Bonus Short Stories

Elrand’s Monologue

My name is Elrand, and I’m an elf. I am a former S-ranked adventurer, and am currently serving as the town of Dolan’s guildmaster.

And, I am also an unequaled lover of dragons.

Originally, I admired dragon slayers, though.

When I was a child, I was given a single picture book from one of the few merchants that come and go from my hometown, the elves’ village. Its subject was common: an adventure story.

The protagonist left the rural village on his own as a boy, became an adventurer, gained comrades, and travelled the world. And, finally, he and his friends managed to slay a dragon that appeared and had been eating people one after another.

However, the child-me was enraptured by that dragon. Unlike elves that had blended into towns, elves that lived in the forest didn’t have much contact with the outside, and treated living quietly with other elves as the norm. My hometown was much the same.

I think that closed-off village only helped my longing and admiration of the outside world.

“One day, I’m going to become an adventurer. And then, I’ll be a dragon slayer myself!” That was the dream that sprouted within me.

Once I became an adult, I left the village in order to realize my dreams. I quickly registered at the nearest town and became an adventurer. I had learned some level of magic and swordsmanship while I lived in the village, but of course in the beginning I started from the lowest, G rank.

From then on, I piled up experience and ranks.

And even through all that, my childhood dream of “becoming a dragon slayer” never faded.

Thinking that, in order to become a dragon slayer, I would have to learn about my target, dragons, I started my research into them.

They were noble, and strong. Dragons stood at the pinnacle of the world. The more I learned about such living beings, the more I was fascinated by dragons as creatures.

And, when I first became a B-ranked adventurer 238 years ago, the time finally came. A dragon appeared near a certain town and a request to defeat it was put out. The dragon from that time is unforgettable to me — it was a green dragon.

One might say it was a matter of course, but I strongly wished to be included in the subjugation team. However, the fact that I was only recently promoted to B-rank, and the fact that I had accepted a request to guard a trading company that was very close with the Adventurer’s guild meant that I was denied my wish. Since that was the case, I thought I could at least dismantle the creature, and asked the town’s guildmaster over and over again to that effect, but he would not say yes, and I wasn’t even allowed to butcher the dragon.

Unable to fulfill my dreams and become a dragon slayer, or even butcher a dragon, one of the species that so fascinated me, the me at the time was full of regret.

But I did not give up. If being B-ranked was no good, then what about being S-ranked? I put all my effort into climbing up. And so, while researching dragons and piling up accomplishments as an adventurer, it happened around the time when I had been thinking that I could become an A-ranked adventurer: the event being, meeting the man who I would call my best friend, and would spend a long time together as adventurers, Rodolfo. Rodolfo, being a dwarf, and me, being an elf, didn’t seem like we’d get along at first glance, but we fit together surprisingly well .

While being called the sword-and-sheath combo, we continued to accept quests together. During that time, the two of us became A-ranked adventurers, and our names were then starting to become fairly known. To the both of us, that might have been a destined meeting. From then on, we were comrades in arms, clearing countless requests together in a party.

I was an elf, and while Rodolfo, being a dwarf, wasn’t as long-lived, both of us had quite the lifespan. As such, partying up was a hard thing for us. Before Rodolfo and I teamed up together, we had both been going between several other parties, but those were mere rest stops, although saying that would be a bit...

We had been part of them from anywhere between a couple years up to even a decade or more, but honestly, to our lifespans, that was how it was.

However, the four of them that we met at that time became irreplaceable friends — for me, and for Rodolfo.

Our leader, the human named Norman, who freely wielded his sword and large shield; the wolf beastkin, Oljean, said to wield a spear with legendary might,; the healer who had saved me countless times, the human Beatrice; and the scout with better presence detection skills than anyone, the human Connie. These four partied with Rodolfo and I to form the “Sunlight Brigade,” and we succeeded in high difficulty missions, one after the other.

And then, we finally climbed to S-rank. With these comrades, there was no way we would be inferior, even to a dragon. No, we would definitely win. With those thoughts in mind, I waited for a dragon to appear, but......

No dragons showed themselves, not even any information on where they could be. And meanwhile, life was happening, and all my comrades other than Rodolfo aged and retired from being adventurers. There was nothing to be done about it, but Rodolfo and I were of different races, and one of our differences was a difference in our passage of time.

After 20 years, the “Sunlight Brigade” disbanded. It wasn’t a terribly long amount of time to Rodolfo and me, but it was still a wonderful stretch of time spent with irreplaceable friends.

After that, Rodolfo and I continued on being adventurers, but after starting to feel our age it was finally time for Rodolfo and me to also retire from the adventurer life. Even so, my admiration for dragon slayers never cooled, and with the hope of at least seeing a dragon, I settled into the position of guildmaster in Dolan. As for Rodolfo, as you might know, he became the guildmaster in Krehl.

Since even though we look this way, we used to be S-ranked adventurers, it wasn’t hard to get hired once again by the Adventurer’s guild.

And so, after 32 years of being a guildmaster, finally, finally, a pair of dragons were in my sights!

Not only that, one of them was a rare pixie dragon! I’ve only read about them in books, and even in those basically no one has ever touched a pixie dragon. And a live pixie dragon was right in front of me...... Ahh, just how happy am I allowed to be?

And on top of that, there’s even an earth dragon! Being able to butcher an earth dragon with my own hands, it’s like a dream!

I take pride in the knowledge that there is no one as passionate and as learned about dragons than me. Is this a reward from the gods for me? To be able to lay eyes on two real dragons, ones that I’ve only ever dreamed of before......

I’m so happy that I’ve lasted until this age without giving up.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“And that’s how it is. My meeting with you, Mukohda, I feel nothing but thankfulness for it...... Hey, were you listening?”

“......Mn, mnwah!? O-Of course, I was listening. I was totally listening...... Although you went on really long and I had no interest, so I fell asleep,” Mukohda whispered.

“If that’s the case, do you understand just how fiercely I’ve wished for dragons?”

“Y-Yeah...”

“Thank you. Well then, give me Dora-chan!!”

“As if!!”

A Small Diversion

Our party was currently making its way along the road to the dungeon city of Dolan.

《So bored~.》 Dora-chan, who was flying beside me riding on top of Fel, told me through telepathy. By the way, Sui was in his usual spot, sleeping soundly in the bag hanging off of my shoulder.

《What’s so boring?》

《Aw, well, I was just thinking that it would be pretty nice if we would get attacked by a monster with some backbone.》

《Nonono, please spare me that.》

What the hell is this child spouting?

《I am here. There would not be many monsters that would dare.》

Fel’s a legendary magic beast, at least in name, after all. Of course monsters wouldn’t come near.

《Well, that’s true, but there’re idiots everywhere, right? I’m tired of just moving forward for so long.》

《Dora, it is not like I do not understand your feelings, but this is necessary to go to the dungeon. Just bear wi-......》

Fel suddenly went quiet.

《What’s up, Fel?》

《It seems there is a river up ahead.》

《A river?》

《Indeed. It seems there is even a small waterfall.》

《So you can tell that sort of thing too, Fel...》

《Hmph, just what do you take me for? Of course I would know something of this level.》

Ahh sure sure, you’re great, Fel.

《A river and a waterfall, huh? Seems fun, let’s go!》

Dora, don’t just “let’s go” us…

《Weren’t we going to Dolan?》

《Of course we’ll go, but it’s not like we’re in a hurry, right? Let’s just stop by for a little bit.》

What the hell? Even though he was all gung-ho about the dungeon…

《I want to eat some river fish, too. Hey come on, let’s go.》

《Mm... River fish, huh? I have eaten lake fish, but it has been a while since I have had fish from a river......》

《Right, right? Let’s go eat some river fish—!》

《When you put it like that it makes me want some... Okay, let us stop by.》

And with that, it was decided that we would be making a detour.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

With Fel’s guidance, the place we reached was a small waterfall a little ways removed from the road in the forest.

