"Fully equipped, skills OK, energy full (meaning well fed), and health in good shape (no injuries). Let's hit the road, Sisi." In Nierstan, a simple little log cabin, I embarked on a journey to the third level of the mine with Sisi so as not to starve.

In the Nierstan adventure guild, besides taking quests, members undertake commission-based adventures. However, I couldn't afford a maid and had no choice but to adventure. Despite my appearance, I’m one of the adventurers capable of reaching the highest level currently available in the mines - the third level!

Although I'm not sure about the current danger of the mission, I know that the main areas offering opportunities for adventure in Nierstan are:

The forest outside the city - the place with the lowest danger level to wash away the comfort and warmth of the town from newcomers, also known as the novice village. You will only encounter a few small creatures here, and there's generally not much trouble.

Then, it's the depths of the forest, full of dangerous wildlife. It is necessary to be cautious of bears and goblins, as well as the king of the forest — the Goblin Thief. If you're unlucky, you might encounter both the Goblin Thief and Goblin Warriors at once. Less powerful or careless adventurers could lose their lives.

The area I'm heading to is the far more dangerous underground mines. According to the adventure guild's information, a mysterious shadow has been attacking hardworking miners. As a former miner myself, I have immense empathy for them. After a long day of digging for a measly few copper coins, they also face the danger of a cave-in, and now attacks. Do they expect miners to keep living like this?

Walking with anger through the gloomy, damp underground tunnel, Sisi walked beside me, always on alert. One must always be cautious here, as there's constant danger. That said, as per our investigation, the mine has been divided into three levels. The first is the safest, the second is more dangerous, and the third is the most treacherous. And I was now in the third level.

"Ah, we've been walking for so long without encountering a single monster. But we've picked up quite a few mushrooms." Looking at my backpack stuffed with mushrooms, I thought we could make a pot of multi-colored mushroom soup. "I wonder how the other adventurers are doing."

Even divided into three levels, the mine is immense. We hadn't come across any familiar faces in the past half-day. Hopefully, they're all safe...

What I didn't know was a figure cloaked in black robes appeared right where I had kicked a small stone away, eyes black like two holes, boring into the direction I had headed.

Elsewhere at the third level of the mine,

"Hehehe~ I am Mankind’s Alcohol~ Lilia~" The one singing an embarrassing song was a petite girl, hopping along the damp, cold surface of the mine, unafraid of being overheard as she was adventuring alone today. No one dared to underestimate her, her attire spoke of her strength.

She wore pure white sacred priest boots, sophisticated intricate gold motifs indicating its powerful attributes. Though her gray robe appeared a hint too large, it did not mean she was to be taken lightly. Furthermore, her rune helmet, the barrier orb, and other robust defense equipment allowed her to unleash attacks with her elemental stave even when unable to lead an attack.

Yes, this girl was a mage, capable of dealing high damage. She was especially fond of explosion magic, which could potentially knock a person out if used recklessly.

Perhaps it was because of her fiery red hair that she had such a proclivity. Lilia was in high spirits because she was hunting monsters, which meant earning money, and she could afford Dragon's Saliva fruit for Sisi~

While luck smiles down upon some, others have a less fortunate time. Soon, Lilia encountered a...maid?

"Ouch..." A moaning voice came from the location of a recent cave-in. Whether it had an issue with Lilia’s dreadful singing or it was a sigh of its own bad luck, it’s hard to know.

However, as Lilia approached, the voice surprised her, not due to the pain that it held, but because of its flat, emotionless quality. It was as if the voice had merely been forced out as a formality, as if she was used to the pain.

For a moment, Lilia thought it was a trap. However, she believed in saving lives, "Wind protection," she whispered, and a bright green light surrounded her, boosting her speed significantly.

In the blink of an eye, she reached the collapsed stones. As Lilia had speculated, a maid lay in the pile of rubble, appearing to have been in a cave-in. What she couldn't figure out was why a maid would be here.

"Don't worry; I'll save you," were her words, as the magic stave pulsated, magic swirling around. As she didn't know any other rescue methods, removing the rocks seemed like the best option. 'Just a moment longer, and the rocks will be blown away.' But, "Wait a minute," the maid intervened, her delicate face showed no signs of pain. As if the rocks weren't crushing her at all."Wha...?" Interrupted mid-spell, Lillia cocked her head towards the maid, pushing the idea of blasting the stones and the maid( scratched off) together out of her mind for the time being.

"Do you have...um..." A now sheepish-looking maid, maintaining an emotionless mask, shifted her face to the side.

"Something to eat?"

Was she going to tell her that she only got hit by falling rock because she was too hungry to dodge it? Even maids have a reputation to uphold!

