Dungeon? This Tree? Why Don’t You Join Me for Lunch? (Dungeon Core)

I could say many things about the Forest of Forget-Me-Nots. That it was beautiful. That the field with the forget-me-nots could steal souls away with its beauty.

But the fact of the matter was that it was a forest, not a farm.

And I, in a rare moment of compassion, had agreed to feed not one, but five tourists.

The news was going to spread. I simply did not have enough food. The last of the flour had gone towards the chicken breasts. I had no cheese, which was a disaster enough, but not the finishing touch.

For I had… no garlic left!

One could say many things about garlic, but the truth of the matter was that it could make everything taste divine. Add a bit of honey and vinegar, some of my dear cow's butter, and you could steal souls, final wills and testaments, and bank account information.

There was only one thing I could do, without selling my soul to the humans for food.

I had to go to the gnomes.

There was a time when I believed that the gnomes were strange garden ornaments. Their lot in life, as I had seen them, during my travels around the world after the death of my tree, was to be pretty, cute, and babysit children.

But these gnomes were different.

Not only did they live in a village, which had nothing to do with toys or the idea of a toddler's dream home, but they also had farms.

Mini farms.

Which were basically raised beds which span as far as the eye could see. I knew that I could not fail. If this deal did not go through, then I will need to turn my old girl into a murder dungeon.

I shook my head.

No, she will not allow it. Besides, I am not like that!

There are times when my nature as a mob gives me this strange thought in my mind. A question which cuts deep in me.

How many times must I repeat my mantra, the dark voice which speaks to me in a moment of weakness always asks, before I see it as the lie it is?

I shook my head.

I am not like this!

"Are you planning on stealing my cabbage?" I heard a squeaky voice say. The gnome was stocky, but still only fifty centimeters tall. It was a miracle that he even had a garden.

"Hello, my name is Sylvan!" I offered him my whole hand, instead of just a finger. There was no surer way to end up with something pointy in your ankle than to offer just a single finger to a gnome as a greeting. "And I would like to arrange for the purchase of your crops!"

The gnome looked at my hand, shook it, then waved at me.

"Follow," he said so, as if he were leading me to my death. I did not fear gnomes.

For, I used the last of my apples to make some baked apples. In this dark hour, only the foolish would have come in here without a bribe.

The gnomic houses had hay roofs. I marveled at the wood carvings, each one depicting a plant which the gnomes surely grew in their mini farms.

The front lawns were not like those of the humans, neat and ordered, with the grass being cut so mercilessly that I could hear it begging for mercy a mile away.

No, the front lawns of the gnomes were like forests. Plants grew where they liked, shared in the sun and shade as they pleased.

I smiled, feeling a warmth in my heart.

These people loved nature. And nature, if one judged by the trees, which were heavy with fruit, loved them back.

"Chief, the nymph wants to talk to you," I was glad that my guide did not want for me to enter the small house. Oh, sure, the chief's home was bigger than the other houses, but I, with my 190 cm, would have never fit through the door.

"Welcome, Nymph," the chief reached out. Once more, I offered my whole hand. "What brings you here? Do help yourself to a cherry."

I smiled, taking a single white cherry from the tree next to the door of the house. Soon, I was closing my eyes and just letting the juices bring me to Nirvana.

Oh, the jam I could make with this treasure…

"I would like for you to supply me with food," I said, as I opened my eyes. "I can pay. Both with mana, and with gold."

For I was of the mind to charge the tourists for the food. I did not run a charity, but a nature conservation effort.

"Gold? Can one eat gold?" The chief asked, snorting. "But mana… we can do plenty with mana."

My fingers twitched. Oh, that was not good. How was I supposed to gather enough mana to pay for all the food?

"I…" I began, but the chief was already waving a stately gnome over.

"One hundred points of mana per one hundred kilograms of food," the chief said, finality in his voice.

"Does it matter what type of food?" If I was going to be taking off moss from my old girl, I had to secure the best possible ingredients for my cooking!

"No. Did you not see what we have as you came to my house? We produce enough food to feed a city! But no one wants to buy from us. No. As soon as we say we have food, they want to steal it! Just last week, a giant came and took last year's harvest! We need mana, Nymph, for without it, we can't power our barrier!"

I nodded, feeling glad that by giving them the moss, I will help protect them. But something bothered me.

Once the barrier was in place, it could keep me out as well. What if the gnomes raised their prices? What if they decided to stop sending me food during the busiest days of the tourist season?

But I had no choice.

I needed the food. Needed it to save a life. Perhaps even hundreds of lives, for I knew that the tourists would spread the news.

I signed the contracts.

The gnomes piled up enough food to feed an army into a bottomless bag and sent me on my way.

And now… I needed to collect 1,000 mana points in 3 days, or the gnomes were going to stop supplying me.

But my old girl had only 300 mana stored in her moss…