Kanzen Kaihi Healer no Kiseki - VOL 4 CHAPTER 17
Chapter 17 – Lucia’s Tea Party
It has been five days since Hiroki went to the bottom lake dungeon. We don’t know which floor the boss is on, so we can’t read the number of days to conquer the dungeon. It seems that there are people who have conquered this dungeon, but there is very little information about it.
“Hiroki, I wonder if he’s okay…”
As I muttered that, I noticed the other person in front of me chuckled. That person is the wizard of the hero’s party, Ruri. A very strong and beautiful woman from the same hometown as Hiroki.
“Ara, Lusha, are you really that worried about Hiroki?”
“Sorry, I shouldn’t like that when having tea with Ruri and the others.”
“Don’t worry about it. I also wonder how long it will take Hiroki to get back, too.”
It was Ren, the hero, who quickly followed up on my words in return. It’s hard to imagine him standing on the front lines of battle and fighting from the gentle atmosphere.
Me, Lusha, who is with these two amazing people, is Hiroki’s partner, and my occupation is an archer. Today I was invited to Lucia-sama’s tea party and three of us, Ruri, Ren and I, came to her mansion. Since she has high status as the duke’s daughter, I’m nervous just to meet her.
Right now, we were led to the reception room first, and the three of us are waiting for Lucia-sama.
“Hiroki and I don’t know much about high-difficulty dungeons, you know. I wonder how many floors there are in that dungeon?”
“Well… I don’t know how deep the bottom lake dungeons are, but the dungeons Ren and I went to were about fifty floors deep.”
“Yeah, that’s right. I wasn’t very strong yet, so I remember being exhausted. When I think about it now, Ruri is a wizard, but she was able to follow me all the way to the underground like that.”
Sigh… I knew they were great. Speaking of Ruri, she replied to Ren, “That’s the spirit.”
A dungeon that has 50 floors in length is a lot of work just to get down. I wonder how strong the boss in the depths of that dungeon was. Just imagining it makes me shudder.
Taking a sip of tea, I turn my gaze to the door.
“…Lucia-sama, she’s late.”
“Yes. I didn’t wait this long when I was invited to a tea party before, but…”
Oh, when I wondered what’s the reason. There was just a knock on the door, and Lucia-sama and Ishmer-sama were standing behind it with a bundle of papers. I had heard that it was only Lucia-sama who was having tea with us, but apparently, that plan had changed.
When Lucia-sama entered the room, she grabbed the hem of her dress and bowed gracefully.
“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. My dear brother was just returning with some documents.”
“Documents?”
What is it? As I was thinking that, Ishmer-sama placed a bundle of papers that he was holding in the middle of the table. When I looked at it, I saw that it said things about the bottom lake dungeon.
“Sorry, I interrupted the tea party. I was curious, so I did some research about the bottom lake dungeon.”
“Oh, really? Thank you, Ishmer-sama!”
“It was not much, though.”
I quickly thanked him and looked into the bundle of papers. Written on it was the presumed floor level of the dungeon, the monsters that come out, and information about the boss.
“Amazing… I heard that there were people who had conquered the dungeon, but I couldn’t figure it out… so I was surprised that it even has information about the boss.”
“This information says that the boss is a Kraken. Usually, though, it sounds like a monster from the sea…”
As I say that, Ruri looked at me. She doesn’t know the Kraken’s details, so I guess she wants me to tell her. I’ve never actually encountered a Kraken either, but I do check for strong or dangerous opponents.
“The Kraken is a huge monster that is said to be as long as ten meters. It is said to have strong suction cups on its hands that capture adventurers and drag them into the water.”
“If they take you into the water, you’ll be at a huge disadvantage…”
“You can’t hold your breath, and that’s someone you want to take down before they attack you.”
Ruri and Ren shook their heads in disgust, saying they didn’t want to get into an underwater battle. Of course, I agree with them.”
A maid prepared new tea and sweets for us, and the topic of conversation remained about the bottom lake dungeon, and Lucia-sama’s tea party began. What kind of tea party for a noble lady… I was nervous at first, but then the topic turned to dungeons, so I became very calm.
