Next chapter 12-16 hours or so probably? Whether or not the end of this arc is a good thing or not I do not know. Because the rest of this weekend is dedicated to Reverse chapters. Next chapter order: (205), (203), (204), (143) -(150), SS27 1-3. Just going off my own prediction. I might be able to get up to SS27 by Monday.
Year 7445, Month 7, Day 25
"I see..After all..I thought of it on the 6th and 7th floors. That Greed-kun was far stronger than any of us in {Sun.Ray}. Let alone, with the matter this time {Sun.Ray}"s combat potential fell quite a bit. It was quite irritating right?"
That was the reply from the temporary leader Kamain.Mishausu after hearing my words that I was "withdrawing".
"..Those guys from the {Slaughterers} that we fought together with on the 7th floor, they were strong.."
"Yeah, just as rumored that Dog-people combat slave named Angela was considerably strong but that axe user woman, Ralpha was it? She was even above that."
"Also, there was those two using the spears, the dwarf woman and that Cat-people guy newbie, they were fighting calmly against an ogre as well.."
"I guess if you can"t at least do that much then the 7th floor is harsh."
"Even when they were like that if they get ambushed suddenly a number of them can get taken out~"
"..That"s right, though, those magic stones were amazing~ We got 26 of them this time right?"
The three suckers, also known as, former three suckers are talking.
"It can"t be helped..If those four end up disappearing then our only decent front line members are Rokko, Kevin, and Fio..It"s not as if there aren"t any other but they"re considerably lower compared to those three after all.."
Ginger, also known as Virginia.Nyuman said disappointingly. Hearing that Kimu, or Kyumire.Biosukoru said, "We really want at least of our party to be made up of a strong front line right.." and the surrounding atmosphere turned gloomy.
Other than Hirosukol who"s name was just brought up there"s Faruergaz and the others, Rutsogu.Samyueruga uses the spear, and his two slaves are all capable of standing on the front line. However, there"s no other way of putting it than that their abilities clearly fall in comparison to the other three. It"s only obvious for the 7th floor but even then 6th floor is probably impossible. In other words, if things continue just like this then {Sun.Ray} will be at their limit on the 4th floor. It"s not as if the 5th floor is completely impossible but you can guess they would struggle quite a bit and depending on how things go they might even have to prepare for some sacrifices.
""Umm,""
Both Mifesu.Ransun and Hisurura.Harurein were about to say something but showed restraint for each other and choked up on their words.
"Umm, even then I would like it if Greed-kun remains together with us. Of course this is simply my hopes. I mean, if you"re with us then just that is rea.s.suring."
Misu properly looked me in the eyes while saying it. Her wolf ears stood on end and her tail shook.
"Yeah, I thought so as well. It"s not like I"ve seen Greed-kun fighting but just from what I"ve heard, you have a lot more skill than even Haruku, Bin, and Meiria. If a person like that were to leave what would happen to us in {Sun.Ray}? Depending on how things go someone might die?"
Hisu raised one of her beautiful pure blooded Elf features that is her eyebrows up while saying it to not me but Kamu. Well, what she"s saying is true.
"I already get what everyone is saying and want to say. But, try thinking about it for a bit. Just now Jeru said it. The number of magic stones we obtained on the 7th floor this time was 26. Though we still haven"t sold them yet so I don"t know how much they"ll be worth but just from what I could tell, they"ll all add up to easily over 10,000,000 Z..I guess so, I"ve never seen something like that and I"m sure it"ll largely exceed it. If they really have a price of 800,000 Z each then they might actually make it to 20,000,000 Z...This, we earned it in just a single day on the 7th floor. If Greed-kun returns to the {Slaughterers} then he"ll become the leader again right? In that case he can expect a considerable share. If we could promise him conditions that are even more appealing then that he might have room to think about it though..If I think like that then I can"t stop him."
Kamu said instructing everyone.
"Then, wouldn"t it be fine to have Greed-kun be our leader?"
Binnodo.Gekudo said it as if he thought of something completely great.
"Even then I wonder about that..Since our members are lacking in abilities, I"m sure it would be more difficult remaining with us.."
When Kamu replied like that the three suckers questioned, "Did you want to be the leader that much? It"s not as if I don"t understand though.."
