A weak mental stabilization effect combined with an attack power boost—the special mushroom stew from Hilde.

After checking that secret recipe, Reed was horrified and said I should stay away from the pot, so I ended up just tinkering with my sword and armor instead of cooking.

And so, thirty minutes passed. As the ordinary stew—filled with nothing but plain ingredients—started bubbling, filling the campsite with a delicious aroma, Friede and Arine awoke and walked out of the tent.

“Did you sleep well, Shirin? You must be hungry—here, take this. Arine, this one’s for you too.”

I offered them heaping bowls of stew as a morning greeting.

“Yawn… you woke up early, Krimhilde…”

“Good morning, Krimhilde, Reed, Max… Max?”

Arine tilted her head slightly as she took her stew with a gentle smile, scanning over the empty sleeping bag next to Reed and me. Her expression was full of doubt, as if asking why there were only two of us when there should be three.

“Where did Max go?”

“Ah, well…”

Reed clicked his tongue and explained the situation. He got knocked out by Max during the night watch, and when he woke up, Max had already made a run for it.

His tone was calm, but his expression was somewhat twisted.

He probably knew full well that it was a critical mistake for a night watchman. Max just escaping was a relief; if it went sideways, we could have been brutally murdered in our sleep!

“That jerk hit me from behind… he knows that if he doesn’t control his strength, it could kill someone!”

…Or maybe he was just grumpy because his head hurt from being hit.

“My gosh, I can’t believe Max would do that…”

In any case, now that Arine learned why Max was missing, she sighed deeply with a look of shock. Habits being what they are, she even reflexively crossed herself.

“He definitely didn’t seem like the type, but what on earth have we seen here that’s so dreadful… Oh, Eliane!”

Muttering the name of the goddess and praying, she looked quite the part of a priestess.

So priestly that if she suggested we go rescue Max, I’d be seriously worried about how to deal with her.

“I should have been more careful to help keep his mind at ease… What a shame. What an awful choice he made…”

Thankfully, Arine wasn’t that out of touch with reality. It was indeed unfortunate that Max so foolishly fled because he didn’t trust us, but since he chose to clobber a fellow party member and run away, there really was no point in rescuing him.

They say that once someone makes a choice like that, they’ll likely repeat it when faced with a similar situation, huh?

By the time we find him and bring him back, he’ll probably end up causing even more trouble instead of being grateful, so it would be better for both him and us to finish clearing the dungeon as soon as we can. If we happen to run into him on the way back, then we can take him up then. If he’s dead, well, that’s that.

And so, instead of wandering around looking for the runaway Max, we finished our preparations and headed down the stairs leading to the 11th Floor.

“…”

While slowly making our way down the surprisingly long spiral staircase, Arine remained quiet, glancing back occasionally.

I could guess the reason. Just seeing her gloomy face lit by the lantern made it obvious. It wasn’t hard to figure out it was because of Max.

She had drawn a firm line and seemed to care for us, but still couldn’t shake off the lingering regrets or guilt, making her uneasy.

Reed, who should have been there to comfort her, was so fixated ahead that he didn’t even notice Arine’s complicated feelings, fiddling with an arrow quiver instead.

Maybe he felt a sense of inadequacy for not fulfilling his role, or perhaps he was anxious about the upcoming battle with the mid-boss on the 11th Floor. He looked overly tense, so much so that he didn’t even realize what Arine’s glances meant.

“…”

Sigh. It seems I have no choice but to step up here.

I sighed internally and walked over to Arine, planning to soothe her with whatever little words I could muster.

While I didn’t have much confidence in managing the mental health of party members, as the one who claimed the title of ‘leader,’ I had to pay attention to those aspects too.

Typically, a priest would take care of mental health issues, but currently, that very priest was in a bit of a state herself, so it fell to me to intervene.

Reed seemed too busy with his own thoughts, and Friede likely had no interest in Arine’s feelings whatsoever, nor did she have any interest in Reed.

Perhaps she thought that as long as each member of our party could contribute their share, it didn’t matter what their mental state was; beyond that, there was no need for concern.

Being the vigilant type, it was clear that Friede was treating the two of them as ‘others’ in her mind.

If danger arose, she would save them, but after the job was done, she’d neatly separate from them and forget about them… something like that, really.

