Each floor was rough and I was surprised to make it to the 11th floor safely. I think it's only fair to give myself a reward right now. I made my way down the stairs, deeply moved by how I made it this far, and quickly snapped back to reality.

A volcano?

「Man, it's stifling in here.」

No, more like piping hot… Before me was something you don't see too often: deep-red magma. There was a gray, ashen path, but it was rough and jagged, making walking difficult. It was wide enough, though with the boulders scattered here and there, visibility was poor.

Does Fire Resistance work with magma? No, the human body has its limits. Even with a rank S resistance, you probably won't come out unscathed.

I trudged ahead slowly, careful not to come in contact with the magma. I was sweating buckets. It was sweltering and I was terribly parched.

「Fuu… fuu…」

I grabbed some water from my storage and gulped it down. Then I noticed something in the corner of my eyes. There, in the burbling magma, I could see the fin of a fish moving about. Judging from its sheer size, it was most likely a monster. I moved closer in range for my【Appraisal】.

Name: Magma Fish

Level: 260

Skill: Swift Swim Poisonous Vision

A very powerful monster right off the bat, huh? More and more formidable enemies show up in the hidden dungeon which really put me in a spot at times.

「Time to call it a day and head home.」

The heat was intense and I sure didn't want to fight that monster. I picked up some rocks and stone that I could probably sell at the Rare Shop. Once I've finished gathering them, I activated my skill, transporting me back to the first floor, then left the dungeon.

As soon as I opened the door to my house, Emma came running at me.

「Oh, came here to hang out?」

「Yep! Come here!」

She grabbed my hand and dragged me into the living room. On the table were stuff I've never seen before.

「I was expecting you to come home soon so I made this.」

A seafood salad with blue wakame, and fried onigiri with red konbu—ingredients I gathered from the 9th floor. Wait, they should all have been sold at the shop. Did I set some aside for us?

「I made these for you with your mom. 」

「They look unusual.」

「You might even replenish your LP.」

I took a seat and eyed the two dishes. The onigiri was fried crisply on the outside, with red konbu mixed in. The salad, on the other hand, had quite the unusual appearance. Chopped cabbage sat at the bottom of the plate with finely sliced salmon, shrimp, tomatoes, and scallops on top. The blue wakame mixed within stood out unnaturally, yet its color provided a soft contrast, highlighting the dish.

I wanted to savor the dishes with my eyes some more but Emma and my mother were urging me to eat so I took a bite of the onigiri.

「Yum!」

Impressions straight after taking a bite might be contrived and forced, but this time I really thought it was delicious. It was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. The moment I took a bite, the flavour of the miso spread to every corner of my mouth. Miso introduced from another world was famous for being used in soup, but it's also apparently great with rice. And the finely sliced red konbu provided excellent flavour as well. It was spicy and had a consistency to it. Konbu and wakame might look the same but they're actually different and the former was plenty nutritious.

「Try the seafood salad, too.」

「Okay… Wow, this one's good too. The perfectly simmered wakame tastes great! It's just sour enough to not be overpowering. I love it.」

「Apparently, that's how wakame is supposed to taste like.」

「Really? It's quite different from the common ones.」

Sorry common wakame, but you have nothing against this. Those barely have any flavour.

I was starving so I went ahead and finished both dishes. I got some LP plus my stomach was full. Ah, this is the life. I was rubbing my belly when Emma gently wrapped her arms around me from behind.

「Ehehe~ Are you full, Noir-dono?」

「I am indeed full.」

「That's good to hear. I worked hard on those for you.」

「And for that, I am grateful.」

「You two sure get along well. I'm sure you had fun at the hot springs.」 my mother said with a gentle expression, as Emma and I were cuddling.

「We sure did! But there was an incident. The boys were trying to peep on us!」

「Oh, my.」

「But Noir tried to stop them all on his own. He cried out “Emma's body is mine and mine alone!” then jumped into the water.」

「Goodness! You've become quite bold with Emma, Noir.」

「Yeah. His boldness puts me in a spot sometimes~」

Oh, c.r.a.p. The conversation went too fast, I couldn't say anything. I didn't say anything about Emma's body being mine. You're making it sound like I'm some kind of a pervert. Then again, I can't really deny that.

My father and Toramaru arrived at that moment.

「Oh, Emmchan is here.」

「Business was doing great today, huh, Uncle?」

「Thanks for buying the konbu and wakame earlier.」

「Please don't mention it. I just spent my allowance for the Stalgia family is all.」

I knew it. Emma bought them from the shop to use as ingredients. My father placed his arm around my shoulders, grinning.

「You lucky guy. You have the rich Emmchan so devoted to you. Makes me jelly…」

「I'm grateful for that, of course. Her cooking was scrumptious as well.」

Looking at the empty plate seemed to have roused my father's appet.i.te as his stomach growled loudly.

「Alice is at a furniture shop. Let's go get her and have some meat!」

「Father, I just told you that Emma's cooking was scrumptious. I'm already full.」

「What? Are you saying you can't eat my food?」

「I might even decline precisely because you made it.」

「Hey, Ma, Toramaru-chan, did you hear that just now? Those were words of a boy in his rebellious stage. So mean, right?」

「Dear, did you know Alice says a lot of things about you behind your back? A lot…」 my mother said matter-of-factly as my father was feigning tears.

「Uh… seriously? What kind of things?」

「Who knows… Just ask her yourself.」

She was poking fun at him, but my father was really shaken up about it.

「Do you know what Alice is saying behind my back, Toramaru?」

『She says you're bleep and how you're sometimes bleeeeep』

「Tell me what those bleeps are!」

『I can't. You might die from shock.』

「Her words are that horrible?!」

He was at his wits' end, grieving, and everyone burst into laughter.

He was in great shock. He could stand my verbal attacks, but not hers. I guess dads get more hurt when it's their daughter being harsh than when their son does it. In the end, we had to drag his soulless body to pick Alice up. From there, we went to an expensive restaurant. The shop was doing greater than expected so a bit of splurging should be all right.

My dad was pestering me to eat so I had to force myself and ended up eating a lot of meat. Sure, I was a growing boy, but there's such a thing as too much. Oh wait, if I made a【Glutton】skill, I can probably eat more without a problem.

Nah, let's not. Emma and the others might not like me anymore when I get fat.

「Eat some more, Noir! I won't be disgusted with you just because you got fat.」

I guess I was worried about nothing.

All right, then. I'm gonna try just a little bit harder.

TL Note: Wakame (ワカメ), Undaria pinnatifida, is a species of edible seaweed, a type of marine algae, and a sea vegetable. It has a subtly sweet, but distinctive and strong flavour and texture. It is most often served in soups and salads. Source: Wikipedia ↩

TL Note: Kombu (from j.a.panese: 昆布, translit. konbu) is edible kelp from mostly the family Laminariaceae and is widely eaten in East Asia. Source: Wikipedia ↩