"I see. So yet another innocent victim was dragged into this because of our Lord Hermes..."
"No, if we're being honest, it's mostly my fault for falling for that guy's sweet talk. So don't worry about it."
Asfi let out a sigh thick with irritation, while I waved my hands, trying to soothe her.
On the way to our destination—the pantry on the 24th Floor—we took the opportunity to share the stories of how we each ended up here.
During the conversation, I conveniently dumped all the responsibility for the tax evasion that had brought me here onto that Hermes bastard.
Well, at least I wasn't lying.
I just phrased a few truths in a way that led them to the wrong conclusion.
If this ends up causing them some trouble later... who cares?
I have to look out for myself first.
"Lord Hermes really is something..."
"It can't be helped. That's just how Lord Hermes is."
"Cheer up, buddy. Better days will come."
Apparently, there had been plenty of cases like mine in the past, because not a single member of the Hermes Familia—Asfi included—bothered to defend their god.
Instead, they looked at me with pity and empathy, as if they completely understood my pain.
What is this bizarre, rock-solid bond of shared distrust?
Hermes, what the hell do you do in front of your Familia for everyone to think of you this way?
"U-um..."
"Hm?"
"P-please hang in there."
"Guh!"
Ah, damn it.
Now I'm even being comforted by a little kid.
And I even got a piece of candy!
Thanks to that, my conscience is currently being hammered with nails in real time.
Damn it, I'm not the bad guy here.
The source of all evil in this world is you, Hermes.
Therefore, Hejookpo!
Get the hell back to the heavens, you Greek god of mischief!
Honestly, Greece is always the problem, no matter when or where.
Except for the busty little goddess and the goddess with the eyepatch.
"Still, as much as I'm in this mess, your side is pretty..."
"In a way, it's for a reason similar to yours. *Sigh*..."
Asfi let out another long sigh.
From what I gathered, the reason the Hermes Familia had participated in this request was also due to taxes.
To be precise, tax evasion via "false level reporting."
Since high-level adventurers earn more than low-level ones, higher-ranked Familias are expected to pay more in taxes.
Therefore, if you lie to the Guild and report a lower level, you can pay less.
The Hermes Familia had been doing exactly that, and it seemed they had finally been caught.
As a result, the entire Familia had been mobilized to offset the resulting penalties and fines, which is why everyone was suffering so much.
"Then what about the Sword Princess?"
"That's... a personal matter."
"Is that so? Hmm."
On the other hand, I didn't get any information regarding why Ais had joined this request.
However, her expression darkened slightly when I asked, suggesting it wasn't something to be discussed lightly, so I decided to drop it.
It wasn't as if I needed to worry about her that much.
Actually, considering the Hiryute sisters, maybe I should be a bit more considerate.
Hmm, too much effort.
"Anyway, this dungeon abnormality and the mass monster outbreak... do you have any inkling as to why? Any similar cases from the past?"
"None at all. The Dungeon is always unpredictable. At most, there was the 'Nightmare of the 27th Floor' caused by the Evils."
"I've heard of that. Some lunatics dragged a massive horde of monsters in and ended up self-destructing along with the other adventurers, right? What a joke."
"From the victims' perspective, it was nothing but a horror story."
Because of that, my primary conversation partner remained Asfi.
She was the only one I was familiar with and the only one I could actually talk to.
Just walking to the destination would have been incredibly boring otherwise.
But that guy, Kikus... why has he been glaring at me for a while now?
Is he interested in me?
...Just kidding. I can roughly guess the reason.
"Asfi! Enemies ahead! Multiple large targets! There are a lot of them!"
"Everyone! Battle stations!"
A warning came from the front announcing the appearance of monsters.
There were quite a few of them; hopefully, this would be enough to kill some time.
"Since you'll likely want to see our capabilities, the Sword Princess and you should watch from here."
"Will do. Let's see what you've got."
Following Asfi's request, Ais and I stayed back.
As we did, I took the time to observe the skill of the Hermes Familia.
Setting aside individual strength, their coordination was remarkable.
Their synergy and timing were so seamless it was as if they were demonstrating the very definition of a party.
A reliable front-line tank, flexible mid-to-long range damage dealers, and a supporter using items perfectly to maximize the firepower of the rear mages.
And at the center of it all was the captain, Asfi, meticulously overseeing and commanding the entire operation.
"Impressive. Level 3... no, they lied about their levels, so maybe Level 4? Even so, their teamwork is excellent."
Ais nodded in agreement.
The Hermes Familia was far more competent than I had expected.
They had fewer members than other mid-sized Familias, but that seemed to have allowed them to successfully cultivate a small, elite force.
At this rate, I didn't think we had much to worry about, regardless of what happened up ahead.
"We will take a break in the room ahead. The front line will split into two squads..."
After finishing the battle, the Hermes Familia smashed through a dungeon wall to create a temporary shelter.
I had heard that if you break the wall this way, monsters won't spawn in that spot until the wall regenerates, making it a very useful place for a short rest.
"That makes me think—wouldn't it be safer if we just broke the walls as we moved forward?!"
"I heard someone said that once, and they were later found in a wretched state, with all their weapons broken and their food completely gone."
"Now that is a fascinating story. It's almost like being inside the guts of a living creature. It might be worth trying and researching myself next time."
"Hey, stop talking about gross things while we're eating."
"My apologies. Occupational hazard."
A sweet, brief rest and some idle chatter.
This isn't so bad every once in a while.
It almost felt like old memories were resurfacing.
Not that I'd want to do this often, of course.
"All right, let's move out again."
""Right!""
The Hermes Familia continued to repel monsters without issue, and the journey remained smooth.
—Grrrr!
—Kyau! Kyaaa!
—Kerrrrr!
At least, until we actually reached our destination on the 24th Floor.
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