Chapter 23: The Sange Fruit

The next day, Dennis led Amelia and the others towards the labyrinth.

“Did you study the characters yesterday?”

“Yes, Amelia taught me ten characters.” 

It seemed that Jasmine had stopped using the honorific “young lady” when addressing Amelia. Perhaps Amelia herself had asked her to do so. Dennis nodded upon hearing Jasmine’s response.

“What about the practice of Mana Art?” 

“We did it properly. we’ve become faster at running,” 

“Good. Today, we’ll descend to the second floor and defeat the poisonous bats.” Dennis declared.

Amelia and the others responded eagerly with joyful replies.

If he could develop these girls into accomplished labyrinth explorers, anyone in the territory could become one as well. These explorers would be the ones to bring prosperity to the Beneshof territory in the future.

However, it would take time for profits to increase from the sixth floor. Before that, they needed to verify if they could extract oil from the Sange fruit.

“Do you guys know about the Sange fruit?” 

“We know.” 

“We went to collect the fruit last year.” Finne cheerfully replied.

“Oh, what happened to those fruits?”

“I think they’re still at home.”

“Could I have some of those fruits?”

“Sure.”

Dennis had been thinking about how to collect the Sange fruits, as he wanted to investigate if it was truly possible to extract Sange oil from them. Harvesting the fruits would only be possible in about a month. 

But he wanted to make sure of it before that time came.

They arrived at the labyrinth and bypassed the first floor, heading towards the second floor.

“The poisonous bats on this floor move swiftly. Use ‘Magic Energy’ to enhance your physical abilities and take them down.” 

Amelia and the others responded with strength while gripping their Nail Rods tightly.

Later on, the battle with the poisonous bats commenced, which for the girls also served as training in controlling their magic energy. The bats had low defense, making them easy to defeat. However, due to their swift movements, precise hits required both explosive power and keen observation of the enemy’s actions.

Fighting the poisonous bats proved effective in honing their dynamic visual acuity, despite occasionally getting scratched or bitten. With Dennis providing support, the girls never suffered significant damage.

“Iya~~!” “Horya~~!” “Sha~~!”

While watching the three girls fight vigorously, Dennis contemplated how best to cultivate them. Finne possessed both strength and agility, making her suitable for a vanguard role.

Surprisingly, Amelia was also quite strong. It would be ideal for her to deliver decisive blows from a middle guard position with a powerful weapon. Jasmine had excellent eyesight and strong mental fortitude, making her a good candidate for long-range attacks using Mana Arts or a bow from the rear guard.

For a while, Amelia and the others repeated the cycle of battling and resting against the poisonous bats. Fighting, taking breaks, and then fighting again. After repeating this process three times every other day, Amelia and the others acquired the True Name of “Ultrasonic Wave”.

However, the girls, who couldn’t control magic essence also couldn’t form the Quaking Blade.

Today was a day off from their labyrinth exploration for Amelia and the others. Dennis went out to the garden with the Sange fruits he had received from Finne. The Sange fruits, packed in a burlap sack, weighed about a kilogram.

He began steaming the well-dried fruits in a modified steamer made from a barrel. Amelia and the two others gathered around when they saw what he was doing.

“Big brother Dennis, what are you doing?” 

“I’m trying to make oil from the Sange fruits Finne gave me.”

“Eh, you can get oil from them?” Finne was surprised.

“Yeah, there’s oil inside the seeds.” 

Ideally, the steamed fruits should be left to sit for a full day and night, but this time he skipped that step and waited for them to cool down before placing them on a mortar and grinding them finely with a pestle.

He wrapped the crushed mixture in a hemp cloth and put it into a small barrel. Then he placed flat stones on top, stacking larger stones on them. With each layer of stones, oil seeped out of the cloth and collected in the barrel.

Amelia and the others watched intently around the barrel.

“Is that oil coming out of the cloth?” 

Dennis nodded in response.

“Really?”

Finne seemed skeptical. Dennis scooped up the collected oil from the barrel using a spoon and carefully poured it into a small porcelain bottle. He fashioned a wick out of a used piece of paper, twisted it, and placed it inside the bottle. After ensuring that the liquid was absorbed by the wick, he ignited it.

Despite the fact that it should not have burned if it were just water, the wick absorbed the oil and ignited, creating a flickering flame.

