Chapter 382: The Reception Hall and Land Survey
As the Reception Hall began to take shape, yet another visitor approached this land.
Though they were still quite far away, it was within a distance that Rio could sense their presence, so I simply informed her that someone was coming.
“Is that so?”
“Yeah.”
I turned my gaze from the construction site toward the entrance, but Rio seemed puzzled.
“It looks like a pair of travelers is making their way here on foot. They should reach the gate in about two hours or so.”
“Hmm… I wonder what they want?”
“If they have business with us, they’ll probably ring the bell.”
Since we arrived, we had installed a bell for visitors to use. It was impractical to constantly monitor the footage from the TYPE Series, so this was much more convenient.
“Oh, you’re right. They’re here.”
After a while of working on the Reception Hall, Rio seemed to have noticed them as well.
“Huh?”
With no reason to stop working, I continued my tasks, but it appeared the visitors had halted at a distance, not moving any closer.
“I wonder what’s going on?”
“Who knows…?”
They were now close enough that the building was within their line of sight. If they had never seen a structure in this barren land before, they might be quite surprised.
While I continued my work, I noticed the visitors were being unusually cautious. Eventually, they approached to within about a hundred meters of the gate. Once they were close enough, we paused our work and observed them from our hidden vantage point, but something felt off.
“I really wonder what they’re here for?”
“Right? With them being so wary, I doubt they’ll just come out and tell us.”
“Exactly.”
To ensure our conversation remained private, I switched to telepathic communication. It appeared to be a pair of men, dressed as lightly equipped adventurers. They looked like scouts at first glance, but there was no sign of anyone else accompanying them.
“Wow… they really built a massive structure here, huh?”
“I heard there was nothing around here…”
“Did they really manage to build this in just a month or so?”
“That’s the only explanation, right?”
As I enhanced my hearing, I could catch snippets of their hushed conversation. Their accents were thick, but I could make out their words. They didn’t seem to be locals.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in the harbor town, so they must be holed up here.”
“Seems that way…”
“Do you think they’re here to scout us out?”
Just as they suspected, we hadn’t ventured into town lately due to the ongoing construction of our base.
“…I have a feeling that’s the case.”
While keeping an eye on the surroundings, the two men gazed at the under-construction Reception Hall and the mountains looming behind it, deep in thought. Their intentions were unclear, but for now, they seemed to be merely observing.
“What should we do? Should we keep scouting?”
“Nah, I don’t think that’s necessary. It looks like they’re still building, so it won’t be finished anytime soon. They probably won’t come out until then.”
“That makes sense.”
“We just passed a merchant, so there’s a chance they won’t come to town for supplies either.”
“Then let’s hurry back and regroup with the main party.”
“Right.”
With that, the two men turned around and left without further ado. I exchanged glances with Rio, and we nodded in agreement.
“That was suspicious.”
“Too suspicious, if you ask me.”
“Should we deploy the Insect TYPE Series?”
“Yeah, let’s inform Mesaria-san as well.”
“Got it.”
And so, despite the unexpected visitors, the construction of the Reception Hall continued to progress.
“I’m home!”
“Welcome back!”
As I returned home after four days of building the Reception Hall, the staff greeted me warmly.
“Hey.”
I responded somewhat absentmindedly, unsure of the proper way to react. I had been coming back every day, but it still felt unfamiliar.
“I’ve completed the exterior, so I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Understood!”
The staff, excluding the cooks, headed toward the Reception Hall. It seemed they prioritized preparing the hall for guests over our own home, which had seen no visitors.
“You’re going fishing tomorrow, right?”
“That’s the plan.”
Mr. Miles had just arrived at the entrance of our home and should be reaching Isolage soon. He would definitely be back by tomorrow, so I intended to greet him before heading out to fish.
Ivan had taken Phonia and Nil to the Adventurer’s Guild in Isolage and was currently busy accepting requests. I had already informed Mesaria-san about the suspicious pair, and the members of Hinomaru had begun to investigate them more thoroughly.
However, it was just past noon, and I found myself with a little extra time.
“I was thinking it might be time to survey other lands as well.”
“Survey? Like how we found this place, from the sky?”
“Haha, that would be too rough to get any detailed information.”
“That’s not it.”
“Right. I was thinking we could use the TYPE Series.”
“Oh?”
Using the dungeon’s functions, we could create various items. However, since we had managed with what we had, I hadn’t utilized it much.
“I’m thinking of a TYPE Series specialized for land surveys. They could use Earth Magic to search for mineral resources while employing Appraisal Skill to find interesting or edible items.”
That said, creating rare metals like Orichalcum would consume a lot of DP, and unknown metals couldn’t be created at all. So, if there were mineral resources buried, that would be ideal.
“Is that really possible?”
“Apparently so.”
Since it was for surveying, I thought it wouldn’t need to be too strong, allowing us to conserve DP. Still, given the vast area, we would need a good number of them. Since we wouldn’t be engaging in combat, they could operate for extended periods outside the dungeon.
Descending to the dungeon’s layer with doors leading to various locations, I immediately accessed the Dungeon Create Menu to summon monsters. Although I could only create the mechanical TYPE Series, it was not a problem.
“If we’re going to traverse mountainous areas, I guess we’ll need a multi-legged type?”
“Ugh, really?”
When I suggested a spider-like creature, Rio grimaced at the idea.