After completing the gunpowder and bullets, it was already afternoon, so I headed straight to the dungeon to check if they were actually useful.
"I should make food before going..."
...I was about to head out.
"Sigh... I should have bought ingredients on the way back earlier."
I hurried to finish cooking, but sadly, there weren't many ingredients left in the storage.
"This bacon and sausage are still here... Other than that, various spices, potatoes, mushrooms, and..."
Hmm... Upon closer look, there were ingredients, but mostly vegetables and greens left.
"...Are Senior and God eating them secretly without me knowing?"
Since I always cooked considering the leftover ingredients, it was strange that only vegetables were left.
"Sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, eggplants... Quite a variety left."
As I looked around at the leftover ingredients, I suddenly craved fried food.
"...Should I make vegetable tempura?"
Fortunately, there were various types of vegetables. For me, who ended up in this world, I missed nostalgic foods like tteokbokki, sundae, and assorted fried snacks.
"Tteokbokki and sundae are impossible, but... I can make fried snacks."
After thinking that, I quickly gathered all kinds of vegetables and headed to the kitchen.
"These don't need much explanation."
I said that, but as always, I muttered the process while completing the cooking.
"Oh..."
"There are so many varieties."
Seeing the various fried dishes like egg tempura, sweet potato tempura, lotus root tempura, vegetable tempura, onion rings, and fried chicken that you'd see at a snack bar, Naza and Miach-sama's eyes were filled with anticipation.
"Strangely, there were a lot of vegetables left, so I made a variety to use them up."
As soon as I finished speaking, God and Naza started eating the fried food.
"Ooh... This fried chicken is tastier than it looks...?"
"I like this lotus root tempura and vegetable tempura."
As they say, even shoes taste good when fried, so it was natural that the fried food was well-received.
"I'm glad you like it."
Of course, since I was eating home? food after a long time, I felt good too.
"I'll just test how far it works and come back."
After finishing the meal, I put on my slightly tattered armor, holstered the Thompson Contender in a hastily made holster, and prepared to head to the dungeon with 30 bullets made from regular gunpowder, 10 bullets with fire stones, spare gunpowder, and primers in a sling bag.
"Look at you, not taking potions again... I put a few potions in this potion pouch, so take it and come back not too late after having some fun..."
"Haha... I'm not sure if going to the dungeon is called having fun, but since your armor isn't in great condition, don't overexert yourself."
"Yes."
With that, I headed to the dungeon.
"...Bell?"
"Ah, Kai-san!!"
"...Who?"
On the 7th floor, I met Bell and a prum supporter carrying a backpack several times larger than himself.
'I think her name was Lili? The one who steals...'
Unlike other characters I've seen so far, her features were so distinct that I recognized her immediately this time.
"A supporter... Certainly, it's more efficient than going solo, so not a bad choice."
By the way, since the last part I saw was where the protagonist Bell fought and defeated a Minotaur, I knew this supporter quite well.
"Haha, I'm feeling that right now too."
Since Lili noticed me glancing at her for a brief moment and subtly stepped back, starting to be wary, I immediately made way.
"...Then I'll go ahead first, so good luck."
"But Kai-san, what brings you to the dungeon at this time?"
This guy Bell, as expected of a harem manga protagonist, sometimes loses all sense of tact.
"Ah... I just finished making a weapon, so I came to test it in the dungeon this time."
"What?! Kai-san, are you an item maker?!!"
I think I heard that this morning too...
"Well... I'm not at the level to be called a maker, just making things as a hobby."
Saying that, I subtly showed the gun holstered and started walking forward again.
"...Why are you following me?"
Bell started openly following me.
"W-well, we were also heading further in."
"Ah... Is that so?"
Since it came to this, I thought it might be a good opportunity to show Bell how I fight, so I was pondering for a moment.
"...From your conversation, you seem to be acquaintances, but since Bell-sama came first to hunt, wouldn't it be better to yield this time?"
