<264 - Ingredient Gathering Dungeon>
If Oknodie snuck out due to his aversion to facing the powers of faith during finals, then Duke Andersen was in the same boat.
“Is Andersen tired of holy power?”
“After experiencing the pain of breaking bones twice a week, you’d wish to learn holy power out of sheer stubbornness.”
“But you were too much with the stalking!”
“Sorry.”
“You might accidentally kill someone. Please make some noise and follow me properly next time!”
‘Is that the real issue!?’
A moment of absurdity passed.
Duke Andersen felt strangely nostalgic.
Most noble boys have a foolish childhood phase.
They sneak away to hide in the garden or embark on small adventures in an attempt to expand their own world, evading the strict gaze of butlers, knights, maids, and attendants.
Andersen had such times too.
After being caught by the head of the family, he was banned from functional training for not being noble enough, but it felt surprisingly satisfying to realize he was still skilled at using [Chase] and [Tame] after a long time.
Receiving compliments from nobles nearby about his grades was nothing compared to the praise from Oknodie about his stalking skills, which felt far more intimidating.
It was like returning to childhood!
“So, does being acknowledged mean I can join whatever you’re planning?”
“I’m thinking… Recently, a friend of mine got hurt badly while playing with others.”
“Don’t worry. I’m tougher and stronger than your friends.”
“That’s right? At least among male characters, I’m a solid 4-tier class. Being in the top 40 out of thousands is quite an achievement.”
“?”
As usual, Oknodie spoke stories that others likely wouldn’t understand, but he was aware of the acceptance.
“So what are we doing now?”
“Treasure hunting!”
“Treasure hunting…?”
“You know professors and instructors concentrate their manpower to monitor the church personnel during the [Religious Day] weekly event, right?”
“I noticed something similar. Classes were openly canceled, and we were left with ‘free time.’”
“The security around the academy is weakest during this time in the first semester. So, while it’s easy to breach…”
“You’re planning to steal treasures?”
“We’re going to steal monsters!”
“…Monsters? Not treasures?”
That was a rather bizarre idea.
But upon hearing it, there was some reasoning behind it.
“No matter how much manpower they gather, they wouldn’t be careless guarding treasures. Such places always have top-notch security. Meanwhile, for monsters, if they don’t want to die, they just need to be careful, so this is actually the best time for infiltration!”
While storage surveillance would use dedicated personnel, the duty of monitoring the monster pens was usually left to just a few instructors apart from the caregivers who entered regularly.
If treasures went missing, it would be a huge problem. But monsters disappearing? That was a common occurrence at the academy.
“Your plan is to sneak into the monster pens while the academy doesn’t notice, kill all the monsters, and rake in tons of functional experience points? Not bad!”
“Hieeek! What kind of brutal statement is that? I wouldn’t do such an inefficient and horrific task! I’d get caught if I did something that rough!”
“…So, then why do you want to go into the monster pens?”
Oknodie spoke as if outlining an extremely reasonable argument.
“The cafeteria menu hardly changes. My collection of monster encyclopedia entries has been slow to grow. So, I’m going to gather ingredients myself this time!”
Looking closely, Oknodie and the maid had large packs with tools poking out from them.
“…Gathering tools?”
“Yup. We’re going to gather cooking ingredients from the monsters!”
Seeing Oknodie lifting a milking machine while wearing white gloves, Andersen couldn’t shake off the feeling of regret for coming along.
“As you know, now that I’ve heard Oknodie’s plan, Duke Andersen has only two choices left.”
“What happens if I don’t join?”
“You’ll end up wasting time locked away for a week without anyone knowing where you are.”
Upon the maid’s blunt warning, Andersen reluctantly joined Oknodie’s [Chaotic Monster Cooking Ingredient Gathering Operation (Beginner)].
*
The Gift Academy has various daily quest dungeons available every day of the week.
Related to point mining are the Adventure Department’s [Professor Bronze's Underground Treasure Steps],
and for ingredient gathering, there’s the Production Department’s [Professor Gordon's Monster Breeding Ground].
This breeding ground happens to be the special facility we are about to secretly invade, taking advantage of the decreased number of professors and instructors during the Religious Day.
“Now, let’s steal everything!”
“Are we declaring war as we charge in? With that ridiculously big hat, we’re bound to get caught. Don’t you think we should be a bit more stealthy?”
“Eh, those are worries for beginners. Masters have no problem going in openly, right?”
While saying that, Oknodie boldly walked through the entrance of the monster breeding ground without a care.
