Chapter 105. Pyramid exploration part 1. Peerless Albert

Back with another chapter.

Nothing much to say, next chapter is quite short so it should be up tomorrow, most likely?

Enjoy the chapter.

The next day, we were standing at the entrance of the pyramid.

The menu window showed that our current location was 『King Knurl’s Pyramid』.

This was one of the many pyramids in the Yabilga desert and it also was the one with the lowest level monsters.

It was also the one that Riizu scouted before.

Even if I say the lowest, the monsters here were level 50 so…since the current cap is level 40, it might be a place we shouldn’t be going into yet.

The members from Migratory Bird were: me, Selene-san and Riizu.

Besides that, the Albert parent and child duo were going to accompany us this time.

Tobi…or should I say, Shuuhei, it seems like the homework he handed in was done quite poorly, so they asked him to redo it and he’s studying today.

Miyu seems to have gone out to eat outside with uncle Akifumi so she’s not going to log in today.

The truth is, we were going to decide who was going to participate via lottery or rock paper scissors but…

I feel bad for those two but we have managed to form a five man party without issues this way.

「Well then, I wonder what will show up in here.」(Albert)

「Instead of only monsters, it would be nice if there was some treasure in there…」(Hind)

「What’s the scope of the place inside? For the time being, we have brought short swords as back up weapons.」(Albert)

Riizu should be able to answer Albert’s question.

That being the case, I gazed at my little sister, who was standing over there.

「The inside was really spacious, so I believe that Albert-san should be able to swing his greatsword around.」(Riizu)

Judging from what Riizu said, it seems like it’s more spacious inside than it looks.

It also looks like there are lights at fixed intervals on the side, so exploring won’t be an issue.

It’s probably set like this because it’s a game, it’s something that would have no real purpose realistically speaking and it’s done so that you can go in without worries.

「In that case, there’s no issue. While we are moving, I’ll be at the front and Philia will be at the rear.

When we are fighting, we’ll both be at the front. We are both Heavy Warrior, so feel free to use us as shields.」(Albert)

「Ooh, so reliable. In that case, can I ask you to give all the instructions?」(Hind)

「You do that, Hind. Philia and I will follow you instructions.」(Albert)

「…Yes, we’ll obey.」(Philia)

「Eh?」(Hind)

You won’t do it…?

No matter how you look at it, this is a high difficulty dungeon, we came here after borrowing their strength.

Especially if Albert aniki is here, won’t we be able to do something even if there’s a ten level difference? That’s the expectation I’m having.

Regarding the items we obtain here, if they are ingredients that can be used, they’ll be used for the greatsword and axe, the leftovers will be left for us.

As for the rest, we’ve agreed to divide them equally between us.

「…In that case, let’s get going.」(Hind)

After I gave the order, everyone nodded and we entered through the narrow entrance one by one.

But, do I really have to act as a commander this time too…?

Since aniki is here, I thought I’d be able to take it easy this time.

Just as Riizu had said, the inside of the pyramid was different from what I had thought.

Or rather, it was far different from the interior from real pyramids that I had read about.

Instead of leading underground, it was a dungeon with stairs leading upwards, in this type of setting…isn’t there usually something at the top?

Then, the first monster we met was a standard one, there was a mummy moving around.

Seeing that, Riizu raised her voice and linked her arms with mine.

「Kyaa, I’m scared, Hind-san.」(Riizu)

「Your voice is really monotone Riizu-chan! It’s really obvious that you just want to stick close to him!」(Selene)

「To begin with, this should be the second time you’ve seen this monster…」(Hind)

「Hmph!」(Riizu)

Seeing how we acted without a hint of tension by giving us a side glance, Albert swung down his sword in a flash and left the monster with a slimmer of HP and Philia-chan finished it off with her axe.

It was as if their offensive ability was saying that there was no meaning in their difference of levels.

This parent and child duo are so strong…though I already knew that.

「It seems like there won’t be any issues unless they come in groups. Hind, is it fine if I charge in without bothering to defend like Yumir does?」(Albert)

「Ah, yes. It’s obviously fine. Leave the healing to me.」(Hind)

「…」(Philia)

「Philia-chan too, if you need support, don’t be reserved and ask for it. I have learned buffing skills and I can heal status ailments.」(Hind)

「…Thank you.」(Philia)

It might be impossible to instantly revive them like I do with Yumir, but from what I saw in the tournament, these two know when to go in and retreat, so I believe they will be quite easy to revive in case they ever become incapacitated.

Our members are all rearguards, so I believe it won’t be that hard to work together.

After that, we got into quite a few fights but…Albert and Philia started to move while keeping track of Selene-san and Riizu’s line of sight.

They are worthy of the name “Mercenaries”, they can adapt really well.

Even if it was an impromptu party, we had really good teamwork.

