Chapter 159

If the Dungeon is a Mine, then the Boss is an Ore Vein
Regarding the matter of leaving the Soldier Golems in the lowest level for half a month, only to find them nearly annihilated.

"Well, they're just golems, so whatever."

"That's terrible, Princess!"

Only three Soldier Golems remained. The rest had ceased functioning and were stored in the storage bag. If left unattended, the dungeon would absorb them and reproduce them as monsters. Since they're golems, they can be consumed as resources just like that.

On the way here, I had spent time collecting traps from each floor, which made me late. In exchange, I obtained an immense amount of metal. With this, I can build quite a number of armed airships. Lately, the shortage of materials has been serious.

Also, the M5 light tank had its tracks broken by an Iron Golem's punch and was under repair. It's just a light tank, after all, so its defense is nothing special. It's merely a shield to prevent enemies from reaching me in the rear, so I don’t really care.

"I wonder what the boss is?"

"Wouldn't it be a horde of Orichalcum Golems?"

That would be great. Orichalcum isn’t exactly a legendary material, but it is a rare metal, so having golems made of it is a welcome sight.

I positioned the remaining 200 or so Soldier Golems and Golem Tanks outside the boss room door. The heavy assault models, due to their attack methods, had taken extensive damage and were nearly wiped out—only five remained.

"Alright, open the door and fire immediately."

One of the Soldier Golems pushed the door open. Inside was a vast chamber. The ceiling was incredibly high. No wonder descending the stairs had been such a hassle. In the center stood a single golem about 10 meters tall. It wasn't moving since we hadn't entered the room… Is this a defective product?

The RPG-7 that was fired struck the golem’s right arm and left leg, shattering them. The rest of the shots flew off into the back of the room. It's just a golem, after all. One hit from an RPG-7 is enough… Oh, it reattached its severed arm and leg on its own.

"That's cheating."

"We're the ones using ridiculously overpowered weapons, so if anything, we're the unfair ones. Orichalcum doesn't shatter that easily."

The lumbering Big Orichalcum Golem began running toward us, but a shot from a Golem Tank hit its leg, causing it to topple from the impact. The heavy assault models charged forward with their vicious pile bunkers ready. As expected, the tank’s firepower wasn't enough to shatter Orichalcum—it could only make the golem stumble. But in this case, that was enough.

First, the enemy was massive and durable. However, it was slow. The plan was to trip it up and attack as it tried to stand.

With a thunderous crash, both of the Big Orichalcum Golem's shoulders were shattered. The pile bunkers pulverized them.

"Time to collect the Orichalcum~"

Chains extended from the opened Treasury, dragging the Big Orichalcum Golem’s arms inside. Now it shouldn’t be able to regenerate—oh, wait, it's being supplied by the dungeon.

Its arms started growing back from the ground… I had a realization!

"This is an Orichalcum vein. Time to mine!"

"So even the boss is a resource…?"

"Then let's just relax in the treasure vault."

The enemy doesn't use magic. It’s just incredibly tough. Plus, Orichalcum has high magic resistance, so there's nothing I need to do. I’ll leave everything to the golems.

Three days later

"Go, Puppers Squad!"

Since I was bored, I taught the Puppers Squad a new trick. Outside the Treasury, the cycle of dismantling and regenerating the Big Orichalcum Golem continued. Destroy, harvest, regenerate, destroy—on repeat. Truly dull.

About 30 puppers were doing handstands, running around in circles on their front paws around Alicia.

"… What is this irritating movement?"

Alicia clenched her fist tightly. She threw a punch, but the puppers dodged it. Then, after stopping in their handstands, they all smugly posed. Alicia lunged at them, but they ran away while still upside down.

"Get back here, you damn mutts!"

"Woof-fu-fu!"

The puppers ran around, laughing "woof woof," while Alicia chased after them. This was hilarious.

Since I was bored, I was focusing on research. I was also analyzing the magic potion book that Eibon had. Grimoires contain spells, but magic potion books contain information on magical elixirs. The term sounds awkward, but the contents were fascinating. The fact that all of it was stolen was a bit concerning, but according to Eibon, "It belonged to a kingdom that was destroyed before I could return it, you see."

The book covered various magical potions, such as resurrection elixirs and enhancement potions, but most of the required ingredients were extinct. Research was needed to find possible substitutes among existing materials.

