Even through the sound of rain, I can hear some movements nearby.

Is that Ignis?

She should be keeping guard.

…

I open my eyes.

And spot the red haired girl’s face right in front of me.

“… what are you doing?”

“Eh?! Ah… um, n-nothing!”

Rolled away and leaned on the cave wall, looking away from me.

What’s with that?

What were you trying to do?

Did you try to kill me in my sleep?

Well, probably not…

But the other option is…

…

Er…

I hope you don’t mind if I don’t go back to sleep now.

“I’ll take on the guard duty now.”

“Eh? Wait, I…”

Hmm?

What?

You wanted to continue?

“… alright then.”

Don’t look so dejected.

It makes me believe you really planned to do something to me.

She lied down and covered herself in the blanket she brought with her.

Good night to you.

Now then, time for the long and boring guard duty.

The rain is still going strong out there.

But I feel like even if it stops, there will still be problems.

The humid air is bound to dampen her fire attacks.

…

Well…

In the first place, I meant to take on this quest all by myself.

So even if she doesn’t contribute much firepower, I think it’s fine.

I should be able to handle it.

…

I don’t like the rain.

Not only does it wash away all the scents, it also muffles sounds and obstructs vision.

My enhanced senses are nearly useless because of it.

It doesn’t help that I’m nervous about what I sensed earlier.

If Cana really is here, she might be after me or Ignis.

I admit that Ignis has a really annoying personality, but she isn’t bad looking.

On top of that, she’s quite a powerful mage.

A perfect target for a guy who wants to assemble a harem for himself…

Especially since he has a way to charm others.

…

Ugh, negative thoughts begone!

If Cana is here, that means Deliah and Mable are safe, right?

And I’m not gonna let myself be defeated again!

The only reason why I got wrecked last time was because a huge wolf suddenly appeared right on top of me!

There’s no way I could have dodged that even with my speed!

But that won’t happen again!

That’s right!

I’ll be ready next time!

I pump my fist as I continue observing the falling drops of water.

After a while of idly sitting there, a rhythmic snoring sound reaches me ears.

Of course, it comes from Ignis.

I didn’t know she was the snoring type…

This is going to be annoying…

…

Wait.

Maybe I was snoring as well?

And she got annoyed with me and wanted to somehow make me stop?

Is that how the earlier situation came to be?

…

That’s…

Totally possible…

I’m sorry for thinking you are a bloodthirsty killer!

Among the endless rain and snoring, I heard some other sounds.

…

What was that…?

I’m pretty sure I just heard something.

Hmm…

Yeah, it’s over there.

It sounds like stomps accompanied by subtle vibrations.

And some deep growls are mixed into it…

What could that be?

It doesn’t seem to be another goblin group.

It’s something bigger…

A big goblin?

No…

That has to be the ogre, right…?

The one we are looking for.

The extermination target of our quest!

Should I wake up Ignis?

…

No, I probably shouldn’t.

What would we even do?

Fight it in this rain?

That sounds like suicide.

Ignis would be pretty much useless.

And I don’t want to fight under these conditions either.

I guess I still just have to wait for the rain to stop…

More noises…

These are different.

They are more numerous and higher pitched.

These could belong to goblins…

But the previous noises didn’t stop either.

More like, they intensified now.

What’s going on out there?

Is the ogre fighting a goblin group?

I really want to go and look…

But this stupid rain won’t stop!

Argh!

Who’s making all of this rain anyway?!

The way it started is too strange!

When we left the village, there wasn’t a single cloud in sight!

But then, the downpour began and refuses to end!

Why is this-

…

Suddenly, as if a god listened to me, the rain stopped.

In about ten seconds or so, the situation went from a total downpour to no rain at all.

The clouds dispersed and sunlight poked in through them.

…

Hey…

What’s happening?

Do I get whatever I want just by complaining about it?

This is clearly unnatural!

There must be someone behind this!

