Aqua lovingly stroked the money I gave her and thanked me once again.
"Thanks! Cassian, having a friend is really great."
"But how did you end up spending 100,000 Eris?"
"Well... a premium Chuwachuwa came to the restaurant, you see, I was curious about the taste so I just... hehe!"
Kazuma, who was listening, seemingly finding it absurd, scolded Aqua.
"What do you mean 'hehe'!! What premium Chuwachuwa given our situation! We should be thinking about moving to a new place quickly! How long are we going to live three to a room!?"
"Fine, I get it."
Here, in the original, Aqua would point out Kazuma secretly pleasuring himself in the middle of the night, but perhaps because the three share a room, Kazuma has been restraining himself, so there was no such comment. Aqua went to pay off her tab at the guild dining hall.
"Aqua, can you teach me a heal spell for now? Yunyun and I are currently doing requests, and neither of us has a heal, so if we were to get seriously injured, it could be dangerous."
"Got it."
I learned [Sacred Heal] from Aqua. [Sacred Heal] is the strongest healing magic among heal skills. I wanted to learn more, but I was short on points, so I decided to be satisfied with just a heal skill for now.
Just then, I saw Yunyun hurrying into the guild.
"Hey~ Yunyun!"
"Were you waiting long? I'm sorry, I overslept."
Yunyun must have been very tired too from hunting cabbages so hard yesterday.
"No, I just got here too. Yesterday was supposed to be a day off, but because of the cabbages, we couldn't even rest. I overslept too. Haha~"
"Phew... that's a relief. I was worried you might abandon me for making my teammate wait."
What does this girl think of me?
"Yunyun, I'm not the kind of person who abandons someone just because they overslept from being tired."
"Yes... I'm really... lucky. To meet such a good teammate..."
Yunyun suddenly became tearful. She must have been really worried about being abandoned by her teammate for oversleeping. Seeing her moved by such a trivial thing showed how lonely she must have been living alone. Is this what having a timid little sister would be like?
"Yunyun, you must have come without eating then? I need to have breakfast too, so order what you want, including mine. I'll go settle the cabbages we caught yesterday and come back."
"Yes! I'll order something delicious!"
Aqua, hearing that, suddenly spoke.
"Cassian! Buy me some too! I came out early so I didn't eat either."
"S, sure, order it."
Thanks to the earlier incident, Aqua, who had no money, boldly asked me to buy her a meal. For a moment it was ridiculous, but I let it slide because it was bothersome. I went to Luna and asked her to settle yesterday's cabbage hunt.
"Since the number you and Yunyun caught is large, it took a bit of time to settle, but the total comes to 4,200,000 Eris. Please check."
This showed me something. It showed just how insanely lucky Kazuma is. Combined with what Yunyun caught, we probably caught almost 10 times more than Kazuma, but only earned a little over 4 times as much. His luck truly was unmatched by anyone. Except perhaps the Goddess of Luck, Eris herself.
"Yes! Confirmed. Thank you."
"Oh, right! And thank you for earlier. For helping out..."
Luna blushed and thanked me for stopping Aqua's troublesome behavior earlier.
'Huh! Is spring coming for me too?'
Luna was truly an excellent romantic prospect. She had a glamorous body, a calm personality, blonde hair, and a pretty face. But I was confused whether this was a hint of something more or not. Having lived in a bunker for so long and having no dating experience, I wasn't familiar with such situations.
"Ah, no, it was nothing."
I must have been nervous too, as I stumbled over my words slightly. Luna saw that and smiled.
"I've also been working a lot of overtime lately. It's difficult today, but I'd really like to treat you to a meal sometime, Cassian."
'This is a date request, right? Ah~ I should have watched more romance stories.'
"I look forward to you treating me to a meal, Luna. Please let me know whenever you have time. I'll keep that evening free."
"Yes, look forward to it. I'll treat you to something delicious."
