345 Part 1

Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 345

Defense Specialization and Excessive Firepower

What awaited Mai and Yui as they arrived at the guild home, was Maple, who had received their message. She had been with Sally as they repeatedly took down the stone statues, when the message arrived. And so they had stopped for the day and returned to the guild home on the 5th layer.

“Ah, there you are! So, how are things going?”

“Yes! It’s easy to see the terrain on the 5th layer, and so we can fight quite safely.”

“We were with Miss Velvet and Miss Hinata in a dungeon a short while ago…”

“With those two? Well, that’s an unusual combination.”

Sally said with puzzlement. And so Mai and Yui explained to them how it had come about. And they also told them about how they could efficiently hunt the event monsters.

“I see… I bet we could recreate that. We’ll be able to fall as long as Maple is there. Same with the monster house. Yes, it would be better than walking around on the field. I can’t believe that I didn’t think of that.”

“Alight, then we can all go monster hunting together!”

“Uh, but there is something else that we want your help with!”

Maple had heard that they wanted her help, and judging by what they had been saying, she had assumed that they wanted her to use ‘Dedicated Affection’ and take on the defense role.

“We want your help for…”

And then Mai told them the details of why they needed help. After listening to everything she had to say, Maple nodded.

“Okay! I’ll do it! Leave it to me!”

“…Sorry. But I don’t think I can help… Good luck, Maple.”

Sally said very apologetically. And then they decided to separate and return to monster hunting.

“Yes. Good luck to you too, Sally!”

“Thanks. Alright. I’ll be expecting to hear some good news from you three later.”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

Now that they knew what they would do, there was no time to waste. And so the three left the guild home behind them.

They arrived at their destination. Perhaps it had been set so that not many event monsters spawned there, as there were few players and fish. On the other hand, there were a lot of ghosts. This was the reason that Sally was unable to cooperate with them.

“Is this the place?”

“Yes! It should be!”

The three had come to the 6th layer. And since this was a place where the event monsters were rare, it was quite clear that their purpose had nothing to do with the event.

“Doing unrelated things during an event isn’t a bad idea!”

In fact, it had been during a similar hunting event that Maple acquired the ability to turn into something that wasn’t human. So there was no need to focus solely on the current event.

“So I just have to do the same thing as last time and…”

Maple put a hand to her mouth and replayed the moment in her head.

“Yes! Okay, I’ll just do it the same way! And if it doesn’t work, then we’ll try again!”

“Thank you!”

“Thank you!”

“I’ll do my best so that you two can become stronger! We’ll get ‘Helping Hand’ no matter what!”

Maple said as she thrust her fist into the air. The other two did the same. Their purpose for coming here was to acquire the skill that Maple had, ‘Helping Hand.’ After watching Velvet and Hinata fight, Mai and Yui thought hard about what would be the best way to make the most of their abilities. And they came to one conclusion.

And it was not about getting various skills that they didn’t need in order to hit a target, nor was it about getting a slight boost to their mobility. In short, they just needed to increase the number of great hammers. Their hit rate had jumped exponentially when they went from having one hammer to two. In that case, they could expect a similar rise if they went from two to four.

“First, we have to defeat all of the ghosts in this area. And then a blue ghost will come out. And then we just have to follow it!”

“Okay!”

“And you have to exorcise them.”

“Huh…?

Mai tilted her head. You had to use a special method to defeat them? This was no surprise. After all, Mai and Yui were not the types who used items to slowly make their way through enemies. They just swung their great hammers. And even if there was damage reduction, it was always enough to destroy the monster. And so they knew almost nothing about special items used to fight Undead.

And so Maple explained it to them as she handed them the tags. She had bought them in bulk, and since there weren’t many places she could use them, she had plenty left.

“Last time, I exorcised all of the ghosts around this mountain, and then the blue one came out.”

“The whole mountain…that will be very hard.”

Maple herself said that it had taken a very long time. And so Mai and Yui braced themselves for an arduous task.

“But there are three of us this time, so it won’t be too bad!”

“It won’t?”

“Yes! Just wait a second!”

Once they entered a clearing, Maple had Syrup enlarged and got up onto its back. Then she activated the familiar skill.

“‘Throne of the Heavenly King’!”

Mai and Yui were right beneath, and the ground around them glowed from the effects of ‘Throne of the Heavenly King’ and ‘Dedicated Affection.’ As long as they stayed within range, they would be perfectly safe.

“The ghosts won’t be able to do anything as long as ‘Throne of the Heavenly King’ is activated. But I can’t use it and exorcise them at the same time when I’m alone.”