Sousetsuka

Chapter 241 Strongest Sage, Discovers Sloppy Construction Work

 

"...Wha?"

Right after dodging the attack, I suddenly lost sensation of the ground.
--The dungeon's floor had fallen off.

Floors of a dungeon are far sturdier than the walls.
The outer layer could be soft in some cases, but not soft enough to have it fall off from monsters' attacks.
Dungeons would have been full of holes if an attack by mere a Floor Boss could break it.

It could very well happen on very shallow floors... But it's just impossible on Floor 27.
I recovered my posture in the air while thinking that.

"Mathi-kun!?"

"T-the floor!"

I dropped down as the girls were panicking.
However, the fall wasn't really long.

My feet hit the ground after falling merely three meters down.

『I'm fine! You three be careful where you step, don't fall down!』

I check the surroundings.
Looks like I didn't fall down to Floor 28.

The fall wouldn't have been cut so short if I fell to the floor below.
Distances between Floors differ depending on dungeons and Floors, but this one should have been 10 meters.

The problem now where is this place I and Crash Grizzly have fallen in anyway.

This space did not exist in my previous life. I would have absolutely noticed if it did.
This space was created after I had reincarnated.
As I looked at the ceiling while thinking that--I realized the nature of this space.

--Monster House Increment Plan.

This floor was a hugely popular farming spot back when I was alive.
As such, there was always a shortage of Monster Houses and the quarrels were intense.

So people came up with a plan to dig out the dungeon's floors and artificially create more rooms, aka the Monster House Increment Plan.

This First Dungeon Floor 27 is a special floor whose environment promotes the occurrences of Monster Houses.
By artificially creating rooms in the shape of Monster Houses, mana would likely converge in those rooms, giving birth to Monster Houses.
The plan didn't go forward when I was still alive due to reasons like safety and such--but it seemed like it was carried out after I had reincarnated.

"Do it right if you're gonna commit dang it..."

I muttered while gazing at the broken ceiling (which was a floor to me just now).

The ceiling was only 10 inch thick.
Ordinary dungeon floors are meters long thick.
No need for Crash Grizzly's claws, even some slightly strong magic would break that.

Of course, the ceiling had been reinforced.
It did, but they used an alloy which was very common back then, the [Hardened Magic Alloy].

This alloy might be good, being cheap yet strong... but it's not an alloy well suited to reinforce dungeons like this.
Since the magic augmented on the alloy to strengthen its structural integrity would gradually degrade if left in places where mana flows intensely like dungeons.
The floor must have broken down because of that degradation.

...Sloppy construction work.
People in my previous life should have known that [Hardened Magic Alloy] would deteriorate in dungeons.

They probably used stuff that would eventually break on purpose to cut cost.
Back then, the passage would never see an intense battle, so they probably considered that using cheap stuff below it would be fine.

When I was still alive, using Hardened Magic Alloy in dungeons was a big no no, but it appears that common sense(?) had been overturned after I had reincarnated.
I dodged the Crash Grizzly's claws while thinking that.

"GAAAAAAAA! GURUAAAAAAAA!"

The Crash Grizzly wasn't perturbed at all by the falling floors and kept trying to attack me.
I've been dodging it as usual... But it can't go on.

"Mathi-kun, mana reaction!"
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"Yeah! I'm falling back!"

I used magic and jumped out of the hole on the ground.

Looks like the Monster House Increment Plan was a success.
Evidenced by--hundreds of monsters that manifested all at once inside the artificial Monster House, triggered by the collapsed ceiling.
I'd like to avoid fighting in a cramped space like this.

"What just happened really..."

"A secret room created by an ancient civilization was buried in the ground, and collapsed.... Thanks to that, we've got ourselves some nicely trapped monsters there."

I gaze down at the hole.
The sloppily-made Monster House has become a form of pitfall.
Thanks to that, Crash Grizzly has been confined inside the Monster House along with other monsters, free to pick on.

...This is a good chance as any to explain the method to efficiently farm exp in this dungeon.

"Now that we don't have to worry about the Floor Boss, let's go beat all these monsters with it."

I knead the mana inside my body.
What I'm going to use now is a spell bluntly named [Monster House Annihilation Flame].
Befitting of the name, it's unusable in ordinary battle.

First of all, it takes too long to cast. Slow to the point that even chant magic used in this era is faster in comparison.
Next, its firing speed is slow. There's no way it could hit its target in ordinary situations.

Just these two are already fatal, but it's got more flaws.
Once it lands, the spell needs ten seconds before it could demonstrate its full power.

Even the slowest of spells only needs half a second.
I mean, your enemy would easily get out of its effective range if they have 10 seconds to spare.

In addition, since I'm a Disqualified Crest, the firing range is also short.
Considering this spell's effective range, I've got to immediately get out of the range once cast if I don't want to get caught up in it.

All those sacrifices are for the sake of raising firepower and attack range.
Its range is precisely a whole Monster House wide.

The power is also enough to kill all monsters on Floor 27.
Not powerful enough to kill unhurt Crash Grizzly, but it is now the Crash Grizzly has been weakened.

"You hurl this spell inside, close the door and wait for the roasting. Such is how you farm exp on this Floor."

Then, I toss the Monster House Annihilation Flame into the artificial Monster House and step back.
After a slight pause, a flame flared up inside the artificial Monster House.





Previous Chapter

2



"Come on in, come on in! We've got all kinds of potions, for cheap! Not to mention normal medicines. You'd regret it if you don't get them here!"

