With Sakuya in tow, we proceeded further into the dungeon.

　I encountered a skeleton.
　The skeleton is more agile than a bad human, but I'm getting used to its movements.

　He ducked the first move and used the momentum of his attack to lose his balance and dropped onto his standing knees.
　He broke the skeleton's hip bone in the manner of a baseball bat fold.

　The blow was fatal, and the skeleton was knocked down, dropping ten seeds after it disappeared.
　I asked Sakuya to pick them up.

''Use this.''
What's this?
It's an item that, when touched, increases your maximum HP.
What?
'Of course it's only in the dungeon. Even Sulphur can level up, but only in dungeons.
Oh, I see.

　Sakuya nodded immediately and readily agreed.

　She's been going to the extent that she's called the "Sulphur Queen," and she convinced me without a doubt that she's only in the dungeon.

　It was easy for me to explain, since that's what the back nihonium is.

'But the Sulphur Queen is amazing. You didn't call yourself that, did you?

　Somehow, she's just not that kind of person.
　There are some people who get fired up when they start gaining strength, but I don't think Sakuya is that kind of person.
　Rather--.

'Yes, before I knew it, I got called up. So I'm in a bit of a bind.
Yeah. You just want to meet your true self in sulfa, that's all.
Yes ......

　Sakuya chuckled.

'Thanks ......'

　I said.

'Thank you?'
I'm having a little trouble with that, but they don't understand.
Don't you understand?
It's great that you're called the queen. It's cool. All my friends are like that.
Okay.

　He looks complicated.
　He doesn't say it, but I'm sure he's "playing Kamatoto" or "bragging about your self-deprecating style? And I guess that's the way it works, too.
　There are many "well-meaning" people who try to push the person into a conventional frame of reference without trying to understand his or her situation.

　You think, "Can't I do something for him - I'll do something for him.

'Ryota-san, look out!'
What?

　I was pondering, my reaction was delayed by a breath of air due to the fact that I was in the middle of thinking.
　A skeleton came out from the side of the room, splitting the wall.

　It's an ambush!

　There's no way around this. I'm going to have to take a shot and--

Ha!

　Sakuya interrupted me as I prepared myself.
　Not fast by any means, like E or F, speed that's appropriate for the specs.

　But her lean movements seem to be faster than her status.
　As soon as I thought she interrupted me, she threw the exact same move as before, extremely throwing the joint and finally crushing the bone with a hit-and-run.

　The backgrounds and situations are different, but it's as if it's a replay.
　It's a command RPG, and the characters are doing the exact same movements.
　That's what it looked like.

'Are you okay?'
Oh, thank God.
Thank goodness for ...... and the seeds.

　Relieved, Sakuya notices that one of the seeds has fallen at her feet.

''Is that what the monster just dropped?''
I guess so.

　Oh, I see.
　So the strength seeds in the back drop even if it's not me?

　Sakuya used the seeds to raise her HP.
　I start walking through the dungeon again.

　I don't think about anything else right now, my abilities are down and I'm focused.

　When I'm aware of that, I was able to defeat both the skeletons that I encountered and the skeletons that surprised me normally.
　And the mini-skeleton that encircled at the end of my search.

''It's a different monster!''
That's the guy we're after. I'm on it.

　And I took it down normally on my own, without Sakuya's help.
　After defeating the mini-skeleton, I came back with the dropped level down seeds and showed them to Sakuya.

'That's it,'
Here's .......
Let's go back.

　Take Sakuya back to the gate and use it to return to the mansion.

　When you get back to the transporter room, I'll give you the seeds.

Use it.
Yes.
Do you understand?
'Yes!　Level, level one down.
"Hm.

　I nodded and held out the portable now-board I had prepared.

　I didn't have it with me because you can't bring items or weapons into the back Nifonium, but when I came back to the transporter room, I found it in my possessions.

　Sakuya takes it and uses it as soon as possible.

---1/2---
Level: 65/66
HP E
MP F
Power E
Strength E
Intelligence F
Spirit F
Speed F
Dexterous E
Luck F
--------- ...

