Visiting The Dungeon! (2)

Hey, Shun here!

You'll never know how much you missed those people that are once close to you until you meet them once again. After all, sometimes, you need a visual reminder in order to remember those times that you have spent together, good or bad.

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(Third Person's POV)

Ever since the day that Shun left Rokuko's dimension after that quest, only a few months have passed. The past [Ordinary Cave] that have shown no progress for years, have skyrocketed in terms of progress for the last over half a year or so.

While Shun would often give Rokuko a call to help her out in solving some problems with regards to the dungeon, most of its current progress could be attributed to Rokuko and her 'retainers'. There's Ichika, Seiko, and Zenko who mostly helped out in manning the counter and helping out Ikumei from time to time in clearing out the mobs around the area of the inn, Maichi and Koharu who are focused on tending to the kitchen, and Ikumei who are focused on clearing out the mobs.

Except for Maichi, all the other five that has been mentioned would bounce from one work to another to help out Rokuko in expanding the dungeon. They have already excavated around fifteen floors worth of soil before turning those places that have been excavated into the dungeon's floors for half the price.

This resulted into the dungeon having a total of 30 floors, with most of these said floors being totally empty. About a third of the dungeon is empty, with no room, monsters, traps, or obstacles in sight.

They could've had more floors by now if they continued on their excavations but, given how they haven't even finished the construction of the 10 initial floors that they have, it would just be like they're creating more problems that they will have to solve themselves.

"That's right. I almost forgot. Is the prairie and jungle floors that we have ready to be explored?" Rokuko asked to Seiko who is currently sweeping the floor.

This girl, Seiko, reminds Rokuko so much of those silkies who are too much of a workaholic. If not for the fear of Ikumei and Zenko copying her clearly unhealthy work schedule, qSeiko would definitely be busying herself all throughout the day without rest.

"You mean the floors 7-10, Rokuko-sama? Those that come after the Doll Trials…?" Seiko asked.

"Yep, that one. Ah, now that I think about it though, the floors above it, 5 and 6, are still not finished so it's still useless if it's finished.…"

At Rokuko's mutterings, Seiko stopped what she was doing and began to think.

"Didn't we make a trap at the 'Treasure Room' right after the boss room where Fenny-sama and Tsuka-sama would play at? If I remember correctly, once it's triggered, it would flush the people inside the room directly towards the waterfall at the 7th floor?" After thinking for a few seconds, Seiko finally remembered that Rokuko made them work on that trap for some time.

No adventurer is yet find the passageway at the second floor that will lead to the lower floors, let alone find the floors lower than that. Thus, it was surprising to them that Rokuko would make them work on a trap that's inside the 1st Above Ground Floor, leading to the floor that's 8 floors lower than it.

"Oh yeah, right, there's that. Well, the guild is starting to get the hang of our [Wall Golem's] movements so it should only be some time before they clear the second floor and head to the third floor where [Iron Golems] will start to spawn…" Rokuko said while sporting an unusually serious demeanor.

However, that didn't last long when Maichi and Koharu came in carrying lots of pudding.

"Oooh! Is it finally time for desserts? Seiko, sorry but, could you call everyone to come here inside my room? It's time for desserts!"

"Understood…"

Once Seiko left, Rokuko made Koharu and Maichi sit as she began to chat with them.

"You really improved on your pudding a lot, Maichi! Ohh! What's this!? The chocolate pudding I once described to you!?"

"Yes. Koharu was the one who managed to make the first prototype. There's also those 'brownies' that we made together…"

Rokuko couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear after tasting the sweet taste of the pudding that Maichi and Koharu made.

"Mmmmh! So good! Sorry, I couldn't help you out in the kitchen since I was busy with something…"

"It's fine, Rokuko-san. We know that you are busy…" Maichi said while smiling.

After these past few months, she have been making leaps and bounds when it comes to communicating. She's still shy around strangers but, around people she's acquainted with, she could finally talk to them without blushing or stuttering.

"There's been a huge influx of adventures lately in our inn and dungeon. I wonder what their reactions will be once they spot iron golems at the third floor and below…" Koharu said.

"According to Shun, once that happens, we should be able to attract the eyes of some people. You see how some adventurers who couldn't afford our inn's prices are building temporary bases in the plots we didn't reclaim?" Rokuko commented while pushing up her glasses, a rare case of her showing her 'intelligent' mind.

Since she have been looking through the papers regarding the inn's earnings for this month earlier, Rokuko is currently sporting a pair of red colored spectacles.

"Haa…"

"What about them? I don't really like them since most of them would come inside our inn just to complain and make a ruckus…" Koharu replied.

"Well, Shun said that something like that might happen to our dungeon and it's surroundings. You know, people building real houses around our inn… Mmm! This is really delicious!"

After explaining things briefly, Rokuko once again scooped some pudding and ate it.

It was then that Seiko came running inside, opening the door of Rokuko's room with a whoosh.

"Rokuko-sama, Shun-sama has arrived!"

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(Shun's POV)

I was transported at a forest nearby our dungeon, [The Devil's Labyrinth]. When I scanned for any people nearby, I didn't see anyone.