It was only around 5 meters tall, so it wasn’t that large. However, the water that was flowing was quite clear, and shadows of fish were visible here and here.

“What a nice place~.”

《See? Aren’t you glad we came?》

Would you stop with that smug face, Dora-chan?

《Okaayyy, let’s all hurry up and go catch some fish!》 Saying so, Dora-chan charged into the waterfall.

*Sploosh―――*

《Woah, hold still!》 There was a lively fish caught in Dora-chan’s arms as he came out of the waterfall.

《First up! Here.》

“Woah!”

Dora-chan handed me a fish that was similar to an ayu; it looked like it might exceed 40cm in size.

《Mmm... Master — where are we?》 A sleepy sounding Sui crawled out of my bag.

“Ah, Sui, you’re awake. We were heading for the dungeon, but decided to take a detour. They wanted to eat some river fish.”

《River fish?》

“That’s right. Look, there’s some shadows of fish over there, right?”

《Uwaahh~, the fishies are swimming~.》

“See, this is one that Dora-chan caught.”

I showed the not-ayu that Dora-chan caught to Sui.

《It’s still just the one, though. I’ll catch a lot more! Okaayyy, next!》

*Splooosh―――*

Dora-chan once again charged into the waterfall.

《Sui will catch some fishies too—!》 Saying that, Sui also entered the waterfall before I could respond.

“Aahh! Sui!”

“You do not need to worry about Sui,” said Fel, but I couldn’t help it.

“Wait, you’re not gonna catch any, Fel?”

“I will leave the matters of water to Dora and Sui.”

......Right, Fel hates water. He could always just use Lightning magic to get fish without having to touch water, but right now Dora-chan and Sui are in the waterfall, after all. It doesn’t seem like Fel’s gonna get into any water without some really important reason.

After 10 minutes―――

《Master — Sui got a lot—!》 Sui came out of the waterfall with a lot of fish captured inside itself.

“Ohh, you did!”

《Aww what, I’ve still only caught 6—!》

It’s just not in Dora-chan’s favor, is it? Since he has to catch each fish one at a time.

“Sui, let me see what you caught.”

《Oka—y!》 Sui pushed fish after fish out from inside itself.

Let’s see, there’s the same not-ayu that Dora-chan caught, and this whitish speckled fish looks like a char. That being said, this one’s pretty big for that, though. And also......

“Catfish?”

There were two catfish over 1 meter in size.

“Ohh, so the river had these.”

“Fel, you know this thing?”

“Indeed. This is a fish called a blue-tailed catfish, and they only exist where the water is extremely clear. Its meat has no funk in it and it is a pretty tasty fish, you know.”

Hehh~.

I had thought it would be edible since it was a catfish, but it’s good, huh? Now that I think about it, I haven’t eaten catfish yet, but isn’t it supposed to be a light, white meat with no weird flavors in it, it’s supposed to be pretty good, I remember.

“Ok, make a meal with this.”

I thought he’d say that.

Even though I’d thought it would just be grilling with salt when they mentioned river fish...

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“He—y, it’s done.”

When I called out to them, my three familiars, who had been spending time as they pleased, gathered round.

For the not-ayu and not-char, I did the standard thing and removed their scales and innards before sprinkling them with salt and grilling them. They’re huge so they should be quite filling.

At first, I had wondered how I was going to butcher the huge catfishes, but I somehow managed it. I tried a little in order to make sure of the taste so I could cook it, and it was just as Fel said: it had no funk, and was a light and tasty white meat.

I had expected this, and so went with a catfish sauté, catfish tempura, and soy-marinated catfish karaage. For the sauté, I put white daikon on top for color, as well as some ponzu. For the tempura, I just put salt in it and made some special tempura dipping sauce. And I made sure to properly flavor the catfish karaage, so that would be served by itself.

I started by serving the salt grilled fish.

“Yeah, this is good. The skin is crispy and the insides are nicely grilled and soft.”

《This is one of the fish I caught, right? Yep, it’s great!》 Dora chowed down on one of the not-ayu from the head down and looked quite satisfied.

《This kind of sour sauce on this one is tasty—!》 It seemed like Sui liked the combination of the catfish’s light meat and the ponzu.

“I favor this tempura and this thing called soy-marinated karaage.” Saying so, Fel chowed down on said tempura and soy-marinated karaage.

I was also of the opinion that the tempura was good. It was good with salt, but for the light white meat, the dipping sauce was better. The catfish tempura dipped in the special sauce was exceedingly delicious.

Now that I think about it, this might be a little luxurious, listening to a waterfall while enjoying food.

This type of thing might be nice every once in a while.

The Guild Employee’s Investigation

I am a person employed at the Adventurer’s guild here, in this dungeon city of Dolan. My name is Morgan.

This time, with orders from above, I am investigating the adventurer Mukohda and his party of familiars, who accomplished the unprecedented great feat of conquering Dolan’s dungeon, as well as how they proceeded in doing it. In order to do that, I am conducting an investigation by interview of adventurers who claim that they have seen Mukohda inside the dungeon.

I have been having it quite hard, because I cannot quite manage to find any adventurers willing to talk to me about the subject, since talking flippantly about other adventurers is something to be avoided. By reluctantly offering the condition of keeping their anonymity, I have somehow managed to secure some adventurers who were willing to testify.

These are the testimonies of those adventurers, from beginning to end.

【Testimony From The Adventurers Who Witnessed Mukohda’s Party’s Fight In The 10th Floor Boss Room】

Adventurer A: “We were right behind that adventurer that had the huge wolf, the small dragon, and the slime with him in line, right?”

Adventurer B: “Yeah. It was our first time in the dungeon, so we peeked inside wondering how the fight was, but that one wouldn’t be any use as a reference.”

Adventurer C: “Right? There were venom tarantulas and poison spiders everywhere, too. I’d thought that even we’d have a hard time with that, so I peeked, thinking that the adventurer with the familiars would be having a hard time, too, but it was over with just one hit......”

Adventurer D: “The small dragon hit it with just one blast of Fire magic and it was over.”

Adventurer A: “You gotta be kidding me with that thing......”

Adventurer B, C, D: “““Right?!”””

【Testimony From The Adventurers Who Witnessed Mukohda’s Party’s Fight In The 13th Floor Boss Room】

Adventurer E: “I knew that tamers were strong, but that one’s on a whole other level.”

Adventurer F: “Yeah, his familiars are all way too strong. There were five whole ogres, but it was over in an instant.”

Adventurer G: “That huge wolf, that was a Fenrir, right......? I heard rumors that there was an adventurer that made a Fenrir his familiar, and that thing didn’t let the legends down. A Fenrir’s strength is a dimension apart.”

Adventurer H: “He did it with just a swing of his front leg, after all......”

Adventurer I: “The Fenrir wasn’t the only strong one. That small dragon was powerful, too. It would cover itself in fire magic and charge in, what the heck...... And it was ridiculously fast, too.”

Adventurer F: “I’m most surprised at that slime. Aren’t slimes supposed to be weak as hell? What the hell was with that slime......”

Adventurer G: “It was shooting out, like, acid or something, wasn’t it? It’s the first time I’ve seen a slime that can attack like that......”

Adventurer E: “The slime, huh? Its attack straight up just opened a hole in an ogre......”

【Testimony from the adventurers who witnessed Mukohda’s party’s fight in the 14th floor boss room】

Adventurer J: “Even if you ask us how it was......”

Adventurer K: “It’s normally only three trolls, but it was five when they went in...... Now that I say it, they lucked out. I thought they’d have a hard fight, though......”

Adventurer L: “As a B-ranked party, we’ve dived into the dungeon many times. But even we have a hard time against trolls. Depending on the circumstances, we might even have to retreat. But that’s...... Really, what the hell...”

