What a disappointment! These were my thoughts after about an hour in the closed-world dungeon, Sorik.
Speaking of dungeons, shouldn't they be places filled with tension, danger, and heart-pounding rewards? While I thought so and had some expectations, there was absolutely no danger or reward.
All I got were goblin monsters tumbling down in a few rooms, and collecting low-level items like ore or weeds that had rolled down the floor—utterly hopeless.
What is this?
Who wants such a disheartening reward?
And the experience points are a drop in the ocean compared to the Cursed Mountains!
Although this is a dungeon recommended by the guild management based on difficulty, calling this a dungeon is an insult to its name.
A dungeon devoid of tension is just a straight passage with no branching paths. Following the passage, you'll see monsters peacefully gathered in rooms; defeat them and continue.
Claire used her detection abilities to confirm everything around the corner, so there was no tension whatsoever from the possibility of a surprise attack.
Furthermore, according to Lisbeth, the monsters in the dungeon are just mechanical creatures that wander within a fixed range, performing fixed behaviors.
While most monsters are like this, the dungeon monsters especially exhibit this mechanical behavior. It's said that unless you challenge a dungeon far beyond your strength or are too careless, they will act this way.
Ars seemed to be overexerting himself and appeared tired… while I, with my excess stamina, felt no fatigue at all. These monsters that fell in one or two hits and the lack of tension in the dungeon were truly disappointing.
If it weren't for this excess stamina, a dungeon that should have taken half a day to conquer would have been tense, right?
But seeing how easily Lisbeth handled it, the dungeon itself felt like a low-level instance.
Judging from the current situation, there wasn't even a need to specifically protect Claire.
What was even more disappointing was the cheap sword we bought from the blacksmith.
I thought I'd be able to unleash some cool, swordsman-like slashes, but what a load of rubbish!
It was no different from me punching someone.
They'd be dead in a hit or two anyway.
Watching Ars wield his sword with what seemed like expertly trained skill, his precise and clean downward strikes swiftly cleaving monsters in two… while I, even with all my strength, felt like I was just hitting them with a blunt object.
I guess I should learn some swordsmanship too. This is so disheartening.
After sighing like this, I stared at Claire's behind as she walked ahead. When will I be able to touch that behind whenever I want? Thinking this, I brought up Claire's status bar.
............
Name: Nellis Claire
Race: Human
Level: 12 (3390/4620)
Title: Candidate Saint of the Cult of Goddess, Terrified of Cock's Penis
Age: 27
Female Skills: [Addicted to Male Scent LV.1] [Fear LV.1] [Desire LV.1]
Female Record: [First Kiss: Cock]
............
Seeing Claire's status bar is getting me excited. Yes. More important than anything else are the females who created me, aren't they? Forget disappointment, let's focus on this.
Hmm…but Claire is different from Lisbeth or Leona; she's not lewd, but fearful. Her title is also "Feeling Fear."
While submitting to fear isn't bad, I still hope she can become completely infatuated with me and obey…is that a somewhat regrettable situation?
With Lisbeth around today, it's difficult to do anything to Claire. If anything, it'll be before returning to Ladia and taking her to the church… How can I alleviate her fear?
While pondering how to dispel Claire's fear, I continued exploring the dungeon.
............
'Ha, really…' I sighed inwardly, watching the dungeon boss's body turn to dust after collapsing.
I took a short break and continued exploring the dungeon. Before I knew it, I had reached the boss's room and defeated it, but instead of a sense of accomplishment, I felt a profound sense of loss, as if all my strength had been drained from my body.
I sighed.
Although, as a boss, it did launch a decent attack from the start.
Ars unleashed his Hero's Aura, Lisbeth relentlessly unleashed magic regardless of Ethel, and I focused intently on striking its side with my sword, interspersed with Claire's buff skills.
The problem was that this thing died before it could even mount a proper counterattack under our onslaught.
Barely managing to fend off a few attacks, it futilely swung its forelimbs a couple of times before collapsing to the ground with a thud.
Worse still, the sword I swung pierced its side and snapped in two.
That seemingly sturdy old man... Could he be lying? Even a cheap one shouldn't break so easily.
This is my first time in a dungeon, and this is what happens. I sighed, gathered some things I could take from the boss room, and then started a fire to prepare for camping in the dungeon.
While sitting around the fire eating the simple food I'd brought, I showed the sword to Ars and asked,
"How did the sword get like this? Are all cheap swords like this?"
