Transforming into a horse, I headed for the church, where Claire and Paul were waiting for me at the main entrance.
But before I could say anything, Claire seemed to sense my presence, and her face suddenly filled with fear. Oh no, I can't let this happen.
I casually approached them and said hello. Paul, unaware of the truth, smiled and greeted me. It was the same with Ars; these guys are incredibly naive...
Next to the silent Claire, Paul explained in detail the precautions for adventurer groups that include priests, focusing mainly on how to protect and effectively utilize priests with limited combat abilities.
Afterwards, Paul, having strapped the luggage to my back, looked at Claire with a slightly worried expression and said, "Claire. As I said, don't overexert yourself." Unlike the Eater of Heroes, this time the guild leadership must assign dungeons of appropriate difficulty, but adventurers always face danger. Don't worry about the Saint Selection; just think of it as gaining experience and be extremely careful."
"Okay. Understood, Paul."
"If you find yourself in danger, seek out Lord Shimo. In his current state, he can quickly get you to safety. Understood?"
"...Hmm..." After Paul instructed Claire to count on my assistance in case of danger, he loaded Claire's luggage onto my back.
It seems he didn't realize I was the one in the most danger. Heh-heh. Maybe he's so unsuspecting because she's a priestess?
After I loaded all the luggage, I lay down so Claire could sit on my back. She hesitated for a moment, then finally climbed onto my back, seemingly resigned to the situation.
Then, under Paul's watchful eye, we headed to the guild office, where Ars and Lisbeth were waiting.
...Although Claire had previously responded to me with shaky, short sentences, after meeting Ars and Lisbeth, she seemed to calm down a bit and become more talkative.
After a pleasant exchange of pleasantries, we headed to the guild office to officially receive the quest to complete the Soric dungeon. We then updated our maps, and Claire received a temporary adventurer card.
...
Name: Shimo
Guild: —
Level: 18
Ethel Capacity: 582100
HP: 802 / Strength: 344 / Magic: 48 / Agility: 287
Skill: [Back Kick]
Special Items and Achievements: Divine Beast Slayer, Devourer
...
Name: Tanya Lisbeth
Guild: Madela's Light
Level: 24
Ethel Capacity: 26480
HP: 188 / Strength: 32 / Magic: 326 / Agility: 28
Skills: [Magic Conversion] [Ethel's Defense]
Spells: [Fire Shot Level 5] [Fire Arrow Level 3] [Fireball Level 2] [Fire Shot Level 2] [Fire Burst Level 1] Special Items and Achievements: Graduated from the Magic Academy with honors, deputy head of the Light of Madeleine Guild, and soloed a griffin raid.
...
Name: Nelis Claire
Guild: —
Level: 12
Ethel Stats: 9620
Stamina: 90/Strength: 18/Magic: 54/Dexterity: 36
Skills: [Healing] [Purification] [Blessing of Light Level 8] [Blessing Level 8] [Divine Protection Level 7] Special Items and Achievements: Elder Sister of the Ladian Branch of the Goddess Cult
Leaving aside the stat boosts from leveling up, even my card has an additional bonus similar to an achievement.
Divine Beast wonders why this was only added now; presumably it's because I've acquired the Humanization skill, albeit incomplete.
What?
So, have I been treated like a monster all this time?
Actually, I'd prefer skills over personality.
I only have a back kick right now; it's not impressive at all.
However, she'll surely acquire some useful skills over time, right?
Crea's overall stats are quite low... I remember Paul saying that priests don't exercise, so their stats barely change.
Even leveling up probably wouldn't make much of a difference.
They say skills with levels are very effective... but why don't healing and purification skills have levels?
Through questioning, I learned that the effects of these skills vary from person to person; consuming the same amount of Ether will produce a corresponding result.
Is perception a basic ability for priests or for Crea? Actually, what's most concerning is her apparent lack of self-defense mechanisms. I need to keep a close eye on her.
While I was pondering this, the administration staff suddenly stirred. Turning around, I saw them staring in amazement at Lisbeth's adventurer card.
While I can understand why she's a divine creature, the staff were discussing how Lisbeth's stat increase had far exceeded what would have been expected from a level-up.
What particularly caused panic among the entire staff was the increase in her Ether value, which had almost doubled compared to her previous level—an unprecedented increase.
K When I asked if this was really so surprising, the employee explained that the increase in Ether gained through upgrades was insignificant and required extensive training and use to achieve significant improvement.
It usually takes two to three years to reach Lisbeth's level of development… It's truly astounding.
Lisbeth herself looked incredulous, her eyes wide as she stared at her card: first surprised, then delighted. Oh… even that expression lifted my spirits.
Checking the cards, I discovered that, aside from the increase in his Heroic Combat skill, Ars's stats had barely changed; he looked completely dejected.
Come to think of it, Lisbeth's stamina was now more than twice Ars's.
