As the worms swell downstairs, we crossed the bridge.

[Even so, it’s bigger than I thought.] Yuna

This is the norm when it comes to games. I wonder if it’s real or not.

If they say there are 100 floors underground, I’ll just have to beat it. To do so, I will definitely dig a hole.

[But, were almost there. We’re getting closer.] Karina

Whenever the path splits once in a while, we follow Kalina’s instructions. We descended a considerable distance.

[This is?] Yuna

It’s sandy. Even though we are deep underground, the sand is falling.

When I look at the Bear Map, it seems like the pyramid is not right above us. It’s slightly off.

Is it falling from the desert?

[I think there’s something wrong with this.] Jade

Jade-san looks at the sand.

I agree with Jade-san’s words. I use my Bear Detection Magic to check. Then, the name of the monster I’ve seen for the first time came out.

The name was Scorpion.

In a word, it will be a monster like scorpion.

[Yuna-chan, did you found something?] Mel

Mel-san asks.

….Not to me exactly, but to Swaying Bear.

She think it’s because of Swaying bear, that I can find the monster.

That’s why I’m behaving like that, too.

[Swaying Bear, did you find anything?] Yuna

Swaying Bear, who is good at acting, responded so.

I shot an air bullet to where the Scorpion’s reaction is. Then, a Scorpion as big as a wolf which had a dark color, came out from the sand.

This must be why this is a fantasy.

Why is there such a big Scorpion?

Jade-san quickly pulled out his weapon, but the Scorpion burrowed into the sand.

[Yuna’s Bears are really great.] Jade

[But the Scorpion is a nuisance.] Mel

[What are we going do now? Do you want to run?] Toya

[No, that’ll be dangerous as well.] Jade

Jade-san shakes his head to Toya’s opinion.

The Scorpion is hiding in the sand. I don’t know in this world, but the ones in games are more intelligent than worms and they often sizzle until they come close.

When a prey comes near, the predator stutters the prey with a poisonous needle on its tail, slows its movement and preys on it.

Scorpions are fairly widespread and quite known for their detection skills.

I can dig it like a worm, but it’s a matter of how easy it is for Jade-san’s group to kill it like a worm. If it takes a lot of time to kill a single monster, other Scorpions may come together.

[Jade-san. Is it easier to kill it if I dig it up?] Yuna

[I’m sorry. I’ve only fought a Scorpion once. In the desert, it is rarely encountered because it only inhabits some other places. Also because the sh.e.l.l is too hard, it can’t be pierced by weapons other than Senia’s Mithril Knives or my Mithril Sword, but it might be possible with Toya’s sword.] Jade

In other words, Toya has a role to play in battle.

Toya tries to say something, decided to close his mouth.

[Also, even if you get close to where the Senia’s knife can reach, the poison sting of the tail still poses quite a threat.] Jade

With a knife, you have to get close enough to touch it. Also, the Scorpion’s tail movement on TV was fast.

[How about Mel-san’s magic?] Yuna

[I’m sorry, I don’t know because I haven’t used it against that.] Mel

I need to understand Mel-san’s magic. In other words, only Jade-san can fight in terms of strength.

[But it’s weakness is water.] Mel

[Is that so?] Yuna

[Oh yea, in the moment you spray it with water, it will be stunned. Attack the scorpion during that time, its one way of defeating it.] Mel

[Also its stomach is soft.] Senia

Senia-san adds in its weakness.

Do I have to turn the Scorpion that crawls on the ground upside down?

Hmm, what should I do?

[Isn’t it okay to have Jō-chan build a bridge?] Toya

(TN: I’m gonna use Jo-chan instead of Little Miss or Miss or Little Lady.. Cause I’m being lazy and its the same thing anyways.)

[It’s no use because it can shoot it’s sting.] Mel

Mel-san rejects Toya’s idea.

Then would it be good to make a bridge with side walls?

This time, there is a considerable distance. We can make it though.

But now that I think about it, I want to defeat it. There is a possibility that we will be caught while we’re advancing in a different area.

