We've finally come to the dungeon.

And so, we've arrived at the dungeon.

Today it's just the three of us without Sati-tan. After all, this is our first time working together, so I want to see how we do. It's safer without Sati-tan anyway since I can go all out with Spatial Magic.

In the center of Karkassa, surrounded by inner walls, there's a rocky mountain. The dungeon extends downward from a cave opening there.

It's a cave-type dungeon with monsters living inside.

There's a reception area at the inner wall's gate where you can enter by showing your Adventurers' Guild Card.

"Hey there, little ladies. You gonna be okay with that equipment?"

"We'll be fine, no problem. Evasion seems more important than defense in this dungeon anyway."

"Well, if you know what you're doing. Admission is one medium copper coin per person."

"Got it."

However, Aishia counted as equipment since she was a slave, so she got in free as my "accessory."

I had Aishia carry my backpack as our porter. The actual contents are stored in Spatial Magic, of course, but it's just for appearances.

The dungeon interior was truly just bare rock.

That said, it was spacious enough to swing a sword around without trouble, and the footing was solid and relatively flat. A spear might get caught, though.

Strangely, the cave wasn't dark at all—it was bright. You could probably explore without bringing a light, but visibility wasn't great. It was a strange feeling, like only your immediate surroundings were lit up.

Stepping into the dungeon, the air was soft and humid. There was an anxious atmosphere—monsters could attack from anywhere: around corners, from the ceiling, or up through the floor.

In fact, there were mushrooms growing at the edges of the floor, and apparently they grow into Myconids and start walking around.

… What are these mushrooms using for nutrients? Mana or something like that?

"Hey, I know it's a bit late to ask, but can you fight, Dea-kun?"

"That really is late to ask. I can use magic to a degree, at least. Fire magic might be good for a dungeon, I suppose?"

Dea-kun pulled out a wooden staff about 50 centimeters long, about the length of a baton, with a gemstone at the tip. Where'd he get that? Ah, Kumin-san entrusted it to him.

So magic users use staffs like that. I didn't know…

"Master, magic staffs are super expensive. They're called magic catalysts."

"Really? How much?"

"Um, one gold coin, two, three… a lot!"

Hmm, so Aishia is one of those people who thinks "anything above three is a lot."

Since Sati-tan is a merchant who can calculate like a pro, I thought maybe Aishia would be similar, but… right, there's no compulsory education in this world.

"This staff cost about seven gold coins, I think. It reduces mana consumption to less than half, so you can use twice as many spells."

"Wow. That's expensive, Dea-kun."

"Not really. It's on the cheaper side for magic staffs."

Yeah, that's expensive, and that's totally a noble's sense of value. It's expensive for a commoner like me.

"Can Master fight as well as heal?"

"Come to think of it, this will be my first time seeing Karina-onee-san fight too. I've seen the aftermath, though."

"Ufufu, you can leave the vanguard, rearguard, and midguard to me! Oh, I'm good at scouting and carrying stuff too!"

"That's basically everything, isn't it?"

Yep. I'm a Spatial Magic user who can do everything solo after all.

"Well, today is just to scout out the dungeon. It's also to check what you two can do. When we go with Sati-tan, we'll properly divide roles based on today's results."

"If Master is protecting us, we can relax!"

That's right. Since I'll be protecting you, you can try things out in complete safety!

I won't even let surprise attacks through.

"There's a Crawler over there, so let me demonstrate my power by taking it down first."

With Spatial Magic, scouting is as easy as breathing.

So, our first monster is a Crawler, but… whoa, it's bigger than I expected. About the size of a medium-sized dog. It was munching on mushrooms growing from the ground.

Apparently they're omnivores and will attack adventurers with paralyzing venom too.

"How should I kill it? Slice it into rounds? Crush its head? Or sever its nerves for a clean kill with no external injuries?"

"How about slicing it into rounds?"

"Sure."

I snapped my fingers and the Crawler was sliced into rounds. Body fluid oozed from the cut surfaces with a squelch… I wonder if this has paralyzing venom mixed in.

"A-Amazing, Master! Even the hard outer skin was cleanly cut!"

"… I knew Onee-san was skilled at magic, but it works just fine on living creatures too, huh."

"It's more like magic for tormenting living things… no, never mind. I just had a good teacher."

Thanks to the Goddess's Tutorial, I'm all set for combat.

"Next, Dea-kun, you try fighting. What about you, Aishia?"

"I can't fight. I'll focus on carrying things. I can do a bit of scouting with my bard skill, but I'm nowhere near Master's level."

"Oh, echolocation? Nice. Then let's have Aishia handle scouting from now on."

"Is that okay? It would probably be safer if Master did the scouting."

"I can do everything, so I'll just handle whatever's left over. Or are you saying you want to make me do all the work so you can slack off?"

"N-No, absolutely not! Then, I'll handle scouting!"

Mm-hmm, I'm counting on you.