And thus Al was granted his own Kingdom as compensation for condoms. Otoko Aruji - FIN.
Year 7442, Month 10, Day 2
Starting from today until the end of the month we need to earn some experience points in order to level up my subordinates. In order to efficiently earn experience points we should go around as many rooms as possible so we repeatedly entered and left the dungeon. If possible I"d like a place that pa.s.ses by over 10 rooms until the 2nd floor but it can"t be helped taking time here. We just have to endure where appropriate.
Just what has been confirmed there"s over 400 locations you can teleport into on the 1st floor from the entrance of the dungeon. And there"s only one place in the center of the dungeon where a teleport crystal capable of teleporting to the 2nd floor is located. Of the over 400 teleport locations not even half of them make it to the location you can teleport to the 2nd floor from. At the very least if we can"t make it to the 2nd floor then our efficieny rate at earning experience points will drop a bit so as long as it"s connected to teleport point for the 2nd floor it doesn"t matter where we end up.
We luckily (?) were able to teleport to a location which has to pa.s.s 8 rooms before reaching the teleport crystal to the 2nd floor. Other than slimes my subordinates can directly do damage so let"s start from here. The same as usual Zenom is holding the pole and hitting the ground as we start advancing. Along the way we ran into a group of 6 hobgoblins. Since we realized them first, I told everyone sorry for the wait and went ahead. Thinking that I was alone, they let their guards down in thinking they should attack me, I froze the lower bodies of the hobgobs (adding lin is a pain~), and after that I called my subordinates and let them kill one hobgob each as they screamed in fear. I let Ralpha kill the remainder.
Zulu and Angela had a bit of resistance against killing an opponent who can"t move their lower body and can"t counterattack at all so they looked at me with slightly critical expressions but I put power into my eyes and said "kill them", and they honestly obeyed. Zenom, Ralpha, and Bel indifferently killed their targets but I"m sure this is because I explained it ahead of time. Ah, thank goodness the boots and sandals arrived. I"m sure it would have been painful to walk on the ice without shoes after all.
Putting that aside, hobgobs are monsters that are shaped like people and have their own thinking process and will. Just like before if they feel fear then they"ll scream out. I figured Zenom would be different but I thought it would be a bit heavy for the two women. Among the two of them when I tried asking the thick-skinned one about it and "It"s something that"s necessary for us to go on living. We talked about it a lot last night. Bel said that in order to meet up with her boyfriend she needs power as well. We"re alright...It would be a lie to say we"re okay with it but in the past I finished off a lot of goblins after Zenom had knocked them down so it"s not a problem. Just think about following up with Bel." Sorry I referred to you as thick-skinned.
Bel was just like Ralpha said, "It can"t be helped after all. I want to become stronger and while monsters resemble people they"re not people, is what I"ve decided to think. If I were to die before meeting him then my life would be meaningless, so it"s fine." She"s quite firm on it. The two slaves don"t matter at all. It"s fine as long as they move as I tell them. If they hate it then it"s fine if they quickly pay up and buy themselves back again. However, I wonder if they can escape from me?
However, without the Gift of Natural Talent and they aren"t gaining much experience points. Hobgobs are lined up with Orks as some of the most efficient monsters for experience points while exploring the dungeon but even then they"re only getting around 300 for each one they kill. Even when it comes to the room bosses they"re getting an average of around 2,000. While continuing with the combat almost as if it more than half just an operation, while gathering the magic stones we were able to arrive at the teleport crystal to the 2nd floor quite a while past noon.
Usually it"s about the time that we would turn back. However, it seems that we were able to earn quite a bit of experience points for the half-day from morning until past noon. They"ve earned an average of about 4,000 experience points per person. If it"s like this then putting aside Zenom, the other four should level up once between this week and next week I"m sure. I"ve told Ralpha to main strongly focused on the fact that she"s using mana. In any case, the objective is to quickly get Ralpha"s MP higher than 7.
