“To dig a hot spring, I need 3000 DP. (Current DP: 400)
I’m short… Completely short on DP…
I tried to go ahead with digging a hot spring, but the reality of DP is blocking my way.
The hot spring facility is quite useful for recovering energy, which allows characters living in the dungeon to move efficiently.
Ultimately, in this game, the comfort level of the dungeon inhabitants greatly affects DP efficiency.
Having a single hot spring in the dungeon brings considerable benefits. It’s a phenomenal facility, but it’s not something I can build easily.
Still, the DP required for a hot spring is so high compared to farmland that it feels discouraging.
Of course, if farmlands required more DP, I’d risk losing everything just trying to maintain them. So I suppose this is a reasonable balance.
Nothing I can do but wait patiently until my DP accumulates.
◇
For a while, I continued my hot spring-less lifestyle.
When you think about it, not being able to bathe can really be stressful. But the monsters don’t seem to care about such things.
“Hey-ho, hey-ho!”
The monsters chant while working the fields. Despite sweating so much, they don’t bathe.
This feels like a form of torture.
Bathing is surely a basic part of a healthy, civilized life.
Anyway… I also have tasks to complete. I need to make something in preparation for the Harvest Festival.
The quarry. There, I swing my pickaxe and chip away at stones.
I really needed stone as a crafting material—for a furnace. With that, I’d be able to roast various things.
To make a furnace, I need a decent amount of stone.
“Alright…”
After some mining, I took a break. This should be enough.
I carried the stones and crafted a furnace, setting it up in my crafting room. This should work.
I’ll try crafting bread and baking it in the furnace.
I put bread and some fuel in the furnace. For fuel, I tossed in some dried leaves, hoping they’d burn easily, then lit the fire.
After a while, the bread transformed into toast. A fragrant smell filled the air, making me hungry just from the scent.
What was supposed to be a simple experiment turned into an irresistible urge—I couldn’t help but eat this bread as my hunger flared.
I took a big bite of the toast. The surface was crispy, and inside, it was soft and fluffy.
Crisp, fluffy, chewy… This bread had a variety of textures that made eating unbaked bread seem impossible from now on.
“So good… What is this bread? It’s amazing… so good!”
Murmuring to myself, I kept eating the bread.
Heating the bread had brought out its natural sweetness.
Toast is truly a marvel of civilization. It made the stone mining worth it.
I’ll let the monsters eat this toast at the Harvest Festival. If they enjoy good food, my DP should skyrocket.
That would bring me closer to a hot spring… although, honestly, after all the work in the quarry, I’d love to soak in one right now…
“To dig a hot spring, I need 3000 DP. (Current DP: 512)”
DP has increased slightly, but it’s still not nearly enough. I want a hot spring already…
◇
Then, the long-awaited day of the Harvest Festival arrived. The monsters were busy harvesting one crop after another.
I took the harvested items and crafted them into food.
Humans like Geat were also invited as guests for the Harvest Festival. Since they’re in the dungeon, they count as residents.
Being counted as residents means I gain DP from their meals.
Geat and the others have been companions for a long time here in the dungeon. I want to enjoy the festival together, regardless of DP.
“Lord Evilham! The wheat has arrived!”
Littleham brought me the harvested wheat.
“Thanks, Littleham. Let’s start crafting.”
I began crafting bread in batches, then Littleham tossed them into the furnace to turn them into toast.
“Ah, it looks delicious…”
“You can have a taste if you like.”
“What, really!? Thank you, Lord Evilham!”
Littleham’s face lit up with a smile. As my loyal assistant, he definitely deserved to eat some.
Taking a piece of the freshly made toast, Littleham ate it. The crispy sound even reached my ears.
“It’s… it’s too good! Lord Evilham!”
“Hey, Littleham, don’t forget the jam.”
“What, this toast can get even better?!”
With sparkling eyes, Littleham spread blueberry jam on the toast and took a bite.
“Oh… This is dangerous. It’s so good it’s making my mind go blank.”
“Really, that much?”
Apparently, it was a mind-blowingly good taste for the monsters.
“Take the other toasts to everyone once they’re ready.”
“Yes!”
Littleham carried the crafted items, bringing them to everyone, and then came back with more harvests for me to craft. We repeated this cycle over and over.
I was getting tired, and Littleham looked a bit exhausted, too. But he seemed to be savoring the joy of working with a refreshed smile.
After completing all the crafting, I headed to the Harvest Festival site.
“Look, Lord Evilham is here!”
“Yay!”
The monsters cheered at my arrival. Alright, let’s do this as the dungeon boss.
“Everyone, today’s the long-awaited Harvest Festival. Thank you for harvesting the crops. Enjoy the fruits of your labor to the fullest.”
“Yeahhhh!”
The monsters excitedly dug into the toasts laid out before them.
“Delicious… What is this! It’s amazing!”
“I didn’t know something this tasty existed.”
As always, the monsters’ over-the-top reactions added to the festive atmosphere.
On the other hand, Geat and the humans…
“It’s so good! I’ve never tasted bread like this.”
“I wish my late mother could have tasted this.”
“I’m definitely taking this back for my son.”
They were eating with tears streaming down their faces. For humans, it seemed like eating this bread stirred up various emotions.
“And today’s not just about bread. We also harvested potatoes, so I roasted some. Try the warm baked potatoes.”
“Baked potatoes?!”
The monsters showed interest, and Littleham began distributing the baked potatoes to them.
The monsters took bites of the baked potatoes.
“Wow! It’s fluffy and delicious! It’s so filling!”
“I love this slight stickiness; it’s amazing!”
With full bellies, the monsters looked quite content.
“Lord Evilham even knows about such tasty things. I’ll follow you forever!”
Feeding them delicious food like this on a regular basis is becoming a habit.
The monsters’ happiness makes it all worth the effort.”
