Manowa 433

 Chapter 433 - Let's Prepare


◎ Auriol Sea, Island Turtle Open Air Bath


「Ooh, it's bubbly!」


When Kazane, who was stark naked, entered the hot water, small bubbles appeared all over her body.

Kazane and the others came to the bathhouse Jinrai recommended, but it seemed they encountered an unexpected type of hot spring there. It was hot spring water with a high concentration of carbonic acid.


『Ooooh, what is this?』

「Nyao」


Tatsuo and Yuuko-nee, who entered at the same time as her, were also surprised. It was bubbly.


「Fufuuu」


Yuuko-nee jumped out of the bubbly bathtub and glared at the hot spring. She may have been wondering if it was some kind of attack.


「No, it's okay, Yuuko-nee. It's good for your health.」

「Unya?」


After Kazane's persuasion, Yuuko-nee slapped it with her foreleg to confirm. She seemed to be quite wary of the sudden bubbliness. It bubbled up on her fur. Yuuko-nee grappled with the hot spring in front of her while crying「Nyaanyaa.」


「Ahahaha, it's surely surprising for those who don't know about it, but this is a carbonated hot spring. It's refreshing and healthy to the body.」


Monroe, who entered at the same time beside them, replied.

It was difficult to tell Turtlemen women and men apart, but Monroe was a woman. Jinrai said that if they're older, they can be told apart based on whether or not they have a long beard, and Monroe certainly didn't have a beard.


「Heeh. This is the first time I've entered one. It's somehow refreshing.」


Yumika knew that carbonated hot springs existed, but it seemed this was her first personal experience. Kazane had been to one at the deluxe public bath near her house two times, but she recalled that the concentration of that one wasn't very high.


「There are also hot springs like this. I didn't know.」

「Uwaa, I'm starting to feel a little refreshed.」


Louise and Emily also entered the hot spring and smiled due to the strange sensation.


「Onee-sama. I'm a little scared.」

「It's okay. Kazane's already in it.」


Yui was still looking at the hot water nervously, and Tiara was bitterly smiling at her cousin's vigilance. And each of them seemed to be feeling various kinds of culture shock from their first personal experience.


「Ah, paradise.」


As Kazane looked ecstatically at the bubbles covering her entire body, she pulled her hands out of the hot spring to pop the small bubbles that stuck to them. Then she put them back into the hot water, covering them with bubbles again. She enjoyed doing that over and over.


Also, when Kazane took her Appraisal Glasses out of her Item Box and looked at the Hot Spring Water Orb, the following explanation appeared.


Name: Carbonated Hot Spring Orb

Rarity: A

Effect: When magical power passes through it, the Water Orb produces carbonated hot spring water. It is an application of Transfer magic, but the source is unknown. It improves blood circulation, which is effective for heart disease, high blood pressure, rheumatism, stiff shoulders, neuralgia, and sensitivity to cold.


It seemed it improved blood circulation. Hurrah for health.


「Monroe-san, are Hot Spring Water Orbs like this for sale?」


Kazane wondered if she could obtain one, so she asked Monroe.


「That's right. As you might expect, we can't sell this one, but I've heard that rare items like this sometimes appear at the magic tool auctions in Sorcery Kingdom Amoria.」

「Heeh...」

「Ah, in that case, we can actually participate.」


Seeing Kazane's state of admiration, Louise cut into the conversation.


「Really?」

「Yeah. Since it's near my parents' house, I have connections, and if we put one of our party's surplus weapons up for auction, I think we'll get an instant OK to participate. Also, it isn't too far from the dungeon's location, Gordios City.」


Louise answered Kazane's question.


「Err, what surplus are you talking about?」

「Honestly speaking, even putting a single Adamantium weapon up for sale would be enough to participate. That isn't a type of magic tool, but it is a weapon with anti-magic resistance.」


Inside this White Party, the Adamantium spears were frequently used; they were divided up and handed to the spear users, but the other weapons like axes and swords were being left to rot in the warehouse. They could put as many of those as they wanted up for sale. It was extremely wasteful.


