Having successfully conquered the sixth floor, we went on to conquer the flashy purple, pink, and orange forest on the seventh floor, the brown forest on the eighth floor, the gold and silver forest on the ninth floor, and then stepped into the black forest on the tenth level.

  “”So dark~””


  “Indeed, it’s black all around.”


  It was supposed to be a fine daytime, but the forest felt dim.

  “”Ah!””


  (It’s a Black Bison!)

  We caught a sight of a Black Sison, the only one we encountered so far was on the sixth floor, approaching us, blending in with the black forest.

  “I wonder if their original habitat is here?”


  (The meat’s here~!)

  Immediately, the excited Vector ran towards the Black Bison.

  The black meat we got at the sixth floor was simply grilled and prepared as a steak, but it was quite tasty, so he must have wanted to get it again.

  (Heyah—!)

  He charged at the Black Bison vigorously and easily killed it, and even though he was still so lively when he went to pick up the loot, for some reason, he came back pouting.

  (… There was no meat.)

  “Well, things like this happen~ And so, what dropped?”


  (……)

  It seems that Vector was depressed because he didn’t get any meat.

  He presented me with the loot in silence, with a sorrowful expression on his face.

  “”What is that?””


  “It’s a hide.”


  It was a dark and glossy hide.

  “It’s pretty good stuff. I think this would be good for making a cloak or something.”


  “”A present~?””


  “Yes, it would make a good present, too.”


  If we want to give souvenirs, they should be a “good” ones, because sometimes the great ones will be rejected. I feel that they would accept this hide without a problem.

  “Alright, as planned, let’s look for more Black Bison!”


  “”Let’s look, let’s look!””


  I want both the meat and the hides, so I hope we can hunt more bisons than on the sixth floor.

  “”Ah!””


  “N? Have you found one right away?”


  “Yeah, there~!”


  “I’m going~!”


  Allen and Elena spotted a Black Bison and quickly charged towards it.

  “”Teyaah~!””


  Allen and Elena jumped upwards with a precise timing e and launched a heel drop-kick at the Black Bison’s head.

  “”Too bad. It was a horn~””


  After successfully killing the Black Bison, Allen and Elena came back with the loot.

  They had a slightly disappointed expression on their faces.

  “Allen, Elena, don’t you think that attack was a little dangerous?”


  “”Nniyu?””


  “Black Bisons have horns, right?”


  “”Yeah.””


  “If you aim for the head and you miss a little, their horns might end up stabbing your legs.”


  I’m sure that Allen and Elena will be able to kick at the right spot, but I will just warn them because there is no guarantee that they won’t miss.

  “You may be confident that you will be fine, but you have to pay more attention.”


  “”Okay~””


  Then, the next time they encountered a Black Bison, the kids started kicking the black bison in the jaw. It seemed quite dangerous to kick up the jaw of a charging Black Bison from below. However, I was no longer sure what was more dangerous and what was safe, so I stopped paying attention to it, trusting that Allen and Elena would not fail.

  “So many~”


  “Meat~”


  (Yeah! I’m glad we were able to get lots?)

  (Yeah, this floor is great for Ox hunting. I will remember it!)

  It seemed that this level was inhabited by Black Bison after all, as we encountered them one after the other, and were able to get not only black meat, but also a lot of horns and hides.

  “Now that we have collected a lot of meat, let’s move on.”


  “”(((((Yess~)))))””


  We had a great time hunting the bison, so after I told them it was time to get back on track, Allen and Elena soon found the door to the Boss room.

  “Boss room.”


  “Discovered~”


  “So fast!”


  “”Oniichan, let’s go in~””


  “Are you sure you don’t want to rest up first?”


  “”Is fine~!””


  An ordinary adventurer would have been exhausted, but the children didn’t look tired, in fact they seemed to be in a good mood as they opened the door to the Boss’s room.

  “Many~”


  “Wolves~”


  As the door of the room closed, a pack of Black Wolves appeared.

  (N~ I can’t tell their exact numbers.)

  (Indeed~ They are loitering around, so it’s difficult to count them all.)

  (Ah, they are running towards us.)

  (Ya~y, let’s do this~)

  (Vector, stop right there! Takumi Nii, how do we attack them?)

  “Things might get dangerous if it turns into a melee, so we all better attack with magic from range. Get ready, everyone.”


  “”(((((Okay!)))))””


  I don’t want them to lose track of who is where in this darkness, so I instructed them to clear out the area at once from here.

  “Let’s start the attack then!——Air Shot.”


  At my signal, we all unleashed our magic one after another. A moment later, the yelps of the Black Wolves echoed from everywhere.

  “The one who can see in darkness the best is… Feat, I guess? Can you tell how many are left?”


  (Give me a moment, Niisama. N~… all good, there don’t seem to be any left.)

  None showed up on my Detection either, so we must have safely defeated them all.

  “Well, do you think collecting the loot will be a challenge?”


  “”Will do my best!””


  The battle was easy, but searching for the loot in the darkness was going to be a challenge.

  “Everyone, there might not be any enemies left, but just keep your eye on the surroundings while collecting the loot just in case.”


  “”(((((Okay~)))))””


  As we all scattered to pick up the loot, we heard Vector’s shout.

  (Waaah~ Niicha~n.)

  “What is it? Did something happen, Vector?”


  (I stepped on something~)

  “Eh, what did you step on?”


  (I don’t know~ But it’s so slimy~ Slimy is bleeh~~~)

  “Hurry and move to a brighter pla… ah!——Light.”


  I hurriedly used illumination magic. I just should have produced a light source in a place where there is none, yeah~

  Or rather, there was no need for us to fight in darkness in the first place~ How stupid of me.

  “Look, you can see now. And so, what did you step on?”


  (Err… hah! Ahhhh———!!)

  “What is it, Vector?”


  (M, meat!! My precious meaaaat——!!)

  “… Ah~”


  It seemed that what Vector had stepped on was the flesh of a Black Wolf.

  This caused Vector’s mournful cry to echo out.

  “”Waah~””


  (Well, there was more meat around, so let’s give up on that piece.)

  (Niisama, I finished picking up everything on my side.)

  (Aniue, I don’t think there’s anything left to collect.)

  (Takumi Nii, I am also finished!)

  One by one, the children who had finished picking up the loot came to where Vector and I were.

  We took the depressed Vector to the hall with the teleport device and comforted him.

  Anyway, we have now conquered one fifth of this dungeon.