Once her role was settled, Erica dropped the large backpack she was carrying and began arranging her tools and belongings on a simple workbench.

　The medicinal herbs and roots are ground into powder.

　A mortar and pestle to grind the hard berries and mix the powdered herbs together.

　A set of equipment for extracting the medicinal ingredients, similar to the tools used by alchemists.

　And a variety of raw materials, including dried herbs.

　Mark, who was sharing part of the load, hurriedly followed suit, and preparations for the preparation of the mixture were rapidly proceeding.

　The profile of Erica, whose long, loosely wavy hair was tied back, was no longer that of a bewildered girl, but rather the face of a craftsman facing a role that only he could perform.

　While Erica was getting ready to dispense, I decided to pack up another important topic with Roy.

'Do you have an idea of where the miasma is coming from?'
There are several locations, but probably the largest ...... nearby, where the majority of the victims are in a basin-like terrain not too far from here.

　Roy took out a simple map, about the size of a book, and pointed out the specific locations where the miasma was occurring.

'The main victims are the adventurers who came down after my party. They said they were going to establish a second base and unknowingly set up camp near the basin, but the miasma that poured out of the basin swallowed them up. ......
'A black fog would have been hard to see at night. ...... We'll go and scout it out when night falls. We need to bring back as much accurate information as possible.

　The terrain of the basin makes it easy for the miasma to accumulate, and the miasma is overflowing with impetus.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find out what's going on in the world, and I'm sure you'll be able to find out what's going on in the world.

'Luke-san. This level of the hierarchy may not be the night(s) when the(s) dawn(s).
...... what?

　I can't help but ask back in a dumb way.

　It's been a long time since I've been able to hear the words but not understand them.

'It must have been well over two days since we went down, but we haven't had a single morning. Maybe it's just the long intervals between flickering ceilings in the space: ......

　From the side, Garnett and Sakura also interrupt me with some confused words.

'No wonder it's getting dark fast. It's not like we've been wandering around the labyrinth all day, you know.
Yes, ...... I thought the switching of day and night didn't coincide with the ground, but I didn't expect it to be any more mysterious than that: ......

　Because you don't know what's going to happen in dungeons - especially those that are unexplored and have high difficulty levels - you have a preconceived notion that anything can happen.

　But often times, the unreasonable environment that awaits you at the bottom of a dungeon is so much more than what you thought it would be.

It's possible that the ceiling's luminescent function itself is out of whack: ...... No, wait, the fact that it's overgrown with green vegetation means that there should be a good amount of light pouring down on it: ......

　This was another piece of information that was hard to understand, but the miasma thing should be the priority now.

　It's enough to know that there is little chance of waiting for dawn to investigate.

The miasma is not a problem. ...... If there is no point in waiting, we should leave as soon as the seriously injured are repaired. However, we'll just scout out the source of the miasma, and not go any deeper than that.










　--It is not only a matter of time before the miasma is removed, but also of time before the miasma is removed.

　The miasma of the field hospital-like misery had faded, and at least the camp had become a calm place to sleep.

　Soon after that, Commander Luke left the camp.

　The four companions were Shiranui Sakura and Melissa Akabane, who can manipulate flames to burn away the miasma, Garnet Argentia and Kirigakure Nagi, who can be trusted with combat and reconnaissance.

　Roy of the Hundred Beast Plains, an A-ranked adventurer, stayed here, leaving two wolves of spirit beasts with Commander Luke, because he needed to protect the camp.

　Overall, it's an appropriate response - Mark Easton said of Commander Luke's leadership, despite his gut feeling.

　It was a natural decision for him to be left behind in the camp," he said.
　It's not that I'm exceptionally good at fighting, nor can I handle skills related to fire.

　Using the 【Thought Deciphering】 skill when there was a piece of paperwork dropped by the Demon King's Army or the relics of the Demon Clan at the end of the labyrinth - that's Mark's role in this inspection.

　Do I go directly to the dungeon and use the skill, or do I wait on the ground and use the skill on the items brought back?
　It's a good thing that you're able to get a good idea of which method is more appropriate, but if this is the case, it would have been better to stay on the ground with Lord Hild.

　I had a private hope that I might be able to see the battle between Sakura and Nagi up close, but unfortunately, it was unlikely to come true.

　As I was thinking about this, a white mortar containing granular fruits that looked like rapeseed was thrust in front of my chest.

'Help me if you have a free hand. We have healthy adventurers doing this for us.

　Mark was amused by Erica's rougher tone than he'd imagined, and looked alternately at the strength in his brow and the contents of the mortar.

　There was no malice or hostility of any kind, but rather a simple leaking of bare behavior from the impatience and pressure of being entrusted with a major role.

...... but my mission is to assist in the analysis of artifacts and materials. The reason I accompanied you this time was to immediately analyze the recovered materials, and the rest of my work is .......
I know. That's why I'm asking you to do me this favor. I want to prepare as many medicines as possible, so I ask every single person who can move to do so. Please!

　Erica's momentum, which doesn't even give her time to adjust her language, pushes her over, and Mark unexpectedly accepts the mortar and pestle that is thrust out.

　Looking around again, with the exception of the seriously injured who can only lie on their beds, every one of the adventurers is processing the ingredients for the potion according to Erica's instructions.

　This is not reasonable for them to refuse, no matter what you think.

''Wouldn't it have been better if you had crushed it from the beginning?''
It's a material that starts to deteriorate the moment it's exposed to air!　The ones that are fine have been bottled up and brought in long ago!　So long!

　Mark looked behind Erica's back as she was driven back to the mixing process, and after a moment's pause to say something, he began to jostle the hard pestle against the grain in the mortar.