Sousetsuka

3



"Sorry! Forgive me! Truly I am."

Lecan was brought to the Guard Station, in the same room as last time.

Doug bowed his head after he took a seat.

"I don't recall doing anything that warrants your apologies."

"No, well! You were treated like a suspicious individual back then. A guy with not enough prudence decided on that. And that guy was me. My bad!"

"Fumu. I don't really get it, explain how you came to that conclusion."

"It started with old man Braba. He's a mage who was relatively famous in the past, and lately he's been going in the dungeon to earn pocket money for his grandchildren. That old man Braba caught sight of you. On the stairway down on the third floor. Heard you were paying respect to the magic beasts you defeated and the dungeon itself. Old man Braba had a serious look during his testimony. That person was not the usual run-off-the-mill, he said."

That reminds Lecan, he did feel like he saw an old man when he was heading down on the third floor.

"And also, a particular rumor was spread a while after you went in the dungeon. That there were tons of dead magic beasts with their magic gems intact laying around on shallow floors. And that turned out to be true. Thanks to that, huge crowds were formed on shallow floors for several days."

Last time, Lecan was eager to get down to deeper floors. He had no interest in magic gems on those shallow floors, while taking them out was too much trouble, hence he went on without bothering with the dead bodies.

"I also heard from John and Solis. Ah, guess you're not familiar with their names. It's the young swordsman and female mage pair. John's father was someone who earned distinguished services in the war, owed the guy some debts myself. John told me. The two of them would have died were the Black Clothed Overlord didn't come to their rescue. Moreover, you even shared a red potion to cure the wound on Solis's face, didn't you. And that's not all. You even taught John the way of dungeons. He was truly grateful for that."

"I never teach anything. You got the wrong person."

"Wrong person? Hahahaha. Bet I am. If there's another person like you around that is. Hahahahahaha."

Captain Doug seemed to find it funny somehow as he laughed out loud, he bent forward over the table and beat Lecan's shoulder repeteadly.

"John was deeply remorseful. You've got to bring potions into dungeon with you no matter how pricey they are. Both of them almost paid it with their lives just cause they didn't pay heed to something so obvious, and even if they had survived, Solis would have shouldered a scar her entire life. Of course it would be no problem if they didn't encounter a large individual by chance. But a dungeon is a place where anything can happen anytime. You profoundly taught him that, the boy told me."

There's no doubt that they've got it mistaken at some point. But trying to clear the misunderstanding would take time. Lecan couldn't wait to go in the dungeon any longer.

"Good for him. I'll be on my way now."

"Ah, hold on a bit. The town lord's been informed of your arrival here. Someone from the knights should be here any time."

"I've got no business with the lord's knights."

"Don't say that. Those big shots have heard about how you sold lotsa stuff from the mid and deep parts of the dungeon here. They want to express their thank in person."

"Don't need it."

Lecan stood up as he said that, but then he recalled something that bothered him.

"Doug."
<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.>
"Ou, what is it."

"Feels like potions' market prices are kinda high. That'd limit people who can afford them. Also, considering what you just said, do stuff from middle part of the dungeon and below rarely show up in the market?"

Captain Doug had a pained look on his face.

"Would be nice if those potions could go down to a price where farmers, workers and the city populace could afford. But that can't be done."

"Why"

"It's cause adventurers buy them. Potions are indispensable if you want to explore a dungeon. Moreover, adventurers are a highly profitable field of work. As such, they will stock up potions before going in a dungeon regardless of price. Then they obtain treasures and earn money. Which they use to buy potions and better equipment. Adventurers with money to spare would scramble for dungeon stuff from mid and deeper floors. The rest of those stuff circulate to auctions and become the possession of noblemen and the wealthy. If potions' market price fell, adventurers would buy up every last bit. There are some adventurers who are willing sell potions precisely because the market prices are high, as a result, some people other than adventurers are able to buy those potions."

Now that he mentions it, Lecan himself will stop at nothing to get his hand on nice swords and protectors no matter how much they cost. His current equipment is the terminus of that creed.

"Come to think of it, I know a merchant at Vouka Town, I hear stuff from dungeons rarely circulate in the market there."

"Yeah we ain't selling any to Vouka. You know about the current circumstances... no, I guess not. You see, the father of Crimus Ulban, the Vouka town lord, was the first who got in touch with dungeon administrators during the time the dungeon was first discovered here, and was being bought from the discoverer by the royalty. But he was declined. And then the father of Gaionis Douga-sama took the position as a dungeon administrator and was conferred the Earldom peerage. More than 30 years have passed since then, and even though the family heads have changed, these two towns are still not in good terms."

"So that was the case."

"That's right. Just so you know, the amounts of yearly tax paid to the royal family, and the tax for the earl's treasury come out as eye-popping numbers. The earl gotta earn all that money no matter what. However, adventurers who managed to get to floor 20 left this town."

"Captain!"

A soldier rushed in and reported something to Captain Doug.

"And you brought them to the First Reception Room, huh? Alright."

"I see that you've got a guest. I'm going to the dungeon."

