>
[[[Congratulations (nanodesu)]]]
[Yeah, thanks.]
Cynthia and others seemed to be getting things ready here.
The hall had been decorated especially elaborately. Tables were lined up all over the place, and mountains of food have been placed on them. It looks like this is a buffet party. A hanging banner was hung at the front, with "Dungeon Capture Congratulatory party" written on it. The decorations looked like elementary school or kindergarten, but only what"s written there exceeded their knowledge.
I felt a little frightened when thinking that they may secretly remove these decorations and cooking if I were to say I don"t need things like parties.
I mean, they"ve been working this attentively until now and yet, there is enough chances left that their work will lead to nothing. Seeing how I"ve been acting until now, they should know that I"m not interested in "spending money" and "being extremely gaudy". Despite that, they went out of their way to prepare a "gaudy" party with all their efforts.
It would be good if they are rewarded for doing their best. It would be good if the chances of that increases by showing their utmost. This may come to nothing by the feelings of the other party, regardless of their efforts or lack thereof. On the other hand, if I may become happy about it, then it means that will become their reason to show their utmost even if there is a high chance it will come to nothing. …I may have been a little optimistic about the whole believer thing.
A: ……
There were a great number of my subordinates in the hall too. There were quite a few unfamiliar faces among them. That said, the majority of them are yellow (believers) and the rest of them are blue(followers) though…
[Can we start eating this as we like?]
[Yes, it would be fine for you to do as you will, master.]
[So I don"t have to greet and all?]
There are also troublesome things when it comes to parties after all. I don"t want to do it if possible…
[If you desire so, master. We did at least the preparations for it just in case, but…]
[…I really don"t want to do it.]
[Understood.]
As I said that, Lusia gave some signal to one of the maids following us. Said maid bowed and ran off to somewhere. She must have made her to tidy up what they"ve prepared. …What on earth did they prepare for this?
We decided to start eating without any greetings. According to the conversations, there"s currently only a small fraction of my subordinates in this mansion. A small fraction they say…, there are around 150 people here… Are they increasing again?
A: They are increasing. They are increasing, one after another.
Oh, I see…
I was told that subordinates with a certain level of contribution drew lots and those who drew a winning lot got to partic.i.p.ate this party as a guest and those who drew a blank as servants. Oh, Cynthia and her team seem to have drawn all blanks.
And so, maybe because most of the people here are yellow (believers), the girls (due to the majority of them being women) pointed their interests to me in full. They"re not openly gazing at me and such, but they watch me from time to time, and there are also shrewd slaves who are putting all of their consciousness this way while talking to other people.
We also split up and started eating as we like. Well, Maria is the only one who was behind me though…
For now, let"s put some of the food over there on the plates…or so I thought, but soon after, Maria handed over food served on a plate. …She"s too skillful.
[Here you go.]
[Right…]
I accepted the plate and started my dinner.
My subordinates on the guest side would talk to me or so I thought, but n.o.body came talking to me.
A: Lusia gave them detailed instructions beforehand.
Well, what the heck. If I have to say it, it means they"re personnel required to make things lively. The leading role is me, or the dungeon capturing party to be accurate, but using the hall for just that is lonesome. That said, as expected of the details, they can"t invite outside people. Then, meaning they would fill it with people from within I guess…
A: Just in case, subordinates who aren"t slaves have been invited as well.
Yeah, the royalties Sakuya and Cattleya and the follower monsters like Midori have also come. Oh, Mio"s familiar Potechi also here outside…
I"m looking around to find a person to talk with while eating the food Maria handed me.
Sakuya (with a pile of food on her plate) and Cattleya (with a pile of food on her plate) are having some talk with each other. Shall I try go to them?
[… And so what he had me do is get those kind of things ready.]
[But, isn"t it sort of late to give them goods from the dungeon which are this country"s local specialties?]
[That place is a place to make a display of your skills. I wonder if doing something about it by making that a bargaining tool would be the easiest.]
[I see, I did not know that]
They were talking with a serious expression for some reason. Could it be related to the country? I guess I"ll go to another place without talking to them since I basically don"t feel like cutting in to their conversation in country policies.
[Ah, oniichan! Come here!]
Since Sakuya noticed and beckoned me, I concluded that there"s no problem so I approached them.
[Again, congrats on clearing the dungeon!]
[Congratulations.]
[Ah, thanks. But don"t you have things you want to say, Cattleya?]
The dungeon of Cattleya"s country has been conquered after all. I"m sure there"s various things she"s curious about and things she wanted to say.
