unnoticed.」

「If enough ordinary monsters gather together the same thing can happen on the surface.」

Louise supplemented Zinray"s explanation.

「Especially among Childstone possessors, a famous monster that brought disaster on the surface in the past may appear. When it is clearly understood that a famous monster from recorded history has appeared it is called a reincarnated body.」

「Then that dragon rampaged on the surface once upon a time.」

The administrator nodded to Kazane"s conjecture.

「Yes. Long ago there was a guild request to subjugate Black Rock Dragon Giove.」

「There are still groups trying to advance, aren"t there?」

「There are not.  There are three A rank adventurers stationed here at the moment, but the rest are B rank or less. Although it wouldn"t be strange for a clan to come to a B rank dungeon, it has been less than a month since this one was certified.」

「I see.」

「What do you mean?」

Kazane asked Zinray.

「Inside a dungeon the opponent changes in each location and damage can acc.u.mulate. With such big game, a game of chicken normally begins with different adventurer groups repeatedly using hit and run tactics, but it seems the current gathering is poor.」

「So you"re saying we"ll be the first spear?」

Zinray nodded in response to Yumika"s question.

「No way, you"re challenging it?」

The administrator looked at Kazane and the others with surprised eyes.

「I understand your ability, but isn"t it too dangerous?」

「Well, we"ll be judging that as we gradually advance. And Kazane, show him that.」

At Zinray"s words Kazane said「okey-dokey」and brought out the request form, then showed it to the administrator.

「This is a subjugation request!? The client is Her Majesty the Queen with the guildmaster"s approval.」

After seeing the contents, the administrator noticed the child who wasn"t there last time.

「It couldn"t be...」

To his surprised face Kazane brought her index finger to her lips and said「shh.」

The administrator had no choice but to nod.

「I more or less understand, this information is guild-only.」

The administrator said in a shrill voice, and Kazane nodded and said「good.」

「Well then, time to go, Sieg.」

「Ye, Yes.」

Kazane slapped Sieg"s shoulder.

「Relax, relax. If you"re not reckless you won"t die.」

「Yes. I"m fine.」

Sieg talked to Kazane with a nervous face.

「It"ll be fine, Sieg. Since you have the White Sword the early layers won"t be a problem.」

Tiara also said that to encourage Sieg.

「Yes.」

Sieg answered reticently as he stared at the depths of the cave.

(It"s not scary. I can do it. I can be useful to Kazane)

He repeat in his mind. And he took a step forward.

◎ Rock Hold Cave 1st Layer

「Uuuwaaaa.」

Sieg shouted while his sword swished through the air. White magic blades were fired with every swing and minced the Civil Ants in front of him.

「It"s a considerably powerful attack.」

Louise talked as she watched from behind.

「Well, it"s a non-elemental attack so it"s strong against magic resistance and is quite handy, but it"s overkill.」

He stopped attacking after the sixth White Fang was fired. The Civil Ants were already defeated, but the breathless Sieg was still holding his sword towards the corpses of the Civil Ants.

「Ha, haa. It"s over.」

Sieg kept his sword ready for a while, but when the dust cleared he finally confirmed that the enemy was wiped out, and put down his sword.

(I did it. I defeated them)

「Thanks for the hard work.」

Kazane spoke from behind.

「Ah, no. I did it ... right?」

Sieg turned to that voice and confirmed if it was really over.

「Well. Five Civil Ants eliminated. I"d say it"s quite a coup for your first battle.」

Kazane nodded while she praised Sieg.

「Is that true?」

Siegs replied with a happy look.

「Well, what about the Magic Power expenditure?」

Immediately after that was pointed out Sieg"s face turned grim.

「Well, it"s quite diminished.」

Sieg answered. He was absorbed with fighting, so allotment and the like completely flew from his head. His offensive ability was high, so his victory was natural, and Sieg realized he should have thought about that detail.

「For now, your first battle was an overwhelming victory, so being happy is fine. But starting next time watch it properly as you fight. That way you won"t run into problems.」

「Yes」

Sieg nodded while he once again looked at the Civil Ants.

(But, I can do it)

Sieg understood that he could deal with monsters with his own power. That being the case, he thought that next time he should be able to do more.

「Well then, here.」

Kazane handed a metal bottle to Sieg with a grin.

「What is this?」

After Sieg"s question Kazane pointed to the scattered Civil Ants.

「An adventurer"s job is to collect material, so please do a good job.」

The formic acid collected from Civil Ants smelled sour, Sieg learned for the first time.

Name: Yuihama Kazane

Occupation: Magic Swordswoman

t.i.tle: Ogre Killer

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Two Handed Sword『Black Fang』, Silver Breastplate, Silver Gauntlets, Silver Sheep Clothes, Carapace Bull Trousers, Berserk Ogre Greaves, Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, War Spirit Summoning Ring

Level : 22

Health: 77

Magic Power: 132+300

Strength: 33

Agility: 27

Endurance: 17

Wisdom : 34

Dexterity : 20

Spell : 『Fly』 『Torch』 『Fire』 『Heal』『Firestorm』

Skill : 『Warrior"s Memory』 『Night Vision』 『Crushing Blow』 『Dog"s Sense of Smell』 『Golem Maker: Lv2』 『Rush』 『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』 『Healing Principle: Second Chapter』 『Air Jump』 『Killing Leg』 『Fear Voice』 『Invisible』 『Tiger Eye』 『Wall Walking』 『Intuition』 『Cheat Death』 『Nimble』

Kazane:「White Fang is a non-elemental attack, the almighty damage type.」

Yumika:「There is the problem that elemental weak points can"t be exploited.」

Kazane:「Stable performance is justice.」

TL question: The previous group translated Civil Ants as Worker Ants, should I change it to be consistent with them or do my own thing? The Civil is used in words like civil engineer so it"s not like it"s a big stretch, and it"s not a big deal either way, but I wanted opinions.