Senpai Boukenshasan ga Tasukete Kureru no de Kitto Daijoubu Nano Desu! Shinmai Boukensha no Nikki-ch

Day 53: Get Through the Underground Waterway!
Holy Era 6102, Month of the Water Serpent, 5th day.
Weather: Unknown

We are currently on the move while checking the map for the route we had decided on yesterday.
Uhh, we go to the right here, and then…left? Ah, no, that’s wrong. It’s straight ahead…this is so confusing.

As for Ms. Noa, she was holding something like a mop as she took the lead and carefully watched our surroundings.
Uh…that is a mop, right?
Well, since the first floor of the dungeon was mostly a waterway, there weren’t as many monsters around… Still, please don’t let your guard down and slip and fall.

…Ughh. This is the worst.
We encountered some rat men near the exit. There were three of them.
Rat men were humanoid monsters. They were about as tall as a grown man. But their most striking feature was their face, which was that of a rat. And while they looked a little comical, one must not be fooled by it.
Not only were they crafty, but they had great physical ability as well… To be honest, they were an enemy that I did not wish to encounter.
Usually, they were not to be found on the first floor… We were very unlucky.

Still, there was nothing to be done now that we had already seen them.
And so I unsheathed my sword and went into a combat stance… Wait, are you really going to fight with that mop, Ms. Noa?
The rat men seemed to have noticed us as well, and they were squeaking at us in a hostile manner.

It was the rat men that made the first move. One of them scurried out towards Ms. Noa.
As for the rest…they were running on the ceiling!? Is such a thing possible!?
As I stood there in shock, the two passed over Ms. Noa’s head and then landed right in front of my eyes.
So they were targeting me!!
The moment that I blocked the swinging claws of the first one with my sword…a horrible scream echoed through the waterway.
As blood ran from its right paw, the rat man glared at me… A few fingers were now lying on the ground at its feet.

Hehe. Did you think that this was just an ordinary sword? I’ll cut off your whole arm next!!
I held my sword horizontally and faced them.
The one whose fingers were severed began to draw back, perhaps in fear… If I was going to target one, it should be the closest.
I measured the distance and was about to jump in for the kill. That’s when the rat man unleashed a deafening scream. And then it jumped into the water. The others, including the fingerless one, followed right after him.

…They escaped? Even Ms. Noa was puzzled as she tilted her head.
However, we learned of the reason soon enough.
The sounds of footsteps that seemed to shake the ground were coming from deep in the passage… When I squinted, a horde of rats were running towards us like a wave.
It was a state of emergency!! If we were attacked by such a horde, they would eat us to the bone!!
Dash! We must dash! Hurry to the exit!!

We started to run frantically. But without mercy, the gap between us and the rats was shrinking rapidly.
…Something…there must be something that will buy us some time… Ah!!
While running as fast as I could, I took out a leftover pot of oil and hurled it behind me.
Upon seeing this, Ms. Noa threw the torch that she was holding.
A sea of fire suddenly expanded behind us. The rats were confused. …Now was our chance to escape!!

We emerged from the exit, quite exhausted, and then the guards approached us with worried expressions.
And so we told them how we had encountered the rat men on the first floor.

Ah, I am so tired… Ms. Noa. Let’s go take a bath! A bath! And then we can eat some good food!! As for reporting to the guild, we can do that tomorrow.

Today’s earnings and expenses:
Silver: -2(Bath house x2)
Bronze: -1 (Inn x2)(Bed: A+, Food: A+)
————————–
Balance: 45 silver, 32 bronze
(Quest materials: Scrap mana x20, Derodoro liquid 5 bottles)

(_ _;)…plop. …I really am so tired.