“Hmm, hmm, hmm~…”

While humming a tune, I turned off the lighting switch at the 【Hideout】 and stepped outside.

I had already equipped my jacket, belt, and two types of Demon King armor, along with various items such as combustion orbs stored in the pouch at my waist.

With that, my preparations were complete.

I had already eaten lunch, and my condition was perfect!

As I exited from Seriana’s bedroom into the adjacent office, I found Seriana and Elena, as usual, writing a letter to someone. They paused and looked at me.

I spun around, showing them that my preparations were complete.

“I’m ready!”

“Yes. Today, we’ll head out from the Adventurers’ Guild instead of from the underground, as it’s also a chance to show our faces again,” Seriana said.

“I heard that adventurers have started moving their hunting grounds to the middle levels. I suppose you’ll be hunting in the lower levels, right…? But don’t push yourself too hard,” Elena added.

Both of them gave me their warnings, but… no problem!

“I’m fine, really. I’ll be back in about two hours. Alright, I’m off!”

After bidding them farewell, I swiftly jumped out of the window.

Alright, back to the dungeon after such a long time!

◇

Recently, I had been accompanying Monica to check the waterways outside the town, but now that the trial of the 【Green Shoes】 had been deemed sufficient, her mission had moved on to the second stage.

Since I wasn’t accompanying her, I wasn’t fully aware, but apparently, she was running along with the knights, doing patrols along the highway.

She herself didn’t have the combat ability to face monsters, so she wasn’t much help in battle. However, compared to horses, she had much more maneuverability.

Because of this, she was working like a messenger while running around on horseback.

This was something that other owners of the 【Green Shoes】 also did, and in a way, it could be considered their basic use.

However… it was still only being done in relatively safe areas to the west of the capital city.

Well, let’s see how it goes.

Now that Monica was free from my side and on her mission, it was finally time for me to dive back into dungeon exploration.

The craze for dungeons had calmed down a bit recently, so it should be fine for me to head there now.

As Elena said, adventurers have finally started heading to the middle layers, meaning that hunting is happening more widely in both the shallows and the upper levels, but my target hunting grounds are deeper down, in the lower layers.

While I can’t pull off a mass hunt using 【Danrem’s Thread】, I’m fully prepared and might just try a clever hunt today.

As I solidified my strategy for the hunt, I quickly reached the Adventurers’ Guild’s overhead.

As usual, adventurers and merchants were coming and going, even in the cold, but the chaos of carriages in a line, just after the last attack, had calmed down.

I landed and entered the building. Well… it seemed to be somewhat busy.

It might be because it was past noon, but there weren’t many non-adventurers around.

Normally, I would be heading to the dungeon early in the morning, but… maybe this time of day will become a good time to target in the future.

I greeted a few of the adventurers inside, then went to the reception to submit my exploration request.

The clerk who was available was a mild-mannered man I had spoken with a few times before.

He was smiling with a slightly surprised expression.

“Oh, Vice Captain Sera. It’s rare for you to come in through the entrance. Are you going for an exploration? Or is it a task for someone?”

Usually, when I go to the dungeon, I use the underground passage.

Coming through this way is something that only happens when Liesel or others have errands.

“Hey there. Yeah, I’m off to explore. I’ll be heading to the lower levels today, but do you know if anyone’s in the middle layers?”

“As for the middle layers… there are two parties. You might have heard, but there are knight order bases near the upper layers and at the deepest point. You should check with them when you get there.”

I knew the knight order had set up places in the shallows and upper layers, but I didn’t realize they had expanded to the deepest levels.

Well, whatever the case, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual in the dungeon today.

I hadn’t heard about any special investigations either, so I’d just quickly go down to the lower layers and enjoy some hunting.

After thanking the clerk, I left the counter and headed toward the underground entrance to the dungeon.

◇

The hall in front of the dungeon entrance looked just like always.

There were some adventurers preparing for their explorations and others waiting for their companions… it was lively.

There were a lot of unfamiliar faces, but perhaps that was because it was a different time of day.

I casually greeted them and made my way directly to the dungeon.

And here I was.

The shallows of the dungeon!

“Ha!”

Before I knew it, the hot, humid air hit me as I entered the dungeon.

I activated 【Prayer】, 【Wind Garb】, and for good measure, 【Amber Shield】.

I then used 【Fairy’s Eye】 and summoned Akame and the others.

I rose to the ceiling and surveyed the shallows. Everywhere I looked, battles were unfolding.

It was bustling, indeed.

“Alright… let’s get started!”

First, I’d quickly get through the shallows.

I pulled out the whistle hanging from my neck, put it in my mouth, and blew.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Sera: 【Hideout】 +1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Wind Garb】・【Floating Orb】+1【Shadow Sword】【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eyes】【Dragon’s Lungs】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Serpent’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】【Red Sword】・19 cards

Seriana: 【Range Detection】・【】・34 cards

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

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