As the Floor Boss, the Flame Giant, died, the abnormal situation disappeared even after Ron returned to the unexplored regions of Floors 15 and 16.
The Minotaurs they encountered along the way had already reverted to their original state.
Weak.
Ordinary monsters from the Middle Floors were roughly equivalent to Lv.2 adventurers in raw combat strength, and for an expedition team tempered through Soulslike trials...
They were basically stray dogs at the roadside, casually kicked to death.
Especially after the suicide attack incident in Rivira, along with his brief contact with Filvis, the sense of being watched that had been lingering around Ron finally disappeared.
Following Mikoto's lead, the expedition party quickly returned to Floor 15. After passing through a winding cavern passageway and entering a crack that extended from the end of a tunnel—they arrived at the final destination of this trip.
"..."
Looking at the natural hot spring before him, steam constantly rising into the air along with a faint sulfuric scent, Ron considered his expression management fairly decent.
He truly hadn't expected
that in this Western fantasy-style world, he would actually get to enjoy a natural hot spring—something he had never personally experienced even in his previous life. His gaze swept across the girls nearby.
Hot springs were great...
Mainly because these past two days of continuous Dungeon exploration had been absurdly intense. Simple rest alone definitely wasn't enough to relieve the exhaustion weighing on both body and mind.
As for the exploration ahead, Ron honestly didn't even dare imagine it. At minimum, the monsters' baseline strength would probably already be at the peak Lv.3 level, and there would likely be even stronger ones capable of rivaling Lv.4 adventurers.
It was both good news and bad news.
At the very least, his status values could improve rapidly. Once this Familia expedition ended, even if he didn't directly advance to Lv.4—he was probably not far from completely breaking past the theoretical limit of his abilities.
Without noticing that Ron was walking at the back of the group, Mikoto—who had already investigated the area—swept her gaze across the beautiful girls participating in this expedition.
"There are two hot springs in total."
"Mm..."
"As for Commander Ron, it's a little inconvenient no matter how you look at it, since you're the only man here." Her eyes landed on Ron.
To be honest, Mikoto's feelings toward Ron were somewhat complicated. Even her reason for joining the Hestia Familia had always been very clear from the start: rapidly improve herself.
As for—romantic feelings and matters like that, she had never considered them at all.
Especially considering Hestia's attitude toward Ron back at the Familia residence... her affection was basically visible to the naked eye. Since she was receiving the goddess's favor and care, then at times like this, she had to do something!
"So..."
"Commander Ron, you can stay here. Daphne and the others and I will head to the hot spring nearby. If anything happens, we can still provide support immediately."
"..."
The other members present had no objections to the arrangement.
Perhaps—if it were a one-on-one situation, they wouldn't have been so awkward about it. But in front of adventurers from both the Hestia Familia and Loki Familia, they still couldn't quite go that far.
Even Tiona was no exception.
She herself didn't fully understand what that unique emotion she felt toward Ron actually was. For now, she could only regard it as an extension of the gratitude she felt toward her savior.
Many adventurers believed Amazoness girls were especially open-minded.
But in reality, that wasn't the case.
It was simply because the Familia led by the beauty goddess Ishtar in Orario had damaged the reputation of the Amazoness race there.
"We'll meet up later, Ron!"
"..."
Only Ron was left standing there, watching the beautiful girls' departing backs as he fell into brief contemplation. Why was this development a little different from what he had imagined?
"Damn..."
"What happened to the promised hot spring fanservice episode?! Why'd it disappear when it got to me?!"
"..."
During a Dungeon expedition, unless one reached the Lower Floors where basic hygiene was manageable, proper cleaning was completely impossible in the Middle Floors.
There simply weren't any conditions for it.
More importantly, from the perspective of a modern person, Ron genuinely couldn't tolerate going nearly ten days without bathing. Even if there wasn't going to be a hot spring fanservice episode with beautiful girls accompanying him—a hot spring was still a hot spring.
He was absolutely going to soak in it.
However, before Ron could even enjoy the muscle-relaxing comfort brought by the spring's pleasant temperature, he noticed faint footsteps approaching from ahead.
He abruptly raised his head.
The person who entered his sight was not one of the expedition party's girls, yet it was still the face of an elf beauty he could never possibly forget.
Filvis.
Ron honestly wasn't surprised that she had come looking for him. And considering the goodwill she had shown earlier, the atmosphere wasn't particularly tense either.
"Uh..."
"Does a beautiful monster girl still count as a beautiful girl?"
"...What are you talking about?"
After reporting vague information back to the god Dionysus, Filvis had not remained in Orario. Instead, she used the artificial labyrinth to quickly reach the Deep Floors.
Soon, she found the "companion" she was looking for. Originally, she had still been worrying about how to create an opportunity to speak with Ron alone.
But Mikoto's suggestion had just so happened to give her the perfect chance to approach him.
Still, when the black-haired elf girl looked at the steaming hot spring before her, along with Ron who had most of his body submerged in it, confusion appeared in her eyes.
Within the memories she had inherited
from this body called "Filvis," there was no explanation related to this sort of thing. Could it be that Ron had some personal reasoning behind doing this?
Filvis cautiously asked: "What exactly... are you doing?"
"Nothing much."
"Want to try soaking in the hot spring? It can help relieve mental stress." Since she had specifically come to the Dungeon to look for him, Filvis naturally had her own reasons.
And even if she didn't—
Ron had no objections to building a decent relationship with her.
Even though she wandered Orario under the identity of a "Creature," the things Filvis had done were far more decent than most adventurers.
Thus, the elf succubus decided to guide this lost girl toward the future.
"..."
"Okay."
Filvis had already reduced the frequency with which she used her Einsel Magic. At the very least, the memory confusion symptoms had gradually improved over the past two days, and her mental state was steadily recovering.
Faced with Ron's suggestion, the black-haired girl hesitated for a moment before lightly nodding in agreement.
However, she did not completely imitate Ron. After inheriting Filvis's memories, she at least possessed a clear understanding regarding the distinction between men and women.
As she soaked in the steaming hot spring water, perhaps because she had finally found a sense of belonging with a fellow "Creature," the tension in Filvis's mind eased somewhat, and even her tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed.
Of course, she had not forgotten the main purpose behind seeking out Ron this time.
"Mm..."
"Dionysus is still arranging for me to approach you. His goal is to use the uniqueness of your talent to create chaos among Orario's adventurers."
"His original plan was to have the Corrupted Spirit turn you into a Creature."
"But..."
"I'll buy you time!!"
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---