180-164 Abandoned mine (5)

The decision on the party name was quite controversial.

Or should I say "stagnant" rather than "confused"?

We continued to discuss it after we got back home, but we couldn't come up with a good idea.

If I had been a few years younger, I might have been able to come up with a name that would have blown things out of proportion in many ways, but at my age, I already know what "black history" is.

Yes, a history that should never be repeated. .......

It's a good idea to have a party name that you can at least say without blushing when you get a little older.

I'm sure you'll be able to figure out what you need to do in order to get the most out of your time here. ...... Well, I asked Diora about some of the names of the current parties, and there were a lot of names that we were a little - well, a lot - embarrassed about, so I guess we don't have to worry about that much externally. I guess we don't need to worry about it, but this is our emotional problem.

In the end, we decided on "Clear Mirror and Clear Water," based on Diora's suggestion that we make it into something like a motto, keeping in mind the type of adventurer who succeeds.

I also considered words like "humility" and "prudence," but I didn't want to be lambasted by other adventurers, so I settled on this one.

I'm still far from the state of mind of a clear mirror, but I'll do my best to reach it.

After the name of the party was decided, Haruka and Yuki started to make the compost.

They needed ten of them, each a little larger than the one we use at home.

Since it would take a considerable amount of time for the two of us to make the compost, what the other three, including myself, were doing in the meantime was hunting demons.

We were asked by a deputy to increase the supply of fertilizer, even if it meant raising the price a little.

As far as we are concerned, we are making a good profit at the current price, but the request from the governor was in effect a request to raise the price.

In other words, he wants to raise the price of fertilizer to a level where even adventurers without magic bags can make some profit, because the quantity we supply is too small.

It seems that the government is willing to support us to a certain extent, but the price of the fertilizer we are selling is still too high.

Well, there is no good in defying the government.

We decided to raise the price and put a sign on the vending machine.

We put up a sign on the vending machine, stating the facts as they are: "We have decided to raise the price at the request of the authorities.

We don't want you to complain to us.

I guess the fertilizer is cost effective enough, since there was no particular drop in sales even after the price increase.

Thanks to this, we had to work very hard to defeat the demons, but even with Haruka and Yuki out, we had two vanguards, me as a wizard and a middle guard, and someone who could heal, so we didn't have any problems, and we finished delivering the compost and defeating the demons in about ten days.

I'm not sure what to say.

So, today we're going to start exploring the abandoned mine again!

It's the first time I've been cooped up in my house for this long, so I guess I'm a little slow.

While we were defeating the demons, Yuki and Haruka were busy making compost, except for some training time.

This is why it has been quite a while since the two of them have engaged in actual combat.

I've delivered ten compost pots, but where are we going to put them?　Normally, I think a few in the adventurer's guild would be enough. ......

"It looks like the guild has five of them, okay?　Also, it looks like they're putting them on wagons and taking them to the south woods.

We only heard about it because we were in the north forest, but it seems that they are stationed near the logging operation in the south forest, and they are buying the corpses of demons there.

This way, they don't have to bring the corpses back to the town, so they can easily get the cooperation of adventurers.

I see. Then we need more than one. Even that composting machine doesn't finish processing in an instant.

The compost can dispose of a large number of corpses in a short period of time, but even so, if many adventurers bring in their corpses, the compost will need to be replaced every day, or even every half day.

But if you're managing it well, you're safe. We won't have to work as hard.

"Fertilizer monsters are not very profitable.

A demon that can use corpses as fertilizer is a demon that has few places to sell it.

Orcs, for example, can be sold for their meat, so most of them become meat, and only bones and inedible parts are thrown into the compost.

On the other hand, goblins, sculpts, apes, and other demons that have no use for anything other than magic stones can produce large amounts of fertilizer.

These monsters are not very useful to hunt.

Even if we raised the price of fertilizer a little, it would only be within the margin of error from our point of view.

Even so, the demons that we had to throw away are now worth money, and if you are a novice adventurer, it will help you make a living.

We didn't have much trouble ............ when we were starting out, did we?　Not to that extent.

--Good luck to all of you.

"But this is an abandoned mine.

But this abandoned mine is a lot bigger than I thought.

Yeah, I wonder how long ...... it is in total.

As they head towards the place where they stopped exploring last time, Haruka looks at Yuki's map and twists her head.

The distance they could explore in a day was not that long, as they were mapping and dealing with demons, but it was still large enough that they could dive for seven days and still not finish their search.

Considering the fact that there are buried tunnels here and there, it seems that they must have been digging on a very large scale, but how could they not have been discovered?

Eventually, it was discovered when the head of the family went missing, but the fact that he was able to keep it a secret until then was probably due to the slow communication of information.

Now, this is the first place you'll be entering, so be careful.

Got it.

It's been a little over half a day since we entered the abandoned mine.

We didn't meet any demons on the way, and since we had already made a map, we returned to the previous location smoothly.

From there, we started to explore again. .......

I don't know if it's my imagination, but the road seems to be widening around here.

I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one who's had a bit of trouble with the whole thing.

It's a good thing I'm a good fighter.

I'm sure you'll agree.

In the event that you have any kind of questions regarding where and how to use the internet, you can call us at the web site.

Especially since Natsuki's naginata seemed to be a bit cramped, it would be nice to have a wider passage.