"Now now, hang on. Keep me company for a bit more. The town lord's second son, Henjit-sama's here. Said he wanted to see you. Good grief. Who woulda thought the second son would come in person. Would rather the knights under him than the second son himself, geez."







Previous Chapter

Chapter 268 United Front

 

A moment later, the girls responded as well.

"Eh! This mana reaction...!"

"It wasn't there just a second ago!"

"Yeah. It's the 『Warmongers』."

Looks like the girls have noticed their mana reaction as well.

They wouldn't have noticed if it was just an ordinary mana reaction.
But this mana reaction is unlike that of a monster nor a human.
It's more distorted and bizarre.

"This mana reaction... Is it because of 『Broken Star』?"

"...Nope. Grevil who was also resurrected by the 『Broken Star』 had no oddness in his mana reaction."

Rather than from the [Broken Star], the bizarreness is more like... something that's been manufactured roughly and shabbily.
In my past life, there were experimentations done on humans to forcefully restructure Crests and remodel their innate power... This guy feels kind of similar to those test bodies.

...I don't know the details since I wasn't involved in that research though.

"They must have undone their stealth magic... Like declaring that they won't run nor hide."

"They're going out of their way to show themselves up even though they could launch a surprise attack here?"

"Yeah... Their goal is not exactly our death after all."

The goal of 『Warmongers』 is to fight.
Surprise attacks are completely out of question from their perspective.

"They didn't have to kill then..."

"You can say that again... We wouldn't have bothered if they were a group that only likes to have a fight without the killing part."

The [Warmongers] shortened their distance while we were talking.

"Here they come, don't let your guard down!"

I stepped ahead to cover the girls.
One man stopped in front of me.

"The one who used 『Enforced Detection』... Must be you."

The man had long unkempt hair and beard.
His eyes are bloodshot with rough breathing.

--His condition is clearly not normal.
But that's because he's only thinking about fighting--or not.

His body is falling apart due to the twisted resurrection.
Let alone exerting 1/10 of his power, I'm amazed he's even alive.

And despite all that, he managed to kill a high-ranking adventurer, as expected of [Warmongers].

"Correct."

I confronted the man as I answered back.
Defeating this man without saying anything is an easy task.

But if I did that, I would have to look around for the second [Warmongers].
I need to make this guy bring us to the other members of the group.

"Twas' a beautiful magic. There was absolutely no wasteful mana expended, like it was a spell art cast by elite magic combatants in the past."

"...And?"

"In honor of your strength, we 『Warmongers』 implore you for a match... After we are done with those, of course."

The man turns his back on us after saying that.
Toward a horde of monsters coming here due to the effect of [Enforced Detection].

『...Is he gonna help us?』
<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.>
『Or so he pretended to and then used the chance to attack our back...』

Ruli and Alma sounded perplexed to see [Warmongers] turned his back on his opponents.
They can't comprehend the reason behind his actions.
...Well I guess it's something only those who live for battle can understand.

『He won't do that... From his perspective, we're the sparring partners he has been looking for all this time. Wouldn't it be a waste to kill us in a surprise attack? I believe he intends to fight us in perfect conditions after moving the small fry out of the way.』

『A waste...?』

『I-I don't really get it... But I guess you do, Mathi-kun?』

『Yeah... But I don't get how they would just kill their sparring partners.』

I mowed down an incoming monster as I said that.
It was a boar monster.
...It's not that strong but probably exceeds rank D at least.

The [Warmongers] man muttered when he saw my sword.

"Impressive swordsmanship. I thought there were only weaklings in this era... I almost feel bad to have you killed."

"...Who's going to kill whom?"

"I, kill, you. Death to the losers. That's what I've always done."

The man cut down a monster close to him as he said that.
The monster that had been hit by the sword of [Combatant Mira] kept charging forward without even realizing that it had been cut--before falling down split in two.







Previous Chapter

1



"Oh my, what's the matter this early in the morning."

"Let me in for a bit."

Shira looked slightly troubled, but Lecan made his way to the work room anyway without minding that. Then he sat on a chair and took a giant magic gem from <Storage>.

"Ah, that's"

"It's the magic gem of an otherworld dragon, Vurs. Since I plan to go to Golbul Dungeon for the time being, I was thinking of safekeeping it here."

"Is that so. Sorry that you had to go out of your way for me. Well, have some tea now."

Shira moved her finger up, and then a jar on top of a wall shelf came floating down. That spot is where jars with tea leaves are lined up, but it's the first time Lecan gets a taste of tea from that particular jar.

Water got boiled in an unbelievably short amount of time. But now they've got to wait for the temperature to come down just right before putting the tea leaves to soak in slowly. They have to wait for this part the natural way without using magic. In other words, there's time to spare now.

"Shira, can I use magic without chanting."

"Humm. Chant shortening eh. Let me see."

Shira pondered for a bit before speaking.

"You know how knocking flints together will produce fire, right?"

"Yeah."

"Why do you think knocking them together would create fire?"

Lecan slowly states his answer while constructing it in his brain.

"Sparks could be produced if you hit hard objects with each other. Flints are a stone that can easily produce sparks when they're knocked together. As such, it's possible to ignite fire by doing that."

