Fran came to the west dungeon of Ulmut with Katley and promptly put her through the ordeal.
「You go first」
「Eh?」
「You won’t learn anything about the dungeon if you stay behind me. So, you go first」
「B-but what about traps and magic beasts…?」
「They’re not a big deal here. So it’s fine」
Maybe, Katley was planning to let Fran take the lead and follow her like an observer.
But Fran had no intention of making it easy for her. The purpose of this request was to show Katley the reality of being an adventurer. So, she wanted her to actually experience things.
Before entering the dungeon, she has told Katley that 「If it’s just a torn arm, I can heal it with my magic. So it’s no problem」. And that was not a joke, Fran was very serious about it.
In fact, she even thought that Katley experiencing some sort of Injury would make her feel like an actual adventurer.
Fran was a Spartan-like trainer, wasn’t she?
Well, she might look like a spartan to others, but from Fran’s point of view, if Katley really wanted to become an adventurer, she should be able to handle this much.
People were beings that only thought about things based on their standards.
Fran was a battle junkie who was willing to get hurt or go through a lot of hardship to become stronger, but Katley was just a young lady who had been focused on her studies until recently. The contrast between the two was beyond anyone could imagine.
At any rate, I’d at least make sure she didn’t die.
「Let’s move」
「Y-yes!」
Prompted by Fran’s words, Katley began to advance through the dungeon.
Her steps were surprisingly steady. Curiosity and excitement seemed to have prevailed over her fear.
She walked through the seemingly empty passage while looking around incessantly. It seemed that besides her interest in the dungeon, she probably intended to look for traps.
Well, that was all for nothing though.
Clack!
「Ah!」
She accidentally triggered a trap under her feet. It wasn’t much of a trap, however.
She activated a trap that used strong winds to slam pebbles at her feet. It wasn’t the kind of tricky trap that harassed and tired people, but a childish trick to make a beginner aware of the traps around them. As expected of a dungeon designed to teach.
「Uu~」
「Don’t stop. Keep moving」
「Y-yes」
Katley, who had stopped and was rubbing her feet, started walking again with a slightly frightened expression returning to her face. It seemed that she remembered once again that she was in a dungeon.
Her dog’s ears, which were originally droopy, seemed to have drooped even more. Her tail, which had been wagging, had lost all of its energy. What an easy-to-read girl.
The way she moved was slower this time. It was as if the energetic steps she had a while ago had been a lie.
She proceeded at a very slow pace, wary of traps that she couldn’t even see through. So slow that even the other adventurers who came from behind kept overtaking us.
「…So slow, go faster」
「Uu… Yes―」
Katley’s eyes welled up as Fran urged her to hurry. Even though she was frightened, she didn’t talk back to Fran. I wonder if this was another effect of her admiration for Fran.
After that, Katley made her way through the dungeon, getting caught in traps, finding them, and avoiding them.
Well, we were only about halfway through the first floor though. If this were in a game, I’d say that we were still at the beginning of the tutorial.
Katley seemed to have exhausted herself quite a bit. Even though she was just a small young lady, she was still a beastman and had received some training. She shouldn’t get exhausted by this distance under normal circumstances.
However, the unfamiliar environment, the need to be wary of traps, and the fear of magic beasts. These factors seemed to have caught up with her mind and quickly tired her out.
「Hafu-…」
Even so, Katley continued to walk without complaint and seemed to have no intention of giving up on being an adventurer. She seemed to understand that anyone who gave up over something like this wouldn’t be fit to be an adventurer.
「Let’s take a break here」
「Yes…」
Fran decided to take a short break at a place where the passage was wide enough for multiple Adventurers to pass.
As the two sat down alongside each other, Katley began to ask several questions to Fran.
Fran couldn’t talk about what she couldn’t openly talk about, but she could tell her about our adventures. Though it was a bloody and horrific story, the light of admiration that shone from Katley’s eyes only increased in intensity.
As she had no experience in combat, she could not imagine the harshness of adventure and battle, only the thoughts of how cool and amazing it was could come to her mind.
And when she asked about her recent encounter with a magic beast, Fran told her about her struggle with the Thunderbirds she encountered in Crystal Cage.
Until now, Fran’s stories had been about how she managed to defeat formidable magic beasts. So, Katley was surprised to hear that Fran escaped from them.
「E-even onee-sama can’t defeat that magic beast called Thunderbird?」
「I could have defeated them if I used my strongest move」
「Then why did you run away?」
「I could end up in a bigger mess if I were to use my strongest move. I’d normally go all out, but when adventurers are on a request, completing it should be our top priority. Remember that」
「You can get a lot of materials if you defeat them though…」
「Nn. I could have leveled up too. But what if I meet a strong enemy after that? I couldn’t be sure there wouldn’t be any. So, there was no point in wearing myself out unnecessarily」
It was as Fran said. We could have won against those Thunderbirds if she were to use the Sword God Transformation or Potential Release.
But doing so would surely wear us out. After all, our strongest move had a terrible backlash that could render us incapable of fighting properly for a while, and if things didn’t go smoothly, we might not be able to participate in this year’s martial arts tournament because of it.
From Fran’s point of view, wearing oneself out in unnecessary battles during a request was not what a full-fledged adventurer was supposed to do.
「Be more cautious and always play it safe during a request. If you were to fail, you could get people in trouble」
「I-I see」
Fran prioritized making sure that the request was accomplished over her desire to level up.
But I never thought that this very Fran would tell a younger girl about the importance of being cautious. Somehow, I was very impressed.
