"Oh, I see."
"But if I stay with the four of us, everything should be fine," Lily said.
"That's true. There's no need to rush; we can prepare gradually. Let's start with gathering children's clothes. Having them ready won't hurt."
"Still, if Lily is wandering around that area, she might run into someone who knows her, right?
I just realized—I had completely forgotten that the three of you have been reported missing, and their photos are up on the bulletin board at that supermarket."
"Yeah, there's a missing person report out for us at As Expected. If you go to Japan again, should I disguise myself?"
"It's a little late for that, but are you sure you really don't want to go home? School is still in session."
"It's fine."
"Well, it's your choice, I suppose."
Though I hadn't made any promises, I was determined to take the kids to Japan one day. It wasn't just the desire to surprise them; I wanted to bask in the pride of saying, "Look at how amazing my country is," despite not having contributed much to it. I guess that sense of superiority is something everyone feels.
After finishing my meal, I headed back to the living room to check on Bunny, who was calmly perched on her stand, seemingly unfazed.
It seemed a bit troublesome to only eat food from the paradise, so I decided to try copying a paradise apple. Since I had easily copied a high-end juice from the supermarket, I thought copying the paradise apple would be simple too. However, it turned out to require more mental energy than I anticipated, and I ended up needing to use a stamina potion.
I had felt this sensation before, but when was it? Ah! I remember! It was when I copied the mithril helmet. That time, I was overwhelmingly exhausted, but this time, the fatigue didn't hit me as hard. Still, I felt a familiar sensation of something being drained from me besides just my mental stamina.
As an alchemist, I don't know much about magic. However, I wondered if the larger fruits found in dungeons contained something special. Could it be that the magical energy lying dormant within me was drawn out to facilitate the creation of the paradise apple? I couldn't shake that thought.
Eventually, Lily arrived, and I decided to ask her about magical energy.
"Lily, I have a question for you."
"What is it?"
"When you use magic, do you consciously feel anything like magical energy or something strange?"
"When I activate magic, I feel as if something within me has diminished a bit. That might be the magical energy you're referring to, Rockwell."
"Ah, I see.
Actually, I tried to copy the Paradise Apple a little while ago. I managed to create a copy, but it felt like something was being siphoned out of my body in the process. That must have been my magical energy, right?"
"Since the fruit grew inside the dungeon, it likely contained accumulated magical energy."
"That makes sense. Bunny was immersed in magic as well, so without any magical energy around, the Paradise Apple would become its sole source. I guess it wanted to eat a lot of them."
"So, it seems that keeping Bunny here isn't good for it."
"I could make more Paradise Apples since I was able to copy one, but that doesn't mean I could provide an endless supply."
"Unfortunately, let's return Bunny to the paradise."
"If that's what Lily wants, then we'll do it. Let's gear up and meet here."
"Okay."
After about ten minutes, we were ready, and together with Bunny, we transferred to the center of the paradise. When I intended to let Bunny go, it wouldn't leave Lily's side. I had anticipated this, but it was still a bit troublesome.
"Lily, what should we do?"
"Hmm. Bunny, stay here, okay? I can't keep you at my place, but I'll come visit whenever I can."
While I understood Lily's feelings, I knew they wouldn't resonate with Bunny.
As I watched, Bunny lowered its head, then took flight, soaring to the branch of a nearby shrub where it perched and gazed at Lily with a melancholy intensity. There's a saying that "A dog never forgets three days of gratitude," but it feels like Bunny, the parrot I've known for just a day, will carry that gratitude for ten years.
"Let's skip the dungeon attack today and head back to the mansion," I suggested.
"Alright. Goodbye, Bunny," Lily replied.
With Bunny's unwavering gaze upon us, Lily and I made our way back to the mansion. Lily retreated to her room, and I returned to mine. In this paradise, Bunny has no natural enemies, so I can visit anytime. One day, I might even build a villa in this haven, making it possible to keep Bunny with me.
After changing my clothes, I needed to head to the sushi shop for takeout.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
Meanwhile, Emily Yamada and Kazuha Tahara, accompanied by four guards known as the "Red Whirlwind," had just entered the first chamber of the southern Valen Dungeon.
"I found the entrance easily because it's me, but typically, it's not so straightforward," Kazuha boasted to her hero companion, Emily.
The four members of the "Red Whirlwind" remained silent, but they easily located the entrance, thanks to the temple guards positioned at either side. Upon entering the dungeon, the level 2 rogue, BG Shadow, quickly noticed something amiss with the wall directly ahead of the entrance.
BeeGee whispered to the wizard Eureka Coral about the situation. While thief skills resemble exploration skills, they are more precise and accurate, albeit more limited in their scope. In contrast, abilities related to navigation and positioning are unique to exploration skills.
Kazuha Tahara glanced around the first room and said, "It seems there's nothing here. If this room only has one entrance and nothing else, that won't be much of a story. But that indentation in the wall looks suspicious." She pointed to the recess in the wall where Zenjirou had previously discovered a skeleton key.
Emily Yamada inspected the recess but found nothing. "Kazuha, there's nothing here."
