Chapter 56 Interlude Fourteen – The Prison Of Hot Sand, VI
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
After everyone finished their morning water bath together, they returned to the tent house to find their washed uniforms ready.
As promised, the kitchen was also prepared, so I decided to start preparing breakfast right away.
”We’ll help too.”
Maekawa-san and the others said, following me with great interest into the kitchen. The kitchen was quite impressive but lacked running water, and it seemed we had to start the fire in the hearth to cook.
”Does anyone know how to cook rice in a pressure cooker?”
When I asked, Nishina-san raised her hand.
”My family used a pressure cooker, so I often helped with cooking when I was in middle school.”
”Alright then, I’ll leave the rice to Nishina-san. I want to make extra onigiri for the bento, so please make plenty.”
I take out the pressure cooker, rice bag, cassette stove, measuring cup, colander, bowl, and kitchen timer from the storage room and place them on the large table. Higurashi has been actively buying camping equipment and cooking utensils, as well as ingredients for dungeon life, so we have enough to cook for a while.
Maekawa-san and Satou-san are in charge of the salad, while Hano-san and I are going to start a fire in the kettle and cook the meat. There is recovery spring water prepared in a large barrel.
”Oh?”
Satou-san, who was washing lettuce in a bowl with a ladle, looked puzzled as she adjusted the fire with Hano-san using the chucker.
”What’s wrong, Akari?”
Maekawa-san, who was making daikon salad next to her, stopped her hands.
”I noticed there was a damaged part of this lettuce, so I was going to tear it off and throw it away later, but it looks clean now.”
”…Oh yeah, isn’t this water like a miracle potion or something? They said it only works here, but can we use it to wash vegetables or dishes?”
Maekawa-san looked kind of puzzled.
”Don’t worry. I just sprinkled some on the nearby grass while giving some to the nectar tree. Any unused magic power gets recycled, but honestly, we have more magic than we know what to do with, so we’re encouraged to use it up. Feel free to use it as you like.”
Valeria, who had somehow appeared at the entrance, spoke up.
”Valeria-san, I understand. Then, I’ll take you up on that offer.”
As Maekawa-san bowed her head, Valeria entered the kitchen, took a seat at the table, and began watching everyone work. Maybe she was bored?
Once the hearth was ready, I placed a wire mesh on it and started piling on thick slices of wild boar meat seasoned with salt and pepper.
”Whoa! It’s steak time!”
Hano-san is really excited. In the storage room, there’s bread and other things, but everyone seems to be craving meat dishes since they’ve been burning calories. I’m in the mood for a hearty meal too, so there are no objections.
While the meat is being thoroughly cooked, the rice finishes cooking, and Nishina-san starts making onigiri. Maekawa-san and Satou-san, who were thinly slicing daikon radishes together, finish plating and start helping Nishina-san.
Once the meat is nicely grilled, it is thinly sliced with a knife and arranged on plates.
We bring the serving trays to the round table in the first room and gather around the dining table.
On the table, there is a salad of daikon and lettuce, wild boar steak, and bowls of white rice.
We can season the steak with salt, steak sauce, yakiniku sauce, grated daikon with ponzu, or whichever condiments we prefer.
”Do you not want any, Valeria-san? If you can eat it, there’s plenty.”
As Valeria sat at the table with nothing in front of her, Maekawa-san spoke so.
”Yes. Although it is possible to materialize food, it is not good to eat meals that do not require spirits. Thank you for your concern.”
So she can even materialize things. Unlike the dubious Njorn, this one is a real high-level spirit.
We all put our hands together and said, “Itadakimasu.”
”This is delicious! The meat is so tender! And wow, the rice is amazing too!”
Hano-san used chopsticks to pick up the meat sprinkled with salt.
”This salad is also really delicious. I’ve never had anything like this before… maybe because it was washed in a recovery spring?”
Satou-san was surprised as she ate the salad. I also took a bite of rice first and was pleasantly surprised. It was chewy and had a firm texture, with a condensed sweetness and umami. It must have been cooked with water from the spring.
Everyone eagerly ate while exclaiming how delicious everything was.
”Phew, I think I might have eaten too much.”
Maekawa-san and the others patted their satisfied stomachs. There was quite a lot of food, but Hano-san even went for seconds on the meat. The extra onigiris and grilled meat were stored in the pantry.
After brewing some tea and taking a breather, we finished washing the dishes and gathered around the table again.
