I am Lupinus Road Denton.
A proper young lady of the prestigious Road Denton family.
A Class III delver. The leader and tank of Torquetam.
Yes, a tank!
A tank. That is my reason for living.
Protecting and shielding the people of this world—
That is who I am. A tank.
Right now, we have gone on ahead, and, well, how should I put it.
We are just a little... lost in the Heisen Great Forest.
"How did it come to this?"
"Um... we got carried away... and the Crystas... defeated too many... hehe."
Riv sticks out her tongue, expression blank.
I believe that is supposed to be a smile.
No, that is not quite what I mean.
"Don't go abbreviating 'Crystal Beast' like that."
"...Crys..."
"An abbreviation of what?"
"Um... a gathering of sunny people..."
"Sunny... what is that supposed to mean?"
With the two of them bickering as usual in the background, I let out a sigh.
"My, this is quite the predicament."
The great forest, blanketed by enormous trees, offered nothing eye-catching—just the same scenery stretching on and on.
"We've passed through this area numerous times. It's rather odd to suddenly lose our way, wouldn't you say?"
Pakira fell deep into thought with a huff.
This is what you'd call analysis, I suppose. Contemplation is very much her strong suit.
"Even so, the fact that this place is called a dungeon really does make everything fall into place."
"Indeed it does."
"Hmm… yeah, for real…"
"But that mimic appearing out of nowhere—that was a bit much, even for me."
"It showed up quite suddenly, didn't it."
"And besides… it wasn't really… all that… what a letdown…"
An assorted set of various potions isn't exactly the kind of tribute anyone would be impressed by these days.
Besides, we already have the small vial Wof gave us.
It heals any wound in an instant.
And the mimic had enough of them to hand out freely. At this point, you can put two and two together.
"I believe we should stop thinking about regrouping and instead focus on our own safety."
"Agreed."
"Hmm… well, nothing we can do…"
"With that settled—Riv, I'm counting on you."
"Mm... heave!"
Riv gave a nod and hopped up onto the trunk of a nearby giant tree with a light grunt.
Then she bounded straight up.
Running up a vertical tree trunk as though strolling across flat ground—truly a sight to behold.
"As impressive as ever, that girl."
"She did say it's a function of her suit, not a Relic."
"A Legendary that can do all sorts of things, then."
While we waited for Riv to finish her scouting up in the canopy, we sat against the trunk and rested.
The tree was so massive that even the exposed section of trunk above ground was wide enough to sit on.
"Still, it worked out nicely."
"What did?"
"The Blue Green Crystal."
"Indeed..."
We'd been stubbornly chasing it for nearly a month without success.
Honestly, I'd been on the verge of giving up.
And yet to actually get it this way—life sure is full of surprises.
"And Battle Cry is handy too, isn't it."
"Y-yes, it certainly is."
I was being evasive.
It truly is a remarkably useful Relic. I'll give it that much.
Yes, the convenience is extraordinary. I'll grant you that much.
"What's this? Still goin' on about it, are you?"
"But it's simply—! As a noble lady—no, as a woman, it's a thoroughly shameless act!"
"Is that so."
"It absolutely is!"
"But you already knew beforehand how it was to be used, didn't you?"
Pakira gazed at me with a puzzled expression.
Ah, please stop wiggling those white cat ears.
It makes me want to pet them.
"That may be so, but I never expected it to be that embarrassing in practice!"
"But the thing is—"
"What is it?"
I was a little irritated by Pakira, who still didn't seem entirely convinced.
Without noticing, Pakira continued in her carefree way.
"After you used it, you had the strangest look on your face—refreshed and invigorated, like somethin' had finally been let go."
"Wha—! Th-that's…"
T-true, after using it, I did feel more liberated than I ever had before.
Every last burden suddenly seemed utterly foolish.
"Lupinus, you've got a bad habit of overthinkin' things, you know."
"Ngh… I can't exactly deny that."
"That's why you've got to let it out like this, or you'll end up bedridden."
"...I understand. It's unseemly, but I'll continue using it."
That was truly humiliating.
Then Pakira stood up.
"Looks like we might need to use it before long."
Oh, something about the surrounding atmosphere has shifted.
Just as I noticed, Riv came back. She landed and drew her sword, taking a fighting stance.
"How was it?"
"Mm... found them... but... Riv's group... surrounded... they are."
"So it seems."
I was a little late, but I noticed it too.
I could feel hostility pressing in from all around us.
I raised my shield and took a fighting stance.
What emerged from the tree shadows before us, in our battle-ready state—what on earth was that?
A pure white body. The coloring was almost like porcelain.
A humanoid monster, with black mottled patterns across both arms.
Spider legs served as its hair, framing a human face—though it had four red eyes.
From its build, it appeared female—though saying that about a monster is rather pointless. Being naked was certainly a problem. And yet, strangely, I didn't sense anything indecent from it.
"Mm... good body... it has."
"Mm. About on par with Lupinus."
"Who cares about that! We're completely surrounded!"
And besides, my figure is a bit nicer than hers!
Spider women keep pouring out in droves.
It's creepy, since we have no idea what kind of attacks they'll use.
"Mm... Lupinus... battle cry... give it... a go."
"Battle cry?"
"I'm saying, use that thing."
"I wish you'd phrase things a little more clearly."
Can't be helped, I suppose.
I step forward with grand presence.
I spread both arms wide, puff out my chest, close my eyes, and draw in a deep breath.
There's no particular need to close my eyes while doing it, but this is a matter of atmosphere.
The moment I throw my eyes open, I let out a full-throated scream.
"RAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!"
Relic: Battle Cry.
The roar sent the air itself trembling — oh, how utterly indecent.
I, a young maiden and lady of the Roederton household, this Lupinus!
Making such an enormous voice outdoors in public!
Oh, how... how indecent... what a thrill... I suppose.
Ahem. My Battle Cry sent the spider women scattering in all directions.
They came swarming toward me.
"Here we go—Wind Claw!"
The wind claws Pakira unleashed sliced through the sluggish spider women and sent them flying.
"………
Sky
Form……
Pleiades
……Melope Blade……"
Riv, a glowing blue sword in hand, cut down the sluggish spider women one after another.
Both of their attacks were clearly sharper and more powerful than before.
And that was only to be expected.
My new Relic—Battle Cry.
It was a composite Relic combining Taunt, Howling, and War Cry.
It drew enemies in with Taunt, weakened them with Howling, and boosted our power with War Cry.
That was why the spider women moved sluggishly, and Pakira's attacks struck with such devastating effect.
In the blink of an eye, the spider women had been wiped out.
"Good work, both of you."
"It really is a fine one. Your Battle Cry."
"Mm... Lupinus's shout... kind of addictive."
"Please stop that! It's unseemly and embarrassing."
My face turns absolutely scarlet.
But I'll keep it a secret that it felt just the tiniest bit nice.
"Still now. What are these things?"
"Mm... truly... grotesque... spider women..."
"Speaking of spiders, this must be what Wof was telling us about — the dungeon's changes."
"There's a strong likelihood the two are connected, isn't there."
Riv suddenly rolls the spider woman's corpse toward us with a dull thud.
What is this?
"Mm... Lupinus's... body..."
"You really are, aren't you."
"Please stop that!"
That's what I'm saying! My body is quite a bit better than that!
Honestly!