• Number of Attempts

Space: 200 times. Sea: 199 times.

• Loot

Space - Iron boxes ×133, Copper boxes ×61, Silver box ×1, Gold ×3, and Platinum ×2

Sea - Iron boxes ×117, Copper boxes ×74, Silver boxes ×4, Gold ×3, and Platinum ×1

• Breakdown

Down comforters ×266, Down pillows ×122, Cloud camouflage fur×1, Down beds×6, Wind equipment necklaces×2, Drysuits×234, Goggles×148, Water camouflage feather suits ×4, Snorkels ×6, Water gun hand guard×1.

"Ah... Since I was the one who suggested it, it might be wrong to say this but... did we overdo it?"

"We were doing it mindlessly towards the end, so I don't remember much~"

When they summarized the results of their "keep going until it drops" strategy on paper, it became clear just how much they had over-hunted.

"Still, it's strange that in the sky area, we got two platinum boxes which seem to have the lowest drop rate, but only one silver box."

"In our world, we call that phenomenon the desire sensor at work."

"Desire sensor? ...Ah. You mean like the more you want something, the less likely you are to get it?"

"Something like that. Well... If anything, I would have liked another water gun from the seaside, but it can't be helped. But what should we do with all these down comforters and dry suits?"

Just the comforters and pillows alone totaled 388 pieces.

The amount of down feathers within them was countless.

They could sell them off, delete them in the [Infinite Item Field] to add to duplication points or recycle them into iron and copper.

However, the materials were undoubtedly top quality.

It seemed wasteful to just consume them like that.

"Hmm. Since we have them, why don't we make sofas and such?"

"And we could make floor cushions too. The dry suits are waterproof and sturdy, so that might work well."

"If it's that kind of work, I can help too!"

"I shall help as well!"

"I'll... keep watch with sister Cardina and the others."

"When I do detailed work like that, I get frustrated..."

"Ai's not good at it either, huh?"

"I'm not good at it, but if Tatsuro is doing it, I'll do it too!"

"Oh, I see."

Tatsuro hugged Ai's waist tightly and gave her a light kiss on the cheek before planning out their schedule in his head.

"Today we'll do sewing on the small island and increase production of Leah weapons. Let's head to the next point tomorrow."

"That helps. I only have a few grenades left, so I wanted to replenish them."

"Yeah, I didn't expect it to take so long. Sorry about that."

"No, no. Thanks to that, I was able to do various experiments, and it will be useful for future reference, so don't worry about it."

So Tatsuro and the others left the house to work, leaving the watch to Cardina and her group.

The terrain this time was a small island, so a building-type residence would be ideal.

However, even if they extended it too high and used perception interference, diving birds might notice if they crashed into it during flight.

So they decided to build it in a moderate-height pyramid shape.

They opened the system's [Infinite Item Field] and used the combine and disassemble functions to rearrange it, shaped it into the desired form, and then brought it outside.

Then they attached the perception interference device to the house and activated it, making it visually invisible.

After that, Cardina and the others continued their vigilant watch from designated positions, ready for any monsters that might come, so Tatsuro and the others could focus on their respective tasks with peace of mind.

They made various items using plenty of down and wetsuits, such as plush and luxurious sofas for the living room, down cushions tailored for each member, and down coats for cold places.

Furthermore, they modified the down beds used by Tatsuro, Ai, and Leah, retrofitting them with a return stone-powered system so they wouldn't need to use spirit or magical power every time.

Once that was done, they decided to help and observe Leah's grenade-making.

First, they engraved magic circles on metal plates and then filled the grooves with processed magic stones (※processing magic stones itself is a crime in this country).

"Can anyone make magical tools just by writing these circles?"

"No. When engraving these circles - for example..."

Leah pointed at part of the circle as she spoke.

"Why is this part curved, why do these straight lines overlap, why is this circle this size... You must accurately understand everything while engraving it, or the magic won't activate."

"Ohhh"

Then they inserted the 9-pin safety device into a straight groove that ran through the middle of the magic circle.

After that, they connected the return stone, which was the energy substance that manifests this magical tool... or rather grenade, to Leah's handmade socket and then to the plate engraved with the magic circle.

Since this work could be done by someone other than Leah, Nana handled it with practiced hands.

"Would simply connecting more return stones increase the power?"

"That's not how it works. The magic circle must also change its form according to the power, so too few won't manifest and too many would just be wasteful."

"Ohhh"

After connecting the specified number of return stones, they covered the plate with something like clay.

"That's... Could it be the floor from the previous dungeon?"

"Yes. Since this is just to separate the return stones from the magic circle, we're sourcing materials from nearby soil and floors."

"Ohhh"

Then Nana attached the sockets with return stones to the clay and further covered everything in a round shape with clay compound. After that, they just needed to wait for it to dry and harden to complete it.

"The most time-consuming part, writing the circles, can only be done by Leah. Seems tough."

"Yes. But actually, I'm considering making a magical tool that can engrave magic circles."

"Huh? But didn't you just say earlier that you need to properly understand while writing it?

Can a tool do that?"

"Yes. After observing Cardina and the others, and Ai's Gundari Myoo, I've been thinking about various things. When I have free time, I will be researching the creation of substances with pseudo-personalities, or artificial intelligence you might say, that possess will. If that becomes possible, one tool might be able to handle one magic circle. I'm also thinking about applications for weapons that Tatsuro and others use."