The relaxed atmosphere from earlier had been replaced by a slight tension. Once everyone was seated, I spoke up.
”First, let’s check the situation. Yesterday, we were trying to return to the academy when we were sent to this desert through a teleportation Magic Circle.”
”Yes, we were told to make physical contact with everyone when teleporting, but I guess we let our guard down.”
”Yeah, I never heard of any accidents actually happening, so I completely relaxed. We need to be more careful from now on.”
Maekawa-san responded to Satou-san’s words, and everyone nodded silently.
After that, Nishina-san and I met Valeria and were able to reunite with everyone with Valeria’s guidance.
”Thank you for everything, Valeria-san. We really appreciate it.”
”Oh, you’re welcome. I’m glad I could help. Thank you.”
”Thank you, Valeria-san.”
”Yeah! Thanks, Val!”
”…Val? No, please don’t worry about it. I had my reasons for doing what I did.”
”So, we want to go back to the academy from here, but according to Valeria, this place is the abandoned floor of the dungeon. Valeria also said she has something to ask of us. Please explain everything, including that.”
Valeria nodded and began to speak.
”Let’s start by talking about my situation. A long time ago, there was a support request from the player system to the spirit world. The polluted magic power overflowing from the remnants of the “calamity” was vast, and many managers were needed to control the dungeons that swelled up disorderly when inviting players from another world. In response to that, the Water Spirit King divided their own body to create us and sent us here.”
So, there are other terminals besides Valeria. But there are also other words that catch my attention.
”Calamity? We haven’t been informed about any of that.”
”Oh, actually I’m not very knowledgeable either. I was only given the minimum knowledge and power to manage this place. The Spirit King offered a valuable recovery spring in exchange for sending a manager, so I, who inherited the will of the Spirit King, happily entered the dungeon and quickly found this place, planted a nectar seedling, and raised it splendidly.”
”It does seem to have grown splendidly, but what does it mean that this floor has been abandoned?”
”Well, the appearance of the recovery spring is random, so we have no choice but to abandon the old parts of the management area, rebuild them, and wait for it to appear by chance. However, we don’t know how many years that might take.”
”Oh, so it’s like a rare gacha game.”
”Right after I got assigned here, I peeked into this floor that was still in the process of being created, and found there was a recovery spring! Since the floor was getting pretty big and seemed like it would stabilize soon, I thought it would be okay to keep the recovery spring and take care of the Nectar saplings day and night. But one day, both the Player System and my main body link suddenly snapped at the same time. When I stepped outside the barrier to check, I found out that due to a malfunction in the creation process, this floor had been disconnected from the dungeon and was drifting in another dimension.”
”This is bad! Why couldn’t you just wait until it entered the stable period!”
”I’m not the only one aiming for the recovery spring. If I don’t act quickly, other Spirit Kings will surpass me. In fact, the Fire Spirit King’s terminal tried to raid this place. He’s the worst! Well, he ran away when I chased him off with water.”
Hmm, I kind of understand the feeling, but there must be a better way. Being too careless. Once you focus on one thing, you can’t see anything else, huh.
”Then, for over a thousand years, I’ve been inside this barrier taking care of the Nectar Tree.”
”A thousand years!? Has this dungeon and player system been around for that long?”
”No, this place is a different dimension, so time flows differently from the real world. Normally, time would slow down, but this dungeon has a collapse program with time acceleration to promote metabolism. Since it’s separated from the main system and out of control, the flow of time should actually be faster. I have no way of knowing how much time has passed in the real world.”
Come to think of it, she said things stored in the different dimension storage unit would experience slower time flow. But what if it’s actually faster? Could it be that spending 10 days here is just 10 seconds in the original world?
”It’s currently 9:23 in the morning… I wonder what time it is at school.”
Maekawa-san muttered while holding her smartphone. Surprised, I took out my phone to check the time, and it showed 3:58 PM. I think when I first checked right after being teleported, it was 3:47 PM.
”What time does Nishina-san’s phone show?”
”Eh? Um… it’s 9:23.”
Is it just my smartphone that is showing time differently from everyone else?
”Tina, is there a possibility that my smartphone is displaying the time from the original world?”
’Oh, yes, that could be possible. I think it calculates time based on the vibration frequency of specific magic waves, so it’s not affected by time particles.’
So, if we say 17 hours and 36 minutes have passed since coming here, that’s 1056 minutes. Meanwhile, on my smartphone, only 11 minutes have passed.
