Manowa

「It was no good.」

Jinrai said when Hippomaru-kun returned to the gra.s.slands. Naoki riding behind Jinrai also shook his head.

The man who had been riding the carriage Nora said「Is that so?」as his shoulders slumped. It was something he could have expected, but he still had a slight hope that they were alive. That was gone now. He and the coachman were both despondent.

「They were terribly messed up. We were only able to collect two Adventurers Guild cards.」

Jinrai continued after Naoki"s disappointed words.

「For now, we gathered and burned them. Now that group shouldn"t come back as undead.」

Adventurers" zombifying or becoming ghosts was a matter of life and death. When dead adventurers were discovered they were buried, which wasn"t about moral principles, but a necessary part of protecting oneself. There were more than a few cases of mummy thieves becoming mummies themselves.

「Is that so? Thank you Jinrai-san, Naoki.」

But Kazane being Kazane, she thanked Jinrai and Naoki. That was partially for their own safety, but it was no lie that she wanted them to rest in peace. To say nothing of the dead adventurers being Kazane and the others" acquaintances.

One hour had already pa.s.sed since Kazane and the others destroyed the Kobold Earth Dragon Modoki Riders. Kazane and the others had confirmed that the fallen carriage was no longer usable and that the horse was dead, and while they let the attacked men rest for a while, Jinrai"s group went to search for their escorting party.

The man Kazane and the others saved was named Nora Kolgument. He was a chef specializing in dragon cuisine in Dolmu City, and when Louise heard his name she said「That is...」so it seemed he was a fairly famous person.

Nora said he went to Crimiona City himself to purchase Earth Core Dragon meat, since it hadn"t been offered for sale in a long time.

Normal Earth Dragons and flying dragons were one thing, but it was quite difficult to hunt Earth Core Dragons. Normally, only one would be found at the center of a ma.s.sive flock of Earth Dragons, and they also only appeared in the deeper layers of dungeons.

Also, it goes without saying that dragons were huge. The amount that could be brought back from a dungeon was normally quite limited; bringing back all the materials from a defeated dragon was difficult. It seemed that several material custodians would be hired by adventurers so they could quickly descend and collect the materials.

In that sense, Kazane"s party might have been lucky, since they hunted the Earth Core Dragon at the entrance of the dungeon. Although without Kazane"s group, the adventurers who were there would have become food instead of the Earth Core Dragon.

「It seems that somehow the storage wasn"t properly closed, so it looks like they were lured by the scent of the Earth Core Dragon meat.」

Nora looked uncomfortable as he said the reason they were attacked by monsters. He made a mistake he never should have made as a person who worked with dragon cuisine. Nora was filled with bitter feelings.

「It wasn"t master"s fault. It was the escort group"s mistake, don"t you think? Even though we thoroughly warned them to be careful. Those idiots. Even though they should have double checked to make sure it was closed, it was open, and things immediately became like this.」

Apparently the escort adventurers were also working as a.s.sistants and were the ones who forgot to close the storage. But Nora shook his head at the angry coachman.

「Nevertheless, if they hadn"t restrained the monsters to the last, we might have been caught and killed before Kazane-san and the others could save us. We shouldn"t speak badly about them.」

The coachman also understood that. So he didn"t say anything more.

「Hmm, so they were lured by the scent of the Earth Core Dragon"s meat? Then maybe that couldn"t be helped.」

「Monsters will approach for such a reason?」

Jinrai nodded after Kazane"s question.

「Remember when Yuuko-nee ate the Black Rock Dragon Meat. Kobolds will transform the moment they eat that cla.s.s of meat. I don"t know if they would turn into a Kobold Blue or a High Kobold.」

I see, Kazane said as she nodded. Those words were sufficient for Kazane to understand that that was something a monster would want at any cost in this survival of the fittest world.

Even so, it wasn"t normal for them to be attacked by such a large group of monsters, and they thought that Kobold Blue was drawn by the smell and used the other monsters as a screen to eliminate the entire group in one go. But Kazane had another concern.

「By the way, Norsan. You said the escort adventurers" party was『Skull Killer』, right?」

「Yes.」

Nora replied to Kazane, and Naoki, Lyle, and Emily behind her had shadowed expressions. That was the name of Bluesea"s party, who they had met at Blue Rifon Fort. Nora had also spoken Bluesea"s name. Unfortunately, it was certain that he had perished in this battle.

「He said that since it was his party"s failure, he would jump out first. He was a good man. It"s regrettable.」

「Yeah. Is that so?」

「Kazane, they completed their escort job successfully in the end. It wasn"t a bad death.」

Jinrai added comforting words, but Kazane"s face didn"t clear up.

「Jinrai-san, I"ll ask just in case, but there wasn"t a『Childstone』near the adventurers" remains?」

Jinrai tilted his head after those words.

「No... what is it?」

When Nora heard Kazane"s words, he clapped his hands and said「Ah.」

「That reminds me, Bluesesan talked about that. He said he obtained something incredible in his previous battle. He was saying he would get a large amount of money when he sold it at Dolmu City.」

Jinrai"s expression turned grim after Nora"s words.

「No way, he had a Childstone?」

Kazane nodded after Jinrai"s question.

「Bluesesan had a layer 40 cla.s.s Childstone. In addition, he also ended up carrying Earth Core Dragon meat.」

A Childstone was the core of a dungeon gatekeeper. If a monster obtained and absorbed it, a strengthened monster would be born. The same was true if Earth Core Dragon meat was eaten. Jinrai honestly didn"t know what degree of monster would be born if both happened together.

「We can"t deny the possibility of a Minotaur cla.s.s monster being born.」

Kazane frowned after Jinrai"s words.

