Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu

The two finished eating their cake and left the restaurant with satisfaction . After walking through the town a little longer, they decided to go out into the field next .

“Since this is the first layer, you don’t even need to wear armor, do you, Maple?”

“Hehehe . Of course! My VIT is 4 digits!”

Just in case, Maple equipped a plane short sword, but left her great shields unequipped .

If she used such eye-catching things, people would immediately know that she was Maple .

“Leave the fighting to me . I couldn’t possibly lose to the monsters here . ”

“Yes, okay!”

They walked to the town’s exit, but weren’t sure where to go from there .

“So, which way should we go?”

“We can just go in any direction you want, Maple . Or...”

Sally opened her map and Maple looked at it as well .

“The last time we explored the first layer, we went here and here, right? Also this underground lake . ”

“Yes, yes . ”

“I don’t think all of the interesting events and secret locations are in one place . ”

“That’s probably true!”

“So, we should go somewhere that we haven’t been to...like around here . What about this area?”

“Yes! Let’s do that!”

“It’s decided then! Well, should I carry you? It’s been a while . ”

“Carry me!”

Syrup’s flying and Savagery were all methods of transportation that Maple was known for . And if they couldn’t use those, this was their only way .

Maple got on her back and put her hands firmly on Sally’s shoulders as she ran forward .

“You used to be so slow!”

“But I’m a little better now!”

“True . If anything, I ride you more often these days . ”

“It’s like repaying a debt!”

“Yes, yes . I’m going to avoid monsters as much as possible . ”

As Sally’s AGI had gone up, she was able to run through the wind at a much faster speed than the last time she was here .

“Hehe . We will be arriving at our next destination shortly!”

“Yes!”

Like this, the two arrived at their first destination . It was the entrance to a forest, where the sun shone through and the birds sang . Sally let Maple down and checked her map again .

“I think this is it . It’s such a big forest, so there must be something . ”

“There’s no one here . But it’s so pretty!”

“We’re quite far from the town . Maybe the monsters here are too strong for the first layer?”

“I see . Should I use Dedicated Affection since there’s no one here?”

While it seemed doubtful that Sally would get hit so easily, her HP and VIT had not changed at all since they were last here . So though her level had gone up, she would still die in a single hit .

“The plan was to relax and explore, so I think that would be better . ”

“Okay!”

Maple activated Dedicated Affection and Sally stayed within range as they entered the forest . As Sally said, the forest was quite big, and so they needed to look at the map in order to make sure that they weren’t going in circles .

“Ah! Sally, there’s a squirrel!”

“But it’s jumping towards you!”

Nearly everything that moved around in the forest was a monster . The squirrel that was a little larger than usual, quickly jumped out at Maple . But Maple accepted it with open arms . It had soft fur, and aside from the fact that it was trying to scratch Maple, it was very cute .

“Caught you!”

“Be careful about the durability of your clothes, okay?”

“Oh, right . Okay...you can ride up here!”

Maple said as she put the squirrel up on her head . It busily moved around her head and neck, attacking relentlessly . However, it was to no avail .

“There seems to be a lot of bug-type monsters near the town, so this place is a lot better for sightseeing . ”

“Yes! Oh, I hope something else jumps towards me soon...ah!”

The squirrel seemed to have realized that it’s attacks were not effective, and it jumped off of Maple’s head and ran off into the bushes .

“I see . They run away . ”

“Well, it didn’t look like a rare monster . Maybe another one will come and attack you later?”

“Hehe . I’m always ready!”

Maple said to the monsters she couldn’t yet see, and they continued to walk in the forest .

“Hmm . It seems like a normal forest? But there must be something in a forest that is this big . ”

“But this is pretty fun, walking around like this . Isn’t it? It’s like taking a stroll!”

“Really? I’m glad you feel that way . Should we eat something on the way?”

Sally said as she took out a sandwich that could be carried with one hand, and then gave it to Maple .

“Thank you! ...Huh? Sally, look! Look!”

“Huh? Ah, a butterfly...?”