8 08. It has nothing to do with taste




 The next day.
 Just like the previous day, I spent the morning in the basement of Nifornium to raise my strength, and then in the afternoon I came to the tellurium to pick carrots.

 That's where I witnessed something rather unpleasant.

     ☆

 Terdungeon, basement level two.
 A trio of men and women were on the prowl.

 One was a well-groomed, first-generation man there, energetic and with a powerful face.
 The other two were young men and women in contrast, perhaps in their early twenties.
 Their equipment is tattered to the point where you can see the intensity of the battle with the monsters, and their hair and skin are not shiny, and they look as if they've just been up all night for days.

 The three of them walked through the dungeon in formation.
 The monster--a sleeping slime--has appeared!

 The man and woman jumped at the slime with a slow start.
 It took two of them to deal damage, and when the slime's movements began to weaken, the first man stepped forward and topped it off.

 The sleeping slime creaked and a carrot dropped with a pop.
 The elder man picks it up and puts it in his magic cart.
 He looks at the loot piled up in the cart, the vegetables dropped from the monster, and looks satisfied.

 The man and woman, on the other hand, were exhausted.
 They are exhausted to the point where they have dark circles under their eyes, but they are on the verge of collapse, even more drained by this one battle.

''Come on, let's move on.''
"Ta, captain ......, I need to take a break.
I'm at my wit's end. ......

What, you tired already?
I've been cooped up for two days now and haven't had a proper rest.
I just need to get some rest.

That's not good, that's weak. You can't spend two days in a dungeon of this caliber making noise. When I was young, I used to spend a week or two in dungeons like this one.
But I haven't been sleeping properly: ......
In a dungeon, you don't know where or when to sleep.
You can sleep standing up.

 The first man said so.
 The young men and women who were told looked at their leader emotionlessly, as if they were truly exhausted.

 An unpleasant color flashed in the elder man's eyes for a moment.
 It was literally only for a moment, however, as the man clenched his fists and spoke passionately to them.

'I'm whipping you guys to work for no reason, is that what you think?
No!
I don't think so.
No, you can't blame me for thinking that. It's true that it's a bit more difficult than the others, I'm aware of that. But I'm doing it all for your sake.
Our .......
For ......?

 The young man and woman looked at each other.

'Yes. It's a credit to your talents. People only grow up when they are young. On the contrary, if you want to grow, you have to give yourself a break while you are young. Don't you think so?
It's .......
Maybe.

I want to see it with my own eyes. I want to see the dreams I saw in your eyes.
"Dreams?
That's right. You can do it, now that you're in this shallow level of the Tellurium's basement two levels, but when you're grown, you'll grow up to be an agricultural king, capable of conquering all five dungeons in Cyclo.
No.
We don't need to.
And...

 The words the man and woman were about to say were interrupted by the older man, who put them on.

'It's a success story. It will be a success story for the next generation of young people who want to dive into the dungeon. I want to see that excitement, and I want to bring that excitement to the world!
Hey, Cap'n!
You felt that much for me?

 The young man and woman were impressed.
 The excitement overruled their exhausted faces as they stared at the first man.

'I believe in you, I know you can do it. Will you two trust me, too?
Yes!

 The young men and women have their motivation back in their faces.

     Stars

 I witnessed a nasty scene.

 A party of three, a party of three, an elderly man whipping his weakened friends to work.
 I shuddered at the sight of him talking about excitement, growth, and dreams.

 ...... reminded me of myself a little while ago.
 I was in a company very similar to this one.

 The CEO was saying similar things to this guy, and people were just thrilled to be working for him.
 And it was a little, you know, f*cked up.
 And I felt a little, you know, bad.

"Hey, Yoda. Is something wrong?

 I was just about to be in a state of bewilderment when I was approached from behind.
 I turned around and saw Emily - and Eve, the owner of the voice - there.

 Emily is still tiny, with a big hammer and a package on her back, and Eve is dressed as usual in her own bunny suit and bunny suit.

 Eve wordlessly approached me, reached out and chopped me.

"Low level, I hate it.
I know.
"Harry Carrot.
Okay.

 Apparently, Eve wanted my dropped carrots as soon as possible, so she came here.
 She must have really liked them, not only did they come straight from the source, but they went to the source of the carrots.

 All she wants is a small amount of one or so, so I thought I'd get her some first.
 I turn around and call out to Emily.

'Let's do it, Emily.'
'Oh, I think you should get some rest first,'
Rest?

 Emily stalks up to me and looks up at me.
 I stare at her and then say, "We're going to eat lunch first.

"I'm going to eat my lunch first.
Lunch or .......

 Yes, I'm hungry.
 And I'm also a little tired, because I worked pretty hard in the morning holed up in Nihonium.

 Now what am I going to do: ...... and then Eve tugged on my hem.

'Carrots.'
Okay, I'll start with...
Eve, you need a break too.

 Emily suggested, and Eve's lips quirked up incidentally, a little annoyed.

'I don't need a break, okay?'
Now you can have carrot pudding.
"Whoa!

