The Old Man Who Got A Second Round In Another World

August 20, 2018secondtranslation

While carrying the princess of the Laluzulu Kingdom on my back, we managed to arrive at the exit of the labyrinth. As I was carrying the princess on my back, I wasn’t able to defend myself effectively and had to leave the battles to Luna and Til who were already exhausted. However, the two of them were good girls who didn’t mutter a single complaint. I decided that when we escape from this labyrinth, I’ll be sure to reward them plentifully for their hard work. In the direction of the exit, a blue vortex could be seen. Luna and Til jumped in celebration with sparkling eyes and hugged each other. The blue vortex  is a magical vortex that transports anyone who pa.s.ses it to the entrance of the dungeon.

 [Youya, there’s the blue vortex. Now we can go home!] (Luna)

 [It was really exhausting. In the first place, it was too difficult to move around in the maze. My body feels too heavy.] (Til)

 [I’m hungry. My whole body is sticky from sweat.] (Luna)

 [Un un. I can’t wait to return to the inn to wash up, change my clothes and enjoy a nice fruit juice at the bar!] (Til)

 [So long as we get out of here I’m happy. Youya, let’s hurry up and leave!] (Luna)

The two girls’ spirits seem to be lifted after arriving at the exit. They became light on their feet and the smiles return to their faces. It seems that I had more leeway than I thought. If I had known about it, I would had taken a different turn to increase the amount of time spent in the labyrinth intentionally. However ending the adventure like this is fine too, the two of them have already gotten plenty of experience in the labyrinth today.

 [Has the princess woken up yet?]  (Luna)

Understandably, the princess who was sleeping on my back hadn’t woken up yet. Although we had fed her an antidote for the paralysis, she has suffered from starvation as well as the curse of the labyrinth for a long period of time. She also has a horrible smell from being encased in that coc.o.o.n all this time. However that can’t be helped either. We’ll have to return to the inn and clean her up afterwards. More than the smell she had, there was something else I was worry about.

Initially, I considered the possibility that the two adventurers who we found together with the princess were her bodyguards. However, the progression of the curse on their bodies didn’t match. That meant that the timing they had entered the labyrinth were different. Those adventurers were definitely just normal adventurers who got caught in the labyrinth. It is more likely that the bodyguards might have abandoned the princess after the Starfish Larvaeappeared, whether intentional or not. When this possibility came to my mind, the smell of trouble seems to become even thicker.

Luna and Til who were excited to return looked at me and repeatedly asked me to exit the labyrinth. Regrettably for them, we can’t do that yet.

 [Wait a moment. There is still something we have to do. Before we leave the labyrinth there should be a stone monument nearby. On that stone monument there will be a hint about where the magic egg will sp.a.w.n.

 [You mean this? It doesn’t look like there’s anything important on

it.] (Luna)

 [Right? It looks like a normal star chart] (Til)

 [Well, I kind of expected that it looks like that.] (Youya)

I smiled bitterly as I put the princess on the ground, and took out a bunch of writing materials from my magic bag. Near the blue vortex, there is a stone monument about twice my height. On the monument, there are numerous stars drawn but only one star looked like a red jewel and shone brightly.

Even if a person somehow saw something valuable, if that person doesn’t understand the value of the object, then it might as well not be valuable at all. Each of the stars on the monument actually represents a G.o.d Tree within the forest.

This chart displays the arrangement of the hundreds of G.o.d Trees inside the forest and only one star is accompanied by a red jewel. The red jewel represents the magic egg. However, with just this monument alone it is difficult to understand what the chart’s actually displaying. In reality, there aren’t many people who would take a look at the stone monument and immediately understand that the arrangement of the stars were the same as the arrangement of the G.o.d Trees and go “Wow! The egg-shaped red jewel represents the next magic egg where it would sp.a.w.n!”. Not many people would actually notice it.

Although it is currently physically impossible for someone to view the arrangement of the trees from above, it is possible to create an image of their arrangements by walking around and locating every G.o.d tree in the forest. Furthermore, even if an adventurer was capable enough to survive the labyrinth, between the fear of an unknown curse causing your body to become heavier and turning your skin black as time goes on and your spirit being worn out by travelling in darkness encountering monsters and traps, the moment the exit can be seen, it is highly unlikely for that person to consciously delay their departure to a.n.a.lyze a stone monument. That is why it’s even more likely that only someone who noticed that the hint to the magic egg can be found by entering the labyrinth by getting eaten by the Starfish Larvae.

Coincidentally, this hint was discovered by the same person who found the hidden room which

fixes your status rise to three points per level.