"Is there anyone who can attack from a distance! We are a five person party looking to recruit someone with ranged attacks if possible!"

"You can find guides here! Leave it to us up to floor 10! Oh so you have maps? Do your maps have info about magic beasts' weak points? Do they tell you what equipment you need for the next floor? Do they teach you the knacks to raise spawn rate of treasure chests? We can even carry your luggage! How about it, how do you like veteran guides!"

It's really lively.

Lecan is not familiar with dungeons like this.

However, he doesn't dislike this atmosphere.

Lecan has just arrived at this town. By chance, he got up early, left early, and ran too fast in high spirits and ended up arriving before noon.

There is no entry tax to enter this town. There's not even a wall nor guards. Only a huge signboard, written with <Welcome to Dungeon City Golbul!> at the town entrance.

There was no need to even ask someone where the dungeon was. You'd naturally arrive at it if you just followed the flow of traffic toward the liveliness.

At any rate, the dungeon's entrance is extraordinarily wide. It's split in two, with the right side being the entrance, and left the exit.

The entrance has been fenced for about 50 steps. The space inside the fence seems to be a trade-free area, filled with four guards, people coming into the entrance to the right flow endlessly, as do people coming out of the exit to the left.

The area outside the fence is filled with people selling equipment, doing maintenance, looking for companions, and people selling food, consumable goods and information, and further outside of all these are rows of shops. Shops selling stuff indispensable for dungeon explorations. Lecan was tempted to take a peek at the weapon shops and drugstores, but managed to convince himself to save it for later.

The space outside the exit fence is populated with those seeking to buy materials, calling for people who need treatment, and offering appraisal service. And outside the area is a jumble of material processing shops, purchasing shops, medical centers, rest area, repair shops, and eateries. The purchasing shops have signboards signifying that they're specializing in magic gems, weapons, and stuff. And further apart from there the buildings get bigger and bigger, forming into a relatively big townscape that's like a fusion between pleasure quarters and artisan district. There's also some temples. And even further from there is a building complex where huge carriages are coming in and out.

This is truly a dungeon city. A city made up of those drawn by wealth obtainable in the dungeon, who then proceed to process, consume and export those wealths.

The town itself is not that big. It's probably only around a tenth of Vouka.

However this town has the upper hands in density and liveliness of the downtown. And even though this is a small town, there seems to be a slum outside the downtown. Now that he thinks about it, Lecan has never seen a slum in Vouka even though it's a big town.

There's a lot of young adventurers, more than he thought. And their expressions are beaming.

After hearing Chaney's story, he was worried for a second about what would happen here, but at least he sees that a lot of people feels this place is worth living in. Of course, there's probably dirty stuff being carried out behind all this. But that's the same everywhere.

There's another thing that makes Lecan happy.

Mages.

This town is filled with mana possessors. Several of them are even among those who are going to enter the dungeon right now. Someone may not necessarily be a mage just because they possess mana, however considering they've gathered around so close to a dungeon, there must be many adventurers who employ magic among these people. He's caught sights of adventurers wearing mage-like attires as well. Dungeons really gotta have mages after all.

Lecan paid no heed to the barkers and walked toward the entrance. And then a soldier who was standing guard called out to him.

"Ooh, you look like the real deal eh. And ain't that <Box (Ruuf)> you've got there. Whoa. Where'd you come from."

"From Vouka."

"Vouka? Well okay, go on and explore inside. Be sure to grab lotsa stuff and load them off in our Golbul Town. May you have a good adventure (La Jitto Jiit)!"

"Thank you (Narou)."

Contrary to his expectations, Lecan took his first step into another world's dungeon while feeling pretty good.


<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
3



Now then, it's finally time for dungeon diving.

<Life Detection> could not be used to detect things inside dungeons. The adventurers disappeared from <Life Detection> even though his bare eye could still see their flesh once they took a step in the dungeon. <Life Detection> also couldn't reach the inside of dungeons at his former world. Though, in his original world, people would immediately got transported to random floors the moment they stepped inside a dungeon, thus seeing adventurers inside a dungeon from outside feels quite fresh in itself. However, the fact that <Life Detection> being out of range was fundamentally the same showered Lecan with an indescribable sense of security.

He stepped inside the dungeon.

<Life Detection> immediately demonstrated its effect, displaying all adventurers who were on the same floor. In exchange, information outside the dungeon disappeared. This is the same as his former world too.

Something curious occurred.

A not insignificant number of adventurers suddenly disappeared.

From both <Life Detection> and bare eye.

They muttered something just before they disappeared.

On the other hand, adventurers suddenly appear in the left interior.

Since other adventurers are taking it as a matter of factly, it must be a normal event in this world.

Lecan is curious about the nature of it, but he's sure it would be made clear in time.

This dungeon has 30 floors, but <Life Detection> only displays this floor. This part is the same in his former world as well.

--There's no magic beasts on this floor huh.

Which means he's got to go down a floor at once. Looking at the map together with <Life Detection>, the adventurers here are each aiming for the stairways located in five spots. They all know their geography well.

Lecan ran toward the stairway connecting to the lower floor while being careful not to bump with others. The stairway was unexpectedly wide and long.



4



At the end of the stairway is <First Floor> according to the map. Apparently, the place where Lecan first arrived at was called <Ground Floor>.

After passing through a maze of rugged rocks, he immediately felt a presence of battle ahead.

Walking ahead, five young adventurers were engaged in a battle against three magic beasts.

