The Beginning Of Interaction

I felt like someone was calling me, and I slowly opened my eyelids.

For the second day in a row, I woke up on the floor of the tavern. Around me, the villagers were sprawled out, piled on top of one another like corpses. For a moment, my heart skipped a beat, but I felt relieved as a few of them started squirming and moving.

“…Good… morn… ing.”

I sat up and offered a greeting, but my throat hurt. I had definitely laughed way too much.

“Good morning, Sir.”

Looking over, I saw Paula holding out a vial containing a Mana-Vitality Potion with a worried expression. This must be the portion I gave her to use at her own discretion in case of an emergency. Since I had used up all the Labyrinth Moss in last night’s transmutations, I accepted it gratefully. As I downed it in one go, the pain in my throat vanished instantly.

I see; so this is what “cellular activation” feels like.

“Thank you. That helps a lot.”

When I thanked her with a restored voice, Paula bowed deeply.

“I am truly sorry about last night. My foresight was far too shallow, and I have caused you much trouble. I don’t know how to apologize.”

“Ah, you mean the part where you mixed in the Fairy Dust without asking…”

Memories of last night surfaced vaguely in my mind. Since regaining my memories of my past life, it had been a long time since I laughed that hard. The villagers couldn’t stop their excitement either, rolling around in fits of laughter just by looking at each other’s faces… It was truly fun.

Presumably, the reason we got that high was because the compatibility between the Labyrinth Water and the Fairy Dust was too good. If it had been regular water or purified water, I suspect the effect would have been a bit milder. Also, the fact that the villagers—including myself—had no drug tolerance played a big part. Because we weren’t used to it, it worked too well, leading to last night’s outrageous revelry.

“Well, you couldn’t have predicted it. It can’t be helped.”

I’m not sure about judging things based on results, but it did allow me to become close with almost everyone in the village. Physically, I don’t feel any lingering sluggishness or depression; if anything, I feel refreshed and comfortable. However, while it’s at a level that could be used as a stimulant, it’s a bit scary, so I should avoid using it in the future as much as possible.

Sensing that there was no anger in my voice, Paula’s expression quickly shifted to relief. I reached out and lightly pinched her cheek, giving it a tug.

“From now on, please consult me beforehand. And if you pull something like that again, I’ll actually be mad.”

Near the end, when things were at their peak, there was a grand chorus of “Glory to the Labyrinth Empire!”—and Paula was definitely the one leading that. While I was exasperated with the beauty who seemed happy to have her cheek pulled, I heard something else again.

“Master—!”

“Koo-koo!”

“Master—!”

“Ma-ster—!”

At the noisy shouts coming from outside, I hurriedly stood up and peered through the window. Wandering around the central village square were the monster-kids, riding atop the Blue Slimes. A group of children followed behind them, shouting in unison. Behind them, it looked like the Giant Worm and the Great Caterpillar were following along as well.

“Yoru! Kuu!”

I hurriedly pushed open the door and shouted; the two reacted immediately and turned around. In their wide-open eyes, tears were welling up so much they looked ready to spill. Noticing me, Yoru and Kuu kicked the sides of the Blue Slimes, desperately trying to head my way. No, it would be faster to just hop off and run normally.

Realizing this before I could point it out, the two jumped off the slimes and dove into my chest at full speed. As I struggled to catch and hold them, they buried their faces in my neck and started sniffing. While I was gently patting their backs, the village children swarmed around us too.

“Is the mister the ‘Master’?”

“Is he the ‘Master’?”

“I’m so glad, Kitty-chan, Kuu-chan!”

When I talked to the children, it turned out the two had wandered into the village early this morning. They were crying and looking for someone, so everyone helped them out. Come to think of it, since they were sleeping soundly yesterday, I had left them at the dungeon entrance. They must have been anxious when they woke up and found Paula and me gone.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hardship—!”

“Koo-koo!”

They seemed quite angry.

“Thank you all for looking for them with me. Weren’t you scared of them?”

“Nope. Um, we saw them on the carriage before.”

“Yeah, saw them, saw them!”

It seems they remembered the introduction from the first day. They were all young, appearing to be between three and six years old.

“Thank you for looking after them. What would you like as a reward?”

“A reward!?”

“Um, um… this!”

A little girl with pigtails pointed at the squishy, bouncing Blue Slime. I felt relieved that they had no aversion to monsters at all.

“Paula, if you please?”

“Yes, my Lord.”

The children, placed atop the Blue Slimes, the Great Caterpillar, and the Giant Worm, let out shouts of joy. For the children who couldn’t find a seat, the Fairy flew around to play with them. Naturally, dust was strictly forbidden.