[Is it about you clearing the dungeon, Jin-sama? Is it about you having become a dungeon master? Well, I am surprised about both of them, but I thought at least that clearing the dungeon would be a matter of time. You had been aiming for conquering the dungeon after all…]
[Well, n.o.body among Onii-chan"s subordinates even doubted his conquer when he went to clear the dungeon.]
[Well, since I"ve said I"m going to do it, I"ll do it at any cost after all]
There is the matter with Azuma and I"m not going to give up as long as nothing serious happens.
[I am still not quite sure what a dungeon master can do, but it is not like this country will be ruined is it?]
[No, I"m basically maintaining status quo]
[Then, there will be no problem. It would just mean that this country has been placed under your control like Kastal after all.]
It"s not like I"m controlling Kastal itself though. I"m just saying that Queen Sakuya is my subordinate in the end…
[Thinking about it normally, this would be a serious matter though. Well, thanks to Kastal becoming Onii-chan"s, it"s been prospering insteadl.]
[Did it really?]
I don"t know such thing you know?
A: The maids have been doing various things.
Oh~… So their activities around there is now at a level that influences their "Prosperity"… Also, despite you saying "The maids", Alta, you"re the one leading them right?
A: …
[Yup, onii-chan"s subordinates had set up the base in various places and thanks to them treating injured people at a low price and creating a stable supply of goods using teleport magic and , the domestic state of affairs have stabilized quickly lately]
[Are you serious… It"s the first time I"ve heard that.]
A: I"ve judged that trifles like those are not important enough to inform you, master.
How can a single country"s domestic state of affairs stabilize with trifles, is what I want to say.
A: Information and such that does not become direct benefits to master are nothing except trifles.
If that"s your evaluation standard, then they could result in being a trifle… Well, please do as you want as long as you"re not making my subordinates do the impossible.
A: Yes. I shall keep that in mind.
And then, Cattleya grasped my hand.
[By all means! Dispatch subordinates to Estia as well please!]
Since Cattleya is a beautiful girl at an absurd level, nearly all the men would listen to her request if she asks them by holding their hand.
[Well, that is how it will be I guess.]
Sakuya nods in agreement.
[Well, if Alta is fine with this…]
A: The dispatch has already been taken care of to an extent. I will somewhat increase the pace from now on.
[Is what he said.]
[Thank you very much!]
Then, please take care of it, Alta.
A: Yes.
[Come to think of it, you"ve been making a serious face before I got here, but did something happen?]
[Eh? Ah, no~, it is nothing. Right, Cattleychan?]
[Eh, ah, yes. Nothing at all.]
If the 2 says it is nothing so it should be nothing. At least, I"m not going to ask things they don"t want to talk to me about.
[Alright. If have some trouble, you can consult with me, you know? Because I will stand by you two. I"ll be reluctant if I"m told it"s "for the citizens" though…]
[ahaha…]
Sakuya was being somewhat self-conscious. It"s because we went to Estia and then she immediately dispatched a request in relation to the country.
[I intend to partic.i.p.ate in public service from now on. However, I don"t really intend to be concerned with matters that would greatly move the country, so I believe the possibility of that to be low. If I have something to request of you, then I will prepare proper compensation, so please be relieved.]
[Yeah, it is fine if you understand. Oh, it may be best to consult with Alta first. If it is something trivial, then Alta would solve it for you.]
Please.
A: Understood.
[Oh, that is super convenient, I recommend it.]
Sakuya nodded. It seems she has been asking Alta questions frequently.
[Time and time again, I thank you very much. …Phew, truly, nothing but good things have happened after becoming your subordinate. I apologize for having said something like "Selling my soul to the devil".]
Cattleya silently bowed her head. Well, she said that before became my subordinate.
[Oh,you did say something like that. Don"t worry about it. It"s certainly true that it was a devilish expression there.]
[What? You said something like that to onii-chan? Aah, that time with me, you made me a subordinate in exchange for saving me, so I guess one could even call you devilish…]
That"s right. I didn"t really have a decent expression at that time with Sakuya either.
[Although I said that, my enemy at that time was a demon, so seeing from that perspective, Onii-chan was an angel though]
[That image doesn"t suit me either…]
I imagined myself completely innocent and growing wings on my back and was surprised at how excessively bad it suits me. If I use skill and carry Dora on my back, then I still can"t tell that I"ll be able to look convincing .
[That"s true I guess~]
[But I am truly grateful.]
[Oh, the same goes for me of course.]
[Yeah, I know that. Well, best regards from now on.]
[[Yes!]]
