Chapter 3: Lana Returns, and <Lucky Cat-sama> is Stolen!
"I have returned! The princess has come back!"
"Oh~, welcome back, Lana."
"Ah, welcome back, Lady Lana."
The morning after we all went out for curry—it was Sunday.
Lana, who had gone home for a short visit on Saturday, came back.
As usual, she swung open the guild door without so much as a knock and cheerfully announced her return.
But her expression gradually shifted into one of dissatisfaction.
"Isn’t that a bit too lukewarm? The princess has returned, you know? At the palace, I was given the most enthusiastic welcome!"
"Well, yeah, I’m sure you were…"
She means the royal palace, right?
Of course, they’d throw a grand welcome when the princess comes home.
But here’s the academy guild… Should we be welcoming her too? Hm. Honestly, not sure. Well, not like we have to. She got plenty of attention back there. Just a few words of thanks for the trouble should be fine.
"Anyway, good work. We were just taking a break. Want to join us? Celestan’s tea is amazing."
"I’ll take some!"
With a smooth motion, Lana strode right over to the shrine shelf, snatched up <Lucky Cat-sama>, and plopped herself down in her usual seat.
<Lucky Cat-sama!?>
While I was still reeling in shock, Celestan immediately set a teacup in front of her.
"Here you are, Princess Lana. Be careful, as it is hot."
"You may continue!"
"Hold it, Lana. Put <Lucky Cat-sama> back where it belongs."
"That would be… difficult."
…Who asked for a pun? (?)
With <Lucky Cat-sama> firmly planted on her lap, Lana hugged it with both arms like she had no intention of letting go.
"What’s the harm? I’ve been suffering from a <Lucky Cat-sama> shortage. I’m sure <Lucky Cat-sama> will forgive me if it’s just for a little while."
So, apparently, her sudden trip home had left her deprived of <Lucky Cat-sama> essence.
…Why do so many people in this guild need a plushie fix? Hanna, sitting beside me, had somehow ended up with a stuffed toy on her lap too.
I glanced at <Lucky Cat-sama>. As usual, its expression was serene and peaceful.
Almost as if it were saying, I forgive you. Truly, <Lucky Cat-sama> had a big heart.
With no other choice, I let her off with a strict warning and went back to enjoying break time.
Celestan had the 『Tea Making』 skill, which meant his tea was absolutely delicious.
This "tea" was actually considered a cooking item.
Honestly, I never expected my first cooking item in Real <DanKatsu> to be tea, but the taste was leagues beyond my expectations.
Compared to this, the tea bags I used to drink might as well have been colored water—the depth of aroma and flavor was overwhelming.
And this was only 『Tea Making Lv2』. What kind of tea would appear if the skill reached Lv10? I almost wanted to find out.
"If you’d like, I could invest all my points into 『Tea Making』 until it’s Lv10?"
"Rejected. I’ll find someone who already has 『Tea Making Lv10』. You stick to mastering the path of the 【Butler】."
"As you command."
I shot down Celestan’s outrageous suggestion on the spot.
Seriously though—why bring that up exactly when I was thinking about it? Did he read my mind? Is that also part of being a butler?
Anyway, for the first time in a while, we had a slow, relaxing morning.
From today onward, we’ll be training our newer members.
That’s why yesterday we rushed everyone to job level 10—once the new members reached the Beginner Low-tier Beginner dungeon, leveling would start to snowball from there.
Time to grind like crazy!
Everyone would be gathering later to assign roles and duties.
"Oh, I forgot to mention—Ester, Shizu, and Pamela won’t be able to join us today. Something about post-mission paperwork."
"You’re kidding me?"
…And just like that, our plans hit a snag.
For the record, Shizu and Pamela were Lana's two attendants who recently joined <Eden>. I’d only met them a handful of times, so I was actually looking forward to seeing them again. Too bad.
"So what exactly did you do back home, Lana?"
"Hey, it’s not my fault. For some reason, rumors started spreading that the 【Hero】 and I are close. Before I knew it, marriage proposals were pouring in nonstop. Honestly, such a nuisance."
