Episode 506 Reunion with Soonbok (3)
Rei, who went down to find food, unexpectedly reached the deepest part.
I felt a sense of joy at finally being able to finish this dungeon, but when I saw the young Mien, I became confused.
Ray sighed as he watched Mien sit quietly and start reading a book.
“Haa… There’s no way I can kill a child like this in one shot.”
Mien had no awareness of being the nucleus of the dungeon.
No, let alone the dungeon, he didn’t even know what was lurking outside the study.
‘What should I do with the lack of food in the meantime…’ as I muttered, Mien closed the book and approached me.
“Quiet in the study!”
Bring your index finger to your mouth and make a sound.
Ray apologized without even realizing it.
“sorry.”
“By the way, you talk like an adventurer when it comes to food!”
“Adventurer?”
“I saw it in a book. Are there a lot of dragons and liches out there?”
Minen looked at him with sparkling eyes.
Apparently, I saw a picture book about adventure somewhere.
Although he hadn’t seen a dragon, he had killed a lich at least once.
Wyvern is also a distant relative of dragons, so wouldn’t it be an approximate fit?
There were a lot of wyverns in the mountains of the Lessian Empire, no matter where else.
Ray nodded, and Minen smiled brightly.
“As expected! I will become an adventurer when I grow up!”
Ray’s expression became serious, like a father who heard his daughter’s plan for the future.
“Mien adventurers are hard. I have no money, no connections, and when a request comes in, I have to pay attention to the nobles. How annoying it is to keep friends with the mercenaries. Wouldn’t it be better to be a doctor or a therapist?”
Mien shook her head at Ray’s words, which were full of selfishness and overflowing with irony.
“I like adventurers! Just like the people in the book, I’ll carry a bag and roam around freely!”
Is it a reaction from being confined in the study since childhood?
Even at a young age, she longed for freedom.
I felt sorry for some reason.
I also thought that I wanted to help her achieve her dream.
“And when I grow up, I will marry the saint!”
it’s canceled
You are walking down the completely wrong path.
He would have to interrupt Mien’s dream somehow.
For some time, Myen spoke passionately about her dreams.
Perhaps it was because she had no one to talk to so far.
Unknowingly, Ray was seriously facing Mien’s story.
Conversation varies in depth depending on the attitude of the listener.
Mien grew fond of Lei, who reacted to what she said and sometimes gave her rich opinions.
After talking like that for more than two hours, they crossed their palms as if they had remembered.
“right! We talked about food earlier!”
Ray was also so immersed in the story that he forgot.
Mian jumped up from her seat.
“hang on!”
I left a word and went down the stairs to the outside of the study.
A little over thirty minutes had passed before she returned to the study.
He painstakingly drags a knapsack full of dried beef jerky or meat berries wrapped in cloth.
Ray tilted his head.
“Where did you get that?”
Mian whimpered in reply.
“Tell the black people and bring them what they need.”
I struggled up the stairs without asking for help, so Ray accepted my backpack.
As I lifted two or three backpacks with one hand, Mian smiled brightly.
“You’re stronger than you look!”
“I am a bit strong. So, if you have a hard time, ask for anything.”
Mian asked with surprised eyes at him.
“Are you okay though?”
I nodded at her question.
This child also needs to learn how to rely on others a little more.
After living with ‘black people’, it seems that the mindset that you have to do your own work has stuck.
Of course, it would be natural when he had to do his part, but Mien is still a child.
It made me sad to think that she had to carry such a heavy load from the first floor, at an age where she would depend on the adults around her and be pampered when she was having a hard time.
Mian smiled wider than any smile he had ever seen.
“Then I’ll give you that. The gift of being friends.”
It’s the first gift you give someone else in your life.
Looking at the expression of the recipient being more delighted than the recipient, my heart throbbed for some reason.
Does he have to kill this child with his own hands?
Was this dungeon built with such a harsh structure?
Afraid that Mian would find out what he was thinking, Ray immediately let go of his expression.
“thank you. This is exactly what I really needed.”
“Go back and share with Ray’s other friends.”
They smile and wave as if they know everything.
other friends
The only one who came here is himself.
Besides, he never said that he had goblin companions, so how on earth did he know about their existence?
“Other friends… how do you know?”
When he asked, Mian looked up at the ceiling, thought for a moment, and then answered as if she didn’t know.
“Umm… I don’t know either, but I can vaguely understand.”
Is it because it is the core of the dungeon?
Certainly this dungeon belongs to Mien.
Even if he knew that there were goblins around him, it wouldn’t be strange at all.
Ray nodded.
“Then I’ll come again.”
“Yes.”
