Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

Chapter 104: The Great Skeleton Floors I

【127th day】

「Huh?」

The oldest member of the party said that to me.

I was surprised because I wasn't used to hearing such things.

「What's this all of a sudden, Otou-san?」

We were currently celebrating our clearing of the 30th floor.

The celebration was being held at the usual bar that was run by the country. It was dusk, and the bar was just starting to fill up with customers.

The table we were sitting at was piled high with pork and beans, which I was starting to tire of, as well as alcohol & more alcohol.

「What do you other guys think?」

Otou-san asked the other members for their opinions.

The boy was the first to answer.

「Yeah, well, his sword techniques are so-so, but I think his skill as a leader is amazing. Just look at those from our batch. They're still trying to clear the 20th floor. Well, half of that is thanks to my skill though」

Self-pride had been mixed in, but that was his evaluation of me.

「If half is thanks to you, then how much of it is due to my enemy detection and archery?」

My younger sister turned on Shuna.

「Half, I suppose」

「What about Medimu's quick thinking and sword techniques? What about Lys and Onee-chan's magic?」

「Roughly half」

「That doesn’t add up, you know?」

「………………」

Shuna ate his meat in silence.

In my spare time, I should at least teach him some math.

「Well, he's my Onii-chan. Of course he's awesome」

In a good mood, my sister sat on one of my legs and put her arms around my neck.

She seems a little drunk.

「That's right. He's my husband, so it's no wonder he's awesome」

Then, her elder sister also sat on my other leg.

Even though she doesn't really get drunk normally, she also seems a little drunk. Not so much from the alcohol, but from the mood.

「Onee-chan, your butt is so big. Don't take up so much space」

「What?! That's not true! In the first place, this is my husband's lap. Who do you think it belongs to?」

Me, it belongs to me.

「This is my Onii-chan's lap~. Half of it belongs to me~」

While saying that, my sister thrashed her legs about, trying to increase her territory.

「Ea! That's so improper!」

Her legs and thighs were bare as usual, but because she was flailing them about, I could see her V-line through the gaps in her hot pants. Naturally, I also caught glimpses of her underwear.

Ea, my sister, I've long suspected that your preference for wearing beastkin clothes also extends to wearing beastkin underwear.

I've never taken a good look at them before, but I would imagine that they're either V-back panties or T-back――

「Dear」

「Ffoww」

Rana pinched me on the cheek.

「You look like you're thinking of something lewd」

「Pthat’s fnot true」

I was caught leering at another woman(my sister) in front of my wife. I need to reflect on my behavior.

「When it comes to being lewd, you’re no different, Onee-chan」

「Hold on, Ea! What are you talking about?」

Rana's face turned bright red.

To be honest, she's really cute. I want to bully her some more.

「Ea, I've been meaning to talk to you about this for a while now, but can't you do something about the way you dress? You're an elf, and royalty at that. You're probably the only elf who dresses like the beastkin」

「It's much easier to move around in these clothes. Even if I were to wear the traditional robes of royalty after all this time, I'd just trip and fall over. Besides, I can't open my legs in them」

「O, open your legs?! In front of whom?!」

「Huh, Onee-chan, what are you so shocked about? During battle, there will be times when I'll need to use different stances or I won't be able to aim at the enemy's vitals with my bow, right?」

「………You're right. I jumped to conclusions」

「How do you open your legs, Onee-chan? When you're wearing that robe」

「It's easy, you just have to roll it up to your stomach area……………… What are you making me say?」

「So lewd」

「Ea!」

Please refrain from having a civil war on my lap.

Sisters should get along.

「What about you, Lys? What do you think about that guy with an elf on each side?」

「Hmm」

The girl knight called by Otou-san was holding her cup with both hands and licking the alcohol out of it. It was a strange, cat-like way of drinking.

「Dumb-looking face. Lewd」

「While that's true, I'm asking for your opinion of him as a leader」

Ehh, Otou-san, you have to disagree at times like that.

「So-so」

Lys' expressions of her emotions were as difficult to read as ever.

She had started to listen to us a bit more lately though.