It's <Red Apes (Urd)>.

He passed by behind them as to not get in their way.

Something is coming closer ahead.

It's a <Red Ape>.

He cut it down.

He probed where the mana gem was with <Mana Detection> and gouged it out with his sword.

The magic beast turned into sand.

Still, the bag with <Box (Ruuf)> that Chaney gave him is a nuisance. He ended putting it in <Storage>. He could just take it from inside his overcoat's pocket if someone questioned him about it.

After checking where the stairways are in the map, he ran there.

He took as much detours as possible through the maze if he was about to encounter other adventurers along the way, but he had to run pass them several times.

Lecan encountered many Red Apes. He cut them all down, but taking their magic gems would take too much time so he left the bodies behind.

Looks like there's only red apes on this floor.






Previous Chapter

Chapter 240 Strongest Sage, Draws Enemy Aggro

 

"GAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Provoked by my 『Enforced Detection』, the 『Crash Grizzly』 went straight at me.
Iris rushed forward charging toward the Crash Grizzly.

"Here I go! Soi!"

Iris thrust out her spear as she said that.
However...

"I missed!?"

Iris who had her spear evaded couldn't hide her surprise.
Befitting of a Floor Boss, the Crash Grizzly is far faster than your random average monsters.

It would of course easily dodge Iris's straightforward thrust.
After dodging the spear, the Crash Grizzly changed its target to Iris and attempted to strike her down.

Looks like provocation spells don't last long on monsters of this class.
My 『Enforced Detection』 probably would still work if I got close to it--but only for 20 seconds at most.

"Iris, fall back! You can't handle this foe by yourself!"

Iris has powers but not combat skills.
She wouldn't be able to land a clean hit on Crash Grizzly were she fought head-on.

"I understand!　...But I won't miss like this!"

Iris swings her thrust spear horizontally.
Normally, you'd pull back a thrust spear before thrusting again to regain momentum... But Iris forcefully brandished her spear using brute force.

And then, Iris's spear hit the Crash Grizzly right as its claw struck her.

"Au!"

Iris got blown away toward my direction by the Crash Grizzly's strike.
Normal humans would haven been blown to pieces if that blow hit them... But Iris is left unscathed.

"Whoa."

While lowering down Iris whom I caught, I checked the Crash Grizzly.
It's unscathed just like Iris.

Even with Iris's super strength, looks like a blow from a bad posture couldn't even scratch it.
Tough indeed...
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"This guy is pretty sturdy!"

"Yeah. Sturdy and quick... I'll take care of drawing its attentions, Iris, you focus on attacking its back."

No matter how agile a Crash Grizzly is, it'll still have a hard time dealing with attacks from behind while coping with an enemy ahead.
Iris should be able to land a hit if I just repeatedly provoke it from a short distance.

This time, I'll be the tank and leave all the attacking to Iris and Alma.
Since I'd have to use my mana if I wanted to deal damage on monsters of this class otherwise.

Today we're not just dealing with the Floor Boss.
My mana is needed to farm exp, so I'd like to save on it as much as possible.

"Alright, hey over here!"

I lured the Crash Grizzly with Enforced Detection while saying that.
Depending on the enemy, some get used to Enforced Detection if it's used too much, so there needs to use other provocation methods when that happens... But since Crash Grizzly is the type of monster that's not used to provocation, drawing its aggro is a simple matter.

"GAAAAAA!"

I move just one step to dodge the Crash Grizzly who's coming at me while striking its claws many times over.

The ever increasing irritated Crash Grizzly that kept repeatedly missing its attacks went after me.
The Crash Grizzly barely moved from the spot all the while.

"GUAAAAAAA!"

Alma's arrow and Iris's spear struck the mostly immobile Crash Grizzly.
It may be sturdy, but by making it easy to land your hits like this, it's possible to deal enough damage on it.

"Over here!"

I provoked it again to prevent it changing target to Iris.
Enemy tend to change its target when they're attacked by your companions.
It's only natural since even monsters feel pain.

As such, it's necessary to adjust the frequency of my provocations while keeping track of the attackers' trend.
Tanks whose only job is to block enemy attacks may look like an easy job, but it's actually pretty hectic.

"Whoops."

I dodged the Crash Grizzly strikes by moving one step again.

I'm not simply dodging with minimal movements.
I'm also reading ahead enemy movements and stopping it from moving too much.
Just moving minimally to dodge attacks often prompts your enemy to act erratically after all.

The act of tanking is often mistaken to simply involves drawing enemy's attention... but that's barely scratching the surface.
If the enemy gets to shift around too much every time you dodge, the attacker role will be late at attacking, stretching out combat time.

Stopping enemy in its track to draw out the attackers potential.
That's another job of Tanks.

"Alma, no need to use the 『Wired Homing Enchant』! Just focus on power!"

"Gotcha!"

Then Alma removed the homing enchant and put a new one that would increase attack power.
There's no need for homing attacks when the enemy is not moving.

As such, Alma and Iris gradually whittled the enemy down while I kept it from moving without using too much mana if at all.
...And then 10 minutes since the battle started.

"It's gotten quite weak."

I side half-stepped away to dodge the downward swing of the Crash Grizzly's claw.
The claw gets stuck in the ground, creating a chance until it claws out of the ground.
...Or so it should have been.






Previous Chapter

1



Lecan saw a familiar man standing in front of his inn when he got there.

It's Chaney's messenger.

"My master would like to have dinner with you."

