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Volume 8 Chapter 2 Part 6

Monsters approach us from the front. Three Bitch Butterflies and a Clamshell. There’s also another Clamshell in the second row. Orange magic circle appears under a Bitch Butterfly in the front.

「Sherry!」

「Yes!」

Sherry pokes her spear into the Bitch Butterfly immediately after I call out to her.

She cancels its Skill with the [Chant Interruption] Skill that’s added into her weapon. I’m so glad that we took the time to obtain it, because it’s in the moments like this one that it truly becomes useful to us.

「Here it comes!」

Roxanne tilts her neck to the side immediately after announcing that. While tilting her neck, she takes on the Bitch Butterfly’s attack with her shield. And in the next moment, water gushes in the place where Roxanne’s head was just a second ago. When the water breaks off, Roxanne straightens her neck and moves to the right where she exchanges an attack with the Clam Shell.

The water attack that was aimed at her seemed to be from that one Clam Shell in the second row. While confronting two monsters in the front, Roxanne continued to fend off the attacks of the Clam Shell in the second row. Even in such dire circumstances, Roxanne continues to be as terrifying as ever.

I take out the Bitch Butterflies with six「Breeze Storms」. The battles may have become easier, but that doesn’t mean we can drop our guard down. That said, it’s rare for us to receive attacks from more than two monsters at once, so I finish the remaining Clam Shells off with a 「Sand Storm」.

Because I used so many Spells in one battle, my MP has decreased, but I can always recover it with Durandal. Since I don’t cast Spells when I use Durandal, any combination of monsters is fine, even though having to fight them at close range is definitely going to be troublesome. But as long as the enemies are not powerful enough to kill us in one blow, then I can always make a recovery thanks to Durandal’s 「HP Absorption」. That’s how good of a weapon Durandal is, even on the higher floors of the Labyrinths.

「I’ll be using a sword now.」

I pull out Durandal and instruct Roxanne about the change in our tactics.

I haven’t changed the style of my swordfighting though. To take out a monster, I can simply use Spells until the monster closes in and then finish it off with a sword strike. After all, inflicting some damage by using Spells  first is better than doing nothing.

Also, I’m prioritizing crystallization over experience at the moment, therefore I should complement Durandal with magic. As to why I’m not doing so is because I have already issued instructions and it will get confusing if I modify the instructions now.

When I use Durandal, the efficiency of acquiring EXP drops down. Considering the efficiency of acquiring EXP, it’s better to use Durandal only for the purpose of recovering MP.

Nevertheless, 「Rush」is still quite a useful Skill to have.

It’s logical to recover MP using Durandal and use that MP to cast Spells, but when I use Durandal, the duration of battles lengthens. Consequently, the EXP acquired in a given time decreases. So far, I haven’t been using magic along with sword but now, I have to obtain a White Magic Crystal before the slave auction, so that change is pretty much a necessity.

Still, it’s better not to change instructions every single time. If any of the girls ask for the reason behind it, it’ll be hard for me to explain.

Next is the matter concerning Jobs. Four jobs is the limit while using Durandal and 「Crystalization x64」.

If possible, I want to use three jobs. While using sword, I can cancel the Mage Job and activate Warrior. In short, I can’t use magic while using Durandal. Durandal is for the sole purpose of recovering MP.

「Understood. This way.」

Roxanne guides us to next location. We normally walk while traversing through the Labyrinth, but break into a run when we spot monsters. If we wait for too long, we might receive a ranged attack, and that would be all sorts of bad Since I’m not using magic at the moment,

The next group of monsters comprises two Clam Shells, a Bitch Butterfly and a Sarracenia. Roxanne slants to her side and rushes diagonally, and slashes at the Clam Shell.

Taking the enemies on from the center is risky, so it’s better to whittle them down from the sides.

I invoke 「Rush」.

I receive a body slam from a Clam Shell and return the favor with a strike of my own. Roxanne and Miria each take on a monster as well while Sherry is nudging them with her spear from the back.

The Clam Shell opens its shell. Its mouth opens wide, but there’s no sign of water. It tries to bite me. I barely evade it. When it opens its shell, you have to first be careful of water and then evade its bite, but telling these two actions apart is pretty tough.

Even though its movement is excessive while biting, it’s not easy to deal with. It almost feels like a feint. I invoke 「Rush」 again and take the Clam Shell out.

Next is the Sarracenia.

This one is troublesome because it uses digestive fluid. I use 「Rush」 in rapid succession and finish it off nonetheless. Using 「Rush」, I take the Bitch Butterfly out next.  I attack the last Clam Shell, which Roxanne was confronting, from behind.

Roxanne is terrifying in battle as always. The Clam Shell opens its shell, but Roxanne maneuvers the upper half of her body and dodges the water brilliantly. All the Party Members then surround the Clam Shell and finish it off.

「I have fought a lot of Clam Shells until this point, yet I’m still unable to understand the pattern of their attack.」

「I know, right?」

「When it opens its shell, I don’t know if it’s going to bite or spit water out of it.」

「Umm… when it spits water, it opens its shell like this; when it bites, it opens its shell like this.」

Roxanne explains while showing us some exaggerated notions that are probably supposed to imitate the different ways in which a Clam Shells opens its shell before different attacks, but since Roxanne is the one doing it, her explanations are impossible for us to understand. I looked at Sherry to see if maybe she understood mor from it than I, but she looked as puzzled as I was.

「Can you distinguish between different attacks of a Clam Shell as well, Miria?」

「She says that she can try to do it the next time we’re going to be fighting them.」

In other words, she doesn’t know the difference between them either.

「I’ll try my best, desu.」

「I see. That’s great to hear.」

Rather than giving up on her, I raised her spirits with an encouraging praise.

After returning from the Labyrinth and having breakfast, I take out the Amber Necklace. It has been a long time since I last took it out, so looking at it after such a long time actually feels good for my eyes.

「Amber, desu.」

「Oh, do you know about it, Miria?」

「Miria says that it was rarely found where she used to live, but when she fished in the North Sea, she often caught it in her net instead of fish. Everyone except Miria used to get excited upon catching it instead of fish, but she wasn’t particularly interested in it at all. 」

Yeah, because Miria cannot get excited about anything that is not related to fish or fishing, so I can totally see why she would ignore amber when she found it.

「It’s beautiful, isn’t it?」

「Beautiful, desu.」

「If we ever find the one that suits Miria, then I’ll buy it for you.」

「Buy, desu.」

She seems to be pleased somewhat when I said that I’ll buy a necklace for her, but not as pleased as she tends to be upon the mere mention of fish. That being said, choosing which fish to buy every single time is more than a little cumbersome, so if at all possible, then I’d like not to do it.

「Does that mean that we are going to go to Palmasque again?」

Sherry immediately realizes what I intend to do.

「That’s right. Because I have received an order for three more Palmasque Mirrors from Gozer and the Duke.」

「Okay, understood.」

「Well then, Roxanne.」

「Yes. Thank you very much.」