LDM 498 – Unexpected pitfalls.

In addition, the Orichalcum Golem was easier to use with claws growing out of the back of the hand than with a sword for an arm. It had wrists and fingers that could be fine-tuned too.

However, it made me appear wiggly. Niku said, I looked like orichalcum slime.

Anyway, we’re done with that experiment, so let’s transform back to myself. Oh yeah, now that my [Super Transformation] is at lv6, I only need to prepare a change of clothes and transformed into “me”–

 –Then I woke up while lying naked on the ground, and beside me, Rokuko was holding my clothes…

“Eh!? Wh-what happened?”

“Oh, you’re awake, Kehma. Don’t you know you were dead and naked? …Or should I say you’re dead naked?”

“e?”

“Look.”

Rokuko pointed at Niku, who was crying and trembling.

“Mashhtha.. is *hic* safhe…*hic*”

“Ye-yeah… Rokuko, what happened? Did I really died?”

“Yes, according to Niku, a piece of the Iron Golem fell out to Kehma’s body and crushed you.”

“eh..? wha…aat?…”

Ugh, somehow I understand the gist of it. It seems that I died once. The cause of death was the sudden shape change, I was then crushed by golem fragments that remained above my body. The Iron Golem fragment floating above my head must have squeezed my brain and destroyed it, killing me instantly.

 And after that, the resurrection effect of [Super Transformation] brought me back to life completely naked.

… Wow, that’s scary. I’d have died for real if I had done what I always do, which is to come back to my real self.

“By the time I got there, you were already naked and asleep, but there was no blood on you.”

“…Niku… I’m sorry… I must had startled you.”

“au… I thought… I thought Mastha is deadddd….”

Niku continues to shed tears. I recalled, this the first time I had see so much reaction on Niku’s face, I gently stroked her head.

I have been loved dearly… Well… I guess it’s partly because she was surprised when she heard something fall and turned around to see me as a freakish corpse.

And by the time Rokuko rushed to the scene after noticing something was wrong, I was naked and lying next to a piece of a golem, with Niku clinging to me and crying; that was presumably what happened here.

At any rate, I use [Cleanse] on her because she is covered in all kinds of stuff, and I tried to put some clothes on, but she won’t let me go.

“Um… Niku, I’m safe, don’t worry.”

“uuu…”

I guess I still need to use [Cleanse] again; a handkerchief won’t be enough for this. I hugged Niku like I always did in her hug pillow duty and patted her back. My clothes get wet with Niku’s tears, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

“It’s a coincidence, but with this, I could envision the result of eating Kehma as candy; you will return intact in the stomach. No, because the golem’s fragments are lying beside you, it’s possible that if you die, you’ll come back outside the stomach.”

“Oi, Oi, I just died, and you’re cool with it, Rokuko?”

“As I said earlier when I came in, there was only (usual) sleeping Kehma – you are naked, though. And you woke up before I could panic.”

So that explains her calmness.

“But if that’s the theory, then I guess we can use the one-inch samurai strategy.”

“One-inch samurai…… Oh, that one? the one from the Beddishm Scripture.”

I’m not sure if I’ve ever written one of these before, but probably I did in newer issues.

“The one where the protagonist gets swallowed whole and kills the ogre from the inside. I think it’s about the lesson of chewing your food well?”

“Oh? Are you going to view it from that side? … I think you could pass it as some warning about parasites in food.”

Also, it’s probably a good idea to transform into one.

“But I can’t transform into an orichalcum golem if I die every time.”

“Eh? Why?”

“eh? …no that’s because… oh, I see.”

Because she was looking at me curiously, I immediately realized what Rokuko wanted to say.

“Next time, I can just transform into an [iron-filled orichalcum golem]? Wow, very convenient use of [Super Transformation].”

“Oh, you mean like that? I thought next time, you can just throw away the extra padding and transform back, or at worst, you can use it once every three days.”

“… Well, anyway, the experiment can only be done after the remaining cooldown has been ended after 72 hours.”

If I die, even accidentally, I can’t be revived. It’s better to do this kind of research when you are fully prepared.

=====================================================

“… Oh, that’s quite an interesting story.”