Adventurer M: “Slimes are weaklings, right......? That slime killed five trolls in an instant. It makes me lose confidence as an adventurer...”

Adventurer J: “No, that’s not a regular slime, that’s gotta be it. It was shooting out acid or something at high speeds.”

Adventurer L: “That attack opened up a hole right in the troll’s torso, didn’t it......”

Adventurer K: “It’d be no joke if anything got hit by that.”

Adventurers J, L, and M nod in unison.

【Testimony from the adventurers who witnessed Mukohda’s party’s fight in the 15th floor boss room】

Adventurer N: “You know, the 15th floor boss is a minotaur. And there’s three of them, too. Even we, an A-ranked party, have to make quite a lot of preparations.”

Adventurer O: “And you know...... It was instant, instant I say!”

Adventurer P: “The small dragon covered itself in Lightning magic and just tackled one after the other. Like Thud, Thud, Thud!”

Adventurer Q: “It’s a dragon that can use Lightning magic...... What kind of baby dragon is that?”

Adventurer R: “Where the hell did he even gather all those strong familiars, in the first place?”

Adventurer P: “Right? We’ve seen several tamers ourselves, but they usually only have one familiar.”

Adventurer N: “Not only that, he’s got that legendary Fenrir with him.”

Adventurer O: “The Fenrir didn’t do anything, but there’s no doubt it's stronger than that baby dragon......”

Adventurer R: “I heard a little about it, but it seems like the slime that’s with him is also crazy strong.”

Adventurer Q: “That party’s invincible, isn’t it?”

Adventurers N, O, P, and R wordlessly nod.

I have also given the A-ranked party that the Mukohda party encountered on the 22nd floor a message asking for their participation, but they obstinately refused, saying, “We have no plans to talk so freely about our savior.”

Every adventurer’s testimony has been so ridiculous it’s been hard to believe. However, after researching whether or not the adventurers really were there at the same time as Mukohda’s party, the results are inarguable.

Even though talking so freely about other adventurers is something to be avoided, there is no blockading people’s mouths. There have already been rumors spreading about Mukohda’s party — and those rumors align almost perfectly with these adventurer’s testimonies.

Considering the fact that Mukohda’s party has conquered the dungeon, it is probably safe to say that the familiars that follow the adventurer Mukohda are all powerful beasts.

“Familiars that bury an entire boss room in an instant, huh......?”

Partying with Otherworld Alcohol

““Cheers!””

*Gluglugluglug*

“That’s the stuff — the lad did say that this alcohol called beer is great when chilled, and he really was correct, no?”

Hephaestos and Vahagn had quickly started to party using the alcohol they had received from the otherworlder.

“But still, with just this much it’ll all be gone quickly.”

“You said it. Well, we asked this time to see how the alcohol in the other world is, no? There’s a lot of variety, so let’s just drink up for now. Next is this one, called ‘black beer.’”

*Gluglglglg* Oh yeahhh—!

“Compared to the last beer, this one is faintly sweet, eh? This one isn’t bad either. Not bad at all.”

“This one is fuller in taste. I like this one better, I think.”

“Right, then, next should be this one -- this alcohol called ‘brandy.’”

“The boy said this one is good neat, right?”

Hephaestos and Vahagn helped themselves, pouring the brandy into glasses.

“Looks like this is alcohol made from fruit, eh?” said Hephaestos, while taking in a whiff of the brandy.

“Looks to be so,” Vahagn agreed, taking his own whiff.

*Gulp*

“Hohohh, this is quite strong. But it’s mellow and smooth... This is delicious!”

“It’s more for sipping and savoring than for downing as fast as you can, isn’t it? This type of thing isn’t bad, either.”

Hephaestos and Vahagn discussed and reviewed the otherworld alcohols while downing them one after the other. Of course, as alcohol lovers, the both of them made sure to finish every last bit. There weren’t any droplets left whether it was a can or a bottle.

After continuing drinking like that......

“Man... There sure is a lot of good alcohol from that world~.”

“Yeah. Even though they’re all rounded up and named ‘alcohol,’ there really are all kinds of them. It’s great~.”

“Indeed. Here, all we get is ale and mead, and also fruit alcohol, after all.”

“It’s a nice thing, being able to taste, smell, and enjoy so many kinds of alcohol.”

“And, we’re finally at the last bottle......”

“A square bottle with a design on it, they put quite the effort into just the bottle, didn’t they?”

“Indeed. Seems like it’s called whiskey, and that boy also said it was a strong one. Seems like we should either drink it straight, drink it with ice, which he called ‘on the rocks,’ or cut it with water or carbonated water. Well, diluting it with water doesn’t sound fun and we don’t have carbonated water, so I think we should either have it straight or with ice, eh?” Hephaestos said, trying to recall the explanation he was given.

“Yeah. Then let’s try it straight, first.” Having said that, Vahagn poured out the whiskey for both himself and Hephaestos.

““Cheers.””

The two glasses clinked as they made contact.

*Gulp*

Hephaestos’ and Vahagn’s throats both audibly gulped down the whiskey.

“Ohhh! This is good! I know that’s normal for otherworld alcohol, but this one matches my tastes the best, I think.”

“I’m the same. The smell is faintly sweet, but it’s got such body. This one is good.”

Hephaestos and Vahagn greatly appreciated the otherworld alcohol named ‘whiskey.’

“Next, let’s try it with ice, or ‘on the rocks.’”

More whiskey was poured into glasses partially filled with ice created by magic.

*Gulp*

“Hohh, this chilled whiskey is quite something as well.”

“Certainly, it’s good.”

*Clank* *Clink*

*Gulp*

“Mm? This is...... the taste changed.”

“What?”

At Hephaestos’ words, Vahagn once again took a sip of his whiskey.

*Gulp*

“Oh, you’re right. It became more mellow.”

Vahagn took a closer look at the whiskey inside his glass.

“......Ah, I see. The ice is melting, and that is mellowing out the taste.”

“I see. To think that just by putting in ice like this, the taste would change, what an amusing concept. I am liking this one more and more.”

“Me too.”

The two, having taken a great liking to the whiskey, kept downing glasses without any care as to the strength of the alcohol.

“Tch, there’s no more.”

“Whahuh? Already, eh? It may be a little late, but it would have been better to ask for more whiskey from that whippersnapper, no?”

“You’re right. But we can just make sure to do that next time.”

“Yeah, looks like there will be a next time, after all.”

“Right, right. From what I’ve heard there’s a lot of different whiskies, too. Let’s just look forward to the next time.”

“Now that you mention it, he did say that depending on the maker, the taste changes quite a bit, didn’t he? This will be fun.”

Hephaestos and Vahagn both looked at each other’s faces and grinned widely.

“Next time, eh?”

“Next time.”

These two seemed to be fully intent on asking for an insane amount of whiskey.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

*Shiver*

Suddenly, I felt a chill.

“W-What? I suddenly got the chills......”

It’s not like I’ve caught a cold or anything. I’m not feeling anything wrong right now, either. I wonder if it’s just my imagination?

While tilting his head in confusion, Mukohda dismissed it lightly, saying, “Well, it’s not like there’s anything wrong. It’s probably fine.”

The Disappointing Goddess Loses to Temptation

“Hmhm hm-hmmm, what should I have today~?♪” Like I was floating on air, I chose what I would eat from the otherworld for today.

“First is... this!”

My first choice was a shortcake that had a sweet-yet-slightly-sour red fruit on top called a ‘strawberry.’

“And first, a bite.”

*Chomp*

“Mfufufufu, so good! This white and fluffy cream and the white dough inside are out of this world~. Dorayaki is good too, but this strawberry shortcake or whatever is also delicious.”

As I expected, sweets from the otherworld are all great.

With those thoughts in my head, I tossed the red fruit that was on top of the shortcake and ate it.