A warrior facing a mage in terms of stamina… it's no wonder Ars didn't show any outstanding performance outside of heroic combat.
Having confirmed each other's Adventurer Cards, we headed for the city gates to enter the dungeon.
...After exiting the city gates and securing my luggage, I placed Ars, Lisbeth, and Claire on my back in that order.
Actually, I only wanted to carry the two girls who would soon become my mates... but I had no choice. For now, I could only endure.
With a heavy heart, I loaded the three of them into the car and set off.
I gradually increased my speed, this time aiming for a fairly high speed. Since I knew from the status bar that I had the skill to reliably carry passengers, I wanted to test my speed.
When the speed increased significantly, Lisbeth became a little worried and asked,
"Wow, how fast... can you carry three?"
"I'm fine." Compared to this, no one feels uneasy or uncomfortable, right?
"Hm. On the contrary, it's quite comfortable. I've heard that the monsters used to pull carts are slow and have horns or hard blocks on their backs, making them very uncomfortable to ride... But this is something else entirely."
"Heh-heh. Let's call this form Malboroughine."
Perhaps, while I still have the chance, I'll name my horse Malboroughine? In Esendia, where transportation is a problem, I thought my horse was worthy of that name.
What should I name this half-human, half-beast form?
Centaur form?
Demon form?
While pondering these questions, I spoke with the three people sitting behind me.
What formation to use when moving, what was Claire's role, what precautions to take in the dungeon, etc. We especially needed to be wary of the presence of illegal adventurers.
These were criminals or people unable to survive in the city who would enter the dungeon without adventurer qualifications or a guide's permission to loot valuables and steal from any adventurers they encountered.
While most of them were weak and posed no significant threat, they could set up ambushes or use dishonest methods, so we agreed to immediately suppress any outsiders we encountered.
While discussing this, we had unknowingly reached the Sorik Dungeon.
What should have been a three-day trek took only two hours... and it rightfully deserved the name "Marborghini."
After the three of them exited the car, Lisbeth stretched and said,
"Hmm~ I didn't expect to cover this distance so quickly... this is amazing."
"Thanks to this, things have become much easier for us. Otherwise, we would have had to worry about thieves or monsters, and the journey would have been grueling."
"Indeed, incredibly fast..." After unloading their luggage, I prepared to step back and return to my human form.
As soon as I found a suitable place to carry my luggage in my mouth, Lisbeth picked it up and said,
"Let me help you carry your luggage."
"Lisbeth, this is what I, as a human, must do..."
"Ars, you must protect Miss Claire. I'll just drop her off nearby and come back right away, don't worry."
Ars tried to dissuade her, wary of my nakedness, but Lisbeth calmly told him everything.
Leaving a convinced Ars behind, Lisbeth followed me with my luggage.
As soon as they were both out of sight, I focused my consciousness and returned to my half-human, half-beast form.
"Hmm... Lisbeth has gotten better at making excuses." Not next to me, but right in front of me, Lisbeth carried her bag and looked at my naked body. After I spoke to her, Lisbeth blushed shyly and tried to explain.
"N-no, I'm not making excuses... I actually have to protect Miss Claire..." How sweet. I approached Lisbeth, exposing my naked body, and extended my penis.
Lisbeth blushed deeply, her gaze fixed on my exposed penis.
After Lisbeth had been looking at my body and penis for a while, she seemed to suddenly realize something, turned her head away, and said,
"Oh, no. It's too late."
"Oh, Ars will get it all wrong..."
Even though I didn't even say the word "invitation." I grinned and lifted Lisbeth's chin with my hand.
"Ah..."
"Everything should be fine, right?" I said, pressing my lips to Lisbeth's. Lisbeth immediately closed her eyes and opened her mouth to accept my tongue.
"Mmm... ah-ah-ah... kiss..." After a passionate, deep kiss, we pulled away, saliva still lingering on our lips, and looked at each other with deep tenderness, smiling as if we'd made a vow.
"The rest... we'll discuss after we clear the dungeon, okay?"
"...Mmm...♡" Although the dungeon itself wasn't very long, exploring it was expected to take about half a day, so we planned to rest there for the night after clearing it and return the next day. This meant that tonight, while I slept, I would sneak out of the house to satisfy my sexual desires with Lisbeth.
Lisbeth looked quite excited, her expression one of anticipation.
After the kiss, I took my clothes and ill-fitting armor from the suitcase, donned them, and returned to the dungeon entrance with Lisbeth.
Ars was still smiling as he greeted us... if he'd known what we'd just done, he probably would have fainted.
But for some reason, Claire's expression was a little strange. Had she noticed something? Even with the sharpest senses, they shouldn't have noticed what just happened... Thinking about this, after each of us had performed a final check, following Ars's reminder, we lined up in order: Ars, Lisbeth, Claire, and me.
Following this pattern, the four of us stepped into the labyrinthine spatial portal, where we could dimly discern its internal structure.