The reason I"m letting Ralpha earn a bit more experience points is because of that. If Ralpha just had 7 MP then she would be able to use a special skill once every five minutes and if it"s the most basic of void magic that only uses 1 MP then she would be able to level it up quicker. In reality it"s to the point I"d like to enter the dungeon with just Ralpha on the days off and have heard earn a large amount of experience points. But, I still don"t feel in that much of a rush to order that far. I"m sure that in order to rest the body and mind the days off are necessary so I"m letting her do as she pleases for now.
I think it would be fine as long she understands a bit at a time. It"s simple to push things on to her aggressively and if you look at the short-term then you can expect some effect to that end but she"s not like slave after all. The best method to earn experience points towards magic is to use magic to damage living creatures but since that involves danger it was too frightening to do. Let alone because when they first start learning magic it takes quite a bit of time of concentrating in order to complete the magic.
Normally you can earn the most with magic when you"re trying to do some kind of operation. Even if you just use attack spells or elemental magic you can earn some experience but that amount is less than decimal point so rather than earning experience it has more meaning in practicing using specific spells. On that end, working with rubber is close to the ideal method of earning experience with magic. Even then it"s a matter of whether or not you"ll earn 1 point though.
It"s almost entirely something like a measurement error but the efficiency is several times higher. Depending on things go it could even change up to 10 times. I think that this difference in the amount of experience points acquired is whether or not you remain conscious of a suitable objective when you use the magic. Normally in the case of the people of Orth, after they turn adults they start training and if they have apt.i.tude with void magic or elemental magic then they"ll be able to learn at least once magic special skill. Furthermore, until they go from a state of having no magic special skill to having it, in other words until it becomes level 0 there"s probably not concept of experience points for it.
The apt.i.tude for whether or not you can use it is probably decided when you"re born. I"ve already guessed that there"s some difference in individual whether or not you can get a handle of the trick on learning it. There"s some like Mary who even if they give it their best training and after three weeks or so they still can"t use it, on the contrary, there"s people like Kuro and us siblings who were able to use it within 1 day or a few days as well. It"s just how I think of it but I feel like doing it while you"re young is better. Also, the more MP you have the easier it is to learn it seems. Ralpha is different but I think that Bel proves that.
After that, they finally enter training of their magic special skill that"s turned level 0 but if they just keep creating a spoonful of water without particularly being conscious of it and the people who are happy with just being able to use a slightly powerful Cantrip will probably take quite a while to reach level 1. If they"re creating water then they should make sure to remain conscious of of carefully giving that to the fields or if it"s the Cantrip then use it to move a flame, it"s necessary for them to remain conscious of their objective while they use the magic to do something. If they do that then magic should level up faster than just using it. And, after the elemental or void magic you"ve started training reaches level 2 you start training with a different elemental magic or void magic for the first time.
It seems that it"s quite a bit easier to learn other magic if you have some kind of magic special skill from the start. I guess it"s because you already understand the feeling of using magic. And then next you give it your best to get it to level 2 the same as the skill you learned first. By this point, your MP has already increased by 4 compared to when you weren"t able to use magic. If they"re already around adulthood then it"s often the case that they"ll have about 3-4 MP so it would mean they have a total of 7 or 8 MP. The training from there should become much easier.
After all as long as MP is over 6 then it recovers at a rate of 1 per 5 minutes. The trick to leveling up from there is to make sure you don"t try to get arrogant use void magic or elemental magics in combination with each other at level 2 or level 0. It"s best to use the same magic at level 0 or 1 where it only consumes 1 MP per usage. From here you can explosively earn experience points. After one of the two magic special skills you learn reaches level 3 you can finally start training with the third special skill.
It"s around here that the individual differences in people who can use magic start to appear. There"s people who can learn their third special skill and people who can"t learn it as well. If they can learn it then they should start aiming for level 2 with that skill as well. If they can"t learn it then it can"t be helped so they have no choice other than to keep trying to level up the skills they already have. The training with combining them is after that.
I noticed this method when I was still in Bakuddo training the younger squires in magic for the sake of producing rubber. It"s probably the most efficient method for a normal person to train with magic. Though in reality it"s best to start training around 5 years old like sister did. Since that can"t be done after I realized this method I use persuasive words to guide them when I was supervising the rubber production. In the first place, I was able to realize that there was a difference in the growth because those were in charge of the rubber had a clear objective in mind when they were using magic compared with the other squires and serfs who were just randomly using magic.