Before I let my mind wander off too far, I mustered up the last of my strength and tried my best to copy the star chart onto the notebook.

With this, we have the advantage of knowing where the egg will appear.

Next step is to determine when will the egg actually sp.a.w.n. In the labyrinth, the stone monument isn’t the only hint available. Next to the stone monument, a pendulum clock can be seen. However, it only has an hour hand which has stopped moving. It is also written on the clock, “When a new day comes, a new life will be born”. It is simple enough to understand that the egg will sp.a.w.n when this clock’s hour hand reaches 12. For an oblivious adventurer, there is an obvious hint at the center of the clock where an egg is draw as well as the sentence.

The clock has a secret function where the hour hand only moves once every midnight.

The moment the hour hand reaches 12, the magic egg will appear in the forest.

I took a memo of the hour hand position in order to estimate when the egg sp.a.w.ns by

by comparing the different positions of the hour hand. Together with the stone monument, we will be able to identify where and when the egg will appear.

 [Yosh. Luna, Til. I’m done investigating the hints. With this, we’ve gotten one step closer to obtaining a Magic Pet.] (Youya)
 [Hurray!. Youya, Luna is already at her limit! Let’s hurry up and leave!] (Luna)

 [I also feel my body getting heavier every second! I feel like I’ll die soon~] (Til)

 [What are we going to do about that? We’re coming back here tomorrow.] (Youya)

At that moment, the two of them had a face like it was the end of the world. It’s regretful for them, but this labyrinth is the perfect spot for them to train right now. Plenty of monsters and the chance to learn about traps. If we took a different route from today, there will still be plenty of monsters and treasures for us to obtain.

In the first place, it is important for us to come back here once more in order to estimate when will the egg sp.a.w.n.

 [For now let’s return to the town and rest up for tomorrow by enjoying a feast. Don’t worry too much about returning to the labyrinth. Both of you have gained a lot of experience and it should be much easier for you guys to conquer the labyrinth tomorrow. ] (Youya)

After mentioning the feast we’ll be having tonight, the two of them looked revitalized. Then, the three of us entered the blue vortex, finally exiting the dungeon.

 [The air feels great~ My body feels light again.] (Luna)

 [I never thought I’ll be this happy just walking outside!] (Til)

Luna and Til became energetic again after exiting the labyrinth.

The sun was already setting, apparently we had spent quite a long time inside the labyrinth.

 [Luna, Til. Could you bring the girl back to our room at the inn? I’ll head over to the guild to submit a report. Please help her to wash up and change her clothes since she giving off a bad smell.] (Youya)

 [Leave it to us!] (Luna)

 [Once we’re done we’ll go for a feast! Don’t forget!] (Til)

 [I know. I wouldn’t lie about that.] (Youya)

Now then, let’s quickly return to the guild to report our progression. Today we managed to reap a huge harvest. Thanks to that herd of Horned Boars, we finished the quest in one day although I thought it would had taken three days to complete. In addition, we also have the equipment that we picked up from dead adventurers in the labyrinth. Apparently there were more adventurers being eaten by the Starfish Larvae than I had thought, and most of them lost their lives inside the labyrinth. Adventurers who are unable to bring along a Magic Bag are highly unlikely to take the trouble to bring a light source along to a forest brightly lit like the forest of G.o.d Trees. 
It is impossible to clear the labyrinth where visibility is basically zero with numerous monsters and traps. They would be saved if they had a Return Stone, however using such an expensive and rare item isn’t a luxury that intermediate level adventurers would be able to afford.

I had thought about this back when it was just a game, but this world is incredibly hostile to live in. After confirming that there wasn’t anyone following or eavesdropping on us, I head towards the guild after checking on the princess’s condition and the talk with the

with the girls.

 [You two! It is unacceptable for us to lose the magic egg when we have gotten such an important hint.] (Youya)

 [Roger that!] (Luna)

 [Yes sir! As planned we will obtain the egg!] (Til)

They gave good replies. However, the meaning behind my sentence was slightly different from what they might think. It isn’t that simple for us to just obtain the egg. Magic eggs are usually sold for a ridiculously high price on the market. If someone finds out that we have somehow obtained information about where the egg’s potential location, there might be people who are willing to take hostages and resort to torture to obtain that information. Furthermore it is still tricky to obtain the egg even with the information.  A human driven by greed is even more dangerous than a powerful monster.

I am currently talking to the receptionist at the guild. As usual, I was talking alone with the receptionist in order to keep the secret from getting out. It wasn’t a case of distrusting the girls, but they are careless about what topics are appropriate in the current situation.. The priority with the receptionist is the completion of quests and exchange of materials.

