NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 25: - I Don't Like It
On the 13th day of my reincarnation, I entered the dungeon with Rosalina, the goblin I had bought.
As usual, there were thieves in front of the dungeon entrance, but their faces were hidden under hoods, so I didn’t recognize them.
I wanted to keep the fact that our group had increased in number a secret. I thought it would be an advantage if enemies didn’t know our exact count.
*Dungeon Move.*
“Eh?”
Rosalina looked surprised as she saw a door appear on the wall.
Rosalina’s slave contract prohibited her from speaking about me to others. Other than that, she had a certain level of freedom.
We reached the fourth floor. This was my first time here, but I had gathered information from a booklet I bought at the guild.
“First, take this.” I handed Rosalina a mithril two-handed sword.
“I fight barehanded.”
“Until your level as a villager reaches 10, use this sword. After that, you can fight barehanded.”
In fact, I had already planned Rosalina’s training. The detailed appraisal had told me the conditions for acquiring the Fighter job. First, I would raise her to level 10 as a villager. We could discuss what to do after that when the time came.
Rosalina seemed dissatisfied, but she accepted using the weapon. Goblins weren’t that strong, so her attack power was weak without a weapon. She pouted, her expression showing her discontent. I couldn’t find her particularly cute. Maybe it was because goblins looked like old children. Her face was wrinkled, she had a hooked nose, and her hair was sparse. She wasn’t conventionally attractive, but I thought Rosalina was an honest girl. A bit of a combat maniac, though.
“Annelise, can you use your Magic Hand to hold down monsters?”
“If they’re monsters from the fourth floor, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“In that case, protect Rosalina if she’s in danger.”
“Understood.”
On the fourth floor, I became an Explorer and started searching for treasures. I thought about changing my plans if Rosalina’s fights seemed dangerous, but as an Explorer, treasure hunting was essential.
Since I lent Rosalina the mithril two-handed sword, I equipped myself with a steel one-handed sword and a steel shield. It was my first time using a shield, but I intended to get used to it while fighting.
A Thread Spider Lv8 and a Worker Ant Lv8 appeared. The Worker Ant was an ant-like monster about one meter tall with a brown body.
Worker Ants were powerful despite their size, and they could spit ant acid. This acid reduced the durability of equipment and temporarily lowered VIT, making it a nasty attack.
“Rosalina, are you ready?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
I nodded, and we charged. Rosalina followed behind me.
First, I used my steel shield to tackle the Thread Spider and disrupted its balance, then I slashed its belly with my steel one-handed sword. I hadn’t tried this move before, but I managed to do it quite well.
When the Thread Spider stood on its hind legs, Rosalina attacked it with her mithril two-handed sword. The Thread Spider’s companion, the Worker Ant, lunged at me. I blocked its attack with my steel shield, but the impact made my face contort in pain. I should have deflected it instead; the impact mostly hit my arm. I still didn’t know how to use the shield properly; it was a makeshift attempt.
Nevertheless, my HP didn’t drop significantly. The pain probably came from my poor shield technique. Even so, I suffered minimal damage.
I swung my steel one-handed sword, dislodging the Worker Ant. I glanced over to see that Rosalina had defeated the Thread Spider.
The steel one-handed sword was a decent weapon. I used a better weapon than most other Explorers, but it still couldn’t compare to Rosalina’s mithril two-handed sword. The attacking power of the mithril two-handed sword was truly remarkable.
The Worker Ant made an unpleasant creaking noise and opened its sharp jaws. Was it going to spit ant acid!? The acid was expelled from its mouth—Item Box!
The ant acid disappeared right before my eyes. The Worker Ant, surprised, looked at its own mouth.
Seizing the opportunity, Rosalina struck with her mithril two-handed sword.
The Worker Ant was still alive. It was tough.
“Take this!”
With a thud, the mithril two-handed sword was embedded in the Worker Ant’s chest, and it disappeared.
“Rosalina, are you not accustomed to fighting? Is this your first time in a dungeon?”
“I always trained, imagining there would always be enemies.”
Was it something like shadow boxing? There was such a thing as image training in this world.
“Annelise, how was Rosalina’s fighting?”
“It didn’t seem like her first time wielding a sword. To be honest, she seemed more composed than you, Master.”
“Ugh… that’s a bit sad…”
I was the man who became the hero of the two-handed sword. Thanks to the mithril two-handed sword, of course, but was my swordsmanship really that immature?
“Ah, um… I’m sorry if it’s because of me.”
Perhaps because I said I was sad, Rosalina panicked amusingly. Her movements were like a small animal, very cute.