“Heh, right? So, Mister, as promised…”

“Of course. Here’s the tip.”

“This is what I’m talking about! Hee-ha-ha, now I can gamble again!”

In gambling den at the holy kingdom, on the main street. Narikin, who had been accumulating chips while enjoying a drink, roughly divided three chips (equivalent to three silver coins) with a man who was an informant.

“Um, sir? The information he just gave you didn’t seem to be that useful, did it?”

“Hmm? Is that so?”

“Yeah, I wonder what is useful from a ‘story about a request to find a lost pet’ good for? I think you’ve been drinking too much.”

As pointed out by Naana (Toy), Narikin’s face was indeed red. Even though Narikin is in living armor, he has used his human form for infiltration purposes. Naturally, he had a body that could get drunk.

“But isn’t it interesting that his pet crocodile almost got eaten when it wandered in?”

“Interesting, huh?”

“I had to buy it for a little more than the asking price to null the penalty cost, you know? As a service. Hahaha, it’s not easy being an adventurer. It was his job to find it, so he should have let the client pay for it.”

“Huh. It would be perfect if the client were in on it, and it was a scam.”

“Oh, that’s also funny. Okay, I’ll give Naana a tip too.”

“…Thank you.”

Naana is in a good mood as he talks to Narikin.

Well, her goal is to give the Narikin’s group vacation, so she counts this as a success.

“Speaking of which, this roulette game is a good way to keep the chips flowing. I like it.”

Rokufa is playing roulette – a gambling game that almost the same as its counterparts on Earth – and after watching the dealer throw the ball, she gently placed half of her remaining chips, five, on the number 14.

The number came up… it’s 14, and the chips came back 36 times, totaling 180. The dealer smiles wryly.

“… Madam, normally, you would run out of money if you kept betting on a single number like that. You can bet in a wider range, right?”

“I haven’t run out of chips, so it’s all good.”

Rokufa observed the trajectory of the sphere with her eyes and guessed where it would fall. As an angel race, she had a sharp eye for observation; they usually use it for battle.

Of course, their predictions are not perfect, but they are accurate enough to hit the jackpot every once in five times. Unlike the roulette wheel of Earth, the inside of the roulette wheel did not have a diamond-shaped protrusion, which also made it easier to predict the ball’s trajectory. Her abilities were already in a realm where you could call it future sights.

“The rules are so simple that all you have to do is guess where the ball will fall.”

“I guess we can still play.”

Narikin was smiling when he said he could play because he could work to gather information.

Naana had five cards left and were about to leave when he hit the jackpot. She sighed as she knows that it was still going to be a long day.

… And all the information he’s gathering is nothing. You can find many things that are not related to the secret dungeon that you should be looking for information on, such as a lost yellow handkerchief, rats making a hole in some wall, or the owner of a tool shop having an affair.

Even if I were to report such information to Kehma, he would probably just say, “Oh. Okay.”

“Well, well, my wife has won again! My Goddess of fortune. Now, is there anyone who would like to take advantage of such good fortune? If so, bring me something interesting to entertain my wife with!”

“Sir, me, sir! Buy my story!”

“No, buy my story!”

Ha-ha-ha, Line up then! Come on, you all, talk.

If Rokufa had simply continuously made money at roulette, she would have been already banned. However, since Narikin was using it in a reckless way to spread the chips around, the store had no particular say in the matter, and a perfect balance was established.

Each customer would spend the tips that the Narikin spread out without hesitation, and they would splurge even more carried away by the momentum of their spending, which in fact helped to boost the sales of the store.

Narikin himself generously distributes at least 25 silver coins per day. …They lamented after returning to the inn that they had failed to meet their quota again.

“Well, isn’t this okay? Let’s do it slowly because we are on vacation. Oh, excuse me. Fruit, please.”

Naana paid the boy on the floor the tip she had just received and took a piece of fruit that looked like a grape. She popped it into her mouth and quenched her thirst with the sweetness and its juice.

TL notes:

Still on the stages of wait and see. If Ziru continue this, then you all know the answer.

ah btw, I also looking for my next project. if you had any abandoned/new WN ideas, go ahead.