Chapter 390

Speedrunning a Dungeon 3

“Alright, stop right there!”

Returning to the first level, Allen and Elena immediately tried to take off for the second lap of the Dungeon of Snow. I lifted them by the armpits to stop them.

“”Fueh?””

Allen and Elena flapped their legs while making strange noises.

“”Oniichan?””

“Let’s decide on something before we go on our second lap.”

“”Decide something?””

“Right. I mean, earlier, your Oniichan was just chasing after you, picking up the loot. That is too boring.”

“”Boring?””

I told the kids how I honestly felt.

Then the kids, who had been jittery and restless, seemed to calm down a bit, so I put them down on the ground.

“Yes, it was boring, not enjoyable at all.”

“”… Is that so?””

“Try thinking about it yourselves. Imagine simply running and picking up the loot.”

“”… Mehh~””

“Right?”

I guess they tried to imagine it. Allen and Ellen made growing faces.

“That’s why, let’s decide on something.”

“”What~?””

“Next time, we won’t run. We will all take turns confronting the monsters in turn, and since this time it will take us roughly a day and a half to two days to get to the final floor, we will go home after we finish. Okay?”

“”Okay!””

When I mentioned my decision, Allen and Elena nodded their heads in agreement.

“Are you guys are okay with it as well?”

(((((Yes~)))))

In the midst of all the confusion, I made myself able to fight monsters, so I decided to start the second lap right away.

“Oniichan.”

“What is the order~?”

“Let’s see. Allen, Elena, Joule, Vector, Feat, Bolt, Mile, and me. After I am done, it’s Allen turn again. How about that?”

“”(((((Okay!)))))””

Just as we were setting the order, three Snow Rabbits appeared in sight.

“Then, Allen, Elena, Joule, it’s your turn. One for each of you.”

“”(Okay~)””

When I gave the instructions, Allen, Elena, and Joule ran off happily.

(Is it my turn next?)

“Yes, that’s correct.”

(I hope something appears soon~ I’d like something strong!)

“This is the first floor of a lower dungeon, so I’m afraid it’s just small fries.”

(Too bad.)

While I was talking with Vector, the children who easily defeated the Snow Rabbits returned with loot in hands.

“”(We are back~)””

“Welcome back. As I thought, the monsters here won’t put up any heavy resistance~ Although I said we should take it slowly, let’s not take too long to get to the middle floors.”

“”Let’s do that!””

“However, we didn’t observe the surroundings at all earlier, so let’s check what’s around us a little bit.”

“”Okay~””

So we proceeded onward, observing our surroundings.

“Ah, that’s Snowmoss.”

Then, we soon got the results of our efforts.

“”Snowmoss? Where, where~?””

“Look carefully around that boulder.”

“”N~?””

Allen and Elena approach the boulder and stared at it. Joule and the others followed the children.

“”Not snow!””

((It’s true~))

It looked like a boulder covered with pure white snow, but it was not. It was not snow, but pure white moss. I wouldn’t notice it if we were running.

(Niisama, what can we use this for?)

“Snowmoss can be used as a poultice for bruises and such.”

(It’s important!)

(Indeed. Having poultice always on hand would be useful.)

“Ah~ Bolt is certainly right.”

I don’t have any poultice on me.

We are sturdy people, so it’s not often that we hit our arms somewhere and get swollen or sprain our legs. But you can never be sure it won’t happen, so it would be better to have some on us. But since I can use recovery magic, we don’t need poultice, do we?

Well, but I want the children to have it, and if there is anyone accompanying us other than our members, there is a possibility that we will use it on them, so let’s get it.

“”Ohh~ let’s get lots!””

“Alright. We are inside a dungeon, so let’s pick a lot.”

We don’t really need poultice, but since it is right in front of us, I decide to collect a lot of the Snowmoss.

“We can’t let this moss dry out, so put what you pick in a jar. And wear gloves!”

“”Got it~!””

After we finished collecting the Snowmoss, we started moving on again, but the children began to carefully observe their surroundings, as if they were remembering to search for medicinal herbs. Well, due to the climate of this dungeon, there are only a few types and quantities of medicinal herbs.

“Found more over there~!”

“There’s something there, too!”

Running in a straight line is typical of my children, but walking while collecting medicinal herbs like this is even more like them.

“Alright, that’s enough for today.”

Since it was a little before evening when we started our second lap, we ended the day when we reached the stairway to the sixth floor.

We moved a little off the main path and I took out our carry-on house. I don’t think we would freeze to death, but I’d rather not camp out.

“Oniicha~n.”

“I’m hungry~”

“We moved a lot today, after all. Well, what should we make~”

“”Something yummy!””

“… Ah, yeah, so you are fine with anything.”

“”Yea!””

My kids are basically the type to tell me exactly what they want to eat, but sometimes they leave it for me. Well, that’s fine with me~

“Since it’s cold, let’s have something to warm us up~…”

As I was thinking about the menu, I suddenly felt a sudden craving for oden.

“Can it wait a little? Or would you prefer something easy to make and ready to eat right away?”

“”If we wait, is it delish?””

“I’ll do my best to make it tasty.”

“”Then, we wait~!””

Well, since I planedn to make full use of “Aging” magic, it won’t take as much time to soak up the flavors as it normally does. So, tonight is going to be oden.

“Now then, the ingredients…”

Eggs, daikon, I also need dashi, and kombu… huh? Surprisingly, oden doesn’t need that many ingredients? Oh, I can add carrots, burdock root, and bamboo shoots.

I have no konjak, shirataki, or ganmo. No hanpen, chikuwa, or satsuma-age either… Can I make these? However, it would be too much work to do all that now, so I should make white fish surimi nad shrimps, squid, and crab slices and tsumire dumplings. Oh, I guess I could add chunks of octopus?

… Well, it’s something oden-like, I guess.

At any rate, I’ve made quick preparations, and I’m going to simmer it with dashi stock plus shoyu… that’s where the “Aging” comes in. After the simmering was done, the pot was taken off the stove and aged further. I saved a lot of time by allowing the fish to cool and soak up the flavors with “Aging.”

“Let’s reheat it again.”

“Is done~?”

“Smells nice~”

“It’s done now~”

Everyone ate the meal while blowing on it to cool it down. Then, I added rice to the remaining broth in the pot to make rice porridge, which was then eaten clean.