Today is January 21st. After several days of long travel, we finally arrived at the capital of Butenashso.
The moment I stepped through the city gates, I exclaimed excitedly.
"We finally arrived the capital!"
The moment I entered, the city gave off a sense of advancement I had never felt in any other place. I couldn't wait to see what their new forms of transportation looked like.
"That took way too long."
Grace's comment was spot on. We should've arrived much earlier.
Unfortunately, Jacob lacked stamina, Alice kept oversleeping and even got lost, and it rained frequently along the way. Otherwise, we would've made it within half a month.
Now that we were finally here, we couldn't afford to waste any time. I immediately addressed everyone.
"No time to waste. We'll split into two groups. Jacob and Grace, you go to the merchant guild. Ethefelis, Alice, you're coming with me to the dungeon."
"What are they going to the dungeon for?"
"To gather ingredients."
Jacob didn't understand my arrangement for Ethefelis and Alice, but going into the dungeon was exactly for gathering ingredients. With more people, we could collect more in less time.
Besides, I wasn't comfortable leaving Ethefelis and Alice behind. Ethefelis could easily get distracted by food, and if I lost sight of Alice again, who knew where she'd wander off to?
"I see. Then where should we meet up?"
It was currently 10:38 a.m. A few hours should be enough to gather supplies for our next dungeon. I pointed at the large clock tower.
"Let's meet at 3 p.m. under the big clock tower."
"Alright."
"But I'll be staying in the dungeon and coming out tomorrow. You guys get a room at an inn for tonight."
My main objective in the dungeon was, of course, to get the Brave's power—and that lay at the last level.
"Why is that?"
"Yes, why are you stay in dungeon, Mr. Karen?"
Grace and Alice both looked confused, so I sighed and replied,
"Did you forget why I'm going into the dungeon?"
"The Brave's power."
As expected of Ethefelis. I should reward her with good food later.
"Exactly. But reaching Level 100 isn't something you can do in a few hours, so I'll be staying overnight."
Back then, we managed to reach the eightieth level quickly because Lina was with me. Now it was just me, and my magic attributes weren't suited for ocean environments, so it would take longer.
On top of that, the city itself was enormous. The distance between entrances from one level to another was absurd. Worst of all were the "highways"—they took even more time to traverse.
"I see. Then will you meet us at 3 tomorrow?"
"Yes."
After answering Jacob, we split up. As I walked down the street, I noticed streetlights lining the roads, though they weren't lit during the day. My first thought was—had this country already developed electricity?
But that didn't make sense. Why hadn't I seen anything like this in other cities? It was probably some kind of new magic tool.
"That's a lot of smoke…"
Alice stared at several thick columns of white smoke rising in the distance, looking puzzled. I found it strange too. It resembled the output of a fuel power plant.
I had no idea what it was, but if that was the case, the air in this capital would likely become polluted soon. We should finish what we needed to do and leave as quickly as possible.
Soon, we arrived at the dungeon. Levels 1 through 10 were easy to clear. When we reached level 11—a meadow—Alice spotted a sheep and called out to me.
"Mr. Karen, what's that? It's so cute!"
"That's a sheep… Let's have lamb tomorrow night."
After staring at it for a moment, all I could think about was eating lamb. It had been a long time since I last had any, ever since we ran out of dungeon-sourced ingredients.
"Agree."
Ethefelis was already drooling at the thought. Lamb outside the capital was expensive, and with a foodie to support, my wallet couldn't handle it.
"Whaaat!? It's so cute, and you want to eat it?!"
What an annoying thing to say. Just because it's cute, it shouldn't be eaten?
"What are you talking about? Haven't you been enjoying it before?"
"I… No, I can't! I'm going to protect it!"
Alice fell silent for a moment—I had no idea what she was struggling with. Then suddenly, she spread her arms and stood in front of the sheep, blocking us from approaching it. I stared at her speechlessly, then came up with a plan.
I turned around, took Ethefelis with me toward the next level's entrance, and said,
"Then you protect it. We'll go on ahead."
"Huh? You're not eating it? …Wait for me!"
As expected, Alice was completely thrown off by my actions. She froze for a moment before hurrying after us. Soon, we arrived at level 13—the crop plains.
After that, I taught Ethefelis and Alice how to harvest each type of vegetable. Once they got the hang of it, I assigned them the task and gave a few instructions.
"Gather as much as you can before I get back."
"Got it."
"Mr. Karen, are you going somewhere?"
"I'm going to get some meat."
Level 14—the livestock plains—was about to turn into a bloodbath. Not exactly something children should witness.
"Lamb?"
"I'll get it."
Ethefelis must've been confused by my earlier diversion, thinking we wouldn't be eating lamb tonight. But my plan was simple—while Alice was busy gathering vegetables, I'd return to the meadow and take down a sheep. No one would find out.
"Don't eat the sheep…"
Alice clasped her hands together, looking like she was begging me not to. What a hassle. If sheep weren't so delicious and nutritious, I wouldn't bother.
But I couldn't let her figure out my plan. She might stop eating lamb altogether. As long as she believed the meat she ate didn't come from sheep, everything would be fine.
"Sheep are not the only type of sheep in the world."
"As long as it's not sheep, it's fine."
Alice let out a sigh of relief. Then I gave her one last reminder.
"I'm heading off. Alice, keep an eye on the teleportation circles on the ground. Don't step into them. If we think you've gone missing, we won't come looking for you."
"I got it! I'll be careful!"
Alice replied loudly, clearly nervous—but I was only saying that to scare her. After all, she still had the magic book with her.