"I don't quite understand, but anything that makes things easier is good."

"Yeah. And it seems like technology like that could be used for various other things too. If Leah were to go public and teach magical tool making, it might cause a technological revolution."

"Well, since I probably can't teach it, that won't happen."

"Oh right, that was the case."

Tatsuro and Ai remembered that it would be impossible to teach since the information obtained through Leah's eyes was too advanced for anyone in this era to understand.

So Tatsuro and the others helped with the parts that even amateurs could handle, joining Nana in the work.

And thus, many more dangerous items were stored in Leah [Item Box].

After that came dinner, bath, and sleep.

Of course, this time they used their spoils: the down bed with down pillows and down comforter.

Since the room temperature was a bit high, they inserted ten return stones into the socket attached to the down bed to run a light air conditioning.

"I never expected we'd get air conditioning."

"Yeah. And since it runs on return stones now, we can keep it running while we sleep, which is super convenient."

"We really owe Leah for this, let's properly thank her tomorrow."

"Yeah!"

In the moderately air-conditioned room, they crawled into one bed together, thinking about all that had happened today.

Soon, their eyelids grew heavy from the warmth and softness of each other's body heat and the enveloping down.

"Shall we go to sleep now?"

"Yeah... that's... right... good... night... zzz"

What an easy sleeper. Thinking this while himself becoming unable to resist sleepiness any longer, Tatsuro gave Ai one kiss.

"Good night, Ai."

He gently pulled her close, stroked her head, and then fell asleep himself.

Perhaps because they had slept so comfortably, both body and mind felt sharper than usual.

On this day, Ai also woke up well, becoming alert almost without the blessing of life magic.

After exchanging morning greetings and kisses and spending some time together, they quickly changed clothes, went down to the living room, had breakfast, and had touching time combined with magic power supply for Cardina and the others.

Once preparations were complete, everyone got on Jeanne's back in full equipment.

"Well then, please go to that floating island over there."

"Neigh!"

Jeanne enthusiastically jumped out and flew toward the next point.

They reached the next level with multi-attribute barriers deployed in case of surprise attacks by any enemies, but there seemed to be no enemy reactions. It appeared to be a safe place for now.

They removed the barriers and looked around to find a perfect square space with blue walls, a blue ceiling, and a blue floor, each ten meters across.

Light streamed brilliantly from the ceiling despite there being no visible light source, making it as bright as midday.

Since it was too cramped for Jeanne's [True Form] and there seemed to be no enemies, she transformed into her young form and stuck close to Tatsuro's side.

Looking around again, there was nothing else besides what was mentioned earlier. No doors or passages to other rooms.

"It's troublesome to just be put in an empty room... Is there some kind of mechanism?"

"Ah, there's a button on that wall! Maybe we're supposed to press it?"

"Maybe, but we should check first."

Ai's sharp eyes spotted a red circular button about ten centimeters across on the right wall, positioned one meter from the bottom and slightly right of center.

Since they couldn't just press it without checking, they tried analyzing it first, but could only determine that it was just a button, so they had to rely on the ultimate measure, the [All-Seeing Eye].

"Hmm. When this is pressed... it seems something will appear in this room and ask questions. If we answer correctly, a door to the next room will appear. That kind of button."

"Then is it alright to press it?"

"Yes. I don't think there's any danger."

"But we'll stay alert."

"Yeah. Then we'll be ready to handle anything, so Ai, please press it."

"Okay~ Here we go!"

They let Ai, who seemed most eager to press it and had reflexes to respond to anything, press the button. Then a signboard suddenly sprouted up in the center of the room.

Furthermore, four thin pillars about fifty centimeters tall appeared in front of it, each topped with buttons in red, yellow, green, and blue.

"What's that?"

"Let's look!"

Ai lightly ran over and read aloud what was written on the signboard so everyone could hear.

"'What does the Ruyaji react to when attacking? Red: Vibration, Yellow: Sound, Green: Heat, Blue: Light' it says. What does this mean?"

"...A multiple choice quiz?"

"Seems like it. So if we answer correctly, they'll let us through?"

"But what happens if we get it wrong? It would be terrible if the wrong answer = instant death trap activation."

"...It doesn't seem to be anything like that. If we get it wrong, everything will retract and we'll have to start over by finding the button."

"That's all? Then can we just guess randomly?"

"No, no, no. We should think it through properly. Let's see, I don't know what a Ruyaji is, but... hmm"

(It's unlikely they'd ask about something unrelated to this dungeon. Therefore, it's probably a monster we've encountered before. And then reacting to... with vibration, sound, heat, and light as options-)

"Isn't this about the surprise clam?"

"Ah, now that you mention it, maybe. So then, is green for heat the correct answer?"

"Indeed! May I press it?"

"Hehe, sure."

"Then, here I go!"

Imitating Ai, Nana pressed the green button, and the text on the signboard disappeared. A tunnel leading to the next room appeared where the initial button had been on the right side.

"Looks like that was correct. Well then, let's proceed that way."

And so Tatsuro and the others, with Jeanne in the lead, went through the newly appeared tunnel.

T/N: I have decided to stop including the 'Line Identifier' to make my translations faster. So far, this novel has done well in establishing distinct writing styles for each character, and I want to take advantage of that to ease my work. Thank you for your continued cooperation.