"This area's pretty easy, I'll give it that."
"You said it!"
Branca muttered as she smashed a goblin that lunged at her. Amur was doing the same, swinging his short spear and blasting goblins away in clusters. I finished off the ones they'd knocked down and stuffed them one by one into my bag. Grandpa was behind us, keeping watch for any back attacks. Slarin and the others had nothing to do and were resting inside the Dimension Bag.
"At this rate, couldn't we push on a bit further?"
"Yeah."
We were currently tearing through the tenth floor, but since this was Branca and Amur's first dungeon, we'd been hunting in the shallows as a warm-up and preparation.
Still, from the way things were going, combat inside the dungeon didn't seem to pose any problems, so we should be fine pushing deeper.
"Well then, let's break for lunch. There should be a spot around here that's perfect for taking a rest."
I headed toward the nearest dead end. Branca had questioned whether there was no escape route, but when she saw that Grandpa didn't say anything, she followed along despite looking skeptical.
"I told you, it's fine. First, I'll build a wall with earth magic, then punch an air hole through it... See? One makeshift rest stop, ready to go."
"Whoa!"
"Now this is safe. On this floor, goblins are about all that'll show up."
"Back when I used to go dungeon crawling, I pulled this trick all the time."
Branca and Amur let out sounds of admiration, and Grandpa gazed at the setup with a nostalgic look.
"But Branca, monsters aren't the only enemies you'll face in a dungeon."
"Well, in a sense, the ones you really need to watch out for while dungeon crawling are..."
fellow adventurers
"...right?"
"That's exactly it."
"Thieves get what's coming to them! I'll strip them of everything they've got!"
The number one cause of death in the lower floors is robbery by fellow adventurers or thieves. Incidentally, the second leading cause is illness or infection (poison) from injuries, and the third is Monsters. That's how dangerous encounters with fellow dungeon-delvers are considered to be.
So, as Amour explained, if you repel an attacker and properly report it to the Guild and have it recognized, you're entitled to keep everything the defeated party was carrying. Of course, there are still plenty of fools out there who try to ambush others while planning to falsify their reports to the Guild, which is why that type never dies out.
"With Slarin, Shiromaru, and me here, nobody's going to get the jump on us easily. Still, can't be too careful."
"Wauf?"
Shiromaru had climbed out of the bag and was gnawing on a chunk of meat. He tilted his head as if to ask, "Did you say something?" Seeing that made me a little anxious, but Slarin had been listening properly, so she'd probably explain things to Shiromaru later.
"Tenma, I'm hungry!"
Amour grabbed at my sleeve while pressing her stomach. I'll keep quiet about the little sound I heard.
I conjured two simple stoves in the center of the room, loaded them with charcoal, lit the fire, and set grates on top. All that was left was to grill the meat and vegetables.
"I've got meat, vegetables, onigiri, and bread, so grill whatever you like and eat up."
Four people and two beasts sat in a semicircle around the two stoves. The sight of Shiromaru and Solomon sitting there with drool dripping from their mouths and expectant eyes was so absurd I couldn't help but laugh.
"Once we're done resting, should we push deeper? You've all gotten used to fighting inside the dungeon by now, right?"
"Yeah. Fighting nothing but goblins does take the edge off. But hey, Tenma — does it seem like there are fewer goblins than usual? Has it always been like this?"
We'd fought roughly thirty goblins on the way down to this point. As Branca had noticed, that was fewer than normal. But there was a reason for that.
"Apparently the Guild recently started buying goblin remains as materials. That's probably why there are so few."
According to intel I'd gathered before entering the dungeon, the Guild had recently begun purchasing goblin corpses. What's more, the commissioning party was Seigen's office. It was part of Seigen's measure to deal with the overflow of adventurers — buying goblins they wouldn't normally take, paying a modest wage, and trying to suppress unrest even a little. The idea was that if people had even a bit of coin, they could eat and drink, and maybe save up enough to move on to another town. The buy price was fifty G per goblin, with a bonus fifty G added for every ten sold as a bundle, so even combined with magic core purchases, it didn't come close to a thousand G. Still, since even bare-handed adventurers could safely farm them with moderate experience, there had been quite a large influx.
