Chapter 100 - Chapter 100: I Must Protect the Workers
We arrived at the railway restoration site on the 4th floor of the dungeon.
Of course, I wasn't the one doing the construction; there were professionals for that.
An unpleasant bureaucrat had followed us, but there were no other problems.
Aside from perhaps a monster attack, it seemed fine for now.
Just as the Harpies arrived and we were about to ask them to resume aerial surveillance――the male bureaucrat started picking a fight with the Harpies.
They look like bird-girls, but they are formidable monsters of the 4th floor.
Their attack power is considerable――or so I thought, until the man got hit squarely by a massive fecal bomb from two of them.
"Uwaaaaa!"
The man had turned as white as if paint had been poured over his head.
The Princess had also taken a hit from this, and it was incredibly stinky.
"It's stinky! It's stinky!" "Uwaaaaa!" "Gyaaaah!"
The scene had descended into panic.
I heard that adventurers sometimes get bombed while eating, then have to dig through the stinking mess that gets thrown away.
They really are smart, aren't they?
"Pfft! Ahyahyahya!"
Suddenly, Iroha started clutching her stomach and laughing.
"Pfft! Oga-san, I-I'm sorry..."
Sana was trembling, so she was probably trying to hold back her laughter.
The Princess was glaring at the man with an terrifying expression.
She might be cursing him in her heart.
She's a young lady, so she wouldn't say it out loud, though.
"Roper..."
Due to the overwhelming smell, the man started drooling uncontrollably.
"Ahhh..."
Seeing him like that, I felt a little sorry for him?
Well, it was his own fault, though.
"G-Get... Get... Don't just laugh, do something about it!"
"Something? Out here in the depths of a dungeon?"
"They're your pets, aren't they!"
"Huh? Those are just monsters that have grown fond of people; they aren't pets."
"Gugugu..."
"Anyway――with that smell, monsters might gather. Could you please move to a place away from everyone?"
"W-Then I'll be attacked by monsters!"
"You're a high-ranking official, aren't you? Don't you have a duty to protect over 30 workers from danger? Or are you planning to use the workers as your own shields?"
"..."
The man fell silent.
"Gya!" "Gyaaah!"
Above, it seemed the fleeing Harpies were circling.
It was too foolish, so I stopped filming.
"That person has been completely recognized as an enemy; they might be waiting for an opportunity to attack."
"Gugugu..."
The man looked up, but a normal human can't see in the darkness.
He shouldn't know where the attack would come from.
The man began to distance himself from us.
He could have apologized and resolved this, but does he have a disease where apologizing kills him?
There are people who are truly beyond reason.
If I go back up like this, he might become a nuisance.
If that happens, I'll silence him with the video I just recorded.
His pride seems incredibly high, so if such a video were spread, he'd probably back off.
I hurriedly tried to reach Onoda-san, but she didn't seem to be listening.
"Niwa-san!"
"Leave him alone. Besides, isn't restoring the railway the priority?"
"Y-Yes, but..."
"It's not Onoda-san's fault. If anything comes from above, I'll file a complaint through the Prime Minister."
"Thank you."
There's no time to fuss over such a fool.
Once the man had moved away, the Harpies returned to my side.
"Good girl, good girl."
I gave them some chocolate, patted them, and asked them to resume aerial surveillance.
"Gya!"
While we were doing that, work was progressing, and it seemed the installation of sleepers was finished.
The men were gathering to carry the rails.
Rails have a fixed weight per meter.
Main lines are 50kg per meter, local lines are 40kg, and branch lines are 30kg――that's how it goes.
The ones brought here must be the 30kg per meter rails.
Since they are cut to 10 meters, that means 300kg per rail.
Watching the work, it wasn't progressing well, likely because it was all manual labor.
300kg means 30kg per person if there are 10 people――even that would be tough normally.
With 20 people, it would be 15kg per person.
In reality, that many people were struggling to carry them.
It might be unnecessary interference, but it's better for the construction to be faster.
"Hey! I'll carry them. You just do the final adjustments."
"T-Thank you."
I lifted the rail with a flick of my wrist.
"Ooooooh!"
"It's light compared to a locomotive."
