Lodge.
“Now for the boss, but fight any demons on the way to the boss room as well.”
Baron Ester gives us a message, and then returns to the back.
“There doesn’t seem to be any demons before the boss room.”
Roxanne lets me know with a whisper after the Baron was gone.
She’s showing off their difference.
Well, maybe the Baron actually knows that there are no demons ahead as well.
Roxanne guides us towards the boss room.
We enter the waiting room without encountering any demons.
Just as Roxanne said.
There was n.o.body waiting in the waiting room.
“Only one party pa.s.sed earlier, so the door should open straight away. We’ll wait here until you go in, Michio.”
Baron Ester speaks to us as he enters the standby room.
Only one party can enter the boss room.
I can use magic without worrying.
The door to the boss room opens straight away.
“Well then.”
I nod to the Baron, and then head into the boss room.
Since I’m wearing Adventurer-use equipment, I don’t have neither Alba nor Earring of Offerings on, and there’s no time to equip them now.
It should be safe even without them.
Vesta has Durandal, and I have the Sacred Spear.
Should I prepare a different accessory with the [2x Intellect] skill for this kind of occasions?
It will be rare for me to be in a similar situation, so there is no helping it, is there?
Smoke gathers, and the demons appear.
With [Incantation Omission], I use magic without holding back, and the demons are defeated.
Even without the Earring of Offerings, the boss fight ends safely.
Miria’s petrifaction helped.
Miria petrified a Gumi Slime, and the boss.
Vesta defeated a Clamsh.e.l.l.
My equipment didn’t make much difference.
Vesta cleans up the two petrified monsters with Durandal.
The combat time against the boss might be a part of the examination.
I feel like I should waste a bit more time, but I don’t want that to fail us.
The demons are defeated, and we go to the 24th floor.
“That was quick.”
It seems we are early.
“Really?”
“When you leave here, the Adventurer from my party will be waiting there for you. He’ll take you to a lodge in the Imperial Capital. ”
“Okay.”
Baron Ester gives me instructions.
This isn’t something we should discuss in the small entrance room.
It would be bad if someone heard about admission.
Will we go to a mountain cottage that the Baron has?
The Baron left through the black wall.
After receiving Durandal from Vesta and cancelling it, we followed as well.
Outside the Labyrinth, the Explorer recites the incantation for Party Formation.
He removes the Adventurer.
There are both an Adventurer and an Explorer in the Baron’s party.
I also recite the incantation for Party Formation, and invite the Adventurer to my party.
The Baron hurries off to the office of the order of knights.
We hurry after him, and it looks like he showed an emblem or something to the knights.
Is it similar to the emblem of the Duke of Harz which I have borrowed?
“I’ll be using your wall for travel.”
“Of course, Your Excellency.”
The knights in the office who saw the emblem respond with respect.
Is this the power that the emblem from the Duke has?
It might be more so the Baron himself.
It was the right choice for me to pay entry fee today.
“My group would like to go through as well.”
When the knight guides us to the back room, Baron Ester was waiting for us.
Was he waiting here to check how we entered the labyrinth?
Would he be here if he didn’t have doubts?
Well, we have the Adventurer from his party now, so he can’t go anywhere.
The Adventurer recites the incantation for [Field Walk], and a black wall appears.
We follow the Adventurer and enter the black wall.
“Welcome back Ralph-sama.”
We appear in a large building’s lobby.
An old gentleman receives us straight away.
It’s a grey-haired man with black trousers and black jacket.
His name is Sebastian.
He’s an Adventurer in his fifties.
Also, Ralph is the name of the Adventurer from the Baron’s party.
“I’ll be in your care.”
“It’s my duty.”
“I’ll return to meet the other members. Please take care of this group.”
“I understand.”
“Okay then.”
The Adventurer from the Baron nods to the old man, and then looks at me.
Oh, do I have to remove you from the party?
The conversation between the old man and the Adventurer has ended.
I quickly remove the Adventurer from the party.
When I removed the Adventurer from the party, he made a wall and left.
Only the old man and us are left.
I say old man, but gives off the feeling of a butler.
Moreover, his name is Sebastian. (TN: Yes, the same Sebastian you’re thinking of)
He has a soft, polite demeanor.
The atmosphere about his whole body seems to be courteous.
Is he the butler of Baron Ester?
He used honorific for the Adventurer from the Baron’s party as well.
“Welcome. First, would you tell me your name? Your family name and t.i.tles if you have them would be fine.”
The old gentleman gives me a bow.
Kaga is my last name.
Is that different to what he’s asking?
I’m not sure.
“Ah, my name is Michio Kaga.” (TN: Said in first-last order)
“Michio-sama.”
Is it fine to say Michio Kaga?
Does it change anything?
“And the young ladies as well.”
“I’m Roxanne.”
“Roxanne-sama.”
“Ah…well, that…”
Roxanne is puzzled after he says her name.
He’s very polite.
It’s the feeling of a butler.
“Official position and the position you have in the world do not have any influence on this meeting. Please allow me this.”
“Ah, yes.”
Sebastian persuades Roxanne.
Our meeting will be about the Empire Liberation Society.
So this isn’t the Baron’s villa, but instead a building of the Empire Liberation Society?
“And you?”
“It’s She-Sherry.”
“Sherry-sama.”
The old man’s gaze falls on Sherry, and she introduces herself.
Maybe he’s not just polite, but someone of influence?
“Miria-desu.”
“Miria-sama.”
“I’m Vesta.”
“Vesta-sama.”
Miria and Vesta had to introduce themselves as well.