With a face full of regret, he brought his index finger to his mouth.
But what can I do?
In any case, I had to go back.
It is because the lack of food is also food, and the poison from the stone chamber still remains.
If the structure of the dungeon is changed and the stone chamber is moved to the side of the dwelling, the goblins will be consumed by miasma and die.
Before that happens, all the poisons in the stone chamber must be purified.
‘There are things I want to check.’
Ray was ready to leave.
A backpack full of food was slung over his shoulder.
This amount could easily last for a week.
“Thank you, I will eat well. Other friends will be happy too.”
“Tell me if you need it again.”
After talking, I scratched my head for a while.
“…Because friends help each other.”
quickly turn your back
Seeing him burying his face in a book and desperately trying to hide his expression, it must have been obvious that his face was dyed in the color of a sword.
Isn’t there a pretty cute corner?
Ray smiled once and left the study.
* * *
Arriving at the residence, Ray unpacked his backpack.
The goblins, who had only been looking at the meat of monsters until now, looked at Ray as if they didn’t know why.
The Goblin Queen said to Ray.
“It looks a little different from what we used to eat.”
So far, he has been eating only monsters that are tough and full of the smell, but it seems awkward when he encounters high-quality meat that does not produce anything to catch.
Lightly cooking these types of meat can bring out the best flavor.
Well, to put it mildly, goblins are carnivorous monsters, so I don’t know if I need to learn them.
Ray neatly cut off a nearby rock and squeezed one of the fruits he received as food.
A sticky liquid oozes out and drips onto the rocks like oil.
I put meat on it and memorized the starting language.
“Heat.”
Uh-uh-
As heat was applied to the rock, the outside of the meat slowly began to cook.
Chiyiik-!
Ray shredded the leaves that came with the fruit with his hands.
Its appearance was similar to that of a bay leaf.
It is the leaves of the Groa tree, which can be commonly found in the market. The raw leaves are slightly bitter, but when heated with heat, they create a sweet and fragrant fragrance.
Among the books I read in Aira’s study, I had seen that it was written that this could be used as a spice, so I wouldn’t get sick if I ate it.
The unique scent of the leaves of the Groa tree and the scent of the meat intertwined and spread to the surroundings.
From the meat of the monster, only the strong scent of blood along with the stinging smell emanated.
The goblins swallowed their saliva.
It was a simple recipe that just grilled meat and added flavor, but to those who had eaten rotten corpses of monsters, it was heavenly food.
“done.”
Ray reaped the mana he had been pouring into the rock.
A savory fragrance spreads from the rocks where the heat remains.
After cutting the meat into bite-sized pieces, Ray recommended it to the Goblin Queen.
“Do you want to try it?”
Gulp-
the Goblin Queen slaughtered.
“How come even the goblin god didn’t eat it, so I dared to go first…”
Even as he said it, he didn’t know how to keep his eyes off the meat.
No matter how much their intelligence has increased, they are originally monsters.
When you see meat, you have an appetite and your body moves according to your instincts.
Although it was said that he gained a certain amount of rationality and self-control by absorbing the mana of other monsters in the dungeon, he could not completely hide the nature of the monsters.
Even though she knew no, her hand pointed at the meat.
snap-!
He picks up the still-hot meat with his fingers and puts it into his mouth.
A soft succulent spread spread in her mouth.
The sweetness that pours out with each bite and the moderately sprinkled spices add to the fragrance, leaving a lingering aftertaste.
It was to the point where I didn’t want to swallow it down my throat.
However, when he came to his senses, meat was no longer in his mouth.
“Ah…”
the Goblin Queen let out a short saliva.
“how is it?”
When Ray asked, the goblin queen answered with a hazy look, like a girl in love.
“I only grilled it a little, but it tastes like this… I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of eating this for the rest of my life…
”
I didn’t forget to beg with words.
At his words, from the inside of the Goblin Queen, ‘Outside might be better than here.’ changed to a degree.
Ray also shared the meat with the other goblins.
However, the order of distribution is the goblin knights she appointed, starting with the queen. And then they were divided into goblins and baby goblins in that order.
This is to clarify the hierarchical relationship.
If this is not done, there is a risk that the goblin knights will put the queen under their control, or something like that.
The most important order to a group of monsters is hierarchy.
‘Because if I don’t catch it right now, it could go outside and go wrong.’
There are many monsters outside the dungeon as well.
Compared to the goblins outside, they were too strong.
That’s why I was worried that I might be swayed by force and lose order.
If you do this repeatedly for several days, they will know where you are.
If you don’t know then, you can’t help it.
I have no choice but to rule it with a hawk.