“It’s truly oil. It’s burning.” Jasmine exclaimed, gazing at the growing flames in awe.

“Hey, big brother Dennis, if making oil is so simple, why don’t others do it?”

“Perhaps they simply didn’t know.”

Although he said that, Dennis believed that the Sange grove was planted by humans. Before the Briones family inherited the Beneshof territory, the Orbeneshof family ruled over it.

About eighty years ago, the Orbeneshof family was overthrown on charges of treason, and the Briones family took over according to the historical records.

It appeared that the Sange trees were planted during the time of the Orbeneshof family. Naturally, they would have known how to produce Sange oil.

The knowledge of the Sange oil production method had not been passed down to the Briones family. As a result, the Sange grove was neglected, and its fruits seemed to serve as food for field mice.

Dennis retrieved the wick from the porcelain bottle and tossed it to the ground, extinguishing the flame. He then gathered all the remaining oil from the barrel and transferred it into the small bottles before tidying up.

The extracted oil appeared to contain impurities. Further processing, such as heating sterilization and filtration, was necessary. However, since he acked the required tools, Dennis decided to end the process for the day.

Discovering that oil could be extracted from the Sange fruits was satisfying enough for Dennis.

Around noon that day, a message arrived from the central city of Cliff. It was news that Jerg, Elise’s father, had fallen seriously ill.

Egmont hurriedly made preparations for the journey, and the group set off towards Cliff. The party consisted of Egmont, Dennis, Amelia, and Elma.

They crossed the Yusla River and made their way to the highway connecting Cliff and Barras, traveling by boat. This road had been developed by Marquis Cliffbard who ensured its proper maintenance.

The road they were traveling on was the route that the Marquis took to reach the royal capital, and it also served as a transportation route between the capital and Cliff. There were many carriages traveling back and forth, and the road was bustling with travelers. Amelia was filled with excitement as it was her first journey.

She looked around curiously and exclaimed whenever a carriage passed by, wondering what goods were being transported.

“Don’t get too excited. Your grandfather is gravely ill.” 

“I’m sorry.”

They spent a night in a small village along the way and arrived in Cliff the next afternoon. Jerg’s mansion was located in the heart of the city. It was a two-story brick building, even more impressive than the Briones family mansion.

They rang the doorbell at the gate, and a man who seemed to be a servant appeared and let them in.

“Jose, it’s been a while.” Egmont greeted.

“It’s good to see you in good health, Sir Egmont.” 

Jose, who was a middle-aged servant led them to Elise’s room. Inside, a woman with the same amber-colored eyes as Dennis was gently cradling a three-year-old girl.

“Oh, dear, you came. My father seems to be in a very bad condition.” 

Amelia popped her head out from behind Egmont and caught sight of Elise’s face before rushing into her embrace.

“Well, well, Amelia. Haven’t you grown a little?”

 Elise scooped up Amelia in her arms, while Dennis lifted his other sister, Margarete.

“Big bwutha~~!” 

Little Margarete, who was affectionally called Margot by the family, giggled happily while playfully tapping Dennis’ cheek with her tiny hand.

“That’s right, it’s your big brother, Dennis, Margot” 

Egmont inquired about the condition of his father-in-law, Jerg.

“As I mentioned in the letter, father’s strength is dwindling.” Elise replied.

“Isn’t there any treatment available?” Egmont asked.

“Father’s illness is caused by a parasitic creature called the Sylvic worm that infests the intestines. The physicians have investigated and discovered that the Dryad fruit, dropped by the Dryads in the Shadow Forest Labyrinth, can serve as a medicine for this disease.” Elise explained.

“Then, let’s just buy those Dryad fruits…”

“No, it’s not possible. It seems that all the Dryad fruits harvested this year have already been sold.”

“Did you ask any labyrinth explorers for help?”

“I hired three different parties to go and retrieve them, but… they were unsuccessful.”

Dennis who heard the entire conversation spoke up, “I’ll go to the Shadow Forest Labyrinth.”

“No, it’s too dangerous,” 

Elise objected. Nonetheless, Dennis asked for the section where the Dryads resided. The Shadow Forest Labyrinth was divided into sections instead of floors, each with a different level of difficulty.

“They told me that it was in the seventh section.”