The next day, we entered the designated Cave.

Its name was, I believe, Romas’s Cave. Romas is simply a regional name, so it just means the Cave found in the Romas region.

And naturally, the enemies here are weak… at least for me. Although I’m using normal weapons to avoid revealing my cheat-level abilities, I still defeat all the enemies here in one hit. As a counter-strategy, I would confront monsters but mostly just graze them with basic attacks or something similar.

I defeated monsters while giving the impression of struggling a bit… It was quite difficult at first, but after an hour in the Cave, I got used to it and managed to act without being discovered.

“You’re quite skilled, aren’t you?”

Amidst all that, Phili spoke to me when it was time for a break inside the Cave. I was nervous because of the incident at the Tavern the other day,

“Well, I’ve explored a fair number of dungeons around here.”

“Even this one?”

“This is my first time going this deep. Be careful.”

Phili nodded at my words… Meanwhile, the two women were restlessly looking around.

In the game, Kori is quite excellent because there are no enemies that use magic attacks in the early stages… In fact, she’s the one who has defeated the most enemies in this Cave.

Kati, on the other hand, is also quite capable… but just like the MP constraint in the game, she’s conserving her Magic Power, so she doesn’t use very flashy Magic.

But this can’t be helped… Incidentally, in the game, using skills consumed SP, and using Magic consumed MP, and they were separate. However, SP would naturally recover a little. So, if you want to make many moves, it’s good to mainly use Warriors… but Magic has higher single-shot power, so you can fight to the end no matter which you focus on.

As for growth, there’s a high degree of freedom, so for example, Kori can learn Magic, and Kati can learn skills. But from the looks of it, both of them will probably specialize in skills and Magic.

Personally, I think Kori would be more useful in the late game if she learned some support Magic… but I don’t need to advise her on that now. I don’t even know if she’ll be a member of the final party yet.

“Well then, let’s move on.”

The woman nodded at Phili’s words and resumed moving. And once again, they encountered a monster. Phili and the others didn’t complain at all; they gave instructions and began to fight.

At this point, I was considerably surprised by Phili. It was his growth speed. After entering the cave, he was clearly growing.

In game terms, if the first dungeon can be cleared at the initial level, this cave is a place where it’s tough to conquer without raising your level at least two or three times. That might not seem like a big deal… but he’s clearly gained that much in level. The Adventurers and Swordsmen I’ve seen so far didn’t grow this easily, even after clearing one dungeon.

His leveling speed is abnormally fast… I confirm that fact by watching Phili.

And if he’s getting stronger this easily, then it’s understandable why the others have such high expectations. Kori and Kati are also quite something, but considering Phili’s charismatic ability to draw in companions… coupled with inheriting the Sage’s Blood, I’m confident he’s a suitable vessel for the Protagonist.

I see, a Protagonist, or rather, a “Book character” like a Hero or a Champion, is clearly different from others from these early stages… We continued, oddly satisfied with this realization.

Well, the boss of this cave is finally getting close. The boss here is a magical beast that was sealed in the Cave Interior. It just happens to revive when the Protagonist visits… If you think about it carefully, it’s a situation that can be called self-serving convenience.

But even something like this would probably be rationalized later as “there were signs of it” once he becomes a Hero.

When they reached the deepest part, Phili stopped for a moment. Oh, it’s finally time.

“…I sense something.”

“Huh?”

The moment Kori responded, a slight tremor occurred in the cave. As the two women looked around, the next moment, the wall deeper inside suddenly began to crumble with a rattling sound.

The group immediately readied their weapons. I also readied my sword to match Phili and the others… and it appeared.

A wolf with gray fur… but its face was so distorted that it could be called a monstrosity, becoming a being that instilled fear in those who saw it.

Its name was, if I recall correctly… Dawn Wolf.

“This is…!”

Phili muttered. Kati and Kori looked at him, wondering what to do, but he, of all people, was intently watching the magical beast and thinking.

In a game, it would immediately turn into a battle… but what will he do?

“–Phili.”

While I was speaking, the magical beast drew closer. And then he said,

“Kori and I will be on the front lines. Kati and Ruon, you provide support from the rear.”

“Understood.”

“Alright.”

Kati and I agreed and stepped back. Phili and Kori went forward, but… could they really win?

The boss’s abilities aren’t as high as its appearance suggests. Considering the number of enemies they’ve defeated, their levels should have increased since entering the cave, so Phili has a good chance of winning.

However… there was one problem. This one has fairly high attack power and, moreover, inflicts a ‘Down’ status effect in the game. In short, it’s like a stun effect where you can’t move for a certain period, and if it uses this to overwhelm them, there’s a risk of being defeated.

Kati will probably provide support with attack magic… In that case, I’ll take on the support role.

“Let’s go!”

Phili shouted to pump himself up and started the battle. Phili was the first to attack. It hit perfectly, dealing clear damage to the magical beast.

However, that didn’t defeat the magical beast – it counterattacked. Suddenly, it leaned forward, and then, with momentum, attacked with the claws on its front paws.

Phili blocked it with his sword… but he couldn’t completely negate the power, and a claw grazed his armor slightly.

“Ugh!”

“Phili!”

Kori shouted and attacked to cover him. The magical beast staggered slightly from the slash, and then,

“–Take this!”

Kati continuously unleashed magic. She used Flame Magic… a basic book magic called “Fireball,” which directly hit the magic beasts.

It was a magnificent coordinated attack… every blow landed, temporarily stopping the magic beasts’ movements. However,

“Hmph!”

The magic beasts deflected Phili’s follow-up attack with their front paw… and I instinctively knew it was bad.

Next, the magic beasts charged at Phili. He couldn’t dodge and used his sword as a shield to defend… as a result, he was sent flying back significantly.

“Ugh!”

From my perspective, he was definitely in a “downed” state… so, this is where I come in.

“Phili!”

Along with my voice, I used healing magic. It was Intermediate Magic called “Heavenly Holy Water,” which recovers from status ailments and restores HP.

Light converged on Phili for a brief moment, and his wounds healed. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should cast a support magic as well, but…

“Thank you.”

Phili immediately regained his posture and ran. It seemed he didn’t need it… I thought to myself.

Thus, the battle concluded about fifteen minutes later. It took far longer than when I played the game, but I suppose this is how it is.

“So, the request is over, then?”

Phili picked up the items dropped by the magic beasts and muttered.

“According to the information we got, there shouldn’t have been monsters like that deep inside the cave… Is this still the Demon Race’s influence?”

“It might be, yes.”

Kori responded to Phili’s words with a serious expression. Kati and I nodded simultaneously, and then,

“Well then, let’s go back.”

Phili announced, and we left the cave… When it was all over, it turned out to be nothing special, but fighting alongside the protagonist in a party like this was a good experience.