We're going to disarm first. I brought them back. I've done a bad job of inviting you here. We'll brush them off later, including Nowa and the others who did their best.

After that, the armed dwarves gather around. They stared at each other for a while, and then an old dwarf with a staff comes over.

A human," said the old dwarf with his staff. What do you want in my village?

Well, I came to this village by chance.

'Woo hoo. A girl with no breasts. Don't lie to me. I know what you're thinking.

Mel froze with a smile on her face and the air was cold.

''...Sis. Dodo.

...Yeah. It's okay. I won't take this level of provocation.

I don't find that very convincing when told by someone who tried to manipulate the status screen.

'What do you mean by speculation?'

'Don't fall in love with me!　Most of them are afraid of the zombies, and that's why they're here, to steal our strongest weapons!

Heh, I know about the zombies. Come to think of it, I thought Freetia had contacted you.

''No, not at all!　Where we are trying to get by on our own!

I don't want to hear it!　Go home!　This place is guarded by clay figures of our own making!　They'll take down zombies and stuff!

Hmm? You mean the one you just knocked over?

Mel looks at me. I don't want him to see me.

'Well...I broke that clay figurine, and then I came here...'

What a stupid thing to do...

The grandfather dwarf sees the cave we've entered and panics.

'Why is the entrance open without permission!　Well, you don't think... did you really break it?

Um... sorry?

"Sorry is not the problem!　You are a plague!　It's a big deal... a big deal!

The grandfather ran away. It looks like he's in trouble. That's where the info is played.

''An emergency quest 'Defense of the Dwarven Village' has occurred.''

Emergency Quest: Defense of the Dwarven Village: Difficulty D
Defend the dwarven village from Sand Ant.
The reward will vary depending on the damage.

I saw the info, and when I looked at the entrance we came in, there were a lot of giant ants there.

Sand Ant Lv 18.
Normal Monster Target Active

He walks on the walls and moves around here and there. Naturally, they come to us.

"Get your gear on!

Full Moon instructs me to put on the equipment. Disarming the equipment has completely backfired on me! I have to buy myself some time.

Come on!　Love Fire, Grey, Toratetsu, Byakuya, Darley!

What's going on?　Takuto Onion.

I'll explain later!　You'll have to deal with the ants!

Yes!

They come into the straw dwarf village. We have to stop the entrance!

First, the entrance!　Gray!　Midnight!　Blow them away with a roar!

When I give the order, a line of coordination occurs between Gray and Byakuya. Don't tell me... it occurs between summoned beasts as well! There's no point in worrying about it. Until you use it if it occurs!

Coordination!

Gray and Byakuya nodded.

''Gaaaah!''

When the two animals shouted, a shockwave with a whirlwind was generated. The shockwave is enough to envelop the entrance, blowing away the sand ants and chopping them into pieces.

That's a lot of power. You have to be prepared, don't play around with it. I take my spear out of my inventory and get on the Darley. When I look ahead, I see straw coming out of the square where the clay figure was.

That's just fine. We're going to burn every last one of them. I'll tell the others.

"We'll hold the entrance.

All right. Leave the ants walking on the wall to us.

Yeah. It's an arrowhead.

For Tristan and Yoichi, walking on the wall is not much different than flying in the sky.

'We'll protect Yoichi and the others.

So, me and Kago are going to have a close call.

Oh, oh!　We'll take care of it!

I'm worried about you.

I know you're worried about Mirai, but bear with me for now.

'We're going in!　Love fire, ride!

Yes!

The love fire is put behind him and Darley is on fire. Then another line of coordination occurs. This time it's me and Darley. If it occurs, we'll have to use it.

''Coordination!''

"Heen.

Darley's fire is on my spear. And Darley stores his power. I follow the instructions on the display and thrust my spear out. Then Darley shoots out with great force, and we become a giant spear of fire.

With the touch of the spear, the sand ants swarming around us turn into charcoal and disappear one by one. We ran through to the square and found the whole square full of sand ants. This is not good...I'm going to put out the magic.

When I turned back to the entrance, Gray and the others were taking care of it. I'm sorry for getting so excited and jumping out of the way. Well, let's rearrange our tactics.

I put my spear away and take out my staff.

'Love fire, Tridhell!　I'll grill you and Darley thoroughly!

'Yes!　Trid Hell!

'Grey, Toratetsu, Byakuya approaching, please take care of the Sand Ant.

""Gawd!"

So I shot a fire shower into the square while being protected by Gray and Toratetsu.

The Sand Ant flies a stone from its mouth, but Byakuya flies it back with his spiritual power, Toratetsu knocks down the Sand Ant stone by stone with his tiger gun, and Gray protects me well from the stone by putting his body on it.

