episode_0138

Our courage injection plan continued all day.

“…I am a fearless…warrior of blood!”

“Well done!”

After about a day, Granite started doing as we told him.

「Good! He’s cooperating with us.」 「Phase 1 complete!」

Of course, this alone wasn’t enough. It takes a long time to suddenly turn an ordinary citizen into a combat expert.

Even our own Violet only became a combat expert after dying countless times in dungeons.

Someone who was just chopping wood in a rural village a few months before entering the academy suddenly becoming a violence enthusiast is something that only happens in novels.

Even the time I spent in training before my transmigration was five weeks. It takes over a month to create a single rifleman, so it’s natural that it would take even longer for a warrior fighting evil, murderous monsters.

「Wait, now that I think about it, isn’t this something the academy should be doing?」 「It certainly seems so?」

If Polaris had been intact, I imagine they would have actively instilled combat will into the first-year students. Though probably not strange military discipline.

「Just looking at the dispositions of people like Professor Albert or Instructor Frederick…」

I hear that the site where Polaris Comprehensive Academy was located was originally a military academy for a certain country. It was also used as a headquarters during the First Dimensional Invasion. So, perhaps that’s why the first-generation seniors had somewhat overbearing mindsets.

「By the way, is the research sabotage going well?」

Even while carrying out the courage injection plan, I didn’t forget what I had to do.

Violet 275 asked the Violets in the school’s underground laboratory. She uses the Violets sleeping in the walls as beacons to move around and occasionally carries out sabotage, which is quite fun in its own way.

「Yep! I broke the particle accelerator a while ago!」 「Hehehe!」

The particle accelerator used for their suspicious experiments was recently ruined by a short circuit. One day, I cut the wires, and another day, I poured saltwater on it, and it finally broke down.

It was quite impressive to see the researchers conducting the experiments roaring like beasts.

It was truly regrettable to see the researchers suffering from my antics and Dr. Sturges racking his brain while guiding others. That labor causes people pain. It’s truly horrible.

「To suffer because of work, how pitiful!」 「Then let’s make it so they don’t have to work.」

Such painful labor is unnecessary.

Poor souls, when the time comes, I should lead an army and free them from labor.

Lost in thought, someone called out to me. My reality instantly shifted from a concrete underground passage to a second-floor room in a factory dormitory.

“Um… Violet? I don’t think this is quite right…”

Granite, who was looking at a book, kept glancing uncomfortably in my direction before slowly opening his mouth.

“Well, I have my privacy, but you keep coming all the way inside… Besides, you’re a girl. It’s a bit uncomfortable.”

“Oh! I see. My bad! Then, see you tomorrow!”

When he showed signs of discomfort, the Violets standing against the wall smiled faintly and retreated. Forcing it further here would cause a counter-effect.

Violet isn’t a psychologist. However, she knows that rote learning isn’t always effective.

The modern educational trend is personalized education that considers the student’s psychology and characteristics!

We decided to use various methods to transform the boy Granite into the slaughtering machine Granite.

The next day, we called him.

“What is this…?” “Try using these weapons too!”

Lined up before him were countless weapons. These were chosen to match his size. Various weapons were displayed, including two-handed swords, greatswords, and a glaive taken from a nameless problem-solver he killed.

“Why did you bring a chainsaw?” “It’s cool! You might be able to tear enemies apart with it!”

Granite looked down at me with a blank expression. 461 chuckled.

It has no practical use, but perhaps it might inspire something. A chainsaw is a modern object embodying destruction and violence.

After letting him see various weapons, we arranged an interview with Levi. For now, we asked for simple encouragement.

“You, you can do it too! Th-those trashy things. Just clear them all away. Haha…!” “…What? What did you say?”

While conducting this kind of mental training, I prepared with the other teammates for the next dungeon.

“We made a short-term contract at Ramsera Mine, we just need to bring back some minerals.” “Duration? It’s usually three to four days, sometimes up to a week.” “One to two days should be enough! There are many of us.”

After finishing the discussion and doing various odd jobs, it was already time.

**

After riding the truck through the gate, a colossal cave greeted us. To exaggerate, it was large enough to fit an entire city.

Orange-colored crystals, both large and small, illuminated the surroundings. The small ones were human-sized, but the large ones were as big as buildings.

After reconfirming the contract with the clan staff in the safe zone around the gate, we entered the interior. Three trucks drove along the unpaved road. Far in the distance, the ruins of unidentified structures could be seen.

「Did people used to live in places like this?」 「It might be aliens!」

Most dungeons in the world are parts of worlds that were torn beyond dimensions during the First Dimensional Invasion War. If the dimensions were likened to a living creature, this greedy beast would bite off and swallow a portion of a planet.

However. When these swallowed regions emerge as dungeons, they sometimes appear mixed with elements from other worlds.

According to scholars’ estimations, they are remnants of other worlds or civilizations that the dimensions had previously swallowed.

