Chapter 239: Resilient People
Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7583de/
Author: Hirukuma
Translated by Gumihou
As a reminder, the Five Finger Generals (and Left Arm) are as follows:
左腕将軍 Left Arm General, Ruler of the Netherworld (Skeleton)
小将軍 Pinky General Kayorings (Goth wraith thing)
薬将軍 Ring Finger General Sulrim (Snow Spirit)
中将軍 Middle General Zen (Samurai wannabe)
人差将軍 Index General Eno (Half Shark)
親将軍 Thumb General Kyous (???)
“If supplies run low, I’ll cut down as many trees as needed!”
“Those with strength to spare, get over here and help!”
“The soup kitchen is ready! Everyone, get in line!”
Energetic voices echoed through the town that had been reduced to ruins. Moreover, it was not just one or two people, but a chorus of voices calling out to each other as the villagers worked tirelessly together.
Even though monsters had overrun the dungeon and destroyed most of the town, there were still people who showed no signs of despair and were already in the middle of restoration work.
While the original townspeople had been lost in grief and stood around in a daze, the people from the dungeon, who had already gone through several disasters, were energetically working without hesitation.
In fact, they were already too familiar with reconstruction work. When it came to clearing rubble or repairing walls and houses, even the regular residents’ and hunters’ skills rivalled those of the town’s professional craftsmen.
“Let’s reinforce this part with Earth Magic.”
“Someone lend me some nails. Even I can fix this thing in a flash with the proper tools.”
The experience of repairing Clearflow Lake village, which had been nearly destroyed twice, has raised the skills of the dungeon inhabitants to the level of master artisans. To the point that the town was being restored at an unbelievable speed.
Even though it was only the second day since the destruction of the town, makeshift houses built from various rubble already lined around the hollow where the dungeon used to be. There were even people selling their wares.
“You can pay on credit, so just eat! Munani, move your hands!”
“Mom, you’re so generous!”
The first to open a simple eatery was a mother-daughter duo who ran the inn at Clearflow Lake. With ingredients on hand and meat collected from the monsters caught around the area, they served dishes the townspeople had never tasted before.
Since they allow customers to pay on credit, there was a never-ending line of people snaking out from the little makeshift shop.
“As I thought, it’s worth risking our lives to carry all these seasoning.”
“Mom is amazing!”
Mother and daughter kept up a light banter as they greeted customers and served up food with cheerful smiles despite the situation. Even people who had been feeling down from the situation seemed to recover their energy and motivation after eating here. Customers left the shop with fists clenched with determination and a spring in their step as they join the restoration work.
At what was the former town gate, men and women in black suits gathered, loading what appeared to be valuable ornaments and weapons into carts.
“Lady Suori, preparations will be ready soon.”
“Once we’re done with the luggage, we shall immediately depart,” said a young girl in twin tails.
She had been diligently helping the workers carry the goods.
The men in black frowned, “Lady Suori, there may still be monsters around. Isn’t it too dangerous not to hire any of the hunters as guards?”
“They need people for the reconstruction work; we have no choice but to manage with what we have. Furthermore, I have faith in all of you.”
How could they resist the smile from their little mistress? The men in black were very touched as they bowed deeply at her.
In the past, Suori still maintained a certain level of immaturity and selfishness appropriate to her age. However, past encounters and experiences in the dungeon had greatly matured her.
Suori had been the first to buy up any luggage carts that were still intact, deciding to sell the valuable items they managed to bring with them in a nearby town and purchase manpower and necessities for the reconstruction work.
“Though, once Hakkon-san returns, all of our efforts could end up in vain,” she said.
The men in black gazed admiringly at their little mistress, not at all put off by her words. On this day, the men in black once more swore to devote their lives to her. Unaware of this, Suori continued to work hard, sweating and toiling alongside them.
In a corner of the rubble-strewn town, a group of women stood together. Although their clothes were ordinary, their gestures were oddly sultry. Passing men would find themselves unconsciously stopping to stare.
“Ladies, we’ll have to put the regular work on hold for a while, so those who wish to make money should move to another town.”
Shirley, the red light district of Clearflow Lake, was speaking with her girls about their immediate future. Instead of her usual flashy and revealing clothes, she was dressed in subdued colours today. Still, the sleeveless top and shorts moulded to her body quite well, emphasising her generous bust.
“With a recommendation letter from me, you can do business even in the Imperial Capital. Don’t hesitate to ask, hm? I introduce you to an old acquaintance of mine.”
Despite the generous offer, no one stepped forward. Instead, the ladies just looked at each other with a wry smile and shrugged.
“Umm, is everyone really alright with this? Even if you stay, you’ll only get to help with reconstruction, you know?”
Shirley, who usually carried herself with sultry dignity, tilted her head in a cute way that made everyone feel at ease.
“When I could no longer continue as a hunter, Miss Shirley was the one who gave me a way to live well. I’ll follow you anywhere.”
“That’s right, that’s right, there’s no better way to repay favour, so this is the best workplace!”
Well, it looked like no one had any intention of leaving. All insisted on staying. For a moment, it looked like Shirley was about to burst into tears, but she bit her lip and stared up at the sky.
It was a while before she managed to master herself. After taking a deep breath, she faced forward, a radiant smile on her face.
“Goodness me, you’re all such fools. Very well, once this place is restored, let’s work together again. Until that happens, let us work on restoring the place. Though I can’t pay much in terms of salary…”
“Just being able to work together is good enough. Pay is only secondary, right? Everyone?”
