A few days had passed since Ryuzetsu was appointed as the leader of the farm.
“Little Ham, can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Yes, what is it, Evil Ham-sama?”
“How has the farm’s work efficiency been since Ryuzetsu became the leader?”
I wanted to check on the results at this point.
Well, it had only been a few days since he became the leader, so I shouldn’t expect visible results just yet.
I’ll need to look at the long-term picture.
“Well, overall, the work efficiency has improved. Tasks that used to take an hour now seem to be finished in about 50 minutes.”
“Seriously? That’s a huge improvement. So… what are they doing with the extra time?”
“They’re apparently using it to prepare for the next day’s work. They’re cleaning the tools and tidying up the farm.”
“Ah, that’s a good thing.”
Keeping the dungeon clean is also important. If they can do a little cleaning every day, even if it’s just a bit, that would be helpful.
“It’s a good thing to be able to use time effectively.”
“Indeed.”
It seems there are some positive aspects since Ryuzetsu became the leader. If things keep going like this, it’s only a matter of time before both safety and production quality improve.
Having an abundance of food is always a good thing. You never know when a bad harvest might strike. I think I’ll leave the leadership to Ryuzetsu for now.
“Well then, while everyone is working hard, I guess I’ll improve my crafting skills.”
I start crafting items using the leftover materials.
The more I craft, the more my crafting skills improve.
That will increase the things I can do and make life in this dungeon more comfortable.
I decide to use ores to craft armor for goblins—helmets for the head, body armor, leg leggings, and gauntlets for the hands.
So far, there hasn’t been any fighting in the dungeon, but I don’t know when an attack might come.
It’s important to prepare defense measures just in case. It’s too late once an attack happens.
“Phew… the armor is done.”
Full bronze armor. My crafting skills are still underdeveloped, so the performance isn’t high, but it’s probably better than having no armor at all.
After leaving the crafting room, I approach a nearby goblin.
“Hey, you over there. Could you come here for a moment?”
“Huh? Me?”
I invite the goblin into the crafting room and point to the armor I’ve crafted.
“I want you to try on this set of armor.”
The armor has been adjusted to fit the goblins. The goblin’s eyes light up as they look at it.
“Whoa! This is awesome! Are you sure it’s okay for me to wear this?”
“Yeah. Let me know how it feels and your thoughts on it.”
“Okay!”
The goblin quickly puts on the armor. Clinking sounds are heard as the goblin is fully equipped.
“Whoa! I feel like this armor could withstand any attack!”
“Good to hear.”
Now that the goblin is equipped with armor, they seem stronger. However, I don’t think they could defeat a hero with this level of gear.
All this does is make the weaker enemies a bit more troublesome. If a hero increases their level, it’ll easily be breached.
“In the event of an emergency, wear that and fight.”
“Sure, but I feel like my combat experience has been dulled lately since we haven’t been raiding villages.”
“That’s true.”
Lately, the monsters have only been doing farming and excavation work. It’s questionable whether they’ll get stronger from that.
This armor might just be a drop in the ocean. But it’s better than doing nothing.
“Right. If you have some energy left after work, how about we try some combat training?”
“Yeah, we’ve improved farming efficiency lately, so we might have time for it.”
I’m not sure how much potential the goblins have. They might still be weaker than Evil Ham no matter how much I train them.
“Alright then, I’ll craft another set of armor. Afterward, you two can have a mock battle wearing the gear.”
“Understood.”
With that, the goblins will likely become stronger.
It doesn’t matter if they can’t beat a hero. If they can at least wear down the hero’s stamina before they reach me… maybe that will improve my chances of winning.
Well, betting on such a slim chance of victory is not ideal. If I were betting, I’d prefer to place my bet somewhere more reliable.
I craft another set of armor. Now there are two goblin soldiers who can fight. Well, it’s not a huge improvement.
They haven’t gotten dramatically stronger.
So, the key is improving my crafting skills so that the armor gets better, or hoping the goblins level up.
After crafting armor, I’ve run low on ores.
I start to feel like crafting more armor might be a waste of resources, so I decide to take an early break today.
Maybe I’ll go to the hot spring and refresh myself.
◇
When I head to the hot spring, there’s a monster I’ve never seen before.
Well, it feels familiar. It looks like a slime monster, but there’s something a little different about it.
“Evil Ham-sama, do you think something’s wrong with my body?”
“Ah, yeah. It’s definitely more… jiggly and shiny than usual. Your skin’s all glossy.”
The slime’s usual jiggle is enhanced, and its skin seems to have improved.
“It happened after I stayed in the hot spring for a while.”
“What? Really?”
I’ve played this game a lot, but I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s an event that doesn’t happen in the game. Does something like this happen in the world?
“Slime, can I touch you?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
I cautiously touch the slime’s body. It’s warmer than usual, and its elasticity and squishiness feel stronger.
“Hmm… did soaking in the hot spring cause this transformation?”
Since a slime’s body is mostly water, it probably absorbed some of the minerals from the hot spring.
“So… what should I do now?”
“As long as you’re not feeling any different, I think you can keep going as usual.”
“Hmm…”
“Well, a hot spring wouldn’t be harmful to your health, so I think it’s fine.”
At least, I hope it is.
“If you say so, Evil Ham-sama, I’ll trust you…”
If only I could open a status screen now and check their stats, but I don’t have that ability.
I can’t see what’s happened to the slime, so I have no idea what the changes are.
Still, it’s an interesting twist—what happens to a slime when it keeps soaking in a hot spring?
If a slime’s traits can change based on the liquid they soak in, maybe soaking in poisonous liquid would create a poison slime.
I suddenly want to experiment with it.
But, I guess it’s not good to view my dungeon mates as test subjects.
“Alright, from now on, we’ll call this type of slime ‘Hot Spring Slime’ to distinguish it.”
“Hot Spring Slime… I see. I feel like I’ve become a higher-tier species.”
“That’s good. Hopefully, that feeling will help you out.”
It’s important to keep a positive mindset. It’s always better to think about things in a positive way.
