Rei looked at the corpse of the Ogre in front of him while experiencing the mysterious sensation of sunrise in a dungeon forest.

  Blood was still gushing out from the severed right shoulder and neck. Rei decided to wait a bit for the blood to drain before storing it into the Misty Ring as it would be covered in blood if he stored it immediately.

  「As expected, I’m tired after some morning exercise. Set, let’s take a short break until the blood is all drained.」


  「Guru~」


  Nodding at Rei’s words, Set lay down on ground on some grass where the blood didn’t reach.

  Rei gave a sigh and leaned back against Set’s lion like body.

  「Here.」


  When Rei took out some pear like fruits from the Misty Ring, Set ate them while giving a happy cry.

  Smiling like a mother watching her child, Rei took out his own share.

  Even in such a relaxed state, Set’s senses were always active and he suddenly turned his eyes into the forest. At the possibility of a new enemy, Rei reached out for the Death Scythe which he had put down. However, when he realised Set was looking at the direction of where they had camped last night, Rei released his hand from the Death Scythe.

  Set was the same and stopped staring at that direction. And from that direction, the sounds of conversation and feet stepping on grass were eventually heard.

  「Vel, is this the right way?」


  「Yes it is. There’s no doubt from the great smell of blood.」


  「Smell of blood, is it. Hmph, that means there’s a possibility that guy is dead.」


  「Hey, Kuust. That’s going too far.」


  「That is so. In the first place, isn’t it Rei and Set?　If they fought with something like a dragon it would be different. However, I don’t think there would be such monsters in this place.」


  「……Hmph~!」


  「Kuust, you should have a sufficient understanding of Rei’s ability, shouldn’t you?　You should fix that condescending attitude of yours. Rei doesn’t seem to care, but it’s not a pleasant thing to watch from the sides.」


  「But Elena-sama!」


  While exchanging words like so, emerging from the bushes, as expected, was Elena and the others.

  「Uwa~, wait a moment. Everyone, over there. The strong smell of blood is coming from over there.」


  Seeing the Ogre on the ground, still bleeding from its neck and right shoulder, let out a voice of amazement and shock.

  Next to him, Ara and Kuust couldn’t hide their surprise at the scene before them.

  Meanwhile, only Elena calmly looked at the scene before spotting Rei and Set resting a short distance away.

  「Rei, Set. It’s good that you’re unhurt. I was surprised when I heard that you had suddenly gone out but it doesn’t seem you’re hurt anywhere.」


  Hearing that voice, the other three people also noticed figure of Set, who had plopped down on the ground, and Rei, who was leaning against Set.

  Looking at the four people, Rei stood up with a wry smile and went toward Elena.

  「As for the enemy you felt, was it this Ogre?」


  「Yes, as you can see, it’s huge. It made a considerable sound when just walking. I understood immediately after feeling the small tremors. Because of that, I went out as there was a possibility of the camp being damaged if we fought there.」


  「……That’s right. I want to say something but your judgement wasn’t wrong. In fact, you and Set took it down without taking any damage in particular.」


  Speaking up to there, Elena finally turned to look at the Ogre, whose blood was starting to stop draining.

  「So then, were you draining the blood?」


  「Well, something like that. Though it isn’t necessary if I store it into the item box as time doesn’t pass……since I cut off it’s right arm and head, it ended up like this. It seems that even though the blood is flowing, it will still be stored into the item box in its flowing state.」


  「I see. Well, it’s great as there are no injuries. However, truly as expected of a dungeon, for an Ogre of this size to appear.」


  Rei gave a puzzled look at Elena’s words.

  He didn’t know what the their average size as it was the first time he had ever met an Ogre.

  「Is is that big?」


  「Ah. It’s one size larger than the ones I’ve seen before……no, it’s more than two sizes larger.」


  「In that case, do you mean it’s a rare species?」


  「No, it looks to be an ordinary Ogre. I guess it simply just grew bigger than the others, Look, the blood has stopped flowing. Store it quickly. Because we have to search the fourth floor for the stairs to the fifth floor, lets eat breakfast and resume the search. I think today will be a busy day as well so I’m counting on you again.」


  It probably hadn’t been 20 minutes since Elena had woke up, she didn’t show any signs of bed hair or sleepiness as she smiled and tapped Rei’s shoulder.

  It was a pleasant appearance, and although it wasn’t something that would come from a duke’s daughter, it was acceptable coming from the General Princess.

  「Rei, as Elena-sama said, most of the blood has flowed out, it would be better to store it soon?　If they smell the blood, other monsters might come.」


  「That’s right, after storing it, we will get breakfast then continue with the search for the stairs.」


  While nodding at Vel’s words, Rei stored the right arm, head and body of the Ogre into the Misty Ring.

  After the over 5m tall corpse disappeared plainly into the Misty Ring, everyone suddenly felt that the surrounding area had grown wider.

  「Let’s go back to the camp. It’s a bit early, but as Rei said, we’ll have breakfast.」


  Nodding at Elena’s words, they left the place and started walking back to the camp.

  「Ah, it’s still burning. Lucky.」


  When they reached the camp, Vel said that as he threw a piece of firewood into the campfire.

  After watching the campfire come back to life, Elena turned to look at Rei.

  「Rei, we would like breakfast.」


  「Yes.」


  Nodding, Rei took out some bread, similar to hotdog buns, as well as a huge pot that held stew they had eaten yesterday.

  「Gururu~」


  Probably attracted by the smell, Set came over and rubbed his head against Rei while giving a cry.