"My, that surprised me. Wonderful answer. Your line of thinking is like that of a researcher. Now then, a question, what is hardness? What is knocking things together? What is fire?"

"Hardness is when an object is not soft, can't be easily cut. Knocking things together are when two objects or more are made to hit with each other. Fire is when something is burning. No wait, those were more paraphrases than answers."

"Let me rephrases my questions then. The flints are inside your body. Your hands can't be used to knock those flints together. Well then, how are you going to create fire?"

"I'll use <Move> spell."

"Oh good, good. That's a good answer. But you're not allowed to chant. Now then, how are you going to use <Move> spell?"

"...No idea."

"If you want to cast magic without chanting, you have to reproduce all actions that occur when you chant a spell inside your mind. To do that, you have to comprehend the foundations of those actions. How do flints produce fire, once you've traced back and understood the principle behind it, you'll be able to cast magic without chanting."

Jericho came into the room bringing something on a tray with him.

It's baked sweets. Shira put it on a plate and offered it to Lecan.

"Once you have gained mastery on magic, you will eventually get to learn all magic. And it's not about a problem with aptitudes or such anymore. Those who have truly mastered magic understand the foundations of all magic there is. This is different from power of magic and such, you see."

Shira poured tea on two bowls and offered one to Lecan.

"Once you got to that point, you could cast magic that returns the same results as <Appraisal> without chanting <Appraisal> spell itself. However, initially it'd take ten times as long to cast a spell without chants, and there's a chance it will fail at the casting process as well."

Shira stared at the giant magic gem on the table with gentle eyes.

"Those who could cast magic without chanting, and doing that as natural as breathing are not ordinary humans. The very existence of such a being is magic itself. A being who lives in the true nature of the world. If you ever meet someone like that, Lecan."

Shira nodded and drank her tea.

"Run, right away. Even if the other party only possess an extremely tiny amount of mana. That person is on a whole different level than you. They'll immediately see through you and your weakness, and kill you, or even make you go through fate worse than death."

Lecan relished on Shira's words while sipping his tea. This must be Shira's special tea leaves. It's really delicious with a soothing taste to it.

"I'll keep it in mind."


<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.>
2



Lecan left Shira's house, went straight to the west gate and headed toward Golbul. Even though the two towns are close enough to be traveled on foot in two days, few people are on the way between Vouka and Golbul. There's only a handful of wagons as well.

Lecan arrived at noon time.

First of all, he went to grocery store and secured food for his supply in the dungeon. Of course, he mainly bought stuff with long expiration dates, but there's no need to stock stuff that last very long either. As it should only take him 10 days at most to explore the dungeon. The shopkeeper and other guests seemed to be bothered by Lecan, they had been stealing glances at him for a while.

He saw a store with <Potion Store> signboard next to the grocery thus he dropped by it.

"W-welcome."

There's only a few customers inside and an idle clerk at the counter, so he steps forward.

"How much is one Small Red Potion?"

"Eh? Since we have enough stock right now, it's the market price."

"What's the market price."

"It's one big silver coin of course. Yer' a veteran ain't ya? Why wouldn't you know that."

"I came from a faraway land. I don't know the market price in this region. Does it get more expensive when you're running low on stock?"

"That's right. We were running super short in the middle of last month. It even got to one big silver and five silver coins."

"What about Medium Red Potion?"

"Two big silver coins."

"And Large Red Potion?"

"Three big silver coins. However, top level adventurers usually buy up all Large Red Potions, so we often don't have any stock available."

"I see. How much for Blue Potions, all three types."

"It's the same as Red ones."

Which means, what Chaney paid for the potions Lecan gave, six gold coins, weren't exceptionally that high.

"I see that you accept trade-in inside. Are the selling prices fixed."

"It's half the market price, that's the rule."

"Got it. Sorry for taking your time."

Lecan overheard people rumormongering behind him as he walked out of the store.

"O-Oy, isn't that"

"Yeah, that's the <Black Clothed Overlord>."

"That scared the crap out of me. Real crazy pressure he got there."

"Ya gotta make sure to keep that left eye shut. Heard those who were glared at got turned into stones y'know."

--Left eye shut? Are they talking about me?

Right as Lecan got out of the store while feeling doubtful, someone called him out loud from outside <3D Perception> range.

"Ooyyyyyyyy! Lecaaaaaaaan!"


It was the captain of Dungeon Security Guards, Doug.






Previous Chapter

Chapter 267 Strongest Sage, Completes Objective

 

『I-I didn't know we could do that...』

『...But we still have to defeat 700 monsters either way, don't we?』

『Well, ranks are the one thing that takes time to raise after all...』

Normally you raise your guild rank slowly over the course of years.
Trying to do that in just a day is pushing it.

『But since you declined the special test... Mathi-kun knows an even faster method, right?』

『...Yeah. Actually, we've done it before.』

『Ah that huh...』

『Yeah. That. 』

When we were trying to raise our ranks at Raginia Federation, we used Enforced Detection all over the places and defeated the gathered monsters to complete the quests we took.
Defeating 700 monsters would be easy using that method.