“Mnnn~, delicious!”

This red fruit, ‘strawberry’ is so good, with its sweet-yet-slightly-sour taste. Fruits from the other world sure are nice. It might be good to ask him for some sweet fruits from his world next time.

With that thought, Ninrir continued to eat the cake.

“Mnuh... it’s finished. Uhhh, next is...... this!”

A confection with milk and eggs in it that is characterized by a gentle sweetness and an irresistible jiggly texture, pudding. At the bottom of the container, there is also a slightly bittersweet sauce that goes perfectly with it.

“It’s so jiggly, I love the feel in my mouth~.”

Repeating the action of scooping up pudding in her spoon and bringing it to her mouth, scooping again, to the mouth, and so on, the pudding was quickly finished.

“I can still keep going! Next is......”

While picking the next otherworld confection to eat, I remembered something said by my fellow goddesses. Kisharle said, “Didn’t you gain weight recently?” Even Agni said something similar. And as for Ruka......

“She poked my belly and said, ‘Boing boing!’ Grrnnnnnn, remembering it now is so infuriating! I am originally slender, you know! It’s true that recently I’m just a little, tiiiinnny bit more... expanded... than before, but it’s not as bad as they say!”

I’m telling the truth! I’m still okay!

“That’s that, so I’m going to eat one more. And it’s gotta be this!”

What I took in my hand was my favorite, dorayaki.

“Muhhaa—, it’s dorayaki! Dorayaki!”

I stuffed my cheeks full of my favorite dorayaki.

“Mnnnn! So goooood! Dorayaki really is the best!”

The fluffy and faintly sweet-smelling brown dough. And the red bean paste sandwiched between them. They’re both sweet, and one might think that the combination of them would be too sweet, but that’s not the case. It’s sweet, but it’s not the kind of heavy sweetness that stays in the mouth forever.

Dorayaki, you see, has a refined, mellow sweetness. That aspect of it has me in its clutches, and I can’t stop!

“Dorayaki’s always so good -- no matter when I eat it, I never get tired.”

The deliciousness of the dorayaki has me smacking my lips.

But......

“I’ve already finished it...... But it’s still not enough... I still want to taste those sweets from the other world.”

Just this much is a far cry from having me satisfied. Yes, let’s have one more.

As soon as I thought that, the faces of Kisharle, Agni, and Ruka came to mind.

“Mmnnnn, if I get fatter because of this I have no idea what they’ll say. I wonder if I should actually stop here. But......”

I can’t stop my eyes from drifting to the sweets from the other world, every time.

*Gulp*

......Even though I know it’s bad, I can’t stop staring. And, unconsciously, my hand is drawn towards the sweets from the other world.

As soon as I was about to touch those sweets, I came to with a start.

“N-No! No! I can’t!”

While I was telling myself that, my eyes were properly glued onto the sweets from that other world.

I still want to eat them, those sweets. But I’ll get fat. If I don’t hold back a little, Kisharle and the others will all say something again......

But I want to eeaaatttt!

After a few minutes spent in conflict―――

“Okay, I can just eat less tomorrow. So today, it’ll be fine. Now that that’s settled......”

Without hesitation, I laid my hands on a dorayaki, and... *Nom*

“Muhhaaahh~, dorayaki really is just the best! No matter how many dorayaki I eat, I never get tired of it.”

Good. So good~.

“Hah! It’s already gone! Good things sure disappear quick... Personally, I can still go for one more. Mnn... what should I do......”

I would have to think about it, but yes, let’s have another one.

“I can just eat less tomorrow, after all~. Today’s the last day I can enjoy these otherworld sweets until I’m satisfied, so I should enjoy them as my heart desires! And so, one more dorayaki.”

*Mgmg*

“Mnnn~, so good~.”

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

In the end, Ninrir managed to scarf down a strawberry shortcake, a pudding, and a complete set of smooth red bean, coarse red bean, and chestnut dorayaki.

And the next day......

“T-T-Tomorrow! I’ll have less tomorrow!!”

It seemed like Ninrir once again just could not win against the temptation of sweets from another world.

Mukohda’s Cooking Class II

“Sir Mukohda, please, take care of us.”

The one who said that and bowed his head was the head chef and manager of the inn we were staying at. We had come to a fairly populous town that could be considered a middling city here. During our travels, I had wanted to sleep in a bed for the first time in a while, so we went looking for a town and found that we were close to this one by coincidence.

At least in name, I was a high-ranking adventurer, so for formality’s sake I went to report to the Adventurer’s guild, and there I was introduced to this inn by the guildmaster. Even just by looking at it, one could tell the inn was aimed towards a higher-class clientele. Though they allowed familiars, and figuring it would be fine every once in a while, I decided to stay, but...... I still got permission and ate food with Fel and the others in an inconspicuous spot in the backyard.

Still though, it seemed like I was caught by some sharp customers. Apparently, they had asked to eat the same thing, since it seemed so delicious. And those people were nobles, it seemed.

Nobles are basically, one and all, selfish people. But even so, the inn couldn’t just ignore these people, so that’s why the manager and head chef are both like this right now.

Even if they ask me that......

Essentially it looks like they want me to teach them how to cook the dish I made, but there’s no way I can teach them recipes using seasonings bought with my skill…

...I’ll just have to refuse them here.

“The food I make is probably going to be a little impossible due to the ingredients......”

When I said that, both the manager and head chef drooped down in disappointment.

“It’s true that you are an A-ranked adventurer, sir Mukohda... So you have some ingredients that would be difficult for us to obtain......”

The meat I used was just orc and cockatrice meat and stuff, but let’s just not correct them here.

“Still though, what should I tell baron Estrada......” The manager’s and head chef’s faces turned blue.

According to them, baron Estrada is a great fan of good food, and a friend and regular patron of the establishment. It seemed that the pride of this inn’s food were dishes that used eggs, and being able to enjoy a luxurious egg menu right from the morning was one of its selling points.

“Baron Estrada really took a liking to our food, and comes to stay regularly,” said the manager, seeming somewhat proud. The head chef was much the same way.

After all, to a regular person, an egg is a luxury they might be able to eat once a year, maybe. So just being able to eat eggs is a selling point, huh?

“Eggs, is it? If that’s the case, I can think of something.”

“Th-That’d be great! Even if it’s not the same as the one you made earlier, sir Mukohda, if we can serve baron Estrada something good that he hasn’t eaten before, then he will surely be satisfied! Head chef, the egg dish!”

“Yes!”

After a small while, I received this inn’s egg dish.

......Isn’t this just scrambled eggs? F-For now, I should take a bite...

...Yeah, it’s just normal scrambled eggs, so it’s not bad. But, it’s only got enough salt and pepper on it so you can tell it’s there. The flavoring is dull.

“What kind of egg is this?”

According to the manager, they have a ranch under their direct management that raises a monster named, ‘urcuckoo,’ and those are its eggs. Said urcuckoos are E-ranked monsters, and are weak enough to run just from seeing a human. They’re rather delicate monsters, and it seems like it's a hard job to raise it until it starts laying eggs, so the numbers of ranches that have them are small.

And exactly because this inn has its own urcuckoo ranch, they’re able to present egg dishes every day, or so the manager proudly told me, his breath ragged with excitement.

Well, it’s true that the egg itself has a rather strong flavor, so it’s not bad. It seems like the eggs would make a good omelet.

Not just an omelet though, an omelet with ground meat in it. And since there’s no ketchup, a fresh tomato sauce might be a good substitute.

“Okay then, I’ve thought of something, so I’ll teach it to you.”

When I said that, the manager and the head chef raised a cheer.

“I’m going to use meat. Do you have any?”

“Today, we have orc meat, bloody horn-bull meat, and rockbird meat.”

Then bloody horn-bull meat would be best here, I think. I should also get them to ready some onions, tomatoes, butter, and salt and pepper as well.