“It’s not your fault, don’t worry. It’s my problem.”
I had rented a house and intended to diligently pay the monthly rent. Why did I suddenly become so formal?
We progressed through the fourth floor, but we hadn’t found any treasures yet. I thought that if treasures were too easy to find, they wouldn’t be appreciated, but it was still better to find them than not.
Another battle ensued, the umpteenth one.
“Hyaa!”
Rosalina swung her mithril two-handed sword, avoiding the ant acid, and the Worker Ant disappeared.
She rushed to assist me, fighting the Thread Spider. Yeah, our roles were reversed this time.
Since I lent her the mithril two-handed sword and my job was Explorer, my attack power wasn’t high. Still, I couldn’t accept being weaker than a villager.
Rosalina’s final strike annihilated the Thread Spider. Her movements were getting better. Or was it just my imagination?
“The drop items are spider silk and ant shell. Both are normal drops,” Annelise said, picking up the ant shell. It seemed to be used for armor, made from ant exoskeletons. It was quite tough, but it couldn’t compare to iron. It was commonly used by beginner Explorers.
This ant shell armor was useful for exploring floors with ant-type monsters because it didn’t degrade much even when exposed to ant acid. In that aspect, it outperformed iron.
Compared to other Explorers, Rosalina and I had significantly less combat time, so we made steady progress.
We reached the boss room where one party was waiting in line. We stood by behind them. Here, I checked our statuses.
**[Job]** Explorer Level 9
**[Skills]** Dungeon Move (Low), Treasure Hunt (Low)
**[Unique Skills]** Detailed Appraisal (Medium), Item Box (Medium)
My job, Explorer, had just reached level 9. My skill proficiencies had also increased.
Rosalina’s villager level had reached 9 quite a while ago. It was about time for her to reach level 10. Villagers still didn’t have skills, but Rosalina had an exceptional combat sense. The combat mania vibes I felt from her initially seemed to be accurate.
“Let’s have a little snack,” I said.
I didn’t serve grilled pond squid. It was sold out. I hadn’t restocked it yet.
Instead, I handed out water and dried meat. I sliced the dried meat thinly with a dagger and gave it to Annelise and Rosalina.
“I forgot the pond squid today. Please bear with this for now.”
“It’s normal,” Annelise smiled. Ah, she’s cute.
“What’s pond squid?” Rosalina asked.
“You don’t know pond squid?”
It was my first time encountering pond squid since I came to this world, but I knew about squids.
I tilted my head and explained to Rosalina that pond squids were caught in ponds and were delicious when grilled.
“It’s very delicious. I’ll let you taste it next time.”
Just remembering it made my mouth water.
“Is it okay?”
“It’s not expensive, so it’s fine.”
“I look forward to it!”
Rosalina showed her fangs and smiled.
“Tch, he brought a goblin with him.”
Huh? Did someone say something just now?
In front of us, one of the six-person party waiting in line spat on the floor.
So what if it’s a goblin? What did Rosalina do to you?
She did nothing. She did nothing, but I really hated people like this, discriminating based on appearance or race. I despised them.
For now, I’ll glare at them. They started this interaction, so it’s fine if I glare back.
“What did you say, you?”
“Hey, stop it.”
The guy who started it was a wolf-type beastman. He was stopped by a bear-type beastman.
It was a six-person party consisting entirely of beastmen. The leader seemed to be more bear-like.
“I’m sorry…”
Rosalina looked down, feeling dejected. It was strange to be treated like this just because she was a goblin. At the very least, Rosalina could communicate with everyone here, and she hadn’t caused any trouble. There was no reason to scold or blame her.
“Rosalina did nothing wrong. Just lift your head. Small-minded humans like them are everywhere,” I said, stroking Rosalina’s short hair.
“What did you say, you bastard?”
“Small, small. All you do is bark small.”
“You piece of crap!”
The wolf-type beastman stood up, but the bear-type beastman grabbed his shoulder.
“It’s you who made unfounded accusations. If you don’t want to be talked back to, change your attitude.”
This bear-type beastman was surprisingly decent. I didn’t dislike adults like him. I didn’t mind being scolded if it was for good reason. So let’s avoid thinking about what happened at school… No, let’s not dwell on that.
I ignored the wolf-type beastman’s outburst. He probably didn’t expect an answer anyway.
I didn’t say anything back. If someone does something to me, I’ll do it back to them. That’s it.
“Come on, it’s open.”
The door to the boss room opened, and the six-person party entered. The wolf-type beastman, who had been pushed by the bear-type beastman, glared back at me until the end.