Just as I was thinking that the way to train with magic was to use it up close to the point of running out on a daily basis was normal, I brought this sort of method in as an excuse in to focus on the magic. From a glance it might just seem like a small difference but when it acc.u.mulates it"s huge. I"m sure that people who can"t use Identify wouldn"t notice it. It might be possible for them to notice but I"m sure they wouldn"t be able to prove it and since I"m sure there"s few samples they probably wouldn"t notice it. Even I was only able to confirm it after I pa.s.sed 10 years old. In the first place, as long as you can increase your MP when you"re a child then it"s actually a method which doesn"t have much meaning.
Up until you turn 10 years older rather than something like leveling up your special skill you should just focus on exhausting MP to increase it and after that the efficiency of making use of that excessive amount of MP for training will make it seem idiotic to even compare them. Bel and Ralpha are proof of this.
After that is..I guess so. If you"re consciously tired at night then if possibly it"s best to use up all of your MP before going to sleep. If you"re lucky then your MP might increase after all. This is a method that can"t be made fun of when your MP is still low. Every night, if you continue it when you start to feel tired then it"s possible you could earn about 3 MP per year. An increase of 1 MP is a lot when your total MP isn"t even 10. Although, as expected I wasn"t suggesting this method. About the only weirdo that would do it is older sister.
Well, in the worst case, if they become able to use some kind of attack magic then I think it"s also possible for them to gain experience using it on me. I"m sure it would be painful but damaging a living thing is the most efficient method of earning experience. In any case as long as they don"t hit a vital point I can recover from it right away. Though if it came to that then I wouldn"t let them complain about using up one of their days off.
I haven"t told anyone, even father or mother about this method to efficiently earn experience points towards magic.
............
On this day it was already past noon when we arrived at the entrance of the 2nd floor so after eating lunch we tried going to the 2nd floor. After earning the experience from two rooms on the 2nd floor we decided to withdraw for today. We were able to gain some items and none of the room bosses were opponents we hadn"t seen before so we were able to earn quite a bit of experience after I froze them all in ice. In the case of only slimes I burn them all to death so as a matter of fact I earned quite a bit of experience as well.
After that, we left the dungeon and disposed of the items we found and when we were about to head out for dinner I returned to leave my equipment in the inn and there was message for me. It was from her highness Queen Molail. I thought it would be about time but it came surprisingly fast. But, something like come tomorrow, so they"re completely ignoring my circ.u.mstances. It"s fine though you know. If I remember correctly it"s been about a month since last time. So his majesty the King has kept it up at a pace of almost twice a day?
Since tomorrow is Wednesday and a day off, my magic training will get a bit behind but it"s not too bad to occasionally travel to Rombertia. After running and breaking a sweat, I went to sleep early.
...........
Year 7442, Month 10, Day 3
After eating breakfast, I became a person on a horse, and started heading towards the castle in Rombertia. It"s only a distance of 10 Km or so and the road is well maintained so if you"re alone it doesn"t take much time at all. I guess I"ll let gallop a bit occasionally..it feels good. Since I was in a good mood I bought some sugar at the harness shop and let my war horse lick it while burning time until 10 am.
After that, when I arrived at the castle before 10 and obviously I was stopped by the guards. After showing them the letter from the queen and it seems that they had already heard so they a.s.signed a soldier to be my guide.
Since I was told to wait around the start of the second inner citadel, I just held onto the reins of my horse while restlessly looking around like a tourist. There"s something like takes to tie up your house but I can"t decide if it"s okay to tie it up there all on my own.
"Oh~ Greed. It"s great of you to come. Now then, just tie up your horse to any of the stakes. Come over here."
Molin came out and said that to me.
"If it isn"t your highness Queen Molail. Thank you very much for invit"That"s enough for greetings. Now, come along."
It can"t be helped so I quickly tied my horse up and followed after Molin.