Butter and salt and pepper are luxury items, but this place is a high-class inn, so it seemed like they always had some on hand. When I asked for it, they got some ready.

~◇~◇~◇~

“First, grind up the bloody horn-bull meat.”

After mincing the meat with a knife to a certain degree, use two blades to keep hitting it, rendering it even smaller.

The head chef went, “Aah!” but I ignored him. It seemed like in this world, all good meat would naturally become steaks, so mincing bloody horn-bull meat is probably a heresy among heresies.

“Then, mince the oni- I’m sorry oneons.”

Here, they say oneons instead of onions, right.

After mincing the onions and meat, start making the sauce.

“Next, we’re making a tomato sauce. We’re going to be peeling the tomato skin...”

“Tomato skin? There’s no skin, though?”

The head chef looked at my face, clearly wondering what I was talking about.

So it’s natural to just use the tomato as is, huh? That’s fine too, but for making sauces, taking the skin off is far better.

I started by teaching him how to peel tomatoes.

Cut a shallow cross shape in the tomato on the opposite side of the green leafy part. Then, put the tomatoes in hot water, and then cold water once the skins start to detach.

Chop the peeled tomatoes into chunks, and after crushing them a little, boil them. Leaving some chunks with shape in them makes it better, so make sure not to crush them too hard. After that, adjust the flavor with salt and pepper to finish up the fresh tomato sauce.

“Next is the main part of the dish, the egg. We’ll be using the bloody horn-bull meat we ground up earlier.”

First, oil up a heated frying pan, then cook some onions until they become somewhat clear. Once that step is done, add in the ground meat as well as some salt and pepper for seasoning. Cook until the meat changes color.

Once the ground meat is cooked, leave it on a plate for now. Then comes the egg. Scramble the eggs, then add in the onions and ground meat that was left on the plate and lightly mix. After that, melt the butter in the heated frying pan, add the scrambled egg liquid along with the mixed inn onions and ground meat into the pan, and cook it. While it’s still in a half-cooked state, fold and shape the omelet into the normal omelet shape, and the dish is complete.

This time, instead of wrapping the ground meat in the egg, I tried mixing in the meat from the beginning. Since their prided egg dish is scrambled eggs, I thought that wrapping the meat might have been too high a hurdle for them.

I plated the finished omelet, and once I poured on the fresh tomato sauce......

~◇~◇~◇~

“The ground meat omelet with fresh tomato sauce is finished.”

When I served it to the manager and the head chef, they raised a cheer, “Oohh!”

“The combination of red and yellow colors is striking, isn’t it?”

“I wasn’t sure where you were going, grinding up a good meat like bloody horn-bull, but I never thought there would be cooking like this. I’ve learned something today.”

“Now now, try it.”

When I said that, both the manager and the head chef scooped up the omelet in their spoons and brought it to their mouths.

“Ohh! This is good!”

“Yes. I would never have thought that eggs and meat would match this well. Also, this tomato sauce thing is refreshing and adds acidity, which pairs really well with it.”

“How was it?”

“Yes, if it’s this dish, baron Estrada should be quite happy!”

When the head chef said that, the manager nodded in agreement.

“Sir Mukohda, thank you so very much for granting our unreasonable request.”

“I’ve also learned something today. Thank you very much.”

In exchange for teaching them cooking, not only were my inn fees waived, but I even received some urcuckoo eggs as well. That night, I ended up making ground meat omelets again, since I wanted to eat it.

The omelets that wrapped up a large amount of meat was delicious.

Along with the ground meat, I also added in a larger portion of onions, carrots, green peas, and other vegetables, so Fel didn’t like it as much, though.

Before leaving the inn, I asked the manager, and apparently baron Estrada very much enjoyed the omelet with fresh tomato sauce. He even asked for seconds.

Of course, it was added to the inn’s regular menu.

Battle Cooking

“Hello.”

In the Adventurer’s guild, I stood in front of and greeted Delphina, whom I’d become acquainted with well enough to recognize her face. Delphina wasn’t exactly beautiful, but she was cute in a simple kind of way, and it was really easy to talk to her.

“......”

It seemed like Delphina didn’t even notice that I was right in front of her, like she was checked out mentally.

“Delphina?”

“Hm? What?”

“In front of you,” said the receptionist next to her, twisting her head to show her where.

“Huh?”

Facing forward, Delphina finally noticed that I existed.

“Uaagh, Mr. Mukohda! Sorry for not noticing!”

“No, it’s fine. Are you okay? You look kind of exhausted.”

“N-No, I’m fine...... More importantly, what business do you have?”

Judging from Delphina’s manner, she didn’t seem to be as fine as she claimed, though.

Oh well, if she doesn’t want to say then I shouldn’t pry.

“I haven’t accepted any requests lately, you see, so I was thinking of doing one.”

I looked over at Fel and Dora-chan. Sui, as always, was inside my bag, sleeping.

“Oh yes, you’re right. you’ve sold a lot to the guild, but none of it was for a request, right?”

“Hahah! It’s all the result of Fel and the other’s hunting, after all.”

I sold a lot to the Adventurer’s guild, but it was all the results of my three familiars’ hunting, after all. Since that was the case, I figured it was about time to take a request.

“Okay then, I’ll go che-......”

As she said that, Delphina suddenly gave a start, jumped up, and grabbed me by the shoulders.

“A request! We have a request!!”

“Wai- Just w-wai- wai-, Delphina, what happened?!”

It was so sudden that I ended up panicking too.

“My request! Please accept my request~!!”

“C-Calm down!”

The receptionists next to us and I somehow managed to calm Delphina down, and she took a break so we could talk in another room.”

“To tell you the truth, I......”

According to Delphina, she was currently dating someone in the Merchant’s guild. And, it seemed like that person would soon be promoted from a regular employee to a manager. So, the two decided to celebrate a little, and it seemed like his wish was to eat Delphina’s home cooking.

Even though Delphina wasn’t especially good at cooking.

“You know, even I cook for myself, so I can cook normally! The problem is, no matter how you look at it, he’s better at cooking than I am......”

According to Delphina, who tasted his cooking, he’s at the level where he could open a restaurant right now if he wanted.

“But it’s just cooking, right? If he likes you, Delphina, then it shouldn’t be a problem, I think.”

As soon as I finished saying that, a mad looking Delphina banged on the table.

“What do you mean, ‘just cooking?!’ Just?! Cooking is important, you know! Especially to a normal girl like me!”

It seemed like Delphina worked hard to be able to cook as well as the next person. And, as soon as she got there, the person she liked......

“He was better than you at cooking...”

“Yes. You say that it’s ‘just cooking,’ but it’s really important. I have a friend that’s an elf, and because she’s an elf she’s really beautiful. But, she’s disastrously bad at cooking...... She got herself a good boyfriend, so everyone around her, including me, thought they’d go all the way and get married. But, one day he found out how bad she was at cooking...... She got dumped right after that. Apparently he said something like, ‘I don’t have the confidence to keep being with someone that only makes bad food like you.’”

Urgh~, marriage, huh? Yeah, I guess even being beautiful wouldn’t help if he’d have to eat terrible food every day. But it would have been just fine if that elf girl said that she’d do her best to learn how to cook…

When I said that to her, Delphina replied, “That elf girl, she looks the same age as me, but she’s over 70 years old. I feel a little sorry for her, but if she’s still that bad then there’s probably no hope.”

“So that’s how it is. Even a beautiful person will get dumped if they can’t cook! It’s even more true for a regular girl like me! I like my boyfriend. I know I want to marry him, eventually. So I can’t afford to be tripped up over something like this! Mr. Mukohda, I’ve heard rumors that you’re good at cooking. Please, teach me how to cook! I’m begging you! My marriage is on the line—!”

Delphina once again grabbed me firmly by the shoulders as she begged me.

