The agreed-upon dining location wasn't the high-end "The Benevolent Mistress" but a restaurant next to the collective dormitory.
Various dishes were listed on the menu.
The target clientele were Adventurers living in the collective dormitory with relatively low incomes, so the prices were quite affordable.
Keare quickly scanned the prices.
He already regretted offering to treat her to a meal; without any Adventurer income yet, he only had 500 valis in his pocket.
Considering an Adventurer's appetite, the best solution was to let Miss Ming order first.
"Miss Ming."
"You should order now, instead of looking at me..." Facing the girl's gaze, Keare couldn't help but break into a sweat.
"Do you think..."
"I'm in the mood to look at the menu right now?"
The girl wasn't good at lying; she shook her head slightly, unable to imagine Keare still limping when he left.
In just the time it took for a simple wash, this guy suddenly became as if nothing had happened!
You know...
She still had a faint, tearing soreness in her tiger's mouth: "Your Recovery ability is truly hard to imagine."
"Will we be doing practical training again after this meal?"
"If Miss Ming... has no other plans and is willing to accompany me, I'm very interested in practical sparring."
His thoughts exposed, Keare turned his head, his gaze peculiar.
According to the DanMachi worldview, Miss Ming's hometown, the Far East, is equivalent to Japan in his previous life, so she is essentially Japanese.
Teasing her shouldn't be a big problem, right?
But the girl's reply was surprisingly calm:
"I have no objections, it's just that... I don't know if you've noticed, but the gap in our practical combat skills is already very small."
"Yet, even with all my strength, I still can't counterattack you."
"Is there a possibility that our current gap is in our ability values and Adventurer levels?"
Yamato Mikoto's attitude was serious; this wasn't purely her own thought, but also partly Takemikazuchi-sama's insight.
Training in the open space in front of the collective dormitory.
The training lasted the entire morning, and it was a rare occurrence for it not to attract Takemikazuchi-sama's attention!
"Your talent in practical combat skills is truly strong."
"Not at all..."
Keare knew Miss Ming's character; she disdained lying to others, so he shrugged his shoulders lightly, without any arrogance.
Recalling the past two days of training, he had indeed put in a lot of effort.
But it was more the 'Recovery' magic and its derived skills that doubled the effectiveness of his training.
"Let's eat first."
"If I don't eat something soon, I'll really faint."
Miss Ming didn't stand on ceremony with Keare; while ordering, the girl's delicate heart didn't forget to observe Keare's expression.
When she noticed the total price reached 400 valis,
and the brown-haired boy's eye twitched slightly, she handed the menu to Keare:
"I've finished ordering."
"I've already eaten at the Familia residence; I'm treating you to a meal to express my gratitude." Keare reached out and pushed the menu away.
And at that moment, an untimely protest came from his stomach.
Already guessing the outcome, Miss Ming didn't resist this... lying; instead, she found Keare quite interesting.
"You, you..."
"When your financial situation improves, then talk to me about treating me to a meal!" Miss Ming couldn't help but tease.
Then she pulled out valis from her pocket to pay for lunch.
At the orphanage in the Far East, this was how she took care of her younger siblings, not to mention how Keare looked...
The girl was quite patient, speaking earnestly:
"Physical exertion is severe, so you definitely need to eat. At least... after becoming an Adventurer, you need to be able to take care of yourself."
"Then let's leave it at that for now."
No one could refuse a kind and understanding beautiful girl.
Moreover, Yamato Mikoto was a black-haired, straight-haired beauty in every sense, and Keare felt that to get by in this world, one needed to have a thick skin.
He smiled brightly and ordered the same set lunch as the girl.
"When I go exploring in the Dungeon next and earn a bit of valis, I absolutely must find an opportunity to treat you to a proper meal."
—
After completely filling his stomach, Keare didn't return directly to the Familia residence but followed Miss Ming to the collective dormitory.
They didn't immediately begin practical training.
During their break, Keare and Miss Ming chatted casually, with the main topic revolving around the Dungeon.
The information provided by Guild staff member Eina was certainly correct.
But he still wanted to hear Miss Ming's analysis of the weaknesses of the monsters on each floor of the Dungeon, as a true Adventurer.
Take Goblins, for example.
In the dim environment of the Dungeon, monsters have poor eyesight, and even a single Goblin can be easily dealt with by a novice.
But when their numbers increase, their cunning nature becomes evident.
As for other monsters, they generally have obvious weaknesses; as long as the timing is right, returning safely shouldn't be a big problem.
Keare didn't find these preparations tedious.
Without a golden finger panel, even his practical combat skills were trained by Takemikazuchi and Miss Ming.
Just entering the Dungeon like a hothead after only simply understanding monster information...
If he couldn't return smoothly, whether he would have a chance to Remake and start over was really hard to say!
After absorbing all this information, Keare had completely replenished his stamina.
It was now afternoon.
The scorching sun was blocked by the eaves of the collective dormitory, and after the weather became less hot, they continued practical training.
It was also through this sparring session
that Miss Ming became even more certain that Keare was improving at an extremely fast pace; his previously infallible attack moves
were no longer effective when used again!
Setting aside the difference in Adventurer strength, she found that she could no longer defeat Keare based solely on practical combat skills.
As the twilight sun was about to envelop Orario,
after this training session, Yamato Mikoto's gaze towards Keare was filled with unbelievable shock.
Her previous bold guess was not wrong.
But how Keare managed it, she racked her brains but couldn't figure it out; was this the adaptability a human could possess?
"It's just as I thought..."
"I don't know how you do it, but after each practical training session, your strength increases significantly."
"I want to attack using the flaws you showed in previous battles."
"But you always find these flaws very quickly and resolve them in the most ingenious way!"
By the end of her words,
the girl's mood was quite complex; she shook her head gently: "Although I really don't want to admit it."
"Continuing practical training with me no longer offers you room for improvement. What you need to do next..."
"Is to go to the Dungeon and truly fight monsters!"
"That's what I'm preparing to do too."
Keare nodded seriously. He had troubled Miss Ming a lot with her help these past two days. As for how he should repay her,
he didn't have any ideas on that front yet.
He agreed: "The Familia's financial situation isn't particularly good. Always being supported by the gods, I feel bad about it."
"..."
Also a Familia with not particularly good financial conditions.
Her intuition was very accurate; Miss Ming couldn't offer advice in this area, so she kindly reminded him: "Before exploring the Dungeon, remember to update your ability values with the god..."
"And also, running away is not shameful. The key is how you can safely leave the Dungeon!"
At this point,
the girl's heroic and beautiful face, her lips curved into a beautiful smile:
"There's no such thing as treating someone to a meal and then having the guest pay!"
"So, Keare, let's set the time for when you treat me to a meal for when you safely return from the Dungeon."