Chapter 7 – Twins and Dungeons (3)
The earthquake has completely stopped, as if to say that it was actually a lie that had resonated so violently a moment ago.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes… I’m sorry I kept hanging around. Master.”
While the earthquake rumbled, Roxia, clinging to Roden, lowered her head.
“What do you have to be sorry about? It’s normal to be scared when you go through something like this at your age. So don’t mind.”
Roden got up from her seat, wiping the tears from Roxia’s eyes, and came out of her room and looked down at the shattered dishes.
‘… These plates were recently bought. I will buy them again.’
“I will clean up the broken things, so you can put the fallen things up or put them to one side. Walk carefully so as not to step on the broken pieces.”
“Yes.”
The two started their day early in the morning, and after arranging their rooms and living rooms in order, they went straight down to the basement.
“It’s a mess here too.”
The underground workshops were even more messy than the upper ones.
Most of the beakers and glass bottles left on the workbench were broken, as well as the automatic blender that Roden cherished so much that he twitched his lips every time he saw it.
“Ahhh… ，The automatic blender that the owner cherished so much…”
Roxia, who had to listen to her proud quality (about 30 minutes each time) to the extent that blood would stick to her ears every time she looked at that thing with Roden, couldn’t bear to speak and looked up at the owner with a very worried face.
She said, “I decided to do the cleaning myself, but… I can’t help it. Roxia, I’ll show you something interesting from now on.”
“Are you having fun?”
Roden scratched the back of his head after looking around the workshop, then rummaged through the inventory and took out a strange hourglass with only the top left intact.
“Huh-uh-uh.”
Taking a deep breath, Roden crouched down concentrated a considerable amount of mana towards the hourglass. Blue grains were created in the empty hourglass.
The grains that escaped through the thin tube turned into a blue mist, covering the glass fragments and gears scattered on the floor.
Roxia couldn’t help but open her eyes wide at the miraculous phenomenon that followed.
“Things back to normal…”
Fragments of beakers and glass bottles scattered around were neatly arranged on the work table, clinging to each other.
“Isn’t it pretty amazing?”
‘It’s an artifact that can only turn back the time of an object, but I don’t get tired of it because it feels like watching a reverse playback every time I see it.’
The gear mechanism of the automatic blender, which had been shattered, was then reassembled as it interlocked in mid-air, and the liquid spilled on the floor was returned to the glass rod inside the blender.
ㅡChiik-cheek-!
As if nothing had happened, the automatic blender started moving on its own as usual and mixes the liquids inside. That liquid will become the stock solution of the health potion the next morning.
“This is done, now go up… Oops…”
Roden, who put the hourglass in his inventory, stumbled even when he tried to stand up.
“Lord, Master. Are you okay?”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I slipped a little. Let’s go to the store area.”
‘It’s a bit dizzy because I haven’t used it in a while. This guy is definitely convenient, but the fuel economy is so bad…’ .’
Fortunately, there were no broken or cracked items in the store area, except for the potions on display in the display cases.
“It’s good that the display case is made strong. Let’s just arrange this and finish.”
Roxia, who nodded her head, glanced at the figure of her master while arranging her potions in the seat opposite Roden.
“I’ve been wondering before, is the master a great wizard?”
By the time the shelves were almost finished, Loxia couldn’t stand her curiosity and asked such a question.
“Hmm? Why do you think so?”
Roden had roughly guessed why this child misunderstood him as a wizard, but he dared to ask why.
“Yeah… You made me look like a human being, and you quickly restored the studio that was so messy a moment ago.”
Loxia added that the master’s actions so far are difficult to explain except magic.
“Well, first of all, what you saw is magic.”
Roden, who thought it was a good opportunity to teach one of the world’s common sense, sat down at the guest table with Roxia before explaining.
Where should I begin to explain? After thinking for a while, Roden asked Roxia to take out her ring.
Following the owner’s instructions, Loxia put the black ring she always cherished on the table, and Roden put the hourglass she had used earlier on the table.
“Does Loxia know what an artifact is?”
“Artifact… ? I do not know.”
‘Considering the environment this child grew up in, it’s not unreasonable.’
“It means a precious treasure that is kept in another world’s technology, magic, or both. The ring and hourglass here are those treasures. To put it simply, I didn’t use magic, I just used the magic contained in the artifact… Are your questions clear now?”
