Year 7447, Month 5, Day 5After returning to Baldukk I called for Kamu and Kimu.
It"s in order to change their contracts to a new one for the {Saviors}.
The largest modification is to the compensation.
1% of the sale price of anything "other" than magic stones that we obtain while in the dungeon is provided as a bonus. Along with that I need to change the details in Basutoral"s contract as well. The version of the contract doc.u.ment has gone up to 4. Or rather I guess you could say the {Saviors}-use contract? No, I guess it"s just a contract revision with changes to professional duties.
That"s not it.
It"s something important.
"Think about it once more before you sign the contract. Kamu and Kimu, I want you to think that with this you"re completely throwing your lot in with us. The obligation of silence written in the clauses isn"t just for show."
"What are you saying at this point"
Kamu casually signed it with a face as if saying she"s long since known everything.
"Me too. It"s only obvious for there to be secrets. Even {Sun.Ray} had some secrets, did you already forget? In the first place, whether they"re small or big every party has some secrets."
Kimu signed after taking the pen from Kamu and then took a pin to poke her finger before squeezing some blood out.
I guess it means they aren"t just blinded by the high compensation.
The other day I heard from Bel that Kamu and Kimu aren"t just in it for that.
Didn"t I just hear about the actions of all the {Slaughterers}?
..It seems it would be best if I stop using this exhausting viewpoint pretty soon.
...........................
Year 7447, Month 5, Day 6
About this holiday but I don"t I really like I got much rest.
Miduchi and I aren"t allowed the luxury of taking a restful break.
It was the same days as usual of running around to butchers requesting any increase in the amount of pork and to sell us beef as well as teaching Ressg and Mili about the slightly advanced techniques for adjusting the accounts.
The small amount of spare time we had was used for practicing spells, meals and the bathroom, other than taking showers in the inn I feel like I was always doing something.
About the only good time I had was when I happened to see sister walking around all dressed up while walking around Rombertia negotiating with the butchers. Of course, it wasn"t the formal front opening clothes like a kimono but the so-called Western-style clothing on Earth and she was even wearing a skirt.
I guess she"s made some big progress just that she was wearing slightly better clothes than her under armor or the ones she wore when we went drinking at a bar last time.
And while wondering where she"s going or who she"s meeting, thinking it"s in bad taste I tried following after her but there wasn"t anything to it at all. She went inside of one of our rubber work sheds. She had a bag in her hand so she must be repairing sandals or something. It all became idiotic so I stopped following her. Something like that she should just tell a squire to do it. On a holiday you should be trying to catch a good guy and go out on some dates. But, I felt a bit sad for my sister who"s still got no s.e.x appeal as usual.
Just like this the holidays quickly pa.s.sed by.
The Golden Week break ended yesterday.
Today is our group training after the end of the holidays.
I started thinking a bit about the plan for things after tomorrow while watching everyone work hard training in the vacant field outside of the crater.
..First off is the {Exterminators}.
Since Ginger and Hisu switched out there"s some fears about their decrease in combat strength. After all things will be tough if I don"t dispatch two people from the {Saviors}. I wonder who I should pick for the first time? I guess Toris and Bel are fine.
As expected I don"t intend on letting them overdo things right after Ginger and Hisu switched out. If it"s these two then they"ll take things slowly without overdoing it as they search for a method for everyone to fight with the deceased combat strength.
Next up is the {Butchers}.
In exchange for Kamu and Kimu switching out Ginger and Hisu joined so there"s no major decrease in their combat strength. They were originally members who were familiar since their time in {Sun.Ray} so I think they"ll be able to regain their sense of cooperation after just the training today. In that case, I should aim for even more stability here and dispatch Zenom or Miduchi. This time it would probably be best to leave it to Miduchi since she can use magic.
And then the {Saviors}.
It"s only obvious for there to be some members leftover but first off I need to properly discuss things with the new members Kamu and Kimu. I guess we should talk on the 7th or 8th floors where no on else can hear our discussion...However, if I"m talking about us then it might be best to do it when all of us reincarnated people are gathered. They should follow-up in various ways. In that case, I guess it would best to dispatch Zenom and the two slaves..No, it"s not necessary to discuss everything at once, there"s no need to hurry for them to understand. The starting battle formation should be fine this time.
After that, I have Maru and Rinbi just continuing to run. Of course, I didn"t forget to put emphasis on them definitely taking a break after running for 1 hour and getting plenty of hydration and nutrition. Though I"ve more or less left it to Henry and Mekku, since they also enter the dungeon I can"t leave them to look after two brats all year round. If they can"t run all on their own then becoming combat slaves is just a dream within a dream.
