But even if Damien, at the second job advancement, learned his second skill, given his base class was an N-grade healer, he wasn't going to learn anything outstanding. His passive was basic healing, his first skill was a detox ability... his second skill would likely be something akin to a status abnormality removal.

As for my second skill, I was completely in the dark. No hint whatsoever.

'That's what makes it a variable.'

The current structure of my job, 'Commander,' had somewhat difficult skill configurations.

The passive was an area-wide mental abnormality prevention.

The first skill was area-wide mind control.

It seemed related yet unrelated, simultaneously visible and invisible.

'I've been only gaining skills related to the mind...'

My second skill was likely something along those lines as well.

'I wonder if they'll give me something like mental destruction...?'

Something that would shatter the enemy's mental state or explode their heads outright. I hoped for some awesome attack skill.

I was indulging in this daydream when I came to my senses.

No, fantasizing like this wouldn't achieve anything.

I might end up with an entirely unexpected second skill.

Something as absurd as 'You gather all your strength for a physical attack' wouldn't surprise me. It was an occupation without any information after all.

'Anyway, one thing is certain.'

To prepare for the Vampire Lord Raid, I needed to secure at least one more variable.

For that, it was recommended to level up Damien and myself.

Especially since I had to level up 11 times, it meant hogging experience points.

'It seems like the conditions have been met.'

I began to salivate.

'Shall I really try to power-level?'

***

One way or another, a bit past noon on the same day.

Damien and Junior were summoned to the mansion.

As I had mentioned earlier when I called them, they knew they were coming for a free exploration expedition.

"Hehe! I'm here...!"

Damien arrived, sweating profusely. Upon looking closer, I saw he had carried six magic guns on his back...

'I gave the kid too heavy a load.'

Literally. Without thinking, I had handed over six heavy weapons. Sorry.

'Do I need to assign someone specifically for transport? What should I do?'

He should be focused solely on sniping.

I had burdened this already delicate kid with not just wielding but carrying these heavy weapons everywhere. As I was pondering, Damien laughed brightly.

"It's okay! It helps with stamina training, too!"

No, don't smile like an angel. It makes me feel like a villain.

"Carrying these magic guns around like this, maybe one day I'll have muscles like Lucas! Maybe I'll even get taller!"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Lucas, who had been listening, smiled warmly.

Something about all this was reminiscent of a beginner at the gym who's just started working out, full of the lofty ambition of benching, squatting, and deadlifting a total of 1100 pounds, and the experienced lifter who thinks, "That's impossible, you're dreaming, noob." But it must be a misunderstanding, right? Right, Lucas? Right?

"Hmm! Damien, for this exploration, let's just take a couple of magic guns and primarily use a crossbow."

At my suggestion, Damien's eyes widened in surprise.

"A crossbow?"

"Yep. I've crafted a few silver arrows."

Magic guns certainly deliver high damage, but the additional damage from silver arrows should also pack a punch against those bloodsuckers.

I planned to test which was more effective against those vampire bastards, the magic guns or silver arrows.

If it worked well, I was considering crafting a new crossbow for him too.

I handed Damien the N-grade crossbow I had previously fetched from the warehouse. It was the same one he used to use.

In addition, I gave him three containers of silver arrows.

But now it seems like the weight is almost equivalent to carrying a couple of magic guns...?

"I understand! Um... then which magic gun should I take...?"

Damien laid out six magic guns on the floor, pondering which one to take for this expedition.

"Let's start with the Black Queen. It's necessary."

"Ah, okay!"

Damien's gear was quite heavy. If it got too burdensome, I'd have Lucas carry some of it.

-Bam!

Just then, the parlor door opened and Junior appeared.

"Oh, it seems I'm the last one here."

With drooping eyes, Junior grinned and greeted the party members.

Then, her eyes met mine, and with a determined expression, she declared,

"Health! Is! Wealth!"

I reluctantly acknowledged her.

"Well... yeah, you do seem healthy..."

"Hehe, indeed! I've focused on rest and recovery these past few days, and I've only been eating nourishing food."

Junior patted her belly confidently.

It seemed a little bloated, suggesting she had been eating well.

"I promise to show you a healthy and strong me this time and not to worry you!"

She was speaking hurriedly and ended up twisting her tongue.

Junior bit her tongue, and droplets of blood splashed in all directions.

"..."

I watched this horrifying scene, stunned. What on earth is she doing?

"Cough, cough."

Looking just as bad as she did when she was injured, Junior saw the attention focused on her, wiped the corner of her mouth, and muttered,

"It...it was a joke..."

"Uh, uh-huh... okay..."

I couldn't be bothered to retort anymore. Let's just say it was a joke...

"I'll cast a healing spell on you. Stick out your tongue, please, Junior."

"Thank you, Sniper... Healer... Uh, Damien."

As Junior stuck out her tongue and Damien healed her, I began briefing about this free exploration.

"First of all, this expedition is planned for one night and two days."

At my words, the two knights packing their bags, and the sniper and magician both receiving treatment, widened their eyes. What's wrong?

"If the route gets complicated, we could consider up to two nights and three days. We're going pretty far."

At this, Lucas suddenly jumped up from his seat. What's the matter?!

