Chapter 36

### Returning to the Routine of Clearing the Rimpdorf Dungeon for Two Weeks

After two weeks of clearing the Rimpdorf Dungeon, I finally got the "Shield of Rock Armor" from a Rock Turtle.

...Which was all well and good.

“Uuuu...”

But then, an inexplicable and bizarre incident occurred: Echo wouldn't let go of the shield she was hugging.

There was no problem when I gave her the dropped shield. Echo was overjoyed, dancing around and even hyperventilating from excitement. But the moment I said, "I'll reinforce it, so could you give it to Yuzuki for a bit?" she became suspicious, and when Yuzuki approached to take it, this situation arose. Echo was growling, "Uu-uu," and hugging the shield tightly.

“Echo, I won't take it from you. I just need to reinforce it.”

“Yeah, Echo. My Flame Wolf Bow became much stronger thanks to Yuzuki’s reinforcement!”

Yuzuki and Sylvia tried to calm her down.

Yuzuki had been focusing on the "Performance Enhancement" skill within her "Smithing" skills for the past two weeks and finally reached level 5. At level 5, the success rate for reinforcement significantly increased, and she could now perform advanced reinforcement, which is one step before the final stage. Therefore, Yuzuki had been very enthusiastic about her new capabilities.

“Really...?”

“Yes, of course. So, you see, right?”

“No! Your face is scary!”

The cause seemed to be Yuzuki's intense aura. Indeed, being approached by her cold expression would be intimidating. One might think, "She's going to take it!"—not just the shield, but maybe even one's balls.

“...Master.”

“Ah, don't worry. You may seem cold, but I know you're a good person. It's fine.”

“Yeah, that’s right. She’s a cold, stern, and sarcastic woman, but if you overlook that, she’s okay.”

“Sylvia, we need to talk later.”

Leaving the unusually friendly duo aside... we needed to deal with Echo.

“Echo, I'll return it right away. I promise.”

“Uu...”

Echo, pressing her face against the shield while looking at me, seemed like a cat refusing to let go of a toy. Was it an instinctive reaction of a beastkin?

“...Well, it’s fine.”

I decided to leave her alone for a while. There was no particular rush.

“Let’s head back to the inn today. We’ll have a strategy meeting over dinner.”

I informed everyone and left the Rimpdorf Dungeon.

### Two Hours Later

It was about time for dinner when Echo, with her ears and tail drooping, said, “I’m sorry,” and handed over the Shield of Rock Armor. She apparently “forgot herself.”

“Thinking about the possibility of losing her first gift made her lose control,” Sylvia explained. Indeed, it seemed to be a characteristic behavior of beastkin.

“Sorry, Echo. I’ll finish quickly, so please wait. Yuzuki, please reinforce it to the third stage. Focus on VIT.”

“Understood.”

I handed the shield to Yuzuki and gave her the instructions. At level 5 of Performance Enhancement, the success rates for the first three stages of reinforcement were 94%, 89%, and 84%, respectively, with additional stat bonuses. If it failed, the reinforcement level would reset to zero, and there was a 25% chance the equipment would break. The reinforcement required a significant amount of materials, so I wanted to avoid failure. In this case, 14 "Rock Shells" dropped from Rock Turtles would be used, each worth 1.2 million CL on the market.

“Completed.”

...But of course, it went well. That’s why she’s at level 5 and a growth type "Smith."

“Great job. Thank you.”

“It’s nothing.”

Yuzuki modestly replied without changing her expression. I recently noticed that her pointed ears would twitch or turn slightly red when she was happy or flustered. Since she usually reacted positively to compliments, I often praised her. Each time, I imagined Yuzuki thinking, “I hope he doesn’t notice,” while secretly rejoicing, which made me smile.

“Here, Echo.”

“Fast!”

“Thank Yuzuki.”

“Thank you, Yuzuki!”

Echo thanked Yuzuki with a beaming smile. Yuzuki replied, “You’re welcome,” without changing her expression, but her ears clearly twitched.

### Changing the Base?

“Are we changing the base?”

“Yes.”

After dinner, Sylvia tilted her head at my announcement.

“Why? We can clear the Rimpdorf Dungeon quickly and efficiently. The experience points are great, and we’ve made millions of CL from Rock Shells...”

