Volume 23 Chapter 7, The Peerless Nana

Currently, Cecil’s group was defeating monsters right in front of Kousuke’s eyes.

Two wolves and two foxes were keeping each other in check, and the two girls were using spirit magic to make sure that they killed monsters.

Kousuke’s group was in a place where monsters of intermediate rank in the 44th Floor appeared in packs.

Some monsters may not be strong individually, but they worked best in packs.

This was also a floor where such monsters appeared in large numbers.

Because they attacked in packs, there was no way that the Familiars would be able to kill them all by themselves, and that was where the spirit magic came into play.

The monster they were dealing with now was a large rat monster called a Big Mouse.

Individually, it was not strong, but it was classified as an intermediate level monster because of its ability to work together with others.

If they were on their own, they would be classified as lower-class monsters, but since they were never encountered individually, they became intermediate class monsters.

The ten Big Mice were steadily being killed by the girls, and finally the last one was defeated.

One of the wolves finished off the last one, and the subjugation was completed.

***

“No, no, it was brilliant. And I didn’t have to step in at all.”

Kousuke said and joined in to process the Big Mouse.

He thought about stepping in if they were in danger, but there was no need to do so at all.

He had witnessed the girls in battle several times before coming here, and so far, there had been no situations where they were on the verge of being defeated.

“Thank you very much. But it is definitely thanks to Nana that we have been able to achieve this level of ease, right?”

Cecil said this and looked at Nana, who was happily eating the meat of the Big Mouse given to her by Arisa.

Nana was now about the size of a medium-sized dog, not in her original size.

Nevertheless, the monsters knew how strong she was, and even if they attacked Kousuke’s group, they would not come near Nana.

Therefore, they did not approach Kousuke with Nana by his side.

Cecil and Arisa knew this as well, so they were able to concentrate on the battle without worrying about Kousuke.

The Big Mouse who attacked them were always concerned with Nana, so their coordination was slightly disrupted.

It would have been better if they had never attacked their group in the first place, but he thought that monsters have their own reasons.

They may simply be there because they had invaded their territory.

***

The request that they accepted this time was to procure the fur of this Big Mouse.

The requested number of pelts was five, but it was common knowledge among adventurers to gather more, as they might not be able to accept some of them.

In addition, Big Mouse meat could also be purchased.

It was not a luxury foodstuff, but it was a delicacy because of the remoteness of its habitat.

Of course, this was a situation in continents other than the Central continent, and it was an ingredient that was rarely available on the Central continent.

The reason why the Big Mouse was so popular was because it was confirmed that big mice inhabited this floor, and any adventurer of intermediate rank or above would be able to obtain one.

The problem was that most adventurers usually prepared a cart and brought it with them.

However, Kousuke and his group did not have a cart.

This was not because they had given up on meat, but because they had other means to collect it.

After completing the bloodletting and other processes that can be done on the spot, Cecil touched each Big Mouse one by one.

Each time he did this, the Big Mouse would disappear.

The secret behind this was the bracelet that Cecil wore on her arm.

The deeper secret behind it was that the fact that it was Kousuke who created the magic item box sealed the magic in the bracelet.

When Cecil was first given this bracelet, she was puzzled, but now she used it normally.

Of course, no ordinary adventurer would possess such a thing.

As usual, the materials used were so valuable that even Schmidt considered it impossible to mass-produce.

At first, they were targeted for carrying such items, but these days those people were few and rarely encountered.

Among adventurers based on the Fifth Floor, word had already spread that it would be meaningless to take it from Cecil.

The reason was that the bracelet was designed to react to Cecil’s magical power, making it impossible for anyone other than Cecil to use it.

Realizing that it was impossible to hide it anyway, Cecil proved it in front of the other adventurers, and the story spread like wildfire.

As a result, Cecil’s group no longer had to worry about carrying the monsters they defeated.

***

Having finished putting away all the Big Mouse, Cecil looked at Kousuke.

“This is the end of your request, but shall we go back soon?”

It had taken a full day for Kousuke’s group to reach the Floor.

It would not have taken so long if they used the same method when Kousuke conquered this Tower, but they came here on foot because there was no need to be so conspicuous.

Floors up to the 45th Floor were Floors where adventurers were normally active, so there was no way to know where they might find eyes looking their way.

It would be fine if they were spotted once or twice, but more than that would surely cause rumors among adventurers.

For that reason, he did not call the wind dragons to use to travel.

“Hmm. That’s fine, but is there anything else around here that could be worth money?”

“Of course there is.”

Arisa immediately answered Kousuke’s question.

Few adventurers would travel this far just to complete a single request.

It was possible to receive multiple requests at the same time, and most adventurers usually receive two or three at the same time.

Kousuke’s group received only one request this time, but they were doing so because they were not strapped for cash.

“Then, let’s go hunt something else before we return.”

“Hunting? Not collecting?”

“Yes, Nana was watching the current battle, but she seems to want to do some hunting.”

Kousuke said and turned his attention to Nana.

There, Nana was lying down, looking satisfied after eating Big Mouse meat.

After eating, she probably wanted to do some hunting.

Usually, it was the opposite.

“I see. I understand.”

Arisa said and led the way to the next hunting ground.

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The next hunting ground was with Nana in combat.

Arisa led them to a place where a monster called Black Horse was forming a herd.

There were several herds, but they decided to hunt one of them.

The Black Horses, although the same species as horses, were clearly ferocious and, like all monsters, carnivorous.

The Black Horses initially charged toward Kousuke’s group as soon as they recognized them, but lost their momentum halfway down the trail.

It was obviously because they were aware of Nana.

But by that time, it was already too late.

The moment Kousuke said, “You can hunt all you want”, the devastation started.

The second Nana and the first Black Horse crossed paths, the Black Horse’s head flew off.

Basically, Nana used her claws to hunt, but obviously, she would have used her magic as well.

The Black Horses saw the scene and immediately turned to flee, but it was far too late.

Nana then did as she pleased and ended up hunting the remaining horses.

Some horses fled in different directions to survive, but eventually, they were all caught and hunted by Nana.

***

“… What can I say, it’s just brilliant.”

“It happened so fast…”

These were Arisa and Cecil’s impressions after watching Nana’s battle.

“Well, she was powerful enough to overwhelm high ranking monsters in a one-on-one fight.”

Kousuke thought that he could also do it on his own, but not as well as Nana.

“Overwhelm high ranking monsters?”

Cecil’s expression turned slightly twitchy when she heard that comment.

She did know that she was strong, but she had not expected her to be that strong.

Kousuke walked over to Nana, who was wagging her tail happily beside Black Horse, and stroked her neck in praise.