『And Senisye Plain is huge too, no better place to use that method!』

『...I'm afraid we'd get too many monsters thanks to how huge it is instead though...』

『No worries, we just need to adjust the intensity of [Enforced Compulsion].』

We thanked the branch head before leaving the guild.
Let's do this and upgrade our ranks quick.


◇


A while later.
We arrived at a spot in Senisye Plan far away from the town.
Using [Enforced Detection] here won't cause trouble for the town.

"...Are you ready?"

"It's the second time we're doing this, I'm okay!"

"Let's do it!"

"I've kinda got a bad feeling about this somehow... I'm ready when you are though!"

I checked the girls... and got these replies.
I don't usually care much about hunches and stuff... But Alma's usually right on the money...

"Bad feeling, like?"

"Uun, feels like we'll get some weird ones coming instead of usual monsters..."

"Ah... You're right, some weird ones probably will come along."

I checked the surrounding mana reaction with [Passive Detection] as I said that.
The range of my [Passive Detection] has gotten quite more far-reaching than before thanks to my developing magic circuits.

Yet, I don't see powerful mana reactions in my detection range.
Normally, I'd conclude that there's nothing of worth around here... But not in this particular case, something undetectable is probably lurking here.
Well it saves us the trouble if those guys come though.

"Weird ones... You mean monsters?"

"No, human."

"Human... Ah! You mean the [Warmongers]!?"
<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.>
"Yeap."

There's a high chance that the [Warmongers] are hiding in this Senisye Plain.
This plain may be vast, but we've got a chance of having those [Warmongers] be within the range of [Enforced Detection].

[Passive Detection] can't be used to find [Warmongers] but they will definitely notice if they get in the range of [Enforced Detection].
It's not surprising at all for those [Warmongers] to come picking a fight with us as they are currently looking for challengers themselves.

"Would be bad if those [Warmongers] come when our hands are full dealing with monsters..."

"Oh you'll be surprised... They're saving us time taking on quests if they come for us on their own."

To begin with, we're trying to raise our adventurer ranks to fight the [Warmongers].
We're lucky if they're coming on their own accord.

"...We'd be up against monsters and [Warmongers] at the same time, can we win?"

"We can... Assuming we'll receive an attack, I'm going to revise the way I use Enforced Detection this time."

The three nodded.

In the previous era, [Warmongers] were indeed strong.
But they've fallen as low as picking a fight with high ranking adventurers of this era.

Those guys have no problem fighting against weaker opponents... But they won't bother with those that are extremely weak.
...As long as the high ranking adventurer who fell victim wasn't as strong as Giruas by chance, those [Warmongers] should be weaker than ordinary demons.

I activate [Enforced Detection] while thinking that.

"[Enforced Detection]... Our enemy is coming!"

Last time, I scattered [Enforced Detection] all around, but not this time, as I narrowed down the direction.

Broadcasting it in all directions would be better if we wanted to gather monsters, but we'd be surrounded in all directions then.
By narrowing down the direction, we'd be able to cope with it in the event of [Warmongers] attacking.

However...

"To think they'd come this quick."

I murmured while checking mana reactions in the area.

--A mana reaction suddenly appeared out of nowhere at a spot 1 kilometer away.
And--That mana reaction is rapidly moving to where we are.









Previous Chapter

17-10. Purple Towers (2)

 

Satou here. I'm aware that even demolitions require calculations from seeing videos of multi-storied buildings getting demolished. Collapsing multi-storied buildings down below without damaging the surroundings feels like a work of art, doesn't it.



◇



"Well then, I'm counting on you to inform the viceroy."
"Un, I got it. I think it'll take about three hours to finish evacuating."
"Gotcha."

I brought Hikaru with me to Labyrinth City Selbira using Unit Arrangement.
The king has requested me to destroy the purple tower at this city first since it's fully equipped for it with excellent city defense being a labyrinth city and all.

Other members besides Hikaru are standing by in their full equipment on the airship.

"Hello."

Hikaru candidly greeted the guard in front of viceroy's mansion before going in.

The king must have informed the viceroy about his plan to destroy the purple tower through [City Core] transmission line already, but considering this world's time schedule, I expect that they have not done anything about it.
As such I asked Hikaru to act as a messenger to urge a prompt evacuation.

"Now then--"

I went to the Purple Tower near the labyrinth city.
It's situated right on the opposite side of the labyrinth.

"--Uwaaa. W-who goes there!"

A young soldier guarding the Purple Tower was startled to see me appearing all of a sudden, he held out his spear while inquiring my identity. The fact that he got his spear backward must be part of his charm.

"You fool! Lower your spear! This person here is Hero Nanashi-sama of Shiga Kingdom!"
"Eh? Ah, purple hair and a mask--"

An older soldier reprimanded the young one.

His reaction was understandable if he never saw me before.
I mean a suspicious man donning a mask just showed up out nowhere after all.

"M-my apologies!"

The young soldier lowered his spear and apologized.

"Oh no worries. By the way, --what's that over there?"

There's a lot of people getting treated near the Purple Tower.

"They're explorers."

No uh, I can see that.