A moment later, I annihilate the Sand Ant in the square. Is that it? Is it because we don't have any info yet, or is it because we haven't been able to beat the village yet?

There might still be enemies coming, so we recover everyone and then dismantle them... When we dismantled them, all we got was 10 stone pieces.

Ten stones in one piece... and a lot of dead ants around. I see...you want me to dismantle them all!

They were dismantling it, but it was too late, so I went back to look and found Mirai being chased by Sand Ant.

What the hell are you doing in this situation!

I threw my spear and hit the Sand Ant while riding the Darley. As it was, I blasted him with the Darley.

"...Brother.

You okay?　What the hell is going on...

The only survivors were Yoichi, Tristan, and Mirai... they are being chased by Sand Ant... eh.

If you annihilate them all, you'll get an info.

''We've completed the emergency quest 'Defense of the Dwarven Village'.

Thank God...

When I asked the three of them why, the first thing I heard was that Full Moon and the others used a provocation to prevent the dwarves from doing damage.

It seems that they were defending themselves as usual with their shields, but they couldn't handle the swarming ants and were bitten and abducted one by one.

Once the wall was lost, the rest was miserable. Kego, who is very quick on his feet, served as a decoy, but the ants would gather around him.

He defeated the ants with Arrow Rain, but he couldn't defeat them all and was chased by the remaining ants as he fought them.

'Should we have come back sooner...'

It's our fault for misjudging these ants' abilities.

At any rate, the dwarves who were evacuated because they completed the quest are gathered again. The dwarves with wands come to represent us again.

This one's representative is now me.

''Oh, you guys defeated those ants?''

Yes. Were you okay?

It doesn't do any damage to us, but...　Originally, it was because your people knocked over the clay figurines!

I know. What can I do to make you sorry?　Like, for example, annihilating the Sand Ant I mentioned earlier.

They have a lot of rocks. Then it's worth a shot.

Hmph. If I could do that, I would have done it by now!　They need to get to their lair and kill their queen if they are to be annihilated.

I'm supposed to take him down?

You're not serious, are you?

Yes. And in return, I'm going to ask you to stop talking about breaking the clay figure.

I'll go negotiate with him...　If you can do it, do it!

Then the info comes.

'A defeat quest, 'Conquer Sand Ant's Lair,' has occurred.

Conquer the Sand Ant's Nest Quest: Difficulty Level B-.
Defeat the Sandants at the far end of the Sandant's Lair.
Reward: Liberation of the Dwarven Village

Okay! We were right on target. Now all I have to do is ask permission.

Can I get some help in taking down the target?

All means necessary. But you are not allowed to enter my village!

I understand.

I turn and the dwarf representative stops me.

'Wait!　You have not yet thanked me for defending your village. Tell me what jewels you want.

Huh? Can you give me a jewel? But it seems we're the only ones who get to keep the jewels alive. I don't know if I'm being generous or not. They ended up with citrine. I took the rubies. We've got what we need for a magic sword!

I guess it's the reward for barring me from the village. I explain the situation to Mirai, Yoichi-san, and Tristan-san and ask them to help me dismantle it.

You're a good negotiator, Tact. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to get the quest to get a lot of rocks for our negative feedback.

'And all free-tier players are welcome to join. When we get back, we'll put out a call for them as soon as possible.

We decide to contact everyone who has returned to death and each of them, and then we return to Fretia, explain the situation to Ruin, and then try out the evolved loco-coco's hair growth and milking.

Happy Sheep's Wool: Rare Level 7 Material Item Quality C-
Happy sheep's wool. High quality wool that is rarely available on the market.
Very high winter protection and heavenly blessings.

Happy Sheep's Sheep's Milk: Rare Level 7 Food Item Quality C-.
The milk that can be taken from happy sheep. Delicious sheep's milk that is said to make people happy just by drinking it. When used in cooking, it has a very high buffing effect.

Loco moco is the bomb after all. From here, I'll negotiate with Ruin and his team.

First of all, my new loco moco robe, and of course I'm going to have Wufu make it for me. I want everyone else to have one too, so I negotiate with Mew.

As a result, Mew has decided to give up the Happy Sheep Wool for now. The reason was the unit price. No matter how much the price was linked to the price, the wool of Happy Sheep was too expensive.

''We should definitely be able to make the strongest robe in the current situation, but there's no business in making equipment that the players can't afford... we'll only buy this after we've accumulated that much money for the players.

For the same reason, Yuna and Hal decided to give up the sheep's milk of the happy sheep as well.

We'll have to equip Loco-Moco first, just in case the players have more money to spare. While thinking about that, I logged out.

