"Absolutely, it's a promise!!"

  "I know!! I'll e to see you tomorrow!!"

  "Okay!"

  Amina, a girl, was full of energy. Thanks to her passioalk about singing, we ended up rushing home at the sound of the evening bell.

  "I'm looking forward to the adveh Amina!"

  "Me too."

  Even though Nel's voice came from behind as we ran, I could tell she was smiling.

  Amina must be a very important friend to her.

  We haven't even finalized the p, and we haven't gotten permission from Jinx or Teresa. Is it okay to be this excited?

  Going out in the first pce was something those two allowed as a oime experience, but they were hesitant about a sed time.

  There might be some trouble ahead.

  I didn't want to dampen the mood, so I stayed quiet and just headed home.

  "Hmm, I guess it's not a good idea to take care of someone else's child."

  As soon as we got home, Nel, who wao keep her promise to Amina, sehat Teresa would be against it ao Jinx, who is a bit more le. But the answer wasn't favorable.

  "Eh!? I'll hire proper escorts!!"

  "Even so, having two kids versus three is a big differehe number of escorts we have isn't enough. And if we hire two skilled people like Dent, it'll cost a lot. From what Nel said, she pns to pay for Amina's share of the escort fee, but unfortunately, as a parent and a mert, I 't allow su unequal arra."

  "No way..."

  Realistically, that makes sense. She has the moo pay for the escorts.

  But that doesn't solve the problem. Jinx is expressing distrust about how the money is being handled.

  "Listen, Nel. If Amina really means that much to you, you o hahe money properly. If Amina or her family were to get hurt or sid suddenly needed mohen by all means, give it without hesitation. But this is different. You're paying for a moment of fun, a oime experiehat's not something you do in an equal friendship. It might be fine now, but iure, this money issue could cause problems."

  What Jinx is saying is perfectly reasohis time, I don't feel like supp her.

  It doesn't seem necessary anyway.

  "Do you uand?"

  "Yeah."

  Nel is smart. She got carried away by her excitement and made the proposal without thinking, but after Jinx's serious expnation, she uood and accepted it rationally.

  Because Amina is important, and she wants to maintain an equal retionship.

  "Good, good. It's great that you uand this so well."

  "Yeah."

  Moransas, even if done well, create a hierarchy iionships. In lending and borrowing, the lender often holds the upper hand. Jinx, perhaps having experienced failure in this regard, patted Nel's head and praised her, but he also uood that Nel wasn't happy about it.

  "Alright! Enough of the serious talk! Teresa, let's eat."

  "Finally done? If we waited any longer, dinner would've gotten cold. Libert, you should eat with us today. We got a bit of extra ine, so there's a bit more meat than usual!"

  Watg this exge, I thought that the serious mood might be ruined by what I was about t up.

  It's a bit awkward seeing the usually lively Nel so quiet during dinner.

  "......"

  "......"

  Her ears drooping made it obvious she wasn't feeling well. It was clear she was thinking about how to expin this to Amina tomorrow.

  Jinx, Teresa, and I exged gnces, w what to do about her ck of energy.

  "Um, I know it's not the best time t this up during dinner, but Jinx, I ask you something?"

  No choice. I had to break the ice.

  "Ah, you mean what you mentiohis m? If you're bringing it up, does that mean you succeeded in what you were talking about?"

  "Yes, actually, I want to use a dungeon key I got the other day, but it would be bad to use it iy, right?"

  The topic was about the dungeon key. In the game, you could use it anywhere and then quer the dungeon.

  But that's in the game. Iy, there might be regutions.

  "Oh? What kind of dungeon is it?"

  "Mochi."

  Even iy, or he city, there might be restris on its use.

  "Ah, then it's fio use it even iy."

  "Eh, really?"

  "Yeah, the buying and selling of dungeon keys is allowed even for us merts. We know the ditions for using them. For Mochi dungeons, there's no risk of causing a stampede, so it's fio use them. For anything else, you'd need permission or have to report it to the knights or the adventurer's guild. For css 2 her dungeons, you only create them in areas approved by the adventurer's guild and the knights, so be careful."

  "Got it!"

  But as expected of the weakest Mochi dungeon. It's so weak that it's even approved for use iy. This is very ve for me.

  "That's great, Nel!"

  "Huh?"

  And this venience also affeel. She wasn't paying attention to my versation, lost ihoughts.

  Only when I called out to her did she finally look up.

  "We 't go on an adventure, but with this, we tackle a duogether! And it's a safe and secure Mochi dungeon!"

  "Ah!"

  That's right. The Mochi dungeon, as Jinx guaranteed, be used anywhere and is easy to dive into.

  The promise to go on an adveh Amina still be kept.

  "The pn is different, but we still go together."

  "Yeah! Yeah! That's great!!"

  Uanding this, Nel nodded with suthusiasm that she almost jumped out of her chair. Her tail, stretg out from the chair, had been wagging non-stop.

  Seeing Nel's spirits lifted, Jinx and Teresa also seemed relieved.

  "But are you sure? You went through the trouble of getting that dungeon key. While we're happy, using a oime opportunity for our daughter's promise..."

  However, their expressions quickly turned apologetic.

  Dungeon keys are essentially able items. Once used to open a dungeon, the key disappears. And ohe boss at the deepest part of the dungeon is defeated, the dungeon itself vanishes.

  For the weakest Mochi dungeon, the boss's strength is predictable, and it be easily quered. They're worried about whether it's okay to use this opportunity.

  "It's fine, no problem at all."