Lecan got back to his room and wiped his body with water before following the man to a high-class restaurant in the shopping district.

After being led to a private room and drinking the alcohol there, Chaney soon arrived.

Lecan is not fond of extravagant food and having to dine together in a private room.

However, today he had just been thinking of discussing something with someone that could be trusted in private, and Chaney wouldn't mind him acting frankly either. On top of that, they're accompanied by good food and good drink, there's simply no better opportunity than this.

"Hello there Lecan-san, I'm glad that you seem to be doing well. And it looks like you've managed to be Shira-shi's apprentice."

"I'm in your debt. Sorry for not telling you earlier."

This place is a high-class establishment in the shopping district.

Chaney entertained Lecan without holding back. Both the alcohol and the food were superb. The drink today stimulated Lecan's thought process and got him in a very good mood.

"Have you shown Shira-shi the strange weapon <Cold-blooded> Marakis carried with him?"

"To Shira? No."

"Then, I think it's a good idea to show it to her later."

This implied that Chaney knew about Lecan holding the same thing Marakis used to attack Chaney, but Lecan did not realize this fact at this time.

"Hou."

"That was something the lord here brought through Shira-shi as a middleman. Oh but this is a secret."

"What."

"It was made by Shira-shi's friend, a magic tool engineer who's living in the royal capital, so I heard."

"Is that so."

"Were there no such weapons at Lecan-san's hometown?"

"Nope, never saw something like that. But..."

At first, Lecan found those weapons very intriguing since he never thought that weapons could have such shapes before. However, in Lecan's world, wands that could cast red fireball, or white fireball or blue fireball existed. Or rather, he's got several of those in his <Storage>.

He was going to explain that to Chaney, but an alarm bell blared in his head.

Shira had warned Lecan not to let merchants and noblemen become aware of his <Storage>. Those who would do anything to make Lecan their slave would pop up everywhere if he did.

When he thinks about it, that's not limited to just Storage.

Even that Shira got bewildered by the magic gem of an otherworld dragon. Several items of that class are sleeping inside Lecan's <Storage>. Along with other valuable items. Even if they aren't of that much value to Lecan, that's not the case to this world's merchants and nobles.

He will be targeted if it's known that he possesses something like that.

It's one thing if him yielding those items would be the end of it. However, there is no way to prove whether there's still something or not in his <Storage>. Boundless greed will go after Lecan forever.

Chaney may feel indebted to Lecan, he may be virtuous, but he's still a merchant. He would likely find out quite a lot about Lecan's items and abilities were he given even a little bit of hint. And first-rate merchants are armed with the wiles to obtain something they want. On the other hand, Lecan is not good with words. He's bad at expressing himself. In short, it's a losing battle should he attempt it.

He must not give him any clue. Talking about his original world is prohibited in front of Chaney.

"Yes, and what would that 'but' entail?"

"No, it's nothing. Forget that, I was just thinking of seeing you."

"Oh that's nice to hear. Is there anything I can be of service with."

"Please teach me about dungeons."

"Dungeons? But Shira-shi would have been much more knowledgeable about such things."

Lecan explained.

Shira is tired, she's taking 10 days rest. In fact, she's currently sleeping soundly. He was told to [Go to dungeons] like getting chased out.

"Hahaha. I see. However, for Lecan-san, this will be your pilot opportunity to challenge the dungeons in this world. If that's the case, I shall tell you what I know. However, my knowledge about dungeons is fragmentary and not perfect. Also, everything is a hearsay, so there may be some unexpected part that's not true. By the way, as you're going to Golbul dungeon, would you like to get a map?"

"Map? Dungeons have maps?"

"Yes. They are a commodity. Some merchants that deal with them live in this town. I will have it delivered to you by tomorrow if you wish so."

"What's on those dungeons maps, what are they good for?"

"At minimum, sketches of each floors and the location of stairways are drawn on a map. Since Golbul Dungeon is quite spacious, knowing where the stairways are located is quite handy for adventurers who want to quickly reach a certain floor. Cheaper maps would only have one stairway among many drawn on them. And the slightly better maps will have information about spawned magic beasts and their locations. If you know which magic beasts will spawn, you can make all kinds of preparations beforehand. The best maps will have types of drops, and records about treasure chest spawns."

"What are stairways?"

"Eh? Since dungeons are divided by floors, you have to use stairways to go up and down between floors."

"You can go to the next floor without beating the boss?"

"Could you tell me what this 'boss' is."
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"Bosses present in Boss Rooms."

"Well now, what are these Boss Rooms."

The disjointed back and forth continued for a while before Lecan learned about the outline of this world's dungeons.

First of all, dungeons have floors. Golbul Dungeon has 30 floors.

You can go down a floor through a stairway. If a floor has a small field, there will be only one stairway, but in case of Golbul Dungeon, the largest floor has five stairways while the smallest has two.

There are no prerequisites to use those stairways. Anyone can pass through it at anytime.

The lower the floor the tougher the enemies. What magic beasts spawn at which floors are mostly set. However, rare magic beasts do occasionally appear on dungeon floors, and sometimes you'd encounter tough ones.

There is no way to skip floors. You have to traverse through 29 floors to reach Floor 30, and then traverse back up through all the 29 floors again when you want to return to surface from Floor 30.

There are no floor bosses. Neither do boss rooms. There however exists a powerful magic beast on each floor, as if representing those floors, defeating them yield a relatively high chance of spawning treasure chests.