I parted with Sakuya and Cattleya and I look for food while loitering around. Or in more correct terms, Maria just fetches them whenever I tried to take them, so my simple job is to accept that. It seems I may become a useless member of society if I"m together with Maria for a long time…
A: …(That seems to be her goal though.)
Yes? Did you say something?
A: No, I didn"t…
Oh, okay.
As I continued walking and eating for a while, I suddenly heard the sounds of a piano.
When I looked towards the direction of the sound as I wondered what it was, Fiyu, who had become my slave relatively recently, was playing the piano.
Beside her was Mira holding a violin, and several other maids were holding a musical instrument and starting a musical performance.
All of them were wearing matching outfits. It gave me a white evening dress-like impression. Mira, evening dresses don"t suit you. White doesn"t suit the image of a vampire and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s are too large; her clothing gave her a different impression from the other girls, in an indecent way…
Fiyu was stupefied from the shock of losing her arm and was in a state where she was unable to do anything until just before this. However, she successfully regained her consciousness after her arms were cured, and now she has become my slave(maid).
Hm? Now that I look carefully, aren"t the maids the former a.s.sa.s.sin maids?
A: Yes, that is correct.
The impression that I get from the image of the former daughter of duke house Garfield and the a.s.sa.s.sin group under direct control of former duke Garfield doing a musical performance together is quite amazing, isn"t it?
I"m already here so decided to listen to their performance for a while.
I"m an amateur when it comes to music, but I understand that this performance"s, no, Fiyu"s ability stood out. Fiyu"s piano was clearly the leading role and I could only hear the other sounds as supporting roles that only made her piano sound better. There were several people with musical skill besides Fiyu. But even so, there seems to be a wall that could not be crossed between them and Fiyu.
After they finished several songs, Fiyu and the others stood up, bowed and left. Those who had been listening to her performance clapped their hands immediately.
Fiyu"s performance isn"t originally something to be played in a performance at a party, even if I do say so myself. I can see why former duke Garfield desperately searched for a way to restore her. I"m not forgiving him though.
Since I"m already here, I decided I might as well take a quick look at the backstage, well it"s a waiting room though, of Fiyu and the others. Normally the backstage is not something to take a quick look at, but there"s, hey, whatchamacallit. A Master"s privilege(?) kind of thing.
Having arrived in front of the waiting room,I knock the door.
[Yes~, who is it~?]
[It"s me.]
[Oh my~, so it"s you master~ Please, feel free to enter~]
When the door opened and I entered, Mira, Fiyu and the maids were in the middle of changing their clothes. Oh Mira, why did you give permission to enter while they"re changing clothes…?
[What"s wrong~?
[Well, don"t give me permission to enter when you are in the middle of changing.]
[I mean~, if you say you want to enter, master~, then we have no such rights to refuse, you know~]
Other maids also nod. But none of them showed any signs of being embarra.s.sed.
By the way, Fiyu silently continued changing her clothes. Of course, with no signs of embarra.s.sment.
[Well, that"s true, but… still, I can at least wait until you"re done changing you know?]
[Well~, we think we are fine being seen, so~ you don"t have to mind it~.]
Mira said, abd Fiyu too nodded after changing her clothes ahead of the others. Then she wrote something on sketchbook-like thing.
Written there was "Being seen changing clothes does not have any influence on my music, so I do not mind".
Fiyu was declaring that she is sacrificing everything to music. Hence she would not talk. She does vocal exercises and singing, but she basically communicates in writing except for that..
She is quite an extreme girl, but she has high level and as her skill, so specializing in that is understandable in a sense.
[And so~, do you have any business with us~?]
[Well, the musical performance was quite good, so I came to greet you.]
"We are happy if you are pleased with it"
[That"s right~. It"s been a long time since I"ve practiced so much~]
[Were you originally able to play?]
[Yes~, because I"ve taken lessons in various things as the daughter of the village head~]
"She improved immediately. She has magnificent abilities."
[Not at all~. I also enjoy this too~]
Fiyu writes fast. It"s amazing that she"s communicating in writing and yet, it won"t feel out of place if she does it together in a conversation, right?
[At this rate, it doesn"t look like it will be long before Fiyu will make a comeback at the front stage.]
She has this much ability, I"m sure she should be able to make enough of a living returning to the front stage appearing in compet.i.tions and holding concerts.
"Yes. Some of the has already been talked about. Both me going solo and a "musical band" "
[A musical band? Are talking about the maids here?]
"Yes. They seem to be setting their sights on the path of music together with me."
As Fiyu said…, no wait, wrote, one of the maids (Former a.s.sa.s.sins) stepped forward.
[Up until now we have done nothing but make people unhappy. That is why we want to make people happy from now on.]
