Chapter 425

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Information Exchange

The dishes seemed to have been prepared by the man who welcomed us at the inn, possibly the innkeeper. He happened to serve us, but he actually seems to be the chef.

In these types of inns, it’s often run by a husband and wife, with the husband as the chef and the wife handling reception and service.

“Yum! Boss, this is definitely better than usual! Is it because of that salt?”

The dishes themselves consisted mainly of meat stir-fry and soup commonly served in dining halls, but Oscar-san seemed to notice a difference in taste after just one bite.

“Oscar, can you really tell the difference in taste?”

“I might not know much about art, but I know whether food is good or not!”

“Well, you certainly don’t have any aesthetic sense, Oscar.”

“So heartless~”

Oscar-san and the innkeeper bantered back and forth. It seemed like they got along well, possibly because they had been based here for a long time.

“What can I say… it has an elegant finish, don’t you think?”

“Do you think so too, Warren? I felt the same way when I was making it.”

The innkeeper agreed with the words Warren-san said while savoring his food.

Indeed, it had an elegant taste~ It might be because of the high-quality rock salt, which lacked any impurities.

“What do you think, kids?”

“”It’s yummy~””

“It’s very tasty.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Oh, that’s right. Niichan, here’s the remaining rock salt. I’ll leave it here. Thank you for letting me use such a precious ingredient.”

The innkeeper wore a satisfied expression as he asked for our opinions, and then he placed the leftover halite on the table before leaving the room.

“”Oniichan, this is delish too~!””

“Really? Then give me a bit.”

“”Yeah!””

It didn’t feel like we were chatting while eating… instead, we focused on our meals without much conversation.

“Wah~ that was so good~ Since we don’t do much mining, I thought we wouldn’t get a chance to taste this, but today’s our lucky day~ Tak.u.mi, thanks for sharing this with us!”

“No problem, I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

After finis.h.i.+ng our meal, we started talking again. The “Ice Blade” party seemed to be focused on obtaining monster materials and dungeon exploration, and it appeared they had never gone mining for rock salt.

“Do adventurers who primarily focus on mining exist around here?”

“They do, they do! The current trend is mining on the eighth floor. It seems high-quality minerals can be found there.”

“Heh~”

“Oh, and they say they occasionally find rock salt there, but it seems to be quite rare.”

So, there are floors where high-quality minerals can be mined. I can’t think of any use for them, but I might want to do some mining at some point.

“By the way, what floor are you guys currently on, Zeke-san?”

“We just managed to clear the twelfth floor when we met the other day. Among the current exploration groups, we should be the furthest ahead. The highest recorded floor was the fifteenth, I believe.”

Zeke-san’s group was currently the top explorers on the twelfth floor, and the highest record in the past was the fifteenth floor. I thought there would have been more exploration done, even in the past, but they haven’t even reached half of it.

Perhaps the hot dungeon makes progress difficult? I need to remember this well.

“That dungeon, the temperature rises from the eleventh floor, so it’s quite challenging.”

“So, floors one to ten don’t change much in terms of temperature?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t vary much from floors one to five; it alternates between going up and down.”

I a.s.sumed it would continue to alternate up to the higher floors, as it did up to the fifth, but it seems the pattern continues up to the tenth floor.

“And floors eleven and twelve are the hot floors, right?”

“That’s right. We ventured a bit into the thirteenth floor, and it was also a hot one.”

I see, I see. Thanks for sharing this valuable information.

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“Allen wants to go further ahead!”

“Elena will do her best too!”

The children, who had been listening to the discussion about the Dungeon of Scorching Heat, showed determination, and Zeke-san’s group smiled at them fondly. However, I couldn’t calm down. If the kids got motivated, they might easily surpa.s.s Zeke-san’s group’s records, and even past records!

“… Allen, Elena, let’s not overdo it.”

“”Ehh, will do our best~””

I really hope they keep their enthusiasm in check. Seriously.

“Oh, look, the eighth floor seems suitable for mining, so let’s set our target there and do some mining.”

“We’ll do our best mining~”

“But also do our best conquering~”

There’s still some time before that happens, so I should think of a way to stop the kids.

“The kids are really eager, huh~? Keep it up!”

“”Yeah, we will!””

“Zeke-san, don’t encourage them!”

Seriously, please stop. I’m scared of the results of their excessive enthusiasm.

“Oh, with Tak.u.mi’s group, it feels like they’ll surpa.s.s us and move ahead in no time.”

“What are you talking about? Please continue your exploration.”

“We prioritize safety, you see. So, Tak.u.mi, if you happen to advance ahead of us, please provide us with maps and information!”

“No, no, no!”

Does Zeke-san’s group have no sort of pride, thinking they should always be the best? Or is it simply stubbornness? Do they have no stubbornness at all?

“Wouldn’t your group feel frustrated if we easily surpa.s.sed your record!?”

“Hm? I wonder? You guys seem quite extraordinary.”

“Yeah, not just extraordinary, abnormal might be a more suitable word.”

“Oh yeah~ they give off that kind of feeling.”

“If they easily break the past records, wouldn’t people’s expectations for us decrease?”

“Well, that’s something we’d definitely would want to happen.”

“……”

None of them seem to care about it!? Some of them even have harsh comments!

“Is the guild, or rather, the Adventurers’ Guild, the one that expects the most since you’re the ones making the most progress?”

“When we return from the dungeon, we always get summoned by the Guild Master without fail.”

“Every time without fail? Whoah~ that might be annoying.”

“The other day, when we finished the twelfth level, the Guild Master was very happy. This dungeon is not a very easy one to conquer, so when we return to the town in the middle of clearing a floor, it’s obvious that people are disappointed.”

“Uwah, that sounds really unpleasant!”

It seems like Zeke-san’s group is going through quite a bit of mental struggle.

“That’s something that really needs to be addressed, right~”

“Or if they have such high expectations of us, they should at least provide support, I think.”

“No, if we receive support, they’ll expect even greater results. I absolutely want to avoid that.”

It really seems like they are struggling.

“That’s why I sincerely want you guys to do your best.”

“You guys have too high expectations of us!”

“Not at all. Do your best!”

“”Will do~””

“No, really, wait.”

Zeke-san seemed determined to motivate Alan and Elena to the fullest.

Well, it’s because they’ve been going through a lot.

“”We will do our best~””

After this, we received various pieces of information from Zeke-san’s group for a while… It felt like they were expecting us to hurry up and catch up to them.

And the children were getting even more motivated… I have a feeling I won’t be able to stop them.