「If it"s that cla.s.s, anything less than a rank B party wouldn"t be a match, and it would probably require more than one.」

The Minotaur they fought at Rock Hold Cave was strong. That ferocious superhuman strength combined with the defense from Material Shield was amazingly effective. They had also fought against the Stone Minotaurs that had the same power but no Material Shield, and she understood their true power after obtaining the Skill and making one fight.

And she could predict something really bad after forming the Stone Minotaur and Knight-san Golem Corps. It was the creation of a monster corps centered on the strengthened monster. It was perfectly possible that the opponent was a Kobold, and Kobolds frequently moved in groups, so it was also possible that the Earth Core Dragon meat was shared among several monsters.

「But it"s a bit late to pursue, isn"t it.」

「It"s been more than an hour. If we follow the smell, we"ll probably end up entering the forest, which is dangerous. There are also ordinary people here.」

There was Nora and the coachman, but the Guildmaster Benzel was also there. Tracking while bringing them along would be tough. Dividing the party was also out of the question. The forest was their territory, and if they encountered several Kobold Blues, there was a high possibility of casualties.

As Kazane and Jinrai pondered, Benzel extended a helping hand from the side.

「Hm. Then with my Guildmaster"s authority, shall I make an urgent designated request for Norsan"s escort?」

Jinrai leaked a rough laugh at those words. Jinrai was also acquainted with Benzel like Louise.

「I hope we"ll receive a request fee?」

「Of course. Right?」

「Yes, well.」

After Jinrai"s large nod and question, Nora agreed, while Benzel was amazed. Nora would pa.s.s on being left behind in this place, and he had already been saved. Nora thought it was natural that he would pay a reward to Kazane and the others.

With their plan decided, the party immediately headed for Dolmu City. They were worried about the whereabouts of the Earth Core Dragon meat and the Childstone, but they should first do what they could do.

And Kazane was hearing about Nora from Louise along the way

◎ Capital Road Dragon Road Dolmo City

「Heeeh, Norsan is a celebrity.」

Kazane"s admiring voice resounded inside the carriage.

「I"m embarra.s.sed. I still have much more training to do.」

The only man inside the carriage Nora seemed embarra.s.sed as he replied.

By the way, Kazane, Tiara, Louise, and Yumika were with Nora inside the carriage. Benzel was riding his dragon mount Raiel, the coachman was in the coachman"s seat next to Jinrai, and Lyle was on the opposite side. Emily and Naoki were respectively riding on Hippo-kun High and Clear outside.

「Still training. You"re the number 1 chef at Dolmu"s famous『Dragon Fang Hall』restaurant, aren"t you?」

Louise replied to the humble Nora.

According to Louise, this round man named Nora was a famous chef in Dolmu City. It was said there was a one year waiting list due to the flood of reservations to eat his cooking.

「But in the end, I couldn"t bring back Earth Core Dragon meat this time, so it"s completely useless.」

Nora said with a bitter smile. He had thought going to buy Earth Core Dragon meat was a good situation, since one hadn"t been hunted in a long time. Now that he was returning empty-handed, his face showed how at a loss he was.

「Earth Core Dragon meat. I think that"s probably from the one we defeated.」

「That"s right. The members of Skull Killer were boasting about the Ogre Killing Princess and the White Party.」

Nora"s voice was a little lonely as he remembered Skull Killer.

「I also have some of that Earth Core Dragon"s meat.」

「Really!?」

Nora reacted to Kazane"s words.

「Yeah, I heard the waist, b.u.t.t, and shoulders were delicious, and I also have the tongue? I set aside a moderate amount for our own use.」

Particularly, she had the entirety of the tongue. Since Kazane liked tongue.

Nora said「Ah, that"s why...」after those words. When he went to purchase parts of the Earth Core Dragon, several things were lacking from the start.

「Anyway, there"s something I want to consult with you about...」

So saying, Kazane proposed consulting with Nora, since he was there. In other words, she wanted to ask about Black Rock Dragon steak.

Name: Yuihama Kazane

Occupation: Magic Swordswoman

t.i.tle: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Two Handed Sword『Black Fang』, Adhesion Sword『Gum』, Spell Dagger, Dragonscale Breastplate, Drake Gauntlets, Silver Sheep Clothes, Sylphyn Skirt, Plasma Pants, Dragon Ogre Greaves, Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, Magic Acc.u.mulator, White Magic Acc.u.mulator

Level : 31

Health: 114

Magic Power: 205+420

Strength: 55+10

Agility: 48+4

Endurance: 31

Wisdom : 62

Dexterity : 39

Spell : 『Fly』『Torch』『Fire』『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』

Skill : 『Warrior"s Memory』『Night Vision』『Crushing Blow』『Dog"s Sense of Smell』『Golem Maker: Lv3』『Rush』『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』『Air Jump: Lv2』『Killing Leg: Lv3』『Fear Voice』『Invisible』『Tiger Eye』『Wall Walking』『Intuition』『Cheat Death』『Nimble』『Charge』『Material Shield』『Information Link』『Optical Camouflage』『Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization「Dragon」』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Placement』『Thunder Chariot』『St.u.r.dier Teeth「Dragon」』『Crystallization「Dragon」』『Fabricated Coercion』『Stone Minotaur』『Mega Beam』『s.p.a.ce Expansion』『Pseudo-silver Creation』『Poison Claw』

Kazane:「Norsan was returning to Dolmu after buying the meat of the Earth Core Dragon we defeated.」

Yumika:「Hmm. I"m worried about what happened to the Childstone and the Earth Core Dragon meat.」

Kazane:「No matter how much you worry about it, it"s no use.」