The other maids nodded too.
If I"m told that then I can"t say no, can I. Although they tried to put their hands on me before, they are my subordinates now. If they have regrets remaining, then I"d like them to clear that away. If there"s a way to properly do that, then I have even less reasons to complain.
[I"m a temp, but~ I"m also partic.i.p.ating~]
"In order to hide the fact that Mirsan is vampire, we will have her partic.i.p.ate with a fixed time of 3 years. I think I would like her to remain in the musical group if you could turn her back to human."
[At that time, please let me partic.i.p.ate officially~]
"Yes."
Mira couldn"t go out on the stage much as she has to conceal the fact she is vampire. 3 years time limited for Mira is just countermeasure that her, Fiyu and other maids planned, but she could continue if she becomes human before that.
[…I will find a way to turn Mira back human, so wait for me, and not in antic.i.p.ation.]
"Wouldn"t "I will absolutely find it, so please wait for me in antic.i.p.ation" be correct there?"
[It would be, yes~ I would"ve fallen in love with you again if you would say that to me though~]
[…I don"t like irresponsible ways of saying things, you know. I"m saying that I have no means other than my special abilities and Alta, got it?]
My special appearance manifests in my convenience, so it"s not like it isn"t possible. If I really wish for it, then the possibility will go up. …Even so, I can"t say absolutely after all.
[I know~ I won"t say anything unreasonable, okay~?]
"I"ve just thought of this now, but how about we let Mira partic.i.p.ate in the band wearing a disguise? I don"t think they will find out that she"s Mirsan if we alter the disguise once every few years though?"
[That is a good idea, isn"t it~!]
Sure, if it"s like that, then deceiving them would be come easy to an extent. However, that idea has a fatal flaw.
[They will find out through her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, don"t you think?]
[Ah.]
"Ah"
She has enormous b.r.e.a.s.t.s like no other. At least, it would be obvious to anybody that they"re the very same person.
After that, I listened to them talking about how they did various things like using make-up to put on some years or somehow hiding her enormous b.r.e.a.s.t.s, but the results seemed to be unsatisfactory.
This doesn"t look like it"ll work out if I don"t do my best I guess.
I was talking with those present in the party for a while until there was something I recalled suddenly, so I searched for Mio and Dora.
Looking at the map, I see Mio is outside with Potechi. Dora is bear the table with confectioneries. Let"s go and collect them starting with the nearby Dora.
[Dora, come here.]
>
She came up to me immediately after I got closer and called her.
[I"m going to where Mio"s at, but will you come along with me?]
>
She said and held out her hand, so I leave the plate I was holding to Maria and joined hands with Dora.
When we went outside, I saw Mio trying to feed Potechi. Or more accurately, she was holding out her left hand while holding meat in her right hand.
[What are you doing?]
[Oh, master. Just a minute. …Hey, quickly.]
[ku~~n…]
Potechi barked miserably and then put his right foreleg on Mio"s left hand.
[Good boy!]
Mio said, and then et Potechi eat the meat she was holding in her right hand.
[I"ll ask again. What are you doing?]
[As you can see, I was able to get Potechi give me his paw. This boy won"t give you his paw if you don"t show him meat you know. Potechi isn"t a dog, so he doesn"t seem to want to give me paw, but he"s kind of half-hearted in that he can"t win against the temptation of meat. See, there"s traces of drool at Potechi"s feet.]
[…Oh, there is.]
Looking at it, it was pretty wet under Potechi"s feet. Considering the fact that he barked sadly, he must"ve objected his objections. However, the current Potechi looks awfully happy eating the meat.
[Hah~Hah~!]
Potechi bit into the meat with amazing vigor. A creature who lives in a dog kennel and would give paw. That is a dog. In other words, Potechi is a dog. What in the world was that Fairy wolf (Rare) about…
[As you can see, this boy is a good-for-nothing…]
[We are done with dungeon, so you could let him accompany in our travels though?]
[It would be impossible. His mind won"t be able to endure a trip with master.]
Mio completely abandoned my proposal..
It"s difficult to judge whether she"s saying that Potechi is a good-for-nothing or that a trip with me is harsh.
[I"ve got no choice but to let him obediently be a watchdog…, no wait, an unreliable pet watchdog at the mansion…]
[You can"t call that a watchdog]
[We have map and there"s Tamo-san, so we don"t need watch. It means we"re leaving this boy that"s like a watchdog merely for form"s sake.]
[He"s nearly a complete pet.]
[Yeah, you are right…]
>
Dora was burning with a strange sense of rivalry. Oh, she"s aware that of her role as a pet.