Fran came to the west dungeon of Ulmut with Katley and promptly put her through the ordeal.
「You go first」
「Eh?」
「You won’t learn anything about the dungeon if you stay behind me. So, you go first」
「B-but what about traps and magic beasts…?」
「They’re not a big deal here. So it’s fine」
Maybe, Katley was planning to let Fran take the lead and follow her like an observer.
But Fran had no intention of making it easy for her. The purpose of this request was to show Katley the reality of being an adventurer. So, she wanted her to actually experience things.
Before entering the dungeon, she has told Katley that 「If it’s just a torn arm, I can heal it with my magic. So it’s no problem」. And that was not a joke, Fran was very serious about it.
In fact, she even thought that Katley experiencing some sort of Injury would make her feel like an actual adventurer.
Fran was a Spartan-like trainer, wasn’t she?
Well, she might look like a spartan to others, but from Fran’s point of view, if Katley really wanted to become an adventurer, she should be able to handle this much.
People were beings that only thought about things based on their standards.
Fran was a battle junkie who was willing to get hurt or go through a lot of hardship to become stronger, but Katley was just a young lady who had been focused on her studies until recently. The contrast between the two was beyond anyone could imagine.
At any rate, I’d at least make sure she didn’t die.
「Let’s move」
「Y-yes!」
Prompted by Fran’s words, Katley began to advance through the dungeon.
Her steps were surprisingly steady. Curiosity and excitement seemed to have prevailed over her fear.
She walked through the seemingly empty passage while looking around incessantly. It seemed that besides her interest in the dungeon, she probably intended to look for traps.
Well, that was all for nothing though.
Clack!
「Ah!」
She accidentally triggered a trap under her feet. It wasn’t much of a trap, however.
She activated a trap that used strong winds to slam pebbles at her feet. It wasn’t the kind of tricky trap that harassed and tired people, but a childish trick to make a beginner aware of the traps around them. As expected of a dungeon designed to teach.
「Uu~」
「Don’t stop. Keep moving」
「Y-yes」
Katley, who had stopped and was rubbing her feet, started walking again with a slightly frightened expression returning to her face. It seemed that she remembered once again that she was in a dungeon.
Her dog’s ears, which were originally droopy, seemed to have drooped even more. Her tail, which had been wagging, had lost all of its energy. What an easy-to-read girl.
The way she moved was slower this time. It was as if the energetic steps she had a while ago had been a lie.
She proceeded at a very slow pace, wary of traps that she couldn’t even see through. So slow that even the other adventurers who came from behind kept overtaking us.
「…So slow, go faster」
「Uu… Yes―」
Katley’s eyes welled up as Fran urged her to hurry. Even though she was frightened, she didn’t talk back to Fran. I wonder if this was another effect of her admiration for Fran.
After that, Katley made her way through the dungeon, getting caught in traps, finding them, and avoiding them.
Well, we were only about halfway through the first floor though. If this were in a game, I’d say that we were still at the beginning of the tutorial.
Katley seemed to have exhausted herself quite a bit. Even though she was just a small young lady, she was still a beastman and had received some training. She shouldn’t get exhausted by this distance under normal circumstances.
However, the unfamiliar environment, the need to be wary of traps, and the fear of magic beasts. These factors seemed to have caught up with her mind and quickly tired her out.
「Hafu-…」
Even so, Katley continued to walk without complaint and seemed to have no intention of giving up on being an adventurer. She seemed to understand that anyone who gave up over something like this wouldn’t be fit to be an adventurer.
「Let’s take a break here」
「Yes…」
Fran decided to take a short break at a place where the passage was wide enough for multiple Adventurers to pass.
As the two sat down alongside each other, Katley began to ask several questions to Fran.
Fran couldn’t talk about what she couldn’t openly talk about, but she could tell her about our adventures. Though it was a bloody and horrific story, the light of admiration that shone from Katley’s eyes only increased in intensity.
As she had no experience in combat, she could not imagine the harshness of adventure and battle, only the thoughts of how cool and amazing it was could come to her mind.
And when she asked about her recent encounter with a magic beast, Fran told her about her struggle with the Thunderbirds she encountered in Crystal Cage.
Until now, Fran’s stories had been about how she managed to defeat formidable magic beasts. So, Katley was surprised to hear that Fran escaped from them.
「E-even onee-sama can’t defeat that magic beast called Thunderbird?」
「I could have defeated them if I used my strongest move」
「Then why did you run away?」
「I could end up in a bigger mess if I were to use my strongest move. I’d normally go all out, but when adventurers are on a request, completing it should be our top priority. Remember that」
「You can get a lot of materials if you defeat them though…」
「Nn. I could have leveled up too. But what if I meet a strong enemy after that? I couldn’t be sure there wouldn’t be any. So, there was no point in wearing myself out unnecessarily」
It was as Fran said. We could have won against those Thunderbirds if she were to use the Sword God Transformation or Potential Release.
But doing so would surely wear us out. After all, our strongest move had a terrible backlash that could render us incapable of fighting properly for a while, and if things didn’t go smoothly, we might not be able to participate in this year’s martial arts tournament because of it.
From Fran’s point of view, wearing oneself out in unnecessary battles during a request was not what a full-fledged adventurer was supposed to do.
「Be more cautious and always play it safe during a request. If you were to fail, you could get people in trouble」
「I-I see」
Fran prioritized making sure that the request was accomplished over her desire to level up.
But I never thought that this very Fran would tell a younger girl about the importance of being cautious. Somehow, I was very impressed.
