{Why did we have to kill it in the first place? You could have just knocked it out then we could have ran. Now we have a horde of bloodthirsty rat monsters chasing after us!}

[Oh, calm down, Izumi. You tired already? You shouldn’t have declined to go to the gym all those times I invited you.]

{Now is not the time to be joking around, C.J.}

It’s been roughly 10 minutes now since we’ve been running from those rats. And what C.J. said was true. Compared to him, I am much less physically inclined, thus me being tired after sprinting 10 minutes was a normal thing. But I couldn’t stop.

Incidentally, during our escape, we ran through an entrance to a tunnel. No more pillars to worry about running into, at least. But running in this narrow passage way still has its dangers.

[You know, if someone were to trip here, I don’t think that even their bones would remain after they’re done with them]

{I know what you’re thinking… And I swear to God, if you trip me, I’ll haunt you until your death}

The rats were still running after us, with the size of the horde seemingly growing as we progressed through the dungeon. The commotion most likely caused more monsters to join in.

In the distance, there was a faint ball of light glowing dimly. Soon after two more balls of light started to shine. I could hear people speaking from the direction that we were heading.

“Oh great. Another bunch of newbies got themselves in a predicament again.”

“How many times has ‘it been this week”

“The third time I suppose. Rolaf, would you do the honors?”

“My pleasure, madam”

The clanking sound of a coin being tossed echoed throughout the tunnel.

“Heads, madam”

“They should consider themselves lucky to be saved by the great me.”

One of the balls of lights suddenly disappeared and was immediately replaced by fiery sphere that was roughly the size of a basketball. The red light from the orb outshined the two next to it.

“Mighty ancestors, hear my plea. May Ignis engulf my enemies in a torrent of flames. Chain Explosion!”

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The ball of fire flew towards us at an incredible speed, and without hitting us, went past towards the cluster of rats. Though it didn’t make contact with either of us, I felt as if the entire right side of my body was being torched. The fireball made contact with one of the rats in the front of the horde, promptly incinerating it. Immediately after, the rats in close proximity to it also began going up in flames until not one was left alive.

We continued running until we came close to the orbs of light that we had been seen.

There stood third people. The one of the left was a pale old man in his 50s wearing glasses. He had his silver combed back and was wearing what looking to be an old-fashioned butler’s uniform while holding on to a long wooden cane. He was slightly taller than me, to which I let out an inner sigh. The man was very well groomed and had great physique for someone of his age.

The one on the left was a dark-skinned girl in knight’s armor. Her tied-up red hair seemed to perfectly contrast with her alluring topaz colored eyes. Her “assets” were also quite remarkable, so as C.J. and I made a quick glance at each other. He knew what I was thinking and so did I. The only thing that was slightly abnormal about the scene was that she had a jagged spear, about the same length as my body, holstered on her back. What seemed to be an insignia of a dragon embedded into the blade of the spear made it even more menacing. She was roughly 180 centimeters, to which I let out an even louder internal sigh.

Yea, make fun of me all you want. It’s perfectly healthy for a man to be insecure about his size… In more ways than one…

Lastly, the one in the middle was a blonde-haired girl wearing a frilly white dress. Her demeanor was quite prideful as she stood there with her hands on her hips and her chest held high. Speaking of chests, once again causing the both of us to make a quick glance at each other. Only this time, we could see the pity in each other’s eyes. She was, to my content, quite shorter than me. Around 155 centimeters tall, to which I subconsciously smirked and let out a “heh”.

“What’s so funny? You should be thankful that someone as great as me would spend her time to help such filthy commoners.”

Apparently, she noticed me laughing at her height and angrily replied. The red-haired girl then spoke with curiosity.

“Arara, why isn’t this a strange sight to see. A human with a… dark elf? Wait, but he’s too tall to be a dark elf. A giant? No, too small. Rolaf, what is he?!”

[I’m human, too!]

I could see the embarrassment on C.J.’s face, to which I tried to hold in my laughter, but ultimately failed. The girl in the middle, then, began to speak again.

“Where is my “thank you”, huh? Commoners these days. No manners whatsoever.”

[Excuse me? We never asked for your help. We could have escaped by ourselves.]

{(whisper) You sure about that? I mean, I don’t think that we could have outran that horde.}

[(whisper) I know, but she pisses me off.]

“Never mind that. Who are you people anyways? People from this town aren’t stupid enough to dive into Ingris Dungeon like this. Only new adventurers and fools like you would.”

{You know, its rude to ask for someone else’s name before giving your own. I would have thought that someone boasting about manners would know something as simple as this.}

“Why you little!!”

{Bring it, shorty!}

In the end, I was held back by C.J. and the blonde girl was being held back by the knight. I could already tell that I was not going to get along with this person. The butler soon stepped in.

“I am incredibly sorry for the behavior of the young miss. She means no harm. As for introductions, I am Rolaf and this young miss is Miss Sheila, daughter of the Duke of Rondor.”

“Yoo! I’m Mira! Nice to meetcha’!”

Whilst giving their introductions, Sheila was still squirming around, even though she was held being held back.

“Now now, Miss Sheila. Such behavior is most unladylike. I would not want to have to tell your father about this, would I?”

Immediately, the girl quieted down and Rolaf grinned and smartly readjusted his glasses.

“Might I know the name of you two fine gentlemen?”

{Sure. My name is---}

I immediately turned C.J. around, putting my arm around his shoulders, huddling. The three in front of us had confused looks on their faces.

{(whisper) Ok. This might sound stupid but hear me out. I suggest we use fake names.}

[(whisper) That’s stupid. What’s wrong with using our real names?]

{(whisper) This sounds farfetched but I think that we’re in a different world. I’m pretty sure that there no place on Earth called Rondor. There’s no way that a rat would be that big. And we almost got burned to a crisp by a fireball that seemed like magic!}

[(whisper) Uhm...]

{(whisper) Plus, I always wanted to use an alias like in games.}

[(whisper) Oh god… You’re such an otaku…]

We finished our short huddle and then proceeded to introduce ourselves to the three.

{I’m Rein Silvers.}

[I’m Baal Zak… Ouch! What did you do that for?!]

I promptly kicked him in the leg {Don’t fuck around man.}

[I’m Abel Freikas]

“Well, Mr. Silvers and Mr. Freikas, shall we leave this dungeon?”