LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 28
Tomorrow is the end of the business suspension.
The long march filled with suffering finally comes to an end.
It’s time to return to a happy life filled with shining gold bars.
With a daily guard dog tucked under my arm.
Having finished preparing for the reopening of the shop, my eyes were drawn to a strange combination upon returning to the Guild House.
Elise was sitting with Tynia on her lap, smiling and chatting with Yo-hena.
“Lumi, why have they become so close?”
“Meow…? I don’t know!”
I had worried that their relationship might not be very good since Tynia constantly criticized Yo-hena, calling her a “big-breasted monster.”
Besides, Yo-hena is a saint.
Is it permissible for a saint to be friends with a demon?
Anyway.
“Welcome back, Arc!”
“How was my shop?”
“Welcome back, Arc.”
Warmly welcoming the head of the house who just returned from walking the dog.
Big, petite, and small ones.
This is healing…
I wore a satisfied smile.
Moreover, the Guild House, which had been a complete mess earlier that day – no, it was just plain chaos mainly due to Lumi and Tynia – was now shining!
Shiny!
They’re cleaning up without even being told…
I felt like I might cry out of gratitude…
To respond to that hard work.
“Today, we have pork.”
I lifted the bag containing the pork I bought from the market.
“Oh my.”
“Master, the best! The best!”
“Owaaa…!”
…Kids.
Did you hate orc meat that much?
This is still several times more expensive than orc meat…
Sizzle sizzle──
Despite the increase of people, the cooking was still my responsibility.
To be honest, it’s a hassle.
Still, I feel like I have to fulfill the duties of Level 4 Cooking.
Because it has a significant impact on the heroes’ performance, I couldn’t slack off.
Eating this now would be a big help for the climb to the 11th floor tomorrow, so I deliberately resolved to buy pork.
“Yay!”
…I stared blankly at Tynia as she immediately grabbed the meat as soon as it was grilled and placed on a plate.
I decided to ask Yo-hena to double the character education time.
Sizzle sizzle──
As I flipped the pork that had started to grill again.
I pictured the plan after the 11th floor in my mind.
From the 11th to the 15th floors, it’s a maze section.
It’s like announcing that trivial tutorials are completely prohibited.
This is the section where the difficulty starts to rise rapidly.
Appropriately suitable for a maze.
The aspect most critiqued by users is navigation.
Because if you don’t clear the 3-star, you have to struggle to find your way even during repetitive farming, it’s a vicious structure.
It had ignited passionate debates in the gallery over whether newbies would be constantly consumed, like a monthly event.
Of course.
Those who already had experience often suffer even more.
The whining of newbies always gets overshadowed by the negative comments from the veterans.
As the newbies barely manage to crawl up and react with “Is it fun once you get through the maze? Is it really fun?”
The standard response from the gallery was “If you made it that far, you’re already having fun.”
“Arc? Are we there yet?”
“…Take it away.”
It’s time to teach proper dining manners, including Ari.
There’s no respect, no respect!
Sizzle sizzle──
Anyway.
Even being a veteran doesn’t mean one knows everything.
When I developed my main account, I always had a guide open next to me and just followed it.
To memorize that complicated path with a human brain?
Does that make sense?
Unless you’re endowed with perfect memory cheats, it’s impossible.
So I had a few concerns.
“Arc? We’re out of meat.”
“…Even Yo-hena?”
The hero party.
This won’t do!
* * *
They say that even Lumi won’t touch it when it’s mealtime.
So after all the heroes finished their meals.
“I declare, respect the cook!”
“I will respect the cook!”
“Respect the cook, huh!”
“I do indeed respect the cook…!”
“Well, saying ‘huh’ is informal. …I won’t touch you as long as you keep your end of the deal, understood?”
I gathered them together and taught them in our world’s hero style.
They don’t even air dry on weekends.
I do everything for them.
I even skip the morning jog.
I’m alone, no, wait, I’ll have at least one companion every day now.
Anyway.
I’ve done it all for them!
After wrapping up the time to rearm the heroes’ mental frames.
“Dismissed, let’s wrap up early today. A busy day awaits from tomorrow.”
I issued the dismissal order.
…
“Lumi?”
You wouldn’t, would you?
“Woof! I’ll protect you!”
“Right….”
I didn’t have the energy to stop her anymore.
Still, she’s a good kid.
She’s the greediest one yet has never complained.
And she’s the purest child.
She should be able to sleep soundly without any worries.
* * *
By the time Arc had completely fallen asleep with soft breathing.
Lumi, who was half-closed-eyed and purring,
Carefully rose up.
And after staring down at Arc’s sleeping face,
Lick.
She gently licked Arc’s cheek.
“Ummm…”
“Meow…!”
Something wet touched Arc’s cheek in his sleep, and he mumbled.
It startled Lumi, causing her ears to perk up and stand on end, but…
“Umm…”
Fortunately, since it was sleep-talking,
Lumi let out a sigh of relief.
Marking.
Area marking.
Tainting the chosen male with her own scent.
It was a traditional ritual of the dog beastkin.
Of course.
Since the pup was really, truly weak,
If Lumi just resolves herself a little, she could bark and growl right now.
But she had no intention of hastening things.
Traditionally.
The dog beastkin favored the number 100.
