TL : Cnine

ED : Aster

「«Acceleration»!」

Somewhere in the first floor of the labyrinth, Aria was charging into battle . Her big eyes spied a monster, and she didn’t hesitate to move in . With her inherent skill in effect, Aria closed the gap in an instant .

Her target: a group of five goblins, the first she sent flying into a wall with a lightning fast kick to the face .

「Haaaa—!」

As she landed she turned in place, catching two more goblins on either side with her knives . Two down before the goblins had a chance to react, and she was already heading in deeper to finish the job on the first .

『GIGYA!』

The last two finally caught up to the situation when their comrades were already dead, and jumped at Aria to fight back .

「NYAN («Icicle Lance»)!」

But an adorable meow came from where Aria stood before the fight began, and following it was a pair of frozen spears into the goblins’ chests . It was Tama doing that, of course .

「Last one!」

The pair were well in sync, Aria stabbing her knife into the injured goblin she chased down just as Tama felled the other two .

「Guh… ghi…」

After a bit of struggling, the last goblin went slack .

「We did it, Tama! Thirty bodies down!」

「Nya~!」

After getting their equipment from Vulcan, the two were quick to jump back into the labyrinth .

At first, having mistaken Tama as a cat and deciding to bring him along, Aria had no idea how to actually fight alongside him . After a few fights, though, she figured out that Tama was mostly using his abilities to protect her .

Soon enough Aria took up the vanguard, and Tama covered the rear .

Hm, good thing Master’s a quick study . I may be a behemoth, but my body is still young . I can’t keep up with her yet . And I can’t use my Tailblade or Flight since she thinks I’m an elemental cat .

Tama was uncertain about only being able to use the elemental skills he learned from consuming his enemies, but Aria was quick to get a hold on what Tama was capable of with them . Thanks to that, he didn’t have to stay by her side to protect her .

「Since we’ve gotten this far, want to check out the next floor? If you’re with me I’m sure it’ll be okay, and I’m sure it’ll be good training too . 」

「Nyan!」

Aria finished up slicing off goblin ears during their conversation, and Tama enthusiastically agreed .

『Buhyooo!」

Somewhere on the second floor, Aria and Tama encountered that thing .

Somewhere on the second floor, Aria and Tama encountered that thing .

A large and muscled monster about 180 centimeters high, with bloodshot eyes and a nose like a pig .

“Orc” is what it was called . And for some reason, it seemed extremely excited, breathing raspily and frothing at the mouth .

Not a surprise, though . Orcs, like goblins, can crossbreed with humans and elves . Its l.u.s.t is also far higher than a goblin’s . If anything, it’s a miracle that this one didn’t go barrelling at Aria on sight .

「Uuu… that thing is so gross…」

On the other hand, Aria recoiled in disgust as soon as she laid eyes on it . There was probably something strange going through her head .

Apparently, even for the girl who wanted Tama to “nyan nyan” her like a wild animal still thought an orc was too much .

『BUHIIIII!』

Angered by her rejection, the orc cried loudly as if declaring war on her . He brandished a large hatchet, then ran in and swung it down .

「Too slow!」

Aria nimbly stepped back, and the hatchet crashed into the ground . When the dust cleared, Tama took over .

「NYAN («Fireball»)!」

His fireball nailed the orc in the jaw, setting its entire head ablaze . Caught up in agonizing pain, it dropped its weapon and batted at the flames .

「Nice one, Tama!」

The elf stepped in again, driving both of her knives deep into the orc’s chest . Aria kicked off his bulging belly and gained a bit of distance again, just as the orc futilely swung at her to get one punch in . Its fist only managed to hit thin air, the light faded from its roasted eyes, and its body hit the ground with a disappointing thud .

The elf stepped in again, driving both of her knives deep into the orc’s chest . Aria kicked off his bulging belly and gained a bit of distance again, just as the orc futilely swung at her to get one punch in . Its fist only managed to hit thin air, the light faded from its roasted eyes, and its body hit the ground with a disappointing thud .

「Fuu…」

This was the first time Aria fought something bigger than her . It had always been slimes and those half-pint goblins up to now .

「Fufu… This is all thanks to you, Tama . 」

「Nya~n . (It was nothin’ . )」

First time I’ve killed an orc . Let’s take a bite . Probably got a skill or two .

Leaving Aria’s beaming smile, Tama approached the orc to sneak a taste, but—

「Tama, no!」

「N-Nyaa?!」

Aria raised her voice, running up and s.n.a.t.c.hing him to her chest before his teeth could touch the orc’s flesh .

「Mouu, you’ll upset your tummy eating nasty stuff like monster meat, so you can’t do that, okay?」

Denied .

Mm… This isn’t good . I can’t get any more skills if I can’t eat any monsters we kill . What am I gonna do about this…?

Ignoring Tama’s internal distress, Aria went to cutting apart the orc .

「So what should we get for dinner, Tama?」

「So what should we get for dinner, Tama?」

「Nyao~ . 」

After defeating and slicing off part of the orc, they decided to end their adventure there and returned to the guild . Aria’s pouch was stuffed with goblin ears, so she was carrying the orc’s arms in a leather bag, leaving only one hand to pet Tama . An orc elimination’s proof is similar to a goblin, but since orc parts are valuable down to the bone, she decided to just bring back its arms .

「Hey there, Ana . Could I get a hand processing a quest completion?」

「Aria…! You came at the worst time . Please just return home for today . 」

「Ana… What’s the matter?」

She expected a friendly reception from the bondage-bound muscle maiden behind the counter, Arnaldo Hwarzenegger, but instead (s)he was very hush hush about trying to get her out of the guild as fast as possible .

Before Ana could give her an answer, the answer himself appeared .

「I’ve been waiting for you, Miss Aria . 」

Wearing fine equipment that did nothing to salvage his face that made you not want to talk to him, and his hair swept back by what was probably a slime-based hair gel… Ka.s.sman returned .

「Mr . Ka.s.sman… Is there anything you need me for?」

「Indeed there is, Miss Aria . I’m afraid I came here today to tell you just the most unfortunate bit of news . 」

Despite what happened the day before, Ka.s.sman didn’t stop his hands from groping about . But he stopped soon enough to show off a sheet of parchment with a sleazy smile on his face .

「No! Why is this…?!」

Aria paled at what was written on the parchment .