Arua Raven was a girl with shiny blonde hair and a small height of just over 150 cm.

Just like now.

"Did you know that, Mr. Yandel?"

Uh...

"I didn't know it was so bad.

When I answered honestly, Raven's eyes became even scarier. However, I was only embarrassed and scratched my head like a barbarian. We were already inside the labyrinth. What was she going to do?

"Now I'll find my way myself." Abman, just keep telling me where the portal is.

— ... Ok.

Mr. Bear seemed to be frightened by Raven's gaze as well, for he handed me the steering wheel without further ado.

Okay, then came the most important thing.

"Ha, you really...

Judging by her face, she seemed to realize that she had been deceived, but Raven saved her words, deciding to see how things would play out first. Before harsh words flew out of her small lips, it was necessary to clearly show her that even if the guide had topographical cretinism, this would not interfere with the expedition.

"Then let's go."

Using Mr. Bear as a compass, I quickly found my way. I could feel Raven's doubtful gaze on me, but I didn't care too much.

This is the 1st floor. If you know where the north-south-west-east is, then there should be no problem finding the way to the 2nd floor.

Half of the way can be easily walked, choosing wider passages at intersections.

It is worth avoiding hilly areas, as they are likely to be dead-ends.

And from the outskirts, always follow the path where there are fewer crystals.

These were the various pieces of advice I received while working with Rothmiller, who was a real worker. By using them, I have minimized wasteful moves such as going back from dead ends.

"Oh, we've come faster than I expected.

As a result, we quickly reached the edge of the dark zone. Then everything was much simpler. Usually, we found the portal by looking around rather than using a compass.

"There."

But we had a guide who could sense the location of the portal without much effort on the part of our team. So just follow in that direction, and that's the end of it. Of course, the portal had long been opened by another researcher.

[You entered the Goblin Forest on the 2nd floor].

After reaching the 2nd floor, Raven's expression softened noticeably.

"12 hours to get to the 2nd floor... Not bad.

Phew, it seems to have passed. Since we had set the time to break through the 2nd floor at 13 hours during the planning phase, she had no reason to argue.

— It's not surprising that you set such a duration, even though you have a guide.

Raven looked at me indignantly, but surprisingly, that was the end of it.

Was she the type of person who judged by results?

Very reasonable.

In light of this, I tried to stay on schedule for the 2nd floor, even though the plan was tough – to break through it in 24 hours.

"Abman, in what direction?"

"There."

There were eight portals in the Goblin Forest. However, as soon as one opened up, the others turned into a simple stone. Therefore, late teams usually looked for a portal, moving along the outskirts. On average, it took 2-3 days if there was no guide in the team.

If there is a guide, then one day is enough, since there was no need to walk in circles.

Without taking out the compass, we headed straight for the open portal.

"Raven, can you increase the number of light spheres?"

"Three is not a problem.

The lack of a professional intelligence officer was also not a problem. And the fact that the field was littered with traps? As long as it was as light as day, it didn't even pose a threat. Goblins were flocking to the light, but now, even if dozens of Goblins attacked at the same time, I could deal with them alone.

"Let's rest here today."

We set up camp around 9 p.m. on the outskirts of the Goblin Forest, where the Hobgoblins began to appear.

— ... Do all researchers really work according to such a rigid schedule?

For Raven, who is participating in a full-fledged expedition for the first time, it must have been a rather difficult day, but the rhythm should be set on the 1st day, while there is still strength.

"We will continue to equip the camp so that tomorrow it will be more convenient.

— ... Well, it is interesting to visit a real expedition.

"Stop talking, go to bed." Tomorrow we will still have to move.

"Good. Wake me up if anything happens.

As expected, Raven was excluded from the night watch. The mere installation of magic [Alarm] was considered to be the work of one person.

"Hey, Bjorn... About Einar. Is it possible to leave her alone on duty?

Misha cautiously expressed her concern, looking at Einar, who was next in line for night duty.

I just smiled and said:

"It's all right. She won't fall asleep or anything.

Ainar turned out to be surprisingly reliable in these matters. She was suspicious of people, but the barbarians considered it a disgrace not to keep their promises. When we explored together, she kept a good night watch, and then it lasted 4 hours and was even more tiring from lack of sleep.

"I see... I guess I was a little biased.

After 8 hours of spending the night and changing watches every 2 hours for the four of us, early in the morning we resumed the expedition. No sooner had noon come than we found the portal.

[You entered the Pilgrim's Path on the 3rd floor].

After we got to the 3rd floor, the expedition went without any problems. The battles were too simple to be considered combat practice, and it was not difficult to find the way. Mr. Bear did not get lost, as on the 1st floor or in a city where there were no roads.

[You have entered the special area on the 3rd floor].

[Witchwood Field Effect applied]

The Witchwood I was worried about turned out to be the same.

Tying himself up with a rope like a fish to dry, Mr. Bear led us along, and the others followed him, and everything went off without difficulty.

And so time passed.

"Oh, it's a tower!" Bjorn! There was indeed a tower in the middle of the forest!

"Haha, didn't I tell you that there are a lot of strange things in the maze?"

'Behellaaa

— ... You just wanted to scream, didn't you?

We reached the portal of the 4th floor, and it was only noon on the 8th day.

The speed is almost the same as Rothmiller's.

I was glad of it, but at the same time I felt bitterness.

After all, couldn't talent be surpassed by hard work?

"Mr. Yandel, what are you thinking?" Raven asked.

"Well, about nothing.

"Then maybe we'll go already?" My stomach aches from the ominous mana emanating from the entire forest.

Was it because of her innate sensitivity to mana? Maybe Raven wasn't nauseous, but she was much more seasick than Dvalky. I wish I could alleviate her condition.

