Chapter 10
The next day, Mars was devoted to cooking.
Furthermore, the next morning, after a well-deserved rest, they all boarded the submarine.
Even Hazuki was abstinent last night
The destination was the undersea city of Kritias. The arrival time is unknown. Depending on the situation, they may spend some time on the boat.
The hardest part of the journey this time is not being able to sleep and wake up in the 【Treasury of Dreams】.
The reason for this is that access to the 【Treasury of Dreams】 is limited to the same coordinates.
The ship will go on, and even if it is stopped, the currents will carry it away, and the next time they come out of the treasury, they could be in deep water, which would be a disastrous situation.
Fortunately, they were still able to take out supplies, so it was still better.
Mars all made a mountain of leftovers, and they have more than enough ingredients for a year's worth of meals.
「Don't be nervous ......」
「C-Can we really go in the ocean with this ...... Water pressure won't squash us, right ......?」
「I-I hear there's some magic in it for that. It's not just propulsion power.」
「I get most nervous before entering a dungeon. Especially this time.」
With a gulping sound in her throat, Lilia touches the inner wall of the submarine.
She must be worried about the strength of the submarine. She knows because Mars has done the same thing several times.
Mars, who had a driver's license in a previous life, decided to drive.
It is a simple machine with only a gas pedal and a brake, and the steering wheel is operated by the driver.
The main difference between this machine and a car is that it moves up and down. The only way to understand this is to get a feel for it.
*Bururun*, the sound of the engine starting to work.
The propulsion is magic, so it's a clean ride.
「Sion-san, please give us direction.」
「Okay!」
「Sounds like you're having fun, huh?」
「Oh, um.....I apologize for the inappropriateness.」
With an excited look on her face, Sion was pacing around the driver's seat.
Perhaps she thought she was being reproached, but her expression suddenly clouded.
「No, no, that's fine. Let's enjoy the adventure!」
「That's right, that's right-nya! Even if you get gloomy, nothing will change-nya! Do you want some snacks-nyaa?」
「Right! Come over here and relax!」
Hazuki and Nemu in the back seat called out to Sion in a joyful voice.
In the rear of the submarine, there were many sweets spread out like a party hall.
Since this is where they will be sleeping and waking, the seats that are not needed have been removed, and a futon has been laid out there.
Hazuki and Nemu seemed to have decided to occupy the futon and were already fully clothed in their bedclothes.
Nemu was wearing Mars' T-shirt and underwear, and Hazuki was in a baby doll.
「Don't you realize that if you are not careful, you will die!? What's more, you will die by drowning!」
「Don't worry-nya! Lucille-nyan said she fixed it properly! Then it'll be fine-nyaa!」
Lilia looks at Mars with a face that seems to say, "Thoughts have stopped."
Mars had no intention of reprimanding them.
As long as Mars was doing the driving, the rest of the team had no particular job to do.
If he had to venture a guess, he would say that riding is a job in itself, and there is nothing wrong with what you are doing inside.
It is better to let them play than to be bored and annoyed.
「Well, we have no choice but to trust the Dwarves. Lilia should join the pajama party, too. I'll be fine driving alone. Just be careful, though, it's likely to shake. Chopsticks might get stuck in your throat.」
Mars glanced at Sion beside her, who was looking enviously at Hazuki and the others.
She would probably rather join the party than navigate through the familiar waters.
「You should go, too, Sion-san. Just tell me the general direction.」
「Master is a little too lenient! That look of Nemu and Hazuki doesn't look like an adventure heading for the dungeon, you know!?」
Indeed, he agrees, and yet Mars still doesn't blame them
What Lilia says is a good argument, but that argument doesn't mean much right now.
「What Nemu-chan says is true in a way. You can't just look gloomy and serious and nervous. You just need to switch it up in the dungeon.」
There is no point in getting worked up.
Just as an amateur cannot beat a heavyweight boxer just because he is nervous.
In the end, it is all about what you have accumulated up to that point.
If they can behave normally at the stage of the challenge, the result will be the same whether they are relaxed before the challenge or not.
Above all, the girls have no pressing need to challenge the dungeon.
They want to be with Lilia because they love her, but other than that, they have only secondary objectives such as money and magic. It's not something that they would want to go out of their way to get right now. If it's just money, they all have enough to live at least ten times in their lives.
If they don't enjoy it, their motivation will drop dramatically.
Lilia may have come to a similar conclusion and was a little peeved, but she didn't seem to have any words to say, so she just kept silent.
Then Hazuki approached from behind and put a piece of chocolate in Lilia's mouth.
It is Lilia's favorite food.
「It's so sweet, isn't it!? Sweet is the best! Let's live more sweetly to ourselves!」
「Hmm......It's a different kind of sweetness, isn't it? It is delicious, though.」
Rolling the chocolate around in her mouth, Lilia looks as if she has given up and goes to the back seat.
