In a world of swords and magic, the trade-city of Averl stands above countless dungeons managed by the Adventurers' Guild. Jill, a slim young man who swings two steel blades, and Fina, a girl who wields a bow and enchantment magic, were forced into a partnership through an endless argument over splitting profits. Unable to be honest, they bicker constantly yet fight in perfect sync underground. Fina has fallen for Jill at first sight but hides it behind her sense of duty to her large family back
Each One's "Place to Return To - Arrow of Lightning and Sword of Protection ~Feelings That Intersect at the Bottom of the Spiral~
It was the morning after the rainy season ended.
The sky over Avel was clear, as if the days of relentless rain had been a lie. The puddles on the cobblestones reflected the morning sun, filling every corner of the city with tiny fragments of light. The air still held moisture, and with every breath, there was a mingled scent of earth, grass, and flowers from somewhere far away.
Jil stood before the stairs leading underground to the Adventurers' Plaza in the Central District.
His brownish-black hair had grown a little longer, bouncing around his ears. His sea-deep blue eyes stared straight ahead at the dark entrance below. His slender body carried two steel swords crossed at his left hip.
On his left wrist, the trace of an old bandage. Beneath it, the scar of a burn from childhood was hidden.
(Today, I'll settle this.)
Jil slowly exhaled.
His broken ribs hadn't fully healed yet. When he breathed deeply, a dull pain throbbed deep in his left chest. The priest who had cast healing magic on him had said, "You need at least ten more days of rest." But there was no time for that.
(Fina said she's going.)
(Then I'm going too.)
That was all.
Light footsteps approached from behind. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was.
"...Did you wait?"
It was Fina.
Her gold hair with a hint of vermilion was tied high in a ponytail today. She always wore it like this when fighting. Her greenish-gray eyes stared fixedly at Jil. In her hand, she gripped her grandfather's keepsake—an elven composite bow.
A quiver on her back. At her waist, a small leather pouch filled with magic stone powder. A catalyst for enchanting.
"No. I just got here."
Jil said that and turned toward Fina.
A brief silence fell between them.
The words they had exchanged in front of the inn last night still seemed to linger in the air.
'I'll protect you too.'
His own voice from that moment echoed in his head.
(I'll protect her.)
(But I won't be reckless like before.)
Jil clenched his fist tightly.
"Fina. Will you hear out today's plan?"
Fina tilted her head slightly.
"A plan? You, thinking up a plan?"
"...Yeah. I thought about it in my own way."
Jil took a deep breath.
"Last time, I went at that crustacean head-on with dual blades. My sword was deflected, and I took a water pressure cannon straight on. Result: broken ribs and a retreat."
Fina's expression clouded slightly.
She remembered that day. When Jil was slammed into the wall, coughing blood, unable to move.
"So today, I'm sealing the dual blades. I'll use only one sword. The other is for defense only."
Fina's eyes widened slightly.
"...Defense only? You?"
"Yeah. I'll protect you. While protecting, I'll attack. No recklessness. I'll move in sync with the timing of your enchantments."
Jil's voice was quiet.
But in his eyes, there was a strong resolve.
Fina stared at Jil's face for a while.
(This person, he's really trying to change.)
(For my sake, he's trying not to be reckless, trying to protect me.)
Something in Fina's chest tightened with a squeeze.
But she couldn't let it show on her face.
"...Hmph. I'll provide support, so you go out front. It's not that you're protecting me—I'm supporting you from behind."
Fina said that and gripped her bow tightly.
When she got embarrassed, her tone got stronger. It was her usual habit.
"Yeah. I'm counting on you."
Jil said that and smiled slightly.
Seeing that smile, Fina felt the tips of her ears grow hot.
"I-It's not like I'm doing this for you. It's for the money. Eighty gold coins. With that, I can send so much to my little brothers."
Fina said that rapidly.
"Yeah. I know."
Jil answered gently.
(You don't know at all, idiot.)
Fina muttered in her heart.
(If I told you it's for you, how much easier would that make things for me?)