"It"s not particularly as if that"s the case. But, even I have some desires. The more earnings there are the more a good leader profits. However, I don"t have even the slightest bit of confidence I could bring everyone to the 7th floor. More so, with the remaining members..Let alone the 7th floor even the 6th floor is completely impossible..The 5th floor might be dangerous as well."
Kamu replied while looking down. I wonder if it"s about a good time~
"..Can I speak for a bit? It"s strange saying this but it"s already possible to obtain the charms in a short period of time. It"s fine if you just do the same thing the Rindobel-sans did."
When I said up to there everyone"s eyes were sparkling as if to say, "I completely forgot" while talking to the person next to them. I still haven"t finished speaking.
"I"m sure it"ll cost quite a bit less money. However, even then I think that would at best be one or two of them every few months. You might not be able to rely on them very much. Those of you who went together with me to the 7th floor the other day please try remembering. It"s certainly true that the charms are reliable but they"re useless unless you can return to the surface right?"
Several of them remember how Miduchi forbid them from speaking.
"It seems some of you remembered...Like I said just now, after this I intend on returning to the {Slaughterers} but if there"s anyone who wishes, no, it"s fine for the {Slaughterers} to take up of all of you together. Of course, I"ll be splitting the parties based on true skill. Please pardon me for a slightly impolite way of putting this. It"s strange saying this but with everyone"s current abilities, normally not a single one of you would be accepted into the {Slaughterers}. I think this would be easier for you to understand after seeing my work. Please don"t glare at me like that, Hirosukol-san. I properly asked to be pardoned at the start."
Don"t make that sort of face. I get your feelings though. No, the reason I"m putting it this way is because I really feel bad about it. However, even if I say it in flattering words it can"t be helped. I thought it would be better to say it properly from the start.
"In that case, it would take the shape of the {Slaughterers} absorbing {Sun.Ray}. Yeah, I don"t mind it at all so it"s alright. I can already guess how other people will talk about it. But, I don"t really see it as a problem. If they have any complaints then it"s fine if they say it directly to my face. Well, rather than something like that, please let me talk a bit about in the case you accept my idea."
Kamu, Misu, Ginger, and Binsu were saying that if I did something like to the {Slaughterers] and then we absorb {Sun.Ray} I would be slandered as "Greed joined {Sun.Ray} in order to absorb them from inside." Of course~ I"m sure there will be people who say things like that. But, people like that don"t matter at all. If they want to say it just let them say as they please. A certain portion of it is the truth after all, regardless of whether I complain or not, the people who want to believe in rumors will believe in it.
In the first place even when things were going smoothly for the {Slaughterers} I had a mountain of slander and defamation said against me like "He"s been carried by Zenom and the two combat slaves" or "Even though he"s just a brat with no skill..They"re just letting him act as the leader because he"s a n.o.ble and has a company so he"s convenient." Even further back it was even "they"re just digging through the monsters other adventurers defeated." and those sorts of harsh things were said about us.
Even if some more variations of that started to appear at this point what is there to it? Ah, the thing that was said just a while back, "he"s lacking in management abilities for a leader", those sorts of slander actually hit home a bit though. Compared to that something like, "He did something in order to achieve some objective" is still better to hear.
"Of course it will be the case, I"ll split up the teams based on true skill. Judging from the number splitting into a total of three teams would probably be appropriate. I"ll say it honestly. Currently there"s no one here that I think would make it in a team aiming past the 7th floor. It might be different if you were hiding your true abilities during the time we were training together though. That"s why just the same as you have until now I would have everyone split into two groups. For each of those two groups, I"ll send out one or two members, including myself from the {Slaughterers}. Of course someone who can use healing magic. Fundamentally I"ll have you obey those people but after repeating that several times, if there"s anyone suitable for it then I think I"ll start to have that person act as the leader of the team."
There were several people who were making openly discontent faces. That"s only obvious. Since normally the leader is the one who decides the compensation.
"And, in regards to the compensation but in the case that we send the leader from the {Slaughterers} during the time you enter the dungeon with them, other than that leader being counted as two peoples worth of share, the earnings will be split up evenly among everyone down to the 1 Z. If there"s no helping some from being leftover then that money will be used to buy food for the next time. Ah, we count combat slaves as one persons worth as well but obviously that compensation will be paid to the owner. Furthermore, we calculate the leader as two peoples worth but that leader would only be paid for one persons worth. The remain one persons worth would go to me but things like food, consumables, and the entry tax will all be covered by me. That"s why most of it will end up disappearing I"m sure. Well, I need at least that much of a profit. I"ll talk about the reason later but I think you"ll be able to accept it."
