is about 10 km . >>At the 21st floor, the distance between stairs became about 15 km . If we continue further it will become late, but since the main party is partic.i.p.ating and newcomer team has also gotten better at fighting, I don’t think our pace shouldn’t drop as much as I expected, but…
We still decided to stop exploring 21st floor today after a little while .
[…Yes . Father and brother has agreed to 3 years . ]
That night, during the little spare time Cattleya has, she came to my mansion . It seems to be a report and greetings .
As I was told, both father and brother wanted Cattleya to retire but she managed to persuade them to postpone it for 3 years .
[Meaning it basically turned out what you want after all, Cattleya . ]
[Yes . But persuading father was difficult…]
Yeah, the king is still being perverted it seems . We shouldn’t go to the castle for a while .
[What changed after returning beside that would be that the number of marriage proposals addressed to me have decreased . Because the society thinks I am proposed to by Jin-sama already… And to those who still propose marriage…]
Cattleya is beautiful so she continued to get marriage proposals even before her coming of age . She doesn’t have any desire to marriage so she could somehow decline them, but it looks like she’s about near her limits .
This time, she went through with no comment about being proposed by me, but the surrounding people think she accepted it . In addition to that, she has a single phrase of certain kill in her hands that could reject proposals .
[I will think about it if you could give me something more valuable than “Soma” . ]
I want to say “what kind of kaguyhime are you” . By the way, it doesn’t look like there is someone who can do that .
[By the way, I’ve been smelling something good for a while now…]
We are currently talking in the dining room right before dinner . The kitchen is next to it, so a good smell is drifting about from there .
[I think it is Mio’s deluxe fried chicken (Spec: Karaage) . Mio’s food is the best but there is also the labor you need to make portion for the amount of people so she often makes only one of the dishes . This is queen of Kastal’s favorite . ]
[You called?]
Who said that and came into the dining room is Sakuya, queen of Kastal . She is a gourmet queen who frequently comes to have a meal in our home .
[Oh, it’s you Sakuya . I’m talking with Estia’s princess now . I said Mio’s dish is delicious . ]
[Eh? Her majesty the queen of Kastal!?]
Cattleya is shocked . It’s trivial, but this is “Estia’s” mansion . It isn’t a good place for “Kastal’s” queen to come carefreely .
[Oh~, Mio-chan’s cooking is delicious isn’t it~ Ah, could it be that Mio-chan is cooking today?]
[Yeah, it is Mio’s deluxe fried chicken . ]
[Really!? Yay~! What about takeout!?]
[No takeout . She said she can’t really make a lot . ]
[Argh…! Too bad!]
Sakuya and I get excited while ignoring Estia princess Cattleya next to me .
[Eh? EH?]
[Ah, Sakuychan . You came?]
Mio apporaches us with a plate in hand . n.o.body minded the confused Cattleya .
[Oh, it’s smell nice . Is it already dinner?]
[Nope . That’s not it . I only made some earlier for sampling . I was thinking of letting Master taste them . ]
For the sake of adjusting the taste, she served a few fried chicken on a plate it seems .
[Ah, me too, me too!]
[That is okay . I have at least that much . Oh, Cattleysan too, here . Ahh~]
[Ah, Ahh~~]
Cattleya opens her mouth like Mio told her to while still confusing . And Mio throws fried chicken in there .
[Wh what is this deliciousness!!!]
That day, new fans have increased to our house’s cooking . The number of royalties turning up relatively frequent by using “portal” have turned to two .
According to what I was told later, they got along well with each other while having meals together and their relationship reached to a point where they even have girl’s talk through telepathy . It was the completion of a mysterious hotline .
We decided to explore the dungeon during the next day . I decided to contact the prince a little bit later . To be specific, until the king regined his sanity . I asked Cattleya to report to me .
[I want to excavate ores too when I have the time though~]
[Sure, the amount of explorers have become quite scarce now that we have come this far, so we won’t decrease anybody’s income, but won’t it become a large time sink if we do that?]
[That is true~]
Mio responded to my complaint . If the 11th-20th floor’s selling points are medicinal herbs and plants, then 21st-30th floor’s selling point would be minerals . Meaning you could obtain suitable minerals as ingredients for weapons relatively easy . There are mining point all over the place on the map . Oh, a mining point is just like its name, a point where you can obtain minerals if you dig there . Map is kindly displaying them .
However, you will have to put in strenuous effort when it comes to mining . Honestly, our main purpose is to travel through the dungeon, so we don’t have time for it to be clear .
[Well, I guess I can leave it to Cynthia and the others after travelling through it . ]
[[Please leave it to us . ]]
[I want to subjugate monsters rather than mining (nodesu)!]
This girl really doesn’t get shaken .
[I look forward to mining nodesu!]
Ah, she gave in . Kate is pretty strong against Cynthia .
In the end, we were able to keep a steady pace until now by ignoring mininig and all treasure and travelled to the 22nd floor . I decided to stealthily collect any items I want at any costs though… Like Mithril ore and rings that gives resistance to fire .
Due to the change in environment, it is natural for new monsters to come out . I will introduce only interesting monsters and monsters with new skills .
Flare Goblin
LV21
[Red Club]
Note : Bright red goblin . A man so hot he is literally burning .
Magman
LV24
Note : Lump of magma . It is only hot when you get close .
Flare goblin is a red goblin with fire attributes . It wields a (red) club like ordinary goblins and breathes fire from time to time . Its effect is big so it is simple to dodge though…Its level is normally high so if one is not careful, it may be stronger than a goblin king . Its skills are poor so there’s no dread to him…
Magman is as it is, a lump of magma, an amorphous monster like slime . Naturally it’s hot, so we decided to strike him with water magic from a distance . It seems extraordinarily weak against water magic too, since we were able to knock it out with one water ball . But this guy is quite strong against melee fighter . It’s the same with the volcano golems, but having many opponents who could checkmate you when you encounter them without any countermeasures may also be a feature of the floor 20 series .
Next day and day after that, we finished exploring 26th floor . Since we could maintain 2 floors per day, I can say we are doing well . Traps have become more brutal compared to the floor 10 series, but we can avoid them all together with map so they didn’t become a threat at all .
