Dragon Dungeon Run!

Ahem. Ahem.

Ice Rose. Partner.

I have a suggestion. Would you be willing to hear me out?

Argh, again with the Ice Rose stuff?

I told you not to call me that!

Phew... Sorry, I got a bit worked up.

Commander, could you talk to Guillotine for me?

Tell her that whatever her suggestion is, it's bound to be strange, so I don't want to hear it.

Ice Rose doesn't want to hear my suggestion?

Very well then, that leaves me with no choice.

...

Uh...

*Sigh*...

Fine. I'll hear you out. What's this proposal of yours?

Hehe. Wait until you get a load of this!

Realm deployment!

Huh? Where is this...?

From this moment on, our heroic party will storm the Demon King's castle!

What the... what is going on?

Of course, this isn't the real Demon King's castle. It's a dungeon I created myself, so there's no need to worry.

You won't get hurt.

... I guess.

Ah, I get it now. You're suggesting that we practice here before heading into actual combat.

Precisely!

You're as sharp as ever, Ice Rose.

My proposal is:

Train in this dungeon I've created, breaking through numerous traps and monsters to reach the White Ice Dragon, then rinse and repeat!

What do you think?

Hmm... Sounds good to me.

All right then, let's get started.

Introducing, Dragon Dungeon Run!

Hehe...

Mwahahahaha!

Remarkable! We made it without a single one of us falling behind.

What's so remarkable about that?

We could have progressed even further

if you hadn't insisted on taking the front and then falling into the water.

Hey!

I've also been meaning to ask you about those wings on your back.

Are those just for show or what?

What?! Decorative?

No, I've intentionally given myself a handicap!

If I were to make these wings operational, I'd be able to clear the dungeon far too easily! It'd completely defeat the purpose of training.

She's new to the game... she doesn't know any better... don't get mad...

Huh? You okay, Maiden?

... I'm fine. Let's just go again.

Can't we take a short break first?

May I remind you who suggested we undergo this training in the first place?

... Me.

That's right.

So let's go.

Okay, okay. Fine.

...

But are you sure we aren't forgetting anything?

Guillotine. Don't make me repeat myself.

Eep! L-let's go. That includes you too, Partner!

*Gasp* *Gasp*

I'm here...

So-sorry for being late...

...?

Guillotine? Maiden? Armored Knight?

Wh-where did everybody go?

Volume, I've been wanting to ask you something...

What is it that you're always drinking during our dungeon crawls?

Hm? This?

Yeah.

Hmm...

If you're so curious, why don't you have a sip?

You don't mind?

Not at all!

All right then, I'll give it a try.

Okay, be my guest.

Th-thanks.

Hmm?

...

It's very refreshing!

Hmm? What's that you're drinking, Blue-Eyed Little Devil?

It's a confidence-boosting potion. You wanna try some too?

If you're offering, I'll gladly accept.

Hmm?

...

Wow, that really is refreshing.

Hehe... I wanna drink another *hic* potion...

Me too!

They were curious about my "potion", so I let them have a taste.

Potion?

*Sniff sniff*

This isn't a potion! It's alcohol!

What are you carrying this around for?

Everyone, listen carefully.

This is an issue that threatens the very existence of our party.

It's that...

Our party doesn't have a proper name!

Actually, Commander, I agree with Guillotine on this.

Choosing an official name for our party

is of the utmost importance.

Frankly, I can't believe that I've overlooked it for so long. I'm ashamed to call myself a gamer.

So, with that being said, allow me to make a suggestion.

The Lonely Winter Crane...

Veto.

How about this? It's the name of a guild I was once in.

Let's Photosynthesize.

Veto!

Who cares about photosynthesis?

What about Lonely Winter's Slayer? That's way cooler.

There's more to a name than simply being cool!

It's about how impactful it is!

What do you think, Commander?

Hmph. That's no good!

How about we settle this with a vote?

Fine. You're going down, Guillotine!

Hehe...

Hahahahaha!

Fine by me. Bring it on, Ice Rose!

Everyone, listen carefully.

This is an issue that could affect the very existence of the Lonely Winter's Slayer party.

It's that...

We still haven't decided how to divvy up the loot!

Actually, Commander, I agree with Guillotine on this.

Deciding how to split the loot amongst ourselves in Let's Photosynthesize

is of the utmost importance.

Frankly, I can't believe that I've overlooked it for so long. I'm ashamed to call myself a gamer.

So how should we split it?

Usually, it's divided equally among all the party members.

Huh? Equally? Booorrrrinnngg.

From here on out, Make Some Noise will distribute any and all booty according to individual contributions.

