Today (April 10), the book version of "The Reincarnated Adventurer" goes on sale.
For those considering a purchase, Toranoana is offering a limited-quantity leaflet with a bonus side story.
Thank you very much for your support.
Update: On April 12, a second printing of the book version of "The Reincarnated Adventurer" was confirmed.
"Well then, we've reached the lake... Shiromaru, Solomon, I'm sorry but you two don't have a role to play today."
The two of them, who had immediately started warming up upon arriving at the lake, froze at my words. I felt a little bad for them — Solomon had gone wild yesterday, and Shiromaru had been stuck guarding the Dimension Bag — but I planned to investigate the bottom of the lake today, so there was no part for either of them.
As the two slumped dejectedly and headed back toward the Dimension Bag, they noticed that Slarin, who hadn't been called by name, was sitting quietly beside me, and gave puzzled looks.
"Slarin, I might need your help depending on the situation, so be ready for that."
Upon hearing this, Slarin bounced its whole body enthusiastically, as if to say "Understood!" Seeing this reaction, Shiromaru and Solomon immediately raised cries of protest. They were so noisy about it that I still wasn't taking them to the bottom of the lake, but once I told them they could roam freely as long as they didn't leave this floor, the two finally settled down.
"Alright, let's get started... First, the standard approach."
The method I had come up with yesterday was the same one I always used when camping — setting up a barrier around myself and submerging into the water. If this worked properly, no water should be able to penetrate the barrier even while I was underwater. The issue was oxygen, but I could just periodically surface for that. A bit of a hassle, but that was the price a land creature had to pay if it wanted to spend time underwater.
So, after trying it out...
"No good, huh... I expected the fixed-position one to fail, but I didn't think the one centered on myself would be useless too..."
The one I just deployed like a defense barrier couldn't be moved at all, while the one centered on myself could be moved — but whenever there were obstacles like rocks in the ground or uneven terrain, the edge of the barrier would catch on them and get stuck. So I got a little creative and tried casting the barrier overhead in the shape of an umbrella. The umbrella-shaped barrier was better for movement than the previous two methods, but water kept seeping in at my feet with every step, so my feet were always submerged. Plus, when there were large rocks in my path, I had to climb over each one individually, which was tedious. It was still the most practical of the three methods and my top candidate, but... I remained unsatisfied.
"Well, I'll only need this for two or three days, so there's probably no need to refine it that much. Guess I'll take a short break."
I had at least gotten the barrier to a workable point, so I decided to take a breather and start a fire to boil some water. I poured the hot water into a cup and brought it to my lips, but it was hotter than I expected — I had to blow on it several times before it was cool enough to drink.
As I mindlessly blew on the hot water while staring off into space, an idea suddenly flashed through my mind.
"Come to think of it, I've never actually tried using a wind magic barrier before."
Since barriers used as magic also had elemental attributes, and I normally only ever used non-elemental or earth magic barriers, I had completely forgotten about barriers of other elements. Each element had its own characteristics — non-elemental created transparent walls, while earth magic could form walls made of soil and rock.
In addition, a light-element barrier could make oneself invisible, or at least harder to see. By the way, a light-element barrier was what Jeanne and the others had used to hide in dungeons, but back then they had been able to set one up with the assistance of a magical tool, so the two of them now couldn't use it.
A wind-magic barrier had very little defensive power, but its greatest feature was that it could control the leakage of one's scent to the surrounding area — making it known as the plainest of all barrier types. For that reason, very few ordinary adventurers used one. However, those who made the forest the center of their activities, as well as forest-dwellers like elves, were fond of using them, so it wasn't as if they were never seen.
In my case, I had been active in the Great Old Forest since childhood, and since I could eliminate my own presence and defeat prey with magic from positions beyond scent range, I had never felt the need to learn it.
"Well, a wind-magic barrier isn't all that different from a non-elemental barrier, so with a few practice sessions I should be able to pull it off."