 [Uhm. Isn’t it the period before the weekly resp.a.w.n where there aren’t many monsters right?] (Receptionist)

 [You’re right.] (Youya)

 [You went hunting in the forest of G.o.d Trees where there are many adventurers hunting monsters while searching for any clues about the Magic Egg right?] (Receptionist)

 [You’re right again.] (Youya)

 [So how did you complete the meat collection quest a little under a day!? And also what is with the amount of materials that you are trying to exchange!?] (Receptionist)

 [Everyone in the party tried their best and we got lucky.] (Youya)

The receptionist was so surprised that she forgot to breathe. It isn’t very unreasonable to think that we did our best and got lucky. The resp.a.w.n occurs the day after so it’s currently the worst time for us to go hunting as there aren’t many monsters nor treasure left in the dungeon.

Normally, adventurers wouldn’t be working around this time, however only the forest of G.o.d Trees which has the egg sp.a.w.n is crowded. The limited number of prey had to be divided among the number of adventurers. Moving on to the material exchange, as expected of a professional, she handled the exchange extremely quickly, rewarding us with our cash and guild points. It will become easier for the receptionist to give us better quests if her opinion of us increases. It is actually nice to give her this much of an impact on the first day. Besides, the situation with our wallet recently has been become even more dire. It’ll be nice to promote our party ranking as soon as possible since we are already getting close to a promotion. Once we promote, our exchange rates will increase and the amount of benefits we have will also increase.

 [How is the recruitment notice I requested going?] (Youya)

 [There hasn’t been a single application.. Because monks are popular, there aren’t any that are usually available.] (Receptionist)

Earlier today when we accepted the quest, I had also requested for a party recruitment. When a fee is paid to recruit party members, the notice will be placed on the guild’s quest board. Also whenever a person who fits the criteria appear, the receptionist will also explicitly introduce the party to the person. It is already difficult to find an adventurer without a party, mucha party, much less someone who fit the specific conditions. However, having a healer is a necessity for a party and I already knew it wouldn’t be easy from the start.

 [I know that it’ll be difficult. I’ll be patient until then.] (Youya)

 [That isn’t’ the only reason. There have also been adventurers who are interfering and spreading rumors about you, ruining your reputation.] (Receptionist)

Could it be the two men who tried to forcefully recruit Luna and Til? Is this their way of retaliating against us? Such a troublesome bunch.

 [So it’s like that. I understand the situation now. I’ll wait a little longer on the recruitment. I’ll be coming back tomorrow so I hope you will introduce us a good quest for tomorrow.] (Youya)

 [We will be waiting. The guild welcomes any capable adventurer.] (Receptionist)

Afterwards, I left the guild. Someone spreading rumors about us makes things difficult. It will probably be impossible for us to get a party member in this town now.

On the way back to the inn, I bought several recovery potions while purchasing several light foodstuff for the princess. As her const.i.tution isn’t in the best of states, it would be better for her to eat food that is easy on the digestive system. While I was on the way back ,I purchased food for one person.

 [I wanted to find a fourth member before Phil joins us to strengthen our coordination but what should we do now? Since we’re together should we just recruit that princess to our party?] (Youya)

I smiled bitterly as I thought of something impossible.

 [That is a stupid idea. She’s a princess. She can’t be an adventurer. Although I never did expect to meet her again.] (Youya)

I remembered the promise I made with the princess over ten years ago. During our nominated quest at the Laluzulu Kingdom, the knights had lost their lives one after another to the point that outsiders like us had to be hired to protect the royals. At that time, princess Lutra was only six years old. She was a shy girl, so shy that she was even afraid of us who were hired to be her bodyguards. Because of that, it was difficult for us to accomplish our job, so I made a promise to her.

 [Are you afraid of me? Are you unable to trust me? It isn’t unreasonable for you to do that since we’re just savage adventurers.. However, we are also professionals. I promise you, that if you can’t believe me just by my words, then I will become Princess Lutra’s personal Knight. On my knight’s pride I promise that I will protect you.] (Youya)

That day was the first time that Princess Lutra had opened up to me. Afterwards we mimicked the ceremony of the knight’s oath. The six-year old Princess Lutra must have forgotten about such a promise since it’s been years since that promise was even made. Just because of that promise, I carelessly got involved in whatever situation she was in and brought her back from the labyrinth. I am that girl’s knight and it is natural for me to protect the princess. It was a stroke of luck that she was discovered by us in the labyrinth. Within the hundreds of thousand possibilities that could had occurred, there is none where I would abandon her in the labyrinth.

Now then, I’m looking forward to see how that crybaby princess has grown.