“It’s the usual huh…”
The twenty-sixth floor was like the usual as Erna had said. The brick-like passage continues forward and it feels dim and damp.
“-Sniff-Sniff… Father, there’s something that stinks.”
Pero’s nose got some reaction. It seems that an enemy is approaching towards us. When I used the skill enemy search, there is no reaction around the 50m radius. Perhaps it means that they are still further inside.
“Maybe… it’s a skeleton?”
Erna is also searching for the sound with her ears twitching. Her Hell Ears skill not just improves her hearing. It seems that the range of sound collection is further expanded in order to pick up the sound of those who are hostile towards Erna. Considering that, I can see that elves are a race that is sensitive to the bad words of others. I should be careful of making careless remarks.
“Maintain your own attack stance.”
After giving them that instruction, we move forward.
It’s convenient if I have a lot of skeletons. I am looking for manpower to build a livestock barn after all. However, there will be some problem in passing the 25th floor as there’s Saint Water there. I think that even the stronger magical beasts do not come upstairs because of the 25th level’s existence. It looks like it’s difficult to turn those skeletons into sacred beasts too. Well that’s because they can’t drink water since they are only made up of bones.
Kata-kata-kata
After hearing that sound, I also perceived the sound of multiple footsteps. Using the search enemy skill, it shows that more than 100 enemies are approaching us from all sides.
Not good. We were surrounded!
“Shinichi! We are surrounded!”
“I know! I never thought that there were so many enemies!”
The total number of enemies is roughly a thousand. Most adventurers are probably killed in this level. Their performance speaks for itself. For the time being, we escaped towards the straight lined passageway ahead, hold out our weapons and wait for the skeletons to come. In this case, we only have to deal with two directions and besides, our opponents are skeletons after all.
Kata-kata-kata
When the skeletons appeared, their jaws opened and closed as if they were ridiculing us. As expected, when it reached the 26th floor, some skeletons have Mithril weapons. Equipped with good weapons, they challenged this Great Dungeon but they probably end up becoming the companions of the skeletons here.
“Shinichi, I’ll use Flame Burst!”
“Hey! Will that be okay!?”
“Don’t worry! I’ll do it smoothly!”
Erna then raised her wand, her magical power flickers and is sucked into the wand. I’m worried if it’s okay to use it in such a narrow passageway. But since I have this black robe, magical attacks won’t work. I decided to hide Pero between my legs just in case.
“Flame burst!”
A bright red fireball appears and it was fired towards the skeletons. The impact of the blaze spread with the blast as it’s in search of an escape. I also pulled Erna inside the robe and protect the two of them with the explosion on our backs.
“Did the flame went out…?”
After taking them out of the robe, the scorched skeletons are rolling around. Erna’s strategy seems to have worked.
―That’s what I thought. The burnt skeletons got up all at once.
“W-W-Why are they still alive!?”
“I get it, they have darkness attributes! Their shadows reduced the damage by half!”
And just like that, the skeletons rushed towards us again. I’d like to turn them into my familiar but I don’t think I’ll have that much time.
“Erna, Pero! We’re fighting, let’s go!”
We then launched a physical attack. Erna attacked with a bow and Pero smashed the skulls of the skeletons with his fist. Thanks to the master of war skill, I could perfectly comprehend the movements of the skeletons so I can easily cut them up. I was frightened by the numbers but, a skeleton on its own is weak. When we could now afford the fight, an idea came to mind.
“Both of you step back!”
After we got together in one place, I shoot threads at the passageway on the front and back. Well, you could say it’s like a wall of thread. The skeletons were then blocked by the thread, making it difficult for them to approach us.
“Well then, shall I turn them into my familiars?”
I took control over the handy skeletons then they became my familiar one after another. If I have the time to do it, they would not have been our enemies. The white hordes of enemies gradually turn black. The captured skeletons fight back and began to attack the transformed skeletons.
It’s the beginning of a revolution.
While keeping the black group that turned into a homeless army around, I went ahead through the aisle. All the skeletons that I’ve seen became my familiar and the number still increases and it even exceeds a thousand.
“Uhahahaha! What’s up bone bastards?! I did not even sweat!”
