Seeker 48

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Chapter 48. The Mysterious Girl

As we continued our exploration of the 5th floor, we encountered monsters frequently.

After the battle with 2 death spiders, we encountered a single death spider.

We defeated this one without any problems.

Kodachi-san's two dagger attacks and a volley of attack magic easily killed it.

Our next encounter was with a formation of 4 killer wasps.

They were more formidable than a 3 pack but easier than a 5 pack.

We won the battle, with me taking only one hit from a tail stinger.

In this battle, Yuzuki leveled up.

She acquired the skill [Magic Power Up (+3)], which further increased the power of her offensive magic.

Yuzuki Hotaru

Level: 9 (+1)

Experience: 862/1315

HP: 44/44 (+4)

MP: 50/84 (+8)

Strength: 9

Endurance: 11 (+1)

Agility: 13 (+1)

Magic: 21 (+2)

-Skills-

[Fire Bolt]

[MP Up (magic x 4)

[HP Up (Endurance x 4)]

[Magic Power Up (+3)] (Rank up!)

[Burn Blaze]

[Monster Appraisal]

[Fire Weapon]

Remaining skill points: 0

On the other hand, I used [Gaia Heal] to heal myself, and now I'm seeing MP decreased more.

My running out of MP meant our party's recovery resources would run out.

Although I have brought HP potions and anti-paralyze potions as insurance for HP recovery and paralysis recovery, I would like to avoid using them except for emergencies because of the high cost of using many consumable items.

So, although we had only been exploring today for about 3 hours, we concluded that it would be better not to explore the 5th floor any further.

We headed for the stairs at the entrance of the 5th floor to temporarily leave the dungeon.

Since we had been hanging around the stairs for some time, we thought we would encounter monsters only once or twice on our way back to the dungeon.

But we encountered something unexpected.

"That's..!"

"Is that a foreign girl? I mean, it looks like she's in trouble!"

Kodachi-san and Yuzuki were surprised to see the scene ahead of them.

On our way back, we saw a group of monsters and a petite girl engaged in battle.

Since we were in a dungeon, I assume she was a solo seeker.

The girl, sword in hand and against a tree trunk, was bleeding from several wounds all over her body.

Surrounding her were 2 killer wasps and 1 death spider.

The girl appeared to be in dire straits.

But like her situation, the girl's appearance was also strange.

She had long wavy silver hair and purple eyes.

Her skin was fair, and she did not look Japanese.

Moreover, the girl was young enough to be a junior high school student at best, and an elementary school student at worst.

Even compared to Yuzuki, who is quite petite, she was at least a size smaller.

I wondered if a seeker could be that age. I think so, but it's not a situation where I can worry about that first.

Kodachi-san and Yuzuki looked at me.

Their eyes were asking me what I should do.

I hesitate for a moment but quickly make a decision.

It's not a decision that I alone can make, but if they object, that's when I'll make it.

"I'll help! Yuzuki when you get close enough to the magic attack range, shoot the magic, so she doesn't get caught in the middle! Kodachi-san and I will try to get close and draw the monster's attention to us!"

"Yes."

"Yes, sir!"

The two responded in a lively manner.

Kodachi-san, Yuzuki, and I run toward the girl in distress.

As I ran, I shouted out to the girl.

"You there! I'm going to help you! All right!"

I didn't want that girl to get in trouble for being a competitor and intercepting my catch.

I knew she was in trouble, but I called just in case.

What I got in return was a very slow, non-nervous voice.

"Oh, I'm saved!"

I couldn't help but shudder. 

What? Isn't she in a pinch ...?

No, it may just sound like there is no tension.

At least she's saying, "I'm saved." so there's nothing wrong with us helping her.

The girl skillfully evades the monsters' attacks with her small body, but she doesn't seem to have much time to spare.

Another blow, a killer wasp's tail stick attack, pierced the girl's thigh.

When the killer wasp pulled out its tail hook and moved away from the girl, she fell to her knees on the ground with a jerk.

"Hmm, I'm sorry... It weakened sotai too much. It hurts..."

Her voice and words are tensionless.

What is sotai? I've never heard of it, even in seeker lingo.

Many question marks pop into my head, but we need to defeat the monsters.

Slightly before Kodachi-san and I arrive at the scene, Yuzuki activates her magic first.

"Don't let the girl burn--[Burn Blaze]!"

Two killer wasps were engulfed by the widespread flames rising from the ground.

Due to their position, Yuzuki couldn't engulf the death spiders - or rather, she's not engulfing the girl, as she would have burned the girl as well.

The flames ceased, and 2 killer wasps, still alive and well, jumped out.

"Yaaaaaah!"

"Hah!"

Kodachi-san and I each launched a weapon attack at the killer wasps, annihilating two of them.

Strictly speaking, due to agility issues, Kodachi-san arrived a few steps earlier than me, and with the help of my weapon's reach, I somehow managed to attack them with only a beat's delay.

"And then...!"

Kodachi-san quickly switched her movement and ran like a gale toward the remaining death spider.

Fast, fast, Kodachi-san.

It's dizzying.

But once this happens, all that's left is 1 death spider.

The death spider, seeing the appearance of a new target, launched a bite attack toward Kodachi-san, which she evaded.

The death spider was shot down in less than ten seconds by Kodachi-san's, Yuzuki's [Fire Bolt], and my physical attack combination attack.

There were no other monsters in sight.

The battle was over.

I breathe a sigh of relief and then turn to the girl.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, kind seekers."

The little western-looking girl still looked a little nervous, but she smiled faintly at us.