Kenya was disheartened by the unexpected expense, but we were on our way to the East Nat Cave.

「The food is not only for entertainment, but it also provides a long-lasting status-enhancing buff!」

Laila-san, clasping her hands together in front of her chest, talks about the different buffs that can occur depending on the dish being cooked.

「For example, vegetable dishes enhance dexterity, meat dishes enhance muscle power, desserts enhance magic power, and so on. The more expensive the food is, the better it tastes, and the greater the benefits of the enhancements! 」

Well, the expense is certainly painful for entertainment. If there's a status enhancement for a certain amount of time, I'd be tempted to stop by before going hunting.

The small cooking symbol in the upper right corner of my field of vision is probably the enhancement buff she's talking about.

「Dahlia-chan has been eating a lot of meat dishes, so I'm sure there's a big enhancement applied to her muscle values."

Ameten-san chuckled as she shifted her gaze to Dahlia, who was in her usual position.

「Indeed, her hair-pulling power seems to be stronger than ever .......」

But Dahlia's real job is magic, you know. Next time, I'll feed her some dessert,....... It's not worth stretching a status that won't be used in battle.

The most important thing to remember is that the best way to get the most out of your own life is to be a good person.

「Oh, I forgot to mention...」

Kenya, who revived himself, lined up beside us with unsteady steps.

「Bulletin Board. It's festive」

「Where?  ......, you mean ......, with  the summoners ....... ......?」

「Yes, that's right. If there is a way to befriend a summoner in the early stages, it would be unexpectedly good news for aspiring summoners. A few players have succeeded, and it's a huge deal.」

Well, well, well. The increase in the number of summoners is good news for me, too. I was the source this time, but as the number of people increases, the information will also increase.

「I can't believe there are people who can understand that theory of love. ......」

「I thought so too. For someone who wants to be a summoner, it's not hard to understand the passion and love they have for their summoned beasts.」

Exactly.

And beyond that passion and love, the path to making a true summoner partnership opens up, you know.

「I saw many players walking around with their summoned beasts in town, but it seemed that most of them were animal-type summoned beasts.」

「I have mofumofu envy!」

'As a result, Daiki, who walks around with a summoned beast that looks like a little girl at first glance, stands out quite a bit as a summoner.」

「That's a pain in the ass.」

There are a few advantages to standing out for me, as I prefer to play solo. I've always thought it was a good idea to carry a summoner on my shoulders because it would be good PR for the summoner.

「It's extremely difficult to get her down.」

「I pity you!」

With her head held tightly by her legs and arms, she won't move in this state unless I use meat to get her to move.

As I try to peel Dahlia off with both hands, Laila shouts in protest.

Well, okay, the total number of summoners is indeed increasing thanks to Daiki and Miss Dahlia, and if we can eliminate their disadvantages in the remaining battles, they won't be called landmines anymore.

The battle in the East Nat Cave began.

While I mined, Dahlia was to work with the three of them to destroy the enemy, while Kenya and the others would assess Dahlia's combat skills.

Kenya, who seemed to have raised his level considerably since we parted ways, was as steady as ever, handling the enemy's attention without letting it spill over. Laila's and Ameten's skill arts exploded on the firmly fixed group of enemies.

Dahlia, using her judgment, made full use of fire and dark attribute magic to slaughter the enemies, but the speed at which the number of enemies decreased was extraordinary. It's quintessential party combat.

With the knowledge of an engineer, I can find and extract ores more easily, and I continue mining.

At this pace, I can dig out more ore than when I first began.

As I happily swing my pickaxe, Kenya, looking upset, speaks up with his assessment of Dahlia.

「I take back what I said before. It's more than I imagined.」

The power, accuracy, and amount of MP are greater than that of ordinary magicians.

She is a fixed turret because she doesn't move too far away from me, but she is also highly regarded for not being hit at all by Kenya, who is holding a large shield amid a crowd of enemies, or by Laila, who moves around to attack, not to mention Ameten-san.

Anyway, it is said that if you are in a party, you will not be damaged even if you are hit by a bullet, but accuracy is also important because there are cases where you will be extinguished if your attacks hit each other.

