CH 79

“Resuming the Attack ~Cooking Class and Young Adventurers~”

Translated by Dawn

Edited by Dawn

“Resuming the Attack ~Cooking Class and Young Adventurers~”

After somehow resolving the Kukkoro-san duel incident from the young noble lady attack, I decided to resume the dungeon attack as originally planned. Last time, when I challenge the dungeon, I had been interrupted at one of the safety zones on the ninth level.

This time, I decided to resume the dungeon attack from there and came to the dungeon entrance again. After completing the formalities at the reception desk, I got in line to use the transfer portal, and when my turn came a short time later, I used the portal to transfer to the ninth level.

Well, let’s continue despite the interruption from the last time.”

Being able to do what I wanted to do was a relief, but it also brought back memories of the dungeon attack, when my life was in danger. Even though the ninth level was still one of the lower levels and had no monsters threatening my life, I had no choice but to brace myself for anything that could happen in a dungeon.

At the lower levels, the traps, which were a common part of dungeons, were more of a hindrance, such as drawing nearby enemies or creating shallow pits. The traps got increasingly deadly as I descended, but for the time being, I was able to navigate them without any issues.

I did, however, hope that I could learn how to deal with traps as soon as possible because I had no idea what kind of traps lie in wait for me in the future.

“Talking about traps, I just remembered…”

Come to think of it, I was a cheat in this world. After locating and dealing with traps a few times, I discovered [Trap Detection] and [Trap Disarming]. I wasn’t sure if this was because of my two skills, [Increased Skill Acquisition Rate] and [Increased Skill Proficiency], or if I had previously met the requirements to learn them.

Now that I could quickly find and deal with the traps, I was able to proceed to fight the monsters that attacked me, while doing the work of collecting them.

After a while of disarming traps and fighting monsters, a new safety zone came into view. The area around the safety zone seemed to be a completely safe zone with no monsters approaching.

There were no adventurers in the safety zone this time, and the place was completely empty. Since it was lunchtime, I immediately started cooking.

There were no adventurers in the safety zone this time, and the place was completely empty. Since it was lunchtime, we immediately started cooking.

First, I used earth magic to raise the ground and form it into the shape of a basket. Then, I placed the wooden sticks I had picked up in advance into the fire pit and used fire magic to make a fire. Then, taking out the iron plate used the last time I served steaks to the adventurers, I created a temporary cooking area.

“Now, it’s starting– Rolando’s Cooking Challenge!”

Then, a local TV show-style title call was made and the cooking began. This could only be done because no one was watching.

This time, I wanted to cook something a little more complicated. If I always cooked steak, it would be boring and nutritionally unbalanced, so I would like to add some vegetable dishes to my diet.

So, first of all, I took out the vegetables I had bought over the past few days and used water magic to wash away the filth. Then, using wind magic, I chopped the vegetables into appropriate sizes and threw them on the hot griddle. The vegetables, which were making a sizzling sound, were cooked by mixing them with a wooden spatula, which I had bought when I had some free time.

When the vegetables were evenly cooked, I seasoned them with salt and pepper to finish the stir-fry. Once the stir-fried vegetables were stored away to prevent deterioration over time, the next step was to make a vegetable soup with lots of vegetables.

The process for making it was simple: cabbage, carrots, and potatoes were thrown into the water in a pot. Although the variety of vegetables in this world was no different from that on Earth, there were some fantasy vegetables that didn’t exist on Earth. Well, let’s just say “fantasy” to put that away.

When the water started to boil, thinly sliced Dashboar meat was added to it and slowly simmered until the meat was cooked through. When the meat was cooked, season with salt and pepper for taste and it was ready to eat.

Finally, the main course, which I decided to keep to my usual Dashboar steak, was finally all done.

“Then, thank you for the food.”

The finished dishes were laid out on the table from which they had been taken, and it was time for the eagerly awaited actual eating. First, I put the stir-fried vegetables in my mouth and chewed slowly. While retaining the sweetness of the vegetables themselves, the crispy texture of the dish was very tasty.

Next, I drank the vegetable soup, which warmed my body to the core. It was a perfect dish for the cold winter season. The Dashboa meat accentuates the vegetable soup and gives it a strong flavor.

Finally, the main course, the steak, which I dare not describe since the adventurer named Olberto, who had the steak before, had already described the taste of it. Well, it’s good, right?　Yep.

After finishing lunch and resting for a while, I put the cooking utensils and the place back to the way it was and resumed the attack.

