Level Eater
Chapter 156

"I want to cook." (Leah)

Tatsuro gladly handed Leah several cookbooks he had purchased when she said this, and they spent some time together, which also served to replenish Cardina's magic power.

Afterward, the two sat in the driver's seat. Leah went into the private room to concentrate on reading the books, sitting on a chair, and turning the pages.

Excited about the possibility of expanding their culinary repertoire, they set off with anticipation for yet unseen dishes.

When night fell, the enthusiastic Leah and her assistant Nana immediately got to work, using ingredients including seasonings that Tatsuro had bought without really knowing when they might be used. Finally, they completed a proper dish.

They used rice that Tatsuro had reheated, and Leah added a simple twist to the dragon meat and vegetables, resulting in a dragon meat stew.

This wasn't just grilled dragon meat on top of rice as they had eaten at the professor's house, but a simple meat stew on rice.

The sauce was different from Japanese beef bowls, but the sweet and savory aroma tickled their noses, and the two were at their limit.

"Well then" (Leah)

"L-let's eat!" (Ai)

"Please enjoy." (Leah)

Following Tatsuro and Ai's example, Leah also put her hands together before starting to eat with the makeshift spoon Tatsuro had created.

Meanwhile, the two quickly devoured their dragon meat bowls with chopsticks, and the contents of the bowls visibly disappeared.

They wanted seconds, but they had finished all the rice for the day, so they had to be content with being 80% full.

Tatsuro and Ai deeply thanked Leah and volunteered to clean up.

However, in the end, Tatsuro, Ai, Nana, and Leah all cleaned up together. They set up a simple bath tent, and Tatsuro and Ai bathed together. Afterward, they quickly replaced the water with magic, and Leah also washed herself clean.

After that, there was nothing left to do but sleep, so Tatsuro and Ai slept in the loft of the private room, while Leah slept in a high-quality tent set up next to the rhinoceros carriage (rhino-cart).

During this time, as usual, Cardina and the others kept watch all night.

"Hmm, I wonder if it was okay to leave Leah-chan outside alone?" (Ai)

"Well, the loft is barely big enough for the two of us, and the lower part has desks and stuff fixed in place, so it's too late to remove them now. We have plenty of space in the [Item Box] now, so maybe we should make a house for resting." (Tatsuro)

"Oh, carrying a house instead of a tent, that's like that raccoon robot who loves dorayaki!" (Ai)

"That's on a completely different level than just carrying a house. Well, let's make it gradually. If Leah's blacksmith skill improves and she can help, we might be able to make something amazing that I couldn't do alone." (Tatsuro)

"Ah, that sounds good too! Hehe, now we have something else to look forward to." (Ai)

Tatsuro's love for Ai, who was laughing adorably in his arms, exploded, and he tightened his embrace and stole her lips.

Ai had anticipated what would happen the moment Tatsuro's arms tightened, so without surprise, she returned the deep kiss.

They continued like this for several minutes, getting a bit worked up and almost losing their sleepiness. Remembering they had an early start tomorrow, they used living magic to calm their feelings before falling asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning arrived, but unfortunately, it was rainy.

Although it wasn't pouring, but rather a light rain, they asked Jeanne to slow down. The human members stayed inside the private room to avoid catching colds.

Then the road changed from a simple stone-paved path to a winding mountain road that spiraled upwards.

In fact, the dungeon that Tatsuro and his team were aiming for this time was at the top of a mountain.

Though it was a mountain, its altitude was nowhere near that of Mount Fuji. Even if the rain made the road slippery, it was child's play for Jeanne, who had inexhaustible stamina as long as she had magic power.

So, even in the rain, Jeanne energetically carried Nana, slowly but surely aiming for the summit.

Thanks to Jeanne's efforts, Tatsuro and the others safely reached near the dungeon by evening.

From partway up, they had to walk. Tatsuro made umbrellas of light silver, further lightened and strengthened by magic, for Ai, Nana, Leah, and the [Adult Form] Athena. Cardina, who couldn't hold one, transformed into her [Child Form] and rode on Ai's head. Jeanne, in her [Child Form], carried Nana and shared an umbrella with her.

By the way, Cardina and the others don't catch colds or get chilled when wet.

So they don't really need umbrellas or raincoats, but it would look like they were only using umbrellas for themselves and not lending them to the young girls and animals at a glance, so they did it this way.

As they walked along talking like this, they eventually came upon a place blocked by what looked like a sturdy black wall.

There, two men dressed like soldiers stood rigidly holding spears on either side of a large gate, not slacking even in the rain.

Slightly surprised by this formidable sight, they approached, and as expected, were stopped by the soldiers at the gate.

"Halt, you there."

"Yes, what is it?" (Tatsuro)

"What do you mean, 'what is it?' This is no place for children to come. It's a Level 7 dungeon, you know? You should turn back."

The man standing on the right side spoke, not out of malice but out of kindness, looking at Tatsuro, then at Ai, and finally at Nana, who was riding on the small Jeanne and holding a metal umbrella.

