I’m done with the gacha, but there’s no sign that the girls are coming back, so I thoroughly take apart the goblins’ equipment. I’d need special equipment if I only had Magic Iron Processing, but with Magic Stone Control, I can draw energy from minuscule and small magic stones to process the ore used in the equipment into ingots.
And so, the pile of equipment I got gets turned into ingots through magic stones one after the other, and I end up with hundreds of kilos worth of ingots. I started this for Enki, but the iron sand Enki uses isn’t disposable. This is just going to sit here.
I could sell it, but it’d be bad if I was asked where I got it… Well, I think an S rank adventurer is entitled to keep secrets, but still…
Then they finally come back, with Kasumi. Kasumi’s face is red, and she won’t look me in the eye. What, did they make her talk about personal stuff?
Especially Aira.
“Welcome back. I’m done here.”
“Good job Shouta, I will prepare dinner right away.”
“Thanks.”
There’s nothing more to do, so I guess it’s time to relax.
I use Iris as a pillow, and as I look at everyone in a daze, Kasumi comes over to me.
“Big brother, those two are really good. I was going to help, but I just ended up getting in the way.”
“Ah, Maki and Aira? I’m always entranced by how they move when cooking. I don’t think I could do that no matter how high my Dexterity gets.”
“Yes… Big brother, it really is nice to have a girl’s cooking, right?”
“Well, I guess I do want to have food made by the girls I love… But dad used to cook for us. Does he still cook?”
“Yes. And I asked a girl in my team that’s good at cooking to do it, so I’ve never learned.”
“I see. Well, I’ve been living alone for a while. I can make the minimum, but I’m still no good. I’d just make the main dish and not think about stuff like side dishes.”
“Fufuh. I can easily imagine that. But you can cook for yourself because you used to help dad.”
“There’s that too.”
We keep chatting, and then we all have dinner together. I keep checking up on Kasumi as I listen to the others, but it really does feel like the distance between them has shrunk.
They’re all girls, so I assume they had a lot to talk about? I’m just glad they’re getting along.
After dinner, and after having a bath, Kasumi goes back to her tent, and the girls’ eyes change. Especially Aki and Maki’s. They don’t see Kasumi’s presence as a nuisance, but they’re frustrated that they can’t be as spoiled with me when she’s around.
I welcome that without a care, and the same goes for Ayane and Aira. I think they were holding back because of Kasumi.
“I mean, I’ve given up on doing it the usual way, or I guess I don’t really care, but… Are you okay with the usual when we might’ve been able to…”
“Shouta, in that case, wouldn’t going to dungeons be out of the question?”
“…I guess?”
“We’ve become tougher because we’re leveling up. We’re not that soft. Don’t worry about it.”
“I see, okay.”
“But I’m glad you worry.”
“Yes. Thanks Shouta.”
“You’re welcome. So just to be safe, holding back…”
““““Isn’t needed.””””
“…Okay.”
Looks like I’m in for a longer battle than usual.
The next morning.
I felt like I was going to be thoroughly squeezed, but I actually came out victorious. It’s probably thanks to Hand of Sorcery II. That’s not why I got it, but I had to use it in that overwhelming four against one situation.
It couldn’t be helped.
After breakfast, we look down at the three areas of the fifth floor from the entrance.
Enril scouted the goblin area during breakfast, so we have pretty much all the information we need. The goblin area is a vast grassy field, and I see over a thousand red dots on the map.
Deeper in that area, there are three settlements like on the fourth floor, but something clearly different sits there. They clearly look different from the small fry around it, and they’re marked as a big red circle.
According to Enki and the others keeping watch, no one has come to this area today, so no one spawned them, and these rare monsters have been there for close to half a day. It’s clearly not normal.
I can only think of one thing.
“Aki, Maki. Do rare monsters spawn here without us having to do anything?”
“Yes!”
“It’s more like the conditions are unclear. They just appear before we know it. Also, once they spawn, they stay until they’re defeated.”
“Eh…”
Almost all the rare monsters I’ve fought spawn after a hundred regular monsters are defeated if one’s Luck is high enough, but apparently here it’s different. I’ve never seen a case like this.
I won’t know the monsters’ name until I cast True Appraisal, since it doesn’t appear on the map. I can’t use True Appraisal through Vision Sharing, so they show up as ??? on the map. It seems all three are the same, and I feel like they’re close to a Commander Goblin. If those are rare I, will rare II appear if I take them down? Do I need to take the three down at the same time? How long do they take to respawn?
I have a lot of questions, so I’ll have to go for it!
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