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Chapter 165: Groping in the Dark

~ Ruins of Silence, Shinku’s point of view ~

「This is the end!!」

「It’s getting easier… defeating them.」

About three weeks have passed since we became SS-ranks.

During this period, Nelfie and I were level farming in the Ruins of Silence again in order to raise the Mare and Cherry’s levels. That being said, we were only farming till the Lich who summons a large amount of monsters without fighting the Arch Chimera.

At first, Nelfie and I needed to help subdue the Lich, but Mare and Cherry have grown enough to be able to do it alone. However, their combat ability had not yet reached the level we had envisioned. When I reported it to Aun-sama by telepathy, he said it was probably because us two, being at much higher level than those two. Due to that, they were able to obtain as many experience points.

「Mare, Cherry. What are your levels?」

「I’m 51!」

「I am… level 55…」

Although both of them have greatly increased their level, they have not evolved yet. We have not met Aun-sama’s expectations.

(Things can’t continue like this…)

「I have something to tell you two.」

「Ok!」

「What… is it?」

「Have you figured out the trap locations and types of traps up to the 5th floor?」

「Yeap! Perfectly!」

「In that case, you two should clear the dungeon for the rest of the week without our help. It will be easier to raise your levels that way, and you will be working together a lot more after this. So deepen your mutual understanding and further strengthen your cooperation.」

「Under…stood.」

「Alright. Nelfie-san and I will return to the Phantom Castle first, so please return as per the schedule. Also… both of us must evolve before you return. This is absolute.」

「Yes!」

「Yeah! I’ll do my best!」

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

After leaving the two behind and contacting Nelfie-san via telepathy, I returned to the Phantom Castle.

Nelfie-san acted separately at the Ruins of Silence halfway through. She wanted to thoroughly investigate the traps in the dungeon. I guess she intends to incorporate the structure of the traps into the Phantom Castle.

That said, I wasn’t just babysitting either. The 3rd floor of the Phantom Castle under my jurisdiction is based on the concept of dealing with intruders based on quantity. I came up with that idea after looking at the Lich’s floor in the Ruins of Silence. If so, I will naturally come to understand its weaknesses as I challenge it multiple times.

Its weakness is “wide area magic”. The monster ranks on my floor are different from the Lich’s floor, but the monsters I’m trying to summon are basically all types with excellent physical attacks and physical defenses.

Then what should I do? My answer is to make up for it with armor. Even blue-rarity armor has a certain amount of specialized magic defense. Equip the monsters on the floor with those armors and raise their resistance to magic.

Also, they must not only cooperate within just their unit, but also cooperate as an army whole. This requires further education on the bosses’ – Orc Emperor, Mare, and Cherry
– ability to command.

「The rest is… my own strength.」

After fighting against Orthros during the demon attack in Ibrudia, I have come to understand my own strengths. And it’s definitely not enough. I wish to stand side by side with Aun-sama and Kinu-sama… But there is still a big difference in power between those two and myself.

I heard later that the one who defeated the Orthros that appeared in the south with overwhelming speed was a close aide to the Shogun of Bukyo, who was called “Hakushu”. The demon attack made me realize that there are still many who are stronger than me in this world.

However, there are no hunting grounds where we can acquire that many experience points in our level range. Which means, we don’t have the luxury to wait for the next evolution.

「Skills and magic are the key to becoming stronger, after all…」

It will be necessary to review my skill composition once again and conduct trial and error to acquire new skills.

So, let’s check my status once more.

Status

【Name】Shinku

【Race】Princess Yaksha

【Level】63 (+2)

【Condition】

【Attribute】Earth/Water

【HP】12300/12300 (+300)

【MP】710/710 (+30)

【STR】80

【VIT】149 (+3)

【DEX】40

【INT】71 (+3)

【AGI】47

【Title】Subordinate, Phantasmal

【Skill】

・Courageous

・Emotional Excitement

・Guard Impact

・Earth attribute magic (Lv.6)

・Water attribute magic (Lv.3)

・Human Transformation

・Interracial Language Understanding

・Provocation

・Cooking

・Shield Technique (Lv.5)

・Axe Technique(Lv.4)

A skill composition that I’ve seen so many times to the point of boring a hole through it. Is there anything I’ve overlooked in this, or can I do something new…? I may need to explore and experiment with a number of combinations of skills and magic.

「As I thought, Guard Impact, Shield Technique, and Axe Technique are… Huh? This skill is…」

「Shinku-neesan, what are you up to?」

「Pyaa!? D-Drake… Since when were you standing there?」

「For a while though? You were muttering something to yourself, so I got curious and called out!」

As I was suddenly called out from behind, I unintentionally let out a strange voice.

It seems that I was so focused that I didn’t even notice the people around me. And even talking to myself out loud… It may have been the sense of security that I was in the core room of the Phantom Castle, but this was a serious blunder.

However, the timing of Drake’s arrival might be advantageous.

「Drake, come with me for a while.」

「Huh…? Where?」

「I have something I want to try. It’s been a while since the two of us went out hunting monsters and having fun.」