We temporarily halted our hunt and took a break inside the 【Hideout】.

I usually don’t use the 【Hideout】 to rest while in a dungeon, so this felt somewhat refreshing.

“…It’s truly convenient.”

Although she hadn’t taken a bath, Seriana, who had washed her face and freshened up, sat on the sofa and muttered as she watched Elena and the others preparing tea in the kitchen.

“It really is…”

I couldn’t help but agree.

“Come to think of it, you mentioned that you don’t use this place much for resting when you’re in a dungeon.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

When I’m alone… I’d probably relax too much and completely let my guard down. So aside from throwing in any recovered relics, I haven’t been using it much lately.

As I was talking about this with Seriana, Elena and the others finished preparing the tea and came over with a tray.

The fragrance of tea and sweets spread throughout the living room in an instant.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

I do have a stock of tea and sweets here, but today, we brought some from Seriana’s room.

They’re a bit of a hassle to prepare. I could get them myself if I wanted to, but since it’s troublesome, I usually go with something else.

But today, there’s someone willing to put in the effort…

“Thank you. You two sit down as well. Let’s see… shall we depart in about 20 minutes?”

Seriana encouraged the two to take their seats and checked the clock.

It felt like a short tea break, but if we got too comfortable here, we’d never leave.

Regardless, it was time for tea.

“Lady Seria, how is Riana’s dungeon?”

“As the reports stated. The shallows are more troublesome because of the environment rather than the monsters. I thought the criteria for dungeon exploration approval were a bit strict, but given the circumstances, I suppose it can’t be helped.”

“That’s true. Even those who pass the criteria often get injured in the shallows… It’s probably best to maintain the current standards.”

The three continued their discussion.

Even though it was tea time, the topic naturally revolved around the dungeon.

As expected, Seriana also recognized the environment in the shallows as an issue.

If there were some way to improve it, more adventurers would explore, but… that wasn’t something easily changed. The current situation would likely remain.

“…It’s about time. Sera, you can leave the dishes for later, right?”

After some idle chatter, 20 minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and it was time to leave.

“Yeah, just leave them here.”

There wouldn’t be any pests or anything, so cleaning up after we returned wouldn’t be a problem.

“On the way back, you should come down as well. I’ll permit you to fight.”

“Oh!? Got it!”

Honestly, just watching from above had gotten boring.

I probably wouldn’t need to unleash 【Danrem’s Thread】, but it wouldn’t hurt to move my body a little.

As a warm-up, I rotated my arms and gave my response.

◇

A massive boar charged from the side, targeting Teresa at the front.

“Hah!”

I swiftly delivered a kick from the side.

I couldn’t take it down in one blow, but it staggered enough for Elena to land a finishing strike.

Not a bad combination.

Usually, it’s tricky to land a kick on a charging monster from the side, but in the shallows, even monsters have their movements somewhat restricted.

This boar, for example, was noticeably slower compared to those found elsewhere.

For someone like me, unaffected by the environment, the shallows were actually an advantage.

When I hunt with Alec and the other men, I usually take the role of finishing off enemies, but in this kind of party, I act as the one to destabilize them.

This kind of change in role is interesting every once in a while.

Meanwhile, while we handled the larger foes, Seriana and Teresa had already finished dealing with smaller monsters like goblins.

Their corpses littered the ground.

“Sera.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Seeing no other monsters nearby, Seriana instructed me to take care of the corpses.

Well… I wouldn’t be doing it myself. The snakes would handle it.

“There aren’t any more monsters around. Sera, give us 【Prayer】. We’ll make a straight run for the entrance.”

After making sure all the corpses were cleared and the relics were collected, Seriana gave the order.

Since today was mainly for training, I hadn’t used 【Prayer】, but now that we were heading back, it was finally time.

“Lady Seria.”

Just as I was about to psych myself up to cast it, Elena suddenly spoke up.

“What is it?”

“Why not have Sera make a path to the entrance for us?”

“A path…? Ah, I see. Sera, fire an arrow a little off from the entrance.”

“Alright, alright.”

Creating a path.

At first, I wasn’t sure what she meant, but I quickly figured it out.

“Let’s see… This should be good.”

Activating 【Ankle Bracelet】 and 【Serpent’s Tail】, then preparing 【Danrem’s Thread】, I took aim.

I couldn’t pinpoint the exact location from down here, but as long as I blasted through to the wall, it would work.

“On three…!”

I released the arrow.

A sound of earth being gouged out and trees snapping filled the air, followed by a delayed impact as the arrow struck the wall.

Looked like I hit my mark.

And then…

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

As Elena and Teresa used wind magic to clear the dust, Seriana noticed my reaction and turned toward me.

Something had happened.

“Yeah… I think I just took something down.”

I hadn’t aimed at anything in particular, but it seemed my shot had accidentally killed a monster.

A single card of holy currency dropped.

Seriana looked puzzled, but from what I could tell, it had been just outside her blessing’s range.

Unlucky for that monster!

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Sera・【Hideout】+1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Wind’s Raiment】・【Floating Orb】+1【Shadow Sword】【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Dragon’s Lung】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Serpent’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】【Red Sword】・15 cards

Seriana・【Area Identification】・【】・33 cards

Elena・【】・【Green Fang】【Amber Sword】・4 cards

Alec・【Strong Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・9 cards