Chapter 39: Digging
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
Digging up a hot spring means we first need someone familiar with the area.
Haumea was the foremost candidate, but she apparently took on a quest and is away from the village right now.
So Cole was called in to explain where the water veins flow for us.
“Such cases with wells have certainly have occurred, but… this is very large scale.”
“Wells and hot springs are the same thing. In being water bursting from the ground anyway.”
“Can just the two of you perform such a large-scale excavation though?”
“We just want to designate the spot today. As for the digging method… we’ll manage, little by little.”
Our method is using the dragon breath from my Dimensional Storage, so we can’t very well show it to Cole.
He thinks just Master and I will be quietly digging.
“… Well, as long as you don’t make a mess of the forest.”
Clearly he found our attitudes strange, but he’s giving us a pass. It’s times like this I feel he has a powerful sense of duty.
“What will happen to the mine?”
“Until things clear up, all rignia stone gathering quests are withdrawn. As the village holds all rights to their mining, there will be some influence on profits… but that would be preferred over letting rumors of a mine with a poisonous lake spread around.”
“Then you’d like this to be taken care of before it goes public.”
“If you could, we would appreciate it.”
After that we circled to the north side of the forest under Cole’s guidance.
“The water in this area flows in from the north side, so the water source here is supposed to be the uppermost part.”
“We’ll just have to start digging and find out I guess.”
“I suppose so. Want to try digging a well first?”
“No, this isn’t the right environment for it. Is there a more wide open area?”
“An open area?”
Master is probably worried about the trees the breath might knock over I think.
Elves seem to care deeply about the forest, so he must be thinking of choosing a place that will cause the least damage.
“Yeah, if we’re digging up a hot spring, I’ve heard the composition of the hot water could wither the forest’s trees. A more open space would be better.”
“I see, I’m grateful for your consideration. In that case, over there may be appropriate.”
Cole pointed to a place slightly further east, where a meadow without many trees was.
Damage won’t be done to the forest in this place. The flowers in the meadow might come to harm though.
“This looks like it’ll work. Well, let’s get digging… Eir?”
“So this really is all on me huh?”
“I’m here to do the thinking.”
“That again. I don’t like you when you’re lazy, Master Rimuru.”
“Urgh… f-fine then. Let’s get this over with, I’ll dig too.”
“It’s nice that you get along, but I can’t stand here watching and let two children do hard labor in good conscience.”
Hold on, this will honestly go faster if you would please leave.
Even thinking that, I couldn’t refuse his good intentions, and we ended up digging with human power until the sun nearly set.
~*~
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
Dusk, and we must have dug nearly ten meters.
When digging a hole, the most laborious part isn’t digging into the ground, but carrying the dirt out of the hole.
Carrying it was left to the strongest one in the group, me, while Cole and Master were doing the digging at the bottom of the hole. With the roles divided as such, the digging operation proceeded well.
“Has the dirt gotten kind of muddy to you?”
“Yeah, plus it’s warm and humid… we’re probably close to the water source.”
“It’s not gonna suddenly blast out or anything, is it? The water in there was pretty hot.”
“I haven’t much heard of tall tales like that actually happening. It should be fine.”
Water blasting out like a geyser actually takes a lot of built up pressure underground I guess.
Even so, we should take that small possibility into consideration.
“Master Rimuru, I will switch to digging the hole.”
“But you’ve gotta do the carrying.”
“If it’s getting this muddy, then we shouldn’t have much more to dig. I’m strong against the heat, so I’ll be fine even if it gushes out.”
“I see. But…”
“Plus if I’m not carrying out the dirt, I’m faster at digging.”
“That’s true. Then can I leave it to you?”
“Absolutely.”
After I pull them up by rope, Master casts heat resistance magic on me.
With this, even significant heat shouldn’t leave a burn on me. Then let’s make this quick and—
“TORYAAAaaa!”
“Wha-, Eir?!”
Directly towards the bottom of the hole, I abruptly perform a dynamic jump kick.
With a thomp, I feel my right leg brilliantly sink in.
On the other end I feel surprisingly little resistance(?), and realize I must have punched through.
Following that, there’s a disturbing bubbling sound. My instincts told me things are going south, so I frantically try to lift my leg out. But before I could get my right leg out, my left leg sank down when I put my weight on it.
“Ah, wait a… oh—?!”