  "I see. But as a mert and as Nel's father, I'll make sure to repay this favor."

  Even though it's the weakest dungeon, a key that create a dungeon has siderable market value. In the game, it was worth at least a thousand zeni, and up to three thousand zeni at most.

  I don't know the pri this world.

  But it seems to be sidered a valuable item, and they seem to feel ied to me.

  They might think my "it's fine" es from a sense of obligation because I'm ied to them.

  But I genuinely mean it.

  "I'll accept your kindness. Thank you for the meal. I'll head to bed early siomorrow will be busy."

  "Alright, good night."

  "Nel! You should go to bed early too. You're so excited you might oversleep."

  "Okay! Libert, good night!"

  "Good night."

  But I'm still irely sure.

  Today, there was an item called the "Duel Piece" that I didn't know about.

  There are differences between my knowledge and this world.

  This time, there might be such a possibility.

  So to firm, after enjoying dinner, I left the table a bit earlier than usual auro the stable.

  "Alright."

  It's dark outside, and the stable is dark too.

  I thought about buying a ntern as I reached into my leather bag. Among the s in my wallet, I felt a long, thin object.

  I grabbed it and pulled it out of the bag, taking a deep breath.

  "Now that I think about it, how do you use this?"

  That's when I realized I didn't know how to use the dungeon key.

  "...Is it the same as in the game?"

  If some kind of intation is required, I'd be in trouble. I've outgrown my ibyou phase, but I've matured enough to feel a sense of shame.

  In my current state, it might be seen as endearing, but...

  For now, I'll try the same method as in the game.

  "Ugh."

  I swallowed hard aly pushed the key into the air in front of me.

  *Click*

  I felt something clito pce, and using that sensation, I turhe key.

  *Cck*

  The sound of the key unlog echoed, and immediately after...

  "Whoa!?"

  The stable lit up faintly.

  "This is the dungeorance."

  In the ter of the stable, a vertically elongated oval-shaped hole appeared. In the game, it was dispyed as a faint mist, but iy, it was clearly visible, allowio see inside.

  A cave illuminated by a mix of white and blue light.

  The information matches what I know. But even as I tell myself it's okay, an instinctive aversion to entering this space arises.

  "That's right, the key."

  Seeing this surreal se, I remembered that my goal was different.

  Looking at my right hand holding the key...

  "It's here, still intact."

  The key remained in its inal form, unbroken and undamaged. In the game, dungeon keys would shatter into particles upon geing a dungeon.

  But thanks to the "Iructible" skill granted by the "Weakling's Proof," the key remained intact.

  "Alright, this should work."

  , I o check the tents.

  I don't know if there's a respawn mei this world. In the game, you could revive at a registered location by paying a certaiy.

  But that's in the game. Iy, dying and ing back to life is just a faint hope.

  The bamboo spear on my back is my only on.

  If it's like the game, I shouldn't lose. But if there are exceptions, it could be dangerous.

  The internal struggle was quickly won by curiosity, and I cautiously took a step into the dungeon.

  I slipped my body through the oval-shaped entrance.

  I didn't feel anything unusual; it was just like taking a normal step, and I found myself ihe dungeon.

  A cave about the size of a small sports field.

  Ihree Mochi.

  They didn't notice me entering and were hopping around.

  "There's a passage further in..."

  The sery is almost the same. The yout of the passages and the number of monsters are as I remember. I carefully put the key bato my leather bag and attacked the Mochi with my enhanced bamboo spear. The Mochi disappeared i.

  "Has the drop rate increased?"

  Inside dungeons, the item drop rate from monsters is nearly three times higher than in the field. I defeated three and got one small magic stone.

  At least I firmed the minimum drop rate increase.

  Their strength hasn't ged much either. So I moved forward.

  "If it splits into two paths here..."

  The width of the passages felt the same, and the length robably simir. Along the way, there were two Mochi.

  I defeated them and moved on, with no drops.

  Further ahead, as I remembered, the path split into two.

  "If I recall correctly, the left path leads to a dead end."

  The correct path is to the right, but to firm the entire map, I deliberately took the left path. The passage was blocked, indig I couldn't go further.

  My memory was correct. So I backtracked and took the right path this time.

  "Now there are five. Yeah, no mistake."

  The area was about the same size as the first chamber. The only difference was the increased number of Mochi.

  "Found it!"

  Additionally, there was a green herb growing by the wall in its usual spot.

  "Got a medial herb."

  This is an ingredient for Life Potions. It be used for money-making or as a recovery item.

  I stuffed it into my leather bag and quickly defeated the Mochi. The result was one small magic stone.

  Hmm, my real-life luck seems to be l the drop rate pared to the table.

  I tried not to dwell on the sad reality and moved forward.

  "Found it, the safe zone."

  This time, it's a slightly longer passage. Along the way, there were three Mochi, and the drop was one magic stohen, there was a small side room dug into the wall.

  This room had no monsters, and there was a small spring-like spot. I peered inside.

  "It looks , and it seems safe to drink."

  In the game, drinking from this would fully restore your health. Cautiously, I scooped some water with my hand and took a sip.

  "Yep, just regur water."

  The taste was normal. I wondered if it was sanitary, and I didn't feel any surge of energy like you would after rec.

  I just felt a bit refreshed. Maybe it's a pcebo effect.

  "Should I take damage from a Mochi a it?"

  Probably, if I go back to the passages or the chamber, there are Mochi. But after this...

  "No, after this is the boss fight. I shouldn't do anything unnecessary."

  The boss room. The most important battle of all.

  I o stay focused.