So tired... Next chapter in 8-16 hours when I sleep and wake up again. Still plan to do 3~ more or so after that for this week.
As a side note chapter 499 just came out by the author and there was a surprise note, he said another chapter should come out today, Tue, or Wed, and it"s the first SS in close to 100 chapters(weeks). Things are getting pretty close to the timing of that SS23 continuation so that"s looking suspicious...Really has been quite a while since the last SS, since like 35/39 of the reincarnated people have already been shown, the last few should be interesting if it"s not related to SS23.
Year 7445, Month 3, Day 2
Tomorrow is March 3rd, Doll festival. During these past two days we"ve obtained just around 37 ogres worth of magic stones so when I said it was a joke Ralpha said she wanted to try lining them up, so I used magic to created a tiered platform for dolls with dirt and she lined them up on that. Starting from the tools brought along for the bridal procession on the seventh platform, the sets of furniture and stuff for the bride on the sixth platform, the fifth platform the three protectors of the emperor and empress, the fourth platform has the two ministers(minister of left and right), the third platform has the five court musicians, the second platform has the three court ladies, and the first platform has the dolls representing the emperor and empress as she lined them all up with their tools.
Since it"s all made of stones lined up it"s not very interesting at all.
I thought it might enjoyable for women but no one other Ralpha was showing any interest in it. Just one person, only Ralpha was sitting in the corner of the room with a spellbound expression in front of the tiered doll stand she made just looking at the magic stones.
In the first place, then there"s torii included at the temples of Orth as well so there was a period I thought these sorts of events might exist as well. However, Bel said that fundamentally these sorts of events were based on imperial court events in j.a.pan. Therefore, there should be no relation between the temples on Orth and the events of j.a.pan.
"Hey, Al. What in the world is that? What is Ralpha doing?"
Since he started to get worried Zenom tried asking in a whisper but I couldn"t say anything more than "It"s an event that goes on at the temples in our past life. You pray for the health and growth of young girls. It occurs every year on March 3rd. Though in reality you"re supposed to use dolls carefully modeled after n.o.ble people and other small props instead of magic stones."
When I was looking at Ralpha"s back with her legs crossed in front of the odd doll platform in the corner of the room it somehow looked like she was crying. It seems like she has some sort of feelings on it, so it might just be that she had some sort of special attachment to the doll festival.
I put my hand on Gwine"s shoulder when she was about to go towards Ralpha and just shook my head. Just let her be until she"s satisfied at times like that. It"s fine as long as she"s energetic tomorrow. Even when it comes to long-time friends, I"m sure there"s times you just want to be left alone.
................
Year 7445, Month 3, Day 3
We defeated 20 ogres and after obtaining a total of 57+alpha magic stones we decided to leave the dungeon. Our earnings this time was 47,510,000 Z, that"s 950,000 Z (95 silver coins) in bonuses. Basutoral"s bonus was half that amount 475,000 Z. Excluding the fractions I deducing it from his loan in units of 100,000 Z so Basutoral doesn"t have that much cash on him but the amount he"s returned to me has exceeded 3,100,000 Z after entering the dungeon this time.
When I told him that and obviously he already understood that and was twitching his cat ears unable to hold back his excitement it seems.
"If we keep up like this then shouldn"t the debt be paid off just before Golden Week and you"ll be able to save up a bit?"
When I said that to Basutoral who was clenching his fist basking in the joy and he nodded happily but at the same time made a strange face.
"Does something like Golden Week actually exist?"
"Hn, for the time being we"ve set it up so we have a long holiday during that period. Though it"s just New Year"s holiday and Golden Week. There"s none for O-Bon."
"Our income decreases a bit that month but we can go sightseeing in the capital, eat some delicious things, buy clothes, it"s quite nice for a breather."
Bel said that and smiled.
We left the dungeon and sold the magic stones, then went to eat together with everyone the same as usual.
................
Year 7445, Month 3, Day 4
After finishing my running and having breakfast, I walked to "Slave Store, Ronslail" alone. When the leisured madam that is the s.e.xy elf madam Ronslail saw my face and she made an apologetic expression. It seems they still haven"t gotten their hands on a slave that can skillfully use the shield. However, I didn"t come in regards to that today.
I sat down on the reception set and while sipping some bean tea one of the slaves used by the store prepared I finished up with greetings. Now then, let"s get to the main point.
"Ronslail-san, I have different order from the combat slave. It"s a named order but is it possible to do anything about it?"
"Named? Is it? Well if the other party is a slave then it will come down to negotiating with their owner but it"s not completely impossible at all. And, who is it and where are they from?"
The madam asked in s.e.xy voice as she dropped some of the ashes from her Kiseru in an ash tray on the table.
