469. Innovator




Is your uncle going to work in the dungeon now?

 Sakura asked with a carefree expression on her face, not seeming to mind the kiss on her cheek at all.

'Ah. After breakfast, we'll go to Prumbum's first, then we'll go back to Kalifornium or something to continue the attack.
What's Plumbum?
You can't tell if it's lead-- ...... I'm more interested in saying to Sakura that 'the first person is straw and the word ends in no-ja'--
What is that, old Lolita?

 As I expected, Sakura ate it up as hard as she could.
 I knew she liked that story better.

'It's not like that. I'm not like that. It's just that my tone of voice is that way.
Hmm, what a waste.
'What about the girl whose real age is eight years old, whose first name is her own, and whose word ends in 'nana'?
'Cute! You're already cute at that point! Is that boy one of them?

 Sakura bites into it again with her high spirits.
 I guess she really likes that kind of thing.

'Not one of us. I wonder what it's called: ......

 I was a bit at a loss to explain what the connection was to something like Mao.

'It's a tough one, I'll introduce you to it sometime, I think it's faster to see it in person.
I get it. By the way, your uncle's got a lot of talent.
I don't know.
Yeah.

 While talking to Sakura and the world, we headed to the cafeteria for now.
 Just when I thought I was going to eat breakfast and go to Plumbum's place.

''Lyota-sama,''

 From across the hallway came Meeke, a mini-wise man.
 He spotted me with a huff and ran up in a straight line.

'What's up,'
Dear Mr. Lyota, you have a visitor.
Okay. Thank you.

 I thanked Meeke and headed out of the mansion and out of the dungeon for now.
 Sakura followed behind me.

 With her in tow, we were outside the dungeon.

 There was Neptune and, as usual, Ran and Lil behind her.

'Hey, good morning ...... who is that girl? New friends?

 Neptune was slightly surprised to see Sakura coming out of the dungeon with him, but he asked her while maintaining his trademark smile.

'That's about it--I'll tell you ahead of time, I'm not rotten and I'm not a cheerleader.

 I turned around and nailed Sakura for good measure.

'I can see that,'
Is that so?

 Sakura's reaction was unexpected, as I had thought she was going to pull that stuff off.

'Yeah. I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that the two of them have a look on their faces that says they think of everyone else but that guy as nothing more than a squashed pill bug. They're jealous that their uncle is in their way and they can't help it.

 When Sakura said that, of course, Ran and Lil heard it and their faces changed color.
 I'm not going to be able to say that I'm not going to be able to do anything about it.

 Well, I kind of knew the two of them thought I was in the way.

 If that's the case, I decided to ask Neptune to talk to him.
 I had to listen to him quickly and switch it up so that I didn't interrupt their time with Neptune.

'What do you want from me? It must be a big deal for you to be here this morning, right?
I thought you might want to have it in your ear.
...... What's going on?

 Neptune was smiling as usual, but his eyes were serious.

''Calm down and hear me out, okay?''
...... Got it.
The dungeon master is on a rampage.
Where are you?
I told you to calm down and let me finish.

 Neptune chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, "Oh dear.

I knew the reaction I would get when I told you about this. That's one of the things I like about you is that you can't overlook it, which is why you've earned their trust.

 So, you cut me off and looked me straight in the eye.

"It's not a dungeon you know, and besides, it's been taken down and we're done talking.
Well: ......

 I chuckled, including the fact that Neptune had pointed it out to me.

 If it was Cyclo, or any of the dungeons I've been to, I'd be running into it right now.

 I laughed at myself for not being able to calm down and listen to the end of the story at all, even though Neptune had told me to calm down.

''Well, I guess it's called the benefit of my injuries. Because of that dungeon master's rampage, the productivity of the dungeon has increased dramatically. It's so much easier to find out just by doing a quick check.
Yeah.
So the Dungeon Association says that's fine with .......
But?

 I tilted my head and listened back.
 Somehow, I intuitively knew that this was the main issue.

'There are some things that have stopped dropping. I suppose those are only in-kind, I suppose.
...... What's stopped dropping?
You, level one, will benefit more than anyone else in the world from this magical fruit.
...... I see.

 Now I know why Neptune came here.

     ☆

 After Neptune left, I thought about that as I stood at the entrance to the vanadium dungeon.

'Hey, is that a common thing you just said?'

 Sakura, who had been listening to the conversation with me, directed a natural question at me.

Well, you know. I've helped breed a few times myself.
Breeding?
Didn't I tell you? In the dungeons of this world, every once in a while a monster named Dungeon Master will appear. If that dungeon master stays too long, it changes the dungeon's ecology, and the drops. That's what we do intentionally, it's breeding.
I see. I've always thought they'd send lots of female warriors into the monster world to kill them and then breed them with the best of 'em.
No way.
I don't know. Isn't it possible that there could be a world like that out there somewhere, where a thin book gets thicker?
...... right?

 Maybe it's because she's young, but Sakura's way of thinking seems more flexible.
 I'm a little ashamed of myself for saying that there is no other world than this one.

I'm going to get back to this, there have been a few times when I've helped breed something out and something new was born because I helped breed it. I was told by the dungeon master that this would happen, so it must have been a lot more than just the one I did.
Okay. What do we do now? You don't want the magic fruit to run out, do you?
......

 I thought about it.

 The magic fruit no longer drops.
 The only thing left was the actual thing.

 I thought about what was the best thing to do in this situation.

'Hey, can breeding be done on every floor? If that's the case, just put the magic back in.
No, it's fine as it is.
Why?
Neptune said the dungeons were more productive.
You told me.
'That's, in other words, progress. It's foolish to turn back the clock on progress. When something new comes out, we should adapt to it. Otherwise, the human side - our side - will stop growing.

 It reminded me of the evolution from computers to tablets.
 I remembered the evolution from a galaxy to a smartphone.

 New things are always useful as long as you can master them.
 That's the nature of things, I thought, and I'm sure that this dungeon thing is the same.

 If that's the case, should I ask Celeste to update me with the new knowledge?
 No, would it be quicker to ask Cell to help me?

......

 I was thinking about a new dungeon - a new dungeon - that I had progressed beyond, and I didn't realize it.
 Sakura was standing next to me, staring at me with impressed eyes.