On the night we returned from the labyrinth, there were four of us—Grandpa, Dad, I, and El—taking a bath together.
Even during meals, we had been reporting on what happened in the labyrinth, and it was the same in the bath.
What surprised me was that Dad was unusually eager to hear about the exploration.
Rather than what we would do next, he was interested in the state of the labyrinth, the types of monsters, traps, and so on, like a child listening to a fairy tale.
If Grandpa hadn’t scolded us along the way, it might still have been going on to this day.
With Grandpa, we discussed things like my mastery of ultra-vibration and Vernier maneuvers, improvements to our meals, the fact that El could defend against the Earth Dragon’s attacks that Ao mentioned, our actual impressions of the labyrinth, and finally, he asked with concern, “Do you think you can manage?”
It couldn’t be helped. But I honestly appreciated the concern.
I replied together with El, “It’s okay,” and for the time being, the report was finished.
Also, there was one thing that surprised me when we returned to the mansion.
Somehow, construction of a bath in the mansion’s garden had begun.
It was still just the foundation work, but if things went smoothly, it seemed the building would be up by the time the new school term started.
It would probably take a little longer after that for the interior and magical tools… but I was looking forward to the new bath.
When we looked at the dormitory after getting out of the bath, Joe was happily talking with Noel.
From the outside, they seemed like a loving couple, but…
“Hey. Joe, the bath is free. If you like, you can go in with Noel.”
At my voice, both Joe and Noel just showed exasperated faces, neither agreeing nor denying.
Hmm. Should I just think, ‘Die, you happy couple,’ and be done with it?
That day, I was tired, so I went to bed early and fell asleep, only to be woken up by Ao.
“Isn’t it weird that Aldo is sleeping while I’m working so hard?…………”
For a while after that, Ao kept saying something, but when he saw that I was half-asleep, he was exasperated and left.
“Ha, it’s fine now. ‘No problem.’ I’ll go home and rest too…”
I felt like I heard that voice half-dreaming.
What I thought in my drowsiness was that being in a futon for the first time in a long while felt so good that it could be mistaken for heaven.
The next morning, after having breakfast and getting ready, I made my way to the kitchen.
From the report in the bath yesterday, I had already gotten Grandpa’s approval. I asked the head chef to gather as many types of fruits as possible that could be eaten at this time of year.
Next was sausages… When I asked the head chef about animals close to pigs, he answered, “Boar?” That was true, since a wild boar is close to a pig.
They were also plentiful in the Labyrinth of Claws and Fangs, and securing intestines should be feasible. Next was ground meat, but the head chef showed an openly displeased expression.
“Is there some problem with ground meat?”
“Minced meat basically means it’s scraps of meat, right? You scrape off the meat from bones and skin and gather it…”
“Ah… I see. Is that so?”
“Scrap meat is what even lower-class commoners eat. If you served it to nobles, you would be beheaded.”
“I see. I have to think about that a bit. Besides boar, what other delicious meats are there?”
The head chef said that meat from Masara, boar, and Pre was common. From the conversation, Masara seemed to be like beef, boar like pork, and Pre seemed close to chicken.
The eggs used for pudding were apparently Pre eggs, and there was supposedly a chicken farm in the suburbs of the royal capital.
“For the time being, can you arrange boar intestines and meat, spices, and salt?”
“Understood… How much should I get?”
“Well then. Meat, 30 send × 30 send, and intestines, enough for one animal.”
“Understood. I’ll choose some suitable spices.”
“Thanks.”
For now, this should be enough. Considering the schedule was too short—just seven days—preserved food might not be possible… it made me want to cry.
Separately, if I could somehow get bread, eggs, milk, and ground meat, I wanted to make hamburgers.
If there was resistance to ground meat, after talking, I thought I’d try having Grandpa and Dad eat it too.
Mom was someone who used to gnaw on boar meat over an open fire while camping. There was no way she would complain.
As for camp meals, in the worst case, I could make soup with dried vegetables after washing the salt off jerky.
I could make hot water with magic, and even raise its temperature. Dried shiitake mushrooms make a good broth…
Once I gathered the ingredients, I’d try various things. Next was Borg’s place. I felt a bit heavy-hearted about it.
I was on my way to the armor shop. For some reason, El, Ashera, and Marl were with me too…
Ashera and I were wearing commoner clothes, while El and Marl were wearing noble clothes.
Walking like this, it might have looked like a commoner couple and a noble couple had come together to the city for a stroll.
“Going to the armor shop?”
“Yes. After you, Brother, I was thinking of asking for modifications to Vernier on my armor as well.”
“El, are you getting Vernier too?”
“It’s hard to match with my combat style, but I also have a spare knife, so I thought it might be better to have more options.”
“That’s true. Worst case, you can always throw away your shield too.”
“When I use ultra-vibration, I think a combat style like yours, Brother, might be an option.”
El said something interesting.
“Sounds fun. Shall we try a mock battle once like that?”
“That?”
“I: dual daggers VS El: dual daggers. I: one-handed sword, shield VS El: one-handed sword, shield. I: one-handed sword, shield VS El: dual daggers.”
“Sounds interesting…”
“Right?”
Ashera joined the conversation with El.
“Let me join in too. I’ll go purely with martial arts!”
“You’ll win everything then.”
“Well, I can’t make swords with magical weapons anyway.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. While training with magical weapons, somehow I ended up being able to do magic fists.”
“Really!”
“Yeah.”
“By the way, what are you doing at the armor shop, Ashera?”
“I tried training with Vernier and found it easier to use than I expected.”
