72. The day the drop disappeared from the dungeon




 At night, while the city was still celebrating the last day of the Harvest Festival, I took Alice home.
 A three-story house, a new house that blocked out the magic storm.
 I brought Alice there.

'I'm home.'
Sorry to disturb you.

 I go home normally, and Alice follows me, acting cheerful and unafraid.
 We climbed the stairs together and went upstairs to the living room, where Emily, Celeste, and Eve were all there.
 All of their friends were there.

 Eve is sitting at the table, eating something that is being cooked on a steak griddle.
 If you look closely, you can see it's a carrot, which she swoons over, cutting it up with a knife and fork and taking bites of it.

'Welcome home, Yoda.'
I'm home, Emily. Did Emily make that one?
I made carrot hamburgers as a thank you for letting me know that Eve was good.
Carrot hamburger?
Yes, sir.

 Emily nodded, and I approached Eve and looked at the griddle.
 At first I thought it was just a carrot, but when I got closer, I saw that it was indeed a kneaded, hamburger-like thing made of finely cut things.
 It had the color and aroma of a carrot, and it was shaped like a carrot.

'Why are you doing this again?'
I've had a bit of an adventure.
'The rabbit was born for this day.'

 Eve is so impressed that she's chomping down on her carrot hamburger.

'Sounds like a big hit,'
It was good.
I want to eat your carrots for the rest of my life.
He's proposing to me.
Oh, no, I don't want that!

 Emily gasped.
 I'm interested in the carrot hamburger, but that can wait.

 I thought I'd have to introduce Alice to everyone first - but

"She's cute. ......

 Celeste was closing in on Alice when the carrot caught her eye.
 Her eyes are almost heart-shaped and she's swooning like crazy.

'Celeste?'
Cute ......
Their names are Bone-Bone and Pru-Pru.
What a cutie. ...... Hey, can I rub my cheeks a little bit?
'What? Hmm. How is everyone?

 Alice asks the two SD-sized bodies (two of them) on her shoulder.
 They can't speak, but instead they quickly hide behind Alice's back.

'Oh, you're scared.'
Oh, no. ......

 Celeste went "bam".

 Suddenly I remember.
 The first day after returning from the Ceren dungeon, when we were moving out.
 I remember seeing a fancy stuffed animal in Celeste's luggage.

 Hone Hone and Pru-Pru are like stuffed animals now, and the more comical they move, the cuter they are, even to me as a man.
 Celeste seems to have been completely taken in by their cuteness.

 I don't mind, but I don't think I'll be able to introduce her to you at this point.

"Alice, can you make everyone bigger outside of the dungeon?
I'll try. Honeoneone, puru puru.

 As soon as Alice called out to her, the two bodies that had been hiding behind her back grew in size.
 They reverted to their original form of combat readiness.

'Looks like I can do it,'
All right, that's it.
Kaeweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

 We can talk, I thought, but that wasn't the case.
 Celeste's eyes became more and more heartfelt as she approached the two bodies.

'How cute you two are, let me give you two a little cheek rub and, um, let's sleep together tonight!

 The two returned to their original size and hid behind Alice's back, even more frightened.

'Don't worry, we're just going to sleep. We're just going to sleep for a bit.
That line doesn't make it okay.
Jury's out.
What do you mean by that?

 I plunged in so far that my voice flipped over.

 Celeste's eyes are crazy and she's approaching, Alice is troubled between them, and the two monsters are using her as a shield to hide and frighten her.
 What a surreal sight.

'What do we do now, Lyota?
I guess we'll just have to make sure they don't see us like this.
I don't want to be seen at ....... Come on back, guys.

 Hone Hone and Puru Puru were back to SD size again.
 Alice lifted them up and tucked them into her pocket, making them literally invisible.

'Ahhhh ......'

 A moment later, Celeste's outburst stopped and she was disappointed instead.
 What a great idea: .......

'Weird'
You don't say that!

 Before he knew it, he turned his voice back to Eve, who came right up beside him and said with a huff and pouted, and then turned his voice back again.

     ☆

 After we all sat down in the living room so that we were all facing each other, I introduced Alice to everyone again.

This is Alice. Nice to meet you all.
I'd like to bring her into the fold, but I'm not sure.
No objections!