Talking happily with Luna, haha hoho, I forgot about the meal I had ordered.
"Hey~ Cassian! The food's getting cold!"
When Aqua called out to me loudly, I finally came to my senses and said goodbye to Luna.
"Oh my, I was having such a pleasant conversation with Luna that I forgot my teammates were waiting. Well then, I'll be going."
"I enjoyed it too. Enjoy your meal."
I went to the table where Kazuma's group and Yunyun were sitting and sat in the seat with my meal.
"Cassian, Cassian, you seemed to be in a good mood? Something happen?"
Maybe it showed on my face too much, as Aqua began prying with curious eyes. Kazuma and the others also seemed curious, as they were all looking at me.
"Ah... no, it's just that the cabbage income was good..."
"Ayy~! That doesn't seem like it, though?"
Aqua kept asking while poking my side, but I didn't answer. Partly because it was embarrassing, but also because nothing was certain yet, and I didn't want to say anything that might cause rumors and put Luna in an awkward position.
"Oh right, Yunyun, this is the money from the cabbages we caught yesterday."
"Yes..."
I handed Yunyun half of 4.2 million, which was 2.1 million Eris, but instead of being happy to receive the money, Yunyun's expression turned very dark.
"Yunyun, are you hurt somewhere? You don't look well."
"Ah, no, I'm okay."
After finishing the meal, Kazuma's group, perhaps tired from yesterday's events, decided to just rest and went back to their lodgings. Yunyun and I took requests and went hunting.
For about three days, we really worked hard on requests only. There wasn't much time left before Verdia would come to the town, so leveling up was necessary, and Yunyun also needed to learn advanced magic, so there was no time to rest. That's not to say we took all the requests; to maintain our reputation, we didn't touch the low-difficulty requests that novice adventurers could do.
Thanks to working hard for three days, I was able to raise [(D)Kingdom Samurai Swordsmanship] and [(D)Flash Step] to C-rank, and I also obtained [(F)Physical Resistance] and [(F)Magic Resistance]. My level also rose to 10.
"Yunyun, if we level up with today's request, you'll be able to learn advanced magic now, right?"
"Yes! I'm just one level away from being able to learn advanced magic now."
"Oh~ So I'll get to see Yunyun using splendid magic today?"
"Please look forward to it~"
Today we are on our way to hunt a Manticore and a Griffin. A Manticore looks similar to a lion but is completely different. It's much larger than a regular lion, and its features include very large bat wings and a powerful venomous scorpion tail. A Griffin can be thought of similarly as a large, four-legged, white-headed eagle. As seen in the original, Manticores and Griffins are in a territorial dispute, causing a lot of damage in the area.
We decided to hunt the Manticore first. Both are flying monsters, but there were differences. The Manticore had high attack power, while the Griffin was faster. There were also differences in disposition; the Manticore was aggressive and headstrong, while the Griffin would strike fast and retreat. So we planned to first hunt the Manticore, which was easier to fight on the ground, and once Yunyun leveled up, use powerful advanced magic to hunt the Griffin as well.
We arrived at the Manticore territory Luna told us about. It showed how much the Manticore and Griffin had fought; nothing around was intact. The surrounding trees were almost all shattered, and the ground was pitted here and there.
Grrr~~
The low-frequency roar of a lion coming from far away resonated low through the forest. It was incomparable to the lion growls heard in documentaries. Looking towards the source of the sound, it seemed to have come from about halfway up the mountain straight ahead.
"There seems to be a nest on that visible mountain. The sound came from there. What do you think, Yunyun?"
"Yes, I think the sound came from there too."
We began cautiously climbing the mountain. After climbing for a while, a foul odor mixed with animal carcasses and beastly smells began to grow stronger.
"Yunyun, get ready. We're almost there, I think."
