After the Sandworms were dismantled and materials stripped away, Rei stored what was left into the Misty Ring.

  The first time they had met, Pleiades had been surprised when Rei had stored away the three Sandworms after killing them. Even so, after seeing Rei store away more than twice as many Sandworms, he couldn’t help but be surprised again, as were Otis and Sharl.

  However, Rei paid them no mind as he looked around at the ground, stained with Sandworm blood, before calling out to Pleiades.

  「Why don’t we leave this place for now? If we stay here, other monsters may attack us. Did you say that monsters on this floor will attack other monsters as well?」


  「Y-Yeah. That’s right. Let’s leave this place before thinking about what to do next.」


  Pleiades agreed with Rei and the five of them headed for a spot 20 minutes away where a 5m tall rock could be found while Set kept a watch from the skies.

  A short time after Rei and the other left……other monsters appeared. Smelling the Sandworm blood, scorpion, wolf, bird, spider, and snake like monsters all appeared at the location. But, since there were no Sandworm corpses to eat, they began attacking the other monsters that had gathered.

  「Uwa……it’s amazing, tasty, cold, tasty, clear, and tasty!」


  After their group arrived at the rock, Pleiades’ party was amazed by the water Rei created using the Dagger of Flowing Water as they used it to wash their hands and face, which had been dirtied from dismantling the Sandworms.

  Otis, in particular, couldn’t help but shout when she drank the water that had been created using the Dagger of Flowing Water after washing her hands.

  The fact that the word ‘tasty’ was mixed in several times was probably an indication of her honest feelings.

  「It really is, it’s tasty……I never thought I’d be able to drink water like this in the desert……」


  「Hey, what water is this!?」


  Hearing Otis shout, Pleiades and Sharl couldn’t help but mutter to themselves as they drank some as well.

  「Fufu~, well, it’s the taste of Rei’s magic power.」


  At Elena’s words, who was smiling as she said them, Rei shrugged his shoulders lightly as he took out a deep plate, which was easier for Set to drink from, from the Misty Ring before calling Set down.

  「Set! Come down, we’re taking a break!」


  「Gurururururu~!」


  Set gave a cry at Rei’s voice and landed on the ground before putting his beak into the deep plate of water to enjoy the cool feeling.

  Seeing that, Rei poured water into cups for everyone and passed them around.

  Under the shade of the rock, each of them took a rest as they enjoyed the taste of the water, a cold sweet dew created from the Dagger of Flowing Water.

  「Hey, Rei. If it can create water, is that dagger a magic item?」


  Sharl asked as she took a break under the shade.

  Looking ahead, the Dagger of Flowing Water, was lying against the rock. As a mage, she was interested in magic items.

  「That’s right. It’s a magic item called the Dagger of Flowing Water and it has the ability to create water using magic power. Originally, it was mean to be a weapon that you could use to freely manipulate water and wield as a whip. However, it seems that my talent is only for fire magic. I can still use it, but only at the level of producing drinking water and other similar things.」


  Rei’s explanation was enough for Sharl to understand what level of magic item the dagger in front of her eyes was. Sharl took a deep breath.

  She asked Rei as she reached out for the dagger leaning against the rock.

  「Hey, could I try using it for a bit?」


  「Yeah, I don’t mind.」


  「……Hearing you say that, is it really okay to lend it out so easily? Honestly, with just this dagger, you could live out the rest of your life. With water of that taste.」


  At Sharl’s words, Rei shrugged his shoulders with a small smile.

  Next to him, Elena smiled back as well.

  「You’ll understand if you use it.」


  Sharl looked puzzled as she reached for the dagger and poured magic power into it as Rei had told her. At that moment, she felt her magic power be sucked away by the dagger as water started to flow from the tip of the blade.

  「Here, Sharl, a cup.」


  「Thanks.」


  Pouring water into the cup Otis gave her, she brought it to her mouth……before involuntarily frowning the next moment.

  It was definitely water. There was no doubt about it. However, the water in her cup was overwhelmingly less tasty than the cup of water Rei had given her. It was like the difference between a painting drawn by a first class painter and a painting drawn by an amateur with a little artistic spirit. Even though both were still paintings, there was a clear difference between the two.

  「……Why?」


  「It’s simple. The taste of the water from the Dagger of Flowing Water is determined by the quantity and quality of the user’s magic power.」


  「……Does that mean that if you only have an ordinary amount and quality of magic power, it won’t be good for drinking?」


  「That’s right.」


  Sharl gave a sad sigh at the words Rei spoke with a simple nod.

  Normally, others would look at him jealously, so Rei was quite impressed that Sharl didn’t seem to have any of those thoughts.

  Regardless, Pleiades spoke up after ridding himself of the desert heat under the rock and rehydrating himself.

  「By the way, I’d like to ask, do Rei-san and Elena-san plan to continue exploring the 11th floor?」


  That was what Pleiades said, but inwardly, he was quite nervous. They had exhausted their magic power and physical stamina in the battle with the Sandworms and the two people in front of them seemed to have fighting strength that could be called excessive. If possible, excluding Yellow, who was still inside Rei’s pocket, they were honestly hoping Rei and Elena could escort them.

  It seemed to be the same for Otis and Sharl. Both of them stared at Rei and Elena.

  For a moment, there was a silent tension……but Elena easily broke it as she spoke up.

  「I see. It would be dangerous for you if were attacked by roughly 10 monsters at the same time in your current state, regardless of how weak the monsters are.」


  「No, I think even a normal party would run away if they were attacked by nearly 10 Sandworms.」


  Otis replied to Elena without thinking, but thanks to that, the atmosphere eased up a bit.

