Chapter 54: Do You Perhaps Have a "Housework" Skill?
After reaching the tenth floor and below, the chaotic atmosphere among the adventurer party remained unchanged. However, due to the strong members in the team, even though monsters kept emerging endlessly from the dungeon, they were swiftly dealt with.
Especially those two members from the Freya Familia—two male beastmen adventurers at level 2—who had outstanding coordination.
They didn't communicate with anyone and wiped out any monsters they encountered on their own, turning them into corpses beneath their blades.
This was a good thing for the party, but a rather bad situation for Lefiya, the leader.
After all, as the team leader, she was supposed to direct each member so they acted according to the plan, preventing confusion during emergencies.
But since many members had such strong combat abilities, Lefiya found herself unable to properly exercise her role as a leader.
In the end, she couldn't even manage simple communication, let alone command them.
The only ones willing to talk to her were two female adventurers from the Ganesha Familia, both level 1.
Due to their relatively low strength, they cooperated with Lefiya.
On the other hand, the Apollo Familia had one level 2 and two level 1 members—all male. The three of them had absolutely no intention of cooperating with Lefiya, acting entirely as they pleased.
At first, they only bothered the Ganesha adventurers, constantly ridiculing them with mocking comments.
Due to the power disparity, the two women from the Ganesha Familia didn't dare speak back and endured it with restraint. This dull reaction made the Apollo members even more arrogant.
Eventually, they even started picking on Lefiya.
"Hey, your name's Lefiya, right?" The blond level 2 male from the Apollo Familia walked up to her with a smile.
"Y-You're talking to me?" Lefiya was surprised. Constantly on guard against dungeon monsters, she hadn't expected him to approach her directly and showed a confused expression.
"Yeah, you. Once we reach the safe zone on the 18th floor, how about a date?"
"A... date?"
Lefiya was completely caught off guard by this blatant harassment in the middle of a dungeon expedition and didn't know how to react. Especially with the other two Apollo members snickering nearby, clearly showing that this wasn't a sincere invitation—it was just a way to make her look foolish.
Normally, someone would respond harshly or use their strength to suppress them. But Lefiya wasn't that kind of person.
She lacked the courage to use force against others and quickly found herself stuck in a dilemma.
"..." Seeing Lefiya's predicament, the two female adventurers from Ganesha Familia wanted to help, but they were being closely watched by the other two Apollo members and couldn't make a move.
As for the two beastmen from Freya Familia, they didn't even spare a glance at this petty drama and continued focusing solely on fighting monsters.
Just as Lefiya found herself cornered, Shirou—the supporter collecting magic stones—suddenly exclaimed:
"Huh? Why is there a hole in my magic stone pouch?"
"What?" Everyone was startled by Shirou's comment.
"Sorry," Shirou said apologetically. "This is my first time being a supporter. I think I accidentally lost some magic stones."
"You idiot!" His words enraged the Apollo adventurers.
Magic stones were real wealth.
Any stones dropped by defeated monsters could be exchanged for money at the Guild once they left the dungeon. For adventurers, magic stones were as valuable as their lives.
Even during a joint expedition like this, the spoils would be split, so losing stones meant losing personal earnings. It was no wonder the Apollo adventurers were furious.
"You brat, how are you gonna compensate us for this!?" The blond adventurer stepped forward aggressively.
The others just watched coldly—this was a matter of income, after all. No one could afford to take it lightly.
"Unfortunately, our Hestia Familia is a poor one. I probably can't afford to compensate you," Shirou said.
"What?" Seeing Shirou's unbothered expression despite his mistake, the adventurers were stunned.
The Apollo adventurers looked like they were about to get violent. But just then, the Freya Familia members spoke up: "This is a joint mission between different Familias. Are you trying to start infighting now?"
"He's just a useless nobody from Hestia Familia! Who would even care if he dies here!?"
"Even so, he was assigned by Lady Hephaestus. Are you saying you want to go against Lady Hephaestus?"
"..." "And he's the only supporter in this group. If he dies, do any of you Apollo adventurers want to take over his job?"
"..." Facing the pressure from the Freya members—whether in status, strength, or reason—the Apollo adventurers couldn't argue back. Even they fell completely silent, glaring hard at Shirou with a look that said, "Just you wait!", before storming off.
Thanks to this chaotic turn of events, the earlier harassment of Lefiya was quickly forgotten. Now, all of the Apollo members had shifted their focus entirely onto Shirou and ignored Lefiya completely.