"I do, would you like some grilled fresh fish?"

"A burger would do, or perhaps well water..."

"I only have fish."

"Okay then."

Without a second thought, the maid scarfed down the fish, in a way that somewhat resembled how a hefty adventurer might. Yet, despite this, it doesn't seem crass.

"Thank you."

After filling her belly, the maid who had been sprawling around like a salted fish, began to prop herself up on the ground with one hand shining, seemingly ready to just get up entirely.

"Hey, your body..." Halfway through her thought about how most of the maid's body was still under crushed rocks, Lillia was struck dumb by the shaking.. The rocks themselves were enough to fill a small cabin, which had been her rationale for wanting to use explosive magic on it. Yet, here this maid was, lifting the giant rock with sheer brute force.

As the ground shook, rock fragments continuously fell, and Lillia realized she had been standing too close.

Just as she was about to move away, the maid genuinely started to exert more power. As her casual gaze turned sharp, she stretched out her hands from the distance of her feet, grabbed the large rock that was on her, and threw it in the air, causing nearby rocks and dirt to hang mid-air.

Grabbing the motionless Lilia, the maid jumped, exhibiting not only strength but also astounding agility. In a blink, they were away from the original spot. Only after dropping Lillia did they hear the crushing sound of the enormous object hitting the ground.

"Thanks for earlier. My name is Fan Chai. As you can see, I am a maid, though I am also an adventuring one."

Hmm? Without seeing a response, Maid Fan Chai waved her hand in front of the dazed Lillia.

"Hello?"

Soaked in the beautiful sight of the maid's chest, Lillia suddenly regained her senses.

"Huh? Good!"

Completely unware of what she had said earlier, Lillia looked back at Fan Chai. The maid was taller than Lillia, well over 1.7 meters. Her figure was slender yet not thin.

Probably trained over the years, there was absolutely no excess fat on her abdomen. The rune armor suits her perfectly. With magic boots, she was a very charming female adventurer. Though there was a bit of dust on her, she was not disheveled. Combined with her slightly cold face, she had a special charm.

"So beautiful..."

"Huh?" Fan Chai was startled by this out of the blue comment.

“Ah... Don't worry about it."

Lillia, realizing what she'd just said, turned red and turned her head away from Fan Chai. After all, even Lillia had a shy side.

"Um..." Looking at the blushing Lillia, Fan Chai paused.

"So cute."

Fan Chai unconsciously reached out and touched Lillia's face.

"Hey," Lillia stiffly turned her face, her eyes meeting those of the maid, and the heat on her face continued to rise.

Could it be... Could it be?!

Lillia is going to...

Filled with all sorts of strange and chaotic thoughts, Lillia saw Fan Chai's small mouth open slightly as she murmured,

"Blood Oath."

"Huh?" Lillia cleared her mind. Wasn't that a protective spell?

"The Strength of the Giants."

Another protective spell?

“This is my thanks to you for your help.” After the two blessings, the maid named Fan Chai gave a maid’s bow and then left.

"Goodbye." Lillia waved goodbye. What a charming maid!

No one would have thought that Fan Chai didn't have any money, so she used blessings as gifts. After all, a person with such presence would surely be well-off. But alas, one cannot eat presence. And so, in one word, she was, 'poor.'

--Distinction line for the introduction of others--

She then noticed three familiar figures: a celestial warrior cloaked in a gray robe, wearing arcanum boots, originally proficient in saint skills; a strong priest who was now a warrior; another wielding a broadsword wearing armor like Fan Chai, and legion boots, but he was a priest. He is a fearful person who has comprehended the skills of a temple knight, which is the exact opposite of the celestial warrior.

"Celestial, I see Misery too." I greeted the acquaintances I met on the third level, and also…

"Ugh," I couldn't help but make a teasing noise.

"What kind of reaction is that?" The petite girl who I had ignored has a 'well' symbol appearing above her head and she raises her wand, ready to cast a fireball.

"Oh, if it isn't Lilia! It's been a while!" I said in a pretense of hearty cheerfulness.

"Scum! Penguin!" Lilia seemed to grow angrier.

"Alright, alright," Tianfan attempted to mediate.

"So how're your adventures going?"

"Few – pathetically few monsters," I admitted without hesitation.

Tianfan looked over at Lilia. She shook her head. Seems like things weren’t going well for any of us, and Ailian, who had been with us all along, is needless to say.

"That's odd," Tianfan pondered. Monsters should be more common during light or heavy rain, according to the general understanding. Everyone else began to think about this, too.

"Let's talk as we move," someone suggested.