“Please! Pleeeaaasseee!!”

“I-I get it! I get it already!!”

Delphina finally let go of me when I agreed.

“Hahh~, you know I’m not even that good at cooking...”

“Why are you being so humble? I’ve heard all sorts of rumors. Weren’t the sweets you’ve been giving out super delicious?” Delphina asked through rough breathing. It seemed like she was fully intent on getting taught by me.

“So, what kind of cooking?”

“Hmm — It’s gotta be meat, right? He likes meat. But I can’t afford really expensive stuff, though! I can’t buy something like an A-ranked monster’s meat. Also, something that’s easy to make but still delicious would be good. Something that looks fancy, too!”

Hey hey, that’s quite the hard request you’re making there. And I can’t use anything bought with my skill, since I’ll be teaching it to Delphina......

“Three days. Give me three days, please. Then I’ll teach you what you want, Delphina.”

“Three days! Don’t forget!”

Delphina’s celebration with her boyfriend would happen in a week, so I got her to wait three days. Delphina put pressure on me, saying, “My future depends on this, so three days, got it!?”

Hahh~, what a troublesome request I’ve ended up getting. Actually, I don’t even have a girlfriend myself so why did this even happen? Goddammit.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

Three days later―――

After arriving at the Adventurer’s guild, I was led to a meeting room on the 2nd floor by Delphina. What was inside shocked me.

“These people are......?”

A whole bunch of young women were crammed into the room, ready and waiting.

“They are all the unmarried women who work at our Adventurer’s guild. There’s also some adventurers who heard about it here too, though.”

Now that she mentions it, there are some familiar faces here and there. But......

“Is it really alright for everyone to be here? What about your jobs?”

“We’ve all already properly ‘asked’ the guildmaster, so it’s fine. We also got permission to use this place.”

......Somehow I’m hearing a different nuance to the word ‘asked,’ but I can’t bring myself to dig deeper. F-For now, let’s just move on.

“Uhmm... So everyone… came to learn cooking, is that right?”

“That’s right. There’s a huge difference in having a dish to make or not when the time comes, after all.”

The women gathered here all nodded fervently in response to Delphina’s words.

I-Is that so? Well, whatever.

Using these past three days, I somehow managed to think up a dish that could exist in this world that fulfilled all of Delphina’s wishes.

I tried making it myself once, and it was fairly good so I think it should do fine.

Now then, let’s start this cooking class.

“I’m going to set up, so could I get you all to open up some space?”

When I said that, the girls made space around me. There, I took out the magic stove from my Item Box.

“Hey, we will be taking a nap close by. Once you are done we will eat it, so do not forget our share.”

《Yeah. Don’t forget.》

《Sui will eat, too—.》

All three of my familiars spoke using telepathy.

“Sure, sure. I’ll make your share, too.”

So they care about the finished product, but don’t give even a millimeter of interest to how it gets there, huh?

Geez.

“Well then, make sure to watch me, okay? We’ll be making stewed cockatrice with fresh tomatoes. Please feel free to ask any questions you have.”

This world also had tomatoes, and they were actually called tomatoes here as well.

“For the ingredients, you’ll need cockatrice meat, smoked cockatrice jerky, tomatoes, oneons (a vegetable that resembles onions), jime shrooms (a mushroom that’s like shimeji mushrooms), garlic, and also olive oil, salt, and dried herbs.”

Smoked cockatrice jerky was just as its name implied: cockatrice meat, flavored with dried herbs and salt, and smoked before being dried for about three days. Unlike the hard jerky that adventurers carry around as rations, it’s not completely devoid of water, so its insides kind of felt like eating rare meat.

It put out a pretty good flavor, not unlike ham or bacon. I tried testing other smoked jerked meats, but since cockatrice meat would be the main part of the dish, this one matched the best.

Cockatrice meat and smoked cockatrice jerky were a little expensive, but it wasn’t impossible to get if you didn’t mind splurging a little. This much expense would be within the limits if you wanted to give the dish a special feeling, I think.

“Start off by preparing the vegetables. Mince the garlic and the oneons. Cut the tomatoes into chunks around as big as the tip of your thumb. Cut off the bottoms of the jime mushrooms and untangle them. After that, mostly mince the smoked cockatrice jerky like this.”

The women all watched seriously as I cut the ingredients.

“Next, open some holes in the cockatrice meat with a fork. Then, sprinkle on your desired herbs which have been cut finely along with some salt on top. While that’s happening, heat up a frying pan...... Once it’s warm, coat the pan with some olive oil, and start cooking the cockatrice starting with the skin side.”

I could hear the sounds of the cockatrice meat cooking throughout the room.

“Once the skin’s been cooked crisp and fragrant like this, flip it over...... For the other side, once it’s cooked a little brown like this, it’s done. Then, leave this cockatrice to rest on a plate for a while.”

I left the cooked cockatrice to rest on a plate that I had left by the side.

“Use the frying pan that still has the cockatrices fats and oils in it. Lower the heat first and once its cooled a little, add in the sliced garlic.”

After I said that and demonstrated it, once of the women raised her voice.

“I have a question. You lowered the heat here, but why not leave the heat as it is?”

“Garlic burns easily, and once it does the flavor becomes a lot worse. Lower the heat a little and cook it on a weak heat, please. Then, once the fragrance of the garlic is leaking out like this, add in the smoked cockatrice jerky and keep cooking.”

In addition to the fragrance of the garlic, the smell of cooking bacon also started to waft around.

“Once it starts to smell like this, add in the oneon and the jime mushrooms, please. Then, keep cooking until the oneons turn clear...... Once the oneons turn clear, return the cockatrice meat to the frying pan and add in the tomatoes before mixing it all together. Then, start stewing the whole thing in the tomato’s juices. After that, just be careful not to let the dish burn, and once the juices cook away and it becomes gooey, add salt to taste to finish the dish.”

Yep, looks like it turned out pretty well.

I served out some of the finished stewed cockatrice in fresh tomato on plates.

Then, I opened up the middle of the cockatrice meat, and poured lots of tomato sauce on top.

“Try serving it like this. Serving it with some boiled greens might also be a good idea for color.”

The women were listening intently to my words, so as not to let a single one slip.

“Now then, try eating some.”

I cut the cockatrice meat so that there was a portion for everyone and served it out so they could try it.

“So good!”

“So you can use tomatoes like this~.”

“Since tomato gets all loose and weird if you boil it too much, I thought it was just for heating quickly at the end.”

“It’s really good. So stewing things in tomato makes it this good, huh?”

...Is how it went. In broad strokes, the dish was received well.

“Okay then. I’m going to be making it again, so those who want to double check how it’s made please watch.”

“You’re making it again, Mr. Mukohda?”

Delphina asked, confused.

“Yes. If I don’t feed the ones outside, they’ll get mad,” I said, looking straight at my familiars who were napping in a corner of the room.

“Huh?! You’re going to feed your familiars food this good?” Delphina was surprised.

“That’s right. My familiars are really weak to good food, you see. They eat basically the same things I do. Of course, I’m always the one making them, though.”

“Whaa—t? To think they’re eating food this good...... Could it be, they’re living better than I am......?”

“Hahahah! If I were to get a girlfriend I’d feed her something better, though.” *Furtive Glancing*

Delphina was out since she had a boyfriend, so I tried appealing to the other single girls around, but......

No good, no one’s listening.

I guess I’m just not even in their ballpark huh......? *Disappears in a cloud of despair*

“That’s no good, Mr. Mukohda. Your cooking is even better than my boyfriend’s. It would be impossible for that person. They would never be able to show you their cooking, then. I’m struggling as it is.”

I was denied by Delphina.

God Damniiii———t!

In despair, I ended up making a huge amount of the tomato stew.

“Hm, the taste is not as strong as usual. But still, not bad.”