"When the mound got bigger, many explorers burning with curiosity gathered here and went inside the tower, saying something like 『We'll help with the investigation』 or 『Treasures~』."
"You didn't stop them?"

The older soldier shrugged his shoulders and said, "We were outnumbered."
There are dozens of explorers getting treated here, and some are high level ones. Just five or six average soldiers can't possibly stop them.

Right now, additional newly-dispatched soldiers are here forming a barricade near the entrance.

"How many people went inside?"
"We don't know the exact number. What we know are a mixed party of 30 people led by Koshin-dono, a party of nine led by Dozon-dono, and also 30 elites from Earl Pendragon's sub-organization, the 『Pendora』."

Pendora guys huh--.
They're not exactly my sub-organization, but I can't tell him that as Nanashi.

But this is troubling.

I can't destroy the tower from outside using anti-god magic if there's people inside.
Gotta remove--save the people who have gone inside first.

Well, guess I'll get to it while the labyrinth city finishes its evacuation and defense prop-up.

"When did they get in?"
"First thing in the morning!"

It's been quite some time since they got in, but I believe the parties led by Kosin-shi with his excellent commanding abilities and the veteran Dozon-shi would still be intact.
Same with [Pendora] guys who have been taught to prioritize returning alive at the Explorer School.

"OK then, I'm going in. Don't let anyone inside okay."
"As you wish, sir."

The older soldier saluted.

I lightly returned the salute and went inside the purple tower.



◇



"--Just in case."

I put staircase on the first floor under space magic 『One-way Traffic (Deracinator)』.
And now, no one can go to the second floor from the first floor.

It's not like I don't believe the soldiers would do their job, but it'd be annoying if explorers who have gone back to the first floor attempt to go up other staircases here.

I used [All Map Exploration] when I got to the Second Floor.

"So many victims..."

I fetched the dead bodies with [Item Aport] and put them in Storage.
Fortunately--though I really shouldn't say that, no one from the [Pendora] was among them.

"Only three survivors huh."

Since they were huddling together at one spot, I went to meet them using Map and teleport magic.

"Uwaa"
"Is it a gobu!"

Surprised by me showing up with teleportation, young female explorers raised their short spears at me while protecting a wounded male priest behind them.
I'll make myself invisible before teleporting in next time.

"Hello there. I'm Hero Nanashi of Shiga Kingdom."

I raise my hands up to show them that I'm not an enemy while greeting and touching them with [Magic Hand] at the same time.

"H-Hero-sama?"
"Why would you be here--"

I didn't answer them and instead took them with me outside the tower using Unit Arrangement.

"O-outside?"
"Are we saved?"
"We are! We're saved!"

As the three were rejoicing and hugging each other, I teleported back inside the tower.

All eight pillars had staircases, thus I searched through all eight areas, from [Purple Tower, 2F-I] to [Purple Tower, 2F-VIII], collected the dead bodies and saved a few survivors along the way like the three earlier.

The third floor had 16 areas in total, I combed through all those and found no survivors, total dead bodies were about 30% of the ones on second floor.
I couldn't find either Dozon-shi, Kosin-shi or the Pendora guys so far.


<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.>
◇



"There."

I found Koshin-shi's party on the fourth floor.

They're in the back, getting cornered by six groups of Demigoblin Vanguards that have blocked all three passages leading to them.
I was told that they were originally a group of 30, but it's been reduced to 20 now.

I hide myself using Optical Camouflage and teleport near them.

"Great shield unit, brace yourselves! Priest unit, prioritize healing shield unit! Mage unit, don't try to attack directly! Focus on using support magic and diverting the gobu! Strike unit, don't get too far ahead! Consider yourself lost if you get hurt!"

Koshin-shi is there. He's desperately giving instructions to the explorers at the center.
The average level of explorers in his group is relatively low, but thanks to his commands, they have avoided a total annihilation.

I could demolish those Demigoblin Vanguards in a single volley of [Remote Arrow], but then their efforts so far would be meaningless.

Thus I gave them a hand by overlapping my healing magic when the priests used theirs, and distracting and pulling the demigoblins' legs using Magic Hands.
Leaving the Demigoblin Vanguard Mages and Demigoblin Vanguard Priests who were leading the groups would problematic, thus I manipulated the Demigoblin Vanguards guarding them to kill them using their swords.

Thanks to my help, the battle ended in 10 minutes without any casualties.

"Haa, haa... We managed to repulse them somehow..."
"--Yea."

"All members, get your first-aid now that we have a chance! Let's move out before the enemy who had run away brought reinforcement with them!"

Koshin-shi gave orders to the party.

"Thank god for Beria magic medicine."
"Dang right. We'd have been demolished without it."
"I'm sorry for being an inexperienced priest."
"Oh my bad, that's not what I mean."
"Dang right. That last heal was pretty awesome."

The shield unit chatted with a young priest.

"But dontcha think something felt amiss with those gobu at the end?"
"Those entire gobu are a mass of weirdness, y'know?"
"Not that, it's like they got distracted by something invisible."
"Hahaha, maybe gods' were helpin' us."

There's some explorers with a sharp institution among them.

Before they were finished with the first-aid, I produced flashy effects with light magic [Illusions] and showed myself up in front of them.
They were surprised as expected, but it's better than being found out that I had been here for awhile.

