Shocking revelation. I"ve been translating {Slaughterers} like that for the ease of my sanity all this time but pretty sure {Slaughters} is what they"re meant to be. "THEY"RE THE {SLAUGHTERS}!" just doesn"t work for me. It"s one of those ruby/kana words that"s hard to tell exactly what the author was going for... Some of the j.a.panese characters used for the names are like "Ones who Slaughter/Ma.s.sacre", Ma.s.s Murderers, Murderers, etc...
Now with this chapter it"s back to Reverse chapters, I plan to do 203-204, the alternative PoVs for events in 116-139 before I go back and do Miduchi"s PoV reverse chapters. Though a lot of these are pretty long, next chapter later today sometime... probably 6-12 hours.
7445, Month 7, Day 30
I let my thoughts run over how pathetic I was, letting the fish that should have swallowed the hook get away while I was leisurely putting on airs. I wonder why Hirosukol disappeared? I can think of several reasons but no matter which it is they already don"t matter anymore. At the very least he chose of his own free will to disappear from in front of everyone. If you were to ask if I find it regrettable about Hirosukol disappearing then it is but it can"t be helped thinking and complaining about things that have already taken place.
There"s already six reincarnated people affiliated with me. If Kuro and Mary join in as well then that will be eight people. If Faruergaz is added to here then that"s nine people. If we include the disappeared Hirosukol then that"s ten people. When it comes to reincarnated people then it wouldn"t be strange for there to be one or two people who don"t get along with me. There"s no other choice than to make the matter this time into provisions for the future.
Including me 39 j.a.panese people reincarnated on Orth. Among those eight people pa.s.sed away while they were still babies so that leaves 31 people remaining. And then, Dereonola was already executed and disappeared so that leaves 30 people. The fact that I was able to get a grasp on the location of and somewhat gain familiarity with 1/3rd of them by the time I"m 17 years old is big.
Of the remaining 20 people I wonder around how many are still alive? Even if I think about it there"s no clues at all so I guess it"s just a waste of time spent thinking huh? I"m interested in the reincarnated people that are supposedly in Devas but for the time being there"s nothing I can do and I don"t have that much room to spare either.
In the first place there"s no way they would know about me, no, us either way. If Miki, no, Lilus didn"t tell me then I still wouldn"t know myself. The difference between predicting it and being convinced of it is like that of heaven and earth. Even with just that you could say I have good luck.
While Faruergaz is still staring up at the sky as if he was looking at some sort of illusion of Hirosukol floating in the air, I called out to him saying, "Please excuse me" and then started on my way to the gathering place of the {Slaughterers} Murowa. Ah, I guess I should at least show my face before that..No, I guess it"s fine later.
................
"Al-san, we"re very sorry."
"We let our guards down at the very end. I"m sorry."
I entered Murowa and the moment Toris and Bel noticed me they ran over and apologized. It"s fine I"ve already heard that a number of times. We already had a reflection meeting as well. While the two of them were lined up with their heads down I just raised my hand without saying anything.
"But, everyone ended up getting hurt, and if things went one step in the wrong direction it was considerably dangerous..We"ll take responsibility. Please say anything at all."
"No matter how dangerous of a role it is."
Toris and Bel said that laudably lowering their heads. It p.i.s.sed me off a bit.
"Hey, you two. Listen carefully. Don"t say something like taking responsibility so easily! In the first place, exactly what and how would mean you"ve taken responsibility? Responsibility isn"t something you take after something has happened! It"s something you"re carrying from the start!..you might not understand still but think carefully."
After saying it firmly I said, "Next time think of something that will be useful. You all gained experience that will help from here on out." and had them sit down.
These s.h.i.tty brats..learn from Zenom. I"m sure even Zenom had regrets and reflected on it. He should feel some responsibility as well. It"s the same for me too. But, Zenom and I already had the resolve to bear the responsibility for our decisions. I have no intention of saying it"s fine as long as you have the resolve though. Since things like responsibility weren"t mentioned during the reflection meeting, I could have sworn they knew that but for them to say it here.
Don"t be acting like spoiled brats.
With everyone gathered together I faced them. At the edge Basutoral was lined up sitting next to Catherine. It doesn"t particularly matter though. There"s no need to think about her until they say something from their end. I ordered some appropriate beer and pork skewers. This is a good lunch for today.
