We arrived at the insect area – a jungle. Insects in a jungle…isn’t that way too cheap?
“For now, let’s head for the boss room.”
In response, Sword scratched his head, “Sure, why not. Is there anythin’ of interest for you in this area?”
“I follow the doctrine of not eating cooked locusts,” earned a knuckle on my head.
“Listen, even I don’t eat ‘nythin’ like that! That ain’t what I was askin’! Military bees appear on these floors!”
Bees with a camouflage pattern? I an I like a military look, so I have so interest, but going this far…
“The loot item they drop is honey!”
“Alright, let’s hunt them down to the last. Bees are living beings, hence, a large-scale vacuum spell will work against them. I’m going to annihilate them quickly.”
When I imdiately stated my opinion, Sword beca flabbergasted.
“Your totally gung-ho ’bout this, aren’t you…? But, you can produce honey outta wheat, no?”
“Wheat honey and normal honey are completely different. Honey, you see, can be used for making liquor. High-quality honey becos high-quality liquor.”
“Gotcha! Leave it to ! Though it’s not reachin’ your level, I can use wide-area spells as well!”
The Ryokus also made their fighting spirit known by dancing. All of us were roaring to go!
＊
Rushing through the locust, caterpillar, moth, praying mantis, and spider floors, we headed straight for the honey floor.
“They’re gonna start appearin’ after two more floors. They’re strong and attack in groups, but that doesn’t concern us, right? We’ll pass the first floor where they appear since we’ll be hindered by other folks.”
In other words, we’ll gather, no, hunt honey right before the boss floor.
“Fuhahaha! You may call 『Poo-san』! Or 『Seiran-san』 would work as well!”
I go hunting while being super excited
“Uwwwooohh!! You shiiitts, beco liquor for eeee!” Sword’s inner voice, his soul scream, echoed throughout the jungle.
We hunted them down to the extent of not a single bee respawning anymore.
“Okay, it’s noon, so ti for lunch, I’d say,” I announced after a look at my watch.
“Your right. While at it, please prepare so liquor for too,” responded Sword.
＊
Since it was a special occasion, I made the food and drinks while using the honey we obtained. I grilled so spicy honeyed grilled chicken (styled), then roasted it together with so veggies, and finally used it as a filling for bread. I also gave Sword a honey-lemon High Ball as a freebie. I drank the sa, but without whiskey.
“Ohhh!? How very kind of you!!”
Don’t say it as though I’m usually an unkind woman. The mansion’s servants and Bennyboy keep telling that I’m pampering you way too much.
＊
Sword went for the High Ball first.
“Aaahh! This rocks, really! It’s sweet, but it makes the whiskey’s flavor taste even better. This one here tastes much better than the usual High Ball, when it cos to a light drink as aperitif.”
“The flavor and fragrance of high-quality honey seems to go well with whiskey. The lemon’s sourness and aroma further enhances both.”
After Sword downed the drink in one go, he looked at , “Your really…… It ain’t like your drinkin’ liquor yourself, so how co you know how to make such an incredible liquor?”
Being very seriously stared at, I answered in kind.
“……That’s probably because you drink and eat everything while repeatedly calling it delicious.”
“Hah?” Sword was dumbstruck.
“The dishes made by aren’t the one and only gourt food. Depending on individual preferences, those eating it should have so parts they like and so parts they hate. In the first place, there’s a bunch of people that are picky about ingredients, right? Even our restaurant uses that principle as foundation, and we have guests, who book a reservation, tell us about their preferences in order to make a nu catering towards their taste. …You don’t say anything like that. You empty your plate while obviously enjoying the food. You also tell that it’s great. For a cook, you see, that’s the highest praise they can get. The cooks and I always say that we prefer being told that sothing tastes good over being buried with money. As a matter of fact, when I finally told the cook that his food was good, he cried. ……Even though I always ate up everything he made.”
“…” After taking a long, hard look at , Sword smiled, “I see. So, does that an I’m the perfect partner for you, after all?”
……He started prattling sothing outrageous.
When I averted my face in a huff, he hugged .
“Heeey!!? Ain’t that the mont where you’d usually answer, 『Don’t state the obvious, idiot』?”
“As if I care!”
“What’s with you? Are you shy? You consider the perfect partner, don’t you?”
“No clue what you’re talking about!”
Don’t ask sothing so obvious, idiot!
＊
――Since the bees didn’t respawn even after we wasted ti with such a conversation, we gave up on waiting and headed to the boss room.
The boss was a queen bee. She’s really huge. Amazing! Moreover, she’s got all this fluffy, gorgeous fur.
“Ah, I think I know what we’ll find inside the treasure chest of this boss.”
“Huh? What is it?”
A single flash of my wooden sword later.
“It’s ［Royal Jelly］!!”
“…The heck’s that?”
Hmm, how is it called over here…?
“Umm…I guess you can call it “the al of the queen military bee.” It should be sothing the bees spat out together with their saliva after having eaten pollen and nectar beforehand.”
“Ugh, listenin’ to that explanation, I don’t feel like eatin’ it ‘nymore.”
Why!?
“The nutritional value is supposed to be quite high. Eating this or not should also decide whether a military bee is regarded as queen…but, the one over here is summoned by the Dungeon Core.”
When I opened the chest while explaining, it was inside, just as suspected.
“Yep, no surprise.”
“Can you use this for sothin’?”
I placed a hand on my chin, brooding.
“…Hmm. It’s definitely good for your health, but mostly for its high nutritional value. It’s unnecessary for us young ones.”
Sword blinked. Then he laughed.
“Until now you’ve totally treated my like an old man, so what’s this ’bout?”
“I simply didn’t know your true age. For you to have been such a fledgling….. Isn’t that an age where you’ve barely beco half a man?”
This ti he looked at full of surprise.
“Eh? n at my age were treated like that in the world where you lived before?”
“Yeah. At your age they’d be in the third year of their first workplace? It’s an age where guys are often pushed around by their bosses as the newcor underlings they are.”
This gave Sword a shock.
“This healthy food can wait, let’s see…I think at an age past forty it’d make sense. To begin with, I’ve created an ［Anti-Oxidation］ dicine, you rember? That’s an elixir of perennial youth. It’s much more effective than this one, too.”
“Guess we sell it then. Let’s also add your explanation to it,” decided Sword and tossed the jelly into his magic bag.
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