Surprise was showing on everyone"s faces other than Faruergaz and Hirosukol. These two probably think this is only obvious so it can"t be helped. However, the only adventurers who make use of these conditions are fundamentally those who just came to Baldukk or adventurers who have only just started and don"t earn much income, nothing but newcomers. It"s because they don"t have enough experience and they don"t have any of the harsh combat experience on the lower floors so they don"t understand the importance of a leader.
Therefore, to members of a top team like {Sun.Ray} it"s an extremely unexpectedly method of splitting up the compensation. If you were to ask me, rather than carelessly trying to make claim on the leader, everyone other than the leader obtaining a reasonable amount of money, that sort of method which just looks impartial is what I wanted to use. If I say it like this then not only is there no high income benefit to being the leader but you would have to worry about the other members a.s.sessment and the responsibility so I thought it wouldn"t be that easy for anyone to want to claim the role of leader.
"I"ll without a doubt get the leader dispatched from the {Slaughterers} to agree to this. Also, if it comes to that then it"s also true that persons income will decrease from being with the {Slaughterers} so there"s no guarantee that the same person will always be the leader. Including myself, several of us will alternate shifts."
Since this was completely natural they just honestly nodded to it.
"However, from here on is the important part. For a short while I"ll keep an eye on things like they are now. But, after that if there"s someone among everyone that seems like a suitable leader then I intend to request for that person to be the leader of that team. In that sort of case, that person will decide on the compensation. What I want you to understand here is that in order for that person to act as the leader of the team they must be able to get everyone in the party to accept the method of splitting up the compensation. If even one person has complaints then I won"t use them. It"s fine for the leader to decide on whatever method for the compensation that they want but please think that you won"t be able to take a method that will cause any complaints. Also, even in that case though, just when it comes to dispatching members for the current {Slaughterers} we"ll request an even share of the compensation."
I clear my throat.
"After that, I"m thinking of purchasing several new combat slaves. I"m thinking of putting those sorts of slaves into the teams with everyone else but in that case, fundamentally it"s fine if you don"t take into consideration the compensation for those slaves. I"m sure their abilities will be low after all. But right now, the combat slaves in the {Slaughterers} have suitably high abilities so I"ll request compensation for just them."
I said it like a joke but everyone was nodding. It sure is easy when there"s no one with proper experience as a leader around.
"Also, as a privilege for {Sun.Ray} being absorbed by the {Slaughterers}, I"ll adopt everyone as guards for Greed Company. As expected I won"t go to the point of paying wages though. However, when it comes to calculating and paying the troublesome taxes with the government office the company will take care of that. And also, in the worst case but if you were to suffer a serious injury in the dungeon and unfortunately be able unable to work as an adventurer anymore, just like that we"ll let you work for Greed Company and properly pay wages based on the work you do.
If you"re feeling uneasy about these things then all of the details I explained just now it"s fine to write up a formal contract with them. In that case we"ll create three contract doc.u.ments, one for myself, one for you all, and one to leave with the government office for in the worst case. If I end up not abiding by the conditions I just stated then it"s possible for you to make a claim of that with the government office at any time. Please think that things like that are the reason why I"m demanding one persons worth of compensation as well."
Everyone was amazed at this. Rather~ I can"t imagine there"s anyone who wouldn"t feel these details are appealing.
"If you"re able to accept these conditions then we"ll accept you as members of the {Slaughterers}. If there"s anything you don"t understand then I answer your questions. Depending on the case it"s possible to change the conditions as well. Also, this will be the last but if no matter who looks it can be decided that you have an adequate level of skill, if I recognize that, and further the person them self wishes then it"s also possible for them to move to the current {Slaughterers} team as well so things in that are depend on everyone"s effort. It"s fine even if you don"t reply right now.
However, since it"s necessary to think about things from here on out after this, please give me a reply within this month. Of course, it"s fine for you all to discuss things between yourselves. But, it"s at a bit selfish of me to say but if at least a total of five people don"t decide to pick this option then there"s not really any merit for our side so in the case that the number of those interested is too few we might turn it down as well."
When I said that far I looked around at everyone"s faces. Surprised faces, happy faces, various faces.
"Well then, I"m sure it"s difficult to discuss things with me around, I"m returning to my inn. I"m hoping for a good reply."