"Even a cheap one is still a sword sold in a proper blacksmith's shop. It shouldn't break here... Ars, what do you think?"
"Hmm... well..." Ars examined the hilt of my sword, then gave a frustrating answer.
"It seems... it couldn't withstand Shimo's strength? The sword broke instantly when it slashed in at a slight angle."
Ars continued, handing me the broken sword.
"It's because the sword's trajectory was off. Learning some swordsmanship should improve it... but buying a sword that can withstand Shimo's strength will probably cost a lot of money."
"Wanting both an expensive sword and learning swordsmanship to become stronger... what a headache."
"Sigh... if I sell what I got in the dungeon today, will it be enough to pay for this sword?"
"Even if you divide it into four parts, it'll be more than enough. These ores are quite valuable. Some dungeons even drop magical items like crystal balls; if you can get one of those, you'll make a fortune."
"But it's lucky we even managed to scrape together enough for the sword. According to Lisbeth, this dungeon didn't seem to drop any magical items; our luck was a bit bad."
After chatting for a while after dinner, it was time to prepare for bed.
During our conversation, Claire chatted and laughed with Lisbeth and Ars, but only gave me brief responses. It felt like she was trying to tease me, but there's always tomorrow; I'll make her pay then.
Before going to sleep, Claire focused her senses on the dungeon's interior for the final check.
Ars was debating whether he should keep watch since there were no monsters. I told myself, with excess energy, that I'd keep watch briefly and then sleep, telling the three of them to rest.
Rather than being half-asleep because of keeping watch, I'd rather get a good night's sleep… even if I don't keep watch, I can sleep for two or three hours, right?
Ars hesitated for a moment before nodding, saying "Okay, thank you," and started taking out his sleeping bag.
Claire, after hearing the story, looked at me with a slightly frightened expression, her body trembling slightly… but don't worry, Claire, it's not your turn until tomorrow.
And so, the three of us fell asleep. A few moments later, Ars began to breathe softly, as if he were asleep.
Clya slept so peacefully it was hard to tell if she was truly asleep… After waiting a while, and sensing everyone was sound asleep, I quietly approached Lisbeth and gently woke her.
"Lizbeth."
"…Hmm…" When I gently woke Lisbeth, she nodded as if she had been awake all along, and quietly crawled out of her sleeping bag.
Lisbeth took a small pouch-like handbag from the luggage beside her sleeping bag and quietly followed me towards the room a little further from the chief's quarters.
Not far from the chief's quarters, I put my arm around Lisbeth's shoulder, rubbing her breasts as we walked, and she didn't resist at all.
In fact, she pressed her body close to my side as we walked, and when I pressed her hand towards my testicles, she only blushed but didn't object.
If someone saw this, they might think I was Lisbeth's lover instead of Ars, right?
And so, the sensation of Lisbeth's touch on my testicles through my clothes, and the tingling sensation of her hand slipping inside her sleeveless shirt that exposed her breasts, made us smile at each other as if by prior arrangement when we arrived at the room.
"Even though I know everyone's asleep... my heart is still pounding..."
Looking at Lisbeth smiling like that, I felt like breaking the one-time-a-day rule wouldn't matter now.
As long as there's an opportunity... how?
But Lisbeth, who had been smiling, suddenly checked her handbag, and her face turned deathly pale.
Just as I was wondering what had happened, I heard Lisbeth's panicked voice when I called her:
"The... the condom is gone... I should have brought one..."
What... you didn't bring a condom? No, it's too disappointing to just use my mouth or hands to solve this now.
Lisbeth seemed to think so too; she stared at her handbag, which was devoid of condoms, with a slightly troubled expression.
"How about we just not use condoms...is that not okay?"
"...Ah, no...nothing without a condom is..."
It seems that because of Ethel's affinity, she's really not interested in not using condoms. Although she's leaning towards me, she's still in a relationship with Ars, so she's probably still burdened.
What should I do...actually, with a little seduction, maybe she'll even accept not using condoms... Just as I was thinking about how to seduce her, another idea suddenly flashed into my mind.
I mentally applauded this idea, then called out to Lisbeth.
"Lizbeth."
"Hmm?"
"Can't we just have sex without a condom?"
"Ah, no...I can't do that..."
"Then it's settled."
I grinned, staring at Lisbeth's buttocks.
"How about we go through anal sex?" Hearing this, Lisbeth's face showed the most panicked expression I'd ever seen on her.