“So you’re switching from robes to armor?”
“I want to hear about that, too.”
“I see. Borg doesn’t flatter anyone, after all.”
“I can trust that person.”
“That’s true.”
“Is Marl also going to the armor shop for something?”
“I-I… um, it’s… for future reference, I’m checking market prices… mumble mumble…”
“Ah—sorry. It’s nothing. Shall we go back separately? Ashera, let’s stop by the market on the way back.”
“The market?”
“Yeah. I want to improve the meals in the labyrinth.”
El and Ashera reacted at a speed that was astonishing.
“Brother! Could it be that our meals will somehow get better?!”
“Aldo. That’s the most important thing. We absolutely have to go to the market!”
“O-okay. But I don’t know if I can do it in seven days. Don’t be mad if I can’t.”
El and Ashera nodded vigorously, but it seemed like they absolutely weren’t convinced……
Marl blinked in bewilderment at the two’s mysterious momentum and looked at me.
“Well. The meal was that terrible…”
I could only smile wryly as I said that.
As we walked along talking in a group of four, before we knew it, we had arrived at the armor shop.
When we entered the shop, Borg was, as usual, idly looking after the store.
“Aldo. Long time no see.”
“Yeah. Long time no… Sorry, Borg. I couldn’t get the Fire Lizard’s skin.”
“Huh? Is that all? I said get as much as you can. You’ll get it eventually, right?”
“Yeah. I’ll do my best.”
“What brings you here today? In such a large group.”
“Actually……”
I explained that I wanted the armor I had previously had modified to be modified even further.
“I see. The last time too, huh?”
“Yeah. I want it this time too.”
“Got it. If that’s the case, I’ll somehow get it done by today.”
“That helps a lot. I have another dungeon exploration in seven days. I’ll need time to test it too.”
“I’ll prepare it so that it can be done anytime from tomorrow onward.”
“That helps a lot. By the way, how much will it cost?”
“Hmm, let’s see. How about three platinum coins?”
“Three platinum coins? Isn’t that cheap?”
“I still had a bit of the mithril left from last time. The price is after deducting that.”
“Isn’t that part of your profit?”
“Details like that don’t matter. If I say three platinum coins, it’s three platinum coins.”
“…Thank you.”
The money I had earned from hunting wyverns was running low. Honestly, it was a huge help.
My story ended, and then El started talking.
“Excuse me. I’d like the same mechanism added to my armor after you finish with that.”
Borg listened to El with interest, but there was a small problem.
El’s armor had a mechanism that deployed magic shields on his upper arms and back.
If we tried to put nozzles in the same place as mine, they would interfere with each other.
“It’s impossible to put them in the same place…”
“That’s right. If you don’t mind it taking a bit longer, it’s better to move the shield from its current position and make the nozzles you mentioned the main positioning.”
“How long will it take, do you think?”
“Huh? Well… the period would be four days, and the cost would be about two divine silver coins.”
The amount was almost the same as mine. The fee for moving the magic shield—was it really included?
“Understood. Please do it.”
Saying that, El and I handed the armor, along with the bags in our hands, to Borg.
Of course, we also paid the money in cash immediately.
“Cash again? How much do you guys even have…”
“The Wyrm’s earnings are gone now.”
“I see. Then we have to hunt the next big prey.”
Borg was laughing like that, but that was just a grand pretense…
The last one was Ashera. In Ashera’s case, it was a consultation, and in a way, it was the biggest problem.
“If you want the kind of modifications Aldo has, isn’t armor all you can use?”
“I mainly fight unarmed, so I want something light and unobtrusive.”
“I’ve been wondering for a while, but, girl, can you really use martial arts…?”
“Borg! You can’t go any further.”
Magic that had been activated was gathering in Ashera’s right hand… She was showing it on purpose, wasn’t she? I got it.
“I can vouch for Ashera’s ability. If it’s one-on-one, I can’t win.”
“Seriously?!”
“Yeah. She’s one of the three Shura, after all.”
Borg looked astonished as he took in Ashera from the tips of her toes to the top of her head.
“A Shura… Aldo can’t win… Little miss, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine as long as you understand.”
Borg turned to me and started speaking softly, with a sigh.
“A girl who looks like such a little doll is a Shura, huh.”
“Yeah. I feel the same.”
The two of us then looked at Ashera once again, admiring the contrast.
In the end, Ashera’s Vernier ended up being attached to her armor, but the crucial armor itself was missing.
In my mind, I thought it would be good to make the armor from the Earth Dragon’s hide, but if that happened, then during the exploration of the Labyrinth of Claws and Fangs, it would mean wearing the Dragon Robe.
The proper equipment to challenge an Earth Dragon was… what if I lost an arm again? Thinking that way, the frustration in my mind didn’t clear.
Since worrying wouldn’t help, I honestly talked to Borg, and he said that Ashera’s Dragon Robe, if only for defense, was better than the Wyvern Leather Armor.
The left arm was damaged and used Wyvern hide, but other than that, it seemed fine.
As for Ashera’s armor, it became a future task. The four of us other than Borg were mainly thinking about the Earth Dragon’s hide, but for now, it was a secret.
With that, we finished our business at the armor shop and parted ways with El and Marl here.
“Ashera, shall we go to the market?”
“Yeah.”
First, let’s buy some fish. I also wanted seasonings: soy sauce, mirin, and miso.
It would be perfect if there were rice too. I thought to myself that there was absolutely no way there would be any, but still, hoping for a chance, I continued on the road to the market.
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