”Everyone, my smartphone is a magic item, but according to this clock, only 11 minutes have passed since coming here. Maybe time flows about a hundred times faster here than in the original world.”
I said this and showed my smartphone screen to everyone.
”Oh, it’s a cat.”
”So cute…”
”Yeah, kittens are cute.”
”Kitty…”
Everyone is soothed by Nyaruko-san’s lock screen image. Actually, Nyaruko-san is cute, so it makes me feel proud as if my daughter is being praised.
”But turning a hundred times scarier. What if I come back and I’ve turned into a granny?”
Hano-san mutters with concern.
”If you spend decades here, that could happen, but if you return quickly, there will be little to no effect.”
It sends shivers down my spine to think if this were reversed. Just spending a few days here, years could pass at the academy.
”If that’s true, would I have been trapped here for over a dozen years? That’s a relief.”
Has Valeria been nurturing the Nectar tree alone for a thousand years in a place like this?
”If being trapped is the case, is there no way to return?”
That’s the biggest problem. If Valeria says there’s no way to return, then I’ll be at a loss.
”No, there should be a teleportation Magic Circle set up at the first base I made to make it easy for me to come and go.”
”Really!”
Alright! There’s a way to get back for sure!
”But then why has Valeria been staying here all this time?”
”I can’t leave the side of the Nectar tree. Besides, while I’ve been holed up here, the floor has been expanding rapidly, and the distance from here to the base has become quite far. Even from the nearest exit, I wouldn’t be able to cross the desert to get there in my current state.”
”Is it really that far away?”
”No, with your legs, you should be able to reach it in half a day’s walk. However, for me, a water spirit, deserts are really bad news. I don’t have the strength to cross the desert right now. Just being here, my spirit power keeps decreasing. So, I’ve managed to endure the time by creating a strong barrier and filling it with the pure magical energy produced by the Nectar trees. But now that the barrier has been broken, I don’t have the strength to create such a barrier again.”
Huh? Could it be my fault?
”As long as the recovery spring and the Nectar trees are here, I won’t disappear, but in another ten years, I’ll probably become no different from a low-level spirit.”
Nishina-san keeps glancing at me with a worried expression. It feels like the situation is taking a turn for the worse.
”Sorry about that!”
I slammed my forehead on the table. It seems like things have become serious because of me. There’s nothing I can do now, but I must apologize to Valeria, my benefactor.
”No, please raise your head. Actually, the expansion of the floor has already stopped, and the collapse has begun. Eventually, the magic supply to the recovery spring will be cut off, and I was lamenting that I would have to share the fate of this floor with the Nectar tree. I think this incident is a good opportunity.”
”A good opportunity?”
”Yes. I want to rely on you to accomplish what I can’t do right now, what I have left unfinished.”
”If there’s anything I can do, please tell me.”
I thought it was the condition for exchanging the Nectar fruit to return to the academy, but I couldn’t help but ask even without that.
”When I was carrying Nectar seedlings and establishing a base on this floor, I brought out a treasure from the spirit world. It’s the ‘Spirit Sword Varniora’ bearing the name of the Spirit King. It truly symbolizes the power derived from the Spirit King. Recognizing my own insufficient power, I made this decision to continue managing the floor master’s duties and protect the Nectar seedlings in the desert, which I’m not good at, by bringing out the treasure.”
”A treasure from the spirit world, huh? Even if it’s for the Nectar tree, it’s surprising that you brought something like that out.”
”The spirit sword was always within the Spirit King’s reach, but that person has a regrettable nature of neglecting other matters when focusing on one thing. Surprisingly careless, hehehe.”
”You brought it on your own!”
This guy is quite something. That regrettable nature is clearly inherited by you too. After all, it’s your original nature.
The unfortunate Spirit King may have tried their best to create many terminals, but it seems that only unfortunate ones were born. It’s kind of a sad story.
”That is important not only for the Spirit King, but also for the Spirit World. At this rate, it will eventually be lost to a different dimension along with the collapse of the floor. Before that happens, I must return it to the Spirit King no matter what. In order to do that, I need to gather the items to unlock the seal and take me to the base.”
What a convoluted plan. But regardless of the means, Valeria must have had a strong desire to protect the Nectar Tree. And it seems that her wish to return the spirit sword to the Spirit King is genuine. Valeria’s sincere feelings really came through. I’m touched!
I owes a great debt to her as well.