All barriers differed only in the type of Magic Power used; the activation process was nearly identical across types. And so, just as I'd expected, a few rounds of practice were enough to use a wind-magic barrier in the shape I wanted. I tested it at a depth reaching roughly up to my waist, and the barrier worked exactly as intended, keeping my clothes dry... though naturally it couldn't do anything about the muck underfoot, and my boots ended up caked in mud.
Once back on land, I rummaged through my bag and found a pair of tall boots I had bought some time ago. After changing into them, I waded back into the lake and resumed my search for Mithril. Up to my feet and waist it was fine, but once the water reached chest or head height, even with a dome-shaped barrier in place it was a little scary. For about ten minutes I groped along the bottom at a depth just barely below my face, then, once I had gotten somewhat used to it, moved into water deep enough to completely submerge the barrier. The barrier was roughly three meters in radius with me at the center, and whenever it met an obstacle like a rock, it deformed around the obstacle as though swallowing it.
"It's like being inside a bubble."
For a while I forgot my original objective entirely and simply enjoyed an underwater stroll. Since the lake was teeming with aquatic Monsters, I had expected them to come rushing at me once they spotted me, but contrary to expectations they didn't approach at all. A few did drift close now and then, but they either passed right by the barrier's side or bumped into it, then reversed direction with a startled look and darted away.
"Maybe they have surprisingly poor eyesight. Or perhaps the refraction of light means they can't see me."
Complacency is the enemy, but if that was the case, maybe I didn't need to be especially wary of my surroundings. No sooner had I thought that than I tripped over an Angler Cat hidden at my feet and went tumbling down. It seemed that Angler Cat, which spent most of its time lying still on the bottom, didn't bother fleeing when it touched the barrier — it simply stayed hidden and had slipped right inside.
I panicked, but the Angler Cat, suddenly stepped on, panicked even more. It thrashed around inside the barrier trying to escape, only to be caught by Slarin, who had shot out of my bag, and finished off. Incidentally, the Angler Cat's cause of death was a single blow to the top of its head from the fork Slarin used at mealtime.
"So this kind of thing can happen. Guess I need to watch my step."
Muttering to myself, I placed the fallen Angler Cat into the bag as Slarin looked on. Hearing my words, Slarin extended a tentacle and pecked at my foot, as if to say "be careful."
Once I had pulled myself together, I resumed my search of the surrounding area just as I had originally planned.
By carefully scanning the ground and the shadows of rocks, I found far more weapons and armor here than in the shallows. However, I also discovered roughly as many bones that appeared to have been human.
"They probably fell into the lake. Got carried down to the depths by Monsters, then eaten."
I clasped my hands briefly in prayer, then went around collecting the scattered weapons and armor. Since it was impossible to gather all the bones, I left them where they were, but if any of the found items had names or other engravings on them, I would need to consider reporting them to the Guild. Well, what to do with those items would be something to discuss with the Guild, but even so, items found inside a dungeon were fundamentally the property of whoever found them, so barring extraordinary circumstances they wouldn't be confiscated.
Working in that manner, I managed to collect nearly a hundred kilograms of equipment in about three hours. Among the haul were several Magic Bags as well, so depending on their contents, there could be quite a profit waiting. Moreover, I had only searched about one-fifth of the lake's total area, so treasure was undoubtedly still sleeping down there.
The time limit I had set for this dungeon exploration was seven days, leaving roughly three and a half more. At this pace, I figured I could cover the entire lake floor within the deadline — though it would probably only be a surface scan... In that case, I could return to the surface once and then come back down again. I certainly didn't want to get yelled at by Grandpa a second time, so I had no intention of silently extending my stay in the dungeon.
"All right, let's get started."
