214 - - 二百十二話 宝箱

We proceeded through 77 layers of icy ground on spikes made by Tulu. It is reassuring to have solid footing.

"Moena!"

...... ice golem melts into mush before our eyes. One wonders, does ice burn?　It just melts and evaporates, right?　...... Well, since the ice golem is a large humanoid of hard ice covered with magic power with a magic stone at its core, there is no material of value other than the magic stone, so it doesn't really matter which one it is.

There is no vegetation in the 76th to 80th layers, so there are not many valuable materials. In addition to the harsh environment, the only valuable materials are those of demons, so there is not much value in them. Even if adventurers are able to come to this level, it is likely to be an unpopular place.

Since there are only a few people exploring, we might be able to find something of value if we investigate carefully, but it seems to be difficult with my knowledge. If I see something that catches my eye, I'll try to pick it up and bring it back to ......, though it's almost all ice. While I'm thinking, the ice golem melts away completely and the magic stone rolls onto the icy ground.

"That's a good one!"

Flare says, proudly, as he floats the fallen magic stone and brings it to me. I wonder if she will wear flames in her fists and hit demons when she grows up like If.　It's going to be hard to be crazy in battle as a spirit, so I'll try to teach them as much fun as possible besides fighting while I'm under contract with them.

"Thank you Flare. But you don't have to melt all of them. You can defeat them by melting only the magic stone.

"You don't understand, the sun makes everything fall apart."

...... probably something iff has said before. There's a hint of satisfaction on Flare's face. Maybe it's a feeling like when you can say a line you want to say at least once, or a ceiling you don't know.

"Yes, I know. But don't take it too hard."

"Oh!"

I pat Flare's energetic head and resume my search. The scenery is beautiful, but there are not many landmarks, so I lose my sense of direction. It will be hard to search everywhere, so after some time, we all go on a treasure hunt together.

"I've got something! I'm going to kill it next time!

As we were walking around looking for treasure chests and stairs, Belle shouted out. Perhaps the flare has made her more excited. As she looks in the direction she is looking, wriggling her arms and legs, she sees four dots running toward her.

It looks like a white ape. When I first saw it, I thought it was a White Ape. It is a two-meter tall ape monster covered with pure white fur. Maybe the White Ape blended into the earth and became an IT. I've been in this world too, so it's not impossible.

As I watch the small dots grow larger and larger, I formulate a hypothesis about the mystery of UMAs. I feel like I've made a great discovery, but when I think about it calmly, there is no place to present it. Before that, the existence of the other world itself is such a great discovery that I don't even care about UMAs.

White Ape arrived right in front of me and attacked me with ice weapons in his hands without stopping. Ice swords and spears are very beautiful, but they would probably melt in a normal place. I have stored them in my magic bag, but I am hesitant to sell it off because the time stopping function of the bag is about to be revealed to the world.

"Fujinranbu!"

Ah, it's been a while since Bell's big move. Countless blades of wind surround White Ape and the others, firing at once. Whoa, they're on a different level than zombies. The White Ape dodges some of the incoming blades, and uses its own weapons to block the ones it can't avoid.

But the blades of wind are created one after another. White Ape, unable to avoid them due to their numbers, is cut into pieces one after another.

"Gotcha!"

Belle raises her right hand in triumph. She looks so cute, but behind her is a slaughterhouse like something out of a horror movie. ......Children can be so cruel sometimes. Belle plops into my chest. She looks up at me with a smile on her face.

"Good job. Thank you, Belle."

"Heh."

He compliments Belle while scratching her head. But this time, I have to be a little harsher.

"But Belle, if you do the wind-blade dance, the demons will fall apart and you won't be able to get the materials. Since we are going to defeat the demons, we should defeat them neatly when we have enough time.

Belle made a face like she had forgotten about my words, and then she looked shocked. Ugh, it was heartbreaking.

"Belle, I've made a mistake!"

"It's okay, I'll be careful next time."

I did the best I could, gently patting Belle's head, and she nodded her head. To be honest, I don't care how many demons are slaughtered as long as it makes Belle sad, but if it results in Belle being in trouble someday, that's hard enough. Raising a child is difficult, isn't it? It's not my child.

**

"Cooooooooo!"

While I was trying my best to cheer up the depressed Belle and continued my search, Tamamo came back to me, purring happily. Tamamo must have found the treasure chest, because her fluffy tail was wagging wildly.

"Tamamo, did you find the treasure chest?"

