Episode 66: A Large Amount of Demon Ore
Yuma and the others descended to the tenth floor, defeated several monsters like metal centipedes and large snakes, and decided to call it a day.
They left the Dungeon and headed to the business hotel they had booked in advance.
After checking in, Aisha went to her own room, while Yuma and the president decided to rest in the same room.
“Ugh, I wonder if I’ll be able to move tomorrow…”
After getting out of the bath, Yuma plastered his body with adhesive plasters.
His whole body seemed to be screaming. He lay sprawled on the bed to rest his stiff body.
“Are you okay, Yuma?”
The president asked with concern while drinking a canned beer.
“It’s rough. Does this continue every day?”
“Well, it was quite a Spartan workout. I think you’ll get used to it after a while…”
The president’s sturdy body might be able to handle it, but Yuma wondered if his own body could endure it.
With such worries, Yuma fell asleep in a gloomy mood.
◇◇◇
“Alright, let’s do our best today too!”
The next day, Aisha cheerfully entered the Dungeon, followed by Yuma and the president with weary expressions.
“Aisha-san, are we going to the tenth floor again today?”
“No… she said we’re going to the twentieth floor.”
Yuma and the president sighed together.
Upon reaching the eighth floor, they defeated monsters one after another, just like the day before.
With Yuma’s movements dulled by muscle pain, the president caught the monsters, carefully inflicted damage, and then Yuma finished them off.
Using this method, they made the monsters drop Demon Ore and collected it at the same pace as the day before.
As expected, the president seemed to be having a hard time, and he was in a groggy state by midday.
Then, for a week, they repeatedly went back and forth between the tenth and twentieth floors, defeating even more monsters.
As they went deeper than the tenth floor, monsters called “Golems” became the mainstream, ranging from those made of earth to those made of rock, and even Golems made of metal, which were difficult to defeat.
And on a weekend night, in a room at a business hotel in Yokohama—
“Now, look! These are the wonderful Demon Ores!!”
Aisha lined up cases filled with a large amount of Demon Ore on the table. She was showing them to Yuma and the president.
“This is ‘Iron,’ this is ‘Lead,’ this one is ‘Copper,’ and there’s also ‘Chrome,’ ‘Potassium,’ ‘Aluminum’… 421 in total!”
To Aisha, who was overjoyed, the president replied insincerely, “Yes, yes, that’s good.”
“That’s a lot. Are we still collecting Demon Ore even with this many?”
When Yuma asked, Aisha shook her head with a smile.
“No, I’m thinking of going back to the Laboratory to analyze these Demon Ores for now.”
“Is that so… then, what should the president and I do? Can we rest for a while?”
When Yuma asked, Aisha looked puzzled.
“What are you saying, Yuma-kun? I need you to analyze the Demon Ore.”
“Eh!? Me?”
Yuma was surprised by the sudden news.
“I want you to eat this Demon Ore and investigate how your physical abilities change.”
“E-eat this…? About how many should I eat?”
“Hmm? All of them, of course.”
“All of them!?”
Yuma was shocked by the casually spoken words. Telling him to eat all 421 Demon Ores was insane.
Yuma turned to look at the president, but the president, who was drinking a canned beer, clearly averted his gaze. —No good. I can’t rely on this guy!
Yuma tried to persuade Aisha, trying to refuse somehow.
“No… but, isn’t 421 too much? I can’t eat that many.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. The Demon Ore dissolves and disappears in your body, so you won’t get full.”
“No, but, you see. I only have a Mana Index of 200, and if I eat this much Demon Ore, I won’t be able to use ‘Magic’!”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. The ‘Mana Index’ of Demon Ore is generally low. They’re all less than one point. Besides, you’ve been hunting Monsters every day, so your Mana Index should be rising. I’ll calculate the Mana properly, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Well, but…”
Yuma became flustered, looking at Aisha, who was smiling cheerfully. He wouldn’t mind eating 10 or 20 Demon Ores.
He had eaten a lot of Metal Slime Demon Ore, after all.
But 421 was too much! He had a bad feeling about it!!
“It’s okay, Yuma-kun. Originally, the ownership of the collected Demon Ore belongs to me, the client, but I’m saying I’ll give you all of it, so it’s not a bad deal, right?”
“W-well, that may be so, but… what will happen if I eat them all? Will my body become muscular or something?”
“No, no, even if you eat a lot, it won’t have that much of an effect. The influence of Demon Ore is usually small. Your ‘Metallization’ is an exceptional case.”
“Is that so?”
“Besides, Kotaro has already approved this story.”
“Eh!?”
Yuma hurriedly looked at the president’s face, but the president wouldn’t make eye contact at all.
—T-this guy….
Yuma, realizing that he had been sold out by the president, dropped his shoulders in dismay.