"This ball sure is heavy...!"
Beth had successfully taken that golden ball, and although it was somewhat uncomfortable to carry something so slippery on her paws, she was excited to show it to her pets.
***
In the cave, where a gluttonous squirrel and an angel were also searching for some valuable objects underwater, an anxious Shiba Inu puppy was present.
In his paws, unseen by anyone, he was attempting to create a sort of net with the bones and fish scraps they had eaten, but he still needed to keep them together.
Tenma didn't like being enclosed for too long; since his previous life, he had been claustrophobic, and in a damp and almost dark place like that, nerves made him improvise to find a quick way out.
His plan was as follows: If he could build a stable enough net to pull the golden box out of the water and bring it to the surface, then he could try to open it with the amulet. Perhaps if he gave something valuable to that eye inside the box, it could make it open.
Although he had nothing assured, being something so strange, it might work.
But what he lacked was how to stick the bones to the scales and fish remains he had obtained from the scraps. His saliva was not a good adhesive, and he planned to use the turtle shell as a shield or helmet if the box attacked him with something. In a fantasy world, he preferred to be prepared for everything.
Getting into the water to retrieve it was a difficult decision since he would most likely end up drowning again, not knowing how to swim, and he couldn't ask the squirrel for help either, as she didn't know either. The angel was the least interested in leaving, so he couldn't count on anyone.
He took a moment to look at the objects he had at his disposal: there was a rusty metal box, a large glass bottle, a smooth stone, a ball, and the strange metal that Beth had just brought him.
He also had some algae that Beth sometimes left lying around, and fortunately, some of them fell into the cave. But they really didn't serve him as they were too big.
["Hey, what are you doing?"]
Turning his head, he would find himself face to face with the angel, who was floating upside down in the air. The angel, upon seeing the puppy's face, was slightly startled, as he was clearly showing anxiety.
But Tenma didn't notice this.
"I'm fine, more than fine..." He commented to the angel, then watching as his improvised net was destroyed with a blow against the ground, falling silent.
["I don't see that you're entirely fine... I know this place is overwhelming you; I can feel how you feel, literally, but this isn't so bad."]
"You like that marine thing, that's why you want to stay."
["What? Of course not. There are a bunch of treasures here that I would like to take with me, but I won't leave until I find them all."]
The canine fell silent, having heard his friend's words.
"What?"
["Yes... that's what's happening."]
"But what about the blushing earlier?"
["I'm an angel, I have no gender or sexual orientation. I don't like anyone, and nobody can see me anyway, so it doesn't matter."]
The dog wiped away a few tears of exhaustion from his eyes and collapsed to the ground.
"I don't like being stuck here... really. I want to go home."
["I'd prefer to go home too, but being up there with money and both of us being able to find faster ways to get out of this mess."]
"Yeah... I think you're right. Maybe there's a merchant who could exchange a lot of money for a wish. Ha, if something like that existed, it would be fantastic."
["This is a fantasy world, not the world of the illogical."]
Both laughed a little, and Tenma started to feel better.
"Seriously... I wish I could go back up. There are valuable things here that we could take, but nothing that guarantees us wealth."
["... Like a giant golden ball?"]
"Yes... —Tenma closed his eyes, sighing—. Like a giant golden ball..."
["No, I'm serious. Look."]
Tenma would open his eyes, seeing how the sea monster emerged from the water with a two-meter golden ball in her paws, dropping it into the cave with force, shaking the entire place.
"What is that?!"