Chapter 72.1

72 Part 1

Let’s be an Adventurer! ~Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board~ 72

Let’s Handle The Nakasatsunai Dungeon Request! – 1

“A request?”

“Yeah. I want you to go to Nakasatsunai Dungeon to get some hot stones for me.”

Haruki tilted his head to the side.

“But you could ask a local adventurer to do that. Why are you asking me?”

“These hot stones can be primarily mined on the intermediate floors of the dungeon, but all local intermediate adventurers who could go there are now heading to Shinjuku.”

“Ah…”

Haruki reflexively struck his own forehead.

Certainly, they were just in the middle of the operation to retake Shinjuku.

Most of the intermediate to advanced adventurers were gathering near Shinjuku.

“Because of the operation to retake Shinjuku, the requests that are normally handled by intermediate adventurers are being delayed, and as a result some of the items that can only be obtained inside that dungeon are becoming scarce.”

Then, Akane added: “Not that I’m saying that retaking Shinjuku is a bad thing, though”.

If they were to leave Shinjuku be, the large amount of monsters coming out of the dungeon would eventually fill the entire country.

Every native and non-native species in Japan will be hunted down by the monsters, and there will be less and less safe places for people to live in.

The operation to retake Shinjuku was something that neither adventurers nor ordinary people should overlook.

However, since most intermediate to advanced adventurers were assembling at Shinjuku, problems started to arise in other places.

One such problem was the last Monster Parade in Chikaho.

Under normal circumstances, a large raid party centered around Kagemitsu should have been enough to exterminate it safely.

But due to the lack of intermediate adventurers in the area, both Aerial and Haruki had to walk into a very dangerous situation.

And this problem with the lack of dungeon items was no different.

Those hot stones were essential in armor crafting.

If the retaking operation were to take longer than expected, there was a chance that the factories would run out of raw materials, rendering them unable to produce any armor.

And if the armor supply were to be cut short, adventurers all over the country will have a hard time exploring dungeons.

Realizing the importance of the matter, Haruki frowned.

“… Oh, that’s a bummer.”

“That’s right. I want to get enough stones for two or three months worth of supply.”

“That’s a lot, huh?”

How many hot stones would he have to haul back in order to get that many?

This request looked like it would be a long-term expedition.

“It’s not that much of a big deal. I need about 100 kilograms.”

“Not much, you say?”

The hot stone Haruki had obtained as a drop from a boss some time ago weighed about five kilograms.

But a hundred kilograms of that…?

Feeling a slight headache arising, Haruki held his temple down with his fingers.

“We need quite a large amount right now. Ah, but don’t you worry. Nakasatsunai dungeon’s middle floors are famous for being a hot stone quarry. If you go to the 11th floor there, you can hear them rolling around.”

“Rolling around? For real?.”

“For real. But they’re small.”

“Hmm.”

If what Akane said was correct, then he should be able to collect 100 kilograms in a few days.

The reason why such a material was able to stay at a high value despite being relatively simple to obtain was that it was located in the intermediate floors of the dungeon.

Also since most adventurers don’t have a magic bag like he does, it was only rarely mined.

Haruki had been able to sell his own five-kilogram hot stone for 100,000 yen, so 100 kilograms should be worth around 2 million yen.

That plus commission fees.

Haruki felt he could take on that request.

But there was something else to consider.

Leveling up with the Werewolves allowed Haruki and the others to increase their level steadily.

And Haruki had learned some sophisticated moves from Shigure.

He was finally building a foothold to break through the 15th floor.

The lack of reserves of hot stones was truly something that needed attention.

But Haruki wondered whether this was the right timing for him to take such a request.

“Aren’t there any other adventurers who could take on this request?”

“I’m good with human resources. I’ve searched all over Hokkaido and there are no other intermediate adventurers than you in the area.”

“What about Aerial?”

“But they are advanced.”

“Ah-”

So this request was for intermediate adventurers only.

Considering the contents of the request, it was clear that it didn’t make much sense to send Hokkaido’s stronger team on such an expedition.

Karen, who had been silent until then, spoke to the troubled Haruki.

“Can’t we accept this request, Karaboshi?”

“I mean, we were going to go back to train on the 15th floor, right? I wasn’t sure if I should do this or not. Would it be okay with you if I did?”

“Sure.”

There were no signs of discontent on Karen’s face.

“You’re always one step ahead of me, Karaboshi. You should definitely go collect those materials. In the meantime, I’ll be sure to catch up to you.”

“…”

Haruki had never shown his own skill tree to Karen.

But even then, surely Karen had already noticed.

She was definitely aware that their growth rates were different.

If Haruki were in Karen’s position…

If my partner were to keep growing stronger while his own growth wasn’t that quick…

He would definitely be feeling a tremendous amount of pressure.

Or he would be driven to despair for growing at such a low rate in comparison.

Haruki wasn’t putting pressure on Karen.

But Karen probably felt very anxious when he realized just how quickly he would grow in strength.

Perhaps taking a little break would be a better idea than just hurriedly trying to get stronger non-stop.

Akane was also there. It should be alright.

“Got it. I’ll accept the request.”

Haruki nodded.

If you run straight ahead with all of your might, you’ll quickly see what’s ahead of you.

But taking a moment to stop allows you to take a look at those things that you cannot see while running.

Haruki had never been to the dungeon in Nakasatsunai.

This was a good chance to explore a dungeon he had never seen before.

There might be something good to see over there.

“Ah, wait a second. You’re going on your own?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Umm…”

Apparently, Akane was running some numbers through her head.

Her face was all weird as she seemed to be writing things on the air with her finger.

“Yeah, you’ll be alright.”

It seemed to have been quite a difficult calculation. Her weird expression was gone, and now she was smiling.

Haruki had no idea what kind of calculations Akane was actually doing.

But she said he’ll be alright.

So he was sure there wouldn’t be any problem.

The time limit for the request was two weeks, including travel time.

The rewards for the quest was 440,000 yen, plus expenses.

In addition, he will be paid for the total worth of the hot stones at an additional five percent of their value.