We didn’t get caught by any of them, but let me explain the traps on these floors . Monster houses are reinforced and you won’t be able to leave once you enter them as long as the monsters aren’t annihilated . Most of the explorers who descended while lacking ability die from this . Besides that, there are fire that spout out from the floor and wall . You will usually die if you don’t take proper counter-measures . Since trap’s color is different from the rest if you look closely, these would be the type of traps that you won’t get caught in the first place as long as you keep on the lookout .
The day after that . With the king being fine soon, I decided to report the matter of the soma to the prince . Applying for a personal audience looks difficult so I’m thinking about asking Elinsia for that . I heard Elinsia is staying in capital and seem busy . She couldn’t avoid doing work temporarily in the capital city with the noises lately . Just when I thought that she’s a knight of a city, she seems to have valid authority even in the capital .
[An audience with the king and prince?]
[Yeah, could I request it through you, Elinsia?]
I decided to visit Elinsia’s house and told her about my business . The information of Elinsia’s house was slipped in her letters of introduction she gave us before . If we go with this, then we can realize a direct meeting with Elinsia in a swift stroke . We’re conversing while sipping black tea in the garden of Elinsia’s estate .
[I don’t mind but…, which will it be this time? Is it good news? Or bad news? Amazing effects appear every time you act Jin-sama, so I need to steel myself, but…]
It seems she’s caught with the fixed idea that big news will be waiting for her when I come . I wonder, is being able to shake Elinsia, who would calmly kill who are her subordinates, this much something to be proud of?
[Well, I guess it is good news . Do you want to hear it now?]
[May I?]
Elinsia timidly asked .
[Yeah, I have obtained another soma . And I’m fine with revealing the way to obtain it this time to the public . ]
-gatan-
Elinsia tumbled down her chair . Since this is her own residence, Elincia was not wearing her armor, but a comfortable one piece like clothes . Her skirt flipped when she tumbled down which revealed her panties . Purple huh…, purple?
[Is that, is that true!?]
She asked while getting up .
[Do I have any reasons to lie?]
[…No, you don’t . I understand . I will contact his majesty the king at once . ]
Elinsia said and left swiftly . According to her, the fastest we could have an audience is tomorrow, so we decide to pa.s.s our time exploring dungeon today too .
[A volcano golem appeared! I will defeat it this time nodesu!]
The 27th floor is where volcano golems seem to appear; I can confirm them being here and there with map . Cynthia revealed her motivation since she was rolled up and couldn’t fight on the 19th floor . If it’s with her current status, then she should be able to fight against the volcano golem . Of course, she still has a disadvantage in close quarter combat…
>Cynthia makes a suicide charge, so Kate covers her by shooting LV1’s magic “Aqua ball” from behind her . It scores a direct hit at volcano golem and Cynthia drives the mithril rod onto the volcano golem who was making a sizzling sound . Volcano golem’s HP became 0 with just that . That’s right, Cynthia, Karen and Sora’s weapons are upgraded with the mithril we obtained from the 20th floor . Kate received the mithril wand that Sakura used . I had those mithril weapons made by the dwarven master blacksmith Knot . It was just a short while, but he studied and got plenty of ability . Of course, there’s also the support of his skill though… Right now I don’t have enough, but I want enough mithril to be able to at least spread them through Kastal’s adventurer squad .
[I did it! Next, I will show you I can defeat them alone nodesu!]
[We will defeat them with us two, right Karen-chan?]
[We will defeat them together, right Sorchan?]
Cynthia and the twins give a victory shout on top of the volcano golem’s corpse . After that, we spent all day hunting volcano golems in 27th floor . Cynthia is able to defeat volcano golem alone right before we are about to return . It should be a little bit easier if she uses magic, but she stubbornly refuses to use them so her combat efficiency drops . She’s a Hero, so she should have the ability itself to do it…
When we returned to our residence, Elinsia’s messenger seems to have come and it seems that we can have an audience tomorrow morning . And while I’m at it, there’s also a message from the prince, saying the king managed to recover enough to be useful . As for “enough to be useful”, I don’t know how much that is, but I only understand that the king’s treatment was terrible .
The next morning, Elinsia came to greet us in our residence .
[Good morning . ]
[Ah, morning . ]
[My apologies for being prompt, but could I ask you to prepare to head to the castle?]
[We’re already prepared . ]
Since I knew she was coming with map, I made sure to finish preparations right on time .
I will have three attendants: Maria, Sakura and Dora . The rest will be house sitting . Mio will of course be house sitting in order to keep her away from the king .
[The preparation is done isn’t it… Alright . Let’s head to castle immediately . ]
[Yeah . ]
>We said and headed to the castle .
[I will get straight to the point, would you teach us the method to obtain “Soma”?]
The king hurries the greetings and cuts to the real issue at hand in the audience room . It seems people here are the same as last time . They abided by the gag order the prince talked about, so he should not have put other people here . It means he kept his promise properly . But, I’m worried that the n.o.ble who was kicked out last time is here too .
[Yeah, I don’t mind . First, this is “Soma” . ]
I took out “Soma” from as I speak . The surrounding va.s.sals become noisy just from that alone . By the way, I gave up being polite to the king, because it became impossible for me to show respect about now as expected . But those va.s.sals didn’t criticize me, probably due to their blunder about the case with Mio .
[This is a drop from the 20th floor boss, Elder treant . ]
The commotion becomes louder with my single phrase . They’re saying things like “I haven’t heard about that”, “It must be a forgery” or “We have to gather explorers who can fight in 20th floor quickly” .
[Silence!]
With a single word from the king, the noisy va.s.sals instantly became quiet . It feels like I’ve seen a proper king for the first time in a while . However, I didn’t overlook his disappointed face when he searched for Mio when we entered the audience chamber and understood she wasn’t here .
[I have not heard of such information until now . Do you have the means to verify that is a fact?]
[I guess not . It’s a boss battle, so only my party members were in . ]
When the door to the boss room closes once you will become unable to open it until either the adventurers are annihilated, the boss is defeated or two hours have pa.s.sed . The purpose of the time limit is to repel people from staying there the whole time and getting in the way of the people coming afterwards . Oh on the other hand, in order to defend against an invasion of scoundrels aiming for the post battle treatment, they made it so the door can’t be opened for ten minutes after the boss battle . Quite a kind design isn’t it?
In short, only party members can basically confirm boss drops . Party member’s testimonies are quite lacking in evidential value, meaning it’s quite difficult to prove it .
[That is true I suppose …However it is hard to believe that no reports have appeared in this long history, you see …]
[Father, are you saying Jin-sama is lying?]