After some discussion, it's odd that we bumped into each other. It is quite normal for adventurers to come together following monster trails, but Lilia and I were exceptions. We would go wherever our instinct leads, which is eerily fortuitous, to meet up with Tianfan and his companions.

Suddenly, there was a slight vibration in the ground. If it wasn't for Silky reminding me, I wouldn't have noticed it. Tianfan and Ailian sure picked up on it, though – one look shared between them and they seemed to understand each other's thinking. True best friends indeed.

"Tianfan."

"Hmm, I see."

"Lilia," Tianfan walked over to Lilia and whispered.

"Hmm?" Lilia was utterly clueless.

"Explosive magic. Maximum range, maximum output."

"Although I don't quite get it, I'm on it." Lilia brandished her elemental wand in a dazzling display of weapon handling. Magical power surged, and a giant magical circle emerged with the wand at the center.

"All in hell experience purgatory! All on earth, experience the fire! The flames are indiscriminate, burning away good, evil, chaos, everything! Becoming the cleanse that radically purifies all!"

"Lilia, target’s underground!"

"Explosion!"

Lilia seemed to be aflame with determination, her eyesbrows filled with intense fire. She jabbed her wand directly into the ground, and a dazzling, fiery light was emitted from the ground. The earth within a hundred-meter radius instantly fractured and exploded, turning the world upside down. Loud, rumbling explosions echoed everywhere, revealing the hidden things under the ground.

"Let's move." Even before Lilia could finish casting her spell, Tianfan had already taken her by the collar and moved away from the spot. Naturally, I also picked Silky up and ran a fair distance away.

"What's that?" I curiously peered into the distance. Something was squirming underground, burnt by the heat of the explosion.

"That's a tentacle, isn't it?" Too many to count, the squirming monsters kept struggling to put out the flame. They're the natural enemies of magical girls.

"Is it a trap, then? They planned to wipe us all out in a single sweep?" At some point, Ailian had appeared at my side, looking into the distance.

"If you're here, then come out!" Tianfan called.

"Heh, heh, heh." From a dark corner appeared a figure shrouded in a black robe.

"A three-layered shadow?” I’ve mistaken him for an ordinary boss, but to see the eerie shadow was quite a surprise. Uh oh. Although a shadow isn’t strong, his speed is extremely high. None of us seemed able to catch up with him. We would only find ourselves endlessly distracted during the battle, which is disadvantageous.

Moreover, those bosses who appeared one after another are not easy to deal with either. The Earth Elementals, the Skeleton King, and countless elite monsters.

Uh oh, what a trouble.

"Now we have two options – fight or flee." It's not like we have no chance of winning, but our opponent apparently has been preparing for this. If we run, the reputation of the guild would take a big hit.

"Then let's flip a coin to decide." I took out a gold coin.

"Heads, we fight. Tails, we run." I flicked the coin and it chimed as it flew into the air, then...disappeared?

"A shark swallows the bait!" A streak of silver flashed past.

"Where is my money?"

"Was that the President's voice just now?"

Sure enough, standing before us was the President of the Priests Association, Little Shark. Beneath her silvery hair was her perenially unchanged priest's robe, a simple hooded shirt. Even though she's an archbishop, she doesn't seek the superficial glories. Though she does love money (hehe).

Standing a bit taller than Lilia, President Little Shark was an eccentric girl. Her pure white priestly attire, coupled with her silver hair, gave off an aura of holiness. Well, she didn't see it that way. Despite her lack of combat prowess, she's a force to be reckoned with as a Cardinal. The appearance of Little Shark likely mean..."His name is known to you, isn't it?"

From not far away, an imposing swordsman with a large sword on his back approached. He was a magic swordsman, a dual wielder of magic and martial arts, unparalleled in combat, and had the company of a priest guild president who could maintain the team's optimal condition at all times. Knowing the guild president and him to work together on adventures regularly, they made a revered and envied team.

“President, my money…”

“Are you guys planning a fight?" the president interrupted me, questioning others.

“We were hesitant, but let's fight now that you guys are here”.

“Right, we haven't encountered any monsters in a while.”

“One exploding formation isn’t enough for me."

"No… my money!"

It was unclear whether everyone was eager in trusting our guild president and him or in their own competence, everyone was excited and their hands are itching for some action.

“Money…”

“Speaking of the good old days, have you seen them?”

“They seem to have gone on a mission.”

“I see” I thought, the monsters wouldn’t have appeared if all the miners-turned-warriors were here.

“Alright, let's go, brothers and sisters.”

“Get ready everyone. Healers, buff up. Warriors, taunt. Mages, position yourselves. Wave by wave.”

“Oh!"

…

“What are you up to?” Lillia noticed my lack of movement.