  「Ah, I understand. I will prepare yours separately, no need to worry.」


  Rei took out the chunks of Orc meat from the Misty Ring that Elk, from Axe of the Thunder God, had cut up into bite sized pieces. He stuck them onto several branches so they wouldn’t fall off before roasting them on the campfire.

  It should be noted that bite sized piece meant bite sized pieces for Set, for someone like Rei, it was a considerable chunk.

  「In that case, apologies Set, but we’ll be starting first.」


  After Elena said that, she started eating the simple bread and stew……no, considering they were in a dungeon, it was a luxurious breakfast.

  Rei took some bread and stew as well as some sauce from the Misty Ring. He then covered the roasted Orc meat skewers with the sauce before roasting them again, then placing them on a large leaf.

  「Gururu~!」


  Set couldn’t wait and immediately bit into the meat as he was given it.

  The fragrant smell of the roasted sauce spread to the surroundings, irresistibly increasing Rei’s appetite.

  Glancing for a moment, Ara saw the meat Set was eating and couldn’t bear it any longer. She spoke up to Rei.

  「R-Rei-dono. If it’s okay with you I also want to try the meat……」


  「Ara too?　Then can I ask for some as well?」


  「Hmm. In that case, me as well.」


  Not just Ara, as Vel and Elena also asked him, as expected he couldn’t say no……rather, Rei cut the Orc meat into a size that humans could eat and pierced them onto a tree branch before covering them in sauce and roasting them on the campfire.

  「Uoh~, it smells good. It’s a type of food you can never eat at home.」


  「This isn’t a fine enough dish that can be placed on a noble’s table.」


  Smiling wryly at Vel’s words, he gave the bite sized meat skewers to each of them.

  「Kuust, how about you?　I don’t mind sharing if you want some.」


  Taking an appetite whetting skewer in his hand, Rei glanced at Kuust.

  「I don’t want any.」


  But Kuust declined it with a few words, forcibly stuffed the remaining half of his bread into his mouth, swallowing it down with stew, before going to the opening in the tree where their luggage was placed.

  「Really……sorry Rei. You’ve had a lot of trouble.」


  To Elena, who apologised while eating the Orc meat with great relish, Rei shook his head.

  「I’m already used to it. However, I’m a little surprised that Elena-sama is eating the Orc meat without any complaints.」


  「Ah, that is true. Normally, Kuust would say things about being more like a duke’s daughter.」


  「I understand what Vel is trying to say, but remember the things that have happened up to now. In the battlefield, I also ate monster meat when there was a food supply shortage.」


  It was Ara and not Vel who nodded at those words. Rei also nodded while tasting the Orc meat skewers.

  「That’s right. There was a case where the supply corps was attacked by the Bestir Empire. ……However, what I ate at that time wasn’t as delicious as this Orc meat.」


  「It’s because monster meat that contains magic power will be more delicious. If it tasted worse than the meat of a D rank Orc it was probably the meat of a lower rank monster. ……Well, even low rank monsters have delicious meat like the leg meat of the Poison Toad.」


  「It’s as Rei said. If I’m not mistaken, the meat I ate at that time was the meat of either F or G rank monsters.」


  While talking like that, the Orc skewers soon disappeared. In the first place, he only made enough to be like a sample so there wasn’t a large amount.

  Next to them, Set finished his second chunk of meat and gave a content cry.

  Satisfying their hunger, the warm and comfortable atmosphere spread to the surroundings. Taking a pot out of the Misty Ring, Rei boiled some water to make some simple tea after their meal.

  「……Now then. Since we’ve finished eating, we should start today’s search. If possible, I would like to go down to the fifth floor today.」


  「According to the adventurers we met on the previous floor, there are undead on the fifth floor.」


  「Normally, we wouldn’t have anyone who could use fire magic, which is strong against the undead. But now we have you.」


  Rei nodded while smiling wryly at Elena’s words.

  「Our party’s weak point is that we can’t use fire magic although I can use magic to some extent.」


  「Vel?　……Ah, when you mention it, certainly at the lord’s residence……」


  At Rei’s words, Vel gave a wry smile as he drank some brewed tea from his cup.

  「Well, although I can use magic, it’s truly basic. I learned it because it was necessary for my work behind the scenes of the party. Basically I can use it to feel out traps when disarming them.」


  「You can use magic so don’t mind it. I feel slightly depressed that I’m the only one in the party that can’t use magic.」


  Ara said that in dissatisfaction while drinking her tea.

  「……Rei-dono, to be honest, this tea isn’t good enough.」


  To rephrase that, it seemed that Ara wasn’t unsatisfied at the taste of the tea.

  As Ara had the role of Elena’s maid, she was probably unhappy at how Rei ignored all the procedures when brewing tea.

  But as Elena was used to eating and drinking on the battlefield, she drank the tea without any particular complaints.

  「The Water Monkeys that attacked us yesterday might be a problem. I hoped that they had given up after yesterday……」


  Elena turned to look a short distance away.

  She looked at the place where the small mountain of corpses of the monsters they had killed during the night was.

  Most of them were Goblins, lizards and Giant Bats. However, Soldier Ants, Horned Rabbits and several Water Monkeys were also mixed in.

  「The monsters that attacked in the night were probably scouts or something. I also killed one that was hiding in ambush……」


  「It is as Ara said. We should consider that the troop hasn’t given up on us. There’s also a chance that the scouts we killed at night was looking for an opening to attack us.」


  「The boss that was leading that troop was quite big for a Water Monkey. It might be a rare species or something.」


  Nodding at Vel’s words, Elena drank the last of her tea.

  「Right, let’s get ready to leave. The person who washes the dishes should watch out for monsters near the water.」


  Following Elena’s instructions, everyone made their preparations for the search as the second day in the dungeon began.