What If We Did It This Way?

Spartia had a lot of monsters. An incredible amount.

So they never lacked for meat.

It was probably the country that consumed the most monster meat on the continent.

At the street stalls, mountains of meat were being grilled one after another, and there were many customers buying them.

"Meat, oil, and salt! That's all there is to it…"

Finn said this as she took a bite of bone-in meat and swallowed.

It seemed to taste good, as she immediately took another bite.

What Azu held was a sandwich with grilled meat piled high between bread.

If she wasn't careful, the juices would overflow, so she ate carefully.

When she bit into it, some got on the corner of her mouth, and Elza wiped it off with a handkerchief.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

They walked through Spartia's streets while eating their dinner on the go.

This was also one of the pleasures.

The heavy emphasis on meat was simply the local character.

They visited several shops and ate their fill.

They also asked about the Crystal Grotto while they were at it, but it was less popular than expected.

The gems from the countless monsters attacking from the great hole included crystal, so apparently it wasn't worth going out of the way to get.

When they asked about the small sphere on the top floor, there was no information.

Few people went in to begin with, and even fewer made it that far.

They managed to speak with one Spartian warrior who had gone there to test his skills, but he said there had been no such thing on the top floor.

At that time, a large Snake Monster had been residing there.

For this warrior to have conquered the Crystal Grotto alone and subjugated that snake before returning, he was quite something.

"What does this mean?"

"Who knows? Maybe some strange monster wandered in."

"This one says that thing has nothing to do with elementals."

"If Sara-chan says so, then that must be right."

Sara-chan, the Salamander.

A Fire Elemental dwelling in the brooch Alexia wore.

It primarily lent its power to Alexia.

For Azu's group, that place had been difficult to even stay in, but that wasn't the case for a Fire Elemental.

"It might be a rare monster. It might disappear, so if we can defeat it, we might get something."

Azu nodded at Elza's words.

If it was a rare monster, defeating it might yield some magic tool.

Dinner was over. They took a quick bath to recover their depleted stamina and lay down on the beds.

No matter how capable they were as adventurers, being all women, they had been told not to stay at cheap inns to avoid trouble.

They could all handle any situation that arose, but their worry-prone Master disliked the idea of something happening in the first place.

She didn't want to dismiss that consideration, so she did as told.

Besides, being worried over made Azu happy.

Lying on the bed in her underwear, she became aware of her fatigue.

Doing anything in such heat caused severe exhaustion.

No amount of stamina could withstand it.

To deal with that sphere, they needed to do something about the environment.

"Alexia-san."

"What?"

When she asked, Alexia answered while running a comb through her long red hair.

She was also in her underwear, but unlike Azu who was still childish in places, Alexia was curvy where it counted and had a good figure.

Even as someone of the same sex, she almost found herself captivated watching Alexia brush her hair.

"Can you lower the temperature of a room with magic?"

"I can in a place like this. But whether I can do the same thing there is the question."

"Yes."

Alexia's specialty was fire magic, but she could use other elements as well.

Azu had thought that maybe they could manage with ice or wind magic, but…

"I think I could manage a little, but it would be like pouring water on hot stones. The amount of heat that sphere puts out is considerable."

"I see…"

"If you want to do something about it, you might be the one to do it, Azu-chan."

"Elza-san!"

Before she knew it, Elza had moved behind her and was combing through Azu's hair with her fingers.

Azu squirmed at the ticklish sensation.

"What if you submerge that sphere with the Water Elemental's power? It would probably be cool while it's underwater."

"The rest of us would drown though?"

"That can be worked out. There's magic for breathing underwater. Right?"

"For a short time, yes."

"Hmm."

"… I see."

She had never considered it, but it seemed worth trying.

Pouring water on hot stones would make it evaporate instantly, but that would change if there was enough water.

However, if that sphere couldn't be cooled by water and the fight dragged on, the water might turn into boiling hot water.

In that case, they would suffer burns all over.

"If there's water, I can work with that too. No amount of magic would be enough if I did it directly, but indirectly it's much more manageable."

"Understood. Let's try it."

While Azu was on friendly terms with the Water Elemental, its power was still too great for her to control well.

Most of the time, the Water Elemental lent its power when needed on its own judgment.

She tried asking in her mind if such a thing was possible and got a reply that it could be done if she shared her magic.

Azu's magic had been increasing as she continued adventuring.

Apparently, using most of that magic, the Water Elemental could generate a substantial amount of water.

This might be a good opportunity to learn to use the Water Elemental's power.

"If it's decided, then get to sleep. If you stay up late, your stamina won't recover."

Finn said this and turned off the room's lights.

The room was plunged into darkness. Outside, she could hear Spartian warriors heading out.

They were probably fighting monsters again.

She should sleep now to prepare for tomorrow.

When she closed her eyes, consciousness faded quickly and she fell asleep.