By the way, because these two became combat slave candidates there was a bit of trouble at the sausage factory during the holiday. There was an increase in the number of brats who started saying they want to become combat slaves like them. However, I was easily able to deal with it this time. It"s because I set the conditions for becoming a combat slave as being over 14 years old and being able to run the outer crater course around Baldukk within 2 hours.
Though it"s also because Maru and Rinbi were the only ones older than 14 years old but when I explained that 14 years old was when I left my house to become an adventurer everyone accepted it...Hmm. I"m sure that not everyone hoping to will try to become combat slaves but if even a few of them who wish to were to appear wouldn"t it be fine to think of it as profiting based on their initial purchase price...
Also, it"s not unexpected or anything else but neither John nor Terry said they wanted to become combat slaves. It seems that the two of them certainly admire being one but because they"ve spent quite a while in contact with Zulu and Angela, they know the reality of what being a combat slave is like. Also, it seems one of the reasons is that both of them still have parents as well.
Though this is just something I can imagine based on the few conversations I"ve had with them up until now. Both John and Terry are still completely brats but just as expected from working at a food cart popular with adventurers for a reasonable period, they know very well what kind of thing the combat slaves of Baldukk are. Well, even if the two of them wanted to become one at 13 years old they"re still not qualified.
............................
Year 7447, Month 5, Day 8
Yesterday we entered the dungeon and now we"re in the teleport room of the 6th floor. Since we have Kamu and Kimu who are partic.i.p.ating in the {Saviors} for the first time I decided not to overdo things by rushing to the 8th floor within 2 days. But, while the two of them didn"t seem to have any problem from the 1st to the 3rd floors yesterday, they seemed pretty fatigued going from the 4th to the 6th floors today. Even though they have experience accompanying us at this pace and they experienced an even faster pace when we were rescuing {Black.Topaz}, after all they"re still lacking in the total amount of experience. We"ll probably need to continue at this pace for a short while.
"And, what are we going to do? Will we talk about it today?"
Ralpha asked me after I finished taking my shower and was getting comfortable.
"That"s what I plan on. Is there any problem with it?"
"Hnn. I was just asking because everyone seems restless about it."
After glancing around and everyone certainly seems a bit stiff.
They"ve all gathered together near Giberuti while he"s making dinner and are whispering about something.
Kamu and Kimu must have felt this weird atmosphere since we arrived at this room as they"re both looking a bit uncomfortable a bit of distance away.
Hmm, it seems it would be best to discuss it right away.
"Kamu, Kimu. Can we talk for a bit?"
After adding more hot water to the bucket for Zenom who"s going in after me I called out to the two of them. They said "What?" as they approached me.
"There"s just something I want to have a simple discussion about. First off, listen to what I"m about to tell you. Even if you have any questions or doubts partway through, I want you to just listen to it all first."
I sit down on one of the long benches while pointing at the chairs across from me.
"Yeah."
"Got it."
Before I realized it Ralpha was sitting on my right. Everyone other than Giberuti who was preparing the meals started to gather as well. Gwine sat down on the opposite side from Ralpha, to my left.
You all really...What are you planning to do when Zenom gets out of the shower. It seems Zulu, Angela, and Basutoral are standing behind me.
Somehow it feels kind of like I"m interviewing the two of them. It might just be my imagination but it feels like we"re putting pressure on them.
"What"s with you all, don"t stand behind me. I won"t tell you not to come over but even if you stand in a place like that it"s hard to relax so sit down on the side or something."
Look even Kamu and Kimu are making tense expressions.
"Don"t get so nervous. I"ll finish talking about it before dinner is ready. It"s nothing all that important after all."
Even then it seems the two of them were still tense as they sat straight up and gulped.
"..Now then, where to start...I guess so. First off take a look at my status."
I said that before stretching my hand out to the two of them. The two of them checked my status just like I said.
"Yeah. The two of you, what can you tell from my status?"
"Even if you say what? There"s not anything particularly strange. It"s the same things we already knew?"
Kamu said in confusion as the representative for the two of them. That"s true.
"Then, next up look at Ralpha"s status."
The two of them checked Ralpha"s status just the same as mine but there was nothing really different. Hn?
Kimu"s expression changed a bit...
"Next up is Gwine."
