abcnovels
Chapter 322
Chapter 322
Chapter 322
(322) Conquering Minerva-sama’s dungeon
Translator: Tseirp
And it was Haru’s turn to shine now .
“Haru, I leave it to you . ”
“Yes . ”
Entry and exit of this dungeon were restricted but this was still an intermediate dungeon that soldiers, adventurers, and mercenaries visit to conquer .
For that reason, the smell of humans still lingered .
Among the countless smells, Haru was heading toward the location where the most number of human smells remained .
If people repeatedly visit this dungeon, they would probably choose the shortest route .
And we were not wrong .
After a couple battles, we reached the seventh floor in just 30 minutes .
“Master ― it’s faint but the scent continues beyond that wall . ”
“Illusionary wall huh . ”
In the past, I came across an illusionary wall when I was saving Norn-san .
I slipped through it .
“Let’s take a look around . ”
There was no reaction from beyond the wall even after I used Presence Detection .
I tossed a pebble I had inside my bag for some reason .
The pebble slipped right through the wall .
And then, I heard it fall onto the ground .
It seemed safe – – but I still looked out for traps .
“Master, I’ll take the lead . ”
“No, I’ll go . Wait here . ”
I replied and carefully entered .
There was no danger inside the room . Only directly inside the room though .
“ … It’s okay, Haru, Carol, come in . ”
I called Haru and Carol over .
Then, I showed them what I saw .
A hole that extended downward .
It would probably be a shortcut if we used that hole .
But I could not see the bottom of the whole .
“I guess I’ll test it out – – Ice!”
I made a bed of ice to seal the hole . After standing above the hole, I activated Hawk Eye and took a look directly below .
The hole extended downward for a long distance but I was at a loss for words at what I saw at the base .
There were corpses impaled on metal spikes .
I guess this hole is not the way … or not, there’s a path that extended to the side .
“All right, it connects!”
I said and asked Haru and Carol .
“There’s a shortcut after falling straight down into the hole but what’re your opinions? Do you two trust me?”
The two girls didn’t answer my question .
But I could tell from their expressions .
“I guess I didn’t have to ask . Haru, follow me!”
“Yes!”
I carried Carol on my back and cracked the ice below my feet with White Wolf Fang .
I entrusted my body to gravity and fell .
Haru and I will be fine even if we continued falling like this but Carol would probably not be .
“Tidal Wave . ”
I released a large volume of water directly below us .
The water I released reached the bottom in an instant – – and we plunged into it almost at the same time .
We didn’t fight against the water and let it channel us to the side path .
After we entered the side path, the magical power used to create the water was absorbed by the dungeon and it disappeared .
I asked after lowering Carol .
“Haru, Carol, are you all right?”
When I turned back, I saw the two of them with drenched clothes that had turned semi-transparent .
“Ah, my bad! Dry – – oops, it might be dangerous to use on humans as it will be bad if it gives you dry skin . Here, use a towel . ”
I passed Haru and Carol the towels I retrieved from my item bag .
“Thank you very much . I’ll use Dry on our clothes . ”
Haru replied and gradually took off her clothes .
“Haru, what are you – – “
“It’s to use Dry on our clothes after we take them off . Thankfully, Master’s spell has swept away the monsters around this area . ”
Ye-yeah . That seemed to be the case .
I heard level up messages when I was swimming .
“Ah, Haru-san . Help with Carol’s clothes next . ”
Carol took off her clothes too .
… Why am I being nervous for?
Right, thinking about it, Haru, Carol and I are in that relationship and I have seen their naked bodies countless times . There was nothing to be ashamed of .
I thought to myself as I glanced at Haru and Carol’s naked bodies but that was when our eyes met .
“We can’t dry our clothes before drying master’s clothes . ”
“It would be bad if master catches a cold . ”
I knew it was bad news when the two of them drew closer while naked .
“Wa-wait . I just entered cold water so it shrunk ― Hey, Haru-san ― Carol-san ― . ”
And so a small accident happened ― it was really a small accident . I’d rather they don’t take off a man’s clothes after he entered cold water ― and we had apparently reached the lowest floor of the dungeon .
We were in front of the boss room . The door to the boss room was open and we could see the interior .
I could sense the presence of a monster but there was only a thin tree inside, without any visible enemy .
“Are you ready?”
“”Yes . ””
Haru and Carol replied in sync and we stepped forward together .
The door to the boss room closed .
We could no longer escape . Well, we don’t intend to anyway .
” ― I thought it was a plant monster but I guess I was wrong . ”
According to Plant Appraisal, that tree was called a Gourd Tree .