Now then, shall I started a s.h.i.tty uninteresting discussion...
"It"s been decided that {Sun.Ray} would all be absorbed by the {Slaughterers}, but Hirosukol is different. We found out that he disappeared of his own will. He so politely even left behind a farewell letter. It seems he wants to keep some distance for a while."
Everyone starts noisily trying to ask things so I stop them and continue speaking.
"It"s something person him self decided. It can"t be helped. However, at the very least the other 14 people excluding him have decided to become affiliated with us. I mentioned it a bit a couple days ago but we"ll be switching to three parties. It"s only obvious but we won"t be splitting the combat forces up evenly between each party. Everyone will fundamentally continue like this. Though one or two from the {Slaughterers} will enter the second and third parties as commanders."
When I clearly declared that everyone went quiet.
"I intend for everyone other than, Gwine and Basutoral, and also Giberuti to take turns as the commanders of the second and third parties. Including myself we"ll take turns in order but it"s no guaranteed that it"ll always be just one person. Ralpha, Zulu, Angela. For the time being I have no intention of sending any of you over alone. It"ll be in a pair with Zenom, Toris, Bel, Miduchi, and I one of us. That"s why at a minimum two people and a maximum of four people, will be leaving the current {Slaughterers}. Prepare yourselves for it."
I tilt my beer mug that finally came out and continue talking.
"However, from here on out there will come a time when we need the second and third parties to switch to support for the first party to aim towards the lower floors. Putting aside the 8th or 9th floors, if you intend to aim for the 10th floor or beyond I"m sure a support party is definitely needed. When that time comes I"m sure it"ll be difficult to advance without a full party so we"ll have the people who were dispatched to the second and third parties group back up with us along the way."
And then, finally I add on.
"The people who are dispatched to the second and third parties will get 2% of the magic stone sales of the first party just the same as usual as well as getting an equal share from what the party they"re in earns as compensation. Well, think of it as something like travel compensation. However, don"t think you"ll be able to enjoyable earn it. Since it"s necessary to raise the second and third parties until they can at least act as support parties. It will be considerably difficult and the responsibility is heavy. In any case, the members who go to the second and third parties prepare yourselves. It"s necessary for you to hold full responsibility after all."
I looked at Toris and Bel again while saying it. I couldn"t tell if they got it or not but even then their expressions seemed to tense up like had reached a conclusion on it. Alright.
"I plan to enter the dungeon the next day the day after tomorrow. In regards to the first leaders, but I"ll have Toris and Bel go. Toris will have Ralpha and Bel will have Zenom go with them. Kamu and I will discuss how to split up their parties this evening. I think I"ll be able to talk about what kind of shape it will take tomorrow morning."
After I said that much I ate a couple of the pork skewers that came out and then got up from my seat. I left some money on the table while saying, "Then I"m returning to my inn. I only paid for it up until today." and left the store.
I cleared out of "Kairugu"s Inn" and returned to Boil Manor then just like that went towards one more place. I showed my face for a bit in "Slave Store, Ronslail". I went to confirm if there"s any news on the combat slaves entering soon and I got the information that they"ll be sold in the slave market of the capital at the end of next month. While putting emphasis on stocking up to the Madam, I was able to guess, "Then I guess that means the conflict this time is already over".
I wonder if older brother and the others are arriving in Bakuddo village around now? Or else maybe they"ve already long since started on their way here? It would be good if no one died but..No, older brother and sister were both on the battlefield, there"s no any casualties would have appeared from the village. In the first place older sister who should have been on the campaign hasn"t returned yet..She hasn"t yet right? If she"s already returned and just ignored me then I"ll seriously cry.
................
In regards to the second and third parties that I discussed with Kamu but Faruergaz and his allies five, including Nyuman and Harurein, those seven will be the third party, and then the remaining members will be the second party is how we shaped it. Though it ended up that only Faruergaz can use magic in the third party but we decided to pa.s.s it as the dispatch members making up for that. Regardless I have no intention of letting them overdo things until their abilities match up and depending on the case it"s very possible I could have them earning experience points against orks and hobgoblins on the 1st and 2nd floors. I guess you could call it the first party, if we dispatch one or two members from the {Slaughterers}, furthermore if they can use magic then things should be fine.
