Labyrinth Day 44.
Merino was preparing a meal when she made a mistake.
It wasn’t a huge mistake.
She accidentally dropped the food she was cooking on the floor.
“Hooey… I’m sorry…”
Merino shivered, glancing back and forth between the food on the floor and me, trying to gauge the situation.
When I didn’t do anything, she asked, “Y-you’re not going to hit me…?”
“Why would I hit you?”
“But I just made a mistake!”
“So?”
“If you do something wrong, you should be punished, right? It’s only natural!”
“That’s not natural at all.”
Boo-oop! – Gun said that if you make a small mistake, there’s no punishment. But if you make a big one, you get smacked hard.
Yumi – I wonder how much she’s been abused to be shaking like that… Poor thing. 😢
Mysticism – 😭
Boglebogle – So pitiful.
Rize Nova – It’s like a giant rock is crushing her heart.
“…That’s strange. Really strange.”
Not understanding, Merino tilted her head and continued cooking.
Time passed, and the completed dish was seasoned pork.
It was made from Pig King’s meat.
And the seasoning was made from the magma of Black Magma Slime.
After sprinkling some powdered horn on the magma and adding a few strands of fur, a spicy yet sweet seasoning was created.
Yumi – Wow. It looks like stir-fried pork. Sounds delicious.
Pururu – Hey! I want stir-fried pork too!
Mysticism – 😋
“Yay! Everyone, eat up!”
Having finished preparing the meal, Merino naturally took her share and scurried to a corner to squat down.
‘She did that yesterday too…’
The reason why Merino did this was simple.
She instinctively judged her rank to be lower than ours, so she was trying to eat in a place where she wouldn’t be noticed.
As a livestock-type being, it was impossible for her to share a meal with the higher-ups.
‘We definitely talked about eating together.’
Maybe she’s just not used to it yet.
Habits can be quite scary.
“Merino. Come over and eat with us.”
“Yay…? Ah!”
Finally recalling what she heard yesterday, Merino smiled brightly and hopped over to my side.
Oh, but she couldn’t sit right next to me.
This seat on the left of the explorer is mine. Don’t you dare take it.
On my left was Centauress.
The seat on my father’s right is mine. I cannot yield it.
On my right, Kinogine Aracne firmly held her ground.
“Hooey…”
With a downcast expression, Merino sat a bit away from me.
She ended up next to Melody Fox.
“Fox! Enjoy your meal!”
Kyuu.
“Is it tasty?”
Kyuu.
Pururu – You’re asking if it’s tasty before she even takes a bite. What the hell?
“I think the leaves of Laser Leaf are the tastiest. I almost fainted after eating them yesterday.”
Kyuu.
“Oh, and did you know? I’m really smart.”
…Kyuu?
“Originally, our species is kind of dumb. But I stole a thick book and learned to read on my own, gathering various knowledge and became smart! Isn’t that amazing?”
Kyuuu…
“If you try hard enough, Fox, you can become smart like me.”
….
Rize Nova – Merino is surprisingly talkative.
Mysticism – But it looks like Melody Fox is annoyed by her.
Pururu – She’s looking at you like, “Shut up already.”
Maybe it’s because she was excited to be eating with different species.
Merino kept talking to Melody Fox, who sat on her left.
There was a Snake Head on her right, but…
Roro-rooo! Cheee!
“Yay….”
He was enthusiastically downing the meat.
For some reason, his scary appearance made it so Merino never spoke to him.
I saved some meat to bring to the Desert Rest Area before starting my meal.
I didn’t pack anything for the Dog Spider group or the Jellyfish group.
There were just too many of them, so it was better to let them find food themselves.
I also packed some for the assistants.
Curry stones and seasoned pork.
After placing these two items into a plastic container that Ha Yumi provided, I immediately used a Reverse Support Ticket to send them to the five assistants.
Normally, a Reverse Support Ticket can only be used for assistants of Gold rank or higher, but thanks to Diamond rank Rize, that limitation was lifted.
One of the powers of Diamond rank allows explorers to use Reverse Support Tickets for lower-ranked assistants.
Yumi – Huh?
Mysticism – 😮
Rize Nova – Oooh! My favorite Pig King meat! Thank you so much!
Pururu – Ugh. It spilled above my head.
Pururu – Close the lid properly. -_-
Boglebogle – Thanks! I was just curious about how it tasted, so I’ll enjoy it.
Pururu – I’m just grabbing the seasoned meat that spilled on my head and devouring it. So damn good.
Mysticism – 😋😋😋😋😋
Before long, the assistants showered me with praise.
They said the meat and stones were very delicious.
I should send them something again in the future.
As long as I have spare Reverse Support Tickets.
*
Labyrinth Day 45.
Suddenly curious about how the drifters were doing, I decided to check the number of drifters.
Drifter Count: 30
Surprisingly, a lot have survived.
It seems like the new drifters that came in are either quite strong or lucky enough not to encounter any monsters.
‘…Since tomorrow is a rest day for exploration, should I try using the drifter tracker?’
Originally, I didn’t intend to worry about drifters.
I had no plans to go find them.
However, my thoughts have slightly changed now.
Should I say I’m a little curious about what kind of people came?
Seeing unique beings like Merino made me wonder what races the other drifters are and which worlds they came from.