「A Childstone or Dragon Heart would be fine as well, but if anything, you want more of those, right?」

「That's right. With those, my Golem production can be improved.」


In fact, they had already decided to use the Leviathan's Heart Jinrai obtained to maintain the state of a Muscle Clay Minos with Black Flame equipment.

Until now, even a Stone Minotaur alone wouldn't be able to move with the power output of a Childstone. However, if it was furnished with a power source, it could maintain its own state as well as its Black Flame equipment; it could also accumulate Magic Power in its Muscle Clay, so with the power output of the Leviathan's Heart, the Stone Minotaur could finally be continually active without a need to start it up with Golem Maker every time.


When Kazane and the others, feeling refreshed, left the hot springs, they subsequently passed the time looking at products handled by the Turtlemen and strolling around in the forest on the turtle's shell. Then, that same day, all members left the Island Turtle and returned to the villa in Auriol Town.


Also, Kazane and the others had sent the butler Benha back to the town before them on the crystal ship, and he told them that the great battle at sea between the giant squid and the dragon was apparently visible from Auriol Town, which caused pandemonium for a time.

That situation occurred just after two members of the royal family went out to sea. If Benha hadn't dealt with that, it seemed likely a large-scale rescue team would have been formed, so it was a close call in another sense.

As they had an enjoyable time with hot springs, shopping, and sightseeing, soldiers would have been frantically searching the sea... Kazane and the others were relieved from the bottom of their hearts that such a situation didn't happen.

Also, Benha was relieved that it didn't seem like he would be ousted from his job after he had fallen into disgrace by looking lasciviously at Louise's backside.



◎ Auriol Town, Royal Villa Courtyard, Next Morning


「Muscle Clay-made Stone Golem, activate!」


The morning after they returned from the Island Turtle. As her companions were doing their usual combat training, Kazane went off by herself and took the Muscle Clay Minotaur statue from her『Large Storage Space』, then activated it with Stone Minotaur.


「Moreover, while completely embedding this Leviathan's Heart, generate armor with Skill『Arms Creation: Black Flame』!」

『Ah, we're matching.』


Tatsuo said from on top of Kazane's head. Since they both had Black Flame equipment, their shapes were similar. The word matching was accurate.


「The weapon can only be maintained if it's integrated, so it's a little misshapen, but, well, that's fine, right?」


Both arms were fastened to a huge ax. A Muscle Clay-made Stone Minotaur equipped with Black Flame full-length armor was completed here.

The sharp molding peculiar to Black Flame equipment coupled with the red lines spreading over the black background like blood vessels gave off an extremely wicked impression. For some reason, for Kazane, that expression was converted into coolness.


「Hmm, can this fight right away?」


Then Jinrai, who noticed the Black Muscle Minos was finished, came over and asked Kazane. Kazane shook her head in response.


「No. The magical power supplied by the Leviathan's Heart has to accumulate for a while, so it can't move immediately. Basically, it continually maintains its state with the Magic Power accumulated in the Muscle Clay. With the accumulated amount, it should last for about an hour in combat? After that, it will stop until it gets a break.」

「Fighting at full power for more than an hour almost never happens.」

「There's the precedent of the Monster House. I don't want to be negligent.」


Kazane responded to Jinrai's words.

The conversation turned towards their future dungeon capture. After this sea trip was over, they would finally go to capture the rank A dungeon『Gordo Golden Ruins』. For that reason, Kazane was building a force that had high ability in long-term combat.


「So then, has our policy been decided to some extent?」

「Yeah. Like when we went to the Black Stone Forest, I think we'll split me, Yumika, and Naoki into 3 groups. Since chat and the shared map are powerful. That's a big advantage compared to other adventurers, right?」

「Certainly.」


Even during the search in the Black Stone Forest for the spider extermination, that demonstrated sufficient effectiveness. Kazane thought the map creation effect would be even more advantageous in a dungeon's labyrinth, since unlike a forest, it had paths to follow.

