Well, that was way faster than I expected. I was thinking that it’s going to take a week or so before the permission is finally granted. In any case, it’s definitely going to cause quite an uproar. My girlfriends and I decided to have a meeting on what to do inside my room.

   “Like I told Khriswell before, let’s wait until our teamwork is a bit better before we head in.” I decide. “There’s also the fact that today’s the grand opening. Loads and loads of adventurers are bound to check them out. They’re probably beginning to fight the monsters inside and loot the place as we speak. Best if we wait, say, one to two weeks.”

   No one has any objection to my suggestion.

   “That said, how are we ever going to reach Kamei, Kotaro-senpai?” Maya asks me. “Like you said just now, our Levels are low. I doubt we could go far if we only rely on Ichika-senpai and Kaede-senpai.”

   “I got that part covered. We could post a quest to recruit adventurers. They’ll escort us until we reach the final floor and defeat Kamei’s “champion”, and they get to keep whatever treasures we stumbled upon.”

   “I hate to be the wet blanket, but what if no one is interested in your quest?” Kaede asks me.

   “I still have the Church and the knights to rely on. The Church is easy, since we could ask Khriswell to ask her colleagues to help us.”

   Ichika furrows her eyebrows. “You wish to request a girl who is extremely socially awkward to go around and talk to lots of people?”

   “...On second thought, this is much tougher than I anticipated.”

   “Plus, the knights have to make sure that the Daemons don’t get any funny ideas while the adventurers are exploring the dungeons, right?” Kaede adds. “How do you expect them to help you?”

   “I have to take the chance. Their leader, Catherina Wilmort, is Level 110. We definitely need her.”

   “Wait, she’s a girl? Then you can just conquer her and get her to our side.” Maya says to me.

   I shake my head. “She’ll never fall for me. Not a chance.”

   “Come on, senpai! You have to be more optimistic than that!”

 “What’s impossible is impossible. The thing is, she’s only interested in men who’re stronger than her. When I was playing the game, one of the requirements to unlock her is that I have to be at least Level 111.”

   “...Wow, that’s a rather harsh requirement.”

   “So, yeah. Making her the part of my harem is definitely out of the question.”

   “How are you going to convince her, then?”

   I shrugged. “Simple. I’ll tell her that we’re not from this world, and we’re her best bet if she ever wants to get rid of the dungeons.”

   I got up from my bed that I was sitting on.

   “All right, let’s go meet her. Hopefully, she’s at the headquarters of the Noble Nightingale.”

   Rather than headquarter, it’s more appropriate to call it a castle. It’s not as grand as the one the King is living at, but it’s grand enough. It’s right next to the Church where Khriswell is living, which is why it was easy to find. The entrance is being guarded by two knights, and I state my business to them.

   “Dame Wilmort is very busy right now. She won’t have time for the likes of you, so run along.” one of them tells me gruffly.

   “Huh, I guess I’ll be keeping the information about the dungeons to myself, then…” I mumble to myself.

   “Huh?”

   “What was that?”

   I turn around and act like I’m going to leave.

   “It was nothing, sir knights. Please don’t mind me.” I assure the knights without looking at them.

   “Wait! Is it really true that you know something about those dungeons that appear out of nowhere?”

   I finally looked at them.

   “Do you feel like letting us in yet?”

   “Yes! I’ll go in and tell her that you want to see her right away!”

   “Please do.”

   It took several minutes, but the knight who went to talk to Catherina eventually returned.

   “Dame Catherina would like to see you at once.”

   “Thanks.”

   We were being brought to a guest room of sorts with marbled tables and chairs. Sitting at the host seat is a female knight in her early twenties. She has long blonde hair, a pair of blue eyes, and is wearing a white-and-golden full-plate armor. There’s an emblem of the Order printed on the left side of her breastplate.

   She got up when she saw us coming inside the room.

   “Which one of you holds the information about the dungeons?” she asks us without waiting for us to sit down.

   I raise up my hand. “That would be me.”

   Catherina stares at me with her piercing blue eyes. She then puts on an expression that I’m all too familiar with, a disappointed look. No doubt she was checking out my status with Appraisal, and she didn’t like what she saw.

   “Please tell me everything that you know.” she tells me after switching back her expression to a normal one.

   “Is it okay if we sit down first?” I request.

   “Of course. Where are my manners? Do take a seat.”

   And we did just that.

   “Before I begin, though, I need you to get me a blacksmith. Just find the nearest one.”

   The paladin furrowed her eyebrows.

   “Why do you need one?”

   “His presence is important for my explanation. So please.”

   “Do as he says!” she ordered one of the knights who’re guarding the entrance of the room.

   “Right away, dame!”

   It didn’t take the knight long to fetch the blacksmith as I requested. I pulled out Gravitas from my inventory and showed the blacksmith.

   “Do you recognize the materials being used to make this?” I ask him.

   The blacksmith stared at my sword with an intense look on his face.

   “No. I’ve been a blacksmith for almost twenty years, but this is the first time I’ve seen anything like this.” he eventually said.