A moment of indecision.
In that short time, a vibration accompanied by a rumbling began… and a hot spring positively spewed forth.
“HOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOT?!”
With enough force to put a geyser to shame, the water launched out with me jumbled in.
Of course water hot enough it would probably burn me doused my whole body.
Luckily I had [Heat Resistance] cast on me beforehand, so I didn’t get any burns, but hot is still hot.
“Hot hot hot hot…!”
“… You really do some dumb things.”
I’m flapping on the ground like a freshly caught fish, writhing in agony, and Master splashes me with cold words.
Master shrewdly held his robe over his head, and dodged the falling hot water.
Cole takes distance and looks this way. His gaze is somewhat chilly. I couldn’t help it, come on!
~*~
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
With an exasperated face, Master cools some hot water with ice magic, and splashes me with it.
I didn’t get any burns, but my skin is bright red, and just looking at it is painful.
Also, I’m soaked to the bone. Obviously.
“Looks like the pressure is higher than expected here. Think the hot spring in the mine will stop at this rate?”
“Possibly, but we’ll have to wait and see to know.”
“Yeah, guess we won’t see results right away. Alright, we’ll head back after Eir gets changed. We’re gonna head back home directly, so… give the report in our stead if you would, Cole.”
“Well, it’s not out of the way, so I don’t mind, but are you sure?”
“It’s getting pretty late… if we go report to the elder now, I think it would be a nuisance rather than helpful. We’ll go report again tomorrow morning.”
“I suppose it is getting dark. I sometimes forget that you’re children; walking at night would be dangerous, huh.”
“Well, there is that too. But with Eir being soaked…”
“Master Rimuru, I don’t mind being wet though?”
In fact, I don’t want to get changed. I was doused in boiling water, so the cold, wet clothes feel nice.
“You’re gonna catch a cold like that. Plus uh… it’s kind of—”
“Hm? What?”
I couldn’t quite hear the last part.
Master seems uncomfortable.
“It’s kind of… sticking, dangerously.”
“Hmm?”
“Your clothes! They’re wet and clinging to you. Please, get changed!”
“Oh, I see.”
In other words, it’s because Master is fascinated with my alluring figure.
“Mmfufu, so you’ve finally noticed my charms, Master Rimuru?”
“Nah, you’re a little thin for me.”
“—Why you…! Cole, Master Rimuru is a jerk!”
“Yes, it would definitely be healthy to put some more meat on those bones. Elves aren’t much better, but aren’t you even thinner than us?”
“Urgh.”
With how inefficient my body is, I still consume more than I get when I eat enough for three people. I can’t do much about it.
“Master Rimuru. A request, high calorie foods.”
“Then I’ll get fat. No.”
Master says, thin though he is.
Come to think of it, I get the impression most of the dishes he makes are vegetable-based rather than meat.
I wonder, is he being careful to keep things balanced because he’s involved in medical care?
“Hm? My stomach just isn’t very robust, so I’m keeping the oily things on the low side, that’s all?”
So it was just Master’s preferences… after today I’m gonna go out and snack every day.
And so, we headed back to the city for now. Whether the results of are digging will go how we want, we’ll have to wait a while to find out.
~*~
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
That night, with Yig also back home, we talk to her about the details of what has happened. Upon doing so, she became overjoyed that a new hot spring was made in the area.
“Eeeh~, you left me and went to a spring, no fair~.”
“We didn’t go and leave you, we went and dug it up.”
“But but, you took a dip, right?”
Now that she mentions it, we finally got the hot spring to bubble up, so we could have at least soaked in it a bit.
It’s a bit on the warm side, but we could regulate it with Master’s freeze magic.
“Oh right, ice made from freeze doesn’t melt, so it might be perfect for adjusting the high temperature of the hot spring.”
“The day the elf village becomes a hot spring lodging is close at hand.”
“That… sounds good. It would be nice to go there with everyone for fun.”
Hmm, a hot spring with Master? Once his research calms down, I’d like to do that.
Though not as much as Yig, I do like baths. I’m interested in going in one with everyone.
“Anyway, we came right back today because it got late, but we have to give a full report to the elder. We’re going to the village tomorrow too, you know?”
“I’m going too~. I’m gonna go and get in the hot spring~!”
“For you, Yig, you could go right now, couldn’t you…?”
