Chapter 430

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Dungeon of Scorching Heat (9)

“”Over here~””

For now, I scooped up vodka in large quant.i.ties, while Sieg-san and the others took only what wouldn’t burden them, and then we returned to the fifteenth floor’s conquest, led by Allen and Elena.

“Oh, Sieg-san, about the place where we got the alcohol earlier, the Ice Blade party can do whatever you want with it. Whether you keep it secret and monopolize it for profit or freely spread the information about the location, it’s all up to you. Oh, but for now, there’s no one else besides us who can come to this floor, so there might not be any point in disclosing the information, right?”

“””””Huh!?”””””

While walking, I explained how to treat the hidden room we had just found. For some reason, Sieg-san and the others widened their eyes and looked surprised.

“Nonono! Tak.u.mi… what are you saying?”

“Huh? Well, because we’re not going to be in this dungeon forever, right? It’s best to do it the way that suits you guys. Oh, but please let us have the right to come occasionally to get some alcohol.”

I’m fine with just being able to come and get vodka whenever I want. However, I don’t drink vodka much, so I don’t think it will be used up quickly. Oh, but I wonder if Tristan-sama, Lionel-sama, and Wald-san, for example, will drink? And also, Kaiser seems to like alcohol, so maybe the consumption will be moderate?

“Nonono? That won’t do!”

“What won’t? Is it because I want to come and get some?”

“That’s not it! It’s about what you said before! The part where you said we can do as we like!”

“Oh, that part? Is it not allowed? Even though I’m saying it’s okay?”

“Yeah, it’s not allowed.”

Well, I expected this kind of reaction. …I had some hopes that the response might end with, “Is that okay? Thanks a lot!” though, but it seems that’s not the case.

“Then, could you arrange to send vodka to the Count Ruven’s house in the Royal Capital at regular intervals? I’ll pay for the service and delivery fees.”

“That’s normally something you would ask us to cover! Why would you be covering it!? And did you say the Count’s house!? Were you guys n.o.bles!?”

“No, we’re different. The Ruven family is our supporter… Oh, in that case, it might be a good idea to send some to the Risner family as well. Please arrange deliveries to the Count Risner’s house in the town of Bailey too!”

“… Tak.u.mi, that’s just too much information.”

Sieg-san and the others, despite their exhausted expressions, eventually agreed to handle the arrangements for delivering the vodka they had collected to the Ruven and Risner families.

“While we appreciate the opportunity to earn money, we’ll make sure to arrange the deliveries properly.”

“Thank you.”

At the very least, they agreed to send five barrels to the Ruven family and two barrels to the Risner family every month. The number of barrels and the frequency of deliveries were set as the minimum standard, but it could vary depending on Sieg-san and the others’ circ.u.mstances. After returning to town, they would show the vodka to the Adventurers’ Guild and figure out how to handle it, including setting the selling price, which hadn’t been determined yet.

For now, all I had to do was inform the two houses regularly that the alcohol would be delivered. Oh, and Lionel-sama might want to get involved in the selling aspect, so I should send a letter to the castle.

The teleportation magic tool is proving useful already.

“”Found it~””

“Uwah! Sieg-san, that’s the boss room door.”

While discussing various matters, it seemed that Allen and Elena had found the boss room on the fifteenth floor.

“You found it already!?”

“Well, it’s not ‘already’ considering the distance we’ve walked. It’s more accurate to say we arrived here in a straight line.”

“Aren’t you too efficient!?”

“Hahaha~ so what do we do? Do we go in like this?”

The battles along the way had been mostly handled by Allen, Elena, Joule and others… or rather, they had been s.n.a.t.c.hed, so Sieg-san and the others weren’t too fatigued. Therefore, we decided to take only a short break before entering the boss room.

“”It’s a turtle~””

“… This fella, huh~”

“A tough one that.”

The boss on the fifteenth floor was a B-rank Heat Archelon, a turtle-like creature about three to four meters in size.

Sieg-san had a weary expression. Since it was a turtle monster, it was probably quite tough.

“! The steam’s coming!”

“Getting grazed is bad too! Keep your distance!”

As if launching a preemptive attack, the Heat Archelon sprayed steam from a hole in its sh.e.l.l.

It was probably over a hundred degrees.

“Allen, Elena, are you okay?”

“We fine~”

“Dodged it~”

The children seemed to have listened carefully to Sieg-san and Warren-san’s warnings and managed to avoid the steam.

“”But you know, Vector is~””

“Vector?”

(Oniichan, Vector is over there, completely covered in the steam~)

“Haah~!?”

Surprised by Joule, who finished Allen and Elena’s sentence, I quickly looked for Vector’s figure.

And there, Vector was enjoying himself near the Heat Archelon.

