CH 46

「 Hmm, I didn’t expect this to happen…… 」

Lettie looked into the building and muttered, and everyone else nodded in agreement.

On the outside, the building looked like a large temple with many columns, but when we opened the door, we found only a small room on the ground with rocky walls that looked like a cave again.

In the center of the room, there is a single ping-pong ball-sized sphere floating in the air with a moon-like glow, I wonder if that is the 『 Core 』 of the dungeon.

I don’t know if such a thing exists in all the dungeons of this world, but if this is the core, then the golem from earlier was definitely the boss of this dungeon.

「 This one’s small. It will be cheap. 」

「 We got it with very little effort, so I’m not complaining 」

While briefly chiding Kana for pouting her lips while looking at the dungeon core, Lettie retrieves the core and puts it in her tool bag.

「 Nn, it’s cheap? 」

When I asked, Lettie replied with a small wave of her hand and a wry smile.

「 Unfortunately, it’s shallower than I thought it would be. 」

「 Then, maybe, it wouldn’t have been necessary for me to come along 」

「 I don’t think so? We’ve come all this was because of Toto-chan 」

「 You can take it, that should make up for this 」

Lettie nodded her head in agreement as she took out the golem’s eye – the magic stone – from her tool bag.

「 Okay. Well, before we leave, let’s look for hidden doors just in case. Felicie, burn those adventurers and purify them. 」

「 Got it 」

「 Toto-chan, will you stay as Felicy’s escort?

」

「 Nn 」

「 Kana, you and I are going to search the outside of this building. 」

「 Ehh, what a pain in! 」

As usual, Lettie hand chops Kana, who is being a bit of a pain, on the head and then takes her away.

They say people come back to life when their bodies are left alone.

It’s not the sweet kind of story to be able to see someone no longer of this world again, but as a 《 Walking Undead 》 whose mind is controlled by a monster and whose entire body is so badly damaged that you can no longer remember what they looked like when they were alive.

Therefore, they have to be purified by fire, and such bodies can rest in peace without being trapped by the undead.

『 Sacred Flames 』 I don’t know how effective it is, but if I were to become undead, I’d probably be a skeleton. I wonder if they would say 『 It’s the culprit! 』 if something like that would actually affect me.

I myself had no problem grasping the fireball, which is a mass of fire, and I don’t believe in the sanctity of fire because Vanil Mirth-san’s light magic technique was much more powerful in comparison.

Well, in my case, I already have a soul, so I am definitely different from a normal undead.

「 Alright, let’s take this too 」

She clasped the hands of each body together and took their tool bags, picking up items that could be usable and transferring them to her own tool bag.

『 When you die, you won’t be able to use the tool bag, and those who found after you die are free to use it. 』 and, 『 If you see an adventurer along the way whose fate has been sealed along the way, mourn for them. 』 are unspoken rules of adventurers.

As an adventurer, I’m sure everyone has had similar experiences, and there should be no hard feelings over this.

But I guess it’s not a problem since most parties have wizards, but what if you were adventuring with only vanguard types like me, I never thought about that before.

「 Nn, Fellie, It’s done 」

While taking the items from the tool bags, I gathered the bodies in one place and called Felicy. The tool bag of the deceased would not be purchased by the tool shop, so I decided to have it be burned together.

Adventurers are especially concerned about good fortune, so they basically don’t handle the tools of the deceased unless they have the purpose of passing on the will or something along those lines.

「 Un, move away for a bit 《 Flame, come! Flaming Petals 》」

The fire petals ignited into flames and burned the bodies to the ground in a matter of seconds.

As I finished my work here, I turned my attention to Lettie and the others, who seemed to have just finished checking the area as well, and they came walking towards me, waving their hands.

「 There doesn’t seem to be any hidden door, I thought the core was split in two because it’s so small, but it looks like this is the only one 」

Lettie took out the dungeon core from her tool bag and showed it to everyone, and Felicy responded with a happy smile.