"Darling, I'll help too!"
"Alright! This will be done in no time."
Iroha also lifted the rail easily.
"Please over here!"
"Roger!"
She carried the long block of iron.
They carried the rails and lined them up in series on the sleepers.
It seemed they would fix them to the sleepers with bolts and nuts.
Normally, they would use electric or air-powered wrenches, but there was no electricity here.
The workers were turning huge wrenches like they were rowing a boat, sweating profusely.
It was manual work, but since there were enough people, a human wave tactic seemed to make it work.
The tracks were being laid out before our eyes.
"Looks like the work is almost done."
I spoke to Onoda-san.
"It's all thanks to Niwa-san. Normally, it wouldn't finish this quickly!"
"Even a locomotive takes months from preparation to construction, right?"
"Yes, exactly!"
I watched over the work.
The Harpies flying above were quiet too.
It seemed rare for monsters to pop up.
The workers were taking a break, so I wanted to bring them refreshments, but I held back since giving things to civil servants could be problematic.
"Phew..."
When I was resting, the area above began to stir.
"Gyagya!!" "Gyaaah!"
The Harpies were making a commotion.
"Enemy! Monsters are spawning! Evacuate!"
"E-Evacuate where?!" "What do we do?!"
"Everyone, to the locomotive!"
As expected of a capable woman.
She was guiding the workers.
Even with monsters, if there's something huge they've never seen before, they'd surely be on guard.
The Harpies are used to seeing locomotives and humans.
I called out to the female mage who had come to boil the locomotive's boiler.
"Can't you use attack magic?"
"W-Well, a Fireball or something..."
"Well, that's enough. Join them."
"I haven't fought in a battle like this before..."
"It's fine. I'll arrive quickly."
"Y-Yes."
Once I confirmed everyone was hiding under the locomotive, I entered combat formation.
"Uwaaaaaa!"
I scanned the surroundings――a scream echoed from the darkness, and the man ran over.
It was that bureaucrat.
Following him, about ten giants suddenly appeared from the darkness.
Their skin was a murky green, looking as if rotting moss or mud was stuck to them.
They seemed to be holding giant clubs and roughly rusted swords.
A foul odor drifted around, accompanied by groans.
In addition to the smell of rotting meat mixed with leaf mold, the stench of blood and sweat stung the nose.
The smell was so intense it was suffocating, as if the air itself turned murky just by them being there.
This is a public works site, after all.
Whether the footage can be used――well, I can just cut out the battle with the monsters.
I started filming the video.
"Goaaah!" "Nugooooh!"
The monsters were threatening us loudly.
"Tch! What is this! They're not even Kobolds!!"
Iroha spat out the true identity of the monsters.
She called them Kobolds, but these were Hobgoblins.
They are completely worthless and useless.
The only value is the Magic Stones, but for us right now, that's pocket change, and we don't want to touch these guys just to dismantle them.
Even the buyers would hate them.
Plus, they stink.
That's probably why they're disliked.
"Daisuke-san! Magic!"
Sana and Kaorulko had also arrived.
"Wait, wait, wasting two mages on these guys is a waste――"
I looked around and found something good.
It was a 10-meter-long block of iron.
"Darling!"
I heard the Princess's voice.
"The Princess, guard the rear."
"Understood!"
"This one is usable! Mass is justice."
I lifted the rail above my head.
Since there seemed to be extra materials, using one or two shouldn't be a problem.
"Uoooooh! Oraaaah!"
I ran at full speed, held the rail sideways, and threw it at the Hobgoblins.
It felt like a 300kg object colliding at about 100km/h.
About five Hobgoblins were blown away simultaneously and ended up crushed under the block of iron.
"Gyaooh!" "Geeaaah!"
The crushed Hobgoblins screamed and thrashed about repeatedly.
Normally, they would end when cut by a sword, but today they were crushed by something heavy.
Their bellies burst, and long entrails flew out.
I wonder if doing this myself is a bad idea, but it's a bit gross.
Shaking my head at myself, I took out a mace from the Item Box.
Jumping onto the rail crushing the monsters, I crushed the enemies' heads.
Naturally, brains scattered everywhere.
