Chapter 48

Waking up in my own bed, I thought that making a new mattress is indeed a priority. Not that the current one is bad, but once you know what’s better, you can no longer tolerate it.

Looking outside, the sun still hasn’t risen. I don’t really need to wake up early, but old habits die hard.

By the time my magic training and form practice are over, the sun starts to rise. Wiping the sweat off, I head to the living room and see Quinn sleeping. Even if I move quietly, she always notices.

After admiring Quinn for a while, I start preparing breakfast. It seems that making breakfast has somehow become my responsibility. Well, it’s not that I mind.

Since there’s still time, I might go to the market for the first time in a while! By the way, it’s considered polite to bring a shopping basket when going to the market.

It’s colder outside than usual, and my breath turns white. Despite the early hour, many people are already bustling on the main street, and the market is bustling. Even in winter, so many foods are available, which is impressive for the capital. However, fresh fruits are scarce, and the mainstays seem to be long-lasting items and ingredients from the dungeon.

"Miss... Miss! What kind of eggs are those?"

"Oh, little boy, are you running an errand? That’s impressive! These are eggs from a Wild Cook, a bird-type monster."

"How much are they?"

"Five copper coins each."

"Then I’ll take twenty!"

"Wow, that’s a lot. Let’s see... one gold coin, but do you have it?"

"Yes!"

Handing over a shiny gold coin, she looked a bit surprised but soon smiled and put the eggs in my basket. Counting them, there were 21.

"One is a freebie! Come back to me next time!"

It seems she was unexpectedly happy to be called "miss." In this regard, the countryside and the city are the same.

Wild Cook eggs are about twice the size of chicken eggs on Earth. At 500 yen each, they are expensive, but considering their size and that they are monster eggs, it’s not too bad, right?

After that, I visited various stalls and was able to buy vegetables and fruits from the dungeon. Talking to the people at the market, I learned that there’s a dungeon in "Threed" where vegetables and fruits grow. It’s not a Numbered Dungeon, but no one has reached the bottom yet. I also found some iron ingots and bought ten.

I also heard that in the port town "Ninen," you can buy a lot of seafood. I’ve never been to the sea in this world, so I’d like to go there sometime.

When I got home, I thought the two of them would be awake, but it was eerily quiet. They seem to still be sleeping... They must be tired.

Since I got fresh eggs, I want to make an egg dish. But what should I make? Omelet, fried egg, tamagoyaki, egg and rice... Hmm.

Ah! Let’s try making that!

I separated the egg yolks and whites into a bowl and whipped the whites with a whisk I use for baking. To finish quickly, I activated Body Strengthening to the max, and the meringue was completed at an incredible speed.

Next, I mixed milk, sugar, and salt into the yolks and gently folded them into the meringue.

I heated a frying pan, added butter and olive oil, and poured in the yolk-mixed meringue. I covered it and waited for three minutes. During this time, I cooked the bacon and prepared a salad.

After three minutes, I folded the cooked meringue in half and transferred it to a plate. To prevent it from deflating, I made a giant soufflé omelet for three people.

The moment it was done, the two of them woke up, drawn by the smell.

"Good morning, Master, I’m sorry for oversleeping... zzZZ"

"Come on, Luna, wake up. Master made a delicious breakfast, so let’s eat?"

After the two of them washed their faces and brushed their teeth, we had breakfast together. I gave Quinn raw meat. Now that I think about it, Quinn is a carnivore.

"Wow, Master! It’s a new texture! It’s delicious!"

"Hehe, being able to eat something this wonderful in the morning makes me very happy."

It seems they enjoyed it. Taking a bite, the soufflé omelet melted in my mouth, and the rich flavor and richness of the eggs spread throughout, making it incredibly delicious!

Eating from the same plate with the three of us wasn’t bad. Even though we each took our portions, it felt like we were sharing the same pot, which was nice.

"I think I’ll give you two a day off today. I have some things I want to do, and I’d like you to take a break after everything that’s happened."

"Thank you, we can have another day off? Thank you."

"It feels like we’re living better than commoners."

That might be true. Commoners don’t really have the concept of days off, so it’s more like an adventurer’s lifestyle. Well, since we have the qualifications, we are adventurers, I guess.