"They"re in Duke Rombert"s territory, well the King"s direct territory. It"s a serf woman in Rockfall village. Her name is Catherine.Enforu. Her race is a Cat-person. Her age should be either 16 or 17. I"ve obtained the information that at least until the end of December of last year she was definitely in that village."
I put my elbows on my lap and crossed my hands in between my spread out legs while talking.
"..Then, in that case there"s the possibility that she"s not there now as well?"
Madam asked with a slightly discouraged feel. When it comes to the Cat-people who aren"t very durable physically they"re a bit cheap. I"m sure they"re not very profitable. Furthermore, it"s a woman and even a serf.
"No, the possibility of her being sold somewhere is pretty minuscule. Most likely she should still be there."
"A female Cat-people and a serf is it...What is her appearance like?"
Ah, if they"re good looking and a woman then it"s possible the price could go up a bit more as well. I"ve heard that some stores choose the slaves they buy for waiter jobs based on their appearances and yet another portion of certain stores rely heavily on the appearances of their slaves.
"No idea, I don"t know that much.."
When I said that the madam was dumbfounded for a moment but quickly returned to her usual smile.
"You intend to buy her even though you don"t know? If it"s not a hindrance would you please tell me if there"s some sort of reason?"
"No, it"s not any sort of exaggerated reason like that. The newcomer in our party was born in that village. And it seems he promised to marry with that girl. Since he"s about to have finished off the repayments of his loan so I thought to secure her before she gets sold off anywhere.."
Hear that the madam lightly laughed and in addition smiled a bit.
"Greed-sama is..Well it"s fine. We were just planning to go to the slave market in the capital in order to stock up next week. I"ll make preparations for our head clerk to go out there and purchase her."
"Ya~ thank you very much. I"m grateful for that. Unless there"s some sort of extraordinary situation I promise I"ll continue using this shop from here on out."
"Well, that"s quite flattering of you."
"Now then, here"s where I want to discuss things a bit, but that slave, I want you to try and purchase her as cheap as possible. Of course, I won"t say to make take some profit. However, I want you to make it as much of a service as possible. I would like for you to put some power into negotiating her purchase the market price. If the other party is hesitating to sell then please negotiating using the name of the owner. The owner will be Sajesu.Basutoral."
I swallow a mouthful of tea. I was looked at with an amazed expression but that can"t be helped.
"Though it"s weird saying in exchange for that but it"s fine if you make the next combat slave a bit more expensive than usual. Or rather, if it"s a combat slave who is skilled then I intend to pay whatever is necessary. Please find a young and st.u.r.dy one. If you can really find some with a decent level of skill then I won"t say just one person, I might even take into consideration purchasing more than two. If they were a former knight then I"d have nothing more to say."
Hearing that the madam"s appearance collapsed a bit. It"s quite self-interested of her but that"s only obvious. Something like a serf cat-people brat is at best around 2,000,000 Z. It"s a woman after all. If her appearance was considerably outstanding then after training her she could be sold for a higher price as a s.e.x slave but the possibility of that is pretty low I"m sure.
In comparison to that even the cheapest combat slaves are 6,000,000 Z, when it comes to the expensive ones it"s not strange for it to reach 10,000,000 Z. If they were originally a knight then they might even end several tens of millions. If we were to speak of a normal knight, then the only one nearby I know is sister-in-law Shani, but taking into consideration that level of skill with the sword and spear excluding magic, in addition to that if they"ve properly learned combat on horseback then let alone 20,000,000 they might even go for 30,000,000 Z. Madam.Ronslail"s profit margin would be completely different.
If I were to use some extreme logic then that amount of money is something we could earn in just a few days on the 7th floor if I give my best after all.
"Well well, that is quite! You say things that make me quite happy Greed-sama!"
"Yeah, since that"s the case, please do your best to take proper care of this."
After that I just had to make sure she would definitely keep her on stock until Basutoral saves up enough money and we confirmed a rough estimate of the delivery date(I only knew the rough direction of where Rockfall village is located) before I left the store. Since they can only go to purchase her after they stock up at the slave market it seems it will take at least a month and a half. Well even with time to spare it should be before Golden Week.
Around that time should be when he"s finished paying his debt. It depends on the price but if we were to suppose it"s 2,000,000 Z then it would be sometime after the middle of June. I already instructed madam over things like that. In other words, if you want to get her off your hands as soon as possible, make her cheaper.
Ah, even if she arrives I have no intention of telling Basutoral about it. It would be troublesome if he ends up making a mistake trying to earn in a hurry after all. I intend to tell him only after he"s saved up enough money to buy her and afford the wedding ceremony.
Basutoral might end up being the first one to use congratulations and condolences days off.
