Chapter 7

When watching harem anime, I sometimes get the urge to try writing one myself. But when I start to plot it out, I end up killing off the protagonist as soon as he starts getting popular with the girls. I wonder what to do.

And thank you for the advice in your feedback. Based on the comments I received, the first half of the story became about Mercedes trying to make chocolate that can be preserved. It turns out that even with internet knowledge, a novice can't make anything serious...

Mercedes, who had bought a lot of cocoa beans, immediately started making chocolate. The smell was strong, but there was no choice but to get used to it. Her mother had said, "What are you going to do with so many cocoa beans?" but once she saw the finished chocolate, her opinion would surely change. It seems that cocoa beans in this world are a kind of luxury item with a dedicated fan base. The smell is so strong that only a few vampires like it, but some dissolve it in hot water, add chili, and drink it to mask the smell. This seems to be one of the reasons it hasn't become popular. Vampires have a more acute sense of smell than humans and tend to avoid strong odors.

First, Mercedes used an outdoor oven to roast the beans. The ovens commonly used in this world are mostly outdoor brick ovens. While roasting, she washed a suitable-sized round stone, crushed it with her strength, and shaped it with a file and earth magic. She made two circular rollers and punched holes in the center. Thanks to vampire strength.

Then she connected the rollers to a pot with a thin stick, making sure they rotated by rubbing the bottom of the pot. After some adjustments to the rollers' movements, she recreated a commercial mixer she had seen on the internet in her previous life. When she thought it was good enough for a makeshift version, she finished the work.

She took the germs out of the well-roasted cocoa beans, peeled them, and put them in a mortar. She didn't forget to measure their weight before adding them to balance the sugar. Then she crushed them with a hammer, over and over. Since there were no convenient machines, she had to do it by hand. It was a tedious task, but with vampire strength, it was doable.

After crushing them to a certain extent, she moved them to the mortar and ground them until they became liquid. The next step was the most troublesome refining process, which could take 30 to 40 hours, or even 70 hours to achieve a smooth texture. Since there was no machine for this, she had to do it manually.

Mercedes moved the melted cocoa into the pot she had made and cast a wind spell. The new wind magic she created had the effect of continuously rotating the specified object with wind power. However, it couldn't move large objects and had no offensive power, making it unsuitable for combat. But by sacrificing offensive power for endurance, the effect lasted a long time. She cast this magic on the rollers in the pot, making them rotate. This would continue refining until the magic's effect wore off.

At the same time, she skipped the refining process for half of the batch and melted it in a water bath to see which method worked better. The taste would likely be inferior, but it would save time.

She spent the day training and went to bed. The next day, when the rollers stopped, the refining was temporarily finished. It seems the magic's effect lasted about 24 hours. She added milk and sugar to the melted chocolate, heated it again, and poured it into a bowl, which she then cooled in cold water. She used an ice magic stone to make the cold water. After cooling, she reheated it in a water bath for tempering. Without a thermometer, she had to rely on her judgment. Finally, she poured it into an ice tray to make bite-sized pieces. She wanted a mold for chocolate bars, but since she didn't have one, she used the ice tray as a substitute. She put an ice magic stone in a box she had bought to create a makeshift refrigerator and placed the ice tray inside to cool the chocolate.

After training for a while to pass the time, she took out the finished chocolate and put one in her mouth. The texture was far inferior to even a 100-yen chocolate from her previous life, and the taste needed a lot of improvement. It was mushy and crumbled easily in her mouth. To be honest, it was terrible. However, at least it could be called chocolate.

...But the result was almost the same as when she skipped the refining and tempering. It turns out that a novice can only make something this bad, even with internet knowledge. It's not surprising that a professional's difficult task can't be replicated by a novice with just knowledge. In the end, she concluded that crushing, melting, and solidifying the chocolate in a mortar was enough.

"Well, I won't aim too high from the start."

She muttered this to no one in particular, wrapped the finished chocolate in paper, and stored it in a cooler. She made a few more batches, but without milk, they lasted longer, so the milk ended up being unnecessary. It was a waste.

However, since it still melted easily, she mixed it with crushed bread and baked it to make a chocolate crunch-like treat. Although it was far from her original goal, as long as it could be preserved and carried, it was fine.

"...Failure is the mother of success, huh."

It wasn't an excuse for failure. It was definitely not an excuse for failure.

◆

Mercedes went to the Seeker Guild and decided to take on another mapping request for the Stalck Dungeon. This time, her goal was not to earn money but to enter the dungeon. She had two main objectives: first, to find a partner for dungeon diving. Mercedes was currently solo and had no intention of gathering companions or joining a party. She couldn't trust strangers, especially since Seekers are rough people who risk their lives for money. It's not uncommon for someone to be stabbed from behind by a gold-hungry companion. In fact, such cases are quite common.