As expected if they check three people in succession they"ll start to notice it. They"re making shocked expressions.
"And, Basutoral."
This time they must have already figured it out from the start. They didn"t make surprised expressions.
If I had to explain it they were acting more like they"ve seen something creepy, I guess? Though that"s not unreasonable.
"No way, for all four of you to have the same birthday..."
"Is a coincidence like this really possible..."
Well, unless you were on really good terms with someone you normally wouldn"t be interested in their birthday. Even I don"t have any interest in the birthdays of those other than who I"m really intimate with. This makes me remember back to the "birthday paradox". According to that since there"s close to 30 people in the current {Slaughterers} there"s around a 60% probability that it wouldn"t be strange for at least 2 of those to have the same birthday.
Since there"s a lot of members at the same age it wouldn"t be unnatural for Ralpha and I to have the same birthday.
"There"s no way that"s the case right. It"s not a coincidence. Ah, no, I guess it could be a coincidence? I can"t think of a good way of putting it. Incidentally, Rodrick, Toris, Bel, Miduchi..and also Hi..Fio has the same birthday as well."
As you could expect I"m sure this reply surpa.s.sed their expectations.
They"re dumbfounded.
"Now then, just now was the introduction. The main point starts from here. You must find it strange why we all have the same birthday right? I need to start explaining from there.."
A different world. Accident. Reincarnation. I smoothly continued explaining everything while looking at the two of them speechless.
A portion of it isn"t necessary after all.
"No way..Suddenly something like that.."
"Are you telling us to believe that? But, the birthdays.."
"Yeah. It"s fine whether you believe it or not. I"m not saying it because I want you to believe us. I think it"s fine if you just understand the fact that I, we believe it. Even if you say something like, that"s stupid~ or you"re all mad~, I won"t blame you for it. I don"t think it"s unreasonable. We"ve only let you confirm our birthdays which is just a single basis for believing in it after all. Of course I don"t mind if you check Miduchi and the others status later as well. I don"t think they"ll be against it either."
""...""
"Also, adding one more thing on top of that and everyone whose name I just said have another common point as well. Everyone"s eyes and hair are black. And aren"t our facial features somewhat thin? As a matter of fact the hair color of all of us is black just the same as Rodrick and Fio. Even I"ve dyed my hair. If I remove the color it"s pitch black. It should be easy tell if you look at Ralpha right? The roots of her hair are blackish right? This is a characteristic of the "humans" in our original world. "Humans" are basically the Hyumu race of that world."
It seems they had already realized this point. I guess it"s only obvious.
"Well, for now just think, "Is that so?" and listen. From our point of view we were living reasonably carefree lives until one day we were suddenly in an accident. But, we didn"t die, we were saved, and just as we thought that after all we weren"t saved. We had become babies after all. Obviously all around us were people we don"t know and we have no idea what they"re saying. We didn"t know the Ragudarios {Common.Language} after all.."
We were reborn while maintaining just our consciousness and memories as adults over the age of 15 without barely being able to move. The hopelessness of not being able to understand what"s being said. Attachments to our previous lifestyle, giving up on things afterwards.
I discussed all of it while faltering to mix in some emotions.
And then around the time we had completely blended in with Orth our meeting with the G.o.d who rules over reincarnation. While we had already accepted the reincarnation, the explanation that became the final blow. I guess it"s because there"s the divine punishment of lightning but the parts about G.o.d seemed to be easily accepted.
"Now then, from here on out is an even more important discussion. Prepare yourselves while listening."
I change my mood completely from up until now.
The two of them fix their sitting posture while tensing up a bit.
"Before I say this..there"s one thing I need to talk about. What I"m about to tell you is pretty important. Since I"m about to say it the contract of the slau, the {Saviors} that you signed the other day is absolute. I"ve already had you sign it so from here on out you"re in the same lot as us. However, I don"t intend for things to go badly for you."
When I said it with a pretty serious feel the two of them said, "What are you saying at this point?" at the same time.
Certainly it"s a bit late at this point.
"In order to meet G.o.d the condition was supposedly that something had to level up. Of course, it"s fine even if it was a magic skill. However, the majority of us met G.o.d before we even learned magic. And, I thought about it. If this is the case then levels must exist beyond just magic."
The level of magic special skills can only be seen by yourself. Then in that case it wouldn"t be strange even if there"s something you can"t see yourself, is the reason I gave that"s almost completely sophism. Along with that I also explained body level. The fact that increasing that is most likely one of the methods to increase individual combat strength.