"By the way, I’ll be diving into the dungeon for a few days starting tomorrow, so take care of things here."

"…So this is what they mean by 'raising and dropping'…"

"Hehe... a dungeon. I’m excited..."

"Well, this time, the main focus is on gathering ingredients and materials, so I don’t plan to do anything too strenuous, so don’t worry."

"In that case!"

"Let’s look for souvenirs for your parents."

Indeed. It would be nice to find something suitable as a souvenir. Meat or mushrooms? Ah, a comforter made from Thunder Eagle feathers would be nice. And I should prepare something for Sia too.

The two of them got dressed excitedly and went out. It was cold outside, so I thought about giving them money to buy coats, but they refused because they still had money from Stampede.

…What reliable slaves they are. It’s a bit of a strange feeling.

"Well, I should get to work too."

First, I need to prepare to sell recipes to Lebrant. There’s no clean paper in this world yet, so I’ll write the recipes on parchment. I’ll write down a few simple recipes for cookies, scones, and other pastries.

I’ll also make the tools needed for baking and carve them out of wood. For the whisk, I’ll have to use the iron ingots and infuse them with magic.

…Before I knew it, I had become quite skilled at using magic to shape metal. Simple tasks are no problem. I could probably make a living just by making accessories.

Actually, I don’t like using iron because it can transfer an iron smell to the ingredients, but it’s just a sample to show the appearance, so it’s fine.

I also prepared parchment with instructions on how to make and the facilities needed for smoked foods. Before I knew it, it was lunchtime, so I grilled some meat and had a quick meal.

"Phew, I’ll sell this to Lebrant next time. Next... a magic device to extract sugar. But that’s meaningless without sugar beets. Sugar beets are almost exclusively controlled by the empire, so what should I do?"

Ah, maybe there are sugar beets or fruits in the dungeon where vegetables and fruits grow. I’ll check it out next time.

The next step is to create a magic device with the extraction enchantment. …It’s a bit wasteful, but I’ll use mithril.

I’ll encase a high-rank magic stone in a mithril frame. Infusing it with the extraction enchantment, it didn’t work as well as I expected. …I’ll use adamantium.

After attaching a small piece of adamantium to the magic stone and mithril, I tried again, and it worked, so it’s complete.

Testing it by squeezing a fruit and using the extraction, I was able to make a small amount of sugar. As a byproduct, I got a paste-like substance. It’s like a dried fruit paste, but it’s not sweet. The water must have gone somewhere, but that’s fine.

This might be useful in cooking, so I’ll buy it from Lebrant.

It was still mid-afternoon, and I wanted to work on golem research, but the timing was awkward. Well, I’ll give up for today.

In the end, I spent the rest of the day making pastries and organizing my storage. I realized there were countless magic stones in my storage. I’ll take the two of them to the guild to sell them when they get back.

Since it’s a nice day, I’ll make dinner for them! We’ve been eating the same things lately, so I’ll try something new.

I took out various vegetables, mushrooms, and meat from my storage and dipped them in a batter made of eggs, flour, and water. I heated the oil and fried them quickly, making various tempura, including vegetable, mushroom, and meat tempura.

Since I don’t have tempura sauce, I’ll use salt. To add variety, I’ll also make dried fish and miso soup, using mushrooms for the broth since I don’t have kelp. I also tried cooking pressed barley, which turned out pretty well. It was a bit too watery, so it’s a bit like porridge?

After putting the finished meal in storage and playing with Quinn, the two of them came back.

"We’re back, Master!"

…Hmm, I want to ask why they’re holding a lot of miscellaneous goods and ingredients, but I feel like I shouldn’t, so I’ll let it slide.

"I’ve made dinner, so let’s eat."

"Thank you, Master! We appreciate it."

"Hehe, I was looking forward to it, so I made sure to be hungry."

The two of them are getting stronger.

The two of them were excitedly eating the tempura for the first time. I also enjoyed it, eating one after another, but the mushrooms were definitely the best. I need to stock up on them in the dungeon. They’re sure to be popular in the village.