After finishing my discussion with Kamu I returned to Boil Manor. And then, Miduchi was sitting in my bed making a huge face. So you were still here.
"Hey, that is.."
Miduchi is showing a new rubber bag while licking her lips with her forked tongue to try and tempt me. I understand the feeling. I want to do it as well. But, there"s something I need to calmly think about for a bit.
"What is it, it"s already late so return to your own room. It seems Cathy didn"t use your room almost at all. There"s no problem right?"
"Bu~"
This fellow, you"re not a brat so stop trying to come on to it so heavy. Can"t you be a bit more patient?
"What are you bu~ing about. Tomorrow you have to look over formation training as well so go to sleep early."
"Bu~bu~"
"Are you a pig! You"re loud~ so put your clothes on and leave. I still have things I have to do. I"ll be your partner slowly tomorrow, so just let me be alone for today."
"Che."
I push Miduchi out of the room while she"s clicking her tongue and after I was left alone I slowly started gathering my thoughts. After that, I checked my room to see if anything had changed. It seems nothing in particular had changed and it was properly kept clean. With Miduchi"s personality I thought she wouldn"t make a mess but I was relieved it was just as I imagined. Ah, I guess the brat would do the cleaning huh?
Suddenly I remember and checked the wooden box at the side of my bed and a number of rubber bags had decreased. Not to mention four bags of the new model have disappeared! Those two, in just a single month, and they should have been entering the dungeon as well..Not to mention they shouldn"t have had that much leeway these past few days. After all Bel is a frightening woman.
The normal type has decreased as well but it seems Basutoral and Angela are within the range of common sense. I switch the payment left in the wood box to my wallet while thinking how it"s a bit unpleasant that I can tell everyone"s circ.u.mstances like this.
.................
Year 7445, Month 8, Day 1
One day later, today, I told all of the members of the reborn {Slaughterers} ahead of time to meet at 8 am in front of Boil Manor. Everyone has already finished breakfast. In front of everyone I announce the members of each group I discussed with Kamu last night and we moved to the vacant lot that {Sun.Ray} used. This one is more s.p.a.cious after all.
"Out of Zenom, Miduchi, Toris, Bel, and myself, one of these five will be the leader of you all. The only one of us who can"t use magic is just Zenom but when Zenom is the leader I"ll have someone who can use magic go with him so there"s no need to worry."
All of the members of the former {Sun.Ray} nodded. Everyone was able to calm down because the details of the teams were easy to predict, since it was something I discussed with Kamu and decided I was saved no one brought up any complaints. Since the quality of the magic stones you earn from in the dungeon are completely different I was worried about complaints but it seems it was needless worries.
In regards to training, Zenom and I were the ones who focused on beating the methods of the {Slaughterers} into them. In regards to magic, we"re having them periodically use attack spells and get them used to using a single attack spell. It"s only obvious but since the use of spells require mana and concentration, so the people who meet a certain level fundamentally only practice using healing spells. When it comes to adventurers they"ll also add one type of attack spell to that, which they only practice it if they feel like it.
Normally even if it"s training you don"t do things like practicing attack spells. Since it"ll expose your skills and above all else it"s mentally exhausting. That"s why, when you practice it"s only obvious to do it in the dungeon when no one else is looking. However, to me their skills with magic don"t matter at all so I chose to have them periodically use up half of their MP in order to increase the proficiency level with their spells instead.
Obviously there were some complaints about that but when I said, "The member of the original {Slaughterers} who"s got the lowest skill with magic excluding Basutoral who just learned it is Gwine. If you can use it to attack faster and in more varied ways than her then I"ll recognize your argument about exposing your skills. Hey, Gwine. Use a moderate level attack spell towards that rock and tree." and ordered her, then she immediately used, {Flame Bolt}, {Air Cutter}, and then finally one shot of {Flame Javelin}, after everyone saw her use all o three of those in at longest 5 seconds of concentration the complaints stopped. Gwine still has 18 MP remaining.
"Hey..She"s 17 years old right?"
"Yeah, that"s right. Three types at that speed even.."