Yunyun also tightly gripped her staff, ready to cast magic at any moment. I used the thief skill [Stealth] to erase Yunyun's and my presence and scent and moved slowly. Moving a bit further, I saw a large cave piled with bones of animals and monsters. Using the [Enemy Detection] skill, I sensed a Manticore deep inside the cave, and judging by its position, it didn't seem to be a very deep cave.
"I'll stealthily wait on top of the cave and ambush it when it comes out. Yunyun, once I'm in position and give the signal, fire a Fireball into the cave to lure it out. Even if the ambush fails, I'll stay close and fight, so don't worry too much and just support with magic."
"Understood."
I reduced my weight and climbed up to the cliff right above the cave entrance, hanging there. Then, when I gave Yunyun the signal, she fired a Fireball into the cave.
Graaah!!
As the Manticore roared loudly and rushed out, I jumped from the cliff at the perfect timing, falling towards the Manticore with my maximum weight.
Batto!
I channeled mana and weight into Enma and unleashed a Batto (Quick Draw) slash from above the Manticore. I had intended to kill it with the first ambush, but the Manticore wasn't easy prey, as it noticed and twisted its body in that short moment, avoiding a fatal wound.
"Half a success for the ambush?"
Looking at the Manticore's condition, half of its left wing was severed, and a deep, large slash wound appeared near its left ribs, causing it to bleed. Now, due to its injury, it couldn't fly, so it seemed we could handle it just on the ground.
Grrrr...
Despite being in considerable pain from its injuries, it didn't let its guard down as it looked at me.
Fuumetsuzan
The Manticore jumped sideways to dodge the [Fuumetsuzan]. When I immediately closed in using [Flash Step], it saw me and quickly tried to counter by swinging its front paw, but Yunyun cast a paralysis spell at the perfect moment.
Paralyze!
As the Manticore flinched for a moment, I didn't miss the opening and launched a slash at its head.
Gwaak!!
Receiving a large wound on its right face, the Manticore began to back away. As distance opened between me and the Manticore, Yunyun immediately fired consecutive spells.
Lightning! Blade of Wind!
The Manticore struggled to evade the magic, seemingly only avoiding fatal blows as large and small wounds accumulated. As I quickly dashed in to the Manticore's side, Yunyun warned me loudly.
"Cassian!!"
As a shadow suddenly fell over me from above, I unconsciously used Flash Step to dodge backwards. The Manticore's scorpion tail slammed into the spot where I had been with a *thud*.
*Ding~!*
You have acquired the ability [(D)Danger Sense]. You can sense danger.
It was good to get a skill, but I almost died. It certainly wasn't easy, likely because it was a high-difficulty request.
'I won't let my guard down now.'
I sheathed Enma and began gathering mana to use [Batto]. The Manticore also seemed exhausted, panting with ragged breaths. Blood and drool dripped from its mouth.
I reduced my weight and approached quickly. This time it also attacked using its tail. Now that I knew about the tail attack, I dodged it slightly, and the moment its tail struck the ground, I unleashed [Batto], slicing off the entire tail.
*Ssschik!*
Yunyun also used magic to attack at that perfect moment.
Lightning!!
Whether it was because its attention was focused on me or because it was exhausted, the Manticore couldn't dodge Yunyun's magic this time.
Kraaaaah~~~!!
As lightning struck the Manticore, it screamed and finally collapsed with the smell of burning. When I slowly approached to check, it seemed to be dying, with its eyes closed and only taking ragged breaths.
"Yunyun, finish it now. A monster of this level should be enough for you to level up."
"Yes."
In the Konosuba world, the system awards experience to the person who lands the final hit on a monster. Later, Kazuma also receives power-leveling in this manner and defeats the Demon King. Yunyun finished it off by firing a Fireball at the fallen Manticore, setting it ablaze.
After the hunt ended like that, we checked inside the Manticore's nest. It wasn't just animal and monster carcasses; there were also adventurer corpses. They were probably adventurers who challenged the Manticore and failed, dying in the process. I collected their adventurer cards and checked if there was anything usable.