Chapter 322

(322) Conquering Minerva-sama’s dungeon

Translator: Tseirp

And it was Haru’s turn to shine now .

“Haru, I leave it to you . ”

“Yes . ”

Entry and exit of this dungeon were restricted but this was still an intermediate dungeon that soldiers, adventurers, and mercenaries visit to conquer .

For that reason, the smell of humans still lingered .

Among the countless smells, Haru was heading toward the location where the most number of human smells remained .

If people repeatedly visit this dungeon, they would probably choose the shortest route .

And we were not wrong .

After a couple battles, we reached the seventh floor in just 30 minutes .

“Master ― it’s faint but the scent continues beyond that wall . ”

“Illusionary wall huh . ”

In the past, I came across an illusionary wall when I was saving Norn-san .

I slipped through it .

“Let’s take a look around . ”

There was no reaction from beyond the wall even after I used Presence Detection .

I tossed a pebble I had inside my bag for some reason .

The pebble slipped right through the wall .

And then, I heard it fall onto the ground .

It seemed safe – – but I still looked out for traps .

“Master, I’ll take the lead . ”

“No, I’ll go . Wait here . ”

I replied and carefully entered .

There was no danger inside the room . Only directly inside the room though .

“ … It’s okay, Haru, Carol, come in . ”

I called Haru and Carol over .

Then, I showed them what I saw .

A hole that extended downward .

It would probably be a shortcut if we used that hole .

But I could not see the bottom of the whole .

“I guess I’ll test it out – – Ice!”

I made a bed of ice to seal the hole . After standing above the hole, I activated Hawk Eye and took a look directly below .

The hole extended downward for a long distance but I was at a loss for words at what I saw at the base .

There were corpses impaled on metal spikes .

I guess this hole is not the way … or not, there’s a path that extended to the side .

“All right, it connects!”

I said and asked Haru and Carol .

“There’s a shortcut after falling straight down into the hole but what’re your opinions? Do you two trust me?”

The two girls didn’t answer my question .

But I could tell from their expressions .

“I guess I didn’t have to ask . Haru, follow me!”

“Yes!”

I carried Carol on my back and cracked the ice below my feet with White Wolf Fang .

I entrusted my body to gravity and fell .

Haru and I will be fine even if we continued falling like this but Carol would probably not be .

“Tidal Wave . ”

I released a large volume of water directly below us .

The water I released reached the bottom in an instant – – and we plunged into it almost at the same time .

We didn’t fight against the water and let it channel us to the side path .

After we entered the side path, the magical power used to create the water was absorbed by the dungeon and it disappeared .

I asked after lowering Carol .

“Haru, Carol, are you all right?”

When I turned back, I saw the two of them with drenched clothes that had turned semi-transparent .

“Ah, my bad! Dry – – oops, it might be dangerous to use on humans as it will be bad if it gives you dry skin . Here, use a towel . ”

I pa.s.sed Haru and Carol the towels I retrieved from my item bag .

“Thank you very much . I’ll use Dry on our clothes . ”

Haru replied and gradually took off her clothes .

“Haru, what are you – – “

“It’s to use Dry on our clothes after we take them off . Thankfully, Master’s spell has swept away the monsters around this area . ”

Ye-yeah . That seemed to be the case .

I heard level up messages when I was swimming .

“Ah, Haru-san . Help with Carol’s clothes next . ”

Carol took off her clothes too .

… Why am I being nervous for?

Right, thinking about it, Haru, Carol and I are in that relationship and I have seen their naked bodies countless times . There was nothing to be ashamed of .

I thought to myself as I glanced at Haru and Carol’s naked bodies but that was when our eyes met .

“We can’t dry our clothes before drying master’s clothes . ”

“It would be bad if master catches a cold . ”

I knew it was bad news when the two of them drew closer while naked .

“Wa-wait . I just entered cold water so it shrunk ― Hey, Haru-san ― Carol-san ― . ”

And so a small accident happened ― it was really a small accident . I’d rather they don’t take off a man’s clothes after he entered cold water ― and we had apparently reached the lowest floor of the dungeon .

We were in front of the boss room . The door to the boss room was open and we could see the interior .

I could sense the presence of a monster but there was only a thin tree inside, without any visible enemy .

“Are you ready?”

“”Yes . ””

Haru and Carol replied in sync and we stepped forward together .

The door to the boss room closed .

We could no longer escape . Well, we don’t intend to anyway .

” ― I thought it was a plant monster but I guess I was wrong . ”

According to Plant Appraisal, that tree was called a Gourd Tree .