I said that, turned around, and started walking off.
Obviously the place I"m aiming is the favorite inn of the {Slaughterers}, Boil Manor. I need to talk to everyone.
After that I need to scold Toris and Bel and for the time being, tell them I"m going to push command over {Sun.Ray} that I intend to absorb as well. Right now there"s 15 members of {Sun.Ray}. Even if we send one person in each team that"s parties of 8 people and 9 people. Sending one more person than that to each to act as an advisor might also be a good idea. Ah, even then the members of the {Slaughterers} that we dispatch still receive the same compensation as now. I intend to give them 2% of the amount the main group of the {Slaughterers} earns. The portion they earn from {Sun.Ray} is travel compensation.
The only one we absolutely can"t exclude from the {Slaughterers} is Gwine. Also Giberuti I guess. It"s no good if the team that goes to the front line can"t eat good food.
.................
Year 7445, Month 7, Day 28
Since yesterday one after another members of {Sun.Ray} have been coming to the inn I"m staying at "Kairugu"s Inn". There"s even those bringing along two or three people. However, just Faruergaz and the others haven"t come yet. Since it seems that since yesterday morning they"ve been outspokenly discussing it, I guess they just haven"t resolved themselves yet. Even if they take into consideration the details I told them when we met at the end of last year I think it"s a reasonable good proposal.
Putting that aside, since there was something that was bothering me, before we forget about it I had the members of {Sun.Ray} who intend to move parties start running around to gather evidence on the Rindobel couple. Though, I say that there"s not much to do at all. Just confirming with Santos, who was born in the capital, his family to see if the money was returned. Then after they"ve confirmed it tell the knight group the location of his family and have them confirm it as well. Then go out to the poor people area of the capital and if possible find multiple people who were hired to purchase the charms and get a proper hold on their locations.
Ah, I"ve already properly made contracts with them. It"s contract version 3. Since some of them couldn"t read letters either, it cost a bit of extra expenses having a scribe write it right in front of us but well~ that much should be fine.
................
Year 7445, Month 7, Day 29
After breakfast Faruergaz and the others came. Faruergaz, k.u.miru, Samyueruga, the three of them were making slightly exhausted expressions.
"Greed-san. There"s something I want to ask first. In reality there"s several things I want to ask and confirm as well but this time the most important is just one thing. I would like you to please reply honestly."
I don"t know if it"s because he"s lacking in sleep but his facial color is bad and his eyes are glaring as he lowered his head and asked me. Really, what is it already, so trouble~some~
"I don"t think I"ve done even a single thing to be liked by you, I think. I"ve complained, said sarcasm, I think at every little thing I"ve said things that you would find unpleasant. Just, there are somethings which I thought I had screwed up after I already said them as well. There were times when I didn"t realize it until after I was told my Rodrick and Ruttsu as well..I think I was an unpleasant person. Why would you include such as person as me when inviting us into your group..It"s something I"ve found strange in regards to the matter this time. It should have been fine even if you absorbed {Sun.Ray} excluding just me. I still think eve now that it wouldn"t have been even the slightest bit strange if that was the case."
His way of speaking has gotten strange again.
"I tried thinking about how you might be thinking about it in my own way and guessing it. I was able to narrow it down to the three answers. The first one is about Rodrick. He and I have been together for a reasonably long time and are on good terms. He was born in the Faruergaz family. Is it because you don"t want to hurt his feelings? One more is..That is, because you and I have some things in common maybe? The last one is both of those. By all means, I would like an answer."
Hirosukol"s face was completely serious. The three holding their breath as they watch over had considerably serious expressions as well.
"At the end of last year, do you remember the time when we first met?"
"Yeah, that time I said quite a few unavoidable things.."
"Faruergaz-san do you remember as well?"
"Yeah, I remember. We were greatly rude at that time.."
I let out a short sigh and put the answer into words.
"It seems that both of you have forgotten..That time I had intended to consider the two of you as friends but..Is that a reply to your question Hirosukol-san?"
""Ah..""
The two of them made slightly s.p.a.ced out expressions and soon after their faces went red from feeling ashamed.
I won"t forget. At any rate, no matter what the reason or with what expectations they had, since the first time I reincarnated over here it was the first time I said something like, "I want to become friends." That time~ after that I felt a cold sweat inside wondering if anyone would make fun of me. Of course there was no one disagreeable enough to do something like that.
