CH 236

Episode 235-2 – First Plant Intake in a Long Time

“S-Sorry. Even though I just introduced it…” (Rosalie)

“Please don’t worry about it. The pancakes were extremely delicious. It’s just that we happened to run into a reporter, that’s all.” (Lewin)

“Exactly. It was our first time meeting that reporter, but he was so rude. It was his fault.” (Aruna)

After we left the Dungeon Pendant Company’s headquarters, the two of us stopped to console Rosalie, who was really apologetic about the whole situation. Up until now, the three of us had just been eating without any harm, so Rosalie couldn’t have expected that our identity would be exposed just by coming here.

“B-But, it was my fault for not taking into account that the three of us have become famous recently and then bringing us to a newspaper company with all party members present.” (Rosalie)

“That’s not true. We managed to get out of there thanks to Aruna, so don’t worry about it. You introduced us to a great place, so thanks for that.” (Lewin)

“That’s right, don’t mind it. So… next up is Lewin?” (Aruna)

“Right. It’s a bit difficult for me to choose which one to introduce since the shops you two recommended were so good… But I think I can introduce you guys to a little-known spot.” (Lewin)

In order to turn the mood around, we moved onto the last recommended shop, which meant it was my turn. At first, I was thinking of going with the safe option and introducing them to Green Formula. But the two of them definitely already knew about that place, so I decided halfway through to go with a different place.

The place I was going to recommend to them was the place I had gone to before, the Merchant’s Guild. It was also located in a prime location on Main Street, with an impressive-looking building that didn’t lose out to the Dungeon Pendant Company in splendor.

“T-This is the Merchant’s Guild, isn’t it? Lewin-san, you’ve been here before?” (Rosalie)

“Yeah, I dealt in a certain direct transaction here before, so I was able to get acquainted with the Vice Guild Chief of the Merchant’s Guild.” (Lewin)

“A-Amazing. I heard that the Merchant’s Guild deals in the buying and selling of rare goods, b-but you can’t engage in trade with them unless you’re a merchant or a special person, right?” (Rosalie)

“Mm. I’ve never been here either.” (Aruna)

“Yeah, without a doubt. It was a sheer coincidence that I got to know him, so I think I just got lucky.” (Lewin)

As we talked, we entered the Merchant’s Guild. I introduced the two of them to the Vice Guild Chief, Paul, who started to show us all kinds of rare commodities.

Among the vocational guilds, the Merchant’s Guild was just as famous as the Adventurer’s Guild, but when it came to the way they handled business, it was completely different. The two of them looked the most excited I had seen them today as they listened to Paul’s explanation of the goods.

I had only come here before to trade Glutamate Herb with them, so it was really enjoyable to be introduced to all of these rare commodities, but it was a shame that I couldn’t afford any of them. These goods were rare for a reason, which meant they cost a lot of money.

…Either way, I’m glad that I introduced these two to the Merchant’s Guild.

If the three of us continued gaining fame as a party, then the three of us could earn a lot of money and come back here to buy some of these things in the future.

“It was really interesting. I want to go again sometime.” (Aruna)

“I a-agree. I got to see so many things I’d never seen before, so it was a lot of fun. L-Lewin-san, thanks for introducing us to this place.” (Rosalie)

“Not at all, I’m glad that you guys enjoyed yourselves. I want to thank you two for sharing your secret spots too.” (Lewin)

After we left the Merchant’s Guild, we returned to the fountain, where we each began to say our thanks. As I had also thought back in Grezesta, it’s always a lot of fun to go shopping with everyone. It wasn’t just shopping for the sake of buying things, but it was also a great way to relax before continuing our Dungeon clearing tomorrow.