Cattleya is covers for me .
[That is not what I said . It’s just that there hasn’t been any reports until now, so wouldn’t it be certain that the investigation of all facts will be difficult?]
[That’s…true I suppose . It is difficult to verify if it is true or a lie . ]
[That’s right . That is why I can not officially announce this as official information . What we can do is only officially announce that “There was a report” . Save for whether that is true or not that is . ]
And then, king is looking at me again . His expression was mixed with apologies .
[And so, my apologies, but I will not be able to give out a prize with regards to this report until information is gathered . I think I would like to talk about rewards at another time once proof is attained . Would that be fine?]
[Yeah, I don’t mind . Even I didn’t come here to report, wishing for a reward . ]
[That saves us the trouble . ]
Yep, king has become quite decent . No, wouldn’t it be better to say he is back to normal?
[Your Majesty the king! More importantly, would confirming whether “Soma” is the genuine article not have more priority!?]
Who raised his voice is the same duke who tried to make me tell them information . I wonder why this guy is here to begin with . When I reflexively look at the prince, I see him nodding his head lightly . I don’t understand what you mean .
[That is on my mind as well of course . However, that “Soma” is his property . We do not have the rights to say anything now, do we?]
[Ho- however, confirming whether the report is false or not is necessary I…]
[But we are not giving him a reward for this . It isn’t like we payed the price of “Soma” either . What he did is only a report to the end . Of course, it isn’t that there is no possibility of it being false, but at the very least the likelihood of “Soma” existing should be exceedingly high . Because in truth the injuries on Cattleya has been recovered as well]
[Ugh…]
The duke groans, being overturned with a sound argument . In the first place, why is this duke this fixated on “Soma” I wonder?
A: Duke Garfield’s daughter was an excellent musician, but she lost her arm in an accident and is no longer able to perform music, so she fell into the depths of despair and became like a living corpse . Duke is concealing that and is in the middle of searching for means of recovering loss of limbs .
Oh, thanks for explanation . I see, so he is rushing that much in recovering her lost arm .
[So Jin-dono, could you tell us what you intend to do with that “Soma” after this? Garfield-kou does not have a say in it, but even we would like to confirm it is genuine or not . We would be glad if you could sell it to us if possible though…]
I think selling “Soma” itself isn’t a problem for me . I can’t say it’s that important since we still have “Revival” .
If I have duke Garfield buy it, then everyone will be happy…
[I’m fine selling it, but what about the price setting? This is a legendary item, so I don’t know what price is reasonable for it . Besides apart from buying it, what do you intend to do to confirm if it’s genuine or not? So you plan to buy it through the royal family and let a suitable someone use it?]
[Hmm…, certainly, “How much will it be?” and “Who will use it?” is the question I suppose . Because there is nothing that could be used as price reference . I am certain it will have quite the price, so rather than the royal family buying it, we should make it so we let a person in need buy it with some aid …Is there such a convenient person?]
Alright, that did the trick . He has the status of a duke, so he should have the money . And his daughter has a lost arm . If he announces her here, then it’ll be just right and it should flow into duke Garfield’s daughter using “Soma” .
[…]
Hey, what are you staying silent for? Announce her quickly . Is this really the time for you to be glaring at me?
[It can’t be help . Our side shall discuss the price and who is going to use it . There is no particular rush with this after all . We will arrange it so we will contact you again as soon as we gather the details . Will you be fine with this, Jin-dono?]
Having thought for a while, the king draws the conclusion . Sure, this isn’t sla subject where you can give a prompt decision on the spot . Rather than that, I feel sadder about the fact the a.s.sist I took trouble making came to nothing . What is duke Garfield thinking?
[Yeah, I don’t mind . ]
[Alright . Then, I will contact you with the details later on . Well done with your report today . ]
He said and this place was dissolved . Duke Garfield has been glaring at me until the end .
Since the audience with the king ended in half a day, we decided to dive into the dungeon today as well .
We traveled through the 28th and 29th floor without a problem that day . Originally it is the floors from the 21st floor is supposed to be more difficult than ever, but because the growth rate of Cynthia, the twins and Kate being better, it feels like it became easier instead .
We advanced some floors, so we’ve seen various interesting monters . Let’s introduce just a few of them .
Flame Zombie
LV26
Note : A humanoid monster whose whole body continues to burn .
Will-o’-wisp
LV23
Note : Fireball monster . It floats in the air .
Volcano turtle
LV25
Volcano turtle
LV25
Note : A turtle monster whose sh.e.l.l turned like a volcano .
The flame zombies have their own body covered in fire and wander the dungeon in that state . It’s humanoid so the fact it looks like nothing but a burning human is in bad taste . Its name and appearance frightened Mio, so I decided to have her to kill the first one . Mio unleashing a rain of arrows while shouting “Ugyaa~” was was a sight to see . Hald of the arrows were off . Her skill…
Will-o’-wisp is a ball of fire . Mio seems fine with these . Some types wander in the dungeon alone and sone attack in group in a monster house . If you enter the monster house and use level 1 magic “Aqua wall” when they’re about to attack, they would spend their whole time crashing into the wall of water and so you could easily earn a number of subjugations . It’s a brainless amorphous monster, so they shouldn’t have that good a head . …Those fireball don’t have head nor brain in the first place though . The volcano turtle is a turtle . Though their sh.e.l.l is like a volcano that is spewing magma… Their method of attack is hurling fire clad rocks from their volcano part . Like always, is still quite effective so it is easy, but you’re likely to be hard pressed against this if you don’t have these guys are everywhere in the 28th and 29th floor…The volcano area is also deep and around here you can obtain a higher quant.i.ty of superior minerals . There are Mithril mining points everywhere . I mined in the upper floor, but I still want Mithril in order to upgrade my subordinate’s weapons . I won’t be bother by mithril no matter how many I have of it after all .
A : Understood . If you wait for seven days, I will arrange the mithril mining preparations .
Eh? What are you talking about?
A : At this moment, I have let the slaves register as explorers in groups of ten and I am letting them capture three routes that master did not make use of . Their current pace is 3 floors every 2 days and the farthest group is travelling the 10th floor, if it goes well, they will break into the 20th floor in 7 days .
…This is the first time I have heard of that though .
I look up my subordinates on the map and, just like Alta said, I can confirm there are 3 group of subordinates inside the dungeon .
