Volume 9 Chapter 3 PaRT 6
With all the members of my Party attacking and me repeatedly hitting the Roll Troll with 「Rushes」, we finally managed to slaughter it.
It looks like Sherry’s spear delivered the final blow this time, because once her strike pierced its side, the Roll Troll fell to the ground and disappeared.
「From now on, let’s split into two groups to beat the monster and the Floor Boss. Roxanne and Miria will be in charge of keeping the Boss occupied, so Vesta, can I ask you to be the vanguard for the other group?」
「Certainly. I’ll be fine.」
I instruct Vesta, and she gives me an affirmative nod. Even though it is embarrassing to tell them the reason behind it, if I get in a pinch, I will just look pathetic, so I should prioritize our safety above all else once more.
When the Roll Troll turned into smoke and disappeared, a whitish clump of something was left behind by it.
It is iron. Is iron the Drop Item left by Roll Troll?
「Thank you, Miria.」
「Yes, desu. 」
「If I’m not wrong, does the iron become raw material for iron equipment?”
「That’s right, but I can’t make use of it yet. It usually takes ten years of training for a Master Smith to learn how to stack Iron in order to make iron equipment out of it.」
While Miria hands me the iron, I hear the explanation from Sherry.
It is bothersome that a Master Smith is supposed to make equipment in order, and that it usually takes them so long to master every single step. Apparently they can’t make a jump in the order of the creation of equipment, even if that would be convenient for me right now.
But assuming that she would be able to do it, is it possible to create any piece of equipment with only one piece of iron? For the time being, I will keep it in the storeroom since she will use it eventually.
Since they need ten years of training, it is probably related to their level. But the level should be no problem in her case.
Now I can only hope that this piece of iron won’t rust while waiting for Sherry to use it.
「This is iron. I-R-O-N.」
「Iron, desu.」
I teach Miria the name of the item and then proceed to the twentieth floor. Since that word is not related to fish, she will probably forget its meaning by tomorrow. I wish there was a fish with iron scales. Then she would have remembered it for sure. But on the other hand, such a fish would probably be inedible… but since fish have iron in their blood, then technically having iron in their scales shouldn’t be a problem, right?
「The monster native to the twentieth floor of Quartar’s Labyrinth is a Rub Shrub.」
「Rub Shrub, huh? Let’s go to the seventeenth floor after fighting it once. Roxanne, can you please guide us to a place with Rub Shrubs?」
「Understood. This way then.」 Under Roxanne’s guidance, we fought just one group of Rub Shrubs Lv.20. After verifying their strength, we move to the seventeenth floor.
After selecting Cook as my Fifth Job, we hunt Mabreams for their Drop Items.
「Miria, I am planning on making Whole Fish fry tomorrow. What do you think?」
「Yes, desu!」
A positive reply from her as usual, and there won’t be any problem in making mayonnaise since we have Vesta now.
Sweet.
After obtaining two Whole Fishes, we move back to the twentieth floor. We explore it until evening and then return to Quratar.
「Master, there is a message from Luke. He seems to have successfully bid for Coral Skill Crystal.」
When we return home, there was a message from Luke the Broker waiting for us. Roxanne reads it to me after picking it up.
「Coral Skill Crystal, you say? Sherry, what kind of Skill does Coral Skill Crystal give?」
「If it is attached to a weapon, it gives「Petrifaction」 Skill, and If it is attached to a piece of armor, it gives 「Petrifaction Defense」 Skill. Also, the effect seems to get enhanced if fused together with a Kobold Skill Crystal.」
Petrifaction? Is that not a very useful Skill to have? It looks interesting, so maybe we should give it a chance?
「Will my magic attacks inflict petrifaction if I attach it to my wand?」
「I have never heard about that, so I’m afraid that it might be impossible.」
「Well, let’s see. I will go pick it up tomorrow. For now, Vesta, can you make hamburger steak like the one we made the other day?」
「Certainly.」
I hand pork and meat to Vesta so that she could mix them together.
「Since Vesta will be making the hamburger steak, give me a hand here, Miria.」 「Yes, desu.」
And so, I ask Miria to make mayonnaise with me, except not really, because I will be dividing the work between all Party Members, with Roxanne and Sherry whipping the eggs in their spare time.
The burden of making it is that much lesser if you divide the effort between five people. When everything’s ready, I blend it too before passing it on to Vesta so that she could apply the finishing touches.
Vesta keeps blending and blending it for a while.
While Vesta is blending the mayonnaise, I make the minced pork and meat into small and round balls instead of hamburger steak from last time. I then dredge it in slime starch and fry it in oil. After frying it, I apply sweet bean paste and sour vinegar, and then deep fry it.
This time, I am trying to make Chinese style meatballs instead of hamburger steak.
The ingredients are almost the same as last time, but the taste may be different because of the sauce that is different.
Covered in sweet red bean paste, the meat crumbles in your mouth, and it is even better since it is bite-sized.
「This… this is really delicious and tender. As expected of Master.」
「It tastes different even though it was made the same way as last time. This is really delicious!」
「Amazing, desu!」
「This food is incredibly tasty!」
Looks like it is popular with the four of them yet again. None of them will think of minced meat as food for poor people anymore.
The next day, I went to the Merchants Guild to get the Skill Crystal from Luke after eating breakfast.
I asked Roxanne and others to do laundry and cleaning in the meantime, and then I headed there alone as usual. I call for Luke and go to the meeting room to buy the Coral Skill Crystal.
「I was thinking of using this one with a Kobold Skill Crystal. Can you bid for one on my behalf?」
While receiving the card, I place another order.
「But you bought a Kobold Skill Crystal only recently.」
「It is convenient for me to always have a spare on me at all times.」
Currently, I still have one Kobold Skill Crystal remaining, and that’s why I will have the fusion done immediately upon returning home. If I have a spare, I won’t have to wait to fuse another Skill Crystal until he successfully bids for a Kobold Skill Crystal.
That’s great. I wonder if I should ask him to obtain an entire batch of them for me next time. This way, I can use any Skill Crystals dropped from monsters pretty much immediately.
「It will be convenient, surely.」
「I think you can order as many as you want as spare because the Party that used to order it has now disappeared. As a result of that, Kobold Skill Crystal will become slightly cheaper, too.」
They were ordering quite a lot of Kobold Skill Crystals in order to make a weapon with 「MP Absorption」 Skill in it, but because I delivered them the one made by Sherry, they shouldn’t have any more need to place any similar orders in the near future.
「The figure of four thousand Nars appeared in the auction the other day after a long period of absence. If you’re willing to wait, since it is a spare, I can aim for a successful bid of forty-eight hundred to forty-nine hundred Nars, I think.」