As I was chasing his back as we walked through the village, he opened the door of a house and walked in.

“Umm… where are we?”

“Hmm? This is my house.” (Borok)

He walked in without hesitation, so it must be his house… Well, it doesn’t matter.

“Well, I hope to go to the exit…”

“Oh, I’ll tell you about that, too. Just sit there and wait for a bit.” (Borok)

He pointed with his thumb towards the table in the middle of the room and disappeared into the back of the house.

Well, I feel like I’m heading in an unexpected direction. I just want to get out of the cave as soon as possible… I went to the table, sat down on a chair, and raised the [Light Source] ball close to the ceiling.

The light from [Light Source] illuminated the room like a fluorescent light bulb. It was like modern Japan.

But when I think about it, I feel like I’ve been hiding underground a lot lately. I’ve been hiding underground in the dungeon almost every day in Elem, and I still do. I want to live above ground soon…

“Are you good with wine?” (Borok)

“Umm… yes.”

Borok-san emerged from the back of the room, all masks and heavy equipment removed, dressed roughly in long pants and a shirt. In his hands, he held a ceramic bottle and two wooden cups. He sat down in front of me, placed the cups on the table, popped the cork of the bottle, poured the red liquid inside, and slid one of them over to me.

“Thank you for this.”

“Hmm. Well then, toast to our meeting.” (Borok)

“Cheers.”

I clinked my cup against Borok-san’s and sipped the wine inside.

The wine is… quite bitter. As soon as it touches the tip of my tongue, the astringent taste spreads and seems to linger in my mouth even after I swallow. It might not be my favorite taste.

“Now, let’s talk about this place.” (Borok)

As he began to talk, he poured some wine into his cup. You’ve already drunk all of yours…? That’s what dwarves are famous for.

“In fact, it’s in the middle of a mountainous area, and we still have a bit of walking to do before we get out of the cave. And there are some difficulties along the way.” (Borok)

As he said this, he poured some more wine into his cup.

No, aren’t you going too fast? It’s a little too bitter for me, and I don’t think I can keep drinking this wine by itself… So I put my hand in my magic bag and pulled out some dried fish and put them on the table.

“Do you want to eat this?”

“Oh? Oh! Is this a fish? I’ve never seen such a fish before. Where the hell did you come from? …No, let’s talk about it later!” (Borok)

He then stood up with a bang and disappeared into the back of the room.

“…”

Yeah, we’re not going anywhere! My bad I guess…

A few moments later, Borok-san returned with a square box and a metal net. He placed them on the table and chanted a spell.

“Flame, into my hand, [Fire Seed]”

Is the square box a kind of brazier? The bottom of the box was covered with ashes, and there were some coals and a kind of trivet inside. A ball of fire fell down and lit the coals.

“We’re ready. I don’t usually use it, but today it’s special! Now put it on here.” (Borok)

While saying that, Borok-san put the net on the trivet, so I put some dried fish on the net. I put some more dried fish from my magic bag on the table.

“So, Borok-san. About the exit.”

“Hmm? Oh, that’s right.” (Borok)

This person had actually forgotten about it! I shouldn’t have pulled out extra stuff…

“Where were we? …oh, you’re talking about the hard part. It’s hard to explain, but that place is only accessible on certain days.” (Borok)

As he said this, he turned the dried fish over in his hands. The oil from the dried fish fell onto the charcoal, causing it to crackle and pop.

“I can’t get out…?”

“Yes. That’s why you can’t leave the cave for the time being. I’m sure you can’t understand what I’m talking about. You’ll have to see for yourself tomorrow.” (Borok)