I can’t stop laughing. Erna and Pero in my back were having furtive whispers.
“He’s a completely bad guy all right.”
“Father is so cool.”
Aside from Erna, Pero understands me. Every man wants to be a ruler at least once. I aimed to become a manager because I thought like that. Well, the nature is different, but this is also a way to satisfy ones’ desire for control.
And when I noticed it, I was walking with 2,000 skeletons. The white skeletons disappeared so the skeletons under my control capture the other skeletons from somewhere. It seems like it is fine to think that the 26th floor has fallen under my control.
“Well then, it is about time we head to the stairs huh.”
“Are we going to the 27th floor?”
“No, I’m thinking of going back to the 24th floor. Even with only these skeletons present here, they are enough to build the livestock barn.”
“But the 25th floor over there is…”
I understand what Erna is trying to say. Saint Water is a big wall for monsters. Still, I won’t know unless I try it.
We then decided to go back to the 25th floor for the time being.
◇
As we go up the stairs, the skeletons stopped as expected. This is because they are scared of the Saint Water which is flowing in the 25th floor.
“It’s not dangerous. Walk without stopping.”
When I ordered that, I don’t know what they were thinking but the skeletons formed a line behind me. The road is wide enough so they won’t fall though… Well it’s probably because they don’t want to get close to the water.
As we walk to the twenty-fifth floor, the skeletons march in regular alignment. It’s such a strange feeling as it really seems like I’m leading an army.
However, amongst the skeletons, there is this guy who’s clumsy enough that it even marched off the track. It’s tall but I could see that its body is equipped with heavy armour. Although it looked fine as it appears to be a knight during its lifetime, it had this atmosphere that stirs anxiety just by looking at it. It feels like you’re looking at a clumsy person.
And as expected, the skeleton entwined its legs and tumbled down the ground.
“All unit, Stop!”
I approached that skeleton.
It is not a sin to make a mistake. From how I see it, it looks like a human who was rejected by the society, it would not be a good idea to be short-sighted and blame the magical beast. No matter who, we should support each other.
I extended my hand to the skeleton that fell.
“Kata-kata-kata…”
The skeleton looked up and its jaw clattered. It looks like a skeleton but if you look closely, it’s kind of cute. I don’t think it’s bad to have an undead as my subordinate. The skeleton, which is trying to stand up by holding my hand entwined its legs and tumbled down again. Moreover, it fell from the edge of the road and directly fell into the water.
“Are you okay!?”
I can see that the skeleton that is struggling in the water seemed to be in pain. Though it made a blunder twice, it ended up in a good place. In spite of being a skeleton, its personality is too strong.
Then, the skeleton that fell into the water changes. Its whole body, which was black, turned golden and reflected radiance like that of a bone made of gold. Its bones became thicker, perhaps even stronger, and turned into sturdy ones like a club.
I quickly used appraisal.
【Appraisal Result: Homeless Golden Skeleton: The homeless skeleton has become a sacred beast and has evolved further. Ordinary magical beasts is no match on its power: Rarity SS】
| 【Status】 Name: Homeless Golden Skeleton Race: Homeless Golden Skeleton Magic attribute: Darkness | Holy | No Attribute Magic: Shadow, Shadow field, Shadow bind Skills: Swordsmanship (Intermediate), Axemanship (Intermediate), Spearmanship (Intermediate), Hammermanship (Intermediate), Archery (Intermediate), Taijustu A (Intermediate), Taijutsu B (Intermediate), Intelligence (Beginner), Hardening (Intermediate), Leadership (Intermediate), Soul eating Control Rate: 100% controlled by Shinichi Tanaka |
Yes!!! Finally! The rarity is even SS!!!
I’m jumping for joy.
The black skeleton is pretty good but the golden skeleton is also cool. I’m glad that I have a strong ally. Moreover, I’m glad with the fact that it copied Leadership amongst my skill. From now on, it may be okay for Golden to lead the skeleton as their commander.
Considering Pero’s case and this time’s occurence, Saint Water may have a function that promotes the absorption of things like one’s experience points. I think that is the reason why they evolved at the same time as becoming a sacred beast.
