The next day, Ais and I were making our way towards the dungeon to meet up with the others after our usual spar, but I had noticed that Ais was being very quiet, even compared to her usual self.
"Ais, is there something bothering you?" Finally, I decided to ask her.
Ais looked up with a start, her gaze meeting mine, before she looked down towards the cobblestone road.
"...I just feel sorry for making you all help me," She said, "I can't even do anything to repay you." She confessed her worries, which, while I myself find to be unnecessary, I could also understand her viewpoint.
"You don't need to worry about that, Ais. I'm helping you because you're precious to me," hearing my words, she looked up again, her cheek reddening slightly, "And those girls also feel the same."
"Really?" she asked.
"Yes, and so they would be happier if you thank them instead of receiving an apology from you," I confirmed, "you will do that right?"
Ais nodded at my words, "I will," a small smile coming up on her lips. Just then, we arrived at the meeting spot. Where everyone had gathered and was waiting for us.
Before we could enter the dungeon, Ais suddenly stopped and turned to face everyone. Her hands came together in front of her, fingers fidgeting slightly as a faint blush colored her cheeks.
"I want to thank everyone for helping me today," she said quietly, her usually stoic expression softening.
"Don't worry about it, Ais," Ryuu spoke warmly, reaching out to gently hold Ais's pinky finger between her own—a small gesture, but significant coming from someone who typically found physical contact uncomfortable. "We're all friends here. We help each other when needed."
"Kya! You're both so cute!" Alise squealed, unable to contain herself. She launched forward and wrapped both Ais and Ryuu in an enthusiastic hug, squeezing them close. "This is what friendship looks like! Supporting each other! Being adorable together!"
"Eh? Why me too?!" and obviously dragging Ryuu in the hug as well.
"Wha—Miss Alise!" Lefiya's eyes went wide with distress as she watched someone else embrace Ais so freely. Her hands clenched at her sides. "I never expected you to be more dangerous than Arin!"
"What the heck do you mean by dangerous?" I asked, my eyes narrowing as I turned to face her.
Lefiya gulped visibly, suddenly realizing she'd said that out loud. "N-nothing! I meant nothing by it!" She spun around and hurried toward the dungeon entrance. "L-let's hurry, everyone! We need to earn ten million valis! Time is money! No time to waste!"
"Oye, wait, you little!" I ran after her. The other girls followed behind us, Alise still cheerfully humming while Ais looked somewhat bewildered by the sudden chaos. Kaguya brought up the rear, shaking her head with a long, weary sigh.
"Everything's going to be fine, right?" she muttered to no one in particular, already knowing the answer was probably 'no.'
____________________________________________________________________________
"Ugh, you don't have to hit me so hard, Arin..." Lefiya rubbed the growing bump on her head where I'd bopped her with my knuckles.
"Less complaining, more working," I replied, gesturing at the pile of magic stones we'd accumulated from the monsters we'd been systematically eliminating on the upper floors.
We'd fallen into an efficient rhythm—Ais and I handled the vanguard, Alise provided enthusiastic support (and occasional chaos), Kaguya picked off stragglers with precise strikes, Ryuu covered our flanks with her usual grace, and Lefiya provided magical support from the rear while also collecting drop items.
"I don't think we can earn much by simply exchanging magic stones." Ryuu picked up the drop items and put them in the bag as she spoke.
"Lion is right, even with all of us eliminating monsters, we won't be able to raise anywhere near ten million Valis in a week." Alise nodded in agreement, and the rest of the girls frowned at her words.
"The only solution we have is either we take down Goliath, which hasn't spawned yet, or go to the lower floors," Kaguya proposed the option that was definitely the most optimal one.
"But also more danger and time investment," Ryuu pointed out. "We'd spend more time fighting and recovering between battles. The efficiency might or might not actually improve that much."
"Ah!" Ais exclaimed, drawing all our attention to her, but she continued, "I have brought with me some drop items, maybe we can sell them in Rivira?"
"Drop items?" Ryuu questioned, looking in the bag Ais had.
"Yes… I was gathering them for a new weapon, but… in the end, I like the one I got," she replied.
"That's… a good idea, we can even charge a premium," Kaguya replied,
"Plus, we'd save ourselves the hassle of negotiating with merchants," Alise added enthusiastically. "I hate haggling with them. They always try to lowball us!"
"Then it's decided," I announced, already planning our approach. "Alise, Kaguya will go back and get these magic stones exchanged at the guild. We'll meet up on the eighteenth floor to set up our... what should we call it?"