Once back on the surface, I boiled some hot water and decided to sort through my loot while taking a break. Shiromaru and Solomon had hunted a fair number of Monsters while I was down at the bottom of the lake, so I butchered a few of them at random, skewered them, and set about grilling them on the other stove. Right now, they were drooling and waiting by the stove. Slarin was keeping an eye on the fire, so once everything was cooked, I'd just hand it over for them to eat.
As for the haul from the lake floor, I'd obtained roughly twenty kilograms of Mithril gear. The rest was all made of magic iron or plain iron. The reason there was so much Mithril was that I'd found several full sets of Mithril armor. They'd probably belonged to high-ranked adventurers or wealthy individuals. Unfortunate for the original owners, I supposed, but a welcome find for me.
The bags I was most curious about were two Magic Bags and one Dimension Bag. They were all in rough condition, but none seemed to be broken, so I could apparently open them without issue.
"The first one is… mostly medicine and food. Not exactly top-shelf stuff. The second one is… pretty much the same."
I opened the Magic Bags to have a look, but the first one wasn't much to write home about. The second contained roughly the same kinds of things, meaning the bags themselves were far more valuable than their contents. Incidentally, the bags' capacity wasn't all that impressive — they seemed to hold only thirty to fifty kilograms at most.
"And now for the Dimension Bag… No way!"
The Dimension Bag had an interior space about three meters on each side, and the bag itself was an unremarkable shoulder bag. But inside, there were Mithril ingots. There were also gold ingots, silver ingots, and magic iron ingots, among others. The bag's plain appearance might have been deliberate camouflage to avoid drawing attention to the valuable contents.
"I suppose these could be stolen goods… but that's not really my problem."
It seemed unlikely that an ordinary adventurer would be carrying this many ingots, so I briefly considered the possibility that they'd belonged to a merchant. But merchants wouldn't be coming to a place like this, so I ultimately concluded they must have been stolen… Well, there hadn't been any guild notices requesting searches for a stolen bag, so there shouldn't be any problem with me keeping them.
"If I put the Magic Bags up for sale, they'd probably fetch a decent price."
I'd never bought or sold a Magic Bag before, so I had no idea what they went for. But even low-grade ones were still Magic Bags, so there would surely be some demand for them.
"Still, I don't really need money… Maybe I'll give one to Amy."
It would be just the right size for storing food for I-chan and C-chan's feed, so she'd probably be happy to get it… It was pretty filthy, though… She wouldn't think I was dumping garbage on her, right?
Worried about that, I used water conjured through magic to wash the mud off the bag and gave it a light scrub.
The three bags, now somewhat cleaner, I bundled together in a hemp sack and stowed inside my own bag. I planned to do some detailed repairs when I had free time, but that could wait.
"Slarin, we'll rest a bit longer, then head back down again."
Slarin bounced its body in response, signaling agreement. Above ground, it should be getting close to sunset by now. Considering mealtime and rest time, I wouldn't be able to spend that long down at the lake floor. But not going at all would be a waste. So I decided to head back and re-examine the areas I'd already covered today.
"Looking at it again like this, there are quite a few small fish, huh."
Up until now, my eyes had been drawn only to large Monsters like Angler Cats and Crocodilians, but when I peered into the gaps and crevices between the rocks, I found a considerable number of small fish and such. Well, if large fish — Monsters, rather — were inhabiting the area, it was only natural that there would be prey for them. But since this was a dungeon, a place where common sense didn't necessarily apply, it hadn't actually occurred to me until I saw it for myself.
"There are a lot of shrimp too… Whoa!"
At my feet, small shrimp were scurrying through the mud. Among them, there were occasionally larger shrimp as well, so I hastily changed my objective and began catching shrimp for eating.
Two kinds of shrimp could be found. One was a shrimp resembling a swamp shrimp, about three to five centimeters in size. The other was a shrimp resembling a mantis shrimp, with a body length—excluding the claws—of about ten to twenty centimeters. The claws were roughly half the length of the body.
"The mud is a bit off-putting, but if you grill or deep-fry them, they'd probably taste pretty great."