(But I can't say it.)
(Because if I say it, I'll definitely cry.)
Fina hung her head.
——
The two of them slowly descended the stairs leading underground to the Adventurers' Plaza.
The stairs were old, carved from stone. Magic stone lamps were installed at regular intervals along the walls, their pale blue light illuminating the footsteps below. The air was cool and damp. The summer heat aboveground felt like a lie.
The Spiral Labyrinth.
A massive dungeon spreading beneath Avel. Fifty floors confirmed so far. Floors one through five were for Iron rank; floors six through fifteen were for Bronze rank. The tenth floor, where the two were headed now, was particularly dangerous even among Bronze.
Last time, the two of them had been defeated there by Grandoll.
A crab-type humanoid monster, four meters long, with six arms.
A carapace that deflected steel swords. A water pressure cannon that could shatter rock.
That monster was somewhere on the tenth floor.
"...Fina. How long do your enchantments last?"
Jil asked quietly as they descended the stairs.
"...One application lasts ten minutes. But if I use it consecutively, my mental energy won't hold. Three times is my limit."
Fina answered while checking the magic stone powder in her leather pouch with her fingers.
Enchantment.
Magic that temporarily grants an attribute to a weapon. Activation requires magic stone powder as a catalyst, and the effect lasts about ten minutes. During the enchantment, the caster's mental energy—MP—is continuously consumed.
Fina was particularly skilled with "lightning attribute."
"Three times. That's enough. With three, I can finish this."
Jil said that.
"...You're not planning to be reckless again, are you?"
Fina's voice sharpened slightly.
"I won't. I promise. Today, I'll match your timing."
Jil said that, looking into Fina's eyes.
Fina couldn't say anything in the face of the seriousness in those eyes.
(Is it okay to believe him?)
(Is it okay to trust you?)
Fina pressed her lips tightly together.
——
They arrived at the tenth floor.
It was a vast cavern of rock.
The ceiling was high, and the places the magic stone lamps couldn't reach sank into deep darkness. The floor was littered with rocks of various sizes, and puddles had formed here and there. The air was even colder than aboveground, with a raw, fishy smell. The smell of monsters.
The two stopped at the entrance to the cavern.
"...It's here."
Fina murmured quietly.
From deep in the darkness, there was a sign of something heavy moving.
Zuzu... Zuzuzu...
A damp, heavy sound.
Something enormous slowly emerged from behind the rocks.
Four meters long. Six arms. A grotesque monster resembling a humanoid crab.
Its carapace gleamed dark copper, its surface carved with countless scars. The sword wounds Jil had left last time.
Grandoll.
Its compound eyes swiveled and locked onto the two of them.
"...Here it comes."
Fina raised her bow.
Jil drew one sword with his right hand and held the other in a reverse grip with his left.
"Fina. I'll take it head-on from the front. You watch for the timing and loose your arrows from behind."
"I know. You better not die."
"Yeah. I won't die."
Jil said that and kicked off the ground.
——
Grandoll roared.
GISHAAAAAA!!
A scream mixed with metallic sound, enough to split eardrums.
At the same time, three of its six arms on the right side swung down at Jil all at once.
Each strike had enough power to tear a human body apart like paper.
Jil parried it with his right sword.
GAKIN!!
Sparks flew.
The weight of the arm traveled through the sword into his entire body. His bones creaked. His broken ribs screamed.
(Heavy...!)
But he didn't try to push back with force head-on like last time.
Jil shifted his body sideways, diverting the arm's trajectory.
Not catching the sword—deflecting it.
Not using unnecessary strength.
Grandoll's attack cut through empty air.
"Now, Fina!!"
Jil shouted.
As if responding to his voice, Fina loosed an arrow.
"Take this!!"
A sound of air being sliced.
Fina's arrow was no ordinary arrow.
Magic stone powder was coated on the arrowhead, and Fina's magical power was concentrated there.
"Lightning enchant...!!"
BACHIBACHIBACHI!!
