Chapter 17: The Long Road to the Imperial Capital – 09
“Souji-san, that battle earlier was magnificent! I was completely captivated.”
As we were having a meal in the Safety Zone, Sfenia sat down beside me, her eyes sparkling with admiration.
Ever since I defeated the Ogre Champ with my bare hands, it seemed like Sfenia’s demeanor had changed significantly. The way she looked at me was strangely intense.
“Maybe I got a little carried away. Well, I knew I could win, and even if I started to lose, I was confident someone would come to my aid.”
“Hehe, none of us thought you would lose, Souji-san. In fact, it’s a relief to see the usually calm Souji-san show such a side of himself.”
“A relief… is that so?”
Freinir had a clearly worried expression on her face. While Larni, Karma, and Shizuna seemed to be enjoying themselves, Sakurahime appeared quite surprised.
“I think there are quite a few women who are attracted to a man’s strength. Especially among adventurers, I believe it’s rather common.”
“I agree with that. Beastkin women, in particular, tend to fall for strong men without hesitation. Souji-san, you should keep that in mind.”
Karma said this with a grin, and Larni nodded along, so it didn’t seem like a lie… but confirming that the two of them were in love with me might be more trouble than it’s worth.
“Hmm… It may be true that the women of the Kin of Twilight are drawn to strong men. However, we women are strong as well, so we won’t easily be swayed.”
Geshura twisted her serpentine lower body in response, and Larni looked intrigued.
“Hey, Geshura, do the Kin of Twilight also create children like humans do?”
“Mu? Of course. That’s no different from humans.”
“So, do they fall in love or get married, too?”
“Love, huh… If you mean the feeling of wanting to bear a child with a man, then yes, that exists. However, the institution of marriage does not. There are many women who will chase away the man once a child is born.”
“Really? Some don’t even raise the children together? That’s interesting.”
“The Kin of Twilight have vastly different natures depending on the individual. In fact, there are very few who share the same appearance. Compared to that, humans all look quite similar.”
“Now that you mention it, Geshura, that Argi guy from the other day, and Zaikal whom we met before, don’t look alike at all.”
“Indeed. That is likely the biggest difference between the Kin of Twilight and humans.”
“But even if their appearances differ, there must be cases where men and women come together, right?”
At that moment, Sfenia leaned in closer.
“Yes. As long as their appearances are somewhat similar, there’s no problem. A difference like mine and Souji’s would be the boundary line.”
“I see. In that case, the differences between elves and humans are negligible. Don’t you think so, Souji-san?”
“Huh? Ah, yeah, I suppose so. I think humans, elves, and beastkin are all the same…”
Sfenia looked up at me with an intensity that left no room for argument. There was no need for her to exert such pressure; I had no intention of discriminating against anyone.
As I hesitated, Shizuna poked me from the side.
“Souji-dono, does that mean you see the Oni Race the same way?”
“Ah, I apologize. Of course, I consider the Oni Race the same as well.”
“Then that’s good. I want Souji-dono to see me properly.”
With a meaningful glance, Shizuna returned to her previous spot.
Regarding her, I couldn’t help but be conscious of the hints dropped by her mother, the High Priestess Miona, about marrying her.
“Souji-sama, you mentioned that you don’t mind the differences in race, but… what about age differences? Do you care about that?”
Next, Freinir looked at me with pleading eyes. Given the nature of her question, it was clear she was asking whether I would accept her as a romantic interest, but I found it difficult to answer.
I noticed Sfenia was staring at me intently, and Larni and Shizuna seemed to be paying attention as well. This made it even harder to respond.
“…I don’t really mind that much. Adventurers seem to have a rather ambiguous view on age…”
In reality, I had somewhat rejuvenated in appearance, so my answer wasn’t unreasonable. It seemed the four of them were satisfied with my response, as Freinir smiled brightly and said, “I’m so happy!” without pressing further.
At that moment, I noticed Mariane had been silent the whole time. When I looked over, she simply smiled and nodded, a soft chuckle escaping her lips.
I had no idea what that meant, but it felt like the gaps between us were slowly being filled in.
The next day, we would descend from the 21st floor. It would be the first time for “Soul’s Guidance” to reach such depths.
Floors 16 to 19 had been uniquely designed with only one large space per floor, but the 21st floor returned to a normal corridor made of white stone walls. Even so, it was quite spacious, about ten meters wide and five meters high.
By the way, during yesterday’s boss battle, we found only one treasure chest, which contained the “King’s Sash,” a piece of armor. Clearly related to the Ogre Champ, it looked like a beautiful black cloth belt. It boasted a powerful “Herculean Strength +5,” and there was much debate over who should wear it (with strong opinions leaning towards me), but ultimately, we decided to give it to Sakurahime, who was currently the weakest in terms of strength.
Now, as for the minor battles, the monsters appearing on floors 21 and 22 were “Mithril Golems.” As the name suggests, they were monsters that appeared to be animated suits of armor made of mithril. Standing three meters tall, they were comparable to the Ogre Champ, boasting high defenses against both physical and magical attacks, and wielding powerful mithril swords. While they lacked any special skills, they would undoubtedly be a tough challenge if confronted head-on.
To defeat them, we needed to destroy the core located in their center… but I decided to bulldoze through with my mace. Although six to seven would appear at once, a single swing of my mace crushed them like paper. I left one or two alive to allow my teammates to gain some experience, but with our numbers, we faced no real danger.
As expected, we acquired a large amount of mithril as loot.
On floors 23 and 24, we encountered “Night Stalkers,” shadowy monsters resembling four-legged beasts. They were about the size of lions but moved quickly and were resistant to physical attacks, making them a troublesome foe as they could inflict illusions and confusion.
However, being of the Undead attribute, they were extremely weak to Freinir’s Divine Attribute Magic, “Divine Halo.” Once her spell hit, they would be immobilized, allowing us to strike them down easily.
On the 25th floor, we faced Golems again, but this time they were “Orichalcum Golems.” Compared to the Mithril Golems, their defense and attack power were significantly enhanced, but unfortunately, they were still no match for my mace. With a large amount of Orichalcum obtained, the dream of upgrading my weapon to Orichalcum was finally within reach…