The villagers who had woken up were watching the heartwarming scene with surprised faces. It was an unexpected turn of events, but it seems the familiars will integrate into this village relatively quickly. Now, I just have to come up with a good excuse for the cause of last night’s commotion…

There are many things I want to get done during the morning. First, I explained that the labyrinth water contained life-giving properties, and that it simply worked a bit too well on the villagers who weren’t accustomed to it. Since they only seemed to remember that they laughed a lot and had fun, they seemed satisfied with that explanation.

As an apology, I handed out small portions of bat meat to each household. Fresh meat is apparently rare this time of year, so they were very pleased. I’d be grateful if they could gradually get used to eating monsters like this.

Next, I asked Ute-san to gather four or five women skilled in sewing at the tavern. Since it’s the off-season for farming, their hands are relatively free, and they assembled quickly. I also made sure to call one craftsman.

Now, before everyone arrives, it’s time to prepare the materials.

A compound of Light basic transmutation and Dark basic transmutation ‘Removal’. I use this to extract insect tannin from the galls. I could do something similar to ‘Removal’ with ‘Analysis’ followed by ‘Decomposition’, but yields a far greater amount. As I felt when I used Abrasion yesterday, compound transmutations don’t just combine the effects of two transmutations; they seem to enhance each other’s effects to push them one or two stages higher.

Next, I put the insect tannin into the bat wings and use the compound transmutation to suck out the moisture, completing the tanned leather in an instant. Since Infiltration is a high-level Water “Thaumaturgy,” even the Royal Alchemy Workshop rarely dealt with leather goods. It takes time, but in terms of labor costs, making it by hand is usually far cheaper. In my case, however, I have mana to spare and can transmute everything myself, so there’s almost no effort. Plus, once I’ve transmuted it once, I can mass-produce it by repeating the command.

After tanning all the bat wings, ‘Disessemble’ the silk sacs to extract the silk thread is to be done. For the copper ore, I use the compound transmutation (Fire and Water) to extract only the copper, and then ‘Infuse’ it with a Blue Magic Cluster to turn it into Magic Bronze. Magic Bronze is copper imbued with the “Flowing Power” of Water; its smooth surface is water-repellent and resistant to acid and corrosion. Finally, I lined up the wire tails, and I was done.

Then, I explained the work to the gathered people and had them start.

“I want you to use this to make stands. Do you think you can do it?”

“Whoa, the Alchemist kid can make Magic Bronze? That’s incredible. And this is wire from rat tails? It’s got a nice bounce to it; interesting.”

The task I gave to the blacksmith Heimo was to create stands for the White-Glow Stones. A Transmutationist is basically just a supplier of materials. The fine craftsmanship, decoration, and finishing of practical tools are the jobs of other specialists. Therefore, to add value to the polished White-Glow Stones as merchandise, I asked the village folk for their labor.

Of course, I could just sell them as raw materials. But then the loop would be limited to us gathering them in the labyrinth and Hans selling them. Revitalizing the village means having money circulate within the village. Naturally, things won’t go exactly as imagined at first. However, the biggest secret to cultivating craftsmen is to believe in them and keep providing opportunities. This is the method I learned firsthand from Workshop Master Barnabas.

The man who resembled a small bear stared intently at the materials, then suddenly started stomping his feet on the floor in a fit of frustration.

“Dammit! This is unbelievable!”

“What’s wrong?”

“The labyrinth sounds like a total blast, but this work looks incredibly fun too!”

He probably intended to be genuinely angry, but even that gesture was cute. It’s unfair, given he’s around the same age as me.

“If you finish this work, I’ll definitely take you to the labyrinth.”

“For real? It’s a promise!”

“The deadline is five days. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, leave it to me!”

As Heimo left with a satisfied face, I breathed a sigh of relief.

“How are things on your end?”

“How is it, Sensei? Don’t I look great?”

Resting atop the head of a twirling, happy Mia was a pointed hat made by skillfully piecing together black bat wings.

“Hey, it’s just pinned for now, so don’t move, Mia-chan!”

“Ah, sorry, sorry, Auntie.”

“The next time you call me Auntie, my hand might slip. I won’t know where the needle might prick.”

“Uu, sorry…”

What the lively ladies were making was armor using the tanned leather of bat wings. Parts of monsters that contain a lot of mana are far sturdier than normal things or possess unusual characteristics. Bat wings, which look like they would tear easily at a glance, are actually quite durable.

In the game, equipment was a “one size fits all” affair, but in this world, it doesn’t work that way. It’s a bit of a hassle since they have to be made to fit individual sizes. Fortunately, I don’t have to worry as much about weapons.

I used Cut on the dog bones to sharpen them into points. Then, I attached a bone to the end of a wooden pole of appropriate length provided by Ute-san and performed Join. There—the Dog-Bone Short Spear was complete. Its rarity is only one star, though.

In the meantime, the work I had asked Paula and the others to do also seemed to be finished. Since they returned to the tavern with the Chief, I got some rations from Ute-san and we prepared to set out together.

The Palace of the Dragon Jade: our second challenge begins.