The arrow, wreathed in pale blue lightning, was sucked into the joint of Grandoll's left arm.
Grandoll's carapace could even deflect steel swords.
But the joints were different.
To allow movement, the carapace there was thin, covered by a soft membrane.
That was the weak point.
ZUBU!!
The lightning-wreathed arrow pierced deep into the joint membrane.
BACHIBACHIBACHIBACHI!!!
Electric current flowed through the gaps in the carapace into Grandoll's body.
"GISHAAAAAA!!"
Grandoll let out an agonized scream.
The movement of its left arm clearly slowed.
"It's working!! Jil, now!!"
Fina raised her voice.
Jil kicked off the ground and dove into Grandoll's guard.
He thrust his right sword toward its abdomen.
Grandoll had two weak points.
The soft membrane at the joints, and the magic stone core in its abdomen.
If the magic stone core was destroyed, this monster would die.
"Here...!!"
Jil's sword aimed for Grandoll's abdomen.
But Grandoll wasn't just going to take it.
Its three right arms closed in from all sides, trying to crush Jil.
Jil parried them with his left sword.
GAKIN! GAKIN! GAKIN!
Three consecutive sparks.
The defense-only sword was protecting Jil's body.
(This is right.)
(No recklessness.)
(Protect while attacking.)
Jil swung his sword as if convincing himself.
His right sword cut shallowly into Grandoll's abdomen.
"GISHAA!!"
Grandoll let out a roar of anger.
Its mouth opened wide.
This was bad.
"Jil, the water pressure cannon is coming!!"
Fina's warning echoed through the cavern.
Inside Grandoll's mouth, water could be seen compressing.
The water pressure cannon.
A high-pressure stream that could shatter rock.
Last time, Jil had taken this head-on and was slammed into the wall.
"I know!!"
Jil held his left sword in front of him like a shield.
The next moment.
DOGOOOOO!!!
The water pressure cannon fired.
Jil's body was blown away.
But it was different from last time.
Jil deflected the angle of the water stream with his sword, letting the impact escape sideways.
His body slid across the ground.
"Guh...!!"
His broken ribs throbbed violently.
But it wasn't enough damage to keep him down.
(I can still go.)
Jil raised his head.
At that moment.
"Second one!! Take this!!"
Fina's voice flew.
The second lightning arrow pierced into the joint of Grandoll's right arm this time.
BACHIBACHIBACHIBACHI!!!
Electric current raced through Grandoll's body.
"GISHAAAAAA!!"
Grandoll's movements slowed further.
Two of its six arms had completely lost function.
"Now, Jil!! Finish it!!"
Fina shouted.
Jil kicked off the ground.
(The opening Fina created for me.)
(I won't waste it.)
Jil thrust his right sword toward Grandoll's abdomen.
This time, not shallow.
Deep.
Deep enough to pierce the magic stone core.
"UOOOOOOOO!!"
The sword pried open the gap in the carapace and plunged into the soft abdomen.
He felt resistance.
But it still hadn't reached the magic stone core.
"GISHAAAAAA!!"
Grandoll thrashed.
Its remaining four arms flailed wildly, trying to crush Jil.
Jil desperately parried with his left sword.
But he couldn't completely block four arms with one sword.
One strike grazed Jil's shoulder.
"GUA...!!"
Flesh tore, blood flew.
But it hadn't reached the bone.
"Jil!!"
Fina's voice, close to a scream.
"I'm fine!! I can still go!!"
Jil, bleeding, regripped his sword.
(Not yet.)
(It's not over yet.)
Jil, parrying Grandoll's attacks, steadily drove the sword deeper into its abdomen.
(Fina is slowing its movements with her enchantments.)
(I destroy the magic stone core in that opening.)
(This is how we fight.)
For the first time, Jil felt a solid sense of response in his heart.
——
Fina, holding her bow, was biting her lip.
(One more time.)
(The enchantment limit is one more.)
(My mental energy is almost depleted.)
Her head was spinning.
Her vision blurred intermittently.
Her MP consumption was
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