"Did it transport me somewhere where there's no people but is still nearby my target destination?" Thinking about that, I could've appeared directly inside the dungeon and whatnot but I was thinking that I should probably report to the guild or something before I go back to the inn.

News about me traveling to a pretty far away place should have circulated by now so this is just perfect for me. While thinking of such things, I used my [Transformation] and changed into my [NWO] avatar.

After quickly making my way towards the Guild Branch nearby our dungeon, I was surprised to see so many tents and makeshift tents erected around our dungeon. I've seen the pictures and videos that Rokuko sent me about this but, seeing it in person is something else.

I entered inside the Guild's premises and lined up at the line where a very familiar receptionist is manning the reception desk. I heard some whispers here and there but it was just some talk about how hard it is to progress at our dungeon as a low rank.

After waiting for a few more minutes, it was finally my turn. I was just about to greet her when suddenly, the first word that came out from her mouth was…

"Oh, so you're still alive… Tch…"

Yes. This Ms. Receptionist immediately clicked her tongue the moment she saw me.

"Oi, Ms. Cilia. Is that how you act in front of an adventurer from your branch?" I said while narrowing my eyes.

This Ms. Receptionist's name is Cilia. She's currently the Guild Master of this Adventurer Guild's Branch. It was Rokuko who told me about her name.

Apparently, Zenko and Ikumei were the first to have known of this lady's name. They just told it to Rokuko at one point.

She's some sort of lolicon, it seems.

"Apologies. I was just a bit surprised."

"Is that so? So when you're surprised, he immediately kill that person inside your mind, huh. Makes sense."

Anyway, after that conversation, I reported to her that I came back. Maybe I should just pretend that I am staying at the inn from now on so that, whenever I come to visit, there wouldn't be any suspicions that I came back earlier or something.

Once I was done reporting my return to the Adventurer's Guild, I immediately made a bee line towards the Rabbit's Capsule Restspot, our inn.

'It changed quite a bit, huh… Is it Seiko and Zenko who grew these flowers? They look nice…' I thought to myself while inspecting the place that I and the other girls have created at around, in my perspective, over a year ago.

Entering inside the premises, I was greeted by the sight of a group of adventurers who formed a neat line in front of the counter. A few more adventurers are sitting at the seats in this lobby, probably waiting for the line to get smaller or something.

'Hmm… I should add more counters to this reception room and the cafeteria. Should I buy more slaves? No, weren't there humanoid monsters? I should get them instead… Mmm, that should be a good idea…'

Whilst I was thinking of that, I noticed that the one manning the reception desk is not someone I know. Oh, right, it should be about time for them to have their 'dessert time' so, the ones manning the reception desk should be hired adventurers…

I was just about to call out to go inside the dungeon in order to directly enter inside the Master Room but, a black and gray silhouette suddenly dove straight towards me for a hug.

I know these two…

"Zenko, Ikumei?"

"Master…"

"Master! We missed you…"

Feeling the familiar sensation of them hugging me, I smiled and patted them on the head.

"It's been a while, you two."

I crouched down and hugged the two again. Man, I didn't know how much I missed them until I saw them here.

It's decided, I'll visit this dimension more often.

"Do you both know where Rokuko is? Can you guide me there?"

They should be here because they caught my smell or something, given how strong their sense of smell is. Also, after a bit of looking around, I saw that Seiko is also just nearby. Ichika is also trailing behind her.

""Un!""

Thus, with the girls as my guide, we started to walk towards the stairs of the inn, leading up to the second floor. Oh, they should be at a suit then, I guess?

Eventually, Seiko and Ichika caught up to us. Seiko greeted me briefly before running off, saying that she will inform Rokuko about my arrival.

She didn't have to do that, really. Unless Rokuko is distracted, she should've noticed my arrival already through the map.

As for Ichika…

"Yo, boss man. Sup. How was your trip! Did'ja bring any goods with ya? Can I taste some?" Right. I almost forgot that this girl is a glutton.

"I have some crepe with me. Want some?"

The moment I took out three crepes, one for her, and one for Ikumei and Zenko, Ichika's eyes lit up. Her first reaction was, "Crepe, wazzat?" However, it soon changed.

"Oooooh! As expected of you, boss man. You really know my tastes. Uwaa, this is so tasty. What do I do, I think I'm hooked on this taste. Can I have some more, boss man?" Ichika pleaded while looking at me with her eyes watery.

"…Later"

"Should I give my body to you so that you can give me more?" Ichika asked while throwing some suggestive glances.

"I said later, dumbass! I didn't say I wouldn't give you some more…" I snapped while bonking her on the head.

"That hurts, boss man! Ah, by the way, I almost forgot." Ichika said while rubbing her head.

"Yeah? What is it this time?"

The moment I asked, Ichika looked at me and said…

"Welcome back, boss man!"

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※~To be continued~※

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Author's Remarks:

※ FINISHED! OVER 200 CHAPTERS MILESTONE, CHECK! Man, what a journey this is. From an experimental fanfiction(which it still is), to a fanfiction that is now read by many. I didn't know so many people likes to read chill novels like this one xD.