「Seah!」(Albert)

「Oooh…」(Hind)

「Haaaaaaaaaah!」(Philia)

「Uwah….」(Hind)

…That being the case, for quite some now, we haven’t had the chance to do anything.

On the way, Albert found the weak point of the male mummies, who were the most common enemies here, so as long as they didn’t come in groups, we finished the battles before they could even attack.

Once we reached the fifth floor, apart from the male mummies, mimics that acted as treasure chest, will-o-wisps etc appeared. You could say that a large number of undead type living…living beings? Appeared there.

They were the type that made you doubt if they were really alive or not.

As we climbed floors, the levels of the monsters slowly increased, by the time we reached the ninth floor, their levels were at 55.

By the way, regarding the treasure chests we found on our way, the way we found out if they were a mimic was…

「-Muh!」(Albert)

To say it simply, Albert identified them.

It seems like the one he touched right now was a mimic,  the sharp teeth proceeded to bite his burly arm without any hesitation.

「There!」(Albert)

Albert violently slammed the mimic that had bitten his arm against a nearby wall and the battle started.

But, just when I finished using healing magic on Albert, he proceeded to attack it instantly and the mimic was cut into small pieces.

After all, the mimic was already nearly dead by the time aniki had slammed it against the wall…just how strong is he, really.

Normally, we would make use of the identification type skills from the balance type Light Warriors, however, this party currently doesn’t have one.

That being the case, we adopted this method of having Albert, whose HP was the highest, to forcibly touch the treasure chests without worrying about traps.

Even if he takes damage or status ailments, there’s a Shinto Priest here after all.

After the battle was over, Albert, who wasn’t breathing even slightly heavily, put away his greatsword and continued walking as if it was natural.

And we just followed him as a group.

「However, since aniki is proceeding as the vanguard without any hesitation, our clearing speed is really fast. He’s really strong.」(Hind)

「That’s true. if it were Yumir-san and Tobi-san, they would immediately start screaming and making noise each time we found a trap and we would stop. Even though it’s not like they are weak.」(Riizu)

「Eh, these stairs lead to…the tenth floor, right? This pyramid, the dimensions of the exterior and interior really don’t match up at all.」(Selene)

Now that she mentions it, the arena was the same.

In both cases, if the interior and exterior had to match, they would be gigantic structures after all.

Things like, making them so that they don’t get in the way of the scenery, there are a lot of things that they have to take into account.

Just then, the man that had quickly gone forward, turned back to us and stopped moving.

「…Hind.」(Albert)

「What’s wrong?」(Hind)

「It seems like the tenth floor is a safe area, let’s rest here.」(Albert)

I passed by Albert’s big back and looked forward, over there was a peaceful room illuminated by sunlight from a portion of the wall that had collapsed.

You could see the stairs leading to the next floor from here, a green light from under our feet appeared indicating that we had just entered a safe area.

We put away our weapons and moved to a suitable place to sit down.

Today’s menu is「Lamb meat katsu sandwich」.

Since we are out exploring, I cut them in a way that would be easy to eat and handed one to each member, time to give it a bit-

「Hind, seconds.」(Philia)

「You eat so fast! …eh, sorry, sorry. Wait a moment.」(Hind)

「The sauce was exquisite.」(Philia)

Having been interrupted by Philia-chan, I left my own portion aside for a moment and looked through the basket.

I’m glad I made some extra…

I took some katsu sandwiches from inside the basket and placed it on top of Philia-chan’s hand.

She thanked me for them and returned to where Selene-san and Riizu were, then she started to sink her teeth on the katsu sandwiches that were in both of her hands.

When I looked at that for no particular reason, Albert approached me.

「Sorry about that, Hind.」(Albert)

「It’s no problem. Philia-chan is working hard during fights after all.」(Hind)

Until now, thanks to this duo, our fights had been really stable.

I’m not sure how things will be in the next few floors, but it might be possible to somehow clear them until there are about twenty levels of difference between us.

If it seems impossible, we have planned to just retreat.

「Today, Philia seems to be having more fun than usual. …Now that I think about it, it might be because it’s the first time we have explored a dungeon.」(Albert)

「…She’s having more fun than usual? Looking like that?」(Hind)

As an outsider, she looked no different from how she usually was.

He might know because they are family? As far as I am concerned, she still has the same blank expression as the first time I met her.

「She’s similar to me, please get along with my unsociable daughter. If she’s to interact with all of you, I’ll be at ease.」(Albert)

「I-I see…」(Hind)

I don’t know what criteria Albert used to say that…

In that case, by taking advantage of this, I guess I should suggest to Philia-chan that we exchange friend requests.

I was finally able to pick up my own portion of katsu sandwich and as I took a bite, I was enveloped in a sensation as if the fatigue was being taken away from me.

Yup, it’s tasty.