Even more gross.
"Oh, Darling! That's good!"
Iroha ran over to the rail, lifted it just like me, and started swinging it like a weapon.
This was also an attack of mass and velocity.
Was the tip of the rail moving at hundreds of km/h?
The circumference of a circle with a 10m radius is 62.8m――if you rotate 180 degrees in 0.5 seconds――um, about 450km/h?
When the block of iron she swung collided with them, the Hobgoblins flew away in a funny way.
"Oh! Home run!"
"Ahahaha!"
She seemed to be having fun.
The thrown enemies still seemed to have breath, so I ran over and crushed their heads.
"Darling! Enemies from the rear too!"
The Princess's voice came from the darkness.
"Iroha! Do you have the rail?!"
"Roger!!"
I ran to the Princess's side.
"Oraaaah!"
Just as the Princess sliced one in half, I threw the rail.
The remaining four or so were blown away all at once.
"Ahahaha!"
As always, Iroha was swinging the rail around and hitting the monsters home runs.
"This is crazy..."
The Princess looked dumbfounded at the sight.
"Daisuke-san~! From here too!"
It was Sana's voice.
"Are you okay?!"
"Yes!" "Light Bullet! Strike my enemies! 《Magic Missile》"
A magical flash shone in the darkness――Kaoruko's magic.
For Hobgoblins, the Light Bullet magic should be enough.
"Hey! Hey!"
Sana seemed to be fighting with strikes.
Glancing over, she swept their legs to knock them down, then crushed their heads.
She's become quite sturdy, hasn't she?
Well, with her level, even strikes would have considerable power.
Plus, she has that weapon of hers.
It looks like a magic wand――but is actually a striking weapon.
Plus, critical hits from Sana's high Luck stat.
I wonder which is more pitiful for the Hobgoblins: Iroha's home runs or Sana's strikes.
"Princess, finish them."
"Understood."
The two of us went about finishing off the monsters.
Even with such slaughter, it doesn't affect my level anymore, so it's completely useless killing, but...
It's work from the government, and I must protect the workers.
It seemed Iroha was done too.
"Sana! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine~!"
I headed toward Onoda-san.
"Onoda-san, are you okay?"
"Y-Yes..."
She was trembling too, as were the workers.
Well, since they were far from where the work was happening, it was pitch black and they couldn't see what was happening.
They could only hear the monsters' screams and the sounds of crushing.
No wonder they were anxious.
"I'll clean up, so please wait a little longer."
This time they were crushed, so entrails were scattered everywhere, making a terrible mess.
It might be traumatic for ordinary people.
"Hii hii..."
I had forgotten one more person.
That bureaucrat man.
He had lost the use of his legs and couldn't move from the spot.
It seemed he had also wet himself.
"Oh my..."
When we take him back, I'll have to make the Princess clean him up with magic whether he likes it or not.
I sighed and stopped the camera I was filming with.
"Daisuke-san!" "Daisuke-san!"
Kaoruko and Sana had arrived.
"I'll clean up the monster remains. You two guard the surroundings."
"Understood."
To clean up, I headed toward Iroha and the Princess.
"Haa, it's so stinky..."
Iroha was complaining about the monster filth.
Come to think of it, I'm covered in blood too.
Besides, Hobgoblins stink anyway.
"Darling, use a cleansing magic."
The Princess tried to use magic, so I stopped her.
"No, let's do everyone together. We can't take that man back if we don't clean him up too."
"We could just throw him into a hole in the dungeon."
"That would ruin Onoda-san's position, wouldn't it?"
"Muu..."
The Princess looked dissatisfied.
"You can't go back with someone covered in filth and urine, can you?"
"Hey, Darling, what's 'urine'?"
Iroha reacted to the word I said.
"That man――he was attacked by monsters and must have been terrified. He wet himself."
"Ahaha!"
She was laughing uproariously.
"Really..."
It's amazing that he doesn't even bow his head even in this state.
He probably won't live very long, though.
While guarding the surroundings, Iroha was rummaging through the monster corpses.
"Iroha, are you going to sell these?"
"I'm selling the Magic Stones to buy Orc meat! I'll have Darling make me braised pork!"
