Mob
Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #69
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 69: Do You Dislike Beautiful Maids? (2)
As the temporary
excitement subsided, I began to notice certain detail that I had not noticed at
first.
In other words, "Why is the highest rated B-rank card
in the Guild's card pack?"
The general market
price for a flawless Athena was about 9 to 9.5 billion yen.
This implied that
Athena was rated as the highest by adventurers around the world, although there
were plenty of cards that were stronger than Athena in terms of simple combat
power alone.
Still, most of those
cards fetch much lower prices than Athena.
So why does Athena
have such a high valuation?
The reason for that
stemmed from her inborn skill, [Aegis1 Protection].
The currently known
capabilities of [Aegis Protection] would be as follows.
Aegis Protection:
Enables the use of Aegis, a shield to ward off all manner of evil and
misfortune. For a limited time, it grants absolute protection to the user and
their companions, as well as countering the curse of petrification against the
enemy. It requires a cooldown time, but there is no limit to the number of
times it can be used. Unlike Zeus' Aegis, it does not have the power to
manipulate thunderclouds, but can create a pseudo-safe zone, perhaps due to
Athena's ability as the guardian goddess of the city. It lasts for 12 hours,
once a day.
The former ability
was awesome, but what was more important was the latter.
Yes, this skill to
'create a safe zone' was one of the best in the world.
Currently, most of
the A-rank dungeons around the world had lost their safe zones due to the
confusion and ignorance that existed when the dungeons first appeared.
At a time when the
benefits of the cards were still unknown, and only modern weapons were being
used to fight inside. The military took advantage of the fact that monsters did
not move into the area near the dungeon entrance and created a defensive
position near the entrance to attract and dispose of monsters.
The safe zones were
not only near the entrances, but also randomly scattered in front of and within
each floor, and would disappear when monsters attacked from within. Once a safe
zone disappeared, it will not be restored until the dungeon had been conquered.
......This fact was
only discovered after the first Angolmore, when dungeons of rank B or lower
appeared, and although they hurriedly banned combat activities in the safe
zones, it was already too late.
Except for a very small number of dungeons that had not
been discovered at that point, the safe zones in almost all A-rank dungeons had
already disappeared.
However, no one had
the right to call this stupid.
Thus, mankind had
increased the difficulty level of even the most difficult A-rank dungeons, but
even so, they did not give up on conquering the A-rank dungeons.
The key to make
dungeons disappear. Many countries believed that it was most likely to lie in
the first A-rank dungeon that appeared on the earth.
However, the presence
or absence of a safe zone greatly influenced the difficulty of capturing a
dungeon. This was because, without a safe zone, even teleportation to a
different location would be a challenge.
Therefore, each
country began researching whether there was a way to somehow restore the safe
zones that had disappeared, or whether it was possible to create something that
could take the place of the safe zones.
The reason the skill
was labeled 'pseudo' was because the safe zones created with this skill were
imperfect.
First of all,
basically, the safe zone created by this skill cannot be designated as a transfer
destination.
It is possible to
transfer from a pseudo-safe zone to a regular safe zone, but not vice versa.
You may think that
this makes little difference, but in fact, it provided a back way.
Only when the regular
safe zone has disappeared can a pseudo-safe zone be created in the same place
where the safe zone used to be, and that place can be designated as the
transfer destination.
The prevailing
opinion was that the coordinates of the safe zone and the transfer point were
strictly different, and that both elements were necessary for the transfer.
......But I don't know what the actual reality is.
However, this was
quite a plausible theory, since in many incidences, safe zones other than at
the entrance and in front of the stairs cannot be used as a transfer point.
This may be a bit
off-topic, but the point was that cards such as Athena were essential to
conquer the A-ranked dungeons.
Therefore, even on
the rare occasions when Athena appears on the market, it will be snatched up at
the drop of a hat by the military or top-ranked adventurers.
This monster card was
by no means meant to be a good thing to have in a pack of 10 million.
With that in mind, I
took a closer look at this Athena card with my smartphone's app catalog in hand.
[Race] Athena
[Combat Power] 950
[Inborn Skills]
・Guardian Goddess of
Cities and Heroes: Allows the use of Athena's powers as the goddess of wisdom,
warfare, and crafts.