  Or, if that was Otis had been aiming for, she did a good job of it……


  (Also, that’s right.)

  Rei thought to himself as he observed Otis’ smiling face.

  He shrugged his shoulders lightly as he thought about what to do next.

  Certainly, if they left Pleiades’ group out to dry as they were, it would leave a bad taste in his mouth. And, it was clear from what they had discussed on the way here that their party was accustomed to working in the desert. Because of that, it didn’t seem like a bad idea to get to know them.

  Rei turned to look at Elena to ask for confirmation, but her gaze in response meant that she was leaving the decision to him.

  He turned to look at Set, but Set was still drinking up his water, which Rei could hear going down his throat.

  Thinking for a few seconds, Rei spoke up.

  「I understand, you want us to escort you until you leave the dungeon? It would certainly leave a bad aftertaste to abandon you here considering you gave us a lot of Sandworms. I’m willing to escort your party. However, we’re heading for the stairs down to the 12th floor. Even if you want to use a magic circle to go back up, it will have to be in the small room on the 12th floor. Is that fine with you?」


  「Y-Yeah. That’s fine. That would be good for us as well.」


  Pleiades gave a sigh of relief at Rei’s words, but Rei hadn’t finished speaking yet.

  「Well, that said, I’d like something else from you if we’re going to escort you.」


  At those words, Pleiades’ face was once again filled with tension. What was Rei going to ask from them?

  However, what Rei asked for was completely different from the worst case scenario that Pleiades had been expecting, such as all their money, working as a slave, or to give him one of his female party members.

  「Any how, we’re not going to have much to do in the desert. We’ve just come down to this level, so it would be helpful if you could tell us what we have to look out for on the desert floors that continue down from the 11th floor.」


  「……That is, is that enough?」


  「Hm? I think that’s fine……is there anything else you want to give?」


  「No, I have no objections to your thoughts.」


  「……Well, if you say so, that would be a great help.」


  Once again, Pleiades gave a sigh of relief.

  It was the same for Otis and Sharl.

  Elena looked puzzled when she saw the three of them like that, but Rei just nodded in understanding and didn’t say anything else.

  After taking a 10 minute break, the 5 of them stood up again to resume their journey to the 12th floor.

  「Guru~?」


  「Oh, sorry about this Set, but could you keep a watch from the sky as before? Please let us know immediately if anything happens.」


  「Gururururu~!」


  Even Set seemed to have been re-energised after drinking the water Rei created using the Dagger of Flowing Water. He ascended into the sky with a flap of his wings, as if running through the air.

  「Uwa, he’s so energetic.」


  Otis murmured as she watched Set fly up from below. Sharl nodded in agreement.

  However, he eyes weren’t on Set, but on the Dagger of Flowing Water that Rei had just stored into the Misty Ring.

  「If you could drink that tasty water, you would also recover your energy and stamina. ……It’s almost impossible to drink that level of water, even if you go to a place that serves high class food. You would have to pay gold coins for it.」


  「Maybe. Considering that, we’re pretty lucky……well, let’s move on.」


  Everyone nodded at Elena’s words as they stepped out from behind the rock and into the desert.

  The moment they took a step out of the rock’s shadow, the intense sunlight began to bear down on them.

  「Damn it, does it ever get cloudy?」


  「Don’t be stupid, this is a dungeon.」


  Pleiades retorted at Sharl’s words as they started walking.

  If it had just been Rei and Elena, they would just have walked in a straight line towards the stairs to the 12th floor. But this time, they had Pleiades with them, who was a veteran of this floor. Because of that, they decided to walk along the desert peaks, which were easy to walk on.

  「……The sand really has become firmer to some extent, making it easier to walk on.」


  「Isn’t that right? But of course, if it’s easy for us to walk, it’s also easy for monsters to walk as well, so we need to be careful.」


  Saying that, Pleiades turned to look at the peak they were currently walking on.

  At first glance, the desert sands appeared to be nothing more than patterns created by the wind. But when everyone else saw Pleiades stop, they stopped as well to see what he was looking at.

  「What is it?」


  「Hey, you’re one of us, how can you not recognise it?」


  Rei spoke up as he heard the conversation between Sharl and Otis.

  「A……snake?」


  「Correct. How did you know? Even if it’s a monster, it still knows that it’s easier for people to pass through here. So, naturally, they decided that waiting here would be the most efficient way to get their prey.」


  Pleiades said that before asking Rei and Elena what they wanted to do. Rei and Elena looked at each other.

  Seeing Elena look at him, Rei nodded before taking a step forward.

  Because they weren’t always going to be travelling with Pleiades, Rei decided that they had to be able to deal with things themselves as if they were on their own.

  With the Death Scythe in hand, Rei focused his magic power.

  『Flame, burn your enemies according to my will.』


  Along with his incantation, a ball of fire about 30cm in diameter was created at the Death Scythe’s blade.

  Although the incantation was relatively short, it still had a fairly high amount of power because of Rei’s enormous magic power and his visualisation of the magic in his mind.

  『Fireball.』


  The magic was activated with that word and flew out towards a place where nothing could be seen at first glance.

  What was there? ……No, everyone else aside from Sharl knew what was there and warily held their weapons. Seeing that, Sharl also held her wand tightly as well……


  BOOM-!

  The fireball landed and created a powerful explosing of fire that one couldn’t imagine from the short incantation. In an instant, the 2m long snake monster that had been aiming for an opportunity to attack Rei and the others could do nothing as it died.