Beginning the Experiments

Even though I had coolly struck a pose and told Niku "Leave the rest to me," I just ended up getting eaten like normal.

As her Goshujin-sama, this doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

"… What should I do about this～"

I was lost in thought while eating onigiri in the dining hall. It was the lunch Kinue-san made. When I bit into the white rice, the filling inside was tamagoyaki. What kind of filling is that? Not that I dislike it though.

Anyway, I've thought of several ways to defeat that wolf… Rin. But I have no idea whether any of them would actually work. I want to probe a bit more first. Alright, let's start experimenting.

Also, with Rin being here, our DP income has shot up dramatically, so right now I'm leaning toward "I'd like to make it a comrade if possible." Though having it stick around too long is unsettling in its own way and I can't sleep peacefully… yeah, whether I defeat it or make it a comrade, I want to settle this soon.

… That thing hasn't actually gone after the Dungeon Core (though it's a Dummy) so far. If only I could get it to guarantee it won't touch it.

Ever since Rin arrived, the real Core has been in Rokuko's room, and it's pretty nerve-wracking. Like, it would be bad if a burglar broke in. Well, I don't think that'll happen, but still.

Hmm, maybe I should strengthen the security features in Rokuko's room.

While I was idly thinking about such things, Gozoh walked into the dining hall.

"Oh, Kehma."

"Hm? Ah, Gozoh. Long time no see. Haven't seen you around lately."

"I've been hanging out at the bar! … Anyway, there was an investigation request that came up, and I was thinking of taking it. What do you say, want to take it together?"

"That request was put out by the village, right? I'm the village chief, you know."

Besides, what would they do if something happened to the village chief? Well, the bar master a.k.a. deputy village chief would officially become village chief, so I guess it wouldn't matter.

"There's no rule saying you can't accept a request you put out yourself. The Guild recognizes it as a legitimate request, and an adventurer accepts it. That's all there is to it."

Is that really okay? As long as you pay, you could keep completing your own requests as much as you want, and your rank would go up fast… This is probably a method that noble children use to raise their ranks. Apparently you can get a peerage if your rank is high enough.

"At most, you can only get up to C-Rank that way though. The Guild checks whether the requests are appropriate too, so overly easy ones won't count for much. You need a recommendation for B-Rank and above, and it's meaningless if you can't pass the examination anyway."

"Is that how it works… But you can still get to C-Rank, huh."

"For that level, the requests would be things like acquiring rare items, so the handling fees alone would cost you a fortune."

But, C-Rank, huh.

Right now I'm treated as C-Rank only for this specific dungeon, but if I could buy the right to be C-Rank wherever I go… depending on the price, it might be worth doing. Ah, but there's supposedly a written exam for anything above C. Though apparently people who are exceptionally strong can get exempted.

"So, what's the request about?"

"Yeah, the investigation request is to check whether there's a threatening monster on the second and third floors of [Cave of Desires]."

There isn't, but I can't exactly say that.

"Investigate whether there's a threatening monster. How do you go about searching for that?"

"Brute force with numbers. Honestly, nothing's been spotted for the past few days, so the threat is thought to have gone back deeper inside. By the way, this also doubles as a transition phase investigation, so if you don't participate in this, you'll be forced to do lookout duty instead."

"Got it, I'll participate. Can Ni… can Black and Ichika come along too?"

Knowing there's nothing there and still standing watch would be excruciating. Plus it's cold this time of year.

Working is a huge pain, but…

"Yeah. Me and Roppu are joining this one too, so let's have a good time. Though we'll be splitting up into separate parties inside the labyrinth."

"It would be reassuring if Wataru were here too."

… If I could pit Wataru against Rin, things might work out. That guy's a hero, after all. He'd win in terms of DP. I wonder if he can freely use all sorts of magic. Like Thunderstorm or something.

"So, what were you worried about?"

Gozoh sat down next to me and took a swig from his flask. It was a high-performance dungeon-made flask with heat insulation. Apparently it had hot sake inside.

"Ah, a bit about… jobs, I guess you'd call it. What do you think about being a Tamer?"

"A Tamer, huh? That's the one where you tame monsters, right? First you need to be able to communicate with monsters though. You thinking of switching?"

"Switching… well, no, but yeah, I was thinking it might be an option."

"Learning monster languages is tough, you know. Even buying the skill for one weak monster's language costs ten gold coins… ah, right. That much is pocket change for you, Kehma. Then it should be fine."

Wait, there are skills for monster languages? I hadn't checked.

I secretly checked without letting Gozoh notice… hmm, it's not there. Maybe there's some kind of unlock condition?

"So like, what about slimes?"

"Slimes? Ah, those are strong. Physical attacks don't work on 'em. But they're weak to magic."

"Huh. Also, I heard that it's normal to train slimes into taking the shape of a wolf."

"That's right. Some people also keep 'em in tubes. Makes 'em convenient to carry."

"Huh… So what if you put a small slime in a tube-shaped sword hilt and had it use magic? Wouldn't that basically be a magic sword?"

"Hahaha, come on, as if that could make a magic… hm? Wait, could it? Huh?! H-hold on, I need to go talk to Kantra about this!"

With that, Gozoh rushed out of the dining hall, leaving his flask on the table.

Huh, feels like I accidentally sparked some kind of technological breakthrough. Well, the more magic swords that can be made, the better.

For now, let me tell Niku and Ichika about the request too.

… And just to be safe, I should probably check in with the Guild myself about participating. Gozoh forgot his alcohol, so he clearly wasn't thinking straight.

And so, naturally there was no threatening monster on the second and third floors, and with the map the Guild provided, the request was wrapped up without a hitch.

However, to think they'd mapped it out so accurately… which walls move and which don't had been almost completely figured out. It's good that the request was easy to complete, but I might need to redo the labyrinth area's layout. Maybe I'll swap some of the walls and Wall Golems around.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

With that bit of quiet progress on the village side, let's get back to the dungeon side.

Since Rin said "I thought you'd taste unusual" during our last exchange, maybe I should try flavoring the golem a bit.

So I made the next haniwa golem with magma inside. It was gurgling away in there. Let's feed this to Rin.

Touching the magma directly looked like it would turn my hand to charcoal, so I had the golem fill a hollow I'd made inside its body, then carefully sealed the opening shut without touching any magma myself.

"Hey, Rin. It's mealtime."

"Kuaaah! So you, were alive, after all, Kehma!"

Right as Rin was waking up, I sent in the magma-filled Messenger Golem.

"Now then, eat me."

"… Kehma, are you, okay in, the head? Normally, nobody wants, to be, eaten."

Just eat me already. The magma's going to cool down.

"Aren't you hungry? You are, right? Besides, you already know I won't die even if you eat me."

"Well, yeah, then, I'll eat you, in one bite, but… Kehma, you don't, taste good."

"I figured you'd say that, so I changed the flavor today. Come on, go ahead!"

"F-fine. I'll eat, you then… Bon appetit!"

Chomp. I was eaten in one bite. I watched for its reaction through the monitor, but there didn't seem to be any particular damage.

… So magma isn't a weakness, huh? One guess down. Or maybe the amount just wasn't enough?

Well, whatever. I still have plenty of candidates left.

Next up is sulfuric acid, then a strong alkaline solution, then sleeping drugs and so on. I'll keep looking for something this thing can't eat, or something that has an effect on it. Whether it becomes a comrade or stays an enemy, knowing its weaknesses won't go to waste.