The next day.
I came to the dungeon with the main party for the first time in a while... but.
"..."
I'm not in a good mood.
Pouting and sulking, the rest of the party members - Lucas, Evangeline, Damien, and Junior glanced at me apprehensively.
"Um... Senior, is something wrong?"
Eventually, Evangeline cautiously asked, but I just waved my hand.
"No, no... Don't worry. It's nothing."
"You say that, but your face looks really bad. Like..."
"Like what?"
"Like a pufferfish that's been slapped in the face."
"..."
When I glared at her with an actually heated face, Evangeline yelped 'Pufferfish explosion-' and scurried away.
"Sigh."
I took a deep breath and composed myself. Right, I can't let my bad mood affect the party members.
The reason for my mood... was last night's box opening.
I opened all the reward boxes we'd accumulated last night, and it was a disaster with not a single finished item appearing.
'Especially since there were several SSR-grade boxes, how could not a single finished item come out?'
Instead, a bunch of SSR-grade magic cores spilled out.
Of course, those are valuable items, but still, you know how it is, right? You expect a legendary item to drop into your hands, shining with dazzling light beams, right? That's when you feel truly rewarded for your hard work.
'I've been lucky so far...'
It's true that I've been getting good items from lower-grade boxes and have had my share of luck and good finds.
But missing out like this with high-grade boxes naturally turned me into Ash the Pufferfish, blushing with frustration.
Anyway, grumbling like this, we entered the dungeon, and the base camp appeared.
Clang! Clang!
Hearing the familiar sound of a hammer somewhat improved my mood. Kellibey was busily hammering away in the base camp's forge.
"Kellibey!"
"Oh, young prince. You're here."
Kellibey grinned at me, then quickly changed his tone.
"No, no, that's not right. I shouldn't call you the young prince anymore. You're the head of the World Guardian Front now."
"That sounds too grandiose. I'm just a stand-in commander receiving troops to fend off the monsters, that's all."
"Don't be so modest. You're practically a politician now."
Kellibey clicked his tongue and then looked puzzled.
"But why that face? Something bad happen? You look like a pufferfish that's been punched a couple of times."
"..."
It seems the box opening failure was a bigger blow to my feelings than I thought. I composed myself again. Ahem! I'm still far from being a real politician.
"Here, New Year celebration food. Take some."
"Oho... New Year's stew, huh. I'll enjoy it."
I distributed food not only to Kellibey but also to everyone in the base camp.
Even NPCs who weren't close to me naturally accepted it.
After continuously giving out various things, maybe I've built some internal camaraderie. As they say, nothing beats gifts for a favorability mission.
"Kuh~! The broth's great."
Kellibey tasted the stew right there and then, but I stopped him from opening a bottle of alcohol. Stop!
"Have the alcohol later, please. I have an equipment request."
"Giving me something delicious and then asking me not to eat but to make equipment? Where's your conscience?"
Instead of answering, I took out the equipment materials I brought.
It was none other than the magic cores of the three Gorgon sisters. All three, befitting SSR-grade magic cores, emitted a brilliant light.
Kellibey hurriedly cleared away the stew pot and clung to the cores as soon as he saw them.
"Never mind what I just said. This is even more delicious!"
Immediately shifting into blacksmith mode, Kellibey swallowed his saliva and turned his sharp eyes towards me.
"This is certainly a fine material for crafting something exceptional. What shall I make for you?"
"Hmm..."
I pondered for a moment.
Equipment made from the magic cores of the top-tier monsters, the Gorgon sisters. The end product would undoubtedly be of ultimate quality.
'Given the nature of the Gorgon sisters, it's better to craft armor.'
As rock monsters who lived with petrification, their defense is exceptionally strong. In fact, I had already decided on making armor without much thought.
The issue was,
'Whose armor?'
First of all, Lucas urgently needs armor.
Glancing at Lucas, as expected, he was vigorously signaling his current lack of armor.
With a pitiable face, he hugged his armor-less upper body with both arms and sent me a pleading look.
"What are you doing now?"
Evangeline asked with a stunned expression, but Lucas continued his 'please give me equipment' appeal. I sweated. Ugh.
The black armor sets, [Midnight] and [Dusk], Lucas wore before were completely destroyed.
He had been wearing spare equipment for the recent battle, but even those armors were now shattered.
Armor for a vanguard character is a matter of life and death. It needs to be replaced quickly.
'But the Gorgon sisters' equipment would be too heavy.'
In the game, I had crafted armor from this high-quality material a few times, but due to being made from solid stone, it turned out to be incredibly heavy.
Regardless of whether it could be worn, it unavoidably slowed down movement.
Lucas is a nimble knight with impressive agility. The excessively heavy Gorgon armor would not suit his style.
Then the Gorgon armor should go to...
'Torkel, of course.'
Torkel, having awakened his ultimate skill and risen to the rank of elite tier 1 tank, also currently lacks proper armor.
His shield was also significantly damaged in the recent battle.
Since he's not a character known for agility, it would be fitting to equip him with this heavy armor and use him as a mobile fortress.
So, I ordered a full set of heavy armor, along with a large shield. The magic cores were allocated two for the armor and one for the shield.
Kellibey nodded in satisfaction.
"Just as I expected! You know your stuff! Alright! I'll start crafting right away!"
Kellibey, chuckling with delight, grabbed the magic cores and rushed into his workshop.
"..."
However, Lucas's reaction was quite the opposite. He drooped his arms and wore a look full of discontent, realizing the equipment being made was for Torkel.
"Wow, another pufferfish!"
Damien, who had just finished distributing stew to other NPCs, exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Lucas's face. Junior, standing behind, covered her mouth and giggled. Ugh...