"So that"s why the {Slaughterers} are.."
"Even though everyone"s so young.."
After hearing my explanation(?) the two of them exchanged glances for just a moment before blanking out.
"Well yeah. I think that"s the case."
Just when I replied while shrugging my shoulders the sound of the shower stopped.
Well whatever. Let"s continue.
The fact that killing living creatures is believed to be the fastest method to increase body level.
However, the fact that body level is close to a concept so it"s difficult to place any great faith in it. But, that we still believe it actually exists beyond just a concept.
"I"ll explain things about body level once more after we eat."
Using the spell {Shine.Light.Eyes} takes some time after all.
"So the reason why the {Slaughterers} don"t run from monsters is.."
"In order to..raise our body level.."
The two of them are grumbling about something with their eyes wide open.
"I guess that"s about it?"
I said while looking around at Ralpha and Gwine. If you have anything to add then please do..It seems they don"t. I guess that"s only obvious. Including Unique Abilities it"s not like I told them everything so even if they wanted to add more I"m sure they don"t know if they should bring it up. Particularly the fact that the culture of Earth is about 1,000 years ahead of Orth is something I didn"t touch on at all.
"Fu~ ..I feel refreshed. Al, dry me off."
Zenom came out of the shower in borderline underwear wiping his head as he came towards me.
Something like the half-naked appearance of an old dwarf man, I"ve already gotten used to seeing it.
"Yeah.."
I paused the discussion to dry off Zenom"s head.
And then Zenom started talking as the drying wind was blowing towards his head and he continued drying it off.
"Kamu, and also Kimu. You were surprised right? There"s no way to believe it right? I was surprised when I heard about it from Ralpha in the past as well. However, Ralpha started talking about 1 year after she was born. Normally it"s something that"s hard to imagine. I didn"t have any choice other than to believe it. The fact that I had more or less heard about the details before I met Al and heard his story must have been a big reason it was easier for me to accept it."
"..."
"I don"t know how much Al told you about. However, just remember this. For Al to talk about their secret..though I guess you can"t completely call it that but in any case the meaning of them discussing such an important matter. Tomorrow we"ll be going to the 7th and 8th floors but I think there"s still plenty more for you two to be surprised about. Seeing that, knowing it, I don"t know what you"ll think but if you have any thoughts it"s fine if you just ask without holding back. I"m sure they"ll reply. Nn, thanks, that"s plenty."
I was released by Zenom from being an exclusive dryer so I decided to say one more thing before dinner.
"Just as Zenom said just now we aren"t particularly hiding the fact that we were reincarnated so it"s not a secret. That"s why if you want to tell someone else I don"t particularly mind. But, if you"re going to talk about it then I want you to think about what kind of meaning is behind it. Including what kind of influence the things you say will have on the surrounding people."
Kamu and Kimu both nodded quietly.
"Just, I want you to keep things related to body level and such a secret for the time being. For example even from the {Butchers} and {Exterminators}. We think it"s still too soon to tell them. If you think about it a bit you can understand right? If they were to find out about this then they might get full of themselves or overdo things. It"s fine if they just think they"re killing monsters like crazy because I told them to and it can"t be helped..Still for the time being."
"Certainly..If I had heard about it a while ago and believed it then I too.."
"But, thinking about the strength of the {Saviors} and it makes sense..Even I would have probably pushed myself quite a bit.."
I"m sure.
It"s even possible members of the same party might start fighting over earning experience points from monsters.
No, it wouldn"t be strange for that to happen.
After all when it comes to monsters on the 1st or 2nd floors, particularly if it"s just on the level of goblins or gnolls then while they might be a bit dangerous, if first-rate adventurers properly get into formation there"s almost no danger to their lives.
Though they must suffer some injuries but at most it"s at that level.
"It would be a problem for this discussion to reach outside of the {Slaughterers} as well right.."
"That"s right. Everyone will start killing monsters like crazy in order to get even stronger."
"But, reckless idiots might die all on their own."
"Though I can"t imagine those sorts of idiots would be in the {Verdure.Brotherhood} or {Gehenna.Flare}."
It seems the two of them have regained themselves to the point where they can speak lightly.
"Yeah, I don"t mind if you talk about it with someone else who knows but there"s no guarantee who might be listening in on the surface. Since people pay quite a bit of attention to us after all. Just be careful of that."
It seems that preparations for dinner have just finished.
I guess we can take our time discussing the rest after dinner.