 Eve's eyes light up and she makes a familiar odd sound.
 You mean carrot ...... carrot pudding.

 Emily smiled and began to get ready.
 She pulled out various things from her luggage, and among them was a pudding that was the color of a carrot.

 I'm sure you'll find that the color is not often seen in pudding, but regardless of that, it looks good from the outside.
 Even I think so, but of course Eve, the carrot-loving girl, shone her eyes.

Carrot pudding, hurry!
Here you go. Yoda, yes, and here's your lunch.
Yeah, thanks.

 I took my lunch and sat down on the mattress Emily had laid out.
 I opened my lunch.
 I opened the lunch box and saw the colorful side dishes and the fragrant aroma of the food.
 It's a perfect bento, both visually and aromatically, and probably nutritionally perfect.

 But that balance was instantly shattered.
 A small hand reached out from the side with ridiculous speed and snatched the carrots from the bento.

 When I looked to the side, Eve was mugging and chewing and looking in the direction of the day after tomorrow.

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 I whistled. No, you're too bad at faking it.
 Oh well, I don't care if he takes the carrots. You'd be happier if the girl you like ate your carrots.
 I pulled myself together and said, "Thank you for your help.

Oh, this is great. This chicken cutlet? It's amazing like that. The smell is amazing and this batter is just slightly sweet and awesome.
I used sweet potato flour for the batter, the spices are a bit of a secret.
Sweet potato flour? You mean dried and powdered. I don't know if there is such a thing: ......

 If you ask me, the batter did indeed have a sweet potato-like flavor the more I chewed on it.
 The more I chewed, the more sweet potato-like the batter tasted, which combined with the juicy chicken, filled my mouth with umami.

 Emily's home-cooked meal before work made me a lot happier.

 Then the three guys from earlier walked by.

 The young men and women looked increasingly tired and covetous.
 On the other hand, the older man had a terribly unpleasant look on his face.

''You guys, don't be like that.
"What?

 An astonished young man and woman.

'It's outrageous to expose yourself in such disarray in a sacred dungeon. Nothing produced with that kind of attitude will resonate with the people.
Uh-huh.
Yes. ......

Our efforts are directly reflected in the quality and taste of our products. Our efforts are directly reflected in the quality and taste of our products. That's what impresses the people who take it in their hands.

 The old man was talking to his men in exactly the same tone as before, and to be honest, it was hard to hear, so I was about to leave.
 To be honest, it was painful to listen to, so I was about to walk away.

 I was just about to walk away.
 Eve went away and came right back.
 I came back from capturing the sleeping slime, the monster in this tellurian basement level two.
 Eve is holding the tough monster, and even more so, the resisting monster, as if it were a plush toy in her arms without a care in the world.
 It seems to be stronger than I thought.

 That Eve came back in front of me with the slime in tow.

"I'm going down.
What?
I'll take it down.
Oh, yeah, you're the carrot.

 You must be so anxious for the carrots that you actually got the slime and wanted me to take it down.

"Phew.

 The first man snickered.
 Somehow, I felt like he told me that he was going to have to ...... that easy way.

 I tried not to worry about it and took down the sleeping slime in Eve's hands.
 It was locked in place, and I used today's Nifonium to bring my strength up to a C, so I was able to take it down in one hit.
 With a pop, a carrot came out, and Eve caught it in midair.

 Well, that's the end of our quota, and now - I thought.
 Eve grabbed the carrot and headed over to the trio.

 I'm not sure what to do with it.

"Eat.
What?
Carrot-eating.
'No, but ......'

 The young man looked at their leader, the older man looking more and more sullen.
 A blue streak twitched at his temples.

Just eat it.

 I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results.
 The two men were suddenly and unavoidably shoved carrots into their mouths, but...

'Yum!'
It's really a carrot!

 In an instant, his eyes lit up and he raved about the carrots.
 Then, despite being raw, he munched on a carrot that was (actually) just peeled.

'The taste of carrots has nothing to do with hard work,'

 Eve said quietly.
 I understood that's what you mean ......, but "carrot's" might be an afterthought.

 Even if it was an afterthought pillow word, it worked.
 The first man's blue streaks are getting more and more twitchy.
 He looks like an angel-infested child.

''You--!

 When the man lunged in to argue with her, Eve took the initiative and thrust her sword at his throat.
 Blood flowed from his throat.

 The man gulped and stopped moving.
 Eve said quietly, "I don't like the misunderstanding of carrots.

'I hate misunderstandings about carrots.'

 The man was misinformed, or rather misinformed, on the subject.
 Still, Eve interrupted him because of the carrots.

Carrots are delicious without being hard to find. Low-level carrots are delicious.
You don't remember my name, do you? And why are you pretending to be something you're not?

 I pointed out, and Eve moved in a way that made me feel like she was moving behind me.
 She presses her body against mine, so that I'm in front of her.

"Low-level carrots are delicious,

 Wow! You sound just like me! I didn't know you had that kind of skill!
 The teased older man was getting more and more twitchy.

 I felt a little bit better, I thought.