The season has turned to winter. The year of being seven will soon come to an end.
I had heard that last year’s winter was one of the coldest in recent years, but this year doesn’t seem as cold.
During this time, I’ve been balancing the creation of the horse king and dungeon exploration while taking care of my cute younger brother, Ziegwald.
Ben and I are making steady progress with our exploration, and recently we’ve been exploring the fourth floor of the dungeon. Now, Shammy has joined us, so the three of us are exploring together.
Shammy is skilled in light magic, which is very helpful in lighting up the dark dungeon.
The number of explorers in the Ashwood Dungeon has been increasing, now numbering more than twenty teams. Among them, the Kozumi team is exploring the deepest tenth floor. As expected from a group of five explorers, all over level two hundred.
The Roxfall knightly family’s army—though it’s not large enough to be called an army, there are only about thirty soldiers—is also sending new recruits into the dungeon. Their goal is leveling up and ensuring a steady supply of meat.
Thanks to this, fresh meat has been circulating in the territory, and the villagers are happy about it.
Moreover, with the increase in merchants, the prices in Ashwood have dropped. Wheat and salt, which had been monopolized by a single traveling merchant, have seen a sharp price drop as multiple merchants have established a permanent presence here.
Vegetables that don’t last long are still difficult to bring in, but carrots, pumpkins, onions, and dried radishes are now available.
Additionally, apples have started arriving, and it turns out that apples are called “Apo” here.
For shipments, the prices of local specialties like cheese and monster materials have gone up, though this has likely brought them closer to reasonable prices than before.
It’s clear how much merchants had been overcharging, but then again, it was a place where only one merchant used to come, so there was little choice.
The demand for cheese has also risen. With more merchants, there are more sales channels. The Ashwood cheese is highly regarded for its quality, and so they have started using unused old mines for cheese production, increasing the output. The stable temperature in the old mines is said to be ideal for making cheese.
With the price increase, the producers are motivated, and Father has been providing subsidies to support the increased production of cheese.
The horse king’s shipments are also going smoothly. Thanks to Jin and Lam improving their skills, the shipment of top-tier alcohol has increased, which is also boosting the income of the Roxfall knightly family.
After all, the distillery is directly managed by the Roxfall knightly family. The revenue is directly linked to the difference between the initial investment, the wages of the two workers, and the cost of materials. Therefore, the better the quality of the horse king, the more profitable it becomes. Since the main ingredient is horse barley, it grows naturally without much effort. Recently, the horse barley intended for feeding horses has also been used for making horse king, so there seems to be a shortage of feed for the horses.
My top-tier alcohol is rising in price, especially among the nobles. However, Father continues to sell it to the merchants at a fixed price of 6,000G for a gazelle. The nobles are just raising the price to acquire the horse king for themselves. Still, the merchants are making large profits and seem to be quite pleased with this.
Recently, when I meet a merchant, they greet me with rubbing hands, and some merchants who previously tried to cheat me into buying monster materials are now greeting me with great humility.
As for the horse king, half of the top-tier alcohol is being kept to age. This is one of the reasons the price is going up, but letting it age only makes it tastier, so it would be foolish not to do it.
After five or ten years of aging, it becomes even more delicious. By then, I wonder if I will be able to drink it myself.
By the way, the alcohol that is being aged really only needs to be left alone. Moving it is apparently not good, so we leave it in peace to age.
“Light Lord Lightruid, I offer my prayer. Light Arrow!”
Shammy finishes her incantation, and a light arrow flies.
The monster is a Hands Eye, a large eyeball about one meter in diameter, with dozens of arms protruding from it. It’s quite a grotesque creature, but its materials are valuable as they can be used to make eye medicine, so they are bought at a high price. If we encounter many of them, it would be great, but since they’re rare, the buyback price is likely high.
The Light Arrow hits the perimeter of the eye.
“Kyashasha!”
How is it possible for an eyeball to make a sound?
Anyway, Ben charges.
“Oryaa!”
“Kyashasha!”
Ben tackles the Hands Eye with his shield, making it stagger backward. My arrow strikes it.
“Kyashasha!”
The Hands Eye’s arms try to grab Ben, but I swat them away with my morning star.
“Kyashasha!”
The Hands Eye starts preparing to unleash its heat beam. This is a prelude to releasing a laser from its eyeball.
“Kyashasha!”
“The beam is coming!”
“Got it!”
“Yes!”
At my shout, both of them react.
“Light Lord Lightruid, I offer my prayer. Light Barrier!”
Almost simultaneously, a light barrier appears between us and the Hands Eye.
The high-heat beam fired by the Hands Eye rushes at high speed and collides with the Light Barrier.
The beam, blocked by the Light Barrier, scatters and splinters.
Shammy’s Light Barrier stops the heat beam that raises the surrounding temperature.
“Now!”
“Got it!”
Ben and I rush forward. I switch from my bow to my sword and attack from the left, while Ben, his morning star enveloped in flames, attacks from the right.
Ben’s blessing is the Warrior of Fire. Thanks to his level-up, he can now use the skill Fire Strike.
As for me, even though my level has risen, I haven’t gained any new skills. I’m a little envious.
The Hands Eye has a period of immobility after firing its heat beam. This is the moment to strike! I plunge my sword into its eye.
Ben also slams his morning star into its eye.
“Die, you bastard!”
“Kyasha…”
The floating Hands Eye falls to the ground, and the blue and black areas around the eye turn milky white.
“Alright, we took it down!”
Now it’s a race against time. I take out a dagger and start peeling off the transparent part of the eyeball’s center.
The discoloration spreads gradually, eventually reaching the center of the eyeball. We don’t have more than three minutes, so I need to collect the materials right away.
“Toma , the bag!”
“Got it!”
I’m usually the one carrying the items. During combat, I drop my backpack, and Shammy manages it.
I wrap the eyeball material in cloth and put it into a burlap sack, then place it into the backpack. The Hands Eye’s material is soft and transparent, so it’s fragile and must be handled carefully.
