Rest at the supposed Safe Zone:

*groowwwlll*

Sigh, this time it was me.

Akane smirked and offered her sandwich to me.

I refused it just as Fena did and shuffled through the book to find a suitable summon and its recipe to cook and eat. 

'Hmm, so I can summon fishes too, huh, but where it will come from, my old world or this world? The deer was from my old world.'

There were multiple options for the species of fish that could be summoned, along with their description.

I drew the summoning circle and poured mana into it, a desperately flapping Tuna arose from the circle. The Tuna was 2 feet large, had a couple of horns above its eyes and head, and was faintly luminous. It is from this world. 

'Hm, I see, when I summoned the deer it was from the old world, it might be so because, in this life, I've only seen a deer in televisions or such, that's why it brought the deer from my old world where I had seen a deer in real life, in the zoo. This time the summon was from the new world because I happened to see it in real in both lives.'

This skill, it might bring the beasts from the of which I have a more detailed memory maybe that's what it meant by user's subconscious.

"Oi, Akane-san! what do we do with this?"

"Don't worry, I can handle this."

"You know how to cook?"

"Mm, I know to cook, but you will have to wait until I can familiarize myself with these weird cooking tools, you can eat the sandwich till then and also summon more fishes, as I am a glutton!"

'Glutton? Says the one who offers her own sandwich to a classmate despite being hungry herself.'

"Sigh, fine. Give me the half."

She gave me the whole sandwich and started rummaging through the belongings of Bruce and Selina to find the cooking tools that were mentioned in Bruce's book. He also wrote the manual to use the various tools that they had, he was really kind what else can I say.

"Akane-san, when the little Fena yawned earlier, wasn't that looked extremely cute?" I asked as I tore the sandwich in half.

"Yeah!" She replied while dusting a cuboidal tool that had a tripod stand.

"Hey, Akane-san, how much mouth can you open when you yawn?"

"aaaaaaaaaaa.... mmppppp-mmmmm-whhi-did-you-doo-dat?"

I thrust half of the sandwich into her mouth. She frowned in surprise and became a bit flustered. Maybe, she didn't expect me to do that, well who would.

I laughed a bit seeing her chewing and talking, she looked just like a squirrel with her cheeks full of sandwiches.

She is too kind for being a Sinner's daughter. 

I just don't understand why didn't she have a friend. She seems to be a nice and friendly girl. I am sure no one knew about her being a sinner's daughter too. 

'.... maybe she distanced others from her life herself, well...'

I sat down beside her and surveyed this area with my eyes.

The density of those mana stones on the wall is higher here, enabling us to see more clearly than in other parts of this dungeon. This place might've not been made to be a safe zone, according to Selina, but that doesn't mean we can't use it as one.

Now that all the tension and alertness have left my mind, I feel a bit drowsy... 

No, I need to stay awake! What if the fact that this area acts as a safe zone doesn't hold at present? What if some by some chance a monster did come here after I fall asleep. No, stay open my eyes! Stay OPEN. STAY OPEN!

"Um...Itsuki-kun, I know that you're a boy, but please stop staring at my chest. It's... cr- making me a bit uncomfortable." She blushes a bit. 

"Huh? Oh, no-no, I wasn't staring, I was just trying to keep my eyes open because of drowsiness, that's all, really, believe me." I replied with a quavering voice.

'she was going to say that it's creepy, wasn't she?'

"Oh! Ahaha, I know, I know. I was just kidding. We haven't slept properly for two days, you must be tired too, as you were the one who did all the.... killing. But... you cannot rest while I am distracted in cooking. We need to be cautious till we verify if what's written about this area is still valid or not. I will keep watch till you rest after you eat, Okay?"

"Ah-hmm... Yeah, I did the whole killing technically, but it wasn't just me alone. You helped me a lot...if it weren't for you I would've died a long time ago..." 

Akane tilts her head in confusion. Maybe she doesn't realize that she was the whole reason I was able to move myself at that time.

"And thanks for your offer, I will take you up on that and rest first."

 

*yawwwwwnnnn*...."

I stood up, knowing that if I stayed idle, I may end up falling asleep, and walked to the entrance of the narrow path from which we came and from which, Fena left with the deer.

.

.

'Hmm!?'

I see a silhouette approaching here.

I raise my arm and aim forward...

"Oh, it's just you. Did you like your meal Fena?" 

Fena nodded her head in affirmation. I smiled, remembering that she can understand my words, she's quite smart, alright. She walked past me and made her way to where Akane was busy cooking. She sat beside her after rubbing her head on Akane's back. 

Does she likes her more? But! I am her official master! Shouldn't she like me more?

Chuckling at my useless thoughts, I went back to Akane too and sat there as the fishes were almost ready to be devoured.