Incidentally, Leah, one of the kids, was made to look like an adult woman, so she was apparently excluded from this soldier's concern.

"It's okay. We came here knowing that." (Tatsuro)

"No, no! Turn back right now!"

"Looks like they won't listen to reason, huh?" (Ai)

"Yeah, I guess we'll have to show them our 'seal'." (Tatsuro)

"Seal? Oh, that thing." (Ai)

Understanding Tatsuro's meaning correctly, Ai started up the system together with him to present their ID cards.

"Please look at this." (Ai)

"No matter what you show me, no means no."

The man standing on the right side refused to look at the ID cards, stubbornly trying to make them leave, but the soldier standing on the left side seemed curious about what they were trying to show and peeked over.

"───!? H-hey, Stuart!"

"What is it, Val? You're being noisy. If you're bored, you should─"

"N-n-no, that's not it, l-l-look!"

"Look?"

"Look at their ID cards!"

"ID cards?"

With a puzzled face, the man standing on the left side turned his gaze to where his colleague was pointing, and there he saw Tatsuro and Ai's ID cards displayed by the system.

And there, the rank given by the Adventurers' Guild was clearly displayed.

"Huh? Is this real─"

"Of course, it's real, you idiot. You might be able to fake the plate ID cards issued by countries or towns, but how could you fake something through the system?"

"Y-you're right. ... So, what should we do?"

"What should we do? We should apologize and let them pass right away, of course!"

"That's it!"

The two soldiers were huddling together and talking as if in secret, but their conversation was clearly audible to Tatsuro and the others, who were struggling to keep straight faces.

"We're very sorry! Please, go right ahead!"

"Oh my, we shouldn't judge people by their appearances. Hahaha!"

"Um, well... So, we'll be going in then." (Tatsuro)

"Please, please do. Oh, be careful, it's slippery because of the rain!"

{What a dramatic change. They're like different people.} (Ai)

{Well, as long as they're letting us through, I don't really care.} (Tatsuro)

{I guess you're right.} (Ai)

So, with the two eerie soldiers waving goodbye with forced smiles, everyone passed through the tunnel in the outer wall and entered.

The mountain top, which had been cut flat and wide, was not bustling with various facilities like the Level 3 dungeon. Instead, there was a large stone building for buying items prominently placed, and apart from that, there were only buildings that seemed to be living quarters or guardhouses for the soldiers, not shops or anything else.

There were also few people around, making it seem so desolate that one might mistake it for a depopulated area.

"There don't seem to be any food stalls or weapon shops. It's quite an empty place." (Ai)

"I guess at this level, there are fewer people who can challenge it, so no one tries to set up shops." (Tatsuro)

"From what we can see, the only customers would be the few soldiers, so any shop would likely go out of business quickly." (Ai)

"And that large buying station seems to be state-run, not privately owned." (Tatsuro)

Looking at the large buying station after this was pointed out, Tatsuro could see a mark that he recognized from his book knowledge as being on this country's flag prominently displayed.

"Well, we didn't come here for sightseeing, so it's fine. Anyway, it's going to get dark soon, so let's camp in an open space, get a good night's sleep, and then head to the dungeon tomorrow morning." (Tatsuro)

No one seemed to have any objections to Tatsuro's words, so they set up the rhinoceros carriage and tents in an empty space that seemed least likely to be in the way and went to bed early that day.

The rain had stopped, but the sky was still overcast without sunlight. In the early morning, the group, having completed all preparations, was already walking towards the dungeon entrance.

They had already found out yesterday that the entrance was straight ahead from the gate they came through, then right at the signpost, so they were proceeding without getting lost. Soon, they could see the point.

"Oh, there seem to be others near the entrance pool too." (Ai)

"You're right, probably another adventurer party. It would be troublesome if they try to talk to us, so let's slow down a bit." (Tatsuro)

Not wanting to get involved with strangers whose current situation and intentions were unknown, everyone switched to a slower pace, hoping that the adventurers ahead would quickly enter the dungeon.

However, the other group seemed to notice them and, for some reason, were waiting in front of the pool.

"Come on, give me a break. We're obviously walking slowly, so they should realize we don't want to interact." (Tatsuro)

"Hmm. They seem to be waiting. Should we turn back for now?" (Ai)

"Wouldn't that draw more attention?" (Tatsuro)

"I think so too. It would be like saying we have something to hide." (Ai)

"If they turn out to be troublesome, we can just ignore them and quickly enter the dungeon. It's probably spacious inside, so we won't run into them again." (Athena)

"Let's go with Athena's plan. I'll give a signal when it's time, so everyone keep that in mind." (Tatsuro)

After confirming that everyone nodded, Tatsuro's group resumed their normal pace, trying to appear as unconcerned as possible as they advanced.

Tatsuro and his group tried to pass by without looking at the unknown adventurers at all, but a woman with long, wavy brown hair wearing a white robe, who looked so glamorous she could have been a gravure idol, approached them with a smile that wasn't unpleasant.

"Could you wait a moment?"