 Celeste was the first to answer. The reason is clear.

'Celeste needs to calm down a little more or she'll be avoided all the way.
"But. She's cute, you know? Isn't she pretty? She's pretty as an angel, you know?

 He's a monster, though.

'There's no denying that she's pretty, though. Eve is a--
"I hate low levels.
So that's how it is. By the way, does Alice like carrots?
Sorry. I'm not very good at this.
Then I'm going to give Alice's carrots to Eve.
"Rabbit, 10,000 votes for yes.
One person, one vote, usually!

 Eve was Eve, and she was so tiny.
 I look at Emily one last time.

"What about Emily?
'What? I'm sorry, I was thinking of something else.
Another thing?
Alice, I'm going to make your skeleton big again.
What?

 Alice saw me. What do you want to do? That's a look.

"Eve, hold Celeste.
"Isuzu, Yuengin.

 With an unintelligible salute, Eve hugged Celeste from behind.

'It's going to be all right,'
Yeah. Honestly.

 Alice brought Honehonen back to its original size.
 Celeste, who was restrained, was thrilled to see her, "Oh, it's still very cute ......," but she went through it for now.

Are you sure about this, Emily?

 Emily didn't answer, but stood up and approached the skeleton.

'I knew it, my clothes are in tatters.
'What? Yeah, it's a skeleton.

 I've never cared for skeletons before, but the skeletons still have tattered clothes.
 All skeletons are like that, and even Honehone has become pretty in shape, but her clothes are still in tatters.

'I feel sorry for them,'
Oh, yeah?
You have to wait.

 Emily pattered and ran to the third floor.
 I wondered what was going on, and then she quickly pattered back again.
 With a piece of clothing.

'Try this on,'
What's that?
I made it as a hobby.

 I didn't know he had such a hobby ...... or well, it's typical for Emily to be a housekeeper.
 I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the skeleton wear the clothes you've brought with you .......

''Whoa!''

 Celeste exclaims.
 Finally, he has a character breakdown.
 I jittery and try to run up to Honehone, but Eve has me stumped and I can't move.

 That's fine ...... and I looked at Honehone intently.

'What about this one?'
No?
I think I'm pretty.
...... Seriously?

 Not as much as Celeste, but both Emily and Alice have made the "yes" decision.
 Could it be just me? What makes you think gothic lollies (、、、、) don't look good on a skeleton?

 Yes, Emily brought a black gothic loli dress with lots of lace and ruffles. It's made to look good on any girl, but it's the bones that wear it, after all.
 It's kind of ...... something.

I'm a hone-hone-hone-girl, so I look good in it.
'Oh, come to think of it!

 Hone Hone was clattering as usual, but his white skull had turned slightly red.
 It seems that he, himself, isn't so unconcerned.

 That said.
 Emily, Celeste and Eve.
 I'm relieved to see that they don't have any objections to having Alice join the group.

     I'm a little relieved.

 The party was almost over and the city was getting quiet.
 I left the house to take Alice home.

 I decided to let her stay in her old room, a brand new two-bedroom for 150,000 piro a month.
 Ostensibly because she didn't have enough room over here (、、、、), but really because Celeste would be afraid of the monsters if she lived there with them.

 So I decided to let Alice live there alone.
 Incidentally, I wasn't particularly surprised that Alice had a monster as a companion.
 It's a relatively well known fact that very few people are able to do so, and although it's a rare occurrence, I wasn't surprised.

'Sorry, just one person,'
No, I'm really happy. I don't have a place to live. I was thinking of living in a dungeon with you guys.
Are you sure you're okay with two bodies in the city?

 One clattered at my question and the other bounced on Alice's shoulder in a jiffy. By the way, Hone Hone is in her previous raggedy outfit. When I went back to SD size from my original size, the clothes were still the same size, so I concluded that it was practically impossible to continue wearing them, even if they fit.

'Yeah, I'd be happy to go anywhere with you guys.

 Alice smiled and patted the two bodies, I didn't get a direct answer, but she said she'd be happy anywhere with Alice.

'Huh?'

 Suddenly, Alice stopped and looked in the opposite direction.