「Even with recovery mixed in, it's hard to ...... ignore weaknesses and do more damage than a blue wizard against a rocky monster.」

The main monsters are a bat called Nutbat and a dwarf-like monster made of a rock called Nutrock, and Nutrock's weak attribute is water.

As we had heard during the meal, Ms. Ameten's magic seems to work well on the nutrocks, but it is said that she cannot produce as much firepower as Dahlia, who uses the fire and dark attributes to push the nutrocks.

「A vanguard-type summoner takes no small amount of damage, and if it accumulates, the summoner will be killed. In that respect, a rear-guard type summoner doesn't have to worry about being hit as long as they have a shield, and they don't need to consume the magic stone needed to summon it again. ......」

「In the past, summoned beasts were said to be parasites that ate up extra party space, but I don't think anyone would complain if they could contribute as much or more than the player!」

「The most important thing is that she is so adorable. Hah~」

Each analyzes and evaluates Dahlia. In the Frontier World, where six people make up a full party, the position of a single summoner who eats up multiple slots is low.

「Well, I've become a parasite myself.」

「When you're done mining, you'll have to work hard!」

It seems that Ameten doesn't tolerate slacking off.

After getting enough magic ore, I join them in leveling up. As well to my mining skills, my level had risen by two levels.

I put my bonus points into dexterity and strength and drew my sword on the front line with Kenya.

「Why are you in the front line?」

「Because I want to fight with a sword.」

Kenya shrugs his shoulders, while I face the enemy.

The other party is a large nut rock.

The fist is swung down, and the engineer's mind reacts, reads the timing, and hits it with a shield parry.

I take a lower stance as I enter his reach, and strike with sword art, the Blue Flash Sword.

If you quickly attack an enemy who has a gap created by Parry, a Critical hit will occur. This allows me, who is not a pure warrior like Laila, to produce high damage.

While feeling the increase in muscle strength from the meal in my body, I detect another sign of movement nearby.

Another nut rock appears from the side and delivers a right-fist thrust to the right half of my body, where the sword has leaped up.

This time, while confirming that the effect of the blue flash sword, has worn off, I activate Sword Parry in the motion of swinging down, and when the fist is bounced sideways, I unleash my shield technique arts, Shield Tackle.

As the name suggests, the Shield Tackle is a lunge with the shield. This causes a small amount of damage while disrupting the opponent's stance.

The Nutrock is further disrupted by the Parry and falls to the ground.

To keep the flow going, while holding the upper stance, the sword connects with the sword technique art, Yellow Sword, and swings down at Nutrock with a sword that emits yellow light.

Blue and red magic followed the enemy from behind, and the two enemies exploded.

「And, well, this is just the way it's supposed to be」

「No, no, no. I did it very easily, but it's not normal.」

「I didn't know there were people who could do the art switch technique at such an early stage. ......」

「It's very useful. I'll share it with Laila later.」

「......」

The red, blue, and yellow swords can be used in different ways depending on the situation, and by weaving in a parry, you can have a combined offensive and defensive fight.

If the success rate of the sword parry is further improved, fighting with two swords may not be a dream.

After that, Laila was depressed for some reason, but we fought our way back to the adventure town without any fatalities.

The time was 9:50 pm.

Laila was off to college, and Kenya and Ameten were going to bed to prepare for work, so the party was dismissed.

「See you tomorrow, Bye-bye, Dahlia-chan.」

「I'm off too. See you later, Dahlia-chan.」

Taking Dahlia's hand, still expressionless, and forcing her to shake it, they both logged out as if they were satisfied.

「I'm going to leave too, but are you still not going to sleep?"

「I'm off until tomorrow. I'll be playing with Dahlia for a little while longer.」

「Oh, by the way, here it is.」

Kenya, who had remembered his promise and handed over a set of leather armor, patted Dahlia and logged out.

「...... you'll have to hang out with me a little longer.」

I still have a lot of work to do to turn the magic ore into ingots.

I made sure Dahlia was wedged into position and headed for the creek in the southern Nat Plain.