Even though we've spent quite a lot of time talking back at the inn, the sun has just risen. In the rays of the early sunrise, I looked over my shoulder, glancing back at Roxanne. Or rather…
Holy shit dude, dat Roxanne's chest!
With each and every one of her steps, her bountiful boobies sway left and right. It's like a drug for the eyes that you just can't help wanting more and more of, even when you know full well that you shouldn't stare, but you just can't help it because you're subconsciously drawn to them, and all of that thanks to the fact that the Leather Jacket she's wearing on top of her regular clothes adjusts itself to her figure due to some fancy magical gimmick!
*BounceBounce!* *BounceBounce!*
Uwaaaaah! They are doing it! They are definitely shaking!
I had my doubts due to the dim lighting of the Labyrinth's halls, but now the undeniable proof is right before me, or should I say, right behind me! It is not an illusion!
My guess is that the shoulder straps of the backpack have something to do with it as well, judging how tightly they are grasping her from both sides. Thanks to them, the big, soft fruits are getting pressed against one another in a bouncy rampage.
「.....」
As I continued to stare at that magnificent spectacle, our eyes suddenly met, and Roxanne smiled awkwardly at me with slightly red cheeks.
「...…!」
Damn it, she knows! She knows that I was staring at her chest all this time!
Ahhh, it's over. All the trust I have accumulated, all the respect of me being an amazing warrior (thanks to my Durandal) gone in an instant!
No, don't think about it, man! Roxanne is not that type of person, so you're probably still good, so just hurry it up and go to the goddamn Labyrinth already and hope that she is not glaring daggers at you from behind!
Arghhh, if we were to just walk side by side I could sneak as many peaks at her as I want, but that's not gonna happen, because for some strange, unexplainable reason I haven't seen a male-female pair walking side by side ever since I came here. *Sigh* so much for my shaky boobies.
And to top it all off, the longer we were walking among the growing crowds of people, the harder it was for me to hide Roxanne's bazoongas from the lecherous eyes of other males who were passing by us. Thankfully, we soon reached the alleyway behind the Adventurer's Guild, where I used Warp to get us to the Labyrinth without attracting any more unwanted attention.
「A group of monsters to the right, master.」
When we finally got into the Labyrinth, Roxanne used her keen sense od smell to confirm the location of the first group of enemies. If it wasn't for it, I would have probably gone straight ahead and got ambushed by them.
「So how are we going to use this Magic Crystal? Are we supposed to hold onto them, or can we leave them in the Item Box?」
For the time being I have taken both Black Magic Crystals from the Item Box and gave one of them to Roxanne.
「No, if we leave them in master's Item Box then they won't be able to gather the energy from the defeated monsters. However, it should be fine if we keep them in our backpacks.」
I got the backpack off my back and placed the Black Magic Crystal inside. With that done and Durandal firmly in my hand, we proceeded along the pathway to the right.
「Uhm, I don't know if I should be asking you this, master, but…」
Roxanne said as we were nearing the entrance to the larger cave.
「What is it?」
「When you summoned your Item Box, you did so without using a chant. From what I know, every time someone uses a Skill or a spell, they have to chant it first. So I was simply wondering if the magic master is able to use is the one that does not require the use of chants at all. I apologize if it's something that you don't want to talk about, but I just wanted to know.」
Well would you look at that. She figured it all out from simple observation of me muttering things under my breath so that other people wouldn't hear me. And here I thought that my method of whispering something that vaguely resembled a chant in order not to draw unnecessary attention to myself was quite effective. Normally the fact that I was called out on that would be extremely bothersome, but I guess I don't have to keep my guard up so much around Roxanne.
「Tell me, Roxanne, are you familiar with Character Reset?」
「Character… Reset?」
「How about Bonus Points?」
「Is that some kind of special reward for quests or bounties?」
So it would seem that she doesn't know anything about either of those things. But there's no way in hell that I'm going to explain how Character Reset and Bonus Points work, and that I can omit the chanting process (or shorten it, to be precise) thanks to them.
「Roxanne, look, I'm going to let you in on a little secret, because you're one of the few people I think I can trust with it, alright? It's exactly as you think: I can cast spells and use Skills without chanting, and I don't think anyone else beside me can do it, or at least I haven't met anyone who would be able to do the same yet.」
「T-Thank you for putting your trust in me!」
「You might have figured it out as well by now, but this is something that I wouldn't want to just casually show around other people, so I would be extremely grateful to you if you could keep it between us, okay?」
I can't just outright tell her that I'm essentially using cheat-like abilities to make my life in here that much easier, and even if I did tell her that, she probably wouldn't believe me, or she'll just think that I'm lying. Besides, if I went around sharing my secrets with everybody, someone is going to expose me one day, and all my secrets will be leaked to the public, and I don't want to get Roxanne involved in something like that, so my only option here is to take that secret with me to the grave.
「Okay, I understand. I won't tell anyone about it.」
「Much obliged. Anyway, it doesn't look like there are many people around here besides us, huh?」
「It would seem so, but that's understandable, because the Labyrinth Search Conclusion Announcement hasn't been issued out for this Labyrinth yet.」
「Labyrinth Search Conclusion Announcement?」
I don't know what that is, but since Roxanne says that it hasn't been issued yet, then it must mean that there was nothing about it on the bulletin board in the Explorer's Guild. Come to think of it, if an announcement like that was posted, it would be bound to make quite a stir among Adventurer's, right?
「It is an official announcement signaling that the exploration of an entire floor has been completed.」
「And from your words I'm guessing that the number of people who'll come here will increase after that announcement is posted?」
「Yes, because there will be no more Trap Rooms active.」
「Trap Rooms?」
「The rooms filled with lots of monsters. They are very dangerous for beginner-level Adventurers who can be overwhelmed by their numbers alone, thus meeting an untimely end.」
Ah, that one. The seemingly empty room with a fuckload of Needlewoods that I stumbled into by accident. So it is called a Trap Room, huh? Wish I knew about it earlier.
「Those rooms will disappear when the exploration of the entire floor will conclude?」
「Yes, that is how it usually works.」
「Hmm… how are those rooms made, exactly? Is there some kind of rule to it, or is it random?」
「Uhm, let me think… when monsters materialize in caves like this, they rarely stay in one place for too long. They will all move eventually, since they are subconsciously drawn to one another. Sometimes, it just so happens that so many monsters converge in one smaller room that they are no longer able to leave it, so they just remain there, waiting for an unlucky Adventurer to open the door and set them free.」
Roxanne explained further. I see, so that's how rooms like that are made.
「As I thought, even with good weapons and equipment, the Labyrinth is still incredibly dangerous. Maybe we should also wait for the Announcement to pop up?」
Even if I get hit, I can always recover the HP that I've lost with Durandal's abilities, but Roxanne has no such option, which makes her vulnerable. If we were to end up in a room similar to the one I was trapped in, the one with a literal legion of monsters in it, I worry that I wouldn't be able to protect her properly.
「The announcement is targeted mainly towards the beginners, and only at the lower levels at that. It is to inform them that there are no more Trap Rooms on the floor that has been cleared. Also, the monsters on the lower levels are all relatively slow and weak, so they shouldn't pose that much of a problem for us. So there's nothing to worry about, master! If we'll be scared of every small room filled with monsters, we won't be able to advance to the higher floors, so we need to go bravely forward!」
「Y-yeah…」
We should be fine for now. Everything is going to be okay. Or at least I hope so, because for some reason, I can't help it but to keep being worried.