Over the past two days, we had exchanged a few words, but those were more like empty pleasantries to keep up the morale of this temporary party.

Her indifference was evident just from the occasional careless glances she tossed their way.

Which means, relying on Friede for Arine’s mental care would be pointless.

Did Friede even have the ability to care for others’ mental states apart from mine? I really didn’t know.

I might bet that she didn’t. Our Friede’s sociability probably wouldn’t even rival that of an undead monster.

So, judging by both position and elimination, I was the only one who could take care of Arine’s mental health.

“Hey, Arine. Can I ask you something?”

And so, I whispered to her. I didn’t intend to give some grand lecture. I didn’t have the skill for that anyway.

“There was a priest I met a while back who was pretty good with a spear, you know?”

“A spear…? Are you sure it wasn’t a paladin you’re mistaken about?”

“No, it was a priest. I was just curious if, nowadays, the concept in your order is to teach priests how to handle weapons.”

“Well… it’s not quite a principle. They recommend learning self-defense techniques for emergencies, but it’s not mandatory or enshrined in doctrine.”

It was small talk, insignificant, but not entirely unworthy of mention.

The mental care method I chose was to keep the conversation light until we reached the 11th Floor, diverting her thoughts from the issue of Max.

“Can priests date or marry? All the priests I know have been single except for one exception.”

“They’re not outright forbidden from marrying… but it does come with a deduction in their evaluation scores during ordination. It won’t prevent you from becoming ordained, but it could hinder it.”

“How did you come to know Reed? Was he assigned to the same team in your organization?”

“Why on earth are you suddenly asking that…? Well, um, he was someone I knew since before my father passed. More like a neighbor brotherly figure.”

I mixed in some questions that could make her flustered, hoping to elevate her mood.

When a person is startled or thrown off, they tend to forget their worries or concerns as their minds focus on the issue at hand.

“A neighbor brotherly figure, huh… Hmm, I see. That explains why you seem to concern yourself with him more than usual…”

“I-it’s not like that! He came to join the organization to protect me, so it’s more like… I feel bad about it!”

Arine, blushing and clearly flustered, was amusing as she glanced around, worried if Reed heard our conversation.

Alright, this much means my mental care strategy can be called a success.

While chatting casually, I had managed to redirect her focus from the current issue somewhat successfully.

“Thank you for your concern, Krimhilde. As a priest, I shouldn’t be saying this, but… I do feel lighter as a result.”

It seemed my rather cheap trick had been figured out quickly; as we reached the exit of the staircase, she expressed her gratitude.

◆◆

Unlike the 6th Floor, which had only rocky stepping stones on cliffs, the 11th Floor was a veritable realm of bizarre and fantastical atmosphere—truly what you’d expect from a dungeon.

Instead of just flat ground or downhill slopes, a wide staircase rose in a hill-like formation, leading up to a crystal structure arranged in a circular formation reminiscent of Stonehenge.

“It resembles ancient ruins from before the dawn of civilization. Perhaps, a burial site or altar…”

Arine murmured while looking around the crystal Stonehenge.

“An ancient altar…? Is it a place where sacrifices were made?”

That would be troublesome.

An altar where ancient sacrifices occurred? That’s a dangerously grim combination we’re dealing with. It wouldn’t be surprising if some disaster-level undead popped up in this place.

“Well, I’m not sure about that. Though most ancient beliefs before the Goddess were labeled heretical, not all heresies conducted such wicked rites.”

Arine shook her head, denying the sacrificial theory.

It’s common that when you hear ‘ancient altar,’ you think of sacrifices first, but she argued that thinking that way is just a prejudice or hasty generalization.

That didn’t put my mind at ease, though. Saying it’s a hasty generalization meant that there were indeed altars that had conducted sacrifices.

Especially considering we were deep inside a dungeon made by demons…it might have been the scene of such happenings before.

“Ugh, an altar… this is just creepy…”

It wasn’t just me thinking that; the others appeared tense and alert as we stepped inside the interior of the stone doorway.

Because of the radiant magic light from the crystals, the inside was dazzling.

The crystal cave from the upper floors was also bright, but here, the walls and ceilings had no light whatsoever, making the brightness here feel more striking in comparison.

It was like the bluish glow emitted from a deep-sea anglerfish.