But it wasn't all good.

Up until now, the distribution had been zombies, skeletons, and the occasional ghost, but gradually different monsters began to appear.

A giant bat attacked us from above.

It was dangerous to say the least, since it made little noise and was somewhat difficult to detect, but it was still easier to recognize than the Shadow Ghost.

Furthermore, Toya's ears seemed to be able to hear the ultrasonic waves emitted by the bats, so he was not taken by surprise.

A night snake crawled up to her.

It looks like a normal snake, about a meter long, but its body color blends in with its surroundings, and it waits there motionless, making it very difficult to find.

It is very difficult to find, even though its location can be determined by searching.

Since we knew that it had the skill of "bite poisoning" from the "Lookout", we took precautions to deal with it.

Well, if you know the approximate location of the snake, you can deal with it the moment it moves, so it's not a big problem.

Incidentally, I later found out that the snake's venom was quite powerful and fast-acting, and that antidotes were not available in Rafan, so its bite was quite dangerous.

Moreover, it can bite and pierce an ordinary boot. .......

But we have the Cure Poison, and if we switch to boots made of Dahl's Bear leather, it seems that we will not be able to stand up to them, so it is not much of a problem.

Kevan Kobold is about the same size as a goblin.

Some lore has it that some Kobolds are pretty, but the Kobolds of this world are unfortunately ugly. ...... Or perhaps I should say, fortunately. If they were pretty, they would be harder to kill.

They look like a mix of a ...... goblin and a weasel.

It seems to be surprisingly dexterous, and has a spear made of stone tools, but unfortunately it lacks skill and strength.

Even if it tries to attack us with it, it will easily break if it meets our weapon, so it seems like the weapon is dragging us down.

It's nice that the demons have changed and don't stink, but it's not so profitable. ......

Oh. It's a good thing the demons aren't smelly anymore, but it's not very profitable. ......

According to Toya's [appraisal], the purchase price of the demon stone is 1,100 rares for the Giant Bat, 400 rares for the Night Snake, and 800 rares for the Kevan Kobold.

The most indescribable of these is probably the Night Snake.

If you can find it, even ordinary people can kill it, so there's no way around it, but magic stones are cheap, and there are no materials to be obtained.

The meat is edible, and the venom glands can be used to make antidotes, but I wouldn't dare to eat the meat of a small snake, and collecting the venom glands is a hassle because you have to kill the snake without crushing its head.

Kevan Kobolds are almost the same as goblins.

Except for the magic stone, they are used for fertilizer.

Giant bats can be eaten for the flesh of their bodies, and the skin of their wings is said to be a delicacy, so you can make some money from them, but you can make many times more money by killing orcs and killer gators.

The advantage of the cave is that it doesn't seem to be too hot in the summer, but it's not the best place to work.

"Yeah. I don't know if I'm willing to make less money or put up with the heat. ......

I haven't experienced a summer around here yet.

I haven't experienced summer around here yet." "However, it's a little hot in the forest even at this time of year with my current gear.

I don't want to think about what it will be like in the middle of summer.

"By the way, what's the status of the development of the 'Cools' magic?

I've got something that looks like it.　See?

Yeah. It has the same caveats and drawbacks as Worms, though.

At Toya's question, Yuki and I looked at each other and nodded.

Since we are weak people who grew up in a civilized society, we didn't want to experience a summer without air conditioning, so we tried very hard.

As a result, we had succeeded in developing the magic of "Cools", which is a little more difficult and consumes more energy than "Worms", but seems to be reasonably useful.

However, in our poorly insulated house, the room will soon become too hot after just one use, and only Yuki and I can continue to use it.

Haruka could probably do it with practice, but Toya and Natsuki can't use magic themselves.

If we want to be efficient, we all have to stay in the same room, which is a bit inconvenient.

Incidentally, it wasn't that cold in the winter, and we could get by with heavy clothing, so it wasn't too much of a problem.

It's the same as the "Worms" heating system, which is useless in well-ventilated areas, so it's also quite limited in its use during the adventure.

It's possible that if you go deeper, you'll find other demons, but ...... how far is this abandoned mine?　This abandoned mine?

"It's deep enough to have been dug secretly. Considering the fact that the number of undead is decreasing, it seems like it might be coming to an end soon. ......

"So it's impossible to have a cool place to relax in the summer. It's a shame.

I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm sure it's worth it.

I think it's a good idea to have a long summer vacation, which Japanese people can't take.

I'm sure you'll agree.

Despite Haruka's prediction, the search for the abandoned mine continued after three days.

The number of encounters with the undead had decreased further, and they had recovered two swords with emblems, but they still hadn't found the sword they were looking for.

The enemies were still weak, and his earnings were correspondingly low.

If we don't find the heirloom sword, we'll lose a lot of money.

Then, on the fourth day, when we were all getting a bit lazy.

It appeared in front of us.

"......, hey, that's 'that', isn't it?

"Oh. How did it get here .......? It's not like it was left here before the mine was abandoned, is it?

It's too clean for that. Normally, the fittings would be rusty.

So there's no such thing as a bandit's hideout or ......, is there? It's too deep.

Come on, let's open it!　There might be something good in there!

It was a treasure chest, the kind of thing you see in games but never actually see in the cave.

--It was a treasure chest.