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Tl: Sam

…

“Eeeeeeee!”

　Hoshino raised her great sword and swung it down with all her might.
　The orc caught it with his club and was knocked down. Hoshino took advantage of the opportunity and kicked the orc in the gut.

『 Buah! 』

　The orc, hit by the heavy kick, retreated with a distorted face.
　The damage seemed to have accumulated quite a bit.

　The orc is a humanoid monster with a face like a pig.
　Its skin is thick and its strength is quite strong. It does not have any special abilities that are troublesome, but it uses weapons with great dexterity, so it would be difficult for an explorer who has just arrived at the middle level.

　But Hoshino could easily defeat it if it was only an orc.

“There!”

　Hoshino swung her greatsword sideways.
　The orc, which was out of position, was unable to defend itself in time and was cut in two.

『 Buo……! 』

　The orc fell to the ground and disappeared.
　It seems that a mid-level monster would have no more trouble.

“We did it, Tanaka-san!”
“Yeah, that was a good fight. The last blow was especially good.”

　I patted Hoshino’s head as she came up to me.
　I thought she might not like me patting the head of a young girl, but Hoshino would voluntarily come to a position where she could be patted easily, so I had no choice. Once I tried to stop to see if she actually didn’t like it, but she got very sulky, so now I’m patting her head no time at all.

「I can’t even take on an orc like that.」
「It’s a pretty strong monster there…….」
「I still can’t beat it one on one either.」
「It looks like they’re already good enough for the lower levels. Is it only a matter of time before we get to the deeper levels?」
「You’re only 19, right?　Not many explorers at that age can handle the middle tier.」
「She’s got name value, a good face, and she’s strong. I’m sure every guild would love to have her.」
「Like the Golden Lion Guild?　The average income there is over 10 million a year, so if you can get in, you’re a winner.」
「That’s a dream come true.」
「But if you join a guild, you won’t be able to distribute anymore, and you won’t get to see Shachiken as often. ……」
「If you think about it, you could continue to be a freelancer. I’m sure you can make a lot of money without joining a guild.」

　Glancing over the comments, viewers speculated about Hoshino’s future in a number of ways. 　Hoshino initially wanted to join a famous guild.
　That’s why she went to college.

　But surely now Hoshino could make money without joining a guild.
　On the contrary, she would probably make more money if she continued to be a distributor. There is still room for growth.

　But it’s up to her to decide her career path. She can also choose to join a guild because the income is more stable. I will miss seeing her after getting to know her so well, but it can’t be helped.
　When the time comes, I will send her off with a smile.

“What’s wrong?”
“No, it’s nothing. Let’s move on.”

　I was about to go on, when a large shadow appeared in our path.

『 Bururu… 』

　The one that appeared with a guttural cry was a humanoid monster more than two meters in length.
　It had a muscular body, an axe in its hand, and bloodshot eyes. The head of the monster resembled that of a bull.

“A minotaur.”

　The Minotaur is one of the strongest monsters in the middle tier. It is not unusual for them to appear in the lower levels, so it is safe to say that their strength is lower tier.

　Like the orcs, it has no special abilities, but its muscularity far surpasses that of orcs, making it difficult for even a party of B-rank explorers to defeat it.
　However, the current Hoshino should be able to defeat it.

“Hoshino, can you go?”
“……, ah, yes!”

　Hoshino replied as if she was out of her mind.
　Her face was blue and her hands were shaking slightly.

　What’s going on?　The moment I was about to ask that, Hoshino jumped out of the way with her sword at the ready.

“Haaaaah!”

　Hoshino slashed at him from the front.
　The minotaur saw the enemy coming toward her and parried the blow with a huge axe in her hand.
　Normally, it would not be so easily parried, but Hoshino’s current attack was disjointed in form and not properly powered.
　What’s really going on?

『 Bwooo ！』

　The minotaur swung his axe at Hoshino, who was out of position.
　If such a big axe hit her, she would surely be seriously injured.

「Yui, run!」
「It’s dangerous!」
「Why are you in such a hurry?」
「Are you traumatized by the Minotaur?」

“Shima ……!”

　Hoshino’s face was filled with impatience.
　I kicked the ground and went to Hoshino’s side and caught the axe swinging down with my bare hands.

“Watch out!”
『 Bumo ！？』

　The minotaur was startled by the sudden catch of the axe and rushed to pull it back, but it didn’t move an inch because I was holding it tightly in my right hand.
　I pulled the axe back in my hand and pulled the minotaur to me. Then I gave a kick to its belly

　When the front kick hit, a large hole was made in the Minotaur’s belly.
　The Minotaur, fatally wounded, collapsed on the spot and disappeard without a trace. Phew, now safety is secured for the time being.

「Why does it take a kick to make a hole?」
「That kick looks like a cannon.」
「Minotaur-kuun!」
「In case you’re wondering, the Minotaur is the most famous monster in the labyrinth…….」
「But it’s only a mid-level monster.」
「How many explorers do you think there are who can’t beat a middle-tier monster?」
「If you can beat the Minotaur by yourself, you’re a full-fledged explorer, aren’t you?」

　Relieved that the Minotaur is gone, I turned to Hoshino.

“Are you okay?　What the hell happened?”
“Oh, um, …… sorry. I’m sorry, I can’t do ・・・・・・・・・ with minotaurs.”

　Hoshino replied with a blue face.
　It is unusual for a person to be scared of just minotaurs. There are quite a few people who say they are useless against insect-type monsters , but I wonder why she can’t fight Minotaurs she can normally defeat orcs.

“There is one at the bottom of the middle level of this dungeon at ……. May I explain it to you there?”
“I understand. You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to.”
“No, …… it’s fine. I knew I had to tell you about this sometime.”

　I followed her, being wary of my surroundings.

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Tl Note: I’m thinking of taking up another novel, I’m still looking though, I’ll make sure to keep you guys updated. There’s also the discord server. I’d prefer you report issues there than in the comments.

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