“Then see you guys tomorrow.” (Aruna)

“Yeah. Tomorrow is the first time we’ll be staying overnight in the Dungeon, so today was a good way to take our time to relax and get ourselves into tip-top shape for tomorrow.” (Lewin)

“T-Thank you so much for today, Lewin-san and Aruna-san. Let’s do our best again tomorrow.” (Rosalie)

“Yup, I’m looking forward to it.” (Lewin)

“Yup, later.” (Aruna)

After some light conversation, we all split up and went home in preparation for tomorrow’s Dungeon-clearing. This whole day so far was so full of fun, and I wanted to just go to sleep in this satisfying mood, but… the sun hadn’t set yet, so there was still plenty of time.

After seeing the two off, I returned to Ponpokotei and started to prepare the ingredients I had bought yesterday. I took out the Magical Grass and Dumbbell Weed that I had been synthesizing occasionally after coming back from the Dungeon and placed them on the table.

My body was already starting to display signs of rejection at the mere sight of these two types of plants, but I fired myself up nonetheless. I synthesized an Adhesive Herb and kneaded it into the shape of a small, spherical pill. It would have been nice to make them into potions, but I didn’t have time to make them. Besides, with the old style brewing stand I had, it wasn’t possible to use the Elf’s Tears method of potion brewing which allowed one to remove bitterness. I had no choice but to put up with the bitterness.

“….Here goes.” (Lewin)

“…It’s so bitter― or… not?” (Lewin)

I swallowed it down easily without being assailed by the intense bitterness that I remembered so well in my mind. After that, I washed down a few more Dumbbell Weed pills, and although the bitterness came back up from my stomach as gas, I didn’t feel any of that agonizing bitterness from before.

Deciding that this could work, I started to increase the pace, successfully ingesting 3 Dumbbell Weeds worth of pills in one go. But the problem with this method was that if I took a little time to swallow, the bitterness of the pill would transfer to the water in my mouth, which would then spread throughout my entire palate. Plus, even though I took three Dumbbell Weeds worth of pills in one go, I had to drink a corresponding amount of water for it.

…However, with this ingestion method, I felt like I could eat the Dumbbell Weed and Magical Grass even in its original state without experiencing the hell-like suffering like before. I was scared of having stomach pains in the Dungeon tomorrow, so I decided to stop after ingesting a moderate amount, but at least I was able to discover another ingestion method aside from curry.

Episode 236-2 – Dungeon Expedition

I woke up, feeling that my tongue was out of place because of how numb it was. I had tried to ingest as many plants as I could without tasting them, but the inside of my mouth still stung.

My stomach was also making gurgling noises. I wondered if I would be able to tolerate it, but as long as it wasn’t as bad as last time, I could still go to the Dungeon as long as I swallowed some All-Herb and Senburi Herb1.

I woke up a bit early and I still have plenty of time, but I should probably start getting ready so I don’t end up forgetting anything.

After finishing my morning routine and making preparations for the Dungeon, I carried the things we had bought yesterday and made my way to our meet up location.

“Phew, we finally made it to the 10th layer.” (Lewin)

“As expected, it’s harder with more baggage. The fatigue really builds up.” (Rosalie)

“I hate carrying bags.” (Aruna)

With our arms full of baggage, we somehow managed to defeat the Two-Mino and make it to the 10th layer. After clearing every floor, we switched out one person from the vanguard and had them go to the rear guard to serve as the baggage holder, but it was a lot more work than we had anticipated. Carrying more bags resulted in a considerable drop in movement speed, which was a massive drawback. It took a lot more time than what we usually required to clear to this point.

“I think it might be tough for us to make it to the 20th layer with this amount of baggage.” (Lewin)

“I agree… In my previous party, we distributed our baggage a little more evenly, so it wasn’t such a pain. But we only have 3 people, so that wouldn’t work.” (Rosalie)

“It’s not possible for us to carry this amount of luggage to the 20th layer with only 3 people. If we keep this up until the canyon area, we’ll be dead meat.” (Aruna)

It was exactly as the two of them had said. We learned from this run that it was going to be very difficult to clear with this much baggage. With the selection of items in this run’s baggage as our reference, we would have to cut down on things a lot.

