Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 65: Grade V Explorer ⑤
The girl who turned around was indeed Bid-san.
Black hair and blue eyes. Her youthful face was dotted with freckles.
From her black hair extended Holland Lop ears—long, drooping rabbit ears.
She was a beastkin, specifically a rabbit-type. She wore a blue jumper over a black shirt.
The jumper had a knife attached.
As usual, she wore tight black pants that resembled spats.
In other words, they were spats. With her large, watermelon-like rear, a round white tail peeked out.
She was short and wore leather gauntlets on her right arm.
At her lower back was a quiver, with a crossbow attached to her side.
She was a Grade III Explorer.
Until recently, she had been part of a rising party called Zan Brave.
But Zan Brave had disbanded. Now she worked solo.
“Wof-kun!? What are you doing here!? Did someone hire you or something?”
“No. I’ve become an explorer too.”
I showed her my explorer tag.
Bid-san’s eyes widened.
“Don’t tell me—it’s a special case?”
“That’s right.”
“Whew… That’s our witch’s apprentice, all right.”
Bid-san nodded in admiration.
I asked her:
“Taking a break?”
She swapped the legs she had crossed and stretched before replying.
“Hmm, yeah. I just finished a request and was taking a breather. What about you, Wof-kun?”
“I’m here to survey the Healing Spring.”
“A survey…?”
I nodded and took out the survey kit.
Inside were three long, thin strips of paper and three small vials.
First, I dipped one of the strips into the spring water. Then I placed it into a vial.
After giving it a light shake, the paper changed color—blue.
“No abnormalities.”
“Hmm. So that’s how it works, huh. You’re going to check all of them?”
“Yes. Two more to go.”
“Hey, mind if I come along?”
“Sure.”
“Thanks! It feels kind of bland to just head straight home.”
“Na?”
“Oh? Dagaa’s here too?”
“Na!”
Dagaa transformed from a knife and landed on Bid-san’s lap.
Sometimes, Dagaa accompanies Mineha-san to her work.
So Dagaa knows Bid-san, who often teams up with her.
Dagaa sat on her lap and gave a cheerful “Na!” when she patted his head.
Then he returned to me, climbed onto my head, and transformed back into a knife, sheathing himself.
Bid-san stood up with a little hop.
“Alright, let’s go!”
“Okay.”
“Next is the third floor. I know the way, so I’ll guide you.”
“Please do.”
It’s reassuring to have someone experienced with me.
Second floor—we encountered a big pale-blue frog called an Aqua Frog, and a man-sized crab with one oversized pincer called a Magic Water Crab.
The toughest enemies were the Water Serpents. Water snakes—multiple of them attacked at once.
“Is it always like this around here?”
“Pretty much. But if you aim for the core, it’s easy. Like this!”
Saying that, Bid-san pierced the cores of six water serpents with her Area Shot skill.
Each monster’s core is in a different spot, so hitting them isn’t easy.
Also, Area Shot isn’t guaranteed to hit.
Turning a single arrow into multiple and piercing scattered cores is a difficult feat.
But Bid-san landed every shot perfectly.
This is what it means to truly wield a Relic.
In a nest-like area for the water serpents, there was a blue treasure chest.
Using Wheel of Fortune, I checked it—it glowed green. No traps.
Inside was a bottle. Bid-san said it was probably holy water or a potion.
Yeah, sounds about right.
Like that, we reached the third floor.
Far in the distance, we could faintly see a huge waterfall and a massive river so wide the opposite shore wasn’t visible.
To someone who’s never seen the sea, it might look just like one.
This was a shoreline, with a forest nearby.
“This is the place. There are islands scattered in the great river.”
“Islands?”
“Yup. Only the shore and islands are land here. But this floor’s convenient—you can reach the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors from here.”
“There are multiple routes?”
“Yup. Each island has one, and there are boats docked at that pier.”
“So the Healing Spring is on one of the islands too?”
I looked at the map. The dotted areas must be the islands.
The pier had many boats. All kinds of shapes and sizes.
A few explorers, familiar with the process, boarded and set off.
Some went solo using tubs. True veterans.
“Bid-san, do you have a recommendation?”
“Well, something that can handle aquatic monsters quickly would be best.”
“Then this raft is out.”
“Yeah, that one’s no good just by looking at it. Black boats would be ideal.”
“Black?”
“They have deep hulls, so they’re better at avoiding and defending against monster attacks.”
“Got it. That sounds good.”
Fighting on a limited boat deck is a pain. I get wanting every advantage.
So—black boats. There were even boats washed ashore and sitting in the woods.
There were more further in. Hmm… might as well use Wheel of Fortune again.
A lot of the boats glowed green. Ones with no glow were broken.
So the glowing ones are usable, I guess. Oh—there’s a yellow glow deeper in the woods.
Yellow, huh… well, it shouldn’t be bad.
