"Tina, do you have a moment?"
"Ah! Hikaru! You didn't knock again! Close the door quickly!"
"Whoops! Sorry, I forgot. But wow, you look stunning!"
"W-what!? I'm not falling for your flattery... Just close it, okay?"
"It's not flattery, really. Sorry again. I'll be more careful next time."
"Geez..."
Perfect! I caught her at just the right moment, just like the information said
Tina always changes right after waking up.
Unlike Liz and Sheena, she doesn't come to the living room in a nightgown or pajamas.
The past week, I missed my timing slightly, but today, I got it spot-on.
She was just putting on her bra, so I got a good view of her gorgeous and perky breasts with the tip pointing upwards
"What, Hikaru, did you peek at Tina changing again? Just keep your lewd thought to Sheena and me; Tina's still pretty shy about this stuff."
"Wah! I-I mean... if it's Hikaru, then I-I don't really mind... but not in the bathroom, though…"
"It was an accident, I swear. Just like with you and Sheena; my bad."
For the past two months, I've been 'accidentally' stumbling into these situations.
Maybe I'm just forgetful...or maybe I had dementia.
"Yeah, right! Look who's talking; you've pretty much seen one of us without clothes daily! Are you really that desperate? Want to touch my chest?"
Liz easily saw through my excuse with her keen eye, but this wasn't the first time something like this had happened.
Liz got up from the sofa across from me, in a thin, black nightgown. She sat next to me, put her arm around my shoulder, inviting me to reach in and give her breast a squeeze.
"Thanks!"
I, of course, gladly took her offer and put my hand through the gap in her nightgown and started to rub her breast.
Hmm, still as soft and firm as ever.
"H-hey! Idiot! I was kidding! Don't actually do it! Geez, you're hopeless virgin!"
"Wahh! What a steamy morning!"
After about three squeezes, Liz pushed me away with her face flushed, and retreated to the opposite sofa.
Cute... She's always seducing me, but when I actually go for it, she gets all flustered. Though she'll still let me fondle her breasts a bit and even lets me hold her butt.
She said she's experienced, but her reactions are too innocent for that.
That's what makes her so cute though.
"Aw, it was a joke? What a shame..."
"Don't be so depressed! Maybe next time, okay? Girls need time to prepare, you know. Try to understand."
She said the same thing about a month ago. Hehe, so cute as always.
"Ugh, the rabbit is not good at jokes like Liz. I'm too grown-up for that."
"This kind of thing is just skinship between people who go into dungeons. The tiger folk don't care if other adventurers are around; they just flirting with each other. Fighting life-or-death battles builds a lot of stress and tension."
"R-really? I-I suppose I kind of understand... because it's a dungeon... though this room doesn't seem like it's inside a dungeon."
I can't really sexually harass Sheena too far because I feel a bit guilty
Every now and then, I 'accidentally' walk in while she's in the bathroom or bath and get to admire her beautiful butt and destructive breasts.
As I was thinking of past "incidents," Tina came out with a slightly blushing face.
"Sorry! It's my turn to make breakfast today. I'll make something up soon. Today, I'm making your favorite, Hikaru—Yomi chicken fillet sandwiches!"
"Yes! I love those; they're so light and tasty! Thanks, Tina!"
"Ah! Yomi chicken. This tent's food supply really is incredible. Its full of ingredients from advanced dungeon."
"Thats true. No matter how much we eat, Hikaru's storage bracelet keeps restocking it. The rabbit scared I'll gain weight at this rate."
I prefer Sheena to be a bit plumper, honestly. Since she training and ranked up, her body's gotten toned except for her butt and breasts.
And that's pretty much how our mornings go.
I started calling Estina "Tina" and addressing Liz and Sheena without honorifics because they told me it's normal to use first names during battle.
At first, it felt awkward, but over time, it became natural, and now I address them that way even outside of battle.
It feels like it's brought us closer together.
Still, so much has happened over these past two months.
After I gave Tina and the others their new equipment, which thrilled them, we found the stairs to the 40th floor the very next day.
I went ahead to scout, asking them to wait as I easily incapacitated the Rock Dragon boss using my [Demon Vanquisher]
Tina and the others finished it off, though they were surprised at how quickly the dragon fell.
But really, it was just about as strong as a lesser dragon on the 90th floor — no big deal.
[Demon Vanquisher] is particularly effective against large creatures with high magic density, like dragons.
It's less effective on smaller creatures, and wouldn't likely have the same effect on humans, probably just reverting them to a normal human.
It's why large opponents are easier for me to handle.