“Master Rimuru, that wouldn’t be good.”
“… Why?”
Master tilts his head, looking like he questions it from the bottom of his heart.
He’s normally so sharp, so why does he go absent-minded about subtle things?
“Try imagining it. In the darkness of night, frolicking in a hot spring bubbling from the ground is the figure of a single demon dragon…”
“The guild would get an extermination request. Definitely.”
“I’d kick their butts!”
“Maybe don’t?!”
“Yig, we’re going tomorrow anyway, so hold back on it tonight.”
“Oka~y.”
And so we would be going to the elder’s place again tomorrow.
~*~
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
“I heard from Cole. When he also went to check in the mine, the amount springing up had visibly reduced it seems.”
The next morning, with an Yig who’d been clamoring since dawn in tow, we came to report to the elf village.
By the way, we didn’t bring Yig to the elder’s house. Her destination is elsewhere, after all.
“I’m glad it seemed to have an effect.”
“As such, I was thinking we might be able to get back to mining faster, and sent several villagers to do some more digging.”
“Well… I can only give my condolences to the villagers who had to wake up and work through the night.”
“Ha ha ha, I intend to give them appropriate compensation.”
“Please do.”
Imagining the work happening in the middle of the night, Master looks disheartened. No matter how good elven night vision is, you’ve gotta feel sorry for them.
“And it seems we must prepare your compensation as well.”
“Yes, about that. You’ll be instructing me on your unique magic theory, yes?”
“As you say, yet… there are so many branches, I’m not sure where you’d like me to start.”
“I’m a healer, so if you have any techniques related to life…”
Master’s usual lines. Under the guise of studying life, try to learn the theory of resurrection magic.
“Life, eh… there are quite a few types even there. Ones related to resurrection, for example?”
“—Wha?!”
Resurrection? The technique is here?!
“Ho, ho, that’s the first open expression I’ve seen from you, boy. So that’s your goal?”
“N-no, that’s…”
Master shows unusual hesitation.
Should we reveal our objective here? Is this old man trustworthy? And does he actually have what he says he does?
All sorts of doubts seem to be swirling in his mind. And then Master came to a decision.
“Yes, my goal is to develop resurrection magic.”
Chapter 39: Digging
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
Digging up a hot spring means we first need someone familiar with the area.
Haumea was the foremost candidate, but she apparently took on a quest and is away from the village right now.
So Cole was called in to explain where the water veins flow for us.
“Such cases with wells have certainly have occurred, but… this is very large scale.”
“Wells and hot springs are the same thing. In being water bursting from the ground anyway.”
“Can just the two of you perform such a large-scale excavation though?”
“We just want to designate the spot today. As for the digging method… we’ll manage, little by little.”
Our method is using the dragon breath from my Dimensional Storage, so we can’t very well show it to Cole.
He thinks just Master and I will be quietly digging.
“… Well, as long as you don’t make a mess of the forest.”
Clearly he found our attitudes strange, but he’s giving us a pass. It’s times like this I feel he has a powerful sense of duty.
“What will happen to the mine?”
“Until things clear up, all rignia stone gathering quests are withdrawn. As the village holds all rights to their mining, there will be some influence on profits… but that would be preferred over letting rumors of a mine with a poisonous lake spread around.”
“Then you’d like this to be taken care of before it goes public.”
“If you could, we would appreciate it.”
After that we circled to the north side of the forest under Cole’s guidance.
“The water in this area flows in from the north side, so the water source here is supposed to be the uppermost part.”
“We’ll just have to start digging and find out I guess.”
“I suppose so. Want to try digging a well first?”
“No, this isn’t the right environment for it. Is there a more wide open area?”
“An open area?”
Master is probably worried about the trees the breath might knock over I think.
Elves seem to care deeply about the forest, so he must be thinking of choosing a place that will cause the least damage.
“Yeah, if we’re digging up a hot spring, I’ve heard the composition of the hot water could wither the forest’s trees. A more open space would be better.”
“I see, I’m grateful for your consideration. In that case, over there may be appropriate.”
Cole pointed to a place slightly further east, where a meadow without many trees was.
Damage won’t be done to the forest in this place. The flowers in the meadow might come to harm though.
“This looks like it’ll work. Well, let’s get digging… Eir?”
“So this really is all on me huh?”
“I’m here to do the thinking.”
