Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

Chapter 96: Once Again, The Foreigner Can’t Explore The Dungeon IV

I had completed the request, so I briefly returned to the Guild.

「Evetta-san, it’s done」

「That was quick」

I handed her the scroll.

「Oh, this adventurer is notorious for being stingy, so it's quite unusual for him to add a tip on top of the reward」

「Well, I was paid the extra money on the spot」

Evetta unrolled the scroll, stamped it, and took out the nine copper coins reward.

I took them gratefully as well.

「Well then, Souya, this is the next request」

I was given a new scroll.

After unrolling it, I checked its contents.

「Eh」

This request is clearly impossible for me.

「Umm, Evetta-san, for me, this is……」

「Souya, please read it carefully until the end」

「The end?」

The description of the request says, "Assistance in the preparation of elixirs”.

The reward is five silver coins.

As an amateur at magic, there's absolutely no way I can provide any sort of assistance in the preparation of elixirs.

However………

「Hmm?」

What's this? At the very end of the request……

※:Anyone with a background in cooking is welcome to participate.

……that’s what is written.

What's going on? What does taste have anything to do with elixirs?

But in a sense, this is an opportunity.

According to Rana, elixirs are magic power itself, and magic power is instantly replenished when they are consumed. Unlike the recovery of magic power from sugared sweets, there's no limit to the amount that can be recovered. The more one drinks, the more magic power one recovers.

If there is a recipe, I want to have it, even if it means stealing it.

It'll definitely come in handy in our future adventures.

Hmm, this is quite a lucky break. As the Guild President said, it's important to build connections with other adventurers.

I'll record the preparation process using the bug drones, and if there are any written notes, I'll have Yukikaze make a copy. Or rather, I can just take a photo of them with my glasses and that'll be that.

Then, I'll mass produce copies, or rather, generic elixirs.

It's an item that other merchant companies are too afraid to deal with. I'll have a monopoly on it. It can be sold exclusively by the merchant companies that I'm backing.

It’ll sell.

It'll be a big seller!

My dream of owning my own home that had flown away is now coming within reach!

Nothing beats having modern science.

Hehehe.

Oh no, I'm becoming uncharacteristically greedy. If I'm not careful, I'll mess up. I'll only make enough for the party's own consumption after all.

「Souya, you have a really terrible look on your face. Is something the matter?」

「No, I was scheming ways to help this adventurer as quickly as possible」

「You shouldn't be scheming」

「No no, I'm always as gray as snow[1]」

「From the fact that you don't call yourself "white", I see that you're quite self-aware」

「Oh」

That just slipped out.

As I thought, I have no talent as a con man. To begin with, I can't even deceive myself.

「Leaving that aside, Evetta-san, the requestor is listed as King Lutz. What kind of country is this person the king of?」

It's hardly common for an adventurer to be a king.

There are adventurers who are princesses close to me though.

「No, King Lutz doesn't rule any country. That's just what that person is called by the rest of the party」

「Ehhh」

The King of Fashion, or rather, the self-proclaimed King of Fashion.[2]

I’m starting to feel uneasy about this requestor.

I hope he's not a crazy person, but there are a lot of weird adventurers around.

「Well, your timing is just right. See the person at the entrance with the little ones? Why don't you go meet the requestor for yourself?」

「At the entrance, little ones?」

I turned around from my seat at the reception counter and saw a man with several small creatures near the entrance.

There's no point in hesitating, I suppose. I'll just go and talk to him.

「For now, I guess I'll go」

「Good luck. Be careful」

As I thought, it's someone I have to be careful with.

I left the reception area and went over to King(party proclaimed) Lutz.

My impression, as I neared and got a better look at him up close, was that he was a childcare worker.

He looked about fifteen or sixteen years old. Though a little dirty, he had the face of a good person. He had shaggy, curly hair, and was 158cm tall, which was quite short.

His equipment was a hodge-podge of stuff.

He had a large backpack on his back. Strapped to his body and waist were a total of thirteen broad daggers that resembled shovels. There were also four short staves sticking out of his backpack.

Furthermore, there were a large number of potion bottles stashed in every nook and cranny of his leather long coat.

If he fell over, it would probably be a disaster.

The man was certainly on the smaller side, but his party members were even smaller.

They were about 100 cm tall, which was one size smaller than a certain goblin acquaintance. They had round hands and feet.

Their helmets were pointed like birds' beaks, and they wore distinctive red pointy hats on top of them. They were equipped with brigandine armor with a front plackart[3] and were armed with the same shovel-like daggers and round shields.

All seven of them wore matching gear.

