When we arrived at the dungeon, I opened my map so we could go to the lower floors as fast as possible like we did last time. And like last time, I also brought a lot of stuff.

There was still a lot of food left in my inventory, so we didn't buy more food. However, we took more water as my inventory had run out. And after a few hours, we arrived in Rivira.

We stopped in town briefly before continuing until we reached the 24th floor, where Mikoto could finally test out her new sword. I had kept her old sword in my inventory.

She killed the first monster that appeared with ease. With just a few swings of her sword, the monster died. It died so easily that Mikoto was very surprised.

"That's amazing; I killed it so easily! I didn't think I would be able to do that. It's all thanks to you." Mikoto approached with a big smile. However, I denied that it was because of me.

"It's not thanks to me. You are very strong. Even without my help, you could kill it easily."

"Of course not. When we were here before, I couldn't kill this monster so easily. This sword is amazing."

"You haven't tested its best functionality yet. Try putting magic on the sword."

"Magic?"

"Exactly. Just imagine magical energy going into the sword. That way, you'll know what I'm talking about."

"Right." Mikoto nodded and did what I had told her to do.

As soon as she did, the sword's blade began to glow a pale white. "Hey, what's that?"

"It's a skill that's built into the sword. When you put magic into the sword, its attack power will increase greatly. Try this in your next battle. Let's find another monster to do this test."

The first monster we found was a Hobgoblin, a giant goblin over two meters tall. When Mikoto saw it, she swallowed her saliva. The Hobgoblin was empty-handed, so it would be easy to kill it.

The big problem was its great physical strength; if Mikoto were hit, she would be seriously injured.

"Do as I said. Activate the sword's skill and focus on its legs. Once it loses all its mobility, hit it directly in the head."

"I'll try, but I'm not as fast as you." Mikoto accelerated her steps and passed through the monster, cutting off its two legs at the height of its shin. With the sword skill activated, even the monster's bone was easily cut.

GUAAA~~

The monster screamed and fell. Mikoto approached and drove her sword into the Hobgoblin's forehead, killing it instantly. Mikoto sighed and approached me, carrying the monster's magic stone.

"That was easy, wasn't it?"

"Easy?! I almost got hit by it when I went to cut off its legs. Didn't you see that?"

"But you won, didn't you?"

"..."

I laughed, and then we sat down to rest. We'll stay inside the dungeon for a while longer before heading back.

####

When we left the dungeon a few hours later, it was already night. Even using my map, it was time-consuming to get back since Mikoto wasn't as fast as me, and I couldn't overdo my speed.

"Are you hungry?"

"A little." Mikoto's stomach rumbled. She wasn't a little hungry; she was a lot hungry! Probably because we hadn't eaten anything while we were leaving the dungeon.

"Do you want to stop at any restaurants to eat?"

"Sure, I don't mind."

So we set off towards the Hostess of fertility to get something to eat. It was already evening, so it was quite crowded with adventurers. Everyone was drinking while talking loudly and making noise.

Everyone looked at me as I walked over to one of the tables.

"You're quite famous, aren't you?"

"A bit. After the War game, I became even more recognized around town."

"Don't you like that?

"Sort of. It's nice to be recognized, but sometimes too much attention bothers me. Like now... Wouldn't it be nice if no one stared at us like that?"

"You're right..." Mikoto gave a bitter smile.

"How can I help you?" Then, a girl approached the table to take our order. It was Ryuu. She looked directly at me, judging me, but I ignored that.

[ Feeling annoyed. ]

'?' It was confusing, but I ignored it.

I placed my order, and Mikoto placed hers. When Ryuu finished writing our order, Ryuu walked away and looked back one last time. I smiled at her, and she looked away instantly.

"Do you know her?"

"I've come here a few times but never talked to her much. She's very pretty, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is."

"Speaking of her, do you know if she's friends with Bell?"

"Friend? I don't know... I've seen the two of them talking a few times, so maybe they are friends. But I wouldn't say they're very close friends."

"I see..." So they didn't get that close in this route of the story that I'm on. I've changed a lot of things. I guess I can start my "attacks" on Ryuu as well.

"But why do you want to know that? Do you happen to like her, and are you afraid Bell will get too close to her?"

'Huh? I didn't think she'd ask me something like that. '

"It's not that. I was just curious. And I don't like her, don't worry."

"I'm not worried about it; it was just a joke."

"Hmmm..."

We waited a few more minutes until our order arrived.

We ate a large amount of food and also had a few drinks. I insisted that Mikoto drink some alcoholic beverages, and she eventually agreed, so she was already drunk before I knew it.

Unlike me, who didn't get drunk even after drinking several glasses.

Before leaving the restaurant, I bought some food to bring to the mansion.

"I'll take you to our Familia's mansion. You can go home tomorrow."

"Hm?" Mikoto leaned on my shoulder, and we headed for my house. When I arrived, it was dark, and no one was in the living room; everyone was probably asleep. Mikoto was also practically asleep on her feet.

Seeing that it would be difficult to climb the stairs with her in this state, I took her on my lap, and Mikoto hugged me by instinct.

"I'll put her in another room. If I put her in my room, she'll probably panic tomorrow morning."