“That again. I don’t like you when you’re lazy, Master Rimuru.”
“Urgh… f-fine then. Let’s get this over with, I’ll dig too.”
“It’s nice that you get along, but I can’t stand here watching and let two children do hard labor in good conscience.”
Hold on, this will honestly go faster if you would please leave.
Even thinking that, I couldn’t refuse his good intentions, and we ended up digging with human power until the sun nearly set.
~*~
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
Dusk, and we must have dug nearly ten meters.
When digging a hole, the most laborious part isn’t digging into the ground, but carrying the dirt out of the hole.
Carrying it was left to the strongest one in the group, me, while Cole and Master were doing the digging at the bottom of the hole. With the roles divided as such, the digging operation proceeded well.
“Has the dirt gotten kind of muddy to you?”
“Yeah, plus it’s warm and humid… we’re probably close to the water source.”
“It’s not gonna suddenly blast out or anything, is it? The water in there was pretty hot.”
“I haven’t much heard of tall tales like that actually happening. It should be fine.”
Water blasting out like a geyser actually takes a lot of built up pressure underground I guess.
Even so, we should take that small possibility into consideration.
“Master Rimuru, I will switch to digging the hole.”
“But you’ve gotta do the carrying.”
“If it’s getting this muddy, then we shouldn’t have much more to dig. I’m strong against the heat, so I’ll be fine even if it gushes out.”
“I see. But…”
“Plus if I’m not carrying out the dirt, I’m faster at digging.”
“That’s true. Then can I leave it to you?”
“Absolutely.”
After I pull them up by rope, Master casts heat resistance magic on me.
With this, even significant heat shouldn’t leave a burn on me. Then let’s make this quick and—
“TORYAAAaaa!”
“Wha-, Eir?!”
Directly towards the bottom of the hole, I abruptly perform a dynamic jump kick.
With a thomp, I feel my right leg brilliantly sink in.
On the other end I feel surprisingly little resistance(?), and realize I must have punched through.
Following that, there’s a disturbing bubbling sound. My instincts told me things are going south, so I frantically try to lift my leg out. But before I could get my right leg out, my left leg sank down when I put my weight on it.
“Ah, wait a… oh—?!”
A moment of indecision.
In that short time, a vibration accompanied by a rumbling began… and a hot spring positively spewed forth.
“HOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOT?!”
With enough force to put a geyser to shame, the water launched out with me jumbled in.
Of course water hot enough it would probably burn me doused my whole body.
Luckily I had [Heat Resistance] cast on me beforehand, so I didn’t get any burns, but hot is still hot.
“Hot hot hot hot…!”
“… You really do some dumb things.”
I’m flapping on the ground like a freshly caught fish, writhing in agony, and Master splashes me with cold words.
Master shrewdly held his robe over his head, and dodged the falling hot water.
Cole takes distance and looks this way. His gaze is somewhat chilly. I couldn’t help it, come on!
~*~
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
With an exasperated face, Master cools some hot water with ice magic, and splashes me with it.
I didn’t get any burns, but my skin is bright red, and just looking at it is painful.
Also, I’m soaked to the bone. Obviously.
“Looks like the pressure is higher than expected here. Think the hot spring in the mine will stop at this rate?”
“Possibly, but we’ll have to wait and see to know.”
“Yeah, guess we won’t see results right away. Alright, we’ll head back after Eir gets changed. We’re gonna head back home directly, so… give the report in our stead if you would, Cole.”
“Well, it’s not out of the way, so I don’t mind, but are you sure?”
“It’s getting pretty late… if we go report to the elder now, I think it would be a nuisance rather than helpful. We’ll go report again tomorrow morning.”
“I suppose it is getting dark. I sometimes forget that you’re children; walking at night would be dangerous, huh.”
“Well, there is that too. But with Eir being soaked…”
“Master Rimuru, I don’t mind being wet though?”
In fact, I don’t want to get changed. I was doused in boiling water, so the cold, wet clothes feel nice.
“You’re gonna catch a cold like that. Plus uh… it’s kind of—”
“Hm? What?”
I couldn’t quite hear the last part.
Master seems uncomfortable.
“It’s kind of… sticking, dangerously.”
“Hmm?”
“Your clothes! They’re wet and clinging to you. Please, get changed!”
“Oh, I see.”
In other words, it’s because Master is fascinated with my alluring figure.
