"Miss Eina."
"May I ask why you wanted to see me alone?"
In the Adventurers' Guild, within the lounge area of a side hall.
Mikoto looked at the half-elf guild staff member who had suddenly stopped her. While her heart was filled with confusion, her expression remained as calm as ever, no different from usual.
Her entries to and exits from Babel Tower had gone very smoothly.
And no other adventurers had seen her exploration process. There was no reason for someone to suddenly seek her out like this.
"I just saw you exchanging magic stones earlier, and I suddenly felt that these magic stones seemed somewhat familiar. You should know Mr. Ron, right?"
Eina took the initiative to state her purpose.
Ever since the abnormal incident in the Dungeon occurred, she had not seen Ron again.
If it were not for the fact that, on that very day, she had seen him come to the Adventurers' Guild to exchange magic stones for rewards, she might have almost thought he had met with an accident during his Dungeon exploration.
"What is it?"
Upon hearing the name "Ron," the vigilance in the girl's eyes relaxed considerably.
Mikoto did not directly acknowledge it. Instead, she calmly explained, "Aren't the magic stones dropped from monsters killed in the Dungeon all of this type?"
"Of course."
"But the pouch in your hand—I gave that to Mr. Ron." Eina's smile was quite proper.
"…"
Mikoto fell silent, lowering her head to look at the floor.
If it were possible—she felt that finding a crack in the ground to crawl into would actually be quite nice. Before she could speak, she heard the other party's explanation.
"Mr. Ron is an adventurer under my responsibility."
"You also know."
"Recently, the Dungeon has undergone major changes. These past two days, I haven't seen him come to the Adventurers' Guild, and I'm worried that he may not be clear on the specific situation."
"But I don't know how I should contact him."
The girl's smile was dignified and proper as she explained her genuine thoughts. However, when she looked at Mikoto, her tone suddenly shifted, and her expression gradually became serious.
"Miss Mikoto, since you are holding Mr. Ron's pouch..."
"You must know him. Perhaps he currently has other matters and doesn't have time to come to the Adventurers' Guild, so I wanted to trouble you to help me pass along a few words."
"No problem."
Just a simple safety reminder to be relayed?
Within the Adventurers' Guild, Eina was indeed well regarded for her sense of responsibility, and Ron being an adventurer under her charge also seemed quite reasonable.
She lightly nodded and said, "What would you like me to pass along?"
"Um."
"It's just that the Dungeon's environment may undergo changes in the near future. I hope Mr. Ron can prioritize his own safety during Dungeon exploration."
In front of others, the girl could still frankly voice her inner thoughts.
Eina added, "Don't let the people who care about him worry. Ron himself has said that Dungeon exploration should prioritize steadiness."
"…I will pass it along."
"Prioritize steadiness, huh?"
Mikoto could not help but recall scenes from party explorations in the Dungeon. No matter how she looked at it, there did not seem to be the slightest connection to the word "steady."
When he was teamed up with her...
This guy had died twice at the hands of monsters, and his combat style was completely reckless, utterly disregardful of his own life.
Then I suppose he really is 'steady.'
Mikoto even felt a bit fortunate.
Thankfully, Eina had not asked about the cause of the Dungeon's abnormal changes. Otherwise, it would have been genuinely difficult to lie, because Mikoto not only knew the reason—she had even witnessed it firsthand.
What the Adventurers' Guild was currently investigating...
What Eina was puzzled by...
The true source of the "Dungeon abnormality" was precisely the daily disturbances caused during exploration by the very adventurer whose safety Eina was worried about—this guy, Ron!
"He should be grateful to you. You really are very responsible."
"Mm."
"Then please trouble you to tell him one more thing: if he truly wants to express his thanks, he should do it in person…" When Eina reached this point, her smile was especially sweet.
She stood up and said in a serious tone: "Thank you, Miss Mikoto!"
...
"That's how it is."
"Because of your pouch, Miss Eina from the Guild recognized you."
After conveying the entire sequence of events and the messages to be passed along, Mikoto found her mood hard to describe.
She was not good at lying, but straightforwardly passing things along was no problem.
She then handed the pouch containing Valis to Ron and explained, "Today's magic stones were exchanged for a total of 41,000 Valis."
"Alright."
The pouch was indeed a gift from Eina.
The main reason was that she had seen him using his pockets to hold magic stones and said that, during Dungeon exploration, it was easy to overlook things, and that storing them in a cloth pouch would preserve them better.
Since it looked like a casual pouch, he had not given it much thought.
But he had not expected that—through the color of the magic stones and the cloth pouch—the attentive Eina would follow the trail and have Mikoto help relay the message.
There was also the matter of helping introduce Airmid's commission, which really did require finding time to offer thanks in person.
Ron smiled and nodded, saying: "I'll thank Miss Eina in person when the time comes."
"There were four sets of armor in total. The buyback price was fifty thousand per set. Split evenly, the total gain comes to a little over one hundred and twenty thousand Valis per person. I'll give it to you now."
This Dungeon haul had been quite substantial.
Relying on himself alone, there was absolutely no way he could have obtained so much from the Dungeon. Thinking of that Goblin knight corps gave Ron a real headache.
For the time being, the accumulated money was not needed for the development of the familia. Rather than keeping it on hand, he felt that—maximizing the enhancement of his own strength was the best choice.
The magic he possessed, "Heal," judging purely from its description, even made Ron think it was a faith-based prayer, just presented in a different form.
If one were truly to follow Soulslike-style settings, trying to find sacred seals in the DanMachi world would probably be a major problem.
A staff.
A greatsword capable of rapidly breaking armor—these were all weapons he currently lacked.
It would not do to rely on squeezing everything out of Hephaestus forever. The help she had provided during the beginner stage naturally had to be repaid as a debt of gratitude.
Or else, find someone else to squeeze.
Speaking of who was most familiar with Orario, of course that would be Miss Eina from the Adventurers' Guild.
However...
Before dealing with those matters, the more important thing was to fill his stomach.
He looked at the girl beside him. After such high-intensity Dungeon exploration, the feeling of hunger in his body was quite strong, and the next objective was also very clear.
"Where should we go eat?"
"How about we just find somewhere and make do?"
"Shall we go to the Kitebird Tavern?"
Mikoto suddenly proposed.
Faced with Ron's surprised gaze, the girl hesitated slightly, then answered frankly, "Because… it also counts as our first time completing an exploration."
"If we really want to celebrate, the nearby Kitebird Tavern is a pretty good choice."
The Kitebird Tavern was not far from the communal dormitory.
Whether in terms of taste or price, it was well liked by ordinary adventurers. Most importantly, after finishing the meal, they could return immediately to have Takemikazuchi update their status.
She was very much looking forward to it.
Just how much improvement would there be from a Dungeon exploration that had left even her feeling utterly exhausted?
"And also..."
"Didn't we agree at the beginning that I would treat you to the meal? If it weren't for you, it would have been very difficult for me to gain so much from this exploration."
"Then I won't stand on ceremony with you."
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