And I bet I’m going to find out who, if I go out now!

The sun’s position showed early morning.

It seems that that rain lasted throughout the entire night.

Alright.

It’s time to wake up this snore machine and set out.

“Wake up.”

A tap on her shoulder.

“Ugh, huh?”

Are you also the type who is bad at waking up?

Come on now…

“Gyah! What are you doing to me?!”

I’m waking you up.

Why are you acting as if I was violating you?

Who do you think I am?!

“The rain stopped and I heard the ogre. Let’s go.”

“Eh? Wh- uh, wait!”

Oh, I’m waiting.

You are the one who is panicking.

The disheveled hair, a bit of drool on your mouth and tangling yourself on your own blanket…

Yep, that’s our great Ignis right there.

How in the world did this person solo clear a dungeon?

I’m pretty sure firepower isn’t everything.

You also need some alertness and the ability to keep calm.

“I’m ready!”

Well, that was quick.

You even tied your hair into twintails again.

But the drool on your chin sure kills the image.

It must suck to not have a pocket mirror, huh?

I use my glove and wipe off her chin, then I turn around and head outside.

For some reason, it takes a moment before she also exits the cave.

Didn’t she say she was ready?

Now then…

I can still clearly hear what I think is the ogre.

But the higher-pitched screeches subsided.

Did he kill them?

That’s possible.

Goblins are quite weak compared to an ogre, after all.

“This way.”

I point in the direction we need to go and we set off.

For some reason, Ignis’ face is red.

Already conjuring fire magic?

I like the enthusiasm.

I transition into a slow sprint and Ignis silently follows behind me.

It takes only a few minutes before a certain scent enters my nostrils.

Even though the rain should have washed everything away, I can smell it very clearly.

Blood.

It must be very fresh.

A battle happened in that direction not too long ago.

We dodge a few trees and climb over a steep hill.

And that’s when we see it.

Dead goblins.

Most of them seem to have been smashed or crushed by something big.

Presumably, the ogre.

But there is one exception.

One of the goblins looks as if something sucked all moisture from its body.

He looks completely dried out despite the recent rain.

In its hand, it’s clutching a peculiar staff with its length reaching almost two times the goblin’s height.

A fist sized blue orb placed on its tip shines dimly.

…

Well, that’s not suspicious at all.

A dried corpse of a goblin.

The sudden rain that came and went as if someone pressed s light switch.

And the ominous staff that doesn’t have a single scratch on it.

“T-that’s…!”

Hmm?

Do you-

Wait, what are you doing?!

Don’t touch that staff!

That’s obviously bad news!

Having noticed so late, I couldn’t prevent her from picking it up.

But…

Nothing happened as she touched it.

Huh?

Was I wrong?

“… do you know that staff?”

“I… yeah. I… read about it in a book, you see!”

I see, I see.

So…

Does that mean this is an internationally famous piece of treasure?!

I don’t believe you read a book about this specific staff!

“What is it, even?”

“It… umm, it’s a cursed staff.”

So, it is…

But then, why are you fine holding it?

“It’s fine! It only activates if you pour mana into it!”

Is that so?

…

Does that mean the goblin over there was a mage?

“Once you pour just a tiny bit, all of your mana will be sucked out of you and turned into… something.”

Something?

Like…

Rain?

“So! As a skilled magician, I will hold onto this! You might be in danger if you accidentally activated it!”

It sounds more like you want to keep the loot for yourself.

But sure.

I don’t wanna end up as a mummy.

And I don’t know how much it could sell for, but I’m not really that worried about money right now anyway.

I’m only doing this quest for the rank up, after all.

“Be careful with it.”

As I give my word of advice, my ears pick up the stomps again.

This time…

There’s multiple of them overlapping.

This can’t be just one ogre…

Village chief, why did you have to trigger these flags?

Ignis put the cursed staff into her item box and we continued toward the sounds.