Understand?

Er... Is that going to work?

If we were to do it that way,

Everyone in the Everybody Loves Vesti party would end up giving me all the loot, hehe.

What?!

No way!

Okay, fine.

Let's take our share based on what we each contributed.

But I don't want to hear any complaints later on.

I'm okay with that.

Let's do another run-through of the dungeon then.

Er... Can't we rest a little bit first?

...

O-okay! Let's get a move on. That includes you, Partner!

Proceed, Your Honor!

Of course! Who else?

Very well.

I'll share my contributions in this adventure.

I guided the party along the optimal path.

Thanks to my detailed instructions, everyone dodged that dragon's breath attack.

I even stopped an approaching Rapture using my magic.

Objection!

Huh?

What is it?

If I find there to be no grounds for an objection, I'll hold you in contempt of court!

Whatever!

First off,

you're saying that you stopped the monster with ice magic,

but you also froze us!

Then you ran off and left us to contend with the Rapture on our own.

I could level plenty of criticisms against you as well, Vesti!

You kept uselessly lobbing explosion spells all over the place and obscured our vision.

It wasn't useless!

I was clearing away obstacles that were in our path.

You sure did, along with some treasure chests and the gold inside them!

!!

If it hadn't been for your reckless explosive spells, we would be 100 gold coins richer.

I-I tried my best...

*Sob* I really did...

Vesti?

Wahhhh!!

Are you okay, Vesti?

I-I'm fine...

It's just... What am I doing here?

I'm just glad that you're safe.

Maiden, your clothes seem a bit singed...

Well, it's hardly surprising.

More importantly,

didn't I tell you not to stand there

when you see a fireball coming at you?

It wasn't even moving that fast. You could have easily dodged it.

S-sorry... It was so cool and... I froze for a second.

Wait...

Did you save me?

*Sigh* I suppose I did.

So you better stop raising objections to my contributions! Got it?

... Hehe, okay.

Ahem... It's nice to see you two get along,

but how come you didn't try and save me, Ice Rose?

That's because you're invincible in this world.

You're able to withstand a fireball here through sheer grit.

Sheer grit, you say?

Heh... a solitary fate indeed.

El Telema Solus...

M-Maiden... are you okay?

I'm all right. Thanks for saving my skin back there.

I told you before, didn't I?

There might be mimics out there,

so you should be more cautious about opening treasure chests.

You can hardly blame me!

We found the toughest chest to find in the entire dungeon.

Just imagine what kind of rare items might be inside! It's so thrilling!

The anticipation was too much.

I couldn't wait, even if it meant getting swallowed by a mimic.

... I see.

... You don't WANT to get swallowed by a mimic, do you?

... Anyway.

Thanks.

That explosion magic of yours...

Doesn't seem so useless after all.

Really?!

Could you... say that again?

What? That bit about the explosion magic?

Yeah!

... You really aren't used to being complimented, are you?

I-I've never had anyone really praise me before. Hehe.

...

What in the world have you been doing with that magic of yours anyway?

Yep! I wanted all of us to go camping together, so I prepared everything ahead of time.

You don't mind, do you?

Heh. As if.

Camping is all part of the adventure.

I'll start the fire.

...

Blue-Eyed Little Devil,

could you help me out with that?

Sure!

Am I supposed to keep stirring?

I think so...

Hold on. Are you stirring with your staff?

I didn't have anything else to use...

Volume, can I ask you something?

Why did you decide to join Everybody Loves Vesti?

I never said I would.

I just tagged along, and things ended up this way.

Huh... I imagined a tête-à-tête going a bit differently...

Then... er... is there anything you want to do after this adventure is over?

Hmm...

Become even more famous.

So more fans can hear my songs.

Oh. I see.

...

...

Uh... Don't you want to ask me a question?

Oh. Okay. What do you want to do?

I-I want to become the head of the Mage Academy.

That way, I can show everyone that explosion magic is the best... hehe...

Hmm... That's cool.

I'm glad you agree! Hehe.

Oh, I think the food is done!

Hey, guys! Come here!

... Guillotine.

What are you doing over there?

Ahem.

I... er... just wanted to let you know it's time to go explore the dungeon.

I wasn't eavesdropping on you talking to your staff or anything. So don't worry.

This is no ordinary staff! It's Kitty!

Right. Kitty.

I knew that.

Volume, don't push!

What? I'm not pushing.

...

...

What the...

Er... I can explain!

Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary,

appears now as an intangible distortion!

Wait! I'm telling you, we weren't trying to eavesdrop!

Final flame explosion!