The next day, we stood outside the city walls of Aingurna.
"It’s so huge!"
Finally, a place where I can run to my heart's content!
A vast prairie stretched out before us. Apparently, if we kept heading across these grasslands, we would eventually find the stairs leading down to the Second Floor, but there wasn't so much as a shadow of them within our current field of vision.
"I heard the stairs to the lower levels are about half a day’s walk from here. This floor is incredibly expansive," Lowell informed us. He had picked up that bit of intel from another adventurer at the inn last night.
"That big, huh? Exploring this place is going to take a while."
"Yeah. And apparently, the scale doesn't change much as you go down. If we want to reach the 31st Floor—the deepest reached floor so far—it would take at least ten days if we hurried. If we moved at a more sustainable pace to avoid exhaustion, it would likely take over two weeks."
"That long?!"
That was a lot more daunting than I’d imagined. Then again, the deepest floors were places where even A-Rank adventurers struggled, so it was far too early for us to be thinking about that anyway. Nevertheless, I wanted to get my hands on magic stones from C-Rank monsters or higher to craft Status Enhancement Potions. To do that, we’d eventually have to descend quite a bit. It looked like we were going to need some proper camping gear.
However, our goal for today wasn't dungeon exploration. We had taken on an F-Rank request to help Spira raise her rank. The client was a field manager who looked after the farms along the city walls. I had wondered if farming was even possible inside a dungeon, but crops apparently grew here without any issues. Of course, you couldn't exactly till the soil in a labyrinth-type dungeon, so this was a luxury exclusive to the terrain-generation type.
Since most of the Kingdom of Sazantgurna consisted of barren wasteland, the land was generally unsuitable for cultivation. This meant that food had to be secured from within the dungeons. Fortunately, meat was easy enough to come by through monster drops, but vegetables were a different story. While some produce was imported, a significant portion of the city's food supply was grown right here in the dungeon.
Eventually, keeping the gently curving city wall on our right, we came across the fields. This entire side of the city seemed to be dedicated to farming; providing food for an entire city required a massive amount of land.
At the very first field, an old man with a hunched back sat on a stone stool. He was likely our client.
"Um, we're here about the request," I called out.
"Oh, is that so? Much appreciated."
After a brief exchange, we got to work. Since it was an F-Rank job, the task was simple: we just had to exterminate any slimes that popped up while making sure not to damage the crops.
I had initially assumed the slimes were eating the crops, but that wasn't actually the case. Generally, dungeon monsters weren't thought to require food at all. While they might occasionally crush a few plants while moving around, they didn't actively target them for sustenance.
The reason they had to be removed was that slimes in Aingurna would eventually adapt to their environment or merge with one another to become a "Strong Individual" if left alone. A freshly spawned slime was easy enough for even a child to defeat, but an evolved or giant one was a different story entirely. Since it would be a disaster if a farmer were attacked by such a creature while working, rookie adventurers were regularly hired to keep the population in check.
The city walls were also built as a defense against these Strong Individuals. Inside the city, any monster that appeared was killed almost instantly, so there was no danger. However, in places like the farmlands where people were more spread out, Strong Individuals appeared from time to time. An adult could handle one if they stayed alert, but they were more than a child could manage.
"Ah, I found one!"
"Wait, it’s inside the field. We can’t attack it there."
Halfa and Spira had found a slime right away and were currently debating how to handle it. Finding one in the middle of the crops was a bit of a pain. In the end, the two decided to simply pick the slime up and carry it out of the field. The creature was about the size of a small watermelon, so even the girls could lift it without much effort. Halfa, being an adventurer, picked it up with ease and carefully stepped out of the field, making sure not to trample the plants before setting it down. The slime wobbled and squirmed in her arms, but it was otherwise helpless. Watching it struggle so feebly made me feel a little sorry for the thing.
A newly spawned Normal Slime was barely capable of anything more than trying to press its weight against you. There was a slight risk of suffocation if one managed to stick to your face while you were lying down, but otherwise, they were completely harmless.
"It's kind of cute, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it’s so squishy!"
All that was left was to kill it, but Halfa and Spira were too busy poking at it. I could see why they thought it was cute—when something is this non-aggressive, it almost triggers a protective instinct. Still, we couldn't just stand there forever. It would be trouble if they actually started getting attached to the little pests.
"You two, this is a job. You need to finish it properly."
"Oh, right!"
"I feel a little bad, but it can't be helped..."
Spira held her palm out toward the slime. Without warning, a wooden branch sprouted from the ground and pierced the creature. The strike was more than enough; the slime's wobbly, semi-transparent body vanished in an instant. The branch she had created shriveled up and disappeared as well, leaving no trace behind.
"It didn't drop anything."
"Too bad."
Slimes must have had a low drop rate, as it hadn't even left a magic stone. Well, that was to be expected from such a weak monster. Still, our minimum quota was to turn in five Slime Magic Stones, so they had to drop eventually.
"Exterminating them shouldn't be a problem. Let's split up and get to work."
"Just make sure you don't wander too far," Lowell added. "If you find anything other than a normal species, give us a shout just in case."
"Got it, big brother!"
"Alright, I'm going to take down a ton of them!"
Okay, it’s a race! Tort, you're in too!
"Wait, me too? Well, fine. Just make sure you don't bother the people working in the fields."
Time to get to work.
Race or not, if I defeated enough of them, a treasure chest might actually show up!
I was going to give it my all.