..............
Year 7445, Month 4, Day 5
"Angela, are you finished?"
In front of an altar on the 5th floor I finished taking the magic stone out from the corpse of a {Frost Lizard} and while I already knew she wasn"t finished I still asked my partner.
"I"m sorry, there"s still two more left."
While replying like that Angela continues to skillfully cut open the chests of the gargoyle corpses. Both of our faces are grinning a bit.
"Hn, then I"ll help out with one."
After saying that I erased the dirt and after approaching the body of one with it"s head cut off I started cutting open the chest the same way as Angela was. Shortly after I managed to find the magic stone close to the organ that appears to be it"s heart. I cut through it including all of the meat surrounding it with my knife and then after washing away the chunks of meat and blood stuck to it I put it in my leather bag. Immediately after that Angela brought over the three magic stones she just collected and I washed those off before putting them inside as well.
I look up at the altar and we exchange glances while smiling. That"s only obvious. The income of me the master is also the income of the slave, my delight is my slaves delight, my sadness is my slaves sadness. Of course, the opposite of that is also true. I trust the reincarnated people in our party excluding Basutoral quite a bit but I also trust my slaves who have sworn their loyalty to me and have been together with us for about the same amount of time in a different way.
It"s a trust that is only possible because anyone can see status. After all they appear as "Greed Family Owned Slave". For starters there"s no need to think about betrayal. It"s fine to consider them a part of myself.
"Hey~ Angela, that, I wonder what it is?"
I just keep grinning without using Identify while continuing to grin as I ask Angela.
"I do not know, what could it be? But that, it appears to be a weapon to me."
Angela responds while grinning herself as well.
"A weapon huh? Yeah, it looks that way to me too. Well then, Angela, go and grab it for me."
I ordered Angela while responding generously.
"I understand."
Angela walks up the altar and stretches her hand out inside of the opened door of the shrine.
It"s fine to use slowly take my time and use Identify after my slave brings the goods in front of me and puts it in my hands.
My slave respectfully offers up the spoils to me.
Packed into a leather-made scabbard adorned with delicate ornaments, I can see a picture that has a strange shape like it"s based in human engineering or something. After I received it I examined it for a bit and then tried using {Status Open} on it.
【Short-Sword.Of.St.u.r.dy】
Following that I use the {Cantrip}, {Magical Detection}.
There"s a reaction.
And then, I slowly tried using 【Identify】 on it.
【Short-Sword.Of.St.u.r.dy】
【Iron】
【State: Good】
【Manufacture Date: 5/4/7445】
【Value: 1】
【Endurance: 28610】
【Ability: 91-125】
【Effect: Bark Skin(However, only up to three times per day).】
Ho~Ho~ when I tried reading the sub-window and it seems that by speaking the incantation {command word} engraved into the surface of the blade while the user is holding the handle it seems they can gain the same effect as using the spell {Bark Skin} three times per day. Furthermore, the effect of the spell is the equivalent to that if the user of the spell were level 100 when using it.
The spell {Bark Skin} is a defensive spell I already knew. However, the duration of the effect is short. It only lasts an amount of seconds equal to your level and even if you pour more mana into it you can"t extend the duration of the effect. And then, the effect ends after activating when you take just one hit during the duration of it. Even in that case you can only slightly reduce the damage I guess? Is it a measurement error? it"s just that level of effect. Putting it frankly it"s only slightly better than being naked, it"s like how it"s better to wear leather armor even if it"s crudely made.
That"s why when I heard about it from mother I just practiced with it for a bit and even when I use it now it takes about 1 minute of concentrating to use. Even though that"s the case it requires earth and water magic at level 2 or above and when it comes to void magic it even takes levels 4 and 5. Even though it consumes a total of 13 points of MP since I thought the effects were weak I"ve had it categorized in my head as a useless spell.
However, if it"s used at the equivalent as if the caster was level 100 then it should last for 100 seconds so if it doesn"t consume any MP then you could say it"s useful. Even if you just take into consideration it"s abilities as a simple infantry-use short sword then it"s superior as well.
"It seems to be a magic weapon.."
"Congratulations, master!"
Angela is expressing her delight for me as if it were her own. Her tail is shaking all over the place.
I pulled the sword out from it"s scabbard in front of her and looked at it.
The blade shines with a dark grey light and lightly engraved into the surface of the blade close to the hilt there"s the incantation {command word} "Gabubado".
"Fumu.."
The grip part of the handle has slightly depressions in the shape of fingers so you can firmly get a grip on it.
"Hn? Master, something seems to be written on it. Since I can only read numbers I don"t know what it means but I wonder if it"s a name?"
Well, I guess it"s fine if I test it out.