Hmm, one of them is the highest level and she is around her late teens to early twenties . The rest of the group are lower level and around their early teens . A “child who wants to fight alongside me” who I bought alongside Kate was also among them . By the way, there are two men in each party with the children . I’m certain they must be feeling ashamed .
A : The one with the high level is a former explorer who suffered serious injury and lost some limbs . They lost their job and was sold as a slave due to debt . I believe it is necessary to have one person with fundamental knowledge when dispatching slaves with explorer aspirations to the dungeon and had them buy her . The usual believer .
The usual believer huh…
Probably because the frequency of combat after become my subordinate few, they don’t have the status like the members here . However, the bonus status they get by in addition to the usual level up is big so they seem to have the just the ability to be able to fight in the floor we are in . If it continues to go well, then they should perfectly reach even the 20th floor series . …Alta, aren’t you doing too many stuffs without telling me?
A : I have decided not to report trifles to you master . I am basically prepared to respond as quickly as possibe to your request . If you wish, I will report the current 127 ongoing activities .
…No, I’m fine . But, that is a lot . Even if you made so many preparations, I’m not sure you would get to use everything, you know?
A : Not to worry . I am fully aware that the majority will become pointless labor . I would be happy if even several points will eventually become useful to you master .
Taking a lot of actions that may be pointless, normal people would be quite mortified don’t they? So you’re fine with this then, Alta…
A : Yes . I will give you a report if it goes well from start to end, please look forward to it .
Alright . I’m looking forward to hearing it . Oh, don’t forget reporting important looking cases without minding me, okay?
A : Understood .
Evening, there was a report from Mira .
>>
>>Since Mira’s tone is quite carefree, it doesn’t seem like anything bad happened .
>>>>I don’t know where they put out the commission, but they clearly made a mistake in their personnel selection .
>>
>>>>Because Mira contributes greatly to the development of the village by making use of Mio’s knowledge, they couldn’t ignore what she says I guess .
>>>>>Considering how they treat Mira, I can’t see them letting her retire that easily though…
>
>
Including Mio’s knowledge cheat, Mira’s existence should have become quite important .
>>>>>If you make use of the transfer stone’s nature, then you’re able to travel a long distance instantly . They call people who sell transfer stones for that sake a “Porter” . It is easier said than done, since you have to travel one floor of the dungeon while holding the transfer stone .
If there’s something I want to say, then the transfer stones that the “Porters” sell are expensive . Very, very expensive . Expensive enough that you won’t put your hands on it when moving a n.o.ble in times of emergency .
>>>A distance of ten days by carriage . Though it’s one floor, how much trouble would it be to walk the dungeon? Needless to say how high the price is of a transfer stone to that location .
Old tree battle & Volcano Area .
.
We headed into the room as it is and started the fight with the elder treant
.
An elder treant is by far bigger than a treant (About 3 m); it has barely the size to the ceiling (10 m) . They possess skill which allows them to manipulate their root freely to attack . When you defend them with a shield, they would change trajectory after colliding with the shield, so they are quite difficult to avoid On top of that, there are a lot of trees in the room so the elder treant would hide inside those trees with and attack . They completely disappear into the many trees and are hard to capture when they use this mimic . The standard counter-measure is to set all trees on fire, the one who isn’t burning is elder treant . Elder treants are easy to burn just the same, but they have some resistance, so they have become harder to burn than ordinary trees .
[And so, that was the general combat details of the elder treant that was felled without any highlight scenes . ].
[Jin-sama, what are you talking about?].
[Well, this fight is too easy, so I thought about introducing the elder treant’s strong points . ].
[Err…, where could its strong point be?].
.
Maria tilted her head
.
[Err, like tentacles that move freely…].
[Sorsan and I should have cut all of them . ].
.
Sera and Sora, who had a sword equipped, cut down all of the attacking tentacles so n.o.body took damage from that
By the way, the main members who partic.i.p.ated this boss fight are Sakura, Mio, Sera and the twins, five people
.
[Or he can mimic…].
[What use does that even have against us who have Map?].
.
The standard mimic can’t deceive map . Many of Mio’s arrows. .h.i.t the hiding Elder treant
And while I’m at it, Maria seems to be able to detect it even without map . I can’t do that at all
.
[And it is harder to burn than normal treants…].
[It is still just harder to burn, so it doesn’t mean it doesn’t work, you know?].
.
I saw Sakura, Kate and Karen scored a direct hit with and that became the finishing blow .
[It doesn’t have any strong point…].
.
I saw it doing its best, but it was hopeless . It was the same at the time with the minotaur, but it feels like the bosses are treated very badly
.
[Well, there is a strong point nodesu].
.
Cynthia speaks out . It seems she heard what we were talking about
.
[It is the item drop nodesu].
.
She said and I recognize the item she handed over
.
“Divine medicine Soma”.
.
[So it seriously just appears normally…].
.
Who was it, the guy who said it was a legendary item? It’s carefully put into a bottle too….
.
>. [Something like that would become much more famous if it appeared in the first place . ].
[That is right . There should’ve been many more people intruding the boss room then . ].
.
So that means this time it should either be the first super rare drop or it has a special condition
.
A: It is a super rare drop . What appears normally are tree branches, which is suitable for things like bows, among other things . In outline, they drop plants that can turn to medicine, but they are not really popular
.
[It seems to be a super rare drop according to Alta . Well, this happens pretty often . ].
[No, it doesn’t…].
.
Mio shakes her head
.
[I’m just talking about someone among us being extremely lucky, isn’t it? I consider myself reasonably lucky but this time I didn’t even join the fight… I wonder if it’s someone else?].
[No, well, I don’t know about asking about the luck of the slave group you know? Besides, I don’t think there is anybody who is likely to draw that among these, except master…].
[You are right . I’m no slave either, but I’m not confident in my luck at all . I didn’t have any lucky experience . ].
.
Sakursan says something something very sad with a serious look
.
[What about you, Dorchan? Yo’re a monster follower and not a slave…].
>.
.
Dora said something pleasant . I’m not sure if it doesn’t refer to luck
.
[Like Dorchan said, I think meeting with Jin-sama alone could be considered lucky . ].
[You are right . Most of us will end up dead if not for master . ].
[We would have been killed by monsters if not for master . ].
[Same for my right . ] .
[Same for my left . ] .