・Aegis Protection:
Enables the use of Aegis, a shield to ward off all manner of evil and
misfortune. For a limited time, it grants absolute protection to the user and
their companions, as well as countering the curse of petrification against the
enemy. It requires a cooldown time, but there is no limit to the number of
times it can be used. Unlike Zeus' Aegis, it does not have the power to
manipulate thunderclouds, but can create a pseudo-safe zone, perhaps due to
Athena's ability as the guardian goddess of the city.
・Blessing for Heroes:
Athena's blessing that has guided many heroes. It bestows various blessings on
the target, and can also lend their own skills on a limited time.
・Come, Goddess of
Victory: Able to summon Nike2, a subordinate goddess. Only once a day, and only
one deity (which is Nike) can be summoned.
・Advanced Magician:
Allows the use of all advanced magic.
[Acquired Skills]
・Vow of Chastity:
Pledge to remain chaste for life. Resistant to attacks and status abnormalities
from males. This will be lost if she loses her chastity. After resurrection, it
will be changed to a negative skill.
・Pride of Deity:
Possesses pride and arrogance as a high-ranking deity. Will not listen to their
human master as long as they do not recognize the other party. It is an
extremely positive compensation for free action.
・Juvenile: For some
reason or another, they have become young both physically and mentally. Status
is greatly reduced at all times. Some skills are unavailable.
・Cowardice: Extremely
averse to combat. Halves stats during battle.
The first thing that
caught my attention was the [Cowardice] skill, which Yuki also used to have.
This was one of the
worst negative skill of all, as it halved their status in battle and made them
practically incapable of fighting due to their psychological state.
On an online site
that evaluated cards and skills, the [Cowardice] skill was given a rating of A,
the second most negative skill rating.
By the way, the
definition of A-rating on this site was: "A level that substantially
damages the value of the card." It was a serious problem for the quality
of the card.
In fact, this rating
appeared reasonable to me, having been distressed by Yuki's [Cowardice] in the
early period of my career.
However, this
cowardice skill was only an A rating. There existed a higher rating, the
'Poop'.
The definition of the
Poop rating on this site was "A fearful skill that turns the value of a
card into a turd. The effect can only be described as 'shit'. If you are
tricked into grabbing a card with this skill in a trade or something, you can
even be forgiven for killing the other party. Or rather, kill them.".
...This statement
conveyed the intense anger of the website manager.
The [Juvenile] skill
was the pinnacle of the negative skills certified as Poop rating.
Cards with this skill
will appear in the form of a child, even though they are not a species that
manifests as children, unlike the zashiki-warashi.
If that was all there
was to it, it was rather welcome!
But the problem was the effect: 'Status is greatly
reduced at all times. Some skills are unavailable.'
Since the effects of
the negative skills basically overlapped, Athena's status would be reduced to a
quarter of what it used to be during combat.
Research had shown
that the evaluation of combat power does not depend solely on the numerical
value of the status, but the halving of the status was almost synonymous as
halving of the combat power.
In other words,
Athena's actual combat power in battle would be less than 250.
This was the lowest
level of combat power even for a C-rank, even below Renge at the beginning.
Considering that
Athena's combat power was originally at the highest end of the B-rank, these
numbers were quite sad.
Nevertheless, when it
comes to Athena, the decrease in combat power itself will not be enough of a
problem to let go of the card.
Most of Athena's
value was due to the Aegis skill, and she had the ability to summon subordinates/followers.
The abilities of Nike
that she can summon were as follows.
[Race] Nike
[Combat Power] 1200
[Inborn Skills]
・Wings of Victory: Can
use the authority of Nike, the goddess of victory.
・Laurel Crown: A mark
of glory that Nike gives to the victor of the battle. Doubles the target's
status, temporarily nullifies status abnormalities, and increases the rank of
general-purpose skills by one. Contains advanced auxiliary magic.
・Dedicate Victory:
This summons a chariot squadron of heroic spirits killed in battle. Infinite
summoning type. The combat power of the chariots is equivalent to 300 combat
power.
・Advanced attack magic
[Acquired Skills]
・High-level dependent
body: A temporary body invoked by a skill. Has no acquired skills and does not
grow. A high-level dependent body has an ego that is comparable to the
original, and a combat power that is 1.5 times the initial combat power.
Although she had no
acquired skills because she was a subordinate, she had B-rank combat power and
had the skill to summon her own subordinates. Even if I had drawn Nike instead
of Athena, I would have been delighted with this capability.
She was more than
enough to compensate for Athena's weakness.
