""Take that!""
On the twenty-first floor, Allen and Elena charged straight at the orc that appeared and unleashed flying kicks.
"I'm next~"
"Me too~"
Following after the children, Vector and Joule slammed into the orc with all their might and knocked it down.
""Wow~ so many are coming~""
(It's a whole group~)
(Drop lots of meat~)
Even when a group of orcs appeared, they charged in without hesitation.
(When it's a group, Oniisama told them they're supposed to thin the numbers with magic first, though~)
(They probably just prefer physical attacks.)
(…They're jumping out on reflex.)
(Radian wants to join too~)
Feat, Bolt, Mile, and Radian watched the close-combat group with exasperated looks.
Yeah… I'm always telling them to reduce the numbers with magic first, but it immediately turns into a melee-focused fight… What should I do about that?
"Ah, more are coming!"
"We'll be right back!"
Today, the two kids and the two beasts keep taking down the monsters one after another as they appear.
"Just a walk… yeah, this really is a walk."
"I wondered what you meant… but it really is a walk."
After experiencing the path up to this point, Rudolph-san and Natally-san finally seemed to understand what I meant.
"There's so much meat~"
"And some hides and horns too~"
The children returned in high spirits, holding loot, and presenting a large pile of loot.
"Ah~ Rudolph-san, Natally-san, about the loot… please take as much as you like."
"Hey now… what are you saying?"
"That's right. I don't think it's right for us, who did nothing, to take the spoils the kids earned."
Realizing we hadn't decided how to divide the drops, I told Rudolph-san and Natally-san to secure what they needed, but both of them looked at me in disbelief.
"No, but—"
""We're going!""
It seems more orcs appeared, and Allen and Elena immediately dash off again.
"I mean, you know? If I say something, they'll stop a little… but only a little. At this rate, there's a real chance that Rudolph-san and Natally-san won't get much of a turn at all, it'll basically just be a walk, and we'll end with only a small harvest."
""...""
Watching the kids run off energetically, Rudolph-san and Natally-san fall silent.
If we said we wanted to fight too, they'd probably give us one or two turns, but after that the kids would dominate everything. And that would mean Natally-san, who came to secure meat, wouldn't get what he needed.
"Well, I don't really mind even if I don't earn anything…"
"Same here."
Both of them are A-rank, so they probably have plenty of savings.
"Still… I do want some meat."
"Of course, please make sure you get it. If you don't hold back, it actually puts my mind at ease~ Really!"
""Haaah…""
Rudolph-san and Natally-san let out deep sighs. I guess they've accepted it?
(I'm next~)
Even while we're talking about distribution, the two kids and two beasts kept defeating monsters one after another.
(Niichan, Niichan, open this up!)
"Hm? This?"
Vector came back after picking up loot and told me to open the bundle with meat inside, so I did, but it wasn't just an ordinary chunk of orc meat.
"That's a nice chunk of meat."
(Uuugh~~~ so it really isn't minced meat~)
"Oh, were you aiming for minced meat, Vector?"
(Yeah! Because I wanna eat the hamburger Niichan makes!)
In the Large Animals Dungeon, we learned that if you utterly obliterate a monster without leaving a trace, minced meat appears as loot. So Vector was probably aiming for that when he attacked.
"Takumi, have you ever had minced meat drop as a loot?"
Natally-san, being a cook, immediately latched onto the topic of minced meat drops.
"It was from the upper-floors monsters, but I have an acquaintance who pulverized them with excessive force until nothing was left, and the loot turned out to be minced meat."
"Hoh~"
"I haven't done thorough testing, but when we had him repeat the same attack a few times as a trial, it really did turn into minced meat each time. But since that acquaintance has far more attack power than we do, maybe that's why, no matter how much we tried, we couldn't do it ourselves."
So far, only Kaiser has succeeded.
I thought Vector had been able to pulverize upper-floor monsters like Kaiser… but maybe there's some other factor besides raw power?
"Ohh~ That sounds like an interesting phenomenon. Mind if I try it too?"
"Go ahead. Please try."
"Still… it sounds like it won't work on this floor. I'll try it on the upper floors next time."
I don't know how strong Natally-san's strongest attack is, but he's someone who's spent years in battle. He might actually manage to get minced meat as a drop.
"Oh, and I want to eat the hamburger Takumi makes too."
"Yeah, me too!"
Once the minced meat discussion ended, it shifted to hamburgers.
It seems Natally-san and Rudolph-san had been listening closely to Vector's request.
"Ah~ I do have some pre-made… all right, then let's have hamburgers for lunch."
(Yay~ Lunch is hamburgers~)
""Hamburgers?""
"Allen wants some too!"
"Elena too!"
At some point, Allen and Elena had returned carrying a huge pile of loot, and now they were sparkling with excitement in agreement.
"Do we need more meat?"
"Oh, an orc! I'll go get it!"
(The hamburger ingredients are here~)
"No, no, it's pre-made, okay!"
After handing over the loot they were carrying, the kids dashed off again toward the newly appeared orcs. I'm not planning to make hamburgers out of orc meat, though.
"Takumi, looks like you're going to end up with a ton of orc meat."
"Yeah~ Well… that's how it usually goes~"
And that's how the stock in Infinite Storage increases!
(Oniichan, can you make hamburgers from orc meat?)
"Hm? Yeah, it's possible."
The hamburgers I make are usually all beef, or a beef-and-pork blend, but it's possible to make them with pork alone.
(Hamburgers made with orc meat sound delicious too. Oniisama, I'd like to try them sometime.)
(Oniichan, me too)
(I want to eat them as well!"
(Of course, I do too!)
(Radian too~)
"Not today. Next time, okay, next time."
(Of course, next time is fine. So please promise.)
"Got it."
I'll have the cooks at the Ruven household help me next time and make a large batch of orc meat hamburgers. Different flavors for the Ruven family's meals and pre-made stock… and maybe some minced cutlets too, to use up the orc meat. With that decided, I made up my mind.