Chapter 25

Well, as for the dragon princess Veil... After becoming full from the pork steak, once her digestion progressed and she was able to move again, she challenged me to battle once more.

It seems that listening to the teacher’s explanation had reignited her sense of mission. Determined to overcome the trial given to her by her father dragon, she transformed back into her dragon form and attacked.

Her goal was to take the holy sword from me.

I didn’t want to be killed, so I fought back with the holy sword.

I won in five seconds. I was surprised at how strong I was.

Despite this, Veil kept challenging me again and again. As I repeatedly defeated her, my digestion progressed, and I made more steaks from the thawed meat, which Veil happily ate. Once she was full, she would attack again. I would defeat her. This cycle continued, and I eventually got tired of it, so I decided to use my last resort.

"If I die, you won’t be able to eat any more steaks."

"!?"

That stopped Veil in her tracks. The dragon had been conditioned.

"To overcome the trial given by my father, I have to kill this human. But if I kill the human, I won’t be able to eat delicious meat. What should I do...!?"

She was genuinely struggling with this dilemma.

"Would it have been fine if I had just handed over the holy sword honestly?"

Thinking about it, I had no real reason to be so attached to the sword. Wouldn’t it be better if the person who wanted it the most had it?

"!? You’ll give it to me!? Then it’s not too late even now! Hand it over! Right now! Give me the unholy sword!"

Veil pleaded with a look of desperation, but in the end, it was still impossible. Just like before, the holy sword wouldn’t leave my hand.

When I tried to hand the sword over to Veil, the blade stuck to my hand like a suction cup and wouldn’t budge.

"Ah, of course!?"

I had half-expected this, so I gave up immediately. Veil, however, couldn’t return to her father without the holy sword, so she decided to continue living in the mountain dungeon and think of ways to take the sword from me.

"Remember this, human! One day, I will definitely take the unholy sword from you! And until then, I’ll come to eat delicious meat from time to time, so please take care of me!"

"Sure, anytime."

And so, I gained another friendly neighbor. The second one after the teacher. My list of acquaintances now included the two greatest calamities in the world!

"That’s great! So we can still gather and hunt in that mountain dungeon!!"

Plati was overjoyed about this. This was the point she was most excited about.

"From now on, we can get a steady supply of square boar meat! Not only that, the materials and ingredients we can obtain from the mountain dungeon are far more abundant than those from the cave dungeon! To have unlimited access to all these useful and colorful resources with the master’s approval!?"

"Don’t get too excited, mermaid. I won’t allow unlimited access."

Such a good deal didn’t come around often.

"The monsters that spawn in my dungeon are a valuable food source for me. If you hunt them all, I won’t have enough to eat."

Upon hearing this, I learned that the square boar was Veil’s favorite food. She preferred to attack in dragon form and swallow them whole while they were still alive. This time, she had come to us in a rage because dozens of the square boars had been overhunted.

"Our consumption is nothing compared to when you’re in dragon form. We planned to consume the ones we hunted over the course of a year."

"Is that so!?"

"Besides, with our methods, we can prepare the square boar in a way that’s far more delicious than swallowing them whole. We’ve already proven that, haven’t we?"

"Indeed..."

We, as the dungeon’s masters, had the dragon’s approval to gather materials from the dungeon. In return, Veil could enjoy her prey in a more delicious way.

A perfect give-and-take relationship was established!

"Since that’s settled, I have a question for you, Veil."

"What is it, human?"

The mountain dungeon where Veil lived must have more than just square boars. There must be various types of monsters, as well as wood, mountain vegetables, and fruits.

Our hut was built from wood cut from Veil’s mountain dungeon.

So...

"Are there any bird-type monsters in your dungeon?"

"Birds?"

I had heard from Plati before that there were several types of bird-type monsters. I didn’t know the specifics, but I wondered if they were in Veil’s dungeon.

"Of course, there are several types. But I don’t know much about them. They’re smaller than the square boars and not very filling. Plus, they’re bony and not very tasty."

In Veil’s ranking of food, birds were below the square boars, and by a significant margin.

"Sir, could it be...?"

Plati, recalling our previous conversation, swallowed hard. Yes, the topic of eggs.

"Bird meat is good, but right now, I want eggs more."

"Eggs?"

Veil looked confused.

"With eggs, we can make even more delicious square boar dishes than what we had today!"

"Really!? The dishes we had today were already incredibly delicious, and there’s something even better!?"

It’s tonkatsu.

We need breadcrumbs as well, but eggs would bring us one step closer.

And it’s not just tonkatsu...

"I really want eggs. With eggs, the variety of dishes I can make will increase dramatically..."

"!?"

The two women reacted simultaneously to my words.

"Sir, a question."

"Hmm?"

"How much will the variety of dishes increase?"

"Dramatically."

With eggs alone, I could make tamagoyaki, sunny-side up, and boiled eggs. Combining them with other ingredients would exponentially increase the number of dishes I could make.

...Oh, with eggs, I could make mayonnaise. Another condiment to add to our repertoire.

And eggs are essential for pastries. There are still a few issues to resolve before we get there, but the possibilities are definitely expanding.

"......"

...Huh?

Plati? Veil?

Why have you been silent this whole time?

And why are you trembling?

"I’m going back! I’m returning to my dungeon right now!!"

Suddenly, Veil screamed.

"I’m going to capture all the bird-type monsters! Then I’ll select the ones that lay eggs that meet your requirements!!"

"Wait, Veil! Take me with you! I have a better eye for spotting the ecological traits of monsters!"

And so, Plati rode on the back of the dragon Veil, who had transformed back into her dragon form, and they flew off together.

Huh? Those two are friends now?

Since when?

'The living are so lively...'

The teacher, the No Life King, had been silently observing the entire time. Quietly, almost as if watching from the shadows, his presence was completely undetectable.

Truly the king of the dead. Impressive.

* * *

This is a side note, but the chicken-type monster I was looking for was never found in the mountain dungeon under Veil’s control. Instead, it was discovered in the cave dungeon where the teacher lived.