Grace and I entered the dungeon, but she looked extremely nervous—probably because of the task I'd given her.
"Grace, until we reach Level 30, I won't step in. You'll handle the monsters and protect me."
"W-What!? That's way too much to ask!"
Her face screamed no way, I can't do this.
My goal was simple: get Grace to learn how to protect someone while fighting and winning against enemies.
Besides, the target I set was just reaching Level 30—the tropical rainforest layer. For an average knight, that was child's play.
"It's already easy enough. And you're a knight—can't you protect the people of our country?"
When I said "people," I pointed at myself, making it clear that I counted as one of them. At the same time, I was reminding her of her duty as a knight.
Grace was a responsible person. She wouldn't lie to herself or run away. After calming down, she looked at me and said,
"...I understand."
Looks like she remembered why she set out in the first place—to grow stronger and earn the recognition of the Sword Saint. There was no way she could afford to stop now.
Back to the present—right after entering the dungeon, Grace immediately drew her sword and stayed on high alert, nervously scanning her surroundings. Watching from behind, I couldn't help but feel a bit helpless. It was like she had completely forgotten the existence of "Detection."
So I called out to her.
"Grace."
"Ah! Y-Yes, Mr. Karen!"
She practically jumped at my voice. Was she really that scared? This was only level 1—just slimes that didn't even attack on their own.
"Are you using "Detection"?"
"Yes."
If she was using it, then why was she still relying on her eyes to scan everything? I couldn't understand.
So I spoke in a more instructive tone.
"Then stop looking around like that. "Detection" won't lie to you. And when you encounter enemies, don't panic—just fight like you normally would."
After hearing that, Grace stopped walking. She stared ahead, steadied her sword, took a deep breath, and answered firmly,
"Yes!"
Grace was a skilled swordswoman. She just lacked experience—and the confidence that came with it. While I'd set level 30 as the goal, that was only temporary. I planned to raise it later.
After that, we made our way to Level 11 with ease. Grace wore a puzzled expression, like, That's it? That didn't even count as a warm-up.
I stroked a sheep nearby and spoke to her.
"See, Grace? Pretty easy, right?"
"Y-Yes."
"That's because this is basically kid-level."
"Kid-level...? Why?"
She didn't seem to understand. Above level 10, the difficulty still didn't even qualify for the lowest-ranked adventurers. As long as you could use basic magic and stayed focused, it was incredibly easy.
But explaining it like that wouldn't really help her.
The dungeon existed so people wouldn't go hungry—and so they could train and grow stronger. Like characters in a game, you fight monsters, gain experience, and earn rewards.
So I explained it this way:
"If people started out as strong as trained knights, then self-trained adventurers would end up stronger than knights who went through formal training, wouldn't they?"
Adventurers learned through real combat, while knights were professionally trained—it was a different path. But having guidance always led to faster growth. If you had two people—one adventurer and one knight—both with a year of experience, the knight would almost certainly win.
If my hypothetical were true, then all adventurers would be geniuses—and someone at even a Green-Rank could defeat a Sword Saint.
Of course, adventurers and knights ultimately faced different enemies. Adventurers fought monsters; knights fought humans.
"That... makes sense."
"Now that your question's answered, let's keep going. Try to reach a deeper level before nightfall."
"Yes."
By 7:24 PM, we arrived at level 22—the Waterfall Forest. This level is a rest floor with same number, so staying here overnight should be completely safe.
Today, I also realized something new. Aside from the city on the "Starry" levels, even here the dungeon adjusted between day and night based on the outside world.
But once it got dark, visibility dropped significantly. We couldn't continue any further.
I had originally planned to just eat a packed meal for dinner and rest around 9 PM. I didn't expect the dungeon to simulate day and night like this. If I'd known, I would've come tomorrow instead.
And this time, I wasn't alone—I was guiding a beginner like Grace. There was also a chance I'd end up chatting with some random god again.
Now I'm no longer confident we'll be able to leave the dungeon by tomorrow.
Sighing to myself, I set up the travel house and went to prepare dinner.
While we were having dinner, my phone suddenly rang. I figured it was probably Jacob. But when I checked the screen, to my surprise, it was Alice.
Since I was eating and didn't feel like holding the phone, I answered and switched it to speaker mode so I wouldn't have to press it to my ear.
"Hello."
"Mr. Karen, what are you and Ms. Grace doing?"
"Eating."
"Dinner? We haven't had dinner yet. But the food at the stalls is so good—we're completely stuffed already. There's no way we can eat dinner anymore."
"As long as you're full, that's fine. Did you call because something happened?"
Alice wasn't the type to call for no reason. Like last time when I was stuck at the royal castle—she didn't contact me at all.
Then, in a tone like she had just remembered something, Alice said,
"Oh right, Ms. Eis signed you up for the Food King Tournament."
"What!?"
Grace and I shouted at the same time. I almost spat out the food in my mouth.
What on earth did Ethefelis just do…!?