/
Chapter 239: Stamping the Holy Stamp
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou and Onionpi
Please read this at kitchennovel dot com
Finally, we’re on the 9th Floor.
This would be my first encounter with the Undead.
“Alright people, getting through the Undead Floor is all about speed and efficiency. Try not to get attacked, dodge as much as you can and head straight for the boss’ room,” said Elland-san solemnly.
“Excuse me,” I said, “I plan to fight the Undead.”
[6] “What?!” Elland-san was understandably shocked.
“Ahem, you see, I have this thing…” I took out the Holy Stamp and showed it to Elland-san. “This is called the Holy Stamp. It’s like… an enhanced version of the Holy Seal from that church.”
Elland-san’s eyes were round with surprise, “Where did you get such a thing?!”
“Ahahaha,” I can’t tell him that the Seal at the Church was just a duplicate of the real thing kept in the main temple of the Church of Ruvanov. That people actually paid loads of money for limited usage of the fake thing… [5]
“Anyway, since I have this. Let’s make full use of it!” I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear his questions. “The effect is similar to the one from the church, just a bit stronger. All we have to do is stamp our weapons to imbue it with Holy Power and it could destroy Undead Monsters.”
[6] “Th- that’s incredible,” Elland-san couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the Stamp. “How many times can you use the weapon before having to replenish the Holy Magic?”
“Er, from what I heard, the Stamp lasts for a day?” It’s something that’s personally made by the gods themselves. So, I guess it’s kind of incredible.
[6] “A day? A whole day?! That’s- where did you-” Elland-san looked like he really wanted to know.
Augh, your face is too close, too close!
“A whole day of unlimited usage?!”
“P-please calm down,” I tried to edge away, but he followed me. [6] It was not quite a kabedon, so I was able to slip away and put some space between us.
[8] [6] “How can I possibly be calm?! That thing,” his eyes zeroed in on the Stamp, he was breathing really hard now, “Could imbue Holy Power onto weapons that last for a whole day. A whole day! Holy Power that’s super effective against Undead for a whole day and all you have to do is stamp it!”
Well, it was made by the Gods themselves after all. I had no choice but to use it to level up myself quickly. If you have any complaints about its effectiveness, please direct them towards the Gods.
[8] “This means anything could be made into a weapon against the Undead! Anything! This is on par with National Treasures in terms of rarity. Above that even!! Wait…” his piercing eyes appeared very scary. “Anything…?” He grabbed me by the shoulders. “Anything? Like… a Fenrir?” His eyes started to burn, “or Elves?”
[6] “… theoretically! Theoretically! That’s what we’re here to test out!” Please get your face away from my face.
Thankfully, Elland-san finally stepped back and I breathed a sigh of relief. Oh, I should also remind him, “Aah, excuse me, but I’d like to keep this between us…”
“Of course! Just knowing that you own something like a National Treasure in your hand scares me enough! I dare not spread it around!”
[4] “Er, sorry about that…”
“Speaking of which, Mukouda-san…”
[6] “…yes?”
“You have a Fenrir as a familiar, the magic sword Caldbolg and now a Holy Stamp. Just who are you?” [5]
“Wh- what do you mean? I’m just a regular Adventurer…” a perfectly regular salaryman who got caught up in a Summoning Circle, but that’s not something I could say.
“Ordinary? What are you talking about? There’s nothing about you that’s ordinary…” Elland-san’s mutterings eventually became unintelligible.
Well, even if I can’t make him believe that I’m perfectly normal, at least he’s not freaking out anymore, so that’s a plus.
You know what? Let’s distract him with something else. “Hey, Elland-san, let’s use the Holy Stamps and conquer the 9th Floor. Let’s try stamping it on Fer, Sui and Dora-chan as well as our weapons-”
“H- hold it, I’m still processing all this information. I’m going to need another minute to calm down.” [7] Elland-san held up a hand to block my face. “What I need is- is…” his eyes landed on Dora-chan.
“You know what? I think hugging Dora-chan will calm my mind down immediately.” [5]
“Eh?”
[6] ““Ah?”” Dora-chan automatically sensed danger and began to retreat. [5]
“Ah~ Dora-chan~” Elland-san was now chasing after Dora-chan with his arms open wide. “Let me hug you~”
““Geh! I’d been putting up with this guy… I’m not some cheap dragon anyone could touch!””
[6] Dora-chan had flown just out of Elland-san’s reach above his head. Elland-san was now hopping up and waving his arms at Dora-chan. It would have been cute if it was not creepy.
““Stop looking at me in that disgusting way! I will never let such a creepy-ass person touch me, let alone hug me!””