Since the [Azure Alliance] had managed to make it down to the 30th layer without carrying more baggage than this, I felt like we should have been able to make it to at least the 20th layer, but… with a monster like Ahmed single-handedly mowing every monster down, there was no way that she could realistically be considered as a standard.

“Let’s use today’s clear as a reference, then take a closer look at our baggage. Fortunately, we can leave the tent in the Safe Area. In the worst case scenario, if we only bring food we should have no problems with clearing.” (Lewin)

“Yeah. Let’s think about what things we can leave out of our baggage on our next clear. We have plenty of time.” (Rosalie)

“Mhm. So… what should we do about the plants? It’ll just increase the amount of baggage we have on the way back.” (Aruna)

“Of course we should go gather plants! We’ll end up eating the food we brought, so the plants won’t result in any extra weight for us!” (Lewin)

Aruna looked reluctant, but I enthusiastically responded. The current time was roughly just past noon. I did want to go gather plants, but we were planning to stay here for the night, so I didn’t want to just waste the rest of the day.

“Certainly, we don’t have anything to do after this. Even if our baggage increases a little, there won’t be that much danger if we’re just going from the 10th layer to the outside.” (Rosalie)

“Exactly! Maybe we’ll be able to find some plants that will help us clear up to the 20th layer tomorrow, so we should go gather plants!” (Lewin)

“…Your enthusiasm is so irritating, Lewin.” (Aruna)

In the end, Aruna conceded after I agreed to carry most of the burden on our way back. Until nighttime, we worked hard to gather plants in the hidden area.

“Phew. What a load! We had a lot of time, so this is the most we’ve ever gathered so far.” (Lewin)

“Even though we had time, I think you were just picking herbs way too fast, Lewin-san.” (Rosalie)

“Your accuracy with distinguishing between weeds and herbs has gotten better, hasn’t it, Rosalie-san? The amount we gathered increased, but there weren’t any weeds mixed in.” (Lewin)

“I’m starting to get more used to it. Well, I’ll never reach your level even if I were to continue picking plants until I die.” (Rosalie)

“Aruna-san, we’re back.” (Lewin)

“Welcome ba… another ridiculous amount. I don’t know if we’ll have a hard time on the way back at this point.” (Aruna)

“It’s alright. From the 10th layer to the 1st layer, there’s nothing much aside from the Two-Mino. Anyway… it smells good!” (Lewin)

“I thought I smelled something good way before I even reached the tent. Is this smell from something you cooked, Aruna-san?” (Rosalie)

“Mhm. I just finished making some food.” (Aruna)

About halfway through gathering plants, Aruna, who originally wasn’t that interested in plant-gathering, volunteered to go make food. I also enjoyed cooking, so I was secretly thinking that it was a good chance to cook now that all three of us were finally here, but… Aruna was good at cooking because she was working at Araku Village. Plus, it was far more appealing to me to keep gathering plants, so I left the food preparation to Aruna.

“So it was true that you’re good at cooking. Is this stew?” (Lewin)

“Mhm. This is stew, and this is smoked chicken. There’s bread too, so we can toast it up and eat together.” (Aruna)

“Amazing, Aruna-san! I never thought that we’d be able to eat this kind of food down in the Dungeon!” (Rosalie)

“Tch, you stink of herbs. Get your hands off of me.” (Aruna)

Rosalie, who was so moved by her cooking, grabbed both of her hands, but Aruna shook her off with a disgusted expression. However… her ears perked up, so it was easy to tell that she was glad to be praised.

“Well then, let’s wipe our bodies down with water real quick, and then we can eat.” (Lewin)

“Yes! I’m really looking forward to it!” (Rosalie)

“Don’t get your hopes too high. It’s just ordinary food.” (Aruna)

Rosalie continued to sing her praises before eating, but Aruna remained modest. Rosalie being able to talk smoothly was due to the effect of the Focus Potion, but the two of them had really become good friends.

Watching their back-and-forth exchange with a pleasant smile, I got ready and arrived at my seat, taking my place among them in front of the food.