I observed how skillfully Akane was cooking. 

The most amazing thing was this stove like Tool. It's like a small stove but without a Gas cylinder, and it doesn't produce smoke as well, nor can I smell if anything is cooked at all. If I wasn't seeing it, I wouldn't have believed that she was cooking something right beside me. All I can say is that this is a perfect tool for cooking in a dungeon, as no monster will get attracted by any smoke or the smell of meat getting cooked. Selina had also invented a thermos that can produce water from atmosphere, which means that we don't need to worry about water too.

'I don't get it, how such advanced inventions can be there 1500 years back?... If the level of technology was already this advanced in those times, then it should've been even more advanced now. Science is something that is ever-evolving and even if in this world they have magi-science it should be evolving too....... sigh, maybe, she didn't share her knowledge and inventions with others?.......... maybe that or the level of technological advancements in this world is forced by some external entity to stay somewhat between the 2000-2010s of my old world.'

The words of goddess replayed in my mind. That time she said that railguns wouldn't ever be made public, well no advanced weapons are available in general. I remember reading that at one point in history gun culture got spread widely in the society, they could kill more efficiently than most skills, so, of course, their demand skyrocketed, even a few wars were fought with guns along with skills and magic. But after a massive campaign started by the goddesses, all the guns were banned and destroyed. But the knowledge to make one couldn't be erased so, they still can be found in someone's bag just as Akane's.

"These contraptions are a curse to the society.", the words of a goddess, with which I agreed with.

I looked at the useful items we had. We have secured a proper food supply(my summons), a proper water resource (the thermos), and a safe zone (when we get sure enough that if this place still acts like one, which its most probably is.) 

In other words, now we have an option to live our whole lives in this dungeon, to get old, accept our fates and die here in peace.............

Die in PEACE...

Fuck peace!

I am getting out of this shit hole no matter what. 

.

.

Oh!! 

The food is ready!

"Here is the first batch of the meal! enjoy!"

"Thanks! glomph nom nom nom Omph nom nom... uhkkk umph"

"Slow down a bit, Itsuki-kun!! Here, water.", she chuckled.

I chugged the water from the thermos to free the meal stuck in my throat. 

 

"glug glug glug,  Sorry and thanks."   

'Damn, I act stupid all the time.' 

"It's fine,"

"'You are quite a cook Akane-san, it is so incredibly delicious that I lost myself in the taste!"

"Thanks for the compliment!"

"You should eat too, Akane-san."

"I'm fine. You should have your fill first."

"That's very kind of you."

She giggled a bit and then prepared the rest of the fish. After I ate my fill, she was also done cooking, she began to stuff herself with her share, when I say stuffed herself, I mean it. 

'She wasn't kidding when she said that she was glutton, huh.' 

I chuckled.

.

.

After finishing our meal, we discussed our next course of action.

We both agreed on getting out of this place, there was no doubt about that. The next thing we decided was to stay here for a few days and level up all we can on this floor, before entering the boss room. Since even Bruce, the strongest S-Rank adventurer, couldn't beat the monster inside the room, I doubt that us fellows will have it easy either.

But there is a way for us. 

The monster inside has the soul core too, it was mentioned in his diary.

But one thing that concerns me the most is that my DEF and STR stats are zero. I can die even if I get hit once. I am quite weak and fragile. 

But... if I can aim precisely at the soul core, then the monster will die without even... flinching.

"Pheww~ Akane-san, you know what, after getting my stomach filled, I am not feeling sleepy anymore, you rest first."

"Ha? Really, are you sure?"

"Yeah..."

She lied down using Fena's stomach as a pillow. 

.

.

"Itsuki-kun, what was your past life like in that other world?", Akane said not long after closing her eyes to sleep.

"Hm, well.... that world wasn't anything special, it had no magic, no people with skill , but still I like living there, I had my loving mom, had a pretty decent life without much struggle. The best part was that there weren't any shitty goddesses in that world."

"Oh, is that so........... Umm, if you're okay with it can you tell me how exactly you got in this world, did you just die and got reborn here or were you sent here?"

"Yeah, exactly like that, though my memories of the time when I was dying are mostly hazy, but I know I didn't met anyone who sent me here. I died in that world and the next moment bam! I was a baby, hanging upside down in the doctor's arms."

"Hehe, did you enjoyed living as a baby for another time?"

"Nah, it was frustrating you know, the worst part is that I still remember those embarrassing memories."

"Ahaha, is that so!"

"Sigh.... Yeah."

"Do you want to go back to your past world?"

"Hm, well, if I could take my new family along with me then I would rather live in that world."

"Those people... they seemed glad that you were alive...... at least during the beginning."

"...."

"And that guy who was trying to defend you, was he your friend?"

"Yeah, best friend."