Alchemy was actually quite fun. If you fail at mixing magic potions, toxic gas can form, or the whole thing can explode. Research is fundamentally about explosions. And inside the treasure vault, I won’t get scolded.

"The stabilization of the magic furnace has been successfully achieved. Mass production will now commence."

"It’s stable within the specified limits, but if you increase the output too much, it will go out of control, so be careful."

It seems my clones have completed the magic furnance.

"What about magic gem fusion?"

"Our method is intuitive. So, we decided to systematize it. The fusion facility is already built, but… it's too big. With the current personnel, we can't optimize it."

"For now, that's fine. The top priority is to transfer the technology to the Kingdom's Development Bureau so that magic gem fusion can be performed within the kingdom."

"Understood."

I need to transfer as much technology as possible to the kingdom. There's no point in me being the only one working hard. It's absolutely necessary to create a system that can function even without me.

However, the amount of orichalcum we've gathered is enormous. No, even the iron—just an absurd amount. The production capacity of this dungeon is incredible.

And after staying in the boss room for fifteen days, a month after entering the dungeon, the dungeon finally stopped regenerating the boss. It must have run out of resources.

"But that doesn't mean I'll let it be absorbed."

The exhausted Big Orichalcum Golem started sinking into the ground. The dungeon seemed intent on at least reclaiming this one. But I wouldn't allow it.

Chains extended from the treasure vault, wrapping around the Big Orichalcum Golem and dragging it inside. The dungeon tried to suppress it by sinking the golem into the ground, but my output was superior. Bit by bit, it was drawn toward the treasure vault.

"You really are taking everything, aren't you?"

"Of course. My goal is to shrink the dungeon, so I won't leave any resources behind."

It took about two hours, but in the end, everything except the Big Orichalcum Golem's right foot was stored in the Treasury. Yes, the dungeon managed to take just that one foot. Unforgivable.

"And so, I will now proceed with punishing the dungeon core."

I took out a mask, goggles, and a grinder. Time to take a little something from the core.

The once-perfectly spherical core was shaved down into the shape of a Moai statue. It still functioned just fine.

"Princess, you really like that statue, don't you? Is it some kind of deity from another world?"

"Who knows? Probably. But it's from a lost civilization."

For some reason, it just remains in my memory.

After leaving the dungeon, the monsters inside had noticeably weakened. Specifically, only the weakest types of golems remained, such as Mud Golems and Clay Golems. Furthermore, due to the reduction in size of the dungeon core, the total number of floors had shrunk to just ten.

And there was one more thing. Every golem created in the dungeon had transformed into a Moai statue. Despite their inability to win, they still rushed to attack me.

"The dungeon is clearly mad at you!"

"Well, they're just small fry, so I'll just take their magic gems."

As Alicia cut off the golems' limbs, she stabbed a kukri into their chests and scooped out their magic gems. That alone was enough to render the Clay Golems inoperable. Since golems made of soil or mud are weak, they're easy to defeat.

"Do dungeon core fragments… the shavings, have any use?"

Alicia asked while effortlessly taking down enemies.

"They're actually pretty useful. They serve as ingredients for elixirs. They can also be used for magic tools, but… well, that's not really my concern."

Shavings from magic gems can be used to create elixirs—rare items capable of producing high-grade mana potions.

We quickly left this Moai-themed dungeon. Once outside, the entire world was covered in white.

"So cold!"

I put on gloves, a scarf, and earmuffs. The cold season had already arrived. Keeping warm is crucial—especially for me, since I'm sensitive to the cold. Normally, around this time of year, I wouldn't leave my room. I'd just relax in the kotatsu.

"Make sure you don't catch a cold."

Alicia, shamelessly, was warming her hands with her fluffy tail. That’s cheating. Beastkin are unfair. I want one too.

I stared longingly at Alicia’s tail. If I had that, I could be warm too. One day, I will perfect a transformation potion and obtain a tail. Until then…

"I'm going to warm up with your tail!"

"Wait—!"

I lunged at Alicia’s tail to steal some warmth. Behind me, Mr. Coote held out his tail, saying "I’m ready!" but today, I was fixated on Alicia’s tail, so I’d save him for another time. Helios, being a fire dragon, was naturally resistant to the cold. Unless it was magical cold, he had high tolerance. He would probably be fine standing here stark naked… though his body was emitting flames.

Later, the dungeon I conquered, originally called the "Golem Paradise," was renamed "Moai Paradise" due to being associated with an otherworldly Moai sanctuary.