Did she already know what I would ask her for?

Ch 30: Everyone has a tragic story to tell…

"Don't you want to rest?"

"I feel good; thank you, master."

On the third floor of the Altamira labyrinth, we both walked through the corridors looking for some monster. In this short period, we haven't found any but I noticed that Alessia looks tired.

It's normal since I took 20 points off her status to add the 60% discount and the extra classes. Plus, we just finished a floor boss fight.

"Well, let's sit down and rest"

"No need, mas-… …" she looked at me with narrowed eyes.

When I sat against the wall, I spread my legs and tapped the space between them, telling Alessia to sit there. That's why she gave me that look, as if I were a criminal.

"Easy, I won't do anything."

Alessia: "…"

Alessia quietly sat between my legs, putting her back against my chest.

Then I moved my hands to her waist and hugged her while positioning my head on her left shoulder.

That was all, nothing more. I kept my word, and we just sat like a couple in love. Also, every time I breathe, I can smell the scent coming from her neck. 

'It's too relaxing; I'm afraid I'll fall asleep at any moment.'

"Between a spear and a bow, which one do you prefer?"

"The lance. I specialize in the proximity attack. Although a lance does not fully meet these requirements for me, it is better than a bow."

"When we get out of the labyrinth, I will buy a spear and a bow for us to use."

"Master… I have used the sword all my life…"

"I know; don't worry. It will be for a short time."

Like her, I have also used the sword for a large part of my life. If someone asked me to use another weapon overnight, I would refuse just like her. But this case will be special since, the moment we get the [Archer] and [Lancer] classes, we will stop using such weapons.

While these classes will level up at a slow pace since we won't be using their primary weapons, the points earned from leveling them up will still be important. In the future, when we get classes that suit our battle style, I will not hesitate to remove them. I'm tempted to add the [Driver] class to my status, but I'm afraid it will level up so slowly that the points spent on it won't be worth it.

I got this whole conclusion through the [Survivor] class, which levels up slowly if my life isn't in danger.

"Since you will use the bow, I must recommend that you buy expensive arrows. My previous teammate was an archer, and he told me that only fools buy cheap arrows"

"Oh, and what is it due to?"

"The cheap arrows break and you have to constantly buy them, while the expensive ones are so hard that you will first die before one of them breaks. That's what he told me"

'I see… Also, with my inventory, I can store them there to increase their useful lives even more. It's simple but great advice.'

"Speaking of your teammates, what were they like?"

"They were all men specialized in attack, except for one who used a sword and a shield. He was in charge of blocking the inevitable attacks of the enemy."

"I imagine him in full armor and incredibly slow."

"Hehehe, yes, he is just as you described."

'Wow, I haven't seen that adorable smile since the day we formed a contract.'

"What happened to them?"

"That... should have appeared in the report Mr. Leo handed you, right?"

"Yes, it appeared. But I want to hear it from you"

"I see, then…"

The story is as follows:

Alessia and her five teammates were forced to go on an emergency mission. This was to protect the [Saint] of Denir City on her pilgrimage trip.

The mission was simple. The saint, without any help, had to climb the mountain to the solitary temple without stopping her prayers or eating or drinking. Their responsibility as guards was to prevent the saint from being distracted by the situations in the earthly world.

The trip went smoothly, and they climbed 3/4 of the mountain in about 28 hours without stopping to rest.

That's where the tragedy occurred. Suddenly, a group of people with their faces covered attacked them. In their first attack, the enemies killed about 10 people by surprise, and once they were discovered, the full-scale pitched battle began.

The enemies were ready. They hid in high places on the mountain and in places that were hard to get to. Not surprisingly, most of the deaths were due to arrows and falling rocks.

Alessia's group defended and attacked in a balanced circle, and although they were injured, none were seriously injured.

When dozens of people died, the Saint couldn't take it anymore and burst into tears.

'Mercy! Fight no more! I beg you!!'

Then she kneeled and started crying.

The moment the saint shouted, the criminals immediately stopped their attack and fled the scene.

And there the story did not end since, as their pilgrimage trip failed, the [Saint] class fell to [Priestess]. When the Solus Temple learned of this, they banished the woman. With this, her class again dropped from [Priestess] to [Believer].

"Everyone involved in this event was punished by the Solus Temple. While my companions had to pay a large sum for their salvation, I was not given any privileges. The temple directly planned to send me as a religious slave... Upon learning of this, my teammates spent untold sums of money to turn me into a normal slave"

Religious slaves are used as sacrifices for the Solus temple. Alessia, as a beautiful virgin woman, would surely be sacrificed on an altar in front of thousands of believers.

"They were good companions; thanks to them, I have you here in my arms. Do you want me to do something for them?"

"No need. The last thing I heard from them is that they were back to being adventurers, but without registering with the adventurer's guild."

"Are you sure? If I help them in any way, I'm sure I'll receive your love"

"Hmph, don't use my tragic past to score points on me, master!"

"Are you sure?"

"… … …I would appreciate it."

'Well, I have some remaining thieves’ remnants that I haven't cashed out. In the future, I can use that money to financially help her former teammates. It would be so easy if all those negative points I have in Alessia could be settled with money… Mm?' 

My map shows three blue dots heading our way. Since we're on the third floor inside a popular labyrinth, it's not uncommon to run into people on the way.

"Alessia, some people are coming."

"Do you have such good instincts? I've rested enough, let's continue our journey, master."

With those words, we got up from the ground and walked at a fast pace. At the moment we found a fork, we changed corridors to avoid running into them.

[Skeleton Lvl3]

[Fierce Hyena Lvl3]

"Right, floor 3. Groups of two monsters will appear."

These groups will occasionally appear from here on out. On this floor, there can be two monsters of the same type or be different from each other. The skeleton is the default monster, so it will appear the most on this floor.

The numbers of monsters in-group will increase by 1 on floors 6 and 9, representing a group of 3 and a group of 4 monsters respectively.

Fierce Hyena, Skeleton, and Shadow Cat can appear on this floor in a maximum group of 2 monsters. The higher the floor, the greater the diversity of monsters.

The skeleton is human-shaped with 1.6m in height. Its main weapon is a corroded sword, and although it does not have poison, it may cause wounds to become infected.

Because of its speed, the hyena reached us faster.

Both of us split into right and left and attacked it.

"GRRA"

It opened its snout and fiercely charged in my direction, so I jumped to the side, evading. Given the opportunity, I quickly swung my sword in the direction of its left eye. Just a few seconds after I hit the target, it turned its head and my sword hit its teeth.

"GRUAA!"

'Don't underestimate the [Edge] skill!'

 When the two collided, the hyena's teeth were cut cleanly.

Alessia did not miss that opportunity. Although she initially planned to go to the hyena's back, seeing its slowed movements, she attacked its front leg. Her sword smoothly passed through it, leaving a hole in its position.

With double pain, the hyena did not understand what was happening around it. It didn't even react when my sword passed through its eye, killing it instantly.

[Hyena Paw]

[x1]

The next to arrive was the skeleton, who trotted like a human with the great difference of the sound of crashing bones in each of its steps.

The skeleton swung its sword in a horizontal line, which Alessia blocked while I went to its right side to defeat it at any opportunity.

"!!!"

Greater was our surprise when the corroded sword was cut in two by the clash with Alessia's iron sword. Without missing the opportunity, Alessia cut its neck, and the skull fell… Rolling chillingly on the ground.

For a moment I thought the skeleton would chase its head to put it on, but it was an unnecessary worry. The next second, the golden particles surrounded it, and its body disappeared.

[Femur]

'I do not want it! Even when it's loot, I don't want anything that belongs to a human skeleton.'