Thus, we decided to leave Potechi behind at the house. I wonder for what reasons she tamed him…
[Because he was a rare…]
[Ku~n…]
When I asked Mio, she answered so while averting her eyes. It"s not that I don"t understand her feelings though. Potechi, who finished eating the meat and heard this conversation, cried sorrowfully.
[So, master, is there something the matter?]
[Yeah, Maria, Mio and Dora I was thinking about giving you weapons as presents.]
>
[Weapons is it?]
[Why at this timing again?]
Question marks floated above the three.
[Putting it simply, they"re dungeon clear bonuses. Your weapons aren"t legendary are they? So I was thinking of aligning you at that part.]
[It"s pretty amazing to prepare legendaries for that sort of reason.]
Dora and Mio are using Mithril equipment. What we have in hand are artifact weapons which are higher than the rare ones that the mithril weapons are. However, we judged that with the difference between rare and artifact, it would be better to use something that you"re familiar with than renewing their weapons, so they continued using mithril equipment.
This time matching everyone"s weapon grades with legendary was my aim, so as expected, I"ll have them renew their weapons.
[Well, I already got them, so please use them.]
[Well, I"ll use if I can use it.]
[Allow me to gratefully make use of it.]
>
Sunlight Sword – Sol
Cla.s.sification : One-handed sword
Rarity : Legendary
Note : Increases effectiveness when y equipped with "Moonlight Sword – Luna", Camouflage sword, Auto-repair.
Moonlight Sword – Luna
Cla.s.sification : Short sword
Rarity : Legendary
Note : Increases effectiveness when equipped with "Sunlight Sword – Sol", Camouflage sword, Auto-repair.
I gave Maria a one-handed sword and short sword set. Maria basically fights only with a one handed sword, but she can sufficiently use dual wield. Since that"s the case, I thought about giving her a powerful set equipment that, though strong with just one, .
By the way, camouflage sword is an effect that turns the entire sword transparent when loaded with magic power (MP). Thinking about it normally, invisible weapons are scary right? All the more when a skilled fighter like Maria possess them. Oh, MP consumption is really high, so normally it"s can"t be used for a long time.
Star Bow – Meteor
Cla.s.sification : Short Bow
Rarity : Legendary
Note : Converts magic power into arrows, large flight distance correction, auto-repair.
I gave a short bow that was called a meteor to Mio. It"s a superior bow that, by loading it with magic power(MP) and pulling its bowstring, grants the magic power (MP) the form of an arrow and fires it. It completely conquers the arrow consumption that is the bow"s problem. Of course, it can shoot arrow normally too.
As a side note, magic arrows disappear after about 5 minutes. If you put in more magic power (MP), then the arrow becomes bigger. When I tested it before, an arrow the size of a telephone pole flew for more than 5km. It"s usually a strategic weapon.
Ruler"s Staff – Replica
Cla.s.sification : Combat Staff
Rarity : Legendary
Note : Can add a portion of the magic power status to offensive ability.
Aegis (正義の盾; shield of justice)
Cla.s.sification : Shield
Rarity : Legendary
Note : Defense range expansion, Auto-repair.
I gave Dora the combat staff that the Dungeonmaster – Replica had used. It suits Dora so I"ve decided to have her use it as it. As for the shield, it has an effect that grants the shield"s defense beside the part that"s protected by the shield. Its defensive power seems to be somewhat low except for the shield part, but it still sufficiently increases defensive power.
As for the "Ruler"s Staff – Replica", my real intention was that I"d like someone to use it, since it"s an article that"s connected to Azuma. By the way, the "Ruler"s Staff" that"s not a replica seems to be placed on Azuma"s grave. His grave is in a hidden area of the dungeon they said, so I"m thinking about visiting his grave soon.
The "Ruler"s Staff" is a higher rarity than legendary cla.s.s, the phantasmal cla.s.s, but as expected, I can"t bring myself to use the weapon that"s offered to my best friend"s grave. …It feels like Azuma would say "Please don"t mind it, it"s more wasteful not to use a valuable weapon" or something like that.
[Oh~, looks convenient.]
[Yes. Allow me to protect your body with these from now on, Jin-sama.]
>
[Well, we"ve already gone beyond the level for weapon differences to affect victory or defeat though.]
[It"ll be over if you say that, you know…]
Mio put in a retort to my irony.
I parted with Mio and Dora and was lost in thought at the edge of the venue.
[Next would be Asai…]
The two people, Azuma Akira and Asai Yoshin.o.bu were people I can call my best friend in my former world. I more or less do have around two childhood friends, but they"re not in the "Best friends" category.
