“Evilham-sama. What are you doing in front of the food storage?”
“Huh!?”
I hear Littleham’s voice from behind me. I slowly turn around to find Littleham with a puzzled expression.
“Littleham… why are you here?”
“I saw Evilham-sama entering the food storage with a vacant look, so I called out to you… was that a mistake?”
Even if it was a mistake to call out, Littleham’s actions were justified.
However, I am here trying to sneak some food while I’m hungry. Even though I am supposed to manage the food…
“Um, Littleham. Do you know about bonuses?”
“Bonuses?”
At this point, I have no choice but to make up something.
“Yeah. It’s a special reward given to everyone who is working hard, in addition to the usual supplies. Thanks to everyone’s efforts, we have plenty of food, so I was thinking of distributing this bonus.”
I’m not sure if the concept of bonuses exists in this world, but I have to bluff my way through.
That’s right. It’s not good for me to try to sneak food alone. I should involve everyone in this. A mandatory event disguised as welfare benefits.
“A bonus? So that means we can eat more than usual!”
“Yeah. That’s right. I was thinking of holding a party while consulting about the future food stocks.”
“I see! As expected of Evilham-sama!”
Somehow, I managed to get away with it. Still, I didn’t expect that my little attempt to sneak a bite would turn into a feast for everyone.
I wonder if there will be enough food reserves. That is a bit concerning…
Well, it should be fine. Let’s have a grand time while we can. Let’s involve Jeet and the others to make it a fun party.
With that in mind, I gathered the monsters. I will personally inform them.
“Listen up, everyone. I’m thinking of throwing a party, even though it’s not a harvest festival.”
“Huh? What do you mean, Evilham-sama?”
Immediately, a voice of confusion comes from the monsters. That’s to be expected since we don’t usually do things like this.
“Today, I’m going to release the food reserves for everyone who has been working hard.”
“Huh? So that means we can eat as much bread as we want?”
“Yes, go ahead and eat!”
“Yay!”
The monsters are delighted.
“Can we eat too?”
“Yeah, Jeet and the others are working here too. So go ahead and eat.”
“Thank you.”
Thus, we decided to eat the bread without worrying about the food reserves. This is also part of welfare. A bonus.
“It’s delicious! It’s amazing that we can eat this much without a harvest festival.”
“Is it okay to eat more than usual sometimes?”
“Today, I’m going to eat until I’m full!”
Usually, I only let the monsters eat until they’re 80% full. If they get too full, their work efficiency drops.
But I’m not thinking about that right now. I’m hungry, so I’m going to eat a lot.
I take a bite of bread filled with baked potatoes.
It’s delicious! The flavor of the toasted potatoes is exquisite.
Now that I can, I’m going to eat a lot of what I’ve been missing out on! I grab a handful of blueberries.
“Oh! Evilham-sama is eating blueberries extravagantly!”
“What a manly way to eat. Let’s copy him!”
The monsters start grabbing and eating the stored blueberries.
There are no manners here. It’s all about enjoying ourselves. Questioning etiquette is pointless now.
The luxury of stuffing several blueberries into my mouth at once.
“I’m starting to feel cheerful. Hahaha.”
I’m not even drinking, yet I feel upbeat. I’m going to enjoy today to the fullest!
The next day, I checked the food reserves and sighed.
The food reserves have been reduced by half. There’s enough to last until the next harvest, but it’s quite tight.
I messed up… with this, I won’t be able to increase the monster limit. If I increase the monsters, we’ll run out of food and face famine.
If that happens, the DP we earn will decrease, and our development will slow down in a vicious cycle.
Well, thanks to yesterday’s party, the DP has slightly increased. It’s very slight, though.
Thanks to the monsters being satisfied, the DP increased, which is a silver lining. It wasn’t a complete waste.
No, considering DP efficiency, it’s close to waste.
But at least it created some leeway to establish a new reforestation area. However, there’s the dilemma that allocating personnel for planting trees will delay work on the farmland.
I want to increase the number of monsters for reforestation activities. But if I increase the monsters, we’ll run out of food again.
Even if I plant trees for timber, it doesn’t directly lead to food. This is a real trouble spot.
If I don’t plant trees now, there’s no need to create a reforestation area. If I can’t allocate the effort for planting, would it be more efficient to create a facility that brings in profits without expending effort?
Or should I wait until the food reserves increase and then raise the monster limit? By the time food builds up again, I might be able to plant trees.
Thus, I decided to postpone reforestation, which I had planned to prioritize.
It’s something that needs to be done sooner or later, but it’s not an urgent matter.
Instead, I should focus on creating something more important. A facility that can operate with a small number of people. Ideally, a facility that allows easy access to food…
Oh, found it!
“Would you like to establish a fishing pond?”
With this fishing pond, I can catch fish. Unlike crops, fish can be used as food right away.
“Alright, let’s create the fishing pond.”
And so, I expanded the dungeon and built a fishing pond.
“Due to the establishment of the fishing pond, aquatic monsters will now appear.”
Oh? This was not accounted for at all. However, most aquatic monsters have a limit of zero, so they’re not expected to spawn right now.
To spawn aquatic monsters, I need to use DP to adjust the numbers.
Well, it’s fine. There’s no point in increasing aquatic monsters right now. More importantly, fish! Fish!
If I craft a stick from wood and make a line, I can go fishing…
Wait? Don’t I have a line? How am I supposed to obtain a line in this dungeon?
That’s a problem. Sometimes I can get threads from insects, but Killer Beetles aren’t the type to spin threads.
That means I’ll have to rely on Jeet to bring me some line. I’ll borrow human resources for what the dungeon’s civilization lacks.
“So, that’s the situation, Jeet. I need a line to make a fishing rod…”
“I see. Got it. I’ll bring some suitable line for fishing the next time I come. Well, I did eat quite a bit during the party, so you can have it for free.”
“Thank you. That’s a big help.”
I thought about doing a trade, but Jeet is a good guy. He says I can have it for free this time. I’m glad I fed him first.
It’s frustrating that I can’t go fishing right away, but I’ll be able to fish when Jeet comes next.
Fishing is great. I can get all kinds of fish.
Fish are rich in nutrients. They provide protein and are said to improve brain function thanks to DHA… though I’m not sure about the actual results.
Also, depending on the type of fish, I might be able to get oil. Fish oil is said to be good for health.
I can’t do it now, but eventually, I’ll be able to craft an aquarium. Then I can even keep fish.
I have a feeling that the possibilities of what I can do are expanding more and more.