If that’s indeed the case, it is no wonder that me and Erna are growing rapidly. As the Homeless Golden Skeleton in the water climbs up the road, it tries to return to the skeleton line dripping with water.
“Well, you can walk behind me.”
Golden rattles and nods. However, Homeless Golden Skeleton is long and hard to call. It would be better to give it a name.
“All right, you’re “Suketarou” from now on. Is that okay?”
Suketarou rattles its jaw.
I’m impressed with my good naming.
“Uwaa-, what a lame name…”
“Kuuun…”
Erna and Pero seem to be taken aback. I think Taro is a good name for a man, but it seems that they can’t understand my sense of humor.
Poor guys.
The queue started walking again and it took us several hours to reach the stairs. Immediately after going up to the 24th floor, the griffon descends from the sky.
“We now have all the manpower so we’ll go to the 23rd floor immediately, okay?”
This time, we start running to the 23rd floor. It seems that we can finally build a livestock farm.
◇
There’s already a long road on the 23rd floor. Bamboo groves sway in the wind and a fence made of bamboo continues to the end of the road. It was a landscape that made me feel nostalgic as if I had returned to Japan.
“We can make a tea room on this floor.”
I muttered out while walking down the road. That said, there is no matcha in this world so I need to make it from scratch. It seems that there is still a long way to go for me to live in this world with peace of mind.
“Kata-kata-kata”
When one of the skeletons discovered me, it clatters its jaw. The road had already reached the stairs. Probably the work has just been completed, the 20 skeletons bowed when they saw me.
Now we can go to the 22nd floor at any time.
I then call out at the skeletons as a whole.
“We already have a road! Next, we will build a livestock farm!”
The skeletons then start to secure large amount of bamboos then they carried it to the 24th floor one after another. Griffon too, with the bamboos tied with a rope, it makes many round trips by air.
As soon as the bamboo was prepared for the planned construction site, we began to destroy the former livestock barn that had fallen apart. This is because a large site is required for grazing.
After destroying the building, the forest was ignited with Erna’s magic. In a blink of an eye, the trees began to burn causing white smoke to rise.
“Haah-, I’m tired! I can’t move anymore!”
Erna sprawled on the ground, Pero too, probably because he was also tired.
“It’s about evening time huh… Alright, we’ll do the construction tomorrow. I’ll prepare our dinner then.”
I take out the pot and the harvested rice out of the bangle. Of course, rice cannot be eaten just by harvesting rice ears. First, the grain will be collected one by one, and then the rice milling work is waiting. Rice before milling is called brown rice, and the outer layer that is stuck to it is called bran. The brown color is due to this bran.
After removing the bran, the white rice that we know is finally born. Machines do everything in Japan, but this is a different world. Of course, everything has to be done manually.
I put the collected brown rice in a jar then I start pounding it with a rod. This method is the so called traditional rice milling method. I don’t know the theory about it but a farmer I knew before said that this was the best.
“Kata-kata-kata”
One of the skeletons who were watching the situation gestured that it will take over the work. Then another skeleton begin to raise its hand to do the same.
“Then, do you want to mill rice as much as you can?”
After taking out many jars from the bangle, I decided to hand over a rod for them to do the rice milling work. Interestingly, they divided into a team that mills rice and a team that collects the grain from the rice ears.
Of course, I didn’t give any orders for that. It seems that it’s better to think that they have human-like thinking ability.
In the meantime, I took out the oil, flour, eggs, bread crumbs, and violet pig meat from the bangle. I seasoned the meat with salt and pepper and coat it in the order of flour → egg → bread crumbs then I drop it in the heated oil. When it turns golden, the milled rice was also cooked. After that, I chopped some vegetables similar to cabbage and serve them on a plate with the meat.
“The pork cutlet set meal is complete!”
It’s a Tonkatsu with a special sauce on rice.
How many times have I dreamed about this? I put my hands together then I start chewing on the meat with rice so that they would mix together. It’s so delicious that it’s hard to describe the taste.
“What is this!? It’s really delicious!”
“The meat is so tender!”
It seems that Erna and Pero are surprised by the pork cutlet. However, it seems that rice is only so-so for them. It’s probably because they are not used to eating it.
While eating rice, I thought about my hometown.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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