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25. Skill Points

[Repayment processing will begin. Skill Name: Duration Enhancement Debtor: Shizuku]

It’s been ten days since I met Shizuku. I gathered with Koe-san and Shizuku at the inn that we had been staying at all this while. This is for skill collection processing.

「I guess this is goodbye for a while to the full-power [Garou]…」

The loan period for the skill I lent her ended today. I can collect them even if we are not in the same room, though… Shizuku requested to see how the process would look, and so the three of us were gathered here today.

「Even though you say goodbye, it’s not like [Garou] has disappeared. If you need [Enhanced Duration], I’ll lend it to you again.」

「That may be true, but I can’t usually use it for more than ten seconds…」

「Oh my…」

After completing the process, Koe-san let out a surprised sound. She slowly smiled at Shizuku, who was tilting his neck and wondering what was wrong.

「Congratulations. [Duration Enhancement] remains in you, Shizuku-san. Your skill points are currently [1242].」

「What do you mean?」

「It unexpectedly became your own skill.」

「T-Thank you? Huh?」

Shizuku successfully learned [Duration Enhancement].

It would take a while to explain the reason, so I decided to do it while heading to our destination. I suggested that, and we left the inn together with a confused wolf.

Our destination lies outside the town.

◆◆◆

「Save my hometown.」

It was about a week ago that Shizuku asked me to do that. She said that the “Hidden Wolf Village” where she was born is not that far away, but due to an unexpected event, we continued to stay in Kinui for a week.

「Will you take on the task of subjugating the monsters?」

This was requested by the town mayor, the representative of the post-town Kinui.

「For the past few months, the monsters around Kinui have become extremely active.」

「Yes, we were attacked before entering the town as well. We repulsed them, though.」

About 80 monsters.

「The town needed to do something, so we called in a group of 40 mercenaries… but most of them have become bedridden before completing the job.」

When we heard that it was a group of 40 mercenaries, Shizuku and I couldn’t help but look at each other.

Yes, that’s the mercenary group that Shizuku defeated with [Garou] that night.

「No, the blame lies solely with Guran and the mercenary group who stuck their necks in your business with the intention of earning some pocket money. Even so, we have to do something about the monsters. Currently, the only person who seems to be able to replace the 40 mercenaries is you…」

I was asked if I could at least take on the monster hunting until a replacement mercenary group arrives. Although it was an unexpected task, it was not necessarily unrelated to saving the Wolf’s Hidden Village.

「We were attacked by an unusual number of monsters before we even got to the town. Was that also due to the dungeon “The Farthest Ends of Blue”?」

「…I think so.」

「If the monsters are already overflowing that much, it would be six months at the earliest until a “Dungeon Break”. If you hadn’t left the village, Shizuku, it would have been dangerous.」

Normally, it is impossible for the monsters in the dungeon to come out to the surface by themselves. The exception to this is a phenomenon called “Monster Tsunami” or “Dungeon Break.”

A dungeon is a living labyrinth that takes a long time to grow, and its final size changes depending on the rank of the monster in the deepest part. Among them, the S-class dungeon is vast with over 40 floors and has a “King” appropriate for it.

When such an S-class dungeon reaches maturity, one day the monsters will spill out onto the surface all at once. The surrounding area will become a mana dense land that does not allow humans to survive, and our world will eventually be surrounded by this land of death.

The fact that monsters from the lower floors spill out outside is a sign of this. That is what seems to be happening right now around Kinui.

「Even if we conquer the dungeon, the monsters that appeared on the surface won’t disappear. Let’s clean up the mess before the replacement mercenaries arrive and head to the Blue End dungeon without any regrets.」

「Yeah.」

「Yes, master.」

If Kinui were to be destroyed by monsters, the army would be dispatched, and along with the dungeon, the “Wolf’s Hidden Village” would also be found. That must be avoided.

「[Scout’s Intuition], activate. There are a lot of them. Monsters are swarming everywhere.」

Including [God’s Eye Drive], I have identified a total of 104 enemies. I raised my hand in the direction of the enemy’s silhouette.

「[Subspace Rupture], activate. Rip them apart.」

Physical defense is meaningless against an attack that cuts through space. The 104 monster silhouettes instantly turned into 1078 thin pieces.

「Let’s move onto the next.」

「So fast……」

「While we’re on the move, let’s talk about skills.」