"Ah..I..I"m very sorry! I"ll go and cool my head down a bit. Everyone don"t mind it and continue with the conversation...I"m very sorry, Greed-san. After I calm my feelings down a bit I"ll come back again!"
Hriosukol said that at a rapid pace and without waiting for a response ran out of the room...How young~ it seems like youth~
"Greed-san, Fio...I"m very sorry that he left at his own convenience in the middle of the conversation."
Faruergaz lowered his head apologetically to me. Sanno and Ruttsu were dumbfounded.
"Probably around tomorrow, I think he"ll come again alone. I"m really sorry but for right now would you please just leave him be? I think it would be best to just let him have some time alone for a short while. No, even I couldn"t imagine he would suddenly run out of the room.."
Faruergaz said with a faint smile on his face. Even he"s probably thinking that was quite young~ of Hirosukol, or something like that. Also, if it"s just something at this level, it"s not even worth bothering over at this point.
"No, please don"t humble yourself that much, Faruergaz-san. And, what should we do? Should we continue?"
"Yeah, of course. We"re looking forward to working with you."
Just like this I was able to safely get remaining members of {Sun.Ray} in my hands. Happily ever after.
..................
Year 7445, Month 7, Day 30
It wasn"t happily after all. It wasn"t happily at all.
Hirosukol disappeared. I don"t know if it was yesterday, last night, or this morning but before anyone noticed he moved out of his inn and disappeared!
Rather~ when I heard the fully story in detail it seems it was yesterday evening. He cleared out of the inn and supposedly even left behind a farewell letter as he departed. They only noticed just past noon today, since the deadline for their reply to me is reaching it"s limits Faruergaz went in intending to invite him for a walk and was going to pull him out at that time and his room was completely empty. In a panic he came to me and obviously I wouldn"t know. I gave him the advice that an employee of the inn should know and I joined Faruergaz as we went to the inn, they said it was yesterday evening, most likely while we were eating dinner when he left. And then, two farewell letters, he left in the care of the person at the inn.
One of them was to Faruergaz. The other one was to me. The content wasn"t all that different.
It was words of apology to Faruergaz and I, he particularly included quite a bit of details on how he was too embarra.s.sed to show his face. The letter to Faruergaz said that most of the members of the {Slaughterers} are j.a.panese people so things shouldn"t end u[ badly for him, since I won"t do anything like that either he should just relax and earn some money, is what he wrote. And then, as a conclusion on whether the two of us could become appropriate friends, or until he thinks we can he wanted to put some distance between us, is what it said.
After I was handed this by Farerugaz and read it, the thing I thought was that I was glad it wasn"t the opposite, that sort of unpleasant thought. If Faruergaz and Hirosukol were to run away in the opposite then even if I had to split up into a gra.s.sroots, I would have had to hunt him down and make absolutely sure to kill him, otherwise several years later or several decades later, it would have been to the point where I wouldn"t be able to feel safe sleeping at night.
Since from the very start I haven"t thought of some illusion like every reincarnated person we encounter would become my ally, so I won"t feel a sense of loss on the level of Faruerugaz but even then a shock is a shock. It"s the same as losing a reincarnated person from right under my eyes that could have become a powerful piece on the level of high end replacement for Zulu in the future.
Furthermore, it seems like Faruergaz was beaten down by the sense of loss but it seems he wasn"t all that depressed over it.
"In a long life, these sorts of things happen as well..I guess. I"ve already purchased two combat slaves, Denda and Karimu. I need to take responsibility for them until the end...I don"t really want to sell them. Also, I feel like abandoning Sanno and Ruttsu to go and search for him is different as well. I"m sure Fio doesn"t wish for something like that either. Looking after them is the responsibility I was entrusted by Fio."
And then, for some reason he looked up at the sky with his back to me while whispering, "Che...So you intend to just go around looking at places on your own just as planned..This debt is expensive...Nomu-san.."
If you were to ask what I was doing, I was looking at that Faruergaz"s back while, "Ah..Even if I try to go after him now..I don"t know which direction he went and if he conceals himself in the capital for several there"s a lot of people so there"s no way I could find him..I"m lost...The other day, even though I said it to everyone in the {Slaughterers} so arrogantly, this happens..This is quite uncool~ I wish you would pardon me from these things..." just worrying about myself.