CH 61

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As days went by, Monte Chris was finally taking on the appearance of a dungeon island, and the number of guild buildings and various stores was increased.

However, the only decent building here is the guild branch office; the other stores looks like just a bunch of rickety houses that sway and shake every time a strong wind blows. Well, the climate here is like a subtropical zone, so there is no need for thicker wall panels, and simple buildings are mostly sufficient.

Twenty-one days after the guild members arrived the first wave of ships had arrived, carrying 618 adventurers, their food, and other supplies.

The ships then kept making round trips; they bring more adventurers and supplies to the island while carrying back magic stones and rare materials from the dungeon to the capital.

“Adventurers are just a bunch of fools who dreams of getting rich quick.” Master Elza said while drinking her coffee.  “Okami, do you know the survival rate of people who dive into dungeon for the first time?”

Of course, I couldn’t answer it, since I don’t have a shred of knowledge regarding adventurers.

“It’s 88 percent. Out of every hundred people who dive for the first time, 12 won’t make it back. That’s the world we live in.”

Which means that out of 618 people who just come here, 74 people will quickly die…

“But, despite that, they’re still going to challenge the dungeon?”

“Despite that, they will, since it’s the only chance they can turn their lives around.” Master Elza said bitterly, even though she is a former adventurer herself. [1]

“Anyhow, I think the casualty rate for the first level of this dungeon will be rather low.”

“Why do you think so?”

Didn’t she just say that the casualty rate is usually high?

“It’s thanks to that Lotte Gram person. She managed to disarm all the traps on the first floor and set up safe zones in various places. Also, she prepared contingency plans and countermeasures for emergency situations. It’s remarkable, really. I’m sure she’s going to rise to success.”

Master Elza was praising Gram, but somehow, I felt happy as if she was praising me.

“Well, I’d better get back to work. I think there are some idiots I need to give lessons to.” She then put some copper coins on the table and stood up as usual; Master Elza had become a regular at my inn. Actually not only her, the rest of the guild staff also frequently come here now.

“Have a nice day, and please stop by again.”

As I saw her off, I started thinking that maybe it’s better if I also give some instructions myself…

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And so, I gathered all my golems and cleared my throat in front of them. By the way, Sierra is standing beside me to watch over the situation.

“Errmm… Everyone, you’ve been working hard every day. Finally, a large number of adventurers had arrived at this Monte Chris Island, so there are a few things I would like you all to be aware of.”

The first thing that came to mind was how to deal with the fire.

“The more people are living in an area, the greater the risk of fire is. If you see a fire being unattended, or if you suspect something will catch a fire, please extinguish it immediately.”

Just the other day, a fire had broken out in the commercial district. We quickly managed to extinguish it thanks to Master Elza and Sierra’s water magic, but a large stockpile of goods already burned to the ground.

“Also, please keep vigilant of your surroundings, I don’t want the incident that happened few days ago to happen again.”

The incident that I was talking about is, actually four days ago I almost got raped again. The culprit was one of the carpenters who had come to build a commercial building. Her name was Lekka, and she was hiding in my private restroom. The reason why she managed to hide there was because it was spacious, and there were shelves for storing the cleaning supplies, so she was hiding in one of the shelves.

Based on what she said during the interrogation, it seems she has no intention to rape me at first; she said she was just trying to peek into the bathroom but couldn’t keep her horniness in check when she saw me going number one. And since I usually didn’t bring Wonder into the bathroom, such incident occurred.

********Flashback********

It was a situation where I couldn’t raise my voice, since a chisel were pressed against my neck.

“Q-q-q-quiet. D-d-d-don’t make a sound…”

I could tell by her trembling voice and hands that the perpetrator was nervous too.

Should I struggle? No, not good. If something goes wrong the sharp edge of the chisel would stab right into my neck.

As I thought so, I became too scared to move.

“Y-yeah, d-don’t move, this will get over q-quick. It-it’s all your fault… For showing me your manhood… Y-you’re making me all excited…”

What the hell? Showing you my manhood?! You’re the one who barged in here! You think I can pee without letting out my thing!?

But since there’s no way I could yell at her in the situation like that, all I could do was stiffen as her hand reached further and groped all over my body… By the way, my Little Joe didn’t react at all.

……ΞΞ0Θ§Δ

Just when I thought I heard some faint chanting from behind the door, the perpetrator had been frozen all of a sudden. The next thing I knew was the door was flown off from its hinges with a loud bang and Sierra came rushing to my rescue.