“Yes…”
“The way to activate the magic embedded in these artifacts is mana…”
Roden tried to explain her further, but she closed her mouth as she saw Loxia’s eyes gradually loosen and she nodded.
‘Oh, I’ve been holding on to him for too long since dawn. I’ll simply wash him and put him to bed.’
He got up from her seat and helped Roxia, with her eyes half-closed, wash her hands and feet before taking her to her room.
* * *
The streets of Barmela Manor were more noisy than ever due to the unexpected roar and earthquake at dawn.
People who are busy from dawn to clean up things in the house that have been smashed, and adventurers who are rummaging through their backpacks, where there are broken equipment or missing items, can be seen.
Among them were twin sisters who were walking down the street with their eyes wide open.
“Huh~! I’m sleepy… It’s not a mess since it started at dawn. What kind of trouble is this after sleeping well?”
Merim, who was rubbing her eyes, rummaged through her backpack while yawning loudly, not paying attention to whether or not she was looking around.
“For now, my luggage is fine, but what about Maril?”
“Well, this is also a big problem… Ah, one potion is broken.”
“Ah~ Ah~ It’s something I just prepared yesterday, unfortunately Siri…”
The twin sisters, who carefully removed the remnants of the broken health potion in their backpack, took comfort in the fact that everything else was fine while sighing, and naturally, the story of Roden and Roxia came out.
“Come to think of it, Mr. Roden’s shop must be a mess too. Will the two of you be okay? I’m especially worried about Roxia.”
“If Mr. Roden was with her, she would definitely protect her, so it’ll be okay.”
“Well, that man… I try not to show it off, but the look in her eyes at Roxia is that of a daughter of an idiot.”
Every time they visit the store, the twin sisters giggling as they recall Roden’s usual way of dealing with Loxia arrive at their workplace, the adventurer’s guild.
“I hope I have some good things to do today.”
As soon as you step in, you can see the dilapidated walls and tables with scratches here and there, and the floor covered with dust from countless visitors.
The adventurer’s guild, which can’t be described as clean even in normal times. Especially today, it was even better.
Most of it was useless nonsense that had nothing to do with it, but when the story related to the early morning phenomenon was heard from the seat next to them, the twins listened.
“Did you hear that? It is said that the earthquake that occurred at dawn is a phenomenon that occurs when a dungeon appears.”
“Dungeon… ? Is that real?!”
“It’s not a fuss that everyone is looking for it now. Let’s quickly gather useful guys and find the entrance.”
The sisters who overheard the story met each other’s eyes, nodded, and ran to the bulletin board area where the adventurers were huddled together.
[Recruitment of dungeon investigation party members]
[Looking for escorts of steel grade or higher]
[Recruiting people to investigate the dungeon]
[Recruit with 3 large copper coins per porter without conditions]
…
…
After skimming through the bulletin board, Merim corrected her crooked hat and looked at her sister with a rare serious expression.
“… More than half of them are recruiting posts about dungeon investigations. I don’t think it’s just nonsense. Marill, let’s prepare too.”
“Wouldn’t that be a bit dangerous?”
“That’s true, but it’s a rare opportunity. Let’s find those two people who worked together before. They must be gathering party members too.”
Marill agrees with her sister, but recalls information about dungeons she read about in a book when she was a child.
Rifts and dungeons connected to the other world.
It is an unknown space that suddenly appears without any conditions or warnings and disappears in an instant as soon as the challenger succeeds in capturing it.
As it is an unknown space, it is a great risk to investigate the inside, but you can get a huge reward enough to take such a risk.
Records containing knowledge of other worlds, precious creatures, rare metals, antiques, etc. The list is endless…
If there is a reason why adventurers risk death as well as danger to investigate dungeons, it is the existence of artifacts that can only be obtained in dungeons.
“Maril~! I found it! This way, this way!”
While Marill was immersed in her thoughts about her dungeon, Merim, who had suddenly found party members to move with, waved her hand at her brother.
“Uh? Uh, wait a minute.”
‘Are you okay… If I’m with her sister this time, nothing will happen. Her sister will defeat the enemies with magic, and I will protect her sister with my sword and shield… ．It has always been like that until now. You just have to be careful this time too.’
Even with that thought, Marill, unable to shake off her somewhat ominous feelings about her dungeon, moved her heavy steps towards the place where her sister and her comrades were waiting.