That said, it was the
latter half of the [Juvenile] description that was problematic. It was the
effect of the unavailability of some skills.
Perhaps this Athena
cannot use Aegis. Or it might be Nike's summoning.......
Otherwise, it would
not be thrown in this kind of card pack and sold at a throwaway price.
But at Athena's
level, people should be trying to do a lot of things to get rid of any negative
skills...
So, I looked into it.
"...... I see, this [Juvenile] skill, they haven't
found a way to remove it, huh?"
It was the same as
the previous [Zero existence] skill. Not a skill that can be removed or
elevated by gaining positive proficiency like the [Cowardice] skill, but a
skill that can be changed by meeting certain conditions.
There might be a
possibility that it can be transformed into something like the [Spiritual
recurrence], but until you know how to do that, this skill will be no different
than a curse.
Hmmm, I'm undecided
on my assessment regarding Athena.
I can't make a
judgment without actually using it.
If she can at least
summon Nike, then she would be of some use.
Even if that is not
working, I should still be able to sell this card for hundreds of millions.
Well, since it comes to my hand, I'd like to make it
useful somehow...
With this in mind, I
sorted through the cards.
[Race] Dullahan
[Combat Power] 400
[Inborn Skill]
・The birth cry is the
beginning of death: a death sentence pronounced by a death telling fairy. A curse
that absorbs life force can be cast on a target.
・Armor even for the
departed: An intermediate level equipping skill. By possessing another card or
the master, it can add half of its own combat power and share its own acquired
skills (or all combat power and skills if it is equipped to the master).
・The silent chariot:
Summons Koshta Bawar, a four-horse chariot drawn by a headless black horse.
Koshta Bawar does not exist as a card, but has a combat power of about D-rank
monster. It has the ability to block out presence and become invisible, but has
the disadvantage of not being able to cross a watery field.
[Acquired Skills]
・Lack of agility:
Strangely slow in movement for a fighter of this caliber. Negative compensation
for overall actions.
・Clumsy: Sometimes
makes unbelievable mistakes. Even if it is a beautiful girl, if she repeats a
mistake over and over again without ending, it will make you want to kill her.
Random and extremely strong negative compensation for actions.
・Indomitable spirit:
Possesses a spirit of steel that will not be discouraged by failure or
adversity of any kind. However, they have a tendency to be somewhat slow to
learn. Has resistance to psychosis. Strong positive compensation for actions in
times of adversity.
・Swordsmanship:
Martial arts skill specialized in sword handling. Effects will overlap with
other martial arts skills. Strong positive compensation for specific actions.
・Overview
In Japan, it had an
image of an undead monster, but in reality, it was a kind of fairy.
It had some negative
skills, but not to the extent that they were a serious hindrance to its
performance. Barely passing the mark. At one time I thought about equipping it
and fighting with using the Dáinsleif, but I gave up when I saw its negative
skills.
As originally
envisioned, I should equip it with Eliza and train it at the same time, aiming
to raise the level of its strength. We'll see how much Eliza's technical skills
and [Precision movement] skill can counterbalance its [Lack of agility] and
[Clumsy] skills...
It has the skill to
summon a subordinate (the silent chariot), but I cannot expect it to be a force
to be reckoned with. Would it be optimal in terms of avoiding encounters with
enemies and moving through the dungeon? ... It's [Clumsy] skill is a bit scary
though.
[Race] Fenja
[Combat Power] 180
[Inborn Skills]
・Pair of Two: This
card is a pair of two cards which can be called as one half of a body. Even if
two cards are summoned, only one summoning slot in the dungeon is consumed.
Also, the two cards share the same life force.
・Song of Grotte: A
cursed song of female slaves who were continuously overworked without any rest.
The song summons the millstone called 'Grotte', which can produce anything you
desire. Grotte is a pair of millstones, and cannot be used without simultaneous
summons of the two sisters (Fenja + Menja). If used too much, the 'Army of the
Sea King Mysing3' will be called forth, and Fenja and Mejia will be kidnapped.
・Gigantism: Has the
blood of the giant tribe. It is possible to temporarily become gigantic,
doubling their vitality and physical strength, but during gigantism, their
intelligence and resistance to status abnormalities are reduced.
