Publishedat 21st of July 2019 06:12:43 PMChapter 50
Chapter 50 – Signs of a Prime Subjugation
It has been tens of days after we went to the Lemuri Mountain Range . It’s back to the good ol’ Northern Cave mostly but we do go to the mountain range occasionally .
The Lizardman are of a higher level so they obviously yield more exp .
The Kepool also come in sets of 8, so getting manastones there isn’t too bad .
I can’t keep relying on Noru and her self-incapacitating Skill, so we’ve been hunting with me tanking the attacks…… though it hurts as their attacks can get through my defense .
The days slowly went by, and today we are visiting the adventurers’ guild .
[Nn? It feels much rowdier than usual today . ]
[Maybe something happened?]
When we entered, I noticed that there was much more noise and people around than usual .
I could see various parties engaged in some sort of discussion .
Looking over at Wizzy-chan’s reception, there was a big guy in armor blocking my view but I could see a few people there having a conversation .
Uーmu, guess I shouldn’t disturb them then . Not that I know what the ruckus going on in the guild is about, maybe I can pa.s.s on the small talk and just go to the hunting ground today .
[Ah! Okursan! Please, don’t leave just yet!]
I inform Noru and the others that we are leaving, and we turned to face the exit of the guild building .
But before we made it out Wizzy-chan noticed us, and shouted out to us .
What’s this? I’m pretty sure I haven’t done anything bad lately .
[Is something the matter?]
[Haa, thank goodness . I was so worried about what I should do if Okursan didn’t show up today . ]
Relieved that she managed to catch us before we left, she let out a sigh while soothing her chest with her hand .
(ED Note: boing!)
She was worried that we wouldn’t come(to the guild) today, is there some really important thing going on here?
[‘Sup, Okura . ]
[So it was you eh Dhius . You know what’s going on?]
When we went over to Wizzy-chan’s reception desk, the party that was already there turned to face us . Turned out it was Dhius’ party .
Miguru-chan, Sumikchan and Gauss-san were also there with him .
[Right, a summons for an Urgent Request have been issued . I have already requested for Dhius-san to take part, but I’d also like for Okursan to partic.i.p.ate in this request . ]
An Urgent Request huh . If I’m also included, it means multiple parties are recommended for the Request .
[You know of the irregularities related to monster sp.a.w.ning that have been happening lately, yes? That’s the main reason why the Guild Master told us to handle this Urgent Request with the utmost care . ]
Sure I remember this ‘cause the guild spoke to me about it back when we reported our first Asterios encounter . I even got 300,000G as an apology at that time .
But for the Guild Master to give instructions of caution for a specific request? That’s awfully telling of the danger to be expected .
[Shouldn’t the guild be requesting the aid of the A rank adventurers instead?]
[The A rank adventurers are being dispatched to other locations . So Dhius-sama’s party and co . are being requested for the locations recommended for B-rankers . ]
If the guild is this worried that something might happen on these requests, then they should just get the A rank adventurers to do them .
At least that’s what I thought and spoke of, but apparently the rankers have already been dispatched to other locations .
Doesn’t that mean there are Urgent Requests also happening in various other places?
[Alright then, I don’t really mind . What are the details of this request?]
[Mm, it is a subjugation request at the Western lands that are inhabited by the High Kobolds . Signs of a Prime Subjugation have begun to surface, the requirement to complete the request is the subjugation of the monster that would become a Core Individual . ]
Nnnn? What do these Prime Subjugation and Core Individual words mean?
She spoke with a tense expression which tells of the impending crisis, but I didn’t really understand much of what she said .
[Urmm…… What is this Prime Subjugation that you just spoke of? And that Core Individual too?]
[What, you’re working as an adventurer and don’t know about those?]
Dhius reacted to my words, his other party members also had very surprised expressions .
Inversely noone in my party knew about this, when I looked at Noru and the others they all tilted their heads as their reply .
Since my party had no knowledge of the terms, we were given a crash course regarding Prime Subjugations and other related information .
There are 2 kinds of Prime Subjugations, the first type is when a monster of unmatched power appears, the second is when a monster horde centred on a Core Individual appears and devastates the surroundings .
Due to there being not many A rank adventurers in the first place, when multiple instances of such events happen at the same time like what’s going on right now, the guild will then dispatch any remaining capable adventurers where available .
[Heeー, so that kinda stuff happens huh . ]
[The monster horde version causes substantial damage when left unchecked even if it’s mainly weak monsters . So us adventurers head out to subjugate them before they do too much damage . ]
[I now understand what Prime Subjugations are . So what about Core Individuals then?]
Next I asked about Core Individuals, they are simply the apex within a monster horde . In other words the monster that was chosen to lead the horde .
When such a monster appears, other monsters that normally roam after they sp.a.w.n will instead converge around this individual and become its underling, the horde slowly forms as this process repeats .
The Signs this time, are that there have been many reports of adventurers encountering and engaging against abnormally large groups of High Kobolds .
After hearing of this the guild investigated the matter in the other regions, confirmation of the reports then became the Urgent Request that is happening currently .
As the horde is currently incomplete, the request is for the subjugation of the Core Individual before the horde fully develops .
[The Core Individual is being viewed as threat this time . 2 kinds of monsters will be encountered at the destination this time, namely High Kobolds and Tyranos Kobolds . And if the recent string of abnormal occurrences align with what is happening, then we are expecting to encounter a Kobold Lord as well . ]
Why are Kobolds getting such dangerous sounding names? Like Tyranos and even Lord… .
