We all ate pizza and followed behind Alfheim, who had arrived on the Starlight Bug.
By the way, the pizza with paprika on it wasn’t bad.
I should bring it along when I visit Iron Blood again.
Riding Purr and Woffy, we quickly arrived at World Tree.
-(~˙∇˙)~
-(╹ਊ╹)/
The fairies of the Alfheim village waved their hands and greeted us warmly.
“……What is this? Can’t we stay here a bit longer before we go?”
This must be Seon-ah’s first time here.
The fairies gathering and welcoming us seems to have really touched Seon-ah, who loves cute things.
“Let’s just go and come back.”
“Uh… okay…”
With Seon-ah half in a daze as she responded, we set off again.
The fairy guiding us continued beyond the World Tree.
“This is the first time I’m going past here.”
“It’s an adventure!”
We’d always stopped at the village in World Tree, never venturing beyond.
Following the fairy, we ran towards the unknown land.
For a while, the forest thick with the roots of World Tree continued, but soon, something enormous came into view in the distance.
“Wow!”
“What is that? But Ara, are you surprised too?”
“It’s been a long time!”
What we found was a massive rocky mountain.
And astonishingly, there were floating rocks around it.
Seon-ah murmured seriously, looking at the rocks.
“Could it be floating stones?”
“What’s that?”
“A special mineral. It’s not found in just any dungeon and it’s pretty rare. Sometimes you see magic stone motorcycles and cars made using those floating stones.”
“Oh! Those expensive half-floating cars?”
“Yes.”
As expected of an otaku, she knew more about dungeons than I did.
It’s nice to have explanations as we go along.
But such a rare thing here?
The scene of the rocky mountain was surreal.
A shallow mist hung around, and in between, rocks presumed to be floating stones were suspended in midair.
Moreover, there were plants on the rocky mountain that we had never seen before.
This called for a thorough investigation.
-٩(•ิ˓̭ •ิ )ง
“Okay, let’s go, let’s go.”
As we slowed down to take in the sights, the fairy in front gestured for us to follow.
Chasing after them, we finally confronted the rocky mountain.
“Wow, it’s tall.”
“The big tree we saw earlier was impressive, but this rocky mountain is no joke. Is this really a level 1 dungeon?”
Feeling a bit nervous, I kept quiet.
I must never say that this is a Seven Sins dungeon.
-(๑•̀ – •́)و
Following the fairy to the end, we discovered a tiny crevice in the rocky mountain.
As I was considering this, a voice suddenly came from somewhere.
-Lord!
Frey’s voice echoed from inside the crevice.
“Hey, I’m here. Are you inside?”
-Yes! Please wait a moment!
Soon, Frey wriggled out from the crevice.
She looked quite cute, though she seemed unaware of it.
-Lord! Lord! Lord’s sister! Welcome!
“Hello, Frey.”
“Hello!”
Seon-ah greeted, still holding her camera.
By the way, you mentioned finding something—could it be inside this crevice?
Pop!
As if answering my question, Poispois oozed out from the crevice with its characteristic liquid-like body.
“Poispois, how have you been?”
Pop! Ploop!
I picked up Poispois, who was shaking with excitement.
It looked proudly at its horn as if it had accomplished something great.
“Okay. What did our Poispois find?”
-Ore! Ore!
“Ore?”
-Not just ore, but also many gemstones seem to be buried here!
“It’s a mine!”
The discovery of a mine was unexpected.
Who would have thought Poispois could find something like this?
‘I guessed it wouldn’t just find magic stones, but…’
This is on a whole different scale.
Before I could be overwhelmed, a sound snapped me out of it.
“Ugh!”
-Kuh!
Ara and Gomgom were trying to squeeze through the crevice where Poispois and Frey had emerged, but it seemed impossible.
“Ah…”
A mine? That’s great.
But how do we get in?
“Would making the entrance bigger cause it to collapse?”
“Well, I don’t know. But listening to you, it suddenly seems dangerous.”
Frey, who had been listening to our conversation, muttered with wide eyes.
-I hadn’t thought of that!
“…….”
-What should we do?
How should I know?
In the end, it seemed only Alfheim and the slimes could squeeze through that tiny crevice.
But wait, Ara, aren’t you a slime too?
“Ahem.”
While pondering, something came to mind.
I currently own 72 slimes.
Despite synthesizing them over time, it’s still an impressive number.
Although the Dungeon of Gluttony is vast, making it not feel like a lot, the number seems significant when you count it.
And among them, 33 slimes have traits of level 2 or higher.
This number excludes Mark2, Poispois, and Bokkeum.
‘…I might have forgotten, but isn’t there a slime with abilities related to ore among those 33?’
I should check. If there’s a slime with mining traits, it could be employed as a miner here…
“Hehehe.”
“Ah! Kyu-seong Kyu-seong is thinking something bad again!”
Bad? Ara, it’s all for us.
However, even if we luckily had a mining-capable slime, there was still a problem.
“Even if we make a slime mine, we can’t get the ores out.”
“That’s true.”
A slime can easily pass through the crevice.
But what about the mined ores and gems?
Ultimately, the entrance needs to be widened.
“Let’s ask Dad.”
Seon-ah said as if she had a good idea.
Hmm, Father?
“Father? But he’s in construction.”
“Yes, but who knows? Dad might solve it. He has many connections.”
