“Just now… huh, Fio-san?”

“Welcome back. I’m just visiting.”

After receiving the items I had ordered from the workshop, I entered Seriana’s room through the window. There, Elena, of course, was with the room’s owner, Seriana, and Fiora was also present.

It’s a bit unusual for her to be here during the day, but the three of them were sitting on the reception seating, having tea.

“She says she brought something to deliver. Your order is still not ready, though…”

“Hmm?”

I see… Indeed, there are several small bottles on the table, but none of them are what I ordered.

It wasn’t anything difficult, so I was told it wouldn’t take long…

“Sorry about that. The item is finished, but since it’s what it is, it requires inspection. I was told by the Lord to have you wait a little longer before handing it over.”

Fiora looked a bit apologetic.

But now that she mentioned it, it was indeed something a bit dangerous…

“Seems like you ordered something strange.”

“Well, yeah!”

I answered proudly to Seriana, who looked exasperated.

The item I asked Fiora to make was a chemical for fighting Giant Apes.

During the last battle with the Giant Apes, an adventurer who came to assist used a blinding powder. When I asked Alec about it, he told me it wasn’t just powder but an item that reacted with magic and stuck to its target.

It wasn’t something that’s generally available; apparently, they had it specially made.

So I thought, “Why not have something good made for me, too?”

I consulted Fiora about it, and she happily agreed and quickly solidified the plan.

There’s an item called “combustion liquid” that reacts with water and burns. It’s used for things like melting frozen waterways, and I’ve used it myself.

What I requested was an item similar to that.

It’s a dungeon-specific item that burns while disturbing the surrounding magic, reacting to the core of magical beasts.

It only activates when it hits a monster, so there’s little risk of accidental detonation… but it’s still dangerous, and I understand why Liesel’s permission is necessary.

From the investigation in the lower floors done by Alec and the others, it turns out that the Giant Ape is some sort of guard that appears when something abnormal happens to the monsters in each hall.

Furthermore, it’s said to be almost as strong as the Giant Apes that appear in the Demon Realm.

While I’ll ignore its strength for now, the point is that if you hunt in that floor, you’ll have to deal with it like a mini-boss. How troublesome, especially since we’ve already defeated the main boss…

“So? How do you plan to defeat it?”

Maybe they’ve heard about the item, but I don’t think they’ve heard about how I intend to use it.

“Hmm? Oh… It’s not just liquid; it’s sticky, and it sticks to whatever it hits. It continues to burn at that spot.”

It’s more like a napalm grenade than a Molotov cocktail.

And this is not an item for stopping.

“Since it burns while disrupting the surrounding magic, I don’t think we’ll be able to dodge 【Danrem’s Thread】. If we can hit it directly, it’ll make a big difference. After all, I learned during the last fight that I won’t lose in a battle of endurance.”

“It should burn for almost two minutes, so you should have enough time to back off and aim,” said Fiora.

Wonderful… just as requested.

Hearing this, Seriana and Elena exchanged a glance, as if silently communicating.

“If you can use it well, there shouldn’t be any problem. We’ll speak on your behalf with Liesel,” said Elena.

“Thanks!” I said, feeling relieved.

With their support, the inspection should be done quickly… Looks like I’ll have a chance for revenge soon!

“By the way, are you done for today? I thought you had something to do after taking the apprentice out?”

“Yeah. It’s done now… Oh, wait, I wanted to take a bath. I’ll go in the back for a bit.”

I had started talking because Fiora was in the room, but I also wanted to change clothes and take a bath.

After informing them, I headed to Seriana’s bedroom to activate 【Hideout】.

◇

I relaxed in the bath, finished some laundry, and spent about 30 minutes fiddling around in 【Hideout】. When I returned to Seriana’s room, the three of them were still talking.

I joined them while they dried my hair, and then I was asked what I had been doing.

It’s rare for me to have something to do in town alone… So they probably wondered about it.

“Earlier, I went to pick up the order I placed at the workshop. It should be done now. Here it is.”

I took out what I had placed in the pocket of my jinbei and placed it on the table.

“…A stick?”

As Seriana said, it was a white wooden stick, about 15 centimeters long, with both ends smoothed and rounded.

It seemed unfamiliar to them, and all three of them looked at it curiously.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Sera・【Hideout】+1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Wind’s Garment】・【Floating Orb】+1【Shadow Sword】【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Dragon’s Lung】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Snake’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】・13 cards

Seriana・【Range Identification】・【】・28 cards

Elena・【】・【Green Fang】【Amber Sword】・4 cards

Alec・【Strong Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・8 cards