Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu Chapter 43

Defense Specialization and the Fifth Day of the Event

「We should probably go too.」

「Yeah.」

A short time after Kasumi left, the two got up as well.

Their goal was to find a place to sleep tonight.

「We have to get out of the desert first…」

Sleeping in the desert with no protection would be extremely dangerous.

The two started walking.

「This place is huge…」

「Yeah…」

Over and over again, they climbed over one dune after another, but the scenery remained the same.

Large dunes were everywhere, making it difficult to see in which direction to go to get out of the desert.

Besides, it wasn’t like there were no monsters around.

Frankly speaking, the two wanted to avoid fighting.

「Why don’t we take a break after we get over this dune?」

「Yep, let’s do that.」

They climbed up the steep slope with their hands.

And after that, a scenery slightly different from the one before spread out before them.

「There are no dunes?」

「It’s perfectly flat!」

In front of them extended a desert with no undulations.

There was not a single dune, and if it weren’t for it being night, they would have been able to see far into the distance.

「Do you want to go this way?」

「Let’s do that! Seems easier to walk here.」

The two of them agreed, and so they slid down the dune and started walking again.

「Maybe we would have seen something if it was daytime.」

「Maybe so. How many days are left of the event again?」

「Three. Our goal is to get nine more medals in that time.」

「Ummm… it sounds pretty tough, doesn’t it?」

「It’ll be pretty tough if we don’t PK, I guess.」

「Ummm… I see.」

If they absolutely had to, that would be an option, but it would be just as difficult as finding a dungeon because there was no way to know who had medals.

「Well, that can only happen when we meet a player. If they plan on fighting, we’ll retaliate accordingly.」

「Yeah, I guess so.」

The two continued walking through the vast desert.

It was dark and they couldn’t see very far ahead, but they could tell the desert was ending as they could hear the rustling of the tree leaves in the wind gradually becoming louder and louder.

「We don’t know what kind of monsters are out there, so be careful.」

「O-okay!」

After 30 minutes of advancing through the dark forest.

The two found a cave.

「Let’s go check it out. If it looks shallow, let’s use it as our base.」

「I’ll take the lead.」

The two thought it might be another deep cave, but this cave was an empty one that only extended about five meters deep.

The two were finally able to rest and lay down on the ground.

「Ahh… I’m tired for today.」

「Me too…」

The two summoned their respective partners.

Partly it was to soothe themselves, but also because they felt bad about leaving them alone, as they hadn’t got a chance to summon them often.

「I’m sorry I couldn’t let you out.」

「I’ll level you up in earnest after the event.」

The two said that and stroked the two critters gently, and they seemed happy about it.

「Since tomorrow we’ll start with exploring this forest, how about we just call it a day for today?」

「Sounds good with me.」

The two decided to take turns sleeping and went to sleep early. They wanted to rest as much as possible on this day.

The two slept, each holding Syrup or Oboro in their arms.

The next morning at 6 o’clock.

The two were somewhat relieved of their fatigue and their motivation to explore returned.

After finishing a light breakfast, they left the cave and started exploring the forest.

「A fresh start! Let’s give it our all!」

「Yeah!」

They had explored a forest several times before, but this forest was completely unremarkable…

As after exploring for two hours or so, they found nothing.

「We don’t know if there are any special conditions or not, so…」

「How about we just leave this forest?」

Sally pondered Maple’s suggestion for a moment, then nodded in affirmation.

「Which way do we go?」

「There’s no point in going back, so let’s just keep going straight. It’s not like there aren’t places we haven’t explored yet.」

Since their method of exploration was to search in the depths of the area, they didn’t know if there was anything near the exit of the forest.

However, as people say, the odds were slim.

Whether it be a dungeon or a normal playfield, important things were often hidden in the depths and protected by powerful monsters.

It wouldn’t be worth the trouble to place a treasure chest with medals near an exit.

And as the two approached the exit of the forest, they heard something.

「Are those wave sounds?」

「Yep, I can hear it too.」

The end of the forest was in sight, and what the two saw ahead was a pure white sandy beach and a vast sea. On the bottom of the crystal clear sea, colorful fish were swimming happily, and beautiful corals were coloring the sea like flowers in bloom.

A single small island could be seen in the distance.

The sea was glistening, reflecting the sunlight.

「Oh… it’s a sea this time… this field is really big.」

「So many interesting things!」

In the past five days, they had explored many places: a grassland, a forest, a snow-covered mountain, a canyon, a desert, and caves.

And yet, they were still discovering new terrains, which made it all the more rewarding to explore.

The reason the two were able to see so many sceneries was because they were both keen to explore.

They had spent hours every day exploring, and as a result, they were able to discover new dungeons and terrains.

The fact that those dungeons hadn’t been cleared already was a sign of their good fortune.

「But… the sea isn’t something I can explore.」

「For now, I’ll go exploring underwater for a while.」

「Yep, please do.」

Sally took a deep breath and dove into the sea with a splash.

Sally could dive for a total of 40 minutes.

She wouldn’t be coming up for a while.

「What should I do while I wait… I can’t fish properly… we explored the forest and… hmmm, should I look for something buried on the beach?」

With that, Maple started digging through the sand.

Meanwhile, Sally was admiring the jewel-like fish underwater.

It was such a beautiful sight.

And because she had only been looking at slimy snails the other day, they looked even more beautiful.

However, she couldn’t stay admiring them forever. She examined the gaps in the corals and the sand on the seafloor.

If she didn’t have the skills, it’d be a task that would take quite a bit of time, but with Sally’s skill set, it could be done quickly and deftly.

「Gasp…! Okay, I got one medal! Not many people have 【Diving】 and 【Swimming】, huh? Looks like the deep parts have not been explored.」

Since there was no need to dive to the limit, she took a break and dove again.

There were several gaps in the coral reefs, which continued to the depths, and that’s where the medal from earlier was found.

Sally would focus her search there.

Because if there were medals and equipment, that’s where they would be.

The shallow waters had probably been explored, so she was going to explore and search through the deeper areas to find them.

As a result, she was able to find another medal.

「Phew… now what I have left… is that island, I guess?」

Sally swam towards the island.

The island, located at a distance impossible for Maple to reach, was small, and apart from a staircase in the center that led underground, there was only a single palm tree growing there.

「For now… let’s go and check it out.」

Sally cautiously made her way down the stairs.

About a hundred steps down was a plain-looking wooden door.

It didn’t seem to be sealed or locked. There was no magic circle floating around or anything.

Sally cautiously opened it.

And she was surprised by the scenery inside.

Inside was a beautiful semi-circular dome.

And in the middle of it.

Was a familiar old shrine standing calmly along with a magic circle.