Since then, we've been resting every five days as we make our way to the surface.
While I'm here to support them, it's still exhausting for them to be on edge every day.
Yet, with the dungeon's floor narrowing as we go up, we've now made it to the 22nd floor.
We haven't encountered any other adventurers or nobles from other empires along the way.
Not because we're avoiding them, but because this ancient dungeon is highly restricted; only royalty, high-ranking nobles, and high-ranking adventurers can enter, and even high nobles need to be inspected by authorities and get permission.
Occasionally, though, a high ranking noble used their power to intimidate guards in order to sneak in.
It seems that it would be a big problem if they were found out, but so far the nobles covered up pretty well.
Tina's master — the red-haired noblewoman — pulled some strings to grant them entry.
Her father is marquis, higher than earl and one step below the duke.
Was the rank goes from baron, viscount, earl, marquis, duke, and finally Emperor? I only know from common novel setting.
And since she had caused the death of another noble's daughters, things must be going awry outside right now.
Her father, the Marquis, seems to dote on her. But even so, she still have to get punished. At best, she will be married off to a lower-ranking noble, and at worst she will be forced to become a nun.
The Marquis would likely have to pay a considerable amount of compensation to the deceased families to shut their mouth, and he would also be politically indebted to them.
That's why Tina and the others said it would be safe to go to the surface.
If we wear slave collars and tell them everything that happened, they won't suspect anything.
Being such an exclusive dungeon, the odds of encountering others are low.
The highest floor they had reached among the active nobles and adventurers was the 49th floor, they would likely go to straight to teleportation circle on the 41st floor.
Since the goal of this ancient dungeon was to obtain the skills at the deepest floor, the adventurers will start from there, accompanied by someone who will guide them.
The Empire also kindly arranged someone to pick them up after few days.
Thats because if the guide dies, they have to go one floor at times like us.
During these two months, we've grown closer.
Because I am their lifeline, I didn't want them to feel I was using them, so I took things genuinely from the start.
I may have gotten a bit lucky with some awkward moments, thanks to that I haven't run out of daily materials to beat the meat.
I genuinely like them — they're kind, pure-hearted, and beautiful.
I don't know how they feel about me, but I don't think they dislike me.
I do wish we could get closer, but the reality of parting once we reach the surface makes that hard.
Every time the Empire was mentioned, I'd get reminded of the reality that we'd really be saying goodbye once we left this dungeon, and it'd bring me down quite a bit.
We both have things we need to do once we're back on the surface, so it's like there's nothing we can do about it.
I have to go up and get revenge for my dead friends, and first, I need to see the current state of Japan.
Tina and the others must return to their respective masters.
They kept saying, "We're slaves, you know," and "Our village family worries about us," or something similar.
In the end, they really are citizens of the Empire.
Even if, hypothetically, we had mutual feelings, if I were to finish what I need to do and ask them to escape with me, they wouldn't come.
Not only because they have people to protect in the Empire, but also because, as a race that's been enslaved for so long, they can't even imagine a life outside of slavery.
As long as the Empire has a slave system, there's no way they could ever leave.
Sometimes, I'd think that it would've been better if we hadn't met, but I also can't deny that they saved me from being crushed by loneliness in this dungeon.
So, I try to be think I'm glad that we met, and I'm grateful to them.
Instead of spending my remaining days feeling down, I've decided to make the most of my time with them and have fun.
Afte all, I don't know if we'll ever meet again after we're out of this dungeon
Once everything is over, I'll look for a way to go to the Empire.
I want to find a way to party with them again.
It won't be easy, but I won't know until I try, right? Thinking this way is helping me to stay positive.
So, yeah, I'm having a good time right now.
I tried asking them to tell me about the outside world so I'd be prepared after we left, but it turns out Tina and the others don't know much about Earth.
Since the continent was teleported, they've been spending their days training going to dungeons scattered across the Earth, or attending noble evening party.
Apparently, the noble ladies they accompanied were too stupid to talk about politics.
The only thing they know about Earth is that Earthlings are treated as third-class citizens below Empire commoners, and are not enslaved.
Their treatment seems to be a bit better than that of Tina and the others.
Still, third-class sounds like a pretty low status to me...
Even so, they lived in the Empire, so they do know some things about it.
The Termina Empire gets its name from Delmina, the god of humans.
Since using the god's name directly would be too audacious, they named it Termina, meaning "The Coutry of the Children Of God."
The royal family are said to be descendants of Delmina, with red hair as their mark.
Some of the nobles married into the royal family throughout the history, so many high-ranking nobles also have red hair.