“Mmfufu, so you’ve finally noticed my charms, Master Rimuru?”
“Nah, you’re a little thin for me.”
“—Why you…! Cole, Master Rimuru is a jerk!”
“Yes, it would definitely be healthy to put some more meat on those bones. Elves aren’t much better, but aren’t you even thinner than us?”
“Urgh.”
With how inefficient my body is, I still consume more than I get when I eat enough for three people. I can’t do much about it.
“Master Rimuru. A request, high calorie foods.”
“Then I’ll get fat. No.”
Master says, thin though he is.
Come to think of it, I get the impression most of the dishes he makes are vegetable-based rather than meat.
I wonder, is he being careful to keep things balanced because he’s involved in medical care?
“Hm? My stomach just isn’t very robust, so I’m keeping the oily things on the low side, that’s all?”
So it was just Master’s preferences… after today I’m gonna go out and snack every day.
And so, we headed back to the city for now. Whether the results of are digging will go how we want, we’ll have to wait a while to find out.
~*~
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
That night, with Yig also back home, we talk to her about the details of what has happened. Upon doing so, she became overjoyed that a new hot spring was made in the area.
“Eeeh~, you left me and went to a spring, no fair~.”
“We didn’t go and leave you, we went and dug it up.”
“But but, you took a dip, right?”
Now that she mentions it, we finally got the hot spring to bubble up, so we could have at least soaked in it a bit.
It’s a bit on the warm side, but we could regulate it with Master’s freeze magic.
“Oh right, ice made from freeze doesn’t melt, so it might be perfect for adjusting the high temperature of the hot spring.”
“The day the elf village becomes a hot spring lodging is close at hand.”
“That… sounds good. It would be nice to go there with everyone for fun.”
Hmm, a hot spring with Master? Once his research calms down, I’d like to do that.
Though not as much as Yig, I do like baths. I’m interested in going in one with everyone.
“Anyway, we came right back today because it got late, but we have to give a full report to the elder. We’re going to the village tomorrow too, you know?”
“I’m going too~. I’m gonna go and get in the hot spring~!”
“For you, Yig, you could go right now, couldn’t you…?”
“Master Rimuru, that wouldn’t be good.”
“… Why?”
Master tilts his head, looking like he questions it from the bottom of his heart.
He’s normally so sharp, so why does he go absent-minded about subtle things?
“Try imagining it. In the darkness of night, frolicking in a hot spring bubbling from the ground is the figure of a single demon dragon…”
“The guild would get an extermination request. Definitely.”
“I’d kick their butts!”
“Maybe don’t?!”
“Yig, we’re going tomorrow anyway, so hold back on it tonight.”
“Oka~y.”
And so we would be going to the elder’s place again tomorrow.
~*~
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
“I heard from Cole. When he also went to check in the mine, the amount springing up had visibly reduced it seems.”
The next morning, with an Yig who’d been clamoring since dawn in tow, we came to report to the elf village.
By the way, we didn’t bring Yig to the elder’s house. Her destination is elsewhere, after all.
“I’m glad it seemed to have an effect.”
“As such, I was thinking we might be able to get back to mining faster, and sent several villagers to do some more digging.”
“Well… I can only give my condolences to the villagers who had to wake up and work through the night.”
“Ha ha ha, I intend to give them appropriate compensation.”
“Please do.”
Imagining the work happening in the middle of the night, Master looks disheartened. No matter how good elven night vision is, you’ve gotta feel sorry for them.
“And it seems we must prepare your compensation as well.”
“Yes, about that. You’ll be instructing me on your unique magic theory, yes?”
“As you say, yet… there are so many branches, I’m not sure where you’d like me to start.”
“I’m a healer, so if you have any techniques related to life…”
Master’s usual lines. Under the guise of studying life, try to learn the theory of resurrection magic.
“Life, eh… there are quite a few types even there. Ones related to resurrection, for example?”
“—Wha?!”
Resurrection? The technique is here?!
“Ho, ho, that’s the first open expression I’ve seen from you, boy. So that’s your goal?”
“N-no, that’s…”
Master shows unusual hesitation.
Should we reveal our objective here? Is this old man trustworthy? And does he actually have what he says he does?
All sorts of doubts seem to be swirling in his mind. And then Master came to a decision.
“Yes, my goal is to develop resurrection magic.”