She couldn't trust others, but being solo had its limits. While she could manage for now, having more people would allow her to do more. With only two hands, she needed more labor. So, this time, her goal was to capture a suitable monster. Ideally, it should be somewhat intelligent and dexterous. A wolfman like the one she had captured and handed over to a pet shop would be good. She had trained it and found that, despite its appearance, it was basically a dog. It was obedient once the hierarchy was established and, being bipedal, was much smarter than a dog. She had also properly dressed it, so this time she planned to dive deeper and map the dungeon. The lantern was in good condition.

On the first floor, no monsters appeared, but on the second floor, she was greeted by a snake monster, probably over 10 meters long. It was about the same size as the reticulated python she had seen online in her previous life. She grabbed the snake's head as it lunged at her, grabbed its tail, and tied it up. It would eventually untie itself.

After more mapping, a bipedal rat about 180 cm tall appeared. Mercedes kicked it and delivered an elbow strike to its chest, causing it to fall and stop moving.

(Rat... It's bipedal, but it doesn't seem very intelligent. Its hands aren't very dexterous either.)

This was not a suitable capture. Mercedes ignored the fallen rat and continued deeper. After a while, a new monster blocked her path. This time, it was a skeleton armed with a sword and shield. Its sharp teeth suggested it was probably a vampire in life. However, without flesh, it had no vampire strength or speed. It swung its sword wildly, suggesting it had no intelligence.

Mercedes kicked the bones and took the sword and shield. It was a pleasant surprise. She had planned to make a spear from bones or teeth, but she didn't expect to find a weapon. She tested the sword, confirming it could withstand her strength. The shield was too large for her and, with one hand occupied by the lantern, she discarded it. The sword, while large for her height, was manageable with one hand. However, this made mapping even more difficult. She needed to secure a porter soon.

On the third floor, she heard a distant scream. It wasn't a monster but a human voice. She ran in the direction of the sound and quickly reached the source. She found a gruesome scene of several vampires lying in a pool of blood. Some were so badly damaged that they were clearly dead. She recognized them as the veteran Seekers she had met in the dungeon a few days ago. The person screaming was a thin man, likely a merchant, as he was not wearing any armor and was probably being protected by the fallen vampires.

In front of the man was a humanoid monster over 2.5 meters tall, with a single horn on its head and six arms, each holding a weapon. It looked incredibly strong.

(That's an Ogre!)

She compared it to her memory and the descriptions in books, confirming its name. An Ogre is a dangerous monster found deep in dungeons, known for its immense strength and steel-like skin. It is highly intelligent and considered extremely dangerous among humanoid monsters. Ogres with multiple arms, known as Asuras, are even more dangerous.

...Although, the books had no illustrations or photos, so she couldn't be entirely sure. She really wished they had included some visuals. Anyway, the problem was that the Ogre (let's just call it an Ogre) was about to strike the man with a sword.

She had no intention of letting him die. Mercedes quickly intervened, kicking the sword's blade to deflect it and save the man. The sword fell from the Ogre's hand, and it paused, surprised by the sudden intruder.

"Who are you..."

The Ogre spoke with a deep, wary voice, eyeing the small intruder.

"I'm a Seeker. I'm here on a mapping request. Since this is a situation I can't ignore, I'll intervene."

She held the sword she had just obtained and faced the Ogre. The Ogre had six arms, now down to five weapons. She was at a significant disadvantage in numbers.

"Foolish."

The Ogre spat and swung its sword. Mercedes smirked and deflected it with her own sword. The Ogre's surprise was evident, but it quickly launched a second attack. This time, it was a simultaneous attack with two arms. However, numbers weren't everything. She dodged the thrust aimed at her heart and trapped the arm with her side. She caught the next downward strike with her fist and forced the Ogre to drop the sword. She then took the fallen sword, making her a dual-wielder, and stepped back to create distance.

"Now we're three to two. I think I can manage."

The Ogre said nothing to her taunt, but the sweat on its forehead betrayed its unease. It had underestimated her appearance but now realized she was a formidable opponent. It tightened its guard and focused all its attention on her. They both kicked off the ground, and their swords clashed, sparks flying. The sound of metal clashing echoed, and their positions changed rapidly. After about five seconds, which felt like minutes, one of the Ogre's swords flew through the air and landed on the ground.

"Now we're even."

The Ogre growled, and the battle resumed. This time, Mercedes was clearly dominant. The Ogre tried to counter with its remaining weapons, but its attacks were easily countered. Another sword flew, leaving the Ogre with only one weapon.

"One left."

The Ogre roared and swung its sword with even more speed. But Mercedes, having read its movements, dodged all the attacks without even blocking. She then counterattacked, raising her sword and knocking the last one out of the Ogre's hand. She immediately pressed the blade to the Ogre's neck, immobilizing it.

"It's over... right?"

"...Yes. I lose."

The Ogre had all its weapons on the ground and a blade at its throat. It couldn't claim it hadn't lost. It acknowledged its defeat and knelt.

There are many dungeon-diving games, but the one I actually like the most is TOBAL 2. You can place rotten meat in front of enemies to make them eat it, or give them dynamite to make them explode, or sleep in front of a hole leading to the lower levels and suddenly be attacked, or slide down a chute... It was fun. I wonder if TOBAL 3 will ever come out (´・ω・).