There are broadly two ways to get cocoa from the dungeon.
One is as a drop when defeating a Dark Elf, and the other is as a drop when de-stroy-ing trees on the thirty-first floor and beyond.
The fact that drops come from trees, which should just be terrain or obstacles, was accidentally discovered by pioneers while they were trying out different shortcuts.
The residents at the time (especially the women) were apparently very happy, believing it was a much easier way to get cocoa than only targeting monsters. However, it didn't take long for them to realize their joy was premature; even with the increased probability, gathering a large quantity was still extremely difficult.
"So that's why burnt-out trees just vanish instead of turning into ash or charcoal," said Iris, the blonde, blue-eyed half-elf, with a sense of understanding.
"If it just dropped onto the ground among the fallen wood, we might easily overlook it, so that's helpful."
"But if we burn the wood, the drop item would burn too, wouldn't it?" Maria Bell said with a wry smile in response to the girl's words.
She seemed to have mixed feelings about the overly aggressive strategy they used, even if it was to conquer the forest. Or perhaps she was regretting the potential amount of cocoa they might have lost by not doing it the normal way.
"Well, well, we can just gather more now. We only need enough for ourselves, after all."
"Yeah. Let's stick around and try hard for cocoa today," Ren nodded and smiled at her partner Fuuri's optimistic comment.
"Since it's Valentine's Day soon, I'd really like to make some chocolate."
"Then, Master, let's work hard and chop down the trees," said Mei, maintaining her usual blank expression as she pulled a large axe, not a mace, from her storage. It was clearly not a weapon but a lumberjack's tool, prepared specifically for gathering cocoa.
Once Valentine's Day was over, she could gift it to Iris's house or keep it for when they might help with logging.
"Hmm. ...Although, most of it will probably fall to Shion, I guess."
"Leave it to me. Since I cannot use Fox Fire, I shall attack the trees as long as my MP lasts," replied Shion, the female fox with a magnificent coat—a girl who had become a Yōko (fox spirit) upon her transfer. She respectfully answered and immediately shot two or three "Water Blades" at the nearby trees by the entrance.
The blades of water, now sufficiently sized due to the magical attack power enhancement, were fired horizontally and hit the base of the trees directly, mowing down several at once.
The felled trees vanished, leaving an empty space.
By repeating this, they could create a path, and if cocoa dropped, they would have a high chance of finding it.
The remaining problem was the wandering enemies.
"Okay, I'll go take care of the enemies then."
"Be careful, Ren. And don't overdo it."
"I know, I'll be fine."
It was easier to keep track of the enemies' movements from above.
Spreading her wings and soaring up with the "Flight" skill, Ren started the task of finding wandering monsters and attacking them with "Magic Arrows."
She dodged their counterattacks or blocked them with defensive magic that rarely got a chance to shine. As long as she kept attacking with her abundant MP, she would eventually defeat them, and by drawing their attention, the attacks on Shion and the others would be reduced.
"I hope we can somehow collect enough..."
However, things didn't go as smoothly as hoped.
The amount of cocoa they managed to gather, rushing to collect it right before Valentine's Day, was not nearly enough.
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"We tried pretty hard, but only two, huh?"
Lying on the living room table were two large fruits, about twenty to thirty centimeters in size. As Ren said, the count was two.
"Still, I didn't realize a cocoa pod was this big."
"Me neither. It's my first time seeing one."
"It's not often you see them sold in their fruit form, after all..."
Ren, Fuuri, and Shion.
To the three of them, who hadn't been long since transferring from Japan, this fruit was a truly unfamiliar ingredient.
Chocolate was a snack easily bought at convenience stores and supermarkets, and making chocolate for Valentine's Day typically meant melting chocolate bars and pouring them into molds, adding toppings, or stuffing them with fruit.
They had never encountered anyone brave enough to start from a raw cocoa pod to make chocolate.
On the other hand, Iris, Mei, and Maria Bell, who had lived in the other world for a long time, had apparently seen them before. While they looked interested, they weren't particularly surprised.
"The cocoa beans are inside this fruit, right?"
"Yes. It looks quite big like this, but the usable part seems to be small."
"We researched the process beforehand, and it's amazing how much effort people put into processing something like this. The ingenuity of humankind is not to be underestimated."
A single cocoa pod yields a few dozen cocoa beans.
These beans must be fermented for several days, then dried and roasted. After lightly crushing them, the necessary parts are extracted and made into a paste, then sugar and milk are added to create the base for chocolate. From there, it's repeatedly ground finer, tempered (temperature adjusted), and only then is the chocolate finished.
"Wait, if we have to ferment them from now, we won't make it in time for Valentine's Day!"
Today was February 12th. Two days before Valentine's Day.
Ren and the others had only been able to reach the thirty-first floor and beyond since the end of last year. The New Year period was busy, and afterward, they had many things to do, like leveling up, so it was hard to plan ahead, but still, she wished she had thought of it a little earlier.
Fuuri laughed at the dismayed Ren, saying, "Ahaha, oh yeah, you're right."
"But, hey, it's fine, isn't it? Back home, we often gave out chocolate on the fifteenth or sixteenth, right?"
"Oh, yeah, if the fourteenth was a day off, we'd sometimes postpone it to Monday. ...Though I barely ever got any chocolate from the girls at school."
The only ones she received were clearly obligation chocolate, the kind that was distributed to everyone in the class.
Fuuri, for some reason, nodded happily. "Is that so?" she said.
"I wish I had been with you since middle school."
"Yeah. But back then, I probably wouldn't have been able to honestly accept your feelings, Fuuri. I'd have been too embarrassed to say thank you, or I'd have just thought you were teasing me."