“Yes!”
“Please don’t hesitate to tell us what to do!”
“We’re good at reconstruction work, too!”
Thus, from that day onwards, the sight of beautiful women working on reconstruction became a frequent occurrence, boosting the men’s motivation to work as well.
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“Director of Darkness, can you really find the location?” a cheeky-looking boy said as he stared at the shadow at his feet.
To anyone who happened to watch, it was a strange sight indeed. Then, something even stranger happened. The shadow at his feet surged upwards, taking a humanoid form. The inky figure reached into itself and drew out a dazzling golden coat, which it casually shrugged on.
“Director of Rocky Dog Mountain, if it were that easy, we wouldn’t be struggling now.”
“But didn’t you say that it will ‘find it in a flash’? Were you just bragging then?”
“I was not bragging!! I just didn’t think it would be so difficult at that time.”
The Director of Darkness had thought that he could quickly pinpoint Hakkon’s location by blending into the shadows and searching the area where the door had been. However, it’s been a couple of days already, and he still hasn’t found anything.
He could not find the exact location because none of them was sure just how far down the stairs went from the surface. [1] Following the debris left by the stairs sounded reasonable, except that large chunks of it had been swept away during the dungeon collapse. Therefore, the Director of Darkness had no choice but to search every inch, which he had been doing nonstop with almost no sleep.
“Well, I guess it can’t be helped,” said the child-like director with a casual shrug. “But, Hakkon’s pretty sturdy, so I’m sure he’ll be fine. Yup, yup.”
The Director of Rocky Dog Mountain’s tone was rather flippant, hiding his true worry.
“I’d like to be the one to find him first, but at this rate, I might actually lose,” said Director of Darkness, as he turned towards a hole in the ground.
The hole was situated in the depression where the entrance of the dungeon used to be. Calling it a hole now, rather a misnomer, as it was now a giant pit where one could hardly see the bottom.
At this moment, earth and stone were still being chucked out of the mouth of the pit, and at the very bottom of the hole was Ramis.
“Nuaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Once again, she was covered in dirt and digging with a single-minded devotion. Her companions were very worried, but she did not stop. The giant shovel in her hands was a piece crafted by her childhood friend, a magic tool engineer. However, because the shovel was so heavily used, it broke quickly. This was already the sixth one.
Next to her, Pitee packed the dug-up earth and smaller debris into bags and carried them out by climbing the sides of the hole. Since they could not just leave the bags around the mouth of the hole, Old Man Shimerai used wind magic to ferry the bags of dirt and debris to where the construction workers were shoring up a newly constructed wall.
“We’ll need to do something soon, or even Ramis’s body would collapse. Won’t you say something to the girl, Granny?”
“I’ve tried persuading her many times, but she refused to stop. Look there, those two are trying to talk to her even now…”
The old couple stood together, watching as two figures approached Ramis. One was a tall woman with a white hood and a gentle smile, it was the headmistress; the other was Shui, who was holding a whole roasted animal she had hunted earlier.
Shui had wanted to join the subjugation group, but was left behind because they feared they would run out of food too soon…
“Why don’t you take a break, Ramis? If you break down now, it would all be for nothing.”
“That’s right, Hakkon will be really angry if he knows, you know?”
At that, Ramis suddenly stopped moving, shovel still stuck in the ground. She turned her to look at them, her eyelids red and swollen, her expression lifeless.
“But, Hakkon… Hakkon is…”
Her few redeeming qualities, her energetic cheerfulness, had vanished. The once sparkling eyes were blank. Ramis was likely fully aware of how reckless her actions were, but she could not help but push her body to its limits until she lost consciousness. And then repeat the cycle again.
“I understand how you feel, dear. But as Shui says, Hakkon wouldn’t want you to do anything so reckless.”
“But, but, but!”
Even with her hair dishevelled and swaying on her feet, Ramis tried to resist. As she was still protesting, a figure crept up behind her, their right hand extended. The figure then brought their hand down in a sharp chop onto Ramis’s head.
“Help… Hakkon, h- ouch! Wh-what? Hyurumi!”
Ramis grabbed at the attacker’s hand, which was still held in their follow-through position. Hyurumi stared back at her, then pulled back her hand and grabbed Ramis’s cheeks and pulled them apart like soft dough.
“Ow, ow, ow, it hursts!! Shtoph!!”
“Ramis, you’ve always been the hard-headed sort since wayyy back!! Everyone here wants to save Hakkon as much as you do. Surely you can understand that much?”
“I know, I know that… but, even so, I… I just…!”
Ramis sobbed through huge droplets of tears. Hyurumi pulled Ramis close and stroked her head gently.
“Really! You haven’t changed at all. But hey, I’m here, aren’t I? Here to handle your recklessness.”
Ramis looked up, dazed by the unexpected words. Hyurumi grinned down confidently at her friend, before thrusting a hand into her trouser pocket and pulling out a small, egg-shaped magic tool.
“This is… well, it’s a magic tool I’ve been working on for a while. It was meant to hear the voice of a soul and… well, that doesn’t matter. I’ve modified it to locate a soul.”
“W-wait, th-that means…”
“With this tool, we’ll have a better chance of finding Hakkon’s soul,” said Hyurumi with great confidence as she activated the magic tool.
A torrent of light burst forth from the magic tool and pierced into the ground.
[Gumihou: Hyuraemon to the rescue!]
[1] Added detail for clarity
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