"This is again..."

　Ray muttered unconsciously as he saw the scene spread all over the place.
　Next to him is Arla, who is in the vanguard like Ray, behind him are Elena and Custe, and in the vanguard, Ver is looking out in surprise.
　Only Seto, next to Ver, was making some happy cry.

"Well, this is the fourth basement of the dungeon, I suppose?"
"Well, you've just come down the stairs."

　said Arla, who suddenly came to himself, and Custe agreed.

"No, no, I can see Arla getting confused.I was surprised to see such a scene spread out in front of me when I came down from the dungeon."

　Ver is always in a light tone, but he must be surprised.He is speaking in a half-dumb tone now.

`Why... why... why is there a forest in the dungeon? And it's strange to think that there's something that looks like the sun.

　Yes, there was nothing but the forest that lay before them.and, as Arra said, there was something like the sun in the sky, and it was actually illuminated by the light.

"Calm down, Arra. This is a dungeon, a place where nothing can happen.If you get confused, it'll be an opportunity."

　Putting her hand on Arla's shoulder, Elena called out to calm her.
　That voice must have brought him back to life.Arla would turn red and bow her head small.

"Well, it's not Arla, but I'm sure you'll be surprised if you come down from the dungeon and suddenly see the forest spread out in front of you, but calm down for now.Unlike the third basement level, there is no map from here.Unlike in the past, when you were heading straight to the stairs, it will be difficult to find the stairs to the fifth basement floor.So let's take a deep breath first and change our consciousness."

　Everyone breathes deeply, following Elena's voice.In addition, the air I inhaled at that time was not that of a dungeon, but rather that of a deep forest.

"... now, let's go more cautiously from here on out.I'll play with the ranks a little.In order to have them fully demonstrate their skills as thieves, they exchange positions between Ray and Ver.Ray, watch out for monsters attacking from behind and above with Sett."
"Oh, it's time for me to show my true colors.I'm better at things like this in the woods than at dungeons.Well then, Ray. Take care of the rear guard."
"Leave it to me. I'm used to acting with Seto, so don't worry about being attacked from behind."
"As expected, Ray. He's so confident."

　After a deep breath, he seems to have calmed down, and he changes ranks with Ver, who has returned to his usual light tone.

"And, Mr. Elena, which way would you like to go?"

　When asked by Arra, Elena thought about it for a few seconds and looked around her, but immediately shrugged her shoulders.

"As long as you don't have a map, you'll only have a hunch in the end, so be it.Ray, choose the direction you want to go with your hunch as an adventurer."
"What? Me?"
"Yes, no one can present a guiding direction.Then it would be better to rely on the intuition of the adventurer Ray."

　Ray was suddenly instructed to do so, but he looked around him, wondering if he would be in trouble if he was told to decide the way by intuition.

"...that's right.I don't know if we can break through this floor today, so how about we go along looking for a base for the encampment in case of course.
"The base? Is it a river?""Yes, but I think it's hard to balance that with the danger of monsters coming for a drink in the river."
"But if you are going to spend the night in this fourth basement, it would be important in many ways to secure a water-field."
"Well, I've brought some water in a container, but it's nothing better than saving money."
"Well, then, even if I were to move in search of a water-ground, which is a river or a lake, would it not change that I don't know which way to go?"

　Elena smiles bitterly, but Ray caresses Seto on the back with a smile.

"Seto, can you feel the smell of water or the sound of water flowing?"
"Glu".

　Seto sings confidently to leave it to Ray's words.When they saw it, Elena and others glanced admiringly at Gryphon's senses.
　What surprised Ray the most was that even Couste looked at him with admiration.

(Well, there is a way to get Sett to fly and look for a river or a lake from the sky...)

　That's how Ray thought, but fortunately, Seto seems to have sensed either the smell of water or the sound of water, turning his gaze to the left and chirping high.

"As you can see, there seems to be a waterfront on the left.Do you mean we're going that way?"
"Yes, I have no problem.Custe, Ver, Arra, and I'll turn left."

　He nodded to Elena's instructions, and the party began to turn left.
　Fortunately, even though it was a forest, there were very few trees that could interfere with walking, and especially it would have been fortunate for the party to proceed without making way for themselves.





"Grull".

　It was about an hour after Seto began to groan in the woods.
　She must have been surprised to hear Sett growl behind her.Arra and Verle, who were walking in front of them, look back.

"...what's the matter?"

　She asks Elena calmly, and Ray answers when he realizes that Seto is very concerned about the surroundings.

"You seem to be concerned about what's going on around you.Probably a monster."
"Around me? Isn't it one way?"
"Well, I don't think it's one way."
"Then, should we assume that some kind of monster operating in a herd surrounds us?"

　Elena's words frowned upon everyone present.
　It was in the woods where the place to be the battlefield was not difficult to hide, even though it was against them to be surrounded already.It was obvious that they were disadvantaged by the attack.

"Elena, would you like to set it up from this way?"
"I wish to do so, but what if I could not see the enemy?"

　Arra was immediately rejected, but she looked at Ray as if she had thought of something.

"What about burning down the whole forest by the magic of Ray's flame?""No, sir.
"...why?"

　This time, Arra is rejected by Ray, who expects the magic of fire.
　Ver opened his mouth dumbfounded at the scene.

"It's all right to burn the forest, but then we'll be blacked out, too? No, before we do that, we'll get caught up in smoke."
"Ugh,"
"Well, let's think about it a little before we speak."
"It's the Mayfly,"It's no use making a small mistake."
"That's true, but in the case of Arra, she says there are too many mistakes."
"You're not nervous enough, though you're surrounded by the enemy."