The Aether Emitter we used last time, and those suspicious buildings visible in the distance, are examples of this.

Focusing my magical power on my eyes, I saw scholars carrying various measuring instruments sifting through the ruins, investigating something.

「Are there any treasures?」 「It might just be ceramics or bronze artifacts.」

Well, anyway, it’s far from our means of earning money. That’s for the archaeologists. The Violets have their own things.

「Everyone brought their pickaxes, right?」 「Of course! Check your inventory.」

Ramsera Mine was originally an ordinary gem mine. When it was swallowed by the dimensions, the mine underwent grotesque mutations due to the influence of Aether. Its size expanded to a geologically impossible level, and the minerals within held mysterious powers. The crystals hanging from the ceiling and floor in various places are examples of this.

Most of these crystals are just shining rocks, but some are said to amplify magical power or possess astonishing chemical and electromagnetic properties. That’s why there’s considerable demand for them in various industries, including magical equipment.

The problem is that these raw crystals cannot be used unless extracted using magical power. They are extremely hard, and if forcefully broken with strong power, the crystal’s physical properties are lost. It’s not like some kind of vegetable, you know.

There’s only one way to extract and process them intact: using magical power.

More simply put, there’s no other way than to hack them off with tools imbued with sword aura. Magic? Sadly, the mages of this world are also half white-collar. They dislike such 3D labor.

“Everyone dismount!”

Upon entering the designated mining area, I stopped the trucks. While the teammates surveyed the surroundings, keeping watch, masked Violets descended one by one and picked up their tools.

“Please keep a good watch around us!”

This time, the teammates’ job was to keep watch and fight. We decided not to fight.

Anyway, our Violets are better at group labor. We can’t entrust this work to those who only know how to wield weapons.

The Violets carrying tools approached the large crystals and began their work.

One group cut the crystal chunks, while another group chipped them down further and loaded them onto the trucks.

「Heave-ho! Heave-ho!」 「This is all money. Let’s carry it!」

While the crystal extraction work was well underway, the ground shook.

“Monster! Prepare for battle! Levia, aim over there! Lucian, prepare your magic too!”

The Violets who were mining crystals retreated. The ground caved in, and a mole-shaped monster, seemingly a lump of hard rock, emerged.

The monster’s name was Sacrax, just a harmful pest with no commercial value whatsoever.

Sacrax opened its five starfish-like maws and let out a caw. Its maws were packed with teeth.

“Now! Attack!”

Magic and bolt shots flew, shattering it. Its rocky shell broke apart, and its limbs fell off. The orange flesh inside was exposed.

Surprisingly, its flesh sagged like jelly and split into several tentacles, spreading outwards.

「It’s regenerating!」

The tentacles absorbed surrounding rocks and crystals, reconstructing its shell and regenerating its limbs. That monster possesses both high regenerative power and physical defense simultaneously.

Of course, trying to kill it with guns is impossible.

The way to defeat regenerating monsters is simple: either beat them until they die, or remove their core.

Sacrax’s defeat method falls into the latter category.

“Now, show us what you’ve learned so far! Go, Granite!” “Ugh, g-going! I am a warriorrr!”

Granite shouted and bravely charged forward. A colossal axe, imbued with magical power, struck the regenerating body of Sacrax repeatedly.

-Slam!

Just two hits. The monster split in half and died.

“Haa… Did I really do it?” “Well done!”

No sooner had we praised him than another Sacrax burst from the ground.

As it opened its star-shaped maw, our lumberjack boy flinched, perhaps finding it grotesque.

“Ugh!”

The Violets beside him patted his back.

“You can do it!” “Let’s protect the peace of the mine! Get up!”

“R-right. I’m going! I can do it! Wooooooah!”

Slam! The monster, struck by the finishing blow, split in two.

“Monsters that threaten comrades will not be forgiven!”

The colossal axe continued to swirl, repeatedly shattering the monsters. As their cores were destroyed by the powerful destructive force, they couldn’t regenerate and collapsed to the ground.

“G-Granite. You, you’ve realized it too! That’s it!”

Levi, who had been on lookout with a ballista from the truck, shouted happily.

“See…? I did it…” “Yep! Well done.”

Even after that, whenever crystals were mined, Sacrax swarms continued to appear, but Granite valiantly chopped them into pieces.

A while later, as the attacks subsided, Granite leaned back, sweating profusely. The miner Violets ran to him, praising him and lifting him up.

“Excellent!” “A mine guardian has been born!”

I tossed him high into the air, cheering.

“Why are they doing that…?” “Violet?”

Our teammates seem to be looking at us with strange eyes, but it doesn’t matter. Isn’t the growth of a teammate something to celebrate?

We finished the mineral extraction that way and were able to return the next day. Along with a huge contract payment.

Now only one dungeon remains: the city of surreal department stores, Vittorio Arcade, awaits us.