The assistants said they were curious about the other drifters too.
‘It feels like a waste to just leave the expensive drifter tracker I bought as Pururu said…’
Well, my mind might change again by tomorrow.
People’s feelings are like reeds swaying in the wind.
As I was fiddling with the tracker, Sooong! Sooong!, a voice of Black Magma Slime came from outside.
Another exploration team seemed to have returned.
Setting the tracker down, I went outside, and the sight of Team 5 returning from their exploration greeted me.
And under Team 5, there was a giant octopus lying there.
Pururu – What the heck is that?
Mysticism – 🤔 Did it die?
Yumi – It’s a monster I’ve never seen before? When did they catch it?
“Team 5 caught it earlier in the desert.”
Yumi – Oh, really? That’s strange. Why didn’t I see it…?
Pururu – I didn’t see it either.
Boglebogle – Me neither.
“It’s natural you didn’t see it. They caught that octopus while I wasn’t watching through Iris; they used sensory sharing instead.”
Pururu – ?
Pururu – Don’t just look for yourself. -_-
Mysticism – Right? If something fun happens, let’s watch together. 😠
Yumi – Why is there an octopus in the desert…?
Pururu – Anyway, can you tell me the danger level of that octopus?
“Danger level? Nerfed B-rank.”
Pururu – So it means S-rank. Got it, let me note that down.
I named that octopus Poison Octopus.
It was an S-Class monster that handled deadly poison, and like I mentioned, its nerfed danger level was B-rank.
Of course, it lived in the desert.
Everyone rejoice! I caught something delicious!
What the hell! I caught it!
Bastet Daong and Anubis Dragon shouted.
It was my finishing blow that took it down!
Don’t talk nonsense! It had already lost its life before your attack even landed!
The two quarreled about who caught it.
I don’t understand why they’re so frail about things like this.
These guys are supposed to be SS-class beings.
Pururu – Those bastards are two SS-Rank fighting over one S-Rank like that, so shameless.
Boglebogle – They must have no sense of morality.
Mysticism – Poor octopus.
Rize Nova – Group attacks aren’t exclusive to the weak. It’s just a strategy.
“Yay? Cooking ingredient?”
Merino, who had been resting, perked up at the sight of the octopus.
She trotted over and started inspecting it.
“It’s poisonous. I can eat it raw, but you guys won’t be able to eat it without my horn.”
Merino tore off half of one of her horns.
She ground it to powder and generously sprinkled it over the Poison Octopus corpse.
Then, she approached Bastet Daong and asked, “Bastet Daong! You said you came back from the desert, right?”
Bastet Daong. That’s right, I did go to the desert.
“Could you go back and bring some sand for me?”
No way. Too much trouble.
“Yay… I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have asked such a big favor…”
It was not beyond your place to ask. Anyone can ask. But anyone can refuse, too.
“No… As a livestock being, I should be punished for even daring to ask… I should be hit for my mistake…”
…
Maybe it was because Merino looked so pitiful.
Bastet let out a deep sigh and turned away.
Did you say you needed sand? I’ll hurry back to the desert!
“Th-Thank you!”
Just as Bastet was about to leave, Anubis, who was trimming his claws, stopped her.
Bastet. There’s no need to go.
Huh?
Anubis stepped forward toward Merino.
Did you say you needed sand? I’ll give it to you.
Anubis Dragon stretched his hand toward the ground.
Then, countless amounts of sand poured out from his palm like a waterfall.
If you need more, just say so.
“Yay! This will be enough! Thank you!”
Hmph.
With a smirk, Anubis glanced at Bastet before returning to trim his claws again.
“Now I can finally make something delicious! Everyone, get excited!”
After saying this, Merino sprinkled her horn powder on the sand.
“It got fluffy! I’m going to put the octopus legs in here.”
While Merino was combining the cooking ingredients, I discreetly formed a clump of sand and tasted it.
It didn’t have any flavor yet since she hadn’t added fur, but the texture was pleasant.
It was soft and chewy, reminiscent of bread.
Merino was energetically running around, continuing her cooking.
She was forming the sand like molding clay.
Putting in the monster’s cut octopus legs, pulling out her fur to add as seasoning.
Finally…
She started placing round grains of sand one by one over the wide spread of Black Magma Slime.
The grains of sand were sizzling as they cooked up, resembling octopus bread.
Thus, I casually decided to call this dish “Grain Octopus Bread.”
Pururu – That’s just takoyaki. Giant takoyaki.
Yumi – Wow. That looks delicious too!
Boglebogle – Gauntlet. Are you going to send some this time too?
Mysticism – 😋
Rize Nova – Since Reverse Support Tickets aren’t unlimited, I think I won’t be able to send any this time.
Mysticism – 😭
While waiting for the giant sand octopus bread to cook, I opened the notebook I bought from the wanderer merchant and continued working on the monster encyclopedia.
—
■ Poison Octopus
– Actual Danger Level: S-Class.
– Current (Nerfed) Danger Level: B-rank.
– Ability: Poison.
—
By the time I finished the monster encyclopedia.
The sand octopus bread was perfectly golden and ready to eat.
“Everyone, gather ‘round! Let’s eat together!”
We all huddled together, each holding a steaming hot grain octopus bread, and began our meal.
Thanks to Merino, today’s meal was also satisfying.
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