“Hmm, little sister, it’s been a while since you said something sensible.”
“Whatever.”
In the end, we could only confirm the existence of the mine and return.
However, before leaving, Poispois and Frey squeezed through the crevice again and brought out some small fragments, which were amazing.
“They’re beautiful.”
They didn’t look like minerals, but more like raw gems.
Their colors resembled the sky of the Dungeon of Gluttony, dark blue with a sparkling galaxy-like pattern.
Although the fragments were only about half the size of a pinky nail, making them too small to process, they raised our expectations.
“You go get Father. I need to check on the slimes one by one.”
“What are you checking?”
“To see if any of them specialize in mining.”
“Can you really check that?”
“Of course. Who do you think I am?”
“You’re so annoying.”
Postponing our tour of Alfheim village, Seon-ah immediately left the dungeon to bring Father.
In the meantime, I gathered the slimes in the dungeon in one place.
Pop! Ploop!
Wobble, wobble.
Squirm!
“Wow! So many!”
-Kwung!
All the level 2 slimes, except for the Rookies, had gathered.
The level 3 ones were showing their unique traits.
“Okay, anyone with abilities related to ore or gems, raise your hand!”
Ploop?
The slimes, hearing me, wobbled as if asking, “Where do we have hands?”
“If you have such abilities, step forward.”
Ploop!
Silence.
Well, it’s not like slimes with the perfect traits appear whenever we need them…
Tap, tap.
“Huh?”
I noticed a slime tapping my foot.
It seemed like a level 2 slime with no distinct features.
“Do you have related abilities?”
Squirm!
With great confidence, the slime looked up at me.
It was as if it was saying, “Yes, I’m the one! How do you like that! Haha!”
…I didn’t expect there really to be one.
I immediately checked its abilities.
[Slime LV.2]
[A typical slime]
[Liquid Synthesis Possible]
[Ability: Ore Combination LV.1]
“Ore Combination?”
This isn’t quite what I expected…
What use is this ability?
The name suggested that it could combine minerals. Could it be a similar ability to my Liquid Synthesis?
‘I need to test this out.’
Looking around, there wasn’t anything specifically mineral-like, so I just brought over a hoe used for farming and a random stone that the squirming slimes had been playing with.
“Give it a try.”
Squirm?
“Combine the minerals.”
With everyone watching, the slime took its stance as if facing its lifelong nemesis. Its serious attitude made me tense up without realizing it.
‘……I must be imagining things, thinking it looks like Headbutt.’
By the way, Headbutt is still doing well as a level 2 slime. Oh, there it is.
Anyway, as I watched Mineral Combination again, the slime slowly enveloped the stone and the hoe together and began to work diligently.
Squirm- squirm-
Wobble- wobble-
Then…
Pop!
With a reaction that seemed to say “Ta-da!” with sound effects, it showed me the result.
“It… stuck?”
It had stuck.
But that was it.
The iron part of the hoe was naturally fused with the stone. It was literally a combination.
It was undoubtedly an amazing scene. Combining two completely different substances, like stone and iron, so seamlessly was no easy feat.
But what could this be used for?
Pop!
The slime kept watching my reaction, like a child waiting for praise.
“Uh… Oh! Good job!”
Wobble! Wobble!
My awkward reaction aside, the slime was purely delighted, and I scratched my chin as I watched.
“Wow! It’s stuck!”
-Kwung!
Meanwhile, Ara and Gomgom were playing with the hoe, now fused with the stone, marveling at it. The Mineral Combination Slime was growing more and more confident with each of their reactions.
“…There are no more, right? No other slimes?”
Squirm-
None of the other slimes seemed to have related abilities. In the end, I dismissed the others and kept the Mineral Combination Slime.
Even if I didn’t know what to use it for, it seemed better to keep it.
‘Who knows, it might come in handy someday?’
I might not recognize its value due to my lack of knowledge in this area, but Father or Young-seong might be surprised.
…Hopefully, they would be.
“Since things have turned out this way, should I contact Young-seong too?”
I had planned to discuss the new fruit and vegetable juice for delivery to Ara Hongryeon anyway, and now we had luckily discovered a mine.
I didn’t know what types of minerals were in the mine. But if anyone could find out, it was Young-seong. If not, he could take samples to his lab for analysis.
‘If it’s a usable mine, it could be added to the inventory for the upcoming Dungeons of Avarice supplies.’
This isn’t just any ordinary dungeon; it’s a Seven Sins dungeon.
Surely, the minerals from this mine wouldn’t be ordinary either.
If we could make equipment from those exceptional minerals, it could improve our guild members’ survival rates.
I genuinely hoped no one would get hurt. Lately, Ara Hongryeon felt more like family.
‘They are family.’
They eat my crops, so they are family.
“Stickstick!”
“Huh?”
“It’s Stickstick now!”
Ara pointed at the slime and shouted.
“Oh, okay. You’re Stickstick now. Got it?”
Another victim of Ara’s naming sense was born. But Stickstick just wobbled happily, as if it loved the name.
I would have named it something cooler like Combination Slime, but oh well.
“Now’s not the time for this. Let’s step out and call Young-seong.”
“Okay!”
Strike while the iron is hot; I needed to get Young-seong here right away. If anyone could identify the mine’s value, it was him.
Cliche Novel 