"Oh, really?"
Just then, the wizard Eureka Coral, known as the 'Crimson Gale,' suggested, "Since we're in a dungeon, I think it would be wise to cast 'Light'. Would you like me to do it?"
"I was just about to cast 'Light,'" replied Emily Yamada, the reluctant leader, as she invoked the spell. A bright light illuminated the room, revealing a door that had emerged from the wall opposite the entrance through which they had just entered.
"I thought something was off about this place," Kazuha remarked. As Emily Yamada reached for the newly appeared door,
"Wait a minute! There might be a trap," warned Shauna, the one-eyed leader of the Red Gale, stopping Emily Yamada in her tracks.
"Is there a trap, Ichiyo?" she asked.
"Hmm, it doesn't seem like there is one," Ichiyo replied.
"Shall I use Detect Trap?" Eureka Coral suggested.
"Sure, go ahead."
"Detect Trap! No traps detected."
"I told you so," Emily Yamada said as she opened the door, revealing a straight hallway with several doors lining the walls.
"Should we go straight or check the first door? It's probably best to examine them one by one. What do you think, Ichiyo?"
"We should eliminate them one by one; we can't risk being attacked from behind."
"Good point."
"Are there any traps on the doors?"
"I don't think so."
"Then I'll open it." As Emily Yamada stepped forward carelessly, Shauna called out from behind, "Stop! We still need to check for traps in the hallway."
Emily Yamada halted and turned to Ichiyo. "Can you check it?"
"I'm on it." Ichiyo examined the corridor and confirmed there didn't seem to be any traps. "No traps here."
"Got it. Now I'll try opening the door."
Emily Yamada moved down the corridor, placed her hand on the door, and began to open it slowly.
There was a box inside. "Is it a treasure chest?" Emily Yamada said, approaching it carelessly. Shauna tried to stop her, but it was too late; Emily was already near the box.
"The lid is open, and inside is Sky."
Fortunately, it seemed there were no traps in the room. Losing a Hero to a trap near the entrance of a dungeon like this would significantly tarnish the reputation of the "Crimson Whirlwind." Shauna felt a wave of relief that nothing had happened to Emily, but she began to regret taking on this job in the first place.
Thus, the Hero's Party awkwardly continued their exploration of the first level of the Valen South Dungeon. They eventually reached a room with three hundred stairs, just like Zenjiro and his team. However, unlike them, they had not encountered any monsters so far since Zenjiro's group had taken care of them.
I changed into casual clothes meant for Japan and transferred to the sidewalk in front of the station across the tracks from my apartment to buy sushi. The sushi shop was less than fifty meters away from there.
When I arrived at the station entrance, there were some people around, but no one paid me any attention.
As I mindlessly walked down the sidewalk towards the sushi shop, two police officers approached from the front.
As I passed by two police officers and took a few steps forward, one of them called out to me.
"Excuse me, could you wait a moment?"
"Are you talking to me?"
"Yes. I'd like to ask you a few questions."
I wasn't sure why the officer had stopped me, but I had no intention of arguing, so I replied, "What's this about?"
"Do you know about the case of the three missing high school girls?"
Ah! That case. I couldn't pretend I didn't know, but it was uncomfortable. I'm the type whose emotions show on my face.
"I've heard about it."
"The three girls disappeared around this station. Do you know anything?"
"I don't know anything."
"I'm sorry, but where do you live?"
Unpleasant, very unpleasant. My address was in an evacuation area. That's it! I could say I was just checking on things.
"It's 3-1 XX street."
"Isn't that currently under evacuation order?"
"I came to check on my apartment."
"But it's a restricted area; is that really why you're here?"
I had been transferring between places, so I hadn't realized it was off-limits. I wanted to escape before I slipped up, but since I had answered seriously, my identity could be easily traced if they wanted to.
This was bad!
"I thought it was off-limits, so I gave up."
But the fact that they've persistently questioned me to this extent makes me wonder if they think I'm involved in the high school girl's disappearance case.
"Is that so? Understood. I apologize for taking up your time. Well then."
Huh? I was released surprisingly easily, but is this really okay?
I felt a bit puzzled, but considering I had been let go, I decided to take my luck and headed to a sushi restaurant to place a takeout order.
I'm not a big fan of octopus, but I love soft-bodied seafood, so I ordered mostly squid along with a variety of shellfish. I prefer lean tuna, so while I bought the medium-fat version, I skipped the fatty. Not because I'm stingy.
The children here are all in sixth grade or above, so I didn't skip the wasabi. It's easier to remove it with chopsticks later than to add it in afterward. With a total of seven people, I ordered 70 pieces of nigiri—about 140 pieces—along with three rolls: seven each of cucumber rolls and shinko rolls. I didn't get any kanpyo rolls since I'm not a fan. Oh, I almost forgot the tamago. Adding that brings the total to 77 pieces, or 154 in total.
I requested that all the rolls be cut for easier eating.
At the sushi restaurant's register, I noticed they were selling teacups adorned with fish-character kanji, so I bought one. I also found packets of green tea bags, so I picked up a pack of 20.