The women I set free are obsessed with me

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A cave adorned with ominous totems scattered about.

The goblin shaman, clutching a staff with a skull mounted on top, seemed to be conducting some sort of ritual, though it looked more like he was just trying to set the mood.

What kind of ritual could a newborn dungeon possibly have?

I didn't expect to see Hobgoblins either.

I remembered this first dungeon vividly. There should be one shaman and four regular goblins, no way I was wrong.

Perhaps this was one of the changes brought about by reality. In the original scenario, only my party entered this dungeon, but now other adventurers were present as well. It would at least make sense if the difficulty adjustment were based on the number of people.

Well, even if the situation had changed, all I could do was trust in Mirabelle.

"Miss Mirabelle, can you handle this?"

"Rest easy, Master."

Mirabelle began to draw upon her mana.

Kiiiirrrrrrr!

The goblin shaman, sensing something amiss, let out a bizarre cry. As he hurriedly waved his skull staff and issued commands, the surrounding goblins rushed forward.

Then the shaman began to mutter an unintelligible incantation. It was the chanting of a spell.

The goblins tried to stab with their chipped daggers.

The two hobgoblins swung their greatswords and axes.

Their distance from us steadily decreased.

However, Mirabelle showed no particular response. I looked at her anxiously. Were things really going fine?

Making my worries seem foolish, Mirabelle immediately sprang into action. She lightly tapped the Heavenly Covenant on the ground.

Thump.

A gentle white light rippled outward from Mirabelle, a magic circle etching itself into the ground. The floor writhed and transformed, melting into a sticky swamp.

The goblins charging at us began to sink. They flailed about in panic, only making themselves sink faster. The bulky hobgoblins were submerged up to their waists, while the baby goblins had long since gone under.

Mirabelle continued casting her spell.

While combat in the game was turn-based with exchanges of attacks and defenses, reality showed no mercy. If you were good enough, you could attack endlessly.

Mirabelle conjured two fire arrows and launched them at the goblins, leaving sparkling trails reminiscent of fireworks in the night sky.

By then, the goblin shaman had finished his incantation. Swaying as if in a dance, he waved his staff, and a thick black mist spread out, devouring the fire arrows.

But it didn't end there.

As the mist covered the swamp, its binding power weakened, and the area around the hobgoblins became solid enough to stand on. The hobgoblins shook off the swamp and stood on the ground once more.

All of Mirabelle's magic had been nullified by the goblin shaman's spell.

"Anti-magic…."

Mirabelle's face contorted in frustration, seemingly vexed at being thwarted by mere goblins. It might be inappropriate to think this in such a situation, but her range of expressions had truly expanded. Daddy's proud.

After regaining their footing, the hobgoblins charged recklessly once more, seeking revenge. Although her magic had been blocked by the shaman, Mirabelle's repertoire of spells was vast.

Moreover.

"Do you understand what you missed?"

"Yes. I won't make the same mistake twice."

Mirabelle must have realized from that exchange who to eliminate first in battle.

Mirabelle lowered the Heavenly Covenant slightly. A yellow lightning bolt sparked in front of the glowing crystal and shot forth.

It was a spear of lightning faster than the speed of sound.

At a speed far beyond human comprehension, was something a monster bound by incantations couldn't possibly react to. A momentary flash illuminated the dark cave, piercing through the shaman.

The shaman's upper body vanished entirely.

Smoke rose from the charred black cross-section.

All that remained were two defenseless hobgoblins. With the shaman who protected them from magic gone, the outcome was obvious. They too fell to Mirabelle's spell in one hit.

Total annihilation.

A single girl with only one dungeon's worth of practical experience had completely wiped them out.

"Phew…"

Mirabelle released her tension with a deep breath, then turned to me cautiously and asked.

"Um… was I helpful to you, Master? Do you think I've shown my worth?"

So that's what she was worried about?

What a needless concern.

I should praise her generously here.

"You were excellent. We are one step closer to your liberation."

"Ah… I'm glad."

Mirabelle's cheeks turned red.

Was she embarrassed by the praise?

I should compliment her more often so she gets used to it.

Afterward, I looked around, passing by the fallen monsters.

"What's wrong, Master? Did I make a mistake somewhere?"

"No, it's not that. I'm just looking for something…"

I couldn't see the skill book. It had a low drop rate so I needed to retry endlessly back then, but would I have to do the same here?

That would be too unreasonable.

It was no longer a matter of just clicking auto. Now, I had to walk there with my own feet. The level of effort required was completely different from the past when I could run it hundreds of times a day.

We could only run it at most four times a day now.

Just in case, I started examining the goblin corpses. Useless items like [Goblin's Ear] dropped. Next, I searched the goblin shaman's body.

[Goblin Shaman's Staff]—Contains a chaotic power. Slightly increases the potency of dark magic.

This was pretty useless too.