I heated the bath, and the two of them came in as usual. I’m a bit scared that I’m getting used to this. If I have to say something, it was a feast for the eyes! Luna seems to have grown a bit. Despite her blessing of "Serious," she has a rather scandalous body. Yes, it’s wonderful. Yes.

When I woke up in the morning, it was snowing lightly. It doesn’t matter since I’m going to the dungeon today, but I don’t really want to go out when it’s snowing.

Since I’m going to the dungeon, I skipped the morning training and made a simple breakfast: scrambled eggs, charcoal-grilled bacon, vegetable potage, pancakes, and fruit juice. I can make this in about 20 minutes. Making breakfast has become second nature to me.

The two of them woke up, drawn by the smell, and we ate breakfast before heading to the dungeon. Actually, I secretly got permission from the king to enter the dungeon, so I can go even without being a member of the Adventurer’s Guild.

Last time, I was harvesting golems on the 36th floor, but I didn’t reach the 40th floor. I thought about transferring to the 35th floor to harvest golems from the ancient city, but...

"Master, there don’t seem to be many golems."

"Why is that, even though a few days have passed?"

There are a few possibilities, but maybe this floor was originally a floor without monsters, like a resting floor.

And the ancients built a city there.

"Is that possible?"

"It’s a possibility. The golems are the legacy left by the ancients."

"If that’s the case, the ancient civilization must have been quite advanced."

With the information we have, we can’t go beyond this. We need to investigate this floor a bit more.

"I’ll investigate this floor a bit more, so you two, please capture the remaining golems."

"As you wish, Master."

"We’ll catch them quickly."

Well, well, but this floor is quite large...

5 hours later.

"Master, we’ve captured all the golems on this floor."

"Hehe, did you find anything, Master?"

They captured a total of 12 golems, all of which were left intact.

I caught 87 last time, so that’s a total of 99. ...I wonder, maybe it’s just a coincidence, but I feel like there’s one more somewhere.

"I found a few interesting magic devices and some blueprints that might give us hints on how to create golems."

The blueprints are in poor condition, and many parts are unreadable, but they should give us some hints.

"Or is it just me who feels like there’s one more golem?"

"I felt the same way."

"Actually, I found the last one."

"Really?! Where?"

"...Well, it’s this."

Looking in the direction Yomi pointed, I saw a mechanical dragon about 3 meters long sitting there.

"...What’s it doing? It’s looking at us."

"...Sorry. I thought it was a dragon monument and touched it, and it started moving and followed me."

...Hold on. It’s following us without attacking?

And it’s rubbing against me so much.

"It’s really attached to you."

When I tried to touch the dragon, it fiercely warned me off.

Eh, why is it not attached to me?

It’s rubbing against Luna too...

"Hey, Yomi, can I... you know, do it?"

"Hehe, are you jealous? But this one doesn’t seem to be a bad kid, so can you let it off?"

"...If you say so, I guess I have to."

Yomi is trying to reason with the dragon. Well, I guess I’ll let it off this time.

There, go on, shoo.

After that, when we went to the 37th floor, we saw a beach and a vast expanse of water. It’s probably the sea. The smell of the sea confirms it.

"The sea!~"

"Is this the sea? It’s beautiful to see for the first time."

"I’ve never seen it before either, but it would be nice to see such a beautiful view every day."

Indeed, it would be great to have a villa with such a view.

There’s plenty of wood, so maybe I’ll build a log cabin.

I was planning to build one anyway, and with the two of them helping, it might take only a day. Plus, almost no one comes to this floor, so it should be safe.

"If you two are okay with it, I’d like to build a villa here. What do you think?"

"We’d be happy to help!"

"Hehe, that sounds great."

In the end, we spent the day exploring the surroundings and deciding on the basic layout of the house.

There were no signs of monsters in the area, and it seems the monsters on this floor are in the sea.

The next day, we spent the day building a decent log cabin. Of course, it’s designed to be portable in case of emergencies.

The two of them are making dinner, so I’m relaxing on the balcony, enjoying the view of the sea.

The sea visible from the balcony is beautifully shining, but it’s blue even without the sun, which is quite mysterious.

As I was staring at it, I saw a large snake-like creature swimming in the sea.

...Is it a sea serpent?

I’ll update this bit by bit.

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