My best friend, Azuma is, as we know, the last dungeon master. He was transferred to this world and ended his lifetime in this world earlier than the people at school. He seemed to have had a difficult time, but he didn"t seem to have an unhappy death, so I"ll consider it a good thing.
My other best friend, Asai Yoshin.o.bu, is probably a Hero. Ah, I"ll include an explanation so you won"t misunderstand me, but I"m not talking about the Heroes summoned in this time"s summon. It"s about the Heroes summoned much earlier than that.
The day we had the otherworld summon, not only did Azuma go to his academic meeting, Asai did not come to school either.
I got a call from Asai"s sister before I went to school, but it seems he was missing since morning. When she went to his room, it was completely empty, so she contacted his bad fri…, his best friend, me.
It would"ve been a regular missing case if it"s just that, but I know it after traveling. Asai was summoned to this world as Hero.
Naturally, I have several reasons for that.
First is the existence of the "Guardian greatsword" and the "Guardian greatshield" I obtained in Kastal.
They are the legendary equipment that Sera is using right now, but the design of these weapons are exactly like the equipment Asai was using in a game from our former world.
Who created these was a story of a Hero of old. That Hero was…not Asai. There"s a huge difference in the personality of the Hero I learned by hearsay and Asai"s personality. Asai isn"t that much of an idiot, so…
The Hero with the production type gift is extremely famous in Kastal. However, it doesn"t mean that this Hero was traveling alone. A record remained that said that he was acting as a pair with another Hero.
His real name is unclear, but an alias-like name was left behind. That name was "Hero of the Heavenly Eyes Arthur". This is the second reason and frankly, it was nearly decided with this.
The third and last reason is the clincher in a sense.
In the first place, there can be no such stupid thing like Azuma and I transferring to another world and only Asai not transferring, don"t you think?
Of course, there is a possibility that he was transferred even later than me. But when putting together the situation until now and considering the possibilities that "Hero of Heavenly Eyes Arthur" isn"t Asai, I could have no problem saying there"s 0% chance of that
It may be flawed as a proof, but I"m convinced that Asai has been in this world.
Perhaps, Asai must have reached the end of his life.
The Hero with the production type gift had left behind an anecdote that he stayed in Kastal until his death, but he left behind records that the "Hero of Heavenly Eyes Arthur" started a journey after defeating the demon king, though we could no longer know his movements afterwards.
Seeing that he"s gone on a journey, it shouldn"t mean that he went back go his world like the G.o.ddess had declared.
There weren"t many records about "Hero of Heavenly Eyes Arthur" in Kastal. But seeing that Asai had come to this world, he should have left behind footprints somewhere.
Azuma"s trace is easy to find since he left behind large-scale hints in the country and dungeon, but there were no hints of Asai"s traces. That"s why I"m thinking about slowly searching for his traces while sightseeing in this world. If he were to have left behind a note addressed to his family, then I"d like to deliver it to his family in the former world somehow.
[Now then, It"s about time I return to the party…]
It shouldn"t be good for the leading actor to be in a corner like this.
That and it"s because, though they"re not coming to talk to me, an amazing amount of people have been continuing pointing their consciousness towards me since a while ago.
This party continued until past 10 pm and, as expected, I did a speech by standing in front of them for a bit by stating its conclusion. Okay stop, you"re not going to kneel.
The next day, we decided to inspect Cynthia explorer group"s fight with the flame dragon. Oh, Dora said >, so she"s house-sitting.
I checked the status of Cynthia and others in front of the boss room, and I see their level have been raised to a level where they can"t lose against the flame dragon with this, unless nothing great happens.
>
[Kate-chan is p.r.o.ne to worrying -nanodesu…]
[I prefer having some leeway. Right? Karen-chan.]
[I prefer lower rank opponents. Right? Sorchan.]
[I can"t with with majority votes -nodesu…]
If Kate and the twins becomes the majority due to their inclination to safety, it"ll one-sidedly become Cynthia"s loss it seems. A Hero who was unable to gain the support of her party members…
[Well, in my viewpoint, I don"t want to you to do the impossible. The level will quickly rice from the next floor on, so there"s no trouble having some leeway after all]
The undead are also formidable enemies if you fight them normally. It"s best to become stronger.
[It is already more than enough -nanodesu! We"re defeating the flame dragon -nodesu!]
>
[[Yes.]]
[Yes -nanodesu!]
And like that, Cynthia"s group began their battle with the flame dragon after they opened the door to the boss room.
We"re inspecting them near the wall.
