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There was something that I had never heard of before.

Apparently, I had dug up something new again.

 

I had no idea what a World Tree was, but it was clearly a plant since it came from a seed.

 

I asked the Advisor to explain it to me.

But…

 

<<Unanswerable. Insufficient data in the Ore Encyclopedia.>>

 

In other words, it was out of its expertise.

 

Well, it was a seed, after all. I’m sure something would grow if we planted it on the surface.

And maybe Baris knows something. I’d have to ask him when I got back up.

 

In any case, I was happy to have found something new. And I felt a renewed vigor as I moved to swing my pickaxe again.

That’s when someone called from behind me.

 

“Hey, Lord Heal.”

“Oh, it’s you, Fule. Uh…”

 

I turned around to see Fule standing there.

And she was holding the white puppy in her arms…well, the baby kobold.

 

The baby looked at me and then jumped onto my chest.

And then it rubbed its head into me.

 

Fule muttered with relief.

 

“I knew it. That little guy was searching for you, Lord Heal.”

“…Me?”

“Yes. It started looking around after it woke up. It looked so worried. The Princess was able to make it stop crying, but it wouldn’t calm down either. And so I thought that maybe it was searching for you.”

“I see…”

 

This level of familiarity… Did it think I was its parent?

 

After all, hadn’t mine been the first face it saw after the box was opened?

According to Baris, this kobold baby was practically newborn.

Then it was possible that it hadn’t really seen the faces of its real parents. And so it recognized me as one instead…

 

Well, as for me. There was something very soothing about how adorable it was.

 

If I could, I would like to reunite it with its real parents…

But considering that it had been put in a treasure chest, it was likely that its parents were already…

 

Without thinking, I hugged the baby as it looked up at me.

 

“There, there. That’s a good baby. …Now that I think about, I haven’t named it.”

 

Just as I thought this, the Advisor’s voice echoed.

 

<<A tamable monster is there. Will you tame it?>>

 

Right, kobolds were monsters too.

 

If I tamed this baby, it would receive the benefits of Cave King as well.

Of course, I couldn’t let a baby mine in the tunnels, so there was no point in doing it now.

 

Besides, there was still a chance that its parents were alive…

 

So for now, I could just think of a name but postpone the taming.

 

I petted the baby and said to Fule,

 

“I’m going to return to the surface then. I need to put this one to bed, and I also just found a mysterious seed and would like to ask Baris about it.”

“Okay. Well, I’m going to go back to digging then!”

“Yeah. Good luck…huh?”

 

I noticed that the Mithril Golem was descending down the tunnels at a maddening speed.

Judging by the fact that it was ringing the alarm bell, something must have happened.

 

“What is it?”

 

I asked. And the Mithril Golem pointed straight in the direction of the entrance.

 

“Outside… Something happened out there?”

The Mithril Golem nodded.

 

And so I picked up the baby and headed for the surface.

 

At this time, a certain battle was about to be settled on the reclaimed ground.

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