He greeted the three. But,
They began to speak vigorously. Maybe it was because they were excited, they didn’t mind how theylooked anymore. If you saw the three’s clothes, the ripped chain mail was broken in some parts. Just by looking at it there was no doubt that it was due to a fierce battle. The story of the three continued.
Moreover, they were accompanied by 5 Death Knights each, you see?」 「That was horrible...maybe, we were relaxed until the 50th floor」 「The boss monster with a cow-like face had a strength comparable to an A rank. Anyway, to have such monsters guarding it, there seems to be something in that labyrinth」 「Hee...then, did you guys give up at the 59th floor?」 「No, we somehow managed to defeated the three sets of Death Knights and their commanders. But well......」 「The guardian of the 60th floor seems to be a named boss, it was absurdly strong, you know」 「Because we were almost defeated by the numbers on the 59th floor, we were already prepared for a battle of attrition on the 60th floor though...」 「The result was our defeat by a single humanoid type monster」 「It clearly had abnormal strength, to the point of being the superior version of a Death Knight」 「――That was, impossible. Even if we try it many times, we will lose」 When the three talked to such an extent, Yuuki sat on a chair, and settled down a bit. He drunk the served tea, and took a breath. Yuuki, thought that,to some degree,his expectation was correct,
He questioned the exhausted trio. Apparently, the three seemed to have just left the town by foot after being defeated at the 60th floor. They regrouped with Damrada, who waited at the outskirts of the town, and immediately returned with Transfer Magic. This was because they feared a pursuit. They heard that the highest record for the labyrinth was the 39th floor and there seemed to be a stalemate against the waiting boss of the 40th floor before they had challenged it. Meanwhile, they thought that they certainly stood out by advancing and establishing new recordsright off the bat. They said that they realized their mission had failed, and they withdrew when they confirmed existence of strong individual guarding the place without re-challenging the labyrinth. After some considering they,
Shinji and Zhen nodded in agreement with Mark’s thought. They say that it had such an overwhelming presence. Yuuki had no doubt that the floors until the 50th floor were originally the labyrinth sections for tourist attraction purposes, while the 51st to the 60th floors and further, were a restricted secure area. After that, they ate a light meal, and he received the report in calm, eased state. It didn’t seem that they were able to enter Tempest, but they seemed to have been able to gather information from the openhearted adventurers in the labyrinth town. They summarized such information, and reported it. As well as all sorts of thing they had obtained,their spoils of war. They got a high quality “Magic Crystal” from a monster. They were able to get some quality equipment from the treasure chest, which could be located in a room inside the labyrinth, or from the floor boss, and so on. Each one of them were rare class, while the bardiche that Mark had was unique class. They could sense,that to gather so many people, they needed to set up an unthinkable amount of money and labor. Meanwhile, there was some worrying information. That is,
Or so they say. 「As expected, it doesn’t seem to be a mistake.」 「Yeah. I think it must be.」 「――It is.」
「Well by the way, to what extent did you feel that boss’s strength? Can you compare it with people that belong to the Imperial Guard Army to be specific?」
「Well…At least, around the top 50th rank...? I think those guys’ subordinate aren’t worth considering」
The Armored Corps, which had branches throughout the entirety of the Empire’s territory, solved the “Lake Shore Dyed in Scarlet” incident. Or so it was the official story. However, Shinji who was there, saw that a few knights defeated the Arc Demon, which the troops couldn’t fight, from afar. He didn’t intend to mention it, but he thought that they were probably people who belonged to the Imperial Guard Army now. Therefore, because of it,he had lost his interest in the Rank Deciding Battle. He really felt that they lived in a different world.
Shinji’s words didn’t contain doubt, and were full of his true feelings.
Receiving the three’s report, Yuuki pondered. It wasn’t an accurate conclusion,since he didn’t see it with his own eyes, but as there seemed to be a floor that was guarded by an undead transformed dragon, and two beings with an Arc Demon class. It seemed they couldn’t reach the targeted research facilities if they didn’tpass that place. (Oh well, it can’t be dealt with with ordinary means, as expected) Yuuki could go and breakthrough the labyrinth himself, but he would be noticed immediately by Rimuru and his group. He didn’t participate in the labyrinth simply because they were cautious about his movements. However, Yuuki wanted to achieve the goal of the labyrinth’s capture somehow. He may ignore it, but Yuuki had a hunch that some problemsweregoing to occur later. Yuuki pondered for a while,
He thanked the three people, and called out to them. The three, who remembered that they were tired withhis words, showed delighted expressions, thanked Yuuki, and left the room.
The seeds were scattered. It might have been too early to spread this matter to the other sections. Probably, the Empire would move. Yuuki thought as much, and quietly sprouted a smile.
After the three left Yuuki’s room, they went to the Supplies Section to sell “Magic Crystals” and unused equipment. Their reconnaissance ended in failure, but they were able to get a considerable income in a short amount of time. Their salaries, provided by the army,were more than the average income of a commoner, but not to the extent where they could live luxuriously. On the other hand, to leave the army and become independent, the conditions in this world were very severe. Being able to live a steady life, was already attractive. 「Hey, hey, where did you guys obtain this “Magic Crystal”? This is something hardly seen recently, isn’t this a high quality one!」 「The equipment here is great too. It’s a weapon made with pure Demon Steel. Though I’m bothered by this hole thing.」 「Hahaha, where it was obtained is a secret. Please don’t ask again.」
After having such an exchange, they had a good rest in their respective rooms that day. The forced march had ended, their bodies, and minds might have been dead tired. When Shinji woke up, it was the evening of the next day. Shinji who woke up, contacted the other two. Zhen was up, but it seemed like Mark was still sleeping. Actually, his fatigue would be great for sure, since Mark mostly played an active role. The three met, and decided to have dinner.
