Ta-ta-ta-taa, I collapsed. Namu.

The day before the new moon, the dungeon was overflowing with monsters.

(Though since we were stationed past the dungeon boss, the monster spawns were mostly irrelevant to us.)

Meanwhile, the dungeon core we were watching seemed to have gotten slightly less black.

"Is it… weakening? I can't really tell. What do you think, Dea?"

"It definitely looks lighter than on the first day."

Dea-kun (dressed as a boy today) was curiously poking at the barrier.

The barrier installed here is a magic tool, so it's unrelated to the dungeon's condition. But since it's a magic tool, Dea-kun seemed interested in it.

… If you're that curious, maybe I should copy it for research purposes. Yeah.

At that moment, my spatial magic sensor placed near the dungeon boss reacted.

"Someone's coming. Dea-kun, head back to base."

"Ah, yes. Please be careful, you two."

"Oh? A guest finally? Or is it the Guild Master?"

"Don't know. But it's not the Guild Master—it's some adventurer I don't recognize."

At the very least, it was an adventurer who had come through the proper route, having checked in with the door guard.

The chance that Guild Master Garuon sent them to resupply us with food or something was almost zero. He would've contacted us through the makeshift communication magic tool if that were the case.

I sent Dea-kun back to base and transformed into Healer.

"When I'm in this mode, make sure to call me Healer properly, Mashiro-dono."

"Yeah, I know, Kari—Healer."

Mashiro-san corrected herself while scratching her head sheepishly. Come on, seriously.

After waiting for a while, the revived dungeon boss was defeated and our guests arrived.

It was a group of five men. They looked like an adventurer party.

"… Oh, Silver! What are you doing in a place like this?"

"Hm? Oh, if it ain't Shining Sword. What're you guys doing here?"

They seemed to be an adventurer party that Mashiro-san knew.

I was about to let my guard down, but Mashiro-san subtly elbowed me. Ah—they're suspicious. Got it.

"We're here for dungeon exploration. You know how there are more monsters around the new moon, right? We figured that actually makes it a good time to earn some money. Hey, we told you ours. Now tell us yours."

"… Guild business. I don't need to go into details, right?"

Mashiro-san tapped her heel three times—tap tap tap.

It was a signal we'd decided on beforehand. Got it, we're going for the information extraction route.

"Don't be so cold… Hey, who's that suspicious-looking guy?"

"An assistant for this job. It's none of your business, Beibei."

"Hmm, some kind of magic tool technician? And Silver's the escort."

Saying that, the leader Beibei nodded to himself in satisfaction.

"Hey now, don't come any closer. I'm working here."

"I know, I know."

Saying that, the five men casually pulled cylinders from their pockets and pointed them at us.

Immediately after, five popping sounds.

… They were just cylinders in shape, but they were disguised guns.

"Urgh, wh-what'd you do…"

"Haha, sneak attack success! Guess beasts can't comprehend the tools of civilization, huh?"

Mashiro-san pressed her hand against where she was shot and dropped to her knees.

Mashiro-san's lines were a bit theatrical, but Beibei didn't notice and approached with a smug grin.

"M-Mashiro-dono!"

"Whoops, gotta take this one out too."

"Gwaaah!"

This time, the five shot at me. Pa-pa-pa-pa-paan, I collapsed. Namu.

Well, of course, both Mashiro-san and I are completely unharmed though.

As if I'd let anyone injure Mashiro-san's body?

Only enough damage to feel a light tap where we were hit had gotten through.

But Beibei didn't know any of that and was gloating in front of the kneeling Mashiro-san.

"Kukuku, what a sorry sight, Silver. This is punishment for a mere beast like you getting praised as an A-rank adventurer and letting it go to your head."

"Damn you… urgh"

Mashiro-san's so cute with only her pained acting being monotone.

I watched the situation while thinking that.