(ED: Could not get these two sentences right, first one 右に同じく which literally means “same to the right”, but it’s an expression that means “same for me” . Second one says 左に同じく, which is the same as the former, except 右(right) is replaced with 左(left) . obv it’s Sora and Karen speaking those two).
.
I’m glad they consider their encounter with me as lucky but I’m not sure if it’s related to luck after all . Well, you could say they couldn’t have been lucky what with them becoming a slave….
.
[Well, Master is kind of more like convenient than lucky . Including your special powers too . ].
.
Mio said something clever and is showing a smug look . Sure, the special powers appear at a convenient timing for me too, so….
.
[You are right . With this we have an effective excuse regarding the recovery of the limb loss after all . ].
[Calling a great discovery that would shake the world an excuse is Master’s dreadful side isn’t it…].
.
Sera spoke with amazed voice
.
[I guess it won’t be a problem if we report this matter to the king, no, prince . ].
.
It is likely, but this time it will be publicly announced and from now on the dungeon entrance distribution would change
.
>. [Right . Let’s discuss it with the prince about this . We didn’t use the real one on Cattleya but now we have the real thing . There might be an opportunity to try it out . ].
[Well, the conversation usually turns to “show me the evidence” right? Usually…].
[Well, using it won’t be a problem as long as they can pay the money . ].
.
Next is the problem of who to use it on, but we can talk with the prince about this
.
[First, shall we go to 21st floor?].
[Oh, just a minute . I have to setup “Portal” . ].
.
Mio setups “Portal” near the door . We put this nearby so we can return and defeat this boss repeatedly . It’s just right to test one’s ability, so I plan to use it when I want a small number of people to practice crushing them . Of course, we also did this with the 10th floor’s boss room so we can hunt minotaurs whenever we want (once a day)
.
[Thanks for waiting . Let’s go . ].
.
We went down the stair in the boss room and arrived at the 21st floor
.
[I knew it, but the environment suddenly changed…].
[So it is a volcano this time… We will be fighting with a lot of flying monster in this area… Just as Alta told us before, it isn’t hot…].
.
From 21st to 30th floor are volcano area . But it doesn’t feel as hot as a real volcano . Even if the wall is looking red hot, it is actually cool enough to touch . It’s thoroughly appearance only . Of course, it isn’t strange for a volcano area to have monster with fire attribute….
If environment is the same with real volcano, normal people will give up on conquer them . With stronger monsters and more numerous traps than first 20 floors, it will be too harsh for people if they have to endure the temperature too . It will be impossible for anyone except a race that’s strong against heat to conquer it . I plan to use as a countermeasure but I might smash down and skip this 10 floors if they are too troublesome It is quite cheap to call this game balance, but the producer of this dungeon does not seem intend to kill explorers with the environment of the volcano area . So explorers only have to deal with monster and trap
.
[Please be careful, even if environment temperature isn’t high, the monsters here are still hot . … Especially you Cynthia . ].
[Yes nanodesu…].
.
Although she became a lot better, I still give a warning to the current number one problem child
.
[There is still time, shall we explore a little? Since the distance between stairs is longer than before, I think it is impossible to complete 21st floor today by foot . ].
is about 10 km . >>. .
At the 21st floor, the distance between stairs became about 15 km . If we continue further it will become late, but since the main party is partic.i.p.ating and newcomer team has also gotten better at fighting, I don’t think our pace shouldn’t drop as much as I expected, but….
.
We still decided to stop exploring 21st floor today after a little while
.
.
[…Yes . Father and brother has agreed to 3 years . ].
.
That night, during the little spare time Cattleya has, she came to my mansion . It seems to be a report and greetings
As I was told, both father and brother wanted Cattleya to retire but she managed to persuade them to postpone it for 3 years
.
[Meaning it basically turned out what you want after all, Cattleya . ].
[Yes . But persuading father was difficult…].
.
Yeah, the king is still being perverted it seems . We shouldn’t go to the castle for a while
.
[What changed after returning beside that would be that the number of marriage proposals addressed to me have decreased . Because the society thinks I am proposed to by Jin-sama already… And to those who still propose marriage…].
.
Cattleya is beautiful so she continued to get marriage proposals even before her coming of age . She doesn’t have any desire to marriage so she could somehow decline them, but it looks like she’s about near her limits
This time, she went through with no comment about being proposed by me, but the surrounding people think she accepted it . In addition to that, she has a single phrase of certain kill in her hands that could reject proposals
.
[I will think about it if you could give me something more valuable than “Soma” . ].
.
I want to say “what kind of kaguyhime are you” . By the way, it doesn’t look like there is someone who can do that
.
[By the way, I’ve been smelling something good for a while now…].
.
We are currently talking in the dining room right before dinner . The kitchen is next to it, so a good smell is drifting about from there
.
[I think it is Mio’s deluxe fried chicken (Spec: Karaage) . Mio’s food is the best but there is also the labor you need to make portion for the amount of people so she often makes only one of the dishes . This is queen of Kastal’s favorite . ].
[You called?].
.
Who said that and came into the dining room is Sakuya, queen of Kastal . She is a gourmet queen who frequently comes to have a meal in our home
.
[Oh, it’s you Sakuya . I’m talking with Estia’s princess now . I said Mio’s dish is delicious . ].
[Eh? Her majesty the queen of Kastal!?].
.
Cattleya is shocked . It’s trivial, but this is “Estia’s” mansion . It isn’t a good place for “Kastal’s” queen to come carefreely
.
[Oh~, Mio-chan’s cooking is delicious isn’t it~ Ah, could it be that Mio-chan is cooking today?].
[Yeah, it is Mio’s deluxe fried chicken . ].
[Really!? Yay~! What about takeout!?].
[No takeout . She said she can’t really make a lot . ].
[Argh…! Too bad!].
.
Sakuya and I get excited while ignoring Estia princess Cattleya next to me
.
[Eh? EH?].
[Ah, Sakuychan . You came?].
.
Mio apporaches us with a plate in hand . n.o.body minded the confused Cattleya
.
[Oh, it’s smell nice . Is it already dinner?].
[Nope . That’s not it . I only made some earlier for sampling . I was thinking of letting Master taste them . ].
.
For the sake of adjusting the taste, she served a few fried chicken on a plate it seems
.
[Ah, me too, me too!].
[That is okay . I have at least that much . Oh, Cattleysan too, here . Ahh~].
[Ah, Ahh~~].
.
