Niku's Name and Making the Ring

In the end, due to the Hero Wataru's report, it seems [Cave of Desires] came to be viewed as something like a derived dungeon of [Flame Cavern].

Before heading to Wakoku, he'll be returning to the Imperial Capital once to do some jobs to pay off his debt.

He made a promise to stop by here again on the way, and at that time he'll travel to Wakoku together with Gozoh and Roppu.

"I'm swearing off alcohol until I pay back my debt!"

He said that, but whether he can actually keep that promise… it's quite worrying.

Then again, if his payments fall behind, Haku-san will just cover for him, so it's no problem for us.

"Ahh, the hero's gone, so we can relax again."

"Kehma, you were pretty relaxed even when the hero was here…"

I averted my eyes from Rokuko's remark and remembered—right, I need to give Niku a new name.

It was good timing. I had brought her to my room to use as a hug pillow.

"Niku. About your name."

"I-I want to keep it as is. I-I'll become a proper Niku, so…"

When I mentioned "name," Niku trembled like a puppy whose precious blanket was about to be taken away.

"… Right, I'll think about that in maybe five years. Anyway, about your new name."

"Hey, what does 'Niku' mean anyway? I never got the chance to ask."

Ah, I was about to explain it to Rokuko, but found myself at a loss for words.

… I can't say it means sex toy. That would definitely be hard to tell someone who knows nothing about it.

So I decided to pretend I didn't hear her.

"Your new name is Niku Kuroinu. Your public name will be Kuro. Got it?"

When I said that, Niku seemed surprised that I had kept "Niku" as part of her name, blinking her eyes.

In the end, I went with Kuroinu since she's a black dog. It has a similar feel to Kreuz, so I'm proud of it. It's definitely not cutting corners. Definitely not.

… When deciding on the name, I asked Ichika about it, and apparently beastkin place extreme importance on their names—even more than their own lives. Once they accept something as their name, they'll keep it in their hearts no matter what anyone says. She told me countless examples—with the frequency that grade-schoolers say "I'll bet my life on it," except these were actually life-or-death situations—and my only reaction was "this is bad."

In other words, "It's useless to change it; I don't know what would happen if I tried to suppress it. Besides, it's already too late. It's been a time bomb for ages." So instead, I decided to extend the time until detonation by deliberately keeping it.

And if her name accurately describes what she is, she should be somewhat satisfied instinctively, hence "Kuroinu." … Yes. It's definitely not cutting corners. This is serious. Serious, I say!

… At least I hope she doesn't explode until Niku becomes an adult. I don't want to have to use the slave collar to strangle her neck if I can help it.

"So, let's go re-register your name at the guild tomorrow. It'll cost some money, but that shouldn't be a problem. We have gold coins. Understand?"

"Y-yes!"

Niku answered while happily wagging her tail back and forth.

"Hey, so what does 'Niku' mean?"

"… Ask Ichika."

I decided to leave explaining it to Rokuko to Ichika.

Changing Niku's guild registration name cost thirty silver coins, but we were able to complete the change procedure at the branch office without any issues.

It was cheaper than I expected.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

While I was sleeping, Rokuko had been deepening her friendship with Redra, and it made me think.

If I sleep too much, I'll become useless, and that would be awkward.

Well, I could just ignore that and keep sleeping anyway, but doesn't that basically make me a mascot? I don't want to end up in the mascot role. I don't want to be a grumpy-looking mascot sandwiched between futons like a dorayaki.

So even though I wasn't enthusiastic about it, I reluctantly decided to do some work.

Specifically, restocking the magic sword Golem Blades. After all, I'm the only one who can make these.

"Oh iron, become a magic sword. [Create Golem]."

I made a Golem Blade with a rather casual chant. Even something like this drastically reduces magic power consumption compared to chantless casting… Though it's not like I'd run out of magic power even without a chant. I'm sure I used to feel fatigued just from using the life magic [Purify], but I guess I've gotten stronger.

For now, I'll replenish the [Treasure Chests] with the same type of magic swords the hero took.

These [Treasure Chests] are boxes that automatically replenish items after a set amount of time. They cost 100 DP each.

If you prepare a list, they'll automatically replenish from it while consuming DP, and you can also stock them with pre-prepared items.

Haku-san said they're popular among Dungeon Masters who find restocking tedious.

I'd like to power up the magic swords—well, golems in general, but I can't think of a good way. Even our current strongest, the Iron Golem, was cut up like butter by the hero and proved useless.

The hero who came this time was relatively friendly, so it turned out okay, but if a hero who's seriously trying to destroy the Dungeon Core ever comes, we'd be helpless.

The straightforward approach would be to upgrade the materials, so I looked at what materials I could exchange for DP.

… Oh, right. I also promised Rokuko a ring. Let me make it before I forget.

If I'm just making a ring, I'd have change left over even with the amount needed for a coin. It should be cheap.

So, the first thing I exchanged for was [Orichalcum (1mm diameter wire, 10cm: 10,000 DP)].

Not cheap at all! But it can't be helped—I wanted to see the real thing!

Orichalcum had a color between gold and silver, with a faint rainbow luster. It was exactly what you'd expect from a fantasy metal.

Despite being just 10 centimeters of wire, it was extremely expensive, and I couldn't bend it even with all my strength. Even with pliers, it showed no sign of yielding or breaking. What is this? Is it really a metal?

For now, I processed it with [Create Golem], but… it consumed a considerable amount of time and magic power just to shape 10 centimeters of wire into a ring. This is the first time in a while I've felt tired from magic. Even with a proper chant, it drained a huge amount of my magic power. Once I filled it with my magic power, it was actually easier to shape than iron, but how do people normally make swords out of this stuff?

I looked at the orichalcum ring again… Making this used enough DP to waste ten gold coins. How luxurious. This is a ten-million-yen ring, you know? Maybe I should have just made it out of gold.

Next, I exchanged for [Synthetic Ruby (Unprocessed Boule: 30 DP)]. Compared to the orichalcum, this was dirt cheap. And what came out was a crystal as big as a finger… What even is a boule?

I considered using natural gemstone scraps stuck together, but the synthetic ruby was cheaper and had better color. Moreover, since it's synthetic, it has fewer inclusions, making it in some ways purer than a natural ruby.

Jewelers would probably consider it heresy, but since I'm going to knead it with [Create Golem] anyway, it doesn't matter if it's natural or synthetic… Oh, this is really easy to work with. My magic power just sticks to it perfectly.

So I wrapped the orichalcum ring in the ruby… I have a lot of ruby left over. Maybe I'll make a hair ornament?

Anyway, a ruby ring with embedded orichalcum was complete. The orichalcum sparkled within the beautiful, transparent red. The design was simple, but it would suit Rokuko.

Now I'll just make a suitable box and put it in there… Giving this to her is going to be a bit embarrassing.

With the ring done, let me think about powering up the dungeon again.

After actually touching the orichalcum, I thought—if I could make an orichalcum golem with its entire body made of orichalcum, it would definitely be the strongest.

If I ignored the DP cost, that is. A tiny bit of wire was 10,000 DP, so the amount needed for one golem would be ridiculous. And then there's the question of how much magic power it would take.

… How do people normally process orichalcum?