Kays Translations

Chapter 178

“So then, instead of Same-sama, the new contract will be between Shizuma-sama and Melt-sama, correct? We can also arrange an exchange of rooms if you wish—would you like to do that?”

“There’s no problem keeping things as they are. Thank you for accommodating our sudden request.”

“Not at all. We wish you both good fortune in your dungeon exploration.”

After completing the renewal of the hotel contract, as we prepared to head to the market, Melt closed her eyes and nodded several times as if deeply impressed.

“Melt? What’s up?”

“Hehe, I can tell the difference now. This hotel… it’s top-notch! That receptionist just now—her manner was so refined. The way she spoke, the way she was attentive—definitely first-class service!”

“Yeah, you’re right. That was high-quality service.”

“Eh? You can tell too, Shizuma?”

“Of course. It feels good to be treated like that, doesn’t it?”

“…So you’re a man who can tell the difference too, huh…”

What’s gotten into her? Did she read some customer service manual or something?
Either way, she seemed to be enjoying her little revelation, and I was glad to see her in good spirits again.
Looks like she’s finally managed to shake off all the unpleasant memories.

“Okay, let’s head to the market! You know, there’s a big one near the dungeon and the campsite. People sell things they’ve brought back from the dungeon, and merchants from other countries and shops dealing in imported goods all gather there. I only saw it briefly once during a patrol, but it looked so fun!”

“Sounds like it. And heh… actually, in this Shizuma form, I can do a sort of detailed scan of items I see.”

“Eh, really? Then—if you look at medicine, could you tell what ingredients are in it?”

“Hmm, probably. I think I could.”

It seems like the system gives me the information I want when I focus on it, so that should work.
Then Melt pulled a small book from her pouch and opened it to a page.

“Shizuma, could you memorize the names and drawings of these two materials? If you find any item related to them, please tell me.”

The page she showed me listed two materials: ‘Drops of the Blue Sky’ and ‘Tears of the Crimson Sea.’
Just one glance told even an amateur like me that these weren’t ordinary materials.
The descriptions read as follows—

Drops of the Blue Sky

“It is said that rocks once fallen from a floating continent transformed into the current sacred mountain Leandenium.
Rarely found at its summit, this gem is said to be a crystallization of human longing.
A mysterious substance, described as a blend between a physical material and a manifestation of intangible power.”

This was probably something Melt’s grandmother had written.
The explanation had a very human touch—different from the system’s mechanical readouts I saw with my Divine Eye.

Tears of the Crimson Sea

“A treasure sunken beneath the sea during the accursed incident known as The Flesh-Eating Tides of Forhywel, in which tens of thousands perished.
The hatred and resentment of the dead seeped into the jewels, which were later purified by the sea over countless years.
Though now cleansed, faint traces of grief and regret still linger, giving the gems an unusual density of spiritual energy.
Harmless to humans, but ideally stored in a sacred container.”

How ominous. Both materials were rare, but also clearly shaped by powerful emotions.
Still… I had a strange feeling—I’d seen those names somewhere before.

“Melt, I think I’ve seen those two names before—maybe in the description of some item or potion?”

“R-really!? If that’s true, I could extract the components and get both rare materials! Where? Where did you see them!?”

As Melt leaned forward eagerly, I tried to dig through my memory.
If her grandmother wrote about them, that means she must have had those materials once.
Then… maybe at Melt’s house?

“…Right, at your house. I was examining something there… wasn’t I researching fruit liquor?”

“Yes, I remember that! You were studying some kind of alcohol. And you found that weird bottle—something only you could see, right?”

“That’s it! When I analyzed that liquor, it contained those two components!”

“W-wait, you still have that bottle, don’t you!?”

“Yeah, I do. Want me to take it out now?”

“Wait! It’s super valuable, so please—let’s only handle it once we’re home and things are calm. It’s going to be used for a really, really important experiment.”

“I see… alright, I’ll give it to you once we’re back in Lindblum.”

“I can’t believe you had it all this time… now I can finally conduct the experiment…”

It really must have been something important—Melt spoke quietly, her expression unusually serious.
If it wasn’t for her own health, then maybe someone close to her needed that medicine.
Whatever the case, I hoped her research would succeed.

“By the way, if you’ve already got everything you need, do we still need to go to the market?”

“Ehh? Even so, I still want to go look around together!”

“Haha, fair enough. Let’s go then, Melt.”

“Yay! I want to see strange materials and mysterious dungeon items!”

“…You’re not planning to buy another weird tool like that ‘worm-summoning stick,’ are you?”

“…There might be a shrimp-attracting stick this time, you never know…”

Yeah. No. Probably not.

“Wow… this is the first time I’ve gone this far inside. Whenever there’s any trouble, everyone usually ends up being pushed to the outer edge before the fighting starts.”

“I–I see…? But, um, why do I feel like everyone around us is staring at you, Melt? And… am I imagining it, or are they kind of afraid of you?”

“Eh? What? No way, that can’t be true!”

But every time Melt turned around, everyone immediately averted their gaze.

How dare they! To think people would be scared of our adorable little fox girl…!

“Melt, you used to be in charge of security around here, right? Maybe they all still remember that.”

“Hm hm… but I only arrested bad people, you know?”

“Yeah, but I think the way you did it might’ve been a little too intense.”

“Huh…? Really?”

This girl… she may have lost once to Angares, but other than that, I never heard a single report of her ever being injured. In fact, since she started working this area, the number of arrests skyrocketed.