As I continued through the dungeon, choosing one path from several branches, there was a response to my Scouting. Upon checking, it seemed that a party of adventurers was fighting a monster, and they were struggling quite a bit.

“It’s bad etiquette if I interfere inappropriately.”

There were several rules that were unspoken among adventurers. One of them was the intervention of adventurers in monster battles. The main source of income for adventurers was the money they earned by wholesaling the monsters they killed to the adventurers’ guild, and as many as 70% to 80% of adventurers earned their income this way.

That was why it was not considered a good thing for adventurers to snatch monsters from other people who had found them before they did. As a result, unless the opposite party specifically requested it, they would not join in when other adventurers were fighting monsters.

From the outside, this could appear to be a cruel approach, but when it came time to divide up the supplies after the battle, some adventurers would be reluctant to share the materials, saying, “I could have handled the fight without your help.”

In order to avoid such problems, it became a rule among adventurers that if they saw a monster being fought by another adventurer, they would remain silent until the fight was over, and if the other adventurer requested help, they would intervene in the battle.

And the adventurers who made the request for help would also be given a larger share of the materials as a reward to the adventurers who had stepped in at their request, and a rule would be established that there would be no lending or borrowing.

“Looks like they’re in a bit of trouble.”

Watching the adventurers fight, I saw that although they were working well together, they were struggling and there were many dangerous situations. I wasn’t afraid to help them, but I was willing to observe the situation according to the unspoken rules of the adventurers. However, I had to make sure that I was crouched down in a place where I could be easily seen by the adventurers on the other side.

The goblins the adventurers were fighting were goblin warriors, goblin archers, and other high-ranking goblins of rank D. They were a formidable foe.

However, even though they were ranked D, they were closer to E rankings than D ranks, so as long as they worked well together as a party, they would not have a hard time.

“Hey, you over there! Don’t just stand there looking at us, help us!!”

While I was observing their situation, I received a request for help from one of them who seemed to be the leader, so I decided to intervene in accordance with the rules. However, since the opponent was a D-rank monster, the fight was over in an instant, resulting in the mass production of monster corpses in a matter of seconds.

“A-amazing.”

“T-this is overwhelming.”

“….”

“Hey, you! Why didn’t you join the fight right away!?”

The adventurers who were fighting were a young party of four, two men and two women each. The other three were taken aback by my intervention, but only one young man, the leader of the party who had called for help, was condemned for my actions.

“There’s an unspoken rule among adventurers that when other adventurers are fighting, you don’t join in the fight unless you’re asked to help. You didn’t happen to know that, did you?”

“But that doesn’t mean there aren’t situations where you can’t call for help!”

Certainly, there were times when the situation was as he said it would be. However, in this case, it was clearly a situation where rescue could be requested. And judging from the fact that the monsters appearing were not accompanied by any strong forces, it was probably…….

“What’s your rank?”

“W-why do I have to tell you my rank! How about you tell me what’s your rank first?”

“I’m B-rank. Now you know my rank. What’s yours?”

Everyone was astonished at the guild card I presented. Then they all looked away with some kind of guilty expression on their faces. ……These guys, no way.

“Don’t tell me you guys are E-rank? Show me your guild card.”

“That’s…”

The young man was reluctant to present his guild card, but when I urged him to do so, he reluctantly took it out and showed it to me. As I had expected, his rank was E, and I couldn’t help but sigh at the result.

The guild had established certain rules for adventurers when it came to dungeon attacks. That was, there were different levels that could be conquered according to rank, E-ranked adventurers were allowed to conquer up to the seventh level. And since I was now on the ninth level, it meant that they had broken the guild’s rule.

“You guys do realize you’re breaking the rules, don’t you? You entered an unauthorized level and were almost killed by a much higher-ranking monster. If I hadn’t come in to save you, you might have died.”

“”””S-sorry!””””

After that, my sermonizing continued and they were finally released, but they seemed to be more mentally tired than physically tired. I couldn’t just leave them there, so I decided to escort them to the next safety zone, and we parted ways at the next safe zone.

I told them to report the matter to the guild and receive the appropriate punishment. If they didn’t report it, they wouldn’t be adventurers for long.

Then, I continued on my way and finally saw the door leading to the boss’s room. There were several parties of adventurers waiting for their turn in front of the door, so I got in line behind them and waited my turn. As I waited in line, some people looked at me but didn’t call out to me, so I decided to wait until it was my turn.