“Uh… Wof-kun? Where are you going?”
“Um, I saw what looked like a black boat deeper in the woods.”
“In the woods? I don’t really go in there…”
Well, no one would go out of their way to fetch a boat from inside the woods if there are plenty at the pier.
I entered the woods.
“……”
How do I put it… The sight of boats abandoned between the trees is surreal. Or just plain weird.
Bid-san seemed to feel the same—she looked around uneasily.
No monsters in sight, which only made it feel eerier.
“…Wof-kun, how far in are you going?”
Bid-san asked nervously.
“Just a bit more.”
“We’re pretty deep already…”
“Just a little further.”
“Hey… does it really exist…?”
I understood her doubt—Bid-san’s voice was tinged with suspicion.
We had come pretty far in. Normally, no one would venture this deep.
But I was definitely getting closer to the yellow glow. Just a little further… and suddenly, we stepped into an open space.
There was a river, perhaps a branch of the great river, and a half-collapsed, strange-looking shrine.
And in front of that shrine—something was there.
Long, light blue hair and a face. That alone made it clear—it wasn’t human.
Half of its face was modestly concealed with a watery scarf.
Its eyes were closed, but even from its features, it was clearly a beauty.
It held a knife that looked like it was made of water. Its hand was also made of water.
It had a slender build with long arms and legs, and a curvy figure—large chest and hips.
But still… it wore only layers of watery veils over a bikini.
“A Water Sprite Dancer?!”
Bid-san was shocked.
“Water sprite?”
“They’re guardians you usually find guarding treasure chests below the 40th floor. Part of the Water Sprite Marionette series. That one is a Water Sprite Dancer.”
“The 40th floor…? What’s one doing way up here…?”
“Looks like it’s guarding that shrine.”
“……”
The yellow glow was coming from inside the shrine.
Which meant—if we wanted to reach it, we’d have to defeat the Water Sprite Dancer.
“For the record, it doesn’t use relics, so it’s considered bronze-tier, but in terms of strength, it’s silver-tier, lower rank.”
“Silver tier… Do you think we can win?”
“Well… Ideally, we’d have a few more people. If you can hit the core, it’s fine, but the Water Sprite Marionettes have multiple random cores, and they move really fast. Even with my relic, [Agility], it’s tough just to keep up.”
“So we need a decoy.”
“That’s true, but… wait, Wof-kun!?”
I drew my knife—the modified one from Agaro-san.
“Bid-san. I’m counting on you.”
“No, Wof-kun! Knives won’t—!”
As I approached, the Water Sprite Dancer started to move.
It spread its arms, stood on one leg, and turned to face me.
“Uh… nice to meet you.”
Somehow, I greeted it.
The moment I stepped forward, the Dancer did a graceful half-turn and leapt into the air.
Mid-air, she twisted into an upside-down spin—and before I knew it, two watery knives were right in front of my face.
I noticed just in time and dodged. She flipped back, launched a kick—I used [Vanish] to block it.
But she quickly recovered and spun away.
It didn’t work. Of course—she’s made of water.
The Water Sprite Dancer floated slightly and rotated diagonally like a spinning top, circling behind me.
She entered my range and slashed at me with her knives.
I instinctively raised my knife.
“Wof-kun! Don’t!”
Ah, right—she’s made of water. A blade would just pass through—CLANG!
My knife blocked the watery blade.
Wait, what?
We broke apart. Despite being water, her blade didn’t pass through mine.
The Water Sprite Dancer stretched and twisted her limbs, dancing and spinning acrobatically.
With fluid, elegant motions, she launched a series of precise stabs and slashes.
“—!”
Incredible speed, agility, unpredictability—and an unrelenting flurry of attacks.
Still, the witch had been faster, and struck more often.
I used my relic [Silent One] to calmly analyze her movements.
I dodged two knives, blocked one, clashed with another, then parried it with force.
The Dancer staggered.
Now!
I spotted a fleeting opening and slashed at her arm.
Cutting water—how reckless and foolish that sounds.
Yet, the Dancer’s watery arm was severed and dropped to the ground.
I did it. It worked.
If I could block her knife, then cutting her was possible too.
“You cut her?! What even are you, Wof-kun…?!”
That must’ve been unexpected—even the Dancer froze for a moment.
Now was the chance.
“Now, Bid-san!!”
“Aaah, fine! I’ll ask for an explanation later!”
With a shout, Bid-san fired her crossbow. One arrow split into many through [Area Shot].
The scattered arrows pierced all the cores in the Dancer’s arms and legs.
The Water Sprite Dancer, now falling apart, began to melt back into water.
But her form wasn’t gone yet. Could it be… ah, there!
“This ends now!”
I thrust my knife into the Dancer’s left chest.
There was a soft, watery resistance—and then I struck the core.
The Water Sprite Dancer finally collapsed into nothing more than a puddle of water.