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C143: THE SILKWORMS’ MURMUR
We are the adamantine silkworms.
However, we weren’t always named so.
It’s the name given to us by our great master who gathered us from the dungeon.
Though we are called monsters, we are the same size as that of a regular worm with no combat abilities. We are absolutely meaningless creatures whom others don’t bat an eyelash at.
We crawl the dungeons, doing neither good nor harm to our surroundings. Neither feared nor respected, neither hated nor loved, our fate was such that our life ends upon getting trampled by fellow monsters or passerby adventurers.
Our great master then rescued us from our meaningless and worthless lives.
We have something of a characteristic, and that is spewing thread.
It doesn’t mean that much to us.
Just because we can spew thread doesn’t mean we can use them. It’s not like a spider’s web that doubles as a trap.
However, our master liked our threads so much that he brought many of us home with him.
We had only been crawling around the dungeon until our fated meeting with him, and now, we have our own splendid room.
What a bliss. The joy of being wanted.
To repay our master’s kindness, we work hard to spew thread and offer it to him.
We noticed that the people here were spinning, weaving, and sewing our thread to make their own clothing.
We never expected the thread we spew had such a utility!
That we had such a utility to offer!
This was the first role we’ve ever had.
We were nothing more than filth crawling the dungeon floors, but now we do our best every day to fulfill the significance given to us.
An adamantine silkworm meeting is in session.
There are currently 34 adamantine silkworms kept in this room prepared for us by Master.
Each silkworm is given enough space to live comfortably.
We’re given fresh leaves to eat every day. Life here is the best!
We’re going to spew higher quality thread for our Master, who has treated us with love and care!
“Chairman! May I speak?”
Let’s call this brave fellow wanting to speak up first Adamantine Silkworm A.
Very well, speak!
“According to the information I’ve gathered, there are other thread makers in this house!”
“I heard that as well! I think they’re plants called Cotton and Hemp!”
Let’s call the other silkworm who followed up Adamantine Silkworm B.
I see. So, does that mean Cotton and Hemp are our rivals?
“Yes, sir. If the thread we spew is inferior in quality to Cotton and Hemp, we will lose our significance!”
Then we’ll be sent back to where we were picked up—the dungeon floor.
It seems we can’t just rest on our laurels now, can we?
This is valuable information.
I appreciate your report to me.
Gentlemen, as you have just heard, our position is not at all stable.
We have competitors, and we never know when they might threaten us.
Who knows, they might even take this room away from us!
“This haven?!”
“I refuse!”
“How can we protect our right to live in this room, Chairman?!”
Calm down, Adamantine Silkworm C, D, and E.
Our master let us live here so we could fulfill his requests.
In other words, we should just continue to do what we do.
And that is to provide him with the thread we spew!
But it is also becoming more evident that we shouldn’t just keep doing that.
If Cotton and Hemp make better thread than us, we’ll be deemed useless.
So, we shall answer the needs of our master, who always seeks better quality!
“Oh! His needs!”
“That sounds grand!”
“What does ‘needs’ mean?!”
Actually, I don’t even know myself!
I just used it because I wanted to sound cool, Adamantine Silkworm F, G, and H!
“What about this?”
Cunning Adamantine Silkworm I, do you have some sort of plan?
“We should add color to our thread.”
I see. Since we’ve only produced white thread so far, surprising our master with red or blue threads will surely please him!
Our masters have been coloring the threads before, but now they wouldn’t have to!
“All right, I’m going to produce red thread!”
“Then, I’ll go with yellow!”
“I shall take green!”
“Hold up! Can we even change the color of our thread?!”
Nothing’s impossible if we work hard enough!
All right! Let’s hear the others state the color of thread they want to spew!
“Blue!”
“Red!”
“Blue!”
“Blue!
“Yellow!”
“Green!”
“Blue!”
“Blue!”
“Blue!”
“Gold!”
“Blue!”
What is up with the majority choosing blue?!
We have to split the groups equally, so I need to talk to those who chose blue.
Also, we mustn’t forget our original color, white!
“Hah-hah-ha… You’re all so naïve.”
What was that provocative tone just now?!
Was that you, Adamantine Silkworm J?!
“Putting in effort now is an amateur’s mistake. The situation is changing day by day. You must be able to anticipate what is required of us and what we should really spew!”
Hm, you have a point.
“Hence I’ve done my own preparations. Please take a look at my thread!”
Woah! Adamantine Silkworm J suddenly spewed thread!
Didn’t I say spewing is forbidden during meeting hours?!
“Please wait, Chairman!”
“The thread J is spewing is different from ours!”
What’s different about it?!
Huh?
It’s all stretchy!
“It’s called elasticity! The more you pull, the more it stretches, and the more it stretches, the stronger the force of it coming back! I’m sure our master will be on cloud nine the moment he finds this out!”
Adamantine Silkworm J!!!
I didn’t know you worked this hard!
“You guys should just follow my example and work hard! Huh? Wait a minute… Why are you stretching the thread I’m spewing so far away from me? It’s still attached to my mouth, so if you let go of it now, it’s going to hurt really bad! Don’t keep stretching it! No, don’t let go of it either! Don’t! Never ever let go of it! You hear? Don’t let—”
Very well, Adamantine Silkworm J! You shall teach us how to make this elastic thread!
We’ll also work on changing the color of our thread, so there’s no bias!
We’ll be even more helpful to our master by offering him a variety of threads!