Defeating magic beasts net you materials and magic gems. They turn into sand if you take their magic gems out.

Sometimes a treasure chest will spawn if the body of a defeated magic beast disappears the moment it dies. Treasure chests contain rare items. Which are mostly medicines, protection stones, weapons, armor, accessories,  jewels and other stuff. Medicines gotten from treasure chests are of superb quality and will never deteriorate. The highest peak of such medicine is <God Cure>, capable of healing any kind of injury and illness, dispelling curses, and even restoring lost limbs. One of it appeared in Golbul Dungeon around three years ago. However, that is one that appeared publicly, it is said that there's a not an insignificant number of <God Cures> circulating behind the public awareness.

A Dungeon Master exists in the lowest floor of every dungeon. The moment the Dungeon Master of a dungeon is defeated, all other monsters in the dungeon will instantly vanish, and won't spawn back until the Dungeon Master is respawned in a matter of days or weeks. As such, nobles that manage dungeons dislike having dungeon masters beaten. However, killing a dungeon master is an act of prestige, they cannot publicly forbid people from doing it.

When a new dungeon is found, the king will send out a noble tasked to manage it. In this country, towns are built around dungeons besides the royal capital one, the dungeon's name will follow after that town's name.

Some dungeons require entry fee, but Golbul Dungeon has none.

There is no qualification to enter a dungeon. This country has established that anyone can freely enter any dungeon. However, town lords are able to prohibit someone from entering a dungeon as long as they have a reason, and there are some dungeons that give advisories to those attempting it. In case of Golbul Dungeon, guards are stationed around its entrance, and they issue an advisory that discourage those who are too young or lacking equipment to enter the dungeon.

Murders and thefts are not counted as crimes if done inside a dungeon, however adventurers do not like to go after each other and tend to avoid each other as much as possible. However, adventurers that specialize in assaulting other adventurers do exist.

There are no advisories about groups, but most adventurers go in a group of five to ten as too many people will only complicate traversal and loot distribution. Since going alone or in a pair is too dangerous, if someone doesn't have a companion, they usually form a temporary group in the open space before the dungeon entrance.

"Most people do not attempt to enter a dungeon alone, but I'm guessing that Lecan-san will."

"Yeah."

"I suppose no magic beast nor adventurer could frighten you. But please be aware of the knights serving Earl Golbul."

"Hou. They're tough huh."

"Please don't look so happy. Rather than tough, they're more bothersome."

"So they gonna pick a fight."

"Oh they will. They will follow adventurers who've obtained themselves nice items everywhere and extort those items out at a cheap price after making up some faults about those adventurers. If you don't comply, they will spread rumors about you getting those items through unjust means."

"Killing or pilfering inside a dungeon isn't counted as a crime though?"

"It is not. However, if a really bad rumor spread, it will make it hard to do anything."

"Makes sense."

"Also, this happened last year. A nobleman who was related to Earl Golbul attempted to explore the dungeon with his subordinates. But then, they met a crushing defeat by the hands of floor magic beasts. That nobleman possessed a famed sword with Grace, and a certain adventurer picked up that sword. Everything found in a dungeon belong to those who picked it up."

"Grace?"

"Sometimes weapons, armor and accessories found inside treasure chests have special effects that increase your ability. Those effects are called Graces. Even if the weapon itself is mediocre, just having Graces alone will raise its value very high."

"What about that sword."

"The adventurer was going to use the sword as his own. However, after persistently being pestered by the earl subordinates who vehemently argued that stuff obtained in the dungeon should be put up on auction, he caved in to the pressure and put the sword on auction."

"Fumu. Must have sold for cheap."

"Yes. It was one silver coin."

"That's terrible. Was it the earl strong-arming?"

"Only the earl's reps could participate in that auction. The earl subordinates who were guarding the auction's entrance restrained everyone who tried to go in under suspicion of acting suspiciously."

"I see. I got a general understanding about the kind of  person this earl is. I owe you one."

"Are you sure you don't need information about magic beasts?"

"No need. Less thing to look forward to then. But I'd like to reach deep enough floor without taking too much time, so can you get me a map with stairway locations."

"I understand. I shall have it delivered to your inn. And, if you don't mind me asking."

"What is it?"

"The earl considers items acquired in Golbul Dungeon, be it materials, goods, or magic gems, should be sold in Golbul Town. As such, you're required to sell a number of items at Golbul Town. However, please sell the really good ones to me."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Well then, I shall lend you this bag."

While Chaney was talking, he called his subordinate and instructed him something. Must have been to get this.

"This is...  A <Box (Ruuf)> huh?"

"Yes. Please put a lot inside before returning it."

"Got it."

Lecan enjoyed his first relaxing sleep in a long time that night.

The journey with Shira was worthwhile yet also stifling.

No matter how kind and jovial a feral beast is, it's still hard to feel safe sleeping in the same cage as such beast.

Shira is far more terrifying than any feral beast. There was no way he could truly relax right next to such a being.







Previous Chapter

Chapter 239 Strongest Sage, Arrives at the Farming Spot

 

It's probably only a matter of time before the Dungeon Elevator stops working altogether.
It's already miraculous enough that it would still work after all this time.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Thank you! We'll definitely come back!"

We got off the elevator.
...The 『Floor Boss』 is quite close.

"I-it's so close..."

"Yeah. It is. This one's a bear monster."

If our foe is the type with a sharp sense, it should already notice us at this distance.
Judging from the mana reaction, it's a bear monster.
...Being a Floor Boss, its muscle mass and size are in a different league than normal bears though, so those not used to it probably won't recognize it as a bear.