　Custe watches out, holding a magical spear and ready to respond to the attack at any time.
　But neither Aara nor Ver, as they joked at each other, held their swords, and Ver kept shooting arrows at any time.
　Elena also had a concatenated sword, and Ray had a death-size sword.Seto is looking around so that he can react instantly no matter where he attacks.
　And...

"Roll-roll-roll-roll!"

　The moment Seto screams, the enemy literally appears from all directions.
　It looks like a monkey.but his sharp tusks grew out of his mouth, and his skin was covered with running water.In terms of size, it depends on whether the smaller one is 60 cm and the larger one is 1 meter.However, about twenty of them appeared surrounding the Lays.

"A monkey covered in water!? It's a monkey version of a water bear, and I think there's a water monkey in the monster dictionary... Is that it?"

　It was Elena who reacted to Ray's muttering.

"Hey, give me information about this monster!"

　Shaking his death-size as if to intimidate the water monkey, he distanced himself from the book to remind himself of what was written in the book.

"It's a monster that uses water magic, and it's a rank D monster.But if you think about it as an individual.As for ability, its fur, which is covered with water, is largely susceptible to the effects of fire magic and physical attacks.For that reason, it seems that the wind system or the geographical system is effective.I think that weapons such as clubs, hammers, axes, and sharp attacks and thrusts that cut through the water covering the fur are effective in physical attacks."
"It hurts that I can't use Ray's magic, which boasts the most power.Then, the magic of my wind is the only thing that works.and the rest with their respective weapons.Come to think of it, Ray.Were you able to use some of the magic of the wind?"
"Yes, but the only magic of the wind that I can use is the blade of the wind that I showed when I was a mantis."
"No, it's still better than nothing.With that at the center... here we come!"

　The water monkeys, watching Elena and Ray talk, could not contain their excitement in the presence of their prey.He came at me with his tusks exposed from the branches of the tree.And there are individuals behind the scenes who shoot water polo much smaller than those used by water bears.

"Hit!"

　He hits the water monkey who attacks us directly and hits us with his death-size skill, Hidaigiri.The flying attack depicts Ray's sharp-edged trajectory, and first cuts off the bodies of the two men who were about to attack Ray, while the attack disappears leaving a great scar on the tree behind.

"Squeak!"They must have noticed that their bodies were cut in half in the air and fell to the ground with their internal organs scattered.Water monkey screams alarm.But it was already late.The blade of the wind released from Elena is much less powerful than Ray's sword, but instead more than ten are released at a time.Water Monkey, cut by the blade of this wind, was probably worse off than the individual killed by Ray.because compared to the two dead without pain, the Water Monkey, who was attacked by Elena, was cut throughout his body with the blade of the wind and cut off his hands, toes, or ears, and his arms and feet were cut halfway though they were not cut off due to lack of power.

"Cheeky! Cheeky!"

　Arra wields her sword down to several water monkeys rolling around the ground bleeding from all over their bodies, and Custe penetrates with her magic spear.
　The water which covered the fur could not have been prevented from being struck by Arra's strength, and the neck and body of the water had been cut off, or the water which had covered the skin was blown off by the magic spear of Custe, who manipulated the water, and the tip of the magic spear penetrated the body, and the connecting sword wielded by Elena was thrust into the body as if there were no water.

"Roll-roll-roll-roll!"

　Or the blow of the eagle's fingernail, which was struck by Sett as if it had nothing to do with such water, mowed off the body of the water monkey with the water covering its skin covered.and the blow of Set, equipped with a bracelet of strength, struck the fuselage, and instead of blowing away the enemy, smashed the fuselage on the spot, drenched the internal organs of the water monkey to the surrounding trees.
　Some of his friends must have felt a sense of crisis when they were plunged into a pool of blood.The Water Monkeys, who had just jumped at them, immediately grabs them to the branches of a nearby tree and distance themselves from them.

"Did you give up?"
"No, I don't think so,"

　It was Ver who denied Custe's words.His gaze surrounded them from the top of the tree as if to encircle them, and he held his bow as if he were shooting an arrow at the water monkeys watching them.

"But have you learned from this conversation that they can't do anything about us.
"I wish I had been such a clever monster... look at their eyes, do you think they've given up?"

　Custe observed the water monkey, as Ver said, and although his eyes were indeed full of hostility and appetites as if they were prey, there was no feeling of awe or fear.

"""After all, it's like a monster."We must also see the competence between ourselves and our opponents."

　It was the moment Custe muttered disdainfully.

"Oh my gosh!"

　The fierce screams echoed throughout the surrounding area.
　Then the Water Monkeys turn their backs and disappear into the woods without hesitation, without looking at the Ray's, who had been fighting so far.
　It was a scene of withdrawal like a soldier in command.

"I see. There were monsters who were led by such a large group."

　Ray was watching the surroundings while listening to Elena muttering in admiration, but suddenly Seto, who was next to him, looked up at a giant tree deep in the forest and groaned.　
　The sound of the groan reflected his death-size view of a water monkey much larger than the one he had just attacked.It is about two meters long.Considering the size of the water monkey, which had just been attacked, was up to 1m, the unusual size is obvious.

(And perhaps he was the one who screamed earlier.)

　The giant water monkey may have noticed that he had his eyes fixed on him, but after glancing at Ray and Elena, he disappears into the depths of the forest.

"Isn't that a water monkey? Isn't that a water gorilla, not a water monkey? Ray, what size water monkey do you know?"
"Basically, he was small, and even a large one was about one meter long."
"That's about it, I should have been in the first group to attack."
"Oh, then, I think it's probably a rare or high-ranking species... unfortunately, I didn't write anything about it in the book I saw.""Well, it's a monster that's strong and intelligent enough to signal a withdrawal as soon as we see it as dangerous.I'm not very willing to fight him."

　The murmur of Elena echoed round her, and each nodded in his heart.