They look as toy-like as the goblin did in his armor.

I wonder if they can be sold as toys for the children of the wealthy. It just might work.

「Excuse me, are you King Lutz-san?」

「Hu, huh? ………Yes」

The man looked at me with a scared look.

It’s the first time I've had someone be afraid of me.

「I've received your request from the Guild, so I'd like to hear the details」

「Could this be about the matter of the elixirs?!」

「Yes」

Is there anything else?

「I, I'd really appreciate your help. I'm Lutz?Amou. And you are?」

「I'm Souya. I'm still not sure if I can help though」

「No no! I'm just thankful that you're willing to hear me out!」

「Ri, right」

Th, this overwhelming aura of a good person……

He's the type of person that a follower of Misuranika, the god of misdeeds, finds difficult to deal with.

「Oh, I apologize for my rudeness!」

He held out his hand, and I reflexively took it and shook his hand.

Huh? This side doesn't really have the custom of shaking hands, but there's something mysterious about this person. I feel a peculiar sense of kinship with him.

「Discussing it here isn't the best, so let's go somewhere els――」

「King, pee-pee~」

One of the little ones shouted, interrupting King Lutz.

『I have to pee too~』

The rest of them followed suit and started hollering.

Their voices sound like children's. What's more, they all sound the same.

Are they septuplets or something?

「I, I'm sorry! Please wait here! I'll be right back!」

King Lutz grabbed one of those clamoring for the toilet and ran toward the bathroom.

「How long do you think you can hold it?!」

「It’s already coming out~」

『Me too~』

「Hold it in!」

One voice left, and the remaining six followed after it. King Lutz's entire party had run off.

Yup, as I thought, he's a childcare worker.

I had passed the time thoroughly indulging in Misuranika-sama's fluffiness.

The little ones all had beastkin bread stuffed with meat and vegetables.

They had slid their helmets up and were munching away. The area around their mouths was obscured by dark shadows, so I couldn't see anything though.

「Oh, okay」

That was a bit of a problem.

I had intended to go to the Guild's bar to talk about the request, but outside food wasn't allowed there, so we had to go elsewhere.

Along the way, the little ones made King Lutz buy all sorts of things for them.

That included bread, sundries, alcohol, dried meat, vegetables, fruits, and random knick-knacks sold by street vendors.

By the time we entered a relatively small bar, his large backpack was practically bursting at the seams.

How do I express this………

This feeling like I'm witnessing another family's idiotic parenting style.

Also, is it really okay to make the person you call “King”, even in joke, carry all your stuff?

「Alcohol and meat, lots of it~」

『Me too~』

「Got it?」

After taking the little ones' orders, the beastkin waitress withdrew to the back.

These guys, are they still going to eat? They’ve already eaten and drank quite a bit on the way here…… Where in their tiny bodies does it all go, I wonder?

「Sorry, I'm late in introducing them! These little ones are called Gunmerry. They were seale――err, sleeping in the forbidden land of the beastkin tribes at the easternmost part of this continent, but I woke them up by accident. After this and that, we're now working as adventurers together」

「………」

He was about to say "sealed" just now, wasn't he?

「These ones give off the smell of evil spirits」

Misuranika-sama, who was on my shoulder, informed me.

「The cat is talking?!」

King Lutz was greatly surprised.

She does surprise people occasionally, but this level of reaction is novel.

「Now now, it's not that unusual for a cat to talk, right?」

「Y, you, you’re right. That’s a normal thing in alternate worlds, I guess」

Huh, there’s something that caught my attention in what he said.

No way, is he a foreigner?

「Well then, on to the matter of the request, but this is the elixir in question」

King Lutz placed a potion bottle on the table.

Looking at it again, it's what one might call a potion.[4]

「This is an elixir made by the Gunmerrys that restores magic power」

「Ooh, that's impressive」

These little ones are able to make elixirs, huh?

「After acquiring a taste for alcohol recently, they've been refusing to drink it」

「Huh?」

「Alcohol is the food of life! It cleanses the soul~!」

『Cheers~!』

The drinks and thick bacon had arrived just then.

The little ones scrambled for the alcohol and meat. They were like piranhas devouring their prey. Misuranika-sama also jumped in and joined them.

They had exceedingly bad table manners.

A third of the alcohol and meat were strewn all over, landing on King Lutz and the ground.

Oddly enough, none of it flew in my direction.

Although it's someone else's party, it's still a pretty aggravating sight. What a waste of food.