The civilization there is pretty advanced; they have electricity, and even elevators.
Though they can't build skyscrapers due to regulations, five-story buildings are everywhere.
Its seems that commerce is thriving, and cultural aspects like cuisine, fashion, and the arts are flourishing as well.
I'd already guessed this from the furniture and clothes in the magic tent.
In the political-social scene, politicians apparently wear traditional clothes with a medieval feel rather than suits and ties, so I'm relieved it still feels otherworldly.
The Empire planned to transfer to Earth over 50 years ago. And the transfer was possible with the help of Delmina's power. It turns out gods really do exist.
The Empire even knew in advance through prophecy that the dungeons on Termina would transfer to Earth first, making this a completely planned invasion.
It seems a bit unfair for a god to favor one side so heavily, right?
They took military action to reclaim this ancient dungeon, which holds sacred significance for the Termina Empire as a place of divine trial and a source of life.
Apparently, magic stones are the foundation of their industries, it's no wonder they'd fight desperately to get it back.
It feels unjust that we're getting invaded over a dungeon we didn't even ask for.
Regarding their military strength, I think professionals from modern society also teleported to Termina and developed their technology.
Termina only has one continent, so missile and ship technology haven't very advanced, but they do have fighter jets and flying battleships with protective barriers.
Their infantry carries "magic guns" that fire magical energy, along with tanks and armored vehicles covered with magical shields.
I don't know how strong those shields are, but since they've conquered Earth, they must be pretty formidable.
Tina mentioned that back on Termina, she'd sometimes hear loud noises from metal objects flying over the continent, but they never actually landed.
It seems there's a barrier covering the continent of Termina.
How do we even win against something like that? Nuclear missiles probably wouldn't even work.
They've been preparing for over fifty years, and had already gathering information about Earth.
Their soldiers are as strong as B- or C-ranked adventurers with skills, wield weapons similar to Earth's, and have aircraft and flying battleships that won't fall.
And to top it off, their country is protected by a barrier.
They can bomb us all they want.
Of course, we'd surrender if our capital was leveled, and our modern weapons like missiles didn't work.
The barrier is the real problem.
That thing covering their entire continent is just overpowered.
This information only made me realize just how strong the Empire is, and I'm grateful since I knew nothing about it.
I also asked about their daily life in the Empire and heard about Sheena's younger sister.
Sheena's "sister" isn't actually related by blood.
She's a girl Sheena took care of at an orphanage, and though they're both from the rabbit-kin, they're not real siblings.
But since the younger girl adores her and kept calling her big sister, so why dont they just become a sister?
Well well, they were born at breeding institution. They might actually be a real siblings.
Liz visits the orphanage regularly to train the little kids and has a group of kids who admired her.
The orphanage teaches housework, math, and combat skills, preparing them to be capable workers no matter who buys them.
Liz volunteers as a combat instructor there, and while she calls them her "followers," I think it's her way of hiding her concern.
She's really a kind, big-sister type girl.
Tina talked a lot about the elders from her village, who sound like very kind people.
They delayed her departure as a slave for as long as possible.
She also talked about the village children, who apparently see her as a big sister.
Oh, and I became friends with the water spirit Undine.
I can't see spirits, but Undine showed her form by changing the shape of water.
When she was a low-ranking spirit, she was a little, palm-sized water figure, but once Tina ranked up, Undine grew into a mid-ranking spirit the same size as a human.
Since it's just water changing shape, I couldn't make out her face, but her movements were cute, and she communicated by shaping water to make water letters.
She really loves Tina and Tina's mana.
They share a deep bond of trust.
I gave Tina a magic tool, the [Infinite Canteen] and both Undine and Tina were overjoyed since water is scarce in the dungeon, and Undine couldn't use her full powers as a mid-ranking spirit.
I wrapped it in a ragged leather case to keep it from being taken by any nobles.
Now, Undine even occasionally lets me know when Tina's about to finish her bath.
I guess if you want to get close to someone, win over their friends first.
As a thank you, I transferred my magic with [Demon Vanquisher] and put it in an empty potion bottle as a gift.
I made it as an experiment.
Though it's filled with quite a lot of magic, it's only about as effective as a Grade 5 magic recovery potion, so it's not that great.
It seems I'll need to mix in some special ingredients if I want to make something high-quality.
But magic recovery potion are also valuable, so it should sell well on the surface.
Undine was happy with it anyway, and she's been giving me more updates on Tina's activities.
So, spending these days together, we gradually made our way closer to the surface.
And finally, its time to say goodbye