Lili made the first move.
"Hmm... I'm not here to hunt, but to test how far my new weapon works, so it doesn't really matter..."
"Ah! If that's the case, why don't you hunt together!"
'Please, look at the supporter's expression beside you and say that...'
I ignored the still-wary supporter's gaze and joined the party.
"By the way, I have a mental illness where I charge at monsters to kill them as soon as I see them, so be careful."
""...Huh?""
As soon as I spotted a group of Killer Ants, I charged at them like a bloodthirsty mad dog as always.
.
.
.
Liliruca Arde's mouth dropped open at the one-sided slaughter happening before her eyes.
"...Bell-sama."
"Y-yes? What is it, Lili?"
"Kai...san, was it? What exactly does he do? Is he from some upper-tier combat Familia?"
Normally, strong adventurers from the start become somewhat known through word of mouth, so even if you're not interested, you end up hearing about them.
"Uh... He's from a small recovery-item shop operating Familia, though?"
But she had never heard of this Level 1 black-haired adventurer who was casually hunting Killer Ants, Purple Moths, and Needle Rabbits.
"That can't beㄱ...?!!"
'Bang!!!'
Moreover, what kind of weapon is that which effortlessly pierces the exoskeleton of Killer Ants, hard for novice adventurers to penetrate, and even goes through the head of a Needle Rabbit behind it?
"Wow... That must be the new weapon he mentioned earlier. It's pretty loud..."
And above all,
"...Does he have some berserk magic or something?"
He did mention having a mental illness before fighting, but to me, it seemed like something beyond mental illness.
"N-no, I don't think he has any..."
Since Bell had just seen him fight, he could notice something strange in the way Kai fought.
"...Could it be that he doesn't feel pain?"
The way he fought seemed to premise injury... as if he thought losing a limb or two was no problem?
"Kyeek!!!!"
"Go eat your friend!!!"
Even now, blocking a Killer Ant's attack with the armor on his arm and redirecting it towards another monster felt like... a gambler betting his life as stakes.
'...Or maybe he's just insane.'
"So you can redirect attacks like that. I should take note for later."
"No, no! Normally, if you redirect an attack like that, your arm would break, so Bell-sama, please don't follow his example... Whoa?! Be, Bell-sama, from here, from the wall, comi..."
'Bang!!!'
"...It died before it could come out."
Watching these two, I even started to wonder if the adventurers I'd seen so far were weak.
.
.
.
After the fight ended somehow, I collected the spent bullet casings on the floor and the bullet heads embedded in the wall.
"Having Liliruca-san here makes fighting more relaxed."
"Hmm... Certainly, since she moved the monster corpses, I didn't have to worry about them, so it was easier to move."
While collecting bullet heads from the wall, Bell talked to me, so I wasn't bored.
"I never imagined that having one supporter would make combat this much easier."
"She seems around our age, but from her skills, it seems like she's been a supporter for a long ti... Huh? One bullet head is missing."
While having a trivial conversation with Bell, I slowly approached a monster corpse that Lili was dismantling, which had traces of being hit by my bullet.
"Wait a moment..."
I pulled out the bullet head embedded right under the horn of a Needle Rabbit and checked if it had changed.
"Hmm... Since it's the same Killer Ant, it didn't get blunt or broken..."
"...What is that?"
"Um... It's a trade secret, so I can't tell you."
After collecting all the bullet heads and casings, I told Bell I'd go ahead and exited the dungeon along the way I came.
"There are still some vegetables left, so I'll skip those and buy eggs, milk, and some meat."
I immediately went to the market and bought the lacking ingredients.
"If we eat the meat for dinner today, it should last for about three days."
While heading home with hands full of groceries, I heard a familiar voice from somewhere and looked over.
"Huh? Kai-san, are you also shopping?"
"You are..."
Syru and Runoar were standing there.
"...Please go easy on me today."
"Aww~ You're no fun. We're not kidnappers or anything."
"...Ahem."