In a way, the party had become more united than before—only at the cost of Shirou.
"You… did you do that on purpose to help me?" As the group continued forward, Lefiya couldn't shake the thought and approached Shirou.
But before she could say anything, Shirou cut her off: "Sorry, I really didn't notice the pouch had a hole." He looked genuinely apologetic. "If you want me to compensate you, please go easy on me. Hestia Familia is poor, and I've got no extra cash. Oh, and by the way, I sell performances, not my body."
"Who the heck wants you to sell your body!?" Lefiya was so flustered by Shirou's shamelessness that she turned red and walked away, forgetting to ask her question.
"What a little girl…" Shirou looked at her sulking expression and chuckled, reminded of his sister Miyu.
Although Lefiya and Miyu were nothing alike in personality, their age and innocence made them seem similar.
That was the main reason Shirou had instinctively helped her earlier. And faking the dropped magic stones wasn't just to help her—it was also a test.
And the results were revealing.
The Freya Familia, who had been indifferent to the group until now, suddenly stood up for him when he was targeted. No matter how you looked at it, that was suspicious. This confirmed to Shirou that the Freya Familia members had joined this expedition because of him.
.
.
. After Shirou's incident passed, the group continued deeper into the dungeon. The Apollo adventurers now focused all their frustration on Shirou instead of causing more chaos in the team.
While this brought Shirou a lot of trouble, it oddly improved the group's dynamic and allowed some degree of teamwork. Seeing this, Lefiya began to suspect that Shirou had deliberately acted to protect her.
But she had no proof, and whenever she tried to ask, Shirou would brush her off with ridiculous excuses or annoying flirtations, leaving her both angry and helpless.
Eventually, the party reached the 18th floor. In the dungeon, some special floors exist where no monsters appear, and the environment is comfortable.
Adventurers call these places the Paradise Within the Dungeon. The 18th floor was one of these safe zones.
"Hey, you! Go set up camp and pack all our luggage!" The Apollo adventurers gave Shirou a hard time again.
Usually, supporters only collect magic stones—not do servant-level chores. Still, Shirou didn't protest. He quietly took all their gear and went off to pitch tents and build the camp.
Since he had done housework alone every day since childhood, Shirou had astonishing skills. He effortlessly built the camp and organized everything immaculately.
"Do you have a 'Housework' skill or something?" The Apollo adventurers were stunned, as if they'd seen a ghost.
Even Lefiya, the Ganesha girls, and the Freya members were all dumbfounded.
"Any other chores need doing?" Shirou calmly asked.
"Y-you… tch!" Seeing his attitude, the Apollo adventurers couldn't find any reason to nitpick further and left in frustration.
Since the 18th floor was a safe zone, the group began to act freely—mostly separating by Familia. As the only member of Hestia Familia, Shirou was left alone.
But he didn't mind. He leisurely observed the area. He hadn't noticed before, but now he saw how different this floor was.
Soft light filtered from the glowing crystals on the ceiling, and sparse trees grew across the ground.
It felt more like the surface than underground. And in the center was a huge town called Rivira—a dungeon city built by mid-tier adventurers, where they could rest or sell materials. Though, everything was far more expensive than on the surface.
Because of the high prices, low-level adventurers preferred camping outside rather than getting ripped off in town. Only the rich or high-ranking adventurers stayed there.
Since he wasn't entering town either, Shirou found a high vantage point and observed the surroundings.
He saw the Ganesha girls washing by the river, the Freya beastmen resting in their tent, and two Apollo level 1 adventurers doing something in an open field.
The level 2 blond Apollo adventurer, however, was nowhere to be seen.
"Where'd that guy go? Into town, maybe?" As he wondered, he spotted Lefiya sitting alone on a cliff edge.
This expedition had clearly worn on her. As the leader, her failure to manage the group must have hit her hard.
Shirou didn't intend to interfere—this was part of growing up. But Lefiya just happened to be on his way back to camp.
"…You?" Upon seeing him, the elf girl's face first showed a flash of dislike, but that quickly changed to a complicated expression.
"Wait… I want to talk to you."
"Sorry, I'm busy." Shirou instantly recognized her as a walking headache and tried to leave.
"…Ah…" Maybe his cold attitude was the last straw, or maybe Lefiya had been under too much pressure for too long.
As Shirou turned to leave, large tears suddenly began falling from her eyes.