The Novice Alchemist’s Store

Not much had passed 20 days since Iris and the others were trapped in the cave.

Knowing that there was no anxiety about magic made Iris a lot easier mentally, but the actual situation was both better and worse.

Not much improvement as a total.

Asking walnuts has greatly reduced wastage, but the number of magic crystal stones is limited, there are limitations on the performance of unplugged trail detectors, and the number of hits on the trail has not reached zero.

Since about ten days later, the ambient temperature has dropped, and even without heat protection equipment, it has become bitter, but it is the demons that occurred with it.

Fortunately, what emerged was a demon of strength that even the Iris could deal with, and that number was small, but there were also powerful poisonous demons like Black Vipers in there, which were never a distracting situation.

Still, I guess I don't have to take care of expensive smelting drugs (potions) because I had sturdy heat protection gear that didn't even let the black viper fangs through.

But slightly more comfortable conditions like that have also been changing for about half a day now.

"I don't know, it feels like the temperature's going up again, how about you guys?

"No, we don't feel it... but the humidity seems to be rising"

There is no point in taking it off when you no longer need heat protection gear, rather it is also excellent as a protective gear, so Kate and Iris, who are wearing it securely, did not feel the temperature change, except in terms of humidity.

If the air that hits her face feels slightly jimmy and Kate looks at Iris, Iris nods again to agree.

"It's been a long time since I called you" Kuku ". Is it stained out even in groundwater...... The aisle is getting wider, and if it's a good sign, I'd appreciate it..."

As Iris said, the past day or so had been marked by passages with high ceilings enough to stand up straight and walk, and wide enough to walk side-by-side if two or three of us.

"I wish I could just keep going out there"

"Kate, that must be desirable. Too little air flow for the outside to be close"

Kate shook her head as she sighed at Nordrad, who cut off the hope she had put into Kate's mouth with a bushel of realistic thought.

"I know. But I can't do it without thinking positively."

"From the facts we have observed, because it is the researchers who make realistic predictions. - It's just, it's not an exit, but it seems there's been a change."

I noticed something. I increased the amount of light Nordrad had, pointing to the end of the passage that slowly went down.

A vast space was illuminated at the end of a suddenly expansive passage.

Even the reinforced light smelter (artifact) is so wide that it cannot be seen in its entirety that a large amount of water is swamped on the floor, reflecting light.

Underground lake.

"No, it feels like I saw it, obviously it's going to be hot, right? If I were to say so, the underground hot springs?

As Nordrad pointed out, white hot air was rising from its entire underground lake.

There is also a high ambient temperature, which is no longer enough to smoke white, but that is clearly different from normal groundwater.

"The increase in humidity from the past was the effect of this."

"Sounds like it. But it's interesting to know if the hot springs or... the underground lakes have just been warmed up or are gushing out of deeper places."

"As far as I'm concerned, it's important that this water is available... Nord, can we find out?

On that question, it was Nordrad who looked back at Iris a little strangely, but he slapped Pong and his hand as if he thought a little about the point.

"I can, but if it's water, there's a spring water bottle. - Oh, I see. You guys are women too, aren't you? I don't like the smell of your body."

Cold glances pierce Iris and Kate into Nordrad for saying such insensitive things flat out.

"Nord...... assuming. Assuming! If it's true, how about saying it to a woman?

"Oh, I'm sorry. It doesn't mean you guys stink, does it? I'm the same in the first place, so I don't care at all!

Not following at all.

At the point where you say it doesn't stink, but you also say it doesn't bother you, it won't.

But the truth is, Iris and Nordrad, which is worse, are clearly Nordrad.

Thanks to expensive heat protection gear, Iris and the others who don't have to sweat if they don't move hard and Nordrad who sweats no matter what they're not doing.

In addition to that, Iris and the others were bound to wipe their bodies before going to bed.

At first, I thought about water and refrained, but Sarasa was assured, 'If you don't want to take a bath, you'll be fine,' so long as it's water enough to wipe your body, it was easy to use.

For once, Nordrad was also provided with water, but he was a demon researcher.

