Adventurer's Guild Café: I Was Wrongfully Exiled by the Saint, So I Will Enjoy My Second Life with My Fluffy Friends

“…Wah.”

Wrapped softly in light, I suddenly felt a sensation like my body was falling.

Without thinking, I clung to Simon who was nearby. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, and eventually, the floating sensation disappeared.

“…?”

“We’ve arrived,” Simon said.

Prompted by Simon, I slowly opened my eyes. At first, the brightness dazzled me and I couldn’t see the scene very well. But gradually, a gentle light entered my eyes.

“…Wow… beautiful…”

I couldn’t help but let out such a murmur.

When I opened my eyes, a soft darkness spread out before me. Even though there were no torches or lamps, I could still see everyone’s faces—because scattered throughout the vast space were faintly glowing crystals.

In the large hall-like space, enormous crystals were growing from the ceiling, the ground, the walls, from all around.

Light blue, pale purple, blue. Each crystal had a different color and shone brilliantly.

Thanks to these crystals, the area was lit up.

“Commonly known as the Magic Crystal Layer. From here, we can mine stones imbued with high-quality magical power.”

Simon said that with a gentle smile. I looked around with a “hoooh~” of awe.

The members of the advance party were waiting for us.

“Kuuna-chan, don’t worry. Originally, this floor had already been cleared of monsters by the adventurers.”

While confirming there were no other monsters, Gant-san and his party came over to us.

I tried to approach them to say thank you.

“Huh…?”

But my body swayed unsteadily. Somehow, I couldn’t keep my balance well.

I was about to collapse, but Gier, who was nearby, quickly grabbed my arm.

“You okay?”

“Ugh…”

Somehow… I feel a little sick.

“You got dizzy.”

Come to think of it, that beautiful lady did say I might get dizzy.

Gier let me sit down just like that behind a large rock.

“Let’s take a short break before moving on. Simon, is that alright?”

“Yes. I’ll do a bit of mining around here too~”

When I tried to apologize with a “sorry,” Simon smiled and said “it’s fine, it’s fine,” and wandered off somewhere. Kiril and the others were also sitting nearby, resting as they pleased.

I feel bad for suddenly halting the flow…

“Ru?”

“Ah, sorry Lulu… we decided to take a little break.”

Leaning against the rock and holding my backpack in front, Lulu popped out with the Mokomotts on her head.

She looked around and tilted her head. Then, looking at me, she blinked with a worried expression.

“Ru!”

“Piyo!”

They dove back into the backpack. After a while, they came back carrying a bottle in their mouths.

“Thank you.”

It looked like they had brought me something to drink. When I peeked inside, it was cold lemonade with lemon slices floating in it. I was feeling sick and craving something sour, so it was perfect.

After gulping it down, I started to feel a little better.

Phew. Just entering a dungeon is this exhausting, huh.

“Are you alright now?”

Gier asked with a worried look.

“Yes. The dizziness has mostly gone away now.”

When I said that, Gier looked relieved.

“I’m glad. It’s not just the dizziness—this space itself can feel overwhelming for dungeon beginners. If it’s too much, don’t hesitate to say so. It’s fine to head back as you are.”

“I’m okay.”

I can’t go back without doing anything. When I said that, he still looked concerned and murmured, “I see.”

Trying to prove that I was feeling better, I attempted to stand up.

But as I placed my hand on the rock, something squishy touched my palm.

“!?”

Startled, I looked at my hand.

“Eh—”

W-What is this?

In front of my gaze was a small, squishy creature. Its entire body was a pale lavender color. Inside the jelly-like body was something that sparkled like a gem. Upon closer look, it even had round, cute eyes. Surprised, I reflexively pulled my hand back. What is this…?

“That’s rare. It’s a Crystal Slime.”

When I looked up at Gier, he was curiously observing the squishy creature.

“Crystal Slime?”

“Yeah, it’s harmless, so it’s fine to touch it.”

I looked at my hand. Good—nothing melted…

“You see the crystal inside? This slime nurtures the crystal inside, spits it out, and produces a new one. The crystals are called magic crystals and can be sold for a high price.”

“Heh, what a strange creature.”

“But they don’t divide or form pairs often, so they’re hard to breed. It’s a rare monster.”

Lulu and the others jumped out of the backpack and started sniffing the slime.

The Mokomotts also began chirping noisily.

“Seems like it’s weakened.”

I gasped. No way… could it be because I stepped on it…?

As I panicked, the slime shook with a sad quiver.

“A slime wouldn’t weaken just from being stepped on. It’s probably due to old age or some other cause.”

Gier said calmly. That’s a relief, but also not… Poor thing…

It doesn’t seem harmful, so… what should I do…

As I looked at the slime, it wobbled over toward the bottle I was holding, and looked at me with teary eyes.

“……?”

What is it?

“R-Ruu~!”

Lulu tapped my hand. Pointed at the bottle with her front paw, then pointed toward the slime.

Could it be…?

“Do you want this?”

When I asked the slime, it gave a jelly-like bounce. After thinking for a moment, I took out the lemon slice from inside and offered it to the sparkling slime. I wonder if it can eat this…

“～!”

The slime seemed happy and absorbed it with a squish.

The slice of lemon inside the sparkling slime looked kind of beautiful.

“Doesn’t it look a little better now?”

Watching that, Gier tilted his head.

“That’s true. It seems like it’s shining more than before…”

I’m glad. I thought it might die because of me.

Lulu and the others were also happy. They were sniffing around the slime, as if saying, “Good for you!”

“The drink that Kuna made works on monsters too, huh.”

Gier murmured, impressed.

“Is that so…?”

Watching the slime tremble and happily shake, I thought to myself.