She probably never let a single criminal get away—tracking them down and capturing them all without fail.

“Hey, look over there! That group of adventurers is selling stuff they brought back from the dungeon!”

“Oh? That sounds interesting.”

If I remember right, items from dungeons sometimes turn out to be things that slipped in from our world.

They even sacrificed people to the Dungeon Master to summon us—so it’s fair to say dungeons are environments that easily connect to other worlds.

When we got closer, the stall turned out to be much bigger than the ones at the port town, with a surprisingly large selection of goods.

They were even selling dungeon-made weapons and accessories—some of which were quite fascinating.

“Straight Sword of Flash-Steel”
“A weapon once lost by its owner inside a dungeon, consumed and reconstructed by the dungeon’s power.”
“It happened to merge with other materials and weapons, raising its grade.”
“A famous blade that keeps its sharpness and remains light to wield.”

“Necklace of the Wandering Soul”
“A pendant housing the lingering spirit of someone who died in another world.”
“It carries their wish for the wearer’s good fortune.”
“Might bring small happiness or coincidences in moments of danger.”

From what little I’d read before, it seemed that many dungeon-born items were like this—special things born from unique mixtures.

Lost belongings fused with the dungeon’s mysterious power… or objects that drifted in from other worlds and blended into this one. Fascinating stuff that sometimes gets unearthed.

Truly the kind of treasure-hunting romance people dream about—and maybe even a shot at striking it rich.

For the record, both of these items were priced at a hefty seven large gold coins each.

“Wow! There’s so many interesting things! Oh, what’s that shelf over there?”

Melt started browsing another display, clearly thrilled.

As I watched her with a smile, the stall’s owner sidled up to me, speaking in a hushed voice.

“H–hey, uh… that young lady—she’s with you, right?”

“Yeah, she’s my party member. My partner, actually.”

“I… I see. So that means… there won’t be any incidents today…”

“…Did she, uh, do something?”

The shopkeeper kept darting nervous glances toward Melt. His tone carried clear fear—and I couldn’t help feeling a bit offended on her behalf.

Could people please not look at my fox girl like that?

“That young lady… she’s merciless. If there’s even the slightest bit of trouble nearby, she drags people off without hesitation. Just a little payment dispute—and bam! Gone before anyone can blink! Of course, some tried to fight back or resist, but all of them—even well-known adventurers—ended up getting beaten to a pulp and hauled off. Thanks to her, the town’s been peaceful… but, well, business has gotten too quiet.”

“…Well, I guess that means the ones she dragged off were in the wrong, right?”

“Oh, no doubt about it… but she’s so strong and so fast, nobody can even run from her! Everyone’s just scared now.”

“Hm… well, she was only on temporary security duty. I don’t think she’ll be doing that anymore.”

“R–really!? Oh, thank the gods! Don’t get me wrong—we all know she’s a good girl. But, you know… when adventurers stop coming, it gets hard to restock.”

“Don’t worry. Before long, she and I will be heading into the dungeon ourselves. We’ll go deep—bring back some rare finds and sell them right here in the market.”

“Oh! Really!? With someone as strong as that young lady, she’s bound to bring back some amazing treasures! I’ve got to tell the others!”

I really had to clear Melt’s name somehow… She was probably appreciated by the customers, but feared by the merchants and anyone who’d ever been on the receiving end of one of her arrests.

…She probably just got carried away because she was so happy to be useful to everyone.

“Shizumaa! I found something interesting!”

“Oh? What did you find?”

When I walked over to Melt—who, at this point, seemed to be treated like a local urban legend of terror—she was holding a strange little trinket.

Hmm… wait a second.

“Shopkeeper, is this one of those items excavated from a dungeon? Something from another world?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’d say so. Looks like some kind of folk craft. Not really sure what it’s for, though.”

“I see. Then, could I buy it?”

“Go ahead. Three copper coins should cover it.”

About three hundred yen, roughly. I handed over the coins and bought it. Melt, meanwhile, was holding the thing between her hands, rubbing it and spinning it in circles—clearly using it the wrong way.

“Look, when I do this, it makes wind! It must be some kind of fancy fan!”

“Uh, not quite. There are a lot of people here—let’s step aside a bit first.”

What Melt had found and was now fiddling with was, in fact, an old traditional Japanese toy from Earth: a bamboo copter—a taketombo.

A little ways away from the market, I took the bamboo copter from Melt.

“Melt, watch this. This is an old toy from the country I used to live in.”

“Really? How do you play with it?”

“Like this—watch closely!”

I spun the stick between my palms and launched it toward the sky.

The bamboo copter twirled as it rose into the bright blue, sunlit sky—a sight that somehow felt nostalgic and beautiful. I watched as it slowly descended back down.

“Waaaah!!! It flew! It really flew! Wait for meee!”

Melt, absolutely delighted, dashed off to chase after it.

Watching her run, I couldn’t help but think—if only everything that came out of the dungeons were peaceful little things like this.

“Shizuma, I’m back! I found it! This thing is amazing! It flew—really flew! Just a wooden stick, and it went whoosh! Totally different from that worm-summoning stick!”

“Hahaha, right? Though I still think the worm stick is pretty impressive in its own way.”

And so passed a brief, peaceful day—one of the rare ones I’d spent simply as Shizuma.

Alright then… before we meet up with the Killcrawler team, maybe tomorrow the two of us should do a little warm-up dungeon dive.

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