The characteristic of Scorpion is that it stiffens when exposed to water. Also its stomach is the soft spot.

The Scorpion is still hiding in the sand. Shooting poison needles.

Hmm, what should I do?

[I’ll go alone.] Yuna

As a result of my thinking, I gave my answer to everyone.

[Yuna-san!] Karina

[Yuna-chan!] Mel

[That’s reckless!] Jade

Everyone was surprised at my words.

[It’s okay to make a bridge, but it’s troublesome to get attacked while I’m making it.] Yuna

[But to attack it on your own… We will help you.] Jade

[U~n, it’s not a monster we can’t beat.] Senia

[Yeah, that would be good. We’re going to crush it quickly.] Mel

I received the feelings of everyone.

Jade-san’s party.

I can understand that you’re not saying it just to look nice. But it’s still dangerous.

If you die on my watch, I’ll wake you up in a very nasty way.

[Well, easier said than done, but is it really okay?] Jade

[I have something I want to try and if that doesn’t work, I’ll try another one.] Yuna

Honestly I can make the bridge.

[Yuna-san, please be careful.] Karina

Karina looks at me worriedly.

[I’ll be alright. I’ll come back as soon as I beat it.] Yuna

As I step into the sand, the scorpion moves quietly.

I can tell by my Bear Detection Magic. Its moving quietly like hunter stalking for it’s prey.

I take out a cheap iron knife I bought earlier and let the magic pa.s.s on the knife. Then, I threw it at the scorpion hiding in the sand.

The scorpion hiding in the sand comes out of the sand, with a knife sticking on it. It seems that it was not fatal with just one knife.

I threw another knife at its face.

The scorpion got hit on its head and died….

[Yuna-chan, you can detect it even if you are away from Swaying Bear?] Mel

[Because our hearts are connected.] Yuna

When I said that, Swaying bear and Hugging Bear responded with at the same time.

[Of course, Hugging Bear as well.] Yuna

For the time being, it turned out that even cheap knives could pierce the hard sh.e.l.l with some magic.

Water?

Stomach?

Weakness?

This is this and that is that. (Sore wa sore, kore wa kore.)

There is no problem if you can beat it.

But when I pulled out the knife that was stuck into the scorpion, the blade snapped. It is likely to be a one-time disposable item.

Well, there is no problem because it was originally a disposable knife.

I think it can be defeated by magic, but to one shot it would be great.

Anything that uses a Bear Wind Blade will attract other scorpions, which can lead to messy combat. Then Karina would be worried once again, Jade-san’s party would likely join in the fight and it will be even more chaotic.

And they’re not good at using magic as proficient as possible, like preventing the poison needle with earth magic.

So this time, I used a small knife and another small knife to reliably take down the monster.

[Jade-san, can you use this as monster material?] Yuna

[Oh, you can. The sh.e.l.l is tough so it can be used to make armor, the meat is edible and can be use as ingredient.] Jade

You can eat it?

Well, I’ve seen videos of people eating scorpion.

j.a.panese people seems to be unfamiliar with it, but I will collect them for later use. It may be delicious.

As we continue with our little adventure, I’m throwing magical knives at the scorpions that are hiding. I bought 100 knives, we should be fine with this amount.

I take out a knife.

Add magic power.

Check with Bear Detection Magic.

Throw at the Scorpion.

And repeat.

Generally, I can kill it with two or three shots. I just have to watch out for the scorpion’s tail.

Occasionally, some scorpions try to sting me with their tail, but there is no blind spot for me.

I prepared earth magic in advance.

It seems that I used a little more than planned.

I have no choice but to take out the Mithril knife.

Throw it with magic.

The scorpion burst in a single shot. Oh, a power up.

As expected, this is a Mithril knife made by the dwarf Gazal-san.

There is not even one scratch after if I pulled it out. It remains a beautiful blade.

Unlike cheap knives, they have to be picked up again, but they can kill more efficiently than cheap knives.

If this is the case, I wish I had used a Mithril knife from the beginning.

And so, all scorpions are safely defeated. Now we can walk with Karina safely.