…Marriage proposals. Yeah, I guess for real royalty, that sort of thing is inevitable.
My brain outright rejected the concept for a moment—totally alien to me.
Ehem. Anyway, for now, Lana apparently had no intention of accepting any proposals.
Of course not. In the game, there was even an ending where the Hero and Princess ended up together. If Lana went and got married here, that ending would be ruined!
Not that I want to end up with Lana or anything… hmm. But then again, maybe aiming for that ending wouldn’t be so bad either?
Maybe it’s worth thinking more seriously about which ending I should pursue. This is Real <DanKatsu>—who knows what the future holds? Planning ahead might be a necessity from here on. Better to keep as many options open as possible.
"…? What’s with the sudden silence?"
"Ah, nothing. More importantly, today’s schedule—we’ll have to make some changes."
I shook my head and shelved my musings in response to Lana’s question.
Yeah. For now, let’s focus on today.
Just as I switched gears, there was a knock—three sharp raps—before the door creaked open.
"Oh, Princess Lana. Welcome back."
"I’ve returned, Sierra."
"Ah, Princess Lana! You look absolutely radiant today!"
It was Sierra and Lulu.
Lulu peeked out shyly from behind Sierra, but when she spotted the princess sipping tea with <Lucky Cat-sama> on her lap, she trotted over with bright steps to greet her.
And at that sight, I was left utterly speechless. Just… what was this unbearably cute creature?
I glanced at Sierra, only for her to quickly avert her eyes.
Looks like I wasn’t going to get any explanation.
I glanced back at Lulu. Since yesterday’s trip to the <Beginner Dungeon>, her look had completely changed.
She was wearing the most adorable outfit—an armor set based on yellow and white.
Not the heavy, clunky kind like plate mail, but something made of many separate parts like Sierra’s gear. Sleek, or rather… fluffy. On her hands were mitten-like white gloves that made her look even cuter.
Her weapon was a compact one-handed sword, sized perfectly for her small frame.
That was the "Viscount/Princess" starter gear: the <Sweet Lolita Set>.
It had looked ridiculously cute even on-screen, but in reality, it was at least fifty percent cuter.
And now this little one was darting around and mowing down enemies in that outfit. Truly, Lolitas in <DanKatsu> were amazing.
"Good morning, Zephyrus Onii-sama!"
"Morning! Let’s do our best again today, Lulu."
Lulu greeted me with a crisp salute, and I returned the gesture.
"And you’re looking sharp as always, Cheria."
"Thank you. This is the finest piece from the Elf village, after all."
Yeah, I knew that.
As more members trickled in, Cheria too stood ready in full equipment.
In the <DanKatsu> game, "Elves" couldn’t officially join the party until you reached Intermediate-Level Dungeons.
If you were lucky, you could recruit one at Intermediate-Level, but most players fell prey to the Just one short! Curse and only managed to recruit them in Advanced-Level Dungeons.
In other words, "Elves" were strong characters only granted to those who could resist the greed-goblins of RNG. Terrifying stuff.
Because of that, "Elves" came with extremely powerful starter equipment—on par with the <Princess Job>.
Her outfit, elvish as expected, was a green ensemble that evoked nature, like traditional ethnic garb. It leaned toward a kimono style, light on physical defense but boasting very high magic resistance. It suited Cheria’s slender frame perfectly.
Her weapon, befitting her job as a 【Elementalist】, was a two-handed staff. Not quite on the level of Hanna’s <Manalite Staff>, but still a good meter and a half long, glowing faintly blue with an aura of mystique.
Technically, "Elves" could also use bows, but their magic was overwhelmingly stronger, so bows were rarely used.
Even in the game, if you wanted a dedicated archer, you’d pick a Human 【Archer】 or 【Ranger】. They were more specialized and therefore stronger.
Bow-wielding "Elves" were romantic, sure, but when it came down to it, magic-focused builds were the way to go.
"Lulu, Cheria. Done with your stat allocations?"