"Are you guys Koshin Party? I'm Hero Nanashi of Shiga Kingdom."

I told so to the surprised Koshin-shi, reached out [Magic Hands] toward them and took them to the tower's entrance before they could answer back.

As I walked away from the group while they were shocked and rejoicing together, Koshin-shi approached me.

"Allow me to express my gratitudes for saving us. You see, some of our comrades are still left inside."
"I got it. I'll make sure to save all survivors."
"Thank you--young master."

Koshin-shi bowed and whispered only the last word.
Wonder at which point did he find out?

"Who do you mean?"
"Nevermind, it appears I mistook you for someone else."

After saying something that didn't sound convincing in the least, he went back to his party.

Well, anyway--.
I went back to the tower to seek out the remaining explorers.



◇



"There they are. Pendora."

I finally found them at the sixth area on the fourth floor.
Looks like they've kept the safety first mantra well, they're not missing anyone.

Just that, I thought the 30 of them were moving together, but there's a lone party that's split up from them moving by themselves.

For now I'll go collect the party with fewer people.

"Geez! This is what happens when you don't listen to Rabibi-san!"
"But, ya know~"
"Ya know, not!"
"Now now, Rikurina. That one was inevitable."
"Right right. Talking plants are stuff you can only found at Fairy Forest like Pochi-neesan said."
"Can't imagine how much we'd get if we sell it."
"Rightf~"

The destination of my teleport was a party of mainly humans with a dwarf and a foxkin.
They're looking lively despite being separated from their friends.

I teleported them to [Pendora]'s location while keeping my invisibility.

"""UWAA"""

Both groups screamed in surprise at the sudden appearance of the lost group.

"Usasa! There's somebody close by, gau!"
"All hands, assume battle formation <Ring>!"

At Gaugau's report, Usasa promptly took the Ring formation.
The dogkin boy Gaugau found out about me probably because I forgot to erase my scent.

"Excuse me for surprising you."
"""Hefro-sama!"""
"""Hero-sama!"""

Looks like lots of these kids knew about Hero Nanashi, not sure where they saw me.
I caught all of them with [Magic Hands] and brought them outside the tower.

"Eh? Outside? Why?"

I informed the confused kids that they king had requested me to destroy the tower.

"Aww, and there were lots of treasure chests too."
"You there, no complaining."
"Garbage treasure chests the lot of 'em anyway, bau."

The protesting kids were quickly persuaded by their friends.

"Please wait! Hero-sama!"
"There's something we need to tell you, Hero-sama!"

As I turned around and was about to leave to look for Dozon-shi.
The [Lost Pendora] kids I saved first called and stopped me.

"What is it?"
"The weed spoke!"

The boy said that while holding up withered weed.
Come to think of it, they were talking about talking flowers or something earlier.

Even while shouting back to their friends who made fun of them saying that they must have seen a hallucination out of fear, the kids insisted that it was all real.

"And, what did the weed say?"
"Stupid imps get them stronger! it said."
"They love greets, mystery and gruel! it said."

What the heck?

"You guys be quiet! Misorin, I'm sure you remember it, right."
"Un, I do."

A kid who seemed to be their leader stopped the two and asked a clever looking kid to explain instead.

"It said--"

The clever kid closed her eyes and recited like she was retracing her memories.

『We're getting stronger thanks to those impious fools.』

『Greed, misery, pent-up grudges, unhappiness and pain are our favorite food.』

『Tolerance, service, empathy, kindness and gratitudes are our nemesis.』

『But our worst nemesis is prayers to those detestable gods. The stronger gods the weaker our protection be.』

...It can't get any plainer rather than being some roundabout indirect hints.

This and the gauge-like tree relief with colors of gods at the entrance, it feels like these towers are created by someone's will.

"Thank you, it's really helpful."

I give my thanks to the [Pendora] kids for the valuable info.
Let's give them equipment fit for their levels through Echigoya Firm later.

And Dozon party which I went to save last was engaging a boss at the boss room, in a state of partial destruction. They would have cleared the boss room with Dozon-shi suffering grievous wounds though without any casualty if they had kept up.

◇



『Sete said that it's OK to execute the destroy Purple Towers plan.』
『Got it.』

I wrap the Purple Tower in an excessive number of barriers.
These won't break even if the anti-god magic bounced toward the barriers.

I check Map to see that no one is inside the evacuated area.

『Well then, here it goes.』

I cast an anti-god spell from Magic List.
Sparkling rainbow colored lights converged, then a moment later, it erased everything including the adjacent sub-spaces.

--Hm?

Normally, the spell composition would have dispersed just like that, but it's raging around, refusing to let go of my control.

『Master! Kinda looks like something odd is happening, are you okay?』

Arisa who was standing by on the airship called me through Familiar Link.

『I'm fine. This is within my expectations.』

The latter part was a lie, but I could manage this much trouble just by firing myself up.
I forcefully brought together the dissolving magic composition by spending a huge amount of mana on it, finishing the spell construction.

"--Phew."

That was tiring.