Such a terrible rejection…
If Elland-san could hear you, he’d dissolve into a puddle of dismayed tears.
““Dora-chan, I won’t let him hug you, but could you at least let him touch you a little bit?””
““Geh?!””
““Please? He’s annoying, but he’s still someone with some authority and we might need his help in the future. If only to dismantle dragons for their meat. Just let him touch you a little, I promise to get your favourite pudding for you when we get out of the dungeon.”” [5]
““Tch, I suppose it can’t be helped. Don’t you dare forget about the pudding!””
Obviously reluctant, Dora-chan tucked himself into my arm so that only the smallest bit of his body was exposed.
“Oooohhh!” Elland-san’s hand reached out.
“Elland-san, I’m sorry, but you can’t hug him,” I shrank back with my little burden. “But, um, you can touch his back a bit.”
“Oooohhhh!!!!”
A hand reached out to carefully stroke Dora-chan’s back.
Stroke, stroke.
Elland-san’s stiff face melted into something like happiness. It was kind of disgusting.
Then…
His hand crept towards Dora’s head…
““Not my head!””
“Aah, Elland-san, please don’t touch his head,”
Elland-san made a face, but he withdrew his hand. He kept stroking Dora-chan’s back with a stupid expression, “Mukouda-san, you said I can’t hug Dora-chan, but why are you hugging him?”
“Aa, that is, I have a familiar’s contract with him…” I can’t say that he hates you.
“Gununu, I want a familiar’s contract too,” [1] Elland-san muttered, “That’s right, I should sign a familiar’s contract with a dragon one day.”
I bit my lip to avoid blurting out my thoughts.
““Hey! That’s enough!””
“Elland-san, I think Dora-chan had enough,”
“E-eh? Just a little more, please~ Just a little more~?”
Even if you beg me… “Dora-chan might hate you if you’re too clingy,”
“Aggh!”
“Why don’t we try out the Holy Stamp now? See how it works?” Let’s distract him with that instead.
“Fine,” Elland-san sulked as he took his hand away.
“Right, I’m going to stamp my spear now.”
I pressed one end of the Stamp against the blade of my spear, since that’s the flattest part of the weapon. [1] It left a mark that looked like a bunch of random hieroglyphs. It looked nothing like the writing used in this world.
The random hieroglyphs flashed with a faint light before disappearing. It looked as though the pattern had seeped into the weapon. I wanted to try the Stamp on my familiars next, but… would it hurt them?
Maybe I should try it on myself first.
If anything terrible happens, well, Sui is a special slime who could produce super grade healing potions and I have three of them on my person. So, it should be alright, I guess.
I tried the Stamp against the back of my hand.
[6] The hieroglyphs glowed before disappearing, leaving nothing but a faint warmth behind. Aside from that, I felt nothing else. [6] I certainly don’t feel especially Holy.
Anyway, since there were no big side effects, let’s just try it on my familiars.
“Alright, it seems safe enough. I’m going to use this on you guys now, okay? Fer, I’ll Stamp you first.”
“Umu,”
I pushed Fer’s white fur away from his neck and pressed the Holy Stamp against as much skin as I could reach.
“Hm, as Master says. There are no adverse effects. Would this really help me kill the Undead? I often avoid them because it’s a hassle to deal with the Undead, but now… Kukuku… I can stomp them to my heart’s content!”
Err, looks like Fer has some really strong feelings against the Undead.
“Me next!” Dora-chan zipped closer. I Stamped him near the neck area too. “Hehe, with this, I can beat up Undead, eh? Looking forward to it!”
““Sui too! Sui too!””
[4] “Yes, yes,” I pressed the Stamp against the top of Sui’s slippery body.
““Sui will pew pew lots and defeat lots!””
Aah, so motivated. Has Sui always been this motivated?
“The last to be Stamped is me, right? I’m good with magic too, so please Stamp the back of my hand.”
As requested, I Stamped Elland-san’s hand and his sword.
“Alright, let’s do this. I don’t think many have tried to Loot the Undead Floors much so we should get some good Loot there. Let’s do it!”
We descended onto the 9th Floor.
The Undead Monster Floor.
[Gumihou: Yeah, let’s do it!!]
[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs
[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs
[3] Structural Change: Combine paragraph & dialogue
[4] Structural Change: Change passive sentence to dialogue
[5] Delete Repetitive or Pointless Information
[6] Additional Information for Aesthetic Purpose
[7] Add Dialogue Tag
[8] Rearranged Information for Dramatic Purpose: I kind of decided that the drama was not dramatic enough, lol. It is an incredible tool after all.