This is the first time Seriana spoke since he entered.

Additionally, she is holding up her right index finger on top of my face.

Right index finger… Ah, she’s showing it.

“Mi-oo, look at this.”

I raised my right hand so that she could see it more easily.

Her nails had already lost all the black nail polish.

“…Only your index finger nail is painted black, isn’t it?”

Well, if you don’t know, it’s understandable to see it that way.

From here, I can’t see her face, but I can tell from her voice that she is puzzled, like a “?”

“No, it’s not that. Akame.”

When I called out, Akame popped her head out of the sleeve, stretching up to her fingertips, took the 【Shadow Sword】 in her mouth, and pulled it out.

“…Ah, that was an item of grace, wasn’t it? I see, so that’s why you wear multiple rings and paint your nails black, to hide it.”

Seeing the color of the nails return when the ring was removed, she seemed to understand what it was and why I wore so many jangly rings.

Of course, I knew it wasn’t just the nail color changing, but since she didn’t ask about the effects, it felt like she was acting like August’s deputy.

“That’s right.”

“…Then, is it okay?”

She must have wondered why I was using a different color.

But, there’s no problem.

I was about to answer that when…

“No problem. This girl said she won’t be going into the dungeon for a while. But… you’ve taught her some strange tricks, haven’t you?”

Seriana answered on my behalf, looking impressed as she took the ring from Akame.

I wonder why she handed it to Seriana and not me…?

“It’s interesting, right?”

Well, I didn’t teach her, she learned it on her own…

Thanks to that, even if I sleep without removing the item of grace, Akame and the others will take it off for me.

And they even place it neatly on the sideboard of the bed.

Usually, I take it off myself, but sometimes, when I’m tired, I forget.

“Before, when I used to sleep with them on, I would take them off, but lately, there’s been no forgetting, so that’s what happened.”

“…I see.”

So, Seriana was taking them off for me… I didn’t realize that.

◇

Once the atmosphere relaxed, we finally moved on to the main topic, which was about the dungeon.

Alec reported on the information from the middle floors, Fiora reported on the progress of the renovations, both were progressing smoothly, and everything was set to continue as planned.

Then, it was my turn.

I had to report on the issue of not being able to finish off the Giant Apes in the lower floors.

I had briefly mentioned it to Seriana and the others, and Alec had touched on it in his report, so August seemed to know about it to some extent, but I gave a more detailed report anyway.

I had stepped into the lower floors when we were fighting the boss, but everyone was strong, especially Zighart, who was particularly energetic… so that doesn’t count.

This time, I ended up unintentionally taking on the role of a vanguard.

“So, Serla’s arrows didn’t work, huh… I think it’s stronger than usual, what do you think?”

“Yeah. Is it because of the influence of the magic domain, or maybe because it’s from the lower floors? What do you think, Zighart?”

“Any monster with good instincts could dodge it, but if they were to take it head-on… It would definitely be stronger than regular ones. What bothers me is that they used stone-throwing to guide Serla’s movements…”

Once the report was over, the three who primarily lead the dungeon exploration began to seriously discuss this and that.

…I’m sure they were serious, but I also think they were having fun.

They’ll come to a conclusion on their own, so I’ll leave them to it.

“Serla, you said you wouldn’t be going to the dungeon for a while, but is that okay? You were quite proactive when you were stuck in the middle floors of Zelkis, weren’t you?”

In Zelkis’ dungeon, we had trouble with the ogres in the middle floors, and I had to try multiple times.

It seems Seriana remembered how I managed to break through after figuring out a strategy.

She seemed puzzled that I gave up so easily this time.

But…

“Back then, it was all about the numbers. I could win if it was 1-on-1. So, I thought if I adjusted my fighting style, it would work, and it did… But this time… I just don’t feel like I can defeat them.”

I answered while holding my hands up in a strange pose, drying the nail polish I had just applied.

I recalled the battle in the lower floors today… and, yeah, that was impossible.

【Danrem’s Thread】 is hard to land properly, 【Shadow Sword】 works but it’s too short to cut off, and stabbing the core or vital spots would require getting close, which is impossible.

Even against monsters of the same strength, if they were quadrupeds, I could try attacking from behind, but they walk on two legs…

Also, 【Scarlet Bee Needle】 does damage, but it’s far from a fatal blow.

My method of defeating monsters relies heavily on the items of grace, so when I face an opponent where that doesn’t work, I can’t do anything.

And, of course, it’s impossible to become strong enough overnight to deal with lower-floor monsters…

I might need to reconsider my entire approach to fighting.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Seria・【Hideout】+1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Wind’s Garment】・【Floating Orb】+1【Shadow Sword】【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy Eyes】【Dragon’s Lung】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Serpent’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】・10 cards

Seriana・【Area Identification】・【】・28 cards

Elena・【】・【Green Fang】【Amber Sword】・3 cards

Alec・【Strong Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・7 cards