Starting the following week, Mika Takana began sneaking into Warehouse No. 4 on Tuesdays and Saturdays without waiting for the morning meeting. On the first day, she entered alongside Takayuki and ended up registering with the Adventurer’s Guild.

As usual, she headed to the warehouse with a cart, a rake, and insecticide in hand. Then, using the green-ribboned key she carried, Mika unlocked the warehouse.

After moving a little further in from the entrance—where coins and other small tools were stored as merchandise—she left the cart and cleaning supplies behind. Today, she and Takayuki ventured deeper into the cave, carrying only the rake and insecticide.

At the very back of the cave was a staircase leading upward, where they happened to meet Dada, a birdfolk descending from above.

“Mika, I came to meet you after receiving word, but… who is this perso—uh, individual with you?”

“Ah, you’re a birdfolk adventurer, eh? Well, I’m none other than Tacky the Adventurer!”

Takayuki showed off a black card hanging from his neck, resembling a dog tag.

“Th-this is…! An S-rank adventurer’s tag… No, black with red lettering?! The SS-rank adventurer’s tag?! An ogre who understands human speech, registered as an adventurer, and whose strength was so overwhelming that S-rank wasn’t enough—so they granted him SS-rank…!”

“Haven’t shown my face at the Guild much lately, so the youngsters probably don’t recognize me. Tacky the Ogre, at your service. Pleasure meetin’ ya.”

Dada, visibly moved, extended his small hand for a handshake with Takayuki. Mika found the scene endearing, but just as she was smiling at it, she spun around and sprayed insecticide at a black demon approaching from behind.

“As expected of Mika. Your offensive power is as fearsome as ever. And to think you’re acquainted with a legendary SS-rank adventurer!”

(Even though they’d only just met a few days ago.)

“By the way… what’s an ogre?”

“Ah, so you didn’t know, Mika. Here, humans can’t understand the language, and they attack indiscriminately—monsters and people alike—so they’re treated as a type of monster. Folks like me and you are called ogres.”

“Huh… I see.”

Mika tilted her head slightly as she replied.

Ogres… huh.

Then, joining them from behind Dada were Gatt, a bipedal Chihuahua kobold, and Zurah, a lizardman. The five of them decided to head aboveground in this world by ascending the staircase.

The stairs were carved into a natural vertical shaft connecting to the upper floor, spaced comfortably for the average height of Gatt and Zurah to climb. For Mika and Takayuki, however, it felt less like stairs and more like rudimentary rock climbing.

“You alright there?”

“Yes, this is fine. Are you okay, Takayuki?”

Despite his vigor, he was still an 87-year-old man. But with an effortless ease, Takayuki scaled the steps even more nimbly than Mika. Seeing this, she felt silly for worrying, and before long, the two were practically racing each other upward.

Every time Mika tried to spray insecticide at anything they encountered along the way, the three behind her—Dada, Gatt, and Zurah—panted as they hurried to stop her.

“Ah, he’s a fairy! One of the civilized races!”

“Oh? I thought he was a bug. My bad.”

As they progressed, the scenery shifted from rocky caverns to areas with trees and even lakes—hardly what one would expect underground. It was dimly lit, though it was unclear where the light came from.

“Ah, that tree’s a treant! Be careful—it throws spiky nuts!”

“Can I attack it?”

“It’s a monster, so go ahead. If you hit its face, it’ll stay motionless for days.”

“Its face, got it!”

Dodging the occasional flying spiky nut, Mika casually swung her rake and struck the large, knobby “face” on the trunk.

“Gyaaaah!”

Letting out an eerie shriek, the treant froze in place, its branch-like arms raised mid-swing.

“Is it okay to just leave it like this?”

“It’s fine. Treant fruit is delicious, so we’d normally harvest some, but we’re in a hurry today. Let’s leave it.”

Walking along the edge of a pond, a thick snake about two meters long approached. On closer inspection, it had fin-like arms and a vaguely human-like face.

Mika immediately raised her rake, but Dada flapped his wings in a panic to stop her.

“No, no! They’re snakefolk—civilized people!”

“…Oh. Do they bite?”

“They won’t! You two, back off. These ogres aren’t enemies. We’re guiding them on Guild business.”

After exchanging greetings with the two snakefolk adventurers, the group pressed onward.

It seemed Mika’s first task here would be learning to distinguish between the many civilized races and monsters.