"I"m, 25 years old but..if it"s just {Stone Bolt} then I can use it even faster though. Three types is impossible. It"s been quite a while since I stopped practicing arrows and since Javelin uses a lot of mana I haven"t practiced it very much..It takes 10 seconds."
"I"m 25 years old as well. If it"s just {Stone Arrow} then I can use it even faster but.."
"That"s the member with the lowest skill?"
"It"s certainly true that Greed-kun was amazing as well, but it can"t be.."
"No, I was healed by them on the 7th floor but that time as well.."
"That"s astonishing."
"Then, that Dark Elf, is even above that.."
"This level is the bare minimum line. Also, just as you know the {Slaughterers} don"t run away from monsters in the dungeon. If there"s something unexpected then it"s different but fundamentally we take on every monster we encounter. Including the room bosses all of them. That"s why attack spells are important. Healing spells are important as well but we consider them just as important as those. Those who can use magic should keep that in mind."
While looking at surprised faces of the nearby members, I faced the members of the former {Sun.Ray} and continued my words.
"We even use magic sometimes when doing formation training. Of course those times we do it in the forest on the other side of the outer crater or depending on the case in the dungeon. However, since everyone hasn"t reached that level yet there"s no need to take into consideration cooperation training that uses magic yet. I guess so..when the entire party is able to clear through the 1st floor in 4-5 hours and only need to use healing spells 5-6 times or so, and roughly the same on the 2nd floor as well. Once you"re capable of doing this then you can aim for the 3rd floor I guess."
"{Slaughterers}.."
"It all makes sense.."
"Just as Kamu said, I"m sure things were quite irritating for him in {Sun.Ray}."
"After all they can do it.."
"There might already be people who have hard but the {Slaughterers} enter the dungeon in the morning and by the evening of that day we arrive in the teleport room on the 3rd floor. As expected the 4th and 5th floors take a bit more time but we use about half a day for each of those floors. Also, we fundamentally always get some proper rest every night. From the morning we entered the dungeon until the evening of the next day if we can reach the teleport room of the 5th floor, it"s fine for you to think that"s the minimum line for entering the team at the front line. Of course, we"re defeating all of the monsters and room bosses we encounter along the way and gathering the magic stones."
Well, if they can seriously do this without freezing things in ice then I"ll think about it. If I were to use the current {Slaughterers} members as the standard then Zenom is on the level of 7-8 people and at Toris"s is on the level of 2 people or so level of spell users on the roles of attacking and healing, since Gwine"s map is considerably useful they can probably manage it. Putting aside Zenom cla.s.s, I can"t imagine there"s magicians on the same cla.s.s as Toris rolling around here and there though so it"s unlikely. As far as I know even among the top teams there aren"t any.
Ah, I"m talking about mana amount. Putting it in terms of the level of magic special skills, then putting aside level 5, there"s level 4 inside of all of the top teams. In terms of just level they"re above Toris. Incidentally the most powerful magician in Baldukk among the adventurers other than the {Slaughterers} is old man Rozuwela who has his entire party made of combat slaves. He can use all elemental magics at level 5 and his void magic is even close to level 6, in terms of just level his abilities exceeded Miduchi the first time I met her. He"s already over 40 and still active after all. In terms of MP his aggregate amount is 54. If it"s him then he should have been able to sue {Cure All} since quite a while back.
In any case, just like this we spent the morning confirming our formations and had all of the members of {Slaughterers} learn the abilities of the former {Sun.Ray}.
Before anyone noticed the original {Slaughterers} kept the same name, the second party was named {Butchers}, and the third part was called {Sooner}. {Butchers} is also an unpleasant name but it"s not as if I can"t understand it but what in the world is {Sooner}. In that case wouldn"t it be fine as {Slayers}?
...............
Afternoon, when everyone was eating lunch Zulu, Angela, and Giberuti all lowered their heads to me saying "Please buy us back". Toris said, "They"re too excellent of slaves for me. I"m leaving them to you." as well as they requested of me with plenty of acting power that"s not even worth comparing to Basutoral"s ham acting, so after we finished eating, we went to the temple and I bought back the three.
On our way back from that, I asked what happened with their wages for last month and it seems they already received it from Toris yesterday. The amount was the same as what I paid them. Well, I guess so. Since there was a bit of time until the afternoon training, I thought of going to drink some tea with Miduchi and the slaves when I ran into a fellow I didn"t want to meet.