"The Ais Debt Relief Emporium!" Alise suggested immediately.
"Absolutely not," Ais said flatly, her cheeks flushing.
"The Wallenstein Wants Weapons Fund?" Alise tried again.
"No."
"The Desperate Times Desperate Measures Shop?"
"Please stop," Ais covered her face with her hands.
"How about we just call it a supply shop and leave it at that?" Kaguya suggested pragmatically.
"Where's the fun in that?" Alise pouted, but she was already hoisting the large bag of magic stones onto her shoulder with ease. Then turned to Kaguya. "Come on, partner! Let's go make some money! "We'll be back in a giffy!" Alise declared confidently.
"It's 'jiffy,'" Kaguya corrected immediately.
"That's what I said! Giffy!"
"No, jiffy. With a J."
"Potato, tomato!"
"That's not even the right—you know what, never mind." Kaguya's voice faded as they disappeared down the corridor, Alise's cheerful humming echoing back to us.
A moment of peaceful silence settled over our now smaller group.
"She's exhausting," Ais observed, looking in the direction Alise and Kaguya disappeared towards.
"Mostly," I agreed. "But she is a good mood maker, though I give Kaguya about ten minutes before she seriously considers leaving Alise in the dungeon."
"Five minutes," Lefiya predicted.
"Three," Ryuu countered.
We all shared a laugh at that.
"Alright," I said, clapping my hands together. "Let's push a bit deeper and find some quality drops. We've got a shop to stock!"
"Right!" Lefiya nodded enthusiastically. "Let's show everyone the true power of teamwork and friendship!"
"You sound like Alise now," I pointed out.
"I do not!" Lefiya protested, but her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
"You kind of do," Ais said quietly, earning a betrayed look from Lefiya.
"Miss Ais! Not you too!" We dove deeper as the banter continued, and before long, we were on the eighteenth floor and set up a make-shift shop, with a chopped tree as our counter, and laid all the drop items we had.
We had just finished setting things up and were waiting for Alise and Kaguya when a customer approached. He was wearing a normal hood, and based on the staff he was holding, I guessed he was a mage.
Lefiya stepped forward as the clerk, and the negotiation started.
"S-Six million valis!" she said, hesitantly.
The adventurer also started negotiating, "That's too expensive, at least make it five million!"
"No… three hundred thousands…" She brought the price even further down!
"Why are you going lower?!" The adventurer and I cried simultaneously.
"Do you need it? Or not?!" she shouted. He agreed immediately and hurried off with his purchase. After he had left, I looked at Lefiya as she counted the money.
"What the heck are you doing, you idiot!" I sighed at her naivety.
"Eeep!" she let out a scared voice, "...B-But I am a proud elf! And selling something that should be 300k for 5 million is just…!"
Ais tilted her head in confusion. "Is that... bad?"
"Very bad," Ryuu confirmed with a sigh. "Lefiya," Ryuu said gently, "I'm also an elf, but we're doing business here. While I do agree that we shouldn't charge an extravagant amount, we should still ask for the price that is considered normal here." She explained, "Otherwise, everyone would buy from us at a cheap price and sell them at higher prices."
"I understand that…but…" Lefiya tried to argue,
"Lefiya is really nice," Ais commented, while Lefiya, hearing those words, almost teared up.
"No, she is an idiot, anyway. From now on, you are not allowed to sell anything." I declared.
"Wha! That's mean!" she cried, which I ignored.
"Oh, did you already sell something?!" We turn back to see Alise and Kaguya approaching our shop.
"Welcome back," I greeted them, "so? How much did we get for the magic stones?"
"We got around 800k for those, could have gotten more, if a certain someone hadn't destroyed them," Kaguya said, her eyes fixated on me.
"Why are you looking at me when saying that?" I asked.
"Beats me," she replied, "maybe because you were the one who blew the monsters to smithereens, leaving nothing behind."
"Hey, I am still not used to my strength after the level up, so give me a break." I protested.
"Yes, sure," she replied. We continued our bickering while customers came and went, the girls steadily selling through our inventory, still below market value, but I bit my tongue.
The afternoon passed in a steady stream of customers. Adventurers preparing for deeper dives, those who'd exhausted their supplies, and a few merchants looking to flip our goods at their own shop—though Kaguya spotted them quickly enough and adjusted prices accordingly
By the time the "sun" was starting to go down, we had amassed a whopping 4.3 million Valis, thanks to the rare drop items from the deep floors Ais had.
"Today was a good haul, let's keep up the good work tomorrow as well!" I said, as the girls cheered, before we started to make our way up towards the surface.