That's how it had been even after they met in high school. What would have happened if they had dated for about a year back then was anyone's guess.
"So you two weren't childhood friends. You seem so close that I just assumed you were."
"Unfortunately, no. If we were childhood friends, I might not have fallen for Ren, though."
"Hmm. Fuuri, are you saying I have no charm?"
"No. I mean that if I had been seeing you since we were little, I might not have noticed how great Ren is."
Now that was a pretty devastating line.
Ren blushed a little but felt happy. "I see," she murmured.
"Then maybe it was for the best. I'd hate to not notice how great you are, Fuuri."
As they gazed at each other, Mei broke the moment, interjecting to neutralize the atmosphere, "Alright, alright."
"Please save the flirting for when you are alone at night. Otherwise, I will demand that my Master and I make a child."
"C-child...!? Lady Mei, what are you suddenly talking about!?"
"Calm down, Shion. In Mei's case, she doesn't need 'that kind of thing' to make a child. It's more like building a robot."
"Ah... y-you're right. If that's the case, then still—no, isn't that still quite indecent?"
"Mei-san, that's unfair. Fuuri-san and I agreed we'd wait until the dungeon conquering settles down, you know?"
Since the conversation was getting complicated, they steered the topic back to making chocolate.
"Um, how much chocolate can we make from these two pods?"
"About two chocolate bars' worth, I guess? That is, if we don't mess up during the process."
"Wow. That's definitely not enough to hand out to everyone."
Note that this quantity is after adding sugar, milk, and other ingredients to bulk it up and adjust the flavor. While adding more milk or incorporating almonds and fruit might slightly increase the visible volume, it was far from enough for six people—or seven, if Aisha was included.
Even if they could buy the rest, cocoa was chronically scarce, so they didn't know how much they could get, and it was expensive to buy.
"Hmm. We'll try making the chocolate, but we'll have to make other sweets too."
"Right. So, what should we make this year?"
"Let's see... rice crackers (senbei), maybe?"
"Eh, why rice crackers!?"
Ren's suggestion, based on the idea of occasionally seeing chocolate-coated rice crackers, was unpopular with Fuuri for being "not very Valentine's-like."
However, rice crackers are mainly made of rice.
Shion, who liked Japanese food, also said, "I think that's a good idea," so they made rice crackers and okaki (small rice crackers) in parallel with the chocolate making.
The chocolate making itself wasn't a failure, but it didn't turn out very well—it was subtly less delicious than chocolate made from a store-bought bar, despite being made from scratch. Left with no choice, they baked cookies as well and gave a mixed assortment to everyone who had helped them.
The item that got the best reviews, in the end, was the okaki, which they made by tearing off small pieces of mochi (rice cake) and frying them.
Apparently, serving something savory was a welcome change, given the season tended to be dominated by sweet foods.
"This is our return gift, or rather, our Valentine's gift from us."
"Please enjoy it together."
They also received various sweets from their female acquaintances.
In particular, the ladies at the brothel seemed to prepare chocolate every year and gave them delicious chocolates that were leagues above Ren's group's attempt.
When Ren complimented them, suggesting the quality was good enough to sell in a shop, they replied, "It's actually part of the business."
Apparently, holding an event where they give chocolate to men who visit the shop on Valentine's Day helps boost customer traffic. As expected, a man's heart is simple enough to be swayed by such things. This meant the ladies' chocolate was, in a sense, a paid service, a commodity, and Ren's group was very lucky to have received it for free.
"I feel bad that our sweets were all we gave in return."
"Well, then, let's have a room date on our day off."
As expected of women who regularly charmed men, their whispers had a significant effect even on members of the same sex.
Ren had somewhat dodged similar invitations before... but thinking about it, was there any reason to refuse? It was with other women, and if it was private and not for money, it wouldn't be much different from the time she spent with Fuuri and the others.
She tentatively put them off with, "I'll think about it," and later consulted Fuuri.
"Hmm... If I can join, I don't mind going."
She might have meant it as a joke.
However, Ren genuinely wouldn't mind if Fuuri came along. They were all women, and it was much better than being cheated on (?) out of sight. In fact, including the older women might be an educational experience in many ways.
Ren was about to seriously reply, "Then let's go together," when she paused.
"...My thought process is subtly becoming like a succubus, isn't it?"
"Whether it's subtle or not is debatable, but yeah, pretty much. Ren, right now, if you had to have sex with Shou and the others, you'd probably just say, 'Oh well, I guess I can,' right?"
"Huh? Hmm... Ah, yeah. I might."
The situation would change if the partner was a complete stranger, but if it was a young man she had some acquaintance with, she didn't feel much aversion. Regarding the "male specific thing," she had touched it by growing one for Fuuri, so she was past the point of being disgusted by it.
The reason Ren currently avoided men was a lingering effect of having been a man herself, the fact that the person she loved was female, and that since she could grow one for Fuuri and the others, there was no need to seek out a man.
She felt that if she were locked in a "Room You Can't Leave Without Doing $\text{XX}$" with Shou and the others, she'd pretty much go through with it easily, and once she crossed that line, her mental resistance might just crumble away.
"A succubus is a surprisingly dangerous race, isn't it?"
"Why are you only realizing that now? ...Besides, Ren, if you're going to say things like that, I really wish you'd do something about being a virgin already."
"Eh. No, but, I mean, I still have resistance to being penetrated."
"Hmph. You'll penetrate me, but you won't let me do it to you? You'd say 'Oh well' if you had to do it with Shou and the others, but you won't let me?"
Ah, there was no escaping this one.
What happened to Ren after she realized this is left to the imagination.
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