I return to Jade-san and others, who were collecting Scorpions.

[It’s over.] Yuna

When I return, Toya and Swaying Bear are rushing towards me.

Eh? What?

[Look out!] Toya

I evade Toya with two or three steps sideways, who’s trying to grab me.

What’s up with that?

The question was immediately answered.

The moment Toya ran through where I was, a scorpion fell from above.

I was surprised and my response is delayed. However, Swaying Bear rushed to me, he stomped on Scorpion’s torso with his left foot and stomped on its tail with his right foot.

[Swaying Bear!] Yuna

I immediately returned to my sanity, I cut the scorpion’s tail with a mythril knife I took out from my Bear Puppet and stabbed into the torso.

The Scorpion stops moving.

I got a cold sweat.

As expected, I’m sweating badly.

Looking at Touya, he fell and plunged his face into the sand.

[Um, Toya. Are you okay?] Yuna

[I’m okay. Really, I’m fine.] Toya

I was worried, you know?

Toya got up with sand on his face.

[Um… Thank you.] Yuna

If Toya didn’t call out for me, I might have been attacked by a scorpion.

But Swaying Bear’s face is saying, quite the expression you have.

[Swaying Bear too, thank you.] Yuna

I pet the head of Swaying Bear who protected me.

If I only pet Swaying Hear, Hugging Bear will get jealous, so I will also have to pet Hugging Bear.

[Hugging Bear, thank you for protecting Karina as well.] Yuna

[Yuna-chan, are you okay?] Mel

Mel-san rushes in.

[I’m alright. Because Toya called out to me.] Yuna

[But Toya, you noticed it well.] Jade

[Ah, when I was watching Jō-chan, I felt like I heard a sound above. And when I looked up, it was about to fall. I wasn’t envious of jō-chan’s Mithril Knife so I wasn’t looking at it.] Toya

And that’s his whole answer, right?

But it’s true that he helped.

[By the way, I was faster than that Bear.] Toya

When Toya says a little happily, Swaying Bear whimpers with regret.

That’s true.

That’s really childish, though.

The feeling of grat.i.tude I had before, simply disappeared.

If he did not make such comment, his recognition would’ve risen.

[Well then Yuna-chan. That knife…] Mel

Toya may not be concerned about it, but Senia-san seems to be interested in my Mithril knife.

[I saw Senia-san fighting with a knife before and your knife is also made of Mithril.] Yuna

When I say that, Senia-san blushes a little and she looks happy.

Senia-san’s twin-knife style. (TN: Raw said nitōryū, but she is a knife user.)

It looks good.

In fact, I was supposed to make a knife only for Fina’s dismantling job. But I unexpectedly got a lot of Mithril, so I made another knife as a weapon.

[Can I have look at it?] Senia

I gave my Mithril Knife to Senia-san.

Senia-san looks carefully at everything from the blade to the handle.

[Very beautiful. And a good knife as well.] Senia

[It was made by a dwarf named Gazal-san, back in the Royal Capital. If you like it, I’ll ask him to make one for Senia-san too.] Yuna

[Gazal…] Senia

When I give Gazal-san’s name, she examines the Mithril knife as if she’s looking for something.

[……There it is.] Senia

[What was there?] Yuna

Senia-san points to the part of the knife near the handle with a small finger.

Something is carved there.

[The weapon that the blacksmith Gazal-san made seriously, has a name on it. Its very famous because Gazal-san rarely carves his name onto his works. I’m envious.] Senia

Is that so. Gazal-san, I didn’t know that because he didn’t say a word about it. He could have told me.

[And there’s even a Bear Crest.] Senia

[Gazal-san must have carved it because he had free time.] Yuna

[Impossible.] Senia

I told her that he carved it because he had free time, because I didn’t go there for a long time to get it.

[d.a.m.n it, I’ll have him make me Mithril Sword in the Royal Capital when I’m done with this request.] Toya

Toya, that remark is a death flag.

Anyway, we have defeated the Scorpions so we continued.

Karina says it’s near.