「I feel like we'll dive for several days, meet up with Naoki and go back with the Return Stake, then rest and repeat. Jinrai-san, do you have any advice?」

「That's right. You guys have already descended down to the 30th floor, so I have nothing in particular to say about that. Once we dive further, there will be many more traps, and once we pass the 60th floor, there will be a non-negligible amount of battles that will be tough even for our party.」

「Is that so.」


There was limited space in dungeon battles, which made them bewilderingly different from battles on the surface. The situations that could be dealt with using Thunder God Cannon and throwing attacks would likely decrease sharply. In addition, there were traps, so even Kazane and the others couldn't be careless.


「As I thought, running around on Golem horses would likely be dangerous.」

「Well, that's true. For now, we'll try moving at normal walking speed in uncaptured areas. I want to go with a safety first principle.」

「That would be good.」


After Kazane obediently listened to Jinrai's words and decided on a policy, Jinrai nodded.

Also, Kazane's basic team division was planned as follows.


Kazane group: Kazane, Jinrai, Tatsuo, Yuuko-nee, Shippuu, Rokuten-kun, Tatsuyoshi-kun Dragoon


Yumika group: Yumika, Tiara, Louise, Mefirus, mass-produced model Tatsuyoshi-kuns A / B, Hippomaru-kun


Naoki group: Naoki, Lyle, Emily, Black Muscle Minos, Tatsuyoshi-kun Normal, Hippo-kuns High, Crys, Clear


When summons like the Berserk Ogre, 23 Dark Ogres, Kuromaru, 2 Silver Wolves, Lightning Sphere, Water Spirit Wirral, Jin Bahar, 10 Flame Griffon Knights, Flare Bird, Holy Skull Legion, and Husband were included, the amount increased dramatically.


Why did it increase so much? How strange.


In any case, Kazane and the others would finally set foot into dungeon capturing. Their aim was the entrance to their original world on the lowest floor.


Kazane and the others had finally come this far.



Name: Yuihama Kazane

Occupation: Dragon and Beast Ruling Tenma Monarch (Apprentice)

Title: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner, Rea King, Liberator, Guardian

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Draghorn Tonfa x2, Dragon Eating Ogre Army Armor (True), Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, White Magic Accumulator (Revised) ×2, Rainbow Necklace, Rainbow Dragon Ring, Angel Bracelet

Level : 40

Health: 156+20

Magic Power: 378+520

Strength: 81+45

Agility: 83+39

Endurance: 45+20

Wisdom : 75

Dexterity : 53

Spell : 『Fly』『Torch』『Fire』『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』『Golden Dusk「Dragon Exclusive」』『Mirror Shield』『Rabbit Speed』『Flare Mirage』

Skill : 『Apprenticeship Cancellation』『Nil Principle』『Skill Hand (１)』『Halo』『Evolution Hand (１)』『Kick Devil』『Kick Decapitation Wave』『Warrior's Memory: Lv2』『Night Vision』『Crushing Blow』『Dog's Sense of Smell: Lv2』『Golem Maker: Lv4』『Aegis Shield』『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』『Air Jump: Lv2』『Killing Leg: Lv3』『Fear Voice』『Invisible』『Tiger Eye』『Wall Walking』『Intuition: Lv2』『Cheat Death』『Nimble』『Charge』『Material Shield: Lv2』『Information Link: Lv2』『Optical Camouflage』『High Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization: Lv3「Dragon」』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Hand Placement』『Thunder Chariot: Lv2』『Sturdier Teeth: Lv2「Dragon」』『Crystallization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Devil King's Intimidation』『Stone Minotaur: Lv2』『Mega Beam: Lv2』『Space Expansion』『Pseudo-Silver Creation』『Poison Claw』『Fireball「Dragon」』『Cuticle「Dragon」』『Arms Creation: Black Flame』『Ingredient Connoisseur: Lv3』『Dragon Pheromone「Dragon」』『Boost』『Monkey's Strong Arm』『Two-sword Style』『Boobies Plus』『Living Armor』『Alarm』『Six-sword Style』『Mental Attack Complete Protection』『Spider Web』『Wire Cutter』『Flexible』『Magic Power Absorption』『Red Body Transformation』『Friendship Tag-team』『Battleship Tonfa Summoning』



Kazane:「It was bubbly.」

Yumika:「Yeah, it was refreshing.」