CH 64

Volcano

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I advanced through the maze and arrived at the 45th floor volcano. There are adventurers working hard on the front line to forge ahead. What should I do?

Imagine a scenario where a solo adventure appears alone at the front lines. They would likely ask me many questions. Hmm. If they go back to the guild, they will probably talk about me, and I don’t want my information spreading throughout the adventurer’s guild.

Ideally, I want to flood the market with maze materials that the adventurer’s guild can’t obtain and create panic. It’s better for them to investigate and ultimately find me rather than easily finding out about me. The Guild Master would be surprised. This way is definitely more dramatic.

“Sylphyy, can we proceed without being found by the adventurers?” I asked.

“Wait a minute… Adventurers seem to be choosing routes that avoid dangerous places, so if we take the long route, I don’t think we’ll be found. By the way, the longer route goes around the back of the mountain before joining again. It seems like it will take quite some time,” Sylphy replied.

Has she finished the route search already? Sylphy seems more capable than a car navigation system.

“What kind of places are considered dangerous?” I asked.

“Places where poisonous gas is emitted, magma rivers, and the area around the Phoenix’s nest,” Sylphy replied.

So there are volcanic gasses. Magma rivers and Firebirds around the nest, it’s exactly like fantasy. The phoenix sounds so cool.

“We can pass through safely, right?” I asked.

“Yes, it’s okay,” Sylphy reassured me.

She’s reliable. I want to leave everything to her.

“Then, please guide me through the route that avoids the adventurers,” I said.

I proceed ahead while Sylphy guides me.

“I see a pepper plant over there, Yuta. Do you want to collect it?”

“Huh? Is that pepper? Uh, let me collect it. Just wait a moment.”

Why would there be pepper in a volcano? I know that warm places are suitable for it, but a volcano is too hot, isn’t it? It doesn’t quite make sense to me. The phoenix and the like are understandable as they belong to fantasy, but what about this pepper?

In a place where there are hardly any plants due to the effects of the volcano, the bright green leaves stood out. I heard that the resilience of the pepper in this other world is incredible.

But I’d only seen processed pepper before, so I didn’t know that it grows like this. The fruit clusters on the vine like grapes, both green and ripe red. I think I can collect the green ones as well, the way the fruit ripens and how it’s processed can result in different types of pepper. Should I leave some fruit in the dungeon as well? Resources are important after all. But I feel like even if I collect everything, new pepper plants will spring up again.

“Bell will help too.” “Kyu!” “Got it!” “Kuu!”

Bell and the others will help too. They each have their own way of doing it, bringing the pepper fruit one by one. I receive each fruit one by one, pet their heads, and store them away.

Every time I pet their heads and say thank you, they look happy and excited, going to collect more pepper fruit. It warms my heart. I had forgotten that this was a dangerous dungeon.

It’s like when I harvest in the fields, I do the same thing in front of the great spirits. I hope everything is okay with the fields, I wonder what’s happening there. If we could harvest something when we return, that would be nice.

“Thanks, everyone. I’ll leave some fruit and call it a day.”

I thank Bell and the others for their help with the pepper collection. There’s never too much pepper, so let’s collect it whenever we find it. The problem is how to process it. Selling it to the Adventurer’s Guild would be easy, but I don’t want to do that.

For now, I will ask Marie at the general store. She’s the type who’s always interested in making a profit, so she might be willing to help us out. After we get out of the labyrinth, let’s visit her.

While we’re at it, we can also ask her about any good deals related to the materials from the labyrinth. If we have too much to handle, we can always bring them to the Commerce Guild. However, it might be a hassle to bring them there directly, so let’s talk to Marie first.

As we collect peppercorns that we occasionally come across, we climb up the volcano. I wonder when the labyrinth’s volcano will erupt? The labyrinth can be so unreasonable. We reach the top of the mountain, and there’s a staircase. Once we go down the stairs, we have to climb another mountain on the other side. It’s enough to break people´s spirit.

However, it’s been quite a while since we entered this layer, and no monsters have appeared. Perhaps the monsters are on the shorter path and not coming our way?

“Yuta, it’s the magma river,” said Sylphy, pointing in a certain direction.

I see a red-glowing river. I’ve never seen magma before, but from afar, it looks beautiful. I casually think about it as I approach the magma river. It’s smaller than I thought, about two meters in width.

“Sylphy, if it’s only this wide, wouldn’t adventurers be able to jump over it? Why is it a difficult area?”

“Yuta, you’re protected by my wind, so it’s cool, but without wind, it’s very hot. Do you want to see how hot it gets?”

…I had completely forgotten that magma was a high-temperature substance. It might be worth experiencing it once, just for the sake of conversation.

“I want to try it out, so can you stop the wind for a moment?”

“…I’m the one who suggested it, but are you sure you want to try it?”

She gave me a look that seemed to say, “You should know better.”

“Yeah. It seems pretty impressive, and it’ll make for a good story.”

I have an image in my mind that people who tell interesting stories are attractive. Topics come from experiences. I have to prepare for future encounters that are bound to happen eventually.