"Yo~ if it isn"t sub-n.o.ble Greed that appears before my eyes? I"m glad to see you"re as s.h.i.tty cheeky as usual. Show me your face for a bit."
Viruhaima of {Verdure.Brotherhood} and Anderson of {Black.Topaz} were drinking tea at an open terrace cafe. How troublesome~
I told Miduchi, "order some appropriate tea and drink it. I"ll come after." and sat down on an open chair at their table.
"Hey, you really managed to pull that off well, this b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
"Really, I couldn"t even imagine that things would become like this.."
"Ah, one bean tea."
I figured it was something like this. I order some bean tea from the waiter.
"I"ve heard the rumors. It"s already over for Rindobel and the others."
"It seems Haruku and Bin were accomplices as well."
It seems they want to hear the details from me. But, I just remained quiet without talking about anything.
"Well, my expectations completely missed their mark but..it"s quite troubling."
"I think it"s somewhat fine since they took revenge for Geru. But, I"m amazed you did something so roundabout as handing them over to the knight group. Even though if you just kill them inside of the dungeon there would be no future trouble."
Geru is the member of {Black.Topaz} that was lured out using the charms as bait. Even though it"s someone who betrayed(?) them and entered another party she still mentions revenge..She"s as soft as usual.
"That"s the unpleasant thing about this guy. He doesn"t overlook a thing or~ rather~, he"s completely uncute~rather, he doesn"t show any weaknesses. Really, he"s a b.a.s.t.a.r.d you can"t let your guard down with."
"In the end, {Sun.Ray} was absorbed by the {Slaughterers} huh..I"m sure you intend to make them into support for you all but..I can"t believe you were aiming to absorb them."
My bean tea arrived.
"Ah, give me some roasted beans."
Since I only had a light meal eating some beans should be fine. Bean tea and roasted beans go together well after all.
"Listen!"
"Listen to us!"
I stare at their two faces.
"Wha..What is it..staring at me that much."
"What the, Anderson, are you getting embarra.s.sed? Think about your age."
"Ha!? There"s no way that"s the case right!"
I laughed a bit and said "You promised not to say any complaints no matter what things up like right?" and took a sip of bean tea.
"This b.a.s.t.a.r.d, after all you were aiming to absorb them! I could have sworn, you planned to split them up from inside and after collapsing them, you would wipe them out..s.h.i.t."
"I won"t complain over every little thing at this point. If I knew from the start then I would have tried to get a piece of it and pull out Haruku, Bin, Kamu, or Misu but since I promised after all, since I"m indebted to you as well I won"t say anything at this point. Just.."
"Just?"
"I thought we"d say something just in case. We"ve decided to cooperate together. From here on out we"re aiming for the 7th floor."
Ho~ Though after all that"s what I thought. I guess this is a declaration of war then.
"Fu..I see now. I thought that might be the case. Since it seems like the two of you had been acquaintances long before the matter this time..Well, I"m sure it"s something you can tell so I"ll say it but starting tomorrow including my porter we"ll be heading to the 7th floor of the dungeon with seven people. Since we"re already used it to just the 7th floor is quite light for us there"s no problem though."
I munch on my roasted beans after they came out while saying.
"Hmn, so you"re trying to say it would be hard for us? Don"t come crying later."
"So you have confidence. But it would be best if you don"t underestimate us. Since we"re going to find the treasure on the 7th floor before you."
There"s no altars on the 7th floor~ Ah, there might be something like gems or ores but I don"t feel like searching. I see, putting aside the ogres, the other top teams also try digging up ores in the dungeon. {Sun.Ray} was often digging up gold and silver ores as well. Feel free to take all the detours you want around ogres and kill time.
After that we just went over some random stuff and confirmed just the important points. I think it"s probably not the case but whether they would cooperate with {Gehenna.Flare} as well. Just as I predicted they didn"t have a relationship with them so I was a bit relieved. Well it"s pretty much impossible for them to cooperate or get absorbed by another place. Just in case, I was curious about it.
Tomorrow we"re aiming for the 7th floor without Toris, Bel, Zenom, or Ralpha, those four people.
Well, I"m sure we"ll somehow manage.