This is a bit trivial, but there"s 0 chances of us getting dragged into the battle. The monsters inside the dungeon are unable to attack me, who have skill. Furthermore, they can"t take actions that may inflict damage to me. For that reason, the flame dragon won"t be able to act if I"m not in the corner.
Now, it is around 10 minutes since the fight started, but the progress could be said to be overwhelming. Of course, Cynthia"s group has the upper hand.
Immediately following the start of the battle, Cynthia"s full power attack hit the flame dragon"s head. And since then they constantly maintained their advantageous situation. Naturally, it"s a situation which could exist solely due to Kate"s support though…
>
[Yes!]
The "Ice Bullet" that Sora unleashed directly hit the flame dragon"s right wing. Due to its left wing having received attacks already and become tattered, the flame dragon who was flying while disoriented finally fell down.
And then, ice spread on the landing place by Kate"s fired ..
[Gyo?]
-*Slide*-
-*thump*!-
The ice is quite slippery. The flame dragon stepped on the frozen floor, cleanly fell over and was in a completely defenseless state.
>
[Let"s finish it -nanodesu!]
[[Let"s go.]]
Losing the its flying ability and having only a little HP remaining, the flame dragon had no strength left to overturn the senseless beating of Cynthia and the others.
[Gyueeeeeeee…]
-*Crash*-
The flame dragon fell down shortly after that.
Unfortunately, it doesn"t seem like scarlet.i.te appeared. Well, it is because it"s not (supposed to be) something that would appear in such large drops.
>
[We did it -nodesu! An easy victory -nanodesu!>>
[[We did it!]]
The victorious 4 ran up to us. None of them had large injuries, so we should call this a complete victory.
Their statuses have gone up of course, but what became a large primary factor of their victory should be the fact that Cynthia no longer really rushed out. Or should I say she remembered following instructions and pulling back after rushing out, to be exact.
Well, it"s a natural thing when seen from an average person"s perspective, but Cynthia ruined her high specs due to that…
[Congrats. You"ve become quite steady too, Cynthia.]
[That"s right -nanodesu! Cynthia is growing up too -nodesu!]
>
[Yeah…, it was terrible, right Karen-chan?]
[Yeah…, it was difficult, right Sorchan?]
It seems her party members had their fair share of hardship like I thought. Because of that, puppy Cynthia finally seem to have learned "stay" and "house" without me.
At any rate, they look like they will fight adequately even in the 30th floor as far as I can see from today"s battle.
[By the way master, I have a question-nodesu]
[What is it?]
Cynthia raised her hand and asked.
[Is there any meaning for us to go further with the dungeon despite you having become the dungeon master? Even if we didn"t defeat the flame dragon, couldn"t you have take as many rare drops as you like from the flame dragon?]
[Ah, that"s been on my mind too! Since master has become the dungeon master, everything in this dungeon is under your control, right? … for instance, could you be able to make the monsters in the dungeon stand up straight and kill them one-sidedly and such?]
[Mio, would you be happy doing that?]
[Mio-chan…]
[Wai-! It was an example! An example after all!]
Mio denied it in a hurry when Sakura and I were a little drawn back. Even if we are able to, I can"t imagine I want to earn experience points or status in such a pathetic way.
[Gonna leave behind Mio here…]
[I"ve been left behind!?]
[It is the usual event isn"t it]
[That is harsh too!]
I left behind Mio who crumbled down crestfallen.
[First, I may have become the dungeon master, I basically have neither the intention to manage it nor earn arbitrary advantage with my dungeon master position. It"s not that I can"t, but it"s not my hobby and I would run the risk of destroying the existing balance. For that reason, I"d like Cynthia and the others to advance the dungeon in a proper way if possible.]
This is the part that concerns the dungeon"s system, but the dungeon core"s resources are limited. Or to be exact, it has a cycle of recovery and consumption. At current situation, the remaining resources have become constantly fixed by Azuma"s careful adjustments. If I do as I please by using the dungeon master"s authority, the balance would simply break and it would no longer be able to carry on as a dungeon.
Well, I don"t know how much damage would emerge if I were to "do as I want", but that is the number 1 reason why I don"t do the dungeon management… I absolutely don"t want to let the balance that Azuma had created collapse.
[Then, so we still have a turn -nodesu?]
[Yeah, or rather, I think from here on out is the crucial moment. I don"t know when it will be, but someday I"m going to have you publicly announce and update the reached floor]
>
[Yeah, it doesn"t matter. I"ve done enough various things, so hiding my name inside this country should be the limit.]