"Coo-coo!"

Tamamo nodded her head. I think I found the treasure chest after all.

"That's great! Thank you, Tamamo. I'm going to summon Moon, and then you'll show me the way, okay?

"Cooooo!"

He praises Tamamo while smothering him and summons Moon.

Moon, I'm sorry I called you back on the way. I found a treasure chest. Let's all go take a look.

"............"

Moon landed on my head in a heap. He was kind of slow on the pull, maybe he was depressed because he couldn't find it.

"Don't worry, even if you don't find it this time, we'll find many more treasure chests in the future, so don't be discouraged.

He held Moon, who was on his head, and talked to him while he was mooing. The pulls have come back a little, and I hope he's feeling better.　But ...... I feel like I've been running past my dad lately, in the direction of the daycare center.

"Is this it?"

After an hour of walking about Tamamo, Tamamo landed on an icy patch of land. ...... there's nothing but ice. I looked at Tamamo to see what was going on, and he was tessitating on the icy ground.

When I looked into the area where Tamamo was tessitating, it was about 5 meters high.　A golden treasure chest can be seen in a fairly deep place. This labyrinth has treasure chests in some very troublesome places. It occurred to me that there is a treasure chest in the magma of a volcanic area. ...... No, of course not, right?　Because you almost certainly won't find it. ...... but I'll have Bell and the others look for it on the way home, just in case.　

"Tamamo, how did you find it?"

"Coo-ooh!"

Tamamo proudly wags his tail. I can understand why you'd want to be proud in a place this hard to find. And it's a golden treasure chest. I'm nervous because it could be a magic wand.

Let's dig it out.

"Dredge?"

Flare asks with a slightly expectant look. What happens after ...... melts it down?　If it doesn't evaporate, I have a feeling the treasure chest will submerge.

"I'll get the ice too, thanks."

"I can't help it!"

I don't know what's so bad about it, but he seems to agree with me anyway, so I take out my magic shovel and start digging for ice. I thought about making it into a staircase, but it's too much trouble, so I'll just dig through to the treasure chest and let the bell float me up to the top. I'll feel better if I do my job properly.

I dig the ice out with the shovel and store it. Is this ice edible?　Well, even if we can't eat them, we can use them in various ways. The treasure chest is easily reached. I can dig through five meters easily now.

"Belle, will you help me get up to the chest?"

"I can do it!"

Bell answers cheerfully, raising his hand.

"Please, then."

The wind gently envelops me and my body floats up with the treasure chest, carrying me out through the ice hole. I thank Belle and pat her around. Well, Belle is back to full strength now. Sylphy looks at me warmly, but I don't mind.

"Sylphie, can you check the traps?"

"Yeah, just a minute. ...... no problem. No traps, no locks."

"Thank you. Then let's open the treasure chest.

I look at the golden treasure chest in front of me and say, "I'm going to get it," and Bell and the others gather behind me. They too seemed to be curious about what kind of treasure was in it. Now that we have everyone's attention, let's open it.

I put my hand on the lid and push it up. As Sylphy said, it lifts up without a key or a trap. Inside is ...... what's this?　Let's see, there is a silver tray-like object about 30 centimeters in diameter. It's definitely not a cane. Well, even in games, I've never got the material I wanted in one shot, ...... that's just how it is, isn't it?　

Sylphy, do you know what this is?

"A mithril shield. It has a magic stone attached to it, so I'm sure it's a magical tool. I don't know how it works, so you'd better ask Nomos before you use it.

"Then let's summon Nomos for a moment."

"If we find other magical tools, we'll have to summon Nomos again, so shouldn't we ask him to put them together?"

"...... sure you do. I'll ask Nomos after we're done exploring the labyrinth."

If we call him too often and ask him to appraise our grimoires, he will be in a bad mood. I'll put the shield on the back burner since I won't have a chance to use it. Bell and the others have killed all the demons, so let's switch to searching for treasure chests and staircases.

"Okay!　Okay, now let's all look for stairs and treasure chests. They may be buried in the ice, like the one here, so everyone be careful.

"Yessir," "cu-cu-cu-cu-cu," "yessir," "cu-cu-cu-cu," "cu-cu-cu-cu," "yessir," "............"

The belles salute each other, then scatter in a race in any direction they wish. The party of heroes will probably find the most conspicuously located treasure chests, and only a few of them will be found. But if the chests are in hard-to-find locations, we can expect to find the contents. That makes the discovery exciting.