《Yeah, the taste is weak, isn’t it? But it’s still okay.》

《Sui also thinks the taste is weak... It’s good, though.》

I was denied by my familiars, too.

I mean it can’t be helped, right? I couldn’t use my skill to get seasonings!

After that, stewed cockatrice in fresh tomato spread among the single girls in town as a battle dish, I heard.

Kisharle, Charmed by Otherworld Skin-Care Products

“This is the face-washing foam, and this is facial lotion, and next is this milky lotion, and lastly, this cream.”

Kisharle lined up her newly obtained skincare products on top of her desk.

“The other world is so amazing, isn’t it~. They make so many things just for taking care of your face, after all.”

Kisharle looked on at the faint red containers lined up on her desk. And then, she took what she would be using first, the face cleansing foam, in her hands.

“The face-cleansing foam... It seems like I’m supposed to lather this up and wash my face with it, but would regular soap not be fine? I’ve been using soap this entire time, after all. Also......”

Kisharle picked up the facial lotion, the milky lotion, and the skin cream one after the other.

“After washing my face, it seems like I’m supposed to use each of these in order, right? Even though up until now I’ve just been using olive oil. It’d be nice if this fixes the dryness I’ve been worried about all this time.”

Given that the shampoo and hair treatment she got before worked perfectly, Kisharle had great expectations of otherworld products.

“At any rate, I won’t know anything until I try it after a bath.”

With the face-cleansing foam in hand, Kisharle entered the bath, leaving the other products on her desk.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Hahh~, that was a wonderful bath. That shampoo and hair treatment I got from the otherworld boy really does smell amazing.”

The scent of fresh flowers wafted from Kisharle’s glossy hair.

“The face-cleansing foam was also nice. My face’s dryness was still hanging on a little with the soap, but now it’s completely gone.”

Kisharle’s excitement for the following facial lotion, milky lotion, and skin cream was on the rise.

“Now then, let’s hurry up and try them.”

Kisharle picked up the bottle of facial lotion that was in front of her.

“Uhhmm, from the instructions that the otherworlder boy read for me, I need enough to fit inside one of my palms, and then I need to spread them between both palms before covering my face with my palms and rubbing it in slowly.”

Kisharle followed the instructions and applied the lotion.

“And I should also keep repeating this until my skin feels moist to the touch, if I remember correctly.”

After around three palms-full of the lotion......

“Yes, this feels about right, it’s quite nice. After that, I need to immediately apply the milky lotion while my skin still feels this way, right? It should be about this much......”

After taking up a portion of lotion about the size of an iron coin, Kisharle let it warm up a little in the palm before applying it to the center of her face and spreading it outwards.

“Wow! So applying this makes the skin feel even more moist! If just the lotions do this much, what happens after I apply the cream......”

With expectations and hope dancing in her chest, Kisharle took the lid off of the container of cream.

“Ehhmm, the nose, forehead, and both cheeks... And under the jaw. I need to put cream on those five places, and spread them out using both hands to cover the whole face... right...”

Kisharle followed the instructions and applied the skin cream.

“He also said to use extra at night, right? So, lastly, cover my face with my hands...good.”

Just as she was told to at night, Kisharle applied a little extra.

After finishing her skin care routine, Kisharle once again touched her own skin......

“Oh my? Oh myohmyohmyomyomy?”

Kisharle’s excitement skyrocketed after touching her own skin. The feel of it was so different from the usual. Her skin was moist and supple, springing back at her touch almost like a child’s.

“Just by changing the routine, it changes this much? My dry skin which I’ve been worried over for so long... it’s so moist......”

Kisharle once again tried touching her own skin.

“Ufu! Ufufufufufu...”

Kisharle’s mood only got better feeling her now moist, supple, and completely healthy skin.

“Still, the other world’s skin care products are so amazing~.”

After knowing this feeling, I can never go back to just olive oil. There’s just no way!

“I’ll have to take great care that I never run out of this, won’t I? Next time I’ll have to ask the otherworlder boy for more face-cleansing foam, facial lotion, milky lotion, and more cream again. The whole set! Ufufu...”

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

The next morning———

Kisharle’s excitement only rose, and was still getting higher.

“Ufufufufufufu, Who would ever have thought the effect would be this striking~. I wonder if it’s because I listened to that otherworlder boy and used extra cream...”

Looking at her own face in the mirror, Kisharle couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear.

It reflected an image of a perfectly composed, utterly beautiful woman with smooth and supple skin, as jiggly as a hard-boiled egg.

“How many years has it been since my skin has been doing so well? The skin care products from the other world really are so amazing~.”

Kisharle, who cared about beauty several times more than the normal person, sounded satisfied as she stared at the mirror.

“Now that I think about it, I wonder if this is all of the other world’s skin care products? It seems like there would be other good stuff. I’ll have to ask the otherworlder boy about that, won’t I~? Ufufufufufufu”

A Miracle, Even in a Dungeon

“Sorry, but we’re not talking. He’s our savior. Just take the hint already.”

After Mukohda and his familiars conquered the dungeon in Dolan, we were asked about Mukohda by the Adventurer’s guild in the name of investigation.

However, we refused to talk. Not a single word.

Inside the dungeon, in the 22nd floor, even. Damian suffered serious wounds in combat. Looking at those wounds, everyone thought that Damian was done for, though they didn’t say it.

To Mukohda, who saved Damian’s life, a life we all gave up on, we have nothing but gratitude to him.

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The A-ranked adventurer party, “Tempest.”

Its members consist of me, the leader Jerome, Cyril, Julio, Damian, Francisca, and Vera: these six people. We are a six-person party of four men and two women.

Our selling point is our stable battle power using our six-man formation, and we are a fairly well-known party.

When we decided to dive into Dolan’s dungeon, not only I, but of course the entire party was filled with confidence and motivation. Especially since, after actually coming to Dolan, it turned out that we were the only ones to be able to advance past the 20th floor of the dungeon.

And so, our name spread through the dungeon city of Dolan, and we might have gotten just a little full of ourselves.

Our carelessness and pride brought about the worst situation.

Even though one should be expecting anything in a dungeon.

At that time, we were exploring the 22nd floor of the dungeon. Just that was a spectacular feat not accomplished since 43 years ago when the “Sunlight Brigade” stopped just short of conquering the whole dungeon.

Last time, we gave up exploring on this 22nd floor due to a lack of food, but this time we were fully prepared. Also, we had the confidence that we could get through anything.

Now that I think about it, that might also have been hubris......

When we entered the dungeon, we burst through to the 20th floor all at once, and from there we explored in order, and just as we had planned, reached the 22nd floor in 2 days. Continuing our exploration, we travelled the 22nd floor and after around half a day of exploration, I felt a slight discomfort, as if something was wrong.

“Hey, does anyone else feel that there’s more monsters here than before? Even if by just a little?”

“Certainly, that might be true, but this is a dungeon. Of course it wouldn’t be the same every time, right? It changes by a little every time, more-or-less.”

“He’s right. Also, we’re dealing with it just fine, right?”

“Yeah. You’re just too cautious, dear leader.”

Given my party member’s words, I thought that that might be true, and so I ended up no longer bothered by that slight feeling.

With coordination in such perfect order that even our breaths were in sync, we defeated trolls, minotaurs, and spriggans one after the other, and then we finally found our way to the boss room of the 22nd floor.

“Wha-......?! There’s three whole spriggans here!”

“There’s also a lot of trolls and minotaurs!”

Their numbers were clearly much larger than the last time we checked in on the room. The last time, there was only one spriggan, along with eight trolls and ten minotaurs.

But, now just the trolls and minotaurs themselves number more than ten each, and there were even three spriggans.

“No, this number isn’t impossible for us.”

“I agree. If it’s us, I think we can do it.”

“Right. We’ve been doing well on this floor. This boss room won’t be a problem.”