I placed the caught shrimp into a separate bag while thinking about what kind of dish to make. They looked no different from ordinary shrimp, so I could probably expect them to taste just as good.
After about two hours of catching, I had collected roughly three hundred swamp shrimp weighing about five hundred grams, and about a hundred mantis shrimp totaling just under ten kilograms. There were more mantis shrimp than I'd expected, but since their sizes ranged from fifty to two hundred grams each, I'd need to sort them by size when cooking.
After returning to land, I let the shrimp purge the mud in a barrel filled with fresh water. Since I wanted to let them purge for at least half a day, I decided to cook them tomorrow evening and keep things simple today with bread and such. Shiromaru and Solomon were displeased, but when I brought out the leftover grilled fish from yesterday, they quieted down.
"As expected, this is more efficient than the shallows. Another huge haul today."
The next day, after waking up and getting ready, I went back to searching for Mithril at the bottom of the lake. Today I dove alone, with Slarin staying on land to supervise Shiromaru and the others. If I didn't do that, those two would probably go on a Monster-slaughtering rampage.
Without Slarin around, I had to be more vigilant about my surroundings, but since I was properly equipped with armor, I shouldn't suffer any serious injuries unless something truly extreme happened.
"There are tons of shrimp too, but if I don't draw the line here, I've got no room to talk about Shiromaru and the others."
Just like yesterday, shrimp were bustling through the mud at my feet. When I caught them by sifting the mud through a colander, they bounced around energetically inside. You might ask whether I really needed to catch more when I hadn't even finished eating yesterday's batch, but the moment I imagined shrimp tempura and shrimp kakiage, my hands reached for them on their own.
"Alright! Time to focus on finding Mithril!"
To force myself to forget about the shrimp, I deliberately called out loud to pump myself up and started searching for Mithril in earnest—but every time I spotted a big shrimp, my hand reached out for it. There was probably no helping that.
After that, I kept searching for Mithril (and shrimp) until my concentration gave out, and ended up with more loot than yesterday (the shrimp haul exceeded yesterday's as well).
"Out of a hundred and fifty kilograms, only twenty kilograms is Mithril… Yesterday set the bar too high—this feels like so little."
Normally, twenty kilograms of Mithril would be considered a small fortune for an ordinary person, but I wasn't exactly strapped for cash, and even combining everything I had, it still didn't reach half my target. So rather than feeling satisfied, my first thought was "Is that all?"… If Jin and the others heard me say that, they'd probably tear me apart.
"Well, no need to rush that much. More importantly, it's shrimp time now."
I set aside the sorting of loot for the time being, plunged my hand into the barrel, and grabbed a mantis shrimp. It attacked me with its claws, but the pinching force wasn't very strong, so I barely felt any pain.
"Let's start with the classic approach—grilling."
I lightly sprinkled salt on the shrimp, skewered them, and held them over the fire. In no time at all, the shrimp turned red, and a wonderful aroma began to waft through the air. Along with it, the amount of drool from Shiromaru and Solomon increased correspondingly.
"I think they're about ready. The shells don't seem too hard, so maybe I can eat them as is."
To be safe in case there were any parasites, I let them cook through thoroughly before biting into a mantis shrimp. As I'd expected, the shells crumbled easily, and grilling them had brought out a nice roasted flavor. On the other hand, the texture wasn't great, and I figured it would be a matter of taste. Well, that didn't matter to my bunch of gluttons one bit.
Once I confirmed the mantis shrimp tasted fine, I couldn't help pumping my fist. In my previous life, shrimp had been one of my favorite foods, so being able to enjoy them again made me genuinely happy. Incidentally, I tried grilling the marsh shrimp too, but those were milder in flavor than the mantis shrimp. However, since they were small and had thin shells, eating them whole didn't pose the same issues.
"Next up, it's finally time for tempura."