I’m an easy-going person, after all…
First of all, Lucia-sama opened her mouth as she was the host of the tea party.
“Thank you for coming to my tea party today, even though it was a sudden invitation. To tell the truth, if I were alone, I would be so worried about Sakura-sama that I couldn’t help but worry about him, and I was hoping that I could distract myself…”
“Yeah, I guess it bothered you even more that I brought the information to you…”
“That’s right! No, I appreciate the information dear brother brought to me, but…!”
Apparently, Lucia-sama can’t help but worry about Hiroki when she’s alone. I’m worried too, and I understand that the anxiety is great for Lucia-sama, who is not used to fighting.
Isn’t it time for me to return home, too? I thought.
Ruri, who enjoyed watching their exchange, takes the documents and reads out the types of monsters that appear in the dungeon.
“Piranha, starfish, drill shells, killer merman and… octopus jar, killer seals and lake turtles… Based on the names alone, they don’t seem that quick.”
“No monster is too quick to jump out of a box, but as you get deeper into the floors, every individual is strong.”
“Yes. Where exactly did Ishmer-sama get this information? I checked the library and didn’t find anything like this.”
As for what Ruri said to Ishmer-sama, I agree with her. Because I asked about it in the adventurer’s guild, but there was no information about the bottom lake dungeon at all. No, it was prepared exactly, but it was up only to the 10th floor.
There were several adventurers who were conquering this dungeon, and the guild bought the information from them. So there are some adventurers who specialize in exploration.
Ishmer-sama took the documents in his hand and simply told us briefly, “It was the Guild.”
“But they didn’t keep the materials. I was asking a competent person about the bottom lake, and I happened to have this information. He’d heard about it when he met a skilled adventurer who was looking for a challenge one day.”
“I see. Thank you for asking around for Sakurai. Ishmer-sama.”
Ruri bowed deeply, so I did the same and told him, “Thank you”. But Ishmer-sama’s expression isn’t clear, and he looks rather distressed.
“No, it was originally my naivety in deciding that His Majesty Joseph would be willing to negotiate with you if you brought a Chloria. Moreover, Sakurai is already in the dungeon, so this kind of document is useless, but…”
“No. We can make an estimate of when Sakurai will be back, so that alone will help.”
The documents state that there are forty floors.
If it’s this long, it should take quite a few days just to get to the farthest point on a normal walk. Furthermore, Hiroki would bitterly chuckle inwardly that it would take much longer since he doesn’t have the strength.
Ishmer-sama seems to be calculating the number of days to conquer while putting his hand to his chin.
“It’s going to be pretty tough, so even if he really manages to conquer it… it will take at least a month, right? It will be going that long.”
Hearing the expected number of days, Lucia-sama holds her mouth and turns pale.
“To go through the dungeon alone for such a long period of time…”
“It would certainly be hard without a strong spirit. But these are just my estimates of the number of days to conquer, so we can assume that it will actually take longer.”
“E-even more…”
Hmm…
It’s true; I can’t quite pinpoint how many days I’d need to spend if I were told there are forty floors of dungeons. I’ve been relying on Hiroki to do all these things, including making the dungeon maps.
We might have to split up in the future, so I might as well learn about it.
…But as expected, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to take a month, but I don’t know. When I look at Ruri and Ren, they are tilting their heads a bit like me. They seem to think that it doesn’t need that many days, after all.
I turn my smile to the worried Lucia-sama.
“I’m sure Sakurai will be back soon. Besides, if it’s too late, I’ll come and get him!”
“Lusha-sama…”
As I declared with a gesture and bent my arm, Lucia-sama’s anxious expression softened. As I was relieved to see that, a knock sounded in the room. As Ishmer-sama gave permission to enter the room, a maid and Hiroki came in.
“I’m back. The landlady of the Starfall Pavilion told me that Lusha was here. I’ve gotten the drop of the lake, safely――why do you look so dumbfounded?”
The curious Hiroki was met with a combination of everyone saying it was too soon.