”Got it. I can’t go home without going to the base anyway. I’ll take on that request. I bet on the name of Kondou-senpai!”
”We will do our best to help as much as we can.”
”Of course! Leave it to me, Vallecchi!”
Maekawa-san and the others nodded vigorously.
”Thank you very much! This is truly the work of the heavens. It seems that my thousand-year-old wish is finally coming true.”
”Now that it’s decided, shall we start preparing right away?”
With the prospect of being able to return home, I couldn’t help but remember the promise I made with Higurashi to return by evening. I was feeling restless.
* * *
An hour later, we departed from the tent house and began walking through the desert. The small temple where the orb is said to be housed is just ahead. The sun is still as intense as ever. It seems that Valeria can only control day and night around the tent house, and it’s impossible to control the entire floor without going to the base.
”Is everyone okay? I have plenty of water leather bags.”
”We’re, we’re fine. Don’t worry.”
Maekawa-san’s smile as she answered seemed forced.
”Are you sure you’re not pushing yourself too hard? Like me, if you write your name, you can tell it apart properly.”
”We’re Evold, so this is no problem at all. Please don’t worry.”
”I see…”
Satou-san’s smile seems a bit awkward, or is it just my imagination? Evold certainly has much more stamina than me. Maybe I should worry about not holding everyone back.
”We’ve arrived.”
Maekawa-san muttered, looking up at the temple. The temple standing alone in the desert felt quite small, but it looked quite splendid up close.
It was a square stone structure about 20 meters (65 feet) on each side, with thick columns like the Parthenon, about 10 meters (33 feet) high. The surface was quite worn and rough. Climbing the wide staircase of about ten steps, there were no walls except for the back, creating an open space. Yet for some reason, there was hardly any sand on the floor.
On the back wall, there were double doors decorated in gold, and as we stood in front of them, the doors began to slowly open on their own.
As the door opened, a large stone staircase extended all the way up. It was a structure that seemed impossible from the outside.
We started to climb the stairs.
* * *
Valeria, who was peering into the crystal in the tent house, breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the group reach the temple.
They were still beginners as players. The battles with the monsters on this floor are highly dangerous. It’s a good thing they reached the temple without encountering any monsters. There should be no monsters in the temple, but now that the control system has been out of her hands for a long time, there is no guarantee. She hoped they would return safely.
”Wh-What is this!?”
Valeria, who was focusing on the crystal, was flustered.
”Why are other players in such a place!? Where did they come from!?”
In the crystal that Valeria was staring at, there was a reaction from several players who suddenly appeared in front of the temple.
* * *
”Wow, this temple looks so abandoned, like a floor that has been discarded.”
A menacing-looking boy wearing plate mail over his school uniform gazed up at the temple standing in the desert.
”It’s such a hassle that we have to gather key items just to enter this weakling boss room. I wonder if there really is a divine artifact in a place like this, Sendou.”
A girl dressed in revealing light armor glared unhappily at a boy wearing a blue robe.
”Oh, I sensed it with my gift. No mistake about it, Fujisaki.”
The boy in the blue robe, known as Sendou, responded expressionlessly.
”Hey! Looks like someone beat us to it.”
A tall, skinny yankee-looking student standing a little further away, shouted. This blond-haired boy with his hair spiked up wore arm gauntlets and shin guards, and held a spear.
”What!? What’s going on, Sagara!”
The boy in plate mail, exclaimed and stepping closer to the blond-haired boy.
”Take a look.”
Following Sagara’s gaze, they saw multiple footprints in the sand leading up the stairs of the temple.
”Damn! Who the hell is it!? Is there someone else besides Sendou who has sensing abilities?”
”Calm down, Shimaki. Even if they can sense us, it’s impossible for them to come here without being able to use teleportation magic like me. It’s most likely some idiot who got accidentally sent here when this floor made contact with the dungeon.”
Sendou calls out to Shimaki, who is wearing plate mail.
”I see… These footprints are still fresh. Anyway, they’re in the way. We’ll kill them and take the key item. If it looks like we can’t win, we’ll pretend to be lost due to the accident and seize the opportunity to strike.”
Shimaki declares with a dangerous tone.
”After all, the fate of the artifact is at stake. If we can get our hands on it successfully, our position will change. We can’t afford to be outwitted under any circumstances. We’ll eliminate anyone who gets in our way.”
The three nod at Sendou’s words. The three men and a woman step foot into the temple.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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