"I'll bring a razor."

"Huh?"

"As a knight of the royal family, I should always keep my beard neat. I need to shave at least once a day."

With that, he quickly dashed off to his room.

Wait, when did your beard grow? I thought it didn't because it was always smooth. Was it actually the result of extreme self-care?

"Sniff, sniff."

Evangeline was smelling her own body. What are you doing?

"I'm trying to remember when I last showered. I think it was before I went to bed yesterday."

"Isn't that okay?"

"But I trained in the morning! Oh, I think I smell a little like sweat..."

The monster's blood will smell stronger when we get there, miss.

Evangeline cautiously sniffed her armpit and screamed in disgust.

"Ah! I'll go take a shower!"

"..."

Is this befitting of a teenager or did the heir to the Margrave sell her dignity somewhere?

I gently chided Evangeline.

"Don't do that in front of others."

"Huh? Why? I'm not ashamed."

"No, because it might hurt others."

My mental state almost broke. Thanks to my passive skill, I managed to endure.

Anyway, don't do that in the future. Do it somewhere in private.

"Uh, Your Highness..."

Damien was fidgeting. Now what's your issue?

"Actually, I'm raising a pet at the temple..."

"Is that so? What are you raising?"

"A hamster. Its name is Podong."

So you've been doing cute things on the sly.

"And?"

"If I leave for a day, Podong will starve to death..."

"..."

I had Aider send a message to the temple. Tell them to feed the hamster in Damien's room tomorrow.

"And change its water! Be sure to mention it!"

Damien yelled at Aider's retreating back.

'...Is this a dungeon exploration club or an elite main party?'

In this regard, the Shadow Squad would be more professional.

Well, they've gone through hellish special forces training, so it's only natural.

While this chaotic bunch was preparing for what seemed more like a field trip than a dungeon exploration, Junior was lost in thought.

She also seems quite troubled. I carefully approached her.

"What are you doing?"

"...May I be honest?"

Would I tell you to lie? Of course, you should answer honestly.

After some hesitation, Junior whispered into my ear.

"I was calculating how long I could tolerate the Bleeding."

"..."

"Everyone worries about the Bleeding. I was wondering how long I could hide it."

"Just spit it all out, yeah..."

Didn't your character have a strange set of traits? Bleeding isn't a gag, and it's not a personality. Stop relying on that.

Crossing my arms, I let out a heavy sigh.

"How can you stabilize your condition?"

"Heh. I don't know."

Junior showed her typical, fox-like smile.

"Give up on living fiercely, and things might get easier."

I frowned.

Pain comes with trying to live fiercely.

This wasn't just true for Junior, who was living on borrowed time. It applied to everyone.

Anyway, after the commotion from the two-day trip finally settled down,

And after Lucas, who had gone to get a razor, and Evangeline, who had gone to take a shower, had returned,

I was able to continue the briefing.

"The free exploration up to now was a straight path. We just had to follow the established route."

I brought out a chalkboard with a rudimentary map I had drawn beforehand.

"But it won't be like that anymore. The routes have expanded."

I pointed at the large circle drawn in the middle of the chalkboard. This was the base camp.

"From the base camp, we can explore the Lake Kingdom freely. Of course, there are only a few direct routes, roughly three."

I pointed at each of the three paths branching upwards.

"These three routes each connect to different regions."

I wrote the names of the regions at the ends of each route with chalk.

"The first route leads to 'The Library'. The second route leads to 'The Grand Park'. The third route leads to 'The Court'."

Lucas, who had been listening to my explanation, raised his hand to ask a question.

"My lord, what about the number of the zones? Are those three places zones 4, 5, and 6 in order?"

Since we had passed through the [The Dried Sewer], [Hidden Alley], and [Northern Fortress] which were zones 1, 2, and 3 respectively, Lucas's question made sense.

But it's slightly different.

"Not exactly. The numbers of the zones do not represent the order, but rather, the depth of the dungeon."

In other words, it represents the difficulty. Each depth has different sets of monsters and level ranges.

And the Library, Grand Park, and Court are grouped into the same depth. In other words.

"The Library, Grand Park, and Court are all Zone 4."

"Ah, so the difficulty of the three places is about the same."

"That's not necessarily true..."

That's the tricky part.

Even though they're the same depth, the difficulty of the three areas is drastically different.

"Which one do you think is the hardest?"

I asked my party members.

Damien was the first to raise his hand.

"The Library."

"Why?"

"Because with all those books, it seems like a bunch of wizards would come pouring out."

"Ho ho, quite an interesting assumption, but no."

Next, Evangeline shot her hand up.

"The Court!"

"Why?"

"Because it's the most powerful place out of the three...?"

"A very creative answer, but incorrect."

I revealed the correct answer.

"The answer is the Grand Park. It's an open space without any geographical features, where we'd have to fend off monster waves attacking from all directions."

"Ah..."

"We can't go there now. It's too damn hard."

We'd need four full parties, which would amount to twenty people, to stand a chance. Right now, it would be reckless.

There are many players in the game who unknowingly go there first and end up quitting the game.

Drawing an X on the route leading to the Grand Park, I grinned at my party members.

"So, where shall we head to today?"