「 This should be enough extra income to get me to go out on a little adventure. 」

「 Well, I guess so 」

「 What do we do with the golem parts, take them? 」

When I pointed to the dismembered golem and asked, Lettie crossed her arms and thought for a moment, then nodded.

「 Let’s take some of that. That tremendous defense is fascinating 」

「 Nn, okay 」

I picked up one of the two arms and held them up. It was folded at the joints, but was bulkier than I expected. The log-like arm, not too heavy, but it would be difficult to hold for them, and I felt like if I put this in my tool bag them it would be at the limit of what it could carry.

「 I think we’ll just take those two parts and go home. Toto-chan, if you need me to hold them for you, just let me know 」

「 I don’t think it’s too much trouble, but it’s hard to get used to lifting this, so I might ask for help a few times. 」

「 Of course, we can’t just let Toto-chan carry it, can we? 」

When she patted me on the shoulder, I saw Felicy’s eyes widen with envy for a few tenths of a second, so I wondered if she would be happy to touch a girl like me, who doesn’t have much of anything.

Well, leaving that aside, I guess Kana headed ahead of me because she returned to the same formation when we left.

I’m still at the back of the group, but that shouldn’t be a problem since the monsters are weak, this arm is something I can throw away and wouldn’t break, so our walking speed itself didn’t change that much.

After that, we got out of the dungeon as easily as we had gone in, walked through the grasslands, spent a day outside, and finally made it back to Aries around noon.

Rather than selling the monster materials to the guild and settling the bill within the party, we decided to dispose of this golem’s arm, which was becoming a burden, and so we came to the workshop in the northern district.

「 So, can you process this thing?」

「 Well, I’m going to ask for a detailed request later, but I’m going to ask if this can be processed as it is 」

A tall skinhead with a bushy beard, was the workshop chief, who looked like a professional wrestler at first, roared and knocked on the golem’s arm with the back of his hand.

「 Sorry, I can’t. As far as I’ve heard, there is no technology that can process such material, it is not only us, it will be all over this place. No, I’m even doubtful if anyone can process it within Eresbell in the first place. 」

「 Eh? It’s that rare of a technology? 」

「 Of course, of course, I’ve never heard of using magic power for processing until now. In the first place, I’m not even sure if there is a workshop that has enough magic power or knowledge of magic to use it in processing. 」

「 Ah, ahaha…… That is certainly 」

「 But if you can’t process it, then we’re in a bit of trouble. What should we do with this arm? 」

「 I’ll tell you first, we can’t buy it. But it’s the first time I’ve seen this metal, so I’d like to try experimenting on it, and I don’t mind if you want to leave it here. 」

「 In that case, if it can be processed, will you give priority to it? 」

「 Yeah, sure, but don’t get your hopes up. 」

「 Well, I guess there’s nothing we could do about it right now. But, if there’s any progress, please contact the Adventurer’s Guild. 」

「 Ou 」

The head of the workshop replied briefly, and then we went back to the Adventurer’s Guild in the West District after the conversation was settled.

After handing over the monster materials and dungeon core to the guild’s sales counter and then receiving the money, we moved over to the table and ordered a small snack and drink before settling the bill.

「 We didn’t have to use any tools this time, so we’ll just distribute the monster materials evenly, okay? 」

「 Nn 」

A few silver and copper coins were used, but the enemy was weak, and that was all there is.

「 And then here’s for Toto-chan the price of the dungeon core. 」

「 Nn 」

Gold coins are everywhere, huh, isn’t the dungeon core expensive?

「 Even at that size, it’s still pretty pricey, isn’t it? 」

「 That’s because you can usually only get one from a single dungeon. 」

「 I see 」

I agree with Kana, it’s basically not something you can aim to get at any time.

There was nothing much to do after that, so we broke up after we finished eating.

I’ll slowly ask Helvetia how to use the magic stone later.