#501 Natto Dowsing

Kinmarie of the demon race here.

A gorgeous woman appeared as if to invade my workplace.

If I recall, her name is Horkosfon.

She took out...

“What is this?!”

I can’t tell just by looking at it.

Beans, maybe?

A few dozen or so beans on a small dish.

However, a white sticky substance is covering the surface, making it look grotesque.

It even emits an unpleasant smell.

Are these beans, perhaps...

“Rotten, I bet! I’m sure they are!”

“How rude. They’re fermented, not putrefied.”

I don't get it. What's the difference?

Besides, why would she bring rotten beans to an excavation site?

What a woman of mystery.

“I'm going to show you the greatness of natto. First, you stir it as much as you can.”

Horkosfon takes out two thin, short sticks and begins to stir the rotten beans.

The more she stirred, the stickier and moister the beans became.

Seriously, what is she trying to do?

“This consistency should be good enough. If I raise the chopsticks...”

Eek!

The higher she raises the sticks, the more the string elongates, beans intact.

“Perfect.”

“What is?!”

A string dangling from the chopsticks and the beans attached to this string.

Horkosfon stares at the gently swaying beans and...

“...Over there, it seems.”

“Huh?!” 

Briskly walking all the while paying close attention to the swaying beans...

“Next is over there...”

Don’t tell me...

The beans dangling from the string like a pendulum...

“A dowsing machine?!”

Is she dowsing with the beans?!

Dowsing is one of the secrets passed down in our guild to find underground water veins.

How does a woman who doesn't even belong to the guild know that?!

“I have confirmed with my natto dowsing that there is a hot spring down here.”

When she pointed to a spot, I was shocked.

Why? It’s because...

"If you keep digging this spot, you will surely find the hot spring. I strongly recommend digging here.”

“We can’t do that.”

“Please give me a reason as to why not.”

“I admit your estimation is correct. We had already made a preliminary investigation, and this area was the most intriguing.”

That's why we were shocked.

Without missing a beat, this peculiar woman correctly guessed the best digging point, which we found using the guild’s secret technique.

“But we can’t do much here. There is bedrock a little further down, and a very solid one at that. The tools we had on hand were useless, so we gave up proceeding.”

And so, we moved on to our second choice, the area we were just digging earlier.

“I appreciate your effort in finding the best spot, but we’re already digging the other hole for the same reason. If you’re done with your little demonstration, I suggest you stay in one place and watch us experts do the job.”

“Understood. I'll take care of the bedrock.”

"Hm?"

Was she not listening?

We're professional excavators, and we couldn't get through the bedrock, no matter how hard we tried. What can a woman's slender arms do?

For Hades’ sake, just behave already!

“I’ll dig through the bedrock using my mana cannon to blow away the ground.”

“Huh? Uwaaaaaaa!”

Horkos-something takes out a tube-like object out of nowhere and releases a giant ray of light at its tip!

Is this some kind of spell?!

The ground we had refilled was blown away in the blink of an eye, exposing the hard bedrock in the process!

“...This bedrock is solid enough to withstand a direct hit from my mana cannon. I suppose we should take new measures... Letasreit.”

“Got it!”

Another pretty lady has appeared!

But she looks like she’s from the human race and of royal blood.

“Since you've come all this way to accompany me, would you like to try your hand at breaking down this bedrock?”

“Sure! You and I are an inseparable duo now, so where there’s you, there’s me! Of course, my marvelous screentime is also ready!”

Apparently, the other lady is named Letasreit.

Standing on the exposed bedrock, she takes a deep breath...

But...

“What are you doing?! What could a little girl’s slender arms possibly do against a thick layer of bedrock?! Stay away if you don’t want to get hurt!”

"Hokuto Shinken Ougi! Nutcracker Puuuuuunch!”

The royal maiden thrusts her fist directly downward.

The moment her fist touched the bedrock, it shattered with a thunderous roar, turning into a thousand pieces.

“Whaaaaaat?!”

“Nice punch as always, Letasreit.”

Impossible!

No matter what equipment or excavation method we used, we barely made a dent in the bedrock! And yet, a single punch from this girl shattered it all?!  

“Behold, the power of beans! As long as one keeps eating beans, one can become stronger than any fiend! The megaton punch you just saw was a little sneak peek!”

“Your explanation doesn’t help me one bit!!!”

But the bedrock blocking the best excavation site has been shattered, so there are no more obstacles in the way.

We can continue on the more promising path.

What should we do? Dig from here?

However, it was only with the help of these girls, who were total outsiders, that I felt ashamed as a professional.

“Ngh... What to do...!”

“I shall now proceed to the full-scale excavation. Mana blades deployed on both hands. Drill Mode activated.”

“Hm? Hmm?”

Before I knew it, the damsel named Horkosfon was drilling into the ground at a tremendous speed.

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!”

She’s digging a hole using her body?!

“Holly can open up holes in the ground at crazy speeds, you see,” calmly says the other girl. “Apparently, she still has to dig a great depth to reach the hot spring, so you'll have to wait a little longer. Wanna snack on some peanuts in the meantime?”

“T-Thanks...?”

And so, we stood by and waited a while...

* * *

Water spouted out of the hole Horkosfon dug with great force!

“Ahhhh! Ow! Ow, ow, ow! It’s hot! Hot water!!!”

“Way to go, Holly!”

The water is so hot to the touch! His Majesty wasn’t lying when he said hot water could gush underground!

“I'm back. I have successfully fulfilled my duty."

Horkosfon emerges from the stream of hot water gushing out.

“Hot springs are found below normal water veins, so they’re tricky to dig out. It’s not easy to reach them with your equipment, so it is understandable that you didn’t believe me at first,” she says in a consoling tone.

But my interest is already locked onto something else.

"...Please make me your apprentice.”

“Pardon?”

I take Horkosfon... or rather, Master Horkosfon’s hand.

“Please pass on your excellent drilling skills to me! Actually, how about you join us at the Well-Digging Guild? With you, I have no doubt that we will be one of the most prosperous guilds ever!"

“Take you under my wing?”

Master Horkosfon ponders for a moment, and then...

“Very well. I will teach you the basics of natto and make an expert out of you.”

“Thank you so much!”

I think there was a discrepancy along the way, but at least I can be a better well-digger than before!

My life is more secure than ever!

----------

hokuto shinken ougi is (most likely) a reference to hokuto shinken, the martial art form protags use in Hokuto no Ken.