"By the way, they mentioned experimenting with the purchased goblins to see if they could be used as fertilizer."
If they could serve as fertilizer, goblins would likely see steady demand going forward. Who knows — in a few hundred years, they might even be designated an endangered species.
After that, we rested for about an hour before setting out toward the deeper floors. We aimed for the fifteenth floor while trying to avoid combat as much as possible, but a few Monsters still blocked our path. We dispatched them with barely a flick of effort, though.
Along the way, we crossed paths with several fellow adventurers, but they were all decent folk, so no trouble arose.
"Looks like we've made it to the fifteenth floor, our target. This floor is mostly bug-type Monsters too, so stay alert. Before you know it, you could end up surrounded on all sides."
"That's for sure. That's what makes bugs so dangerous."
"Ignoring them is the best way to go!"
Apparently, both of them came from areas with plenty of forests, so they were already used to dealing with insects.
For the time being, we decided to hunt around this area (Amour looked like he couldn't be bothered, but the rest of us stayed on guard as we continued the hunt).
Bug-type Monster shells are often light and durable, so depending on their condition, they can fetch a surprisingly high price. Everyone got serious about processing the Monsters they'd taken down. Well, in my case, I just tossed them into my Magic Bag the moment I defeated them, but Branca and Amour clearly struggled with the finer work. Eventually, it seemed to become too much of a hassle, and they asked me — framed as a formal request — to store their haul in a bag for them. But entrusting your kills to someone else tends to lead to unnecessary trouble, so I ended up lending them my spare Magic Bags. I don't think they'd complain, but drawing clear lines was still necessary.
Still, you don't exactly run into high-value Monsters around here all that often. If anything, I would've preferred the white grubs you can usually catch on the floor below. But we'd already decided to make this floor our stopping point for the day, so I quietly threw myself into bug-slaying.
"Nothing good around here... Hm?"
The moment I activated Search, I noticed several signatures on the ceiling a short distance ahead. I crept closer and looked up to find golden and silver spiders clinging to the surface.
Species... Golden Silk Spider
Species... Silver Silk Spider
They were spiders with names that practically screamed "money." One was gold, and four were silver.
"Since it's my first time seeing these, I'd like to capture them alive if possible..."
Each one was about fifty centimeters across, resembling a greatly enlarged jumping spider. They had oddly endearing faces.
"I'm pretty sure I have something that could work."
I remembered buying a device that emitted smoke bugs hate when I was browsing through equipment yesterday. It was a ball about five centimeters across that smelled like mosquito coils. It was harmless to humans and could be used as insect repellent when camping — and if a bug got hit directly by the smoke, it would supposedly become paralyzed and unable to move. I decided to give it a try.
"Slarin, position yourself on the far side of those spiders. If this doesn't work and they try to escape, grow big and catch them."
Once I saw Slarin move to the other side of the spiders as instructed, I lit the ball and tossed it right beneath them. The ignited ball immediately spewed out a massive cloud of smoke that enveloped the spiders. The smoke-shrouded bugs initially tried to scurry away, but before long they went limp and dropped to the ground as though their strength had given out.
"Alright, it worked!"
I rushed over to the spiders and placed them one by one into insect cages I'd made with earth magic. Even as I approached, none of the spiders showed any sign of moving, so I couldn't tell whether the smoke had actually done the trick, but—
Heal
and
Resist
I cast on them.
"What's this smoke?!"
The smoke must have drifted into the other passages, because the old men came rushing over in a panic. If a fire breaks out in a dungeon, you have to take immediate action or the secondary and tertiary damage can spread.
"I just used a smoke ball to ward off bugs, it's not a fire or anything."