「You know, I've also experimented with different methods myself. I tried mixing it with liquor, honey, and even tried adding meat. But all that did was make the elixir taste even worse, and recently, they’re even getting hostile――」

「Shah~!」

One of the little ones let out a strange yell and knocked the elixir off the table onto the ground. It shattered.

What a waste.

「But when I wake up in the mornings, there are new elixirs waiting for me, so they're still making them」

How are they making them?

「The Gunmerrys are very powerful in magic. But their consumption of magic power is very high. For us to explore the dungeon, the elixirs are a must, but we haven't been able to explore the dungeon for a month now because they're refusing to drink them. We can barely make ends meet anymore. If our standard of living drops any further, who knows what will happen………」

Is something going to happen?

「With enough money, you can do anything!」

『Thank you~!』

Came the incomprehensible shouts of the Gunmerrys.

Well, I kind of get what the request is now. I simply have to make the elixir taste better than cheap alcohol.

「I think I get the gist, and I understand. Uhh, for now, can I have one bottle?」

「Yes! Not just one, you can have several of them!」

He gave me five bottles, one of which got kicked to the ground, shattering.

「First off, I'll just take a quick taste」

I pulled out the cork and took a sip straight from the bottle.

「Gak」

It tasted so bad that I gagged.

After a brief moment of sweetness, an unbelievably sour taste hit me. The aftertaste was horrible, and the saliva in my mouth turned bitter, almost like gastric juice. The clincher was a medicinal smell so strong that it felt like it was melting my nostrils.

My vision blurred for a second.

This is terrible.

In short, it tastes sweet, sour, and bitter. It feels like this is what I would get if I mixed a lot of citric acid into children's cold syrup and then seasoned it with demonic thoughts.

I downed a mug of the cheap alcohol on the table.

The sweetness and aroma of the cheap ale, as well as the slowly permeating refreshing sensation and flavor, cleansed my palate.

The elixir tasted so bad that I learned how to appreciate the taste of alcohol because of it.

「Oh, I've done that myself. It tastes bad, doesn't it?」

「How on earth did these guys manage to drink this before?」

「At first, they never cared about the taste of things, but I wonder if I raised them wrong……」

「Well, I'll do whatever I can. Let's meet up again tomorrow around noon. I'll give you a progress report then. Are you alright with using this place as the meeting place?」

「Yes, that’ll be fine! Thank you very much!」

He took my hand and shook it vigorously.

The king's smile depressed me.

This disgusting taste. Will I be able to do something about it? I'm not feeling very confident.

[1] If something or someone is “as white as snow”, they are perfect or completely uncorrupted and honest. Well, it’s the idiom that’s the closest to the original joke that I can find. The original is a play on the term 清廉潔白 which means absolutely honesty or unsullied integrity, but Souya replaces the last two characters, which mean pure white/clean/guiltless, with gray.

[2] This is a pure guess as I’m useless when it comes to fashion, but I believe this is a reference to Lutz Huelle, who was dubbed the Unsung King of the Fashion Hybrid in 2015, approximately one year before the publication of this chapter.

[3] A brigandine is a form of body armor from the Middle Ages. It’s a garment typically made of heavy cloth, canvas, or leather, lined internally with small steel plates riveted to the fabric, sometimes with a second layer of fabric on the inside. As for a plackart, it’s plate armor covering the lower half of the front torso. The setup would probably look something like this(courtesy of buettner27 on pinterest):

The metal “spots” that you see on the black part isn’t what you’d see on studded leather and whatnot, but are the rivets mentioned. Here’s the internal view(courtesy of wikipedia):

[4] This part sounds so weird that I felt compelled to explain it. “Potion bottle” is written in Japanese, but “potion” in this line is written in “English”. Hence, they are completely different in the original though it sounds redundant in English.

I mean, of course, it’s related to cooking haha. But, this is a subtle way to show us what happens after Souya has lost the basis of his fixation with cooking, his grandfather. Well, you’ll see...

Kinda a random thing to explain, but in Japanese, the title of “King(王)” comes after the person’s name. In this case, King Lutz(ルツ王) is actually pronounced Lutz-Ou in Japanese. And if anyone has a better idea of the reference to him being the fashion king(fashion was in ”English”), which I’m really not confident in, do comment below…

So…are we getting another foreigner in the story? And what are those 7 little ones who are all called Gunmerry? It’ll be the start of a new arc next chapter! Stay tuned!

And I hate to do this, but I really need help. I like to translate, but it's getting really difficult monetary-wise. So if you can spare just a little to support me on Patreon, it would really go a long way towards allowing me to continue to do what I do. And just the lowest tier will get you ALL the advance chapters, so that's all I really ask for. Thank you so much in advance! m(_ _)m