Well, if we collect enough Hobgoblin Magic Stones, it should cover the cost of Orc meat.
I decided to help too.
I asked the Princess and others to continue guarding the surroundings.
"I'll put the corpses with the Magic Stones removed into the Item Box."
"Okay!"
Iroha's skill was truly amazing.
While I was processing one, she had already handled three or four.
"Iroha, you're so efficient!"
"Ahaha, I've been doing nothing but this for a long time."
I see――not a lucky break like me, but she's been working with her sister since Level 1.
The image of sisters cooperating and thriving in the dungeon floated to my eyelids, and my eyes grew hot.
No good――as an old man, my tear ducts have become weak.
After finishing dismantling the monsters, I gave all the Magic Stones to Iroha.
I went to a place a few hundred meters away, took out all the corpses from the Item Box, and threw them away.
A mountain of meat chunks with crushed heads and spilling entrails.
Even seeing this, I'm completely fine now.
That's what getting used to things is like...
"Ah, damn it! I wish an Orc would show up!"
When I returned to everyone, Iroha was still complaining.
"Onoda-san, shall we take a break for a while?"
"No! Let's resume work."
The old man who was leading the workers stood up.
"Are you okay?"
"If we get scared by this, the work will never end. Thanks to you, we're almost done."
"The tracks are already laid."
"Yes."
The other workers also stood up.
"Let's go!"
"Roger!"
"They're useful too, aren't they?"
I pointed to the Harpies that had come down to the ground.
"They really are fond of us."
"They're good kids who even guide us."
I picked up Gigi, who had hopped over to me.
"Gyi!"
"Good girl, good girl. You did well. Want some chocolate?"
"Gya!"
While feeding chocolate to the Harpies, I saw a blue magical light.
The Princess had used magic on that man.
She came to my side without saying a word.
Did he learn his lesson somewhat?
I don't know, but he went to the passenger car and sat down silently.
He seemed to be muttering something, but I decided not to get involved.
While we were doing that, the work finished.
"A-Amazing! The work really finished in one day!"
"Work is 80% preparation, right? I think it's thanks to Onoda-san's preparation."
"No! Above all, it's Niwa-san's Item Box!"
"Indeed, that's true." "Without the Item Box, who knows how many days it would have taken..."
The workers seemed to agree with Onoda-san.
"By the way――are you going to do a test run?"
"Of course!"
We had to actually run on the laid tracks to see if they were okay.
Once the locomotive was ready and the workers lined up beside the tracks, the test began.
Under the watchful eyes of the men, the locomotive slowly got onto the rails――it seemed fine.
It then ran through the completed section, spewing white steam.
"Yay!" "Woooo!"
The workers were making victory poses.
"It went well."
"Yes."
The Princess looked unsatisfied.
Did she think there would be more trouble?
No, no――with this many people, if something like the previous traps happened, we couldn't protect everyone.
Please forgive us for that at least.
"Onoda-san, is it OK?"
"Yes! It's OK!"
"Then we'll start the withdrawal work. Is it okay to store everything in the Item Box?"
"Please do!"
Iroha came to my side.
"Darling, that rail was great! Can you put it in your Item Box for me?"
"It might become a weapon, indeed."
"Onoda-san!"
I called out to her.
"What is it?"
"Can I have the rails used to fight monsters? I don't want to use rails covered in blood and entrails..."
"Yes, I think that's fine. We'll say they were bent when attacked by monsters and discarded..."
"Well, they might have actually bent a little, haha."
Since the work was finished, we decided to store the remaining rails and tools and withdraw.
With this, the railway on the 4th floor would be usable.
For the return trip, we decided to go back by train.
That man was sitting alone at the edge of the passenger car, silent.
He seemed to be muttering something while looking down, but had he broken?
We arrived at the 4th floor camp as is.
"Wait a minute! I'm going shopping!"
Iroha seemed to plan to buy a rib of an Orc using the Magic Stones she just collected.
About 5 minutes later, she returned carrying a huge rib section.
"Did you buy it?"
"Ehehe! Please make something delicious with this!"
"You helped this time."
"Braised pork, braised pork~!"
