Kotori had been working with this group of adventurers for over a month now. It was a little boring. She was happy that she didn't have to do work but she still wanted to take out the boss room. Her assignment with this current group would be done soon and she wanted to take the boss out while it was still possible to.
It seemed very difficult though. If that damned Yooma had a hard time with the boss then it was likely that she would have an even harder time considering the fact that she couldn't even beat Yooma in the first place.
She wanted to get stronger but she didn't really have an opportunity to.
And thus her time with Gavin, Norbert and Delvin passed just like that without even getting a chance to take on the boss.
Amelie who had gotten bored sitting with Kotori and eating snacks participated in the dungeon diving sometimes and spent her time happily bashing and slashing skeletons to bits. She was beginning to turn into a meathead like the boss was.
Speaking of the boss, Kotori spent a lot of time reminiscing about her stay in the wood elf village and her old village before that.
In her memories, they were warm places. Despite the harsh training, and the farm work she greatly missed them and was feeling a little "homesick".
Not that they were her original homes in the first place, but it was not like her past life was particularly "loving" in comparison. She was considered a boy genius in her past life and often spent time away from home whether it was going to advanced classes or cooped up in the lab developing tech. When she became an adult it wasn't much different she lived away from home and lived a NEET lifestyle, even if she was technically employed. Talking with people was a pain so she didn't do it.
On their last day, she once again tried to persuade the other adventurers to take on the boss room and still was unable to get their participation. They waved their hands and told Kotori things like they were too old and that they had wives to get back to.
[These damn Oyaji!*] Kotori thought
*Oyaji is a term for an older man
That night as they got back to the inn they have been living in since they got to the city Kotori resolved herself.
"We're going to take down the boss!"
"Ehh?" Amelie said
"Kotori what are you going on about" She asked
"I'm done doing nothing!" Kotori said
Shu and Umi seemed to cheer in the background. Though, to be fair they would praise anything Kotori did.
Amelie looked at Kotori empathetically and said
"Look I know you aren't happy about where we are but can't we just go on like this for now it's not like we are suffering"
"I want to be stronger!" Kotori said
"You are already plenty strong…" Amelie said her voice trailing off
Indeed, she wasn't wrong in the slightest. What a 9 year old could compare to Kotori?
She was already a verifiable monster combat strength-wise even compared to other adventurers. She had met a couple of other salaried adventurers in the city and was surprised to find that many of them were weaker than her.
Kotori herself, had impossible standards of strength and thus her feeling of weakness was just her own sense of inadequacy.
Once again, like in the case of the lizard, she felt like she now HAD to kill the boss in the room.
[Why do I feel this way in the first place?] Kotori questioned herself but mentally slid the question away as quickly as it came
Amelie looked exasperated at Kotori
"You're always like this. Can't you consider other people when you do things? I know you're still young but despite all your maturity your still a child" She said
[Ah that's right she was there that time too]
"Ummm" Kotori said not sure how to respond to being chided by her friend.
Amelie sighed
"Look it's not like I'm willing to take out the boss, but promise me that we will leave at the first sign of trouble. Mari's not here to bail us out."
"Ok Ok" Kotori said, accepting Amelie's conditions.
They decided to take on the boss the next day on one of their off days. Without the help of adventurers
The next day Kotori and her party set out to take out the dungeon boss. Luckily it seemed that no one else wanted to take on the dungeon themselves. They showed their adventurer cards to the government minder at the entrance and walked on it.
They passed through the several rooms of skeletons avoiding taking too many fights to converse energy and soon reached the lower floor
They once again reached the mysterious hallway with the imposing door.
Kotori didn't immediately cast a buff before entering the room. She didn't want to use all her mana up yet and wanted to wait and see what the boss was like before investing it into a buff.
She slowly pushed open the door which was well oiled and lighter than it seemed. She did a status on it and was surprised to find it was actually part of the dungeon itself which meant it was made of mana.
They opened the door into a vast throne room. The room was circular in nature. With milky marbled floors. Solid gold pillars filled the room and held up the ceiling. Kotori would be extremely excited to see them if it weren't for the fact that they were mana. This entire room seemed created by the dungeon for the sake of holding the boss.
At the end of the room was a large throne made of a greenish stone. On it sat a jet black skeleton that was slumped over a small jeweled crown sat on its head. It was armored like a knight with several pieces of rusty metal strapped to it.
It had hollow eyes with no signs of light and didn't seem to make a move.
[Is this the boss] Kotori thought
"Status!" she said
Grave lore Nero
Race: [Dungeon beast] Age: 143
HP: 200
Mana: 0
Agility: 86
Strength: 165
Defense: 184
Karma: [N/A]
Skills: [Overlord]
Traits: [Shinigami]