When it came to shrimp dishes, this was the one I always craved — shrimp tempura. Fried shrimp was hard to pass up too, but that was quite a hassle to make, so I wouldn't be attempting it this time. Instead, I planned to make kakiage using the marsh shrimp. With their thin shells, marsh shrimp were perfect for kakiage.
For the tempura batter this time, I used a blend of all-purpose flour and rice flour without any eggs. The oil was vegetable-based.
I filled a pot to the brim with oil and set it on the fire, then began peeling and prepping the mantis shrimp. Of course, I didn't forget to trim the tips of the tails. For the batter, I used ice-cold water and mixed everything together roughly before calling it done.
Just as I finished preparing both the mantis shrimp and the batter, the oil reached the perfect temperature, so I dipped the shrimp in batter and dropped them in.
"Ah, what a beautiful sound."
Lured over by the sizzling noise and aroma, Shiromaru and Solomon were sitting right there, waiting impatiently for the tempura to finish frying.
"Almost there?"
Once the batter had turned a light golden color, I lifted the shrimp out of the oil. Fresh out of the fryer, the tempura was still crackling with residual oil, so I pulled all ten shrimp out, let the surface cool for a moment, then took a bite.
"Delicious!"
The tempura was even better than I'd imagined. The shrimp had no muddy taste at all, just a natural sweetness, and the firm, snappy texture was irresistible. Most of all, being freshly fried seemed to amplify every bit of deliciousness.
"Purrrr~"
"Mew~"
While I was still marveling at the shrimp tempura's flavor, I heard cries from right beside me. I turned to look and found both of them with their faces practically in front of mine, drooling as much as they possibly could.
I grabbed one of the larger pieces of tempura and held it out in front of them. Both lunged at it with incredible force. Fortunately, I'd been holding it by the tail end, so I didn't get bitten, but it still gave me quite a scare.
For the second piece of tempura, I ate it with salt, and it was just as delicious. At that point, I really wanted some tentsuyu dipping sauce, but the ingredients weren't available, so I had no choice but to give up on that idea.
The tempura seemed to appeal to Slarin as well, and while I was feeding the three of them shrimp tempura, I moved on to try making the kakiage. I used only the marsh shrimp for the kakiage, and I barely did anything beyond a quick surface rinse on them before tossing dozens into a bowl and using the leftover batter from the tempura frying.
"I don't have a ladle, so I'll just use my hands."
I grabbed handfuls of the kakiage batter and dropped them into the oil, then used chopsticks to flatten them into shape, flipping occasionally until the whole thing turned a lovely golden brown. Done.
"I'd love to put this over udon, or dip it in sauce and serve it over rice."
Since I'd fried the kakiage with the shells still on, they were wonderfully fragrant and delicious. The three of them loved them too, of course.
Since I was at it, I went into full production mode with the shrimp tempura and kakiage. After a few hours, I'd made over two hundred pieces of shrimp tempura and over a hundred pieces of kakiage.
I consumed nearly half of them right away, but for the rest, I turned about half into tenmusu to serve as snacks and meals starting tomorrow, and saved the other half as souvenirs for Grandpa and the others, storing everything in my Magic Bag. Having a Magic Bag was a huge help—it meant I could eat everything fresh-fried and freshly made whenever I wanted. By the way, I had worried the shrimp I caught today might not have been purged of mud properly enough, but it turned out not to be the case at all.
"Starting tomorrow, I'll have to keep at both the Mithril search and shrimp catching."
Since the shrimp were this delicious, shrimp catching had risen in importance to roughly the same level as the Mithril search in my mind. To that end, I gathered up a large number of stones lying nearby and dumped them into the lake in a big pile. If things went well, this mound of stones might end up serving as a kind of habitat.
"Maybe I should come check on it in the latter half of tomorrow."
As I headed back to the spot where we'd rested the day before, I made a mental note to prepare some kind of crab trap for next time.