It was a plant that was present on Earth as well that bears gourd fruits .

However, there were no gourd fruits now .

But as I had that thought .

A large gourd suddenly swelled from the Gourd Tree .

The way it swelled was abnormal .

“Enemy presence, it’s that!”

It seemed that this monster parasitizes trees .

” ― !”

The mimic gourd fruit exploded . At the same time, the seeds within it scattered .

“Ice!”

I created an ice wall in front of us and protected our bodies from the seeds .

Just what kind of boss was this, suddenly blowing itself up .

That said, that was dangerous . It was strong enough to cause cracks on my ice wall . It would have probably hurt if I got hit by it squarely .

“Wait ― eh!?”

The enemy presence suddenly increased!?

I could immediately tell the reason .

The seeds had instantly turned into the shape of gourds .

All the seeds that were scattered by the explosion .

That’s strange! Gourds are formed by budding, the seeds don’t directly turn into fruits .

By any chance would all the gourds explode again?

“Master!”

“Guh, this is the most troublesome to date . ”

If the numbers just keep growing, how could we deal with it?

Was my first action wrong?

Who would be able to clear such a boss?

“It’s strange, Ichino-sama!”

“What is!”

“From what Carol heard, the boss of this dungeon is a large snake . There isn’t such a monster . ”

“Ha!? … Maybe . ”

“Yes, maybe this dungeon has two kinds of bosses . ”

Because we used the shortcut, we arrived at the other boss room . So that’s the reason .

“All right, slash!”

I’ll attack before it explodes!

I used Slash on the gourd .

It hit ― a small explosion unlike before happened and its seeds scattered .

I guess I can’t break them either!

I couldn’t imagine Carol’s Charm working on a plant opponent either .

The other gourds would explode at this rate .

Should I burn them? I felt that burning them might cause an even larger explosion but I guess I’ll try .

“Ichino-sama! Look at this . ”

Carol pointed at the ice wall .

The cracked ice wall .

What about it?

“The seeds in the ice wall didn’t become fruits . ”

“Now that you mention it ―”

I looked around .

It wasn’t just the seeds embedded in ice . The seeds that fell near the ice wall did not become gourds .

The seeds need a certain temperature to turn into fruits .

Their weakness was ice .

“I don’t really get it but I guess it’s time for Ice Magic! Ice Rain . ”

I excluded our surroundings and caused ice rain to fall all around us ― the surrounding temperature dropped .

― Co-cold .

But the effect was apparent .

The gourds that had swelled and were about to burst had all stopped moving .

It looked like the explosions have stopped .

But the door to the G.o.ddess room didn’t open .

(What does this mean? But the frozen gourds no longer give off enemy presence ―)

I used Presence Detection .

Other enemies ― Hn?

There was one presence .

What? From the Gourd Tree?

“There!”

Haru released a Slash .

A tree branch was sliced off ― and a monkey with a gourd on its back fell to the ground .

So even monkeys can fall from trees …

The monkey was carrying a golden gourd on its back .

No, the monkey and golden gourd was a single monster .

“It seems that you are the boss ― you made me do quite some work! Slash!”

The Slash I released cut the monkey and the gourd in half .

The large tree and gourds in the boss room disappeared while the golden gourd on the monkey’s back turned into a drop item along with a magic stone .

I leveled up as well .

Leaving that aside, a monkey and a golden gourd huh?

That sounds like a combination I heard about somewhere .

I’ll check my log later regarding my level and focus on checking the requested item first .

The golden gourd didn’t mean that it was made of gold .

It seemed to be a plant that shined golden .

“I hope this golden gourd doesn’t explode as well?”

There was a lid on the gourd with the words ‘Golden Wine’ written on it .

Taking off the lid, I smelled the stink of alcohol .

“Ichinojo-sama . This is the drop item of this dungeon’s boss but will it be all right? It is a different boss from expected . ”

“It’s a request to display our ability anyway . I guess it should be fine? This magic stone is a lot larger compared to other small fry monsters so it will do and can serve as proof that we defeated a boss . More importantly, let’s proceed . ”

I said and stepped toward the G.o.ddess Statue .

Minerva-sama’s G.o.ddess Statue was enshrined there .

And there was a door separate from the door we entered by .

(I’m bad with Minerva-sama . )

The other time I met her with Miri, she tried to kill herself every time she spoke .

Well, according to Miri, she won’t actually kill herself so it won’t be a problem . In fact, just because I pray here doesn’t mean that I would be transported to the G.o.ddess-sama s.p.a.ce as always .

“All right, let’s pray . ”

I said and the three of us prayed together .