Since Pinche was off for two days, we, Nina Starlights, also decided to take a break.
(We had already cleared the nearby dungeon anyway.)
During that time, Nina and Anju returned to Shucco. When they brought the materials from the Quasi Demon Lord, they were told that while part of the Queen Termite’s eggs would be bought, it would be better to sell most of them to the Mu Mu Empire’s Adventurer Guild. This was also the case for the Giant Light magic stone.
“Also, some unexpected materials might turn out to be valuable,” Nina said. The material from the Quasi Demon Lord Termite Queen’s corpse was called the ‘Holy Giant Termite Fang’, which was essentially its fang. If processed by a skilled blacksmith, it could create a poison knife that would allow the use of an upper-tier profession.
(Since there are two, they might be good for the Princess Sisters.)
However, although I knew of an incredibly skilled blacksmith, I didn’t want to rely on them anymore. Still, I didn’t think I could find anyone on Mariu’s level. For now, I had it appraised, and both fangs went into Nina’s Item Box.
“Also, what I heard was true.”
“Eh? What are you talking about?”
“Big Mam descended upon my castle.”
(What’s that supposed to mean?!)
I knew I had to return to Nina Castle soon, but for now, I was resting my body in Kayaya Village. Once, Anju took me to Masuma Town, but beyond having all the necessary shops, there wasn’t much else to it.
(I saw a lot of those terrible-looking bear shirts that Tamii wore, even in different colors.)
The inn there might be more spacious than this one, but it wasn’t enough to leave Tamii, who was working hard to support her sick mother. Besides, even if it’s far, there’s still another dungeon here.
“Tamii, good morning!”
“Oh, Anju, good morning.”
“Good morning, good morning, goood morning!”
Anju was also fond of her. And so, two days passed, and Pinche was back at the simple Adventurer Guild. We immediately went to discuss the dungeon攻略 (kōryaku – strategy/conquest) that morning…
“This is Xel, Assistant Director of the Kayaya Village Branch of the Adventurer Guild.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Nina, the Leader of Nina Starlights.”
“…Hello.”
He seems like a gloomy person, a serious-looking young man with glasses.
“He wishes to observe for study purposes. Is that alright?”
“No problem. In fact, we welcome more opinions.”
“…Thank you.”
Nina is so mature. If it were me, I would have been suspicious of him being a spy from the Empire.
“So, you wish to conquer the vertical shaft dungeon, correct?”
“No, that has already been handled.”
“Yes?”
“Where should we put the corpse and magic stone of the Quasi Demon Lord?”
“Y-you don’t mean you’ve already defeated it?!”
Yes, Anju did it all by herself.
“For now, please hold onto them. Keep this confidential.”
“Y-yes.”
“…”
Xel looked somewhat suspicious. ‘Really?!’ he seemed to be thinking. I thought we should show him the evidence. Then, Nina produced a large Light magic stone, surprising them both.
“Th-this! It’s… it’s amazing!”
“…Please appraise it immediately.”
“Ah, we will.”
She handed it over so casually.
“We can also hand over the Quasi Demon Lord’s corpse, though it’s a mess. I’ve already extracted the fangs, but…”
“…Please take those too. To the warehouse out back.”
“We’ll go later. We have much more amazing things, a large amount of them.”
Oh, the gloomy guy is intrigued! A large amount of amazing things… does he mean the eggs?
“Then, Pinche, I’d like to know more about the other dungeon.”
“The Aigenius Lake Dungeon? The water there drains once a year on the day of the Kayaya Village Festival.”
“Is that for cleaning the lake?”
“No, if you were to see it, you’d understand that the lake isn’t large enough for such a task. However, for just a few days once a year, the water level drops dramatically, and there’s a day when the water drains.”
“To coincide with the festival?”
“It seems the festival was timed to that day.”
I see. So, they don’t drain the water for the festival, but rather, hold the festival on the day the water drains.
“So, it can be tackled on that day. When is it?”
“In about half a year.”
“We’d like to tackle it tomorrow.”
“The Demon Lord?! Most of the Demon Lord’s room is underwater except during the festival period.”
“We will find a way to deal with that.”
Is she going to reveal the secret plan she came up with during the break?
“…That’s reckless. However, we can assist you with tackling the areas that are not completely submerged yet.”
The gloomy guy adjusted his glasses. If he was a former adventurer, he’d probably be a Magician.
“First, if you have a map, please show it to us.”
“Yes, please wait a moment.”
After we had gathered all the prior knowledge up to the Boss Room, Anju hurried off to school, and we went to the back warehouse to deposit the Quasi Demon Lord’s corpse and eggs.
(Ah, as expected, the Teleportation Magic Circle has been erased. Well, it’s fine though.)
It was supposed to connect to Nina Castle, but it couldn’t be used anyway.
“Well then, let’s place them here.”
The warehouse was filled with eggs. I made sure to emphasize that this was not to be allowed to hatch and cause a disaster in the village.
“…I will report this to headquarters! To the Adventurer Guild in the Imperial Capital!!”
(Ah, Nina is letting this gloomy guy, Xel, run with it.)
Now, I wonder what we’ll catch.