It seems that they wanted to thank me for bringing in the rubber hygiene product and that"s why I was called, or at least using that excuse but their true intentions are obvious. I"m sure they want to say hand over some more.
After being invited into a room in the second inner citadel and it wasn"t just Molin but the other queens as well. I thought they were just going to ask me to sell some more since they ran out but I wonder what in the world this is about, and just as I was thinking that they each started thanking me. It seems that thanks to the condoms the queens were able to be satisfied with their night lifestyle as well. Up until now there were fears that the concubines and legal wives that are the queens would get pregnant so he would embrace other women but as a result of that he ended up giving birth to illegitimate children. Since his majesty the King hated the feeling of using the pig"s bowels he didn"t bother with contraception and kept laying his hands on women but since then it"s calmed down almost as if it was a lie and his wives the queens are satisfied as well.
"In any case, we"re grateful to you. His majesty has stopped laying his hands all over the place and every night he"s become satisfied with having one of the queens as a partner."
Molin said as a representative of everyone.
"I"m grateful to you. His majesty has finally paid attention to me again."
Yulu has her usual drooping eyes but even though she"s in her late 30s her skin still has a gloss to it.
"I was relieved that his majesty has stopped laying his hands on other women."
Becky is in her mid-30s but just as her obedient looks suggest she has a gentle tone of speech. I wonder what was up with that appearance of getting bright red and screaming last time?
"I thought that I would never again be his majesty"s partner..it"s thanks to you."
Marin is a strong-willed person around her 30s but she"s modestly offering me her thanks this time.
Although, I wonder if it"s okay for some women past their 30s to lower their heads to a 14 year old brat in regards to their night life? Well, I"m sure there"s no relation to age and offering your thanks to someone, and while I"m at the bottom I"m still a n.o.ble as well, so it might not be all that strange of a sight, but it makes me feel a bit embarra.s.sed. Hmn, the fact that I"m getting embarra.s.sed over something like this makes me question once again if my mental age is really 59?
Since I have the experience in and knowledge in life in my memories, I was aware I had some amount of preparations ready for it. However, it might best to think that my sensitivity and logical thought process is being pulled back to close to the age of my body. I feel like I"ve heard that the thought processes of people growth the most in their late teens to around 30 years old though it depends on the individual. Of course I"m sure there"s exceptions that exist for everything but I"m sure there"s no point in taking exceptions into consideration.
I ended up thinking about it a bit but I"m sure it wasn"t all that unnatural and just seemed like I was confused suddenly being thanked by the queens. I bow to my knee and take up the pose of a retainer and,
"What are you saying, your highness queens. Remember once again what you said yourselves. Didn"t his majesty seek after your highness-es from the start? It"s true that there"s some fault with his majesty as well. However, the source of that is because his majesty was to your highness-es...it is my humble opinion that it occurred because his majesty was worried about not causing a burden on the bodies of your highness-es. I can feel the deep love and feelings his majesty feels for your highness-es. I wish to follow in the footsteps of his majesty and marry a woman that is beautiful and I can spend my entire life loving like your highness-es as well."
And respectfully stated.
"Oh~ Greed, you don"t have any greed I see. Normally one would boast about their achievements here."
"That"s true, Greed"s younger brother has quite a bit of promise."
"Yeah, and to say something like that..I"ll feel embarra.s.sed."
"Really, saying just the words that we want to hear. You do. If you"re interested in serving us then it"s fine if Marinen becomes your patron."
Hmm, I"m glad they were delighted. That"s the crystallization of older brother"s improvements. It"s true that I made the prototype but the improvement of the materials and the one who took the time to test out the fit and completed it was older brother. Somehow I feel happy that older brother"s troubles were recognized by the royalty. In the first place I didn"t do anything more than remember my knowledge from Earth. Salute to the first person who developed the condom!
"No of course not, I"m just a countryside brat who doesn"t know his manners. Something like serving you is impossible... It"s true that product was developed and produced by my family in Bakuddo village of Marquis Webdos territory but I did nothing more than introduce it through my company. All of the achievements are with the Greed family in Bakuddo, something like me.."