Even I didn’t want to just turn back after coming this far. With my party member’s words pushing me forward, we, “Tempest,” decided to challenge the 22nd floor boss room.

“Saaayah!”

“Hah!!”

“Guoohhh!!!”

My longsword and Cyril’s spear stabbed into the last spriggan. As we pulled out our weapons, the spriggan crumpled over.

“Ooohh!!”

“We won! We really won!”

“YEEAAaahhh!!”

“We did it! We did it!”

With the numbers being what they were, everyone was exhausted, but we somehow managed to defeat all of them. We raised our voices in celebration.

Even though we hadn’t actually defeated all of them. Behind us, as we were celebrating, exactly behind Damian......

“Damian! Behind you!” I shouted as soon as I noticed.

As Damian turned around......

*Zzsshh*

The minotaur that wrung out the last of its power to stand made a swing.

“Guaahh!”

Damian spouted blood from his flank.

“Damian!!......”

“You bastard!!”

Julio, who was next to Damian, beheaded the minotaur.

All the party members gathered around Damian.

Damian’s wound was deep, and his innards were falling out.

“A potion! Pour your potions on him!”

Francisca, who had an Item Box and was thus the caretaker of our party’s items, hurriedly took out a potion and poured it on Damian’s wound.

“It’s no good! Even a high-grade potion doesn’t work!”

“We have several spare middle-grade potions, don’t we?! Just keep using them!”

There was nothing we could do for him here, so for the moment I decided to bring him to the safe area in front of the boss room.

“Just bring him to the safe area!!!!”

“Hurry! Faster!!”

“Damian, hang on!!!”

“Where’s our potions?!”

“There’s none left!!!”

We’d made it to the safe area, but we also had already used all of our potions, and I thought that Damian’s life was all but over. After all, I thought that we were the only ones on the 22nd floor.

However, there was already someone there in the safe area.

Clinging on to hope, I called out to them.

“Hey, you! Do you have any potions?! I’ll pay, so if you have some share them with me!!”

In response to my request, the occupant, Mukohda, immediately handed over a potion. I took no time in taking that potion and pouring it onto Damian.

When I did that, Damian’s wound visibly started to close up.

I was so surprised.

Since even the high-grade potion that we had saved for emergencies didn’t help.

Reflexively, I asked, “Was that a special-grade potion?”

Though Mukohda claimed that it was just a high-grade potion that was stronger than normal. At any rate, Damian’s wound had closed up and his breathing was stable, so as soon as we confirmed that I breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, I thought he was done for. I think the other members thought the same, too. That was just how serious Damian’s wound was.

The fact that we were able to meet Mukohda in a dungeon, and the fact that Mukohda just happened to have a stronger than normal high-grade potion, everything that happened was basically a miracle.

And thanks to that, Damian was as fit as a fiddle.

Especially since, not only did Mukohda share that potion with us, he even treated us well after that.

I’m really thankful to him. I want to become a strong enough adventurer that I have enough leeway to take care of other adventurers like that too, someday.

First I have to fix our bloated pride and beat some guts into the party, though.

Confessions of a Dungeon Core

I am the dungeon core for the dungeon in the town of Dolan.

As yet, I have no name. It’s called Dolan’s dungeon, but my dungeon was actually completed first.

Because my dungeon was here, a town was built. Please don’t get that wrong.

Well, for now, that isn’t important.

What is important, though, is something that happened in the dungeon.

Finally, it was time.

The dungeon was captured———.

It was the one thing that I did not want to happen most.

I had thought that it would happen someday, probably. But honestly, I also thought it would happen in the far future. The dungeon that I had personally took great pains to build... I won’t say that it’s the hardest in the world, but it shouldn’t be wrong to call it a difficult dungeon.

And I had plans to mold it and make it even more difficult in various ways...

...When that party invaded my dungeon.

There was a human, and a stupidly huge wolf, along with a really tiny dragon and a slime. It was a party of miracles......

At first, I didn’t pay them any mind. My dungeon was popular, and every day lots of adventurers stopped by. Also, some percent of them would lose their lives in this dungeon, and become my sustenance. To me, the adventurers that would come daily were only delicious prey. And even so, when it came to that party......

On the same day they entered, before I knew it, they were already at the 22nd floor. Not only that, what the hell is up with that laid-back atmosphere?! Even though they’re in a dungeon, that party was enjoying a meal!! Do they want to say that my dungeon is easy pickings?

I was a little pissed off, so I put some extra monsters in their way.

But...... what the hell is up with their power?! The human aside, the stupidly large wolf, small dragon, and slime are so strong it’s unreal!

The stupid big wolf turns monsters into slices of meat with just a swing of its front leg, and even its magic causes sure death. Not only that, but it even uses Lightning magic, which is said to have the highest attack power of all the elements!

Even the small dragon… like, what the hell is up with that speed?! It even wraps itself in Fire magic to ram into things, and it also uses Lightning and Ice magic, too!

And that slime, what the hell is up with its attacks?! I’ve never heard of a slime that shoots acid! And what is up with the Water magic that slime uses?!

Water magic is mainly balls and stuff, right? Using Water magic that cuts things left and right like that is strange, right?!

Slimes are supposed to be weaklings, so what the hell is that slime?!

Hahh, hahh, hahhh... Oops, I couldn’t stop myself from getting a little worked up.

Still though, I think I got across just how impossibly strong that strange group is. Especially that stupidly big wolf, that small dragon, and that slime. That party just keeps traipsing through my dungeon like they’re on a picnic, taking regular breaks to enjoy food.

And finally, they stepped foot into the 26th floor. On the 26th floor of this dungeon, its form takes a drastic change. From the 26th floor onward, it’s my best life’s work, made just for housing strong monsters everywhere!

It’s a field type dungeon with lots of space, and of course all the monsters placed inside are strong. Especially the 28th and 29th floors. I took the opportunity after they’d been breached around 50 years ago to do a huge overhaul.

Before, the 26th to the 29th floors were all forest, but now the 28th is a swamp, and the 29th is a desert. Of course, they’re still home to strong monsters. Also, each floor’s boss are monsters specially hand-picked by me.

For the 26th floor, a huge snake monster that has powerful poison, the vaasuki.

For the 27th floor, the crafty and ruthless manticore.

For the 28th floor, a huge crocodile-type monster that can crush anything within its powerful jaws, Gustav.

For the 29th floor, a giant sand golem that has great resistance to both physical and magical attacks.

And, on this dungeons final, 30th floor, as the last bastion, the strongest monster that I can produce at the moment, a behemoth!

I probably shouldn’t be saying this myself, but it’s a perfect setup. As proof, this dungeon has never been conquered. But even through all of that… this party!!

They buried the 26th floor’s boss in an instant. Rather, it was a one-sided slaughter. Even against my special lineup......

It might just be an excuse, but it’s totally unfair for the dumbass big wolf, the small dragon, and the slime to all fight together! Just one would be almost too strong, but three of them together?! Of course it’d turn into a one-sided slaughter!

And finally, they got to the last floor boss, my strongest monster, the behemoth. Even with the three of them together, I thought that the behemoth wouldn’t lose easily.

But......

No way, man. Really, no way.

The three of them had ridiculous attacking power, and they came out swinging at the behemoth, pushing it back and never letting up. Even the behemoth, with its toughness as its selling point, wasn’t able to stand it and got sunk.

In the end, the final floor boss, the behemoth, was also beat up on one-sidedly. And that was how my dungeon was finally conquered.

It’s extremely frustrating, but there is something I learned from this strange group: that overconfidence is the enemy...

...And, that there are powerful existences that I still don’t know about, even with how long I’ve existed.

I made a resolution to use this experience as fuel, and expand and remodel this dungeon to be even stronger.

I will never let this place be conquered again. I’ll put in the effort, so that someday, this place will be known as unconquerable!