This was the second day she had been in this world, living a life of adventure. Wasn't this the 'isekai adventure' so often mentioned in light novels? The life of an adventurer. But, it came with Familias, Gods, leveling up, and a datadriven way to increase her strength. And... she had met friends! Watching Hayasaka Ai fighting strenuously against the monsters and Tsuyuri Kanao dancing elegantly through them, her grip on her dagger's hilt couldn't help but tighten again. We're friends! Teammates in the same party! Family in the same Familia! At this thought, Katou Megumi's usually calm face took on a more serious expression. Holding her short sword, she charged out.
"Ai-chan! Kanao! Leave one for me!"
This wave of goblins and kobolds numbered at least ten. Although they hadn't all 'spawned' from the wall at once, it was still a group of ten! The adventurer's manual said nothing about this. It said that for a party of five, they would mostly encounter two or three monsters, and rarely, about five. They should basically never encounter ten! And this was the first floor! If Lin Feng were here, he would definitely explain it to them, but for now, Hayasaka Ai could only bury her questions in her heart and wait until they got out.
After an intense battle, more than a dozen magic stones lay on the ground.
"Whew! If Kanao wasn't here... we probably would have been injured and forced to retreat long ago."
Hayasaka Ai, fighting in her maid uniform and arm guards, looked just like a combat maid.
"So disgusting!"
Although the monsters disappear when killed, leaving only materials or magic stones, the wounds inflicted during the fight still draw blood. Now, the tachi and short sword in their hands were all covered in the filth and blood of goblins and kobolds.
"Let's call it a day! Let's go see how much money these magic stones are worth!"
Hayasaka Ai could already feel her own stamina running low. Katou Megumi was probably worse off. Only Tsuyuri Kanao, with her composed appearance, looked as if she could fight her way through who-knows-how-many floors all by herself. They packed up the bag of magic stones and a few materials, rested for a moment, and then started heading back to the surface. Of course, the most important point was that they were hungry! And had no food! Based on the meal they had 'borrowed' at the Adventurer's Guild in the morning, it was probably around mid-afternoon now. On the way back, they looked over the price list for magic stones and materials, getting a rough idea of what their haul was worth. The price was determined by the size of the magic stone. The ones dropped by first-floor goblins were mostly around 100 Valis each. The materials, however, were very valuable. A 'Goblin Finger' was worth about 1,500 Valis, and they had gotten three or four of them! Lucky!
....
"Miss Eina! We're back!"
Hayasaka Ai, despite wearing a maid uniform, greeted her in the style of a 'gal'.
"Y-your clothes... they're covered in blood! Are you hurt!"
Eina, who was handling some counter-related matters with a colleague, quickly turned her head when she heard her name. She saw it was the trio of rookies from this morning. Aside from the girl in the pink cape, the other two were splattered with dots of blood. Her face immediately showed shock and worry. She dropped her work and came running over, asking with urgency and concern. The last thing she wanted was for these three cute girls to one day just... not come back. She had seen that happen far too many times, so much so that she'd wanted to quit this position and go work at the main counter.
"We're fine! It's all monster blood!"
"This is everything we earned today!"
Hayasaka Ai held up the bag of magic stones and materials, dangling it in front of Eina's eyes as she spoke happily.
"That's... a lot?"
Eina stared, stunned, at the bulging bag. This was their very first trip to the dungeon, and all three were rookie adventurers. It was only just past noon, and they had already killed this many monsters? However, when she looked at the girl who was just smiling at her, completely spotless... she knew this girl's strength was not low.
"Yeah! We ran into two groups of monsters! One time it was seven or eight, the other time it was more than ten!"
Hayasaka Ai was still a bit miffed thinking about it, but with her proper noble upbringing, she wouldn't lose her temper so easily. So, she just complained about it to Eina.
"!!!"
"No way! That shouldn't happen on the first floor!"
Eina couldn't believe it. She had no idea such a thing could happen on the first floor; it was completely unexpected. After all, in all these years, there had never been such an incident. To think that these three girls would encounter such a dangerous situation on their very first adventure. If it weren't for this... child named Tsuyuri Kanao, they probably would have all died in the dungeon...
"I'm so sorry! This is our oversight!"
Eina hurriedly stood up, bowing in apology. After all, when new adventurers encounter something unexpected and not covered in the manual, regardless of the severity, the Adventurer's Guild bears some responsibility.