Chapter 263

Take that!”

Crack!

The Dark Sphere cracked open against the Crimson Cobra’s head. [2] A black haze hissed out from the sphere and enveloped the group of Crimson Cobras. 10 seconds later, the black haze cleared away and all that remained were a bunch of disorientated red snakes crawling sluggishly over the cobblestone floor.

“The Dark Sphere’s effects are really good, right~?” I was especially happy about this.

It was one thing to hear from Elland-san how these spheres would halve the status of its victims, but quite another to witness this phenomenon with my own eyes through [Appraisal].

“That’s true. I had not expected it to work this well,”

So well that even I could defeat these slow and sluggish creatures on my own. [6] Considering their previous, shockingly fast and unpredictable movement, this was like attacking a bunch of eels flopping on the kitchen table.

We used the Dark Spheres several times on this floor. [5] Through [Appraisal], I could actually see the Crimson Cobra’s status disappeared by half due to ‘Abnormal Status’. This Abnormal Status will last for 10 minutes.

I let Elland-san know about the 10-minute limit. Naturally, Fer got the credit for this information.

“Alright, let’s take them all down within 10 minutes!”

“Yes!”

Elland-san and I headed for the sluggish Crimson Cobras. While we eliminate the cobras within the passageway, Fer and the others trashed the snakes in a nearby room. Ah, but, they’re probably about done by now.

We decided to split our team this way so that I could gain experience. [2] [8] With Elland-san keeping me safe and the Dark Spheres to cripple the enemy, [5] I could quickly and easily gain plenty of experience. I’m mostly doing this to avoid having the gods complaining at me about the liquor store but levelling up is nice too.

[6] Of course, that’s not the only preparation I did. The enemy was a strong poison user. [5] Therefore, I made sure to keep a few Sui-made-elixirs in a leather bag attached to my waist. Just in case.

“Sei!”

After all, even though the opponent’s status had been halved, their poison was just as deadly. [1] Naturally, I can’t cut heads off with my spear, Mithril or not, luckily stabbing the top of their head worked just as well.

This was repeated over and over again. [5]

“Phew, that’s the last of them,”

“Yes, let’s collect the Drop items now.”

Drop items from Crimson Cobra were vials of poison, magic stones, skins and meat.

By now, I have Black Anaconda, Black Serpent, Red Serpent, and Crimson Cobra meat. It will be interesting to compare all these snake meats later.

““Aruji, Sui help pick up the stuff since there are lots and lots~””

“Oh, thank you, Sui,”

Sui had collected all the Drop items inside the room by tucking everything inside her larger body. [6] She landed in front of me with an almighty thump, before expelling all the Drop items at my feet.

I put them all into my Item Box.

“Alright, shall we go?”

With Fer in the lead, we continued our way.

～>゜）～～～～

～>゜）～～～～ ～>゜）～～～～

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“The boss of this room is at the end of this passage,” said Fer.

[4] “Oh? We’re close to the end?” [6] I said.

“Hold on, 26th floor is an Undead Floor. If we keep going, wouldn’t we face the Undead at night? Personally, I’d prefer to avoid spending the night on that floor…” Elland-san looked quite agitated.

I wholeheartedly agreed. I really do not want to put my poor mind through the shredder again… [5]

“Is that so? Maa, I don’t really care, but I’m getting hungry so I don’t mind stopping here.”

““I’m hungry too!””

““Sui, too~~””

Since we won’t be going to the Boss Room tonight, we headed over to the nearest safe area for our dinner. Today’s dinner was Hayashi Rice made with Bloody Horn Bull meat. My familiars got large portions, naturally, while I served Elland-san and myself on smaller wooden plates.

“Here you go, Elland-san,”

“Ooh, it smells good, what is this?” asked Elland-san as he inhaled the steam coming off the Hayashi Rice.

“It’s [6] a variation of beef stew. Go ahead and scoop the sauce and grains together with your spoon. It’s delicious.”

“I see, I see. So, I scoop the grains then the sauce with, [6] oh, is that meat? Ohoho, it’s going to be delicious, I just know it!”

[6] I watched as Elland-san popped the large spoonful of Hayashi Rice into his mouth and… I swear his face just melted.

“Delicious~~~ Such rich and deep flavours, it’s too delicious for words~~” Elland-san eagerly ate another mouthful, and another, and another.

Ahaha, I’m glad he liked it.

I also ate my own portion, better eat before-

[6] ““Seconds!”” [5]

The large pot of Hayashi stew disappeared in a flash. Everyone seemed to be extra hungry today. Perhaps it was from fighting monsters all day?

“Hmm, I’m not quite full yet. How about some fried food? You have that serpent meat, right? Make us some fried serpent,” said Fer.

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““Fried food does sound good!””

““Fried food~ Fried food~””

[5]

“Absolutely not, there’s no way I’m doing any kind of frying in this place. If you’re still hungry, then… Ah, I still have some fried Sea Serpent,”

“Umu, excellent,” said Fer with fake calm. [6] I know it’s fake because I saw the little trail of drool dripping from the corner of his mouth…

I served the fried Sea Serpent to all my familiars. [5]

“Excuse me, did I just hear Fer-sama said… Sea Serpent?”

“Oh, would you like some too?”

“Yes! Absolutely! It’s been decades since I last had Sea Serpent!”

… having Elland-san here is like having a fourth familiar around. If we all keep travelling together like this, my food will disappear very soon.

Though he looked like a slim model, he sure ate a lot.

“This deep-fried method creates really delicious food. The meat remains tender while the outside provides a crisp coating that’s just irresistible. I feel like I could eat endless amounts. Sea Serpents are already very luxurious ingredients, but, Mukouda-san manages to elevate it by cooking it in such a way that triples its deliciousness.”

“Umu, fried food is good,”

““Fried food is the best!””

““Fried food is yummy~~””

Umu, I agree too. Fried food is justice!

It will always be popular no matter what, no matter where.

Once we get out of this dungeon, I should deep fry all the different kinds of serpent meat. Naturally, I must make the soy sauce and salted karaage version. Oh, maybe I could even have enough to make a proper menu. What a great idea!

We haven’t finished the dungeon challenge yet, but I was already thinking about what to do after we get out of the dungeon.

[Gumihou: I love karaage, but it’s kind of expensive here and Gumi is not very good at making fried food.]

[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs

[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs

[3] Structural Change: Combine paragraph & dialogue

[4] Structural Change: Change passive sentence to dialogue

[5] Delete Repetitive or Pointless Information

[6] Additional Information for Aesthetic Purpose

[7] Add Dialogue Tag

[8] Creative Licence Taken