Dungeon of Precious Stones Again (5)
"Barden-san, these kids have permission to enter the dungeon!"
"Ahhh? Is that so? It's impressive to get permission at that age."
He looked rough... no, it's more accurate to say he had a scary appearance. Oh, now that I think about it, Allen and Elena didn't react at all.
"I apologize for my companion's rude remarks.""Sorry."
I apologized first for the initial poor reception, and Kaiser also apologized with a genuinely sorry expression.
"Don't worry about it. My way of speaking is confusing, too."
"Barden-san, your appearance, attitude, and language are all too rough~"
"Yeah, that's right. That's why I'm saying, let's at least fix the way we talk~"
"Shut up! Even if I use polite words, it just feels creepy!"
Barden-san's party members teased him, and he casually brushed it off. They seemed like a friendly bunch."Barden-san is like that; he's a good-natured person, but he always gets misunderstood at first sight. Despite appearances, he's quite caring."
"I really feel bad for being deceived by first impressions."
"Umu."
"It's a path everyone walks, huh?"
"Even Dill-san?"
"I initially avoided him as soon as hhe came into view."
It seems Dill-san also initially thought Barden-san was a ruffian.
"So, Dill, are you playing the role of a guide today?"
"Rather than a guide, I'm more like a witness. They're promising newcomers to this town, as you can see from their appearance... so the Guild Master, worried about them being harassed by some adventurers, personally requested me."
"Oh, so you're playing the role of providing testimony that they were approached by others. The Guild Master seems to have high expectations for them to make such a request."
Barden-san looked at us with interest.
"You got lucky. The guys who seemed like they might hassle you all headed to the third floor."
"The third floor?"
"Yeah, they found some weird wall, and everyone went to check it out together."
… A weird wall? Was there something like that?
"They said there was a polished wall behind a collapsed one, with traces suggesting something was stuck to it. So, there's talk about searching the walls on the third floor for hidden treasure."
“"......"”
Dill-san and I couldn't help but exchange looks.
"... You two look like you know something."
“”Haha, well..."”
“”It was kinda weird~””
As Dill-san and I chuckled, the kids responded nonchalantly.
"So you are not just aware, you are the ones who found it! Rather… it was weird?”
“”Yeah, kinda weird~””
"It seemed like construction materials, but they were tiles made of stone about the size of my palm."
"If they were gemstone tiles, they'd fetch a good price, but if they're just ordinary stone... yeah, I guess it's kind of weird."
"While they're made of polished stone and seem usable... well, it's something found on the third floor. If it were a lower floor, there might be gemstone tiles."
"Yeah, true. Since there's a chance they could be found on any floor, we'll keep an eye on the walls from now on."
Barden-san and his group seemed to secretly chuckle at the thought of adventurers going to search for walls on the third floor, perhaps imagining them wasting their time. Well, the group that went to the third floor didn't seem to be the most well-behaved, so maybe it's just as well they didn't meet.
"Hm? Takumi, a pack is approaching."
"Eh, really? Thanks, Kaiser."
As we chatted with Barden-san's group, Kaiser, who noticed the group of monsters first, urged me to pay attention.
"That's... a Rock Spider, isn't it?"
"”We will go!””
"Hey, wait!?"
Several soccer ball-sized Rock Spiders appeared, crawling along the ceiling and walls... Groups of spiders are kinda creepy. But Allen and Elena seemed unfazed and dashed off excitedly. Seeing this, Barden-san and his group looked flustered.
"That’s alright, but... Allen, Elena, since they seem tough, use magic instead of kicking them."
“”Okay~””
Since they seemed tough from their name, I instructed them to use magic to deal with them instead of charging in to kick. Upon hearing this, the kids abruptly stopped and started casting spells haphazardly.
“”Defeated~””
They easily defeated them and came back with handfuls of loot.
“”Lots of thread~””
The loot from the Rock Spiders seemed to be threads, as the kids returned with their hands full of them.
"Wow, there are threads in various colors."
“”No, no, no!"”
"Hm?"
While I imagined the loot to be mostly white threads, they were actually colorful... But Dill-san and Barden-san vigorously shook their heads.
"Um... are the threads usually white?"
"That's right! Usually, they're mostly white threads. Occasionally, colored threads appear!"
"But having only colored threads in such large quantities is strange!"
I see. It's rare for them to come out in such colorful varieties.
"Well, I guess we were lucky!"
"It's not that simple!!"
Dill-san seemed to have gotten used to it and sighed as if to say, "Here we go again," but Barden-san wasn't about to let it go.
"Another group is coming. Do they just come running when we raise our voices?"
“"Going off!””
It seems another group of Rock Spiders appeared, and the kids dashed out again. Maybe they're drawn by the voice or sound, as Kaiser suggested?
"Ah~ why do they keep running toward them~? Hey, use magic!"
Why do kids always feel the urge to rush towards monsters and unleash their kicking techniques? They immediately head towards the monsters.
"”Oh, right!"”
The kids abruptly stop again and defeated the Rock Spiders with magic. Then, they return with handfuls of colorful threads, just like before.
"... There doesn’t seem to be many white threads."
"......"
"Why the hell!”
While Dill-san remained silent, Barden-san shouted loudly. But I don't know. I'd be curious to know if there's a reason for it. I just feel like it's all about luck.
"Barden-san, it's better for you to just accept that Takumi’s group is like that for your own sake."
"Dill, why are you so philosophical about this?"
"I've been through a lot! Seriously, a lot!"
"Have you guys known each other for a long time?"
"We only met a few days ago! But, a lot has happened in those few days! Seriously, a lot!"
Even though he says "a lot," I think it's just about the branch-related incidents on the first floor... Did we really surprise Dill-san that much?
"”They coming again~””
"It's convenient how monsters come to us when we shout."
“"Can defeat lots.””
Watching the kids and Kaiser happily defeat the monsters gathered by Barden-san and Dill-san’s shouts, Barden-san sighed as he watched them.
"Dill, sorry for thinking it was an easy job."
"... No."
Though he didn't say it out loud, Barden-san seemed to have thought that guiding us was an easy job, and he lightly patted Dill-san's shoulder as if to comfort him.
… I think that response was a bit harsh.