When we came to this country, we showed our position in Kastal, began the vampire subjugation, discovered an entrance to the dungeon, saved the princess, saved the king, defeated the hero and discovered Soma. There are things where I hid my name, but still, if you"ve done this much, your name will be leaked out from somewhere.
And there"s no longer any need for me to do my best to conceal my name anymore. Worrying about this after all this time is nothing but a waste of effort.
[My special ability naturally a secret, but I won"t say that my achievements have to be concealed. Of course, there"s no need to go out of your way to say it.]
>
[That"s right. Your abilities being your talent from the start would be fine. Please make sure that my evaluation would fall down to "a lucky guy who coincidentally obtained strong slaves" or "a guy who has eyes to detect talents" or something close that.]
>
[Nanodesu???]
As expected of Kate, it helps that she"s quick on the uptake. Cynthia, please listen to Kate later…
[I think troublesome things have increased for you, but I"ll leave them to you, Kate.]
>
Kate"s motivation obviously went up as I told her that. According to what I"ve heard from Cynthia afterwards, there seems to be a big difference in Kate"s excitement between the time I"m with her and the time I"m not.
Cynthia"s team said they would advance to graveyard area as is (Kate overflowing in motivation being one of the reasons), so we decided to head back to our mansion in the capital city Estalca first.
[We"re done with every matter I planned to do in this country, so we"re going to start our next journey after a bit. Our destination is Atto Union and then the crimson empire.]
Immediately after we returned to the mansion, I gather my main subordinates and announced so. It"s difficult to call them main subordinates, but I"ve called the crimson empire group Rouge and her entourage.
By the way, there were 3 plans to do in this country. Those were "Capture of the dungeon", "Training subordinates for dungeon exploration" and "Investigation of the relation between Azuma and this country or the dungeon". I should be able to say that all of them have been safely complete.
[The members are like usual the 6 and 1 monster; me, Sakura, Dora, Maria, Mio, Sera and Tamo-san. I will add Rouge and Minerva as our guide when we enter the Crimson Empire.]
[Mh, only Minerva and I? I wanted to bring the other members with me as well, though…]
Rouge said slightly discontent to my announcement.
[There"s no point in having so many people, don"t you think? Less hindrance would be better for when there"s a crisis.]
[It is sad to be treated as hindrances without hesitation. Well, that is truly the case however…]
Rouge could not use any terms of respects even now. However, her high-handed air like before had vanished.
Rouge and her team have no relationship with us in public. However, we"ve done something like sham battles from time to time by summoning them with a direct "Summon" to the mansion. The end result of those sham battles is that they lost to us main party of course, to Cynthia dungeon explorer group and even to a portion of the maids(most powerful ones).
Rouge challenged over and over and was viciously beaten every time. Eventually her spirit broke and her high-handed att.i.tude disappeared. Her confidence and pride that she originally had broken into fragments, so she would attach all of the main party with "-dono" or "-sama". On top of that, she becomes menial at times as well. It seems she has become quite mentally unstable.
[If you don"t want to, Minerva, then we"re also fine with the other member?]
[No, in that sense Minerva is suitable. She has the most common sense…]
Rouge"s attendants except for Minerva nodded too.
[Then, Minerva it is then.]
If I"m told that, then my options disappears except for Minerva.
I don"t have any reasons to expressly make one with no common sense into a guide.
[Minerva would be better informed regarding internal state of affairs too after all.]
[Eh? Then, it feels like there"s no meaning in taking Rouge with us…, it"ll be just fine to just call her at important times I guess.]
[That feels terrible…]
Rouge feebly hung her head. That said, I have no alternatives in not taking Rouge with me who would bear the full brunt depending on the situation.
[Well, I"ve decided from the start to bring Rouge along. I"ll bring you with me even if you say you don"t want to though…]
[In that case, why did you bother to look down on me…?]
[That is Master you know…]
[Mio-dono…]
Mio comforted Rouge. Yup, it"s not at the level of Mio, but Rouge is quite worth playing around with.
[Now that I"m done messing with Rouge, our talk is over. Please continue in preparing each of your deparutre".
[Yes!] x many
Especially the maids cheerfully replied. It"s because they have some job of putting cooked dishes in and preparing the carriages for when we go on a trip.
Me? There is nothing I have to prepare. There"s times where the maids were doing things for me, but thanks to and "Portal", I don"t need to "Preparations" in the first place. I mean, if it"s necessary, I would go and fetch it afterwards, or have them put it in the … Really unfair.
Status
Shindou Jin
Lv78
Skill:
Martial arts
Magic
[Revive] [Room] [Warp] [Portal] [Energy Ball] [Ankh] [Summon]
Technique
Body