After defeating the demon king in another world and returning to Japan, a dungeon appeared on the ground. - Chapter 58

Chapter 58

“Party members…?”

The rescued female explorer tilted her head.

“Yeah. Your two party-members told me. They said you willingly acted as bait to let them escape.”

“I… acted as bait…? D–did those two really say that I willingly acted as bait?”

“That’s what I heard. Was it different?”

“N-no… that’s correct… Um, thank you so much for helping me! May I ask for your name?”

Taking my hand, the female explorer stood up.

She didn’t seem much older than me in appearance.

She was probably a teenage girl.

Her black hair had a slight wave to it.

With her serene and refined facial features, she exuded an air of sophistication from her stature.

“I’m Ando. Ando Shogo. And you?”

“I’m Yotsui Eriko. Ando-san, thank you so much for saving my life. I will never forget this favour. I’ll definitely return it back to you later with gratitude.”

“Ah, sure…”

Just how exactly is she planning to return the favour?

Well, it’s probably just a polite official gesture, I guess.

“Are you injured?”

“No, not much.”

“I see. Then let’s go, I will help you meet up with your party-members.”

“…Thank you.”

This was the seventh floor, and it was probably dangerous for Yotsui, who was likely a lower-ranked explorer, to wander around.

It would be better to escort her to the safer fifth floor for now.

With that decision in mind, I headed towards the upper floors with Yotsui.

At the entrance to the fifth floor, the two party-members were waiting.

“Y-Yotsui-san!! You’re alive!!”

“W-We’re relieved that you’re safe… haahaaa.”

“…”

The two were happy about Yotsui’s return, but for some reason, Yotsui glared at them.

The two seemed at a loss.

“Is something wrong?”

Normally, they would be even more delighted to reunite with a friend who had been on the brink of death… But for some reason, there was an awkward atmosphere among the three.

“No, it’s nothing, Ando-san. We’ll be heading to the surface now. Thank you so much for escorting us this far.”

Yotsui politely bowed and thanked me.

“Ou~… Should I escort you all the way to the surface?”

“No… From here on forward, we’re in our appropriate dungeon level, so it’s okay. We can’t trouble Ando-san any further.”

“I see. Understood. Well, take care then.”

I parted ways with the three and headed towards the lower floors.

Hmm… Those three.

Are they a party who are not on good terms with each other?

Well, whatever.

As an outsider, it’s not my place to worry about it.

I’ll should probably return, and just focus on my original goal of hunting orcs.

“I wasted quite a bit of time; I should hurry a bit.”

In the end, I successfully hunted a total of eight orcs, including the two I had while saving Yotsui from.

I had the orc magic stones bought by the guild for about 30,000 yen each, earning a total reward of 240,000 yen.

It was less than the previous time, but for me, it was an amount more than enough.

Excited to surprise Miku at home once again, I made my way back.