Isekai Yururi Kikou - Chapter 460 (Patreon)

Dungeon of Precious Stones Again (8)
We have arrived at the eleventh floor.

“”Ohh~””
"Heh~ I see, so it's like this."

As soon as we entered the eleventh floor, the children exclaimed in admiration.
The eleventh floor was like a mine shaft, but the walls and ceiling were made of rock, green rock to be precise.
Not just faintly green like greenish rock, but it was a vivid, unmistakable green color.

“"Yo-ho!"”

Allen and Elena took pickaxes out of their bags and began to slowly thrust them into the wall.

“”Ohh~ it's green~"”
"Heh~ so it's green all the way through, not just on the surface."
“”Can use this?””
"Um, can we?"

Since I had no idea if green rock could be used for anything, I asked Dill-san.

"Ah? Um, I've heard that it's used for sculptures and crafts if it's big enough, but it's not worth much. So, finding something big and transporting it is just more trouble."
"I see."
“”What about mining~?””
"I haven't heard of anything particularly valuable coming out of mining on this floor~"
"”I see~"”

Allen and Elena showed obvious disappointment.

"Oh, but! Monsters start to come out quite a bit from this floor onwards!"

Seeing the disappointed children, Dill-san hurriedly informed us about the monsters.

"Monsters!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, the Soldier Ants that were in the Boss room on the tenth floor start to come out in swarms!"
"”Hooray!"”
"Will beat lots!"
"Get tons of honey!"

It seems that among the children, the equation "Lots of Soldier Ants = Lots of Ant Honey" had been established.

"Ehh!? … Sorry, Takumi. It seems the children are getting all excited about rushing at the Soldier Ants.
"Hahaha~ feels like it was bound to happen sooner or later."

Once we defeat the Soldier Ants on this floor and get our hands on the ant honey, it's inevitable that it'll turn into a Soldier Ant hunting spree.
So, even if they hadn't heard about it from Dill-san, it would've been the same.

“”Ah, they come!"”
"Are those... Soldier Ants?"
"Hmm, seems like it."

As Dill-san said, several Soldier Ants appeared, but... they were usually black, yet for some reason, they were green.

"It's surprising the first time you see it, right~"
"They're not a different species or a higher rank, are they?"
"Just a different color. Not even mutants or anything like that."

Just one of the mysteries unique to the dungeon. It reminds me a bit of the Dungeon of Colors.

"Water Blade――Will go grab the loot~"

The children easily defeated the Soldier Ants and dashed to pick up the drop items.

"We got them~"
"Big brother!"
"Look, look~"
"These are kinda weird~"
"Weird? Weird like... huh, they're green!?"

What the children handed over was ant honey, but... for some reason, it was green.
It seems the taste and ingredients are exactly the same as the ant honey we got on the tenth floor.
Which means... everything on this floor is green?

"Even if you put this on pancakes... it'd look awful~"

I think it'd be edible if you think of it as vegetable sauce... but eating it with that in mind, being sweet and all?
It'd definitely leave you feeling weird.

"Alright, let's stop collecting ant honey on this floor!"
"”Ehh~"”
"No, I mean, it's like bright green, you know? You wanna pour it on pancakes?"
"””N~? Mix it?”"
"Mix? Ah, I see, if we mix it, then it's not a problem!"

If it's mixed into pancakes or a pound cake with Ena grass–spinach, it should be usable without any issues! It could also be used in things like chocolate where the final color turns brown or dark, if mixed with other ingredients!

"”Can we collect?””
"Yeah, it should be fine."
“"Yay~"”
"Alright, count me in too! Let's do our best, kids!"
“”Oh~!””

Though I thought to stop collecting ant honey, we decided to continue.

"... Seems like selling it isn't an option."

Dill-san, who had been listening to our conversation, seemed subtly astonished.

"I might accept some through requests, but I don't usually sell them directly. The kids wouldn't like it."
“”Don’t like it~””

Plus, there's no worry about it spoiling if we hold onto it. If that weren't the case, we'd probably sell everything the kids didn't want to consume.
Truly, the convenience of Infinite Storage is a lifesaver!

"Dill-san, do you sell everything you get?"
"Yeah. I can't cook, so if it's ingredients, I sell them right away. And since I don't have a base, I don't take anything other than that. Oh, but I don't sell gear or magic tools that seem useful for adventurer activities."
"Hahaha~ that's important, so you can't sell those!"
"Very important~"
"No selling~"
"”And no selling in secret either~"”
"... Well, ant honey is an exception. Gotta sell that right away."
“"Eh~, that's not good~"”

Since the kids seem to quite like the ant honey, it doesn't seem like we'll ever have to part with it even for a request, but I don't think we need to pressure Dill-san into keeping it either.
But, the kids are the type who like to share delicious things, after all~

"... Allen, Elena, you guys can gather plenty, and then we can let Dill-san taste it."
“”Ohh, right!””
"Hey, Takumi?"

For now, I suggested a compromise. They seem even more excited about collecting ant honey, but oh well, nothing we can do about it.

"Next time, I'll prepare some sweets with green ant honey mixed in, and I'll make sure Dill-san gets some too."
"Oi!? Why are we talking about that?"

Since I can't really make proper sweets inside the dungeon, I will make them as soon as we leave, before we forget about it.

“”Can't wait~"”
"Umu, I’m looking forward to it. ――Allen, Elena, gather lots of ant honey so we can make plenty of sweets."
“”Yeah!””

… For some reason, Kaiser also seemed excited about it.

“”Ah!””
"Oh, they've come already!"

Just as the Soldier Ants appeared at the perfect timing, the three of them unleashed their magic. And then, they joyfully went to pick up the loot... repeating this process until they gathered enough ant honey to make Dill-san’s expression twitch.

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