We still had a large surplus of Rock Shells in our inventory, each worth 1.2 million CL. Yuzuki warned us against selling them all at once to avoid a price drop, so we were selling them gradually. Even so, each of us had a share of 20 million CL, which was enough to make us laugh.

According to Yuzuki, “Clearing a B-rank dungeon at high speed is not a sane thing to do.” I thought anyone strong could do this, but apparently, that wasn’t the case. Most adventurers were cautious, clearing the dungeon no more than once every three days. This was enough to earn a decent income, and there was no need to take additional risks. It seemed our team was the only one clearing the dungeon multiple times a day.

The ability to clear the dungeon easily was due to our vast knowledge, the high-level skills of our team members, and the "playful attitude" that gave us the flexibility to do so. Sylvia’s analysis made sense.

“I have three reasons. First, the experience points will be even better.”

“Hmm, I see.”

That’s good, Sylvia nodded. She was working hard to raise all her archery and magic archery skills to levels 7, 8, and 9, so she needed a lot of experience points. On the other hand, I focused on raising my main skills to high levels and kept the others at lower levels, allowing me to dabble in sword skills and have a bit of leeway with experience points. Therefore, it was natural for Sylvia to agree, as she desperately needed experience points.

“Second, I want to craft armor from the materials we get.”

“I see.”

The boss of the dungeon we’re heading to drops a large amount of "Mithril." Mithril equipment is a staple for intermediate to advanced players. It’s much better than leather armor.

And the final reason.

“Third, we can make a fortune.”

“Huh... Wait a minute!”

Sylvia, who was about to agree, suddenly spoke up.

“More than we’re making now!?”

“Yes. I want to buy a house.”

“A house!?”

“A house?”

“Yay!”

Everyone was interested in my words, though one person seemed a bit different.

“I want to build a huge house in the outskirts of the capital and make it our Firstest Team’s base.”

“Ooh!”

When I declared this, Echo opened her mouth wide in excitement.

In my previous life, I never used the housing system, but in this world, I realized it could be very beneficial. Since we were here, I wanted to build a luxurious mansion. For that, money was essential.

“Our goal is 5 billion CL, and the method is ‘Mithril Alchemy.’ Any objections?”

Sylvia raised her hand eagerly, and Yuzuki raised hers calmly.

“Sylvia.”

“Why 5 billion CL?”

“It’s simple. The most expensive house in the capital costs 2.5 billion CL. I want twice that.”

“...”

Sylvia fell silent, looking confused. A top-tier mansion for 2.5 billion CL was quite cheap. Therefore, at least 5 billion CL was necessary to claim it as the “best house in the world.”

“Next, Yuzuki.”

“Yes. What is Mithril Alchemy?”

“Good question.”

Mithril Alchemy is a well-known method for making money in Mevion.

“The B-rank dungeon ‘Prolin’ near the smithing town ‘Badgolt’ drops Mithril. However, just selling it won’t make much profit.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“Yes. We’ll refine the Mithril ore dropped by the Mithril Golem boss using the ‘Smelting’ and ‘Refining’ skills in ‘Smithing’ to create pure Mithril, then combine it with iron using the ‘Manufacturing’ skill to create Mithril alloy.”

“Mithril alloy...”

Mithril alloy is a highly valuable and extremely strong alloy made by mixing pure Mithril and iron in a 1:20 ratio. For efficiency, ‘Smelting’ 51 Mithril ores at once and ‘Refining’ 32 Mithril at once are the best methods. These extra steps can increase the profit by more than ten times.

“The required skill levels are 4, 4, and 6 for ‘Smelting,’ ‘Refining,’ and ‘Manufacturing,’ respectively. Yuzuki will handle it.”

“Yes, Master. I’ll take care of it.”

Yuzuki’s skill levels were already sufficient for Mithril Alchemy. Everything was ready.

“Thank you, I’m counting on you. I’ll give you the recipe later.”

When I thanked her, Yuzuki said, “Thank you,” without changing her expression, but her ears turned slightly red.

Ah... this is so much fun. I can’t stop.

### By the Way, Second

“Hmm? What’s up?”

Sylvia opened her mouth with a serious expression.

And she pointed out a fact I had completely forgotten.

“The Prolin Dungeon hasn’t been cleared yet.”

Thank you for reading.