[Acquired Skills]
・Obedience
・Sexual skill
・Overview
A rare [Pair of Two]
cards type. Grotte can produce everything from food to conceptual objects such
as luck and peace, and is highly versatile, ranging from food self-sufficiency
in the dungeon to avoiding enemies and to good luck in battle. On the other
hand, overuse may cause the card to be lost. The 'Army of the Sea King Mysing'
does not harm the master, but it is said that the card itself attacks normally
while being summoned.
It is an interesting
card, so I would like to get Menja to use it someday.
[Race] Silky
[Combat Power] 120
[Inborn Skills]
・Intermediate House
Fairy: A fairy that does housework on behalf of humans. ......However, since
there are no houses in the dungeon, it is unclear how to make use of it. This
skill includes [Maid] and [Advanded housekeeping] magic.
（Maid: Contains the
skills necessary for a maid. Cooking, cleaning, sexual skill, and etiquette are
included.)
（Advanced housekeeping
magic: Has mastered advanced housekeeping magic. Housekeeping magic doesn't
include attack ability, but there is nothing impossible that can be done at
home.)
・Servant summon:
Summons E-rank monster Brownie. Infinite summoning type.
・Intermediate status
ailment magic
[Acquired Skills]
・Maid Master: Has
mastered the skills necessary for maids beyond what is required. Also masters
skills that are obviously not necessary for maids. Extreme increase in the
effectiveness of maid skills. Positive compensation to the actions of those
with maid skills in the party. This skill includes [Maid], [Low-level Storage],
[Secretary], [Teaching], [Playing], [Dancing], [Martial Arts], [Precise
Movement], and [Protect] skills.
(Low-level Storage: Has an internal space for storing
things. The lower level is about the size of a closet.)
(Secretary: Can support various activities of the master.
It is not particularly useful in battle, but once you try it, it is
indispensable.)
(Teaching: Can teach and lead others to use their
skills.)
・Obedience
・Reprimand: When
strongly disappointed with the master, they will die to reprimand the master.
[Race] Brownie
[Combat Power] 56
[Inborn Skills]
・Lower level House
Fairy: A fairy that does housework on behalf of humans. ......However, since
there are no houses in the dungeon, it is unclear how to make use of it. They
are shabbily dressed, but be aware that if you give them clothes, they will be
Lost. Elementary housekeeping magic can be used.
・Elementary status
ailment magic
[Acquired Skills]
・Low-level dependent body:
A temporary body invoked by a skill. Has no acquired skills and does not grow.
Low-level dependent body have no ego and have only about 80% of the power of
the original's initial combat power.
・Overview
Since multiple copies
of Silky appeared, I have selected the most outstanding cards among them for
this report.
The most notable was
the [Maid Master] skill. It contained a ridiculously large number of skills,
which strike me as a bit odd. I've heard that skills with the word 'Master' are
amazing, but I didn't realize that it encompassed most of the skills that Eliza
had...
Normally, cards with
such an acquired skill would not be sold, but the reason it was in the pack was
probably due to the [Reprimand] skill. The skill to die by themselves would be
a bit fatal as a card. Moreover, the conditions were too ambiguous.
I would like to use
her as a mentor for Eliza, but I will have to be careful not to let this Silky
get disappointed of me.
The rest of the
Silkies possessed skills that were a bit problematic for a maid, such as being
clumsy, forgetful, disobedient, unreliable, lazy, and so on.
However, as far as I
could tell from the illustrations, they were all beautiful women with a wide
variety of looks, so I would like to summon a squad of maids someday.
I will introduce the
other cards when I have a chance to use them.
[Tips] [Pair of Two] Skill
A skill that makes it
possible to summon two cards with one slot. The summoned cards share the same
vitality and will not be Lost unless they take damage for two bodies. On the
other hand, if one body take damages big enough to destroy the two bodies, both
cards may be Lost.
Cards with the [Pair
of Two] skill often have unique skill that can only be used when the two cards
are together, and their performance is no less than the skill of a
higher-ranked card.
The existence of
higher-level skills has also been confirmed.
***
Notes:
1 The Aegis is a shield or breastplate used by Zeus and his daughter Athena in Greek Mythology↩
2 According to a paper by Harrison (as cited in Sikes, 1895) Nike was once a facet of the Greek goddess Athena, who was composed of Boulaia (good council), Ergane (skilled handcraft), and Nike (victory). According to this theory, Nike eventually broke off from Athena to form her own distinct personality. ↩
3 Sea King Mysing: In the story, he was a king who invaded and took the sisters along with the giant millstone for his own. ↩
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