From me through to Vesta, we introduce ourselves in the order of the party that Roxanne knows.
n.o.body goes out of turn.
I’m in the centre. Next to me is Roxanne whom I can see. Then further apart are Sherry and the others whom I can’t see.
This.
Can you remember it all?
It’s strange.
Maybe I should say, as expected of Sebastian?
The Baron’s party shows up while I was wondering.
“Ester-sama, I’ve been waiting.”
The old man bows.
His bowing angle is amazing.
It’s almost 90 degrees.
Polite.
“Were you introduced to Michio?”
“Yes.”
“Michio is now a member of the first rank.”
“Certainly.”
Ester and Sebastian spoke.
I seem to have become a member of the first rank.
They’ve led me to a building of the Empire Liberation Society, so I must have pa.s.sed the examination.
Since first rank is given to new people, is it like an underling?
If I don’t pa.s.s the 45th floor, then I’ll never become a regular member.
The first rank is private.
It would be soldier, but it becomes private if I think of the painter Yamas.h.i.+ta.
“Please prepare a room, and some herbal tea.”
“Certainly. This way please.”
Sebastian politely gestures, and leads us.
Baron Ester enters the room we are guided to.
It’s a wide luxurious conference room.
The Baron takes a position in the center of the long table.
“Michio and his group, please sit down.”
“Yes.”
I also enter the room, and sit facing the Baron.
The chair is soft.
It’s a high quality one.
There are six chairs on either side, so Roxanne and everyone can sit to either side of me.
The other side is just Baron Ester.
The Adventurer and the Beast King also entered the room, but both stood behind Baron Ester.
His private guard.
“I think you’ve probably already guessed the results, you’ve pa.s.sed the examination. Brocken recommended you, and I agree you have satisfactory ability. There is the aspect that you rely on weapons, but in you’re case Michio I can see you defeating a labyrinth in the near future. There shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Okay.”
“You don’t have to answer, but is the woman who stopped the demons movements an a.s.sa.s.sin?”
Miria’s job seems to have been noticed.
The petrifaction probably happened too quickly.
Is it no use trying to hide it?
“That’s right.”
“I had heard that a.s.sa.s.sins could put an enemy into an abnormal status quite quickly, but it was most splendid. To have it happen that quickly you must have acquired a lot of experience and training aside from just becoming an a.s.sa.s.sin.”
“Yes.”
The a.s.sa.s.sins improved chance of abnormal status might still increase if it’s level dependent.
It should still become a little easier as things progress.
But, the Baron only saw Miria’s petrifaction once.
He might still consider it luck.
He might have considered the combat time in the boss room as well and thought we have the ability to fight higher than the 23rd floor.
If he considers our combat like that, he can probably guess that Miria’s petrifaction plays a large role.
“Also, that woman’s movements who did not allow a demons attacks to come near her were also quite good.”
The Baron glanced at Roxanne.
The Duke praised Roxanne’s movements as well.
It’s natural to think that.
“It’s hard to get party members like her.”
“It might still be a ways off, but the last boss in a labyrinth has the ability to destroy equipment. If you receive an attack with a s.h.i.+eld or parry it with a sword, the s.h.i.+eld and sword might break. The benefits in evading a demons attacks are quite large.”
“Equipment can get destroyed?”
For the final boss to have such a power…
It might be quite difficult.
“That’s one of the reasons Brocken recommended you, Michio.”
The Baron nods to himself.
To defeat a labyrinth you must be able to avoid everything.
If it’s Roxanne, it’s possible.
The Duke recommended me, but he probably did that after seeing Roxanne’s movements.
“So if you parry with the sword, it can break it? Is it safe to attack it with a sword?”
Sherry asked.
It seems natural.
There shouldn’t be much difference between blocking an attack, and attacking.
“There’s no problem if you attack it’s body, so you need to aim carefully, or attack with magic. There are a lot of parties that bring a large amount of cheap swords and s.h.i.+eld in and consider them disposable.”
A strategy where they a.s.sume things will be destroyed?
The last boss seems quite troublesome.
“Sorry to have kept you waiting, here’s the herbal tea.”
As the first part of the talks finishes, Sebastian comes with tea.
The Baron doesn’t seem to have made any particular evaluation of me.
Well, I just used a spear and attacked from the back.
Another person comes along behind Sebastian pus.h.i.+ng a cart.
Sebastian lifts a tea pot and pours it into cups on the cart, then places them in front of us.
He holds the tea pot quite high.
He pours the tea from such a height without spilling a drop.
He has a refined, flowing movement.
Six cups in total, including the Baron’s.
The people guarding don’t seem to get any.
“Well then.”
Baron Ester indicates that we should drink, and he tastes the herbal tea.
I also drink some.
It’s a refres.h.i.+ng herbal tea with a slightly bitter feeling.
“This is delicious.”
“Thank you.”
Sherry gave her impression, and Sebastian bowed.
“This lodge can be used by anyone that is a member. You’ll get a full explanation later. You will require money for eating and drinking, it might be a bit expensive for a common Adventurer, so don’t spend too much here.”
It seems to be quite an upper cla.s.s herbal tea.
Who will pay for this?
Since I’ve joined, is the first drink free?
That’s what the regular citizens might think.
“I’ll be careful.”
“The enrollment ritual will be done in five days. Come back here around noon on that day. For the admission of first rank you just have to come on your own. Your party members are included in enrollment, but they cannot attend the ceremony.”
“I understand.”
It doesn’t seem to have been a bad thing to have enrolled, but there is an initiation ceremony.