"First we need to defeat this boss... Ruli and Alma, you're free to do anything as long as you don't enter any of the adjacent rooms or let the boss get close to you."

"...If other monsters besides the Floor Boss raid us, we'd be caught in a pincer attack, shouldn't we prioritize culling out other monsters first?"

"Nah, no need for that... There's no other monsters besides the Floor Boss here on this floor."

I checked the surrounding mana as I said that.
There was no other mana reaction than the huge one emanating from the Floor Boss.

"No other monsters...?"

"Did they all get eaten up by the Floor Boss?"

The girls also noticed that fact after I told them.
On ordinary floors, there would be some monsters left even if the Floor Boss was around... But not this floor specifically.
Rather, this Floor fundamentally has no monsters even if the Floor Boss isn't present.

"Not really, nope. There's never a monster on this Floor to begin with."

"A floor without monsters...?"

"I've never heard something like that... Wait, how'd we even farm exp then!"

Alma has a point.
However, this trait is exactly why Floor 27 of the 『First Dungeon』 makes for a very good hunting ground.
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"You see an enormous passageway here with doors on the sides, no?"

"Yep."

This Floor 27 of the 『First Dungeon』 is very uniquely structured.
It just goes straight as an enormous passageway.

This passageway was called the 『Main Street』 in my past life, the main passage of the 『First Dungeon』 Floor 27.
If the the Floor Boss wasn't around, you could get to the next floor simply by walking down this Main Street without ever encountering a monster.

The 『Main Street』 is curved right in the middle so the Floor Boss isn't within sight... but the view here is very unusually unobstructed for a dungeon.
And the most important part is... not the Main Street, but the side rooms.

"Those side rooms are all Monster Houses."

"All of it!?"

That's right.
This floor is nothing but a cluster of monster houses.

"Yeah. All of it... Of course once a room has been cleared, no monster will spawn in it for some time, but I don't see any trace of people coming here, so the majority of these rooms should be Monster Houses now."

"So there's no mana reaction since those monsters haven't been materialized yet?"

"That's right. If you open a door and throw even a pebble inside, it'll be filled with monsters in no time."

Monster Houses materialize monsters from the mana in the air when it detect any disturbance.
As there was no human traffic for the past several thousand years here, this Floor's Monster Houses most likely have gone untouched.

While thinking that... The Floor Boss's mana reaction is getting closer.
Looks like it's found us.

And from the corner--comes out the face of a monster called  『Crash Grizzly』.
『Crash Grizzly』 are greater bear monsters that specialize in striking attacks with their sharp claws.

...It really is a bear monster.
It's on the stronger side among the kind of 『Floor Boss』 that can potentially spawn here.

If we're talking about raw physical attack power and stamina, it's even stronger than some random demons.
Seems like it'd take some time to defeat it.

"Our enemy is a bear monster as expected! It has a limited range, so you should be safe if you attack from afar!"

I came forward while using 『Enforced Detection』.
Though I haven't specially told Ruli and Alma about what spells to use on the arrows, I'm sure these two would pick the optimal spells without me telling.







Previous Chapter

10



There were four gathering spots in total. The fourth spot was all about nuts gathering.

They got back to Vouka Town by the tenth day.

Lecan has learned <Lamplight (Parm)>, <Ignition (Yutel)>, and <Draw (Vegra)> magic.

The last one is a spell that can float something very light towards the user from a very short distance, to be honest, he's not sure if it's even good for anything.

However, as it's the elementary spell of space magic, the fact that he's able to learn it means he has a chance to learn other more useful spells of space magic.

Once you get to the mid-rank space magic <Move (Trimull)>, as long as you have the mana, you can move heavy things, generate winds, and even dig out holes with it, it's an extremely practical magic.

Another mid-rank space magic <Float (Kassal)> can turn heavy things lighter, and float them in the air.

By combining <Move> and <Float>, you can float your own body high in the sky.

The advanced rank space magic <Barrier (Ogdim)> is a spell that creates a magic wall to block physical attacks. Apparently, it holds a powerful defensive power even with a small amount of mana. Quite a fascinating magic.

Another advanced rank space magic <Exchange (Koznot)> can exchange positions of objects or living beings that have the same size and weight regardless of distance. You can deliver and receive letters between distant places in an instant as long as you've set where the letter is sent to. In Shira's store at Vouka Town, there is a barrel that's the same size and weight as Shira, she can exchange places with it anytime. In other word, you can instantly go anywhere in the whole wide world as long as you've made preparations beforehand. Furthermore, once you can use the space magic near the superlative rank, it's possible to set the target of exchange without prior preparations. However, only the very select few with the aptitude for space magic are capable of learning <Barrier> and <Exchange>.

<Ignition> and <Lamplight> can be learned by anyone as long they have mana, while <Float> is not possible without the right aptitude for it. Now that Lecan knows he's got the aptitude for space magic. He'd like to learn everything that can be learned.



11



Lecan was stuck processing the gathered materials in the next three days after their return. There's a huge amount of these materials. The work didn't end even when he got up early and finished late at night. Lecan was told to sleep in for three days. He's sleeping in Jericho's room. He's used to sharing bed with horses, but it was the first time with an ape.

Shira who had gone back to her old woman form never had meals. It was Jericho who brought Lecan his meals. When Jericho secretly slipped in a small bottle of alcohol in the meal, Lecan felt a strong sense of camaraderie with him.

