Episode 23
Claude and the others formed up and advanced through the dungeon.
Klaus was in the vanguard, Alicia and Iris in the mid-guard, and Fahrenheit and Claude in the rearguard.
“Claude, first, I want you to get a feel for the dungeon’s atmosphere. Once you’re used to it, the plan is for you to join Klaus in the vanguard.”
Right away, bat-type monsters—Shortbats—attacked from the depths of the dungeon.
Klaus kept them at bay so they couldn’t get close, while Alicia and Iris attacked with magic.
The magic struck as if drawn to its target, and the Shortbats vanished, leaving behind magic stones and dropped item feathers.
Klaus quickly collected the magic stones and dropped items, then scanned the surroundings.
I was shocked by the well-practiced, coordinated movements of my older brother and sisters, so proficient that I couldn’t even find an opening to jump in.
“Am I… even needed here?”
“Right now, we’re only facing low-level monsters, so we have some leeway, but I think you’ll be put to work soon enough, Claude.”
After that, we continued to advance without any trouble, dealing with Shortbats and Goblins.
After advancing for a while, we reached an open area.
“This is a Safe Zone set up within the dungeon.”
Safe Zones existed back in my gaming days too.
They were places where you could recover or buy consumables from player stalls.
Looking around the room now, there were a few people resting, though not many.
“I was thinking we’d take a break here if you were tired, Claude, but you seem fine. From here on, I think I’ll have you join the vanguard.”
“Yes, Ani-sama.”
If my memory served me right, armed Goblins should start appearing from here, and the difficulty should increase a bit.
As soon as we left the Safe Zone, we encountered Goblins equipped with swords and spears.
It would be easy to cut them down on my own, but I focused on coordination, guiding the Goblins so that Nee-sama and the others could easily target them with magic.
Just as I’d planned, magic flew in, and I struck the Goblins with my sword the moment they flinched.
“Keep it up, Claude! That made it easy to land my magic.”
Alicia-neesama praised me.
Fahrenheit watched the whole situation, calmly assessing Claude’s abilities.
His individual capabilities were sufficient.
While not perfect, he was also capable of movements that showed an awareness of teamwork.
Fahrenheit would turn twenty this year.
With his current performance, he would graduate from the academy without issue, return to their domain, and gain experience as a lord under his father.
As an older brother, he wanted Claude to pursue his own path freely, but as a future lord, Claude was someone he’d want to keep by his side.
His younger sisters’ engagements were already decided, and it was set that they would leave in the future.
Klaus had said he wanted to become a knight, and Fahrenheit knew he had received an offer from the Royal Capital’s knightly order.
He had inadvertently started thinking about the future, but he brushed aside such distracting thoughts, telling himself he needed to focus on the exploration at hand.