This and That

Five days since returning to base.

I should probably head back to Tsuia tomorrow or so.

Going to the human settlement is a huge pain, but I did say I'd show my face once a week, and there's that skewered meat promise too.

Ah, I should take the opportunity to rank up while I'm at it… If there's an [Ordinary Cave] investigation request available, I'll take that too.

Well, we don't have any DP anyway, so once preparations are done, it might be fine to just tell them "Something incredible has happened" at that point.

Now that the inn is finished, next up is working on the dungeon's interior.

Actually, I came up with ideas while I was sleeping, so it came together quickly. I made a room on the third underground floor to display this dungeon's star attraction: the [Golem Blade].

Along with this, the golems wandering the labyrinth are now equipped with "ordinary clay swords" and "ordinary stone swords." Well, they're actually Golem Blades too, but I've set them up so that when the main body (the golem) is defeated, they just become that. Honestly, they're just blunt weapons at that point.

Speaking of which, I got a bit curious and tried converting one Golem Blade into DP. I figured if it's a magic sword worth 20,000 DP, even reduced to ten percent, I should get at least 2,000 DP, right?

The result was… 10 DP.

… That's about the same as crushing one golem inside the dungeon and recycling it. Considering the iron used for the blade and other materials, the profit per sword is maybe 5 DP. It's not in the red, but this is basically side-job levels at this point… I can't accept this. There are probably other drawbacks I'm not seeing yet, too.

Oh, also, it seems monsters born from spawners won't leave the dungeon, and even when they're defeated, they don't yield any DP. Their corpses do remain though, so I won't have to worry about golem materials anymore… Iron Golem? Those are 500 DP each, so one spawner would cost 50,000 DP to make… If I could afford it, I'd never have to worry about iron again though.

Whoops, I got pretty sidetracked there.

So, about the room where the magic sword is placed. To reach it, you have to clear the first floor, navigate through the massive labyrinth on underground floors one and two, run up the stairs to the second above-ground floor to break through the Puzzle Area, descend the spiral staircase that cuts through three floors, and then search through the third underground floor to find it. That's the intended route.

Obviously, we'll be in trouble if adventurers actually make it this far. I still haven't placed a boss in the boss room on the fourth underground floor, which is currently the deepest level… I'm planning to make an awesome golem and put it there eventually, like one that does pointless combination transformations or something cool like that.

So anyway, nobody will probably reach the fourth underground floor for a while. Which means our star attraction won't get any attention.

That's why I prepared a trial room for the magic sword on the second underground floor, as advertisement.

Like free samples, or maybe like a demo version.

The magic sword is proudly stuck in a pedestal in this room, but I've installed a certain mechanism here.

When you pull the magic sword from the pedestal, all the exits become sealed.

To leave the room, you have to return the magic sword to its pedestal.

In other words, you can't take the magic sword with you. If someone somehow manages to carry it out of the room despite that, I'll honor their cleverness and let them have it. But if they try the same method again, I'll make the sword self-destruct the moment they leave the room.

By the way, wedging the door open with a stick won't work. Using pincushion traps, the corridors connected to that room get completely packed and crushed by needles extending from above, below, left, and right.

Anyone caught in the corridor at that point, well, my condolences. But needle holes click open the moment anyone approaches the magic sword, so, well, yeah, good luck escaping?

Inside the room, I've placed wooden golem-like mannequins (actually real golems without magic stones) for test cutting. It might work well as a training area too.

Fundamentally, things are the same as during the Dungeon Battle. This renovation added improvements to the Puzzle Area, the spiral staircase leading onward, two underground floors, and the trial room. Well, this should work for a while.

And by the time the renovation was finished, the day was over too.

"Ahh, I worked so hard…"

"Thank you for your hard work, Goshujin-sama."

I was having Niku give me a massage.

But not a foot-stepping massage. Why, you ask? Well, that one's too much like heaven, so it's best saved for occasional treats. Moderate restraint is very important in life. If you don't hold back, things just keep escalating until ordinary pleasures can't satisfy you anymore.

"What's this, Goshujin-sama? Yer bein' so humble. We'd let ya use our feet as much as ya want, y'know."

"I want to, believe me. But this is… Let me put it in cooking terms so Ichika can understand. Say a person with a refined palate and one without both eat 'a dish made by a second-rate chef.' One says 'Gross. This isn't even food.' The other says 'Oh, this is pretty good!' and enjoys it. Which one is happier? I think it's the latter."

"… Yeah. Even I'd rather feel like it tastes better when eatin' the same thing."

"Right, that feeling of happiness is important. Once you can't feel satisfied anymore and can't find happiness, there's nothing but misery from that point on."

"True, I'll keep that in mind. Ah, can I have a 'Cheese-Flavored Curry Bread' today?"

… Even after all that, she shows no restraint. Ichika, I mean.

"… We won't get to eat any tomorrow or the day after, right? Then it's fine. I'm lookin' forward to the tasty skewered meat too, though."

"Well, that's true, but, nnh, oh, right there, right there. That was great just now. Do that again."

"Yes, Goshujin-sama."

Niku's hands pressed into a pressure point. I let out a weird sound like "uoffu."

Since Niku can skillfully use the power assist from her golem gloves, she can massage properly even without using her feet.

My shoulders aren't even that stiff to begin with… no wait, I worked super hard today, so they're totally stiff. Completely rock solid, I tell you.

"Kehma, you're going to the human settlement again, right? Buy me a souvenir or something."

"… We can get anything they have there with DP though. Ah, speaking of which, have you used your 10,000 DP yet, Rokuko?"

"Hmm, I haven't used it yet… I'm thinking about gachapon, but I'm torn between spending some freely and doing the 1,000 DP gacha a few times, or going all-in on one 10,000 DP gacha."

"Did ya say 'Gacha'? … What's that enchantin' sound? Mind explainin' it to me?"

… Come to think of it, Ichika mentioned she racked up gambling debts on top of her food obsession, didn't she?

If we let someone like that loose on gacha, she'd probably burn through all our DP in a single day…

It's not like I said our stock can't increase. But I can't guarantee it will, either.