The processing was over by the third day. The moss needed to have the mud on it cleaned off, the nuts needed to be peeled off, then each had to be soaked in liquid, while the herbs needed to have dirt stuck on them cleaned, get bundled together and then hung upside down.

Right now both the work room and Jericho room is choke full of bundles of herbs hanging from above. Lecan always wondered why ceiling was so high, turned out it was for this.

After all, Shira can use <Float> to float herself, or <Move> to hang the bundles of herbs above. The three layers of herbs covering all over the ceiling was quite a view. The house is completely covered in herb fragrance.

The tall Lecan had no choice but to lower his head whenever he went around.

Morning of the fourth day, they started making <Magic Beast Ward Potpourris> using parts that didn't have high medicinal effect. Apparently this is not really an urgent job to tackle on, however since the parts that aren't used for magic potions are scattered all over the desks and floors, there's no place to even put their foot on unless they clean this mess.

They're making two kinds of potpourris.

The first potpourri is made from eight kinds of herbs. This is effective against Wolf Ogres, Boar Ogres, Ape Ogres, Bear Ogres, Insectviles, Snakeviles, Treezarre, and Ghosts. In other words, it's effective on magic beasts found outside of dungeons. Those beasts won't get near the smell. The effect is not absolute as there are cases where agitated or starving magic beasts come attacking regardless, however, it's capable of securing considerable safe space. If burned, it will demonstrate amazing effect and can even drive away agitated magic beasts.

The second potpourri is made from 21 kinds of herbs. This one is far stronger than the first kind, as it's also effective against Sky Fish, Boulderkin, Mudzarre, and Soul Ogres. It's even effective to a certain extent on Dragonkind. In short, it's effective on all kinds of magic beasts besides the Merfolks. This potpourri gets its high performance not only from the mix of rare herbs contained within but also the secret incantation put on it.

They made quite a lot of potpourris in two days, stuffed in small bags put inside barrels. Five barrels for each type, ten in total. These ten barrels have been left in the back of the work room. Along with empty barrels, inks, firewood and many other tools.

That's fine and all but Shira's room is in the back of this storeroom. In other words, Shira can't go to her bedroom unless these barrels are moved out of the way. In fact, she had been jumping over these barrels with <Float>.

"Now then. Time to go sell them."

Lecan isn't wearing his overcoat nor his sword right now. His clothes are not the combat-purposed one either, but the one he got from Zaidmahl house. He's not too eager to walk around downtown in this outfit, but he has no choice.

"Jericho you carry this barrel, Lecan you're this one."

"Bit too late for this, but do the potpourris not work on Jericho?"

"Oh did you miss it. I've put Jericho under <Morph (Wejapada)> spell. He's temporarily unable to smell, you see."

Lecan was sure that <Morph> is a magic that can only be used on the spellcaster itself, at least that was what told to him, but guess it's not applicable when you're at Shira's level.

Shira gave Jericho and Lecan one barrel each.

Jericho is in charge of the high-quality potpourri, while Lecan gets the weak one. Of course both are shut tight with caps to prevent House Apes and House Wolves falling into panic while they're being transported.

But, is it really possible pass through those confined alleys while carrying this barrel.

While Lecan was thinking that, Jericho went and got out of the door with his barrel.

But it's not the door that connects to the entranceway, it's the one that separates the kitchen and the well instead. Jericho went into the garden through that door. Lecan followed Jericho while feeling confused.

There's a lavatory hidden among the herbs or rather, poisonous plants, and on the wall diagonally behind it, there are two lines of wooden stakes embedded.

With the barrel in his left arm, Jericho climbed the stakes with his powerful right limbs and got to the top in no time.

And then he beckoned.

Lecan thought of running up the wall, but since the brick wall seemed like it'd collapse if he did that, he decided to use the stakes.

He stepped back several steps and ran up the stakes with a long jump. But his momentum was slightly lacking, thus he borrowed the power of wind at the last moment.

"Wind!"

Jericho agilely jumped onto the adjacent building's roof. And then he nimbly jumped from one building to one another and got down on the ground through a broken wall in the end. Lecan followed after him as well.

"Good work. We're going to the first shop now."

Shira had already been waiting there.


<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
12



They arrived at a huge shop.

Lecan was surprised to see a mere drugstore could be this huge. However, the store is very prosperous.

The people coming and going in all dressed well. The entrance is wide open, several clerks are serving multiple guests at once.

A clerk called in the back of the store when he saw Shira, and then the store manager rushed out to greet Shira.

"Thank you very much for coming here. We've been eagerly looking forward for your arrival as we figured it'd be today or tomorrow. Please come on in. We'll have tea ready for you, Shira-sama."

"You don't have to. I barely got sleep in these past five days, I wanna go home quick. Would be nice if you could take these stuff off us now."

"Yes! Of course we would. It's these two barrels I assume."

"Two kinds of Magic Beast Ward Potpourris for now."

"Ooh! Two barrels full of potpourris! It's quite an amount this time. We are truly ever so grateful."

"I'll deliver the rest later. Ah, right right. This huge thing with wolf-like face is Lecan. He's my apprentice."

"Shira-sama's apprentice!?"

"The one coming next time might be this guy, take care of him now. And also, these potpourris are freshly made and are still wet. Be sure to dry them off for a month at least before you start selling them."

Instructed by the manager, the store's employers took the bags out of the barrels. And after counting the number he paid Shira for the goods.