Name Takuto, Summoner of Affection Lv2

Vitality 66
魔力　　123
筋力　　56
防御力　40
俊敏性　55
器用値　96

スキル

格闘Lv9　蹴り技Lv16　杖Lv22　片手剣Lv20　槍Lv10　刀Lv1　
投擲Lv7　高速詠唱Lv21→Lv23　召喚魔術Lv28　封印魔術Lv8　
騎手Lv15→Lv16　錬金Lv17　採掘Lv20　伐採Lv17　解体Lv33→Lv34　
鑑定Lv20　識別Lv30　風魔法Lv23　火魔法Lv21→Lv25　土魔法Lv22　
水魔法Lv29　闇魔法Lv22　神聖魔法Lv8　雷魔法Lv22　爆魔法Lv22　
木魔法Lv23　氷魔法Lv22　時空魔法Lv35　水中行動Lv2　読書Lv8　
料理Lv33　餌付けLv7　釣りLv16　シンクロLv10　連携Lv2→Lv3

名前　恋火　シュラインビーストLv4→Lv5

生命力　76
魔力　　84→85
筋力　　83→85
防御力　47→48
俊敏性　94→96
器用値　70

スキル

刀Lv15　二刀流Lv1　風刃Lv2　炎魔法Lv7→Lv9　邪炎Lv12　忌火Lv14　
気配察知Lv16→Lv17　危険予知Lv15→Lv16　霊力Lv2　幻術Lv1　神道魔術Lv5　
見切りLv2　俊足Lv2　妖術Lv2　血醒Lv5　料理Lv8　神降ろしLv1　獣化Lv1

名前　グレイ　シルバーウルフLv5→Lv6

Life force 47 to 48.
Magic power 29 to 30
Strength 64 to 66.
Defensive Strength 32
Agility 68 to 70
Dexterity value 38 to 40.

skill

Biting Lv 21 Silver Claw Lv 10 Iron Wall Lv 9 -> Lv 12 Presence Detection Lv 18 -> Lv 19　
Night Eyes Lv 18 -> Lv 19 Danger Detection Lv 18 -> Lv 20 Silver Fang Lv 16 Gale Lv 9　
Roar lv7 -> lv8

Name Toratou Kentohira Lv5 -> Lv6

Life force 53 to 54.
Magical power 26 to 28.
Strength 96 to 99.
Defensive Strength 46
Agility 50
Dexterity value 44

skill

Bite Lv 16, Clawing Lv 18, Tathagata Lv 5 -> Lv 8, Leap Lv 16, Night vision Lv 12 -> Lv 14, Assault Lv 12.　
Intimidation lv10 flail lv4 gale lv3 wind blade lv5 -> lv6 tiger gun lv2 -> lv3 forsaken lv3 -> lv4

Name Byakuya Senkou Lv 1 -> Lv 2

Life force 38 to 40.
Magic power 44 to 45.
Strength 56 to 58.
Defensive Strength 33
Agility 60 to 63
Dexterous value 35 to 37.

skill

Bite Lv 18 Wind Claw Lv 18 Forget Lv 1 -> Lv 2 Flight Lv 1 Leap Lv 11　
Night vision Lv11 -> Lv13 Intimidation Lv8 Wind magic Lv16 Xianqi Lv1 -> Lv2 Spiritual power Lv1 -> Lv4　
Whirlwind Lv 1 -> Lv 2 Roar Lv 1 -> Lv 2 Galloping Lv 15

Name Loco Moco Happiness Thief Lv 1

Vitality 90
Magical power 53
Strength 10
Defensive Strength 77
Agility 42
Dexterity value 33

skill

Flight Lv 1 Body hit Lv 3 Danger perception Lv 7 Escape leg Lv 1 Hair growth Lv 7 -> Lv 8 Breastfeeding Lv 7 -> Lv 8　
Cold Resistance Lv 1 Happiness Lv 1 Blessing Lv 1 Protection Lv 1 Light Magic Lv 1 Heavenly Blessing Lv 1　

Name Darley, Red Rabbit Horse Lv 1 -> Lv 2

Life force 40
Magical power 32 to 34.
Strength 37 to 38.
Defensive Strength 28
Agility 93 to 96
Dexterity value 60

skill

Kicking Lv 5 Rushing Lv 7 -> Lv 9 Deadly Fire Lv 1 -> Lv 3 Flame Manipulation Lv 1 -> Lv 4 Riding Lv 22 -> Lv 23　
Galloping Lv 12 -> Lv 13 Rider Enhancement Lv 19 -> Lv 20 Continuous Attack Lv 1 -> Lv 2 Eiki Lv 1 -> Lv 3 Fighting Qi Lv 1 -> Lv 3　
Transfer Lv1 -> Lv3 Red Horse Blessing Lv1 -> Lv3