“… Oi, Vector. Are you okay?”

(Yeah, it feels really good~)

“……”

I see. Vector’s fur not only didn’t let sharp objects pa.s.s through, but also seemed to be resistant to heat.

… It seems worrying was pointless.

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“Um… What’s the plan?”

“Well, about that… Do you think your group can handle it on your own? If so, can we just watch? We’ll come up with a strategy and challenge it again next time. Of course, we don’t need the loot, so please.”

“If Sieg-san and the others are okay with that, then we… I mean, who’s going to go?”

Sieg-san and the others seemed to want to fight with their own strength. Since they offered to watch, we decided to take on the battle ourselves.

(It looks tough, so magic rather than physical attacks, right~? And maybe water and ice attacks instead of fire? So Oniichan, can I, Allen, and Elena go?)

“”Will work hard~””

(Ehh~)

Vector was the only one opposing it, but Joule’s argument seemed correct, so we entrusted the children and Joule with the task.

(Allen, Elena, let’s finish it off quickly!)

“”Yeah~! —Water Jet.”

(Freeze.)

Allen and Elena released a stream of water towards the Heat Archelon, and then Joule followed with an ice magic. As a result, the Heat Archelon covered in water froze solid.

(How’s that?)

“”How’s that?””

However, cracks started to appear in the ice around the Heat Archelon. And eventually, the ice shattered completely.

(Oh, it’s surprisingly tough, huh~)

“”But is it weakened?””

(Yeah, it seems like our attacks are working, so can we freeze it solid if we do it one more time?)

“”Let’s do it! —Water Jet.””

(Freeze.)

Since the Heat Archelon had clearly weakened after breaking free from the ice, Allen, Elena, and Joule used the same method once more.

(Does it look okay this time?)

“”Defeated~””

(We defeated it, but… it didn’t drop any items, did it? Why is that? Is it still alive?)

“”Huh~?””

The ice sculpture of the Heat Archeon was completed without any issues.

However, for some reason, the Heat Archeon, which should have been defeated, disappeared and didn’t drop any loot… Could it be that they didn’t defeat it completely? Is it still alive within the ice?

“Whoa! Could this be a Gift From the Dungeon!”

“A gift from the dungeon? What’s that…”

“I don’t know why, but occasionally, instead of dropping items like this, the remains are left behind. People call these ‘Gifts From the Dungeon."”

“I see, I didn’t know that could happen.”

Oh, so they call it a “Gift From the Dungeon” when items don’t drop~

Does it mean the dungeon encountered an error? Or is it some sort of reward?

Anyway, it seems that the frozen Heat Archeon is not alive within the ice, and its entire body is considered loot.

“Let’s see.”

“”Is gone~””

I tried putting it in the Infinite Storage, and it went in normally. Since it went into the Infinite Storage, which can’t hold living creatures, it’s safe to say the kids did defeat it.

“It seems to be properly dead. Allen, Elena, Joule, well done.”

(I’m glad. I had no idea such things could happen in a dungeon~)

“”Didn’t know either~””

“Yeah. It’s a good thing we found out when Sieg-san’s group were with us.”

Dungeons are mysterious places in the first place, and having one more mystery doesn’t change much, but if it had been just us, it would have been even more confusing. So, it’s really fortunate that we found out at just the right time.

“Well then, shall we just check out the sixteenth floor and then return to the town?”

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan.”

We decided to only check out the sixteenth floor and return to the town , as we couldn’t push Sieg-san and the others any further.

“Uwah~ it’s so hot in here.”

As soon as we entered the sixteenth floor, Oscar-san uttered with displeasure.

The temperature had risen even further, making it seem like conquering this floor would be even more challenging.

“Hmm, Allen, Elena, how about we wrap up this dungeon?”

“”Ehh~ ending?””

“Yeah, we can endure it to some extent, but everyone seems to be struggling. We won’t stop going into dungeons altogether, so let’s try another advanced dungeon instead.”

“”Ugh~… okay~””

Since the kids agreed, we decided to stop the capture of the “Dungeon of Scorching Heat” on the fifteenth floor and leave the rest to Sieg-san and his team. They seemed to plan on exploring the thirteenth to fifteenth floors for a while, so the conquest would halt at the fifteenth floor. Well, considering that there’s no information available beyond this point and the uncertainty regarding the vodka situation, it’s a reasonable decision.

“Tak.u.mi, if anything happens, contact us immediately. We’ll lend our a.s.sistance.”

“Hahaha~ thanks in advance for that.”

Feeling like we might get caught up in trouble, we decided to stay away from the Adventurers’ Guild.

So when we returned to the town, we bid farewell to Sieg-san and his team and headed to our inn.