What about the lock on the door?
Before Andersen could even ask, Oknodie pulled out a hairpin and clicked it open in just 3 seconds.
*
‘That was fast…’
Truly, a master of rogues.
But this was the monster breeding ground.
Even if a thief breaks into a rich person’s home, they would have to deal with guard dogs. In this case, they were facing monsters.
A rational thief would never step inside, and even if they did, they might find themselves killed.
Entering the monster breeding ground without a caretaker present seemed like the dumbest way to offer oneself as prey!
“Caw-caw-caw!”
“Gak-kak-kak!”
Sure enough, instead of the human caregivers, murder cats protecting the monsters bared their teeth and claws.
“Ah, leave this to me. Cats don’t like being touched on their bellies.”
The Cat Beastfolk (not really) Maid April confidently stepped forward to take the lead.
Andersen watched with keen interest.
How would a cat human deal with actual cats?
“Here, watch this.”
“Meow?”
“Good job.”
Using a laser pointer she pulled from her pocket, April diverted the attention of the cats to the opposite side.
Then, while the monsters were startled, she delivered a powerful punch to the midsection of the attacking murder cats, sending them flying.
“Did you just kick it!?”
“Of course, it’s only natural to exploit the weak points that they don’t like being touched.”
“While that’s true… can a Cat Beastfolk kick a cat?”
“Huh? So are werewolves going to treat the primitive walking wolves as pets? They’re an inferior breed; they can be treated casually.”
“What a mess! This guy’s personality is… should I call it very ‘foundation-like’?”
Technically, it was a personality she learned from reading [Let’s Learn the 99 Traits of Cat Beastfolk], but April kept her mouth shut out of laziness to explain.
“Well done, April!”
“Thank you, Oknodie.”
“Then shall we split up into three?”
“Are we gathering separately!? That’s dangerous.”
“Ugh. Andersen, you’re in the upper class yet you still talk scared like a beginner? But then again, Duke, you’re not exactly known for having much of an impact around campus, and you’re famous for choosing the wrong classes…”
Feeling the disappointment emanating from Oknodie’s turned away face, Andersen reluctantly extended his hand.
“Fine. I’ll just take care of one on my own. What should I gather first?”
“Then could you shear the fur of a Bomb Sheep?”
“Bomb Sheep? What kind of monster is that?”
“Oh, you first-years wouldn’t know.”
Oknodie chuckled casually as he handed over a gathering dagger.
“There’s a color fur that you mustn’t touch. If you do, a timer ticks down and when it hits zero, they shoot out corresponding colored magic from their mouths. There’s a decent amount of mana in the white fur too, so if you squeeze it into cooking oil, it’s great for health!”
“Are you really planning to assign such a terrifying creature to a beginner!? Give me something else!”
“Tsk. You’re picky. Then I’ll ask April to handle the Bomb Sheep!”
April received a gathering dagger and sack for the fur, trembling in fear.
As she glared reproachfully at herself while stepping into the Bomb Sheep’s enclosure, Duke Andersen felt his noble status seriously compromised.
“Next, we’ll gather materials that are slightly more important for cooking, but the Bomb Sheep can be quite tricky, so I’ll choose an easier option.”
“No, I’ll take the difficult one.”
“Really?”
“The Bomb Sheep was just unnecessarily troublesome. It’s not that I’m afraid of those sheep that shoot magic out of their mouths. It’s… I… have a wool allergy!”
“Ah, I see.”
“It’s true. Because of my wool allergy, I never wear wool clothes even in winter.”
“That’s possible. Then please take this.”
Oknodie pulled out a milking machine the size of himself and something resembling a restraint device from his pocket.
“What’s this?”
“Hehe. I bribed a staff member to smuggle this in for me. It’s a secret from everyone else, okay?”
“No, not the backpack. Why is the milking machine so huge? What do you plan to milk with it?”
It was almost questionable if it could even milk a cow, given its size.
“Oh, that’s no problem. We’re in a monster breeding ground. Of course, we’re milking a Minotaur and not a regular cow, so I brought something big.”
“A Min… what? A muscle-bound, 3-meter tall bipedal monster?”
“First off, it should at least be leashed so you can avoid headbutts, smacks, and kicks. Then you pin its torso down with this restraint and just milk away with all your might!”
Totally insane.
That was way easier with the Bomb Sheep.
It’s still not too late now.
He should ask to switch!
Just as Duke Andersen reached out to grab April, he suddenly caught sight of her moving away from the Bomb Sheep pen at a pace three times faster than before.
