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「I have to say I applaud their dedication though. They’re living in this world filled with fantasy and magic, and yet they choose to forego it simply to improve the lives of others.」

Mira muttered with admiration as she looked at the map with the location of the research institute marked. While the world could be dangerous, it also held various wonders. She had experienced that first hand during all her adventures, so she was impressed by the people who chose to do research instead of going out and exploring.

But she was likely giving them too much credit.

「I think you’re overthinking that a little. They just like to research stuff more than adventures. Though they’ve always been like that, otherwise they wouldn’t have become famous as the best blacksmiths or other artisans. In a way I feel like they’re having even more fun than you, Elder.」

Mira felt bad for them, having to seclude themselves in remote locations so their inventions would not fall in the wrong hands. But Soul Howl had been there, and he did not feel like they were unhappy at all.

「I guess some of them also can’t let go of their previous lives. They’re researching things like air conditioners that work with Magic Stones, or even television and cameras. They’re curious to see what kind of shows a fantasy world would produce.」
「Air conditioners and television… yes, those are indispensable.」

Japan had made various technological advances on top of their infrastructure. There were many researchers who wanted to recreate that in this world, according to Soul Howl. Mira also felt like that was a commendable motivation, before sulking because she was reminded of that show she was watching and never got to see the end of.

「Anyway, I think that’s all we had to do down here, so should we go back to the surface now?」

As their conversation winded down, Soul Howl suggested they go back. 「Right, we should do that,」 Mira replied and began walking away, but then Soul Howl called out to her again.

「By the way, Elder. You aren’t going to collect any of this?」
「Hm? What are you talking about?」

Mira turned around and saw Soul Howl was pointing at the pieces of scrap metal left from Machina Guardian. She had already scavenged through them, taking all its weapons, so she only tilted her head, not understanding what Soul Howl was trying to get at, so he just hummed to himself for a bit.

「So you didn’t think about that. Look at all this metal, it’s far more sturdy than steel, and lighter than mithril. Don’t you think it could be used as raw materials for a lot of things? And there’s so much of it too, it feels like a waste to just leave it behind.」

Soul Howl picked up one of the twisted pieces of metal that was lying on the ground near him, and after giving it a few turns in his hand while examining it, he threw it at Mira.

The piece of scrap drew an arc in the air before landing in Mira’s hand, where she looked at it intently for a while, then shouted 「I see, you’re right!」 acting like a major revelation had just presented itself to her as she looked at the remaining scrap.

「I can’t believe I was so distracted thinking only of the Eye of Apollo…」

Either she was still thinking of this as a game sometimes, or she was simply so entranced by obtaining one of the best materials ever, that the remainder of Machina Guardian had simply slipped out of her mind as that was not included in the list of drops.

It was impossible to obtain any of it during the game, but now that this was reality, it was possible to use all of Machina Guardian as metallic material.

「It might be a really good souvenir for Solomon!」

Someone leading a country could always use a large supply of metal, whether for construction or to build weapons. It would help with experimental weapons made with Magic Engineering too, like the Accord Cannon she had seen. Though simple weapons also would benefit.

「Sorry Sowl Howl, give me a minute to gather everything!」

Mira went and started putting the pieces of armor and machinery of Machina Guardian into her Item Box. But some were too big to fit inside the Item Box, so instead she summoned a Dark Knight which swung the Holy Sword Sanctia and split the pieces into more manageable ones.

Machina Guardian had never dropped that metal before, so she did not know exactly what it was going to be. Mira would have to get it examined before it could be put to use.

But even if it could not be used right away, there was a large quantity of it. If she gave it to Solomon, he would likely figure out what to do with it. Thinking that, she gathered every piece she could find.

「Let me help you a bit then.」

The country’s government could likely put that immense amount of metal to good use. Soul Howl also felt like it could be a good gift for Solomon, so he began helping Mira with collecting it.

Though he did not head to Machina Guardian, but to the remains of the Mechanical Protectors. Those could also be used as good materials.

「These are looking pretty good too.」

After checking the state of the remains, Soul Howl created a few golems that rounded up all the Protectors and carried them to Mira. There were a few dozen Protectors, but Soul Howl had no issue making enough golems.

「There’s quite a lot of these too…」

Seeing the pile of Protector remains, Mira climbed on it and continued stashing everything.

「Alright, let’s actually go back now!」

Now that she had stored every last piece of scrap she could find, they left the boss arena, leaving behind only the slashes on the walls. There had been tens of tons of scrap metal, so storing it all took a lot of effort, but Mira looked satisfied once that was done. Her hoarder mind also sighed in relief, since she had been one step away from abandoning such a valuable resource.

「That took longer than I expected…」

Around an hour had passed while she mindlessly stashed the metal. The fact that Soul Howl was still accompanying her showed he was actually rather good natured.

Then they finally left the boss arena together, walked through the scorched corridor, and then took another break to collect the Mechanical Prowler remains.

After a short while, they were back at the door closest to the boss arena.

The door did not have a knob, and did not even stand out a lot from the wall. There was simply one slit on one side.

Soul Howl took out a card from his Item Box, which he slid into the slit, which began to glow and spread to the height of the door, and then the door opened silently.

The moment he stepped through the gate, it quickly shut behind him. It was built to only let one person through at a time.

「Now that I think about it, this place also feels really sci-fi.」

Mira looked at the door operate as she muttered that, then took out her own card. That was an authorization key to unlock the security measures of important locations of the seventh floor. Obtaining it was a complicated process, but Mira had obviously gone through it in the past.

She pushed the card into the slit as well and began to ponder, realizing how much this resembled some fancy research facility as well.

There was a small room on the other side. There were various devices lined up there, and a long tube connected to the surface through the ceiling was in the center. A capsule for one person to fit in was at the bottom of the tube, as if inviting everyone to enter.

「See you in five minutes then.」

That tube and capsule were the means to leave the dungeon. The trip outside took the strangely long time of five minutes, likely because they were really deep underground. Soul Howl’s voice sounded slightly ironic as he climbed inside.