Chapter 427
--- ---
Dungeon of Scorching Heat (6)
We went to gather Konjac fruit until we were satisfied and then headed to the eighth floor.
“This floor is said to have high-quality minerals… What should we do?”
“”Dig~””
“Yeah~”
The children’s response was so quick that it seemed pointless to ask.
“I think I’ll do some mining here too.”
“”Ohh~ let’s do it, let’s do it!””
On this floor, even an ordinary person could dig up quite a bit, so I decided to join in the mining.
“Oh, this floor is popular for mining, so let’s a.s.sume there are other adventurers around and act accordingly. So, Joule and the others, stay within my sight, just in case!”
((((((Okay~))))))
We need to act under the a.s.sumption that there are other adventurers here for mining. It would be a problem if Joule and the others encountered adventurers in a place where I wasn’t present and were mistaken for dungeon monsters and attacked.
Well, I believe Joule and the others wouldn’t lose easily, but it would be a major issue if they ended up attacking someone. It’s better to be cautious.
“Well then, Allen, Elena, please lead us to a promising spot.”
“”Leave it to us!””
Guided by Allen and Elena, we started mining, but…
“It’s coming out so easily~”
“”Is spilling out~””
While there was a lot of iron and rock salt, the term “spilling out” was truly fitting because a ma.s.sive amount of mining products was being excavated.
“”Ah!””
“What’s wrong?”
“”Found something sparkling~!””
“Sparkling?”
“”This thingy~ What is it~?””
“Uwah, is this gold!?”
What Allen and Elena brought were large grains of gold.
“”Gold? Gemstones?””
“Not gemstones, but precious metal. It’s used for jewelry and such.”
“”Will find lots!””
Knowing that gold could be used for something, Allen and Elena were eager to collect it.
“Do you want to use all this gold for something?”
“”As souvenirs!””
“… Ah, yeah, of course.”
The Ruven family’s souvenirs, huh? Well, gold is something that can be used by anyone, so whether they’ll accept it or not, it can be a suitable souvenir.
“I hope you find a lot~”
“”Will do our best!””
Since the kids seemed likely to find a lot without trying too hard, I left them to it and continued to mine at my own pace.
“Well then, we should stop around here~——Allen, Elena, are you satisfied yet?”
“”Just a bit more~ This is the last one~””
Allen and Elena seemed to be in the midst of excavating something, and they seemed determined to dig it out.
“What are you digging for?”
“”Amber–!””
“Amber… like the gem!”
Peering at where the kids were digging, they were carefully extracting a rather large piece of amber.
Moreover, it had insects inside.
They had found nicely preserved insects in amber before, but this time, there was a beautiful b.u.t.terfly-like insect inside. It’s not common for insects to be so beautifully preserved, especially right at the center of the stone~
Oh, speaking of which, the amber with the bees inside is still stored away in my Infinite Storage, isn’t it? n.o.ble ladies… they wouldn’t use something with insects in it, even if it’s a gemstone… right?
“Finding insects in amber again, what are the odds?”
“”There were ones without bugs too, you know~?””
“Huh?”
“”Look~””
“Whoah~…”
The kids had somehow managed to mine several pieces of amber. There were ambers without impurities, ones with leaf-like things inside, and others with air bubbles.
(Ah, Oniichan, this is what I found.)
(Niisama, I found these.)
(I found some too.)
(I got materials from monsters!)
(Tak.u.mi Nii, I’m sorry! I only got a few!)
(Radian found some too!)
Joule and the others handed over their loot one by one. In no time, a small mountain of mining products and monster materials had formed at my feet.
--- ---
“Well, it’s become quite a pile~”
(This floor is amazing. Something always comes out from where you dig.)
(That’s right. A surprising amount has come out~)
Overall, there seemed to be a lot of iron, but various gemstones were scattered among the rock salt.
“Alright, shall we move on?”
“”((((((Yeah~))))))””
Satisfied with our mining, we quickly conquered the eighth floor, then the ninth, and finally stepped into the tenth floor.
“What about mining on this floor?”
“”Won’t do~””
“Eh?”
Allen and Elena had been mining on each floor so far, but it seemed they had no intention of mining on this floor.
“You won’t?”
“”Won’t~””
“Well, I guess that’s okay too~”
“”Let’s go quickly~””
It seemed they planned to quickly and efficiently conquer this floor as well.
“”Over there~!””
And they were in a hurry.
“Next, that way~”
“Next, this way~”
“”Straight ahead~””
Even if they encountered monsters, they would defeat them while running, and the ones behind would pick up the loot, then toss it to me, who was at the rear… It was like a sudden dungeon marathon, something we had done in a certain dungeon before. As a result, we quickly found the Boss room on the tenth floor.
“”Arrived~!””
(As expected of Allen and Elena. They found the Boss room without losing their way~)
(Is that amazing?)
(It’s really amazing!)
(Wow~ Allen Onii~chan and Elena Onee~chan, you’re so amazing!)
“”Ehehe~””
When Joule conveyed how amazing Allen and Elena were to Radian, Radian excitedly spun around the two.
Praise from Radiant made Allen and Elena happy, but they smiled somewhat shyly.
(They’re being bashful, aren’t they~)
“They sure are~”
(Embarra.s.sed, indeed.)
“Muu! Oniichan, give us snacks!””
While I was happily watching the children’s reactions with Feat and Bolt, Allen and Elena somewhat angrily demanded snacks. A way to hide their embarra.s.sment, perhaps?
“Okay, okay. What do you want?”
“”Dorayaki!””
“Got it. Here you go.”
Allen and Elena, took the dorayaki from me somewhat angrily, but considering they let Radian have the first bite, it was probably still a way to hide their embarra.s.sment.
However, I thought if I laughed here, they would definitely sulk, so I had to hold back.
“”Ready for battle!””
(Rea~dy.)
After taking a break with snacks, we finally entered the Boss room.
“Is that… a Metal Racc.o.o.n?”
As usual, as soon as the door closed, light emitted, and when the light subsided, the Boss monster appeared. It was a Metal Racc.o.o.n, a creature about two meters tall with tough fur that easily repelled bladed weapons, resembling a racc.o.o.n or a tanuki.
“Allen wants to do it!”
“Elena will defeat it~”
“They seem quite motivated~ Is that okay with everyone…—”
(((((Sure thing~)))))
As I was about to say it was okay if Joule and the others had no objections, they interrupted me and agreed. Ah, except for Radian… yeah. Radian tilted his head as if saying, “What~?”
“Well, it is still too early for Radian to fight this Boss… Allen, Elena, go for it. Be careful not to get hurt.”
“”Yay~ we are off~””
Despite being the Boss, Allen and Elena easily defeated the Metal Racc.o.o.n, and we completed the conquest of the tenth floor in less than a day.