"Roasted ribs are delicious too."
"Nice~..."
Someone muttered softly――it was Onoda-san.
"Will Sana eat too?"
"Of course!"
Curry is simple, but braised pork takes quite a bit of effort.
It's about time the built-in IH in the room won't be enough.
Should I buy a dedicated large stove?
No, first of all, is it okay to use fire there?
Now, all that's left is to return to the surface.
It's good that that man is quiet.
We transferred to the train and the steam elevator, returning to the entrance hall.
In the end, that bureaucrat remained silent until we reached the surface.
When we went outside, the sky was already turning orange.
"Princess, I'm carrying their luggage, so I'll go to Haneda."
"Understood."
"W-Wait, I'll go too!"
Sana raised her hand.
"No, no, it's getting dark, so go home."
"Muu~"
"Fufu."
Seeing that, the Princess grinned.
"Princess and Kaoruko, please go back first."
"Understood~. It's getting dark, so please be careful too, Daisuke-san."
"It's fine. I can see even in the dark."
While I was talking to the Princess and others, Onoda-san was contacting someone on her terminal.
Probably a work report.
You can't report up or down inside the dungeon.
"See you later, Darling! I'm counting on the braised pork!" "Me too!"
I parted ways with Iroha and Sana.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
As I was seeing off the Princess and Kaoruko returning to the hotel, Onoda-san came back.
"Alright everyone――getting home is public work too."
"Fufufu."
She was laughing.
She seemed so serious before, with her glasses glinting, but now she had a much more casual impression.
We boarded a boat with the workers and arrived at Haneda.
"Um, I'm terribly sorry――could you wait until the trailer comes?"
"Yes, that's fine."
I have to transport the locomotive I recovered, so a trailer is necessary.
The workers are also standing by there for fixing operations.
If the pickup bus doesn't come, they can't go home either.
"Then, is it okay if I go shopping for a bit?"
"I think it's probably fine."
"If it's earlier than expected, please contact me on your smartphone."
"Understood."
I ran to the Haneda shopping street.
"Now, let's look for a stove, stove..."
I planned to buy a large gas stove.
I'd also need a large commercial pressure cooker.
Looking for a shop, I found a place selling cooking utensils that also had large stoves for Chinese cuisine and pressure cookers.
I bought a lot of tableware too while I was at it.
More people are gathering, after all.
Now, I need gas canisters, but where are they sold?
"When it's like this, search it..."
I searched for the location on my smartphone, found a shop, and bought the canisters along with them.
"Customer, shall we deliver it?"
"No, it's fine."
"Whoa?! Disappeared?!"
"It's the Item Box."
"T-This is the legendary... amazing."
The young shop clerk was surprised.
Next time, if I bring the canisters here, they can be refilled.
I finished shopping and decided to return to Onoda-san's side.
The surroundings were already dark, and lights were shining near the breakwater.
In the dungeon, there's no such light, so the lights of civilization feel extra dazzling.
The trailer had already arrived.
"Sorry! Did you wait?!"
"It's fine, I just arrived."
"Then, let's load it up right away."
"Roger!"
We took out the locomotive from the Item Box and the rails we brought back onto the trailer.
Then, we took out the workers' luggage too.
"Man, being able to work empty-handed is like heaven."
A young worker was smiling brightly.
"Jobs like this are always full of heavy luggage."
"Seriously, ahaha."
Come to think of it――I feel like I forgot something...
"Huh? Where's that man?"
I noticed the man was gone.
"Huh?! Come to think of it..."
Onoda-san was looking around frantically.
"Did he just leave on his own?"
"He really is troublesome..."
She looked dumbfounded.
The workers checked too, but it seemed he really wasn't there.
He must have gotten torn apart by various things inside the dungeon.
If he could just bow his head to someone a little, this wouldn't have happened.
He is truly unbearable.
I don't know what he's thinking, but if he tries to bother us again, I'll stream his pathetic form filmed in the dungeon to the internet.
I don't know anything, but his pride seems abnormally high, so he probably can't stand that.
Finally finishing the work, I said goodbye to Onoda-san and the others, and headed toward the darkened pier.