“Whew…”
Renn looked over the parchment.
There was definitely a sense of accomplishment in it.
He got up off the bed and moved around, testing out his newly updated body.
He felt a little stronger than before.
It was a subtle thing, hard to put into words, but if he ran into the same goblins again and wanted to kick them to death, it would be much easier than it had been today.
“I think I finally get it…”
“Why gamers love maxing out their stats so much, even grinding the affection meters to the top.
The sense of accomplishment really is something.”
With his status updated, Renn grabbed a clean change of clothes and headed for the communal bath to wash up.
Being sticky all over was uncomfortable.
But then he remembered that even the change of clothes had been prepared by Hestia.
It left him feeling a bit conflicted.
Since coming to this world, his food, clothes, lodging, and adventurer gear had all come from her.
The feeling of being kept by a cute little goddess was getting stronger by the day.
Still…
At least I can earn money now.
I just don’t know how much today’s haul is actually worth.
Renn left the communal bath and went back to his room, where he found Hestia sitting on the edge of his bed.
She blinked her blue eyes at him and made the offer herself.
“Renn!”
“Want to go out for dinner?”
“Huh?”
She noticed the confusion in his eyes and put her hands on her hips.
“It’s your first Dungeon exploration.
Of course we’re celebrating!”
“…”
Renn thought about the magic stones and goblin fangs he’d collected today.
He still didn’t know how many Valis they’d come to.
If he could afford it, he really did want to treat her to a meal.
“Then let’s go out.”
…
They left the dormitory and headed down Adventurer Street.
The evening crowd was much livelier than the daytime one.
Most of the places along here were taverns that opened in the evening, which made sense.
The one thing Orario never ran short of was adventurers.
Then Renn spotted the white palace ahead and stopped walking.
He looked at the Adventurer’s Guild in the distance.
“Lady Hestia, I’d like to stop by the Guild before we eat.”
“What for?”
“I collected some magic stones and drop items in the Dungeon today.” Renn pulled out the cloth bag at his waist, stuffed with everything he’d gathered.
He told her honestly, “I want to exchange these for Valis, and ask about the Dungeon while I’m there.
After today’s exploration…
I feel like I don’t really understand the floors at all.”
Hestia looked up at him, not the least bit surprised.
“No problem.
The more information you have about the Dungeon, the better it’ll be for your future explorations.”
“Then I’ll go buy dinner, and we can eat back at the dorm!”
She didn’t even give him a chance to refuse.
She set off toward one of the more affordable restaurants nearby.
She’d picked up on it easily enough.
Renn was probably planning to exchange the drop items for Valis and then treat her to a meal.
Just knowing he’d thought of it was enough to satisfy her.
“Go on, hurry.”
The main hall of the Guild was livelier than Renn had expected, with a long line of adventurers waiting to exchange drop items.
He walked up to the reception desk and saw the half-elf who had handled his Familia registration and signed him up as an adventurer the day before, Eina Tulle.
“Good evening.”
“Ah, Mr.
Renn!”
Eina looked up and recognized the newcomer she’d helped two days ago.
“Good evening.
Is there something I can help you with?”
“I’d like to exchange some magic stones and drop items.”
Renn set the cloth bag of spoils on the counter, then added, “And I’d like to ask about the Dungeon, too.”
“Of course!”
It wasn’t strictly part of her job, but she took the bag anyway, counting out the magic stones and drop items with practiced speed and tallying them up at market rates.
“Twenty-three magic stones and five goblin fangs.
After the standard tax, that comes to two thousand two hundred Valis.”
She stacked up the copper coins and handed them over.
“Here you are.”
“Thank you.”
Adventurers really did earn more than he’d imagined.
The single room Hestia had rented for him only cost twenty thousand Valis a month.
Even as a rookie, he could already break even.
Renn tucked the Valis into his coin pouch.
As long as he kept working at it, he probably wouldn’t have to live off a woman quite so often.
“So…
what would you like to know about the Dungeon?” Eina pulled out the book the Guild used to record monster distribution.
“Mostly where the monsters are.”
Renn didn’t have much of a plan in mind.
“I’m not familiar with the Dungeon.
I don’t know which monsters show up on which floors.”
“I see.”
Eina nodded and began to explain.
“The Dungeon is divided into regions by depth.
At your current level, Mr.
Renn, you should stick to the upper floors.”
“Start with floor 1-5.
The monsters there are mainly goblins, kobolds, and dungeon lizards.”
“As for goblins, any rookie with a bit of training can handle them.
The dungeon lizards are trickier, given their size.”
“…”
Renn listened carefully and committed the information to memory.
“There’s one more thing.” Eina went on, “Unless you’re absolutely confident, I wouldn’t recommend going down to the sixth floor.”
“Because down there…” Her tone turned serious.
“You could very easily run into the war shadows, Mr.
Renn.
They’re known as the newbie killers.”
“Understood.”
So for now the only area he could explore was floors one through five.
Anything Eina called a newbie killer sounded like real trouble.
“Thank you, Miss Eina.”
“It’s my job.”
She put the book away, then remembered he’d only become an adventurer two days ago, and asked curiously, “By the way, Mr.
Renn…”
“Are you planning to go explore the Dungeon soon?”
“Ah…”
Under her concerned gaze, Renn felt guilty just thinking about lying.
“Well…
I actually already went today.”
“I just wasn’t familiar with the Dungeon, so I came to ask.”
“Excuse me?”
Eina lifted her delicate face and pushed her glasses up, looking at the awkward expression on the boy in front of her.
Her mouth twitched.
She asked quietly, like she was confirming a fact, “Mr.
Renn…
are you telling me you’ve already been to the Dungeon today?”
“That’s right…”
“…”
Eina was quiet for a moment, and her smile came with a certain clarity.
“It’s honestly a miracle that you came back safe.”
She said it with genuine fear in her heart.
A rookie adventurer exploring the Dungeon alone, and one like Renn at that, who hadn’t even figured out which monsters lived on which floor.
He’d just walked straight in.
Coming back alive really did count as a miracle.
“Even so.” Eina looked at him seriously and reminded him patiently, “Since you did make it back safe, as the person responsible for you…”
“I’d like you to put safety first when you explore the Dungeon from now on.”
As for the reason, she found it hard to say out loud.
Most of the adventurers she’d been responsible for in the past had rarely made it back from the Dungeon alive.
“I will.”
Renn nodded.
This world didn’t seem as hard to get along in as he’d imagined.
At the very least, every pretty girl he’d met so far had been remarkably kind.
He smiled easily and thanked her again.
“Thank you for worrying about me, Miss Eina.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Eina stood up and added, “If you ever have any questions about the Dungeon, you can come find me any time.”
“I will.”
With the exchange and the questions out of the way, Renn had no reason to linger at the Guild.
He said a quick goodbye and turned to leave.
He’d just reached the entrance when he saw Hestia standing there with a boxed meal in hand.
She waved at him, beaming.
“Renn.”
“Let’s go home!”