"Wait a little longer. We will only be able to enter when the color of the portal changes.

"Oh, yes. I've heard about it. That's because there might already be another team inside, right?

"Yes, if we don't wait, we might be mistaken for marauders and attacked.

When I gave her a reasonable reason, Raven waited patiently. Soon, the color of the portal changed.

"Okay, now let's go in."

The time has come for a real ascent.

***

[You entered the Sky Tower on the 4th floor].

***

The Sky Tower was a unique floor where random combinations of monsters appeared at each stage. This is a place I usually call the Training Tower, and I planned to coordinate our team's work here properly.

But...

With such a difference in strength, it was pointless.

After the very first battle, I realized that the level of combat power is very different from a team of losers. So much so that on the 4th floor it was impossible to squeeze the maximum strength out of us.

[You have applied [Gigantization]].

With [Unity], the mace has greatly increased, not only in size, but also in stats. And if you add the attack skill [Sweep] to that, the rank 7 monster looks like a Goblin. The key here was to have a separate main damage dealer.

[Abman Urikfrid used [Hazardous Materials]].

The powerful damage of Mr. Bear's rank 5 crossbowman was not limited to a single one-shot kill, but completely destroyed the surrounding area along with the Iron Bear beast he summoned, a high-rank tank.

[Arua Raven cast a 6th rank spell [Baptism of Fire]].

Such was the insane usefulness of a true Magus Raven, who of course possessed the attack magic of the four main attributes, as well as more than a hundred curses and support spells.

Yes, there must be three people in the team who are able to pull it (the team).

The quality of the team has increased dramatically. No matter what bizarre combinations appeared, if they were below rank 6, they could be destroyed in less than 3 minutes.

Maybe they are not enough compared to the three of us, but Einar and Misha are also doing well... As expected, the 5th floor should not cause any problems.

Therefore, instead of coordinating our work, we focused on climbing the Heavenly Tower. However, the speed fell short of expectations.

The reason was simple.

In itself, our combat speed was incomparable to the speed of a team of losers, but our team did not have a professional scout.

Everything would be fine, but it's a pity that it takes so long to pass the test of Wisdom.

The Test of Wisdom is a kind of shortcut. Instead of going through a maze full of traps and monsters, she allowed you to skip 5 stages at a time. Also, unlike the Ladder of Courage, there was no 4-hour break before climbing to the next stage...

It took Rothmiller about an hour to complete it. We needed almost 5 times more.

"Bjorn, can't we just fight monsters?"

I was just as upset as Einar, but there was no choice. It would take more than 16 days to reach the 100th stage through Courage.

It would be impossible to break through to the 5th floor before the maze was closed.

"It's too late today. Let's rest, and the rest will be overcome tomorrow.

Since entering the Tower, we had only passed one Test of Wisdom, but it was already 10 o'clock in the evening, and it was time to set up camp. Of course, the camp was very different from the usual one. There was no need to establish the order of night duty, everyone just spread a sleeping bag wherever they wanted, and that's it.

"We're in the labyrinth, but we don't need to set up the Night's Watch!! Misha, I'm dizzy now!

"Keke, I understand how you feel. When I first got here, I couldn't get used to it and couldn't fall asleep-...

*Hraaaaaap!*

"Hey, I'm talking to you...!"

Ainar passed out as soon as she lay down on her sleeping bag.

Mike looked at her and sighed, and then dried herself with a wet towel, getting ready for bed.

"Bjorn, why do you keep looking in this direction?"

"I don't look.

"Come on. Turn your head. We are teammates! There is no point in regretting it now.

I'm telling you, I didn't look.

I just sighed and focused on wiping the blood from the mace. But she didn't seem to like it either.

"Click."

Misha clicked her tongue on purpose so that I could hear.

It was a change that happened after she moved into my inn.

Despite the fact that she said that she wanted to forget about that day, she was increasingly jokingly reminiscing about it. Well, I didn't complain about it.

… Maybe it's even better this way.

Misha opened her feelings to me, and I resolutely drew a line. No matter how much we would like to pretend that nothing happened, it could not be so. Perhaps this is how she made her decision. It was much less embarrassing than being aware of it every time and being careful in words.

"Then I'll go to bed."

"Good.

Soon Misha climbed into her sleeping bag and closed her eyes. I saw that Mr. Bear had spread his sleeping bag in the corner and was ready for bed.

*Hraaaaaap!*

While I was putting my gear in order, I took the Ainar sword and quickly wiped it down too. At that moment, Raven quietly approached me.

"Do you want to say something?"

— Yes.

— Speak.

"I've done the math here, and at our current speed, we won't get to the 5th floor.

So you calculated it, right? Oh, those magicians.

Of course, it's not that I didn't understand her concern. The more time we lose here, the less time we will have on the 5th floor.

"And our profit will be much lower than that of other teams.

—... This is our first expedition. Now it may take a long time, because we do not have a professional intelligence officer, but it will be faster and faster.

"As you say."

After that, Raven didn't say anything else and went back to her sleeping bag. It wasn't because she completely agreed with what I said. If the passage of the Ladder of Wisdom continues to take us more than 5 hours, it will come to me again with extreme decisions.

… Okay, it's time to go to bed.

I placed the well-polished sword next to Einar and lay down in my sleeping bag.

"[Mr. Yandel, just listen].

After a while, I woke up to Raven's voice in my head.

It was magic called [Secret Voice]. I wondered why she would need to use magic to wake me up.

But...

"[I used detection magic when I was washing... There's someone else here besides us. So don't move.]

The reason was very simple.

To be honest, I don't understand how she can say this so calmly.

"[He's right behind me].

One wrong move, and our mage will die.