"Lucas?"
"It's alright, my lord... Even without armor, I am invincible. I might get hurt... feel pain... shed tears... but it's your decision, my lord... I'm okay with it."
He's clearly not okay! And he's really upset!
Clang! Clang!
Just then, Evangeline suddenly activated her armor, [Snow White], behind me.
In an instant, she was clad in a dazzling white armor, covering her mouth as she laughed.
"Oh my? My mistake~ I accidentally wore the Lake Kingdom's strongest magical armor, S.N.O.W. W.H.I.T.E. Oh dear~ I guess I'm still prone to errors~"
"..."
At this, Lucas's face swelled up.
A pufferfish! A huge pufferfish! A blonde, blue-eyed protagonist pufferfish! And it's about to burst!
"Calm down, Lucas. I'm preparing a separate armor for you!"
My urgent shout made the Lucas pufferfish deflate instantly.
As if he never got angry, Lucas returned to his usual Golden Retriever-like face and smiled gently.
"Haha. Of course. I have always believed in you, my lord."
"Is, is that so?"
"Absolutely. I never doubted that you would prepare the best armor for me, far superior to Evangeline's antique armor."
No, that's absurd?! Even under blatant pressure, that's absurd?!
Of course, I had in mind the final armor for Lucas, but it was impossible to farm it right now.
I had only intended to somehow provide him with suitable armor for the time being.
"...No choice then."
There were no reward chests available for immediate opening. Nor was there a specific dungeon to farm the materials for the armor.
"Is it time to use this?"
I pulled out an item I had been keeping all along.
It was a magic key, glowing blue. My party members, especially Junior, lit up their eyes.
"What's this?"
"It's a magic key to open an event dungeon."
[Magical Goblin Room Key].
It was a key item I received as a full-clear bonus when I cleared the Mage Tower in Zone 8.
I had postponed using it, as there hadn't been a suitable opportunity for free exploration, but today seemed like the day.
Damien clapped his hands.
"Ah! Are we going to a place similar to the Golden Goblin Room we entered before?"
"Yes, you remember, Damien."
We had previously entered the Golden Goblin Room and farmed items. Damien had sniped and caught all the quick golden goblins.
While the Golden Goblin Room's rewards were mainly materials, the Magical Goblin Room offered magical items.
Though primarily consumables, equipment occasionally dropped as well. Today, we'll raid this place.
"Coco Granny!"
As we approached Coco the Severer's magic workshop, we saw Coco pouring today's stew into a magic cauldron.
No... why mix that. Just eat it... Sweating profusely, Coco gestured to me.
"Oh, isn't it the young prince? What brings you here today?"
"Please open this with the key."
Coco, taking the key I handed over, grinned silently.
"Picking up rare items again, I see... Now, stand back, I'm opening the door."
Coco took the magic key, inserted it into the empty air beside her, and turned it vigorously. Then.
Swoosh!
A gap opened in the thin air, eventually forming a long oval-shaped magic door. Blue magic particles scattered in all directions.
"Alright, kids! Let's go treasure hunting!"
I was the first to jump through the door.
Flash-!
***
The Magical Goblin Room was similar in appearance and rules to the previous Golden Goblin Room.
In this circular dome-shaped event dungeon, defeating a magical goblin would yield items.
The difference was, while only three golden goblins appeared and were very fast, requiring Damien's skills to catch them, dozens of magical goblins appeared, and they were much slower, making them easier to hunt.
However, there was another difference.
Squeak?!
Swoosh-!
These shining blue goblins, each one provided items of not very high quality.
Mostly, they scattered an enormous amount of trivial items like potions and scrolls. The dungeon room quickly piled up with these items.
But as there were many, they started to drop complete equipment items as well. We hunted the magical goblins enthusiastically, with fire in our eyes.
Flash!
The first equipment obtained was an SR grade, a shimmering purple Rosario. It was a priest-exclusive item that enhances divine power output.
"Ah, this will be perfect for Zenis."
I gratefully picked up the Rosario.
The next items were an R-grade orb and an SR-grade single-edged long sword.
The orb had an option to increase total magic power, and the long sword held a special ability to increase its cutting power when soaked in the user's blood.
"Ah, this will be perfect for Chain and Nobody, our new recruits."
I quickly stashed them in my inventory.
The next equipment we found were various small accessories. Rings, necklaces, dice, and other ornaments that didn't have remarkable abilities but modestly increased stats.
"Ah... these will be perfect for the Gambler's Club kids..."
I haven't given them any equipment since they joined... Let's take care of the Gambler's Club kids too...
After that, more equipment kept dropping.
Axes and spears that Dusk Bringar would like, longbows and arrows for the Holy Grail Seekers, close-range weapons and leather armors for the Penal Squad...
"Ah..."
As I scooped up all sorts of items, I sneakily glanced around.
"..."
I saw Lucas swelling up with anticipation.
We were almost done clearing out the remaining magical goblins in the dungeon, but still, no suitable armor for Lucas had appeared.
To make matters worse, every time Evangeline picked up new equipment, she would tease,
"Ah?! Uncle Lucas! It's armor!"
"Really?!"
"Ah... no, it's not armor. My mistake. Sorry~"
Trembling, trembling.
Lucas was swelling up even more...
'No! Stop, pufferfish! Don't explode! Stop it!'
That was when it happened.
Bang-!
Crunch!
Damien sniped and took down the last magical goblin,
Flash!
From the item dropped by that goblin, a dazzling golden light burst forth.
'What?! An SSR grade?!'
Startled, I turned to look, and right beside me, Lucas urgently exclaimed,
"Is that armor?!"
Isn't that my line?!