"Xe-Xeon-san! But he's still but a kid…"

  Hearing the adventurer, the man who had been in a glaring contest with me underwent a 180 degree change in attitude toward him.

  Looks like the adventurer is called Xeon.

  Judging from my glaring opponent (Camias apparently)'s reaction, the guy is probably a famous adventurer.

  At this place, the strongest person after us is this Xeon.

  Camias is right after him, but there's quite a huge gap between their strength.

  It'd be very helpful if Xeon could do something about this situation.

  "Don't just judge people by their age. Those four are undoubtedly stronger than you. Pretty obvious looking at 'em."

  "…I have conquered Floor 11 of this dungeon with a party of six. Are you saying that these kids are stronger than me?"

  "Each of these adventurers should be able to conquer Floor 11 alone… Can't you tell by looking?"

  Looks like Xeon understands our strength.

  People who are at a certain level of expertise in battle are able to distinguish their opponent's strength just by looking.

  Xeon has reached such level, while Camias hasn't.

  "These kids, Floor 11 alone?"

  "Don't judge a book by its cover… Age-wise, these adventurers must be students of Second Academy. Even I cannot fathom their real strength."

  "I do hear stories about the current Second Academy students' strength… But are they really that strong?"

  "Yeah. Saw them when I was in the capital the other day, monsters, the whole lot of them. Heard there's this guy called Mathias who's a cut above the rest… But I couldn't manage to see him."

  He's right in front of you though.

  While thinking that… The elevator has come back from carrying other people.

  Here's our chance.

  Let's get on that elevator and stop this topic.

  "Could we go now? We'd like to go on a hunt quick to be honest."

  "…I got it. But be careful now. Don't overexert yourself."

  "Got it."

  Afterward, I boarded the elevator along with the girls.

  Looks like Camias has already abandoned his high-handed adventurer act.

  Xeon got on the elevator with me.

  The cramped elevator became full. Camias stayed on the waiting room.

  "Would you like to go to Floor 13 like usual?"

  "Yeah."

  After saying that, Xeon handed over 1300 elmi to the elevator crew member.

  Looks like this guy is going to challenge the dungeon alone.

  It's more efficient to do that with a party… but he must have his reason.

  "And where would you like to go?"

  "Floor 27."

  I gave the crew member our queue notes, and the payment for four, 10800 elmi.

  However… The crew member wouldn't take it.

  "Eer… Could you run that by again please."

  "We're going to Floor 27. Here's the payment for four."

  "…Going to floors higher than 15 carries a huge risk, as such you need a permit. Please return for now and get the permit——"

  "Is this good enough as a permit?"

  I showed her the dungeon entry permit I got from the king.

  It allows us to enter all floors of all dungeons except for a very small fraction.

  I've already confirmed that the 『Iliad-managed Dungeon』 is not included within the exceptions.

  "Pe… Permit from his majesty the king!?"

  "Yeah… If we're still not allowed to use the elevator with this, we'll have to get down and walk there then…"

  "Of course, you're allowed to if you have the permit!"

  Looks like we can use the elevator.

  Getting to Floor 27 with the girls on foot would take some time and stamina so this is nice.

  …In fact, Floor 26 monsters are stronger than Floor 27 ones after all.

  "Then we will be departing. Please watch out for the shaking."

  The crew member operates the elevator then.

  And then we're slowly descending.

  …『Dungeon Elevators』 weren't this slow back in the days.

  Speed is very important when you're moving between floors in dungeons.

  For example, a mere few seconds could decide the fate of a struggling party when you're sending help through the elevators.

  As such, speed was the most important deliberation in the construction of 『Dungeon Elevators』.

  The one installed in this dungeon should have been five times faster than it is now.

  It probably doesn't move at its full capability because no one is able to do maintenance on it.

  I guess the fact that it still works is a miracle already.

  To begin with, these magic tools weren't purposed to be maintenance-free when they were first installed.

  "We have arrived at Floor 13."

  We reached Floor 13 while I was lamenting the 『Dungeon Elevator』's slowness.

  The inside of Floor 13 hasn't changed much compared to my previous life.

  The effect of mana reactor explosions must have been minimal since these dungeons are situated deep underground.

  "Ou. Thanks as always."

  Xeon got down the 『Dungeon Elevator』 after leaving that.

  He didn't ask anything about the floor we were going to… And frankly, I appreciate that.

  Since the hunting method on Floor 27 is quite special, it would have been bothersome were he said, 『I want to see how you're doing』.