“This distance is dangerous. I’m getting a little scared. Let’s back up a bit more,” I said, taking a step back from the magma river.

“Okay, I’ll stop my wind now,” Sylphy replied.

And so, Sylphy stopped the wind, and I experienced the heat of the magma river, albeit briefly.

“Ouch! It’s hot!” I exclaimed, feeling a sudden burning sensation on my skin. “Sylphy!”

She quickly wrapped me in her wind to cool me down. I had been too eager to experience the heat of the magma river for the sake of conversation. My exposed skin was stinging a bit.

“Phew… magma is dangerous. I get it now. Hey, where are Bell and the others?” I asked.

“They’re over there,” Sylphy pointed.

“Um, is it safe for them? They’re spirits, after all,” I said, still getting used to the fact that Bell and the others were spirits.

“Yes, they’ll be fine,” Sylphy reassured me.

Bell was riding on Rain and zooming along the lava river, while Tamamo and Turu were chasing after them, having fun. Maybe I should take a break here for a bit.

“Sylphy, let’s take a break here. Would you like something to drink?” I asked.

“No, I’m good,” she replied.

“Okay,” I said, conjuring up a rock to sit on. I didn’t want to sit on the ground and risk burning my butt. I sipped on my tea while talking with Sylphy.

“Hey, Sylphy, can’t other adventurers cross the magma river?” I asked. “There are mages and stuff, so you’d think they could build a bridge or something.”

“If they try hard enough, they can cross it. But there are magma fish in the river, and they can only withstand so much heat,” Sylphy explained.

“Magma fish? What are those?” I asked, intrigued.

“Adventurers who take detours mentioned that they’re fish that live in magma. They wrap themselves in magma and spit it back out. Apparently, they’re considered a delicacy,” Sylphy said.

Fish living in magma… that’s interesting.

“Hey, can fish living in magma be eaten? Or can they be cooked when preparing a dish?”

…Maybe they’re already cooked from the heat of the magma? It might be possible to eat them while dancing around due to the heat.

“I don’t know. The adventurers didn’t really talk about that.”

Yeah, that’s true. We’re just picking up bits of conversation, so we can’t find out everything we want to know.

“If it’s a great delicacy, it could sell well and attract more adventurers to come here.”

“To catch magma fish, you have to go through the poisonous gas area and block the heat from the magma. It’s quite difficult with magic.”

Wait, did she just say something that took me by surprise!

“Sylphy, you said to go through the poisonous gas area, but did I already do that?”

“Yes, you did it at the beginning. It was before you collected pepper, and there were two more places after that. Should I have told you?”

Ah, so that’s why no one came to collect the pepper – because of the poisonous gas. It makes sense now.

“Hmm, I’m surprised to hear that now. Maybe you should have told me earlier?”

“I understand. I’ll tell you from now on. Well, let’s get going… but I’m curious about the magma fish. Should we try to find them?”

“If it’s said to be the greatest delicacy, I can’t resist checking it out.”

“I also want to try it,” Sylphy said, showing her interest. We decided to search for the magma fish, but fishing with a line would be impossible as the thread would burn. How should we search for them? I didn’t understand how fish could live in magma.

“Sylphy, can you find them?”

“I’m not an expert on lava. Turu might know, but as a lower level spirit, it might be tough. The easiest way is to shoot them down as they come out. If you act as bait, we can easily catch them,” Sylphy suggested.

“I see. I’ll be the bait and Sylphy can catch them. …Let’s try it for now. Sylphy’s magic won’t be broken by the fish, right?”

“Of course not. I think using Wind Cocoon alone is sufficient, but I’ll add a Wind Wall just in case. Do you remember how to use Wind Cocoon? Don’t put too much magical power into it.”

“I learned it properly, so it’s okay. I just have to fly across and wait for them to come out. Sylphy will catch them when they appear.”

If we find them, Sylphy won’t let them escape, so it should be safe. Let’s work hard for the sake of eating something delicious.

“Understood.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

I carefully crossed the magma river, imbuing my magic power into my body. Nothing happened, and I safely reached the other side. Wasn’t something supposed to attack me?

I crossed back and forth across the magma river several times while changing my position little by little. I started to get a little bored. Bell and the others passed by, laughing loudly. …Huh? Wasn’t there a fish-like shadow chasing after Bell and the others?

Sylphy noticed it too and captured the shadow that was chasing after them. Ten fish were sealed inside the wind sphere and were floating up with the magma.

Were those magma fish? Why were they chasing after Bell and the others?

“Sylphy, did the magma fish chase after Bell and the others because they could see the spirits?”

“I don’t think so. They were probably just attracted by the sound of our interference as they were swimming while interfering with the magma using their magic.”

Oh, I see. They were attracted by the sound. I felt foolish after repeatedly crossing the magma river many times. I looked at the magma fish with annoyance. It was about one meter long, had a body like a sea bass, and was spitting out magma from its large mouth.

We caught ten of these great delicacies. What would they taste like? I was curious, but I had no idea how to cook them. I decided to store them and gather information in the city.

After storing the magma fish, the magma cooled and solidified, turning into rocks. Can they really be eaten?