   Of course he doesn’t. After all, Gravity Kong and other Destroyers don’t even exist in this world. I put away Gravitas and pulled out Namigiri in its paper form next. Not even Catherina could hide her surprise when the red paper transformed into a glaive.

   “What about this one?” I ask the blacksmith.

   “Of course not! This is the first time I’ve seen something like this!”

   I look at Catherina. “Well, there you have it.”

   “What exactly are you trying to prove here?” Catherina asks.

   “That I’m not from this world. The others aside, I came from the same world as Kamei Kyusuke, the one who brought the dungeon here.” I replied.

   Catherina’s confused expression became ice-cold at once. Sensing her change in demeanor, the blacksmith gulped audibly.

   “Is it okay if I leave?” he asks me softly.

   “Of course. Thank you for your help.”

   The blacksmith bowed at Catherina before leaving the room swiftly. As for the paladin, she got up from her seat and walked towards me. A sword appeared in her right hand.

   “Speak. Are you in league with that Kamei Kyusuke character?” she demands as she points the tip of her sword at my throat. “Depending on your answer, your head shall roll.”

   I looked her straight in the eyes. “I’m not. We might be from the same world, but we’re enemies.”

   We had an intense staredown for a full minute. Eventually, Catherina makes her sword disappear.

   “It would seem that you were telling the truth. You have my deepest apology for acting so rudely towards you.” she apologizes while bowing.

   “It’s okay. Your suspicion is completely justified, after all.”

   We sat down once more, and I began to tell Catherina about myself, about how I was a shut-in back at my own world and was suddenly forced to travel around different worlds. I left out the part where I’m supposed to conquer a girl of my choice. I then tell her about the Godless Organization and the encounter my party had with them so far.

   “So he is here for you.” Catherina concluded after I was done speaking.

   “Yup.” I agree. “I don’t know why he is using such a roundabout method, but that much is certain. Well, that’s about it.”

   “Since the two of you are from the same world, perhaps you could assist us in telling us about the monsters that he let loose in his dungeons.”

   “I’ll try. What kind of creature did you fight?”

   “For the first few floors, we encountered some humanoids with green skin, red eyes and sharp teeth. they’re mostly dressed in rags, and use clubs and daggers as weapons. They look kind of similar to the common Soldier Daemons here.”

   “Hmm, they sound like goblins to me.”

   “On the tenth floor, there was a three feet tall giant. At first glance, it looks like a goblin with its green skin, red eyes and sharp teeth. However, this one is a lot stronger and ferocious. It could even regenerate a severed limb.”

   “Yup. A troll.”

   From the eleventh floors onwards, the knights have encountered orcs, orc mages, zombies, and a few giant spiders. For the twentieth floor, they had to fight a Minotaur. It would seem that a boss creature is standing guard at every ten floors that you progress. Starting from the twenty-first floor, the whole place is crowded with armored ogres ,worgs, and griffins.

   “Our progress was halted at the thirtieth floor, for a formidable creature was guarding it.” Catherina says with a grim expression.

   A creature that troubled even the great Catherina Wilmort? I wonder what kind of monster it is.

   “Can you tell me about that creature?” I request.

   “Of course. It is a large snake with three heads. For one head that you chop off, two new ones grow out of it. We didn’t know how to deal with it, so we had to retreat.”

   “Ah, that’s a hydra. It’s quite simple, really. All you have to do is to burn the stump with fire, and no new heads will grow. You deal with the troll using the same method.”

   Catherina got up from her seat. “Thank you for your valuable information. I shall go and deal with the “hydra” at once. Your companions are welcome to join me.”

   She was looking at Ichika and Kaede when she said that, which means that Maya and I had been excluded. Figures. For someone who values strength above all else, she has no time for weaklings. Myself aside, Maya is very close to exploding. Her face is red with anger, and multiple veins on her forehead are pulsing like there’s no tomorrow.

   “My apologies, but I would rather stay with our leader.” Ichika declined politely.

   “Same here.” Kaede agrees.

   Catherina raises her right eyebrow.

   “Aren’t you the leader of your team?” she asks Ichika.

   “I am not. It has always been Kotaro over there.”

   Cathrina looks at me like she couldn’t believe what she just heard. I just smiled awkwardly and shrugged my shoulders.

   “I have made sure that two of the dungeons are never allowed public access. I will head to one of them. If all of you wish to explore the dungeons as well, you are allowed to head to the other one at Mayrane Hills. Just say the password “East Wind” at one of the guards, and you’ll be let in. Now then, good day to all of you.” she tells us.

   After Catherina left, we left the castle. Which was just as well. Maya looked so upset that if we stayed any longer, she might have gone on a rampage. In order to let her release some of her steam, I had to bring her to an empty alley.

   “THAT! STUPID! BITCH! WHO DOES SHE THINKS SHE IS BEING ALL-”

   I had to cut short what she was saying since her choice language has become quite colorful, to say the least. She went on for five whole minutes before finally calming down.

   “Are you done?” I ask her.

   “No…no yet…”

   She let out a few more curse words.