Afterward, I went around to cities under direct control of the king and erased the purple towers there one by one.
A similar phenomena, overreaction of anti-god magic, happened at the second tower as well, but dealing with it was a simple matter when you knew about it beforehand.
My mana would almost get depleted each time it occurred though, thus I had to keep recharging to full power from holy swords every time, it was tough.

It made me remember the days of death march at the company I worked at a long time ago somehow.



◇



"Territory lords have refused to have the towers destroyed?"
"More accurately, except for the towers that are close by their territory capitals, they said."

I asked Hikaru back.
Except for Marquis Muno and Earl Seryu, some or maybe the majority of those territory lords refuse to have the purple towers in their territories destroyed.

"Well, it's only natural. Though it's not really efficient, they now got labyrinths--magic core mines in their territories after all."
"I can't believe they dared to ask to destroy towers that are close by their capitals!"

Arisa explained the logic behind those lords' decisions, while Sera and her strong sense of justice was furious.

Only Marquis Muno kept the [for the sake of people] slogan for real, as even the affluent Duke Oyugock and Duke Bishtal wished to keep multiple purple towers in their territories intact.
I have no idea about Earl Seryuu's intentions, but he probably has no interest in those towers as they're not as profitable as the [Devil's Labyrinth] he's got at his capital.

"Just leave those capital towers alone if they refuse to--"
"""Sera!"""

Sera fell down while she was still talking.

I held Sera up before she fell on the floor.
Did she faint from being too furious?

"...『Prohibited』...『Destroy』...『Devices』..."

Sera muttered like she was delirious.

"H-hey, isn't this--"
"Quiet please."

I put my hand on Arisa's mouth as she pulled my sleeve.

"『Present』...『God Garden』...『Instructions』..."

No doubt about it, it must be an oracle from God Tenion.

"Guess we shouldn't destroy those purple towers now."
"Looks like it."

They didn't say anything about the Purple Mounds I had destroyed when I visited the Realm of Gods though...
And thus it was decided that I would visit the Realm of Gods once again even while feeling slightly dissatisfied about it.

Guess next time I'll ask them [What are the Purple Towers built for?] and [Stuff about Demon God Seal]?




※ Next Update is planned for 4/14







Previous Chapter

Chapter 266 Strongest Sage, Takes on Quests

 

"I'm this guild branch head, Dakufu... Baron Hildesheimr, we deeply apologize for our staff earlier... She did not mean ill will--"

I see.
I forgot that I'm technically a temporary baron.

My peerage should have been a temporary one for a duration of doll war--but the king seems to fully intend to make it permanent.
As such, I'm practically still a baron even though the doll battle is over.

"No, it's nothing to worry about."

"We're ever so grateful for your generosity, Baron Hildesheimr."

...Getting treated as a noble like this makes me feel all fidgety...
Though it may have its use in negotiations like I'm currently in.

"So let me be straight with you... I need to take on this quest due to a certain circumstance. And I'd also like to meet with the client of this quest."

"...We're truly sorry. Even if it's a request by Baron Hildesheimr, we cannot just ignore the rank specified by the client... We're also unable to share client's information, even if it were the lord here asking."

"What if I say that the client is a criminal?"

The branch head looked surprised when he heard that.
And then... he turns his sight at the client's name.

"Are you telling us that the client of this quest, Picas, is a criminal?"

"He possibly is."

"...I'm sorry, but we cannot divulge client information just because of a possibility. We'd be glad to comply right away if you have evidence to prove your claim however..."

Well, I guess I'm pushing it without evidence.
If a noble who isn't even a territory lord could get information from the guild by simply saying 『The client may be a criminal』, no one would trust the guild anymore.

...Even if we catch the client, the one who posted the quest is probably someone hired by the [Warmongers].
I don't remember anyone called Picas in that group.

Which means, what we need to do here is... to raise our ranks as planned.

"Then I guess we'll just have to raise our ranks to A... The demons we have defeated are counted in the rank up assessment right?"

"Of course... In that case, you need to get to rank C... I believe Mathias-san's party is able to take on a special test if you negotiate with the guild."

Special test huh.
Something like that is possible even without the king's intervention huh.

"...How long would that take?"
<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.>
"I believe it would take two days at the quickest."

"Too slow... Might as well take on subjugation quests and raise our rank to C the honest way... It's 200 rank E quests and 500 rank D quests, no?"

Fortunately this guild has plentiful of quests.
We can probably complete 500 quests in a day if we just hunt monsters quickly and abundantly.
Doing the quests is still faster even if we count the time needed to recover our mana.

"...So it's faster to take on normal quests than the special test with Baron Hildesheimr's strength... In that case, would you like us to prepare the right quests for you?"

"Are you sure?"

I'd welcome it if he could get us nice quests for rank up.

"Baron Hildesheimr should have been rank A considering your strength. No one would complain even if you get to rank A in a slightly forceful manner."

Then the branch head wrote two quest tags.