「However, if all things and money obtained were taken away, we might seriously think about migrating away right?」
It could be used inside the Empire without any problems. The army had an annual salary system. The promotion was also included, calculated and collected the next year. However, taking in consideration the people who didn’t have the money on hand,they had devised a system where they gave out daily allowances from the reserve funds. For an ordinary soldier, it was ten gold coins――their annual salary was equivalent to 1 million yen. Because the army took care of the life necessities (food, clothing & shelter), it was a large sum of money for poor people. The gold coins that they obtained were altogether more than 100 pieces. Mark and Zhen’s rank were First Lieutenant. Because Shinji had the qualification as an army doctor, his command right was two ranks higher, he was a Major. Because Otherworlders are given preferential treatment, even at the lowest they will receive treatment as Second Lieutenants. Of course, the salary provided by the Empire in a year was more than for an ordinary soldier. But, even so it was around 50~100 pieces of gold coins. The amount of money they had earned during this short-term mission was greater than their annual salaries. Not to mention that the unique class equipment and so such, were things that they couldn’t get throughout their lifetimes unless they paid hefty sums for it. Being unable to stomach Damrada’s lavish lifestyle was the biggest reason Mark hated him. In short it was jealousy, there was no other meaning. Mark didn’t like Damrada, whom he didn’t know, who was just living a good life, while he, himself, was personally just a dog of the army. In addition, he was disgusted with himself, who thought about such things, and took out his anger more strongly on Damrada. Shinji could understand Mark’s feelings, but he could satisfy himself with only the salary he received as an army doctor. If he said something careless word, it would disturb Mark’s mood. They were thinking about something based off the information that they were able to get in this mission. That, ‘Even if they didn’t particularly cling to the military, the three of them could live together in the labyrinth city, couldn’t they?’
They might be given a dangerous mission, and so they couldn’t be careless. In that regard, that dungeon was very satisfying. After all, they didn’t have to worry about dying. They were half in doubt, but because they had experienced it themselves, they had no choice but to believe it. If they didn’t have to worry about dying, wasn’t it better for them to live interestingly over there? It was normal to think so. Even if there was money, there was no meaning in it if there was no entertainment… Over there, there was a place called the Colosseum, and it seemed it could be used freely on its day off. Various sports games, like soccer and baseball, were played over there, and they had already investigated that the adventurer citizens enjoyed it. About the taste of the food, it was equal to empire. Though it was equal, it hada nostalgic taste that couldn’t be reproduced by the people of this world, and it attracted their hearts as people from Earth. To be frank, it was because theywereindebted to Yuuki that they didn’t have feel like to changing sides. When the war begun, they would be considered deserters, but fortunately right now was a peaceful time. If it was now, it would be easy to retire from duty, and leave the army. 「The problem is the war…right」
「Which side do you think will win?」 「Just saying, what will we do if we receive an order to attack that city?」
「If you think about it, normally you would think that the guardians that protected the research facilities were strong, right? But, the people that belong to that country’s army are monsters, right? If so, the guardians in the labyrinth aren’t the strongest, right?」 「I think the same. At least, the Demon Lord Rimuru might be an exception. In the past, a city seemed to have been annihilated by a wicked dragon named Veldora… Actually, a similar thing seemed to have happened. I think that an Arc Demon is equal to a tactical nuclear weapon in Earth.」
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Theywere high quality “Magic Crystals,” which had high purity,and would become sources of magic energy. In his hand was a sword. It was made with high quality Demon Steel, and the skill with which is was madecould be grasp as a high level. It was a splendid sword, equal to the ones which the best craftsman of the Dwarf Kingdom forged. It was said that the Supplies Department purchased it, but it had a clear distinction from the items sold within the Empire. A subordinate of a high rank noble who was on familiar terms with Calgurio got his hands on Supplies Department, and reported if there was an outstanding item. That was the case this time. Many nobles came over with indecent smiles, and reported it to Calgurio. Calgurio’s origin was as a low rank noble, the high rank nobles would not bore themselves to talk to him if he was a civilian employee. Those nobles were looking down on Calgurio, but they knew how to be courteous towards the head of a corps of the greatest faction. Thus, their relations were equal. “It seems to be impossible to harvest “Magic Crystals” of this purity from monsters that generated naturally”, so they say. ‘If we want to aim for a stable supply, we should secure the place that produced this “Magic Crystal”!’ like that. They demanded of Calgurio in the report. There was no thing as a high rank noble that moved while disregarding their own profit. There was no such thing as ‘They reported it with good intent,’ or something like that. There was another story that he worried about. It was about the sword that Calgurio held in his hand. Many times,『This unusual item seems to have a mysterious effect』such an exaggerated thing was said when he came to buy it. If it was examined, it would likely strengthen the Empire’s army. In the end, it was sold at 100 gold coins due to such a reason, but surely there was something that Calgurio was worried about.
Author’s note:
By Calgurio’s action, the Empire begin to move.
It wasn’t necessary to write it, but it was for the time being.
In case Clayman goes for the labyrinth capture, can he capture the former 60th floor? The probability is low.
He would surely lose if he took on those three (Guro: Magician, Knight & Dragon) at the same time.
[1] "紅に染まる湖畔"事件 “Aka ni Somaru Kohan” Jiken.
[2] Btw Embodiment’s kanji is 受肉 Juniku, which mean getting a body/physical form, Incarnation.
[3] 老師 Roushi – old master/ old teacher/ sage.