   “Now I’m done.” she tells me.

   “Good. Well done holding it back there.”

   “Aren’t you mad, senpai? That gorilla woman was totally looking down on us!”

   I shrugged. “How’s being all emotional going to help? If you’re frustrated, become so strong she has to respect you.”

   “Fine. I’ll do just that. So, are we heading to the dungeon right now?”

   I think about it for a moment.

   “Let’s not. Not today, anyway.” I decide. “Someone has to take care of the Daemons other than the knights. I just hope there’s at least some adventurers who realized that too.”

   Karin-san and the other receptionists at Ravenwell were close to tears when they saw us.

   “No one else dropped by today. Not even one…” Karin-san whispers while acting like it’s the end of the world.

   “I take it that literally everyone went to check out the dungeons.”

   She nods several times.

   “If this keeps on, the guild will lose money and cease to exist altogether. I’ll lose my job, and there goes my night-life. Oh, woe is me…”

   From what I know, the guild will get a portion of the reward for every completed quest, hence Karin-san’s statement.

   “There, there. I’m sure some of them will decide that fighting Daemons are much better. For now, please recommend some quests to us.” I told her.

   That managed to bring Karin-san back to work mode. We had to wait a while since there are way too many quests that are not taken, and she had to glance through them all. Eventually, she found nine quests that she deemed suitable for us. Since we have to become stronger, we ended up accepting all of them.

   For the next few days, our schedules have been packed full with taking on quests. As a result, I’m at Level 55, while Maya has become Level 62. Ichika and Kaede are the only ones who have not increased their Levels.

   “Maybe the two of you should take on more difficult quests so that you can Level up as well.” I suggested to the latter while we’re resting in my room one day.

   “Will the two of you be fine if we do?” Ichika asks me.

   “Don’t worry, Ichika-senpai! As a Bronze-Ranked adventurer, it’s my duty to look after Kotaro-senpai who’s still a Steel-Ranked!” Maya assures while patting on my head condescendingly. “I’ll-OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!”

   The vampire started shrieking painfully as my fists were grinding both sides of her head.

   “No need to worry about us! We’ll definitely be careful when you’re not around!” I tell Ichika while making sure that she hears me.

   “W-Well, if you say so…”

   Thankfully, the were tiger and his team mates who spoke to Maya and I when we first went to Ravenwell had returned to hunting Daemons, so we got to tag along with them during the next quest they went to. We had to fight two Generals, five Captains and at least fifty Soldiers. Even so, we managed to come out on top. I guess it kind of helped that the were tiger, Darum, and the rest of his team are at least Bronze Ranked, while Darum-san himself is Silver Ranked. After the quest was over, we ended up celebrating at Ravenwell’s cafeteria.

   “You did well today, boyo. Thanks to your calm assessment of the situation and giving us proper commands, the fight went way smoother than usual.” Darum-san complimented me while patting me on the shoulder.

   “It was nothing. All I did was just those: observing and give out orders.” I say modestly.

   “Nonsense! Like I told you before, all of us are just meat tanks. We can attack and protect and that’s it. Compared to us, a brain like you is much more valuable. So don’t ever underestimate yourself.”

   “That Catherina Wilmort actually called him weak! Can you believe that gold-foiled muscle woman?” Maya asks the were tiger.

   Darum-san slammed his fist on the table angrily. Thankfully, the table was made of sturdy material, so it didn’t break.

   “That woman’s saying whatever she wants just because she’s a paladin! Someone really ought to teach her a lesson one day!”

   “That’s right that’s right! I hope she slips and falls in front of the entire country!”

   “I hope she lands on a pile of mud!”

   ““GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!””

   “Say, Maya? Are you by any chance drunk?”

   “Of COURSE I’m not drunk, senpai! How could I? It’s not like breathing this alcohol-filled air is making me dizzy!”

   “Yup, you’re drunk. Come on, let’s get you back to your room.”

   “Weeeeeeeee~!!! I want a princess carry!”

   “Leaving so soon, boyo? You should stay a bit longer!”

   “No can do. Not with Maya here being this drunk.”

   “I’M NOT DRUNK!”

   “Right right, you’re very much sober. Good night to all of you.”

   “Good night, everyone! This vampire is OUT!”

   “Good night, boyo and lassie! Let’s go on a quest again!”

   Thankfully, Maya didn’t cause that much of a fuss on our way back to Twilight’s Rest. After I tucked her in, I still didn't feel like resting for the night, so I decided to train a bit. And by training, I mean heading to Mayrane Hill where the dungeon which Catherina allowed us to use is.

   The entrance to the dungeon is a huge double door. It’s made of an unknown onyx material and looks really, really heavy. Two knights are guarding the entrance. They became very alert when I got close.

   “The password is “East Wind”.” I tell them.

   They nod at me.

   “Go ahead and open the doors. They’re much lighter than you think.” the knight at the left tells me.

   “Many thanks.”

   Turns out the doors were indeed very light. I didn’t have to push too hard for them to open. Now then, I wonder how many floors I could last when I’m all by myself.