――――――――――――――――――――
Type: General Quest
Quest Rank: E
Required Rank: E
Reward: 100 elmi
Quest Spot: Senisye Plain
Subject: Subjugation of one Rank E monster
Client: Adventurer Guild
Remark: Multiple Acceptance is Allowed
――――――――――――――――――――

――――――――――――――――――――
Type: General Quest
Quest Rank: D
Required Rank: E
Reward: 200 elmi
Quest Spot: Senisye Plain
Subject: Subjugation of one Rank D monster
Client: Adventurer Guild
Remark: Multiple Acceptance is Allowed
――――――――――――――――――――

"Please accept these quests... These are the simplest quests as far as my knowledge goes."

"...We just need to defeat 200 rank E monsters and 500 rank D monsters if we take these quests huh."

"Yes. As long as you get the rank right, they're terribly easy to accomplish if you have the strength to back."

Normally, subjugation quests ask you to locate a specific monster among a swat of monsters and defeat only those type of monsters.
Moreover, there's no guarantee that defeating one of those monsters is counted as one quest.

However, we can simply defeat monsters randomly out there and these two quests would be deemed complete.
Only shortfall is that defeating rank F and below monsters won't be counted, but any simpler and these quests won't be approved as rank D.

"...Much appreciated."

I took the two quests as I said that.






Previous Chapter

Chapter 265 Strongest Sage, Negotiates

 

"No one is taking this quest, right? I know it asks for rank A, but is there a way for lower ranked adventurers to take it?"

"Err... We need the client's agreement in order to lower the quest rank, so..."

I see.
Those 『Warmongers』 most definitely won't lower the required rank as their goal is to fight strong adventurers.

Guess we need to raise our ranks after all.
The problem is how...

"How do you raise your rank? We're currently rank E..."

I asked the receptionist.
If it needs a huge amount of quest completions or time-consuming tests, we're stuck.

If that happens, we have no choice but to ask the king's help.
It'll take a few days, but the quest should still be around if we're lucky.

And if we're not... Then we'd have to search those 『Warmongers』 from scratch.
We could try following the trails of the missing high ranking adventurer.
...But I'd prefer to settle this now to decrease potential victims.

The receptionist handed over a paper with details about rank up.
Then she speaks apologetically.

"Here are the prerequisites for rank up... Unfortunately, getting up to rank A is quite a task, you know? Even tough adventurers need years to get to rank C..."

The paper the receptionist handed over had this written.

――――――――――――――――――
Rank Up Prerequisite Table
To Rank E - Completes 50 Rank F Quests
To Rank D - Completes 200 Rank E Quests
To Rank C - Completes 500 Rank D Quests
To Rank B - Completes 2000 Rank C Quests, or participate in a Disaster class monster subjugation and play an active role in it
To Rank A - Participate in a Disaster class monster subjugation and play a leading role in it
――――――――――――――――――

The numbers of quests we need to complete are too far away.
If all the monsters we've defeated so far get counted as quests, we might just reach rank C... but since most of the monsters I defeated don't seem to, my rank stays at E.

Well, I guess our ranks being low is just natural.
After all, it was only recently that we got formally registered as guild members instead of Second Academy students.

But these prerequisites... Perhaps there's still a hope for easy rank-ups.

"...Are demons counted as a Disaster class monster?"

"Of course they are. Demons are the worst of Disaster class monsters."

"Then... If a rank E adventurer were to defeat a demon by himself, his rank would be upgraded to A?"

The receptionist pondered a bit when I asked her that.
Then she replies while looking at me with warm eyes.

"Unfortunately, you have be rank C first before you can get to rank B and above. As such, the rank won't go up even if a rank E adventurer defeated a demon... If by that time you've satisfied the prerequisites to be rank C, your rank will be automatically upgraded to A however."

"...I see."

Looks like defeating a Disaster class monster even before you get to rank C is counted.
Which means, if the guild has a record of me defeating demons in the past, I'll get to rank A just by completing the number of quests required to get to rank C.
While thinking that, the receptionist speaks as if she's cautioning me.

"But you can't go and try to defeat a demon now, you hear me. You're already off to a promising start being a rank E at your age... Don't put the cart before the horse and get too hasty at raising your rank you end up dead, okay."

Apparently, this receptionist thinks we're rookie adventurers yearning for high ranking ones.
...The rookie part is not necessarily wrong.

"...No, we've beaten demons already."

"You shouldn't lie like that... The guild manages records about subjugations of demons. A quick look at the data will expose your lie, you know."

Hou.
They've got records on subjugation history huh.
That's good to hear.

"Then please check the data."

The receptionist shrugged her shoulders like 'oh geez' when I said that.
Then she speaks to me with a 'I give up' look on her face.

"I understand. I'll have a look, hand me your guild card please."
<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.>
"Sure."

I passed my guild card to the receptionist.
Then she looked at the card--and opened her eyes wide in a shock.

"Ma...!?"

Then she alternately compares the guild card and my face.
After a slight pause, the receptionist asks.

"Are you perhaps... Mathias Hildesheimr of the Second Academy?"

"Yeah. I am--"

"P-pardon me! I will go call the branch head!"

The receptionist ran at full speed toward the guild's back room after saying that.
After a little while, she came back along with a middle aged man.

The man's name tag had 『Guild Branch Head, Dakufu』 written on it.







Previous Chapter