“I'm just double-clicking to call out '666'.”

“...”

…

The fight was truly fiery, and I was watching (slacking off). What to do? There are just as many slackers on the other side; I suppose I'll sacrifice myself then.

Lillia seemed a bit tired - there was, after all, only one wizard - her.

“It would be nice if Whale Uncle were here.” Lillia thought.

“Lillia, behind you!”

Oh no, it was a gargoyle, a high magic-resistant monster which was a wizard’s worst enemy.

“Cross Slash“ Crisis moment, but Sisi blocked the attack from the gargoyle.

“I might as well join the fight.” I walked to the monster, took out my staff and smacked it on the gargoyle's head.

HP +6

Oops, my healing spell was activated by accident.

Despite using a mage staff, I am actually a priest.

“Heavy Strike!” Thankfully, Sisi killed the gargoyle with her next attack.

“I was actually distracting it and then…”

“Alright, alright. I got it.” Lillia went back to battle, and so did Sisi. Their first target must be Lillia, who dealt the most damage but also had the most vulnerable defense. And the others...

The guild president is self-evident, for him, even high-magic resistant gargoyles or high-defensive ghosts are no match. With a broadsword in one hand and a magic wand in the other, no monsters dared to approach. Regardless of their distance, the president could heal them. They were at ease, to say it simply.

As for Tianfan and Ailian...

Tianfan dodged the skeleton archer's arrow, picked up another skeleton, and threw it at the archer. Following that with a piercing stroke of his sword.

"You... also a magic swordsman?"

“I was a priest before, now I'm a warrior.”

The best way to protect your teammates is to kill the enemy.

"They are all in danger!” realizing that all the monsters were difficult to deal with, including that young girl who fearlessly kept tossing exploding spells like they cost nothing.

"Get that separated priest!" This time, the monsters correctly identified the priestly gear on Ailian, a genuine priest with no one protecting her.

"We got her!" the skeleton infantry shouted excitedly, leaping towards Ailian.

But then… It couldn't shout anymore.

Because it was captured, its face, including the mouth, was caught in a hand and lifted off the ground like a small chicken struggling in vain. Such great strength, how could a mere priest have such power?

"Fool, they're in danger!"

Ailian stared into the skull's eyeholes, seemingly seeing the fear within.

"Am I not in danger?"

"You're not… a priest…" The infantry's dying words were this before it stopped struggling.

"Of course, I'm a priest. I was just a warrior (former knight) before the repositioning."

…

The fight was intense. The shadow couldn't help but step in. So…

Who is he targeting? He's rushing at me. Is it because I'm too relaxed? I'm ready.

Come... Hmm? Where are the people?

This bastard Dark Figure tried to attack me, but his actual target is Lillia, is it because she's an easier target?

Damn, I can't catch him. He's too fast. The others can only watch helplessly as he approaches Lillia.

Lillia also senses something, but there's nothing she can do. The third-level shadow is faster than the second, even with the blessing of the wind she can't outrun him.

"Your speed in front of me is as slow as a baby crawling," the Dark Figure gloats with laughter.

"As long as I can withstand the first attack it's fine." Lillia made up her mind to use an explosive formation to blow both him and herself away as soon as he attacks.

As the Dark Figure rapidly approaches, his claws pass through Lillia and she disappears?

"Who is it?"

A white figure flashes before him, and the target disappears. Someone has taken Lillia right under his nose. The Dark Figure pounces like lightning, trying to attack again, but the white figure is even faster, like a ghost, even making circles around him.

"Who dares to make fun of me."

"Do you think you're fast? In front of me, you might as well be standing still."

The white figure stops. It turns out to be the maid Lillie had once saved.

"Fan Chai-nuna?" Lillia is surprised.

"Are you alright?" Fan Chai puts her down and checks for any injuries.

"I'm fine, thanks."

Everyone is relieved to see that Lillia is alright.

"A matchstick?"

"Do you guys know each other?"

"Yes, we met when she was buried in a cave-in," I said.

The others nodded in agreement.

Each time we meet someone, they get buried? Lillia looked at Matchstick, only to find that she had turned her head away.

"..."

"By the way, I met Lillia because she was fighting with tentacles..."

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, enough, enough," Lillia hurriedly interrupts.

"I'll write a 3000-word detailed report about it later," I tell the others who have gathered around.

"I'll take the Dark Figure, you guys handle the rest."

"The monsters are mine, there's nothing my explosive magic enjoys more than a crowd."

"I'll take the Skeleton King."

"No, let me handle that."

"We'll take the elites."

"Then I'll continue to explore..."

"You come and help too!"

*tsk*