"Is that so? I got all worried thinking there was a fire."
"I was so startled, the bugs got all squished..."
"Glad it wasn't a fire, but if you're going to use fire, I'd appreciate a heads up next time."
"Sorry."
Using a smoke ball without warning in a dungeon showed a lack of consideration on my part. They didn't seem all that angry, but as Amour had said, they'd come to check on us even though it meant ignoring the condition of the monster materials they were working with.
I reflected that I'd been rather careless and apologized to everyone, who forgave me.
"So why did you need to use something like that? There shouldn't be any enemies around here that would require it, Tenma?"
"I found some monsters I'd never seen before, and I wanted to catch them alive without injuries, so I tried using a smoke ball... Also, I was curious about what smoke balls were like in practice."
I brought out the captured spiders and showed them to everyone. By that point, two of the spiders had died, but the remaining ones appeared to be recovering.
"Hmm, rare spiders... I've never seen these before either."
"They're covered in harder shells than I expected. Too small for full-body armor, but they'd work well for partial pieces."
"Tenma, are you going to make your debut as a dandy?"
They certainly had beautiful colors and were hard enough to be used for armor, but I had no intention of wearing such flashy gear. Besides, my current armor was sturdier than any half-baked metal armor and was top-tier among leather armor. In other words, as Amour had said, there was no need for me to make a dandy's debut.
"What's a dandy?"
"I've never heard that word before, but what does it mean?"
Grandpa didn't seem to understand what Amour meant by "dandy." I hadn't heard it in this world either, so I followed up on his question.
"According to Old Kei, it seems to mean 'a flashy show-off who loves attention.'"
"He also said something like 'someone who isn't swayed by others and walks their own path.' Though, since it was"
that person
"who first used the word around here, it might be a term from another country... the details are unclear."
Hearing Branca's words, I realized there was a high chance that Old Kei and I were"
kindred spirits.
I couldn't tell whether he was from a foreign land or the same hometown, from the same era or from the age of warring states, but I somehow felt a sense of kinship with Old Kei and his great-granddaughter Amour.
"I don't think I'd want to stand out that much... My current armor is easy to use and I'm fond of it, and I think it suits my style."
"Well, I wouldn't mind seeing Tenma dressed in gold and silver, but those wouldn't be practical colors for an adventurer."
"What a shame."
I didn't know what Amour found regrettable, but wearing conspicuous colors while hunting would make you easier to spot by your targets. I'd never seen an adventurer clad in gold or silver armor... Though, nobles and knights were the opposite—they reportedly often used flashy-colored armor to show off.
"Anyway, this seems like a good stopping point, so why don't we head back? I'm curious about the identity of the spider Tenma caught, too."
With Grandpa's words, we began preparing to leave. I'd already confirmed the location of the warp zone on this floor, so we all headed back to the surface together.
"Then let's have the Guild buy our loot, grab a meal, and head home. It's almost dark."
"That sounds good, but what about the spider Tenma caught?"
"At the Guild, too many people would see it, and we don't have time anyway, so I plan to ask someone I know. Besides, if we rashly bring it to the Guild, it might catch the eye of some fool."
"But if it's Tenma, he'd surely turn the tables on any such fool and make a nice profit... I'm certain of it!"
Amul said something quite rude, but since he had a proven track record of earning pocket money that way numerous times before, there was no room to argue. However, Grandpa and Branca seemed to feel the same way—the moment Amul spoke, they both slightly averted their gazes... which was understandable, since it was a pretty efficient way to earn.
"I understand what you're trying to say, Tenma, but who are you planning to ask?"
"First, Agri and the others from the Tamer's Guild, I suppose? Or Jin and his group. And if that still doesn't work, I'm planning to write letters to the King and the others."
When he said "acquaintances," the truth was that I wasn't exactly sociable to begin with. When it came to Seigen's acquaintances, all I could think of were Agri's group, Jin's group, Emmy's family, and Master Gantz. And even among those, not a single one was someone I had gotten to know by approaching them first.