It's gone. ...... is down!
'If you repeat the process, you can go back to level one. From there, you can see the pattern of leveling up from there and increasing your abilities.
'Yes!　In sulfa!
'Then we'll talk fast. As long as your ability goes up when you level up, good, and if it doesn't, you can take the seed again with Nihonium, level down, and start over from the previous level. It's practically a save and load.
......

　Sakuya's eyes widen in surprise.
　But his eyes were full of hope and expectation.

'If you do that, you can go to ......'
Yeah, why not?

　I nodded and looked at each other with Sakuya.

　The real me--.

　I thought I heard the voice in her mind saying, "I am the real me--".

　After taking a breath, she says further.

'It seems that you can't go through the regular entrance over there earlier, so you can go from this room. You can stay here for a while.
Really?
Yeah.
Thank you!

　Sakuya bowed deeply.
　Thus, she was going to stay for a while.

　　　　　☆

　The next morning, when I woke up, there was some kind of commotion outside my room.
　Wondering what was going on, I changed my clothes and went out of the room to head towards the commotion.

　Then I saw Sakuya and a man I didn't know talking in the doorway.

　Sakuya looks annoyed and tries to say no, but the man is biting back.

'Good morning, sir.'
'Good morning Emily. What was that about?

　Emily, who had been keeping an eye on things a little ways away from Sakuya, came over here and asked about the situation.

'It looks like the merchant who was buying Sakuya-san.
Yeah.

　You're a buyer.

'So I don't want you to say that out of the blue. It would be hard to fill the hole if Mr. Sulphur Queen stopped suddenly. It's understandable.
Yeah, that's ......

　Sakuya looks troubled as the merchant pushes her.

''It's been like this since a while ago, Sakuya-san is in trouble because she said she doesn't want to stop.
That's right: ......

　I know how you feel, I know how you feel.
　It's the path of hope that I finally found, and from Sakuya's point of view, he wants to go there with all his might.

　I've been there myself, so I understand.

　Once I realized that my abilities would increase with the seeds, I raised my HP to S at once.
　After that, I did it slowly, but that's because my HP was at S. Now that my HP was at S, the "potential" was clearly "real" and I had a clearer picture of what was possible, and I had a clearer mind.

　Sakuya is me now, before my HP became an S.
　She's throwing everything away, but she wants to get back to level 1 first.

　Well, okay.

So it's business as usual...
I'll do it.

　I stepped forward and interrupted the conversation.

"If you're not involved, please stand down. I'll do it. I can't just fill the Sulphur Queen's hole in the ground with a bunch of--
Mr. Lyota!
Not-- Lyota!

　The merchant was sowing vigorously, but when he heard my name, his expression grew stronger.

''Ryota, Ryota, is that Ryota Satou?''

　You came to the villa and you didn't know it.
　Never mind.

"You know my name, you're a quick study. I'll fill in for her for a while. You think this is enough?　I would.
That's: ...... No!

　It was only for a moment that he clammed up.
　The merchant's tone was crisp and unmistakable.

''It's all right now!''
Are you okay?
'Yes!　Now if you'll excuse me.

　With that, the merchant turned and walked away from the mansion.

　.......
　I've seen this trend before.

　A coworker once wanted to take a paid leave and was told by his boss to give him a reason for the paid leave.
　When that coworker replied "I'll give the boss a reason for it too", it's the same as when he took the paid leave without a reason.

　In short, the guy just wanted to annoy Sakuya, even if interpreted favorably, he wanted to stop Kanazuru from running away.
　That's all.

　That's all I know.
　I'm known to keep getting into things irrationally, and I left as quickly as I could.

　I don't know if that kind of thing is still around .......

　I was lightly annoyed with myself.

"Well, thank you very much!

　Sakuya bowed his head in a flash.
　He bowed his head with such tremendous force that his waist was broken ninety degrees in the doorway.

　When she looked up, her eyes were filled with a light of hope and expectation.
　The light that I started to have yesterday was still there.

　I knew I was right to interrupt.