Saying that I lower my head. I guess Molin took notice of those feelings of mine.
"Oh~ I forgot that you were a company. We must pay the compensation. And we would like to continue making orders from here on out as well."
She said that. Jumping at her words here is what I"m all about.
"No, my Greed Company is nothing but a Type-2 Three Variety company that can only sell equipment to the first knight group. Since it"s not a First Variety I can"t accept the payment for the goods just now. I can"t do business.."
I said it with a tragic expression.
"Come to think of it, you came to repair the water bed the other day as well. Did you receive payment for the repairs?"
Yulu said. Certainly she first called me a rubber artisan. It"s not mistaken though.
"No. Your highness, like I just said since I only have the Type-2 Three Variety license, I can"t do business beyond military goods."
More, even more pity!
"Of all things..then isn"t that working for free..I"m very sorry about that. Since I"m sure the material used for the repairs is rubber it should be considerably expensive right?"
Becky said that. It seems that she"s an a.s.sistant of the King helping with office work so, accounting, or rather I"m sure she"s stuck her head in the financial affairs of the country.
"Please don"t mind it, your highness. It"s fine if I make up that portion by putting my life on the line in the dungeon of Baldukk."
One more push!
"Such a thing..I"ve heard that the loss ratio is close to 10% for adventurers who enter the dungeon in Baldukk..Isn"t it dangerous?"
Marin said that. Come to think of it, it seems this person used to be in a knight group. If I remember correctly she was called Fire Ball {Cannon Ball} and originated from Count Farelgaz family...
"I"m the second son with no inheritance so it"s fine if I act as an adventurer..it was even difficult to wear two pairs of sandals*.."
That"s right, pity me even more.
"Your highness Molail, this persons older sister is in the first knight group and has quite a few expectations placed on her. I think with just that he can be trusted.."
After Yulu said that she looked at Molin.
"That"s right. I know his older sister as well but she diligently puts effort into her training and is standing heads above the rest. If it"s her younger brother then wouldn"t it be fine to give him a reward here?"
Marin said that. So this person knew older sister as well? However, for sister to be diligent...
"..I see, then, I"m sure that the license will be necessary from now on so I"ll act as the mediator for it. We"ll properly pay the compensation including last time as well."
Molin said that. Alright. I saved 5,000,000 Z. Honestly speaking the payment doesn"t matter at all. But...
"However, if it"s just that then it only covers the repair costs and the payment for the rubber. Ah, I"m sure there"s the license as well but shouldn"t we offer something like a reward for it be more convenient for us as well from here on out.."
Becky said that. Yo~ As expected of a bureaucrat of the financial affairs! It"s different though. Someone who can properly deal with bills is different! I"m sure that anyone would be able to calculate that much though. But since you can tell she"s calmly doing calculations my a.s.sessment is high! If it comes to the royalty then even on Orth which is behind the Earth in culture they"re still reliable.
"That"s certainly true. How about it Greed. Do you have anything you want?"
Molin said while looking at me. I"ll say it before they change their minds.
"Oh~ how kind of you. I"m very grateful. If I become a Type-2 First Variety then it"s true that I"ll be able to do business with you from here on out. I guess so..then, I"ll say it without reservation. It"s about that product but I would like to use the emblem of the royal family on the wrapping and list it as "product used by the royal family"..Since it will make it look even better when I sell it to other n.o.bles..We boast the fact that this product is a ground-breaking replacement of pig"s bowels. However, if it"s just as it is right now then I"m worried that it would be difficult for people to trust it."
I went all out and said it. Normally someone would probably request for money, a letter commendation, or some new territory (I guess this is unreasonable) but I don"t know what the n.o.bles or rich merchants of the capital do. Then the four of them laughed all at once while saying.
