Chapter 445
Dungeon of Precious Stones (5)
"… Dill-san, are you okay?"
"… Haaaaah~"
Dill-san exhaled deeply and stood up with a tired expression on his face.
"Oh, come on!! Takumi was an A-ranker, yep. Adventurers who reach A-rank are no ordinary folks. And the companions of non-ordinary adventurers are also not to be taken lightly. That's how it is, right? Let's go with that. That's what I'll do!"
"… Hahaha~"
Dill-san completely shrugged it off. While it's unpleasant to be continuously beaten down, when someone completely shrugs it off like this, it creates a subtle feeling.
"I tried hitting it with a hammer a few times, but it didn't even budge. And yet, for these little kids to snap it like that, it's not normal! Listen! It's fine to snap things in private where no one's around, but don't ever do in public! It messes with you mentally!"
Moreover, he seemed a bit angry.
"Do you want one too, Dill-san?"
"N? Huh? Uh, no..."
"I will give you this~"
Allen offered Dill-san a branch, his spoils of war.
Allen seemed more interested in Dill-san's words about trying but not breaking than Dill-san's current state.
"Huh!? No, no, no!"
"Is fine, for you~"
Dill-san vigorously shook his hands and head sideways to reject, but Allen continued to offer the branch.
"Like this one more?"
This time, Elena also offered her branch to him.
"No, no, no! That's not it!"
“”That so? Then, this one?””
Allen and Elena switched to different branches and offered them to Dill-san.
"That’s not it!"
“”It’s not?””
While offering branches to Dill-san, Allen and Elena tilted their heads in wonder.
"Anyway, you can’t do that!"
“”Can’t do that?””
"It's not okay! —And Takumi! Stop them!"
"It's quite a common sight for me, so I don't think there's a need to stop?"
"Hey!?"
Wald-san, or Al-sama, depending on the situation... I've seen this exchange a few times. In these cases, Allen and Elena rarely back down.
"Fumu. You want something more impressive, huh? How about this?"
"”Oh, I see~"”
"Wait, seriously!?"
Kaiser also stood next to the children and offered the branch he had broken with a headbutt.
Is he really participating seriously? It's not like Dill-san is dissatisfied with the thin one... I wonder what Kaiser saw to think that way?
"Allen, Elena, Kaiser, let's withdraw."
Dill-san seemed to be on the verge of crying in earnest confusion, so I decided to stop the three.
"”Withdraw?"”
"Yeah, sorry. Come over here. Don't push too much; Dill-san might get upset."
“"Is that so? Okay~ Will withdraw~.""
The children obediently withdrew.
"By the way, these branches, they seem like good souvenirs or gifts, don't they?"
“”Oh! You are right!””
"Let's start with one for Allen and Elena's treasure chests each, okay?”
"”Yeah! And one for Oniichan too!"
"Okay, thank you."
They wanted to keep one each for themselves, and one for me as well.
“”For Ojiisama and Obaasama!””
"And also~ for Wald-nii and Rosa Neesama?"
"And for Velio Niisama and Almeria Neesama too?"
Allen and Elena listed off people they want to give souvenirs to.
"I think one for the whole Ruven family should be enough. Let's also give one to the Risner family."
"”Let’s see~ Hey, what about His Majesty~?"”
"Yeah, we can't forget about them."
Three for ourselves, one each for the Guardia’s Royal Family, the Ruven Family, and the Risner Family. That makes six in total, and it seems the branches Allen and Elena obtained will be enough.
Ah, if they want to give one to Dill-san too, it won’t be enough, I guess?
"As for the additional ones, whether you work hard or not to get them, let's leave that aside... I would like to collect all four types of branches~”
"”Would be nice to~””
If we can get them, I definitely want to collect the other three types after these ruby ones.
"If that's the case, we'll have to enter and exit the dungeon frequently."
“”Got it~””
"I understand as well."
It might end up being a stay of up to three months at most. I'd be happy if things changed in a few days, but somehow, I feel like they will, so even if we're dungeon-crawling, we should make sure to come in and out.
"Because one isn't enough."
"We will get more~”
"”Kaiser, where do you think is good?"”
"Hmm... that spot should be okay?"
After deciding on the future plans, Allen and Elena headed out to collect more branches.
… Is it about Dill-san's share?
“”Got more~!””
The two quickly obtained additional branches and headed towards Dill-san with them.
"Here you go!””
"... Ehh~"
And just as expected, they offered branches to Dill-san.
Dill-san, who had been relieved when the children withdrew, now had a bewildered expression again.
"Here, take them, take them~"
"Well then, let's go~"
Moreover, the children forcefully made Dill-san hold the branches and briskly moved ahead.
"Eh? Ehh~! Takumi, ta-take them back! Take them back!"
"Erm, if you want to return them, please go directly to the twins."
"Isn’t this okay!? You are their older brother, accept them!"
"Dill-san, you saw it, right? I have absolutely nothing to do with this~"
Sadly, I haven't even found an easy-to-take branch, let alone landed a single hit. So, I don't have the right to do anything with the branches.
"Now that the children have gone ahead, shall we catch up?"
"......"
Reluctantly, Dill-san, still holding the branches, started walking, so I followed the children.