It was a plant that was present on Earth as well that bears gourd fruits .
However, there were no gourd fruits now .
But as I had that thought .
A large gourd suddenly swelled from the Gourd Tree .
The way it swelled was abnormal .
“Enemy presence, it’s that!”
It seemed that this monster parasitizes trees .
” ― !”
The mimic gourd fruit exploded . At the same time, the seeds within it scattered .
“Ice!”
I created an ice wall in front of us and protected our bodies from the seeds .
Just what kind of boss was this, suddenly blowing itself up .
That said, that was dangerous . It was strong enough to cause cracks on my ice wall . It would have probably hurt if I got hit by it squarely .
“Wait ― eh!?”
The enemy presence suddenly increased!?
I could immediately tell the reason .
The seeds had instantly turned into the shape of gourds .
All the seeds that were scattered by the explosion .
That’s strange! Gourds are formed by budding, the seeds don’t directly turn into fruits .
By any chance would all the gourds explode again?
“Master!”
“Guh, this is the most troublesome to date . ”
If the numbers just keep growing, how could we deal with it?
Was my first action wrong?
Who would be able to clear such a boss?
“It’s strange, Ichino-sama!”
“What is!”
“From what Carol heard, the boss of this dungeon is a large snake . There isn’t such a monster . ”
“Ha!? … Maybe . ”
“Yes, maybe this dungeon has two kinds of bosses . ”
Because we used the shortcut, we arrived at the other boss room . So that’s the reason .
“All right, slash!”
I’ll attack before it explodes!
I used Slash on the gourd .
It hit ― a small explosion unlike before happened and its seeds scattered .
I guess I can’t break them either!
I couldn’t imagine Carol’s Charm working on a plant opponent either .
The other gourds would explode at this rate .
Should I burn them? I felt that burning them might cause an even larger explosion but I guess I’ll try .
“Ichino-sama! Look at this . ”
Carol pointed at the ice wall .
The cracked ice wall .
What about it?
“The seeds in the ice wall didn’t become fruits . ”
“Now that you mention it ―”
I looked around .
It wasn’t just the seeds embedded in ice . The seeds that fell near the ice wall did not become gourds .
The seeds need a certain temperature to turn into fruits .
Their weakness was ice .
“I don’t really get it but I guess it’s time for Ice Magic! Ice Rain . ”
I excluded our surroundings and caused ice rain to fall all around us ― the surrounding temperature dropped .
― Co-cold .
But the effect was apparent .
The gourds that had swelled and were about to burst had all stopped moving .
It looked like the explosions have stopped .
But the door to the Goddess room didn’t open .
(What does this mean? But the frozen gourds no longer give off enemy presence ―)
I used Presence Detection .
Other enemies ― Hn?
There was one presence .
What? From the Gourd Tree?josei
“There!”
Haru released a Slash .
A tree branch was sliced off ― and a monkey with a gourd on its back fell to the ground .
So even monkeys can fall from trees …
The monkey was carrying a golden gourd on its back .
No, the monkey and golden gourd was a single monster .
“It seems that you are the boss ― you made me do quite some work! Slash!”
The Slash I released cut the monkey and the gourd in half .
The large tree and gourds in the boss room disappeared while the golden gourd on the monkey’s back turned into a drop item along with a magic stone .
I leveled up as well .
Leaving that aside, a monkey and a golden gourd huh?
That sounds like a combination I heard about somewhere .
I’ll check my log later regarding my level and focus on checking the requested item first .
The golden gourd didn’t mean that it was made of gold .
It seemed to be a plant that shined golden .
“I hope this golden gourd doesn’t explode as well?”
There was a lid on the gourd with the words ‘Golden Wine’ written on it .
Taking off the lid, I smelled the stink of alcohol .
“Ichinojo-sama . This is the drop item of this dungeon’s boss but will it be all right? It is a different boss from expected . ”
“It’s a request to display our ability anyway . I guess it should be fine? This magic stone is a lot larger compared to other small fry monsters so it will do and can serve as proof that we defeated a boss . More importantly, let’s proceed . ”
I said and stepped toward the Goddess Statue .
Minerva-sama’s Goddess Statue was enshrined there .
And there was a door separate from the door we entered by .
(I’m bad with Minerva-sama . )
The other time I met her with Miri, she tried to kill herself every time she spoke .
Well, according to Miri, she won’t actually kill herself so it won’t be a problem . In fact, just because I pray here doesn’t mean that I would be transported to the Goddess-sama space as always .
“All right, let’s pray . ”
I said and the three of us prayed together .