I’m so glad I have finished doing number one, otherwise I might have peed myself.

“Sierra…”

Sierra’s cheeks were turning red as she saw me on the verge of tears. “Hurry up and put on your clothes. Aren’t you feeling embarrassed?”

I then realized that my bottom half is still completely uncovered.

“You’re saying that, but why are you staring intently…”

“S-sorry…” Sierra’s apologizing while still staring at my lower half.

“By the way, is she dead?”

After putting the rest of my clothes, I tried poking at carpenter Lekka who looks completely frozen, but I found out that she was only out cold and not stiff.

“She only passed out from the cold. Hmph, tho mayhaps I’ve caused a bit of frostbite to some daintier features.”

Whoa, that’s scary. I’m sure it’s going to itch like hell later.

******Flashback ends**********

After that incident, it was back to my everyday routine on the island, but I’ve taken Wonder and Harry to come with me everywhere I go now.

Living on this island has become a bit more difficult for me now, since I have to be careful even if I’m only going to the toilet. After all, the higher the number of adventurers that lives here, the higher the probability that some of them will be up to no good. I can’t expect Sierra to always protect me, so I need to be careful on my own.

Recently, Shirou’s Inn has increased its lodging and meal fees, mainly because Master Elza and Madame Damas has practically begged me to do so; they told me that with the rate of 500 Lehmens per meal and 5,000 Lehmens per night, there might be a dispute among the adventurers over the limited availability.

For me, the current rate is already too profitable, since the golems don’t earn a wage, and the food cost me nothing since it’s made by using magic. However, I think that keeping the rate as it is right now wouldn’t be fair to the guild and the merchants and will make them unable to do business properly, so I agreed to increase the price; meals now started at 1,200 Lehmens and lodging at 12,000 Lehmens.

The rate is on par with that of a luxury hotel in the expensive Lulu Sanjion Capital, so I was concerned that the customers wouldn’t keep coming at such expensive rate.

——————————————————————————————————————-

As it turns out, such worries were unfounded.

“Is this place open yet?”

Sierra and I were relaxing on her couch when a party of six appeared at the entrance. It was a group of large female warriors.

“We want to order some food and alcohol, is that alright?”

“Welcome! We caught a big crab today, so we are serving it grilled and with aioli sauce.”

Aioli sauce [2] is a mayonnaise-type sauce made with egg yolks, olive oil, garlic, and other ingredients. It goes well with seafood, meat, and vegetables.

“Sounds great. Can we have some beer along with it?”

“Would you like to have regular beer? We also have cold beer, it is a specialty of this inn.”

“Cold beer? That’s unusual. I’ll have that one then.”

“For me, I’ll have the regular one.”

One after another, orders came in.

“A bottle of wine, please, with some fish & chips.”

The Gokus and I were working at full capacity, but we’re still running short on hands.

“Sierra, please tell the Cimas to catch some fish and have Wonders to brought them here.”

“Huh? Why me?”

“We’re really busy so I can’t leave the place now. If it’s you, the golem will listen so you’re the only one I can ask.”

“But, that was only for giving them combat instruction for training…!”

“Sierra, you’re a kind sister who will listen to your Onii-chan, right?”

“Ugh, saying it like that. It’s unfair, you know.”

“Please, I’m begging you. I promise to do everything you want afterward, okay?” I clasped my hand in front of me as I said that request.

Sierra then averted her gaze and whispered, “If that’s the case, then tonight I want to have a bath together with you for the first time in a while…”

…all the customers in the store suddenly fell silent and stared at me.

“Ah, this girl is my sister. Please don’t mind what she said.”

“Ooh…” “I… see…”

Was that stretching it too much for an excuse…? Even on Earth, it can be considered ridiculous for a 25-year-old sister and her 14-year-old brother to take a bath together.

“You know what, suddenly I want to have a big brother.”

“Me too.”

“It must be nice, huh, to be doted by an older brother.”

The big brother boom suddenly became popular among the macho female warriors. It seems like even the hardy female warriors of this world like to be pampered once in a while.

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1 I’m sensing some kind of background story here…

2 Aioli, allioli or aïoli, is a cold sauce consisting of an emulsion of garlic and olive oil; it is found in the cuisines of the northwest Mediterranean, from Andalusia to Calabria. ((MoWPC: Up here in the states, aioli is a fancy alternative to mayonnaise when making sandwiches.))