From Nordrad, who could lurk still in the grass if necessary and even continue to observe even in a few decades, there was still room.

- It's pretty annoying around here, though.

It should be noted that Iris and the others are perfectly fine.

Even if I could wipe my body, I couldn't afford to wash my clothes.

That's why the Iris care.

"Mr. Nord, if you don't care any more, you're not hot for a woman, are you? Not a bad face or anything."

"Mm-hmm. I never really cared that way. Is research more fun now?

In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that Nordrad's appearance is neat.

There is a scar on his face made of fieldwork, but it's not so bad as ugly, and his muscular, tight body would be a huge appeal point for the woman who prefers it.

There is also a social status due to the results of the research, which is never bad economically.

If you are going to mention the difficulty, it will mean that it is your job to go to dangerous places, but if in the future you are going to move axial feet to plant research, it will also go away.

Most importantly, if he doesn't feel comfortable with it, then those attractions don't make sense either.

"But it's important to earn points against you. Even for my safety. Let's investigate the hot springs."

"I'm going to protect you regardless of that... but I'd appreciate it if you'd look into it"

"Leave it to me. Fortunately, the smelter (artifact) for it escapes you, Sarasa."

Once he shrugged his shoulder, Nordrad approached the underground lake, where one person raised the hot air, as he removed some smelter (artifact) from his luggage.

◇ ◇ ◇

As a result of an inspection by Nordrad, the water in the underground hot spring was' not very suitable for drinking, but of fine quality for bathing '.

It is cloudless, transparent in water, convenient to see if there are any suspicious objects in the water, and on top of that, it can be used for laundry.

If that happens, Iris and the others can't be shy.

After a thorough check of the surrounding safety, and the safety in the hot springs, Nordrad will be kept away to advance to laundry and bathing.

And after a stretch of work, Iris, all refreshed, exhaled loudly with a tron look.

"Phew, don't come back to life..."

Exactly, it doesn't distract me enough to soak up plenty in the hot spring, but just wash my body with plenty of hot water and soak my feet in the shallow water will make me tired out.

Kate, who was sitting next to Iris and stirring hot water with her legs, is also pulling out her shoulder strength with a similar look.

"Yep. I could wash all the clothes and underwear I was wondering about."

"Hmm. Conveniently, the surrounding rocks are pretty hot, too."

The surrounding rocks, not enough to touch and burn, but hot to the point of drying quickly even when hung with hot water, were very convenient for drying the laundry.

Naturally, Iris and the others take advantage of it, and the surrounding rocks have a lot of laundry on them.

On top of that, Iris and Kate look almost naked.

It is a state that cannot be shown to the opposite sex a bit.

Next to those two, it's walnuts swimming with Bashabasha with ease.

And you felt like swimming for a while, the walnut crawling up on the rock with his uncle flashing his nails.

"Gah, gah, gah."

Somehow happy, the walnut that scrapes the rocks.

The rocks around here are never soft, but there's no way the walnut nails are missing, and those nail marks are firmly engraved into the rock.

But Iris, who didn't even seem to make any sense of the behavior itself, blinked his eyes and leaned in wonder.

"... hey, what are walnuts doing? nail polishing?"

"Do bears grind their nails?

"No, I don't know, but you've got nail marks on the trunk of a tree or something, right? To claim territory."

"Well, it's not about alchemy, is it? In the first place, I used to do it sometimes during breaks, even before."

"Really? Didn't realize..."

Basically, Iris was not very aware of the walnut's behavior, even as regards the walnut, which was only stuck in Iris' luggage and stopped moving during the journey, during the break, even after he had unloaded his luggage.

Kate noticed how walnuts behaved when Iris unloaded her luggage was located behind it, whereas Kate, who often sat in front of Iris, would be the difference due to having that luggage at the end of her gaze.

"Maybe it means something, but I can't explain walnuts, and if you care, why don't you ask the manager when you get home?

"Right.... Hey, Kate. Do you think we can make it home safely?

After nodding, Kate turned to Iris, who told him to be a little silent and grunt, not to mention the unexpected look on her face.