"Aye!"
"All ready."
Both of them were brimming with motivation, so I made sure to give them proper guidance on distributing their points. Naturally, Celestan got some advice too.
"Alright, as for today’s plan—Sierra."
"I understand. You want me to handle the new members, correct?"
"Exactly."
As expected of Sierra, she already knew what I was going to say.
Since Pamela and Shizu couldn’t make it today, we had to change plans.
With nine people total, we’d split into two parties.
"For the lineup: the four-person party will be Sierra plus the three new members. The five-person party will be Rika, Kalua, me, Hanna, and Lana."
"Why split it like that? Shouldn’t we assign more veterans to the new-member group?"
Hanna asked. At first glance, that sounded reasonable. But—
"No, the new members have insanely strong gear. They don’t really need us hovering. As long as Sierra’s with them as insurance, they’ll be fine. The real issue is Kalua and Rika."
I explained the reasoning to Hanna. Strictly speaking, today’s focus was less about the newbies and more about Kalua and Rika.
Truthfully, I wanted to put myself or Lana into the new-member team since they were short on healers, but we couldn’t afford that.
"Today we’re heading into <Debubu>, one of the tougher Beginner Mid-tier Dungeons. We’ll need magic attackers. With me, Hanna, and Lana together, <Debubu> shouldn’t be a problem."
<Debubu> had <Ghost Traits> that made physical attacks less effective. That’s why we needed a solid magic lineup. On top of that, Sierra still seemed a little spooked by <Ghosts> and wasn’t eager to go, which made the decision even easier.
"Anyone else got an opinion? —Alright, if not, get ready and let’s move out."
"""Oooh!"""
"Feels like it’s been ages since we’ve done a ghost dungeon! Even though it hasn’t actually been that long since we cleared one. 『Blade of Light』!"
"Kekekekeh—!?"
After splitting into our respective groups in the ShouDan, we headed straight into the <Ghost Cave Dungeon>.
With every mid-tier spell Lana fired off, the monsters along the path vanished one after another.
"Lana, don’t hog all the kills. Leave some for Rika and Kalua."
"I know, I know. But still—there’s just something exciting about defeating ghosts!"
Exciting, huh? Well, can’t blame her.
Even in shooting games, mowing down undead is a staple, and a ton of people get hooked on it. Lana was blasting away nonstop, clearly having the time of her life.
Hmm. If she’s enjoying it that much, then I might as well let her have her fun.
The goal here is to clear the <Ghost Cave Dungeon>, after all. Having a little fun on the way is important too.
"『Fireball』!"
"Kukekekeh—!?"
…Now even Hanna’s started blasting away.
"Zephyrus-kun! This is seriously so much fun!"
She even chugged a <Maholitan-R> just so she could burn the ghosts to cinders.
Guess she’d been holding back that urge to nuke things, huh?
"Looks like there’s no need for us to do anything."
"Mm. Easy mode."
Walking beside me, Rika gave a wry smile. Kalua, on the other hand, looked completely relaxed.
But that won’t do—we’ll have to switch things up in a bit.
I had the two of them take on ghosts occasionally, testing out efficient ways to fight as we advanced deeper.
The <Debubu> fight is all about speed. Physical attacks take forever to bring down ghosts, so I wanted them to experiment and see if they could find ways to shave down the time.
"Mumumu. This is tough."
"They really don’t take any damage. There’s barely any feedback at all."
That was Kalua and Rika’s verdict after clashing with a ghost.
Yeah, I knew what they meant. I’d tried slashing with an ordinary shortsword myself, and it was like trying to push through a curtain—no resistance at all.
But the moment I cut with <Sky Sword>, a holy-attribute weapon, the sensation was completely different, like actually cleaving something tangible. Ghosts really were strange monsters.
Both Kalua and Rika were struggling with the fights. It took them about four skill activations to bring down a single ghost. Pretty inefficient.
And so, we spent the day grinding and experimenting. By three in the afternoon, the party had finally reached the deepest safe zone.
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