Still unsatisfied, I lifted the rags the shaman was wearing.

"Oh?"

I felt something rectangular deep inside the shaman's clothing. It had the exact same feel and size as a book. With my heart pounding, I pulled it out.

[Goblin Shaman's Grimoire]—A grimoire possessed by a Goblin Shaman.

It dropped!

Yep, of course it should. When an anomaly like hobgoblins appeared in the boss room that should have only had a shaman, the probability of rewards dropping should have increased significantly alongside the difficulty.

"Is that where you were looking for?"

"That's right. It's a gift for you, Miss Mirabelle."

"…"

Mirabelle gave me that look again.

I wondered why, but it made sense. The Heavenly Covenant had belonged to a deceased person, and now this was something picked up from a goblin's corpse.

It seemed I had only been giving Mirabelle items from the dead for some reason. It would be strange if she felt good about it.

"It's something necessary for your revenge."

"If that's the case… I will gratefully accept anything you give me, Master."

Mirabelle reluctantly accepted it when I framed it as necessary for revenge.

I sighed in relief and tucked the grimoire into my inner pocket. In the game, you could learn skills instantly, but I wasn't sure how it worked here.

We still had time, so she could learn it slowly.

This is strange, though.

As far as I knew, the original name was [Soul Grimoire], but now it was [Goblin Shaman's Grimoire].

Whatever, it shouldn't be a big deal. The item dropped by the goblin shaman was always, without fail, the Soul Grimoire.

I could look into the details later when resting at the inn──

BOOM!

A massive explosion filled the cave at that moment. The cave shook as if an earthquake had hit, and bats hanging from the ceiling flew away in swarms.

BANG! BOOM!

The explosions didn't stop there. The sound grew closer. Something was approaching from the direction we had come.

What's this? Are there still monsters left?

Mirabelle, instantly raising her guard that she had just lowered, watched that direction warily. Finally, when even the last wall we had put up was shattered.

"Putting up walls at every turn. What kind of lunatic would do such a thing in a dungeon? Just wait until I get my hands on them, I'll grind them to dust."

A somewhat irritated voice echoed through the cave.

It was a familiar voice.

Two silhouettes could be seen in the rising dust cloud, approaching us.

The figures that soon emerged from the haze wore pristine white robes, somehow untouched by the dust surrounding them.

"Eek."

Mirabelle let out a shrill gasp, instinctively shrinking back. They were the clergy we had met at the tavern.

"Huh? What's this? That rude guy?"

The priestess uttered a line straight out of a weekend drama. When our eyes met, she pointed at me with a surprised expression.

"And that cute little one is here too. Were you both adventurers?"

"Haha, we do a bit of adventuring on the side. But what brings you here, Priestess?"

As the priestess approached, Mirabelle's trembling intensified. I pulled her behind me.

"…We received reports that all the paths were blocked. The guild requested our support to deal with this unusual situation."

The priestess noticed my wariness. She frowned, seemingly displeased, but perhaps due to our previous encounter, she didn't openly complain.

Was putting up the walls a mistake?

I had wracked my brain to ensure we got the Soul Grimoire, knowing we would be in big trouble otherwise. But I never expected clergy to show up here, of all places.

"You're the ones who put up these walls, aren't you?"

Her tone conveyed her absolute certainty of this. There was no point in denying it. Given the circumstances, I could only respond as a proper slave trader would.

"Yes. By any chance, did you meet any new adventurers on your way here?"

"You mean that party of kids? Yeah, we met them at a rest area on the way."

"The young man who served as their vanguard attempted to abandon his party and join us. He was quite persistent. It caused considerable inconvenience for us, and undoubtedly for his party as well."

"So what?"

"Despite our best efforts to dissuade him, he continued to pursue us. We were compelled to take measures to lose him. While we would have managed, we determined that his party might face dire consequences if deprived of their vanguard."

The priestess stroked her chin, thinking.

"But was it necessary to block all the paths? There weren't just them in this dungeon, but other parties too. By blocking the paths, you've inconvenienced everyone. Surely there were other ways."

"Hmm, your point is well-taken. My thinking was indeed short-sighted. Should I encounter them again, I will formally apologize and offer compensation. A sufficient amount."

In this world, even soldiers could be swayed with money. How hard could it be to persuade a few newbies who couldn't even afford proper equipment?

If I slipped them a little something, they'd be bowing their heads in gratitude for putting up the walls.

"Well… If you reach an agreement with the parties involved, I have nothing more to say."

As I readily admitted my mistake and proposed a solution, the priestess couldn't press further.

"I apologize for making you come all this way because of us. Allow me to treat you to a meal outside. Now, if you'll excuse us…"

"Before that."

The priestess stopped me.

Her mood, which seemed to have softened, suddenly turned chilling. Her gaze at me was filled with hostility.

"You picked something up here, didn't you."