[How strong of a monster is that?]
[In the records Kobolds encountered on the 15th floor of the Labyrinth, are known as Kobold Lords . ]
15th floor… . . That is certainly dangerous .
It should easily be at least stronger than B rank in strength, seeing that it’s a monster that appears on the 15th floor .
It’ll be weaker than the Aurum Slime which is a boss, but still at least on par with the Steel Slimes or maybe even stronger than them .
Although I haven’t seen his fully equipped Status, Dhius is pretty strong as he is .
But having to fight at a location where a horde is forming, against a monster from the 15th floor of the Labyrinth, is probably too much even for him .
[You can’t imagine how rea.s.suring it is to do this together with you guys . I’ll be counting on you all this time . ]
[Yeah, same here . ]
With this handshake, we have mutually agreed to cooperation .
This will be my first inter-party co-op since coming to this world . Little would I have thought it’d be with Dhius… . . Much less if I considered how we first met .
Due to the urgency of the request, we left Suting promptly after rushing our preparations .
My party wouldn’t have had problems even without those but… .
[Didn’t really expect walking to be this gruelling . ]
[We have been having it easy, haven’t we… . ]
Travelling together with Dhius’ party . Meant that I can’t use my Magic Carpet or preset Beacons .
I started to feel somewhat distraught, having to travel on foot after not doing so for quite some time . It’s like having to walk after getting used to driving a car to get around .
Even Noru looked like she was walking listlessly .
[I’m sooooo lucky to have Estel-chan and co . take this request together with us!]
[Don’t get too overexcited Miguru… . . ]
[But I can’t help it . Just by having the cute Estel-chan together with us is enough to get me pumped up! I will definitely protect her!]
[Ee, I’m looking forward to your hard work . ]
Me and Noru walked at the back of our group, while Estel was closer to Dhius and Miguru-chan .
Dhius looks slightly ashamed due to how excited Miguru was… . This is an important Dhius embarra.s.sment moment .
To her overenthusiastic approach, Estel eluded her advances with but a smile . As expected .
[Due to me having heard that Gauss-san has experienced a great many things, I’d like to ask something now that we have the chance to converse . What was the most “effective” attack you’ve taken so far?]
[Fumu, right… . . there was that one time… . ]
[… . there they go again . ]
That was Shisuha and Gauss-san, Sumikchan trailed along behind them .
The 2 of them began chatting about dangerous things, while she trembles behind them out of fear of their conversation .
Riiight, I am so not joining that circle . Mayhaps Shisuha and Gauss-san are compatible with each other?
I could see Shisuha nodding fervently as she listened to Gauss-san recounting his past experiences in great detail .
[Ah, it’s monster territory already . Perfect timing, this’ll be great target practice!]
As we continued walking towards our destination, along the way a Kobold was spotted running about in the distance .
It’s still a great distance away from us, but Miguru-chan who discovered it went ahead and launched an arrow enthusiastically .
Her nocked arrow struck the Kobold’s head magnificently, and said head exploded cleanly like a popped apple .
[…Huh?]
[Miguru, did you do something special just now?]
[I only attacked like how I normally do! I’m the one who’s surprised that the Kobold’s head suddenly got blown off…… but why did that happen?]
That’s not something that happens normally, so the result had Dhius’ party confuddled .
…… Ah, maybe it’s because we now recognize that we are all in one big “party”, Dhius and co . are also affected by our party buffs?
Currently me and Noru give a combined 65% boost to attack power .
It’s probably best to not tell them about that… . . Not like they’ll believe it either way .
We have been walking for quite a while already but we have yet to reach our destination .
We would have arrived in a few hours by Magic Carpet, but it takes more than half a day on foot .
[Estel, are you okay?]
[Ee……I’m fine . Don’t worry about me Onii-san . ]
Gradually, Estel’s walking speed has been decreasing .
She’s still managing to keep up, but judging from her stiff expression she seems to be pushing herself .
When I think back about it, she has never had to walk such long distances since her summoning .
It might also be because of the fast pacing due to the urgency of the situation this time .
[It’s not advisable to push yourself too hard . ]
[Want me to carry you? I’m(supposedly) reputed to have lots of stamina . ]
Noru and Shisuha noticed as well and reached out to her, but she tells them she’s fine and continues the trek .
[There’s no helping our princess… . . here, get on my back . ]
[Eh, but… . ]
She’s going to end up using strengthening magic on herself just to keep pace if this continues, so I decided to give her a piggyback .
It’ll be a problem if she’s mentally exhausted before we even arrive at our destination .
That’s reason enough for me to do this . Estel is a featherweight, carrying her until we break to camp shouldn’t be too much work for me .
I squatted down in front of her and urged her to get on my back .
Dhius and co . were slightly surprised by the scene as they watched us . It’s become somewhat embarra.s.sing… . .
[…I’m sorry]
[This is where you thank me instead . ]
While perplexed, she apologetically got on my back .
She circled her arms around my neck, while I supported her thighs with my hands .
It’s not good for her to think of this as a negative event, so I told her to thank me instead as I faced her on my back .
After Estel heard me say that, her mildly surprised face turned into a smile .
[Thank you, Onii-san . ]