'What's going on?'
'What was it called ......? New girl?
'Hmm, does that mean there's another girl who could be one of us?
Yeah, maybe. I don't know.
Well, that'll have to wait until tomorrow. It's late today. A lot of things have happened. Let's get some rest first.
'Yes!'

 Alice nodded.
 We walked together for a while, and then we came to the front room.
 We walked in together, the smell of Emily still lingering in there.
 Gentle and warm. The warmth of Emily's touch was still there.

'Come on, come in,'
'Wow ...... awesome room'
I've left the bare minimum of furniture, so you can use whatever you want either way.
Thank you, Lyota!
It's a spare room. Don't worry about it.
'Yes! Thank you!

 Alice said, smiling and hugging me.
 An embrace of pure gratitude, without any ill will.
 It made me happy again.

     ☆

 The next morning, we ate a hot breakfast that Emily had made for us.
 Including Alice, who had arrived first thing in the morning, and Eve, who had brought her own carrots to cook for us, the five of us spent a noisy but enjoyable time that was no less than last night.

 After breakfast, the Harvest Festival was over, so we left the house to dive into the dungeon in normal mode.

 On my way to the dungeon, I noticed something strange about the city.
 It's noisy and everyone has a serious look on their face.

 The atmosphere is different from the atmosphere in the middle of the harvest festival, and it's different from the atmosphere of everyday life before that.
 Something is wrong, what's going on?

Excuse me, Mr. Ryota Sato?

 As I stopped to look at the city, a man approached me.

'Yes, but what about you?'
This is a messenger for Mr. Clint Gray. It's an emergency.
Clint: "Clint ...... dungeon chief.

 The man nodded.
 The head of the dungeon is looking for me. ...... I was pretty sure something was going on.

     ☆

'Hey! I'm glad you're here.

 When I entered Clint's room at the dungeon society, he stood up and greeted me with his arms outstretched.

"Come on, come on, put it over here.
Excuse me.

 We sat down opposite each other on the reception sofa and the secretary brought in coffee for two people.

'You need dozens of sugars,'
Just one!
You're as modest as ever.

 Clint put one sugar cube in my coffee and a mountain of sugar in his.
 The pile of sugar cubes rising up from my coffee was like an iceberg in the ocean.
 Clint had a sweet tooth, and he drank it, and he got heartburned just looking at it.

 Then he looks away and asks, "What's going on?

'What's going on?'
In fact, all the dungeons have lost their drops since this morning.
'What? It's from every dungeon. ......
'Tellurium, Silkon, Arsenic, Bismuth and Boran. Five dungeons in Cyclo, all of which have lost their drops. Adventurers are reporting that no matter how many monsters they hunt, nothing is dropping.
...... ever done this before?

 I listen back, and I find myself wrinkling my eyebrows tremendously.
 In a world where everything is dropped from monsters in dungeons, nothing is dropped there anymore.
 It's a huge problem, a big deal.

It's not there, I've never seen anything like this before. It's been a mess for the adventurers all morning. As you know, there are a lot of adventurers who don't want to hold on to the Zenith for the night.
I can make money every day at ...... if I just dive in.

 Clint nodded.
 Yes, the adventurers in this world have a temperament like the children of Edo.
 As long as they can get into the dungeon, they can earn money, so many of them spend what they earn as soon as they can.

 The exception to this is wizards, who sometimes can't enter dungeons due to magic storms, so it's common sense for wizards to save up some extra money.
 Conversely, most of those other adventurers don't.

 That's how the economy runs, so that hasn't been a problem until now.

''And a lot of them have taken out loans for weapons and armor. "And a lot of them have taken out loans for weapons and armor.
Yes.
You're my only hope! You're the only one I'm relying on--you're the only one who made the rares drop together in Selenium!

 Dungeon Chief, Clint gets on his hands and knees and bows his head.

'Please!'

 I said.
 I answer immediately to Clint, who keeps his head down.

"Okay.
Really?
We can't let this situation go unnoticed, we're just going to do ...... or we're going to do our best to find out why.
'Thank you! Thank you so much! Ah, ......, that's a relief.

 The dungeon master grabbed my hand to shake it and shook it up and down as hard as he could.
 I feel a strong sense of gratitude and relief, but at the same time an equal amount of frustration and confusion.

 The situation where the drop disappeared from the dungeon.
 I have to do something about it. ......