Then, she put her arm inside her own 【Treasury Dreams】 and took out a small box with a very stylish decoration.
「Lilia-sab, that can't be ......!」
「Yes, it is the only luxury chocolate I will spare any money for! One piece of this chocolate is enough for a family to spend a week!」
Lilia was so entranced that she lifted up the chocolate as if she were picking up a jewel and showed it to everyone.
Mars distributes the rewards for dungeon exploits.
Naturally, the cost of living and supplies are taken separately, but even so, each person's allowance is sometimes in the 100 million yen range.
Most of the money is spent on books and snacks.
Entertainment and sweets are precious in this world and cannot be replaced.
Lilia is the stingy one among them――In other words, she is a cheapskate, but she tends to loosen her purse strings only for chocolate.
She usually wondered if she really needed it, and after much deliberation, she never bought it.
Usually, she was the type of person who wondered if she really needed something, and after a lot of careful consideration, she ended up not buying it.
She is a science-oriented type who cooks in precise portions.
However, Hazuki, who is really a science-oriented person, cooks roughly and appropriately.
Lilia, on the other hand, seeks the ultimate in quality.
She does not compromise on anything, from the materials to the packaging.
It took a lot of time and money to complete the product by visiting various merchants in the trading cities.
Mars also had a difficult time negotiating.
The chocolate she took out was such a substitute, a treasure that Lilia would look at before going to bed.
He had heard that she was supposed to eat it on a special occasion, but it seems that she is going to eat it now.
For he realized the biggest reason why Mars doesn't blame everyone else.
The definition depends on the person, but even those days when everyone is alive and smiling are special.
If something goes wrong in the dungeon, we will never have a day like this again――
「We don't know what the future holds. We may end up saving it and not eating it. That would be a waste, so let me offer it to you guys――Only one for each of you, though!」
Lilia acted bravely, looking a little embarrassed but hiding it so as not to be noticed.
Hazuki and Nem drooled and swarmed over the chocolate like zombies.
They knew they would get seriously scolded if they snatched a piece. However, this chocolate was legendary among her friends that even she was so thorough about managing it that she hid it in her own treasury.
Only Mars had ever seen the actual chocolate.
「Here, Sion. I'll share some with you, too. ――Let's enjoy it together. Surely, we should enjoy the moment to the fullest. This is truly a treasure, so savor it slowly, okay!」
Lilia comes toward Mars first and throws the chocolate into his mouth.
「Mmm! It tastes a little like something for adults! It's just like you'd expect from a specialty flavor. It's so rich,......, I can't make this kind of thing myself. It seems simple, but it's actually difficult to make, with the temperature and all」
「As expected of Master. You really can tell the difference when you're on the maker side, can't you!」
He ate bitter chocolate. Usually, Mars only made sweet milk chocolate, so this was a fresh taste.
He can say with certainty that this would be accepted in modern Japan as well.
Lilia, who had been praised for the attention to detail, headed back with a happy expression on her face.
「It tastes different from that Nemu expected-nya..... It's bitter-nyaa! This isn't first place ...... it's third place-nyaa!」
「Nemu, I won't give you anymore!」
Lilia was indignant, saying, "How can you not understand this flavor?'
Hazuki, on the other hand, praised it.
When she gave it to Sion as well, she began to cry silently.
「W-What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?」
Sion shook her head at Hazuki's fluster.
「I-I'm just happy that I'm being treated like one of you.......」
「Of course, it's only natural to be treated equally with your comrades, isn't it-nyaa?」
「Even Nemu can understand that. The joy of being treated fairly...」
Patting her back, Lilia guided Sion onto the futon.
The desire to be treated as precious by someone is a common feeling regardless of one's race.
I wonder how lonely it must be to wait for a husband who never comes home.
It sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it.
She cooked meals day in and day out, and yet her husband didn't come home for a hundred years. She only saw him once.
――For the first time in my life, I thought to myself, "Isn't this exactly the kind of situation that I should steal her away?"
No, it doesn't make sense when I try to put it into words.
At the very least, separating them wouldn't be a mistake. They might as well be separated already.
Even if one more person joins us, it won't make any difference.
「――Should we make a village?」
A murmured voice.
If they have children and the number of people increases ......, they'll need a base somewhere.
It would be good to gather the different races of people who are discriminated against to build it.
Mars decided to do that if he could buy a part of the World Tree Forest.
「All right, then, let's dive in. Everyone holds on for a while. It might shake things up a bit.」
There are some handles on the wall that are just right.
They shouldn't have unnecessary things on the submarine, so it must be shaking.
Declaring, Mars stepped on the accelerator.
There was a rattling, unsettling sound, and the submarine slowly sank into the sea.
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