Cattleya opens her mouth like Mio told her to while still confusing . And Mio throws fried chicken in there
.
[Wh what is this deliciousness!!!].
.
That day, new fans have increased to our house’s cooking . The number of royalties turning up relatively frequent by using “portal” have turned to two
According to what I was told later, they got along well with each other while having meals together and their relationship reached to a point where they even have girl’s talk through telepathy . It was the completion of a mysterious hotline
.
We decided to explore the dungeon during the next day . I decided to contact the prince a little bit later . To be specific, until the king regined his sanity . I asked Cattleya to report to me
.
[I want to excavate ores too when I have the time though~].
[Sure, the amount of explorers have become quite scarce now that we have come this far, so we won’t decrease anybody’s income, but won’t it become a large time sink if we do that?].
[That is true~].
.
Mio responded to my complaint . If the 11th-20th floor’s selling points are medicinal herbs and plants, then 21st-30th floor’s selling point would be minerals . Meaning you could obtain suitable minerals as ingredients for weapons relatively easy . There are mining point all over the place on the map . Oh, a mining point is just like its name, a point where you can obtain minerals if you dig there . Map is kindly displaying them
However, you will have to put in strenuous effort when it comes to mining . Honestly, our main purpose is to travel through the dungeon, so we don’t have time for it to be clear
.
[Well, I guess I can leave it to Cynthia and the others after travelling through it . ].
[[Please leave it to us . ]].
[I want to subjugate monsters rather than mining (nodesu)!].
.
This girl really doesn’t get shaken
.
[I look forward to mining nodesu!].
.
Ah, she gave in . Kate is pretty strong against Cynthia
In the end, we were able to keep a steady pace until now by ignoring mininig and all treasure and travelled to the 22nd floor . I decided to stealthily collect any items I want at any costs though… Like Mithril ore and rings that gives resistance to fire
.
Due to the change in environment, it is natural for new monsters to come out . I will introduce only interesting monsters and monsters with new skills
.
Flare Goblin.
LV21.
. [Red Club].
Note : Bright red goblin . A man so hot he is literally burning
.
Magman.
LV24.
. Note : Lump of magma . It is only hot when you get close
.
Flare goblin is a red goblin with fire attributes . It wields a (red) club like ordinary goblins and breathes fire from time to time . Its effect is big so it is simple to dodge though…Its level is normally high so if one is not careful, it may be stronger than a goblin king . Its skills are poor so there’s no dread to him….
Magman is as it is, a lump of magma, an amorphous monster like slime . Naturally it’s hot, so we decided to strike him with water magic from a distance . It seems extraordinarily weak against water magic too, since we were able to knock it out with one water ball . But this guy is quite strong against melee fighter . It’s the same with the volcano golems, but having many opponents who could checkmate you when you encounter them without any countermeasures may also be a feature of the floor 20 series
.
.
Next day and day after that, we finished exploring 26th floor . Since we could maintain 2 floors per day, I can say we are doing well . Traps have become more brutal compared to the floor 10 series, but we can avoid them all together with map so they didn’t become a threat at all
We didn’t get caught by any of them, but let me explain the traps on these floors . Monster houses are reinforced and you won’t be able to leave once you enter them as long as the monsters aren’t annihilated . Most of the explorers who descended while lacking ability die from this . Besides that, there are fire that spout out from the floor and wall . You will usually die if you don’t take proper counter-measures . Since trap’s color is different from the rest if you look closely, these would be the type of traps that you won’t get caught in the first place as long as you keep on the lookout
.
The day after that . With the king being fine soon, I decided to report the matter of the soma to the prince . Applying for a personal audience looks difficult so I’m thinking about asking Elinsia for that . I heard Elinsia is staying in capital and seem busy . She couldn’t avoid doing work temporarily in the capital city with the noises lately . Just when I thought that she’s a knight of a city, she seems to have valid authority even in the capital
.
[An audience with the king and prince?].
[Yeah, could I request it through you, Elinsia?].
.
I decided to visit Elinsia’s house and told her about my business . The information of Elinsia’s house was slipped in her letters of introduction she gave us before . If we go with this, then we can realize a direct meeting with Elinsia in a swift stroke . We’re conversing while sipping black tea in the garden of Elinsia’s estate
.
[I don’t mind but…, which will it be this time? Is it good news? Or bad news? Amazing effects appear every time you act Jin-sama, so I need to steel myself, but…].
.
It seems she’s caught with the fixed idea that big news will be waiting for her when I come . I wonder, is being able to shake Elinsia, who would calmly kill who are her subordinates, this much something to be proud of?.
.
[Well, I guess it is good news . Do you want to hear it now?].
[May I?].
.
Elinsia timidly asked
.
[Yeah, I have obtained another soma . And I’m fine with revealing the way to obtain it this time to the public . ].
.
-gatan-.
.
Elinsia tumbled down her chair . Since this is her own residence, Elincia was not wearing her armor, but a comfortable one piece like clothes . Her skirt flipped when she tumbled down which revealed her panties . Purple huh…, purple?.
.
[Is that, is that true!?].
.
She asked while getting up
.
[Do I have any reasons to lie?].
[…No, you don’t . I understand . I will contact his majesty the king at once . ].
.
Elinsia said and left swiftly . According to her, the fastest we could have an audience is tomorrow, so we decide to pa.s.s our time exploring dungeon today too
.
.
[A volcano golem appeared! I will defeat it this time nodesu!].
.
The 27th floor is where volcano golems seem to appear; I can confirm them being here and there with map . Cynthia revealed her motivation since she was rolled up and couldn’t fight on the 19th floor . If it’s with her current status, then she should be able to fight against the volcano golem . Of course, she still has a disadvantage in close quarter combat….
.
>. .
Cynthia makes a suicide charge, so Kate covers her by shooting LV1’s magic “Aqua ball” from behind her . It scores a direct hit at volcano golem and Cynthia drives the mithril rod onto the volcano golem who was making a sizzling sound . Volcano golem’s HP became 0 with just that .
That’s right, Cynthia, Karen and Sora’s weapons are upgraded with the mithril we obtained from the 20th floor . Kate received the mithril wand that Sakura used . I had those mithril weapons made by the dwarven master blacksmith Knot . It was just a short while, but he studied and got plenty of ability . Of course, there’s also the support of his skill though… Right now I don’t have enough, but I want enough mithril to be able to at least spread them through Kastal’s adventurer squad
.
