Chapter 426
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Dungeon of Scorching Heat (5)
“Now, what should we do today?”
“”Gonna be a shut-in~””
“……”
The day after arriving in the town of Gista, when I asked what we should do, the children immediately suggested being a hikikomori. Perhaps because they found out they had never done it before, they decided to put it into practice right away.
“Well, it’s not a bad idea for a day of rest. So, should we spend today reading books or something?”
“”Will do that~””
So, we spent the entire day holed up in our accommodation, taking it easy.
The day after our hikikomori episode, we went out into the town for some shopping. It was under the pretext of restocking supplies for dungeon exploration, but we didn’t really need to replenish even our food supplies. So, we just wandered around the shops in this new town, buying things that caught our eye.
“”Will do our best~””
After spending two days in the town, we returned to the dungeon.
We could have rested a bit more, but it seemed that two days were enough for Allen and Elena.
“Alright then, let’s head to the fifth floor.”
“”((((((Yay~))))))””
We used the teleportation device to go to the innermost chamber of the fifth floor and then descended the stairs to the sixth floor.
“”It’s cool here~””
As expected, the sixth floor had a cooler temperature, just as we had heard.
“According to Sieg-san’s information, there’s hardly anything to mine on this floor… What should we do?”
“”Will give it a try~””
“Yeah. That’s what I thought.”
If the kids could mine even the halite that was thought not to appear until the double digits floor, they should be able to find something here.
“”Will try digging here~””
Without delay, the children raised their pickaxes and began to dig into the wall.
(Radian will dig too~)
(Well, I guess I’ll join in too~)
(In that case, I’ll take care of the monsters~)
Following Allen and Elena, Radian and Vector also began digging into the wall, while Joule kept an eye on the surroundings to protect those who were mining.
“There’s really nothing to do during the time the children are mining, right?”
(Yeah~)
(There really isn’t~)
(Nothing to do!)
And so, I, Feat, Bolt, and Mile were in full-on watch duty mode.
“What should we do? Should we try digging somewhere too?”
(I feel like we’ll just end up with empty hands if we do that.)
“Yeah~ you’re right.”
(Aniue, how about doing some cooking?)
“It would be fine if we stayed in one place for longer, but since we’ll be moving around a lot, it’s not quite possible, I guess?”
(Tak.u.mi Nii, just quietly watch over them!)
“Yeah. I better do that~)
We decided to continue our watch duty.
“”We found lots~””
(We did~)
“You guys really found a lot~”
“”A bunch came out!””
It seems like the children have dug up a large amount of rock salt and iron.
Moreover, from what I hear, they didn’t dig in various places but rather found a lot from digging in one spot. They sure are lucky~
(Oniichan, quite a few monsters came our way too~ The loot is all over there~)
As they look at the children’s spoils, Joule has also returned. It seems he wants us to collect the loot that he has gathered in one place. It looks like there’s quite a bit, too.
“Isn’t it about time we finished mining? Should we move on?”
“”Yeah, let’s move on~””
After easily conquering the sixth floor, we headed to the seventh floor into a rocky area.
“Now, which way should we go?”
“”Over there~!””
“That way it is.”
As we defeated monsters we encountered while gathering some rocks, I noticed something in the distance that we haven’t seen before.
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“N~? There seems to be some kind of plant over there~”
“”You are right!””
From a distance, it looked like a tree, but in the rocky areas we have been through so far, there were hardly any plants. So, we decided to go and take a closer look out of curiosity.
“Is it a normal tree?”
“”Looks like it~””
Sure enough, there were trees growing.
“Oh, it’s bearing fruits~”
“”Tasty ones?””
“Wait a moment.”
The trees were about the same height as me and had many bright red fruits resembling mini tomatoes. At first glance, they looked like Christmas trees.
“Umm…”
Upon closer examination with Appraisal, it turned out that these fruits were… konjac (a type of j.a.panese jelly made from the konjac) fruit.
“Konnyaku, seriously?! This is unexpected!”
“”Konnyaku?””
“It’s a type of food. It’s used in simmered dishes and oden, for example.”
“”Ohh! Wanna try!””
It’s Tama Konnyaku (rounded shape konjac), huh~ While I am happy about Konnyaku itself… I’ve never seen it in red before~
“… I wish it was white if possible~”
“”White?””
“Yeah. The ones I know are usually white or black, or even grayish.”
The red color was just too unusual; it would have been better if it were in a color I am more familiar with.
“I wonder if there are other colors~?”
“”Should we look?””
(Oh, yeah, that’s a good point. This Konjac fruit? There might be fruits of different colors too, no?)
“Items from the dungeons sometimes come in different colors~ It might be worth looking around?”
“”Let’s look~””
And so, they decided to search for Konjac fruits of different colors.
“I found some white ones here~”
“Black ones over there~”
(Oniichan, there are yellow ones over here~)
(Blue~)
(Niichan, there are also gray and green ones~)
Then, the kids found fruits of various colors one after another, and in large quant.i.ties.
(Niisama, we found a lot, didn’t we?)
(Such a great variety.)
(And there’s so many of them!)
“No kidding. I never expected there would be so many.”
I thought it would be great to have white and black ones, but I never imagined finding such a colorful variety. Actually, they were quite easy to find, but in Gista, these fruits were not sold, probably because they’re mostly flavorless despite being called fruits.
“Well then, let’s get right to it, I want to try cooking with Konjac fruits right away, so how about we finish this floor and cook at the teleportation device?”
“”Good! Let’s do that!””
(I’m in favor too since I want to taste it!)
(Fufu, I’m looking forward to it. Well then, let’s move on quickly.)
(I’m excited too. Oh, I’ll go for a little reconnaissance from above.)
(Ya~y! I’m looking forward to Niichan’s cooking~”
“Tak.u.mi Nii, let’s hurry up!)
(Meal, so excited~)
Everyone agreed to my proposal, and we quickly conquered the seventh floor.
“Well then, everyone, let’s take a break.”
“”What about helping~?””
“It’s okay. I’ll ask for your help next time.”
“”Okay~””
Once we arrived at the teleportation device area, I immediately started cooking.
“First, let’s prepare these.”
Konjac fruits didn’t have any peels or anything, and they were growing just as they were, so I started by rinsing them with magic. Next, I added salt to the konjac and lightly kneaded it. After letting it sit for a while, I boiled it in boiling water for a few minutes and drained it.
Since this konjac seemed different from what I knew, I might not have needed to prep it, but it wouldn’t hurt to do it just in case.
Once the prep was done, it was time to cook. However, I didn’t know much about konjac dishes~ Therefore, I decided to make a sweet and spicy stir-fry with soy sauce, sugar, sake, and red pepper.
For the children, I decided to make a milder version, so the one for me had a slightly spicier kick.
“Still, It’s so colorful~”
The Konjac was made by mixing all the colors, but it turned out to be interesting to look at. As for the finished product, I used the white Konjac as a guide, so I am sure it will be fine.
As for the side dishes, I went with rice and miso soup… and Orc miso-grilled——with pickled Chinese cabbage.
“Springy~♪”
(Konjac fruits have an interesting texture, don’t they?)
Everyone seemed to enjoy the texture of the Konjac, so the next day, we returned to the seventh floor to search for Konjac fruits once again.