"Tenma... how pitiful."
Maybe it was because the number of names I'd listed was so small, but Amul gently placed a hand on my shoulder and spoke with a voice brimming with genuine sympathy. For some reason, Grandpa and Branca were also looking at me with kind eyes, which was really quite rude.
"Among your acquaintances, name the ones Tenma actually approached himself."
"…Jeanne, Aura, Tida, Luna, Kelly, Albert, Lion, Cain, and… ah! Oh, and the King and the others who came to Kukuri Village!"
The number of acquaintances was small, but hadn't I actually approached quite a few of them! That's what I was thinking, but then—
"Jeanne and Aura—you only took them in because they were injured, right? Tida and Luna were the same sort of situation. Alex and his group, too.
The Three Idiots
were following in your footsteps, so it wasn't you who made the approach, was it? And Kelly... when you go shopping, isn't it perfectly normal to talk to the shop clerk?"
"Tenma... I knew it. Still pitiful."
"Tenma, even I have to say that's going too far."
Every person I'd named was rejected by Grandpa. On top of that, Amul sympathized with me even more, and Branca was genuinely put off.
"Enough already. I'm going to make 'narrow and deep' my motto instead of 'wide and shallow.'"
"Tenma, couldn't you go with 'wide and deep'?"
"Hmm, it seems like most of Tenma's acquaintances are women, so does 'narrow and deep' include romantic relationships?"
"Tenma, you're my number one."
These three were determined to mess with me no matter what. In situations like this, pushing back with counterarguments would only lead to pain. So I ignored the three of them and decided to head to the Guild alone.
"Tenma, wait!"
"It's rare for Tenma to sulk that much."
"We might have gone a little too far."
I knew the three were chasing after me from behind, but I kept ignoring them until I passed through the Guild's door.
"So that's why Tenma was in such a bad mood."
"He's usually very mature, so that was an unusual side of Tenma."
"When he came into the Guild, he looked so sour, I wondered what had happened... pfft!"
"I get the feeling, but that was a bit much... pfft!"
Menace, Lina, Jin, and Garat were taking turns talking about how I'd looked when I entered the Guild... As for the last two, I decided I'd drag them along later to blow off some steam.
Right now, we were at a tavern near the Guild. Jin and the others had just finished their purchase at the Guild and were about to go get some food when we arrived. They'd been discussing where to eat, so they waited a bit for us and we all came to the tavern together. Even though the number of people had doubled, the amount of food on our table clearly exceeded thirty servings.
"This place is cheap and they give you a lot. If you want to eat until you're full, this is the best spot in this city."
I was staring in surprise at a dish in front of me when Jin said that while reaching for it, but that wasn't what I meant. In terms of quantity alone, with Shiromaru and Solomon here, we could handle this much. Incidentally, we couldn't bring Slarin and the others out to the tavern, so the three of them were eating together inside the bag. At first, Shiromaru and Solomon had been dead set on eating outside, but they quieted down once the meals turned out to be all meat. I'd been feeding them almost nothing but meat lately, so I really needed to give them some vegetables soon. Plus, our meat stock was getting low, so I'd have to go Orc hunting in the dungeon again.
"No, what I meant was, if we order everything at once, won't the food get cold and taste bad?"
"No, that should be fine. Look."
Jin gave me a "What is this guy talking about?" look and pointed at Amur and Branca, who were beside me. There, the two tigers were clearing their plates at an incredible speed.
"Huh?"
"Nothing."
I couldn't say anything to the two who were looking at me in unison. Jin was right; maybe I'd been worrying over nothing. In fact, with this pace, it looked like I wouldn't even get to eat my fill.
I decided to claim my own share before the two of them finished everything off, and then eat at a more leisurely pace.
And sure enough, just as I'd worried, the thirty servings weren't enough because of Amur and Branca.