[I did it! Next, I will show you I can defeat them alone nodesu!].
[We will defeat them with us two, right Karen-chan?].
[We will defeat them together, right Sorchan?].
.
Cynthia and the twins give a victory shout on top of the volcano golem’s corpse . After that, we spent all day hunting volcano golems in 27th floor . Cynthia is able to defeat volcano golem alone right before we are about to return . It should be a little bit easier if she uses magic, but she stubbornly refuses to use them so her combat efficiency drops . She’s a Hero, so she should have the ability itself to do it….
.
When we returned to our residence, Elinsia’s messenger seems to have come and it seems that we can have an audience tomorrow morning . And while I’m at it, there’s also a message from the prince, saying the king managed to recover enough to be useful . As for “enough to be useful”, I don’t know how much that is, but I only understand that the king’s treatment was terrible
.
.
The next morning, Elinsia came to greet us in our residence
.
[Good morning . ].
[Ah, morning . ].
[My apologies for being prompt, but could I ask you to prepare to head to the castle?].
[We’re already prepared . ].
.
Since I knew she was coming with map, I made sure to finish preparations right on time
I will have three attendants: Maria, Sakura and Dora . The rest will be house sitting . Mio will of course be house sitting in order to keep her away from the king
.
[The preparation is done isn’t it… Alright . Let’s head to castle immediately . ].
[Yeah . ].
>. .
We said and headed to the castle
.
.
[I will get straight to the point, would you teach us the method to obtain “Soma”?].
.
The king hurries the greetings and cuts to the real issue at hand in the audience room . It seems people here are the same as last time . They abided by the gag order the prince talked about, so he should not have put other people here . It means he kept his promise properly . But, I’m worried that the n.o.ble who was kicked out last time is here too
.
[Yeah, I don’t mind . First, this is “Soma” . ].
.
I took out “Soma” from as I speak . The surrounding va.s.sals become noisy just from that alone By the way, I gave up being polite to the king, because it became impossible for me to show respect about now as expected . But those va.s.sals didn’t criticize me, probably due to their blunder about the case with Mio
.
[This is a drop from the 20th floor boss, Elder treant . ].
.
The commotion becomes louder with my single phrase . They’re saying things like “I haven’t heard about that”, “It must be a forgery” or “We have to gather explorers who can fight in 20th floor quickly”
.
[Silence!].
.
With a single word from the king, the noisy va.s.sals instantly became quiet . It feels like I’ve seen a proper king for the first time in a while . However, I didn’t overlook his disappointed face when he searched for Mio when we entered the audience chamber and understood she wasn’t here
.
[I have not heard of such information until now . Do you have the means to verify that is a fact?].
[I guess not . It’s a boss battle, so only my party members were in . ].
.
When the door to the boss room closes once you will become unable to open it until either the adventurers are annihilated, the boss is defeated or two hours have pa.s.sed . The purpose of the time limit is to repel people from staying there the whole time and getting in the way of the people coming afterwards . Oh on the other hand, in order to defend against an invasion of scoundrels aiming for the post battle treatment, they made it so the door can’t be opened for ten minutes after the boss battle . Quite a kind design isn’t it?.
.
In short, only party members can basically confirm boss drops . Party member’s testimonies are quite lacking in evidential value, meaning it’s quite difficult to prove it
.
[That is true I suppose …However it is hard to believe that no reports have appeared in this long history, you see …].
[Father, are you saying Jin-sama is lying?].
.
Cattleya is covers for me
.
[That is not what I said . It’s just that there hasn’t been any reports until now, so wouldn’t it be certain that the investigation of all facts will be difficult?].
[That’s…true I suppose . It is difficult to verify if it is true or a lie . ].
[That’s right . That is why I can not officially announce this as official information . What we can do is only officially announce that “There was a report” . Save for whether that is true or not that is . ].
.
And then, king is looking at me again . His expression was mixed with apologies
.
[And so, my apologies, but I will not be able to give out a prize with regards to this report until information is gathered . I think I would like to talk about rewards at another time once proof is attained . Would that be fine?].
[Yeah, I don’t mind . Even I didn’t come here to report, wishing for a reward . ].
[That saves us the trouble . ].
.
Yep, king has become quite decent . No, wouldn’t it be better to say he is back to normal?.
.
[Your Majesty the king! More importantly, would confirming whether “Soma” is the genuine article not have more priority!?].
.
Who raised his voice is the same duke who tried to make me tell them information . I wonder why this guy is here to begin with . When I reflexively look at the prince, I see him nodding his head lightly . I don’t understand what you mean
.
[That is on my mind as well of course . However, that “Soma” is his property . We do not have the rights to say anything now, do we?].
[Ho- however, confirming whether the report is false or not is necessary I…].
[But we are not giving him a reward for this . It isn’t like we payed the price of “Soma” either . What he did is only a report to the end . Of course, it isn’t that there is no possibility of it being false, but at the very least the likelihood of “Soma” existing should be exceedingly high . Because in truth the injuries on Cattleya has been recovered as well].
[Ugh…].
.
The duke groans, being overturned with a sound argument . In the first place, why is this duke this fixated on “Soma” I wonder?.
.
A: Duke Garfield’s daughter was an excellent musician, but she lost her arm in an accident and is no longer able to perform music, so she fell into the depths of despair and became like a living corpse . Duke is concealing that and is in the middle of searching for means of recovering loss of limbs
.
Oh, thanks for explanation . I see, so he is rushing that much in recovering her lost arm
.
[So Jin-dono, could you tell us what you intend to do with that “Soma” after this? Garfield-kou does not have a say in it, but even we would like to confirm it is genuine or not . We would be glad if you could sell it to us if possible though…].
.
I think selling “Soma” itself isn’t a problem for me . I can’t say it’s that important since we still have “Revival”
If I have duke Garfield buy it, then everyone will be happy….
.
[I’m fine selling it, but what about the price setting? This is a legendary item, so I don’t know what price is reasonable for it . Besides apart from buying it, what do you intend to do to confirm if it’s genuine or not? So you plan to buy it through the royal family and let a suitable someone use it?].
[Hmm…, certainly, “How much will it be?” and “Who will use it?” is the question I suppose . Because there is nothing that could be used as price reference . I am certain it will have quite the price, so rather than the royal family buying it, we should make it so we let a person in need buy it with some aid …Is there such a convenient person?].
.
