The dungeon has been parasitized

Chapter 113 Material Collection

Splash...

The tea, with its slightly green hue, was poured into a porcelain cup, and the rising steam wafted around the rim, carrying a faint aroma of tea.

"Please have some tea."

Dandelion, the assistant, brought the teacup to Yanami and gently placed it on the table. Then, she poured another cup for the leader, Sunflower, until everyone had a cup.

Incidentally, her assistant, Dandelion, also placed some snacks on the table.

But honestly, is this what an assistant does?

"Thanks."

Dandelion nodded in acknowledgment, then took her plate and stood to the side.

Yanami carefully picked up the exquisite teacup, blew on it, and took a small sip. The slightly hot water stung her mouth, but a unique bitterness followed, then a refreshing and sweet aftertaste that slowly dissipated the bitterness.

"How is it?"

Sunflower looked at Yanami with a hint of expectation in her eyes.

"……It was delicious."

Yanami felt a little embarrassed because although she could tell it was good tea, she didn't like drinking tea, or rather, she didn't like bitterness.

"I'm glad you like it."

Sunflower also took a sip, and after finishing, she let out a soft sigh, looking quite pleased with herself.

"Well then," Sunflower put down her teacup and looked at Yanami, "let's talk about the deal first. What did you bring?"

Yanami quickly put down her teacup, but she didn't immediately start talking to the sunflower.

("Hey, Klein, how should I answer?")

Yanami asked Klein the first question because she wasn't confident she could handle the negotiations well.

("You should talk to her first. I'll let you know if there are any problems.")

("Huh? But I have to talk to their leader. Can I do it?")

("Believe in yourself, and I believe in you too.")

("Hmm... alright, since Klein has said so.")

Yanami hesitated for a moment, but still agreed.

However, Klein actually didn't know how to negotiate either...

To be honest, I haven't interacted with anyone other than Yanami for a very long time, so my social skills are probably not as good as Yanami's.

"Miss Yanami?"

Seeing that Yanami hadn't responded for a long time, Leader Sunflower looked at her with some confusion.

"Ah~ sorry, I was spacing out."

"It's okay."

"I brought the rock frog magic cores that were not delivered in the previous transaction, as well as the magic cores you just saw. In addition, there is the winged serpent dragon skin, teeth, and venom sacs."

"That's really unexpected. I didn't know you also processed other materials related to the Pteranodon. I mean—processing so many materials must have been hard work, right?"

Klein sensed a probing undertone in her words, as if she were testing Yanami—whether she had handled so many corpses all by herself.

"Yes, it was quite troublesome to process. It took two days, including air drying and all that..."

"Two days?"

Sunflower raised an eyebrow in surprise, seemingly taken aback by the answer.

"Oh, right, I also made some jerky using pterosaur meat. Would you like to try some if you don't mind?"

"Pteranodon jerky?! Ah, sorry..."

"I want to eat it."

Upon hearing Yanami's words, Hyacinth and Daisy exclaimed in surprise, but immediately realized their mistake and looked at their leader, Sunflower, with expectant eyes.

"Please let us try it; I've never tasted jerky made from pterosaurs before."

The sunflower didn't refuse; instead, it nodded with a smile.

Yanami took out dried meat from her bag; she had brought a large bag of it, all intended as rations for the journey.

After all, she didn't know how long it would take to get to the rat tribe's stronghold, so she brought extra food, although Klein felt that another reason was that she was a bit greedy.

The dried meat is slightly black because it is smoked directly with charcoal from the forest, giving it a unique smoky flavor and a firmer texture.

They handed out pieces of dried meat, and everyone except the dutiful assistant, Dandelion, took one.

"This is the first time I've seen this. It's Pteranodon jerky."

"Haven't you ever encountered a Pteranodon?"

"While we do have records of Pteranodon materials, Pteranodons are extremely rare, and I've never actually seen one. Besides... encountering these guys is like encountering a dragon, and we'd rather not encounter them at all."

"Oh, I see. Oh, please give it a try."

Yanami didn't know what else to say, so she could only let them taste it.

"tasty!"

"What a wonderful taste!"

Hyacinth and daisy were the first to taste it, and after seeing them eat it, sunflower also put the jerky in its mouth.

"Hmm... this spice scent, could it be from the ones we traded with?"

"Yes, I treated it with those spices."

"It's delicious, and the winged serpent dragon's meat seems to taste different from that of ordinary monsters. Thank you."

"Please don't be shy, enjoy it if you like."

Yanami placed some dried meat on the table and mixed it with the other snacks.

"I've brought the materials and related records, Himawari-sama."

"Okay, thank you."

When we were sharing the dried meat earlier, my assistant, Dandelion, left temporarily. When she came back, she was holding a book, or rather, a booklet.

"I'm sorry, we haven't dealt with any materials related to the Pteranodon for a long time. As for the trade, I'm not sure about its value or use, so I can only refer to previous records for now."

Sunflower took the materials from Dandelion and then apologized to Yanami.

"No, I appreciate your consideration for me."

Thank you for your understanding.

The materials had already been prepared in advance by the assistant, Dandelion, so Sunflower started looking at them as soon as she received them.

Sunflower carefully flipped through the pages, while Yanami waited and picked up a cookie from the table to nibble on.

Observing the sunflower's expression, as time went by, her expression gradually changed, from initial calm to more joy and surprise.

"I see, petrification... I think I understand now, Miss Yanami."

After reciting a couple of lines, Sunflower seemed to have finished reading the material, then looked up at Yanami with a smile.

"Your things are very valuable to us."

That's wonderful.

("Yana, ask her if we can see that booklet too.")

("Okay.")

"So, if we're going to make a deal—"

"However, regarding the use of these materials... could I also take a look? I'm quite interested."

Before Sunflower could finish speaking, Yanami quickly added.

Sunflower's smile dipped slightly, hesitated for a moment, then smiled again.

"Of course, please see, this archive contains information about these materials."

After saying that, Himawari flipped back a few pages of the material record and handed it to Yanami, but she did not show Yanami the other related records.

"grateful."