"Yeah, this is gabubado uhyo~"
The instant I spoke the command word incantation while holding the handle, my body was surrounded in a light pale blue light from the spell. While I was dumbfounded I tried identifying myself and it showed up as 【Condition: Good(Bark Protection:Item)】.
"Mas..Master!!?"
Angela raised her voice in surprise and started to panic but I stopped her while saying "calm down" and then after saying "it seems to be the spell {Bark Skin}" she regained her composure. If in just a single word, without even taking 1 second it can deploy in an instant and doesn"t consume any mana then that should be plenty.
Since it"s a short sword for infantry, I guess it would be good to let Bel carry it until we sell it.
................
"Is that okay!?"
After being handed the 【Short-Sword.Of.St.u.r.dy】 by me Bel"s eyes were sparkling. Bel immediately checked the status and just as I told her used the spell {Detect.Magic}.
"I trued using it once but the incantation is engraved into the blade. If you speak the incantation while holding the handle then you can use the spell built into the sword. It seems to be a defensive spell. If you have time later then it"s fine if you try out various things with it."
When I was taking a shower in the teleport room on the 5th floor Bel and the others arrived so I immediately handed over the sword to her. When I pulled it out while saying Ta~da~, when everyone saw the unfamiliar sword short in a leather scabbard they quickly noticed it was something I obtained in the dungeon but as expected they didn"t think it was a magic weapon.
Bel pulled out the sword and is looking at the blade. Around her everyone is saying random things like "After all the radiance of the blade is different" or "The cutting edge seems quite good as well."
Just as the name sounds it has a considerably high Endurance level so I think it"s a good sword. Take good care of it.
............
Year 7445, Month 4, Day 11
On a day in the middle of three days off, I spent almost the entire day training spells together with Miduchi and that night, it was when we were all eating dinner together.
"Ah..."
Ralpha who was sitting on my left in between Miduchi and I raised her voice. What is it, did you drop some meat or something? and when I was thinking that Miduchi stood up and invited Ralpha further into the restaurant.
You b.a.s.t.a.r.d~ what are you doing dropping meat on top of me, didn"t you make my clothes dirty. You"re cheeky, let"s take this outside for a bit.
I wonder if it"s that sort of thing? I exchanged glances with Toris who was sitting in front of me and we were both about to stand up. Zenom who was sitting across from Giberuti and Basutoral at the four person table to my right is already completely drunk and didn"t notice at all.
"It"s fine, so stop."
Bel said that while grabbing Toris"s sleeve and pulling him back to his seat.
"But you know.."
There"s a piece of cooked meat fallen near the ground where Miduchi was sitting to my left. The small pouch Miduchi always carries around with her isn"t here either. Are you serious? While thinking Miduchi sure is unpopular~ I stood up from my seat. Bel is still trying to get Toris to sit down.
"It would be best if you don"t go."
In front of where Ralpha was sitting, next to Bel Angela said that while looking at me. Our table fits six people.
"No..I can"t just leave things like this right?"
"It"s not that sort of thing. Please just leave them alone."
On our left, there"s another four person table where Zulu was and Gwine was talking with Zulu"s woman but she cut off her conversation to look up at me while saying. I reluctantly sat back down with a question mark above my head but I can"t help but feel curious about it.
After Bel and Angela whispered about something together, they ate some cooked meat that was sliced thinly.
A, Ah. Did that start...
It seems Toris noticed as well and after exchanging glances with me made a slightly embarra.s.sed face with a troubled smile.
I"m sure my expression isn"t much different.
Since I didn"t know what to say, I just drank some beer and ate some food.
That night, I tried asking Miduchi and it seems that after all her period suddenly started. Since she missed her planned date the one who realized the fastest was Miduchi but it seems that expecting something like this she normally carries around some new underwear for menstruation.
That is well, I"ve heard plenty of stories about mensuration days being off based on condition.
"Nn..It should be fine as long as I"m paying attention in regards to the women right. You don"t need to bother worrying over every thing like that."
That"s a big help. Though I try to prepare ahead for a variety of different situations and a.s.sumptions, I didn"t prepare for that much, and even if I were to have made preparations on that front I"m sure she wouldn"t want to make use of it so I"m saved by just leaving things in that regard to Miduchi.
Author"s note:
"{Bark Skin}" Alteration
(Earth Magic Lv. 2, Water Magic Lv. 2, Void Magic Lv. 5, Consumes 13 MP, combination of Void Magic)
Raises the defensive power of the targets skin like bark. It"s not like it actually becomes bark so it doesn"t obstruct the movements of the target. The effect will continue until either the duration ends or the the target takes an amount of damage to their HP that exceeds the level of the caster. The duration of the effect is the same number of seconds as the level of the caster.