"After all. I thought that would be the case. As a matter of fact the four of us discussed what to do about the reward since the other day. If you were to request money or a reward in goods here then your talent would be just that. Placing importance on it, you wouldn"t be worthy of dealing directly with our royal family. We intended to call off the license as well. However, if it connects to something from now on then..it"s proof of the words that you said last time. I was pleased that you didn"t say a single word about your older sister in the knight group as well. If I"m correct, you"ll obtain even more near the end of the year was it? We shall make orders of Greed Company as the royal family. In regards to using the emblem and being product used directly by the royal family I"ll permit, use it as you please."
Wow, so I was being tested? I guess as expected while it was a useful product, if it comes to dealing directly with the royal family they have to a.s.sess the other party. If I hadn"t caught their interest then it probably would have ended with them indirectly doing business through Webdos Company. Although, I didn"t intend to be greed in regards to this case though I"m saved.
"It seems that Greed"s younger brother is considerably sharp unsuitable for his age. Or do you really think like that and just have no desires..it"s fine either way but if you can read ahead then you"re worthy of directly doing business with."
"That"s right. If it"s someone who gives in to a temporary greed then we can"t do direct business with them."
"Indeed. However, between that older sister, and this younger brother, what is going on with the Greed family.."
Ho~ thank G.o.d. The only thing I can do to show my grat.i.tude is keep my head lowered, but it connected. However, while it was only for a short period that they had me dancing on their palms.
"Ha, I am very grateful for such good fortune. Now then do you still have any "Saya" remaining? Judging off his majesty"s situation then pretty soon.."
I need to show that I"m watching out for them a bit as well. Though even if I say that I"m just lucky that brother sent me some more and my achievement is close to zero. Maybe about bringing them along without forgetting them?
"I thought we wouldn"t be able to acquire them until the end of the year but do you have any!?"
"How many!?"
"Se..sell them all to us!"
"After all it was the correct decision to call him right? I thought he a man who paid attention!"
As expected.
"Until the end of the year roughly 90 days, I have 20 bags, 200 of them. I thought for sure you were bothered about them so I sent a fast horse."
It"s a complete lie though. However, as expected from women past their 30s, they..have considerably strong desires it seems. Whether it be fruit, meat, or women it"s best when it"s matured and just before it goes rotten.
..........
I sold the condoms for 13,000 per bag. I decided on that much taking into consideration the transportation costs and my margin. I haven o particular intention on profiting from this from the start. It"s more expensive than Keel but it"s no good if I don"t make it a price that can be bought with a decent income. After I return I need to write another letter. I need to get them to bring some when they deliver the armor at the end of the year.
Ah, I forgot to say it but the emblem of the royal family is a crow with three legs inside of a circle. It"s a popular design that even high ranking n.o.bles use but the only ones that can use it simply with no decorations is just the Duke Rombert family. It"s almost like a family of mercenaries from somewhere. The Greed family emblem is three horizontal lines like the kana for three inside of a circle. If I were to say it j.a.panese-style then it"s like the Marunouchi Mitsuhikiryō. Eh? That doesn"t matter at all? Don"t say such harsh things.
Just a note on some more j.a.panese. It"s 100% unnecessary to read the below block of eye-bleeding text.
In regards to dungeon, I think when it comes to this series maze or labyrinth would have been a better fit but when I think of a place where monsters sp.a.w.n with teleports I can"t help but imagine dungeon, so I ended up going with that on my personal preference. It"s easier to type as well. The reason is basically the same but in regards to Al"s Identify AKA Kantei, many people are probably familiar with k.u.moko"s Appraisal-sama, they are one and the same!? Since I was a Diablo player when I think of examine based skills, I can"t help but think back to Cain and scrolls of identify so I prefer that. There"s also some others like using teleport over phase shift or other stuff that makes no sense to me. And there"s also tenpin no sai, AKA Gift of Natural Talent, it sounds repet.i.tive like that but it really is, sai AKA the word everyone already knows for gift/talent, and tenpin is basically the same characters with natural/inherent/inborn added into the mix. Anyways, just a pointless note on the wording I use out of my own preference, feel free to convert it in your how however you see fit. Oh, and the normal characters for that dark elves unique ability is written really weird as well, it sounds like Part.i.tion but it"s written more like Party-ization, I ended up just using the translated version for that one Unit Organization instead of the kana/ruby.