"Do you need something? We'd like to enter the dungeon early in the morning, so if you have business with us, we'd appreciate it if you could keep it brief." (Tatsuro)

"Is that so? You were walking so slowly, I thought you had time to spare."

"Perhaps we were walking slowly because we didn't want to be approached and have our time wasted like this." (Tatsuro)

Having been given a sarcastic comment with a smile, Tatsuro responded with a smile of his own.

"Well, never mind. You don't seem to be family of the soldiers, and judging by your appearance, you're fellow adventurers, right? It's an unusual party with mostly children and animals, so I got curious."

"I see... And what about it?" (Tatsuro)

"Hmm. You're not very friendly, are you? Connections between adventurers shouldn't be underestimated, you know? You never know where you might stumble upon some tasty information."

"I'm sure that's true, but we want to start our exploration early. This place is likely to take a long time to clear, isn't it?" (Tatsuro)

"Sigh... I understand. Sorry for holding you up. We'll enter after you, so go ahead."

"Thank you. Well then, shall we go, everyone?"

With Jeanne in front and Athena at the rear, Tatsuro's team was about to enter the dungeon, staying alert until the very end.

At that moment, a small man who seemed to be a companion of the woman who had spoken to them suddenly drew his sword and swung at them from behind.

Before Ai and Jeanne could react, Athena, who was closest, used her skill. Since she was in her [Adult Form], it wasn't [Dragon Armor] but a downgraded version called [Magic Armor].

In an instant, Athena's hands were covered by a pure white glove-type gauntlet that extended to her fingers. She received the attack head-on with her right hand, then used her left hand to mercilessly grab the man's throat and lift him up.

"Guh─"

"What's the big idea? If you're looking for a fight, I'll kill you, you know?" (Athena)

"─────uh───ah──"

Athena, who already looked intimidating when silent, now glared at the entire opposing party with a serious look in her eyes.

Tatsuro thought that killing them would be going too far, but he wasn't sure what to do as he didn't understand the other party's intentions. Then Cardina pulled at his sleeve and pointed at the sword with her beak.

So when Tatsuro examined the sword that Athena had blocked using magic, he found that it was a training weapon with a blunted edge.

"Athena. Let him go." (Tatsuro)

"Roger that~" (Athena)

"Gah────hah hah..."

The man, with tears in his eyes, unsteadily returned to his companions, holding the training sword in one hand.

"So, can you explain what this is about?" (Tatsuro)

"Well, sorry for startling you. I thought if you couldn't block that, you'd all die immediately, but it seems it was an unnecessary concern."

"So, can I take it that you don't intend to be hostile?" (Tatsuro)

"Yeah, of course. But well, it's true that we launched a surprise attack. How about we call it even if I provide you with one interesting piece of information?"

"That's intriguing. Please, tell us." (Tatsuro)

Although he wasn't sure if the information would be true, it seemed the other party hadn't really intended to kill them, so Tatsuro decided to listen to their story and get it over with quickly.

So at this time, while saying it was interesting, he wasn't actually very interested.

However, that story turned out to be interesting for Tatsuro and his team as well.

"You know, four types of bosses have been confirmed in this dungeon so far. But recently, it seems a fifth type has been added. Can you guess what kind of monster it is?"

"What kind... Is it some special monster?" (Tatsuro)

Tatsuro gave a non-committal answer to prompt the woman to continue, knowing there was no way he could guess correctly. The woman grinned, paused for a moment, and then declared:

"───It seems to be a dragon species."

"...Not a lesser dragon, but a true dragon species?" (Tatsuro)

"Yeah, we didn't see it directly, but another party came back barely alive, and they brought back a few scales. I happened to be present when they were appraised, and they were indeed recognized as dragon scales."

"If that's true, it does sound interesting." (Tatsuro)

"Right? But if you encounter it, make sure to always secure an escape route."

Saying this, the woman tossed a white, glowing octahedral object about the size of a palm toward Tatsuro.

Since Cardina didn't give any warning, Tatsuro caught it straightforwardly.

"What's this?" (Tatsuro)

"It's called a return stone. As the name suggests, if you wish to return while holding it, it will open a portal that will take you out of the dungeon once, no matter where you are."

"Is this also an apology?" (Tatsuro)

"Well, consider it a parting gift from your seniors. And with this, please consider us even."

Not knowing the value of this item, Tatsuro wondered if they were receiving too much, but having it might save everyone's lives in an emergency.

So, since they said it was fine, he decided to accept it honestly and stored it in his [Item Box]

"Alright, I'll take it. In return, we won't bring up what just happened again." (Tatsuro)

"That's a relief. We wouldn't want to be labeled as dangerous people who attack without warning."

With that, Tatsuro and his group bid farewell to the woman's party and, at last, entered the dungeon without further incident.

T/N: You readers may have also noticed that I am trying to be consistent with translating some terms. Just like how in Japan: seniors are called senpai.

Even the way Athena talks is purely translated to their English variant, it is easy for me to maintain consistency when I use familiar terms. Thanks for the usual understanding.