「In other words, everyone thinks the same」

「So what are you trying to say?」

I don’t understand his intention in lifting me up all of a sudden.

「It’s because you always have that gloomy look on your face. You've cleared named floors, you know? You should be happier」

The 25th to 29th floors are called “the deep-green floors”.

The guardian of those floors had been a large, headless stone statue.

Its movements had been slow, but it had been incredibly sturdy and also highly resistant to magic. Rana's magic had little effect on it. Shuna and I had been powerless against it. Ea's arrows had also been ineffective.

So, how did we defeat it?

Otou-san had cut it in half.

Certainly, his katana is special. A weapon of that caliber is not something that can be found easily in this world.

But I, who’s using the same weapon, had done nothing more than chip its blade. And yet, he had cut it in half like he was cutting a block of tofu.

According to him, he had noticed a weak spot in the stone.

That's what he said, but even with the various sensors of the modern world, I hadn't been able to find anything of the sort.

It can only be described as the pinnacle of intuition.

The fruits of experience.

Relying so heavily on one person for our adventures is surely foolish, so I just can't feel happy about it. No………perhaps there is still some part of me that doesn't recognize Otou-san as a party member.

「Well, I won't ask you to dance naked like Lemuria did, but rejoice a little」

「King Lemuria danced naked?」

That’s a surprise.

Leaving aside his problems with women, I had thought of him as a rather grounded person.

「It was a long time ago, back when we first cleared the 15th floor. It took us over 70 days. Look at how well you've done in comparison」

Otou-san's face was also a little flushed.

He had drunk more alcohol than he usually did.

「But compared to the present, the management of the Adventurers' Guild back then was――」

I had heard that it was pretty bad.

The Guild employees were corrupt, showed favoritism, would skim off the rewards from requests, and misappropriate the materials obtained in the dungeon. Conflicts between adventurers usually ended in death, with no one trying to stop them. Strength was required to do well in those dire straits.

Ask anyone who was around during that time and they will tell you at length.

That the adventurers of today are blessed.

「While that's true, even when leaving that out, the speed at which this party clears floors is fast」

「Yeah, that's right. But didn't you hear what I said earlier?」

Shuna started booing.

Now now, said Otou-san before turning back to me.

「Though there are many talented people here, the strength of the party still hinges on its leader. In short, this is due to your abilities. Regardless of the circumstances or the methods, you should always be happy and take pride in the results achieved. Otherwise, the rest of us won't be able to enjoy our drinks」

「That's right, Onii-chan. You should feel proud and happy as my Onii-chan」

「I humbly ask you to take pride in yourself as my husband」

The sisters provided supporting fire.

「………………」

I grabbed an empty plate and covered my face with it.

「What the heck?」

I heard Otou-san exclaim.

「Ah, Onii-chan! You're embarrassed! Your face is all red! Hey, can I have a look, please? Let me see! So cute~~!」

「Dear, let me see too! You've made me show you my embarrassed face so many times, and now you're going to hide yours?!」

「Like I said, Onee-chan, you're so lewd」

Both of their faces were very close.

I could feel their breaths on my ears and cheeks.

There was also the sensation of their boobs touching my shoulders and their butts moving around on my lap.

But I'll never move this plate. I'm not used to receiving compliments, so I'm definitely making a weird face that will put people off.

I won't let anyone see.

I'm never going to let anyone see!

It had been five days since that had happened.

Our party had pulled ahead of the others by a wide margin and were elated with our success. The praise that I wasn't used to receiving made me keep on breaking into smiles. All the same, when it came time to embark on the next adventure, I pulled myself together and kept my guard up.

I didn't let my guard down.

The same went for my other party members.

Our conditions were good.

The way we were, we could defeat any enemy that came our way.

I believed that to be both true and certain.

However, we ran into one major problem.

A two day time skip from the end of the last volume to this one, so they defeated the guardian of the 30th floor in that time. Souya is more than halfway done! But man, what an ominous end to the happy start, huh? What do you think is this major problem that they ran into despite being in top condition?! Stay tuned to find out!

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