Alright, that did the trick . He has the status of a duke, so he should have the money . And his daughter has a lost arm . If he announces her here, then it’ll be just right and it should flow into duke Garfield’s daughter using “Soma”
.
[…].
.
Hey, what are you staying silent for? Announce her quickly . Is this really the time for you to be glaring at me?.
.
[It can’t be help . Our side shall discuss the price and who is going to use it . There is no particular rush with this after all . We will arrange it so we will contact you again as soon as we gather the details . Will you be fine with this, Jin-dono?].
.
Having thought for a while, the king draws the conclusion . Sure, this isn’t sla subject where you can give a prompt decision on the spot . Rather than that, I feel sadder about the fact the a.s.sist I took trouble making came to nothing . What is duke Garfield thinking?.
.
[Yeah, I don’t mind . ].
[Alright . Then, I will contact you with the details later on . Well done with your report today . ].
.
He said and this place was dissolved . Duke Garfield has been glaring at me until the end
.
.
Since the audience with the king ended in half a day, we decided to dive into the dungeon today as well
We traveled through the 28th and 29th floor without a problem that day . Originally it is the floors from the 21st floor is supposed to be more difficult than ever, but because the growth rate of Cynthia, the twins and Kate being better, it feels like it became easier instead
.
We advanced some floors, so we’ve seen various interesting monters . Let’s introduce just a few of them
.
Flame Zombie.
LV26.
. Note : A humanoid monster whose whole body continues to burn
.
Will-o’-wisp.
LV23.
. Note : Fireball monster . It floats in the air
.
Volcano turtle.
LV25.
. Note : A turtle monster whose sh.e.l.l turned like a volcano
.
The flame zombies have their own body covered in fire and wander the dungeon in that state . It’s humanoid so the fact it looks like nothing but a burning human is in bad taste . Its name and appearance frightened Mio, so I decided to have her to kill the first one . Mio unleashing a rain of arrows while shouting “Ugyaa~” was was a sight to see . Hald of the arrows were off . Her skill….
.
Will-o’-wisp is a ball of fire . Mio seems fine with these . Some types wander in the dungeon alone and sone attack in group in a monster house . If you enter the monster house and use level 1 magic “Aqua wall” when they’re about to attack, they would spend their whole time crashing into the wall of water and so you could easily earn a number of subjugations . It’s a brainless amorphous monster, so they shouldn’t have that good a head . …Those fireball don’t have head nor brain in the first place though .
The volcano turtle is a turtle . Though their sh.e.l.l is like a volcano that is spewing magma… Their method of attack is hurling fire clad rocks from their volcano part . Like always, is still quite effective so it is easy, but you’re likely to be hard pressed against this if you don’t have these guys are everywhere in the 28th and 29th floor…. .
.
The volcano area is also deep and around here you can obtain a higher quant.i.ty of superior minerals . There are Mithril mining points everywhere . I mined in the upper floor, but I still want Mithril in order to upgrade my subordinate’s weapons . I won’t be bother by mithril no matter how many I have of it after all . .
.
A : Understood . If you wait for seven days, I will arrange the mithril mining preparations . .
.
Eh? What are you talking about?.
.
A : At this moment, I have let the slaves register as explorers in groups of ten and I am letting them capture three routes that master did not make use of . Their current pace is 3 floors every 2 days and the farthest group is travelling the 10th floor, if it goes well, they will break into the 20th floor in 7 days
.
…This is the first time I have heard of that though
I look up my subordinates on the map and, just like Alta said, I can confirm there are 3 group of subordinates inside the dungeon
Hmm, one of them is the highest level and she is around her late teens to early twenties . The rest of the group are lower level and around their early teens . A “child who wants to fight alongside me” who I bought alongside Kate was also among them . By the way, there are two men in each party with the children . I’m certain they must be feeling ashamed
.
A : The one with the high level is a former explorer who suffered serious injury and lost some limbs . They lost their job and was sold as a slave due to debt . I believe it is necessary to have one person with fundamental knowledge when dispatching slaves with explorer aspirations to the dungeon and had them buy her . The usual believer . .
.
The usual believer huh….
Probably because the frequency of combat after become my subordinate few, they don’t have the status like the members here . However, the bonus status they get by in addition to the usual level up is big so they seem to have the just the ability to be able to fight in the floor we are in . If it continues to go well, then they should perfectly reach even the 20th floor series .
…Alta, aren’t you doing too many stuffs without telling me?.
.
A : I have decided not to report trifles to you master . I am basically prepared to respond as quickly as possibe to your request . If you wish, I will report the current 127 ongoing activities
.
…No, I’m fine . But, that is a lot . Even if you made so many preparations, I’m not sure you would get to use everything, you know?.
.
A : Not to worry . I am fully aware that the majority will become pointless labor . I would be happy if even several points will eventually become useful to you master . .
.
Taking a lot of actions that may be pointless, normal people would be quite mortified don’t they? So you’re fine with this then, Alta….
.
A : Yes . I will give you a report if it goes well from start to end, please look forward to it
.
Alright . I’m looking forward to hearing it . Oh, don’t forget reporting important looking cases without minding me, okay?.
.
A : Understood
.
.
Evening, there was a report from Mira
.
>. >.
>. >. .
Since Mira’s tone is quite carefree, it doesn’t seem like anything bad happened
.
>. >. >. >. .
I don’t know where they put out the commission, but they clearly made a mistake in their personnel selection . .
.
>. >.
>. >. >. >. .
Because Mira contributes greatly to the development of the village by making use of Mio’s knowledge, they couldn’t ignore what she says I guess
.
>. >. >. >. . >. .
Considering how they treat Mira, I can’t see them letting her retire that easily though….
.
>.
.
>.
.
Including Mio’s knowledge cheat, Mira’s existence should have become quite important
.
>. >. >. >. >. .
If you make use of the transfer stone’s nature, then you’re able to travel a long distance instantly . They call people who sell transfer stones for that sake a “Porter” . It is easier said than done, since you have to travel one floor of the dungeon while holding the transfer stone
If there’s something I want to say, then the transfer stones that the “Porters” sell are expensive . Very, very expensive . Expensive enough that you won’t put your hands on it when moving a n.o.ble in times of emergency
.
>. >. >. .
A distance of ten days by carriage . Though it’s one floor, how much trouble would it be to walk the dungeon? Needless to say how high the price is of a transfer stone to that location