Lecan's eyes were wide open to see the amount of money exchanged. Since the price will be even higher when it's sold to the store's customers, he wonders if these potpourris really are that valuable.

They went around five stores in the same manner. It's evening already.

The rest of stores were all huge like the first one as well. However the quality of customers differed in some ways.

Conversely speaking, how every one of those store managers dealt with Shira so politely really drives home the fact that she holds a special position as an apothecary in this town.

After leaving the fifth store and walking down the road a bit, Shira spoke to Lecan.

"Lecan. You can head home now. We're taking a break tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. I wanna sleep... No, wait a minute."

After pondering a bit, she speaks.

"You said you wanted to go to dungeons, didn't you."

"Umu."

"Though you probably knew already, the closest dungeon is two days walk away from here. Probably won't even take half a day for you though."

"Golbul Dungeon huh."

"Yah. It's gonna take ten days for water to dry off the herbs. A wee bit longer for the moss and nuts. Let's have ten days off. I'm gonna sleep for ten days. Afterward, it'll be twenty days without respite."

Then Shira gave Lecan one gold coin, saying it was his salary.






[Episode 4 Herbs Gathering Finished/ Next Time [Episode 5 Golbul Dungeon]





Previous Chapter

Chapter 238 Strongest Sage, Discovers Powerful Enemy

 

『Finally, floor 27...』

『Can we really beat the monsters there? ...I'm getting a bit nervous here...』

『I'm ready to go at them anytime!』

Alma who was the most enthusiastic suddenly had cold feet after coming this far.
Well, I guess it's good that she's afraid of unknown foes.
You'd only meet an early death if you're never afraid of anything.

On the other hand, Iris is the same as always.
I guess Floor 27 and Floor 1 don't seem at all different for the Dark Dragon Iris.
Even if Floor 27 monsters all bunch up together to go up against her, she won't even suffer a scratch.

As I was thinking that while riding the 『Dungeon Elevator』... an enormous mana reaction suddenly appeared below.
Distance-wise... It's Floor 27.

『I can feel some incredible mana from here though...』

『S-so this is Floor 27 monsters...! Mathi-kun, are we going to gain exp by defeating this?』

Alma and Ruli noticed slightly after I did.
It's hard to grasp mana reaction in the surroundings since there's a lot of noise inside the Dungeon Elevator... But not when it's this huge.

Ruli and Alma are observing such mana reaction... And this one is obviously not coming from an ordinary monster.
Floor 27 monsters aren't this strong.

Rather...

『That's the Floor Boss.』

『Floor 27 Boss!?』

Even in my previous life, it was rare to see the Floor Boss of this floor.

As it was a popular hunting ground used by many magic combatants to train, there were veteran magic combatants in the area to deal with unforeseen circumstances.
As such, every time the Floor Boss showed up, it immediately got eliminated by those combatants.
The average life expectancy of the Floor Bosses here was 10 minutes if I'm not mistaken.

However, just because the olden magic combatants could beat it in 10 minutes, doesn't mean this Floor Boss is weak.
Top-notch magic combatants back in the days were powerful enough to kill weakling demons in this era with one shot.

They still couldn't deal with top level demons though, so I and that sword nerd Loita usually ended up getting called.

『...Should we go back?』

『No, we'll keep going.』

The Floor Boss may be strong but nothing impossible to beat.
Even I was able to solo a Floor 21 Boss when I was in the Second Academy back then.

My power has gone up since then, and I'm with Ruli, Alma and also Iris now.
It's really not a foe we cannot beat.

『How are we gonna fight the Floor 27 Boss...?』
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
『Just knock it down like usual. Ruli and Alma are to attack from afar while I and Iris deal with its attacks.』

There's no need for some elaborate plans to beat this Floor 27 Boss.
Attack it upfront and defeat it with the difference in strength. That's it.

『I gotcha!』

Iris replied immediately to me.
I suppose Floor 27 Boss is nothing to be afraid of for the Dark Dragon Iris.

With Iris's defensive power, attacks by Floor 27 Boss should feel 『Pricklish』 at most to her.
Iris in her human form probably can't beat it alone... But she should manage to run away at least.

『Attacks by this Floor 27 Boss must be very powerful, isn't it!? Mathi-kun and Iris-san, would you two really be alright!?』

Ruli asked when I told them.
Of course, I've got plans for that.

『I'll be all right! When push comes to shove, I can just turn back into my dragon form and bite it to death!』

『I'm good too. It's easier to dodge than demons' attacks and there's a lot of space to move around anyway.』

Indeed, eating Floor 27 Boss' attacks directly would mean certain death for me.
However, I would have long left this world if I couldn't dodge attacks from a mere Floor 27 Boss.

Rather, monsters on Floor 27 of 『Iliad-managed Dungeon』 are pretty easy to dodge.
After all, the ground there is flat and there's a lot of space.

Many dungeons have enough space to engage in battles, but in this one you can dodge around without minding about space at all. This is huge.

"We've arrived at Floor 27... But are you truly sure you're going down here?"

The operator had this 'I can't believe these people' face on her.

Looks like we reached Floor 27 while we were formulating a plan.
Let's get off for now.

"Yeah... I just need to push this button when we want to go back, right?"

I point at a button installed near the Dungeon Elevator's door.
This button was used to call Dungeon Elevator in my previous life.

"That would be fine. Since some of these buttons can be unresponsive, please push on it more if it doesn't light up the first time... I'll be praying for your safe return."

This part's lacking maintenance too huh...






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