They would forgive minor mistakes up to 100 times.
Their favorite food could be eaten in a row 100 times.
Declaring something entirely theirs also—
It was said to be completed by marking it over 100 days.
Today marked the 15th marking.
Moreover.
“Growl…”
There was an uninvited guest.
“……Oh? Lumi? You weren’t sleeping?”
Elise.
The female who surrendered to the pup today.
She had a slightly larger “attractive pouch” than Lumi.
Lumi’s tail stood straight up.
The eyes of Lumi and Elise met, igniting sparks.
“Pup, don’t touch!”
“Why…? Surely the master would also enjoy it, wouldn’t he?”
“Grrr….”
That wasn’t wrong.
With Lumi’s heightened sense of smell,
There were times when a charming scent wafted from the pup’s lower half.
Lumi learned from her mother.
When the male wants the female, but isn’t ready in his heart, he resolves it and gives off that scent.
But still.
“Pup is sleeping. Go away.”
“Hmm, there’s nothing I can do. I don’t want to fight with our cute Lumi.”
Lumi sent Elise away.
Only then did Lumi’s tail, which was so tightly wound up, begin to sway gently.
Ari and Tynia were fine.
Those two hadn’t had any barking and growling yet.
Yo-hena was acting strangely lately.
She had begun to slowly bark and growl.
Saha and Elise…
Were a danger.
If even for a moment of carelessness, they might immediately take the pup and bark and growl at him.
Of course, the pup is a good person.
He deserves to have multiple females at once.
Lumi didn’t intend to show any possessiveness.
But since the current pup isn’t ready in his heart yet,
Lumi must protect him from being ravaged.
So.
Lumi will wait.
Until the pup is ready.
Or—
Until she has marked him 100 times.
* * *
“Well then, Elise and Ha-Rong. Please take care of the shop until we return. Elise? Just follow the recipe I noted.”
“See you! Arc!”
“I will fulfill the duties assigned by my lord!”
“Grrr…!”
Lumi seems to be a bit wary of Elise.
Is it because they share the big-breasted position?
Well, like with Tynia.
After a bit of bickering, they’re bound to become friends.
Now our heroes have reached a respectable Level 4, averaging Level 47.
If I poured in for retail sales as well, we could have reached Level 50, but…
Because Tynia and Ari were throwing such fits, I had no choice but to stop.
Saha and Lumi drink quite well.
Good kids.
Anyway.
Monsters are getting stronger but…
This is the point where skills, cooldowns, critical probabilities, and other options begin to attach to equipment.
…The nightmare of infinite retries to achieve a critical hit is fresh in my mind, but.
Unless it’s a boss raid that opens later.
At the 11th floor, we’re still at the lower levels.
“Brave Hero, prepare to enter from the designated area!”
“……?”
“……I mean we should go in.”
I collected five hooks.
Isn’t it time to sensibly pop up an achievement notification or something like that?
* * *
[Tower of Wishes 11th Floor – Entrance to the Great Labyrinth Area 1]
[★☆☆ : Escape the area within 1 hour.]
[★★☆ : Escape the area within 45 minutes.]
[★★★ : Escape the area within 30 minutes.]
“……”
“Have we… gotten lost?”
“……Yes.”
Is this real?
It’s so complex, far too complex.
Honestly, I’d be grateful if they generously allowed 10 times more time than the original.
“There are too many blocked paths…”
Yo-hena’s words are indeed true.
This place is like a sticky web heaven.
It’s doubtful if we’re even heading in the right direction.
Moreover, thanks to its elasticity, the webs do not tear easily.
And there isn’t a heroic warrior wielding a large, beautiful great sword capable of slicing through the webs.
Hmm.
While the system doesn’t specifically distinguish between stabbing and slicing,
It’s a bit disappointing that slashing attributes are non-existent in this aspect.
Is there no way to deal with this…?
“Tynia, sniff, picked the wrong path…”
“Stop, Tynia. Don’t cry. It’s not Tynia’s fault.”
“Tynia is not at fault! Lumi also couldn’t smell it right!”
I benefitted greatly from Tynia’s help in defeating Elise’s traps,
But this time, since it wasn’t magic but pure brute force, it had no effect.
At this point, I even suspected that we were just picking the wrong paths every time…
Hmm…
Hmm.
“It might be worth a try.”
“Oh! Arc, did you come up with a good idea?”
At the fork in the road.
“Tynia. Left? Right?”
“Ugh… Left?”
“Alright. Let’s go right.”
“Huh…?”
“Upwards? Or downwards?”
“Down?”
“Let’s go up.”
“…Are you tormenting me, Tynia…?”
“Tynia.”
“……Left.”
“Let’s go.”
…Thus.
By avoiding Tynia’s choices.
“Have we… arrived?”
“……Meow?”
“Hmm… It seems we’ve arrived…?”
The exit came into view.
“The, that’s… Tynia did it on purpose…!”
I stroked Tynia’s head as she was about to burst into tears.
“I know. Tynia did nothing wrong.”
…You just happen to have the intelligence of a notoriously bad navigational person,
With a judgement akin to that of a level 3 strategist.
──I didn’t say that.
Making mistakes on answers is a part of talent too.
The labyrinth.
It might actually be easier than expected?